Prep and Build Periods in Training

Prep and Build Periods in Training

Pace yourself and take your time, this is important.

Finding a nice balance between pushing yourself, recovery periods, endurance, and other forms of training including threshold and speed I believe is a skill yet to be acquired by 95% of the gym population.  So often I see people at the gym injured whether it’s their shoulder, hip, ankles, etc.  I also see these same people sprinting on the treadmill, doing military presses with 45 lb dumbbells over their heads, and heading into an advanced TRX class which involves putting your feet into the straps and holding planks for about 10 minutes.  I don’t think people take the time to go back to the basic exercises and build up a base so that when they want to build themselves to a certain level, they already have a great foundation to build upon. 

Here is a client of mine that doesn't mind being an example.  He is a highschool baseball player who is at times running at high speeds and is chronically spraining his ankle.  can you see why?  Here he is at a slow jog, maybe 4.5 mph.

With my current triathlon-training program, courtesy of The Triathlete’s Training Bible, written by Joe Friel, I am in a strength training stage right now that is called AA, meaning anatomical adaptation.  This will get my tendons, muscles, and systems ready for greater loads a little later in my training.  The purpose of this though is to prevent injury!  Here, we are performing higher reps at either body weight loads or small weights.  Here we need to develop balance, core strength, posture, and stability.  I can’t tell you how many clients I see at the gym who can’t hold a proper plank.  Tucking the pelvis back and keeping their shoulder blades involved is difficult!  Performing a proper squat with the chest up, no increased lordosis in the back (meaning excessive arching) and excessive forward traveling in the knees is also very difficult for some people, but those same people are taking 35 lb. kettle bells and are doing thrusters!   Just now on the news on the Today show they are showing people at home how to hold a plank on your hands and do rows at the same time with dumbbells!  I see injuries in your future…which might mean I need to go to physical therapy school because business is booming. 

Back to explaining the prep period.  It’s time to get your body ready for training.  I have even decided to go back to the basics even though I teach an advanced cross training class with Olympic lifts and heavy weights. 

1.                    Nutrition: Make sure you are eating enough while you train.  Different philosophies will lend themselves to different ideas of how much protein, carbs, and fat you should be taking in.  Make sure you get in plenty of liquid, and If you are doing a lot of cardiovascular training and weight training I would suggest at least 1.2-1.4g/kg of body weight.  Many people cut out the carbs to lose body fat and weight, but you need those essential sugars for brain function, for your muscles to contract and relax, and also for recovery!  Fats are very important for aerobic endurance and also for hormone regulation and organ protection, also for vitamin absorption so if you want healthy strong bones, eat your fat!

2.                    Stretching: Many people don’t stretch nearly enough.  I will see people with low back pain and they only have 45 degrees of movement in their hamstrings.  If you don’t have movement here you can’t bend from your hips so you will take it from your back instead!  I see shoulder pain when the scalenes are so tight and thoracic back has no movement because of constant texting and forward head positions at the computer.  Especially after being on the bike or running, it is so important to stretch out the front of the hips, quads, external hip rotators and more.  I took a class with Charlie Weingroff who is a physical therapist and top trainer to NBA players like Lebron, Chris Bosh, and more on how important the hip flexors are to improved hamstring flexibility, leg health, etc.  I do his routine every day and after I run on the treadmill, my cool down is walking backwards for 5 minutes.  Do you ever see anyone walking backwards on the treadmill!!??    It opens up the front of your hips and helps the hamstrings and glutes to contract and relax. 

3.                    The Workout:  Right now it is a lot of body weight training with high reps and short recovery periods of only a minute or less.  I am performing 3-5 sets of 20-30 reps of all the basic exercises.  Pushups, Pullups, squats, hip extension, lateral lunges with furniture sliders, toe walking, rotator cuff exercises, YTM’s, dips, TRX exercises, and balance work.  It is possible to work up a sweat and to feel sore with no weights people!  Also, perform lateral movements, not just front and back.  You need to develop the muscles that support your hips and knees, and it wont be don’t by just moving front and back.