NIFS Healthy Living Blog

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.

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.

Squatting has always been the go-to exercise for those who want to make glute gains. You have probably heard someone say, “If you want to get better glutes, squatting is the way to go.” Recently, though, hip thrusters have gained momentum as the best exercise for glute development. Although, there is no concrete evidence that one is better than the other, some studies have been done (also here). Hopefully by the end of this blog, you will have a better understanding of the similarities and differences between these two exercises.

Glute Activation During Squats

During squats, the upper gluteal muscles help stabilize the pelvis as you walk out from the rack position. During the eccentric(downward) portion of the squat, only 20 to 30 percent of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) was shown. At the bottom part of the squat, only 10 to 20 percent of MVC for glute activation was shown through EMG activity. The interesting part is that the bottom part of the squat is where everyone assumed you get the most glute activation, when in reality it is the lowest activation part. The concentric (pushing up) portion of the squat is where glute activation was seen to be the highest, at 80 to 120 percent. This makes sense because the main role of the glutes is to extend the hips.

Glute Activation During Hip Thrusters

During the hip thrust exercise, at the beginning phase, the glutes are relatively off because there is no external force placed on them. Because the first motion of the hip thrust is a concentric action (hip extension), the glutes begin to activate right away. It was measured to be at a range of 120 to 200 percent of glute activation during the concentric phase of the exercise. Another reason why MVC was higher is that the repetitions fairly quickly maintain a constant tension on the glutes.

Biomechanics of Squat and Hip Thruster

Biomechanically these two exercises are different because the squat is performed in the vertical plane whereras the hip thruster is performed in the horizontal plane. This difference allows for different forces on the body. In a squat, the glutes must fire to create hip extension torque, but they must also fire in order to create hip external rotation torque to prevent knee valgus (knee buckle). In a hip thrust, the glutes fire to create hip extension torque, but they must also fire in order to create posterior pelvic tilt torque to prevent anterior tilting of the pelvis and lumbar hyperextension.

With the squat, the limitation can be due to back strength, which you do not have with the hip thruster. On the other hand, glute strength is the limiting factor during the hip thruster. During a squat, you are typically able to get more hip flexion to avoid this issue.

The Verdict

For full range gluteal strength, a more complete neurological stimulus, and full development of the upper and lower gluteal fibers, you’ll want to perform both the squat and the hip thrust. Either exercise alone won’t suffice. The good news is that you don’t have to choose between squats or hip thrusts for maximal glute development; you should perform both movements.

This blog was written by Pedro Mendez, CSCS, FMS, Health/Fitness Instructor and Strength Coach at NIFS. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

BOD POD®: A Body Composition Assessment

Have you ever wondered what your true body composition is? Are you ready to measure your success with precision? When you get onto the scale, the number that you see is your body’s actual weight; however, that is not a true reflection of the makeup inside your body.

The results from a BOD POD assessment will give you those real numbers that you are looking for. You will see a true muscle-to-fat ratio and get a better idea of your overall health. Whether your goal is to gain, lose, or maintain, this assessment will give you real and accurate measurements to help you measure your success.

Why It’s Important to Know Your Body Composition

In order to tell your true level of health, you need to know what’s going on inside of you. You can obviously tell when someone is overweight or underweight on the outside; however, we know that looks can be deceiving. Someone may appear on the outside to be on the heavier side, but they may have a significant amount of muscle mass below the surface. When simply measuring using a scale, there is no way to tell the muscle-to-fat composition inside. Knowing these numbers can be helpful to see the potential risk for things like cardiovascular disease. This assessment will give you the real numbers of your body composition and level of health to help you set goals to gain, lose, or maintain your weight and body fat percentage.

How It Works

The BOD POD uses air displacement technology to get your numbers. Imagine this like a bathtub that is half-full of water. If we measured the amount of water in the tub, then you got into it and we measured the amount of change in the water level, we would come up with the water displacement amount. This same thing happens using the BOD POD, just with air volume—and a lot less mess! This measurement is as accurate as hydrostatic measuring! You will also get an estimated resting metabolic rate (RMR). The RMR tells you how many calories your body uses in one day for accurate consumption, no matter what the goal is.

And, if you decide to come back for another test, the system will save and compare your results so that you can see the changes over time. This assessment takes only a short 15 minutes. For most accurate results, be sure not to eat, drink, or exercise 2 to 3 hours prior and wear tight, form-fitting clothing like compression clothes or a swimsuit.

You can see a sample BOD POD report here. Click here to watch a video on how a BOD POD^® test is done.

Cost is $45 per test, or 2 for $80 (one BOD POD assessment annually FREE to NIFS members). To schedule your BOD POD, contact the NIFS track desk at 317-274-3432 ext. 262 or fitness@nifs.org.

This blog was written by Amanda Bireline, Fitness Center Manager. To read more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Most of us have specific goals in mind when it comes to an exercise program. We work hard to achieve these results day in and day out, but sometimes our bodies may need an extra push to get over that hump. Many people question the importance of adding supplements to a healthy diet and workout routine, as well they should.

With so many different supplements flooding the shelves these days, it’s hard to know which ones will truly help you achieve your desired results. Although I agree that some supplements might not be necessary to include in your program, others could be beneficial to many individuals no matter what their fitness goals are.

Not a Substitute for Proper Nutrition

Before I go any further, I want to note that supplementation is simply an addition to your diet and exercise regime. These are not meant to replace a well-balanced whole-food diet; they are meant to be used in conjunction.

Most of the nutrients we need are already being produced by our own bodies to a certain extent, as well as existing in foods we eat daily. Some essential nutrients such as protein, creatine, and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are naturally produced in the body and can be found in meat products, including (but not limited to) red meat, fish, and ground turkey. These amounts are just large enough to support daily functioning, but may not be produced in large enough quantities to aid in dramatic physique enhancements. If you are looking to take your physique to the next level, supplementation might be just what you need.

Which Ones Should I Use?

Here are the top five supplements (in my opinion, and that of many top professionals) you could add to your exercise and diet program.

1. Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs): BCAAs are essential nutrients that help the body slow down protein and muscle breakdown, which can aid in preventing muscle fatigue during intense workouts. It works by stimulating the building of protein in muscles, which in turn helps prevent muscle breakdown. I would not recommend using BCAAs when trying to gain muscle hypertrophy (or size), as muscle breakdown is essential for muscle growth. Instead, try a pre-workout or caffeinated drink before your workout for extra energy.
2. Creatine: Creatine is an organic acid that is produced in the liver and helps supply energy to cells all over the body (especially muscle cells). People take creatine because it allows the body to produce more energy, and with more energy a person is able to increase the intensity of their workouts. Many athletes use creatine to improve their overall performance. It also helps aid in quicker muscle recovery after an intense workout.
3. Protein: Your muscles need protein grow and recover from muscle breakdown caused by exercise. You can get plenty of protein in your diet; however protein shakes are generally lower in calories than a high-protein meal. They are also portable and more convenient that carrying around whole-food meals (here are some ideas for making your own). Two widely used proteins are whey and casein. Whey is a fast-digesting protein that aids in muscle recovery and muscle growth. Casein is a slow-digesting protein that creates a longer-lasting supply of muscle-building nutrients. Many experts recommend taking a mixture of the two proteins to ensure a release of amino acids into the blood for as long as possible, therefore aiding in lean muscle gain as well as body fat decline.
4. Multi-vitamins: Multi-vitamins are essential to support the body’s everyday functioning. Your body needs a variety of complex nutrients for optimum efficiency and performance. Taking a high-potency multi-vitamin can ensure your body is getting those essential nutrients to support thousands of metabolic reactions. Here’s more information on the importance of a multi-vitamin for your health and fitness goals, including a list of the essential vitamins and minerals you need.
5. Fish oil: Fish oil tablets are the most efficient way to get the purest and most concentrated dose of Omega-3s into your diet. Omega-3s have been proven to improve blood circulation, which in turn will allow nutrients such as protein and carbohydrates to reach muscles. Omega-3s also help with maximizing metabolic rate, which in turn helps with fat loss.

Dietary supplements can have many health benefits as well as many performance-based benefits. If you are not concerned with taking supplements for their potential performance enhancements, you should at least be taking supplements such as multi-vitamins and fish oil tablets for your general health. They can be an easy addition to your diet and exercise regimen that may have huge effects on your overall health. Add supplements on an as-needed basis after conducting a needs analysis, and implement one at a time.

If you have additional questions or concerns about supplementation, please stop by and ask any Health Fitness Specialist at NIFS or contact our Registered Dietitian, Angie Mitchell for more information.

This blog was written by Darius Felix, Health Fitness Specialist at NIFS. To find out more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

In NFL and college football, each week, a star player is hit with a sidelining injury. Possibly lost for multiple weeks, months, or at worst, the whole season. Injuries that are usually the result of bad luck or not being as physically prepared as they could have been. Hopefully your team, **knock on wood**, does not or will not have to deal with this at any point during their season. My team, my beloved Detroit Lions, look like a dumpster fire for reasons other than injuries.

The physicality of football increases every year. The players are getting bigger, faster, and stronger in training facilities across the country getting ready for that next season. Guys are always looking to take that next step during the offseason to ensure that they are a better player than they were the preceding year. Countless hours are spent in the gym and on the field trying to achieve this goal. Some training programs start the day after a season is over, whether it be after week 17 in the regular season or if your team wins the Super Bowl. It’s no secret that being a professional or collegiate athlete is a year-round commitment. 

Changing Training After the Season Begins

But what kind of training do players do after their season begins? Do they continue to train five or six days a week like they did in the offseason? Of course not. With large time commitments for practice, watching film, and simply resting, an athlete must shift their focus to making sure all of that hard work is not wasted over the course of the season. The most effective way to salvage the progress that you have made over the past five or six months is to enter a maintenance phase.

A maintenance phase is one phase or “macrocycle” (a large portion of a training year) that you should use during the start and duration of each athletic or competitive season. As mentioned before, this phase is used to preserve the strength, power, and muscle mass that was built in the many months prior to the season. 

What Does a Maintenance Phase Look Like?

Some characteristics of a maintenance phase include the following:

• 2 (±1) workouts per week
• 45 to 60-minute sessions
• 2 (±1) sets per exercise. Main exercises should focus on strength, power (plyometrics, Olympic lifting, core lifts [bench, squat, deadlift]), and functional mobility.
• Promoting overall health

Impact on Future Seasons

Don’t underestimate the importance of a maintenance phase, due to the implications that it could have on subsequent seasons. Think about this scenario:

Imagine you start training for your freshman year of college football squatting a maximum (1RM) of 315 pounds. After 4 months of preseason training, your 1RM has gone up to 365 pounds. Once the season starts, you stop lifting weights and focus on football. Three months later when the season is finished, you hit the weight room for the first time. Your 1RM squat is back to 315 pounds. Your body had no reason to keep the neural drive of the muscles because you no longer required it to. You start your offseason conditioning program and increase your squat back up to 365 pounds and exceed those numbers by squatting 380. Once your sophomore season starts, you stop lifting weights once again. At the end of the season, your 1RM squat is back to 315. 

This is a vicious cycle that never allows for any solid progression. You start from square-one every year. Now think about the same scenario with a few changes:

Imagine you start training for your freshman year of college football squatting a maximum (1RM) of 315 pounds. After 4 months of preseason training, your 1RM goes up to 365 pounds. Once the season starts, you begin an in-season maintenance phase. You lift two days per week, making sure your squat loads are significant enough to maintain your 1RM (80-95%). Three months later when the season is finished, you hit the weight room for the beginning of your offseason training program. Your 1RM squat is 355. Although you dropped 10 pounds, it is not as significant as the 50-pound loss from the previous scenario. From your offseason program, your 1RM increases from 355 to 410. Once your sophomore season starts, you begin another in-season maintenance phase. At the end of the season, your 1RM has only dropped to 405. 

***

As you can see, progression of strength (and power with other lifts) has to be maintained year round. This goes for all athletes throughout their seasons. If they want to continue to improve, they must prevent the loss. It is as important of a cycle of training as any. Without a properly structured in-season maintenance phase, you will be starting from the same place every time you start a new offseason training program.

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

You have finally achieved your goal of adding some lean muscle mass, so what now? Where do you go next? The next step I would take would be to train your body to use those newly developed muscles to their fullest potential. This increase in strength building can come from numerous sources, some of which you may have already experienced.

Strength improvements may be developed from different types of training and at different times in programs. Many of these improvements can be obtained through two modes: neurological adaptations and increases in muscle cross-sectional area (CSA; muscle size). 

Neurological Adaptations

Neurological adaptations can be noticed only days after starting a new training program, depending on your experience with resistance training. If you have no prior experience with it, the stimulus of a few sets of different resistance exercises over one or two days might give your body enough reason to improve its strength levels. But how could the body possibly get stronger in one or two training sessions? Did your muscles get any bigger? No. Your body (the brain, specifically) is becoming more efficient at firing those muscles you have used to meet the demands you have placed on them. 

Quick improvements, like those via neurological adaptations, will not always be achievable. Your brain/body will catch up to what you are doing eventually, which is why other modes of training are important. 

Increases in CSA

Another type of strength development is to increase the muscles’ cross-sectional area, or make the muscle bigger. This can be achieved by following my previous blog, which goes over muscular hypertrophy and different variables you need to control to get it. When a muscle becomes larger, it simply has the ability to create more force than it did when it was smaller. This will definitely lead to increases in your strength levels.

If you plan to follow the structure that I have laid out for you over this series of blogs (Cardio Workouts, Muscular Endurance, and Muscle Building), you are ready for that next step. You may have put on some lean muscle mass (hypertrophy), or you may not have. Regardless, you can still take your strength training to the next level. 

Strength improvement in this sense is almost a combination of the two modes of development I stated earlier, neurological adaptations and increases in muscle CSA. You have new muscle that you have worked hard to build, but now you need to train your body to get that muscle firing at optimal levels. Your new muscle needs that neurological adaptation. 

Recommended Workouts

True strength training is time consuming, so be ready for a lot of downtime between sets. When you start your program, try 2 to 3 sets with repetitions ranging from 1 to 5 (heavy weight!) on your core lifts (bench, squat, and deadlift). Add in a few more strength exercises after the first few weeks. 

Rest periods can vary; however, you want to have at least 2 to 5 minutes between sets. This is CRUCIAL for strength development. You want to make sure you are 100% rested or very close to it. This will allow your body to perform at the highest level during each set. The more you hit this high level, the easier it will become to fire those muscles, which increases strength levels. 

Get after it!

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

Okay, so you’ve been successful in your first two phases of developing your new workout program. You have progressed in your cardiovascular exercises throughout the weeks and your muscles have been feeling more “in shape” from your high repetition, low-weight muscular endurance training. What now?

The next progression I would recommend would be to start training for muscular hypertrophy, or more simply put, muscle building. 

Getting Ripped Versus Getting Toned

Muscle building is a term that seems fantastic to some (guys) and horrific for others (ladies). Guys (depending on your age) have an affinity to building muscle on a higher level because of a little hormone called Testosterone. The higher levels in men will allow for more tissue development, while the lower levels in women will not. Training for hypertrophy in females will yield a more desirable “toned” look versus a large gain in mass.

Changing the Variables to Develop Muscle Mass

When you are training for an increase in lean muscle mass, you will need to tweak the variables that you used for muscular endurance. To recap, those variables included sets, repetitions, and rest periods. 

• The sets you may perform can also start very low (1-2) if you are new to this type of training. As your experience increases, the amount of sets can double or even triple. 
• The repetitions that you perform will also adjust. Instead of doing reps in the 15-20 range, they will be more in the 8-12 range. With the decrease in repetitions comes an increase in the resistance (weight) that you are using. You want to make sure that each set is performed with a weight that can be done no more than 12 times. 
• Rest periods will also remain relatively low. 30 to 60 seconds of rest between sets is recommended. You will definitely “feel the burn” if you do it correctly.

The next blog in this series talks about how to activate your newly developed muscle tissue to increase your overall strength.

Get after it!

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