Answering Brian On Exercise Order And Priorities

"When you said run after lifting or on Another day entirely, it jogged my memory on something I've been wondering about.

My own exercise regime is modest enough but well in excess of the average 60 year old (wouldn't be difficult given the state of many of my contemporaries).

I'm interested in all round physical capabilities, not setting records. I've a busy full time job and family obligations which as time goes by have eased off somewhat and are once more allowing me to spend more time on myself.

I'm not interested in being a man mountain but I like to feel reasonably strong with a reasonable level of endurance and not to be out of breath walking up 5 flights of stairs etc.

To this end I do several rounds (5) of heavy bag work 4 days a week, sometimes more in summer. The work rate is good and hard with 30 second rests between.

I then lift free weights (moderate numbers) and use whatever machines may be available for a further 30 minutes.

I'm not scientific about it at all....and I don't mind.

My question is, does being tired after the bag work severely impact the benefits of lifting.

I prefer to start with the bag work as it's a fucking killer and I doubt I could give it full welly after lifting.

Brian." 

I’ve jumped this question to the top of the queue as it is a direct follow on from last weeks email about running.

I want to paraphrase Brian here a little, and rather talk about how the bagwork affects the weights or vice versa, or whether to run before or after lifting.

Let's talk about general guidelines for exercise order and personal priorities.

I help a number of combat sports folk with their strength and conditioning, as well as other sports people, from weekend warriors to semi-pro.

And the question of time, energy and priorities always comes up.

Time is limited. For most people there is work, family etc as well as fitness training. For those closer to Semi-pro end of the spectrum there is also sports practice, skill work, recovery etc.

Energy is limited, so where to put our greatest efforts, and where can we relax a little

Priorities, even at the pro level these vary, as we move across the scale to amateur, priorities absolutely have to be factored in.

A high level amateur athlete may train 2-3 times per day. A morning session before work, a lunchtime session and then again in the evening. Often the morning will be a run or S&C Lunchtime skills or S&C Evening, sports work maybe followed by S&C

And this may vary across the week.

Lunchtime is a great time to put the S&C work as most people have approximately an hour to get to (and from) training, do the session, get showered and still get some food in.

This tight timeline forces the coach to be efficient with the athlete and not get over excited with extended, convoluted workouts.

This helps the athlete by not dipping too far into their energy reserves.

So what about our more amateur athletes?

Chances are, you train around work and family commitments.

So how the time is used needs to be well thought out.

If this means doing things out of order, then so be it.

Brian mentions being reasonably strong and enduring, so does following a strict, optimised protocol matter? 

I think not.

I think variety is a good thing for general fitness, not random, but certainly varied. It’s exactly how the Lunchtime sessions have run in WG-Fit for years and the guys that attend love it, and have the results to show.

If you’re not in Dublin, you can still use our lunchtime workouts on the Train Heroic app here: https://marketplace.trainheroic.com/workout-plan/team/wg-fit-crew

An optimised training protocol in general runs in the following order:

• Skills

• Speed / power

• Strength

• Hypertrophy/Endurance

• Mobility

Brian’s bagwork qualifies as skills, speed and power.

Follow that with weight training following the Push-Pull-Hinge-Squat thought process, doing at least one exercise for each category, and I think you’ll be laughing.

Strength doesn’t have to be super heavy. Most of the lunchtime training happens in the 3-5 or 4-6 rep ranges, allowing people to go heavy but with enough stimulus there will be some hypertrophy. If mass is the goal, increase the volume somewhat, either more sets or more reps per set.

There is a reason 5 sets of 5 reps is considered a near perfect loading scheme for general strength and muscle building, it gives you 25 quality reps, but doing sets of 5 allows for a decent load to be used.

Can you get a solid weight session done in 30 minutes?

Damn right you can. Pick 2-3 lifts, go hard at them in a superset or circuit format and you will get a lot done that time. For example take the Squat, Pull Up and Dip 3-5 reps of each for 3-5 sets with approx 1 minute breaks. So, 5 reps on the squat, rest 1 min, 5 pull ups, rest 1 min, 5 reps Dips, rest 1 min, Squat x 5 and so on. Until either 5 sets are completed or the 30 minutes is up. Doable? Absolutely WIll you get stronger? Inevitably

Will you look like Dorian Yates after it? Hell no! Will it help me with just about any task I want to take on? I think it will

While training can be optimised and super organised, real people living real life often cannot follow and truly optimised program.

So honestly don’t sweat it.

I’ve given you enough ideas here. I hope that you can figure out how to make real world training happen.

And if you have further questions, please do reach out.

Chat soon

Dave

-- 
Regards

Dave Hedges
www.DaveHedges.net
www.WG-Fit.com

Does Running Turn You Skinny?

Gerry Asks:

“When you were marathon training, did it cause you to slim down and lose any muscle mass?

There’s so much noise online from trainers who are so anti-running coming out with all sorts of reasons not to do it.

Lost muscle mass is one I see over and over”

This is a great question from Gerry, and just as he says, it’s one that comes around time and again.

Let's think about it.

Why are many runners skinny with little muscle mass?

Because they do little else other than run, plain and simple. If they do other stuff, it’s very often basic callisthenics, like push ups and lunges.

Back in my endurance running days, when I did train for a marathon, yes, I lost mass. But this was acceptable as I was training to try hit a specific time goal.

I missed this goal by 10 minutes, I think I started out too fast which is a rookie error!

Now, training for a specific goal will lead to specific training with specific changes in your body. Know this, understand this and you will be fine.

Once I had completed my marathon, I didn’t like how light I was so I spent several months on a mass building style program, successfully putting on a lot of muscle mass in short order. My running dropped to near zero as I just didn’t want to. Then a new goal came up, a martial arts based goal, so training changed again. Now, I did one strength, 2 conditioning and I reintroduced running. Only this time the running was interval based for conditioning purposes.

Net result, I was strong, yes lighter than when in the bodybuilding phase, but strong and near indefatigable!

What I was is what most martial arts folk aim to be, a term that has gained in popularity of late, a Hybrid Athlete.

The first time I saw this term it was Alex Viada using it, it was a term he used for people who trained to run distance or do triathlons while still being big and strong. It’s now being utilised by the Hyrox people to describe their training  and competition style.

So all that said, is there truth in the story that we shouldn’t run, or that running eats away muscle mass?

Should we run?

As a species, it’s kind of our super power, so why not?

As a species we have unbelievable endurance, we’re built for covering huge distances.

The key is to keep the body healthy enough to run, I hate the idea of running as a starter exercise for fitness. But a considered approach to starting and developing running is something people returning to exercise or starting running should do alongside strength and general fitness work.

If you want a resource for this, you must head over to little buddy Helen Hall’s website (https://www.helen-hall.co.uk/) I highly recommend her work, her book “Even With Your Shoes On” is the best I’ve read on the topic.

So yeah, we should run.

Will it eat away our muscles?

This is one of the most common anti running arguments you get, but look at who makes it, usually meatheads with zero cardio. Thankfully with the resurgence of Zone 2 training (which used to be demonised as “long slow boring cardio”) we’re seeing aerobic fitness make a comeback, which has lead to the rise of things like Hyrox as an example.

Runners in general are slight, they don’t want to be dragging around excess weight, even if it is muscle, so why build a massive set of Traps when it’s not going to help them.

But a well rounded athlete, a so called Hybrid Athlete and martial arts folk, well they train for a range of abilities, not just running.

So to them running is a tool. Just like deadlifting is a tool, pull ups are a tool. If we want to develop our Anaerobic system for strength and power, we lift and throw heavy stuff If we want to develop out aerobic system for health, endurance and also recovery, we need to move continuously for 30+ minutes at a mildly elevated heart rate (such as Zone 2) If we want to build muscle, we need to lift close to failure

The outcome determines the training method Or, if the desired outcome is the function, and the training develops that function, then any training that brings you towards your goal is functional training no matter what it looks like or what any internet guru tells you.

Running isn't the only way to develop your aerobic system, but it’s a good way. Most athletic endeavours happen on your feet, most sports involve locomotion at various speeds, so running is a great tool. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

And if you want to run and build muscle, make sure your weight room training is muscle building focused, and your calorie intake is sufficient. And you should be fine. Last thing, run AFTER lifting, or better still, on a separate day entirely. And put the heavier / more exhausting lower body work early in the week as most long runs happen on the weekend, the further we separate these the better for recovery purposes. If your shoulders are tired, it won’t take too much away from a run, and you could probably do a solid back session the day after a run with little issue.

Be very careful listening to anyone who talks in absolutes, or starts articles and social media posts with “Stop doing” or “Never do this” In my 36 years of training since starting karate at 11 and all the various things I’ve done and helped others do since then, I think I’ve contradicted every rule ever written.

Define the Function you want Design the training to get you there. And if you need help, that’s what I’m here for.

Now, who else has a question?

Hit reply and let me know what you want me to talk about next week

Till then, 

Dave

-- 
Regards

Dave Hedges
www.DaveHedges.net
www.WG-Fit.com

Preventative Vs Reactive Medicine

In my movement therapy clinic in Dungannon I had a lovely client in.

As always with these sessions, much of the work is about figuring out what's going on between the clients ears as much as it is observing their movement looking for clues to their pain.

This particular client made this job very easy, she is a nurse and loves to talk.

The best bit about talkers is letting them talk and simply steering the conversation when needed.

Before long they will tell you their story whether they intend to or not.

And this lady was losing hope in the medical system that she'd worked in and more recently been treated in

A lot of what she said I agreed with.

Some I did not.

A lot of what she said is what I already hear from many fitness and alternative health folks.

And that is that modern medicine doesn't do enough to prevent illness.

It is reactive when we need preventative.

Of course the medical field is reactive, it is there for when either we allow our health fail or we have acute incident, such as an accident or infection of some kind.

It is akin to the seat belt and airbags fitted in your car.

Where does the role of prevention lie?

That's a simple question to answer, it lies with you.

As I am fond of saying, you are responsible for YOU.

Preventative medicine is a bit of a myth, after all, why do you medicine if you have prevented the need for it?

So if you look around at the healthiest people around you, those who never seem to get ill, those who move well, seemingly without pain. You do tend to see commonalities.

These people eat real foods.

Ie “foods of one ingredient”

Steak has one ingredient, Cow.

Apple has one ingredient, Apple

Homemade stew has several single ingredients that you prepped and added yourself.

Brussel Sprouts has two ingredients, Sulphur and Disappointment

A Mars bar has dozens of ingredients

A ready meal has dozens if ingredients, not just the Chicken and Spuds it says on the label.

And while these multi ingredient foods are not harmful as occasional treats or conveniences. Having them with high frequency brings problems.

Stick to foods of one ingredient as much as you can.

If you want more food advice than that, you need to chat with Seb over in WG-Fit.com, he’s the expert.

But you can see a body that has grown up on meat and two veg versus a body that has grown up on chicken nuggets and chips, even if both these people train, there is a difference.

Good news is, you can still improve even if you were the chicken nuggets and chips kid.

What else do we see?

We see people who laugh easily, who don’t take themselves too seriously.

We see people who move a lot, keep themselves busy. Even if they do not “exercise” they do a lot of “non exercise physical activity” known to the cool kids as “NEPA”

And we see people who aren’t afraid to have a bit of ails them from time to time.

The healthiest folk are rarely the all or nothing folks.

They aren’t the folks out on the extremes, although they may visit them from time to time.

The lowest hanging fruit for anyone looking to improve health is to have social support group, be it family, be it a sports team or similar. People who will laugh at you and with you when you trip up and fall, while at the same time reaching down to help you up.

After that, it’s sleep a little more, drink water, eat real food and break a sweat on the regular.

It’s really not rocket science, it’s how people used to live.

Quite possibly what happened was the ‘80’s when microwaves and home freezers brough us convenience food and people forgot how to cook. As work became the be all and end all and people stopped socialising as much.

And discipline waned as people looked to disconnect from work stress and dull themselves.

I don’t really know.

But as the health and fitness industry continues to advocate “extreme” and “elite” fitness, while the marketing companies try to sell more and more nonsense to us to replace real foods, I can see why people are so confused.

The answer is so simple and so unprofitable, no one who’s looking to make a living in this industry dare say it.

But preventative medicine is simply being healthy.

Health across Mind, Body and Spirit

And if you walk a lot, sprint a bit, lift occasionally

If you learn something new each day

If you laugh at yourself every day

If you hang out with people who do similar

And you eat mostly foods of single ingredients

If you do all that, and assuming you weren’t dealt a bad hand by the genetics dealer, then you will be healthy, you will be vital and you will be the envy of the “normals” around you.

As for “extreme” and “elite” fitness, that’s the biggest joke around.

I have trained people who have achieved world, european and national champion level across a range of sports. I have worked with full contact martial artists/ combat sports folk and with some hairy arsed military folk.

And the more elite and extreme the environment these guys operate in, be it the ring, the mountainside, whatever, the more considered their training.

The people who do “extreme” in the gym, rarely do extreme out of the gym.

And surely we use the gym to live a bigger life out in the world don’t we?

Do we?

Let me know.

And while you’re letting me know, send in a question for a future newsletter.

Chat soon

Dave

www.davehedges.net

www.WG-Fit.com