Spectracell Laboratories

Recently I called my buddy Bob Calvin, he's a Performance Nutritionist at the Andrew's Institute/Athletes' Performance, regarding some nutrition advice. I explained to Bob how I've been hovering around 14-15% body fat for some time and I'd like to get below 10%. I gave him a good run down on my diet and it checked out with him.

Bob told me that before he would design me a nutrition program that he'd like me to have a Functional Intracellular Analysis completed by Spectracell Laboratories. Spectracell has developed an amazing series of tests where they use your lymphocytes to determine what your body metabolizes correctly/incorrectly, and they can determine what type of micronutrient, antioxidant and lipid deficiencies that you might have. Spectracell takes your lymphocytes and grows them in an isolated environment. Then, one by one they add or remove specific micronutrients to determine if you have a deficiency. The Comprehensive Test runs around $350, but that's a small price to pay to really know whats going on inside your body.

I'm excited to find out what I need to change in my diet to get optimal results from my training. I'll be blogging about the changes that take place on this new program.

Train Hard!!!

Erik Korem

Classroom Experience

Recently I was invited to speak at an Exercise Physiology class on campus. It was kind of a "career day" talk...the prof was trying to expose his students to new and budding fields related to exercise physiology. I took an informal pole before the class started and ~70% of the students were on a pre-physical therapy path. First, let me say that none of the following comments should reflect poorly on the prof but should reflect poorly on our education system regarding our profession.

I opened the lecture with a series of pictures depicting what strength and conditioning is and what it isn't. For instance this is what S&C isn't:



I told the students that we aren't training for an earthquake...I understand the concept of proprioception and enhanced motor unit recruitment, but this is not the appropriate means for achieving the desired effect. We also discussed "Sports Specific" training. I'm stealing from Chad Dennis on this one, but there is no such thing as sports specific training. If you want to be sports specific...well go play the sport. What we can do as S&C Coaches is train muscle contractions, motor patterns, movement patterns ect. This concept lead into my next point which was why train for strength.

I put up the graph from Dr. Mel Siff's book Super Training. Which by the way, if you haven't read it you are about 10 years behind. Not one of the students understood what the terms absolute strength, accelerating strength/rate of force development, starting strength, or strength endurance meant...regarding training. These are supposed to be students that are learning not only about cardiopulmonary function/aerobic training adaptations, but they are supposed to be learning about muscle physiology and basic adaptations from training. The real problem is that this is not an isolated case. You can graduate with a MS from a MAJOR institution in Exercise Science and you will no absolutely nothing about the science of training.

Oh and then I really offended everyone when I told them that the NSCA was about 25 years behind. We discussed how Western Linear Periodization is the reason for a lot of our training related injuries: CNS fatigue, Adrenal Fatigue, Muscle Strains/Sprains ect. I wasn't rude in my delivery but I wanted these young and impressionable minds to see what is available to them.

So, moral of the story...if you are Ex Phys student out there and you are also lost just reading this blog, start reading now!! And here is a short list to get you going:

Super Training: Dr. Mel Siff
High Powered Plyometrics: Radcliffe
Running Biomechanics and Exercise Physiology in Practice: Bosh
Explosive Power and Jumping Ability for All Sports: Starzynski
Theory and Application of Modern Strength and Power Methods: Thibaudeau
Special Strength Training: Yuri Verkhoshansky

The Template

I hope everyone completed their assignment and made a detailed needs analysis...I know I have. So now that I know what qualities I need to improve, how do I assimilate all of my needs into a solid program? Well, you need to design a training template. I've made a list of what a training template is and what a training template isn't, these are some common mistakes that I often see.

Is:
1. An OUTLINE of the training week
2. Lifting categories per training session
3. Structure of the hierarchy of needs

Not:
1. List of exercises
2. Reps and sets
3. Specific speed/agility/mobility/conditioning drills

Example of a 4 Day Training Template

Mon: Linear Acceleration, DE Squat, Post Chain, Upper Back, Arm Flex, Abs Static

Tues: Reactive Strength (OLY),1-Leg Sq asst, ME Press,Horizontal Pull, Tri Asst (vol)
Ab Flexion

Thur: Agility, DE Squat, Post Chain, Upper back, Arm Flexion, Abs Static

Fri: OLY, Work Cap, 1 Leg, DE Press,Vert Pull,Tri Asst


Another way to do this is to create an emphasis for the day.
Example:

Mon: Speed Tue: Power Thur: Strength Fri: Work Capacity

But within each of these days you are training all qualities, but the emphasis shifts.

I hope this helps...so get off your rear now and right a template!!!

Winter Programming: Needs Analysis

It's that time of year again. Football season is coming to an end and turkey day is just around the corner. For me this means its time to start thinking about the football off-season. Before I get into how I approach putting together a template, I must say its very important to work with a staff that is open minded. I absolutely positively have the best boss in the world...Ben Pollard. Ben has given me a great deal of freedom to speak openly about what I think we should do or not do. He doesn't always implement what I say, hey he's the Head Guy, but its just great that my voice is heard.

I think the biggest mistake coaches make in planning an off-season is that they plan out every detail of a 8-10 week cycle. Every foot contact, rep, set, warm-up ect is already in place and they leave themselves no room for change. To me this is a huge mistake...this is what inexperienced coaches do, or coaches that are stuck in the dark ages with Western Periodization. There just isn't enough time in a modern off-season to have "hypertrophy" phases...this is why the conjugate method is perfect for the off season. Let's attack multiple qualities at the same time, but give emphasis to certain ones depending on the time of the year.

The Needs Analysis

By now we've seen our teams enough to know what needs to be attacked during the off-season. For some its a lack of speed, others max strength and others maybe work capacity. Whatever that need is I usually center the initial stages of the off-season around that. Of course, we need to improve our work capacity...but stealing from Chad Dennis on this one, if you increase max strength, reactive strength, starting strength, maximum muscle contraction velocity AND work capacity...won't you have a higher threshold of work capacity.

So here's your assignment. Sit down for a good hour and go position by position and right down IN DETAIL what glaring deficiencies that position has. Put your analysis down and come back to it about a week from now and add/take away. Once you've got that we'll start building a template.

If anyone has any comments on this process, please feel free to post...Train Hard!!! -Erik Korem-

Every Rep Every Set

I was recentely watching a video produced by Martin Rooney. As I was watching this guy coach, I felt like I was looking in a mirror. Martin's concepts weren't earth shattering, but what gripped me was his attention to detail. Martin was coaching a few guys on a warm up and it was amazing. He didn't miss a detail...Martin didn't berate guys when they screwed up, he just pointed it out and told them how to fix their error. And then when they got it right he praised them. That is how coaching is done!

During the course of the video Coach Rooney made a very simple statement about how he coaches. He said that Every Rep of Every Set is to be completed perfectly...or at least attempted with the intent of being perfect. It drives me nuts when I watch athletes go through the motions...especially during the warm up. The warm up is designed to turn on the nervous system...if you don't turn it on your body isn't going to respond appropriately to the intended training effect. And you know what? The blame for lazy behavior isn't the athletes' fault...its the coaches fault!!!

This past spring at the CSCCa convention, Mickey Marotti spoke about the Florida Strength and Conditioning Program. He made a statement that has really stuck with me...he said, "You get what you tolerate." Real simple, but its very true. If you tolerate imperfection, you'll get sub par results. If you tolerate filthy language and crude humor in your weight room...you'll end of up with disrespectful athletes. You get my point.

Think about what you are tolerating...if its bad, well fix it!

Train Hard...Erik Korem

NTS Anabolic Phase

The 5 Goals of the Nutrient Timing System during the Anabolic Phase:

1. Shift Metabolic Machinery from a Catabolic State to an Anabolic State

Use of a CHO/PRO supplement will stimulate insulin and blunt cortisol release

2. Speed the Elimination of Metabolic Wastes by Increasing Muscle Blood Flow

Muscles that are recovering require a quick delivery system for nutrients, oxygen delivery and fast removal of metabolic byproducts. When levels increase, blood flow is also increased. Thus, a CHO/PRO supplement is vital.

3. Replenish Muscle Glycogen Stores

Many studies have found that supplementing with CHO post training is much more effective than delaying supplementation. It has also been found that supplementing on a regular basis after exercise can maintain a rapid rate of glycogen storage. In addition the CHO that produced the greatest insulin response also produce the highest rate of glycogen storage.

4. Initiate Tissue Repair and Set the State for Muscle Growth

To increase muscle mass and strength in the postworkout period, the muscle cell must begin to initiate repar and to set the stae for muscle growth. Researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, reported that Supplementing with CHO/PRO supplement, both immediately and one hour after resistance exercise, increased muscle protein synthesis compared with the CHO supplement.

5. Reduce Muscle Damage and Bolster the Immune System

There is no way to completely eliminated all muscle damage due to training, and as a matter of act this would be undesirable. However, excess damage will restrict glycogen and protein synthesis. Using a CHO/PRO drink that aslo contained vitamins E and C and glutamine, researchers found a significant reduction in free-radical formation compared with a plain CHO supplement.

Ideal Composition of Supplement for the Anabolic Phase

Whey Protein 13-15g
High-glycemic CHO such as glucose, sucrose and maltodextrin 40-50g
Leucine 1-2g
Glutamine 1-2g
Vitamin C 60-120mg
Vitamin E 80-400IU

NTS Energy Phase

The four goals of the Nutrient Timing System during the Energy Phase:

1. Increase nutrient delivery to muscles and spare muscle glycogen and protein.
2. Limit immune system suppression.
3. Minimize muscle damage.
4. Set the nutritional state for a faster recovery following your workout.

1. Increase nutrient delivery to muscles and spare muscle glycogen and protein.
Replenishing muscle glycogen is not only a major concern to endurance athletes, but it is also crucial for strength training athletes. Muscle glycogen can be reduced by as much as 40% during multiple sets of training...the more sets the more glycogen depletion. By consuming a carbohydrate/protein sports drink you can preserve muscle glycogen and maintain a high level of training effort. The latest research indicates that by adding protein to a carbohydrate supplement one can preserve muscle protein, increase protein synthesis and extend exercise duration. Also, during extended exercise the use of BCAAs may aid in improving training duration.

2. Limit Immune System SuppressionDuring and after strenuous exercise the immune system is suppressed, and the risk of infection is drastically increased. The immune system is closely tied to the neuroendocrine system, and during exercise cortisol is released. Cortisol lowers the concentration and activities of many of the important immune cells that fight infection. Blood cortisol levels can be regulated to a significant degree by controlling glucose availability. Bishop and colleagues show that when athletes were given a 6% CARB solution during exercise, cortisol level dropped by almost 80% compared to subjects just receiving water. Thus, carbohydrate supplementation provides a dual benefit during exercise.

3. Minimize Muscle DamageCARB supplementation during exercise reduces the rise of cortisol and decreases specific agents responsible for producing inflammation. Bishop and colleagues showed the CARB supplementation could reduce biochemical markers of inflammation by almost 50%. Supplementation with antioxidants such as vitamin E and C plus BCAAs may also help minimize muscle damage.

4. Set the Nutritional Stage for a Faster Recovery Following Your Workout
As seen above, there is increased muscle protein degradation, in part to help supply muscle energy needs during exercise. Consuming protein during exercise will enable you to utilize the ingested protein and thereby decrease protein degradation and spare muscle protein. The same principle holds true with regard to muscle glycogen. Consuming carbohydrate during resistance exercise results in less depletion of glycogen stores.

NTS Recommendations for Energy Phase
170lb athlete per 12oz of water

High glycemic CHO such as glucose, sucrose, and maltodextrin; I recommend Waximaze
20-26g
Whey protein 5-6
Leucine 1g
Vitamin C 30-120 mg
Vitamin E 20-60IU
Sodium 100-250mg
Potassium 60-100mg
Magnesium 60-120mg

-Portions of blog extracted word for word-