Recently in Strength Training Category

Survival of the Fittest Weekly Challenge Schedule

By Jen Sinkler / January 2012

Here's the Dill: A couple weeks ago, fitness blogger and self-proclaimed "bro trainer" JC Deen challenged me via Twitter to a front-squat duel with a barbell loaded to the equivalent of our respective body weights. This is exactly the sort of thing I can't resist, so it was on. Roger Lawson and David Dellanave, also up for a challenge, joined the fun. We talked about our experiences on social media and posted videos of our results, and it grew from there. Strength coaches and fitness enthusiasts from all over took video of their own max-reps sets and posted them at my fitness page, Survival of the Fittest.

It was so fun we've decided to make it a weekly thing, and invite everybody. Wanna play?

The Rules:
1. If you want your video to be included in the weekly write-up, post it in the comments section of the appropriate challenge post at Survival of the Fittest the blog by Wednesday night Pacific Time. I'll post the details of that week's challenge every Monday; that means you have two days to slap your link up there.

Also:
-Put "Survival Challenge" in the video's title.
-Tag it with "Survival Challenge."
-If you use Twitter, use the hashtag #SurvivalChallenge

2. Don't be a jerk about other contestants' exercise form. This isn't an "anything goes" situation, but understand that people have different lifting styles, and the definition of "perfect form" isn't universal. That said, don't do anything dumb in the name of competition. If you aren't able to safely lift the weight ratios involved in that week's challenge, sit it out.

3. Or, if you're not one for sitting things out, scale it by using less weight! I'll still post your results in the weekly write-up even if you're not in the running to be crowned that week's winner. We're all about inclusion around here, anyone willing to post a video can play.

The Prize: Bragging rights and enjoyment. That's it. This is about having fun and finding out what you're capable of. It's not about proving who's the baddest a$$ of them all. (OK, it might be just a little bit about that, but it's mostly about having fun.)

Survival of the Fittest Challenge Schedule
Week of 1/23: Max reps of front squat with your body weight on the bar: Check! Already done; thank you to all who participated! (Of course, if you want to compete retroactively, feel free to post your video at the Survival of the Fittest Facebook page just for fun.)

Week of 1/30: Chin-up negative for time

Week of 2/6: Max reps of back squat with your body weight on the bar

Week of 2/13: Max reps of chin-ups

Week of 2/20: Deadlift 1.5 body weight for max reps

Week of 2/27: Bench press: body weight on bar

Week of 3/5: Barbell push press (1/2 body weight)

Week of 3/12: Swings: Men's weight 32 kg; women's weight 24 kg

Week of 3/19: Strict barbell curls (must hold a sheet of paper between your head and the wall and also your butt and a wall)

Beyond that: TBD

[photo credit: www.menshealth.com]

"Change The Way You Look at Things, And The Things You Look at Change"

By Nik Illies / December 2011

Can you change your body with just your thoughts? This may sound wild, but there is evidence to support such a thing.

Some Research

First, a Harvard study by psychologist Ellen Langer, followed 84 hotel maids from seven different hotels. The idea was to look at whether or not the perception of exercise influenced the results. The maids were asked how much they exercise, to which 67 percent reported they didn't exercise regularly. And more than one-third of those reported they didn't get any exercise at all. They assessed the maids' body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, blood pressure, weight and body mass index. The researchers found that all of these indicators matched the maids' perceived amount of exercise, rather than their actual amount of exercise. The maids were then split into two groups, one being told just how much exercise they were actually getting just by doing their jobs, and that it even exceeded the surgeon generals recommendation. The other group was told nothing.

Findings

One month later, Langer and her team returned to take physical measurements of the women and were surprised by what they found. In the group that had been told they were essentially already exercising at work, there was a decrease in their systolic blood pressure, weight, and waist-to-hip ratio -- and a 10 percent drop in blood pressure. When asked whether or not the maids had made any other lifestyle changes, they answered that they hadn't. This leaves only the change in perception of what they were already doing to be key. The important takeaway from this, to me, is not that the maids lost weight after changing their perception to their physical activity, but rather how their previous perception kept them from the changes in the first place -- even with the same activity level. Are you, or someone you know already putting in the work but deep down believing that you just can't get the body you want? Your perception may play a much larger role then you think.

Another Study Looking at Strength Gains

Another study done by Erin M. Shackell and Lionel G. Standing at Bishop's University demonstrates some correlating evidence, but rather than looking at weight loss, they analyzed the impact of thought training and strength gains. They randomly split 30 college student athletes into 3 groups of 10. One group mentally practiced a hip-strength exercise. One group physically practiced the exercise. And the control group did nothing. The mental training group was directed to imagine doing the exercise in extreme detail, including adding weight and performing four sets of eight repetitions.

More Interesting Findings

The group that did the physical exercises saw gains of 28.3 percent. The control group saw little to no gains. Both of these would be expected. What was unexpected was the mental training group saw gains of 23.7 percent -- almost as much the physical training group!

The Takeaway

Most people find no problem accepting the idea that things like stress, anxiety, depression, etc., can have a negative impact on our health. Or that visualization can help athletes performance. But the idea what we can physically change our bodies simply with our thoughts turns most conventional thinking on its head. The power of the placebo effect is impressive. But what is equally important is what is known as the "nocebo" effect. Just like positive thoughts can affect you with the placebo affect, the opposite can be true with the nocebo affect. Remember how they maids health markers correlated with their perspective of lack of exercise even when they were getting it?

I don't think it's good advice to say we don't need to take action, but rather sit around and think about taking action but rather, align both. Do what you believe will get you the results you want, and believe what you are doing will accomplish this. And remember, what can work for us, can also work against us. If you are putting in the time and work and not seeing the results you want, ask yourself what results you truly deep down believe you can achieve. Can you honestly see yourself in the body you want? Or do you have limiting beliefs telling yourself how you cannot get there? This may play a much bigger role in results than conventional thinking allows. It is possible your perspective and self-limiting beliefs may literally be hindering your progress.

"The energy of the mind is the essence of life." Aristotle

More Resources

If this kind of information interests you and you want to learn more about the effects your thoughts, beliefs, and intentions can have, here are a few more sources you can check out.

The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton

Upgrade Your Brain by Jon Spayde (Experience Life article)

The Intention Experiment and The Field by Lynn McTaggart

Spontaneous Healing of Belief and The Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden

The Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto

The Living Matrix: Film on the New Science of Healing

[photo via http://www.elec-intro.com/maid-of-ringtone]

To Look Like a Roman Warrior, Try Eating Like One

By Nik Illies / December 2011

How often do you hear, or maybe say yourself, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," or "Eating late at night before bed is the worst thing you can do!" It's repeated over and over as if it's a mantra integral in the human experience. But is it true?

Not according to Ori Hofmekler. The idea behind his book, The Warrior Diet, flies in the face of all conventional thinking on diet, but it may be far more compatible with the way humans were meant to eat than conventional ideas on eating.

In the most basic sense, the warrior diet involves a long "undereating" phase lasting around 20 hours, followed by a shorter "overeating" phase at night, preferably following a workout. The main difference between the warrior diet and intermittent fasting (IF) is that you are not completely abstaining from food during the day.

Undereating Phase

During the undereating phase, Hofmekler recommends "live" foods such as vegetables, some fruits, and easily digestible proteins like yogurt, boiled egg or whey. The goal of the undereating phase is to detoxify the body, build up enzymes, stabilize blood sugar and insulin, and as Hofmekler calls it, "burn up the rubbish." Digestion also takes a huge amount of energy and if you're eating every two to three hours, you're constantly using up energy to break down and digest these foods. Also, proteins cannot be fully broken down and digested without proper enzymes, so the building up of enzymes by consuming live foods is key during the undereating phase to prepare for the overeating phase. He also says that no carbohydrates other then fresh fruits and vegetables should be eating during this phase.

Overeating Phase

As for the overeating phase, Hofmekler starts with three basic rules.
Rule 1. Always start with subtle-tasting foods and move to more aggressive flavors.
Rule 2. Include as many tastes, textures, colors and aromas as possible.
Rule 3. Stop eating when you feel more thirsty than hungry.

Following these three guidelines and ingesting clean, real foods, eat all you want and stop when you are satisfied. Pretty simple, right? 

Athletes on The Warrior Diet

As for athletes, Hofmekler recommends a preworkout whey protein shake (if you can't sustain your energy in the fasted state) and another shake immediately postworkout, followed by your first big meal within the hour. This is usually the strategy I use and it works quite well for me. That said, there is a lot of evidence supporting the benefits of working out in a fasted state, so it's worth playing around with.

Like any diet, it's not for everyone, especially if you have other health problems to address first (like adrenal fatigue, for example). You may have to modify it to suit you, which is totally fine (it's your life, your body!). But once I implemented warrior diet concepts, I experienced a great sense of freedom: You aren't on a regimented schedule, and you don't have to stress about where to find decent food during the day. The hardest part is getting used to not eating much during the day, which is usually much more mental than it is physical.

Hofmekler points to the fact that if you keep feeding a caged animal, it will keep eating -- regardless of hunger. So I set myself free.

Other Info

Hofmeklar also goes into great length about the history of ancient warrior cultures like the Romans and how he came up with The Warrior Diet. He also covers dealing with stubborn fat and the role of hormones like estrogen, a Q&A section and a bunch of recipes at the end.

For more information on different types of intermittent fasting, including The Warrior Diet, see Nia Shanks' post in Experience Life's "Contributor's Corner" here.

There are plenty of interviews with Hofmeklar on YouTube; here's one on timing of meals:

[photo credit above] Nerdfitness.com/blog

Back to Deadlifting

By Jen Sinkler / December 2011

Wanna hear my dirty little secret?

Even though I've long been a vocal proponent of deadlifting, posting plenty of links and love at this blog's sister page on Facebook, I haven't done much of it myself over the past couple years.

I'm completely on board with it being one of the best (and arguably the best) full-body lift you can do, but afterward I'd always feel like my sacroilliac (SI) joints had come apart at the seams, and I'd be out of commission for a week or more. (For more on SI Joint pain, see here and here [scroll to bottom].) In other words, not worth it (for me).

OK, sometimes worth it: I competed in the Tactical Strength Challenge (TSC) this September, and pulled a single rep at 285, but it absolutely wrecked my lower back for the following week.



Then, over the past few months, a couple things happened:

1) I got jealous: I kept seeing Beautiful Bada$$ founder Nia Shanks post more and more deadlift videos, and she always makes it look so fun and satisfying: Head to minute 2:20 to see 125-pound Nia nail a 330-pound sumo deadlift PR. I started to want to deadlift again.
 


2) I got smarter: The other thing that happened was that I started training differently, experimenting with variations such as sumo and Jefferson, and only pulling weight I knew I could pull without pain. And -- counterintuitively -- I also worked to achieve more motion in my lumbar spine (years of landing hard on my a$$ during rugby games had left it without even the little bit of bend it's supposed to have).

Here I am demonstrating a Jefferson deadlift for Coach Dos.

As a result, I was deadlifting without lower-back pain for the first time in years, and I began to even look forward to deadlift nights. I still played it cautious, however: I hadn't ventured above 265 pounds since before the back-hurting TSC (my previous one-rep max was 303), but when Nia asked a few of us last night for deadlift videos (stay tuned for her post on the topic!), it seemed like a good time to assess where I was at. The video below is what happened: a triple at a little over twice my body weight.    

Some Days...

By Jen Sinkler / May 2010

... don't you feel like this? :)

Confession: I'm a CrossFitter

By Jen Sinkler / April 2010

More than a month ago, I posted a somewhat vague entry hinting that I'd found an exciting new way to push myself out of my fitness comfort zone, and then I promised to talk about it in greater detail the following week.

Well, I lied. If you're a regular reader (as regular as you can be when your writer is this dodgy), you already know I do that sometimes, especially when the Next Post is supposed to be Important. There's never enough time to make that Next Post as eloquent and organized as I want to be, you see, but it takes me forever to get to the point I'm ready to splat it onto the page however it lands, just to get it over with. We are now to that point, however -- welcome.

LET'S START WITH SOME BACKGROUND: I've played rugby for one million years. Give or take. It's something I've tried to retire from several times, but I could never quite kick the habit. (Damn you, rugby, I can't quit you.) Mainly because I wasn't creative enough to figure out what else to be, if not a rugby player. 

But I don't want to be tackled every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (and sometimes Sunday) for the rest of my life, so after Keystone's fall season ended, I decided -- again -- to try quitting. And this time, I had a crutch. A crutch called CrossFit.

If you're not familiar, let Wiki tell you what CrossFit is:

CrossFit is a strength and conditioning fitness methodology that promotes broad and general overall physical fitness. CrossFit combines weightlifting, sprinting and gymnastics. CrossFit says that proficiency is required in each of ten fitness domains: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination and accuracy. It defines fitness as increased work capacity across all these domains and says its program achieves this by provoking neurologic and hormonal adaptations across all metabolic pathways.

CrossFit athletes run, row, skip, climb rope and carry odd objects. They frequently move large loads quickly over long distances, using powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting techniques. CrossFit athletes also use dumbbells, gymnastics rings, pull-up bars, kettlebells and many bodyweight exercises.

In short, the emphasis is on creating complete, balanced athletes -- fitness generalists, as opposed to specialists. The idea is, train for everything, so you can do just about anything you want to pretty darn well.

Sounds delightful, no? It is.

It is also, however, a fitness methodology that's often heavily criticized within the strength and conditioning community for its constantly varying, seemingly random programming; its inclusion of movements normally done in low-rep sets (Olympic lifts and plyometrics) in higher volume; and its sometimes-relentless insistence to go harder, harder, harder -- even if you shouldn't (yet).

Those things are true, too...in some CrossFit facilities. Best I can tell, it's a case of quality control -- with somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 affiliates and counting (each of which pays an annual fee in exchange for the right to use the name), CrossFit headquarters has struggled to keep tabs on what exactly each gym is doing in the name of CrossFit.

Another source of the controversy, it seems, is CrossFit's outspoken founder, ex-gymnast Greg Glassman, who's more than willing, it seems, to cut ties with those who take issue with his approach. For more, T-Muscle author Chris Shugart does a well and balanced job of checking out the trend in "The Truth About Crossfit."

THE POINT IS, "CrossFit" isn't executed the same way at all facilities. Some wield it well, others not so much. The facility I haunt, CrossFit 215 in Philadelphia, uses its powers for good. The programming exhibits a strength bias (which means, along with the workout of the day, clients follow a periodized weight program); the coaches are well-versed and encouraging; and everywhere you look, there are fun toys to play with (bumper plates! kettlebells! rings! pull-up bars!).

It's like a playground for adults, and since I began in earnest this January, I've realized several things: 1) I hadn't done handstands in far too long (and I'd never done a handstand pushup prior to walking through the doors of 215). 2) I should have been doing more pull-ups. Waaay more pull-ups. There's something eminently satisfying about being able to do them. And also knowing you can do them. 3) I hadn't moved serious weight in forever, and I was missing out: Olympic lifting is some of the most fun you can have in a gym. I had no idea what I was capable of, and the idea that I'm in the process of finding out is nothing short of thrilling. As is the feeling of setting new PRs regularly.

 
[Zach Mariacher, Micah Macbeth, Angie Brambley and Jay Ross demo handstand pushups.]

And yet, it's not all success all the time. There are plenty of exercises I haven't yet mastered (stoopid muscle-ups!), much potential I haven't tapped and workouts I'm downright terrible at (namely, anything lasting over 16 minutes). Which makes every breakthrough mean that much more. It's rewarding work because you're acutely aware, every step of the way, that you earned it.   

Technically, you don't even need a facility. CrossFit workouts are available for free on most affiliates' Web sites, and also on the CrossFit mainpage (www.crossfit.com). Meaning, you can do CrossFit workouts at any gym, any time. Say, for instance, at your local Life Time Fitness (the fabulous publisher of one Experience Life magazine). ;)

But for many, the point is not the workouts themselves, or the accompanying results. It's the sense of community that comes with gutting out a hard workout with your peers, picking each other up during the toughest spots (sometimes literally, sweatily), and bonding afterward over your shared survival.


[Friend Angie Brambley and myself postworkout...OMG that was hard.]

And that, friends, is why I'm hooked. It's become my new rugby precisely how rugby became my rugby to begin with (ya dig?): the people. I cherish the camaraderie of every class. 

OK, that's not the entire truth. I cherish the camaraderie, and the tacit agreement that we are all trying to beat each others' asses in the workout of the day (or WOD, as they're called), even as we encourage and push each other. It smacks of sport, and that's exactly what it's becoming.

ALONG WITH THE IN-CLASS COMPETITIVE VIBE, local, regional and national CrossFit competitions have increased in popularity over the past few years, snaring crossover and newbie athletes alike. Each competition consists of several WODs, and the winners are those who complete the most reps, use the heaviest weight or have the fastest time, depending on the set-up. The best of the best compete in the CrossFit Games, an international competition that takes place each July.

I didn't intend to start competing. I even managed to avoid the first in-house competition my gym had. But eventually, through a mixture of peer pressure and curiosity, I decided to give it a try, signing up for the PA/MD/DE sectionals event in mid-March. (It was right around that time I posted here on the value of experiencing discomfort.) I excelled at the short, power-based workout (tied for third!), then absolutely suffered through the longer workouts, finishing squarely in the middle of the pack. Though I finished 11th overall (out of 35 women) and won a bid to move on to the next round of competition -- not bad for my first time out -- it was a humbling experience. To even watch some of the feats of athleticism exhibited that day was impressive and enviable, and it made me want more. Even though I was downright average at two of three workouts. Perhaps because I was average. Because there was much room for improvement, there was much room for success. This was not only something to do, but something to once again be.

I'm not sure I'll ever be a good CrossFitter. But I am pretty sure I want to find out.

 
[Jumprope double-unders with a 15-pound weighted vest during one of the PA/MD/DE sectional workouts...fun for the twisted.]

215 has entered a team (consisting of three men and three women) into a regional competition in May. I'll probably document our adventures here at Survival of the Fittest. Below is a photo of our first outing, where we won the Cup of the Beast at CrossFit Dover in Delaware.

        
[From left to right: Terrence Fenningham, Becky Geiss, Micah Macbeth, Angie Brambley, Jay Ross and myself.]

Call it a tangent or call it a sidebar, but here are some of the pros and cons of CrossFit, as I see it:
Pro: I'm always having to defend the CrossFit portion of my training regimen (it's a great opportunity to have conversations about what it is, what it isn't and how widely facilities and programming vary).
Con: I'm always having to defend the CrossFit portion of my training regimen (it can get old if someone is just looking for an argument).

Con: Some call it a cult. CultFit, to be exact.
Pro: If it is, it's a really cool one where you get to talk about workouts and nutrition to your heart's content, all while wearing LuluLemon pants and American Apparel t-shirts.

Pro: I get to see what I'm made of. 
Con: I don't always like what I see. It is, in places, pretty flimsy stuff.

Con: Many female CrossFitters wear pigtails, which I abhor.
Pro: My side ponytail and Jersey-Shore-esque bump (which are no less ridiculous) fit right in.

Pro: Daaaang, you start to look and feel good.
Con: You have to start carrying your facility's cards on your person at all times for baristas, strangers in bathrooms (emphasis on strange) and anyone else who asks where you work out and what type of training you do.

Con: Much in the way every article about rugby mentions blood, every article about CrossFit mentions puke. 
Pro: Misunderstood cultures tend to be more tightly knit (triathletes, rugby players and CrossFitters are all peas in slightly odd pods).

Additional Reading:
The New York Times: "Getting Fit, Even If It Kills You" 
The Wall Street Journal: "Fitness as a Full-Time Pursuit"
MSN Health and Fitness: "CrossFit: The Fast, Furious Workout Craze"
Men's Journal: "Get Fit or Die Trying"
Muscle & Fitness: "Sweat Storm"
CrossFit: "How to Start"

Below is a video shot during the Cup of the Beast competition and compiled by Tim Moyer, owner of the bangin' performance gym Aspiring Champions Elite in King of Prussia, Pa. Tim managed to edit out most of the bits where I look really tired, which makes him A-OK in my book.

If you have experiences with CrossFit-style workouts, questions, more pros and cons to add to the list, contentions or the like, speak up in the comments.

Angie's First Muscle-Up

By Jen Sinkler / February 2010

This is my good friend Angie Brambley, assistant varsity strength-and-conditioning coach at Princeton University, doing her first-ever muscle-up last weekend. Huge deal, absolutely insane accomplishment. (Which is why she goes absolutely insane afterward.) :)

From www.beastskills.com/MuscleUp.htm:

The muscle-up is a skill that is essentially a pull-up followed by a dip. It is used to take yourself from below a sets of rings or bar to above a set of rings or bar. Many can do a pull-up, and many can do a dip, but transitioning between the two takes a certain level of strength and coordination. (More here.)

 
(Video courtesy of Micah Macbeth of CrossFit 215 in Philadelphia, Pa.; www.crossfit215.com.)

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Wil Fleming's Complex

By Jen Sinkler / February 2010

Wil Fleming, CSCS, IYCA, co-owner and director of sport performance at Force Fitness and Performance (www.beforcefit.com) in Bloomington, Ind., has been using Robert Dos Remedios's new, super-fantastic book, Cardio Strength Training: Torch Fat, Build Muscle, and Get Stronger Faster, to create some pretty amazing complexes of his own. In this video, he demonstrates his latest -- with, it should be noted, impeccable form, so if you give this a go, make sure you do the same. (Warning: Not for beginning lifters.)

Using a barbell and a clean grip, do four rounds of the following, resting a minute to a minute and a half after you've completed each round. Use a weight for which you can complete all the exercises without pausing to adjust poundage in between. Afterward, lie on the ground and gasp for air.

10 Romanian Deadlifts
10 Bent-Over Rows
10 Hang Snatches
10 Shoulder Presses
10 Step-Ups (5 per leg)
10 Roll-Outs



A bit more about Wil:
He was an All-American hammer thrower at Indiana University, where he still holds the school record in the event. He was ranked in the top 10 in the United states from 2006 to 2008, and ultimately completed his career at the 2008 Olympic Trials. Prior to that, he lived and trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center as an Olympic Lifter.

I had the pleasure of completing one of Dos Remedios's killer circuit workouts alongside Wil at the Perform Better Summit in Long Beach, Calif., this past August. The man is *springy.*

If you give this workout a try, please share your experience in the comments!

Mouthguards That Move You

By Jen Sinkler / January 2010

If you look reeeaaally closely, you can see my speed-enhancing, strength-boosting Pure Power Mouthguard. Do performance mouthguards really work? Hey, I caught her, didn't I? (Photo credit: Dobson Images)

Athletes will do almost anything to get an edge, and lately, performance mouthguards from companies such as Makkar and UnderArmour have become become a topic of conversation around the Gatorade cooler.

But are these companies just fast-talkin'? 

Recently, The New York Times published a piece on performance mouthguards, with athletes, dentists and exercise physiologists supporting claims that these bite-sized bits of plastic can indeed boost performance, if only marginally. These four paragraphs sum up the case nicely:

[I]t isn't clear how much of an edge [these mouthguards] actually confer. A study sponsored by Makkar in 2008 at Rutgers University found that athletes wearing Pure Power Mouthguards could jump higher and perform better at their peak, but it did not find that their endurance was any better.

"There wasn't a huge difference," said Shawn Arent, an assistant professor in the department of exercise science at Rutgers who led the study. "It's not the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's not magic. But for an elite athlete who has been training for a long time, even a 3, 4 or 5 percent increase in performance is a hard thing to come by."

Similar research by Under Armour and Bite Tech with athletes at the Citadel, a military college, showed that using the mouth guards helped improve endurance and air flow.

Dena Garner, an assistant professor at the Citadel who has studied athletes using Bite Tech devices since 2005, said she thought some of her original findings were "a fluke." But "every time I've done lactate studies with this mouthpiece, I'm finding there is a difference," she said.

The UnderArmour performance mouthpieces fit only over your lower teeth and are made to reduce jaw-clenching, thus reducing the release of hormones that cause stress, fatigue and distraction.

The Makkar-made Pure Performance Mouthguard, or PPM, on the other hand, fits over your upper teeth (more like a conventional mouthguard) and is based on the principles of neuromuscular dentistry. The idea is, if you align your jaw in its ideal setting, you'll release tension, open up your airway and position the facial joints to work optimally, allowing for the recruitment of more muscles, creating a domino effect in the body. (For more on how the PPM works, see this November 2009 article in USA Today.)

In October, I paid a visit to Chad Boger, DDS, a neuromuscular dentist in Plymouth, Minn., to see what the hype was about. (In the interest of full disclosure, I'll tell you he agreed to outfit me with a PPM for free. And in fact, he's the one who alerted me to the existence of performance mouthwear about two years before I finally made my way in to see him.)

The process took two to three hours and began with an hour of TENS to the face, neck and shoulders to loosen the muscles. Then, we tested numerous sets of my jaw to find what increased performance and what didn't, based on strength and flexibility tests he administered there in the office. 

Build Your Balance -- Without a BOSU

By Jen Sinkler / October 2009

This May interview with Eric Cressey on unstable-surface training (UST) planted the seed for this November article for Experience Life. The gist? If you have healthy ankles and you're still doing squats on wiggly surfaces such as wobble boards or BOSU balance trainers, you might be doing yourself a disservice.

"While there appear to be considerable injury rehabilitation and prevention benefits to UST for people dealing with existing neuromuscular shortcomings, there's little data available to support the assertion that UST can favorably impact a healthy, trained athlete's performance," says Eric Cressey, MA, CSCS, founder of Cressey Performance training center in Boston. In fact, Cressey says, doing UST can actually de-power healthy athletes.

So what can you do to improve your balance? Simply put, you need to challenge your stability while your lower body remains in contact with solid ground. This includes training techniques ranging from single-leg work and asymmetrical loading to applying destabilizing forces while attempting to remain stable.

Read the full article for exercise ideas.

(Photo credit: Kizzlexy.)

Fun With the TRX: Rotational Pulls

By Jen Sinkler / September 2009

Back in August, I attended the Perform Better Summit in Long Beach, Calif. And aside from gathering some great article ideas for Experience Life, I did my fair share of playing around with fun fitness toys. All in the name of research, of course.

One of my favorites was the TRX. For those of you not yet familiar with the TRX, we could call it a "bodyweight suspension training system consisting of 12 feet of nylon-webbed straps, handles, and various anchors that can be attached to any sturdy, weight-bearing base," as they'd like us to, but boiled down, it's essentially a rope with handles that you attach to a fixed point and use to do body-weight exercises.

It's a useful piece of equipment for just about anyone, because the user has control over the amount of body-weight resistance and stability based on what body angle and foot placement they choose. Another bonus: It's bang-for-your-buck, multi-muscle and -joint training because you're working in multiple planes of motion. Meaning, you can get a whole lot of work done in not a lot of time.

In fact, it's such a handy contraption that Men's Health named it the "Best Total Body Tool" of 2009. If you decide you must have your own, the TRX itself runs about $150, and a door anchor about $25. Or they sell bundles for less than that. Not bad for such an all-encompassing piece of equipment.

Here's video of our TRX instructor demonstrating how to do a Rotational Pull -- great for the core.



And here we are giving it a go. (Note: My videographer, one Jason C. Brown, kettlebell guru, didn't start filming till we were almost done, hence the somewhat-shoddy-looking reps. He was crap. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)



For more TRX exercises, check out these videos.
 


And a challenge from Todd Durkin, owner of Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego (coincidentally, this is where the USA women's 7s rugby team trained when we were in town for the USA Sevens tournament last February -- cool place).
 

Mush! Weighted Sled Workouts

By Jen Sinkler / June 2009

On a bright and early morning in Minneapolis this week, my dear friend Ham Sandwich (practically her real name) asked me if I'd like to join her for a weighted sled workout at the University of Minnesota.

For no better reason than I had already been awake for hours due to jet lag, I somewhat cheerfully agreed. After all, I've had a soft spot in my heart for brave wolf-pooch White Fang and his Iditarod race since fifth grade when the reading teacher (my mom) read the book aloud to us and cried. (The fact was, she cried every single year -- it was part of the the lore of Mrs. Sinkler's classroom.) I mean, the dog's heart did burst in the end, but how bad could the training be? Errr ... right?

A short while later, Ham and I descended upon the hockey arena, where we met up with our former Valkyries' rugby teammate Sara Wiley, associate director of strength and conditioning at the U and 2008 NSCA collegiate strength and conditioning professional of the year. 

Here, Wiley explains how sled training benefits athletes and the general fitness population alike.

AFTER A DYNAMIC WARM-UP consisting of loose skips (2X20), backwards running (2X20), power skips (2X20), knee hugs (1X20), Spiderman lunges (1X20) and Cook hip lifts (1X8ea), Wiley presented us with our workout.

PART 1: PUSH-N-PULLS
Work in a 1:1 work ratio with your partner (i.e., your rest time is her work time and vice versa -- no additional breaks). Please note that weights should be adjusted according to your fitness level and ability. Rules of thumb are that it should be difficult, but not so difficult you can't maintain good form.

PULL - 1/2 arena (approx 100 yds) - 105 lbs.
PUSH - 1/2 arena - 70 lbs.
PULL - 1/2 arena - 105 lbs.
PUSH - 1/2 arena - 70 lbs.

Here, Kristin Zdanczewicz (the aforementioned Ham Sandwich) demonstrates how to do a weighted sled pull; note that Wiley is giving form tips in the background, such as keep your chest up, ankles dorsiflexed, knees driving and core tight.

 

And here,  Zdanczewicz demonstrates a weighted sled push; note again that Wiley is giving form tips in the background, such as keeping your arms locked out (if possible), core tight, and your momentum going forward rather than grinding downward. (My sincere apologies for the pervy-sounding breathing on this one -- I would have liked to have waited a bit longer after finishing my 1/2-lap pull before taping again, but I couldn't! We were working 1:1!)



PART 2: PUSH STRIP SET
Do this all-push series consecutively with no rest in between lengths. Distance = a 50- to 60-yd straightaway; cover ground as quickly as possible. Collapse in a puddle afterward. I mean stretch afterward.

First length: 105 lbs. (then strip one 35-lb. plate)
Second length: 70 lbs. (then strip another 35-lb. plate)
Third length: 35 lbs. (then strip the remaining 35-lb. plate)
Fourth length: weight of sled only; go for speed

Pseudo-demonstration/explanation in the video below.



IF YOU'RE INTERESTED in going in with some friends to purchase one of these bad boys for yourself, Wiley mentioned Gilman and Elite FTS as reputable companies to purchase from (the latter being less expensive, though still a couple hundred bucks).

Got any sled-training experiences to share? 

Core Essentials

By Jen Sinkler / April 2009

Andrew Heffernan's article on how to properly train your core -- without doing a buncha crunches -- is the No. 1 most-read article on the Experience Life website right now.

Read "Core Essentials" to find out what core training is and isn't, and to discover (or rediscover) five top core-strengthening exercises.

(Photo credit: Phils Room)

Bear Maul!

By Jen Sinkler / April 2009

While I was back in Minnesota a couple weeks ago, I worked out at the Life Time Fitness in Highland Park. My friend and former Valkyries teammate Robyn Wells is a personal trainer there, and at my request, she put me through several fabulously grueling workouts that included lots of exercises I hadn't done before.

In the first video below, Robyn introduces herself and just briefly describes the warm-up sequence she had me do. (No exercise demos in this one.) Oh, and she may seem sweet and innocent, but in reality, she is a ruthless taskmaster. In a good way.



Update: I've been asked a couple times how much I was lifting, just to provide a point of reference. (Though it should be noted emphatically that you should find a weight that you can manage safely, regardless of whether it's more or less than anyone else's.) I used 75 pounds, which should have felt light to me but didn't all the way through because I'd been a slug in the weeks preceding this workout. As a result, the speed of my hang clean wasn't up to par, and I should have placed more emphasis on that. So ... oops.

In fact, if any fitness experts out there have additional form critiques, please, please put them out there to help anyone else about to wrestle The Bear.

Uncomfortable Excuses

By Jen Sinkler / November 2008

During an especially grueling circuit workout Monday night, I took note of my threshold for discomfort for the very first time. Or at least, I took note of it more consciously than I ever have before.

It was a repetition-based circuit, meaning we had to complete a certain number of reps of each exercise before we moved on to the next. This is my favorite type of circuit, because the faster you get through the workload, the sooner you're done. And, it adds a little competitive zing to the class (which, let's be honest, is the real reason I like it).

There were eight exercises in total; four for the upper body and four for the lower body. Half the class started on the upper body and the other started on the lower body. I started on the upper body, and moved through the exercises pretty steadily, though I took a couple mini-breaks along the way to catch my breath and take a swig of water. In retrospect, I didn't even think about it -- feel a little burn, take a little break.

AS I GOT TO THE FINAL THREE EXERCISES, however, I noticed that a woman in the other group was already on her second-to-last exercise, and I became enraged. Not at her -- I'm no Christopher Carter -- but at myself. I suddenly realized I'd been backing off automatically whenever I hit a certain subconscious, predetermined point of exertion, and I was lagging behind because of it. Don't get me wrong: Backing off can be a good thing, if you're gasping for air and seeing black around the fringes of your vision. But I wasn't anywhere near that -- in fact, upon checking in with myself at that moment, I had to admit I was only mildly uncomfortable.

Why was I holding back? What was I worried was going to happen if I pushed myself harder?

Well ... I was just afraid of being more uncomfortable, frankly. And once that truth burbled to the surface, I couldn't deny that it was an awfully wimpy excuse. So, I decided to find out what would happen if I didn't ease off, and I got after those final three exercises like nobody's business.

The verdict: not that scary, after all. Also, I finished first in the class, ahead of the woman who had no idea we were competing. (Yesssssss! A most satisfying victory.)

UPON CONTEMPLATING MY EXPERIENCE LATER, I was reminded of several things I've read over the past couple years (and that might have helped me earlier, if I'd have been paying closer attention).

1.  ONE OF THOSE THINGS WAS EAT, PRAY, LOVE author Elizabeth Gilbert's experience meditating among mosquitoes, and her determination to transcend. If you recall, what started as a miserable experience ended with her achieving a whole new level of enlightenment.

2. ANOTHER WAS THE WORK OF BYRON KATIE, who recommends addressing negative self talk with a few questions about what the truth really is. I didn't realize how very applicable these were until I revisited Helen Cordes's 2004 article for Experience Life, "Coming to Terms," which I've excerpted below.

When confronted with an uncomfortable situation, Byron recommends asking yourself:

• Is what I'm saying to myself true? (In my situation, the statement to question would be, "I'm too tired to continue exercising at this level.") Think carefully about the answer and don't simply accept what you've said or been told in the past. She says you may come to realize that it's your interpretation of the fact that is causing you the most pain.

• How do I react when I think that thought? What do you feel emotionally, and what do you feel in your body when you let these statements inhabit your mind? How do you typically treat yourself when you think each of these thoughts? Make a list of your resultant attitudes and behaviors. Ask yourself: How do I live when I believe this thought? Two good follow-up questions: Can you see a reason to drop the thought? Can you find one stress-free reason to keep the thought?

• Who or what would I be without that thought? What would you be like, and how would you feel if you were not hostage to that thought and the resulting feelings? Imagine that you didn't have the ability to think the thought as you stand in the presence of that situation.

Byron explains that "often, people discover they are all worked up over judgments they cannot even be certain are accurate. They discover they don't like the feelings they experience when they ruminate and fume about their reactive versions of reality. They have the insight that they would be a lot happier, more capable and more hopeful without their ingrained lines of thought and belief." Sounds about right, doesn't it?

3. THE LAST WAS RESEARCH ABOUT THE HIGH-INTENSITY WORKOUTS TABATA AND HIIT. Both are super-effective fat-blasting, endurance-boosting, mitochondria-increasing interval workouts performed at maximal or near-maximal intensity, and I've been researching, writing about and even doing both for some time now. (See "The Tabata Tune-Up" in the March 2008 archives, and keep your eye out for an article on HIIT in the December 2008 issue of Experience Life.) Yet while we all understand the definition of "maximal" -- giving it everything ya got -- it sinks in much more slowly from an operational perspective. How often do we really experience what that feels like physically? In my case, except when I'm playing rugby, it's more often near-near-maximal. But that's not going to be good enough anymore.

In the end, I got a great workout and made what I hope will prove to be another breakthrough in my training -- although I was rewarded for my efforts with a nasty case of delayed-onset muscle soreness. But hey, no pain, no gain, right?

What do you do to push past self-imposed limits during workouts?


(photo credit: Vlastula)
 

Taking the Circuitous Route

By Jen Sinkler / November 2008

Last night, Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training posted a link to the following video on Twitter. (If you want to follow along with my microblog on Twitter, go to twitter.com/jensinkler.)

In the video, Ballantyne demonstrates a 15-minute body-weight circuit workout you can do even when you're on the road. The exercises: prisoner squats, decline pushups, Bulgarian split squats and mountain climbers. Enjoy!




Looking for more do-anywhere circuit workouts? Check out Mickey Glick's "2 Quickie Circuits for You" over at her fabulous No Pink Dumbbells blog.

Rock the Plank, Matey

By Jen Sinkler / October 2008

Happy Halloween! One of my go-to costumes over the years has been sexy pirate -- along with sexy kitten, sexy flight attendant, sexy aerobics instructor and trampire (i.e., sexy vampire). Just kidding! Kind of....

In keeping with the pirate theme, below are some ways to vary one of the very best ab, lower back and glute exercises around: the plank. When doing any of these variations, remember to squeeze your glutes, keep your core tight and hold your body in a straight line from heel to shoulder -- no saggy hips!

"Take Your Elbow Plank for a Walk" from FitSugar
The Basics: Keeping your feet in place, walk your elbows back and forth while holding plank position. Start by taking one step forward with each arm and work up to two apiece.

"Four Ways to Rock the Plank" (a slideshow!), also from FitSugar
The Basics: 1) Regular plank on elbows; 2) Donkey Kick: Holding plank position from your forearms, bend one leg at a time, reaching your heel toward the ceiling; 3) Side Plank with Leg Lift: From side plank position, raise your top leg; 4) Plank to Pike: Starting with your feet on a Swiss/stability ball and hands planted firmly on the floor, raise your hips toward the ceiling until you're in a pike position. Tip: Keep your eyes on the floor ahead of you, not at the ball at your feet.

"Exercises You Should Be Doing (Prone Plank Switches)" from Step Up!
The Basics: Stack 8 to 10 five-pound plates outside of one of your elbows. Reaching over with your opposite hand, move the plates to the other side, one at a time. Reverse arms and directions, and make sure your hips don't shift back and forth. 

"Who Says Muscles on Women Aren't Attractive?" from Female Fitness and Nutrition Scientist
The Basics: From an elevated plank/pushup position, arms straight and hands gripping dumbbells, alternate dumbbell rows. If you're up for it, add a pushup between reps.

"Voterobics" from Fit Bottomed Girls
The Basics: To do a "right-wing-left-wing plank," hold plank and alternate tapping each foot out to the side.

"Graduated to Planks on a BOSU Ball" from She Can Run
The Basics: Hold plank position with your feet on a BOSU Balance Trainer.

"Never Do Crunches Again" from Alwyn Cosgrove
The Basics: Hold plank position with your forearms on a Swiss/stability ball.

"Upper-Body Step-Ups" from CrossFit Philly
The Basics: From a pushup/plank position, walk both hands up onto a weight plate or low step in front of your hands. Once both hands are up, move both back down and repeat continuously for a minute (cadence is up up down down up up down down and so on). Don't let your hips rock from side to side.

"Advanced Ab Workout Plan" from Vince DelMonte's No-Nonsense Muscle Building
The Basics: Do a mini circuit with these exercises, building up to two sets of 20 each. 1) Plank in pushup position, 10 legs raises each leg; 2) Plank from elbow position, 10 leg raises each leg; 3) Side plank from hand position,10 legs raises each leg; 4) Side plank from elbow position, 10 leg raises each leg.

"Mountain Climbers" from Body Weight Workouts
The Basics: From a sprinter's-start plank, alternate which knee you bring up to your chest, switching which foot is under you in an explosive movement. Shoot to continue for a minute. Great demo video at www.wonderhowto.com.

"Get an Action Hero Body" from The Val Blog
The Basics: To do a "ValSlide Painful Pushaway," get in pushup/plank position with a Valslide under each hand (you can also use a slideboard or hold two towels against a wooden floor). Hold abs tight and slowly slide both hands out a few inches in front of your shoulders until you are just barely able to maintain the position. Walk your toes in a couple of steps to come back to a comfortable plank position. Continue for reps.

"The 5 Exercises You Should Be Doing" from That's Fit
The Basics: To do planks with alternating knee raises, start in a pushup/plank position and alternate bringing each knee up to the opposite shoulder.

Got any other plank variations you'd like to share? And, whatcha going to be for Halloween?

PLEASE NOTE: Looks like there are a few kinks with the new blog site, particularly when it comes to commenting. The Web powers that be at Experience Life assure me these issues will be resolved shortly, but for now, you'll need to click through to the particular entry you'd like to comment on in order for the function to appear. My apologies for the inconvenience!

(photo credit: jasmin0916)

How to Master the Kettlebell Snatch

By Jen Sinkler / October 2008

If you made it here from my old location, allow me to welcome you to the ***NEW AND IMPROVED*** Survival of the Fittest! (I use the phrase "new and improved" loosely, because really nothing has changed but the URL and some behind-the-scenes stuff.)

Well, maybe there is one other improvement -- I'm determined to post more often, even if they're just itty bitty ones. Like the following how-to video, which features Jason C. Brown, co-owner of Kettlebell Athletics, CrossFit Philly and www.combat-sports-conditioning.com.

Before I attended a kettlebell class at his facility, I nearly battered my watch into smithereens attempting snatches with my kettlebell. Dude knows what he's talking about -- that "punch into the kettlebell" bit is key. And since I know a bunch of you are tinkering around with kettlebells these days, too, I thought I'd share. Let me know how it goes!

The Benefits of Going Bare

By / October 2008

Take it OFF! Take it OFF! Your shoes, that is. What did you think I was talking about, ya perv? Barefoot training isn't a new concept, but the best ones never seem to be. Among the benefits of barefoot training are:

• Stronger foot and lower-leg muscles, which means you can push off the ground harder, making your stride longer and thus making you faster
• Better coordination from varied stride pattern
• Decreased rate of ankle sprains and plantar fasciitis
• Reduced energy cost (meaning working out barefoot feels easier, too)

For more, check out "Bare Your Sole" in the Experience Life archives.

But before you shuck your shoes, note that you gotta start slow and have healthy feet or you might exacerbate existing injuries.

And if you're a sensitive sole (ha), you can always opt for minimal cover up, like a pair of barefoot running shoes or Vibram Five Fingers. (I almost got a pair of the latter with a Vibram Five Finger discount, if you know what I mean, when the company sent a pair for us to photograph and feature in the magazine. But alas, it was not meant to be. Stupid conscience.)

So. Have you tried barefoot training? Does it tickle your fancy?

[photo credit: joshme17]

An Ab-Fab Idea

By / July 2008

[photo credit: Howie Berlin]

What if, rather than (or at the very least in addition to) strengthening our abs through crunching and twisting, we instead attempted to hold our midsections perfectly still, even under the stress and strain of forces working to -- quite literally -- turn us against ourselves?

The premise behind this school of thought is the rather mind-blowing idea that our abs are meant to be stabilizers, not movers and shakers, so we should train them to be strong and steady if we want to, say, prevent back pain.

How can you work on stabilizing your core? Pallof presses, landmines and BOSU pushups with your feet elevated are good examples. Side planks win big, too.

If you want to see videos of these exercises and others, hit up Michael Boyle's article "The Real 'Core' Exercise" over at T-Nation.

Off to Chi-town this weekend to play a little rugby. What are you up to?

Wiley Wins!

By / July 2008

I just found out my friend and former Minnesota Valkyries teammate, Sara Wiley (pictured at left with a "bring it" expression on her face), won the NSCA collegiate strength and conditioning professional of the year -- congrats, Y! She's the associate director of strength and conditioning for athletics at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and absolutely amazing at what she does (hence the award, obvy).

If you want to check out my March interview with her on developing optimal quadriceps-to-hamstrings strength ratios for knee health, click here.

Pavel's Russian Pull-up Program

By / June 2008

Pamela MacElree, founder of the blog Recipes for Performance & Fitness, sent me a new pull-up plan the other day. It's called the Russian Pull-up Program, and was designed by one Pavel Tsatsouline, kettlebell guru (pictured at left -- and I think His Sexiness is pointing at you).

His plan seems much more manageable than the Special Ops Plan we chatted about in April. Downright doable, in fact!

Click on this link to download a PDF of the Russian Pull-Up Program.

Hey, has anyone made progress on their pull-ups? I've gone from two to five. Not bad, but I'm looking for more.

It's a Circuit Around Here

By / June 2008

Sorry I haven't posted for a while -- got deadlines coming in hard and fast. Good thing I've been training, as I've been able to dodge them. (If you are reading this and you happen to be my boss, obviously I am kidding.) Ahem. On to the topic of this post: circuit training!

On the first day of the April tryout for the U.S. women's rugby 15s team, the backs (generally thought of as the smaller, faster players) were working on footwork and agility outdoors, while the forwards (generally misrepresented as big strong brutes, but just go with it) were doing ... something else inside the gym.

I didn't concern myself with what exactly they were up to at the time -- after all, we backs were busy frolicking around picking daisies, to hear the forwards tell it -- but whatever it was, they looked truly wrecked afterwards. My friend Cheeks looked particularly sweaty and wild-eyed afterward, but she says that was because she got the heaviest kettlebell

.

IT HAS SINCE COME TO LIGHT that the forwards were doing a killer 12-station circuit workout, and said workout is posted below, should you want to give it a go.

Clarification from Candi Orsini, assistant coach of the U.S. women's rugby team: "The circuit the forwards did is NOT what the backs should be doing. The backs don't need circuit training, they need SPEED training." Duly noted. Any rugby backs reading this, don't even think about it. All others, enjoy!

RUGBY WORK-IT CIRCUIT
There are 12 stations. Do each exercise for 35 seconds, rest 10 seconds, and repeat the exercise for another 35 seconds. You then have 10 seconds to move to next station. Make sure that you focus on your form even as you get tired (i.e., continue to engage your core and explode from the hips).

Station 1: Dumbell Pattern

• Holding a dumbbell in each hand, one arm at a time, repeat this pattern for time: overhead press, punch out at head height, punch out at chest height, uppercut

Station 2: Figure-8 Situps

• Continuous situps
• Each time you come up, move a small med ball (2 to 3 lbs.) in a figure-8 pattern around and through your legs

Station 3: Jump Rope

• Continuously jump rope; try to add some doubles and triples

Station 4: Wall Ball

• Hold ball at chest height and face a tall, bare wall
• Perform a full squat and explosively come up out of it, following through with hip thrust and throwing ball to a marked point about 10 feet overhead on wall
• Catch ball and repeat

Station 5: Air Squats

• Continuously perform bodyweight squats
• Maintain form, meaning you should drop all the way down to 90 degrees, explode back up and follow through to hip thrust

Station 6: Burpees

• Plank position, pushup, burpee with explosive jump and arms up

Station 7: Resistance Band Rows

• Stand on looped band with both feet, holding upper part in both hands
• Pull up to perform an upright row, with elbows up and out

Station 8: Toe Boxes

• Stand in front of a low plyo box; secure box against wall
• Quick toe touches between box and floor, alternating feet
• Concentrate on quick feet

Station 9: Overhead Squats with Plates

• Using plate of appropriate weight, hold plate overhead with arms fully extended, shoulders and lats engaged
• Perform continuous squats, lowering under control to 90 degrees and then rising explosively

Station 10: Side Planks

• Lie on one side on the ground, weight supported on your elbow and feet stacked together
• Engage your core and maintain body position in a straight line; switch sides

Station 11: Lunge with Plate

• Hold plate of appropriate weight at chest height, close to your body
• As you lunge forward, push plate straight out away from chest; keep knee above ankle
• Push off with front heel and stand up, pulling plate back into chest as you do

Station 12: Across-the-Floor Pushups

• As you explode up and out of a pushup, hop your hands laterally across floor
• Do 3 in each direction and repeat
• If can't move laterally to start, practice pushing off hard enough to get air under your hands

Bonus Round: Kettlebell Swings

• 30 kettlebell swings, putting the bell back past your knees on the backswing and thrusting your hips forward on the upswing

Seriously, why were the forwards tired after that? Got questions? Answers? Comments? Share 'em ...

Revisiting Elisa Au's Favorite Workout

By / May 2008

I've posted this workout once before, but I thought it was worth a revisit. My apologies if you've already been there done that, but for those of you who are new, welcome! Feel free to sign up for blog updates via email or RSS feed (see the toolbar at right). I mean, it's easier than trying to remember to check back, and laziness can be a powerful motivator.

The dilly is that the June issue of Experience Life, featuring once and possibly future karate world champ Elisa Au on the cover, just dropped, and I was reminded all over again how impressive her achievements are. (To see for yourself, check out the accompanying article, "Solid Gold Champion.")

And lucky us, she caved (pretty easily, may I say -- she's not as tough as she looks) when I asked her to share her very favorite workout with us. So here it is -- Round 2.

FROM ELISA: I'VE CHOSEN EXERCISES from my training in karate and with my personal trainer, Corey Shackelford. These exercises do not require any equipment -- they rely on your body weight for resistance and focus on the core muscles, which are most important for a strong body.

You can definitely start with fewer reps if the moves are unfamiliar to you. Or, you can add reps and sets in order to challenge yourself.

1. Warm up! [For an article on the benefits of warming up and cooling down, see "Gradual is Good" from the March 2007 issue of Experience Life.]

2. Charlie's Angels Lunges -- Lunge sideways with your left leg, feet parallel, arms straight out and parallel to the ground in front of you (in a gun-shooting position). Twist your upper torso to the left so that your arms rotate 90 degrees, then back to starting position. Step up and repeat on right side. 10 reps on each side.

3. Burpees -- Squat down and place hands on the floor, shoulder width apart. Kick your feet back into a push-up starting position. Bring feet back under you and immediately jump up in a star position (arms and legs all extended). Repeat 15 times. [For a video demo of how to do a burpee, click here.]

4. Arm Shuffles -- Start in push-up position. Shuffle your arms so that your body moves clockwise like a hand of a clock. Try to keep your feet at the middle position as your arms move from 1 to 12. Do 2 times clockwise, 2 times counter-clockwise.

5. Superman -- Lay on your stomach. Lift your legs and arms off the ground and hold position for 30 seconds to a minute. [For pics, see here.]

6. V-Ups -- Lie on your back. Lift your legs and arms/shoulders off the ground to create a V-shape with your body. Lower your arms and legs without letting them touch the ground. Do 15 reps. [Pics here.]

7. Plank Positions -- Place elbows/forearms on the ground, feet in push-up position. Be sure your shoulders are directly above your elbows so that all body angles are 90 degrees. Hold this position for 1 minute. Point right arm straight ahead, parallel to the ground. Hold this position for 20 seconds. Switch arms and hold for another 20 seconds. Repeat with extended right and left legs, each for 20 seconds. Lastly, extend right arm and left leg, hold for 20 seconds, then switch to other side for the last 20 seconds. You will total 3 minutes. [See a basic plank pose here. You got the rest through the description, right?]

For the next three exercises, use small pieces of tape stuck to the floor. Mark 5 points like the 5-side of a die. The outer points should be about shoulder-width apart on all sides.

8. Hourglass -- Start on the bottom two points with feet shoulder-width apart. Jump to the middle point to bring feet together, then jump to the top points to get back to shoulder-width position. Jump back to the middle point, then back to starting position. Repeat 15 times.

9. Figure 8 -- Keep your feet together the entire time on this one. Start at the bottom left corner. Hop to the middle point, then to the upper right point. Continue on to the upper left point, middle, bottom right, then back to the beginning at the bottom left. You have made a figure 8. Repeat 8 times this way, then 8 times the opposite way.

10. Around the World -- Stand on the middle point with one foot. Hop to the bottom left point then back to the middle. Continue to the top left then return, top right and return, bottom right and return. Repeat in this clockwise position 5 times, then 5 times counter-clockwise. Repeat with other foot.

11. Cool-down and STRETCH!

~Elisa

Eric Cressey is Unbalanced

By / May 2008

At Cressey Performance, stability balls are holey. No, that's not a typo. I mean employees literally use knives to puncture them. With glee.

Don't believe me? Here's videographic evidence of one of the founders of this Boston-based high-performance training facility, Tony Gentilcore, expressing his disdain for what is, Cressey Performance employees say, an oft-misused piece of fitness equipment.



Their hatred stems from the wide misinterpretation of how to develop functional fitness.

You see, many trainers widely recommend doing squats, lunges, curls, and anything else you can manage while teetering precariously on a stability (or Swiss) ball, balance disc, Bosu ball or wobble board. Countless articles are filled with reasons why this is a fabulous idea, the main being that such exercises add a balance component and thus not only engage the target muscles, but also engage lots and lots of small stabilizing muscles. Meaning, you get the extra benefit of improved proprioception (awareness of your body in space), so why not?! Right? Right?

Even the magazine jumped on the balance bandwagon, publishing an article about how balance boards aren't just for balancing anymore. (It was years ago! I didn't know any better!) [Hides in shame]

 
[But ref! I wasn't the only one! Pleeeease don't send me to the sin bin ...]

PROBLEM IS, the latest research shows that while doing such exercises are great for rehabbing ankle injuries, they can actually de-power healthy athletes. So if you're healthy, and your goals have anything at all to do with getting stronger, faster and more powerful, you actually don't want to wobble. (That's not to say you should cut out abs and upper-body exercises like pushups on the ball -- I'm just talking about exercises that involve standing or kneeling on such contraptions.)

But don't just take it from me -- below, an interview with Eric Cressey, MS, CSCS, the brains behind this research and one of the best in the fitness biz. Also, if you're interested, Cressey just released his new book, Maximum Strength: Get Your Strongest Body in 16 Weeks with the Ultimate Weight-Training Program (De Capo, 2008). (I already read it -- two thumbs up, and if I had more I'd point them skyward, too.)

Jen Sinkler (JS): How do you define functional fitness? And how is that different from widely held beliefs?

Eric Cressey (EC): Excellent questions. The term "functional" as it relates to exercise was first applied in a rehabilitation context, as therapists worked to help restore function in patients through modalities that best simulated and carried over to their daily lives. I feel strongly that functional training (or rehabilitation) should be specific to the task at hand for an individual in a given environment. The problem nowadays is that we are trying to say that a given exercise (or training style) is functional to everything -- and that's just not possible.

It goes without saying that different individuals have different "required" and "desired" functions to accomplish in their daily lives. In its truest sense, functional training refers to preparing individuals for the demands that lie ahead in everyday activities, work, recreational activities and competitive athletics. Because these demands are different for everyone, it's important to realize that true functional training programs must be specific to the individual.

 JS: What happens to a healthy athlete who does exercises standing on an unstable surface? And why don't these exercises work to make you a stronger, more balanced athlete?

EC: Our research showed that replacing as little as 2 to 3 percent of overall training volume with unstable-surface training (UST) in healthy, trained athletes impaired the development of sprinting speed and vertical jump height -- and there was a trend toward significance on the agility front, as well. There are a ton of reasons for the decrease in power output and performance. In a broad sense, all of these explanations can be considered fundamentally related to the fact that UST does not adhere to the principle of specificity of training.

The vast majority of athletic endeavors involve stable surfaces where instability is applied further up the kinetic chain. Therefore, it becomes important to differentiate between instability at the foot, which is accustomed to stable surfaces in closed-chain motion, and instability at the torso and arms, which often encounter instability while the base is stable. In this regard, unstable surface training may prove more useful in measures aimed at training the core and upper body musculature (e.g., movements seated on or lying across a stability ball, with or without added resistance) than with exercises targeting the lower body. I could go into a complete physiology and biomechanics discussion, but that took me 94 pages in my master's thesis! Let's just say that unstable surface training provides for some unfavorable biomechanical consequences (namely, overpronation), lower force production and impaired plyometrics activity (longer amortization phase between eccentric and concentric actions).

Believe it or not, there's also some evidence to suggest that healthy individuals who train on unstable surfaces are more likely to encounter both chronic and traumatic knee injuries. My theory is that if you work to lock up an ankle that doesn't need extra stability -- and encourage anterior-weight-bearing in the process (via overpronation) -- you're asking for hypermobility (excess movement) at the joint above.

JS: When is unstable surface training appropriate?

EC: Lower-body UST has a ton of merit in those returning from ankle sprains. UST has proven effective time and time again with respect to addressing the chronic functional ankle instability seen in lateral ankle sprains. Basically, this is a proprioceptive deficit in the peroneal muscle group on the lateral aspect of the shin. These muscles prevent excessive inversion, but if they don't fire fast enough, you're likely to re-sprain.

I also feel that unstable surfaces can be applied effectively in the upper body -- as in the case of unstable push-ups, or dumbbell presses on a stability ball. It really comes down to where you apply the instability. If it's at or above the hips, you're golden.

Honestly, the problem is that the only research (before we came along, that is) was done on injured patients and untrained individuals. Comparing them to healthy, trained athletes is altogether inappropriate. As a result, rehabilitation protocols were promoted to healthy individuals as an effective training initiative when, in fact, they are counterproductive.

In spite of this new research, you won't likely see a change in people using them this way simply because a) few people actually read the research and b) a lot of people have a significant vested financial interest in the success of these implements, so they aren't about to jump ship when they're still separating people from their money with poor training recommendations.

JS: Who does have the green light to do exercises standing on balance contraptions (i.e., what if you don't care about getting stronger, faster, more powerful)?

EC: At risk of sounding insensitive, if you aren't concerned about being stronger, faster or more powerful, then you have no right to complain when you get hurt. Unstable surface training in the lower body impairs power and rate of force development. Even if you're not an athlete, even if you're a 90-year-old woman concerned about falling, don't you think that fast and forceful muscle actions are going to help prevent you from breaking your hip?

Honestly, I wish more weekend warriors would think of themselves as athletes, and not just gerbils running on treadmills or circus clowns standing on stability balls.

JS: How should healthy, competitive athletes train instead? What kinds of exercises should we do?

EC: Squats, deadlifts, lunges, Olympic lifts, bench press, push-ups, rows, chin-ups [ed. note: of course!], bridges, medicine-ball throws, sprinting, jumping, sled pushing/pulling, mobility drills, etc.

The list could really go on and on. We do a thousand things, but honestly, aside from a few unique circumstances, outside of the realm of rehabilitation, lower-body unstable surface training isn't justified.

ON THAT NOTE, please enjoy the following videos. (What do you think Mr. Cressey would have to say to these fellas?)

[youtube sLW-RpX0T38& http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLW-RpX0T38&]



[youtube JlSKNTotop8& http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlSKNTotop8&]

Do you have questions? Differing opinions? Stories of stability gone wrong? Leave your thoughts in the comment section. And remember, if you want to get your hands on Cressey's new book, Maximum Strength, click here.

Video Variety: Pull-Ups Again

By / May 2008

[photo courtesy of shoeboxin on flickr]

I cannot be stopped. From writing about pull-ups, anyway. I can be stopped all-too-easily from actually doing them.

But after this post, I promise to try to attempt to consider writing about pull-ups less often. (Sorry -- as far as promises go, that's the best I can do right now. Kelly at Fitness Fixation and Crabby at Cranky Fitness are talking about pull-ups, too, so that reeled me in all over again.)

If you're new here, please allow me to inundate you with previous pull-up posts so you, too, can choose between feeling irritated or inspired: "How to Do a Pull-up (or 15)," "Pull-Ups Ad Nauseam," "Tomorrow's Work Out: Pull-Ups" and "Lax in L.A."

After "How to Do a Pull-up (or 15)," my former rugby teammate and longtime friend Halvo left a comment announcing that not only can she do 37 consecutive pull-ups, but that she's recently been working toward one-armed pull-ups. (What?!) To add insult to injury, she then advocated trying pull-ups with added weight. Which is great advice, don't get me wrong -- if you can already do at least a handful of pull-ups. Or more than a handful.

But many of us are struggling to get to that point, so I wasn't surprised when I received an indignant email from a reader saying, "Who IS that girl, anyway?!"

 
[Pull-ups are whatEVER.]

WHO IS HALVO? She's a Mensa-belonging, Wedge Co-op-loving, rugby-playing, sweet-as-pie fitness freak who occasionally likes to break things in dark alleys. (Things people put out as trash. And she cleans up her mess afterward.) And she will be visiting Philadelphia next weekend, so if you're in the area and you'd like to feel her biceps, let me know.

At my request, she took some video of herself doing her thang on the pull-up bar, and she sent me three videos in all. One of her cranking out some very impressive almost-one-armed pull-ups; one of her doing a few with added weight; and one of her doing a superhuman number of pull-ups. Pretty amazing stuff, even if you don't bother with pull-ups yourself. Something is up with the last video, so you'll have to settle for the first two.

Single-Armed Halvo
Warning: She appears to attack the videographer afterward, so the camera gets a little Blair Witch Project for a second there. Get your barf bag.

OneArmPullup_JS.mov 

Heavy Halvo
Warning: Extreme jealousy may ensue after watching this video.

WeightedPullup_JS.mov 

Halvo says: "I started really working on pull-ups about a year and a half ago. I think I could already do 12 in a row, but my form was probably pretty bad. I do pull-ups two or three times a week, on the same days that I lift my shoulders, back and biceps. I do three sets of as many regular pull-ups as I can, resting 30 to 60 seconds in between. Interspersed throughout the rest of my workout, I do a set each of wide-grip pull-ups, parallel-grip pull-ups, chin-ups (underhand grip), one-armed pull-ups and L-pull-ups. I add weight to all but the L- and one-armed pull-ups."

If you didn't get that barf bag yet, might want to grab it now. Oh, to be that strong ... [wistful sigh] (But take heart -- she has little bitty stick legs.)

IN PURSUIT OF THAT KIND OF STRENGTH -- or at least the kind of strength it takes to do a single pull-up, which is enough of a feat -- Experience Life published the article "Clear the Bar," which features an exercise progression that, if all goes well, will result in your doing an unassisted pull-up.

If you recall, the photo shoot for the article was held in L.A., at the gym where the reality TV show Work Out is filmed. (Yes, I met Jackie Warner, and as with most celebrities, she's tiny in person.)

 

The night before the shoot, I was informed that we would be shooting some accompanying video of the exercises, and that I would be providing commentary.

This is what I said: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo!"

This is what my editor said: "You'll be great. Good luck!"

Well, I was decidedly NOT great. The idea of being in front of a camera wipes my brain perfectly clean, which I proved with take after (mis)take where I appeared not to know my own name or where I worked.

The only thing I could have answered for sure was the question, "Do you like being on camera?" (NO.)

Regardless, the finished product can now be found in Experience Life's video section (who knew we had one of those?!). Also posted below. No promises about the quality -- it's literally our art director Lydia holding the camera and me reading the descriptions from the article as our fitness models Megan and Kaese did the exercises. But sometimes it's just nice to see exercise demos, and the video serves that purpose adequately enough.

Experience Life Pull-Up Series

Warning: I should have introduced myself by saying, "Hello, I'm a giant toolbox."

Oh, and since in the video I completely forgot to introduce each exercise, they are as follows: standing lat pull-downs, assisted L-pull-ups, resistance-band pull-ups, eccentric (or negative) pull-ups and partner pull-ups. Enjoy!

Pull-Ups Ad Nauseam

By / April 2008

[Pull-ups can be scenic.]

Yes, I'm still going on about pull-ups. (Mainly to postpone doing the work I should be concentrating on instead.) But hey, if you've grown weary of the topic -- if you don't want to learn how to do this bang-for-your-buck bodyweight exercise better -- you're welcome to leave. Wait! I didn't mean it! Please don't leave.

It's just ... wouldn't it be nicer if we did this together?

 
[winning smile]

Confession time: In my current state of fitness, I can only do 2.5 pull-ups without assistance. OK, 2.25. In my last post, when I said, "For instance, tuckered after two?" I was talking about myself. Sigh.

A couple years ago, I could do seven, and at the time, I thought that was pretty decent, but now I've got to take my old number and double it. Oh, and add one more (see this post for the herstory of this madness).

THE FOLLOWING WORKOUT PROGRAM has been ripped off seven ways from Sunday, so allow me to trace its path so everyone involved gets credit. My friend Liz sent it to me, as her friend Dre had sent it to her. Adam Campbell, editor at Men's Health, likely wrote about it over there at some point, but by the time we got our grubby mitts on it, the article was posted here on Active.com. The trail doesn't end there -- the technique originated with Michael Mejia, CSCS, former U.S. Navy Seal and author of The Special Ops Workout. (Not to be confused with Mark De Lisle's Special Ops Fitness Training: High-Intensity Workouts of Navy Seals, Delta Force, Marine Force Recon and Army Rangers.)

Mejia recommends doing the following routine two or three days a week, resting at least a day between sessions. The original copy set the goal at the Rangers' lofty-enough goal of 12, but I've altered it to reflect the U.S. women's rugby backs' standard of 15. Because that seems reasonable.

THE SPECIAL OPS' PULL-UP PLAN
The Goal: 15
The Plan: Take the most pull-ups you can do at one time and divide that number in half. Now perform sets of that number of repetitions -- resting 60 seconds after each set -- until you've done at least 15 pull-ups. Each workout, reduce your rest between sets by 5 seconds, until you're down to zero rest and able to do 15 consecutive pull-ups.

Pretty simple, really. Hypothetically, say you can do four consecutive pull-ups max. Halve that so you're doing sets of two with 60 seconds rest in between until you get to -- well, 16, because these numbers don't crunch perfectly. Let's call it mandatory extra credit. In total, you'll do eight sets of two. That's reasonable, right?

And each workout will take less time than the last, which is hugely motivating (to me, anyway). Especially since I'm starting with sets of one, and this thing is going to take me forever at first. Oooh, I'm whiny today, and I think my Door Gym (like the one pictured at right) is mocking me. I guess I should be thankful that a creepy batwoman isn't hanging on mine. That would be awkward.

IS ANYONE ELSE being haunted by encounters with pull-ups lately? I mean, besides by me. Ha! I can't seem to escape them, and thus, neither can you. That's the way this works.

Take, for instance, last night. My friend Kim invited me to do a workout with her at Velocity Sports Performance in Cherry Hill, N.J., and being a sucker for performance gyms, I took her up on the offer. I nearly collapsed after the seemingly extra-dynamic warm-up, but considering there seemed to be no escaping the evil, Justin Timberlake-lookalike trainer, I hung in there -- literally.

We ended the hour with three sets of 10 partner pull-ups. (For how to do partner pull-ups, see "Clear the Bar" in the May 2008 issue of Experience Life.) And even as I was thinking, "Whyyyyy?!" I was also thinking, "Why not?" It's fun to be strong.

How to Do a Pull-Up (or 15)

By / April 2008

This past weekend, I attended a rugby camp for the U.S. women's 15s team, and the topic of pull-ups came up. Often. A lot like the way pushups keep coming up lately. (See here, here, and here for examples.)

Granted, the rugby camp attendees are probably a skewed sample of individuals -- many of them were discussing how to meet the national team's strength and conditioning standards for the exercise. The requirements vary by position, but the minimum runs from 10 to 15. Players in my position, wing, need to be able to do at least 15 consecutive pull-ups. (May I just say, Gaaaah!)

But this emphasis on bodyweight exercises extends far beyond rugby campers -- as part of their 2008 predictions, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) cited bodyweight and equipment-free workouts as emerging fitness trends.

While pull-ups aren't entirely equipment free, they certainly don't take much -- a tree branch, football goalpost or jungle gym will do just fine.

SO HOW APPROPRIATE IS IT that in the May issue of Experience Life, Krista Scott-Dixon wrote an article called "Clear the Bar" -- all about how to do a pull-up. Or 15.

Take a look for exercises that will help you meet your goal, from standing lat pull-downs and negative pull-ups to resistance-band pull-ups and L-pull-ups using a bench.

Even if you can already do full bodyweight pull-ups, the exercises Scott-Dixon covers can be used to boost your number. For instance, tuckered after two? Have your workout buddy jump in to assist with some partner pull-ups. (See pics in the article.)

On the other hand, if you're itching for more advanced maneuvers, check out her other article on the topic, "Mistressing the Pullup," on her women-oriented fitness site, Stumptuous.com.

FOR THOSE OF YOU who asked about my dear friend Stubot's progress on our Pull-Up Challenge (see this post for details), she hasn't even started yet. But she swears she's about to. Any minute. Regardless, she could probably use a few words of encouragement, so kindly leave yours in the comments section.

Elisa Au's World-Champ Workout

By / April 2008

So ... no one outside the Experience Life staff knows this yet, but former -- and possibly future -- karate world champion Elisa Au will be gracing our cover in June. Now you know, too. Shhh.

A little background: Au (pronounced "Ow" -- go to town on that one) is the only American woman to have won a world championship, and remains the only person in the world, male or female, to win more than one world title at a single world karate championship. The only person in the world. Can you imagine being able to say that?

If you want to read more about her, check out the links here, here and here. (Highlight from the last one? She recommends people not try the fictitious "crane technique," pictured at right, from the movie Karate Kid.) There are lots more articles about her, but I've grown weary of pasting the links. These days, she's training in Chicago, where she owns and operates three martial arts schools with her spankin'-new husband, John Fonseca (no slouch himself when it comes to karate accolades -- to see a video of Fonseca, click here).

I interviewed Au several weeks ago, and before we hung up, she promised to share her favorite workout on my blog. (A very, VERY big thank you to her for sharing!)

HERE'S THE WORKOUT SHE SENT ME over the weekend -- if you try it out, please tell us how it goes in the "comments" section! I tried (albeit half-heartedly) to find photos or video demonstrations to go with at least some of the exercises below, but if you're having trouble figuring one out, post your question(s) in the comments.

FROM ELISA: I've chosen exercises from my training in karate and with my personal trainer, Corey Shackelford. These exercises do not require any equipment -- they rely on your body weight for resistance and focus on the core muscles, which are most important for a strong body.

You can definitely start with less reps if the moves are unfamiliar to you. Or, you can add for reps and sets in order to challenge yourself.

1. Warm up! [For an article on the benefits of warming up and cooling down, see "Gradual is Good" from the March 2007 issue of Experience Life.]

2. Charlie's Angels Lunges -- Lunge sideways with your left leg, feet parallel, arms straight out and parallel to the ground in front of you (in a gun-shooting position). Twist your upper torso to the left so that your arms rotate 90 degrees, then back to starting position. Step up and repeat on right side. 10 reps on each side.

3. Burpees -- Squat down and place hands on the floor, shoulder width apart. Kick your feet back into a push-up starting position. Bring feet back under you and immediately jump up in a star position (arms and legs all extended). Repeat 15 times. [For a video demo of how to do a burpee, click here.]

4. Arm Shuffles -- Start in push-up position. Shuffle your arms so that your body moves clockwise like a hand of a clock. Try to keep your feet at the middle position as your arms move from 1 to 12. Do 2 times clockwise, 2 times counter-clockwise.

5. Superman -- Lay on your stomach. Lift your legs and arms off the ground and hold position for 30 seconds to a minute. [For pics, see here.]

6. V-Ups -- Lie on your back. Lift your legs and arms/shoulders off the ground to create a V-shape with your body. Lower your arms and legs without letting them touch the ground. Do 15 reps. [Pics here.]

7. Plank Positions -- Place elbows/forearms on the ground, feet in push-up position. Be sure your shoulders are directly above your elbows so that all body angles are 90 degrees. Hold this position for 1 minute. Point right arm straight ahead, parallel to the ground. Hold this position for 20 seconds. Switch arms and hold for another 20 seconds. Repeat with extended right and left legs, each for 20 seconds. Lastly, extend right arm and left leg, hold for 20 seconds, then switch to other side for the last 20 seconds. You will total 3 minutes. [See a basic plank pose here. You got the rest through the description, right?]

For the next three exercises, use small pieces of tape stuck to the floor. Mark 5 points like the 5-side of a die. The outer points should be about shoulder-width apart on all sides.

8. Hourglass -- Start on the bottom two points with feet shoulder-width apart. Jump to the middle point to bring feet together, then jump to the top points to get back to shoulder-width position. Jump back to the middle point, then back to starting position. Repeat 15 times.

9. Figure 8 -- Keep your feet together the entire time on this one. Start at the bottom left corner. Hop to the middle point, then to the upper right point. Continue on to the upper left point, middle, bottom right, then back to the beginning at the bottom left. You have made a figure 8. Repeat 8 times this way, then 8 times the opposite way.

10. Around the World -- Stand on the middle point with one foot. Hop to the bottom left point then back to the middle. Continue to the top left then return, top right and return, bottom right and return. Repeat in this clockwise position 5 times, then 5 times counter-clockwise. Repeat with other foot.

11. Cool-down and STRETCH!

~Elisa

"Fight Gone Bad"

By / March 2008

My friend Kathy (strange to call her anything but "Sausage" -- aren't rugby nicknames great?) pasted a link to this CrossFit workout in a comment she left in response to my last post.

She says, "I just read the article in the mag on [the Tabata Protocol] ... never thought 4 minutes could be so painful until I met a workout called 'fight gone bad.'"

Indeed, I would not want to meet this workout in a dark alley.

Originally designed for mixed martial artist B.J. Penn, with the metabolic demands of ultimate fighting in mind, "Fight Gone Bad" is an intense, five-minute weightlifting, plyometrics and cardio circuit that's repeated three times, with a one-minute break between rounds (just barely enough time to be able to breathe again ... sort of). So, 17 minutes total. If you live that long.

After watching the video of the workout, I can see how the first five minutes could do you in. And I have yet to make it through one four-minute Tabata round on the treadmill (although I have muscled through it on the stationary bike now). But still ... does anyone else want to work out right this minute?

It looks like you can rig up a similar circuit at nearly any gym (that is, you don't have to be at a CrossFit facility) as a way to build your work capacity without courting your slow-twitch muscle fibers -- fast-twitch types, rejoice!

UPDATE: As I was perusing the workout and exercise list at CrossFit.com (some really amazing stuff there), I came across a Tabata version of the "Fight Gone Bad" workout! See the video here (complete with music from Culture Club).

Sugar and Spice, Pushups are Nice ...

By / March 2008

... but please show your might by doing them right! (Photo above ganked from www.withfitnessandhealth.co.uk.)

This morning, I read Tara Parker-Pope's Well blog entry "The Art of the Pushup" in The New York Times, and thought, nice topic! Pushups -- not to mention pull-ups, squats and other old-school calisthenics -- are excellent markers of strength (often, even those who look strong can't handle their own body weight).

Plus, pushups (also known as press-ups) help keep your scapulae positioned correctly -- important for avoiding shoulder injuries.

After skimming the blog entry, however, I clicked on the embedded link to this pushup calculator, which "tell[s] you how many push-ups you should be doing," and thought ... not so nice.

And then I watched the accompanying video called Drop and Give Me Twenty! after which I cringed and hid under my desk for a while (see the video here; scroll down just a bit).

 WHY WAS I SO AGITATED? The answer is two part.

1) Because of this particular distinction in the calculator's form guidelines:

Male subject
-forefoot or toes on floor

Female subject
-knees on floor or mat

All calculations are based on these guidelines.

I mean, really? There's no third measurement option for women who do pushups on their toes? We are all automatically relegated to doing modified, or "girl," pushups, which, as Alwyn Cosgrove points out in The New Rules of Lifting for Women (Avery, 2007), take your core out of the movement? (The book points out you're better off starting with 60-, 45- or 30-degree pushups, placing your hands against a wall or on a bench. For a nice pushup progression, see Krista Scott-Dixon's "Mistressing the Pushup.")

2) And also because the pushup form of the women in said video is utterly atrocious. (Think I'm exaggerating? Watch it.) Not a good example among the bunch -- heads hanging low, backs swayed, elbows barely bending, and even, at minute 3:01, an especially gruesome attempt at a clapping pushup from a woman who is essentially starting from her hands and knees, rear high in the air.

But not a word about these form indiscretions is uttered in the video -- just woman after woman in a Crunch fitness class, committing every pushup no-no in the book. (There are, however, several readers who express their disdain in the comments section.)

I FELT ... MISREPRESENTED. And angry. I mean, not a single example of a woman doing pushups on her toes?!

Parker-Pope's full column on the topic, "An Enduring Measure of Fitness: The Simple Push-Up," again makes the case beautifully for pushups being an effective and worthwhile full-body exercise. But then, again, we return to the gender divide. As quoted in the article:

"It's sort of a gender-specific symbol of vitality," said R. Scott Kretchmar, a professor of exercise and sports science at Penn State. "I don't see women saying: 'I'm in good health. Watch me drop down and do some push-ups.' "

Perhaps some Penn State women's rugby players would like to swing by and visit Kretchmar during office hours, just to enthusiastically demonstrate their pushup prowess?

Something else that comes to mind is the 30-second pushup test that's often part of the fitness testing at U.S. women's rugby tryouts. If you don't get to at least 25, you've missed the mark. I'm trying to picture what would happen if a player asked to do pushups from her knees....

BUT I WONDER if I'm just out of the loop on this. Are pushups, done on your toes and with perfect form, a point of pride in women? Or do I hang out with too many jocks?

For those of you who like to partake in the many variations of the pushup, such as clapping (or plyo), stability-ball, medicine-ball, dumbbell, rear-elevated, weighted, Hindu, fingertip, knuckle, one-armed and handstand, here are some exercises.

For women and men alike.

From the "Join the Movement" Web Extra, April 2007:
Stability-Ball Pushup
Assume an elevated pushup position with your hands on a stability ball. Lower your chest to the ball while concentrating on maintaining stability in your core (avoid bending at the waist). Press back up to the start position. Complete 10 to 12 pushups.

From "Jump To It," December 2004:
Plyo Pushup
Assume the pushup position, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and elbows bent. Push off the ground explosively, so that your hands lose contact with the floor, and attempt a clap while your upper body is in midair. Land with your hands in the starting position and immediately push off again. Work up to repeating five to 10 times. Do three sets with a one-minute rest in between.

Depth Pushup
Assume the pushup position, but this time with both hands on a 5- to 8-pound medicine ball, elbows fully extended. Quickly remove your hands from the ball and drop down, catching your fall with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, elbows slightly flexed. Absorb the shock on your wrists and elbows by allowing your elbows to bend and your body to drop into pushup position until your chest touches the ball. Then immediately and explosively push up by extending your arms forcefully. Try to achieve maximum height so your hands leave the ground and then land back on the ball. Repeat the movements immediately three to eight times. Complete three sets, with a one-minute rest in between.

From "Man Alive," September 2004:
Dumbbell pushups
Kneel on the floor with a pair of dumbbells in front of you. Grab the dumbbells, spacing your hands shoulder-width apart, palms facing back toward your legs. Keeping your grip on the dumbbells, get yourself in the classic pushup position. (Your arms should be straight, elbows unlocked with your legs straight out behind you, feet together.) Lower yourself down, then push back up until your arms are straight once more, elbows unlocked. Perform as many repetitions as possible.

Perfectly Balanced (Strength Ratios)

By / March 2008

In search of snow, I set off to the Poconos after work Wednesday night. It was Ladies' Night at Blue Mountain Ski Area, and with the weather warming up in Philly, it seemed high time to seek altitude.

Now, I grew up by Fun Valley Ski Area (which I just found out has discontinued its winter activities; I'm nearly inconsolable, though I haven't been there in 15 years), and until I hit high school, I had a season pass most winters.

But fond as I am of the place, I have to admit the runs were pretty consistent with the gently rolling plains of Iowa. Plus, they were short! Just a straight, 20-second shot to the bottom of the hill. You could wear yourself out if you tried very, very hard, but it took all day.

Which means I wasn't fully prepared for the sheer length of the trails the other night (or during a college vacation to Breckenridge, but that's another story). My legs were already feeling a little thrashed from the leg-intensive workout program I've been following, and in no way, shape or form were my quadriceps up for the challenge.

But that was the thing: As I skied, only my quads became fatigued. No other muscle groups seemed fazed, but my thighs burned with the intensity of a thousand suns. Were they the only muscles doing anything?

THAT GOT ME THINKING ABOUT some stuff I read about what the strength ratio between quadriceps and hamstrings should be, and how many of us -- especially women -- are quad dominant.

I picture my own quads as ultra-chivalrous gents, gallantly shooing off the right muscles for the job at hand: "No, no, allow me to get the door for you," or "Need help across that puddle? Please, take my arm." Or maybe they're more like martyrs, hissing, "Do I have to do everything by myself? Fine, why don't you just rest."

In any case, if your quads are significantly stronger than your hamstrings, you're essentially playing ratio roulette, because you're far more susceptible to knee or hamstrings injuries.

In fact, one of the neuromuscular factors leading to the higher incidence of ACL injury in women and girls is likely this particular muscle imbalance. From Experience Life's September 2006 article "Weak in the Knees" (which I've referenced before):

Women tend to have stronger quadriceps relative to their hamstrings, which may decrease the hamstrings' ability to stabilize the knees. The general recommendation for a healthy hamstrings-to-quadriceps strength ratio is for the hamstrings to be at least 60 percent -- and ideally closer to 80 percent -- as strong as the quads.

My friend Sara Wiley, CSCS, associate director of strength and conditioning for athletics at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (who is also, might I add, a fine rugby inside center), takes it a step further, saying she likes to see hamstring strength at 80 to 90 percent of quad strength.

Here, a little Q and A with her on the topic.

Me: Why are women more likely to have a quadriceps-to-hamstrings strength imbalance?

Wiley: There's some debate about whether this is genetic or due to activity choices. As girls mature, it appears they develop quad strength more quickly than hamstrings strength. My thought is that it's not really that we develop all that differently physiologically, but that we engage in activities that don't require us to engage the posterior chain in the same way as males of the same age.

I say this because we know that after training, females can exhibit quad/hamstrings strength ratios similar to males, and retrain motor patterns so that the hamstrings fire with strength and in coordination with the quads.

I say this also because I grew up in the Midwest on and near farms, and the farm girls I train now seem far sturdier with respect to the posterior chain. I think they grew up playing and working outside, where the boys and girls played the same games and did similar chores. Maybe they should market a "Posterior-Chain Barbie" ... just kidding [see bottom of post for contest]. Obviously, it's difficult to make sweeping generalizations, but there is something to be said for modeling behaviors (think the little boy watching Favre and emulating his throwing style) and motor patterns set as a young child.

Me: How can you tell if you're quad dominant?

Wiley: I don't know of a standard method of self-assessment, but one idea is the hamstring hip lift, which can be performed as follows:

1. Lie on your back with your feet hip-width apart, the soles of your feet on an 18-inch bench or step.
2. Push down into the bench with your feet, lifting your hips up high. You'll feel your hamstrings working. Do not lift your shoulders or neck off the floor, and keep your upper back down flat.
3. Lower the hips back down until your butt is just off the floor, and then push down into the bench and raise your hips again.
4. Continue for 15 repetitions, rest for 45 seconds, and then complete two more sets.

It's just a hamstring exercise, but a person with decent hamstrings strength should be able to handle it. If, on the other hand, you struggle, you should work on those hammies.

Do this exercise once or twice a week. When you can do three sets of 20 reps, try doing one-legged hamstring hip lifts. Start with three sets of ten, and build to three sets of 20. For further challenge, you can try these on a stability ball; first double-legged, then single-legged. It's a great exercise for runners.

Me: How do the pros measure quads-to-hamstrings strength?

Wiley: You can measure quads-to-hamstrings strength isokinetically using a specialized machine called the Cybex Test, which is set to move at speed versus resistance. This allows you to compare peak torque at extension (quads) versus flexion (hamstrings) at similar speeds. The problem is, it's not real-world applicable or related to actual function.

That said, it's still the best way to compare the two while eliminating uncontrolled factors (technique, for instance), and it's still a standard and accepted test/measurement system, though many are trying to improve it.

Me: Are having quads that are much stronger than hamstrings more common than vice versa? Do you ever see vice versa?

Wiley: Quad dominance is much more common. Can't say that I've really seen the opposite. That's not to say it couldn't or doesn't happen, just haven't seen it myself.

Me: Why you think this type of imbalance is so prevalent?

Wiley: Most people engage in quad-dominant activities for one reason or another -- they like them more, or they're directed to do certain exercises by their trainer. Or maybe because you can't see your hamstrings in the mirror? Sometimes I think people just don't consider whether they are doing balanced activities in workouts, or they don't know if they are or aren't.

I rarely train athletes based on muscle groups (i.e., we don't do "hamstring workouts" or "quad workouts"). But, I do evaluate my programs to make sure that lower body pushing exercises [which activate the quads] are balanced with lower body pulling exercises [which activate the hamstrings], either within that workout or within the week.

Lastly, form and technique play a role. For instance, when doing a squat, if you don't dip below 90 degrees, you aren't engaging your hamstrings.

Me: Any other factors that might come into play?

Wiley: Muscles don't operate in a vacuum, and there are other factors that can have implications for injury. For example, while it's important to have hamstrings that are strong, they must also be able to coordinate their efforts with the quads or the risk of injury still exists. An example would be a soccer player planting a leg to decelerate -- there is a powerful quad contraction, and the hamstring must also fire at the right time to counteract this force, or the ACL is at risk.

This is why jumping/plyometric exercises are a significant part of ACL-injury-prevention programs.

It's also why compound movements that require movement at multiple joints and coordination of muscle groups are superior to isolated movements. Poor eccentric hamstring strength compared with concentric quad strength can manifest itself as hamstrings strains in runners, because the leg comes through into a foot strike out in front of the body.

Excessive tightness in other areas may also affect the hamstrings. Tight hip flexors may lead to inhibition of the glutes, and if the glutes aren't doing their job, the synergistic muscles (hamstrings and low-back muscles) have to take over to perform hip extension. The most common result of this is usually low-back pain.

Me: What exercises should people should do if they're quad dominant?

Wiley: Pulling exercises, such as deadlifts. They are for everyone! Learn to do them right! Deadlifts with a wide grip put further emphasis on the posterior chain. Try also Romanian deadlifts and good-mornings. (Generally, think BENDING EXERCISES.)

I think people are sometimes scared of this category of exercises because they work the posterior chain, which involves the low back. But when you learn to do these correctly (flat back, wide chest, tight core) they might also (GASP!) prevent back pain.

As I mentioned, you can also do hip lifts on a stability ball. Obviously, machine leg curls work the hamstrings, but they don't work them where they cross the hip, only at the knee. It's important to work both -- so do machine leg curls and stability-ball leg curls.

CONTEST: Five bucks to the reader who submits the best illustration of what Posterior-Chain Barbie would look like. Email entries to jsinkler@experiencelifemag.com. I'll post the winner at the end of next week.

Tomorrow's Work Out: Pull-Ups

By / February 2008

Bright-n-early tomorrow morning -- well, early, anyway -- I'm heading to Sky Sport gym in Beverly Hills to assist on a photo shoot for an upcoming article on learning to do a pull-up. Or, better yet, many pull-ups. (Sky Sport also happens to be where Bravo's reality show Work Out is filmed, so you'd better believe I'll be on reality-TV-star watch.)

The article is slated for publication in the May issue of Experience Life, and it's one I'm really excited about. Pull-ups are one of the very best indicators of strength-to-body-weight ratio (also known as "relative strength"), and I hear too many women say they could never do one. Horse hockey. Or pucky. Or whatever.

My friend Stubot has agreed to take on what the two of us have dubbed the Pull-Up Challenge. (I offered to use only her initials in this post to afford her at least pseudo-anonymity, but her response was, "I want the glory." I remain unconvinced there's much glory to be had, but there it is. Bask away.)

The deal is, I'm going to send her the exercise progression from the article now, and she's going to embark on a mission to crank out her first-ever pull-up. She may even invest in a Door Gym. Worth every penny, in my book.

So. Please join me in wishing Stubot luck, and once the article is online, let me know if you decide to give the progression a try yourself. I'd love to hear how it goes.