Kevin's Personal Training

02/20/2023

Still getting after it on the high bar ass-to-grass squats. Managed a small PR of 320 # for five reps. The knees-forward cue on the ascent of difficult reps has been very useful. Moving into a maintenance phase with reduced volume of strength training in order to up the volume of martial arts and see some big gains there.

12/07/2020

Three keys for ass-to-grass squats:
-Feel pressure on three points of your feet on the descent: big toe, little toe, and heel. This helps with balance and bar path. If you lose pressure on one of those points, shifting weight onto the toes or heels is likely (see rep 2).

-Lower as quickly as possible while still maintaining control. The quicker the descent is, the more you can take advantage of the passive forces of the soft tissues to produce more force out of the hole. However, quicker descents often result in less consistent bottom positions. This set was a 2-0-1 tempo, meaning it's twice as slow as a "normal" squat, making it harder than a normal tempo.

-When you hit a sticking point and the speed grinds nearly to a halt on the ascent, push the knees forward. At that point, the hips tend to be maxed out whereas the quads can contribute more, so rebending the knees redistributes the forces slightly more to the quads and sends you sailing through the sticking point. See rep 5 for a subtle rebending of the knees.

10/06/2020

It's generally believed that in order to improve in strength and especially to gain muscle, it's important to train close to the point of failure--it's been suggested that significant improvements START to accrue on the fifth repetition prior to the ultimate failed rep attempt. In an interesting study from 2017 in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researchers looked at the effectiveness of self-selected loads for the bench press. They had lifters indicate the weights that they typically use for 10-rep sets in the bench press. Then the researchers loaded up the bar with that weight and pushed the lifters to lift it as many times as possible. The results in terms of total reps attained:

10-12 reps, 22% of lifters
13-15 reps, 31% of lifters
16-18 reps, 21% of lifters
19-21+ reps, 26% of lifters

Over a quarter of the "trained" lifters were using weights in which they could actually do 9+ additional reps with at the end of a normal set! If you need to be within 5 reps of failure to cause progress, 47% of these trained lifters were regularly training in a way that would likely not result in progress.

What to do? Make sure you are really pushing yourself in workouts. Log sets/reps/weight to ensure that you're improving over time. Work with a coach to ensure adequate load selection and effort in training.

Barbosa-Netto, S, d'Acelino-e-Porto, OS, and Almeida, MB. Self-selected resistance exercise load: implications for research and prescription. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2017-Resistance training has been widely used for maintaining or improving the quality of life and sports performance. It....

09/30/2020

Keys to the Romanian Deadlift:
-To initiate, arch lower back hard while pushing butt back and pointing ni***es at the ground.
-Keep bar close-ish to shins; allowing it to drift forward will put more leverage on the lower back, forcing it to work harder to stay in a neutral position.
-Descend until hamstrings approach the end of their range of motion. For several of my clients, this involves the plates touching the ground or more.
-Initiate ascent patiently while continuing to arch hard and not allowing knees to move forward. Keep the tension on the hamstrings.
-If grip is the limiting factor, use wrist straps. The goal is to work the hamstrings, not the forearms.
-If upper back is the limiting factor, carefully allow the shoulders to round forward while maintaining a neutral lower back. Rounding the upper back is fine and will limit fatigue on the traps and posterior delts.

09/02/2020

Working toward a PR on pull-ups. This set is part of a 4 x 5 @ 70 # in the middle of a volume phase. 1-2 more weeks of volume before a quick deload and shift to a strength phase where weight goes up and workload goes down. Then a short peaking phase to take a stab at a set of three with 115 #.

08/11/2020

What should you be doing to minimize the risk of injury as an athlete?
Probably getting over or under a barbell, or other resistance training.
Probably not stretching.
This meta-analysis finds that strength training reduced sports injuries to less than 1/3 and nearly cut in half sports injuries. Stretching showed no beneficial effect.

Background Physical activity is important in both prevention and treatment of many common diseases, but sports injuries can pose serious problems. Objective To determine whether physical activity exercises can reduce sports injuries and perform stratified analyses of strength training, stretching, p...

07/29/2020

The use of a belt for weight training is often misunderstood. Its use helps to improve intra-abdominal pressure obtained from drawing in a big belly-breath and pushing it forcefully out into the belt during a lift. That's right, it's a good idea for *most* people to hold their breath during heavy lifts. This generally results in the ability to lift more weight, or the same weight for more repetitions. The long-term effect would then be an enhanced training effect, leading to more muscle growth and/or strength improvement.

Whether or not to use a lifting belt is a highly contentious subject. What effects do belts actually have, and who should (and shouldn't) use them?

07/13/2020

**I take seriously the concerns around COVID-19 and take steps to keep my clients safe. Surfaces including benches, bars, floors, and door handles are sanitized prior to each session. The space is well-ventilated with windows and central HVAC. I ask clients not to come to sessions if they have any symptoms and I do the same. Per the WHO, it is not advisable to exercise while wearing a mask, however I offer to wear one upon request of the client.**