Road Blocks and Plateau's

I wish I had a penny for every time someone complained to me that they have stopped making gains, or that no matter how hard they try they just can't increase their back squat load etc! They are frustrated and are looking for an easy or quick answer and are even more frustrated and annoyed when I tell them that there isn't a quick or easy answer that I would recommend. I might suggest they reduce the weight on the bar and refine their technique, or take a rest from that exercise altogether for a few weeks. 

"Avoid the road blocks and blast past the plateau's"

This is more common among young lifters who just turn up and lift with a programme or a plan, or with older lifters who don't periodise their programmes effectively to allow for the increased recovery needed by an ageing body. 

Don't misunderstand me here, I am in no way saying that older people shouldn't lift or expect to make gains! They, we (as I am an older lifter) absolutely should and will; in fact it is vital to have strength training as part of a regular exercise regime as we age because of the increased muscle loss associated with ageing. An appropriate strength training programme will reduce, halt and even reverse this age related muscle loss along with maintaining a higher metabolic rate and joint range of motion.

However, this is not what I wish to discuss here. The concept of periodisation has been around for a long time with a mountain of information available as to what it is and how best to utilise the various methods.

"Periodisation is the systematic planning of physical training to maximise gains"

Traditional periodisation can be defined as the planning of a training regime into distinct phases over a period of time to maximise the benefits and reduce the risk of injury and staleness. Each phase will have a defined aim or goal and will last for a set period of time which can range from days to weeks or even months.

• Quadrennial Cycle - Multi year plan usually and Olympic cycle (4 years)
• Macrocycle - Usually a year in length and represents a complete training period
• Mesocycle - A training phase or block usually 4 weeks in length
• Microcycle - Usually describes a unit of a Mesocycle, normally 1 week in length
• Workout - A unit or structure of a Microcycle and is usually measured in minutes or hours

There are also various different methods used as well such as Linear, Block, Conjugate or Undulating Periodisation. No one method is better than another but which should be used by whom is for another discussion.

The need for a periodised training programme is essential if training for the long term, looking for ongoing gains or have a body that has been round the block a few times and needs to be "managed" appropriately to reduce injury risk and maintain a high standard of output. Building in "down days/weeks" lighter training days or weeks will allow for recovery and regeneration during a training block. A whole training block could even be dedicated to regeneration with a complete remove from the exercises and methods of previous weeks thus allowing the connective tissues, muscles and the mind a chance to recover, regenerate and get ready to go again with renewed enthusiasm and energy. 

"Recover, regenerate, rebound, READY!"

Without this type of planning and persistently using the same routine the risk of injury, staleness and lack of motivation increases whilst the chance of making gains decreases! So don't let those road blocks knock you of course or get stuck on a plateau halfway to your goal. This is not where any committed athlete wants to be, and it is certain not where any coach would want their athlete to be either. Periodisation is not a complex science, although the principles do need to be understood in order to plan and programme effectively. 

The following link to the Breaking Muscle (an excellent resource) article "A Simple Guide to Periodisation" gives a basic insight into periodisation with further suggested reading.

http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/a-simple-guide-to-periodization-for-strength-training 

Thanks again for reading this far, I hope this has proved useful? Please feel free to give appropriate feedback or suggest topics to be covered here on my Facebook page Get Coached.

Approaching 50 and Training Smart

I am going to write this piece from the perspective of an ageing former "athlete", if I can call myself that having played rugby for over 30 years and sprinted at a reasonable level for a few of those too!

Ageing actively, if not gracefully!

Sport is a fantastic thing to both do and watch, however doing it does take it's toll; but so does watching it if you spend too many hours on the couch! If you have been active all your life as I have either competitively or recreationally, then it is not something you want to stop. 

However, I have had to adjust my approach to training as my recovery time is longer and I cannot sustain the training intensities of previous years.

My training goals have also changed as I have aged, I am no longer training for sports performance. Those days are gone, pretty much; although we do have the odd over 40's roll about the rugby pitch every now and then! 

My focus now is on maintaining mobility, a decent level of fitness and strength and trying not to gain too much body fat! 

So I hear you ask "Why are you telling us this?" 

It is well known that as a population we are living longer, there are more opportunities for an ongoing active lifestyle and as such most of us want to sustain our active lifestyles for as long as possible. There are many reasons for wanting to remain physically active; grandchildren are a very strong reason, and a longer retirement will be a terrifying prospect if all you can do is sit and watch daytime tv!
So keeping fit and healthy as we age means training appropriately to keep the risk of injuries low whilst maximising the benefits of training. Training for maximal strength challenges our connective tissue and recovery time between sessions whilst just doing aerobic training might be good for heart health but has limited benefits for overall strength and mobility. A balanced programme combining strength, aerobic and mobility elements specifically designed for you will ensure that you have the best opportunity to to keep fit, healthy and active for many years to come.

Train smart, age actively, healthily and happily! 

To find out more about training smart and what a bespoke programme looks like for you please get in touch by commenting here or on my Get Coached Facebook page. Thanks for reading this article and I hope it gets you moving! 

Strength & Conditioning for Health & Fitness

Sometimes we accept pain as a permanent part of our lives. Something we have to put up with because it's just there and a part of us and we feel there is nothing we can do about it but take pain killers and anti-inflammatories! It does not have to be that way and I am going to outline why it doesn't have to be that way and what can be done to effect that change.

"Constant pain is debilitating and can impact life quality too."

I think this is an unnecessary situation to be in for many reasons. I am not talking about chronic pain from debilitating conditions such as Crohn's disease or arthritis or any other such condition but pain from bad posture, and inactive or tight muscles.

For the purpose of simplicity I will refer to Strength & Conditioning Coaches and Personal Trainers as Coaches; and athletes or clients as athletes.

Bad posture and tight muscles can for the most part be corrected with time, effort and the correct input from a qualified Coach or Physical/Physiotherapist. To reduce or remove someone's pain through stretching, foam rolling, manipulation and exercise will improve your athletes wellbeing and quality of life. Your athlete will be happier and will recommend your skills and services to their friends and family. 

"An appropriate intervention will help to correct postural deficiencies"

I am not going to talk about any corrective exercise regimes here or what particular postures are bad or which muscles are most commonly tight. What I want to make clear is that those of us who deliver Personal Training, Strength & Conditioning or Physical Therapy should be able to assess an athlete's posture and identify obvious muscular imbalances and from there, design and deliver an appropriate intervention.

Coaches must be able to deliver more than a strength programme or a weight loss routine to our athletes. We, as coaches, are in the business of improving our athletes, helping them achieve their goals and changing their lifestyles. Sometimes a more holistic approach to training and educating our athletes is needed and to do this effectively we must have the necessary skills.

Coaches must educate and equip themselves with the skills and tools needed to appropriately assess their athletes and deliver the necessary interventions. This is essential both as a developmental process for individual coaches as well as increasing the professional standards needed within this industry. Our athletes pay us for a service that can potentially improve their health and wellbeing as well as get them fitter or stronger. They are trusting us to look after them and that we know what we are doing! 

"Ongoing education is a must for all aspiring coaches."

However, it is also important for athletes to understand that they must either speak to their coach or find a coach to work with who has the skills and experience needed to assess and address any postural deficiencies or muscular imbalances. 

I have several athletes who have seen improvements in their shoulder or hip range of motion as well as a reduction in pain whilst moving or exercising. Some of this work is ongoing while with others it has been a bonus product from a rounded programme that includes appropriate exercises and effective stretching. 

To find out more about this or other training programmes get in touch with me at Lifestyle Fitness, Kilmarnock or via my Facebook page, Get Coached. 

S&C for Health & Fitness

A new year and a new direction for my blog, exciting times indeed!

This is my first blog of 2016 and in it I will outline the new direction and aim of this blog.

First though I must wish you all the very best for 2016!

This blog will still hold relevant content for Figure Skaters and their coaches. However, it will also cover topics relevant to Strength & Conditioning (S&C) coaches, Personal Trainers (PT's), as well as their athletes and clients. For the sake of clarity I will refer to both Personal Training clients and athletes as athletes, and both Personal Trainers and Strength & Conditioning coaches as coaches.

The aim of this series of blogs is to inform and to educate so that everyone involved will get the most from their training sessions, gym programmes and from each other. This will often be based on my own experiences and opinions from over 20 years as a Gym Instructor, Strength & Conditioning Coach and Personal Trainer. I will also include any relevant and appropriate information and material from external sources such as other blogs and peer reviewed articles.

As a PT and S&C coach I believe it is essential to keep learning, to keep increasing my knowledge base and grow my experience. This is the only way to keep moving forward, not only to keep up with the latest trends and fads (and to know how to avoid them) but to also ensure that my knowledge is current and correct. If you think you know it all then you are no longer a coach! That is a strong statement but one that I firmly believe.

"Strive for continuous self improvement."

With this in mind I aim to use this blog to provide coaches with the opportunity to learn and to develop themselves further within their chosen field, whether that is just one small nugget or many things from each publication. I certainly don't profess to know it all but I do believe that I can share some of my experiences and knowledge to help others as others have helped me over the years.

I also want to give athletes the knowledge and courage to question their coaches and demand the level of service that should be expected. Like I said earlier, we coaches do not know it all and and if an athlete has a question we should be able to answer it fully and accurately. This may involve a little homework; doing a little research or referring to another who knows, and then we have learned something too.

"Knowledge and the ability to transfer that knowledge to our athletes makes us both coaches and educators."

Athletes should not just expect but demand the best of their coaches, get the most from them and challenge them regularly. Just because your coach tells you to do a particular exercise, train a certain way or eat a certain food it doesn't mean that this is necessarily the best option or even the right option. Athletes should have the courage to question their coaches to ensure they are not only getting the best answers from their coach but that those answers are also the best for themselves. By the same token coaches should encourage their athletes to ask questions and to challenge their coaches for the best outcome.

This blog can be followed here on Blogger or on either my Get Coached Facebook or Google+ pages. Your feedback back is welcomed and any suggestions for future topics will be considered. Thank you for reading and I look forward to your return.

S&C for Figure Skating: Strength Training w/c 31/8/15

First I must say that I am pleased to announce my first international publication having just been published in the International Figure Skating magazine.

In this Blog I am going to briefly talk about strength training and why it is an essential component of any training programme.

Strength Training; such a widely discussed, sometimes controversial and occasionally misunderstood discipline. 

Strength underpins movement, performance and fitness. 

A stronger endurance athlete will be more economical, a stronger sprinter will be faster and a stronger thrower more powerful. Appropriate strength training will improve performance and reduce injury risk.
Away from competitive sports strength training can help improve every day functional movements such as walking up stairs, carrying shopping or playing with your kids. These tasks require a smaller percentage of our maximum strength and are therefore easier to complete. 

Strength training performed correctly will improve mobility and coordination as well as boost metabolism to increase calorie expenditure and help towards optimal body functioning.

Gaining strength doesn't just mean lifting heavy weights, for example something needs to get stronger if we are to improve our balance standing on one leg. Being able to hold a specific position such as a plank for longer, or getting your leg high enough in a spiral to get a score on the ice needs an increase in strength. Therefore, body weight exercises, plyometrics and Pilate's type programmes will all elicit strength gains in young athletes when delivered appropriately and with correct technique.
Recent studies have shown that strength training is a key component of youth physical development and should underpin any young athletes programme.
Movement, coordination and mobility will all develop and improve with increases in strength and through learning basic strength training techniques.
As the athlete matures and training becomes more specific once a single training focus or sport has been identified then more specific strength training goals will be implemented. For rugby and American football players hypertrophy might be a goal, increases in muscle size for strength and power increases whilst the increase in body mass will help in making and breaking tackles. Whilst for young Figure Skaters and Gymnasts it may be power, muscular endurance and coordination with no increase in bodyweight, lean or otherwise.

Improving maximal, optimal or functional strength requires the correct training stimulation to achieve the desired outcome. Strength gains can be made with little or no increase in actual muscle mass; however a change in structure will occur including a possible change in muscle fibre type (Type I to Type II), a change in pennation angle as well as a possible change in body composition (increased lean body mass and a reduction in body fat) which may lead to a perceived increase in muscle mass due to better muscle definition. However, the real advantage here is the increase in the power to weight ratio.
A clear message here is that young athletes and especially female athletes competing in aesthetic sports shouldn't be afraid to strength train, that the benefits of strength training for performance and for general fitness should not be underestimated or ignored!

Thanks for reading this far and I hope you enjoyed this article, as always your feedback and comments are welcomed both here and on the Get Coached Facebook Page.

Get Coached S&C for Figure Skating w/c 20/7/2015

Hello and welcome to my second blog post from the Toronto Cricket & Curling Club, Toronto, Canada! Our month at camp is nearly over and there has been some great leaps made during this time, and not just their jumps on the ice!
The skaters here have all worked hard and really moved forward in their skating. New friends from across the world have been made and new experiences gained through working with the team of coaches here. I can say that the two Scots girls have really enjoyed their first camp at the TCC and I am sure they will make every effort to get back here as soon as they can!

This post is going to look at what I consider to be one of the most beneficial exercises that a young skater can do off the ice to improve strength, balance and core control; the single leg or pistol squat!
It is a well documented exercise with some excellent video demonstrations on You Tube. What I would like to do is highlight the benefits to skaters and show a couple of regressions to help progress the exercise.

To perform a single leg squat well full ankle and hip range of motion is needed as is good flexibility through the hamstrings, hip flexors, gluts and lower back to ensure good posture through out the movement. It is important to ensure that the back is kept extended with minimal tuck under of the hips or butt wink as it is also known. The supporting leg knee should track over the toes, not rotate inwards thus pushing the hip out. It is also important to try and keep the pelvis level i.e. don't hitch up or drop down either hip. This will challenge the core musculature including the gluts in a way that will transfer directly to the ice.
The single leg squat can be seen in many different forms on the ice including Tea Pots for the beginner skaters, Hydra Blades, Sit Spins and for leg strength to land the jumps!
Many of the skaters I work with can already perform moderately good single leg squats or have achieved this with a little coaching and hard work. Getting it technically correct, deep and well balanced may take a little longer but it is definitely worth persevering with.
If a deep and well balanced squat can't be achieved initially then it may be worth regressing the exercise to then move forward again.

This can be done in several ways, two of which I will cover here. The following video shows wall mounted TRX straps being used to assist with balance and returning to an upright position. This I find has helped the skaters to gain the strength and confidence to squat deep. I emphasise that the straps should be used as little as possible to ensure the most benefit can be gained from the movement.
The elevated foot can also be put on a box behind the athlete to load the front leg whilst still assisting in the movement as seen here. Again emphasis is put on the need for good posture and control throughout the movement.
This is an easy exercise to perform anywhere, beside the rink, at home etc and the benefits for skaters young and older are great. They can even be done on the ice in the form of repeated Tea Pots too! So if you as a skater or the skaters you coach are not already doing single leg squats in one form or another then get it added to the sessions.
If you have any questions or comments on this or any other exercises I have covered please do not hesitate to get in touch here, on my FB Page Get Coached or by email tsilvester@getcoached.net

Get Coached S&C for Figure Skating w/c 13/7/2015

This latest Blog post is coming from the Summer Training Camp at the Toronto Cricket, Skating & Curling Club where one Senior Get Coached and two Gain the Edge/Get Coached skaters are getting put through their paces by a fantastic team of coaches. Without going into any specific detail I would like to give my thoughts and observations on the coaches and the camp.
Firstly, I must say that Toronto has made us feel very welcome. We are lucky enough to be staying with friends for the month of the camp which has enabled a relaxed and comfortable stay.
Getting about is relatively easy once the transport systems and roads have been figured out and everyone we have so far met have been friendly and helpful.
The Toronto Cricket club (TCC) as it is known in short is an excellent venue with superb facilities and a lot happening. There are tennis, cricket, curling and figure skating activities as well as various kids summer camps too.
The rink is good although our skaters found the low boarder a little unusual at first they soon got used to hooping on and off the ice wherever they needed to. The atmosphere here is a very positive one where hard work is the norm! One early impression I had was that there is very little if any idle chatter around the edge of the rink that is sometimes evident at home, even when there are no coaches present. The work ethic of the regular camp attendees is definitely infectious and the skaters are in constant motion.
The coaches work as a team on the ice under a Head Coach with each having their own specialist area of expertise. This allows them to really understand their discipline and deliver it to the skaters in a way that each individual benefits. This also includes and Off-ice coach and physiologist which I was interested to learn, although the physiologist is for elite skaters only.
Whilst each coach works independently on the ice it is clear that there is a team focus and any crossover of skills is coached the same way by each coach. This is very good as there is no ambiguity about coaching the technical elements to the skaters, same song, same hymn sheet and all that!
A multi disciplinary coaching team is in my opinion most definitely the way to go where possible. This approach is used by quite a few elite level sports coaches and their teams in Britain and beyond and instigating this at club level with a sport such as skating that has very limited funds can only have a positive impact.
Strong leadership, mutual respect and a willingness to make it work are a must and the skaters should really benefit if what I see here is put into practice. It goes without saying that resources, venue availability and a positive attitude by all involved including skaters, coaches and parents will be deciding factors too.
We still have a week and a half left and I will endeavour to write again before returning to Scotland.
If you have read this far thank you and I hope you have enjoyed my Blog. Any relevant feedback and comments are always welcome here and on the Get Coached Facebook Page.