• Muscular strength and power
• Hypertrophy
• Fat loss
• Cardiorespiratory endurance
• Speed, quickness, and agility
• Joint flexibility and stability
• Injury prevention

How can all of those be addressed within limited training time, unmotivated athletes, and limited resources?

Programming Is More Than Sets and Reps

Let’s break these goals down into their fundamental requirements:

• There must be a well-planned program that addresses the desired qualities.
• There must be an overload effect from applied stress.
• Time must be allowed for proper nutritional intake and healing for adaptation to that overload stress.
• The plan must be progressive, increasing the overload over time as the body adapts to existing levels.

So far, so good. However, recovery can throw a wrench in the works. Without as much attention placed on it as the workouts themselves, overtraining can rear its ugly head, leaving you with athletes who have:

• Difficulty progressing in workouts
• Increased potential for injury
• Increased risk of illness
• Decreased performance in competition
• Apathy toward training

In short, lack of proper recovery or too much training volume destroys everything else you’re trying to do.

Recovery Factors to Consider

Let’s consider some other factors in programming to ensure adequate recovery:

• Training components are normally scheduled within the five-day workweek at the college level.
• The imposed overload must be strong enough to create a demand on the system(s).
• Energy is required to meet that overload, then to recover from it. Many coaches forget that second part.
• Athletes also have other daily commitments, and are usually on their own when it comes to proper nutrition and rest (sleep) habits.

Adequate recovery from stressful exercise sessions does not necessarily conform to a 24-hour day, or a five-day work week. The greater the volume of work, the greater the recovery time required. Dig a deep hole, and it will take more time to fill in. Energy stores are depleted that must be replenished; muscle tissue is damaged that must be repaired.

When multiple adaptive responses are desired from one body (i.e., strength, endurance, speed) even more logical planning of the training stresses is required. The athlete doesn’t go to a closet mid-day, pull out a new body, and toss the fatigued one in the laundry basket. It’s the same body that needs to deal with all imposed stresses that day, until there is time for recovery. There is some overlap there, as some training components address multiple qualities simultaneously. For example, increased muscle strength can lead to improved running speed, all other factors remaining equal.

Even the average Joe Sit-at-a-desk-all-day requires recovery from a less-than-demanding lifestyle to do it day after day. How much more so, your hard-charging athletes?

And recovery isn’t just day-to-day. How long do your athletes rest between sets? Between interval runs, agility drills, and speed work? What work to rest ratios are needed? Moreover, what about two-a-days? Do you program strength training and conditioning on the same day? Speed work on a leg strength day? Which one to address first?

Say that your athletes have total body fatigue from a Monday workout. What should you do on Tuesday? Complete rest? But wait, that leaves only three more days to squeeze in more strength training, endurance running, speed work, etc. Help!

Programming Tips to Ensure Recovery

Don’t panic. Remember, the strength and conditioning coach at rival State U is dealing with the same dilemma. We know that rest days are just as important as work days, and that all training components require energy and create a recovery demand.

Take advantage of that training component overlap. Performing speed and agility work creates fatigue (a conditioning effect). Leg strengthening exercises in the weight room indirectly help running speed, and contribute to injury prevention.

Don’t be afraid to take what the calendar gives you. It’s okay (and necessary) to plan occasional complete rest days during the training week. They’ll give your athletes a chance to look after their academic commitments, and a day off can create greater enthusiasm when returning to training. Take advantage of scheduled school breaks (i.e., spring and between-term breaks) to ramp things up. In the offseason, you can challenge your athletes with more volume, and the net positive effects will carry over into the competitive season, when volume must decrease for game-day preparedness.

Example Training Plans for Planned Recovery

I recommend a maximum training segment duration of 8-10 weeks. Below are some example 10-week out-of-season training plans, broken down in terms of stress exposures and recovery time. I’ve laid out two traditional and three non-traditional plans for five days per week, and one non-traditional approach for seven days per week. Strength training (ST) is any weight room work. Conditioning (Cond.) would include any interval running, agility drills, or speed work.

Traditional Five-Day Plan #1

• Number of strength training sessions: 40 (20 each upper and lower body)
• Number of conditioning sessions: 25
• Total number of exercise sessions: 65
• Number of total rest days: 25
• Ratio of actual work days to total rest days: 45:25

Traditional Five-Day Plan #2

• Number of strength training sessions: 30
• Number of conditioning sessions: 25
• Total number of exercise sessions: 55
• Number of total rest days: 20
• Ratio of actual work days to total rest days: 50:20

Non-Traditional Five-Day Plan #1

• Number of strength training sessions: 20
• Number of conditioning sessions: 20
• Total number of exercise sessions: 40
• Number of total rest days: 30
• Ratio of actual work days to total rest days: 40:30

Non-Traditional Five-Day Plan #2

• Number of strength training sessions: 30 (15 each upper and lower body)
• Number of conditioning sessions: 15
• Total number of exercise sessions: 45
• Number of total rest days: 40
• Ratio of actual work days to total rest days: 30:40

Non-Traditional Five-Day Plan #3

• Number of strength training sessions: 15
• Number of conditioning sessions: 15
• Total number of exercise sessions: 30
• Number of total rest days: 40
• Ratio of actual work days to total rest days: 30:40

Non-Traditional Seven-Day Plan

• Number of strength training sessions: 18
• Number of conditioning sessions: 17
• Total number of exercise sessions: 35
• Number of total rest days: 35
• Ratio of actual work days to total rest days: 35:35

Training Plan Comparison and Discussion

If 10 sessions each of quality strength training and conditioning will result in good progress, imagine the results possible with the number of exposures offered in the non-traditional training formats above, especially coupled with a greater number of recovery days.

For example, the 15 upper body and 15 lower body strength sessions in the second non-traditional plan are plenty of opportunity to induce strength gains in a single out-of-season period. Also, 15 conditioning sessions are more than adequate to increase cardiorespiratory fitness. Note that 40 complete rest days are scheduled here to facilitate recovery from the 30 actual training days, making this a sound training plan.

The 7-day example uses 18 full-body strength training sessions and 17 conditioning sessions coupled with 35 complete rest days. Again, a more-than-adequate number of exercise exposures with plenty of built-in recovery time to allow for optimal adaptation.

Compare these to the traditional examples. In the first, 40 strength sessions and 25 conditioning exposures, but only 25 complete rest days in the 70-day plan. Overtraining may be more likely here. Similarly—and possibly quite worse than #1—example #2 is characterized by 30 full-body strength sessions, 25 conditioning workouts but only 20 complete rest days.

More is not always better when it comes to physical training. Properly planned overloads in the weight room and on the track must be logically placed over a training period, along with built-in recovery days. Train your athletes hard, but also train them intelligently. 

Featured image: VK Studio/Shutterstock

The post How to Properly Program recovery for Your Athletes appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

You could also perform a combination of ground-based bodyweight-only exercises, running, and chin ups for hours upon hours until you literally exhaust your energy supplies. But who has the time for that? Not many, and it’s not recommended unless you’re a psychotic fanatic and financially able to devote valuable time to it.

This discussion is centered upon the simple calorie in versus calories out reality, pragmatic exercise selection, and sensible eating.

Articles for Nutrition and Fat Loss

Regarding sensible eating, there is already a plethora of great information that can help you shore up your diet. It takes discipline, but you can do it if you truly want to make changes. Take a look at these fine articles:

• Carbohydrates: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
• The Story of the Endomorph: How to Work With What You Have
• Death By Food Pyramid: When Science Is Not What It Seems

Come With a Realistic Game Plan

Assuming you can shore up your food intake, here are some realistic exercise options using traditional modes and regimens. They are all based on a manageable time of thirty minutes per session – a length you can surely find time for if you’re serious about making changes. If you’re not serious, then quit reading this.

“[U]nderstand that the higher effort required per unit of time, the greater the calories burned. This has huge implications for either your weight gain or weight loss goals.”

On that note, why you are reading this?

• Are you seeking an exercise activity that will counter your poor calorie intake?
• Are you seeking an activity to kick start your magazine-popular exercise program that has not been working?
• Are you interested in what you need to do if you finally cross the line and engage in a sensible exercise program combined with reasonable food intake?
• Are you seeking effective options to augment your currently result-producing regimen to take it to the next level?

Before moving forward, know these facts:

• In general, consuming more calories than you expend will result in additional body fat storage, all other factors being equal. If you exercise and burn X number of calories, but then consume greater than X calories plus your daily basal metabolic calorie need, then you’ll most likely store more body fat. Stop it.
• If you follow a high-carbohydrate diet, but consume fewer calories in terms of protein and fat, your body might be compromised when it comes to optimal muscle mass development. You may be able to exercise longer, but your ability to grow shapely and calorie-dependent muscle may be limited.
• If you follow a high protein and fat diet, and eschew low carb intake, it may limit your energy tank and lessen your immediate ability. You may not possess enough energy to fuel short-term maximum muscle fiber-recruiting efforts. This can in turn limit optimal muscle fiber stimulation and potential forthcoming growth stimulation. Read: you may minimize muscle bulk gains.
• Growing and possessing an optimal muscle mass percentage (male and female) may allow you to avoid excessive body fat storage, provided your total calorie intake does not exceed your total calorie expenditure. However, your high-intensity exercise efforts may decline due to a lack of immediate glycogen (carbs) stores relative to your sport or energy demands. Bottom line: you’ll run out of high-intensity training fuel earlier.

Who wins here? The low-carb/high fat and protein intake group or the higher carb/normal intake of protein and fat group? There is no simple answer due to a variety of dependent variables. But whatever option you select, your existing scale weight and body composition assessment do offer marking points for further experimentation.

If you don’t know this by now, know it. Exercise, in general, does not burn a huge amount of stored body fat during the activity. Likewise, engaging in maximal calorie-burning activities does not tap into stored (fat) calories during training session, but may post-training – provided it’s combined with a lower calorie intake. It is not huge, but it contributes.

Calories Burned During Common Workouts

Knowing you will either gain or lose scale weight depending on your energy expenditure (exercise) and total calorie intake (food consumption), understand what follows. These are some realistic calorie-burning options that could help you provided you heed the aforementioned.

In rank order, what follows are effective (or ineffective) calorie-burning activities based on 30 minutes of activity for a thirty-year-old 190 pound/86 kilogram male and thirty-year-old 125 pound/57 kilogram female. The goal would be total estimated calorie burning independent of specific muscle-building workouts (hint, hint).

“Engaging in maximal calorie-burning activities does not tap into stored (fat) calories during training session, but may post-training – provided it’s combined with a lower calorie intake.“

Here are the activities, listed from greater to lesser average calorie usage:

Interval training on a Versa Climber @ 1:00 hard/:30 easy

• Male = 617 calories
• Female = 389 calories
• Note: If you have used the VersaClimber, you know it’s a love/hate relationship. It’s similar to having a sack full of twenty-dollar bills being used as kindling for cooking a delicious T-bone steak over a fire. Yeah! Ugh.

Stationary cycle – all-out effort

• Male = 451 calories
• Female = 285 calories

Resistance circuit strength training @ :45 of work and:20 rest

• Male = 371 calories
• Female = 234 calories

Bodyweight exercise circuit

• Male = 370 calories
• Female = 229 calories
• Note: This is as many rounds possible in thirty minutes of 10 reps each of push ups, pull ups (or max), air squats, and jumping jacks, with minimal rest between exercises and rounds.

Running at 12:00 per mile pace

• Male = 365 calories
• Female = 222 calories

Boot camp class – various exercises and funky dance moves

• Male = 357 calories
• Female = 220 calories

Treadmill walking @5.0 miles per hour

• Male = 308 calories
• Female = 211 calories

Traditional strength training

• Male = 217 calories
• Female = 137 calories
• Note: Done with a 3:00 rest between sets, but all-out on each set performed

Pilates

• Male = 158 calories
• Female = 100 calories

Yoga

• Male = 113 calories
• Female = 71 calories

Learn What Works for You

Much information and potential confusion exits out there, so read and know the facts above. If you engage in more (45 minutes) or less (20 minutes) exercise, then adjust accordingly. But understand that the higher effort required per unit of time, the greater the calories burned. This has huge implications for either your weight gain or weight loss goals.

“You could also perform a combination of ground-based bodyweight-only exercises … for hours upon hours until you literally exhaust your energy supplies. But who has the time for that?“

To burn maximal calories to promote body fat reduction, train hard and create a calorie-consumption deficit. To grow muscle tissue and concomitantly use that new tissue to burn more calories, use demanding resistance training and couple it with a relative calorie-intake balance.

Educate yourself on the type of calories and how they are metabolized. This would include not only protein, fat, and carbs, but also the type of each, such as:

• Low- versus high-glycemic carbs
• Saturated, poly-unsaturated, unsaturated fats, and trans-fats
• Lean versus fatty proteins

Use this information judiciously and responsively to assist you in your training goals.

Check out these related articles:

• Simple Options for Daily Calorie Burning
• Why Steady State Cardio for Fat Loss Is a Bad Decision
• The Fat Loss “Secret” – You’re Just Not Working Hard Enough
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle UK Today

Photos 1, 3, and 4 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 2 courtesy of CrossFit Empirical.

The post What Is The Best Way to Burn Calories In 30 Minutes? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In a past article, The Right Way To Lose Fat: What To Eat, we addressed the nutrition component of sensible fat loss. A lot was presented such as low carb/high protein, high carb/low fat, micronutrient values, and glycemic levels, but all signs pointed to creating a caloric deficit to optimally burn body fat.

This article will highlight how exercise should be implemented to maximize fat-burning potential. That stated, please heed the following statement (imagine me yelling it to you through a megaphone with the volume maxed-out):

80% of the Battle Against Body Fat Is Diet

Exercise itself does not burn a significant number of calories, relatively speaking. Not to discount its value, but if you rely solely on exercise and pay zero attention to your dietary habits (READ: you eat like crap), you will not make it far. As I always say, “A good forty-minute workout can be ruined by five minutes of bad eating.” Amen.

Let’s take a look at the estimated caloric expenditure of several exercises/activities. There are a gazillion “calories burned from exercise” calculators all over the Inter-web (there…I just gave you access to three of them). Are they accurate? I don’t know.

Remember, they are only estimates, but they will at the least get you close. Using my body weight (190 pounds) as an example, here are the estimates of three different calculators:

Running/working at 5 miles per hour pace for 30 minutes: Calories burned = 344, 364, and 345.

Running/working at 10 miles per hour pace for 30 minutes: Calories burned = 713, 775, and 689.

Two points can be gleaned from the above:

1. Estimates vary
2. Greater effort burns more calories

I would like to emphasize that second point with my megaphone again:

Greater Effort Burns More Calories

Other exercises/activities and the estimated calories burned in 30 minutes (150 pound person):

• Dancing (casual) = 197
• Dancing (gettin’ down!) = 274
• Walking @ three miles per hour = 150
• Walking @ 4.5 miles per hour = 233
• Rollerblading (casual) = 270
• Rollerblading (fast) = 319
• Martial Arts = 401
• Frisbee = 206

Some of the most disheartening moments I often see are well-intended but misguided people who make a bee line to the treadmill to “do their cardio.” It usually goes like this:

• Ear buds in.
• iPod tethered to the arm.
• Maury Povich tuned in on the tube.
• Treadmill set to three miles per hour.
• The plodding away begins.
• 45 minutes elapses and a whopping 270 calories are incinerated.
• Whew, what a session!

Now it’s time to get back to the crib and inhale a three-ounce bag of nacho cheese tortilla chips and deposit approximately 450 calories back to the tank.

If the significance of bad eating and relatively low value of exercise is not evident by now, let’s look at some more depressing factoids.

Go to one of my favorite web sites, calorieking.com. Type in your favorite “cheat” food and portion size (those nacho cheese tortilla chips are sounding quite delicious right now). The web site offers examples on how to burn the number of calories in the food choice entered.

To expunge the 450 calorie tortilla chips would require any one of these:

• 125 minutes of walking.
• 51 minutes of jogging.
• 37 minutes of swimming.
• 69 minutes of cycling.

Is it worth eating poorly knowing it will take some major effort to counter it with exercise? I know the phrase has been beaten to death, but it surely applies: “You can’t out-exercise a bad diet.”

All right, time to cut to the quick. If you want to maximize the exercise component in the attempt to shed body fat, do this: Choose exercise modes that are physically demanding.

Yes, they’re more discomforting, but they use more energy. In place of a low-effort, 45-minute treadmill walk, do 20 minutes of high effort intervals. Try a circuit training workout, do a half-hour boot camp, run hills, whatever – just WORK HARDER.

Will you be out of the “fat burning zone” by working harder? Yes, but you’ll be depleting your glycogen stores with the higher-effort training.

You could even add a lower carbohydrate diet. The glycogen depletion forces your body to tap stored adipose fat and use it as energy, both in workouts and post-workout during recovery.

Regarding the infamous fat burning zone, it was once thought that you had to “go slow” to solely burn fat. Going faster would shift to glycogen. True, but understand these facts:

• We possess an almost unlimited supply of energy in the form of stored fat. Marathoners fatigue due to glycogen depletion, not fat.
• If you want to get into the purest fat burning zone, take a nap. Sleeping is purely aerobic (unless you have violent nightmares – those will require immediate energy).
• As previously noted, you will burn more fat post-workout during the recovery process if you engage in high-effort training, all other factors being equal.

Last but not least, STRENGTH TRAIN. Yes gals, that means you, too. Possessing more muscle means possessing less fat. The process of building strength and more muscle is intense. Intense workouts deplete glycogen. And as you know, depleted glycogen can lead to fat being used as energy.

I’ll end with this tidbit of info:

• Yummy = a 12-ounce cola and 3 pieces of pepperoni pizza.
• Ugh = a 90-minute jog to burn them off.

Now that you know how to train for fat loss, learn how to eat for fat loss, too.

The post The Right Way to Lose Fat: How to Exercise appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

However, to counterbalance those movements and enhance shoulder joint stability, antagonistic pulling-type exercises should be incorporated. If these movements are neglected, the risk of injury is heightened.

I understand pulling movements are not popular or governed by the “I can lift X amount of weight” mentality, thus they can be sadly neglected. “How much can you close grip pulldown or bent-over row?” You never hear that, do you?

So, to strengthen the upper back/shoulder area, minimize injury potential, and augment your ability to optimally execute upper-body sport skills, the following posterior upper-body pulling exercises should be incorporated to counter the anterior pushing exercises most trainees emphasize:

• Wide grip pulldown/chin up to the upper chest
• Close grip pulldown/chin up to the upper chest
• Pullover machine
• High row
• Face pull
• Seated/Bent-over row
• Low row
• Upright row
• Rear delt machine/bent-over fly
• Rotator cuff external rotation

Think of it this way: for every pushing exercise, there should be an opposite pulling exercise. Examples:

• Overhead press – wide or close grip pulldown, machine pullover
• Incline press – high row or face pull
• Chest press – seated/bent-over row, low row, rear-delt machine/bent-over fly
• Decline press/dip – upright row

Now, before we go further it is necessary to know two things:

1. It is literally impossible to solely isolate a specific muscle when performing an exercise movement. For example, when performing a side lateral raise to target your delts, both the anterior and medial deltoids are activated along with the clavicular head of the pectoralis major (chest) and supraspinatus (a rotator cuff muscle).
2. Related to that point, some anterior muscles are activated when performing traditional posterior/pulling exercises. For example, during a close grip pulldown with the forearms supinated (palms facing you), the sternal head of the pectoralis major and long head of the triceps assist the lats, teres major, and other posterior/pulling muscles.

And then there’s the question of the venerable upright row – where does it belong? It’s a pulling exercise, but it works the deltoids normally involved in anterior/pushing exercises. What a dilemma. Let’s go over a basic tutorial on upper back musculature and kinesiology:

When discussing the upper back musculature, two anatomical points and relevant joint movements need to be addressed: the scapula (shoulder blade) and humerus (upper arm).

Shrug your shoulders up, down, forward, and backward. That is your scapula in action. Move your upper arm in multiple directions. That is your humerus articulating at the glenohumeral joint.

Looking specifically at the upper back development, the following chart reveals the details of movements and involved musculature:

Workout Protocols for Upper Back Musculature

There are many ways to develop the upper back musculature, using an assortment of movements/exercises with a variety of overload protocols. I have provided sample exercise that can be used in single workouts along with a few set/rep scripts that can be applied to them.

Upper back exercise movements for single workouts:

• Wide grip pulldown
• Bent-over row
• Upright row

• Chin-ups
• Low row
• Face pulls

• Seated row
• Close grip pulldown
• Bicep curl

• High row
• Rear delt machine
• Machine pullover

Set/rep scripts options that can be applied to them:

• 2 sets of each exercise at 10-14 and 6-10 rep ranges
• 2 sets of each exercise all at an 8-12 range
• 3 sets of each exercise all at 12-16, 8-12, and 4-8 rep ranges
• 3 sets of each exercise all at a 6-10 rep range
• 1 set of each exercise at a 12-16 rep range

Regarding specific workout days, many options work. Whether you are strength training using a total body workout two or three days per week or using a split routine where your upper body is trained twice per week, incorporate the aforementioned upper back exercises.

Make sure you are balancing all the popular pushing-type exercises with opposing upper back pulling-type exercises. Work them as hard as all your pushes.

This approach will safeguard against shoulder injuries, allow you to achieve balanced musculature, and enhance your ability to better execute sport skills.

The post Strength Routines for Developing a Strong and Healthy Upper Back appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Years and years of research have elapsed in the pursuit to completely understand the intricacies of human skeletal muscle contraction.It has included human, amphibian, and feline muscle biopsies, laboratory tests, practical hands-on experiments, and deductive reasoning.

Thankfully, we now have a solid grip on evidence-based practical applications when it comes to designing and implementing resistance training programs. However, there still exists much controversy, ignorance, and confusion, even among educated trainers and trainees on this topic.

Before I begin to simplify this issue, I understand it can become an emotional topic due to the various schools of thought that exist regarding the best way to get stronger, increase power, maximize hypertrophy, improve endurance, or improve skill.

Because there are a number of philosophies on the best way to attain these attributes, both ego and financial gain are at the root of this. Hey, it’s the world we live in, but hanging on to proven science and research will offer you some solace and common sense to move forward.

If everyone just accepted the following three indisputable facts, training program design and implementation would be much more objective, safer, and sensible:

1. Activity on Earth is governed by basic laws of physics – one being gravitational pull.
2. The Henneman’s Size Principle of muscle fiber recruitment is the accepted gold-standard.
3. Your genetic skeletal structure, muscle fiber endowment, and nervous system “hook-ups” cannot be ignored.

Gravity’s Pull and Resistance Training

The law of gravity clearly dictates you cannot move a relatively heavy resistance quickly. That is if a resistance moves quickly it must be “light” relative to your ability.

Similarly, you can move a light resistance relatively quickly as compared to “heavy” resistance. The lighter resistance is, the faster your potential speed of movement, all other factors being equal. Common sense, people.

Take Olympic lifters. These people are strong. Look at their training regimens: they use training protocols to increase muscular strength, and then practice the skills of lifting heavy resistances with proper technique.

They can only move heavy resistances so fast and so high, so they need the ability to move fast to secure it. That is, the resistance does not move fast, but their technique does.

Slower-moving front squatting, back squatting, and overhead pressing is done to get stronger. Faster-moving skill practice is then implemented to perfect the required body actions.

What about a conventional exercise such as a bench press or leg press? It’s pretty straight-forward: load more resistance on the bar or machine and it will move slower as compared to using a lighter resistance relative to your ability.

Think about it: you can surely throw a baseball further than a 16-pound shot used in the shot put. Likewise, all other factors being equal, a stronger person can throw both implements even further as compared to someone relatively weaker.

Henneman’s Size Principle: Slow vs. Fast Muscle Fiber

Muscle fibers are recruited sequentially based on need. That is, the lower the demand, the fewer fibers required and the greater the demand, the more fibers required.

Low-demand efforts recruit the smaller, lower threshold, slower-to-fatigue motor units.

When more effort is required, the larger, higher threshold, faster-to-fatigue motor units are called upon.

It makes perfect sense and explains why you can jog for a longer time as compared to sprinting, or why a lighter resistance can be moved for more repetitions as compared to heavier resistance.

The “slow” versus “fast” muscle fiber classification is a misnomer and has created mayhem among both the scholarly-educated and the average Joe Schmoe trainer and trainee. Conventional wisdom suggests the smaller, slow muscle fibers contract slowly and is not capable of “fast” muscle contraction.

Similarly, larger, faster muscle fibers are thought to be the only fibers recruited for lightening-fast muscle activity. Yes, slow fibers do contract relatively slower than fast fibers, but the difference is between 60 to 90 milliseconds. Yes, milliseconds. This difference is virtually negligible.

Understand the fast versus slow fiber classification does not only refer to the speed of contraction. It also refers to a fiber’s fatigue capacity. The larger, greater force-producing muscle fibers are faster to fatigue as compared to slow fibers, which exert slightly less force-output but are slower to fatigue.

An explosive, bodyweight-only vertical jump is a great example:

• A single maximum-effort jump recruits both slow and fast fibers. Although it is high-effort, it creates minimal fatigue because of its brevity. Perform multiple jumps and fatigue will eventually ensue because of the greater demand and recruitment of higher threshold, faster fatiguing fibers.
• Now, jump while holding heavy dumbbells or wearing a weighted vest. What happens? The speed of movement and jump height will decrease due to gravitational pull, but you will be using more muscle fibers. Jump multiple times and fatigue will come sooner because more fibers are initially required (the faster-to-fatigue type). This higher-demand event cannot match the time frame as jumping without resistance.
• Finally, use a five-repetition maximum (5RM) resistance in a squat or deadlift and try to jump (which I don’t recommend, by the way). Because it is ultra-high demand, a large pool of muscle fibers will be recruited, the resistance cannot be moved fast, and fatigue will be realized quickly.

Genetics, Body Type and Your Ability to Contract Muscle

Touching just briefly on this topic, your body type, and the neuromuscular system can affect your ability to contract the muscle and perform, all other factors being equal:

• Longer limbs may move slower than shorter limbs.
• Having exceptional tendon origins and insertions may allow you to exert greater force/speed as compared to poor origins/insertions.
• Greater muscle mass may exert more force than smaller mass.
• Possessing more high-threshold, fast muscle fibers may allow you to exert more force than possessing more slow-type fibers.
• If you don’t “look the part” (i.e., small muscles, gangly, over-fat) but can contract muscle/exert force with above-average ability, you probably have good neurological ability (muscle fiber-nervous system “hook-ups”).

Training Mode Implications

• If you despise gravity, move to the Moon.
• Relatively heavy resistance requires the recruitment of many muscle fibers, including the high-threshold, greater force-generating fibers.
• High-threshold/greater force-generating fibers are used in explosive/speed movements outside the weight room in sports competition.
• Relatively heavy resistance cannot be moved fast. If you can move a resistance fast, it is light relative to your ability.
• Although inherently unsafe, moving relatively fast with resistance can recruit and overload many fibers provided maximum repetitions are achieved (i.e., aim for complete volitional muscle fatigue).
• If a fast speed of movement were important in resistance training, what amount of resistance would you use and how fast would you move it? 35%, 50%, or 80% of a 1RM? 115, 360, or 600 degrees per second?
• You don’t have to move fast when resistance training to develop power. Power = force x distance/time. Get stronger, (increase force) then practice your sports skills/timing (maximize distance and time), which leads to this:
• Move fast when skill training, unabated by resistance. Refine and hone sport-specific skills as they will be required in competition.

References:

1. Brooks, G.A., T.D. Fahey, and K.M. Baldwin. (2005). Exercise Physiology: Human Bioenergetics and its Applications. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Companies.

The post The 3 Laws of Muscle Activation in Resistance Training appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

There are thousands of ways to resistance train. Provided you work hard and safely, document the results, allow enough recovery time between workouts, and then train progressively, resistance training will work within your genetic endowment and nutritional intake habits.

Regarding the upper-body, you can use a variety of tools and overload protocols to address the upper body muscles: the pectorals, deltoids, lats, traps, biceps, triceps, and other associated muscle structures. There are chest, incline, and overhead presses, dips, pulldowns, low rows, and upright rows, and a variety of direct biceps and triceps exercises using barbells, dumbbells, and selectorized or plate-loading machine. And these can be done for high, medium, and low repetitions – or a combination of them – using various overload protocols.

It can be overwhelming with so many options. So, here are five sure-fire upper body routines that can be a part of any strength, power, weight-loss, and/or general fitness program. I’ve also attached recording forms for you to log your workouts. (Click here to download them.) I promise you, if you use these routines consistently, work as hard as you can, and recover between workouts, you will see results, guaranteed.

General workout guidelines

1. Complete the workout in the exercise order format listed (note examples A & B). INSERT YOUR EXERCISE CHOICES ON THE WORKOUT FORM.
2. Work to achieve muscular overload with a resistance that fits the exercise prescriptions (Rx) listed.
3. Record the training date (“DATE”), the resistances (“WT”) used and the repetitions (“REPS”) achieved for each workout performed.
4. Attempt to progress each workout in terms of doing more repetitions and/or using more resistance according to the exercise prescription (Rx).
5. The “NOTES” section on workout form: space to record machine seat/back/handle settings, the device used (i.e., barbell, dumbbell or machine) or other pertinent information that facilitates the proper performance of the exercise.
6. Use proper exercise technique and be safety conscious. Use a spotter on certain exercises and stop when safe exercise technique cannot be maintained.

Upper Body Workout #1: Big 4 @ 3 Rounds

An upper body workout that alternates the four major multi-joint movements: chest push, row/low row, overhead push, and pulldown for three rounds, decreasing the repetitions each round. The triceps and biceps are then addressed.

Specifics:

• Choose a chest push, row/low row, overhead push and pulldown and do each for all three rounds.
• Rest 1:00-1:30 between exercises each round and 2:00-3:00 between rounds.
• Complete the workout with a tricep and bicep exercise.
• All sets performed to volitional muscular fatigue.

Upper Body Workout #2: 14 – 8 Circuit

An upper body workout that alternates three different push & pull exercises for two rounds: 12-16 repetitions (average = 14) & 6-10 repetitions (average = 8) to volitional muscular fatigue with a 1:00 rest between exercises & 2:00 – 3:00 rest between rounds.

Specifics:

• Use the same three push and pull exercises for both rounds.
• Rest 1:00 between exercises in each round.
• Rest 2:00 – 3:00 between rounds.

Upper Body Workout #3: Push – Pull

A higher-repetition upper body workout that alternates three pairs of push and pull exercises, then addresses the biceps and triceps.

Specifics:

• Choose three different push and pull exercises each for the first three segments.
• Do three sets of each exercise for the first segment and two sets of each exercise for the second and third segments.
• Complete the workout by alternating a tricep and bicep exercise for two sets each.
• All sets are performed to volitional muscular fatigue.

Upper Body Workout #4: 3 Strikes & Out

An upper body workout that alternates three push and pull exercises, then addresses the triceps and biceps by using the three strikes and out overload protocol: three consecutive sets to volitional muscular fatigue with the same resistance and a :30 rest between sets.

Specifics:

• Use three different push and pull exercises and any tricep and bicep exercise.
• Use a resistance that allows for volitional muscular fatigue in the 1st set rep range set. Record the result (wt. x reps) in the space provided.
• Rest exactly :30 and perform a second set to volitional muscular fatigue with the same resistance. Record the reps achieved in the “2nd” space provided.
• Rest exactly :30 and perform a third set to volitional muscular fatigue with the same resistance. Record the reps achieved in the “3rd” space provided.
• It is recommended to have a training partner time the :30 rest between exercises.
• Rest 2:00 – 3:00 between exercises.

Upper Body Workout #5: Ultimate Super Set

An upper body workout performed in three super set segments: chest push and pulldown, overhead push and row, and incline press and another pulldown Minimal rest is taken between exercise pairs.

Specifics:

• Choose a chest push and pulldown for the first segment (three sets each), an overhead push and row for the second segment (three sets each) and an incline press and another pulldown for the third segment (three sets each).
• Perform the paired sets by alternating the opposing exercises with minimal rest between them (i.e., chest push x 8-12, immediately to pulldown x 8-12, immediately to chest push x MAX REPS, immediately to pulldown x MAX REPS, etc.) working each set to volitional muscular fatigue.
• Either use the same resistance for all three sets or reduce the resistance for the 2nd and 3rd MAX REPS sets if more repetitions are desired.
• Rest 3:00 between superset segments.

Continue by reading 5 Powerful Lower Body Strength Routines.

The post 5 Effective and Simple Upper Body Strength Routines appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Similar to the upper-body, training the lower-body offers a variety of tools and overload protocols that can target the large muscles of that area: the quads, glutes, hamstrings, and low back.

There is squatting, deadlifting, leg pressing, and lunging. And these can be performed with barbells, dumbbells, selectorized and plate-loading machines, and done for high, medium, and low repetitions – or a combination of them – using various overload protocols.

So with all these possible variations, I present you with five quality lower body routines that can be a part of any strength, power, weight-loss, and/or general fitness program.

I’ve also attached recording forms for you to log your workouts. (Click here to download them.)

General Workout Guidelines

1. Complete the workout in the exercise order format listed (note examples A & B). INSERT YOUR EXERCISE CHOICES ON THE WORKOUT FORM.
2. Work to achieve muscular overload with a resistance that fits the exercise prescriptions (Rx) listed.
3. Record the training date (“DATE”), the resistances (“WT”) used and the repetitions (“REPS”) achieved for each workout performed.
4. Attempt to progress each workout in terms of doing more repetitions and/or using more resistance according to the exercise prescription (Rx).
5. The “NOTES” section on workout form: space to record machine seat/back/handle settings, the device used (i.e., barbell, dumbbell, or machine) or other pertinent information that facilitates the proper performance of the exercise.
6. Use proper exercise technique and be safety conscious. Use a spotter on certain exercises and stop when safe exercise technique cannot be maintained.

Workout #1: 50–40–30–20–10

A lower body workout consisting of five different multi-joint exercises done for 50, 40, 30, 20, and 10 repetitions to volitional muscular fatigue, followed by a hamstring and abdominal exercise.

Specifics:

• Use five different multi-joint exercises for the sets of 50, 40, 30, 20, and 10 repetitions to volitional muscular fatigue.
• Choose any hamstring and abdominal exercises to complete the workout.
• Rest 3:00 between exercises.

Workout #2: 15 – 10 -5

A lower body workout consisting of three multi-joint exercises, a hamstring, and an abdominal exercise done for three rounds of 15, 10, and 5 repetitions to volitional muscular fatigue.

Specifics:

• Use the same three multi-joint, hamstring and abdominal exercises for the rounds of 15, 10, and 5 repetitions.
• Do all five exercises in order for 15, 10, and 5 repetitions to volitional muscular fatigue.
• Rest 3:00 – 4:00 between rounds.

Workout #3: Leg Press Strip Sets

A lower body workout where a leg press is performed in strip-set overload protocol: four consecutive sets to volitional muscular fatigue using reduced resistances on the second, third, and fourth sets. A multi-joint leg, hamstring and abdominal exercise complete the workout.

Specifics:

• First set of leg press: use a resistance that allows for volitional muscular fatigue at 10-14 repetitions.
• Immediately reduce the resistance 25% (50-250 lbs., depending on the initial resistance) – rest no more than :10-:15 – then perform a second set to volitional muscular fatigue (“MAX REPS”).
• Perform a 3rd and 4th set by reducing the resistance 15-25% (20-150 lbs.) between each set – rest no more than :10-:15 – then perform the next set to volitional muscular fatigue (“MAX REPS”).
• It is recommended to have a training partner make the resistance reductions so the trainee can stay focused.
• Rest 2:00 – 3:00 between exercises.
• Use any multi-joint, hamstring, and abdominal exercises to complete the workout.

Workout #4: One of Everything

A combination of high, medium, and low repetitions in a lower body workout consisting of ten different exercises performed to volitional muscular fatigue, including the abdominals.

Specifics:

• Goblet squat = Deep squat while holding a single dumbbell at chest level, maintaining an upright back position.
• Plate squat = Deep squat while holding a weight plate at chest level, maintaining an upright back position.
• Squat = any barbell, Smith machine, or other standing squat.
• Stiff-leg deadlift = barbell, dumbbell, or plate-load machine.
• Lunge = barbell, dumbbell, or Smith machine.
• Deadlift = trap bar, dumbbell, or machine.
• Calves = any calf exercise.
• Rest between sets = 2:00 – 3:00.

Workout #5: 3 x 3

A lower body workout performed by alternating a multi-joint, hamstring, and another multi-joint exercise to volitional muscular fatigue for three rounds with no rest between each exercise and a 1:00 rest between rounds. An abdominal exercise completes the workout.

Specifics:

• Use either the same three exercises in the 3 rounds (Example A) or use three different exercises each round (Example B).
• No rest between the 3 exercises each round.
• Note the repetition range decrease from 10-14 to 8-12 and 6-10 when selecting appropriate resistances and working to volitional muscular fatigue.
• Complete the workout with an abdominal exercise.

The post 5 Powerful Lower Body Strength Routines appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This is a great workout for general fitness, fat loss, or muscle building. It’s perfect for those seeking maximum calorie burning and variety within their current program. It’s demanding and result-producing if you do it properly. Here you go:

You will need three pairs of dumbbells:

• Lightweight – a challenge to complete 20 to 25 repetitions (reps).
• Moderate weight – a challenge to complete 12 to 15 reps.
• Heavyweight – a challenge to complete 5 to 8 reps.

The Dumbbell Metabolic Circuit Challenge: Sequence 1

Perform these exercises with minimal rest time between each.

Lightweight dumbbells:

Moderate weight dumbbells:

Heavyweight dumbbells:

The Dumbbell Metabolic Circuit Challenge: Sequence 2

Perform these exercises with minimal rest time between each.

Lightweight dumbbells:

Moderate weight dumbbells:

Repeat the three exercises for the following reps with minimal rest time between each.

Heavyweight dumbbells:

Repeat the three exercises for the following reps with minimal rest time between each.

What’s My Fitness Level?

• Below average condition: attempt to repeat the two sequences once.
• Average or above average condition: attempt to repeat the two sequences twice or three times.
• Exceptional condition: attempt to repeat the two sequences four or more times.

Follow the Rules

This dumbbell metabolic circuit can be a great addition to your regular routine provided you adhere to the following:

• You push yourself in each set and use appropriate resistances for each exercise.
• You use proper exercise technique.
• You adhere to the prescribed between-segment rest periods.

I guarantee you’ll like it.

More Like This:

• 5 Best Dumbbell Exercises to Get Strong and Gather a Crowd
• The Incremental (But Intense) Circuit Workout
• The 6×6 Brutality Workout

The post The Extreme Dumbbell Circuit Challenge appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

All other factors being equal, which of these three options would be the most effective in the attempt to reduce abdominal fat?

When I give my Strength Training 101 presentation to new recruits at the St. Louis Police Academy, one of the questions I hit them with is this:

All other factors being equal, which of these three options would be the most effective in the attempt to reduce abdominal fat?

1. Abdominal crunches – two sets of 30 repetitions to muscular fatigue
2. Abdominal crunches – four sets of 30 repetitions to muscular fatigue.
3. Leg Press – two sets of 20 repetitions to muscular fatigue.

Inevitably, most choose the second option, a few pick option one, and rarely does anyone opt for the leg press choice. After all, if two sets of an abdominal exercise are effective, then doubling the effort must be better, right? The truth is option three is the correct answer, which completely stuns them.

Hey Mr. Kelso, I can’t recall seeing a late-night infomercial with some dude on a leg press machine trying to shred abdominal fat.

Performing two demanding sets of leg presses utilizes more energy as compared to two or four demanding sets of abdominal exercises. More muscle tissue is involved – thus ultimately more calories are burned – so it is the best option, all other factors being equal. Remember, to lose body fat, a calorie deficit must exist. Additionally, one cannot spot reduce body fat!

Infomercials and ignorance aside, a study was conducted at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to determine the effect of abdominal exercises on abdominal fat. 24 sedentary people (14 men and 10 women) between the ages of 18 and 40 years were randomly assigned to one of the following two groups: control group (CG) or abdominal exercise group (AG).

Anthropometrics, body composition, and abdominal muscular endurance were tested before and after training. The AG performed two sets of 10 repetitions on seven abdominal exercises, five days per week for six weeks. The CG received no intervention, and all participants maintained a similar diet throughout the study.

The results of the study showed… hang on now…  are you sitting down? … Ready?

There was no signigicant effect of abdominal exercises on body weight, body fat, android fat percentage, android fat, abdominal circumference, abdominal skinfold and suprailiac skinfold measurements.

Their epic conclusion was this: six weeks of abdominal exercise training by itself was not sufficient to reduce abdominal subcutaneous fat and other measures of body composition.

However, abdominal exercise training did significantly improved muscular endurance to a greater extent than the CG. On the post-test, the AG performed a significantly greater amount of curl-up repetitions (47 ± 13) compared to the CG (32 ± 9).

Wow!

Seriously, will we ever arrive at the day when those in the training world completely understand abdominal exercises are a poor choice for fat reduction? Probably not, as long as new abdominal devices and programs keep coming down the infomercial turnpike.

Fat reduction tutorial, time immemorial:

1. Create a calorie deficit. Eat better foods.
2. Perform high calorie-demand exercise. Involve the large muscles of the body.
3. Train your abdominals sensibly, but understand you are working MUSCLE, not fat.
4. Stay up late at night so you can laugh at the latest abdominal gizmo infomercial.

The post You Cannot Crunch Your Way to Abs: Science Says So appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

You don’t get here by sitting on your ass 12 hours a day and eating like crap.

We’ve come a long way in terms of nutrition knowledge and exercise protocols for achieving a better physique and improved fitness. Plenty of peer-reviewed research in diet and exercise has led to practical strategies for your personal plan. I think it is safe to say we have a grasp on calorie surplus/deficit and the laws of thermodynamics, the good carb versus bad carb debate, the most efficient exercise modes for facilitating fat loss and growing shapely muscle mass, improving cardiovascular fitness, and the reality of your genetic make-up relative to achieving those goals.

The proven research is out there, so why are there so many who struggle to achieve their optimal physique and fitness?

Why We Fail at Fitness

It’s not brain surgery, folks. It essentially comes down to two issues. First, we live in a world where there is a plethora of high-calorie and low-nutrient foods at your finger tips. They are everywhere: your local grocery store, super center, vending machine at work, and gasoline quick mart—chips, soda, cylinder-shaped meat concoctions, candy, pastries, and other processed foods. You’re consuming too many non-nutritious calories. Much of it is via mindless eating.

Second, we have developed the tendency to live an inactive lifestyle. You are most likely sit on your ass eyeballing a computer screen for six-plus hours each day. You then retreat to your palace and continue sitting on your ass while watching television or Facebooking. You fail to engage in any exercise program that would accomplish these two goals:

• Facilitate a high-intensity demand during the actual training session
• Encourage high calorie usage post-exercise during recovery

That is how you improve your physique, aesthetically. If you eat like crap and train with minimal intensity, that is not going to positively alter your body. Bust your ass, eat better, and you’ll probably see noticeable improvements over time. Remember, doing something hard is better than doing nothing.

The Fundamental Truths of Body Composition

Human physiology has not changed since day one, when our ancestors first began to walk erect. Therefore, keep it simple and stimulate a large amount of muscle tissue via resistance training and engage in activities that elevate the heart rate to elicit a conditioning effect.

Here’s some simple advice for modern day man (and woman):

• Want to lower the number on the scale? Calories in versus calories out. Consuming a caloric deficit coupled with expending more calories will result in weight loss on the scale. Want to specifically target stored adipose fat? Eat fewer calories and engage in demanding strength training. Losing fat is 80% food choices and 20% exercise choices. Understand modern day food manufacturing. Most of the convenient products are probably low in nutrients and high in sugar and/or bad carbs.
• Want to build muscle and get stronger? Have a plan that progressively taxes your muscles via a combination of more repetitions and greater resistances. Excessive low-level aerobic exercise and eschewing strength training will make you lean, but you will look soft, weak, and have no healthy “shape.” Muscle is sexier than fat. Strength train hard.
• Want to increase cardiovascular fitness? Engage in any safe activity that elevates the heart rate and sustains it for an extended period. We are talking interval running, fartlek training, circuit strength training, and boot camp-type training that uses orthopedically-safe exercises.

Are you tall and thin? No matter what you do, that body type will be hard to change, but you can add muscle if you work hard. Are you short and thin? Again, bust your butt in the weight room, eat like a champion, and you can add functional muscle mass to your frame. Are you short and thick? It depends on the “thickness.” If you’re thick with muscle, you are a mesomorph and have a greater potential to display strength and a muscular body. If you’re thick but fat, it’s time to shore up the food intake and maintain productive strength training.

Do What Works for Your Goals

I don’t want to be a wet blanket, but here are more realities you need to understand:

If you desire to lose fat, build shapely muscle, and improve your cardiovascular endurance, solely engaging in Yoga, Pilates, PiYo, or any other minimal muscular-effort activity is inadvisable. These endeavors burn minimal calories and stimulate minimal muscle mass. Hence, they are poor choices for achieving maximal fat loss and muscle mass growth.

The most effective and time-efficient route to achieving a better physique is proper diet and high-effort strength training. That approach is the total package. No conventional “cardio” is required (i.e., 45 minutes slaving away on a treadmill or elliptical).

An effective fat loss approach should entail better eating in the form of a caloric deficit and healthy food options, along with strength training to either build or preserve metabolically-expensive muscle tissue. Understand that muscle gives one shape—male or female—and possessing more muscle is much better than possessing more adipose fat.

If you’re female, don’t be afraid of lifting weights with extreme effort. You naturally have low levels of muscle-enhancing testosterone. On that fact, you will not develop non-feminine muscles. By training hard in the weight room, you will develop shapely female muscles that may require you to purchase a smaller-size wardrobe.

Male or female, to even maintain metabolically-expensive and shaping muscle tissue, one needs to go all-out in exercise sets to stimulate the greatest amount of muscle mass that can lend itself to that goal.

The Math of Improving Physique

Copy this and post it on your refrigerator or bathroom wall so you can see it daily:

• Too much aerobic training + a caloric deficit + no resistance training = a thin, unshapely, and debilitated body.
• A caloric deficit + sensible calorie-burning exercises + muscle-stimulating strength training = a better chance of achieving a lean and shapely figure, male or female.
• Being completely inactive + over-consuming calories = fat accumulation and minimal muscle shape.

All micronutrient and calorie intake remaining equal:

• Reduce calorie intake + strength training = lose fat and build muscle shape.
• Increase calories + strength training = build mass, strength, and shape.
• Reduce calories + aerobic work = lose fat and muscle = look lean but non-muscular.

What’s Stopping You?

It’s not nuclear physics, people. The formulas for obtaining a better body and improving fitness have not changed over the years. What prevents most people from achieving their goals?

• The presence and availability of substandard foods. Consuming a surplus of low-nutrient calories is a huge step back.
• A lack of discipline in both calorie consumption and work ethic. Shore up your eating habits and bust your butt when training.
• Poor exercise choices. If it’s easy, it’s probably not the best option.
• The persistent myth that low-level cardio must be a part of an effective fat loss program.
• Not including strength training in your program. It is essential whether your male or female. Get off the treadmill and get into the weight room.

You won’t get the body you want without changing your lifestyle:

The Only Diet that Works

The post The Hard Truths of Improving Physique and Fitness appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Both athletes and non-athletes occasionally face the reality of being pressed for time. That hour you thought you had now becomes twenty minutes. Work, school, family obligations, extracurricular events, unexpected emergencies, travel, etc. can get in the way of even the best-designed training schedule, thus Plan B – a shorter session – is employed. Plan B is still a plan, so it shouldn’t render a training session useless. In fact, it can be a better fit in many cases, especially when it comes to conditioning and strength training exercise sessions.

Plenty of legitimate research shows that brief, demanding exercise sessions produce results similar to lengthier, lower-level sessions (Study at McMaster University; National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Japan; Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research; European Journal of Applied Physiology; Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research). In other words, instead of a 45-minute session, a 20-minute session will suffice if you train really hard! Why not? That’s an extra 25 minutes to devote to something else.

Knowing that brief, intense conditioning, and strength training are effective, let’s take a look at some examples. Literally, there are hundreds of exercise, drill, run, workout prescription, and time-to-complete combinations that can be used. That is a good thing because it will allow your specific situation to be addressed and you’ll have plenty of variety to choose from.

Here are a few ideas:

20-Minute Conditioning Workouts

10-Minute Conditioning Workouts

20-Minute Total Body Strength Training Workouts

10-Minute Total Body Strength Training Workouts

The post Plan “B” – Short Workouts That Will Save Your Day appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This program is designed for older adults with prior training experience who seek a new option for general improvements in fitness and strength. It is divided into two training cycles: weeks 1 to 6 and weeks 7 to 12.  You can download a PDF of the workouts here or click on the image below. However, make sure you read through the information online here, and familiarize yourself with the concepts and approaches to each set of workouts. It should be pretty simple and easy to follow. Also, you will find a suggested list of movement libraries to support this training program.

12-Week Fitness Program for Older Athletes: Week 1 – 6

The chart above is the layout of your weekly training schedule and the split between the different activities.

Train three non-consecutive days per week (i.e., M-W-F, Tu-Th-Sn, or whatever fits your schedule), alternating a body-weight strength and endurance circuit with a low-impact conditioning workout performed on a stair-climber, elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, or other devices.

Workout – Body Weight Strength & Endurance Circuit #1

The goal of the body-weight strength and endurance circuits is to complete them in the least amount of time. When repeating the same workout (#1, #2, or #3), attempt to do it in less time than the previous attempt.

Workout – Body Weight Strength Endurance Circuit #2

Workout – Body Weight Strength & Endurance Circuit #3

Workout – Conditioning Workout #1

The goal of the low-impact conditioning workouts is simply to conform to the prescribed work, rest and volume menu listed. You can perform conditioning workouts on a stair-climber, elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, rower, or other devices. The basic components of the workout are:

• Warm up = easy pace.
• Hard effort = all-out effort relative to the prescribed time.
• Easy effort = continue moving, but at a very low pace.
• Bouts = number of repetitions of the hard effort.
• Cool down = walk and stretch following the session.

Workout – Conditioning Workout #2

Workout – Conditioning Workout #3

Workout – Conditioning Workout #4

Workout – Conditioning Workout #5

Workout – Conditioning Workout #6

Workout – Conditioning Workout #7

Workout – Conditioning Workout #8

Workout – Conditioning Workout #9

12-Week Fitness Program for Older Athletes: Week 7 – 12

The goal during weeks 7 to 12 is to increase the training intensity, add more pure strength training, and continue to work hard. During this cycle you will train three non-consecutive days per week, alternating workout sessions as follows:

Workout – Total Body Strength Training #1

Can be done with dumbbell, barbell, or machine:

Workout – Total Body Strength Training #2

Can be done with dumbbell, barbell, or machine:

Workout – Conditioning Workout #10

A low-impact conditioning workout performed on a stair-climber, elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, or other devices.

Workout – Conditioning Workout #11

A low-impact conditioning workout performed on a stair-climber, elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, or other devices.

Workout – Conditioning Workout #12

A low-impact conditioning workout performed on a stair-climber, elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, or other devices.

Workout – Conditioning Workout #13

A low-impact conditioning workout performed on a stair-climber, elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, or other devices.

Workout – Conditioning Workout #14

A low-impact conditioning workout performed on a stair-climber, elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, or other devices.

Workout – Conditioning Workout #15

A low-impact conditioning workout performed on a stair-climber, elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, or other devices.

Movement Refreshers for Older Athletes

You need to have basic knowledge of movements so, nothing here should be a surprise. For the conditioning, if you are using an indoor machine we recommend you check out this article on respecting the rower and for treadmills you can read about how treadmills are more than a hamster wheel and this one on non-motorized treadmills, which are expensive and not always easy to get access to use.

Glute-ham exercises come in all shapes and sizes. There are the always intimidating GHD machines and the Romanian deadlift.

If you’re having trouble with the pull-ups and chin-ups then we recommend you look at this set of pull-up instructionals and familiarize yourself with ways to adapt your training as required.

There’s also a movement library that can help you here, and if you search Breaking Muscle for anything information on the topics in this workout, you’ll no doubt find helpful articles and suggestions from a number of coaches on the site.

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