09.05.03
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Q: Joe, I'm going into my senior
year in college, play outside linebacker and drew some interest
from some NFL teams when I ran a 4.65 forty-yard-dash at
a pro day at school last year. This summer I wanted to drop
my 40 into the high 4.5's, so my performance coach, who
I have worked with for three summers, convinced me that
I needed to run more. He just got a new treadmill, don't
know if you've seen one, it goes almost 30 mph. He made
me do every workout with him on it stressing that this thing
will force me to go faster. I ran 3 times a week on it and
lifted twice. I tested at camp last week and ran a 4.74
for my college coaches. I want to strangle this guy. What
do I do? Where did I go wrong?
Thanks for your help
Lou
A: Lou,
I truly feel bad for you. I hate to see a kid bust his butt
in the off-season and then have nothing to show for it.
You’ve probably figured it out, but
your trainer went wrong by making you do too much work on
the treadmill. Here’s why.
You can make the BIGGEST & most DRASTIC
changes to your 40-yard dash by correcting your stance
and the first 10-yards of the
race (acceleration phase). I’ve taken up to 2-tenths
of a second off of an athlete’s 40-yard dash in
minutes, just by correcting these two aspects of the
race. I don’t mean to kick you when you’re down,
but the treadmill doesn’t train either one of these
aspects of the race. When you jump on one of these treadmills
and go from 0-20mph in a split second, you’re basically
only working on top speed. A fast 40-yard dash
requires the ability to overcome inertia (your bodyweight
when you’re in your stance) and accelerate. In fact,
you may never even hit top speed in the 40-yard dash because
it’s such a short race. So your trainer totally “missed
the boat” with regards to training you for this event.
He basically did the exact opposite of what he should have
done. (If it makes you feel any better, you’re not
the first athlete to have a bad experience training on these
“super-treadmills”. I’ve unfortunately
seen many.)
Don’t beat yourself up worrying about
it now – it’s over. The treadmill you are referring
to is a good tool to help you get into condition. It may
not have improved your forty time, but hopefully it got
you in good shape and ready for camp. Use your frustration
to dominate on the field this season and then worry about
training for that 40 when the season is over.
And don’t strangle your trainer,
either. (Maybe just poke his eyes out . . . just kidding!)
Stay calm and have a big year! Contact me after the season
and I can help you out or point you in the right direction
with regards to training for the Combine tests.
Good luck.
Joe D.
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Q: Dear Joe,
Assuming technique is solid, what strength/flexibility exercises
would you recommend to a fighter who wants to throw straight
punches faster, throw hook punches faster, throw round kicks
faster and have quicker shots for takedowns. (You can substitute
faster with harder if you want.) You can do just one if
you don't have time. Maybe top 10 exercises for these with
rep/rest schemes or whatever.
Also, I think the most valuable meals of the day are pre,
during and post workout. What do you use on your athletes
for these meals?
John
A: John,
You always seem to come up with some very specific/in-depth
questions. I’ll try my best to answer some of your
questions without writing a novel. Let’s examine how
to throw a more powerful punch for starters. Below is a
sample training split. I made it so you only have to strength-train
2 days per week. I think this is the best bet for fighters
due to the fact that they’re usually kicking the crap
out of each other 5-6 days a week. Remember that if you
can’t recover, you can’t get better. This 2-day
split is also pretty simple. Too many so-called “experts”
in this field design ridiculous workouts that look cool
on paper, but aren’t practical, or sometimes even
possible, in the real world. Check out the below workout
and let me know what you think. (I would throw in abs 2-3X
a week after “fighting” workouts. Always perform
standing, weighted ab work at least once a week.)
Day 1
Maximal Strength Complex Training
A1. 14” barbell bench press
w/ chains – 6 sets of 3 reps
A2. Heavy bag straight punches
– 6 sets of 15 seconds. Throw straight punches (alternating
b/t right & left hand) for 15 seconds. Do 3 sets from
a right-handed stance and 3 sets from a southpaw stance.
*Rest 10 seconds between A1 & A2. Rest 3 minutes after
each superset.
Supplemental Upper Back/External
Rotator Work
B1. Chest supported rows or Bent-over
dumbbell rows – 3 sets of 12 reps
B2. Seated external rotation,
elbow on knee – 3 sets of 15 reps
*Rest 10 seconds between B1 & B2. Rest 90 seconds between
supersets.
Supplemental Posterior Chain
Work
C. Reverse Hyperextensions
– 4 sets of 10 reps.
*Rest 60 seconds between sets.
Notes on this sample workout
-
Notice I chose a maximal strength
superset to start the workout. Remember that maximal
strength builds the foundation for all other forms of
strength – including explosive power. You can’t
throw a powerful punch if you don’t possess a
base level of maximal strength. The best way to get
maximally strong is to lift heavy weights and do lots
of sets!
-
Most fighters spend the majority
of their time in the weight room doing strength endurance
work. Strength endurance and lactic acid tolerance training
must be incorporated into the training plan, but not
at the expense of maximal strength. Also remember that
fighting, in and of itself, is the best way to get into
“fighting” condition. Correct me if I’m
wrong, but it seems most fights either last a couple
of seconds because someone gets knocked out, or they
end up going the distance. So both maximal strength
and muscular endurance are important. Just remember
that if you want to put the fear into your opponent
that you can knock his ass out at any given moment,
you must get strong!
-
Notice I chose a flat barbell bench
press, whereas most coaches say that an incline bench
is more beneficial for increasing punching power. My
philosophy is that, unless you’re a midget fighting
someone 2 feet taller than you, a flat bench is just
as beneficial. (Benching on a 10% incline would probably
be the most “specific”.)
-
Always use bands or chains attached
to the bar when trying to increase punching power. They
help to eliminate the deceleration phase of the barbell
when pressing.
-
After your heavy pressing movement,
always rest 10 seconds before going into your punching
drills. 10 seconds is just enough time to recover slightly
from the heavy lifting, but it’s also short enough
that the motor units are still activated from the lifting.
Throwing the punches while the motor units are still
in a heightened state will help to “synchronize”
them. This will help your strength from the lifting
to become “specific” to the movement you’re
trying to improve upon (in this case, punching).
-
Some people say shadow boxing is
just as good as hitting the heavy bag after the strength-training
movement. IT’S NOT! Shadow boxing will do jack
to increase your punching power. When you don’t
actually hit something, you spend half of the punch
decelerating.
-
You’ll be training the upper
back and external rotators with higher reps because
they are not the prime movers in throwing a punch. The
main goal is to put some muscle on your upper back and
rotators to prevent any imbalances and shoulder problems
from punching. Also, by increasing the strength of your
external rotators, you’ll be more likely to throw
an explosive punch without any inhibitory response from
your Golgi Tendon Organ. This is called the “tension
effect.”
-
You will also be doing extra reverse
hypers on this “upper body” day because
I feel you can’t get enough posterior chain work.
We all know that it is the hips that initiate the power
when punching, so we will do some extra work in that
area.
-
By the way, if you wanted to increase
the power of your hook punches, you could do the following:
Perform the same workout but substitute the 14”
grip bench press with heavy dumbbell flyes. I would
do 6 sets of 4-5 reps with the flyes and superset them
with hook punches into the heavy bag. (I don’t
like doing flyes in the 1-3 rep range. 4-5 reps is still
heavy enough to get a maximal strength benefit.)
Day 2 (2-3 days after
Day 1)
A. Power Snatch –
6 sets of 2 reps, rest 2-3 min. b/t sets
OR
A. Box Squats with bands (parallel) –
6-8 sets of 2 reps, rest 30-45sec. b/t sets
B. Barbell Reverse Lunges
– 3 sets of 10 reps each leg, rest 10 sec. b/t legs
& 2 min. b/t sets
C. Incline, weighted glute-ham
raises – 3 sets of 8 reps
D. Standing cable external rotation,
elbow at side – 3 sets of 12 reps each arm,
rest 10 sec. b/t arms & 30 sec. b/t sets
Notes on this sample workout
-
I gave you a choice between power
snatches & box squats. I feel both work. If you’re
not skilled in Olympic lifting, I strongly encourage
you to box squat. It’s not worth the time to learn
the Olympic lifts with all of the other aspects of training
you have to perform. Learning to box squat is much faster
& easier. If done correctly, it’s also a great
exercise! (In my opinion, it’s even better than
the Olympic lifts.)
-
If you choose to box squat, I recommend
going with a wider stance and really focusing on “spreading
the floor” with your feet. This really activates
the hips and I feel the strength gains are almost immediate.
-
When performing the barbell reverse
lunge, make sure you incline your upper body forward,
as you step back with your leg. You actually want the
knee of the stationary leg to pass your toe (while keeping
your foot flat on the ground). Your back should be arched
and your chest should be over the stationary thigh in
the bottom position. This works the sh*t out of your
hip flexors, adductors & VMO’s. There’s
a great picture of Dhani Jones in the perfect bottom
position of this exercise in the
training
pics section of this site. Performing this exercise
in this specific manner makes a world of difference!
-
Hopefully, you have access to a
glute-ham bench. Prop the back of the bench on a 4”
step or box. This will make you have to oppose gravity
for a longer period of time in this exercise. Also,
hold a weight plate over your chest. Anyone who can’t
perform this exercise on an incline with added weight,
probably can’t punch themselves out of a wet paper
bag. This will give you something to work for on this
exercise. It will also get your posterior chain strong
as hell!
-
To finish Day 2 of this workout,
you will do extra external rotator work. This time you
will keep your upper arm at your side. For full development
of the external rotators, you must vary your upper arm
positions. I am a strong believer that increasing your
external rotator strength will carry over to more explosive
punches. Again, by getting the posterior shoulder musculature
strong, you will greatly reduce the inhibitory effect
of the Golgi Tendon Organ when blasting someone in the
face!
O.K., let’s move on to your nutrition
question. I will give you some PRACTICAL guidelines.
Pre-workout meal: This
depends on when the athlete works out during the course
of the day. Most meals I prescribe are “Zone Diet”-based,
as well as I’m currently investigating the validity
behind the “Eat Right for Your Blood Type” diet.
On a personal note, the following is my pre-workout “cocktail”
and it works like a charm. . . for me. I usually have a
whole-food breakfast in the morning and this “cocktail”
2-3 hours later. (It may be a little “advanced”
for high school kids, but for the more advaced trainee (such
as yourself or the fighters you deal with) I think it’s
great.
20-30 minutes prior to workout
16oz. water
1 Fudge-graham Zone bar
3-4 grams L-Tyrosine
*1 Vivarin (200mg.)
*If you’re sensitive to caffeine,
omit the Vivarin.
During Workout: I have
my guys drinking anywhere from 10-30grams of glutamine in
diluted Gatorade during their workout. The amount depends
on the athlete’s bodyweight, training level, goal
and sport. This drink worked incredibly well for my football
players who were training 2X a day over the summer and didn’t
want to lose weight. If you’re concerned with gaining
weight, mix the glutamine in water. This gets rid of the
extra calories and sugar in the Gatorade.
Post-workout: I still
favor “liquid nutrition” immediately after your
workout. I used to load up on carbs with a moderate amount
of fast-acting protein (whey). I feel that there are 3 main
factors that determine how much carbs you should consume
post-workout. A lot of people overlook these factors. They
are:
-
How much carbs did you consume in
your meals previous to the workout? (If you had pancakes,
fruit and orange juice before your workout, you don’t
need as many carbs in your post-workout drink.)
-
Did you consume glutamine during
your workout? (When consuming glutamine during your
workout, you don’t need as much carbs post-workout
to replenish glycogen levels.)
-
What kind of workout did you perform?
(You don’t need as many carbs in your post-workout
shake after performing a max strength workout. On the
other hand, if you performed a tremendous amount of
sets, reps, exercises, etc., you need more carbs in
your shake.)
So, if you decide to give my pre-workout
& during-the-workout “cocktails” a try,
I would recommend the new formula of Myoplex Deluxe for
your post-workout shake. I’ve had great success with
this shake and so have many of my athletes. It contains
340 calories, 53grams of protein, 28grams of carbs, 4.5grams
of fat, over 12grams of a blend of glutamine, glutamine
peptides, glutamic acid and a boatload of quality amino
acids. Ever since I’ve gone away from the high-carb
post-workout shake, I don’t feel like passing out
and taking a nap after I drink it. This is a nice treat
considering I have to go to work after I workout. I think
many people with jobs will appreciate the fact that there
is now a way to have a quality post-workout shake without
it “knocking you out” after consuming it. Again,
I am a big fan of things that actually work “in the
real world”, not just bodybuilding fantasy land!
I’m officially sick of writing.
I think you gave me carpal tunnel syndrome with that long
question. It’s time to go find an easy question to
answer.
Joe D.
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Q: Is there a difference in muscular
recruitment patterns if I point my toes outward, inward
or straight when performing a leg press? I’ve seen
different studies with varying opinions and I’m interested
in seeing what you think. You da man!
Tom
A: Who cares?! I don’t
own a leg press and therefore I have no interest. Try putting
the leg press machine on your back and see how many times
you can squat it. Now that’s interesting!
I’m delirious,
Joe D.
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