Why Do Kettlebells, Barbells, and Bodyweight Demand Different Programming
This is a great explanation by Pavel. When I started lifting in the 80s nobody was doing bodyweight training and kettlebells could not be found anywhere. Things were simpler, barbell, dumbbell or machine. Now there are so many tools available that it is a blessing and a curse. It is great because you can find a tool to fit your lifestyle, budget, personality, preferences etc... But programming gets confusing. With kettlebells for example, the weights jump from 16Kg to 24Kg to 32Kg. Those are big jumps! How do you deal with that issue? Pavel does a good job of explaining that as well as other issues in this post. There are many tools to do the job and they can all be effective if used correctly.
If you benefit from any of these programs please consider donating to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation at: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/prevosttraining/prevosttrainingfundraisingpage
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Treadmill Vs Outdoor Running
Running on a treadmill costs less energy than running outdoors if the treadmill is level. However, you can make your treadmill workout equivalent to an outdoor workout by adjusting the incline of the treadmill. According to Jones and Doust, (Jones, A. M., and Doust, J.H., A 1% treadmill grade most accurately represents the energetic cost of outdoor running, Journal of Sports Science, 1996, 14, 321-327a 1% grade is what you should use. % grade is rise over run. Most treadmills report incline in %grade. Be aware that your treadmill has to be leveled appropriately for this to work. You can check your treadmill's level with a carpenter's level. If you really want to be accurate, you can rig a protractor and a carpenter's level to measure rise and run and compare that to your treadmill's display. Also, you should check the accuracy of your treadmill's speed indicator. Put a chalk mark on the treadmill and count revolutions. With revolutions, and knowledge of the belt length, you can calculate treadmill speed.
The study used 9 male distance runners with an average VO2 max of 65 ml/kg/min. They were pretty fit. They ran for 6 minutes at each velocity and at % grades of 0, 1, 2 and 3%. Then they ran outdoors while expired air was collected in a Douglas bag. You have to appreciate the lengths to which researchers will go to gather data. The researcher had to bicycle along with the runner and hold the large weather balloon type bag, while keeping the runner on target speed. I hope he was wearing a helmet. Science is not always easy! They measured oxygen consumption and heart rate in all conditions. Outdoor running was only tested during calm wind conditions. The heart rate data for outdoor running and 1% grade treadmill are below. Note how similar they are.
The study used 9 male distance runners with an average VO2 max of 65 ml/kg/min. They were pretty fit. They ran for 6 minutes at each velocity and at % grades of 0, 1, 2 and 3%. Then they ran outdoors while expired air was collected in a Douglas bag. You have to appreciate the lengths to which researchers will go to gather data. The researcher had to bicycle along with the runner and hold the large weather balloon type bag, while keeping the runner on target speed. I hope he was wearing a helmet. Science is not always easy! They measured oxygen consumption and heart rate in all conditions. Outdoor running was only tested during calm wind conditions. The heart rate data for outdoor running and 1% grade treadmill are below. Note how similar they are.
Heart Rate: 1% Treadmill VS Outdoors
MPH | 1% | Outdoors |
6.5 | 119 | 119 |
7.4 | 128 | 128 |
8.4 | 140 | 140 |
9.3 | 153 | 153 |
10.2 | 164 | 165 |
11.2 | 173 | 174 |
Do it yourself VO2 max testing; or, how to predict your VO2 max
Here in the Human Performance Lab we do lots of VO2 max testing of Midshipmen and active duty staff. As a result, we get a nice comparison of their Physical Readiness Test (PRT, 1.5 mile run for time) run times and their laboratory VO2 max test scores. The predicted VO2 max in the linked document has proven to be very accurate. In most cases I find it to be within 1-2 ml/kg/min. In some cases we find a person with a VO2 max that predicts a better 1.5 mile performance. Inevitably this is due to poor pacing or test anxiety. Once we clear up those issues, their performance tracks with the prediction again.
If you benefit from any of these programs please consider donating to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation at: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/prevosttraining/prevosttrainingfundraisingpage
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
The Tactical Training Template - A Sustainable Weekly Training Template for the Tactical Athlete
The Tactical Training Template is a program template that I designed for a couple of very experienced warriors who were looking to stay in top shape, and wanted to do so without undue risk of injury or burnout. Both have had their fair share of injuries and have already had long and demanding careers. I borrowed some ideas from Pavel at www.strongfirst.com and Dan John at www.danjohn.net and expanded it a bit. Training the tactical athlete is about managing compromises. A smart tactical template is going to be manageable, day in and day out. Achieving a high level of fitness is not about what you can do. It is about what you can absorb and recover from, day after day. Motivated athletes can always do enough to wreck themselves. A smart template keeps training more manageable and facilitates a long career. That is the purpose of this program. I hope you find it useful.
If you benefit from any of these programs please consider donating to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation at: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/prevosttraining/prevosttrainingfundraisingpage
This is a simple, 6-week Navy Physical Readiness Test (PRT) training program that I developed and tested on hundreds of Midshipmen, while serving as the director of the remedial fitness program there. We had a very high rate of success with the program. Don't add any running to the program. it is plenty. The program has plenty of run intensity and your risk of developing a running injury is high if you add to it.
If you benefit from any of these programs please consider donating to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation at: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/prevosttraining/prevosttrainingfundraisingpage
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Pushup vs Bench Press Redux
Pete Townsend was obviously prone to his prima-donna moments. After getting a boxed set of the biggest hits of The Who, I read the little booklet from cover-to-cover (several times) and apparently, he was kind of pissed that, "I can see for Miles" one of his favorite songs that the Who ever did wasn't the smash hit he expected. When it barely broke the top 10, he said that he, "spat at the British Audience."
Kind of a douchebag statement, but what do you expect from a guy who got busted for looking up kitty porn on the internet?
I can sort of relate to his sentiments about his writing. It's not that I get pissed when something that I think is my best writing doesn't attract the most accolades but I'm curious as to why certain things that I write become so, damn popular than others. One such instance is my, by the BW-Files standards, iconic post: The Pushup vs. The Bench Press I still don't quite get why it's always my most popular all-time post.
According to BWF's CentCom, and after the title of my blog itself, a lot of my traffic comes from the following Search keywords:
Yeah, I admit, the pectoral major's are important muscles. Put your arms above your head, move them down, and then move them to the front of your body. Your pec-maj's are doing a lot of that. So, we need to work on those. That deserves a lot of attention.
Still, THIS much attention? While chest exercises will always land on pretty much everyone's top exercises, we'll all sheepishly admit that none of them are really the best exercises out there.
So, why all of the fuss?
It must be the mirrors. I still think that regardless of how much a lot of people talk about being geniunely strong, balanced, functional, real world, athletic or any other catch phrase designed to not seem obsessed about the way that they look, they're full of shit. It's far closer to a lot of people's minds than they let on. I've seen this several times when I'm working out in public, usually in a hotel parking lot. I could be doing some sort of single leg squat work, some nasty plyos, or working some sandbag cossak squats and it doesn't attract nearly as much attention if I was doing ring dips, one-arm push-ups, etc.
The upper body still rules in people's minds. The bench press rules upper body exercises.
Yeah, I do more blog entries on upper body work than the lower body. There's a lot more room for varation up top than down below since the arms move in more directions than the legs. That doesn't mean that it dominates my training and I certainly don't think it should dominate yours. In my perfect world (and mabye this is my prima-donna moment) I'd simply get rid of all of this fixation on the pecs.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think the bench press sucks. Said before, and will say again: I don't think that it strengthens the shoulder muscles equally enough to warrant it's run-away popularity. I could care less if I ever do one ever again. The push-up movement has got it all over the bench. You could probably do push-ups with no other assistance exercise and keep your shoulders intact. Even hardcore powerlifters will admit that you can't do that with the bench press. Besides, I try to keep my back and my ass off padding as much as possible during a workout. I think that there's a lot of logic to this.
The problem is that most disagree because most don't bother to take the push-up beyond a high rep or a warm-up exercise. Weighted push-ups are a nice middle ground if you seek max strength and huge chest alike. I've been doing lots of these with sandbags on my upper back.
I like the sandbag because I can place it on my back when I'm alone and put the weight of the bag over my shoulders, neck and head. If you're going to way down a push-up, this is key.
For a bodyweight purist, exericse minimalist, or budget-minded basement gorilla, you just can't go wrong with some sort of suspension training gear. This doesn't have to be expensive. I made one out of scrap rope, PVC pipe, and some knotting know-how. Push-ups on such a rig take on a whole different character.
Were these variations tried more often, I don't think that many would miss the challenge of a heavy bench press.
Kind of a douchebag statement, but what do you expect from a guy who got busted for looking up kitty porn on the internet? I can sort of relate to his sentiments about his writing. It's not that I get pissed when something that I think is my best writing doesn't attract the most accolades but I'm curious as to why certain things that I write become so, damn popular than others. One such instance is my, by the BW-Files standards, iconic post: The Pushup vs. The Bench Press I still don't quite get why it's always my most popular all-time post.
According to BWF's CentCom, and after the title of my blog itself, a lot of my traffic comes from the following Search keywords:
push ups vs bench press
body weight bench press
Yeah, I admit, the pectoral major's are important muscles. Put your arms above your head, move them down, and then move them to the front of your body. Your pec-maj's are doing a lot of that. So, we need to work on those. That deserves a lot of attention.
Still, THIS much attention? While chest exercises will always land on pretty much everyone's top exercises, we'll all sheepishly admit that none of them are really the best exercises out there.
What's the best exercise in the world? Give me $20 and I'll tell you. THE SQUAT! No, you can't have your $20 back.
So, why all of the fuss?
It must be the mirrors. I still think that regardless of how much a lot of people talk about being geniunely strong, balanced, functional, real world, athletic or any other catch phrase designed to not seem obsessed about the way that they look, they're full of shit. It's far closer to a lot of people's minds than they let on. I've seen this several times when I'm working out in public, usually in a hotel parking lot. I could be doing some sort of single leg squat work, some nasty plyos, or working some sandbag cossak squats and it doesn't attract nearly as much attention if I was doing ring dips, one-arm push-ups, etc.
The upper body still rules in people's minds. The bench press rules upper body exercises.
Yeah, I do more blog entries on upper body work than the lower body. There's a lot more room for varation up top than down below since the arms move in more directions than the legs. That doesn't mean that it dominates my training and I certainly don't think it should dominate yours. In my perfect world (and mabye this is my prima-donna moment) I'd simply get rid of all of this fixation on the pecs.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think the bench press sucks. Said before, and will say again: I don't think that it strengthens the shoulder muscles equally enough to warrant it's run-away popularity. I could care less if I ever do one ever again. The push-up movement has got it all over the bench. You could probably do push-ups with no other assistance exercise and keep your shoulders intact. Even hardcore powerlifters will admit that you can't do that with the bench press. Besides, I try to keep my back and my ass off padding as much as possible during a workout. I think that there's a lot of logic to this.
The problem is that most disagree because most don't bother to take the push-up beyond a high rep or a warm-up exercise. Weighted push-ups are a nice middle ground if you seek max strength and huge chest alike. I've been doing lots of these with sandbags on my upper back.
I like the sandbag because I can place it on my back when I'm alone and put the weight of the bag over my shoulders, neck and head. If you're going to way down a push-up, this is key.
For a bodyweight purist, exericse minimalist, or budget-minded basement gorilla, you just can't go wrong with some sort of suspension training gear. This doesn't have to be expensive. I made one out of scrap rope, PVC pipe, and some knotting know-how. Push-ups on such a rig take on a whole different character.
Were these variations tried more often, I don't think that many would miss the challenge of a heavy bench press.
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