Precision and Quality

 

Image courtesy of medxpf.com

"The outcome of an exercise will only be as good as the precision with which the motion/position is performed and the exact way it is challenged.  It all boils down to the quality of each individual rep!"  (Purvis, Tom.  Resistance Training Specialist™ RTSm Science 1 Manual.  4:7.  2012.)

Above is one of my favorite excerpts found in the RTS™ course manuals.  These two sentences, for me, involve a huge portion of the process of exercise.

When I read this excerpt so many concepts come to mind--structure, progression, immediate/short-term/long-term goals, exercise mechanics, the exercise equation, satellite vs. zoom, communication, cuing, current status, current abilities, fatigue, length-tension, equipment selection--all things that should be taken into consideration when designing exercises and applying forces to the body.

How precise are you with your force application?

How precise are you with what you are moving and what you are holding still?

If you had to justify how you went about doing things with mechanics, physics, or physiological principles when you exercised or trained somebody, could you?

Image courtesy of ibbl.lu

If you had somebody watching over you taking notes and then questioning you afterwards, could you justify the earlier choices  you made?

What are the effects of your choice of exercise equipment on your ability to maintain the chosen position while performing the chosen motion?  Did those effects play into your choices?

If the concepts mentioned above do in fact determine the outcome of an exercise, what kind of outcome are you creating by either not considering all of the details or, if you are, not having the discipline to see to it that the details are maintained for the duration of the exercise?

If the positions, motions, or presented challenge are randomly chosen, can you expect the outcome of the exercise performed to be anything but?

I am by no means perfect at any of this, but I think it is something good to think about and remind myself of and question myself on on a frequent basis to try to ensure that I am providing the best exercise experience and process for my client and myself that I can.

What level of precision and quality do you expect and require of yourself?

Want to learn more?  Take RTS™.

Looking for a place to study some of these concepts in greater detail?  Join the Precision Human Performance study groups!

Your body.  Your training.

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form? You may, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yellow box below!

"It's Not Just Exercise"

Image courtesy of resistancetrainingspecialist.com

On Saturday evening I had the opportunity to go to dinner with a group of friends, two of whom have attained the RTS™ Mastery certification and two who are more along the lines of serious but recreational exercisers meaning they exercise often and they enjoy it and enjoy learning about it but it's not what they do professionally.

As imagined, it didn't take long for the conversation to turn to exercise and working out and for questions about RTS™ to be brought up.  The question of, "What is RTS™?" was posed.  It was a great question and one that I had stumbled through answering multiple times with my non-RTS™ friends, that is, until a very simple and clear answer was given that night.

"It's exercise," responded Michelle Amore.

"Oh so it's just exercise?" replied a good friend of mine.

"It's not just exercise.  That's the point," answered Michelle.  Then Pete Brown dove in and started discussing ideas and concepts further.  It lead to a great conversation that I think was very eye-opening and thought-provoking for everybody.

But I want to go back to what Michelle said, because that was the first time I had heard that response given before.  And it is absolutely correct.  This exploration of force and mechanics and motion and structure and how everything interrelates manifests itself as exercise.  But it is not the choreographed routine of exercise; rather it is an in-depth study of all the possible options that present themselves within any given scenario.  Additionally, it is tools to potentially understand how to go about manipulating these options to best suit an individual's needs and abilities.

Most people miss out on all of these options because their exercise is governed by certain rules of how to perform exercises with preexisting labels instead of participating in exercise that is governed by, as is often stated in the manuals and during class, rules of the body and force.

To put it simply, this means most people are missing out on what exercise could be in lieu of staying within the box that historical continuity and present-day "experts" have determined exercise is.

To find out more, take RTS™.

Your body.  Your training.

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form? You may, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yellow box below!

What Is Balance? (Orchestration)

Image courtesy of justjared.com

This is the third post in a series on balance.  There is a lot of information to cover with this, so if I missed something, it may be covered in a later post.  Otherwise, if you think it would be better-suited for today’s post or if I didn’t discuss something thoroughly enough, drop a comment below!

So I don't want to get too deep into this topic because it is covered pretty extensively in the RTS™ courses so I will just say if you want to really explore this further, take RTS™.

To build off of last week's post where I discussed COM and BOS, I would like to briefly discuss orchestration.To my understanding, orchestration is a subconscious response of the brain to an imposed demand where the brain chooses which muscles to use to perform a task based on the problem that needs to be solved and which tissues are best-suited to perform that task at that given moment.  From what I can gather, it appears to be a process of all available options of tension-generating tissues being presented and the brain choosing not to use specific tissues as opposed to the brain starting with an empty plate and deciding which muscles to bring on to do the task.

There is an extensive neurophysiological discussion that can go along with this point, one that is much too great to have at this moment in time on this forum, but if you are interested in finding out more about this, check out Jacques Taylor's Force and the Nervous System 1 course.

Image courtesy of footage.shutterstock.com

So this orchestration thing, it is happening constantly.  Every movement you make or every time you try to not move, which tissues do the job is determined through this process of orchestration.  This might go without saying but I feel the need to say it anyways just for clarification purposes, if you are in a scenario where there isn't a demand placed upon you, such as when you are lying down or your entire body is completely supported by another structure, I don't believe this process has to happen in order for you to remain lying down or completely supported.  Reason being, as I stated above, orchestration appears to be a response to a demand, so if there isn't the demand, there isn't the response.  I may be incorrect about this, though.  Feel free to direct me otherwise if I am.

That's all I want to say about that for now.  Next week I will tie today's post with last week's post together and then hopefully be able to present a clearer, stronger argument for what I said in my original post a few weeks back.

Just to reiterate, there is plenty more that could be said on orchestration, but I think for the bigger point I am trying to make in this series of posts, this information will do.

If you want to find out more, take RTS™.

Your body.  Your training.

Want to use this article in your blog, newsletter, or other platform?  You may, but be sure to include all of the biographical information found in the yellow box below!

Image courtesy of KCfitness.com[/caption]

Take RTS™.

*Filmed atPrecision Human Performance.

Your body. Your training.

Want to use this video in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form? You can, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yel­low box below!

"Lifting weights IS boring..."

Image courtesy of bellevueclub.blogspot.com

"It's funny how a couple modalities think they have the market cornered on training the mind. The only reason people think doing a leg extension is mindless is because most people do it mind-less-ly." -- Tom Purvis

Near the end of RTS® class this past weekend Tom Purvis had one of his profound moments where he says something that you have more or less always known or assumed but haven't ever actually verbalized it so finally hearing it for the first time makes you stop in your tracks for and just think about things. He said

"People think lifting weights is boring. Lifting weights IS boring. Training your body is not."

I think many of us have felt both from time to time; we've had days where our workouts were fun and invigorating and other days where they were more of something to get through than anything else. Until going through RTS®, however, I didn't really know what to do about this.

One of the things I had to spend a fair amount of time on this past weekend was getting it out of my head that lifting weights was about the outside--"completing" the motion, moving the weights "full range"--and more about the inside--what each individual fiber was doing and how much tension you wanted them to generate, the exact direction of force you wanted to apply. I thought I had been doing a better job of this as of late but I realized that what I had been experiencing compared to what I could experience once I let go of this old mindset were completely different. Curls, rows, presses, shrugs--everything felt so much different than it ever had before.

Image courtesy of bodybuilding.com

Yesterday I had a client who I have been seeing multiple times a week for just over three months now. We have been progressing appropriately and yesterday we had two exercises that we had seemingly done multiple times before--seated hip abduction and prone knee flexion. Now these are not this person's favorite exercises by any means, but by getting them to focus on lifting from the inside they experienced sensations that were completely new to them. All of a sudden these exercises, my consultation, and the sessions in general became a totally different type of experience for them.

Image courtesy of bodybuilding.com

Are you lifting weights for the sake of moving a mass from point A to point B or are you lifting to train your body? Are you lifting weights from the outside, focusing solely on moving that weight? Or are you lifting from the inside, with your focus on exactly what your body is doing and what you want it to do?

Your body. Your training.

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form? You can, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yel­low box below!

Process vs Program

Image courtesy of bellasugar.com

*The premise for this entire post comes from material and ideas presented in the RTS courses and through discussions with other exercise professionals.

In yesterday's post I described how MAT is a process, saying that it is a form of exercise. By association, you could then reason that exercise in general is a process. In fact, this is one of the ways exercise is described in the RTS courses (RTSm Science 1 4:4), as a process.

A process denotes some level of trial and error, of figuring out what is appropriate to do at each step in order to reach a specific end goal. A program, on the other hand, may have that same end goal, but each step in getting there is more solidified and the progression in general is less malleable based on ability level. A program is more or less a choreographed routine (idea courtesy of RTS).

One of the issues that arises with the latter is that of appropriateness. Because there is some type of preexisting structure to a program, there are automatically assumptions being made and physical prerequisites that must be met in order to begin and progress through an exercise program. An exercise program therefore cannot be based off of the individual on a moment by moment basis, but rather the individual must fit him or herself within the constraints of the program. This in and of itself may limit the effectiveness of each exercise to stimulate the desired response and adaptation.

Image courtesy of acefitness.org

I grew up doing programs. That's how I was first introduced to weight lifting and exercise. Three sets of ten for all of the machines in the circuit at the Y. When I was in college, everything was programs. Post-season, off-season, pre-season, in-season. All programmed. You knew exactly what you would be doing for the next six to eight weeks the moment you were handed those sheets of paper. From a time efficiency standpoint, it seemed like the easier (and more feasible) option when you are talking about one strength coach and hundreds of athletes. The tradeoff to this was undoubtedly sacrificing the appropriateness and effectiveness of each individual's training.

Image courtesy of transformation.com

Then I started writing programs for others. Friends, teammates, coaches, people who would contact me via e-mail--if someone wanted an exercise program, I would write it. Eventually it got to the point where I was spending hours writing programs each week. Additionally, I would write out pages of descriptions for each exercise so the person knew what the names I assigned would denote. Not long after that those written descriptions turned into videos, as did the programs themselves, but I was still spending hours editing and uploading those videos in addition to writing the programs.

Image courtesy of digplanet.com

Those videos became the Exercise Index and most of the programs were posted to the Programs page. While both are convenient for others, I have been questioning whether either or both should remain public on this website as they are essentially in direct conflict with the ideas I am trying to promote. If they do, there will undoubtedly be a revamping that takes place to better align them with my current viewpoints and ethics.

There is also the subject of periodized programming or periodization for both those training for sports performance and not. To me, periodization still has its place and makes sense, but I now implement a much looser form of periodization than I would have used in the past. To me, periodization is simply a form of progression, but the question is how constricting is that progression. Do you have to work at those exact percentages, weights, reps, sets, etc this week or is there more wiggle room with what you do?

I can say for certain that I am trying to progress** every client of mine in one form or another, but how this happens makes all the difference in the world. Are your and/or your clients' workouts structured in strict phases or are you allowing what they have available before, during, and after each rep to influence what happens while they are with you? Are you open to changing on a moment by moment basis as well as possibly scrapping all together any predetermined plan you constructed for your client, depending on their abilities and what they have available to give at that moment?

**At some point in our lives, being able to maintain what we are currently physically able to do may be seen as a form of progress. Additionally, slower regression may be seen in a similar or the same light. In the context of this blog post, all of these meanings are to be taken into consideration when I say I am trying to progress every client of mine. I will dive deeper into this subject in a future post.

Do you approach exercise as a process or a program? When you think of your end goal, are there clearly defined steps that are set in stone and must be taken in order to reach that goal or are you open to a myriad of different possible steps that will be determined as you go along?

Your body. Your training.

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form? You can, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yel­low box below!

Training With Others

Image courtesy of cheetahfit.com

Last Friday during study group at Precision Human Performance we had the opportunity to work out with each other.  Now, personally, I almost always train by myself.  In fact, I can distinctly remember three times over the past 13 months that I trained with another person.  Otherwise it was just me doing my thing.

Now, what made Friday particularly interesting was not that we had training partners but that those partners were also trainers.  We used it as an opportunity to practice cuing and creating different experiences for each other than we would normally create for ourselves.

I tell you what, having someone there who was focused on cuing me made SUCH a huge a difference in what I was experiencing during the exercise.  Similar to when I was at RTS class, it gave me a better understanding of the importance of cuing and the impact it can have on both what the client is feeling as well as the adaptations that are trying to be created with each exercise.

Image courtesy of fttemecula.com

One thing that was different about this past Friday than RTS class is that cues that I often use with my clients were used on me.  A couple cues in particular really stood out to me.  The first was being verbally guided along the arc that I was wanted to move while doing biceps curls.  I have used this cue with my clients in the past, but to be honest I didn't think too highly of it.  It just seemed like a so-so cue to me.  But I hadn't experienced it before.  After Friday, I realized that for me, it was a much more effective cue than I had imagined in terms of creating a different sensation than I had ever felt while doing biceps curls.

Image courtesy of stack.com

Another cue I had been using often without first experiencing is providing a little manual guidance for how I wanted my client to move, such as having him push his elbows into my hands while performing a row, for example.  When this cue was given to me, it wasn't a huge restraint to my motion by any means, but it sure felt that way.  So much so that I didn't have to really think about which way to move myself any more and could almost completely focus on generating huge amounts of tension.  In a sense, it felt a little bit like I was rowing on a machine in that my path of motion felt much more fixed than it did without that little cue.  And that was with using two relatively light bands that were well within my ability to row with so it wasn't like a virtual restraint was the main contributing factor to that sensation difference.

One of my main takeaways from this study group was the benefit that can be provided by training with other trainers from time to time.  I know it is really comfortable and really easy to keep to your own schedule and do your own thing each day, but I realized that sometimes lab time should be done with other exercise professionals so you can better-understand what you are subjecting your clients to in terms of the exercise experiences you are trying to create for them.

Do you ever workout with others or always by yourself?  If you do workout with others, are they there purely for motivation and accountability purposes or are they actually allowing you to practice and get better at your craft through providing experiences that you are trying to create for your clients?

Your body.  Your training.

Want to use this article in your blog, newsletter, or on another platform?  You may, but be sure to include all of the biographical information found in the yellow box below!

Lab Time

Image courtesy of facebook.com

A concept that is discussed in RTS is, if you are a trainer, using your personal workout time as lab time to experiment with all of the different variables that comprise exercise.  Personally, I hadn't done much of this up until the past four weeks or so, opting instead to carry on with the programs I was writing for myself in order to improve my bench, squat, and deadlift and to just get physically stronger.

Funny enough, nobody was paying me to help them increase their bench, squat, or deadlift and maybe one of my clients truly cared about getting significantly stronger.  All of my clients, however, were coming to me because they enjoyed the way their body felt while they worked out with me thanks to the experiences I was able to create with exercise.  At least that's what I was telling myself.

The thing was, I was starting to get frustrated with myself and my inability to really create these experiences with a purpose.  I could break down the magnitude profile of a machine or exercise with little difficulty.  I could tell you what tissue was being challenged and where the approximate resultant was that was being created when I would apply more than one force to a point.

In other words, I could see the whole and break it down to the pieces.  I was struggling with the inverse, though--knowing what specific piece I wanted and creating an exercise for it--until I actually started using my own workout time as lab time.

There's nothing wrong with how I was training before, but if wanted to actually understand what I was doing and how to create it from scratch, I needed to experience it first-hand.  So that's what I've been doing for roughly the past month.  I practice figuring out different ways to challenge, for example, my elbow flexors at different points in the range, intentionally increasing the torque production demand of my tissue at some points in the range and decreasing it at others by manipulating moment arms and force angles.  I experiment with different things to focus on during the reps as well as use different tempos and use different tools to manipulate the resistance.

The result of all this has been a significant improvement in my ability to actually construct exercises as well as create an experience for my client.  Furthermore, it has forced me to think more creatively when it comes to designing exercises, which, when applied appropriately, has improved client experience.

If you don't already, I highly recommend substituting at least one of your regular workouts each week for lab time.  Do the things you have your clients do.  Create the awesome experience for yourself that you are trying to create for them.  Don't be the proverbial skinny chef of personal training!

How much time do you spend each week getting better at creating exercise experiences?

Your body.  Your training.

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form?  You can, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yel­low box below!