Evolutionary Athletics

Make sure you subscribe to my FREE Newsletter - Click Here Now for EXCLUSIVE members only content!

I want to establish through this post the “proper equation of jumping”. Yes, I know, I’m starting to sound more and more like a marketing guru but bare with me on this one.

The problem I have found with whatever there is in this strength&speed “industry” (although I have hardly understood where the word “industry” should fit – oh wait – marketing gurus just reminded me) is that simplicity is the worst enemy of any quality idea. Whenever you go simple about a thing the guy you’re trying to train is like “hey man, cut me this bull, I want real training”. Because, like the industry word suggests, “real training” is “complicated training”.

Now for those that think that know me, they’ll be like “yeah man but you’re the first to overanalyze stuff”. That’s true. But am I the first to overcomplicate training? I don’t think so. My training journal should be pretty obvious about my training and it’s simplicity. The overanalyzing comes just from the pure curiosity of understanding. I can’t just say “yeah man, it just works like that and that’s it”. That’s like saying “yeah man, I’m just stupid and can’t understand things, I’ll just leave it at that”. Doesn’t work that way for me.

But enough with this chit-chat. What’s up with this “equation thing”? Nothing else than a fancy name for simple stuff.

Before we get to it, I want to make a geek analogy, like I sometimes do.

Let’s suppose you work into computer graphics. Nothing to do with athleticism, right? (I actually work in the domain, by the way).

Say I’m a Photoshop beginner. But I want to become the best photoshopper I can possibly be. What are my possibilities for improvement?

Well, for one it would be just working in Photoshop. You know, working in it, playing with tools, see what they do, what the menus do etc. Read the help. Whatever.

Another possiblity would be to watch tutorials, read advanced books etc.

Once I get decent at it, I could go out with deadlines on my projects. I have to finish this stuff in 2 hours or ELSE. Etc.

1) What would happen if I only read books/watch tutorials but never actually practice working in Photoshop itself? My POTENTIAL of being very good would increase a lot, but I wouldn’t be good. I could become very good in a very short time though, working in Photoshop.

2) What would happen if I would only work in photoshop and not read anything/watch any tutorial? I could become good, but probably never great because my potential of greatness would be limited/it would demand too much time to discover stuff on my own out of hazard.

3) What would happen if I would do deadline work without knowing the program well/having the background to do quality work? Well, for one I’d probably be very slow and for another – I’d probably be very limited.

So how the heck does this correlate with jumping/athleticism?

Well, the same thing happens in this field. The muscle is your potential. Practicing your movement is a SKILL. Overload exercises are your “deadlines” (think depth jumps).

To make a comparison:

1)What would happen if I only strength train but never actually practice jumping itself? My POTENTIAL of being very good at jumping would increase a lot, but I wouldn’t be good at jumping (especially running jumps, regardless of them being unilateral or bilateral). I could become very good in a very short time though, practicing jumping.

2) What would happen if I would only jump and not do any strength training? I could become a very good jumper, but probably never great because my potential of greatness would be limited/building strength would demand too much time using only jumping (because the time under tension is too low to optimally help build muscle).

3) What would happen if I would do depth jump work without jumping/having strength? I’d probably be very bad and my depth jumping advancement would be very limited.

The equation is build muscle + train movement + overload ever now and then with supramaximal exercises like depth jumps to increase the tension threshold that the CNS is/is not accepting in the eccentric phase.

So, again: build muscle to increase your potential of tension, train your movement to learn to apply/access your potential of tension in your jumps, do depth jumps to increase the amount of tension the CNS accepts.

It’s really that simple. Once this is settled, the only downside is bodyfat. If that is in check (say around 10% maximum) then you can’t help but jump high. Really. Notice I haven’t mentioned the relative strength factor in here because I’ll talk about it in the next article. You really have to be aware of what relative strength tells you/what can mean for you/how to read it.

I want to establish through this post the “proper equation of jumping”. Yes, I know, I’m starting to sound more and more like a marketing guru but bare with me on this one.

The problem I have found with whatever there is in this strength&speed “industry” (although I have hardly understood where the word “industry” should fit – oh wait – marketing gurus just reminded me) is that simplicity is the worst enemy of any quality idea. Whenever you go simple about a thing the guy you’re trying to train is like “hey man, cut me this bull, I want real training”. Because, like the industry word suggests, “real training” is “complicated training”.

Now for those that think that know me, they’ll be like “yeah man but you’re the first to overanalyze stuff”. That’s true. But am I the first to overcomplicate training? I don’t think so. My training journal should be pretty obvious about my training and it’s simplicity. The overanalyzing comes just from the pure curiosity of understanding. I can’t just say “yeah man, it just works like that and that’s it”. That’s like saying “yeah man, I’m just stupid and can’t understand things, I’ll just leave it at that”. Doesn’t work that way for me.

But enough with this chit-chat. What’s up with this “equation thing”? Nothing else than a fancy name for simple stuff.

Before we get to it, I want to make a geek analogy, like I sometimes do.

Let’s suppose you work into computer graphics. Nothing to do with athleticism, right? (I actually work in the domain, by the way).

Say I’m a Photoshop beginner. But I want to become the best photoshopper I can possibly be. What are my possibilities for improvement?

Well, for one it would be just working in Photoshop. You know, working in it, playing with tools, see what they do, what the menus do etc. Read the help. Whatever.

Another possiblity would be to watch tutorials, read advanced books etc.

Once I get decent at it, I could go out with deadlines on my projects. I have to finish this stuff in 2 hours or ELSE. Etc.

1) What would happen if I only read books/watch tutorials but never actually practice working in Photoshop itself? My POTENTIAL of being very good would increase a lot, but I wouldn’t be good. I could become very good in a very short time though, working in Photoshop.

2) What would happen if I would only work in photoshop and not read anything/watch any tutorial? I could become good, but probably never great because my potential of greatness would be limited/it would demand too much time to discover stuff on my own out of hazard.

3) What would happen if I would do deadline work without knowing the program well/having the background to do quality work? Well, for one I’d probably be very slow and for another – I’d probably be very limited.

So how the heck does this correlate with jumping/athleticism?

Well, the same thing happens in this field. The muscle is your potential. Practicing your movement is a SKILL. Overload exercises are your “deadlines” (think depth jumps).

To make a comparison:

1)What would happen if I only strength train but never actually practice jumping itself? My POTENTIAL of being very good at jumping would increase a lot, but I wouldn’t be good at jumping (especially running jumps, regardless of them being unilateral or bilateral). I could become very good in a very short time though, practicing jumping.

2) What would happen if I would only jump and not do any strength training? I could become a very good jumper, but probably never great because my potential of greatness would be limited/building strength would demand too much time using only jumping (because the time under tension is too low to optimally help build muscle).

3) What would happen if I would do depth jump work without jumping/having strength? I’d probably be very bad and my depth jumping advancement would be very limited.

The equation is build muscle + train movement + overload ever now and then with supramaximal exercises like depth jumps to increase the tension threshold that the CNS is/is not accepting in the eccentric phase.

So, again: build muscle to increase your potential of tension, train your movement to learn to apply/access your potential of tension in your jumps, do depth jumps to increase the amount of tension the CNS accepts.

It’s really that simple. Once this is settled, the only downside is bodyfat. If that is in check (say around 10% maximum) then you can’t help but jump high. Really. Notice I haven’t mentioned the relative strength factor in here because I’ll talk about it in the next article. You really have to be aware of what relative strength tells you/what can mean for you/how to read it.

I want to establish through this post the “proper equation of jumping”. Yes, I know, I’m starting to sound more and more like a marketing guru but bare with me on this one.

The problem I have found with whatever there is in this strength&speed “industry” (although I have hardly understood where the word “industry” should fit – oh wait – marketing gurus just reminded me) is that simplicity is the worst enemy of any quality idea. Whenever you go simple about a thing the guy you’re trying to train is like “hey man, cut me this bull, I want real training”. Because, like the industry word suggests, “real training” is “complicated training”.

Now for those that think that know me, they’ll be like “yeah man but you’re the first to overanalyze stuff”. That’s true. But am I the first to overcomplicate training? I don’t think so. My training journal should be pretty obvious about my training and it’s simplicity. The overanalyzing comes just from the pure curiosity of understanding. I can’t just say “yeah man, it just works like that and that’s it”. That’s like saying “yeah man, I’m just stupid and can’t understand things, I’ll just leave it at that”. Doesn’t work that way for me.

But enough with this chit-chat. What’s up with this “equation thing”? Nothing else than a fancy name for simple stuff.

Before we get to it, I want to make a geek analogy, like I sometimes do.

Let’s suppose you work into computer graphics. Nothing to do with athleticism, right? (I actually work in the domain, by the way).

Say I’m a Photoshop beginner. But I want to become the best photoshopper I can possibly be. What are my possibilities for improvement?

Well, for one it would be just working in Photoshop. You know, working in it, playing with tools, see what they do, what the menus do etc. Read the help. Whatever.

Another possiblity would be to watch tutorials, read advanced books etc.

Once I get decent at it, I could go out with deadlines on my projects. I have to finish this stuff in 2 hours or ELSE. Etc.

1) What would happen if I only read books/watch tutorials but never actually practice working in Photoshop itself? My POTENTIAL of being very good would increase a lot, but I wouldn’t be good. I could become very good in a very short time though, working in Photoshop.

2) What would happen if I would only work in photoshop and not read anything/watch any tutorial? I could become good, but probably never great because my potential of greatness would be limited/it would demand too much time to discover stuff on my own out of hazard.

3) What would happen if I would do deadline work without knowing the program well/having the background to do quality work? Well, for one I’d probably be very slow and for another – I’d probably be very limited.

So how the heck does this correlate with jumping/athleticism?

Well, the same thing happens in this field. The muscle is your potential. Practicing your movement is a SKILL. Overload exercises are your “deadlines” (think depth jumps).

To make a comparison:

1)What would happen if I only strength train but never actually practice jumping itself? My POTENTIAL of being very good at jumping would increase a lot, but I wouldn’t be good at jumping (especially running jumps, regardless of them being unilateral or bilateral). I could become very good in a very short time though, practicing jumping.

2) What would happen if I would only jump and not do any strength training? I could become a very good jumper, but probably never great because my potential of greatness would be limited/building strength would demand too much time using only jumping (because the time under tension is too low to optimally help build muscle).

3) What would happen if I would do depth jump work without jumping/having strength? I’d probably be very bad and my depth jumping advancement would be very limited.

The equation is build muscle + train movement + overload ever now and then with supramaximal exercises like depth jumps to increase the tension threshold that the CNS is/is not accepting in the eccentric phase.

So, again: build muscle to increase your potential of tension, train your movement to learn to apply/access your potential of tension in your jumps, do depth jumps to increase the amount of tension the CNS accepts.

It’s really that simple. Once this is settled, the only downside is bodyfat. If that is in check (say around 10% maximum) then you can’t help but jump high. Really. Notice I haven’t mentioned the relative strength factor in here because I’ll talk about it in the next article. You really have to be aware of what relative strength tells you/what can mean for you/how to read it.

Theologian, thrower, and coach Dan John has said, on many occasions, that the body is one piece, and he’s right. When performing in athletics, no one part works in isolation. The position and motion of almost every joint impacts the position and motion of almost every other joint. Still, despite the coordination and balance demanded by nearly every sport, some people feel the need to train their body in isolation.

While everyone knows that machines are the worst culprit, they’re not what I’m writing about here. Athletes, male athletes especially, have a tendency to need to feed their egos. They commonly do this through building large upper bodies and focusing on weight at the expense of form. They arch, lift their asses, and cut ROM on their bench presses. They bounce and neglect full ROM on chins (I’m guilty as charged here). And they generally squirm, wriggle, and cheat the weight up in any way possible.

This focus on upper body and disregard for form can lead to two things: a disproportionately big and strong upper body, and poor coordination between the upper body and trunk, both of which can lead to problems out on the field. To give what is perhaps the most common example, most young men put a lot of energy into the bench press, but the bench press comes with a few problems, at least when performed as it commonly is. First of all, arching excessively when pressing essentially turns off the abdominals. Regularly bench pressing with an extreme arch can “disconnect” the pressing muscles from the abs, and this will impact stability and the transfer of force between the upper and lower body when out on the field. Second, too much bench pressing can generate gains in upper body mass and strength far in excess of what the midsection is able to stabilize and transfer down to the lower body, further worsening the situation created by the first problem. It’s not just the bench press though, other lifts can have similar effects. Weight training isn’t just about building muscle, but about building a balanced and coordinated body too.

So, how does one go about building up their upper body while making sure the strength and coordination of their core rises in concert? Simple, just train with the right movements and cues.

For the pressing muscles, the best movements to use are overhead presses (barbell or dumbbell), push presses, and weighted push ups with the hands and feet elevated for extra ROM. For the pulling muscles, the best movements are bent over rows (barbell or dumbbell), chin up variations (with the right cues), and front levers. Really, any movement where the lower body or core needs to provide stabilization while the upper body is working are good. For all of the movements listed above, the two cues that needs to be kept in mind are to keep the abs contracted and to hold the pelvis neutral (neither a posterior or anterior tilt) while lifting. These cues ensure that the body learns to coordinate upper movement with torso stabilization.

Having typed all of that, traditional lifts like the bench press are just fine to include, but it’s best not to go overboard. If you’re going to bench press or build a big upper body in general, follow the aforementioned cues, and make sure that your midsection is strong enough to stabilize the weight of and force generated by your upper body. While a big upper body may look impressive, if it’s developed out of balance it’ll only hurt your performance come game time.

It is time for part 4 of our ongoing series examining the keys to effective program design.  In part 1 I discussed training mode, part 2 covered energy systems, and in part 3 we looked at autoregulatory training and training split.  This weeks article will look at work capacity.

Work Capacity

This was touched upon in part three of the series but we will go into more detail.  Every sport requires some form of work capacity.  Luckily for us, the utilization of autoregulation (areg) makes programming for both types of work capacity a cinch.  Essentially sports require one of two kinds of work capacity: peak or repetitive.

Peak Capacity

Peak work capacity is essentially the ability to produce one peak maximal effort during competition.  For some examples of sports requiring peak capacity think of sprinting.

Or powerlifting

Other examples include pretty much every track and field event, speed skating, etc…  Another fine example of a peak capacity athlete is a closer in baseball.  He may play one inning, throw 10-20 pitches, and fire the ball at 95 mph+ throughout the course of that one inning.

Training for peak capacity is fairly simple.

When training for power or peak quickness, the goal is to move as fast as possible.  So one would continue to do sets until they slow down or performance decreases.  Here are 2 examples to clarify.

Power: (exercise : Set #1/ Set #2/ Set #3/ etc…

Vertical Jump: 29″/ 30″/ 30.5″/31″/ 30″ – Stop.  The athlete did 4 sets before his/her performance decreased.  You would then make a note that 5 sets were completed.

Quickness: (exercise and reps: duration of set in seconds)

Line Hops 30 reps: 10.5/10.1/9.8/10.0 – Stop.  The athlete completed 3 sets before his/her performance decreased.  You would note that you completed 4 total sets.

For exercises that are tough to quantify, like altitude drops you would tie it to a strength or quickness exercise.  When your performance decreases on the strength or quickness drill, then you stop doing drops.  Here is an example to clarify:

Altitude Drops: 5/ 5/ 5/ 5 -Stop- Performance dropped for line hops

Line Hops 30 reps: 10.5/10.1/9.8/10.0 – Stop- Performance dropped.

Strength training for peak capacity is pretty easy to organize. If an athlete was doing squats it would look like the following:

Set 1: Squat 385×5 reps

Drop off is 20% of 5 reps (5x.2=1) So when you can no longer squat 385 for 4 reps you stop the workout.

Squat 385x 5/4/3 -Stop- You could no longer squat 385×4 so the workout is done.  You did 3 sets before drop off and 4total sets.

Repetitive Capacity

Repetitive capacity is required in any sport where a repeated number of high intensity yet sub maximal efforts are repeated.  These types of sports often include incomplete recovery intervals.  Some examples of sports involving repetitive capacity include football

and ice hockey (check out highlights 1 and 2)

Going back to our baseball closer analogy, a starting pitcher would fall into the repetitive capacity.  A starting pitcher cannot go out and fire 95mph fastballs all day because he would only last 1 or 2 innings maximum.  They would need to use a little more finesse so that they can last 5-7 innings.

Essentially the sports requiring repetitive capacity fall into the “major sports” category which also includes basketball, baseball, tennis, etc…

Areg for repetitive capacity is also fairly simple.

For quickness and power:

Line Hops Set 1: 30 reps in 10.5 seconds

The drop off is based on total reps so 20% of 30 is 6 reps.

You would then do sets of 24 reps (30-6) until you could no longer complete 24 reps in 10.5 seconds.  It may seem complex BUT anyone who can multiply by 2 in their head should be fine, it is simple mathematics.

So the remaining sets would look like:

Line Hops x24 reps: 9.8/10.0/ 10.0/ 10.1/ 10.1/ 10.2/ 10.2/ 10.4/ 10.6 – Stop-  including the first set of 30 reps you did 9 sets before drop off and 10 total sets.  Your improvement in conditioning would be a result of the increase in work load.

Areg for strength training would look like the following:

Strength Work Capacity

Set 1: Squat 385×5 reps

Drop off is 20% of 5 reps (5x.2=1) So when you can no longer squat 385 for 4 reps you stop the workout.

Squat 385×4/4/4/4/3- Stop- You did 5 sets before drop off and 6 total sets.  Make a note of the 6 sets completed.

Using the 20% and repetition number will work for just about every training method except for isometrics.  When doing isometrics you would base the 20% drop off based on time.  For example:

ISO Lunge 185 x 20 seconds

Drop off is 20% x 20 seconds or 4 seconds.

Continue doing ISO lunges until they can no longer be completed in 16 seconds.

Selecting the Right Capacity Measure

When designing your training program selecting between peak capacity and repetitive capacity is quite simple.  Just ask yourself this simple question:

“Does my sport require a one shot burst of performance or does it require repeated efforts?”

If your sport is a one shot effort than peak capacity should make up the majority of your training time.  If it requires repeated efforts, then you should spend the majority of your time working on repetitive capacity.

Of course some time must be spent training the non-dominant capacity for your sport as well.  For example, who cares that you can lose very little speed during the course of the entire game if you only run a 5.5 second 40.

Or to the contrary, if you are a powerlifter, the increase in repetitive capacity will allow your body to adjust to greater training volumes and tonnage which, in the long run, will open up the door to increases in maximal strength in the future.

The take home message is this:  You need to train using both capacity methods spending the majority of time developing the dominant work capacity in your sport.

Capacity Guidelines

While deciding when to switch from peak capacity to repetitive capacity, or vice versa, may seem complicated the following brief guidelines may help simplify the process for you.

1.  Generally you should spend 70% of your time training the dominant capacity and 30% of your time training the other capacity.  Now put your calculators away because this works out to the following guideline: For every 2 cycles training your dominant capacity, you should spend 1 training cycle training your non dominant capacity.  So if you are a football player you should spend 2 cycles training repetitive capacity and 1 cycle training peak capacity.  Pretty simple and no math required.

2.  When your peak capacity drops to 2 sets you should switch to a repetitive capacity cycle.

3.  When your repetitive capacity reaches 8 sets per exercise you should switch to a peak capacity cycle.

Closing

I hope you found this article helpful and interesting.  The capacity examples were taken directly from the previous article.  Deciding how to develop work capacity in a sport specific manner can be quite complicated, however the proper application of areg  coupled with the simple guidelines set forth should help simplify the process for you.  As always, if you have any questions just ask.

-Alex

I want to summarize a post that I brought to the wannagetfast.com forum, which has some very interesting training implications.  The post is regarding myofascial winding and its neurological aspect.  A coach I recently met who works with MMA & track athletes brought to my attention that elite level sprinters spiral and rotates their hands during arm swing.  This is something I have noticed (in some athletes), but never gave much attention to.  This coach said that while analyzing Usain Bolt’s running technique he started to notice the spiral winding of the hands and after some research, it started to make sense to him.  I think you can notice his left arm here:

The coach who brought this to my attention has used this myofascial winding to increase performance out of the start and during a CMJ with great results in performance.  During the winding, the hands are hyper-prone when the arms are behind the back and hyper supinated when in front of the body. He reports increases by as much as 6″ in the first step of the start and 2″ plus in CMJ, with numerous and multiple athletes.  Alex V brought this article Everything You Know About Muscle is Wrong to my attention, which talks about the organelles of the myofascia and its role in communication with the CNS.  Discussing this with a friend who is a Z-Health trainer, he explained that what my right hand does, my left foot will be stimulated to do the opposite of and vice versa for opposite limbs.  With that thinking, as a runner goes to push off the big toe of the extended leg during sprinting, if the opposite arm’s hand is slightly supinated or externally rotated that drive foot should be more likely to be pronated or internally rotated which will help get to the big toe and increase function reflexively and naturally.  Most movements that are mastered are spiral in nature like that of a high-level martial-artist punching or blocking.  Here is the best one of all:

This coach has developed some spiral winding hand/foot drills that can increase almost all physical abilities, and carry over to all other aspects of performance (i.e. Sprinting, jumping, even lifting).  He uses these drills as compensatory drills in between regular training exercises like, running, jumping, and lifting, to increase performance during training as well.  These drills are all inertial based training with spiral winding for the arms, wrists, hands, legs, ankles, and feet(sorry I can’t go into more detail on the drills, but this might become a monetary venture for this particular individual so I don’t want to ruin that for him).  I remember talking with Steven Davidson about halters used during ancient times to increase jumping performance and these types of drills triggers those thoughts.  The ancient athletes used the lightweight objects in training and competition to increase performance by swinging them around in their arms and then releasing them at the top of the jump to propel themselves off of.  I am thinking now this swing effect contributed to the storing of elastic energy and inhibition of the hip musculature more so then the propulsion effect of halters.  This is all speculation of course, but a guy can guess.  Anyway, West58 of the wannagetfast forum used it with his athletes and had great success.  Kelly Baggett said when he jumps he does this naturally, as some of you experienced jumpers will.  When you’re working with your athletes give it a shot and see what happens.

Jeremy

I noticed there isn’t a copy of RJ’s HARTT progression on the website.  I decided to post this one from my old blog.

While it’s true that the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and abs are the primary “engines” behind most sporting movements, it’s impossible to reach one’s full potential without adequately strong and functional lower legs. Whereas propulsive power is generated by the hips, it’s transferred into the ground through the calves, ankles, feet, and toes. If the foot and ankle complex isn’t strong enough to manage the forces of the hips, an athlete will essentially be leaking power.

In addition to transferring force from the other muscles into the ground, the foot and ankle complex is designed for reactive function. What this means is that the tendons in the feet and lower legs gather energy with each foot strike (or countermovement) and then return that energy for additional propulsive power.

The stronger and more coordinated one’s feet and lower legs are, the better they’ll be able to transfer power from the larger muscle groups and the better they’ll be able to capture and reuse power gained through reactive function. These abilities will manifest themselves largely in faster coupling times (ie. You’ll get off the ground faster and with less of a load up).

When training the lower legs one needs to pay attention to both the musculature and the tendons. Strong, coordinated muscles with high RFD are needed to maintain joint angles upon contact and stiff (resistant to deformation) tendons are the springs in which reactive energy is captured. The stiffer the tendons, the more energy they’ll be able to absorb and put back out and the faster they’ll be able to do it. Since the primary function of the lower leg complex is to act isometrically, that’s what most of the training methods targeting it focus on.

In order to train the musculature, weighted isometric holds with the calves stretched tend to work the best. Standing calf raise ISOs target the gastrocnemii and seated calf raise ISOs target the solei. The gastrocnemii are utilized more heavily when the knee is closer to full extension, and the solei are utilized more heavily when it’s bent. As such, different sporting movements require different balances of strength. Sets of 30-60 seconds tend to work best for both exercises, and to minimize spinal loading they can be done one leg at a time.

To train the tendons and local RFD, plyometric variations tend to work the best. Jumping rope, line hops, rebounds on and off of a step, altitude landings, depth jumps, sprints, and bounds all work very well, and choosing exercises depends largely on one’s sport and readiness level. I would recommend that people work their way up to depth jumps, altitude landings, and bounds by following a progressions like the one below:

Jumping Rope or Line Hops (2-feet)

Jumping Rope or Line Hops (1-foot)

Step Rebounds (2-feet)

Step Rebounds (1-foot)

Low Altitude Landings (<CMJ height)

Higher Altitude Landings (>CMJ height)

Depth Jumps

Bounds

By gradually increasing the intensity of the exercises, one will ward off the chance of getting shin splints and will make sure they’re absorbing the force with their muscles and tendons, not their skeleton and ligaments. Progressions goes at one’s own pace, and it’s best to err on the side of caution. Nobody ever got injured by doing too little.

Jumping rope, line hops, and step rebounds are all best when done in sets of 20-30 seconds. Altitude landings and depth jumps work well in sets of 3-5 repetitions. And 20-30M is usually good for bounds.

By keeping a healthy diet of lower leg work in one’s routine, one can make sure that they’re getting the most out of their hips and legs and make sure they’re reactive as possible. Those with the best lower leg function tend to move effortlessly, appear to skip across the ground, and get up higher faster than their opponents. If those sound like desirable traits, then foot and lower leg function is where you need to focus, but not at the expense of the hips and core.

Throwing in a couple of sets of plyometric drills before each session and a couple sets of calf ISOs after each session should be more than enough to build strong feet, ankles, and calves. How much you do exactly is largely determined by your work capacity and the rest of your routine, but even a few sets can go a long ways.

Welcome back.  In part 1 of this series we discussed training mode.  In part 2 I discussed energy systems and made a case for you to time your sets.  Now in part 3 we are going to discuss volume management and training split.  We will begin with volume management as it lays the foundation for your training split.

Volume Management

Have you ever wondered why a training author suggests a certain number of sets and repetitions in their training program.  The repetitions are designed to get a specific training effect, as was discussed in part 2 of the series, but what about sets.  How come we should do 5×5, 10×10, 3×8, etc…  How does the author know you can handle 5 sets of 5.  A beginner squatting only 225 for a 1rm may be able to handle 8 sets of 5.  An advanced lifter with an 600lb squat may only be able to muster out 3 quality sets of 5 before he is crushed.

You are a snowflake

Every one of us is different.  We are all individuals.  Yes, you are a snowflake.  What may be best for me may not be optimal for you.  In fact what was best for you on Tuesday’s squat workout may not be best for you on Friday’s squat workout after a rough Thursday night at the bars.  So the question is, “How do we individualize the training program to accommodate all of the snowflakes in the world?”

Autoregulation (areg)

Sounds fancy huh?  Areg is a simple method to determine the exact volume your body.  Now the concept was first brought to my attention by the writings of DB Hammer and the inno-sport crew with a complex formula based on training frequency and training mode.  Of course Mel Siff had discussed another form of areg called cybernetic periodization, more commonly known as the Weider Instinctive Principle #281452.  While cybernetic periodization is cool, a wise man named Arthur Jones once said that a man would rather shit on a barbell than lift it.  And if this is our instinct, to avoid activity, then training based only on feel is a sure way to fail.

The inno-sport guidelines, were a step in the right direction but the addition of new complex terminology, changing guidelines based on training mode, and odd drop off %’s necessitated bringing in the old TI-85 calculator into the gym to make sure one was stopping at the appropriate moment.  The advantage of having specific guidelines is that one will know when to stop the workout, and based upon next workouts improvement, one can tweak and modify the drop off %’s to achieve optimal results.  Say through generic guidelines (Drop off %A) you gain 5lbs on your squat in a week, then you decrease your drop off % (B) and your squat shoots up 10 lbs, you have learned that training until performance drop off B will yield greater results.  Thus you should train to drop off B and not A.

What to do?  What to do?

Do we need to bring in our TI-85 and excel spreadsheets into the gym?

Personally, when areging workouts, I use a few different guidelines.

Power and Quickness

When training for power or peak quickness, the goal is to move as fast as possible.  So one would continue to do sets until they slow down or performance decreases.  Here are 2 examples to clarify.

Power: (exercise : Set #1/ Set #2/ Set #3/ etc…

Vertical Jump: 29″/ 30″/ 30.5″/31″/ 30″ – Stop.  The athlete did 4 sets before his/her performance decreased.  You would then make a note that 5 sets were completed.

Quickness: (exercise and reps: duration of set in seconds)

Line Hops 30 reps: 10.5/10.1/9.8/10.0 – Stop.  The athlete completed 3 sets before his/her performance decreased.  You would note that you completed 4 total sets.

Now some exercises are tough to quantify, like altitude drops.  How would one areg altitude drops.  Simply tie it to a strength or quickness exercise.  When your performance decreases on the strength or quickness drill, then you stop doing drops.  Here is an example to clarify:

Altitude Drops: 5/ 5/ 5/ 5 -Stop- Performance dropped for line hops

Line Hops 30 reps: 10.5/10.1/9.8/10.0 – Stop- Performance dropped.

What if you are more interested in conditioning than peak speed or performance.  First, power exercises are NEVER done for conditioning so you need to train them first and use a peak drop off method.  Quickness drills can be trained for conditioning very simply.  You would set the drop off to 20% of the initial sets repetitions and keep track of the set duration.  It sounds complex but is quite simple.  Here is an example:

Line Hops Set 1: 30 reps in 10.5 seconds

The drop off is based on total reps so 20% of 30 is 6 reps.

You would then do sets of 24 reps (30-6) until you could no longer complete 24 reps in 10.5 seconds.  It may seem complex BUT anyone who can multiply by 2 in their head should be fine, it is simple mathematics.

So the remaining sets would look like:

Line Hops x24 reps: 9.8/10.0/ 10.0/ 10.1/ 10.1/ 10.2/ 10.2/ 10.4/ 10.6 – Stop-  including the first set of 30 reps you did 9 sets before drop off and 10 total sets.  Your improvement in conditioning would be a result of the increase in work load.  Make a note of 10 sets completed.

Strength

We have two options here:

A. Instinctive

B. Mathematic

For those that are less inclined to do simple math I would recommend using Kelly Baggett’s money set method.  It is summarized below:

“There are a multitude of ways to regulate the sets and reps and many that I use. Here is an easy way to do it and what I call the “money-set” method. This is a lot like the max-effort method. The basic tenet of the money set method is each time you repat a particular workout you work up to at least ONE SET where you lift either more weight or do more reps then you did for your best set the last time you did the workout. Generally speaking, you’ll do between 2-5 sets per exercise adding weight each set and working up to at least one maximum effort for a given number of reps. For example, say my last workout on incline dumbell press looked like this and my target rep range was 8:

pushups x 15

feet elevated pushups x 10

50 pound dumbells x 8

60 pound dumbells x 8

70 pound dumbells x 9 * money set

70 pound dumbells x 8 (tried to beat 9 but couldn’t)

So, you can see I did 4 pretty hard sets but only one was a real money set. Next time i do that exercise I gotta beat 9 reps with 70 lbs.

As soon as you can do 3 more reps than your target rep range increase the load by 2-5%. So, if I did 200 pounds for 6 reps on squat the last workout and 200 pounds for 8 reps this time, the next workout I’d increase the load by 5-10 pounds and once again do as many reps as possible building back up to 8 reps.”

For the more mathematically inclined you have the drop off method.

Again, for simplicities sake we will use 20% as our drop off margin.

You can apply this method a few ways for strength training. The drop off for strength training will predominantly be based on repetitions.  See the two examples below:

Peak Strength:

Set 1: Squat 385×5 reps

Drop off is 20% of 5 reps (5x.2=1) So when you can no longer squat 385 for 4 reps you stop the workout.

Squat 385x 5/4/3 -Stop- You could no longer squat 385×4 so the workout is done.  You did 3 sets before drop off and 4total sets.  Make a note of the 4 total sets.

Strength Work Capacity

Set 1: Squat 385×5 reps

Drop off is 20% of 5 reps (5x.2=1) So when you can no longer squat 385 for 4 reps you stop the workout.

Squat 385×4/4/4/4/3- Stop- You did 5 sets before drop off and 6 total sets.  Make a note of the 6 sets completed.

Using the 20% and repetition number will work for just about every training method except for isometrics.  When doing isometrics you would base the 20% drop off based on time.  For example:

ISO Lunge 185 x 20 seconds

Drop off is 20% x 20 seconds or 4 seconds.

Continue doing ISO lunges until they can no longer be completed in 16 seconds.  Similar to the previous examples you can train for work capacity or peak performance.  In the peak performance method you could continue doing sets to failure until you could no longer hold the lunge for 16 seconds.  For work capacity you would hold each subsequent set for only 16 seconds (not failure) until you can no longer hold the lunge for 16 seconds.

Training Splits

Whew!  All that is a whole article in it’s own.  Now we will cover training splits.  This will be simple.  You have two basic splits:

A.  Upper/Lower

B. Total Body

Total body training requires a higher work capacity, because of the frequency of training, thus I recommend beginners start with the first option.

In the upper lower split a generic template would be as follows: (Choose 1 exercise/body part)

Upper

Push

Pull

Delt

Bicep

Tricep

Lower

Core

Foot/Calf

Quad

Hamstring/Glute

***Note*** Areg is based upon an upper/lower split.  So utilize the areg methods outlined earlier in this split.  Once one can do 5 or more sets for each exercise using the peak methods of drop off, they are ready to move into total body training.

The upper/lower split is based upon a M-Tu-Th-Fr training set up.

Total Body Training

With total body training areg becomes much more complicated.  Luckily for you, I have simplified the process.  Recall in the volume management section of the article I had you note the total number of sets completed in each example.  This will come into play now.

For example:

Say you completed 6 total sets of squats on Monday and 5 sets of lunges on Thursday.  This would be 11 sets of a lower body quad dominant movement.

In total body training you would then distribute the 11 sets over the course of the week.  Because the volume of each workout is lower it is recommended that you stick to the same exercises each day of training to allow for better motor learning.  For example:

Monday Squat 3×5

Wednesday Squat 2×5

Thursday Squat 2×5

Friday Squat 4×5

Now for some total body training guidelines:

1. During a total body training cycle week 1 should have a set volume 25% less than your last week of upper/lower training.  So if you did 11 sets of squats, you would perform 8 sets over the first week.

2.  During week 2 you would do the same volume that you did in upper/lower training.  In the above example it would be 11 sets distributed over the week.

3.  In week 3 you would increase volume by 50%, yes 50%.  In the examples you would do 16 sets in week 3.

4.  In week 4 you would either do the same volume as week 2 with a higher weight or switch to an upper/lower split.

5.  If you chose the former in week 4, then in week 5 you should switch to an upper/lower split

6.  A generic split would be: Lower quad/Lower Posterior Chain/ Upper Push/Upper Pull Core and calves would be trained in the warm up

And finally for some more general guidelines.

1.  Only switch to a total body workout when the volume of the upper/lower workouts reaches 5 or greater in each workout.

2.  Always follow a total body training block with an upper/lower block

3.  All blocks will last 3-5 weeks.

4.  Only switch back to total body training when the requirement #1 has been satisfied.

This turned out to be a large article with a ton of info to digest.  Take some time, read it over, and ask questions if you have any.

- Alex

It’s funny how western guys take things for granted. In all domains. But since we’re talking athletic things in here, let’s keep it at that.

Whenever I look over youtube, say, searching for squats, plyos, or whatever training “events”, I see all kinds of fancy gyms, apparatus, machines, bossu-balls, tens of squat racks, power racks, Gatorades, stability balls, med balls, kettlebells, GHR machines, plyo boxes, aerobic boxes, pink dumbbells and stupid instructors. This — in the USA.

Whenever I look around me here in Romania, when I go to train either in gyms or on the track, I see trellises, old tracks, mud, dirt, spounges, broken bars, rusty plates, rusty bars, wooden boxes with spikes in them if you’re “lucky” to have some in the first place, rusty pink dumbbells and stupid instructors.

The point is — if the western guy would change place with an eastern guy for one week… oh man!

It’s harder when the stupid coach gets crazy ideas though.

A friend of mine that I was training with got into high jump and bobsled training. One day when he was training for the high jump he was doing jumps in the sandpit over a metallic, NON-COLLAPSABLE hurdle. Sure, a small 40 cm or 16 inch hurdle. But he was doing technique jumping where he was told “how to jump”. Needless to say — his jumping was different than what the coach was trying to make him do. So he blowed up the jump and blown his leg up in the hurdle.

Truth is, stupidity + lack of conditions are the mother and father of the injury. What can be said about the water “dive-bomb” Olympic team? They don’t have a dive-pool to train in the WHOLE COUNTRY and, to still train, they dive into spounges. Can you imagine that? They don’t jump into water until they’re in the competition itself! One guy still got 10th place in the World Championship. Can you compare that with the US conditions?

Really, even doing depth jumps is a real problem here because you don’t have any boxes (yes, those square wooden things) to do depth jumps off! But when I look over youtube in the USA everybody has nice all sizes boxes to do them from. Oh, and GHR machine? I never ever seen one here. Never. I don’t think anybody knows what a GHR machine is to be frank.

Never seen a power rack where you take the pins and put them to suit your height/squat depth. Never. I know only one gym that has kettlebells, and they have only 2. As for plyo boxes that I was talking about? They have only like 2 in the Olympic athletic training facility in which I trained for a short period. That’s the only place I’ve seen them.

Oh, not to mention that the only Olympic high jumper (2.30 m personal best / 7′7) has a salary of about 175 euros or 200 $ per month. Yup, you heard right. A good way to be performant, I guess. He borrowed 15 euros about 4 months ago from me and hasn’t given them back yet. No money to do it.

Check out how I do my depth jumps (what I use to do them):

Think about that when you’re complain about the training conditions!