To me the biggest focus on the fitness industry should not be on little ins and outs of nutrient timing or posting about how much time you should be off social media before you lift (seriously I saw this one and wanted to throw my phone). It should be about how can we get more people moving. Especially when you consider our healthcare system in the U.S. has so many issues, the focus should be on trying to get movement in, so we don’t need to lean on it so much. I know for some that is hard because of certain conditions, still let’s do our best to get moving so we can let those that have issues that nutrition and exercise can’t fix, have the room they need. Won’t go further into this part because there’s tons of layers to peel back, I think you understand what I’m driving at here.
Of course, I’m biased to picking up heavy stuff and putting it back down, not only because I enjoy it but because of the loads of benefits it provides, I’m not against other things. Hell, if walking is what is going to get someone consistent movement, get after it and good on them. The way I see it, is if we can get more of the population up and moving, more of them will eventually find themselves with weights in hand. One of the reasons I very much enjoy working with my young athletes is because I know I can set these kids up to do this for life, so they do not end up like those that are working on just getting off their butts. I get to teach them that just because their sports go away does not mean there is benefit in getting to the gym and getting a bar in their hands. Does the reason change? Yes, it does. Do the benefits change? Not a chance. I’m especially proud of the female athletes that move on from me but continue to get in the gym and pick up some heavy stuff, that is another positive way to move fitness forward. The question remains if you were not taught this at a younger age, how do you start now? Just do the thing. Ready for a walk? Off for a stroll you go. Feeling like some yoga? Get your stretch on and enjoy. Body weight circuit? Cool go for it (and hit me up if you need ideas). If nothing else, ask someone you feel like has some (even if limited) knowledge about exercise and go from there. Those are the things in my brain for today folks, happy Thursday and enjoy your weekend!
0 Comments
Today, I have bone to pick with some folks out there, I’m talking to you dudes who don’t like to let anyone not in your clan in to the weight room. This has got to change, now. I have had the pleasure of coaching some of the most badass, hardworking female athletes and they still get uncomfortable because guy’s can’t control themselves or at least act in a welcoming manner. I had two distance (online programming) athletes tell me about uncomfortable situations at the gym. 1) Had just the awkwardness of many boys being Bros, we know what it means and giving off the vibe that nobody but their kind is allowed to lift on the deadlift platforms. 2) Another had the very uncomfortable event of being the only female in the gym that wanted to use the trap bar and the guys seemingly pressuring her to hurry up with it by constantly staring at her. When dude’s wonder why there are women only gyms or women only areas of gym, THIS is why. I have had some athletes be able to defy this and tell the boys to shove it. With that they created themselves a space of comfort so they could do their lifts with no issue, but not every one of them finds success like this. I think I do a pretty damn good job making sure that female's that want to pick up heavy shit with me feel like 250 Cypress street is a safe space. Naturally, I'm annoyed that it's so easily undone once they leave my gym and use other facilities. To counter this, let's lay down some easy rules that can make a female feel more welcomed in the gym, the heavy weights area especially;
-Ask if they need the bar or platform. Might be all it takes for them to get after it. -Wait your damn turn if someone you want to use is in use, you wouldn’t want someone vulturing around you for a piece of equipment, imagine this being 10x more uncomfortable for a woman. -Don’t stare, this should not require reminder or explanation. -Lastly, keep your conversations appropriate for public. Little boys tend to talk about little things too often in the public sphere and when a female can here a conversation like this, even if it’s somewhat tame, it gets uncomfortable very quickly. In the end, SHARE because the more people picking up heavy shit, especially at younger ages, the better off the world is, promise. Thanks for reading friends have a great day! Nearly every coach trains two different populations, and many ask, what’s the difference between programming for gen pop and a competitive athlete? In my experience I’ve trained both people that would be categorized as general population (gen pop) and people that would be categorized as competitive athletes (athletes). To some, or perhaps minimal shock, there is not that much of difference in training the two. The nuts and bolts are primarily the same, both need to squat, hinge, push, pull, carry, and do some unilateral movement. Both need to train movements in all 3 planes, and both need to develop power. The differences are subtle, but here are 3 that I can see.
Load management- Athletes tend to have a (or several) very obvious time of the year when they are under heavy stress and workload. Since the odds are the sport coach is not going to manage their stress loads, it’s up to the S&C coaches to control their training volume and intensity so they don’t get run down and/or hurt. For gen pop, load management also needs to be considered in times of high stress too. The difference in this case is those times of the year tend to be a little more random, not completely, but certainly less predictable than a sports season’s schedule. Bulletproofing- For me, programming with an athlete always includes a direct attempt to target some of the more often injured areas of an athlete in general, muscles such as hamstring, calf and adductors being the 3 I focus on the most. With gen pop, it’s less of a focus on certain areas and trying to cover all bases until something more acute rears its ugly head. Like it or not, as hard as we try, life tends to bring these about, so we deal with them as they come along. Conditioning/Cardio- With athlete’s the conditioning is tailored to their sport of choice. Whether they want to focus on conditioning for 1 particular sport that’s their “main” sport or just try to adapt to whatever sport is around the corner. Work and rest ration, rounds, working on full tank versus working on empty, all of it factors in. For gen pop folks, you can usually be a little freer, mix and match, whatever feels good type of stuff. Still need to get the heart and lungs pumping, give rest and progress with some thought, but it doesn’t need to be too detailed. While the some folks may not identify as a competitive athlete, there’s nothing wrong with a parent wanting to train like an athlete so they can always keep up with their kids or business person trying training like one so they can keep up with the go go go that comes with their job. It’s just the little subtleties that are different in the programming, for those folks and a competitive athlete. Thanks for stopping by and reading friends, have yourself a weekend and I'll be back soon with more goods. |
Details
AuthorJarrod Dyke, CSCS Archives
May 2024
Categories |