Going for Broke: The American System vs Long Term Development

Though only select few of our clients are world-class athletes, our philosophy has always been that the same principles that work for the development of the worlds best can be applied to anyone. We thought it would be applicable to address the issue of athlete development (and development of any kind for that matter) as often times we feel that our clients can be confused with all the different philosophies out there. To clarify there is no one correct way to exercise, you must always find what works best for you!  What we hope to do is clarify our stance on training and why we feel it gives our clients the best chance to succeed.

It seems today that the world and especially American culture is always looking for the “silver bullet” or shortcut to success. Many times we get people coming in two weeks before their season starts or their big ski trip looking to get in shape.  And even though it might be bad business to consciously turn people away we always take the time to explain to people that our philosophy is always focused on Long Term Development. Specifically when it comes to the high school athlete often times we observe parents and athletes getting frustrated as they feel like they are not getting the “most” out of the time that they have. This article hopes to explain in part why we feel that mindset can often times do more harm than good.

Recently we were reading an article about Alberto Salazar, who solidified himself as one of the best coaches in the world at the Olympics in London this past summer. We could not help but laugh when they asked about his approach to training because we were not sure if they were interviewing Alberto or Yury their philosophies echoed each other so closely. When Alberto was asked about his success developing HS athletes into Olympic medalists he said the following: “The long-term approach is that if you're going to be your best at 26 years old, it's a 10 year program. That doesn't mean they won't be [competing] at a world class level way before that... Somebody else might want to get you there in three or four years and you might get to a higher level in those first few years, but ultimately, I don't think you'll be at the same level than if you take a 10 year approach."1

Unfortunately most high school or even college coaches do not echo this same approach to development because they are limited to 4 years or less to get the “most” out of their athletes. A study published in the Journal of Sport Behavior defined burnout as “a withdrawal from [athletics] noted by a reduced sense of accomplishment, devaluation/ resentment of sport, and physical/psychological exhaustion.”2 The problem we feel with a philosophy that starts with “We’ve only got so much time,” is that it results in a training program that is more rushed which can often lead to taking unnecessary shortcuts that lead to injury and/or burnout.

Whereas we feel that a philosophy that focuses less on time and more on correct overall development usually results in consistent improvement, and a healthy enthusiasm to do more that ultimately leads to a higher ceiling of performance. Below is a great video of Alberto being asked about his thoughts on developing high school athletes that we felt echoes our philosophy pretty well (I recommend at least listening to the first 2 minutes, the rest is up to you!):

http://www.flotrack.org/video/665476-Albertos-new-approach-to-coaching-high-schoolers

Again, there is no one right way to exercise but our philosophy has always been that the same kind of training methods the best coaches and athletes in the world use can be applied to anyone to achieve successful results. Whether that’s making an Olympic final or simply improving your balance! So the question we pose to everyone out there is: If the best believe in it and train that way, why wouldn’t it work for you?

~Sean

References:

1. Kastoff, Mitch. "Alberto Salazar - Coach of the Year, Best of 2012." Flotrack. Flocasts, 30 2012. Web. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. <http://www.flotrack.org/article/16594-Alberto-Salazar-Coach-of-the-Year-Best-of-2012>.
2. Understanding athlete burnout: Coach perspectives. Raedeke, Thomas D.; Lunney, Kevin; Venables, Kirk Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol 25(2), Jun 2002, 181-206.

If The Shoe Fits: Toe Box

Unless you're sporting a pair of sandals, every shoe has a toe box...but not every shoe has a toe box shaped like your toes! The toe box is the area that encloses your foot from the knuckle joints (metatarsophalangeal joints) to the tips of your toes.

There are three main foot shapes: Egyptian, Greek, and Square. In the Egyptian foot the toes taper down from the first to the fifth; Greek is similar but the 2nd toe is longer than the first. A square foot will have at least three toes the same length. You may or may not fall neatly into one of these categories, but luckily different brands of shoes have different shaped toe boxes, so with a bit of searching you should be able to find a match.

When looking for a shoe it's important that the shape of the toe box gives your toes plenty of wiggle room; the shoe might fit length wise but if the sides of the shoe press your toes together your feet won't be able to work properly, and you may even end up with bunions or hammer toes! Check out this picture posted by the folks over at Altra; this is the same foot that has been x rayed in a traditional shoe compared to the wide toe box of an Altra shoe. As you can see in the traditional shoe the toes are being squeezed in towards each other.

Besides knowing what your foot shape is and comparing that to the shape of the shoe, there's another test to see if the toe box is right for you: take the insole out and stand on it, if your toes overhang the edge then it's probably not a good fit. Here's an example of four shoes with different shaped toe boxes...these are from my personal collection and I've ran in all of these at one point and time. The red outline is the toe box area so you can get an idea of their basic shape. I have a Greek Foot of medium width, and I've found the Saucony Kinvara and Merrell Bare Access (the ones in the middle) fit me best. As you can imagine the Nike to the far right squeezed my toes too much, and I found the Altra (on the left) a bit too wide for my foot. These shoes all have a lower drop then regular running shoes, but you can find different toe box shapes in traditional shoes as well. So the next time you head out for a new pair of shoes, don't just check the length, make sure your toes also have some wiggle room.

~Nicki

Making The Holidays A Little Healthier

The holiday season often brings together family, friends, and good food; but many of the traditional favorites aren't the healthiest options out there. Although you may not be able to convince the kids to eat carrots instead of cookies, there are a few sneaky ways to make your holiday baking just a tad bit healthier without loosing the flavor!

-Replace regular white flour with whole wheat flour. This will make your end product a little heavier, so it works best for things like cookies...a light, fluffy cake won't turn out very fluffy if you swap flours.

-Reduce the amount of white sugar in your recipe without loosing the sweetness by adding fruit. You can also try out some natural sugar substitutes that have micro-nutrients that is missing white sugar.. Do some test recipes with honey, sucanat (unprocessed cane juice), or coconut sugar.

-Try using applesauce instead of butter; you'll cut the fat content and add a little fiber to your baked goods. This works especially well in brownies!

This recipe for chocolate chip cookies is one that I've tinkered with over the years in an effort to create a cookie with a few more nutrients than your average treat. Although you're never going to find a healthy cookie, this one has a few more nutrients and a good amount of fiber in it...and it still tastes great!

"Healthy" Chocolate Chip Cookies

9 tbs date sugar (or 3/4 cup blond coconut sugar, this replaces white sugar)

3/4 cup sucanat (sucant is unprocessed cane juice, it replaces brown sugar)

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1/2 cup canola oil (you can also try applesauce here but be aware that whole wheat flour absorbs more moisture than white flour, so if you use applesauce you may need to play around with the recipe and add some water)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 375°F. With an electric mixer beat the sugars, margarine, oil, vanilla and egg until blended. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl then add them to the other mixture until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop a heaping tablespoon of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet, space the cookies about 2 inches apart.
• Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until very light golden brown (centers should be soft). Cool for a few minutes then place them on a cooling rack. 

If The Shoe Fits: Drop and Ramp

As most of you know, I love shoes...I might even own as many as Yury! Most runners have strong feelings about their shoes, and if you've been shopping lately you've probably noticed that running shoe design is going through a transition, leaving many people wondering which shoe is right for them. So in this multi-part series we'll go over some of the different features you might come across in your search for the perfect running shoe.

Shoe "Drop" or "Ramp Delta"

These two terms are used interchangeably, and are one of the hottest topics in shoes right now. When you see a number, usually in millimeters, followed by "drop" or "ramp," it's referring to the difference between the height of the foam and rubber under your heel to the height under your forefoot. Just a few years ago this information wasn't listed because almost all running shoes (except for racing flats and spikes) had a drop of about 12-14mm; now thanks to the minimalist shoe trend you can choose between a drop of 20mm all the way down to 0. Keep in mind that different companies might give you different information. For example, runningwearhouse.com will tell you the "stack height" for both the heel and forefoot; in this instance just subtract the forefoot from the heel to find the drop.

Here's why this number is important; when you change the plane that your heel is on relative to your forefoot you change the way your muscles and bones work. As an extreme example, think about the way a person's body works when they're wearing a fancy pair of high heels. At the very least, a lot of pressure is being exerted on the forefoot, and when worn regularly, the muscles in the back of the legs will adapt to being in that shortened position and will become tight. There's a lot of other problems that can happen further up your body as well, like in your knees and back, but we'll keep it simple for now and just talk about the foot and lower leg. Running shoes obviously don't have this big of a difference, but they can still cause the same effect to a smaller degree.

Does this mean you should run out and replace all your 12mm drop trainers to a zero drop shoe? Not right away. If you are interested in moving to a lower drop shoe you should do it very gradually; most of us have grown up wearing shoes with a higher heel than forefoot and have spent very little time barefoot, so our muscles and bones haven't adapted to being in that position. Our bodies will need time stretch muscles and tendons back out. Luckily there's a wide range of drops so you can step down slowly; if you've been running in 12mm shoes go down to a 10mm or 8mm first, and see how they feel. Spend some time just walking in them before you go run, and when you do run in them, don't go out for a 20 miler right away. Gradual adaptation is the name of the game, and how long that takes will depend on the person. Always listen to your body and you can't go wrong!

~Nicki

Yury's Corner

Optimal Training Schedule

One of the most common questions people ask us is "how often should I exercise?" The right answer is "on a regular basis" What exactly does this mean?

1. Exercise should be part of your weekly routine. Our body likes cycles (eating , sleeping, and such). It learns patterns and becomes more efficient in the functions it performs.

2. Cardiovascular (CV) training should be alternated or combined with strength training. Each should be done at least twice a week as a base. Normally it takes 48-72 hr. for your body to get "partially" recovered after the training. If the training is done only once a week your body would not "remember" it and would "over-recover," meaning that the training effect would be dissolved. 

3. Frequency and intensity of your program should depend on your fitness goal. If you are trying to lose weight, you should increase the CV portion of your training and focus more on the length of it rather than intensity. If building muscles mass is more important, you should add another weight training session or two to your routine.

Best of luck!

~Yury

Yury's Corner

Where can you go for advice, tips, and training information that comes directly from a former Olympic track coach? Right here of course! We're excited to introduce the new feature Yury's Corner here on the PTI blog. If you have a question you'd like answered on Yury's Corner send an email to info@personaltraininginternational.net . Here is this week's installment!

When Training Hard Is Not A Smart Thing

Most of our students-athletes are at the end/peak of their season. They have big races and matches coming up, and one of the most common questions we hear right now is "how hard should I train at this point?" To their surprise the answer is "very easy." In order to understand why you should know how our bodies process training. One of the major principals of exercise is principal of adaptation. In other words, it's how our bodies become more  physically efficient as you repeat the same type of movements and how long your athletic performance gets better from that training. It takes 4 to 6 weeks to get the best training benefits, which means that whatever you did 4-6 weeks ago effects your performance at the moment and what are you doing now will effect you in 4-6 weeks. Tapering off your training at the peak of the season is the best way to enhance your performance as it makes your body feel rested, fresh, and ready to go.  Good luck!

~Yury

Gracia Takes 3 Meter World Jr. Championship Title

Gracia Leydon-Mahoney continues to rack up the wins - this time by coming in first on the 3 Meter Springboard event at the Junior World Diving Championship in Australia! Tracey Bird, one of Gracia's diving coaches, sent us these photos from the event. Congratulations Gracia!!