Debunking Training Myths

     It’s one of the most profitable, expansive businesses in the world today – fitness. Everybody wants to get fit and everybody wants to look their best. But with so much information out there, what are some of the best strategies? Eat heavy, train heavy? Eat light and do lots of cardio? What’s your diet, what are your goals, what are you aiming for? It can all be confusing. And with a myriad of myths and a gaggle of gurus, who and what can you trust? If you read that standing on your head and eating grapefruit burned extra calories, would you do it? (Maybe!)

      For your fitness road to the Beast, we have Dave Hopkins, fitness extraordinaire from LECOM Fitness and Wellness Center giving you tips and exercises along the way. But, naturally, Dave can’t cover everything, and that’s where we’ll come in. We’ll pick up some of the smaller details – what shoes to wear, what kind of foods we’ll have available on race day and what you should eat, obstacles reveals, and more! This week we’ll debunk a few fitness myths that are total bunk.

     Myth #1: You can ‘crunch’ your way to great abs.  So you want to wear your crop top to the Beast on the Bay but you’re currently rocking a muffin top? We could have a conversation about body image and why it’s so important to love yourself and what you have to offer (it really is!), but that’s a topic for another day. If you’re looking to improve on your abs before race day, don’t go with crunches – or at least don’t expect crunches to do the job alone. While they’ll help abs that are already showing, they won’t eliminate fat because you can’t spot eliminate fat. Exercises like squats and deadlifts and cardio, along with a stricter diet, are ways to begin eliminating fats and see the results you want.

   Myth #2: Cardio is the only thing you’ll need to focus on for the Beast. You hear ’10 miles’ and you panic – how can I run 10 miles? Not to add to your stress, but you’re also going to be doing 20+ obstacles. Aaaah! It sounds scary, but let’s break this down. Yes, cardio is important, but remember that you can handle the Beast at your own pace. If you need to skip an obstacle, skip it. If you’d like to walk or jog or moonwalk it, do it. The cardio is important, but don’t act like you have to be able to sprint 10 miles or you’re going to fail. Work in some strength training and endurance to make sure you can handle the obstacles that you want to take on. And, the more energy you have to take on those obstacles, the better you’ll do.

      Myth #3: You should focus so much on the fitness element of the Beast that you forget to have fun. OK, OK, this isn’t a widespread fitness myth, per se, but it needs said. This is a fun event for a great cause. You’ll be helping children and adults with disabilities by participating in the course on September 10. Isn’t that awesome? What’s a little running in the sand and a few obstacles if it means helping the cause? Get your family involved, get your friends involved, get your neighbors involved. Help us help others and have a great time while doing it! Make a team, train together. Build endurance but also build memories.

     A reminder that our April sign-up promotion ends at the end of April. Imagine that? When your friend registers, they'll get a drop-down menu that asks how they heard about the event. They select "A Friend," fill in your name, and you're both entered. Learn more: http://www.barberbeast.org/Refer-a-Friend

Upper Body Muscle Groups and How to Work Them

     The majority of the obstacles in the Beast on the Bay require the use of upper body muscle groups, especially those involved in pulling movements (back and biceps). Grip strength is a key factor in any pulling movement, which involves the flexors of the forearm. Your grip strength comes into play when you’re climbing cargo nets and walls, traversing monkey bars, carrying sand bags and buckets of water. To a lesser extent of successfully completing the obstacles, are the muscles involved in pushing movements (chest, shoulders and triceps). You will spend more of your time pulling yourself up, across, and through obstacles, than you will spend pushing your way through them. However, it is imperative that you create a balance between opposing muscle groups. So, be sure to exercise both pushing and pulling muscle groups equally.

     The core is often misrepresented as only referring to your abdominals, but it actually refers to all muscles in your torso. We call it the core because it is where all ambulatory movement originates. More specifically, it is the culmination of these muscles working together, while stabilizing the entire body, regardless of the muscle action being performed. Every obstacle will require the use of core strength, regardless of the upper body muscle group you are using. Crawling through pipes and under cargo netting is simulated by performing plank walks with sliders. Farmer walks with a kettlebell in the suitcase position, is similar to carrying a bucket of water. In both of these scenarios, you’re using your torso to stabilize the rest of your body in completing the movement.

     Here’s a list of exercises divided into groups of push, pull, and core movements:

Push	Pull	Core
Push-Ups	Pull-Ups	V-Sit-Ups
Chest Press w/ Dumbbells	Pulldown	Plank Walk w/ Sliders
Chest Fly w/ Cables	Dumbbell Row	Kneeling Wood Chop
Incline Chest Press w/ Dumbbells	Seated High Row	Standing Low-High Wood Chop
Decline Chest Press                      w/ Dumbbells	Standing T-Bar Row	Step-Up w/ Low-High              Wood Chop
Shoulder Press w/ Dumbbells	Close-Grip Pulldown	Standing Torso Twist w/ Cables
Front Shoulder Raise	Bent-Over Row	Straight-Arm Pulldown
Lateral Raise	Single-arm Pulldown	Rope Crunch w/ Stability Ball
Upright Row	Single-arm Seated Row	Kneeling Rope Crunch
Standing Shoulder Press	Bicep Curl w/ Rotation	Body Saws w/ Sliders
Tricep Press	Hammer Curls	Kettlebell Windmill
Single-arm Tricep Press	Spider Curls	Farmer Walk w/ Kettlebells

                A basic strength training program for the upper body will be performed 2-4 days per week and target the chest, shoulders, triceps, back, biceps, and abdominals. You should allow a minimum of 48 hours between similar exercises, to enable proper muscle recovery and tissue repair. The Beast on the Bay is going to require mostly muscular strength and muscular endurance as opposed to power and hypertrophy (muscle size). Use the recommendations for endurance when performing core and body weight exercises. Use the repetition ranges between strength and endurance for everything else. I recommend performing 3-5 sets of 6-15 reps for exercises involving free weights and/or machines. Refer to the following tables for more specific load percentages, set and repetition ranges according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Note: 1RM represents the maximum weight you can correctly perform one repetition for an exercise (bench press, squat, etc). Use these recommendations for lower body exercises as well.

Training Goal	Load (%1RM)	Sets	Reps
Strength	≥ 85	2-6	≤ 6
Power Single-effort Multiple-effort	80-90 75-85	3-5 3-5	1-2 3-5
Hypertrophy	67-85	3-6	6-12
Endurance	≤ 67	2-3	≥ 12

This week's video features Dave and Kristin Blakely showing the chest press and farmer's walk:

Two New Workouts Courtesy of Dave Hopkins at LECOM

Improving Your Running Program

Improving Your Running Program

by Dave Hopkins, LECOM

     The Beast on the Bay is a 10-mile course, so you should be able to run a minimum of 5 miles, preferably 7 miles comfortably, without stopping. Be sure to track your training runs with distance covered over a given period of time. I don’t believe in running without knowing how far you have gone. A number of running plans out there will have you just getting used to running for time and not being concerned with the distance you’ve covered. That’s like telling someone who wants to begin strength training, to just start lifting weights and not take note of how many pounds their using. You don’t know where you’re starting and therefore, don’t know how to get where you want to be. A basic running program consists of four running days per week, with the longest distance on the fourth day. Rest days in the following table are meant for running only. If you can already run 7 miles comfortably, then Day 1 should be 4 miles and the end of the 12^th week should be at least 10 miles and as much as 13.1 miles. The more you run, the better. Cross training (biking, swimming) and strength training can be done on those days instead. Here is a beginner’s 12-week running plan for the Beast on the Bay:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1 mile	Rest	2 miles	1 mile	Rest	2 miles	Rest
1	Rest	2	1	Rest	2	Rest
1	Rest	2	1	Rest	2	Rest
2	Rest	2.5	1.5	Rest	3	Rest
2	Rest	3	2	Rest	3	Rest
3	Rest	4	3	Rest	4	Rest
3	Rest	4	3	Rest	4	Rest
3	Rest	4	3	Rest	5	Rest
3	Rest	4	3	Rest	5	Rest
4	Rest	5	3	Rest	5	Rest
4	Rest	5	4	Rest	6	Rest
4	Rest	5	4	Rest	7	Rest

     The beach consists of uneven and variable terrain, which will stress muscles, ligaments, and tendons that you may have not used in such a way. So, it’s imperative to incorporate a lower body strength training program to prepare for both the terrain of the beach and the mileage you will be doing. Lower body exercises should be performed 2 – 3 times per week, with a minimum of 48 hours between sessions. Running is a single-legged activity, so it’s important to include single-leg exercises in your routine. The exercises should use muscle actions involving all three planes of movement (sagittal, frontal, and transverse). The sagittal plane involves forward and backward movements, the frontal plane involves side to side movements, and the transverse plane involves rotational movements. Here’s a list of lower body exercises that will support and improve your running program:

Both Legs		Single-Leg
Deadlift	Goblet Squat	Squat	Standing Adduction
Kettlebell Swings	Hip Abduction	TRX Pistol Squat	Standing Abduction
Walking Lunges	Hip Adduction	Leg Press	Straight-Leg Raise
Front Squat	Band Walks	Glute Bridge	Hip Extension
Glute Bridge	Monster Walks	RDL w/ Kettlebell	Step-Up w/ Wood Chop
Rotational Squat	Knee Tucks w/ Sliders	RDL Cable Machine	Turkish Get-Up
Straight-Leg Calf Press	Flexed-Leg Calf Press	Mountain Climbers	Box Step-Up

               

Please feel free to ask me any questions. Remember, every program should be designed for the individual, so some movements may need to be modified.

Squats, beer and beaches

Here's your training video from this week featuring Dave Hopkins of LECOM and Kristin Blakely of the Barber Beast on the Bay. Check it out!

Big news for us here at the Beast: We're having a Guest Bartending Night on March 10 at The Brewerie! The event goes from 5:30-8:30 p.m. and is in celebration of the half-way point to the Beast on the Bay. We'll have guest bartenders from various teams in the Beast, so come on out and support us and the teams! We'll have a special "Beast Blonde" beer available and plenty of other great drinks, too!

If you haven't yet, vote for our wonderful Presque Isle as the best freshwater beach in America at http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-freshwater-beach/. It's currently in 2nd place!

Dave Hopkins will be back next week with some more training tips. We'll see you then!

Welcome back! Beginning your Beast training

This week's video: Front Squat!

The Beast on the Bay is an event that is going to tax its participants both physically and mentally. Preparation is imperative for successful completion and injury prevention. We are seven months out from the Beast on the Bay, so we have plenty of time to improve muscular strength and aerobic endurance. Being proficient in these two components will lessen the mental effect of the Beast, enabling you to focus on the physicality of the event and enjoy attempting its challenging obstacles. Along with any strength and conditioning program, is a balanced nutrition and hydration regimen. You’re going to need to properly fuel your workouts and recover from them, by eating the appropriate amount of macronutrients (carbs, fats and proteins). Finally, your performance in the Beast will be dictated by your attire (shirt, shorts and shoes).  You will be getting wet, so you will want to wear tightly fitting clothing and I advise on avoiding socks. We will be addressing each of these aspects throughout the training, as you prepare for the Beast on the Bay.

This table describes the phases of training. Off-season = January-April & Preseason = May-August

Period		Off-Season		Preseason
Variable ↓	Phase →	Cardiovascular Training	Hypertrophy/ Endurance	Cardiovascular Training	Strength/Power	Plyometrics
Intensity		Low – Moderate		Moderate - High
Volume		30 – 60 mins 3 – 5 miles (running) 3 – 5 days/wk	3 – 6 sets 10 – 20 reps 2 – 3 days/wk	45 – 90 mins 5 – 7 miles (running) 4 – 6 days/wk	3 – 5 sets 2 – 8 reps 2 – 3 days/wk	80-140 (foot taps) 1-2 days/wk
Primary Exercises		Chest Press       Chest Fly           Deadlift                V – Up                High Knees Lat Pulldown     Seated Row     Squat                    Rope Crunch     Carioca Drill Shoulder Press  Back Fly            Hip Abduction    Mtn Climbers    Box Jumps Lateral Raise      Farmer Walk   Hip Adduction    Glute Bridges    Bounds Tricep Press       Bicep Curl         Calf Raise            Torso Twist       Plyo Push-Up

Your yearly training program may be divided into four seasonal components, similar to training seasons in athletics. In-season represents the event (Beast on the Bay), and post-season refers to the period of time after the event for recovery. We’re going to focus on the off-season and preseason components. The first portion of your training (off-season) should consist of strength training to increase muscular mass and endurance (hypertrophy), and cardiovascular conditioning. Upper body strength days will focus on abs, chest, back, shoulders, biceps and triceps. Lower body strength days will address hips, glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, abductors, adductors and calves. We will be working in all three planes of movement (sagittal, frontal and transverse), due to the Beast obstacles requiring your body to twist, flex and extend in multiple directions. Strength training should be performed two to four times per week, with alternating muscle groups on different days. We’ll be doing a combination of aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, consisting of long distance running and sprinting. I’ll be planning out the distances that should be covered from week to week.

                The next portion of your training will involve exercising on the beach, both in and out of the water. It’s beneficial to get used to exercising while wet and covered in sand, since this is how you will be throughout the Beast. Running on the sand will cause muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the hips, knees and ankles to become more active than running on pavement. So, you’ll want to be running on the sand a couple times a week, beginning in June, in order to practice your technique. You have to employ more of a shuffling stride to prevent from digging into the sand with your feet. Your resistance training will focus primarily on increasing strength, so the weight loads will increase with fewer reps.

                The final stretch of training (Preseason) will focus on replicating the movements required for completing the obstacles in the Beast. The obstacles will involve crawling, climbing, carrying, and dragging objects. To address the muscle actions required for these movements, we will provide video clips and pictures on the Barber Beast blog, “Nature of the Beast” and our “LECOM Medical Fitness & Wellness Center” page on Facebook. We’ll be using kettlebells, ropes, medicine balls, bands, sliders, as well as demonstrations of exercises performed on the beach. Stay current with our blog for updates and training information, so we can be successful in our Beast on the Bay endeavor. Please contact me with any questions on our Facebook page, or email me at dhopkins@powerwellness.com.