After listening to an episode of the muscle intelligence podcast with Ben Pakulski (which is an excellent podcast btw) I heard that he commits to a '3 pillars' training philosophy which involves:
Strength/Hypertrophy
Stability and Mobility
Aerobic Conditioning
Now im sure a lot of people have the same concepts in their thought process and Im certainly not calling this my own - but it does line up with a lot that I personally try to do with my own and my clients training. Here's my take on the 3 pillars.
1. Stability and mobility
Why did I put this first? I believe in "Movement first, load next" in terms of training priorities. Too many people bypass improving joint mobility and movement quality to rush to the good/hard stuff - Ironically this often results in the good/hard stuff turning bad for you and your body.
Regardless of age, everyone should give adequate time per week to work on stability and mobility top balance your training load and 'pre-hab' your body for future efforts. The amount of time will need to increase with training age and also depend on how much you put yourself "through the ringer"!
How many hours (of your total training week) do you currently devote to Mobility/Stability, injury prevention, movement quality?
Where to start?
If you are not motivated to do any of this work then pay someone to motivate you. Join a yoga/pilates studio or buy a package of 10 classes and see how it works for you. Over the past 20 years, several elite level sports stars (Tom Brady, Roger Federer, *Ryan Giggs) have mentioned yoga as a huge factor in their prolonged careers at the top.
*Yes there is a Welsh bias to this but Giggs did play football at the elite level for 20 years and was extremely vocal about how Yoga specifically helped him stay almost injury-free for the last 10 years of his career.
How much do you need?
Every-body is different but a good number to aim for would be 1-2 hours per week for maintenance or small gradual Improvements/changes. 3-6 hours for significant progress with daily practice of 30mins or more being the optimal method to see general improvements in all techniques.
Its key to note here that for this blog, I have described Yoga is a very accessible physical method for people to include mobility and stability into their weekly schedule...
"The true journey of Yoga is holistic practise for the mind, body and breath"
2. Strength/Hypertrophy
You could spend the rest of your living days studying the iron game and experimenting with the nuances of tempo, load, technique variations and still not reach a desired level of mastery in the weight room - its that big a subject. What is absolutely vital that you do is firstly LEARN THE BASICS.
Step 1: Competency in the basics
Squat - Depending on the year and what's in fashion for fitness knowledge regards squat depth - below parallel (with upper body control) will always be the standard to aim for. Anyone trying to sell you that a partial squat is more 'optimal' is more than likely lacking the basic mobility to hit the correct depth themselves. Work on your squat depth, then add load.
What your excuse not to go below parallel?
Hinge (Deadlift) - The video below shows this simple yet important technique. Competent hinging is a key component for barbell training and the more advanced Olympic lifting techniques.
Mastering the hinge pattern will save a lot of potential injury/dysfunction
Push - Basic relative strength in a PUSH pattern is the ability the perform at least 1 chest-to-floor push up (as a start) then add reps from there. There is nothing wrong with regressing the technique and getting high quality reps in to build volume and technique proficiency.
The incline push up (using bench or wall)
Pull - Basic relative strength in a PULL pattern is the ability the perform at least 1 chin up (strict form not a funky version - you know who you are!)
Side note: The chin up is also a grip and arm strength exercise and a lot of the general population will at first be unable to perform them. There are dozens of excellent exercises available to build strength of the upper limbs/grip towards performing a full chin up.
"Focus on matching your arm and grip strength to match your bodyweight for better chin ups. That may involve losing body fat for some people and targeting arms/grip for others"
Pull (Beginner option) - If your struggling with the daunting task of a full chin up, start measuring your pull strength with the inverted row. When performed correctly this is a fantastic exercise to add into back and biceps training and a good barometer of progress on the pull pattern for beginners.
How to perform a proper inverted row
Lunge - Lunges are a great exercise. They can help build muscle, challenge the cardiovascular system, promote mobility in the lower body and add a ton of variety to keep training interesting and add difficulty when needed.
However bodyweight walking lunges are one of the most butchered exercises in the gym. So many times you will see terrible form either from shallow reps (lack of mobility/strength,too much load), loss of balance (stability issues) or just lack of coaching (no regressions offered). If all of the above are being observed in a paid/supervised PT session then i'm calling Bullshit on the trainer (I think badly coached walking lunges may be my Pet peeve?) :)
"You can spot a low-skill personal trainer by the way their client/s perform walking lunges"
Ive always said this and im sticking to my thoughts. Competent trainers DO NOT (in 99.9% circumstances) allow their clients to perform terrible reps, there are no excuses - i'm happy to start a discussion with anyone on that.
Step 2: Build volume, intensity, consistency and work ethic
Once you have competency in the basics, then its time to build the fundamental lifts and put the work in - This may take 10-20 years (ask any gym rat!). Some of the most successful people in the gym are the ones who have worked on consistency over the years, cycling in and out of periods of easy/moderate/hard work over 'years rather than months'. Weight training should be treated as a lifelong quest and the goal is to continually improve, adjust and learn about your body which will undoubtedly change as you get older.
Side note: Nutrition, Rest, Recovery, Stress, Lifestyle are all factors that will play a huge part in success of your training journey - These are not mentioned in this blog.
3. Aerobic Conditioning (AC)
This is a huge area that's impossible to cover in this post. AC starts with very easy, longer duration efforts (L.I.S.S or NEAT) right the way through to shorter, more intense HIIT training or interval protocols such as Tabata - it all can (and should) have its place in a well designed, well balanced training program.
The main point I want to share in this blog is that its time to move away from the 'catch-all' term of 'cardio training; and start to have a plan with these aerobic efforts. Planning your cardiovascular training allows you to focus on certain areas and not just 'run for 10km' again or 'do some sprints'.
E.g. Clients' Original 21km race plan = Run 3/4 times per week for 60mins
Revised training plan for May 2020:
- Each day has a specific focus and goals
- The overall idea will be to run faster, more often to achieve a better 'race pace'.
- There is a big focus on the technique of running rather than just ramping up the miles.
- Monthly changes to the program to increase volume towards the race distance and keep things fresh
"Have a plan, make sure you can track your progression, work on specific areas that will improve your long term performance and have a PURPOSE for each session"
This blog is getting too long. Be sure to read (next week) Part 2: How to put the 3 pillars together in a weekly program.
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