Training Archives - Page 37 of 39

Posted on April 23, 2008March 8, 2020 by lylemcd — 11 Comments

Explaining Exercise Efficiency

Continuing with the topic of steady state vs. interval training, I want to look at the topic of exercise efficiency. This is an aspect of exercise physiology that is misunderstood by most who write about it. And sadly this misunderstanding is what leads them to draw some very bad conclusions.

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What is Exercise Efficiency?

You can consider this article a sort of side-trip about the whole issue of intervals versus steady state cardio that I’ve been discussing in the previous articles. I’ve mentioned exercise efficiency briefly in a couple of posts but want to make some more detailed comments before continuing on with the series..

One of the common arguments against steady state cardio is something akin to ‘Steady state is useless because you become more efficient at it and burn less calories doing it.’… Keep Reading

Posted on April 8, 2008May 22, 2020 by lylemcd — 4 Comments

Steady State and HIIT

In recent years, there has been quite the over-popularization of the concept of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), along with a rather major backlash against traditional forms of aerobic training, for fat loss. It’s not uncommon to read how low intensity aerobics is useless for fat loss, everybody should just do intervals, regular aerobics makes you lose muscle, etc. I have seen it claimed that aerobics will make you fatter, stress the adrenals, and all manners of fascinating claims.

Nevermind that, over the decades, bodybuilders have gotten into contest shape with (often endless amounts of) cardio, runners, cyclists and swimmers are extremely lean, etc. Somehow, aerobic training has gotten a bad rap.

While I have written about this in a previous article series, I wanted to revisit the topic again since I see the same (usually incorrect) ideas being thrown about.

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Where Did this Idea Come From?

… Keep Reading

Posted on March 27, 2008May 22, 2020 by lylemcd — 2 Comments

The Time I went to a Charlie Francis Seminar

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m currently living in Salt Lake City, Utah training at the Utah Olympic Oval as a long-track speedskater. So imagine my surprise when I found out that Charlie Francis (along with Canadian strength coach Derek Hansen) were giving a seminar at a new training facility up in Layton, Utah (about 25 minutes north of where I live).

Now, I’ve been influenced heavily by Charlie, I read his book Speed Trap annually, always finding something new in it. His Charlie Francis Training System is also excellent. Given that I’m currently in a sport that has some sprint component, I couldn’t miss it. And given that my coach has essentially developed a system of training similar to Francis’ but applied to speed skating, I took him with me.

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Friday: Day 1

The seminar started at 6pm Friday evening.… Keep Reading

Posted on March 17, 2008May 22, 2020 by lylemcd — 7 Comments

Bench Press Variations

After my article on Benching with the Pecs, I got a follow-up question on a forum about pec activation, someone had mentioned looking for tips before and come across the old Vince Gironda bench press to the neck. This type of bench is often used by bodybuilders to ‘isolate’ the pecs. It’s also a great way to ruin your shoulders forever.

In any case, I wanted to do a brief piece on the different ‘styles’ of bench pressing that are most commonly used; my lovely assistant Sarah (who is apparently also IronMan, don’t tell anybody) will be demonstrating once again.

As it stands, the three major types of benching (I’m ignoring the method of bounce it off your chest while your partner does a deadlift and screams “It’s all you” as a type here) are

Bodybuilder (aka pectacular) bench pressing
A generic power bench
A geared powerlifting bench press (sort-of, I’ll explain this in Part 2)

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Bodybuilder Style Bench Press

The bodybuilder style of bench pressing, as mentioned, is often used to ‘isolate’ the pecs more.… Keep Reading

Posted on March 14, 2008May 22, 2020 by lylemcd — 3 Comments

Goal vs. Process Oriented Training

Although I’m known more for nutrition and training, the psychology of good training is also a huge part of the picture and, thus, of interest to me. Today, I want to talk about one of the major distinctions that is often made in the psychological approach that athletes take (usually to competition); that distinction is between being goal oriented and process oriented.

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Goal vs. Process Oriented Athletes

Simplistically, goal oriented athletes see their results in competition as the be-all, end-all of their training endeavors. This is also true of training. If they don’t win, or set a PR, or perform exceptionally all the time, they will see themselves as a failure.… Keep Reading