Personal Training and Sports Performance Excellence Blog
Question: I really need to increase my speed but I am concerned that weight training will actually make me slower. What is the secret to speed?
Answer: The secret to speed other than being blessed with it at birth is to be blessed with at least a little bit of it. If you have a little of it you can take that a long way with patience and hard work. Weight training is essential to producing speed and being more explosive. Strength alone dies not make you faster but having it and developing more of it is an important piece of the equation. Use your strength to develop power and explosiveness. Develop core strength and work on your hip flexors and hamstrings. The increased power and explosiveness enables you to take a longer stride. Making your hams and hip flexors stronger allows you to drive, not float your feet to the ground to push off for your next step.
You also need flexibility. Flexibility opens your stride to cover more ground. Stretch after your muscles are warm. After leg training is completed in the weight room then make your stretch challenging with a trainer to assist you.
Finally, you have to include plyometrics to train new nerve patterns and reaction ability. You want your nerves to be able to fire muscles faster and faster. Recovery is essential for all this to pay off. Proper nutrition is needed daily to insure that your muscles are fully fueled and can recover from both training and competition. Water, protein, vitamins and minerals are all part of the program. Just the weights alone won't do it. It's an integrated program with several essential components which make you improve.
Remember "Hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard".
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
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Posted by Daryl Laws on January 31, 2012 | Printer-Friendly
Question: Should I do more ab exercises to get that six pack look? What is the best time to train?
Answer: It has long been known that doing ab exercises alone will not build a six pack. Granted the exercises will build the muscles underneath the fat but you need big body movements to excite your metabolism and burn calories. Researchers at Southern Illinois University did an experiment with people doing 14 sets of ab exercises 5 days a week. They did this for 6 weeks. They had measured participants belly fat at the beginning of the experiment. At the end, they had not lost any belly fat or changed their waistline at all.
If you want a smaller waistline and crisp abs then you need to engage large muscle groups with exercises like squats, cleans, dead lifts and lunges to name a few. Also, you need to follow the 80/20 rule for healthy eating. 80% of the time eat clean. The other 20% you can have a light cheat. Do cardio at least 3 to 4 days a week for an additional 20 to 30 minutes to burn more calories, exciting your metabolic system even further. Finally, drink water at least 64 ounces of water daily, not diet soda or Crystal Light.
The best time to train is the time that suits you best. If you are a morning person and can make your schedule work then train in the morning. If your schedule is more suited to afternoon or evening, that's the best time for you. Your best time to train is what works best for you. Working out at a time that is inconvenient won't work for long.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
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Posted by Daryl Laws on January 24, 2012 | Printer-Friendly
Question: I train at home and outside usually but don't regularly go to a gym. How effective are pushups for building upper body and what else is good without using weights? What is the best way to run, distance or sprints?
Answer: If you are disciplined enough to maintain that routine, then it can be very effective for building a conditioned look with your physique. You won't be able to build huge muscles but will stay very healthy and have an athletic appearance, especially if you are as disciplined with how you eat.
Push-ups can be very effective exercise with a little creativity. Modified push-ups, done with your knees touching the ground, engage about 49%of your body weight. Standard push-ups use 64% of your body weight. If you need more resistance a standard bench is between 18" and 24" high. Placing your feet on that with your hands on the ground increases resistance to 74% of your body weight while placing you hands on the bench keeping your feet on the floor reduces the stress to 41% of your body weight.
You can get creative with jumping jack push-ups by spreading your feet as you lower your body and pulling them back together as you push up.
Running man push-ups require you to lift one foot with your leg straight as you go down. Push up again then raise the other foot as you lower yourself. Pick up the pace and you look like you are running while you do push-ups.
You could add pull-ups to your routine for a more balanced approach.
You can use a variation of running routines to be most effective. One day do a longer run of 2 miles or more. Day 2 do an interval run using time or distance intervals. Day 3 do stairs or hill sprints. Day 4 do two sets each of sprints of 400 meters, 300 meters, 200 meters and finish with 100 meters. This gives you a good variety of routines to keep your training challenging which is a key to long term success whether your train in a gym or not.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
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Posted by Daryl Laws on January 17, 2012 | Printer-Friendly
Question: I gave birth to a wonderful baby boy a month ago. We had to do a c-section and I was advised not to do anything but walk for a month or so. What should I do to get back in shape? Will I be able to regain strength in my abs again?
Answer: Congratulations! You have valid concerns about your return to training and getting back in shape. A c-section is a surgical procedure and requires time for recovery. Typically it takes six to eight weeks before your doctors will allow you to return to exercise more strenuous than walking. Until then, walk as much as they allow without interfering with your healing process Once you have received clearance from your doctor then you need to begin simple crunches and reverse crunches. One set of 10 to 15 reps of each should do for three days a week for the first week. Remember your abdominal wall is one long sheath of muscle which was cut and has healed It will be sore and feel rough because of the scar tissue. Push through but be sensible. Don't over do it.
Do a simple full body routine consisting of two sets of leg curls alternating with two sets of incline block lunges. These should not stress your abs too much.
Lat pullsdowns will stretch your abs a bit so be easy on those as you do 2 sets of these alternating them with 2 sets of incline dumbbell presses.
Seated dumbbell shoulder presses work well with high pulley rows for two sets of each and finish with dumbbell curls and triceps pressdowns for two sets of each. If you feel too much stress on your abs by doing pressdowns replace them with dumbbell kickbacks.
For your cardio, set your treadmill to incline at 10% to 15% and take a long stride to work your hams and glutes more. Start with 15 to 20 minutes each day for a week. Add 5 to 10 minutes the second week.
That should get you started.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
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Posted by Daryl Laws on January 10, 2012 | Printer-Friendly
Question: I am exhausted after work and all I do is sit and work on the computer or answer questions on the phone. I want next year to be different. Any suggestions?
Answer: From a fitness and health perspective 2012 has the potential to be an amazing year. We are aware of the dangers of a complacent lifestyle and how to combat the health issues that occur because of it. Sitting has become the new smoking. Whether you have to sit because of your job or by choice the complications from that, lower back pain, neck and shoulder issues, joint stiffness, increased stress levels, are all well documented. Get up from your chair regularly and stretch or walk around your office or cubicle. Work standing up for a few minutes if you can. If you are on the road make time in your schedule for regular stops to move your body. Challenge yourself to walk and exercise at home if not for you then do it for and with your spouse or friend. Join a gym or fitness center, get some instruction from a trainer or even from a fitness magazine to get started. Just get started. You will feel differently and see changes in your body more quickly than you thought possible.
Be active with your kids lead them by example walk, hike, play catch, frisbee, tag or a sport they are interested in playing. Have fun with them and help them learn the advantages of being healthy. Get them off of the video games occasionally and play paintball so they can physically feel how exhausting the challenges are that they see in military video games. Refuse to be average. We are not perfect but we can all strive to be better.
It all starts with a choice to change and an attitude realizing that the decision to change requires a series of choices from getting up earlier to prepare healthy foods, to giving yourself a few minutes a day to exercise, to drinking water as your primary source and doing all of these things more frequently than not. Then they become your norm instead of the opposite.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
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Posted by Daryl Laws on January 3, 2012 | Printer-Friendly
Question: I played sports in high school but for the past two years have done a whole lot of nothing. I don't even really know how to get started again and have little motivation to do so, except I no longer like how look nor who I feel like I am becoming. Can you give me a way to get me started again?
Answer: Change occurs when the pain of remaining the same exceeds the pain required to change. It would seem that you have reached that point. Being out own your own can be overwhelming simply because without self-discipline, the parameters established and enforced by coaches, parents and teachers no longer apply. Weight gain happens in both guys and girls because of unlimited choices in food halls, fast food, and alcohol. By the same token, most if not all, universities have well-equipped gyms and fitness resources for students. You just have to use them.
If you are home on break then you need to take advantage of the warm weather and get out and walk/jog. Do a mile with a combination of walking and jogging to get moving again.
A simple plan to use is two to three sets for each major body part.
- Abs are easy to hit by alternating 3 sets of crunches and reverse crunches.
- The next area is legs and you can start by alternating 3 sets of leg curls and walking lunges.
- Body weight or light barbell squats follow with your emphasis on form and getting your rear end deep which works your entire leg and glutes. Three sets of these doing 10 to 15 reps is a good starting point.
- After legs you should alternate pulldowns for your back with incline dumbbell presses. Do 3 sets of each for 8 to 12 reps.
- Follow those two exercises with low pulley rows and a machine or vertical bench press. Again stay with 8 to 12 reps for three sets.
- Shoulders are next in line with dumbbell side laterals alternated with seated dumbbell shoulder presses. Do 10 reps for three sets of each of these.
- Finish by alternating barbell curls and triceps pressdowns for 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps of each.
Now that you have an idea about how to get started, and that routine is only to get you started. You'll need another workout within 2 weeks. Motivation comes from results which will take a month at most if you are training intensely and consistently. During this first two weeks you'll be sore. Use that as motivation to continue because you know if you are sore you are doing something positive for yourself and on the right road to being the best you can be. Choose a concrete goal with your weight loss and a date of completion. Look at the possibility of competition whether it's physique, a 5k or Warrior Dash. High school is done and now you need to be the best you can be by the time you graduate to grab the job you want.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
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Posted by Daryl Laws on December 27, 2011 | Printer-Friendly
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