To succeed in sport, coordination, strength, and power must be enhanced. It's that simple. The challenge becomes finding the most optimal way to enhance coordination, strength and power, haha.
We could pull out what the latest research shows for each of these traits and mash a program together. Another option is connecting with experienced strength coaches and finding out exactly what they did for their athletes to succeed. These would be great places to start, but you will need to realize, the program you follow does not matter if you're missing the PURPOSE!
Start with coordination then strength and power will follow. There is no better time to enhance coordination than the Warm Up!
Think about training, sport practice, and everything else an athlete will do to prepare for competition. The one constant, whether you are working skill, strength, speed, practice, or Game Day, is that the athlete must WARM UP! This screams opportunity to empower performance every day. With athletes getting pulled in so many different directions, understanding the deep meaning behind WHY we warm up is crucial for unlocking athletic potential.
Let's breakdown four focuses you should bring everyday to your athlete's warm up. Remember: It’s more than just getting work done. It’s getting work done well.
1. Biomechanical Efficiency
Simply put, body control. Sport and fitness are filled with leverage, the relative strengths of the different muscle groups, and coordination that orchestrates movement patterns. Athletes coming to you will have different limb and torso lengths that make them unique. While a coach cannot alter muscle origin and insertion points or muscle fiber lay out, they can teach athletes to use what have. The warm up is a low-stress opportunity to start to connect the mind to the body specific for each individual.
Having athletes consciously listen to your movement instructions and apply the directions attacks the limiting factor know as biomechanical efficiency by addressing cooperation among different muscle groups. As athletes accumulate reps with challenging warm up movements, agonist and antagonist muscles begin to work together. Tension will dissipate and the athlete's economy of movement will increase. Half-assing the warm up will make coaching much more difficult for you and take away from accelerated coordination development.
2. Neurological Efficiency
This is the skill, efficiency, and intensity with which an athlete recruits fibers in muscle groups to produce a movement pattern accurately and powerfully.
All movement is controlled by the nervous system and neuromuscular processes. This limiting factor affects everything from force reduction and preventing injury to being explosive. A fundamental element to athletics is developed during the warm up if athletes are moving with intent. The co-operation between muscle fibers within the same group is directly connected to the trained ability to produce strength and power. Just going through the motions will not progress a high level of coordination long-term and fail to prime the athlete to fire during the first sets or reps in the sporting arena short-term.
The Power Athlete Methodology - Level One course dives deeper into this limiting factor. You’ll learn why 1RM’s are never true for novice athletes and why assigning relative percentages will not work to foster athleticism.
3. Primal Proficiency
“Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect Practice makes perfect.”
Programming is a major buzz word in the S&C world, and for the most part, is how coaches are judged. Whether it's CrossFit, college/high school level, or garage training with your buddies, the question every gym roughneck ponders is, "what program are you on?", "what's their programming like?", and for the Power Athlete Nation, "What are you training for?" Planning and writing programs is a large part of an S&C coach's job, possibly the most critical part. Every movement, progression, and goal needs to be written with a purpose and plan in mind, including the warm up. But the job does not end there, shouldn't the real work as a coach begin once you've written the program?
What is often overlooked or missing in these programming conversations is the application of said program. The bridge that connects effectiveness and application? Execution.
Improper execution of movements will dramatically decrease recovery, create imbalances, and decrease the transfer of training to the sporting arena. The "perfectly-written" program quickly becomes a mechanism for poor performance (and injury) if an athlete moves poorly. So where does the warm up come into effectiveness, application and execution?
How Power Athlete crafts warm ups factors in education of the big 5 lifts (Squat, Deadlift, Lunge, Step Up, and Power Clean) by chunking out pieces of these movements to master and attack individual limitations before the addition of external resistance or other forms of stress. Practicing each component during daily warm ups provides the opportunity to master and combine each chunk until competent in the full Primal movement pattern. How do you measure progress, though? Weights and times are valuable tools, but not nearly as valuable as your assessment of an athlete’s quality of movement!
4. Psychological Factors
Athletic performance depends greatly on a combination of psychological factors like motivation, attitudes towards winning and losing, concentration, and the ability to control emotions while executing.
Physical preparation for athletics will never compensate for psychological weaknesses under the high stress environment of competition. We talked about this in Power Coach: Self-Esteem. These psychological barriers are tools that can teach an athlete how to navigate high stress situations, using self-esteem and fear as motivation.
An athlete can be their own biggest limiting factor. Using the warm up to practice controlling the mental processes of concentration, focus, and regulating emotion will prepare them for success in higher stress situations. Physical abilities and mental processing systems work hand in hand on Game Day. Use the warm up to break a mental sweat, not just get your chili hot.
gained or acquired; especially through merit or as a result of effort or action
E-ffort is always assumed, you don’t get a pat on the back or an atta-boy for effort. You are expected to show up and put in the work, it’s what we do!
A-dversity is always gonna be there. This is what keeps us honest and shows our true character. Dealing with adversity and turning it into a learning experience is how you truest earn something.
R-esilience by definition
adjective
1.
(of a person or animal) able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.
2.
(of a substance or object) able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed.
Bottom line coming back and putting in the effort the next day no matter what.
N-ecessity ,some would argue that it isn’t but to be great and make a difference you gotta earn it every day and that makes these pieces a necessity.
E-vidence ,you put all these pieces together and it will prove itself.
D-etermination is the main ingredient in the formula, without determination the rest of this stuff doesn’t happen!
“The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see.”
– Ayn Rand
Why do some myths seem to stick around even when there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary? The question: should kids lift weights? is one of those myths. Kids in our fitness program have been lifting weights for over 20 years, and for all those 20 years we have heard the same two myths about kids lifting weights. These myths are as persistent as they are untrue. We’ve acted against them for two decades, in our coaching and our coaching instruction, but we still hear these myths today.
Myth 1: Lifting weights will stunt a kid’s growth
I look around my gym and I see kids of all sizes, and they all lift weights; some have been lifting for years. If the above statement were true I would expect to see kids of substandard height. In fact, what we see is a normal range in height. Unsurprisingly, the kids that are short have short parents.
Where did this myth come from? Well, Kirby (1) draws on anthropometric data from the Children’s Employment Commission of 1842 comparing children who worked in coal mines to those in other occupations at the time. Findings suggest that the children who worked in the coal mines were shorter in stature than children who worked in other trades.
Despite criticism (see, e.g., [2]), the public seized on this idea: Coal-mining children’s shorter stature had to do with the heavy loads they were required to lift. BAM! SCIENCE!
By the way, I heard this exact same story deriving from a 1960s Japanese study (3).
Myths….
Brand X anecdote:
J didn’t grow when his friends did. At first, his mom didn’t worry. But as his circle of friends continued to grow and J showed no sign of growing, his mom began to become concerned. J’s mom took him to Children’s Hospital where they ran a battery of tests. He was indeed behind the growth curve and the data suggested he would stop growing at about 5’4”. Doctors said they could try some growth therapy OR J might try lifting weights. J lifted weights. Today J stands somewhere between 5’9-5’10”.
The truth is that throughout history kids have worked hard at demanding labor and been better for it physically.
Myth 2: Lifting weights will injure kids
This one has a more recent origin and appears to owe its persistence to a pervasive misunderstanding of findings and recommendations found across nearly a half-century of research and position statements. Early studies challenged the efficacy of resistance training interventions for preadolescents (see, e.g., [4] and [5]). In 1983, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a position statement (6) that reinforced this and recommended against competitive weightlifting, powerlifting, and bodybuilding among preadolescents due to the risk of injury. Other research, e.g. (7), carried the banner first hoisted by the AAP, which in 1990 ([8] p. 802) continued to use prohibitive language for adolescents in weight training: “Unless good data becomes available that demonstrate safety, children and adolescents should avoid the practice of weightlifting, powerlifting, and bodybuilding, as well as the repetitive use of maximal amounts of weight in strength training programs…” The AAP reiterated this a decade later in its 2001 position statement (9). Thus, a decades-long negative perception of the value and safety of youth resistance and weight training took hold among experts and laymen alike, despite subsequent research showing otherwise. Despite the availability of good data.
Some of the misinformation on resistance training centers on growth plate injuries, which, when severe, can involve a fracture of the epiphyseal plate at the end of the bone where elongation occurs. In prepubescent children, this can have serious long-term consequences because of the significant potential for bone growth at that stage.
Growth plate fractures are the result of acute traumatic injury, not repetitive stress. Faigenbaum and Myer’s literature review (10) on resistance training found six studies reporting growth plate injuries involving weight training between 1976 and 1990. Most of the injuries were a result of poor technique, incorrect loads, or an absence of qualified supervision.
Wait. Wait…. These injuries occurred in unsupervised environments that allowed for poor technique and improper loads. Hmmmm….
Given these findings, it should come as no surprise that the frequency of growth plate fractures among teens while weight training are significantly lower than growth plate injuries in competitive sport (0.002-0.3/100 contact hours vs 0.80/100 contact hours). Some competitive sports are up to 400 times more likely to lead to a growth plate fracture than are weight training activities. The Brand X Method™ sees similarly low injury risk.
Brand X anecdote:
When comparing sports and compiling statistics injuries are most often defined as an event that requires a doctor’s intervention, such as an emergency room visit. To compare different injury rates within sports, one value that is used is participant hours, i.e., hours that participants engaged in the sport or activity. In 2016, before we closed our gym, our weightlifting class had over 90,000 with zero incidents that required a doctor’s intervention.
But still…should kids lift weights?
So the myths about youth strength training are false. But it’s a poor leap in logic to move from kids don’t get hurt lifting weights to kids should lift weights. Are there tangible benefits to having kids in a weight training program? What do experts say about kids and strength training?
Although some of the responsibility for the growth plate myth seems to fall on the shoulders of the American Academy of Pediatrics, by 1990 (8) they seemed to come to grudging acceptance and in 2001 (9) changed their stance on weight training’s efficacy.
The 2001 position paper states the benefits of resistance training:
“Studies have shown that strength training, when properly structured with regard to frequency, mode (the type of lifting), intensity, and duration of the program, can increase strength in preadolescents and adolescents. Gains in strength, muscle size, or power are lost after 6 weeks if resistance training is discontinued” ([9] p. 1470).
An updated AAP position paper in 2008 (11) expanded on the benefits of strength training for both preadolescents and adolescents, citing evidence that strength training has beneficial effect on several measurable health indices, such as cardiovascular fitness, body composition, bone mineral density, blood lipid profiles, and mental health, as well as evidence that strength training prehabilitation may help decrease injuries in adolescents. Interestingly, for those of us that have been advocating weight lifting for young ladies, the AAP cited research suggesting a possible reduction in sports-related anterior cruciate ligament injuries in adolescent girls when strength training was combined with specific plyometric exercises.
Also in 2008, the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology position paper came to the same conclusions. (12)
In fact, the United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association (13), its American counterpart, the NSCA (14), and the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association (15) all support and approve of youth resistance training.
By 2014, enough research supported the idea that resistance training for kids was not only safe but an effective part of a youth fitness program, that an international position paper (16) was published and endorsed jointly by leading organizations from the fields of sports medicine, exercise science, and pediatrics. ([16] p. 1)
“Research has indicated that various forms of resistance training can elicit significant performance improvements in muscular strength, power production, running velocity, change-of-direction speed and general motor performance in youth. From a health perspective, evidence indicates that resistance training can make positive alterations in overall body composition, reduce body fat, improve insulin-sensitivity in adolescents who are overweight and enhance cardiac function in children who are obese. Importantly, it has also been demonstrated that regular participation in an appropriately designed exercise program inclusive of resistance training, can enhance the bone-mineral density and improve skeletal health and likely reduce sports-related injury risk in young athletes.” ([16] p. 2)
In fact, we have come so far that researchers are now saying strength training is a must for sports-minded kids. But it’s clear that there is still a need for a bridge from research to application. Avery D. Faigenbaum, a leading researcher in the area of youth strength and conditioning, who has published over 240 peer-reviewed articles and been the lead or co-author on many position papers including some listed above, recently published a commentary with James P. MacDonald and G. Gregory Haff titled, “Are young athletes strong enough for sport? DREAM On.” (17)
What we have seen is a dramatic shift in attitude from the 1980s to the present day. Moving from myth to fact and from proscription to advocacy. More and more we are seeing coaches and parents understand and support strength training for kids. This is truly great news.
But wait! There are some caveats
There are some caveats, and they are critical to the efficacy and safety of youth training.
All of the position papers, while supporting resistance training for kids and acknowledging its importance to their general health and well-being, make recommendations on implementation. Here are the recommendations from the international consensus statement:
“A compelling body of scientific evidence supports participation in appropriately designed youth resistance training programmes that are supervised and instructed by qualified professionals…. In summarising this manuscript, it is proposed that
1. The use of resistance training by children and adolescents is supported on the proviso that qualified professionals design and supervise training programmes that are consistent with the needs, goals and abilities of younger populations.
2. Parents, teachers, coaches and healthcare providers should recognise the potential health and fitness-related benefits of resistance exercise for all children and adolescents. Youth who do not participate in activities that enhance muscle strength and motor skills early in life may be at increased risk for negative health outcomes later in life.
3. Appropriately designed resistance training programmes may reduce sports-related injuries, and should be viewed as an essential component of preparatory training programmes for aspiring young athletes.
4. Regular participation in a variety of physical activities that include resistance training during childhood and adolescence can support and encourage participation in physical activity as an ongoing lifestyle choice later in life.
5. Resistance training prescription should be based according to training age, motor skill competency, technical proficiency and existing strength levels. Qualified professionals should also consider the biological age and psychosocial maturity level of the child or adolescent.
6. The focus of youth resistance training should be on developing the technical skill and competency to perform a variety of resistance training exercises at the appropriate intensity and volume, while providing youth with an opportunity to participate in programmes that are safe, effective and enjoyable.” ([16] p. 8)
Two points are stressed in the above recommendations:
Coaches working with kids should be properly trained to work with youth.
The program used should be specifically designed for kids.
We are seeing a shift in public opinion. People are beginning to understand that the experts are saying strength training is good for kids. But the experts are saying more than that—and this is significant—they are saying that strength training has massive benefits, wait for it….when it is a program specifically designed for kids and coached by people specifically trained to work with kids. Those two caveats are important and often forgotten in the discussion regarding weight training and kids.
“Kids shouldn’t lift weights… badly.”
—Jeff Martin, Brand X
What do I mean by this? Well, first the trainer needs to be specifically trained to work with kids. That means that if you are taking your child (defined as anyone from the age of 3 to 17) to a trainer, the experts say the trainer needs specific instruction on how to train your child safely. That specific instruction centers on the principle that kids are not adults. As well as the understanding that within this special population there are subpopulations with their own distinct developmental markers that must be acknowledged in order to deliver an effective and safe training program.
Working with kids is different than adults. Why? Because when we talk about a developing human we are actually talking about humans that are developing. The program should be designed around the biopsychosocial development of the child. Biological development governs what children can express and thus what training should look like. Psychological development governs what a child can understand and how training is presented. Sociological development governs what a child needs from his or her peers.
First, a trainer or coach who wants to work with kids needs to have specific training, such as that offered in The Brand X Method™ Professional Youth Coach Certification. The PYCC provides the coach with an understanding of the developmental stages a child goes through and the appropriate tools and principles needed to work with kids.
Second, the program must be designed specifically for kids. The experts are saying that a youth program shouldn’t just differ by degree but by kind too from an adult training program. Clearly a developing child has different needs than an adult.
Believing that trainers and coaches don’t need specialized knowledge and education to run a youth strength program, and believing a scaled down adult program is appropriate for kids is… well, by now, you should know what I think.
Doing what is best for kids
Here are some of the recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics ([11] p. 839) regarding the design of a strength training program:
Aerobic conditioning should be coupled with resistance training if general health benefits are the goal.
Strength-training programs should include a 10- to 15-minute warm-up and cool-down.
Athletes should have an adequate intake of fluids and proper nutrition because both are vital in the maintenance of muscle energy stores, recovery, and performance.
Specific strength-training exercises should be learned initially with no load (no resistance). Once the exercise technique has been mastered, incremental loads can be added using either body weight or other forms of resistance. Strength training should involve 2 to 3 sets of higher repetitions (8 to 15) 2 to 3 times per week and be at least 8 weeks in duration.
A general strengthening program should address all major muscle groups, including the core, and exercise through the complete range of motion. More sports-specific areas may be addressed subsequently.
Any sign of illness or injury from strength training should be evaluated fully before allowing the resumption of the exercise program.
Instructors or personal trainers should have certification reflecting specific qualifications in pediatric strength training.
Proper technique and strict supervision by a qualified instructor are critical safety components in any strength-training program involving preadolescents and adolescents.
Brand X has always been guided by the ideal What Is Best for Kids. Because of this, we have developed a strength training program that is designed specifically for kids and addresses all of the recommendations above and more.
The Brand X Method strength program follows our Base • Build • Boost model for teaching movement.
• Base – Kids acquire basic movement knowledge with our focus on the six primal movement patterns (hinge, squat, push, pull, lunge, and core) and physical skills (e.g., jumping, hanging, rolling, throwing).
• Build – In this stage, youth learn to apply movement patterns to external objects and experiment with linking physical skills together.
• Boost – Youth are now ready to move heavier loads and experiment with more complex, combined, or linked physical skills. Most importantly, this group is able to take the lessons learned in the gym and apply them unconsciously and seamlessly to other physical endeavors.
The Brand X strength program has four groups:
Barbell Prep
Rookie
Junior Varsity
Varsity
The Barbell Prep and Rookie groups form the BASE. Here bracing is taught, and movement patterns are corrected and standardized. Proper setup for each lift is taught as well as standardizing an individual setup routine. The importance of focusing through the entire set should be taught here. In each class a high number of reps are used and movement quality is stressed and cued.
Once a child has proven that she can set up to lift the same way each time, move consistently well, and focus through an entire set, she is ready to explore weight and move to the Junior Varsity group. In the JV group we BUILD on what was learned in the BASE group. The kids in the JV group move very well. Now they have to learn to move very well with load. One of the key Brand X learning points is that, in this group, perfect movement during training is expected and required to move up in weight.
When kids have learned to move well with load, been challenged by increasing load to maintain movement integrity, and have succeeded, it is time to move on to the Varsity group. Here is our BOOST phase where kids who have built a solid base can begin to work toward enviable strength gains.
The importance of designing a program specifically for kids that progresses slowly from standardizing movement to promoting strength gains cannot be overstated.
Brand X anecdote:
In 2015, Brand X held a powerlifting competition and invited other gyms to send people to compete. One of our Brand X teen class graduates won the competition. An adult from another gym came in second. Places 3-6 were Brand X teens from the Varsity group, squatting over 400 and deadlifting 500. When we closed our gym in 2018 the Brand X strength program had produced over 100 youth state and national records trained in an effective, safe, and age-appropriate manner.
Is strength training safe for kids? The experts say yes! But it is a qualified yes. Look for coaches who are specifically trained to work with kids. Ask them to tell you how their program has been specifically designed for kids.
Properly implemented and sustained, a youth strength program such as The Brand X Method will optimize youth athletic development and build generations of formidable humans.
(1) Kirby P. Causes of short stature among coal-mining children, 1823-1850. Economic History Review48(4): 687-699, 1995.
(2) Humphries J. Short stature among coal-mining children: a comment. Economic History Review50(3): 531-537, 1997.
(3) Kato S. and Ishiko T. Obstructed growth in children’s bones due to excessive labor in remote corners. In: Proceedings of the International Congress of Sports Sciences. Kato S., ed. Tokyo: Japanese Union of Sports Sciences, 1964. p. 476.
(4) Vrijens J. Muscle strength development in the pre- and post-pubescent age. Medicine Sport 11: 152-158, 1978.
(5) Docherty D. et al. The effects of variable speed resistance training on strength development in prepubertal boys. Journal of Human Movement Studies 13: 377-382, 1986.
(6) Committee on Sports Medicine. Weight training and weight lifting: information for the pediatrician. The Physician and Sportsmedicine 11(3):157-161, 1983.
(7) Sewell L. and Michelli L.J. Strength training for children. Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics 6: 143-146, 1986.
(8) Committee on Sports Medicine. Strength training, weight, and power lifting, and body building by children and adolescents. Pediatrics 86(5): 801-803, November 1990.
(9) Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness. Strength training by children and adolescents. Pediatrics 107(6): 1470-1472, 2001.
(10) Faigenbaum A.D. and Myer G.D. Resistance training among young athletes: safety, efficacy and injury prevention effects. British Journal of Sports Medicine 44: 56-63, 2010.
(11) Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness. Strength training by children and adolescents. Pediatrics121(4): 835-840, April 2008.
(12) Behm D.G. et al. Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology position paper: resistance training in children and adolescents. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism 33(3): 547-561, June 2008.
(13) Lloyd R.S. et al. UKSCA position statement: youth resistance training. UK Strength and Conditioning Association 26: 26-39, Summer 2012.
(14) Faigenbaum A.D. et al. Youth resistance training: updated position statement paper from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research23(Supp 5): S60-S79, August 2009.
(16) Lloyd R.S. et al. Position statement on youth resistance training: the 2014 international consensus. British Journal of Sports Medicine 48(7): 498-505, April 2014.
(17) Faigenbaum A.D., MacDonald J.P., and Haff G.G. Are young athletes strong enough for sport? DREAM on. Current Sports Medicine Reports 18(1): 6-8, January 2019.
Myer G.D. et al. Youth versus adult “weightlifting” injuries presenting to United States emergency rooms: accidental versus nonaccidental injury mechanisms. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 23(7): 2054-2060, October 2009. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4034275/
Stabenow Dahab K. and Metcalf McCambridge. Strength training in children and adolescents: raising the bar for young athletes? Sports Health 1(3): 223-226, May 2009. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445252/
An optimistic mindset is a distinguishable characteristic of elite performers because what the human mind focuses on and talks about is what we see more of.
Stanford professor Arnold Zwicky calls this the “frequency illusion,” which is essentially a phenomenon that causes you to see more of the things you are already focused on. This is caused, he says, by two psychological processes.
The first, selective attention, which kicks in when you’re struck by a new word, thing, or idea; after that, you unconsciously keep an eye out for it, and as a result find it surprisingly more often. The second process, confirmation bias, reassures you that each sighting is further proof of your impression that the thing has gained overnight omnipresence.
Think about the last time you bought a new car. Let’s say it was a Jeep Grand Cherokee. After you buy it, you start noticing them everywhere—it seems that every third person on the road is driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee. And you don’t just notice colors, you notice the different models and add-ons; Laredos are more common than Limiteds, and there are fewer SRTs than there are Overlands. Obviously, there was not a sudden surge in local Jeep sales the day you bought your car. But because you’re actively thinking about it, you can’t help but notice them everywhere.
The same principal applies to your mindset towards sports, work and relationships. If we talk about (or worse, complain about) things that are outside of our control, things that could diminish performance, we will see and experience more of those things.
The opposite is also true. When we stop verbalizing negative thoughts, we see and experience less of them. Over time, this has the effect of making us more positive people--simply by making the conscious choice to exercise more control of what we choose to talk about.
Remember when the ole' ball coach had your team doing ten-count static stretches before each competition? It was a bold strategy, we're still waiting to see if pays off.
Here's the bottom the line, stretching is overrated. Plain and simple. It doesn’t prevent injury(6,14,15). It doesn’t prevent soreness(3,7). It doesn’t warm you up(5,10). And most importantly, it sure as hell doesn’t empower your performance(1,4,13). This is why you won’t find a section on it in the Power Athlete Methodology. We cut out the bullshit to provide you with the most evidence based principles in strength and conditioning -ing -ing...and that includes recovery.
Why, then, do so many people, athletes included, still waste their time getting their Gumby on? Simply put, most don’t understand the difference between marketing and science.
We’ve been told our whole life that stretching is the panacea of health and performance. Combine this with the IG culture that encourages us to place all of our trust in “authority figures” who dispel a false ethos in the hopes of gaining new followers and selling a product, and it’s no surprise people are enamored with the idea of stretching as the key to reaching their next level of performance.
Now, stretching isn’t terrible for you. In fact, it truly does feel good for a lot of people, and may temporarily provide you with a sense of relief after strenuous activity(2,5,9). However, it isn’t the most optimal, efficient, or effective method of enhancing performance, driving accelerated adaptations, or speeding up recovery(3). Also, stretching is passive and easy! It takes no effort to lay around, bullshit with others, and scroll through our news feed while sitting in the splits.
True progress, and long term positive outcomes, are achieved through consistency and hard work. We need to stress to progress! Nothing worthwhile in this life comes easy, yet we’ve still become complacent in something that, quite frankly, is controversial at best. Complacency breeds mediocrity, and here at PAHQ it is our mission to destroy mediocrity.
When in comes to stretching, here are the key things you need to know and questions you need to ask yourself:
WHY DO I FEEL TIGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Your body isn’t tight; your mind is stiff. The perception of tightness is neurological, and feeling stiff is more likely a sensation, or perception, of limited range of motion and movement, rather than an actual physical limitation. If you feel more flexible after stretching, it’s because your brain has improved its tolerance for the discomfort of elongating your muscles. They didn’t get longer; your brain just tricked you.(2)
I HAVE AN ITCH I NEED TO SCRATCH!
This is the “it feels good” phenomena. Stretching releases chemicals in the brain, similar to the feeling of a runner’s high. Because of this, It may give a temporary relief of discomfort. People stretch because they may feel it will prevent, or cure, their pain...which just isn’t true. In fact, anything that “feels good” is technically releasing some kind of “feel good hormone” like endorphins, oxytocin, or opioids. Think about some other things that feel good in life. Ice cream, Power of Love on the radio, and crushing a new PR. Even sex feels amazing, but it won’t cure your back pain.
WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO WITH ALL YOUR FLEXIBILITY?
Context is the keystone. Do you want to be a gymnast or ballerina? If so, go hog wild on the stretching. Years of prolonged low load stretching will do wonders for you - making your static structures (ligaments, tendons, and joint capsules) more pliable (and less able to handle load). However, if you want to bang heavy weights, or run over your opponents on the field, reconsider the whole stretching thing…
The amount of effort put into a stretching routine does not reap a great reward and he amount of time and energy investment needed to produce a worthwhile adaptation isn’t necessarily purposeful or prudent for most Power Athletes.
STRETCHING TO WIN? NOPE, YOU ARE A LOSER
Just like fitness and health are not equivalent, greater flexibility doesn’t mean you are a better athlete. In reality, it’s actually the opposite for most individuals. Increased flexibility often comes with the cost of lost joint stability. Hyper-mobility can be dangerously dysfunctional; more lax joints without stability or control lead to a greater incidence of injury. Active warm ups, like our Dynamic Movement Prep, do a much better job at actually facilitating muscle contraction, preparing you for training, and stimulating a positive effect on muscle function.
WHAT ABOUT ALL OF MY KNOTS AND TRIGGER POINTS?
These are very small areas of contracted muscle fibers, or tiny little “spasms.” Sorry, your favorite lacrosse ball or foam roller won't work. However, here’s a list of what you will need to be successful: Scissors, pliers, and a shot of Bacardi 151. That's right, it will take a lot more than a pressure tool and some stretching to work these out. Think of these knots like a bungee cord; all you are doing is stretching the cord on either side of knot - making tendons weaker and pissing off your nerves.
BUT, I’M ALWAYS HURT! I NEED TO STRETCH!
A review of the scientific literature to date shows that stretching had no effect on reducing injury risk. In fact, you are likely making things worse by stretching! Sprains and strains are a frequent result of over-stretching, and are fairly common in yoga, dance, martial arts, and so on. If you feel that always need to stretch, you should invest time into learning how to move better and control what joint range of motion you do have. Don’t just lift more; move weight better!
Training with intention, through good movement patterns, creates a eustress that will improve your range of motion and mobility over time. It will also teach you to properly reduce force in the body, which is more predictive of injury than stretching.
MASTER YOUR MOVEMENT: CONCEPTUALIZE AND PRIORITIZE
Think about stretching in the grand scheme of things. Even an extremely strong stretch - one that makes you agonize in pain - to a muscle or tendon represents a drop in the bucket to your overall training plan. This brief, innocuous stimulus is minuscule relative to the context of the whole day, week, month, or cycle, where the amount of load and stimuli are much greater and making a larger impact.
In the end, the benefits of stretching and increased flexibility are ultimately unknown. If you enjoy it, have time for it, and aren’t doing it right before training or big game, keep doing it. If you don’t like it, there is no evidence that you are missing any benefit, and you can utilize that free time for other things. Bottom line is that the best way to improve your range of motion is to train with good posture and position under load, and practice your sport.
Unless, of course, your sole purpose in life is becoming a level 99 supple leopard, impressing the ladies in yoga, or mastering every page of the Kama Sutra. However, if you want to make a wiser investment with the time and energy you have, optimize your warm up, train under load through a full range of motion, and prioritize your sleep for improved performance, reduced risk of injury, and enhanced recovery.
With Memorial Day only 6 weeks away Alex and I agreed to do Murph while down in San Diego for the California Regional.
If you are there come say hi
Don't think you are ready for Murph but want to give it a Gaux here is what Alex will be doing to prepare. If your goal is to RX try this program with your vest. Good Luck!
WEEK 1
WEDNESDAY 21 PULL UPS + 200M RUN + 15 PULL UPS + 200M RUN +9 PULL UPS + 200M RUN
FRIDAY 400M RUN + 10 PULL UPS REST 2 MIN X 4
SUNDAY 15 MIN CHILL PACE RUN 30 IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCED RUNNER
WEEK 2
MONDAY 10 MIN AMRAP 5 PULL UPS + 10 PUSH UPS + 15 AIR SQUATS
WEDNESDAY 200M RUN 15 PULL UPS + 25 AIR SQUATS 400 M RUN 15 PULL UPS + 25 AIR SQUATS 200 M RUN
FRIDAY 400M RUN + 50 AIR SQUATS REST 2 MIN X 4
SUNDAY 20 MIN RUN 40 MIN EXPERIENCED
WEEK 3
MONDAY 10 MIN AMRAP
10 PULL UPS +20 PUSH UPS + 30 AIRSQUATS
WEDNESDAY
400M RUN 25 PULL UPS + 50 AIR SQUATS X 2 ROUNDS
FRIDAY
400M RUN + 15 C2B REST 2 MIN X 2 800 M RUN + MAX PULL UPS REST 3 MIN X 2
SUNDAY
22 MIN CHILL RUN 42 EXPERIENCED
WEEK 4
MONDAY 15 MIN AMRAP 400M RUN 20 PULL UPS + 30 PUSH UPS + 40 AIR SQUATS
WEDNESDAY
800 M RUN 50 PULL UPS 800 M RUN 75 PUSH UPS 800 M RUN 150 AIR SQUATS
FRIDAY
800M RUN + 15 PULL UPS REST 3 MIN X 2 1 MILE RUN
SUNDAY
25 MIN CHILL RUN 45 MIN EXPERIENCED
WEEK 5
MONDAY
15 MIN AMRAP 400M RUN 20 PULL UPS + 40 PUSH UPS + 60 AIR SQUATS 800 M RUN 30 PULL UPS + 60 PUSH UPS + 90 AIR SQUATS 1200 M RUN 40 PULL UPS + 90 PUSH UPS + 120 AIR SQUATS
WEDNESDAY
800 M RUN 100 AIR SQUATS + 50 PUSH UPS + 50 PULL UPS + 50 PUSH UPS + 100 AIR SQUATS 800 M RUN
FRIDAY 800 M REST 2 MIN X 2 ROUNDS 1600 M REST 5 MIN X 2 ROUNDS
SUNDAY
30 MIN CHILL 50 MIN EXPERIENCED
WEEK 6
MONDAY
1600M RUN 10 MIN AMRAP 5 PULL UPS + 10 PUSH UPS + 15 AIRSQUATS 1600M RUN
