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Very mild change — as Eric mentioned, the triceps are elbow extensors, there is no pronation or supination involved with triceps (unlike with biceps exercises).
That being said, some people “feel” an exercise in a certain area more, which could possibly indicate greater activation of a certain pool of fibers for that individual. Overall though, I wouldn’t lose much sleep over it. Agonizing over this would be much less productive than just getting stronger at a variety of different meat and potatoes triceps exercises.
Finally, I will add that many popular triceps exercises wreck people’s elbows, not because the exercise is bad, but because they lack the shoulder mobility to keep the elbow hinge in a straight line with the path of resistance. For this reason, I favor heavy neutral grip bar pressing with a lot of chain or band accommodating resistance to overload the lockout, and then for the high-rep stuff, you can’t beat the multi-directional ability of a good pulley system. Cross-pulley triceps extensions from a wide variety of angles have proven to be VERY elbow friendly and there are almost endless variations based on the pulley position and your body position. Good luck!
Ryan
Eric has a great list there, but I’ll add one more. Chair walks. Find a swivel chair with wheels and attach a band to it. Using your heels, pull yourself forward with your hamstrings until you can’t any more, then control the return back to the start.
Good luck!
I’ve run this many ways. One way is a hybrid where I have had 3 different workouts for upper and lower body that I rotate though, one for speed, one for max effort, and one for repetitive effort. This works very well for recovery purposes and feels good to have a different “feel” for each session. You could also keep the speed work in year round for a secondary day and have your main day be the undulatory day where you cycle between volume phases and intensity phases. I will say that hypertrophy work (especially slow eccentrics) can have a negative impact on velocity, so if you are interested in training for pure speed, save it for your heaviest intensification cycles.
Great question! I always encourage the “weekend warriors” to start each long-term program slightly better than you did the previous one for long term, continued progress. For a super simple example, if you started your LAST 12-week cycle with dumbbell pressing the 50 pound dumbbells for 20 reps, then try to start your new cycle pressing the 55-65lb DBs for 20 reps. Over time and through many cycles, the foundation will get broader and your peaks will get higher. Good luck!
If you are training twice per day, then having fast-acting carbs in your post-workout meal is an absolute must to optimally replenish glycogen before your next training session. This means things with sugar / high glycemic index / and having very little fat and fiber in the meal. White rice, fruit juice, dates, bananas, raw honey, etc. I personally love cream of rice cereal with raisins and real maple syrup.
Great question. I recently saw a paper that showed that a zinc gluconate lozenge replenished zinc much better than a capsule, so I would go with an oral absorption form of zinc gluconate like a lozenge or a zinc tally oral solution of zinc sulfate. Dosage would range based on how low blood test scores were, but a range of 10mg per day for mildly deficient folks to 50mg per day for severe zinc deficiency would do the trick.
Impossible to say. If you look at the model of Bulgarian weightlifting, they were often training 3-5x per day most days per week! Of course, they also trained everyone to death and whoever survived was the Olympic champion, so take that with a grain of salt. It also depends on what makes up each session (i.e. plyometrics and sprinting in the morning and weights at night vs. two weights sessions vs. one weights session and one energy systems / cardio session) and if you are keeping relative volumes similar to 1x per day training, or if 2x per day training represents a large volume increase. Too many factors to give you a concrete answer unfortunately.
As for why it works, it’s because it reinforces proper quality of each work set, even if the total set volume is the same due to greater recovery. Think of it like taking an EXTRA long break between sets. The 4-6 hours of rest allows for a little bit of glycogen re-synthesis if the diet is in check, and CNS restoration. It is also possible that more frequent spikes in muscle protein synthesis are responsible. MPS stays elevated for 24-36 hours following a resistance training session, so by adding a second session to a given day, you are lengthening this window.
I realize I’m opening another can of worms here, but I’ve seen great success training the same body part / movement pattern for 2-4 days in a row before taking an extended (3-5 day) break before hitting that cycle again. The theory here is that you are elevating MPS over several consecutive days in a row. Just some food for thought.
I will leave you with this…..these days I leave 2x per day training for strength and hypertrophy purposes as an “ace in the hole” for a spurt of fast progress or as a plateau buster. I’m talking 6-10 weeks per year, tops. I think the rest of the year you should be able to make great progress in strength and hypertrophy training 1x per day, 3-6x per week. I have done it for much longer. I once did 2x per day weight training for myself for nearly 2 whole years, and while I made progress, I make just as much progress now doing once-daily weight training sessions and saving twice per day for the occasional plateau buster as opposed to doing it year round. Use it wisely!
Read everything you can get your hands on. Pay for consultations time with experts, it will allow you to shave years off of your learning curve and allow you to cut through the BS in the industry and get real-life experience and get YOUR specific questions answered. While you are in learning mode, be prepared to humble yourself and work for free. Go find a sports team or a gym that has a proven track record and volunteer your time for free. Scrub floors, re-rack weights, wipe equipment down, etc. Go out of your way to do all the grunt jobs as a “thank you” for them allowing you to observe them train their athletes and clients. When the time is right (never while they are working directly with a client or athlete), ask questions and listen and learn. Do this as many places as you can. It will be exhausting and you will wonder why you are doing it. But someday another organization is going to call that company that you have been scrubbing floors for and asking great questions, and being super helpful….. and they are going to ask if they know of anyone would would be a good fit. If you do your job well, your name will be at the tip of their tongue and that will be your opportunity to get your foot in the door. Once you’re in the door, you then have to apply all of the knowledge that you’ve been accumulating while you’ve been waiting for your chance. Get RESULTS and you will make a name for yourself and be on your way to being one of the best! It’s simple, but it ain’t easy!
Stay tuned to this site! There will be a lot of great content trickling out as well as some courses where you can learn from top experts in the field in person!
If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.
I don’t know what Charles would have said here and there may be some other coaches that have good examples, but I have trained pole vaulters and I can tell you that I did’t utilize the concept of “predictor lifts.”
As a general rule, the more technical elements to the sport or sport skill, the less directly weight room exercises can transfer to performance. Compare and contrast bobsleigh to pole vault —– you can safely assign predictor lifts for bobsleigh because sprinting with a sled is a gross motor pattern that doesn’t require a ton of technical proficiency —- some yes, but not nearly as much as a pole vault.
This isn’t to say that weight training isn’t important, it just means that trying to find the “perfect” lift is an exercise in futility as there are many lifts that could fit the bill to improve strength and physical capacity enough to allow them to express their vaulting skill proficiently.
As a general rule, vaulters need to be explosive and fast like a sprinter, have a lot of upper body strength (both pushing and pulling) and tremendous core strength and control. Any exercises that hit those qualities will be enough for physical preparation for a pole vaulter. Here is a short list of good ones that fit the bill:
-Squats and split squats
-Olympic lifts
-Deadlifts / good mornings
-Pull ups and chin ups
-Incline to overhead pressing
-Horizontal and vertical lower body plyometrics
-Gymnastic abdominal progressions and core control drillsThat should be a good start to a well-rounded program!
The set volume is going to be dependent on the individual’s work capacity, so it’s impossible to give a specific number of sets. I will say this about twice per day training —— err on the side of too little rather than too much, and make sure to de-load every third week with once-per-day training that week!
As a general rule, you want higher CNS stress in the A.M. session and more metabolic stress in the P.M. Session. This is on a continuum, so here are two examples for quadriceps:
For maximal strength :
A.M. Session
A. Back Squats – 10×1-3 @ 30X0 / 4 min rest
P.M. Session
A. Front Squats – 5×3-5 @ 40X0 / 4 min rest
For hypertrophy:
A.M. Session
A. Back Squats – 4×6-8 @ 40X0 / 4 min rest
B. Front Barbell Split Squats – 3×8-10 @ 31X0 / 3 min restP.M. Session
A. Leg Press – 4×8-10 @ 4020 / 90 sec rest
B. Heels Elevated DB Squat – 3×15-20 @ 3020 / 60 sec rest
C. Leg Extension – 3×20-25 @ 2011 / 60 sec restAs you can see, intensity is relative based on what strength quality you are trying to target. Many tools you can use with these as well, eccentrics, tri-sets, 1 and 1/4, rest-pause, giant sets, etc. Just make sure to make each set count and don’t load in a bunch of volume just for the sake of volume. Done properly, this is VERY taxing and best reserved for advanced trainees, and for a small part of the annual plan. Don’t blow your wad on twice per day training if you still have a lot of experience to gain and can milk less intense methods for a longer time.
Hope that helps.
Ryan
Jance gave you some awesome advice and I agree. I’m not sure twice per day once every 5 days is ideal for the posterior chain if you’re using axially loaded exercises that have an eccentric component, at least not unless you’re VERY weak. The weaker you are at a movement, the more frequently it can be trained because it’s less taxing on your recovery. Your routine structure is solid, but I would just spread it out to once every 7 days or once every 10 days, alternating between the 2 routines. If you absolutely HAD to train your back twice per week, I would make sure the second session was very light, high rep stuff like bodyweight 45 degree back extensions, reverse hypers, controlled jefferson curls, etc. Good luck!
Hey Matt,
Great question. There are many different roads you could take this, but I would make sure to always base your cycle design on the individual needs of the athlete. I’m assuming you’ve got some performance data on their running, cycling, and swim performances? If so, use that data (or structure your own performance tests) to guide the training process. Just as an example, I’ve got an Ironman client who came to me for some therapy and we started to talk training. She hired me to cover her training, so I put her through a performance evaluation using a multi-day testing battery as well as a thorough in-person evaluation where I asked her a lot of questions. One of the metrics was an interval-based aerobic power test on the bike. In this test, I look at maximum wattage, average wattage, and percent drop offs between the intervals. She has ZERO drop off between her intervals…. which tells me that her aerobic system was not the lacking piece of her performance puzzle. She also mentioned in our face-to-face meeting that when she would tank in a race, it’s because her legs would gas out, but her heart rate would only be in the low 150s. Again, confirming that she has plenty of aerobic “juice” and needs to get stronger and more powerful. Her training programs alternate between cycles of relative strength and power output. Her key energy system workouts are low-volume 10-90 second maximal sprints with full recoveries to work on building both her lactic and alactic power outputs. Long slow steady work is only on maintenance and used for recovery. I would almost never use a hypertrophy training cycle for an endurance athlete unless they were severely underweight or it was maybe just 4-6 weeks out of the year. Relative strength and power is the name of the game in the weight room for endurance athletes, because it makes their race pace a lower percentage of their maximum ability and then the rest of their energy systems work should be based on a performance testing battery that is specific to their sport. Hope that helps!
If you don’t already have it “Science and Practice of Strength Training” by Zatsiorsky and Kraemer is a gold mine of information for Understanding strength and performance training. “The Renaissance Diet” with Dr. Israetel is fantastic for basic nutritional education. “Stretch to Win” by Ann and a Kris Frederick for mobility and flexibility training. That’s a good start and should keep you busy for awhile.
Great question! I think it’s very wise to periodize nutrition strategy (while keeping in mind that it’s not absolutely necessary to make progress —- some people do much better with keeping things consistent and would do better with a more linear dietary progression). The metabolism will adapt rapidly (7-14 days) to whatever intervention you plan, so cycling things accordingly will often provide a good “shake up” to prevent stagnation. You can cycle macronutrients while keeping calories the same, you can cycle calories while keeping macronutrient ratios the same, or you can cycle both macronutrients and calories! There is no one size fits all. I tend to push higher calories and carbs during periods of high volume training, and then keep carbs lower during lower volume phases. Also, I will often do 3-6+1 rotations to maintain sensitivity to whatever you are trying to do. In other words, if you push a hard deficit for 3-6 weeks, then shift to maintenance for 1 week to prevent adaptation. If pushing for size, hit a good surplus with lots of carbs for 3-6 weeks and then one week at maintenance or a slight deficit with lower carb levels to maintain insulin sensitivity. Lots of options and lots of ways to structure this, but I find that in the client who is capable of sticking to a plan, making frequent changes speeds up progress and prevents a lot of speed bumps.
