Sep 28, 2011
by Sarah Clinton
The Truth about Cardio Workouts
With all of the fad workouts on the market today, I feel it’s my moral duty as a professional in the field to clear up a certain exercise trend I’ve observed recently. Prepare yourselves though, I fear this might rock some worlds. Running on the treadmill for the same amount of time, at the same incline, at the same speed day after day will not continue to show you results. (Gasp) Soak it in. Mull it over. You wouldn’t bench press 135lbs every week at the same set/rep range and expect to continue to get stronger. You wouldn’t read the same page from your civil engineering book every day for the semester and expect to continue to get more intelligent. You’ll gain a little knowledge the first time; the information will be retained a little more the second time; by times 3 & 4 your brain is bored and you go through the motions while daydreaming about the next episode of The Jersey Shore.
Your muscles operate on the same system. The first time you hop on that elliptical trainer, you might actually burn the 286 calories estimated on the screen. As your body adapts to the demands of the workout, the calories burned and energy expended will decrease so you must up the ante. The whole workout concept is really just us chasing our tail like the adorably dimwitted golden retriever next door. We’ll probably never catch it, but the chase is fun enough to keep us interested. You workout to get better, but once you’re better, you must workout harder to get better, to workout harder to get better, to workout harder…you get the jest.
Let’s take a small moment to acknowledge that doing a half an hour on the treadmill 3 days a week is better than nothing. With the amount of people wasting 10mins driving around the parking lot with hopes of getting that parking spot one step closer to the door, at least you’re getting off the couch and moving. I’m just trying to set the record straight as far as your expectations should go. Our bodies are extremely efficient machines with an uncanny ability to adapt. We will only do the minimal amount necessary to achieve the task at hand and learn very quickly what that minimal amount is. Once your muscular and cardiovascular systems have been through the first 30min stairclimber workout, they sit around with protein shakes and say to each other, “Wow, that was really tough. We got dominated. Let’s repair ourselves now so the next time that workout comes around we’ll be prepared.” You get on the stairclimber again and your body has rallied more troops for the fight.
Now that I’ve destroyed your workout fantasy world, it’s time to build you back up. Mix it up a bit. Change one factor of your workout. Instead of running at 10mph for 20mins at 0® incline, try 12mph for 15mins, go do some abs, then get back on for round 2. Try decreasing the speed and increasing the incline. Try some interval sprints. Keep the belt going at a comfortable sprint speed, hop on for a 20sec sprint, step off for 40sec. Do that 15 times. If you really want to get outside of your comfort zone, pick up some of those dumbbells in the corner and try lifting them. Keep the weight lighter and make a lifting circuit if you’re interested in keeping your heart rate up. Don’t be afraid to keep it simple, i.e. dumbbell bench press, right into lunges, right into bicep curls, right into vertical jumps. You must find ways to continue to challenge yourself if you want to continue to see results.
There’s actually some truth to the old saying “no pain, no gain”. If you kick your own butt, it will thank you.
Feb 3, 2011
by Jon Hudak
I thought it’d be a good time to lead off with a video to get your attention. This is a video from Mike Robertson, a strength coach out of Indianapolis, describing how to properly perform a Quadruped Diagonal (*Referred to as a bird-dog by most). This exercise has caused some confusion and with those who don’t seem to be confused, it is an oft-butchered movement. The video demonstrates a regressed version but the explanation is on-point.
January 28, 2011
by Jon Hudak
TIME FOR SAT's
With the start of our new Strength and Conditioning site up and running in sync with the start of a new semester and spring sports seasons starting up, I thought it’d be good to give a quick run-down of our intentions with regards to the different tests, screens and assessments that most of the RPI athletic population is being put through.
Contrary to popular belief, the primary goal of our training programs is not to work on your “situation” for spring break, or to “tone-up without getting bulky”. We actually have two primary goals of: 1. reducing the likelihood of injuries while training or practicing/competing and 2) improving your on-field performance. The tests and screens we use give us a baseline of objective, quantifiable numbers to track our success with these goals.
Let’s take a look at the process…
SCREEN: A tool for categorizing a group; in strength and conditioning we are screening for injury risk. It simply looks at the “what” but not the “why”. In short, we want to know if it’s good or bad. If it’s good, we move on. If it’s bad, let’s find out why and fix it. Think of it as the check-engine light in your car…you know something is wrong but you want it assessed by a mechanic to find out why. Functional Movement Screen (FMS)-you may know this as “the stuff that’s just for the coaches”. There are no fun feats of strength or speed tests here. We look at 7 different movement patterns and are simply meant to identify those who are flashing their check engine light.
ASSESSMENT: When a screen identifies certain risks, assessments can be used to figure out the “why”. These are generally done by the Athletic Training staff or orthopedists in our case. For example, the Overhead Squat test from the Functional Movement Screen tells us nothing more than the quality of the squat pattern. The assessment might tell us that your core is less stable then a 3-legged newborn foal on ice, or maybe just that your hip flexors need to be loosened up a little.
TEST: A measure of ability/performance to track progress, AKA “The fun stuff” for most (although not all). This is where we find out what you really meant when you said “I worked out most of the break”. For most of the teams here, the main purpose of our testing will be to see what athletic qualities need the most improvement in addition to tracking the success of our in-season program by testing at the beginning, and end, of the main season.
Hopefully this breakdown gives you some insight into the thought process of our programs and helps you understand why our training doesn’t consist of only “back and bi’s”, “chest and tri’s”, and “legs” days, all of which are finished off with 500 crunches. Although, spring break is just around the corner…
January 27, 2011
by Sarah Clinton
FIRST BLOG POST EVER!
Alright Engineers, no more excuses for not eating breakfast. Your mothers were right when they told you it was the most important meal of the day. It jump starts your engine and gets you ready for the day ahead. Think about it this way, if you went 8 hours between lunch and dinner, you’d be hungry, run down, and probably not very fun to be around. So what makes you think it’s ok to sleep for 7-8 hours, then go another 4-5 until you finally give into your growling stomach and head to the dining hall for a little lunch?
Let’s get to the root of this problem, shall we?
Classic excuse # 1: I don’t have time in the morning.
Reality check: Who sets your alarm? Who says you need a gourmet breakfast of steak & eggs with a side of crepes? I know college scheduling can be rough. You’re up until 3:00am studying for your chemistry test the next day, and that 8:00am class sure does sneak up on you, so the snooze button becomes your best friend. But with just a little planning & a couple of simple items, you too, can start each day with a rockin’ breakfast. Give yourself an extra 5-10 minutes in the morning & voila:
Toasted whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter & a banana
Vanilla yogurt with granola & blueberries
Oatmeal* (and yes, the real stuff, not the instant packets loaded with sugar) with a little protein powder and some honey
*the real oatmeal literally takes 1 ½ - 2 minutes to microwave
Granola bar (not the chocolate dipped) with a protein shake & an apple
And for those a little more ambitious, boil a couple eggs on Sunday, on your way out Monday morning grab 2 with an
orange
As you can see, the running theme is try to hit both proteins & healthy carbs. Proteins take longer to digest, therefore keeping you full longer. Just eating a granola bar, or 2 pancakes will only last you about 1 hour. And stay away from Pop tarts, Nutrigrain bars, & mini-muffins, they’re basically sugar in a bag.
Classic excuse # 2: I’m a broke college kid and I don’t have any money.
Reality check: jar of peanut butter = $2-$3; bananas = $.49/lb; yogurt = $3-$4 (buying by the tub is cheaper than individual packages); package of whole wheat English muffins = $2-$3; Quaker Oats = $3; box of Nature Valley granola bars = $4; package of 6 eggs = $1
Enough said.
Classic excuse # 3: I’m not hungry in the morning.
Reality check: Tough. Suffer through breakfast for a couple days, and your body will thank you. Soon, you won’t be able to go without it.
Classic excuse # 4: I don’t like breakfast food.
Reality check: Don’t let society determine what you eat for breakfast. You are your own person. If you want a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread at 7:00 in the morning, then go ahead and do it!
Take home message – you don’t expect your car or Vespa to run well on an empty tank, so don’t expect your body to either. Feed it breakfast.
“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else” – Benjamin Franklin
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