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The Combine is a Trap!

Posted in Performance with tags , , , on March 11, 2013 by razorsedgeperformance

Editors Note: This post was orginally written at http://www.fitstoronto.com, but is written by Cory Kennedy, so there is no conflict reprinting it here!

As someone who is in the performance enhancement industry (for sport that is…), combine season is kind of exciting. It’s like the little brother of Track and Field at the Olympics. This is a time for the best football players in the NCAA to take a step back from some of the skills and complexity of football, and get an opportunity to display their athleticism for all of the NFL teams. It also proves to be a money maker for supplement companies, apparel companies (Under Armour sponsors it, but Adidas is trying to get in on the action too!), and of course Athletic Performance facilities. While everyone has their eyes glued to the screen of NFL Network for the 4 days, I ask young football players (and athletes of other sports as well) to heed my warning: Forget about combines!

I know how hard it is though. Everyone wants to be associated with their numbers…I jump this high, run this fast, and change direction in under 4 seconds…It is much simpler than just saying, I am really good at football!

The problem isn’t that the combine is broken, or that athleticism is bad, it’s about priorities! The NFL pays players millions, so players need to prepare specifically for this ‘job interview’ in order to ace it. The key take-home though is that these players spent 4 years of high school DEVELOPING…then 4 years of college DEVELOPING…finally 8 weeks mastering the test. Young athletes need to remember there is more to being a great football player than mastering these tests…

Case in point, Athletes Performance, probably the world’s most popular performance enhancement facility. Every year they represent close to the top 100 athletes in the NCAA to prepare them for the combine. At the same time, they are also working with players from around the NFL and NCAA on their regular off-season development. I can’t say for certain, but I am pretty sure the pros who aren’t at the combine have their own specific program, and rightfully so. All of the combine guys though? They all do the same thing…why? They aren’t developing as football players, they are merely mastering expression  of different tests.

Proper development is about doing the things necessary to prevent injury, prepare the body for movement variability, and to build a foundation that makes it possible to continually improve. Expression on the other hand, is the end stage. This is where you put the finishing touches on a particular quality to make it come to light. Most professional athletes will aim for this expression one or more times per year as their competitive season unfolds. A developing athlete though? It may not happen for the first few years. Why? Development is the most important part.

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(***Case in point…RGIII performing a Vertical or Broad Jump at 2012 Combine…contributing factor to later injury??)

It is easy for an athlete to get frustrated when they want that 4.5s 40 in high school, or a 35” vertical. As a coach, it is important to always make sure the compass is pointed the right way, and sometimes it means holding off on EXPRESSION to really make an impact on an athlete’s overall DEVELOPMENT!

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Weightlifting is the Answer! Here is why…

Posted in Health, Performance with tags , , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2013 by razorsedgeperformance
We have spoken a number of times on this page about why weightlifting exercises (SEE Snatch, Clean, and Jerks) are awesome for developing speed and power in athletes, and thus why they should be included in many training programs.
While that is still true, I am going to discuss why weightlifting is EVEN BETTER for recreational athletes, and for that matter strength and conditioning coaches!
Let me talk about the second group first, because that is my cohort. As strength and conditioning coaches we are usually a competitive bunch (most are former athletes) and so love to compete no matter how old or out of shape we get. Add to that thought the concept of the high power output that is present in these exercises and it makes for the perfect avenue to compete in that still stays true to what we preach all day in the weight room! Wait, there is a cherry on top…these lifts are highly technical, and require a lot of practice and some good coaching. So as strength coaches, we always want to be working on our craft to provide the best coaching to our athletes. The more you can practice the lifts on your own, the better you get at coaching them and picking them apart.
Now let’s get to the recreational lifter and with that the crossfit population. I will go on record and say there are some things I really enjoy about crossfit. People seem to love it and love getting to the gym. This is great for the health and fitness of overall communities and the individuals within them. It is a system that also works well to improve overall physical capacities and body composition. So why do people hate on it, especially in the health and fitness community? Probably because they break people…some of it is from the crazy amount of volume everyone is expected to do, and some of it is just from the fact few members get taught proper technique for the weightifting exercises (let alone basic barbell exercises!!)…
Here are a few reasons why they are actually amazing lifts for the recreational lifter, even though they seem too technical and only for the ‘elite’…
Mobility! Here is the world record holder in both lifts at 77kg class, Lu Xiaojun. I have a huge man-crush on him for his weightlifting abilities. Not only are we talking about crazy amounts of power to move the bar, but he is catching the weight in a full-depth overhead squat. Even go back and see his starting position; Weightlifting requires a high level of mobility in your hips and ankles, as well as shoulders and upper back. These are the kinds of things the office-warrior loses quickly as they age, so just working on getting to these positions is highly valuable. Posture is such a large emphasis for these lifts that these muscles will get a ton of attention, and have no choice but to get their act together!
Metabolic Demand! These lifts use the entire body. So when you do a set of 8 or 10 reps at a submaximal weight, you are burning a ton of fuel. No wonder all the elite lifters are shredded (save for superheavy’s)…
Even working with a dowel (wooden stick, step 1) to get the positions and transitions correct, will be a great workout for most people as the volume is typically high and the attention to detail as well.
Cool Factor! Because they are so technical, not a lot of people do them well…walking into a gym, taking over the platform, and rocking some double body weight clean and jerks will definitely get you some attention. You will make a lot of friends that day. A lot of people can squat, but throw the same weight overhead as fast as you can? My mind just got blown.
It is with all of these reasons that we have begun a weightlifting club out of FITS Toronto where we work with weekend warriors to master these lifts, and so far the response has been impressive. If you want to really kick your training into another gear, and find something that you can really pour your focus into…then start learning how to weightlift!! (Consult a professional!!)
BONUS: Here is me hitting some PR’s yesterday as I journey to a bodyweight snatch…join me!
DOUBLE BONUS: Here’s Kyle beating Cory‘s PRs

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Progress Update

Posted in Health, Performance with tags , , , , on May 29, 2012 by razorsedgeperformance

So last time I posted, I mentioned that I was trying an aggressive approach to building up my squat to new strength levels.

The truth is, I am doing it because the squat is the ultimate foundation lift for all things strength and power. Being strong doesn’t guarantee you speed and power but you can’t expect those things if you are weak.

So i’ve just started my 4th week of Smolov Squat Program, an old russian formula for aggressively improving your strength. Week 1 was three days in a row, week 2 was another 3 days of squatting but with very little volume and high intensity. Think singles, triples, doubles, and a five rep set.  Each day I basically worked up to 1 working set. So it was about staying familiar with the squat and heavy weight, but giving the body a bit of a rest. I’ll talk some more about that in a bit.

 

Week 3 is when the fun starts, because there is 4 squat workouts. Since I was coming off the Victoria Day weekend, that put me at Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. So I didn’t get a full weekend off to rest up for Week 4. It’s the same protocol, same 4 workouts with the same rep scheme but with 20lbs added to each day. So in week 3 I lifted 235 day 1, 250 day 2, 270 day 3 and 285 day 4.

So far this week i’ve done 4×9 at 255, and 5×7 at 270. I get a rest day tomorrow (where i’ll focus on bringing my max bench up, which i hit a PR of 285 last week) and then the heavy days are Thursday and Friday.

Here are the videos from the last two workouts.

 

 

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

The key to bringing up a key lift, or really accomplishing anything related to your body is to do it often. Frequency is key. Adjust the volume and intensity when you need to in order to stay healthy, but you need to constantly remind your body of something if you want it to adapt. If you want to lose fat, do SOMETHING everyday…if you want to get huge, lift SOMETHING everyday. Even if it’s just pushups. If you want to improve a lift, practice it at every workout.

Hope this helps keep you going in the right direction for your current goals!

 

It’s About Getting Better!

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Building That Squat

Posted in Performance with tags , , , , on May 9, 2012 by razorsedgeperformance

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I’ve decided that my squat isn’t near strong enough. I need to do something about it.

There is an old Russian coach who had a ‘foolproof’ (except the soreness and discomfort) way to build your squat by up to 100lbs in a short period of time (13 weeks to be exact). His name was Smolov, and his squat protocol is now famous in the training world.

If you want to try it, google Smolov Squat Program and go to the link from stronglifts.com, they give you a spreadsheet all setup with the weights you’ll need based on your 1 rep maximum.

I have hit 365lbs before on a full-squat, but haven’t done anything heavy lately due to training ADD…so I decided to go conservative and set my max at 335lbs to start. Half way into the program you retest your max to adjust the weights for the 2nd half, so if I was way off, it will be corrected there.

Basically, you start with 3 straight days of high volume squatting, then a few heavy singles and doubles the following week before hitting the grind. This is 3 straight weeks of squatting 4x per week.

Saying i’ll be a little stiff and sore is an understatement but I think it’s the price to pay to really boost up my lift.

Strength truly is the gateway to higher levels of athleticism, so I want to be well over a 2x bodyweight squat.

I am done the first two days, starting the 3rd day tomorrow.

I will try to keep you guys updated to my progress regularly.

At the same time, I am trying to build the strength of my bench up as well…I’m using my own programming for the bench portion though, so we’ll see how it goes…good results so far starting this week off…

 

 

It’s About Getting Better!

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An Overlooked Aspect of Coaching in Athletic Development

Posted in Performance with tags , , , , on January 6, 2012 by razorsedgeperformance

In our athletic development programs we work with a lot of highly skilled athletes and just as many uncoordinated youth, hoping to one day become highly skilled athletes. No matter what level they are at, they are constantly being introduced to new movements, drills, and exercises that we feel will help them get better at their given sport. When teaching an athlete to perform a given task, there are a lot of different factors that go into the success you’ll have in getting the desired result.

A Deeper Understanding of the Activity

One of the best things you can do to speed up learning a new task is to properly explain the reasoning and the details before you start. Let’s use sprinting mechanics as an example. We think it’s important to teach sprint mechanics to all of our athletes, yet with some sports where running isn’t used often, some great athletes can struggle the first few times we go through it. Just having an athlete start running, then cueing them on specific details will not have a lasting effect on how well they repeat proper technique. Instead, it is better to describe proper sprint mechanics, throughout the whole body, and elaborate on how these mechanics improve the speed of the runner. Most athletes won’t remember all of the key points after the first explanation, but what they will see is how each correction fits into the bigger picture. This improved awareness provides much more meaning to them when you say things like ‘hammer the elbow back’ and ‘step over the stick’. I know that many people say that athletes don’t need to know how everything works, they just need to be told what to do, but I believe a deeper understanding in the mechanics of movement helps athletes use coaching cues better.

A Growth Mindset Atmosphere

An athlete with a growth mindset will see challenges as opportunities to learn, grow, and improve. An athlete with a fixed mindset will see a challenge as something that can’t be done, and something that can be avoided. It goes back to the ‘white man can’t jump’ concept. Some people will say, “Oh I’ve never been able to jump, that’s just not me” and avoid the concept of learning and improving, writing themselves off before they start. An athlete with a growth mindset will see a small vertical as a chance to improve their athleticism and accomplish something great. As coaches and professionals in the training field we know that you CAN teach the ability to jump, and you CAN teach speed. When tackling new exercises and techniques, fostering a growth mindset will help your athletes tremendously. Helping your athletes understand that they won’t be perfect at everything they try, but instead will meet a challenge, learn, improve, and overcome the difficulty. Don’t let your athletes get discouraged when trying something new because it doesn’t feel right or go as well as hoped. Learn more about different types of failure here.

Different Types of Cues

It would be interesting to record yourself coaching your athletes. Do you always give the same cues? How many times do you have to repeat ‘faster’, ‘harder’, and ‘stronger’ before you realize those instructions aren’t working? It’s important to think about the types of cues you use when coaching and try to change them. You can use internal and external cues. This means relating the cue to the athlete and how they control their body versus what is happening with the training implement or the environment around them. Another good approach is to be more interactive with the athlete. Ask them what they feel. Ask them the difference between two different techniques or repetitions or sets. Sometimes it’s not the athlete’s failure to understand or execute, but rather the coaches failure to give proper direction when searching for a specific result.

Coaching is a very important part of athletic development but it is also a very subjective activity, and often its success is measured by the success of the athlete or team in competition. This doesn’t always tell the whole story though, so it’s important to sit down every once in a while and ask yourself, am I doing the right things to help my athletes succeed? Everyone has effort, but sometimes misdirected effort can be a tough pill to swallow. Don’t confuse passion and effort for proper coaching. Those are two important factors that every great coach should have, but they don’t guarantee a great learning environment. Go through a checklist and figure out some things about your approach. How are you cueing? Do your athletes know why they are doing something? Are you providing a supportive and growth-centred environment? Your answers may surprise you.

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Get Help in the Kitchen!

Posted in Health, Performance with tags , , , , , , , on January 4, 2012 by razorsedgeperformance

Everyone in the fitness industry laments the start of January due to the flood of people in all of the gyms and health clubs around North America. Is it because we think this is bad? Absolutely not! That’s amazing…for 2 weeks of the year, everyone is acting the way they should ALL YEAR ROUND. The reason us professionals get frustrated is that by the end of January, most people have fallen back into the old habits, and have lost site of whatever health and fitness related resolution they undertook on January 1st.
I think I can help everyone out a little bit by shedding light on the most important intervention for achieving your goals, whether they are related to hypertrophy, fat-loss, or performance enhancement. LEARNING HOW TO COOK. I’m not talking about becoming the next Jamie Oliver, just someone who can follow a damn good recipe.
I always chuckle when people ask me if i’m a good cook. I make almost all of my food, save for some supplements taken around workouts, so that should say something. Yet I have no imagination in the kitchen. I have made some great dishes, and some bad ones. The key to my success? Find a good recipe, and follow it!

Let’s go over a few resources that I like to use that can make a world of a difference between winning and losing in this game we play with our bodies and health.


Precision Nutrition

Do yourself a favour and go all-out with the whole system. You get a fantastic cookbook, a manual that describes a lot about WHY to eat certain foods and WHEN to eat them, as well as food preparation tips and other random nuggets of information. The cookbook, Gourmet Nutrition has recipes for shakes, snacks, side dishes, entrees, breakfasts, soups, salad dressings and sauces, and of course desserts. All of the nutritional facts about the meal are given, as well as designations of when the meal is best consumed. The added bonus is access to the online members content on the site, which has forums and articles that are at least 5 years old, so the amount of content archived on the precision nutrition site is massive.

Gourmet Nutrition 2.0

This is the 2nd cookbook in the gourmet nutrition series. It is along the same format as the first version that is in the Precision Nutrition system, but adds a whole bunch of new recipes. If you plan on doing the Precision Nutrition system, wait on this, until you’ve tried all of the recipes in the first book. If you just want a healthy cookbook, then this is one way to go. It really goes above and beyond the infamous ‘chicken breasts and broccoli’ that many get trapped in when trying to eat well.

Best of Clean Eating
http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=razosedgepe02-20&o=15&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1552100855

I haven’t tried many of these recipes yet, but I flipped through the whole book and it looks absolutely fantastic. Not only does everything look gourmet, but the entire cookbook has tips and facts about different foods and nutrtients, as well as recipes that will only make you healthier.

Best of Clean Eating 2
http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=razosedgepe02-20&o=15&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1552100979

Just go back and read what I just wrote above regarding the first version. This is just another resource with new recipes that follow the same ideals as the first.

That’s 4 resources for nutritional help with your resolutions (or constant struggle for improvement if you didn’t just start this week…). Do yourself a favour and get in the habit of cooking your own healthy meals, and realize healthy and gourmet can fit in the same sentence together. Most unwanted deviations from healthy eating occur because you are unprepared and didn’t pack a lunch, or don’t feel like cooking. So take some time to get your act together in the kitchen, so your body is appropriately fueld for your workouts!

It’s About Getting Better

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Setting Goals for Success

Posted in Performance with tags , , , , on November 18, 2011 by razorsedgeperformance

Hey Everyone,

Been really busy lately so I haven’t had a chance to post. Excited to say that I am done the 1st semester of my MSc in Exercise Science (Strength and Conditioning).

I also had a great week for performance in my workouts, and I thought i’d share what happened because it has some good lessons for goal setting and mindset.

A couple friends of mine have been making me jealous by banging out a ton of muscle ups. I am a competitive guy, so I decided I wanted to be able to do some as well. This is the kind of thing they’ve been doing. If you don’t know Jose or Kane, they are some impressive guys in terms of feats of strength! (Especially relative to body mass…)

So after seeing this I got motivated to figure it out…I figured, I can do plenty of dips and pullups, so it can’t be that hard right?

The first time I tried it, I could barely get over the bar. I could not imagine how to get over and be in a position to press-up. Round 2, I fly over the bar, but can’t stop myself from falling back down again. Round 3, I narrow my grip a little bit, and BAM, knock one out, easier than I expected.

That’s when I texted Kyle and said I wanted to do 5 in a row by Thursday November 24, 2011. This was on Saturday November 12, 2011. I thought it was a little aggressive but doable.

Check out this video of me hitting my goal on November 18, 2011.

So how did I do it so fast?

I’m awesome, that’s how. In all seriousness though, it was the desire to accomplish a huge performance goal. I am lucky that I am in the gym for big chunks of time each day, so once I got my first one, I decided to do a muscle up whenever I got a chance. I can’t tell you how many reps total I have done in the past 4 days, but it is quite a few. If you think about weightlifters (i’ll use this term for those that compete in the snatch and clean and jerk), and especially those in eastern Europe, they perform squats, cleans, jerks, and snatches daily. They just cycle the volume and intensity of each for an appropriate mix between progression and fatigue. So when you have a performance goal, if you want to be aggressive with it, make sure you do it a lot. Don’t just do a once a week pulling lift if you want to improve your pullups drastically. Obviously you need to monitor your fatigue and soreness daily, but singles are always doable!

The next big lesson that I take from this goal, is not necessarily supported by evidence but anecdotally I believe, that performance goals are easier to achieve than body composition/aesthetic goals. It’s way easier to see what it takes to go up one rep at a time, or put 5 pounds on the bar at a time, but if you don’t lose weight one day it is easy to get mentally discouraged. Sometimes you don’t know what it will look like to lose 10 inches, or decrease body fat % by 10 points, so how do you stay focused daily? It’s easy to get side tracked when the end goal is hard to picture. But as I experienced, it was easy to tell when I was getting close to putting multiple reps together, so I slowly progressed to doubles and triples.

There is a lot more that goes into appropriate goal setting, but I feel that having a feel for the process is a very important part of the journey. I also believe that accomplishing certain performance goals can really boost self-confidence and give you the personal satisfaction to keep achieving great things.

So go ahead, make a goal, and work daily to accomplish it!

It’s About Getting Better!!

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New Things are Happening!

Posted in Performance with tags , , , , , on October 24, 2011 by razorsedgeperformance

It’s a really exciting time for me this fall. Not only am I finishing up my first semester of a Masters of Exercise Science (Strength and Conditioning) with a great program at Edith Cowan University, but i’ve also joined forces with some extremely bright and talented professionals. I am happy to announce that I am working as an Athletic Development specialist at FITS in Toronto. FITS was started by Dr. Thomas Lam who is just an absolute pro, with a background of knowledge and experience that is world-class, in rehab and performance enhancement. He is going to have an enormous influence as a mentor and teacher for me, as I continue on my journey to become a true expert in this field!

I will continue to provide content here as well as provide content for FITS so keep an eye on that as well.

Do any of you guys have any exciting changes coming up?

Let me leave you with a video of my training partner Mike and his recent demolition of his previous pull PR! We’ve been crushing it lately in the gym and its showing!!

Cory Kennedy

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Miracles are meant for the movies…

Posted in Health with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 19, 2011 by razorsedgeperformance

I can never truly decide what people believe. I always assume that they don’t believe the commercials, the tabloids, and some of the daytime talk shows. Unfortunately, I think many still do. There is no acai berry secret weight loss diet. There is no grapefruit makes-my-belly-go-away diet. Body transformation is about making the difficult decisions on a daily basis, not miracles. Here are the major keys to changing the way you look, feel, and perform. You can’t follow one and not the others, they all interact together.

Don't even think about it

Nutrition – You can’t get lean without it, but you can stay lean with low levels of exercise if nutrition is spot on. Ask a professional for some input about the ways that you can manipulate your diet to enhance fat-burning, muscle building, and recovery. Once you get the ‘rules’, it’s about keeping disciplined. There will be at least one tough decision per day about a snack, or meal that you want to buy instead of eating at home, or eating something you packed. Those tough decisions are the ones that lead to great results. If you are willing to invest in your health and body, go here and buy their system. It is probably the best combination of educational materials about nutrition, rules to follow, cooking instructions, and of course delicious recipes. Don’t worry about calories, worry about eating quality foods with as few ingredients as possible! The portions will take care of themselves. One thing you want to avoid, is cutting out all fats. I know a lot of people do fat free in everything and get blinded by calories and grams of fat. There are essential fatty acids that your body needs on a regular basis. Also, making sure you have plenty of mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids can actually promote fat loss, so keep them in your plan! [If you don't ingest healthy fats in your diet, your body will assume you're not getting any and hold on to the fat you have!]

Exercise – Everyone always wants that perfect fat-burning workout. There are many ways to skin a cat. I’m not saying that you can’t program for fat loss, but for most people, they don’t need to get too specific. It’s always about moving more and sitting less. Also, you could probably use a boost in intensity. Intervals over steady-state cardio might give you a big performance boost if you aren’t used to that type intensity from your conditioning work. Adding in a brisk walk every other day, especially in a fasted state (like before breakfast!) can do wonders for increasing fat loss during a transformation. For your weight training, there are a few different strategies that work. You can do circuits and complexes that essentially combine intervals with resistance training, or you can focus on hypertrophy and strength and just make sure you are doing some conditioning work later. Sometimes it takes introducing loads your body has never felt before to see change, whether its getting big or leaning out.

Recovery  – The biggest key to making exercise and physical activity a regular part of your life, is being able to recover optimally from each training session. Being sore and tired just discourages you from being active again. Invest in the little things like foam rollers, massage sticks, lacrosse balls, and stretching bands. Do this work regularly. It helps keep you injury free and reduces stress on the body’s tissues. You want to feel as good after you train as you did before, so that tomorrow you are excited and motivated to be active again. Contrast baths/showers are also effective, as are saunas and focused work from a soft-tissue specialist/manual therapist. Since most people should have a good list of dynamic warmup exercises to get them ready to train each day and maximize range of motion in their joints, having a workout where you cycle through all of these a couple times for 30 minutes is a great way to enhance recovery, practice certain athletic positions and improve blood flow throughout your body. If you want a good self-help guide to soft-tissue work, check out this amazing project.

Supplements – This is the one we’ve been waiting for. What is Kim Kardashian taking these days? Brad Pitt? Chaz Bono? Well, I’m not entirely sure, and at least one of them probably requires a prescription. This section is the most optional of them all. You can use certain supplements to help boost progress, but its the first category you can do without if you are on a budget or merely simplifying your approach. As always multivitamins should be a staple for anyone active. Cover your bases. Next is a decent protein powder. You should carry around 3-4 scoops in a ziploc bag or a piece of tupperware, so that you are ready in case you get hungry at a time when a snack isn’t packed. It’s also good when you are travelling, as you really only need water and a bottle to make it work. Fish oil pills or liquids provide those essential fatty acids I talked about earlier, which are very important for staying healthy and burning body fat. I highly recommend these ones. Green tea and green tea extract are helpful supplements, just remember the active ingredient, ECGC works synergistically with caffeine, so a good cup of brewed green tea is the best choice. Other than that, go check out this article to find out more about peri-workout nutrition.

The Good Stuff

Stress/Sleep – Finally, the more stress you carry, the harder it is to transform your body, therefore, meditate, drink tea, read, get a massage, and most importantly sleep. Sleep is where most of the body’s adaptation to exercise occurs, so it’s imperative that you get plenty of it. Don’t forget to smile. You get to choose whether a particular event will bum you out or if you’ll shrug it off and get back to work. Don’t take everything too seriously, it may be wearing your body down!

I know this one was a little long, i just wanted to remind all of you that when you are looking to accomplish something with your health and performance, it is important to remember that it is a JOURNEY, not a quick program or supplement. Live hypertrophy, live fat-loss, live high performance. You can’t have it both ways. Plan for it all!

It’s About Getting Better!

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Fuel Your Workout!

Posted in Performance with tags , , , , , on August 26, 2011 by razorsedgeperformance

The supplement industry gets a lot of buzz…and why wouldn’t it? Millions of athletes and recreational lifters are doing what they can everyday to get their best body and best performance. For most, there are definitely some things they could do better with their nutrition and things they could do better with their workouts. For some, the blueprint is right, but patience is hard to come by. Either way, the supplement industry is finding its way into billions of dollars annually. I am not opposed to the use of supplements, I just think that most of the time it is not done effectively to get the results people are looking for.

I am NOT going to list all of the supplements that I think work and what they do, I am only going to discuss the importance, and simple protocols of peri-workout nutrition. Many people maintain that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but if you have some serious performance goals, I don’t think this is true. Breakfast is important, as are all the other meals of the day. However, what is often overlooked is the time before, during, and after your workout, when your body is most receptive to many nutrients.

Pre-Workout

The most important thing here is to eat something about 1 hour before your workout. Avoid fibre, as it will just slow down digestion. If you don’t have food, a meal-replacement type shake is a good idea here. You want a little bit of everything for your workout. Add in a scoop of creatine monohydrate here.

Intra-Workout

If you are training for more than an hour, it is important to hydrate regularly, and add a carbohydrate/electrolyte mix to your water. This goes a long way toward enhancing endurance, blunting the release of cortisol, and maintaining strength and power. Adding branched-chain amino acids to this mix, or essential amino acids, will decrease the catabolism of muscle and turn on the mechanisms for protein synthesis as soon as possible. The research is mixed as to whether supplementing during your workout or after your workout is more important.

Post-Workout

Since a lot of people either are unprepared to take in all of their nutrients during the workout, or just don’t like it, post-workout is the most common time for the main shake. The important thing to realize here is that a scoop or two of whey protein isn’t the most ideal post-workout shake. Drinking a shake with carbohydrates in it is extremely important for replenishing muscle glycogen, improving rehydration, and adding lean body mass. A combination of carbohydrate and protein is more effective than either on their own for almost all measures of recovery and performance. Add in some creatine monohydrate and you can ensure that you are increasing lean body mass/improving body composition. For protein requirements, you want either 30g of protein or roughly 10g of BCAA or EAAs, both are effective at these doses. More may help, but taking 5 times as much is probably a waste. As for carbohydrates, if you are looking to build muscle or just recover optimally, you want about 3x or 4x as much carbohydrate as protein. So if you have 30g of protein you are going to want to be around 100g of carbohydrate. If your primary goal is fat loss, there is no need to eliminate the carbs around your workout, but instead just lower them. Bring the ratio down to about 2:1.

Personally, I am a big fan of Cytosport’s line of products, so I like to mix about 60g of Cytomax and 15g of Monster Amino post-workout with about 5-10g of creatine monohydrate. I also sip on some Cytomax just before, or during the start of my workouts.

To finish this up…proper workout nutrition is absolutely HUGE for reaching any aesthetic or performance goals, and it starts with a properly formulated post-workout shake. Depending on your last meal, look at adding something before or during to maintain energy and performance levels. Having a mixed beverage is way more effective than a high dose of protein only.

Drink up that post-workout shake!!

It’s About Getting Better!

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