The ULTIMATE Guide To Building SUSTAINABLE FITNESS Habits

Article originally posted on Travis Pollen's website: http://www.fitnesspollenator.com/2015/10/surprising-reasons-youre-not-reaching-your-fitness-goals.html

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Through years of experimental and observational research on human physiology and biomechanics, science has dictated the optimal way to train for specific fitness goals. The problem is, the most efficient route may not always be the most enjoyable -- especially for people new to exercise.

What often happens to beginners is that they begin to find their routine boring and monotonous. These people eventually fall off and stop working out all together; whether it’s due to boredom or a lack of progress/results. Now, much like science, where adherence is an important factor in experimental studies, adherence is also a crucial part of a beginner's long-term fitness success.

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The Dual Process Approach

In order for a person to adhere to an exercise program, they must first have the intention of working out. Psychologists theorize that the strongest conscious predictor of behavior and adherence is intention (1). Does the person have an intention to lose weight? To get stronger? To run faster? The first step to exercising is being conscious about wanting to change their behavior. Psychologists have also proposed that the greatest unconscious predictor is habit (2). Habits are said to be automatic actions or responses to a specific cue. Together, they form what is called a Dual Process approach to exercise habit and behavior formation (3). The Dual Process approach proposes that both conscious and unconscious processes of the brain work in conjunction in order to successfully form a behavior.

Setting Goals – Intentions

Do you have a clear, conscious thought about exercising? Great, you have already formed an intention. But let’s get more in depth to make sure you take your first step towards exercising: setting goals.

Step 1) Evaluate your current lifestyle, what don’t you like about it? What areas in your life are problematic?

Step 2) Set long-term goals. This is what you dream about, losing 30 lbs of fat, putting 50 lbs on your bench press, being able to run a full marathon. Whatever your goals may be, write them down!

Step 3) Set a couple short-term goals. The word “short-term” can be ambiguous; does it mean within a 1-month time frame? 2 months? 6 months? I like considering short-term goals as the baby steps that you take towards your long-term goals. Some short-term goals might be

a)    Finding a local gym and buying a membership

b)    Planning your exercise frequency around your current work/school schedule (e.g. My short-term goal is to go to the gym three times a week. I will go after work on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 45 minutes each session).

Make sure the goals that you are setting are realistic and sustainable (which helps with habit formation). Setting a goal to hit the gym before you leave for work isn’t realistic if you have to be at work by 8:00 am and it takes you an hour to drive there, especially if you’re not used to waking up at 5:00 am. (The exception here would be if you have a very tight schedule and can’t find an alternative time.) Setting a goal to lose 30 lbs of fat in one month is also not realistic, as it would likely cause you to resort to unhealthy and dangerous ways of losing the weight.
 

Habit Formation

Researchers suggest that there are four factors that contribute to habit formation: rewards, behavioral complexity, consistency and environmental cues (4). Let’s go over each factor, including suggestions for increasing your chances of forming long-lasting exercise habits.

Rewards

Operant conditioning (OC) often explains and drives many of our behaviors and psychology. The OC theory states that behaviors are controlled by consequences, specifically, through reinforcement and punishment (5). Reinforcement is a process that increases the frequency of the behavior either through a rewarding stimulus (positive reinforcement) or a removal of an unfavorable stimulus (negative reinforcement). Punishment, on the other hand, is a process that decreases the frequency of a certain behavior either through an introduction of an aversive stimulus (positive punishment -- yes, there is such a thing), or a removal of a favorable stimulus (negative punishment). 

The following figure illustrates the breakdown of the OC theory.

Exercise is unique in the sense that you go through periods of positive punishment before you reach the stage of positive reinforcement. The physiological adaptations and side effects of exercise/working out (resistance exercise, especially) are usually muscle soreness and overall body fatigue, which is considered by definition to be positive punishment (because there is an introduction of unfavorable stimuli). These outcomes are unavoidable with exercise, but it is our body’s ability to adapt to these stressors that makes us better and healthier than we were before.

It’s important to fight the urge to give up and fall off the exercise program.  The reason why we continue to exercise is that we know exercise is good for our health and that we expect results. So why do people quit after a few workouts? 1) They simply don’t experience the results they were aiming for, and 2) somewhere along their fitness journey, they decided that feeling uncomfortable, tired, and sore wasn’t worth it.

Getting a person to adhere to their exercise program (increasing behavior) is all about rewards (positive reinforcement). People’s exercise frequency and behavior increases when they start seeing their goals come to fruition in the form of fat loss, pain alleviation, increased mobility, etc. Knowing that, how do we increase the chance of positive reinforcement and maximize our rewards?

1) Education

Learning safe and effective exercise technique is key to maximizing your results and giving you the comfort of knowing that the exercises you are performing will move you towards your goal. Education is also important for setting realistic expectations. Knowing that it is physiological impossibility to gain 20 lbs of muscle mass in two weeks will save you frustration and disappointment when you realize that you look the same as you did before the past two weeks of “hardcore” weightlifting. People looking to lose fat mass may not see results until 3 weeks into exercising, whereas people looking to pack on muscle mass may not see results until 8-9 weeks of resistance training (depending on previous lifting experience).

2) Hire a knowledgeable personal trainer/coach

If you lack the free time to do your own research on health and fitness, it’s wise to hire a fitness professional to help you out. Unfortunately, it can be pretty hard to differentiate between a good and bad trainer (no, their physique doesn’t tell you much about their fitness knowledge). Read some reviews, and ask your friends or family members for a referral. Choosing a good personal trainer might also be a trial and error process.

3) Think long-term

Avoid programs like INSANITY, P90X, ab-blaster 9000 or any program that “promises” you results in a very short period of time. You will increase the chances of acquiring an injury, and the results you gain from these programs are most likely not sustainable. The truth is, you’ll most likely have to develop a good aerobic conditioning base, proper movement patterns, and flexibility before you can partake in high-intensity, high-impact, or heavy-loaded exercises. Ease your way into it and remind yourself that you’re in this for the long run.

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Behavioral Complexity

The more complex the behavior, the more likely it will require conscious processes (6). Since the dual process approach proposes that habit is often created through unconscious, automated processes and cues, we must start off our exercise program with simple and easy-to-digest exercises. Although learning new exercise techniques does require conscious thoughts and increased body proprioception, it would be a much better idea to learn how to perform a bodyweight squat than it would be to learn a power snatch.

The complexity of the behavior (exercise in this case) is also related to self-efficacy. Exercises with a low complexity will boost our confidence as we believe we have more chances of succeeding it in (unconscious self-efficacy). This is why running, cycling, and hiking are more popular than resistance training or sports: they’re simple to do (plus the fact that they’re more accessible and convenient to the general population)!

Here are a few ways we can minimize behavioral complexity in hopes of maximizing habit formation:

1) Start slow and ease your way in

This relates to point #3 under Rewards. Building an aerobic conditioning base and learning simple movement patterns (squat, hip hinge, pushing, and pulling) will go a long way in helping you achieve your short- and long-term fitness goals.

2) Regressions and progressions

For bodyweight and resistance exercises, learn the regressions and progressions of each exercise (or hire a professional) so you can monitor your improvement and know how to reduce or increase the complexity of every exercise.

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Environmental Cues

The environment also plays a big role in habit development, as it can “prompt or disrupt automatic behavior” (7). Contexts where we feel safe and comfortable will boost self-efficacy and greatly contribute to forming unconscious behavior. It’s hard for people with low self-esteem and social physique anxiety to participate in group classes or expose themselves to a whole gym. It takes time to realize that most people either a) don’t care about you or b) are willing to encourage you and help you achieve your goals. The rest are just assholes. So how do we control our environment for habit formation to work in our favor?

1) Choose an appropriate gym/health club

If you’re completely new to exercising, choosing a family-oriented health club may be the best decision. You will feel more comfortable and be around others with the same goals as you. Joining a hardcore powerlifting or bodybuilding gym (or any gym with an intimidating environment) would not be a good idea and may actually discourage you from going to the gym again. Also, picking a gym that is nearby will increase your chances of going (would you rather have a five-minute walk to the gym or an hour drive?

2) Partner training

Workout with your friend or family member. It’s a great way to hold each other accountable and motivate each other to reach your goals. You’ll feel more comfortable if someone you know is on the ride with you.

3) Getting out of your comfort zone

Realize that eventually you will have to reach out of your comfort zone in order to change your lifestyle in a positive way. Take small steps every day to improve your confidence and let the snowball effect take place!

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Consistency

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, forming habits require a high degree of consistency. The more frequently and consistently we perform a task, the more accustomed and comfortable we are with it. In this context, we are talking about the consistency of exercising and practicing good health choices and habits. Here are some ways to stay consistent:

1) Monitor your progress

Track your bodyweight daily or weekly, write down the amount of weight you lifted, jot down how many miles or how long you ran for. Monitoring markers of health and exercise gives you an idea of how much you are progressing. It also motivates you to adhere to your exercise program in order to beat your previous personal bests. Many beginners do not monitor their progress closely enough, thereby failing to see the results they’re making. The mirror is generally not a good indication of minute changes in body physique or health markers!

2) Hire a personal trainer/buy a personal training package

Having someone to hold you accountable for your behavior is a good way to force yourself to stay consistent. Buying a package of 12 or 20 personal training sessions shows commitment and forces you to show up to training sessions… or you lose money!!

3) Plan ahead

Scheduling is of the utmost importance. In order to stay consistent, you must have dedicated time slots in your week to devote to working out. Carrying out a behavior or performing a certain task at the same time every day or week helps with forming habits; this concept is called temporal consistency (8). For example, I work out after school every other day.

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Adherence

Let’s say you’ve been working out for three months now and have been seeing results, but you’re starting to lose motivation because the workouts are getting boring and stale. How do you jazz things up and make them more interesting? After all, one of the keys to exercise adherence is variation.

Although it might sound cool to just pick random exercises out of a hat to include into your next workout, having a plan is much better (most of the time).

There are many different variables you can change in your workout to make them more interesting. An easy method is to pick several different exercise modalities to perform in one workout session, an example would be weightlifting and bodyweight exercises then followed by a steady state endurance exercise like swimming or cycling. Another strategy you can implement is adding exercises of varying speeds within the same group of exercises or muscles involved. If you were working on your posterior chain muscles (glutes, lower back, hamstring) in a workout, performing 3 exercises with different speeds would look something like this (from slowest to fastest): Isometric lower back extension holds, barbell hip bridge and explosive kettlebell swings. The exercise order can be altered to fit your specific fitness goals and experience. It changes the pace of the workout and keeps things interesting.

Along with exercise tempo and speed, you can also include exercises of various planes of motion. The figure below illustrates the planes of movement of the body.

Many people do a majority of their exercises in the sagittal plane (basically up and down), this includes exercises such as the squat, bicep curls, tricep pushdowns, deadlifts, etc. Because the prime movers of exercises in the sagittal plane are mostly flexion and extension muscles, our rotational, abductor and adductor muscles are often neglected. While they might be activated to a certain degree during sagittal plane movements (as synergistic muscles or stabilizers), it is smart to include exercises in the frontal and transverse plane in order to work these muscles through their whole range of motion. Some frontal plane exercises include dumbbell lateral raises, lateral box jumps and side lunges. Transverse plane exercise are rotational in nature and include Pallof presses, rotational medicine ball throws, and wood choppers.

Benefits of Exercise Selection Variation

Let’s face it: unless you’re a powerlifter, few people want to focus solely on squat, bench press, and deadlift. Doing a variety exercises of different tempos, planes of motion, and complexity is what makes working out enjoyable. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do effective compound exercises like the squat, bench press, deadlift, and military press. In most cases, these exercises should be at the core of your program, but you should add a variety of exercise modalities into your workout, especially if your goal is to increase your general fitness (fat loss, muscle gain, cardiovascular endurance). Here are my recommendations:

1) Apply the principle of progressive overload

Strive to add weight to the bar or increase the number of sets or reps that you do over time. Progressive overload is a principle that, in order for the body to grow better and stronger, we must gradually increase the amount of stress we put on it during exercise.

2) Select your exercises in blocks

Don’t switch up your exercises every day or every week; the concept of muscle confusion is a foolish one. Rather, select a group of exercises and keep them for three or more weeks. This gives us time to either improve our technique and allows us to apply the principle of progressive overload in order to reap the benefits of those particular exercises.

3) Individualize

Pick exercises you like and find enjoyable and simple. To address bodily weaknesses or asymmetries, carefully select exercises that will target those weak spots.

Practicing multiple movement patterns and perfecting the technique of various exercises serves as general physical preparation, which increases your general fitness so you’ll be more successful in whatever additional sport or activity you choose. Most of the great athletes in the 21st century usually have a history of playing multiple sports before they became great at their respective sport (Michael Jordan, Steve Nash).

Main Takeaways (tl;dr)

1) Understand and expect realistic results, set short- and long-term goals, monitor your progress (experiment --> evaluate --> adjust... repeat).

2) Creating sustainable exercise habits will require both conscious and unconscious factors. Understanding these factors and applying mental cues will help you maximize your chances of habit formation.

3) Expect to move out of your comfort zone if you want a positive change in your life.

4) Variation will greatly improve exercise adherence.

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References

(1) Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179-211. doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t

(2) Sheeran, P., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Bargh, J. A. (2013). Nonconscious
processes and health. Health Psychology, 32, 460–473.

(3) Evans, J. S. B. T. (2008). Dual-processing accounts of reasoning,
judgment, and social cognition. Annual Review of Psychology,
59, 255–278.

(4) Lally, P., & Gardner, B. (2013). Promoting habit formation. Health
Psychology Review, 7, S137–S158.

(5) Operant Conditioning. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning

(6) Verplanken, B., & Melkevik, O. (2008). Predicting habit: The case of
physical exercise. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 9, 15–26.

(7) Orbell, S., & Verplanken, B. (2010). The automatic component of
habit in health behavior: Habit as cue-contingent automaticity.
Health Psychology, 29, 374–383. 

(8) Rhodes, R. E., & De Bruijn, G. J. (2010). Automatic and motivational
correlates of physical activity: Does intensity moderate the
relationship? Behavioral Medicine, 36, 44–52.

Exercise Selection for General Fitness PART 2

READ PART 1 HERE

~600 Words ; ~5 minute read

Carrying on from part 1 on the topic of exercise selection for general fitness, we will next talk about the goals of general fitness and what exercises we can pick from to achieve those goals in a safe and efficient manner.
Although fitness goals differ from person to person, it is safe to say the goals of increasing general fitness are as follows:

1) Improve body composition via increasing muscle mass (for functionality and aesthetics) and decreasing body fat (for aesthetics and overall cardiovascular/joint health, reducing the risk of disease and mortality)

2) Increase cardiovascular endurance (the general population wants to get tired less easily, walk and run for longer distances, be able to go hiking, etc)

3) Fix posture and muscle imbalances (reduce current soreness and pain, reduce risk of acquiring lower back, shoulder and knee pain in the future)

4) Build a good muscle and movement foundation (which allows people to do what they want to do with their body, play the sports they want to play)

5) Increase confidence and self-efficacy (body re-composition/physique changes and the elimination of debilitating pain often comes with an increased feeling of self-confidence and self-efficacy; the driver behind motivation and habits, and an indicator of future success)

Types of Exercise Modalities and Their Benefits:

Resistance Training Exercises (Barbells, Dumbbells, Kettlebells)

1. Allows for performing exercises in a full range of motion
2. Very effective in increasing muscle mass and neuromuscular efficiency (the body's ability to recruit the correct muscles in order to produce force and stabilize structures of the body)
3. Allows the trainee to easily track progress (if the weight on the barbell or dumbbell is increasing, you're most likely getting stronger, gaining more muscle; making progress!)
4. Resistance training exercises often requires the trainee to use several different muscles and move several joints to perform the movements, this is very effective for ingraining proper motor patterns and learning to use your body as a whole. It is also great for hypertrophy gains and expending calories (for body recomposition purposes)

Cardiovascular Exercises (Running, Swimming, Cycling, Hiking, etc)

1. Little to no equipment needed, convenient
2. Improve muscular endurance (light loaded repetitive tasks in your daily life will be easier to perform)
3. Effective in increasing cardiovascular endurance (walking to the bus stop won't get you feeling like you just ran a marathon anymore!)
4. Better cardiovascular health, reduced risk of disease (decreased heart rate, blood pressure, LDL + total cholesterol)
5. Sets a cardiovascular endurance foundation needed in order to perform resistance training exercises and/or play sports

Body-weight Exercises

1. Little equipment needed, body-weight exercises can be done virtually anywhere there is open space
2. Depending on previous exercise experience and current bodyweight, it can be a good introduction to resistance training exercises
3. Improves body kinesthetic awareness (where your limbs are in space, where they are relative to other parts of your body)
4. Often used as stability and isometric exercises for the core muscles (rectus abdominis, diaphragm, transverse abdominis)

Stability/Resistance Band Exercises (Resistance bands, Bosu ball, Exercise Stability Ball)

1. Increases muscle and joint stabilization
2. Often used as an exercise modality to rehabilitate muscular or joint injuries 
3. Can be used to work the core muscles
   
    

As we covered in Part 1, the benefits of these exercise modalities are not exclusive. There is definitely a degree of crossover (eg: Resistance training with short rest times will give benefits similar to cardiovascular training).

In PART 3 of this series, we will put everything together and learn how to design an efficient exercise program. 

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Again Faster Klokov Barbell Review

I've always wanted a barbell to myself, I did not like the inconsistencies of training with several different barbells week to week (not to mention bent barbells). I decided to get the 20kg Again Faster Klokov Bar as a high-quality, general use barbell. This bar is great for Olympic Weightlifting and for compound exercises.

Price
https://ca.againfaster.com/en-ca/shop/conditioning-tools/again-faster-klokov-competition-barbells/
Retail Price: $355 Canadian ($400 after shipping + taxes)

Price was one of the most important factors when deciding whether or not I should buy this bar. $355 was much cheaper than other barbells of the same quality. In comparison, the 20kg Pendlay Bearing Olympic Barbell is $530 (USD) and the Rogue Olympic WL Barbell is $715 (CAD).
As you can see, the AG Klokov Bar is cheaper by a large margin.

Bearings
It is hard to find a bearing barbell south of $500. Bearings is the mechanism by which the barbell sleeve is allowed to spin. Bushing barbells are generally cheaper because of the cheaper manufacturing costs. Both needle bearings (which are better than ball bearings) and bushings are used in the AG Klokov bar, making the sleeve spin smoothly for snatches, and clean & jerks, yet durable enough for everyday use.  The quality of the bearings and the sleeve spin may not be as great as Eleiko or Werksan barbells, but is a huge upgrade from bushing barbells usually seen 

PSI and Bar Whip
The AG Klokov Barbell has a PSI rating of 264,000, which apparently is 30,000 PSI stronger than any other Olympic Weightlifting barbell on the market. I've had this barbell for a week now and have done several different exercises with it, but I haven't lifted heavy enough to test out how much the bar can handle. If it can handle the weights that Dmitry Klokov puts up, it is definitely more than enough for us mortals.

High Bar Squatting 225lbs: There is a bit of whip at the top of the movement compared to normal gym bars, but very subtle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quugw_xmOOo Judging by this video, there seems to be noticable whip starting from 140kg/308lbs onwards.

Knurling
My favorite part about this bar. There has been reviews saying the knurling on this bar is inconsistent. I'm not sure if they mean the knurling is inconsistent from bar to bar, or inconsistent on different spots of the bar. Nonetheless, I love the feel of the barbell, the outer knurling is not too aggressive; it feels like how a high-quality olympic lifting barbell should feel. I also like the fact that there is a passive centre knurling, which aids in keeping the bar on your back during a high bar squat, or during a front rack position.  Another thing I find useful is the knurling ring marks. There are 2 sets of knurling marks, one for the IWF and one for the IPF; this makes it easier to establish a grip width and be consistent with it especially for lifters who like to perform the olympic lifts as well as the power lifts.

Product Specifications (via Again Faster website)
"• Meets all IWF weight and dimension specifications for Men's and Women's bars 
• Weight Tolerance +0.1% / -0.05% 
• Dual knurl marks that meet both IWF and IPF specifications for knurl mark spacing 
• 264,000 PSI Ultimate Tensile Strength 
• 5 needle bearings per side 
• High strength steel bushings are set both inside and outside the bearings in the collar 
• A screw lock cap with two internal retention rings secure the collars 
• Finish: Hard Bright Chrome 
• Collar Band: Men's = Blue | Women's = Yellow 
• Shaft Diameter: 20kg = 28mm (IWF spec) | 15kg = 25mm (IWF spec) 
• Length: 20kg = 2200mm | 15kg = 2010mm"
 

Closing Remarks
Its a nice feeling to touch a new barbell, this bar feels really good in my hands and really good on my back. It feels very straight and very sturdy. Labelled as a "competition barbell", this bar would be perfect for anyone prepping for an Olympic weightlifting meet. Although this bar performs well when squatting, bench pressing or deadlifting, I personally, would not use it to prep for an IPF Powerlifting meet. The whip of the bar (especially when squatting and deadlifting heavy) is not ideal for Powerlifting meets as it will give the lifter a false sense of strength in training. The lifter will be guaranteed tears of sadness and shame after being stapled to the floor by IPF-approved Eleiko powerlifting barbells.

Overall, I would highly recommend this barbell to competitive athletes and weightlifters or any trainee involved in general strength training.

Warming Up For Resistance Training

Read my 2020 article on how to optimize the warm-up using the RAMP protocol and mobility flows.

General Warm-Up

One of the worst things you could possibly do in the gym is not warming up. Working out with cold muscles will increase the chance of muscle tears, injuries, and negatively impact your athletic performance.  The purpose of a general warm-up is to increase core body temperature, respiration and blood circulation to working muscles. A general warm up may consists of any low intensity movements plus self-myofascial release (soft tissue massage) and any stretching that will aid in preparing your body for the workout ahead.

5-10 minutes on the rowing machine, elliptical or treadmill is generally very effective. Aim for 50% – 60% of your max heart rate. To calculate your max heart rate, use the following equation: MaxHR = 220 – Age.

Example: A 20 year old trainee will have a max heart rate of 200 beats per minute (BPM), so following the guidelines given, this 20 year old trainee will aim for a heart rate of 100 BPM to 120BPM.

Self Myofascial Release and Stretching

Self Myofascial Release (SMR)( also known as soft tissue massage or foam rolling) is a technique used to reduce muscle soreness and increase range of motion on a given joint. The most popular equipment used for SMR is the foam roller and the lacrosse ball. It is generally suggested that you foam roll the muscles that you will be working for the day, but I’m an advocate of spending the extra 5-10 minutes to do a thorough full body routine to make sure my whole body is ready for the upcoming training session. Here is my SMR routine, ALWAYS done after a general warm-up, covering most major muscle groups from the bottom up:

Feet (with a lacrosse ball)

Tibialis Anterior (front of the calves, muscle beside your shin bone)

Calves

Hamstrings

Adductors (inner thigh)

Quadriceps 

IT Band (side of your thighs)

Glutes (butt) (with a lacrosse ball)

Lower Back (Lumbar Region)

Upper Back (Thoracic Region) (with a lacrosse ball)

Chest

Much like massage therapy, foam rolling hurts. It will be very uncomfortable when starting out but you eventually acclimate to the pain. Using softer foam rollers for a few weeks before moving onto sturdier rollers (PVC pipes) is generally a good idea.

Follow these SMR Guidelines for safety and effectiveness:

1. Relax/Stay loose during foam rolling

Think about next weekend, think about how awesome your workout will be, think of anything that takes your mind off of the uncomfortable pressure that comes from foam rolling.

2. Roll slow and rhyhthmic

Take slow, steady and long passes when foam rolling any bodypart

3. Tender spots

When you find a tender spot, stay there and apply pressure to that one area for approx. 20-30 seconds or until tenderness is reduced

4. Control your weight

Be aware of how much your bodyweight is being applied to the muscle group being foam rolled, apply less pressure for more sensitive areas or apply more pressure on less sensitive areas that can take it.

The Lacrosse Ball

The lacrosse ball can act as a substitute for the foam roller when trying to get into tender spots on your body that are harder to reach and harder to direct the pressure to.

Stretching

The main goal of stretching is to increase the range of motion in a given muscle as well as alleviate any pain. Stretching is also done to maintain a healthy posture and to correct any muscle imbalances or tight muscles that may interfere with force production or exercise execution. There are many kinds of stretches, each with it’s own purpose. Static stretching, active stretching, dynamic stretching just to name a few. Knowing how and when to utilize these stretching techniques will benefit performance greatly.

Static stretching involves holding a muscle in a stretched position for approximately 20-30 seconds.

Active stretching involves stretching a muscle with an agonist (opposing muscle group),  This type of stretching uses the principle that contracting a certain muscle group will cause the agonist to stretch.

Dynamic stretching is similar to active stretching but it differs from active stretching because you are always moving, hence the word dynamic.

Which stretches should I do and when should I do them?

Why pick? Do all of em. I do all 3, static, active and dynamic stretching after my general warm up and before my specific warm up. I also spend 10-15 minutes at the end of my workout doing static stretches and really focus on my flexibility and recover so my muscles and joints are ready to go and I can smash my next workout.

Does Static stretching before a workout actually decrease performance?

The logic behind this claim is that static stretching puts your muscles in an unfavorable, over-lengthened state which attributes to decreased force production, which in turn decreases athletic performance and power. The answer is yes and no. Yes, holding a stretching for 30-60 seconds will lengthen your muscle into unfavorable conditions that will cause a drop in force production, but this is assuming you attempt a heavy lift immediately after stretching. But that holds no relevance in the real world.  Since the time between a static stretching routine and the actual workout can range from anywhere between 20-30 minutes, it is possible to rake in the benefits of static stretching without sacrificing force production when it is time to perform. So in practice, what does this mean? Do not hold your static stretches for longer than 20-30 seconds, perform active and dynamic stretching in addition to your static stretching, as well as perform a specific warm up for the movement pattern that you will be executing.

Below are awesome videos on warming up and stretching by DeFranco’s Training System’s own Joe DeFranco and Bryce Lewis, a competitive powerlifter and bodybuilder part of Team 3DMJ.

Joe DeFranco’s Limber 11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSSDLDhbacc

Bryce Lewis’ Choose Your Adventure Warmup Routine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRfxeWZrODQ

Specific Warm up

Do you walk in the gym and immediately throw 135 on the bar and start your bench pressing? If so this part is especially for you.

A specific warm up is a warm up that is specific to the movement pattern/exercise you will be performing with a higher intensity later on. This means bench pressing lighter weights or performing tricep pushdowns as a warm up to your max bench, this means deadlifting lighter weights or performing back extensions as a warm up to your top set of deadlifts. Doing calf raises in preparation  for your bench press would make no sense would it?

The Right Amount

There are people who don’t warm up at all, then there are people who warm up too much. What’s the right amount?

Let’s say you have a 1 Rep Max (1RM) of 360 on the deadlift wanted to work up to working set of 315 pounds x 5 reps:

135×3

185×2

225×1

315×5

This is way too little volume to be considered a warm up, the lower back, hamstrings and muscles used for the deadlift are not getting sufficient activation and blood flow.

135×8

155x8

185×8

205x8

225×8

255x8

275×8

295x8

315×5

This is an example of someone overdoing their warm up. 8 reps sets with each of those weights will definitely cause some degree of muscle and cardiovascular fatigue and hinder your performance IF your focus is on the top set (315×5).

135×8

185×8

225×6

245×4

275×3

315×5

This is my preferred method of warming up. Notice the pyramid scheme and how as the warm up weight gets closer to my working set weight, I’m decreasing the reps I do to ultimately preserve energy to perform my 315×5 set with full muscle efficiency and power. The main principle I’m using here is progression. By progressing with small weight increments, the chance of injury and fatigue is small and all the benefits of a warm up can be achieved. This holds true for other exercises as well, whether doing bicep curls or heavy squats. You will notice that the stronger you are in a lift, the more thorough warm up you will have to do.

Note: It is generally a good idea for beginning lifters to take smaller jumps in weight increments just to practice your form and better ready yourself for the top set. This might mean taking a jump from 135×8 to 155×8 rather than 185×8. The general rule is: the lower your 1RM, the smaller increments you will make in your warm ups.

Activation (non-specific warm up)

Activation refers to the activation of certain muscles through the use of exercises that differ from the main exercise you’re trying to perform. This means warming up, for example, the muscles used in the squat, by means of leg extensions, hip adductor machine, or any movement that isn’t the squat (typically done prior to specific warm ups). The purpose of activation exercises is to directly activate, warm up, and stimulate muscle groups that are imbalanced or muscle groups that can’t be targeted while doing a compound movement like the squat. Using myself as an example, I find it very hard for me to “feel” direct stimulation of my hamstrings while deadlifting, so I fix this problem by doing exercises that target the hamstrings specifically, whether it’s hamstring curls or a dynamic stretching routine focused on the hamstrings. This helps me “feel” the tension in my hamstrings, and it lets me know how my hamstrings should feel like during a deadlift so I can focus on activating them while performing the deadlift.

Common Mistakes Warming Up

1. Just simply not warming up

Obviously.

2. Confusing a general warm up with cardio

Unless your workout is specifically geared towards increasing cardiovascular performance, leave the cardio until the end of the workout, a general warm up should only be 5-10 minutes. 

3. Not stretching

Let’s face it, no ones excited to go to the gym to stretch, you don’t have to do it. But I’m telling you now, if you do, your posture will be fixed by addressing muscle imbalances via stretching, your performance will improve in the long run and it’s beneficial for your long term musculoskeletal health! So… do it, or regret it sometime in the future when you have a flexibility and range of motion equivalent to a rock.

4. Holding static stretches for too long

There is no need to hold your stretches for any longer than 20-30 seconds

5. Understimulating or over fatiguing yourself

I addressed this in the section titled “The Right Amount”

There is no secret behind warming up, these methods have been used by elite athletes and coaches around the world and as you can see, warming up itself is a lot of work. Those who will benefit from this are those who are willing to put in the work, those who are willing to put in the extra 20-30 minutes to warm up before a workout. Take care of your body and it will take care of you.