If you don't have a goal

In a discussion about programming metcons (metabolic conditioning workouts), Gant Grimes said:

"They should complement the goals of your training program. If you don't have goals, stop training until you get some."

The whole thread is interesting, and Gant's post is pure gold. Check it out - although you'll need to join the Performance Menu forums to join in.

Basics: Meal Replacement vs. Post-workout Shake

One workout standard is the "protein shake" - a mix of protein powder, liquid (usually, milk or water, sometimes juice), and other ingredients.

You'll occasionally see them as a powder or pre-mixed, and labeled either a "meal replacement" or "post-workout" or "energy" shakes.

What's the difference?

In a nutshell:

Meal Replacement: Mix of proteins (whey, casein), moderate to low carbs, some fat. Preferably includes fiber. Used to replace a regular meal with a liquid meal.

Post-workout shake: Whey protein, possibly plus carbohydrates (if you aren't going to add your own). Little fat or fiber.

Energy shake: Some whey protein, lots of carbohydrates. Little fat or fiber. The carbs are largely sugar.

How do you use them? It's pretty simple - meal replacements are aimed at replacing a solid meal with a liquid one. Post-workout shakes are intended to maximize the benefits of a workout with a quick-digesting meal of protein and carbohydrates. Energy shakes/drinks are for pre-workout boosts in energy - at least the better ones are. The not so good ones are largely just sugared drinks.

That's just a very basic overview.

Farmer's Walks

I'd previously mentioned farmer's walks.

One variation I've started to use is med-ball carries. The gym where I work has a variety of med balls. Since I can't risk dropped dumbbells in a gymnasium, I've begun to use med ball carries as a variation. The ball can be carried overhead (two or one hands), hugged to the chest, or tucked under the arm. Med balls with handles can be carried by the handle in one hand. The odd shape of oversized soft med balls (suck as the large but light Dynamax balls) make for excellent odd-object carries.

This is an easy variation to use if your gym frowns on dropped dumbbells and doesn't have sandbags for your use.

WebMD "9 least effective exercises."

It's not common for a mainstream website to have solid training information. But this is a pleasant surprise from WebMD - a slideshow called the "9 Least effective exercises."

They suggested you ditch these and offer replacements.

#1 - drop behind-the-neck pulldowns for pulldowns in front. Sure. Unless you have sport-specific reasons to train this way, don't pull down to the back of the neck. If you're not sure if you do or not, you don't.

#2 - drop behind-the-neck presses for presses. Same as above.

#3 - drop upright rows for lateral raises. Good call. At the top position, upright rows internally rotate your shoulders and put them in a weak position. Lateral raises also work your shoulders, albeit to a lesser extant, without that positioning problem.

#4 - drop low-position feet leg presses for higher knee position leg presses. Okay, sure, I understand that low position leg presses put potentially more strain on the knees.

#5 - drop smith machine squats for bodyweight squats. Yes, yes, oh yes. The smith machine forces you into an unnatural movement pattern, squats do not. It's also nice to see they recommend you squat to 90 degrees, not the usual advice to avoid deep squats.

#6 - drop the wrong form on cardio machines. If you've been in a gym you've seen people draped over the machines, holding themselves up. Don't do that. Use good form and good posture. If you aren't sure what that is, ask a trainer or two.

#7 - drop exercises aimed at "spot reduction." You can't burn fat away from specific body parts by targeted exercise, and it's nice to see this affirmed without the usual "...but do 200 crunches anyway!" advice.

#8 - stop always lifting with a weight belt. It's for maximal strength reps, not for every exercise. Wear it too much and it detracts from your own core strength development. A bit weak as an ineffective exercise though...

#9 - stop wearing the wrong footwear for your activity. Really, really weak as an "ineffective exercise." But they aren't wrong. Use your cross-trainers for cross-training, running shoes for running, and Chuck Taylors for squatting and deadlifting. Don't mix up shoe types.

Serious kudos to a mainstream and widely-trafficked website like WebMD giving out good exercise advice!

Online books

Some old, out-of-print training books are now available online.

If you look at www.scribd.com, you can find "electronic paper" books for free.

Here is Brooks Kubik's Dinosaur Training, and here is the (outdated but not obsolete) first edition of Starting Strength.

Training Terminology: Compound vs. Isolation

Exercises are described as being "compound" or "isolation" exercises. But what's the difference?

It's a matter of joints.

Compound exercises involve movement around more than one joint. For example, a back squat involves movement around the ankle joint, the knees, and the hips.

Isolation exercises involve movement around a single joint. The classic biceps curl only involves flexion of the elbow, thus isolating the single joint.

That's the whole basis of the split - the number of joints involved. You'll occasionally see "isolation" exercises defined as "single-muscle exercises" and "compound" as "multiple muscle exercises" but this isn't a proper definition. Isolation exercises do not truly isolate one muscle, but rather one joint (and thus emphasize a very small number of muscles). Compound exercises are not defined as compound based on the number of muscles involved, just the joints.

If you need to determine if a given exercise is compound or isolation - and it's not immediately obvious - check the directory of exercises at EXRX. The site helpfully labels all exercises as compound or isolation.

Total Rep Count, further discussed

I've previous posted on what I call "Total Rep Count.

The short version is, to increase the number of reps you can do, you pace yourself throughout your sets and then go all-out on the last set. This is contrary to a more typical approach of trying to go all-out on every set.

In a recent discussion on the EXRX forums, I wrote this analogy:

It's "pace yourself" versus "pace until the end" versus "go 100%". Think of it like a race:

- if you do pace/pace/pace, it's a long race you want to finish with equal split times.
- if you do pace/pace/max, it's a long race with a sprint to the finish line.
- if you do max/max/max, it's like three sprints.

Comparing the latter two, the "sprint to the finish" means you'll use up everything trying to finish well. The "three sprints" version means you'll get really tired, try to rest, go all out again, try to rest, and again...and you'll probably get less total work done.

That's the best analogy I can come up with for this approach to training - you pace yourself for each split of the race - each set - and then sprint to the finish. The pacing allows you to get more total work in because you don't do those exhausting final reps. But on the last set, with days, a week or even weeks between identical efforts...you can afford to milk out every last rep. It's a good chance to test your real limits, push up your goal numbers, aim for a PR in total reps or even one-set reps, and get the benefits of occasional training to failure or near-failure all at once. It's also a chance to see what your limit is for next time.