Scott Gray's Blog

Periodization for Sprinters Part 2: The Charlie Francis System

2011-01-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

First off, Happy New Year to everyone as I hope this year brings great success and fortune to everyone in achieving their fitness and athletic accomplishments and other personal goals.

I had previously written a blog about how standard periodization doesn't allow optimal training effects for sprinters because it spends too much time in a intensity that is too slow to train for speed and too fast to train for recovery. Additionally, it spends too much time using heavy weights and not enough time in actual true spee.d training with an optimal intensity of 95% or higher.

Instead of the above approach, the intensity of speed, weights, and plyometrics should always be constant-- only the volumes change. For instance, when speed is the main emphasis, speed and plyometrics should be higher in volume than weights-- as weights will compete against speed training for the training effect of the CNS. For instance, if in season, weights volume will go down, while speed and plyometric volume goes up. This can be applied vice versa if the athlete is out of season as well.

This same approach can be applied to many other sports as well depending on what time of the year, what the athlete's needs are, and etc.

On a side note, it is vital for any sport in athletics to have already a good base of GPP before intensity is increased as it will allow for faster recovery in between reps, sets, and sessions.

Regards,
Scott Gray

Using Rate with Percieved Exertions to Get a Better Training Effect

2010-12-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

First, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. This has been a wonderful Christmas in spending much needed time with my family, friends, and girl friend. I hope everyone had the same experience this Christmas.

Now, I would like to talk about a simple yet effective way to monitor a training load to get an effective training effect called: Rate with Perceived Exertion (RPE).

Many Strength Coaches or trainers use percentages to calculate the required training load for the specific ability that is being targeted. For instance, if someone is targeting the maximum strength, a coach may use anywhere from 90 to 100 % of their 1RM to pick their desired load, which is OK but I have had more success with using RPE's.

In regards to RPE's, they can be used in many different beneficial settings, for example, if an athlete comes in to workout but have experienced just an awful week or day (which happens time to time due to social and environmental foces and etc) and are just not feeling a strong as usual, it would not be beneficial to complete a workout under the percentages method described above. However, the athlete would benefit more from the RPE method because it uses a scale of 1-20 or 1-10 as described below. So, if an athlete is in-season and looking to just retain max strength they would come in and do sets at an RPE of 7 (using the 10 scale), which is based off the difficulty of the exercise for that day.

Borg's Rate of Perceived Exertion:
RPE Values Load Quantification Type of workout
6-11 fairly easy Restoration
12-14 slightly difficult Retention
15-16 difficult development- substantial load
17-18 Very Difficult development- large load
19-20 very, very, difficult development extreme load

Another great way in using RPE's is it allows you to pick a load that is very large, moderate, light and etc, without having to calculate ones 1 RM, and as mentioned above, the training load is based off of how the athlete is feeling that day. For instance, if little Johny comes in to squat at an RPE of 8 but is feeling just awesome and stronger than ever, he would not get the desired training effect possibly from the percentage method because the weight would probably be too light. Instead, he comes in using the RPE method and is using a weight that is efficient for him to get the desired training stimulus.

Conclusion:
RPE's are a great way to determine which ability you want to target if its max strength, endurance, and etc. Also, they are a great way to adjust training loads based off of how the athlete is feeling during the time of their workout, so they can get the desired training effect or so they don't over train or under train. Give RPE's a try!

Issurin, Vladimir, and Michael Yessis. "Table 2.4." Block Periodization. Michigan: Ultimate Athlete Concepts, 2008. 45. Print.

-Scott

Standard Periodization for Sprinting ?

2010-12-23T05:33:00.000-08:00

In designing a sprinters off-season or in -season program, often coaches follow typical standardized periodization or linear periodization ( however you want to call it). This type of periodization brings some problems to the table because it usually starts out at a intensity that is really low and then gradually increases the intensity while the volume drops substantially. By the time they reach higher intensity's with lower volume, this is not enough speed work to really improve upon speed. In addition to this, sprinters need work at high speeds to work on their form, not lower speeds.

Another issue with standardized periodization is if you look at the model it spends the majority of the training in 76 - 94 % of the athletes best effort, which is too slow to train for speed and too fast to be considered recovery work. Basically your training your CNS to be slower.

Finally, while this intensity of 76-94 % is going on, the model represents doing max strength work for 12 weeks. As stated above, this just only hampers your CNS because your never allowed training days lower than 76 % of your best effort.

On a side note, I will finally updating this blog one to two times a week now that I am officially graduated and don't have any athletic commitments. Also, I will be posting the peridiozation that is recommended instead of this linear model.

-Scott

Francis, Charlie. Structure of Training for Speed. Charliefrancis.com, 2008. Print.

Getting Back & Patella Tendintis

2010-11-10T07:09:00.001-08:00

With football season officially coming to a close this weekend, I will finally be back to providing some content that I have come across the last few months.

I must admit, these last few months have been extremely hectic and it will be nice to have football over with so I can switch my focus towards training and more time in reading content that I have been wanting to review.

With that being said, I have recently been helping one of my very own teammates who has been struggling with anterior knee pain. His pain has gotten so bad that you can totally see his compensation patterns throughout his kinetic chain due to the pain he is going through.

I have been observing him for quite some time now, and finally decided to step in after seeing poor assessments and treatment on part of the medical staff, which included yours truly: ultrasound and quad strengthening. No wonder his pain has gotten worst; he was building strength on top of his dysfunction.

When I came to offer my teammate proper rehabilitation advice, I took him through some very simple movements just to see how he moved ( I already had a good idea as how he moved but just wanted to make sure). In taking him through a body weight squat and lunge, no surprise was found what so ever; his initial movements were having the knee glide over the ankle instead of pushing the hips back on the squat or stepping with the front leg under control on the lunge.

In addition to the quad dominant movement patterns, he has got some other issues. For instance, his knees goes into valgus ( where the knee collapses inwards). This is yet another result of poor hips and glutes.

In the next couple of weeks I hope to possibly get some sort of videos up of his movement & I write up a sample of corrective work that someone with such knee pain should be doing to fix this issue.

- Scott

Energy System Development For Football

2010-07-15T05:26:00.000-07:00

With football season approaching right around the corner, I thought I'd talk about a topic of personal interestof mine, Energy System Development for sport, and more particularly, for Football.

First off, lets take a step back and review all three of the different energy systems your body uses in different sports or activities.

1. ATP-PC System- . This particular system provides energy very fast and instantly for about a around 1-10 seconds depending on what research you read. A good example of this particular energy system would be a sport such as 100 M dash or football.

2. Glycolosysis- After the ATP-PC system runs out of storage of available energy it then turns to Anerorbic Glycolosysis to continue to create ATP. Glycolosysis relies solely on the breakdown of glycogen (stored glucose) or in other words carbohydrates. Within this stage, lactic acid will build up and cause what most people describe as the "burn" or the sensation of not being able to contract their muscles as efficiently. You will start to feel this burn anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes of time. The final output of glycolosys only nets 2 ATP for each glucose molecule.

3.Oxidative Phosphorylation- This stage relies aerobically (with oxygen) for energy or creation of ATP. It takes awhile for this energy system to kick on, but when it does, it is the most efficient as it produces 34 molecules of ATP. But, before it reaches 34 ATP it also goes through a long drown out process like Glycolosis mentioned above as it breaks down the glucose molecule even further for its energy.

As you can see, Oxidative Phosphorylation is the most efficient at producing energy; however, it takes time for it to go through a the long drawn out process mentioned above. Meanwhile, ATP-PC system is very good at providing energy quickly for shortbursts but doesn't last long, and Glycolysis really isn't that effecient at all. All three of these systems have their drawbacks and benefits but now its just comes down to applying this knowledge when developing the appropriate training program for ESD.

Now, back to football training. Too often coaches are having their players train glycolytic, which has many different issues in regards to strength training, regeneration, and purely just isn't necessary for this particular sport.

In looking at the demands of football, there is many short bursts lasting from 2-6 seconds on most plays. In addition to that, their is approximately 60 snaps so players will also tap into their Oxidative system for energy. This information mean that football is primarliy an alactic sport that is ATP-PC and Oxidative driven.

In putting a football training program together, it should consist of aerobic base in the GPP phase , and then gradually include sport related movements such as sprinting, back pedaling, shuffling, cutting, and etc all under anerobic threshold- this produces the ATP-PC and Oxidative systems together. Staying under AT will allow the athlete to continually development of strenth and also recover more profecciently inbetween workouts. On top of all this, the Aerobic system can be increased up to 240%, while the Glycolitic can only be increased up to 12%. In applying this information, its a no brainer that coaches need to train their football players in a more effecient manner

Split Squats

2010-06-28T05:22:00.001-07:00

When a new client comes to you in regards to fitness, rehab, or even performance, more times than not, you will find they have very stiff quadriceps.

That being said, an exercise I like to use to loosen those muscles up is a Split Squat.

Now, I am sure everyone has heard or seen it before, but too often I see people not doing them correctly. So here are some points to consider when doing this exercise correctly:

1. Start the client in the bottom position of 90/90
2. Have them then raise up to the top position
3. Initiate contraction of the back glute and external obliques to get a stretch on the trail leg
4. From here, tell the client to lower themselves strait down, while maintaining contraction of the glutes and external obliques mentioned above. If they lose this contraction tell them to only go down as far as they can maintain this position.
5. Don't allow the front leg to cave in (this is a sign of unstable hip).
6. A good way to allow the client to go strait down is to put your hand in front of the front leg and tell them " do not allow your knee to glide into my hand."

Not only can you incorporate the split squat in regards to just working the legs, but also incorporate it into pushes and pulls from the split stance. This is a great way to include the obliques and glutes to work at the same time and also losen up the quads.

Here are a few videos of each:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyg1cVYByIo - Do you see what he is doing wrong?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvCo9uNsfJU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-nOegYvSY8

If you are interested in single leg training, then check out my friend and mentor, Mike Robertson's Single Leg Solution.

Scott

Perform Better Chicago

2010-06-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

This past weekend i attended Perform Better Chicago and I wanted to leave some key points that I learned this past weekend:

1. Continue to read and expand your knowledge daily
2. Don't be afraid to ask people for money cause your time is valuable
3. See Mark Verstagen, Todd Durkin, Alwyn Cosgroe, and Thomas Plummer speak if given the chance
4. Learn to breath through your Diaphragm
5. Train 3-4 clients at a time is your best bet to make money
6. What is your plan for the next 3-5 years?
7. Take Risks
8. Never talk your competition down-- this is just bad business.
9. Customer Service is key for a successful fitness business
10. Attend continuing education seminars (think of these as an investment to yourself and business)
10. Again I can't stress this enough so I'll mention it one more time: keep reading!

Scott

Anterior Tilt

2010-06-15T17:58:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, your rectus femoris plays a vital role in pulling the pelvis in an anterior tilt due to its origin and insertion.

But at the same time, your weak glutes and external obliques are gulity as well. The obliques have a pull upward on the pelvis, while the glutes pull the pelvis posteriorly.

What it all boils down to is the length vs tension relationship.

Thus, if you have more force pulling downward, instead of upward, then the muscle pulling down wins and the end result is a pelvis stuck in an anterior tilt.

For instance, most people's rectus is shortened, they have weak glutes, and weak external obliques, so the end result is a pelvis stuck in that AT.

So if your stuck in an anterior tilt, get your butt and oblques in order and you will see some serious results.

Here are a few of my exercises that I like to prescribe for beginners in regards to external obliques:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8brD7K5wMk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG4ripjmae0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI7gocx0PEA

Scott

Quad Dominance

2010-06-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

Have you looked around lately?

Well, I have, and I can tell you more and more all I see is people with no butt and huge quads, or in other words, I like to call them Quad Zilla!

So you may ask yourself, why is this?

Well, this is because in today's world more and more people are becoming less active, thus, they are sitting on their bottoms for longer durations throughout the day. In return, this inhibits the gluteals and shortens the the quadriceps and hip flexors, which will pull the pelvis in an anterior tilt.

In order to fix this, I would start incorporating a quad stretch pre workout- which allows the gluteals to function better, and then follow it up by an activation exercise such as glute bridges, clam shells, and side lying hip abduction. All three of these exercises will allow you to get all three of the different fibers within the butt.

That said, continue to incorporate these three exercises, stretch the quadriceps, stand up every 15 minutes from your chair and try to squeeze your butt together, and you will start to see some changes within your bottom and pelvic tilt.

Stay tuned as I will provide more information regarding this subject!

Scott

Summer 2010

2010-06-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

Currently I am interning at Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training, better known as I-FAST.
Here, at I-FAST, I am working with two of the best in the performance and rehabilitation industry in Mike Robertson and Bill Hartman. From here on out, I will be writing about information that I fine relevant to help myself and others within the industry. That said, stay tuned!

Scott