NIFS Healthy Living Blog

What you eat before hitting the gym can significantly impact your performance and recovery. The right pre-workout nutrition can help fuel your workout, prevent fatigue, and optimize results. Here’s a guide on what gym-goers should consider eating before a workout.

Timing Your Pre-Workout Meal
Timing is crucial when it comes to pre-workout nutrition. Aim to eat 30 to 60 minutes before your workout. This allows your body some time to digest and utilize the nutrients for energy without feeling too full or sluggish.

Carbohydrates: Your Primary Fuel Source
Carbohydrates are your body's preferred source of energy, especially during high-intensity workouts. Aim for 30-45 grams of easily digestible carbs before your workout. Carbs help maintain blood glucose levels and maximize glycogen stores, which are essential for sustained energy. Good options include a banana, a slice of whole-grain bread with honey, or a handful of pretzels.

Moderate Protein for Muscle Support
Including a moderate amount of protein in your pre-workout meal can help support muscle repair and growth. Consuming around 10-20 grams of protein before your workout provides your muscles with the amino acids they need to begin the recovery process even before you start exercising. This can enhance muscle protein synthesis and improve overall workout performance. Opt for sources like a hard-boiled egg, a couple of slices of turkey, string cheese, or a small portion of cottage cheese. These options are easy to digest and work well alongside carbohydrates to fuel your workout.

Low Fat for Quick Digestion
While fats are an essential part of your diet, they should be limited before a workout. Fat slows digestion, which can make you feel sluggish and uncomfortable during exercise. Stick to low-fat options and save the healthy fats for your post-workout meal.

Keep Fiber in Check
Fiber is crucial for overall health, but too much fiber right before a workout can cause gastrointestinal discomfort. Foods high in fiber take longer to digest and can lead to bloating or cramping during exercise. Opt for lower-fiber options like pretzels, a bit of granola, or rice cakes.

Hydration is Key
Don’t forget about hydration. Drink 16-20 ounces of water about two hours before your workout and another 8-10 ounces 20 minutes before starting. Proper hydration ensures optimal performance and helps prevent dehydration-related issues like cramps and dizziness.

Sample Pre-Workout Snacks

• Banana with a small handful of almonds: Provides a balance of carbs and protein without too much fat or fiber.
• Whole-grain toast with honey and a slice of turkey: Combines carbs and protein, low in fat, and easy to digest.
• Pretzels with a low-fat cheese stick: Provides a good mix of carbohydrates and protein without adding too much fat. 

Choosing the right pre-workout nutrition can make a big difference in your gym performance. Aim for a balanced meal that’s high in carbs, moderate in protein, low in fat, and easy to digest. Remember, what works best can vary from person to person, so it may take some experimenting to find your ideal pre-workout snack. Listen to your body and adjust as needed to fuel your workouts effectively.

Fuel right, perform better, and enjoy your workouts to the fullest!

If you need assistance in finding your ideal pre-workout snack, feel free to contact Michael Horner, RD, LD.

In this blog series, I have discussed the four movement patterns for building muscle and broken them down further with exercise examples you can add to your workouts. Then we discussed two upper-body movement pattens, the pull and the push. In this post I discuss the squat pattern, our first lower-body movement pattern.

The Squat Movement Pattern

The squat movement pattern is a compound movement that works the muscles of the upper legs including the quadriceps and glutes. The squat pattern is an essential movement for your activities of daily living. We use this pattern to sit, to stand, to pick things up off the floor, to walk up the stairs, and for many other activities. It is essential to train this pattern to maintain your lower-body strength as you age to maintain muscle mass and prevent falls. 

Training the squat movement pattern to a full range of motion can also improve your flexibility and bone mineral density. Learning how to squat properly, and to a full range of motion, is essential in a well-rounded training program. Within your training plan you can break this movement into bilateral and unilateral patterns. Bilateral means both legs working at the same time, and unilateral means one leg at a time. Utilizing both bilateral and unilateral patterns will ensure you are not creating any imbalances between your legs.

Squatting Variations

Bilateral

• Barbell Back Squat
• Barbell Front Squat
• Goblet Squat
• Leg Press
• Zercher Squat
• Hack Squat Machine

Unilateral

• Split Squat
• Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat
• Front Foot Elevated Split Squat
• Walking Lunge
• Step Back Lunge
• Step-Ups

Quadricep Isolation Movements

• Leg Extension
• Banded Terminal Knee Extension

Get Training Help at NIFS

For more information on how to properly progress and structure a training program, visit our staff at the track desk to schedule a private session. We are more than happy to help at any time, and as part of your membership here at NIFS, you receive complimentary workout programs. Our Health Fitness professionals tailor all programs to your fitness goals.

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

You may have seen the crazy events where men and women lift giant stones, carry logs, and pull vehicles. Did you ever think that this type of training might be exactly what you need to do to have better fitness results? Strongman workouts aren’t as intimidating as they seem. Let’s look at the benefits of Strongman training, and why you should start incorporating it into your training program.

Muscle Mass Gains

There are two important factors in muscle mass building. First, you want to apply the strategic tearing down of the muscle tissue and the subsequent rebuilding via nutrition and rest. Strongman workouts provide the right amount of wear and tear on the muscle tissue to safely tear it down so that it can be rebuilt bigger and stronger than before. Second, growth hormone levels in your body enable a better recovery state and directly influence muscle growth. Heavy lifting, which is what Strongman workouts are all about, has been shown to result in a higher release of growth hormone, which can support muscle mass growth.

Increased Strength

When these athletes are carrying giant logs and moving Atlas stones, it almost goes without saying that they will notice changes in their strength levels. Strongman workouts are based on compound and functional movement patterns, which use several major muscle groups at the same time. Include this with a heavy weight load, lower repetitions, and higher sets, and you are likely to see strength gains. Studies show that Strongman workouts are just as effective as traditional resistance-based workouts at improving your strength levels. However, it’s not just your major muscle groups that will see the benefit; your grip strength will also improve a lot.

Improvement on Functional Movement Capacity

With a powerlifting workout, you are focusing on three exercises that begin at Point A and end at Point B. Many Strongman exercises take place in different planes of movement, which can help your day-to-day functional movement patterns. For example, when performing the Farmer’s Walk, you are holding heavy dumbbells or kettlebells and walking across the floor for a prescribed distance. Another example is carrying an Atlas stone; again, you are holding a heavy weight with proper posture and moving that weight. This translates into real-world benefits such as when you are carrying groceries, playing with the kids, or doing chores. Improving your functional movement capacity will result in a higher quality of life and a lower risk of injury.

Accelerated Fat Burning

As mentioned above, Strongman exercises activate several major muscle groups simultaneously. For example, the sled drag involves the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, hip flexors, chest, arms, and core. That is a lot of muscle groups for one movement. The more muscles you use and the greater the intensity during the exercise, the more calories you will burn. Strongman workouts allow you to build muscle mass while helping you lean out. Studies show that compound movements, such as Strongman exercises, can help promote fat burning.

Smashing Through Plateaus

If you have been lifting for a while and you feel as if you are not progressing, consider Strongman workouts. The Strongman style of training pushes you outside of your box, challenges your muscles in a new way, and can potentially help you smash through your plateau. Incorporating a Strongman workout in place of your current traditional resistance training program will introduce a new set of stimuli for your muscles to adapt to. The heavy loads, unique movements, and overall demand on the body should be just what you need to see increases in strength, size, and power.

Preventing Injuries

Strongman workouts help build muscle mass that protects your internal organs. These workouts form strong connections between the muscular and central nervous systems. Most importantly, Strongman workouts strengthen the core, which is where all movement originates and where most injuries occur. A weak core is a recipe for bad news. Lower-back pain is the most common complaint in modern-day doctors’ offices. While the cause might be from a direct injury, most lower-back pain is the result of a weak core and overcompensating muscles. Strongman workouts strengthen the major muscle groups, improving your functional movement patterns and preventing injury.

Easy Transition to Other Sports

One of the benefits of Strongman is that this type of training is not limiting. You can use Strongman workouts as a foundation and then hop to other forms of training such as powerlifting, bodybuilding, or CrossFit. Everything you learn and do in Strongman will apply to many other forms of sports, training, or physical activity. With Strongman workouts, you are simultaneously building a lean and muscular physique, which makes it ideal for bodybuilding. You are also developing incredible raw power, which is ideal for powerlifting. Finally, the explosive strength you gain will be useful in a CrossFit WOD (workout of the day).

If you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced in your fitness journey, consider starting to add Strongman training to your fitness program in some shape or form. You will be able to build a strong foundation for your fitness routine that will benefit you for years to come.

This blog was written by David Behrmann, NIFS Health Fitness Instructor. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

In a previous blog I discussed the importance of training within the movement categories. Those categories are upper body push and pull, squat, and hinge. To break it down even further within the categories, there are exercises that give you more bang for the buck than others. In this blog I differentiate between compound and isolation exercises. For those of you who are on a time crunch when you are in the gym, these exercises are crucial to get the most out of your training.

What Is the Difference?

A compound exercise is also known as a multi-joint exercise. This is an exercise in which more than one joint is required to move through the exercise. An example of a compound exercise would be a squat. To complete the squat pattern, three joints must move: the ankle, knee, and hip. Examples of compound exercises for the upper body are the bench press and overhead press. Both movements require the function of the shoulder and elbow. The reason that compound lifts have more payoff is that they work multiple muscle groups as well. A bench press uses the pectoralis muscles, deltoids, and triceps. This requires more energy to be expended than if you used only one of those muscle groups on a single joint exercise. Exercises that isolate a single muscle group are called isolation exercises. Examples of an isolation movement would be a bicep curl, triceps extension, leg extension, or a leg curl. The difference between a compound exercise and an isolation exercise is the number of joints that move.

Which Type of Exercise Should You Do?

Compound lifts are more challenging but less time consuming than performing multiple different isolation exercises. If you short on time while in the gym, a full-body workout full of compound movements will give you the most from your workout. I have written blogs about how to structure those types of workouts. If you want to sculpt your body in a particular way, and are focused on correcting muscle imbalances or injury rehabilitation, each may require the use of specific isolation movements to build up specific muscle groups. So, the question is, what are your goals? Once you define your goals, you can design your workout program.

Structuring a Workout

The most efficient way to structure a workout utilizing both methods is to perform a compound movement first in your workout followed by isolation movements to complement the muscles used in the compound movement. A quick example using the bench press would be bench pressing first, followed by isolation movements to isolate the chest and triceps. You want to save the most amount of energy for your compound exercises, which is why you should perform this one first. Fatiguing the triceps before a heavy bench workout will not yield the best results for bench press. This is why isolation exercises are best performed at the end of your workout.

For more information or guidance on how to structure your workouts, visit our training staff at the track desk in the fitness center. For nonmembers looking for help on your fitness journey, feel free to give us a call to set up a guest fitness assessment.

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Hormones have an especially important role in dealing with resistance training. The endocrine system is a collection of glands that produce hormones that regulate metabolism, growth and development, tissue function, sexual function, sleep, and mood. Some of these hormones are anabolic, which promote tissue building, and others are catabolic, which are used to degrade/break down cell protein. Ideally for muscle building, it is important to produce anabolic hormones while limiting the production of catabolic ones.

Anabolic and Catabolic Hormones

Scientists have identified examples of anabolic hormones in the human body. These examples include insulin, IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor), testosterone, and growth hormone. On the other hand, the catabolic hormones are cortisol, catecholamines, and progesterone. For our purposes, we can focus on two of these hormones: testosterone and cortisol.

Testosterone

Testosterone is the primary androgen hormone. The way to promote testosterone is short rest periods, 30 to 60 seconds, heavy resistance—85 to 95 percent 1RM (large motor units), and chronic resistance training (2+ years). Further, testosterone has a known effect on the nervous system: it increases neurotransmitters, and it acts on every tissue in the body. Men have 15 to 20 times more testosterone than women, and acute, or sudden, increases following workouts are small.

Cortisol

Cortisol, on the other hand, converts amino acids into carbs and breaks down proteins and inhibits the synthesis of proteins, which is bad if you are trying to build muscle because proteins are the building blocks for muscle. Cortisol increases during exercise with high volume/short muscle rest, causing large serum cortisol. This does more damage to the muscle and is not good for muscle recovery. Chronically high cortisol levels have adverse catabolic effects.

Knowing that your body produces both testosterone and cortisol, the difficulty lies in the ability to produce more testosterone than cortisol to see muscle growth.

Ways to Promote Lower Cortisol Levels

Here are four ways to lower your cortisol levels so that you can build muscle:

• Utilize proper rest times during high-intensity resistance workouts.
• Eat enough protein and carbohydrates to help you through the resistance workout.
• Perform resistance workouts when your body’s cortisol levels are lower, typically later in the day.
• Make sure you are getting enough sleep.

***

Make sure you are paying attention to your hormones during resistance exercise. If you are not careful, hormones might be affecting your gains in a negative way instead of a positive way. As you can see from this information, these are just a few areas you can target to start producing testosterone and therefore, affect the tissues within your body. Hopefully, this information gives you a better understanding of the main two types of hormones, anabolic and catabolic, how they work in your body, and ways to achieve those gains you are looking for in your resistance training.

Source: Haff, G., & Triplett, T. (2016). Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (4th ed.). Human Kinetics.

This blog was written by David Behrmann, NIFS Health Fitness Instructor.To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here. 

Pull-ups are a great muscle-building exercise. However, many of us struggle to even do one or enough reps to truly take advantage of the muscle-building rewards of this exercise. In this blog I explain why that is, tell you how to improve your pull-ups, and give you a full pull-up progression intended to take you from 0, 1, 2, 3… up to 10 pull-ups in a row or moreLet’s be honest, pull-ups are difficult. First off, whether you weigh 100 pounds or 350, that will be the weight you will have to overcome with each rep. Secondly, pull-ups engage more than just your back. You may or may not have a big back and bicep muscles but still can’t do more than one or two pull-ups. No matter how big the muscles in your back and biceps are, if you have weak links in the chain of movement, you will still be limited in your ability to do more pull-ups.

Change Your Training for Strength

The first step to improving your pull-ups is to change your training for strength improvements. Based on where you are at, I like to break it down into three groups:

• Group 1: 0–4 pull-ups
• Group 2: 5–7 pull-ups
• Group 3: 8, 9 and break through to 10

Group 1: 0–4 Pull-ups

If you are in the group 1 category, you currently can’t do a pull-up, or can’t do more than 4 in a row. You need to quickly build strength with a couple of exercises I like to do.

The first is inverted rows, which can be done under a bar in a rack or with the TRX Straps in the horizontal plane. 

The second exercise is negative pull-ups to assist and train your body in a vertical plane. With negative pull-ups you will work on lowering (descending) for time, adding seconds to each rep as you progress. Make sure to fight the lowering in a full range of motion. Do not hold yourself in the up position and then just fall. Control the descent for the full range.

Group 2: 5–7 Pull-ups

Group 2 is further along and ready for pull-up progressions. This is when we will build up volume and work toward getting in 2–3 sets, with the goal of reaching toward 20–30 reps completed. We will add assisted pull-ups to allow for reducing the amount of resistance you need to overcome reps the higher volume.  An easy way to do assisted pull-ups is to use a larger resistance band and loop it around the rack, giving you a platform to stand on while assisting your pull-ups. 

Group 3: 8–10 Pull-ups

Group 3 is essentially going to repeat what group 2 is doing but adding weight to your pull-ups to help you break through to 10. Adding weight can be as easy as adding a weight belt with 5 pounds on it or putting a 5-pound dumbbell between your feet. When you are doing the banded assisted pull-ups, start to use smaller, thinner resistance bands to stand on.

All Groups: Work on Core, Scap Retractions

All three groups need to work on weak-link areas as well. First is core work; as I stated earlier, pull-ups are difficult and place concentrated demands on the core, also a known weak link. I like to use Planks and Hollow Rocks. Next, you need to work on scap retractions, and you can do small pulls to train it with scapular pull-ups and face pulls.

Shoulder Prehab

Start with prehab exercises. Prehab exercises should be used to bomb-proof your body and potentially prevent future injuries. The overall goal of prehab exercises is to increase durability in your physical activities with better-quality movements, which will improve performance and overall health. Here are two I like to start with. Pick one that works for you for today’s pull-up workout.

Option 1: Shoulder Prehab—Light Weights

x10 reps each
Standing: I, Y, T, W’s, Scap Taps
Lying: I, Y, T, W’s, Overhead Scap Taps

Option 2: Shoulder Prehab—Bands

x10 reps each
Standing: Band Pull-Aparts with Bent Elbows, Banded Figure 8's, Band Pull-aparts with Long Straight Arms
Banded Over & Backs
Half-Kneeling Lunge: Diagonal Pull-aparts with Long Straight Arms

The Pull-up Workouts

Now that you are warmed-up and have bomb-proofed your body, let’s begin the pull-up workout. Here’s the strategy to vastly improve your pull-ups. Reference your pull-up ability and progress accordingly from there. This is a full back workout performed once a week.

Group 1: 0–4 Pull-ups

Inverted Rows (under bar or TRX straps): 3–4 sets or 8–12 reps
Negative pull-ups: 3–5 sets or 3–5 reps  ** FULL RANGE OF MOTION**
(Starting out 3x3 reps at 3s descents… progressing to 5x5 at 5s descents for each rep.)
Elbow or Push-up Plank: 3 sets of :30s–2mins
(Starting out with 3x sets at :30s… progressing to 2mins eventually)
Alternating your workouts with Scapular Pull-ups and Face Pulls: 3–4 sets or 8–12 reps with 2s holds
(Hanging from pull-up bar, squeeze scapular muscles, as if beginning the pull-up motion and hold for 2s for each rep. Next workout alternate with Face Pulls, keep elbows up and thumbs toward temples, again squeeze scapular muscle for 2s.)

Group 2: 5–7 Pull-ups

Pull-ups: Sets of 2–5 reps aim for 20–30 reps total.
Assisted Pull-ups w/larger resistance bands: Mirror how many sets/reps you accomplished with pull-ups previously. Shooting for the same.
Inverted Rows (under bar or TRX straps): 2–3 sets or 8–12 reps
Alternating your workouts with Elbow or Push-up Plank and Hollow Rocks: 3 Sets of :30s–2mins
Alternating your workouts with Scapular Pull-ups and Face Pulls: 2–3 sets or 10–15 reps with 2s holds

Group 3: 8–10+

Weighted Pull-ups: Sets of 2–5 reps, aim for 20–30 reps total.
(If you are just getting into group 3 and graduated up from group 2, start back over with reps and sets you began that group with; you are adding weight to your pull-ups now.)

Example, group 2

I started with 3x4 reps and progressed to 5x6 reps. Now do the same but with weight.

Assisted Pull-ups w/smaller resistance bands: Mirror how many sets/reps you accomplished with pull-ups previously. Shooting for the same +2 reps. Try to do a little bit more volume.
Inverted Rows (under bar or TRX straps): 2–3 sets or 8–12 reps
Alternating your workouts with Elbow or Push-up Plank and Hollow Rocks: 3 Sets of 1–2mins
Alternating your workouts with Scapular Pull-ups and Face Pulls: 3 Sets or 10–15 Reps with 2s holds

Use the Plan Once a Week

That’s it! Use the plan once a week to improve your pull-up potential. You will want to max out and test your pull-ups once a month to see if you are making progress and moving up groups to level up your strength gains.

As with any workout, to make gains, you must start somewhere, you must stay consistent, and you must work hard. Don’t be discouraged that you can’t do pull-ups yet. Stay the course and you will be blown away when you quickly increase your pull-up strength!

This blog was written by Michael Blume, MS, SCCC; Athletic Performance Coach. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

How many times have you or someone you know needed help because they were unable to open the pickle jar? Now, how many times have you heard someone get mad because the pickle jar was too easy to open. I’m guessing you haven’t. Nobody has ever complained about being too strong—a statement I like to tell people when they ask why they should start strength training. There are many benefits of strength training. As we age we lose the physical ability to carry out certain activities. Tasks that were once easy are now difficult to do alone or not at all. These are our activities of daily living. 

Activities of Daily Living

Your activities of daily living (ADLs) are your everyday activities that are essential to get you through the day: walking, getting up from chairs, carrying groceries, bringing in the bag of dog food, and so on. As a person ages, these activities get harder and harder to carry out. According to Harvard Health, it is estimated that after the age of 30, a person will begin to lose 3–5% of their muscle mass per decade. Loss of muscle mass will result in the loss of your ability to carry out your ADLs. Additionally, with loss of muscle comes the loss of muscular power, or the ability to produce force quickly. The loss of muscular power is the main contributor to the increase of fall risk as we age.

The loss of muscle mass as we age is termed sarcopenia. Age-related loss of muscle is, of course, preventable. With the correct diet, exercise plan, and regulation of hormones, a person can not only maintain but also increase their muscle mass as they age. This will ensure that you are able to maintain your ability to perform those ADLs with no trouble. Things such as yard work and playing outside with kids or grandkids are activities that should never be lost.

Athletics

Switching gears now to a different population. All aspects of strength are required to excel in a particular sport. From field sports to court sports to endurance running events, being strong will help everyone. The primary benefit that all athletes gain from strength training is an increase in joint stability. A well-structured resistance training plan will not only make the muscles stronger, but will also progress in a way to allow time to increase tendon strength at the same time. A more structurally sound joint is less likely to get injured.

Force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. Force is how we walk, jog, run, jump, change direction, and everything else we do in sport. There are two components that go into force, mass and acceleration. From a training aspect, we can manipulate these two components to match our needs. How this translates to the weight room is, we can move a light weight fast, or move as much weight as we can. Both forms of training will increase force production in their own way. Each athlete will need to train at different ends of the force curve depending on their sporting event and their biology. It is up to the strength and conditioning coach to make a plan for the individual’s needs and sport.

But I Don’t Want to Be “Bulky”

The common misconception is that resistance training will make you “bulky.” I only have one response to this question every time I get asked. I tell people to look at how track athletes and wrestlers train. These athletes are at peak performance but must maintain, and even in some cases lose, body weight. They do this by resistance training with very heavy loads for very low repetitions. This type of training increases muscular strength without increasing muscular hypertrophy (muscle size). If your goals are to increase strength and maintain your muscle mass, training with heavy loads and low volume is the route to take. This approach is also how powerlifters train. Their goal is to increase the amount they lift at a competition, but they must stay within their weight class. They cannot gain excess weight or else they will have to compete in a higher weight category.

The bodybuilders that you see at the very top level spend years and years building up their bodies to look the way they do. They train daily on individual muscle groups to sculpt their body to look perfect for the judges at a competition. Bodybuilders work in a higher-volume rep and set range than that of a strength athlete. Over an extended period of time, with the right diet, recovery habits, and in some cases the use of performance enhancers, bodybuilders are able to look the way they do when they step on stage. However, strength training two to four days a week to improve your health will not make you look like a “bulky” bodybuilder.

Strength Training Is for Everyone

Being strong is never a quality that someone wishes they did not have. A simple strength training regimen will not make you bulky, or weigh you down for everyday tasks. It will make you stronger and healthier. It will give you confidence to do new things, or things that you have been unable to do or wish you could do. Strength training will give you the ability to play with your kids, and then your grandkids after that in the same way. Not everyone wants to be a bodybuilder or a powerlifter, but everyone wants to feel good in their own skin. After all, nobody has ever complained about being too strong. 

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

The first thought that comes into most people’s heads when they hear the word weightlifting is, more times than not, “bulky.” The perception is that heavy weightlifting will cause an undesired large gain of muscle mass. This is true; weightlifting will cause you to put on muscle mass, but it will take a lot more than just lifting weights to be “bulky.” Please do not let your goals steer you away from certain exercises.

What Is Olympic Weightlifting?

The sport of Olympic weightlifting is comprised of the snatch, and clean and jerk. The snatch is a lift in which you take the bar from the floor to overhead in one swift movement. The clean and jerk is a lift in which you take the bar from the bar to the shoulder in one swift movement, and then take it from the shoulder to overhead in a second movement. The Olympic lifts are full-body, explosive movements that require the use of every muscle group in the body.

Take a look at any high-level athlete who competes in events such as track or wrestling. They have to get as strong as they can without putting on extra weight. They achieve this by lifting heavy loads for lower rep schemes as fast as they can. This is one reason why you will see athletes in these sports utilizing the Olympic lifts in the weight room. In the off season if they need to put on size, they will move to the higher rep ranges.

Benefits of Olympic Weightlifting

There are many benefits to learning and performing the Olympic lifts within your exercise routine. The lifts can be programmed in many different ways depending on your specific goals. These are my top five benefits of learning the lifts from a certified coach:

1. Body composition: The snatch and clean and jerk are full-body lifts that use the legs, glutes, back, abs, shoulders, and arms. Performing the lifts burns more calories in a shorter period of time compared to performing isolation/single-joint movements. The lifts and accessory lifts can be used to put on lean tissue, increase strength, and ultimately decrease body fat.
2. Muscular power and strength: Muscular power is how fast you can move a load. Decrease in muscular power over time is the main cause of falls in older adults. In Olympic weightlifting, nothing is done slowly. All loads are moved at max velocity, therefore increasing power. If your goal is to run faster and jump higher, power is the key ingredient.
3. Coordination: The Olympic lifts require precise coordination, rhythm, and timing. Improving body awareness and coordination is great for the activities of daily living. Learning new things also increases cognitive abilities in old age.
4. Range of motion: Most people associate heavy lifting with being stiff and bulky. The Olympic lifts, however, require the lifter to control a load through a full range of motion in the knees, ankles, hips, and shoulders. If the range of motion is not there now, or at the start of your lifting journey, over time training through a full range of motion will increase flexibility more effectively than static stretching one time per week.
5. Work capacity: Depending on how the lifts are programmed, they can be used to cause a range of positive changes to your body. One way to increase work capacity is by limiting the amount of rest time in between sets. Over time you will be able to recover faster from higher-intensity training.

The Olympic lifts should be performed under the eyes of a certified, experienced coach. Learning the lifts on your own can be done, but will take much longer and will not produce the results you are seeking. If you are interested in learning the Olympic lifts, visit our Master Class here at NIFS, which is free to members. If you are looking for one-on-one or more personal coaching, you can visit us at the track desk and one of our staff will get you going in the right direction.

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

As a young trainer, I struggled to find my training style. I spent the first few months trying to make my clients happy, trying to make every session as hard as I could with no real connection between workouts. Our training had no direction; they were individual workouts according to what my clients wanted to work on that day. More times than not, this turned into working out one muscle group for the entire 30 minutes. I did a good job at working one muscle group, but that did not benefit them in the long term. As I grew in my education and as a trainer, I learned that there was a better approach to training: the full-body training split

The Full-Body Split

The full-body training schedule reduces the amount of time you need to spend inside the gym while still working the different muscle groups more than once per week. A typical bro split is push, pull, leg. On that schedule, if you miss one day, you more than likely will not train that muscle group for another week. Now you have gone at least 14 days without training a specific muscle group. By training full-body in each training session, you will never miss hitting your lower or upper body within a week.

Putting It All Together

Using the movement patterns discussed in my previous blog, along with your weekly schedule, you can put together your weekly training schedule. There are a few different ways to schedule your week to make the full-body routine.

Three Days per Week

On a three-day-per-week schedule, your training days should be at least 48 hours apart. An example of an ideal schedule would be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. With this schedule you will hit each movement pattern with at least one exercise per category. There is room, depending on how much time you have, to add more isolation movements at the end. A very basic week would look like this:

Day 1–3: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

• Bench press
• Pull-up
• Back squat
• Kettlebell deadlift

Four Days per Week

For the four-day-per-week program, you will do a full-body push day and a full-body pull day. The full-body push day will consist of an upper-body press and a lower-body squat pattern. The full-body pull day will consist of an upper-body pull and a lower-body hinge pattern. The workouts can be done back to back at least 24 hours apart. An example of an ideal schedule would be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. A basic four-day-per-week schedule would look like this:

Days 1 and 3: Monday and Thursday

• Barbell bench
• Back squat
• DB incline bench
• Split squat

Days 2 and 4: Tuesday and Friday

• Deadlift
• Pull-up
• RDL
• Rows

Five and Six Days per Week

This is a more advanced version of the four-day-per-week schedule. You use the same full-body push/ pull split, but with not as many rest days. A five-day-per-week schedule cycles through each week, alternating between push and pull days. Week 1 has three push days and two pull days. Week 2 then starts with a pull day, giving you three pull days and two push days. After a four-week cycle, you will come out with the same amount of push and pull days. A six-day-per-week cycle is much easier to make, with alternating three push days and three pull days. A basic five- or six-day-per-week schedule looks like this:

Days 1, 3, and 5: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

• Barbell bench
• Back squat
• DB incline bench
• Split squat

Days 2, 4, and optional 6: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

• Deadlift
• Pull-up
• RDL
• Row

Get Help Structuring Your Program at NIFS

For more information on how to properly progress and structure a training program, visit us at the track desk to set up a session. We are more than happy to help at any time, and as a part of your membership here at NIFS, you can receive as many free workout programs as you would like. All programs are tailored to your fitness goals by our health fitness professionals.

This blog was written by Evan James, NIFS Exercise Physiologist EP-C, Health Fitness Instructor, and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

If you have taken an extended break from your workout routine, your return to the gym will likely mean a return to the program that you were originally doing before your hiatus. Exercise selection, reps, and rest periods may be altered slightly after time off; however, eventually you will be back to your pre-break strength and power, among other athletic traits. When you think about that program and how it got you to the point you are at or will be in the near future, do you also think about the steps you will take to further advance your abilities? I’m here to break down a few ways specifically within the muscle that may help give you the variety to your program you are looking for.

There are three main types of muscular contractions that can happen, each of which serves a specific purpose for muscular growth, strength, and power. They are

• Concentric
• Isometric
• Eccentric

Concentric

Concentric muscular contractions are generally the most common type that individuals focus on during their training sessions. Concentric contractions involve the shortening of the muscle during an exercise. If you imagine a lift, say the bench press, the act of pushing the weight up from your chest actively shortens the muscle. The pulling of a bent-over row or the ascent of the barbell back squat all utilize this contraction. An uncommon variation would be to slow down the movement, for example slowing the pulling movement of the bar during a Lat Pulldown. If it normally takes you 1–2 seconds to pull down the bar, try a 5-count with the same weight. The intensity will greatly increase.

Isometric

Isometric contractions are an underrated variation that people most often forget about during workout planning. Instead of a shortening movement like the concentric contraction, the isometric contraction actually involves the muscle staying at the same length during the work period. A simple variation of this contraction is a wall sit. The muscle never changes length, but the tension and effort build over time. 

But the quality of this contraction is found in much more than just wall sits. Almost any exercise can utilize this method. Here are a few of my favorite variations using isometric contractions. The intensity of the holds in these lifts can be dictated by either the amount of weight or the time you hold it for.

• Split Squat Holds (hold split squat in down position with knee off the ground)
• Push-Up Holds (hold push-up in the “down” position; try at different heights!)
• Pull-Up Holds (either chin over bar or with arms hanging straight)

Eccentric

The last contraction variation in this trio is the eccentric contraction. This is commonly thought of as the lowering or lengthening of the muscle during an exercise. Going back to the bench press example earlier, the bar lowering to the chest would be the eccentric contraction. Where this method is most useful is during time-under-tension exercises where you increase the amount of time that you lengthen the muscle during the lift. These are all about control and can get quite intense.

Similar to the isometric contractions, time is everything. For example, when you do a step-up and are coming down off of the box, try to control for 3–5 seconds before your foot hits the ground instead of coming down right away. Here are a few of my favorite variations on eccentric contraction exercises:

• Incline Dumbbell Press (lowering the weight slowly and raising it at a normal pace)
• Slider Leg Curls (pushing feet out in a slow and controlled motion)
• Glute Ham Raises (slow on the way down)

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The variations are not limited to this list. Feel free to get creative with any of your favorite exercises when trying out the different muscular contractions. Remember, time is your friend with any method you choose and can match any intensity you are trying to achieve.

This blog was written by Alex Soller, Athletic Performance Coach and NIFS trainer. To find out more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.