Prevail Conditioning Performance Center

New Faces at Prevail Conditioning

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 05:27:00 +0000

New to Prevail!

If you've been into Prevail Conditioning recently, you have probably noticed some new faces. If you get a chance to say hello and introduce yourself, please do! Our new staff and interns would love to meet you.

Please welcome our new team members.

Mallory Langston-Cooper: Yoga instructor extraordinaire. We have looked high and low to find a Yoga instructor who is the perfect compliment to Prevail’s holistic, multidisciplinary approach…Mallory was our great find. Make sure to check out her Saturday morning Yoga class (all of you who need extra mobility work!)

Justin Willis, CPT, CES, PES: Justin is a recent grad from UCSB and a great addition to our Strength Coach and post rehab training team.

Leah Gaston, CMT: massage therapy and bodywork has been a long time search and desire for Prevail Conditioning. We are so excited to have Leah on board to offer our clients the soft tissue, trigger point, and myofascial therapy they need. Schedule with her soon!

Alexis Anderson, BS, CSCS: she is tiny little thing, but sharp as a tack, packed with power, and full of smiles. Alexis is a recent grad of Westmont College and has been a fantastic addition to our Strength Coach and Personal Training team.

Kim Tom, CPT: another wonderful addition to our Personal Training staff. Kim brings a passion for fitness and desire to combine it with travel and adventure for clients looking for something new.

Interns!

Prevail has the best Interns around. Say hello to our summer crew and see if you can stump them with an exercise physiology question!

Greyson Schultz: UCSB Graduate

Gina Uribe Lamb: Westmont Graduate

Sherry Gutsch: University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Graduate

Exciting Prevail News Part 2: Chris Ecklund & La Cumbre Country Club

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 05:01:00 +0000

by Chris Ecklund, MA, CSCS, USAW

Chris Ecklund named Director of Performance & Fitness at La Cumbre Country Club, Santa Barbara

Not too long after Peter Blumert's arrival at Prevail Conditioning, he and I began to brainstorm some opportunities that may exist in Santa Barbara for us to develop new and exciting relationships that would allow us to further the industry-leading performance enhancement and fitness work we were doing within the walls of our facility. Our desire was to look externally for some possibilities to create satellite Prevail Conditioning Performance Centers at new locations where our impact and reach could grow.

After a couple years of looking into some options, we are excited to announce that a partnership has officially begun with La Cumbre Country Club. As of July 1st, 2014, I have taken the position of Director of Performance & Fitness at La Cumbre Country Club. For the last several years, LCCC has invested great time and monies into their development of a brand new and cutting edge Performance/Fitness Center. Through some wonderful relationships in the community, their need for a Performance Director was made known to us and we felt it was the perfect fit for Prevail.

Thus, as of July 1st, I am dedicating daily focus to LCCC in order to implement a satellite Prevail Conditioning systems and methodology into LCCC which will function under the banner La Cumbre Country Club. We will be staffing and serving the members with our highly degreed and certified Prevail Conditioning Trainers, Massage Therapists, Therapists, and Yoga professionals.

This will also allow me to continue to function in the CEO role for Prevail Conditioning Performance Center downtown in Santa Barbara while Peter Blumert will run the day-to-day operations of the facility. I will continue to be available and reachable for our clients, so please do not hesitate to call or email me directly should you have any questions or needs.

We are extremely excited about this new relationship and look forward to great things with La Cumbre Country Club. They have a fine tradition of excellence and a warm atmosphere that has spanned over 100 years.

email: chris@prevailconditioning.com

cell: 805.252.8349

Exciting Prevail News Part 1: Peter Blumert

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 04:47:00 +0000

by Chris Ecklund, MA, CSCS, USAW

Happy 4th of July weekend to you all. I trust this is a week of celebration and gratitude for the gifts and blessings we get to enjoy with our freedoms as citizens of this country.

As I sit and reflect a bit this week, I realize it has been some time since I have taken a moment to get all of you caught up to date with the wonderful and exciting things that are happening inside (and outside) the walls of Prevail Conditioning Performance Center. So allow me a moment to do so…

Peter Blumert, MS, CSCS, USAW is Prevail Conditioning's new Co-Owner!

As many of you may already know, Peter Blumert and his lovely wife, Erin, moved to Santa Barbara nearly 3 years ago to join the team at Prevail Conditioning and explore the opportunities as Performance Director and Strength Coach at Prevail. We prayerfully and thoughtfully considered this move for some time and were led to pursue it. One of the primary reasons for this move was to explore the possibility of Peter becoming a Business Partner in Prevail Conditioning. After over a year of discussing and working together, Peter and I agreed to move forward with that relationship. So, we are delighted to pass along to you the official announcement that Peter is now a Business Partner and Co-Owner of Prevail Conditioning. It has truly been a joy and pleasure to have Peter and Erin here with us and we are so excited for the wonderful gifts and passions that Peter and Erin bring to us.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:03:00 +0000

Do you have, know, or are a youth athlete? If so check out our youth speed, agility, and power clinic! Sign up and get faster in one day!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:19:00 +0000

Hey Everyone!

Our next 21 Days To A Stronger You program is starting May 5th! Sign up to see for yourself all of the ways Prevail can help you get stronger, move better, and be smarter!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 20:10:00 +0000

Vick's 21-Day Challenge

Hey guys,

So I have about a week left in this 21 day-challenge since I took a week off in the middle for spring break. It has been going great. The change to my diet has been one of the best parts of this program. I have found that I have been able to maintain my weight better. Before it would change daily but now I am slowly and steadily seeing an increase in my weight. The new diet helps me to have more sustained energy throughout the day. I no longer crash and am much more alert and focused throughout the day. It is incredible what a balanced diet can do for a person.

Here is what my actual program looks like.

Day 1:

BB Deadlift 4 sets of 10 reps
DB Bent Over Row 4 sets of 10 reps
Assisted Pull-ups 4 sets of 10 reps
Prone IYTW
Plank 2 sets of 1 minute at 1 minute rest

Day 2:
Squat 4 sets of 10 reps
DB Over Head Press 4 sets of 10 reps
Resisted Push Up 4 sets of 10 reps
External Rotation Pulls 3 sets of 10 reps
Cobra 2 sets of 1 minute at 1 minute rest

Day 3:
Single Leg Lunge 4 sets of 10 reps
DB Bent Over Row 4 sets of 10 reps
Kneeling Lat Pulldowns 4 sets of 10 reps
Prone IYTW
30 second Plank/30 second Cobra 2 sets of 1 minute at 1 minute rest

The idea behind it was to increase the overall endurance and strength of my whole body while lifting. I may not be gaining weight as quickly as I had hoped but I know that I am much stronger than I was at the beginning of this program. I have doubled the weight in every single one of my lifts since day one. My legs are visibly larger and stronger than the beginning, which is great. Overall this program has been a good starting point for me and my strength training. I am very pleased with the results and I plan on continuing to strength train now that I have the fundamentals and basics down. I feel confident that I can take what I have learned and continue to make improvements.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 21:38:00 +0000

Vick’s 21 day challenge

What’s up everyone! I’m Chris and I’m the new marketing and sales intern at Prevail Conditioning. I have decided to start a 21 day challenge for myself. Basically this is me wanting to improve on my over all strength, fitness, health and knowledge on all of these subjects. Currently I’m 6’1” 155-160lb and 23 years old. I love to play basketball so being fit is a huge part of that. As far as conditioning and cardio goes I’m pretty solid. But I am definitely lacking in the strength and size department.

In order to address some of these issues I have started training with one of Prevail Conditioning’s new trainers Justin. To start we set some challenging yet realistic goals for this challenge. Essentially I want to increase my overall strength and endurance when training as well as improving my posture. Numbers wise my goal is to increase my weight from 155lbs to 170lbs while still maintaining good functional movement. In other words I want to get big but not be like those monsters at the gym who can’t even touch their back.

Justin also went over some basic nutrition with me. We went through my diet for the previous 3 days and determined what I needed to change in order to have the best chance to reach my goals. Due to the amount of intense running and overall exercise that I do on a daily basis from basketball we determined that I am not eating nearly enough. Here is a photo of my diet over the last 2 days as well as some notes from Justin on what we can change and add in.

Justin then took me through some basic movement tests to determine what muscles/parts of my body are strong/moving correctly and which ones need improvement. From this test Justin was able to create a training program specific to my needs as well as some stretching/foam rolling exercises. I’m looking forward to starting this new program and seeing what kind of progress I can make!

Endurance Athletes NEED to Strength Train

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 20:56:00 +0000

By: Caitie Wippermann, MS, BS, CSCS

We all know that a large sector of the active population of Santa Barbara prefers to compete athletically in long distance races or triathlons. Even if not competing, I know I’ve seen plenty of people jogging in my neighborhood, at the track, all over the area. Training by doing long, continuous aerobic exercise provides obvious benefits, such as improved cardiovascular functioning and increased endurance. It may also help relieve stress and reduce weight for some.

However, endurance training alone, without a proper strength training plan has many issues. Many people will argue against the need for strength training for endurance events. I come from a track background and I can tell you that the distance runners were not the biggest fans of the weight room, to say the least. People think “why would I need a strength program when I am doing an endurance event? How does strength training improve my endurance? Won’t I become bulky and slow? It takes away my energy for running/cycling/etc.” I could go on and on with reasons.

Endurance athletes NEED to add in some type of strength training into their regular routine, especially if they are serious about becoming a better athlete. Here are the top reasons why:

1. Injury Prevention

I’m sure this sounds redundant but the truth is endurance athletes are constantly plagued by overuse injuries. How can they prevent these chronic injuries? By strengthening the bones, ligaments, tendons and muscle tissue, the body will become “sturdier”. This means that the body will be better able to handle the repetitive stressors placed upon it. Strength training builds greater bone density than running, cycling, and swimming do. Greater bone density will prevent against stress fractures that are so commonly seen in endurance athletes. Fewer injuries throughout the year will allow you to increase both the amount and the intensity of your training sessions.

2. Correcting Muscle Imbalances

Endurance events are characterized by repetitive motions in the same plane of movement. Certain muscles and planes of movement become neglected, leading to muscular imbalances. Think of a cyclist’s body position while they are training – shoulders and back hunched forward with knees buckling out to the sides. Over time, the amount of hours stuck in this position add up causing the muscles in the upper back to become elongated and weak while the muscles in the chest become shortened and tight. Basically, the backside of the body (hamstrings, glutes, rhomboids) is neglected while the front side (quadriceps, chest) is worked. Have you ever analyzed the typical jogger that you see on the streets? More than likely you will see inefficient running patterns. They may be hunched over, head tilted to one side or bobbing back and forth, shoulders rolled forwards, hips collapsing with each step, feet flailing out to the side, arms going across the body and a shortened stride length. Not all runners look this way; however, a large percentage of recreational joggers do. If they can become stronger and strengthen the muscles that become neglected from a jogging only routine (hips, posterior chain, core and shoulder stabilizers) they can correct some of these movement tendencies. This leads to my next point on running efficiency.

3. Running Economy

Now imagine a professional runner. They seem to run effortlessly, with long smooth strides. Why is this? These runners put more force into the ground with each step. Their body position is tall with all movements going forwards and backwards while eliminating side-to-side motions. They are more economical and save more energy while they are running. Studies have proven that adding in a strength training program will improve endurance performance in top level athletes. A study by Paavolainen, L., Hakkinen, K., Hamalainen, I., Numella, A., and Rusko, H. found that an explosive strength training program improved 5k time by improving running economy and muscle power. This was due to improved neuromuscular efficiency, not an improved VO₂ max (which is hard to improve in well-trained endurance athletes). Strength training recruits type IIa muscle fibers that can produce more force and contract faster than the type I fibers typically trained in endurance activities. This not only helps the kick at the end of the race, but improves every stride during the race. Another study by Aagaard, P, & Andersen, JL., found strength training to improve both short term (<15 and="" long="" min="" term="">30 min) endurance capacity in both well-trained and top-level endurance athletes. It is noted that strength training can also improve endurance ability in previously untrained individuals (Paavolainen, et al.). Adding in a progressive strength training program into your endurance training routine will make you faster by increasing your neuromuscular efficiency, causing you to be more powerful with each step by having shorter ground contact times and longer strides.

4. Balance Hormonal Secretions – Cortisol and Testosterone

Correcting this ratio will lead to improved body composition by increasing muscle mass which leads to a decreased body fat percentage when everything else is held constant. Constant long-duration, high volume aerobic training leads to increases in cortisol secretions and decreased testosterone. Chronically high levels of cortisol have been shown to weaken the immune system, leaving your body much more prone to illness and infections. By adding in resistance training, you can offset this ratio by increasing your testosterone. Say goodbye to frequent infections and time off from training! Chronically high cortisol levels will also break down muscle mass, causing your metabolism to slow and fat to accumulate. Strength work can help to maintain your muscle mass, making you a leaner, stronger and more powerful runner.

References:

Aagaard, P. & Andersen, JL. (2010). Effects of strength training on endurance capacity in top-level endurance athletes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine in Science and Sports, 2, 39-47.

Paavolainen, L., Hakkinen, K., Hamalainen, I., Nummela, A., & Rusko, H. (1999). Explosive-strength training improves 5-km running time by improving running economy and muscle power. Journal of Applied Physiology, 86(5), 1527-1533.

Coconut Oil Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 13:39:00 +0000

This is the fourth in a series of nutrition tips from our registered dietician Jill Latham. Each video is packed with practical tips and information to keep you eating healthy during every season of life. Check it out and tell us what you think!

New Technology in Movement Science

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 20:33:00 +0000

By: Samantha Kleen BS

Dr. Maury Hayashida and Dr. Tom Walters founded the ArthroKinetic Institute (AKI) in Santa Barbara after receiving training and education on movement science from University of Southern California. At the AKI movement laboratory, located at 319 Anacapa Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101, Dr. Hayashida and Dr. Walters offer movement analysis designed to prevent and correct musculoskeletal system dysfunction. Evidence-based medicine and affordability provide clients with confidence in the service they are receiving at AKI.

What To Expect

Upon arriving at AKI, clients can expect to be welcomed into a friendly and active environment. The building is shared with Hayashida & Associates Physical Therapy and the following services are offered: video motion analysis, manual therapy, and Neurac(TM). Clients will initially meet with a therapist and together they will discuss a cocktail of services unique to their case. Plates on the ground and on a treadmill allow for distribution of force to be measured, while high-speed video capabilities allow for visual feedback. A therapist will take their client through a series of movements using the force measurements and video analysis to address musculoskeletal dysfunction and implement a treatment plan.

Why It's Important

Video feedback at AKI provides the therapist and clients with tangible evidence of movement patterns, correct or dysfunctional, and instantly tracks progress. While any demographic can benefit from movement analysis, it's return spans far beyond sustaining good health. AKI technology can be used in advancing athletic performance, often times in the realm of preventative medicine, targeting an area of the body vulnerable to injury and demonstrating correct movement patterns. One of the most pervasive injuries in soccer is seen in ladies tearing their anterior cruciate ligament or meniscus, however, through the technology offered at AKI's movement laboratory, female athletes can be trained to gain more musculoskeletal and proprioceptive control. AKI-SB is on the front line of research for movement science and its service will continue to be validated as preventative medicine, a valid treatment for pain, and a successful alternative to surgical procedures.

Visit AKI-SB's website for more information: http://www.aki-sb.com/

Lifting with the Editor: Lower Body Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 22:18:00 +0000

Prevail Strength Coach Jacob Goodin

(note: if you read my Upper Body Day post, you can skip ahead to the next section)

Sometimes people mistakenly think that because their trainer or coach prescribes them certain workouts, that trainer must do the exact same things in their own training. While this is true in a very general sense because all of us at Prevail practice what we preach, each Prevail coach has their own unique style of training based on what they enjoy and their current goals. Here is a small window into another single day of of my training along with a glimpse of how my overall program is structured.

The Program (review from last time)

I train 4 days a week using an upper/lower split, focusing on a single primary barbell lift followed by several assistance lifts to augment strength gains and bring up any weaknesses. The primary lift gets the most focus and I plan out my sets, reps, and percentages carefully. The assistance lifts are usually done for sets of 8-10 using as much weight as I can muster on any given day. See below

Day 1 - Overhead Press + assistance work

Day 2 - Front Squat + assistance work

Day 3 - Bench Press + assistance work

Day 4 - Deadlift + assistance work

Day 2 - Squats!

This week was my scheduled "5/3/1" week, which means that each day I will complete 3 work sets of my primary lifts at 5x75%, 3x85%, and 1+x95% of my 1 RM. The 1+ denotes that on the last set, I will grind out as many reps as I can, hopefully setting a new rep PR. On this day I was able to get 4 reps at 205 (95% of my 1RM), which was awesome!

On Squat days I like to alternate between warm-up sets and an explosive movement before my work sets. Here I chose to do box jumps. As you can see, A1) is my front squat, showing 4 warm-up sets and 3 work sets. A2) is the box jump, and I did 4 sets of 4--one set for each squat warm-up set. The boxed-in 205x4 was my final set and a 4RM PR for me. Woohoo!

B1), B2), and B3) are my assistance lifts, which as mentioned are performed for higher reps.

C1) was my finisher of the day. I've been alternating between RFE and FE split squats, sometimes with chains, or a weight vest, or a plate, or a combination of those. It's a fun mental test.

Video Time!

Quite graciously, my training partner Tom Walters of AKI declined my offer to film him for this post because his squat form is so crisp that it might make me look bad. Ask him to demonstrate next time you see him!

I've been filming one or two lifts every training session so as to keep my focus off the camera and on the lifts, so these videos are not all from the same session. They should however, give you a good idea of what the aforementioned training session looks like.

Front Squat 205x6

Sliding Leg Curl x12

FE Split Squat 85x15

BAM! Another training session is in the books. Remember that your training should always reflect your goals, strengths, limitations, and passions.

Jacob Goodin is a Prevail strength coach, Westmont College instructor, and Providence Hall High School head track and cross-country coach. "Like" him on Facebook or go to prevailconditioning.com to set up a training session today!

Coaching Acceleration in Athletes PART 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 19:20:00 +0000

Daniel Guzman BS, CSCS

In my athletic career I have heard plenty of coaches make the following comment: "You can't coach speed. You are either fast or not." While I think these coaches were commenting on god given ability, they couldn't be more wrong. The fact is you CAN coach speed and you CAN coach your athletes to get faster. Otherwise, you are not doing your job as a movement specialist.

Acceleration is a change in velocity. In most cases this is measured from a dead stop to X distance in seconds.

WHY is acceleration important?

Simply put, if you can beat your opponent to the most optimal position, you win.

WHERE does this occur?

Practically this could be a football player getting off the line, a basketball player staying in a good defensive position, a tennis player getting across the court to return a hit, or in the most visible environment a sprinter's first 4-6 steps.

WHAT movements are we looking to coach?

POSTURE

If you can control your spine position while moving, you can put more force into the ground. Look for a neutral spine and head in line with the spine. The weight room is where you strengthen these positions. Conditioning should be where you condition these positions, not just a time to run your athlete's to "increase their cardio." Every repetition is important.

BODY ANGLES

When your posture is in sync, your lower body needs to create solid angles to produce the highest amount of force into the ground. Bad angles = leaked potential force. Each step we are looking for one leg to be in full triple extension (hip, ankle, knee) and the other to be in hip/knee flexion, and ankle dorsi-flexion.

BAD EXAMPLE GOOD EXAMPLE

FOOT POSITION

I touched on it a bit in the body angle portion, but I believe it holds so much more importance. When teaching acceleration from a 2 point or 3 point stance I almost always see the same thing. A plantar flexed foot that pulls all of the weight on the athletes toes. What we want is a foot that is more dorsiflexed to create a quicker elastic response to the ground and a decreased amount of time to putting force into the ground. It all comes down to eliminating the "unnecessary movements" we don't need.

BAD EXAMPLE GOOD EXAMPLE

Check in next week for PART 2 for some movement drills to teach acceleration.

Need guidance on your own journey to better health, fitness, or performance? Contact Daniel directly or head to prevailconditioning.com to set up a free session today!

Tabatas!

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Juliann Lynch, BS, CSCS

Let’s be honest. Prevail would probably FALL APART if it weren’t for the organization, diligence and expertise of our lovely office manager, Jade Mundell. She’s available and cheerful, a mom of three and LOVES to workout hard! It is my privilege to get to lift with Jade 3-4 days each week!    

Best training buds post workout #4!

Jade and I love to try new workouts. We frequently implement a form of interval training at the very end of our lifts, much like our clients get to experience after a Saturday morning Metabolic Blast with Peter or a Sparq class with Chris Tuesdays and Thursdays. Currently, our favorite type of interval training is called a Tabata. To quote Izumi Tabata, the inventor the Tabata workout and Japanese researcher, “six to eight very hard 20-second intervals with 10-second rest periods may be one of the best possible training protocols."

Tabatas, which Jade and I lovingly refer to as “Chewbaccas,” are a type of interval training that gets.it.DONE in just 4 minutes! That’s it! Heart rate up, calories obliterated, endorphins at max, BOOM! Tabatas create an EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), meaning your body has the potential to recover, rebuild and burn more calories longer than it would after running at a medium pace for 30 whole minutes!! So why not give it a whirl?

Last month, Jade sent me a link to a full body Tabata workout. We decided to try the workout once per week for a month. We made some things harder, rounded out others, and had a really good time. We scored each workout on a sweat scale of 1-INFERNO.

Here’s how the workout changed from week one to week 4:Each of the six mini-circuits below was completed four times for a total of eight working sets. There was ten seconds of rest in between exercises.

Some of the circuits (in yellow) remained the same each of the four weeks and we saw marked improvement in our performance over the course of the month. The sweat scale gradually increased to an "8" as we set goals and increased the difficulty of the exercises. Overall, we had fun and learned a lot about how to push ourselves and each other.

Just for fun, I encourage you to chat with one of the coaches at Prevail Conditioning to learn more about tagging a Tabata on the end of one of your next workouts. Grab a buddy, it's always more fun with some competition and a friend! We would love to help you pick a few exercises that fit into your personal training goals.

Train hard, have fun and smile a lot!

~Juliann Lynch

Lifting with the Editor: Upper Body Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Fri, 31 May 2013 21:53:00 +0000

Prevail Strength Coach Jacob Goodin

Sometimes people mistakenly think that because their trainer or coach prescribes them certain workouts, that trainer must do the exact same things in their own training. While this is true in a very general sense because all of us at Prevail practice what we preach, each Prevail coach has their own unique style of training based on what they enjoy and their current goals. Here is a small window into a single day of of my training along with a glimpse of how my overall program is structured.

The Program

Day 3 - Bench Press

This week was a scheduled down-week for me, so I used lower percentages in my primary lift (bench press) and did less assistance work. Here is a picture from my training log and a translation on the right in case it doesn't make sense. I list the lift performed on a single line with the weight and reps below it.

At the top of the page I wrote down that my work sets for the bench press (as opposed to warm-up sets) will be 3 sets of 5 reps at 60%, 65%, and 70% of my 1RM, and that the actual weights used will be 120, 130, and 140 lbs.

A1) and A2) was a power/core circuit that I use to transition smoothly from my warm-up (not recorded) and into the main lift.

B1) is the primary lift, and B2) functions as an active rest and to preserve shoulder health.

C1) and C2) are the first of my assistance exercises. I super-set high rep bench pressing and neutral grip chin-ups.

D1) and D2) are another push/pull superset, but this time using the suspension cables to add an intense stabilization challenge. This helps recruit rotator cuff and scapular stabilizers.

E2) was just some random rows that I added in for fun. E1) I scratched because I couldn't hold good shoulder position.

F1) was my finisher of the day, which is just a fun way to leave the gym feeling scorched and also increasing overall volume and work capacity.

Note: TRX is my abbreviation for the suspension straps

What Does this All Look Like?

Good question. Everyone knows what a bench press and chin-up are and I was short-handed using the camera since my training partner Dr. Tom Walters was out of town, so here are a couple videos of the not so familiar lifts that I did today.

TRX Push-ups Feet-Elevated:

Barbell Complex: Shrugs/Rows/Overhead Press

BAM! Another training session is in the books. Remember that your training should always reflect your goals, strengths, limitations, and passions. Stay tuned next time for some serious front squatting action featuring yours truly and my training partner Dr. Tom Walters of the Arthro-Kinetic Institute.

Jacob Goodin is a Prevail strength coach, Westmont College instructor, and Providence Hall High School head track and cross-country coach. "Like" him on Facebook or go to prevailconditioning.com to set up a training session today!

Achieving Postural Excellence

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Fri, 31 May 2013 20:39:00 +0000

Daniel Guzman, BS, CSCS

Posture can be one of two things in your life. Either you understand spinal position and sit/stand with good posture, or you don't. Simple enough. However, most people only think about their posture when someone tells them to sit-up straight or most likely when you read the title of this post.

Neutral Spine Position

Our bodies are created to hold a natural curve in our spine. It is kind of an S shape that starts with your cervical spine, moves to your thoracic, down to your lumbar and ends with your sacrum and coccyx. There are many muscles that help hold your posture correctly (or not).

Most gym jockees have no idea what a neutral spine is let alone holding spine position in a movement. One of the most common mistakes is when people lose their spine position in a Deadlift or Squat. But aren't those lower body lifts? Why would I worry about my upper body? Because if you don't then your back will hate you either immediately or in the near future as your load increases.

Another problem when teaching a neutral spine position is athletes moving into a lordotic position where your hips overly posterior tilt. Sometimes you might also see the ribs flare out or the chest stick out way too much.

Coaching Cues

First, check this post on learning to hold a neutral spine in a hip hinge.

Some common cues you might hear are: chest out, brace your core, chin tucked, scaps back and down.
The truth is, the best cues are the ones that work. You have to know your client and figure out the one description that will help them out the most. Teaching your athletes to hold a neutral spine will improve their lifts, prevent injury, and produce results in their competition.

Summary

Quality movement should be the most important focus of a training regimen. This will lead to greater power and strength gains in the weight room, which transfers into your sport. Whether you are deadlifting, squatting, pushing ot pulling, work to achieve a neutral spine.

Calcium, Iron, and Vegetarians

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:54:00 +0000

Jill Latham, MS, RD

This is the fourth video in a series of nutrition tips from Registered Dietician Jill Latham. Each video is packed with practical tips and information to keep you eating healthy during every season of life. Check it out and tell us what you think!

Visit Jill at her website Vibrant Earth Juices.

Lifting With the Editor: Push-up Slide Walk

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Fri, 10 May 2013 23:11:00 +0000

The Lift: Push-up slide walks are an upper-body/core finisher that can be tacked on to the end of any upper-body day. It puts the pecs, triceps, and anterior core under constant tension and requires a lot of focus to keep the form in check. If you can complete the movement it gives a great bang-for-your-buck.

The Good: I've been performing a few sets of this movement once a week after an upper-body lift and it is definitely a great way to encourage positional strength and sneak in some core work. I personally include zero direct core training in my own training because 1) it bores me to death and 2) my core strength seems to improve as I move heavy barbells around. All that to say that the first time I did this my abs were very sore for 48 hours after.

The Bad: If you look closely my head drops a bit on a couple reps and I'm not quite strong enough to completely unload the sliding hand. Also, the toe-scurry during the upward movement looks a little silly so if you do this in a big gym you could get some looks.

Neutral Spine with Pelvic Tilts Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

This is the final installment of a 3-part video series on golf posture by PGA pro Don Parsons, from the Studio at Twin Lakes. Don is an experienced and knowledgable golf pro with decades of competitive and teaching experience. When he is not analyzing golf swings, he trains with Prevail Coach Guzman to build a better physical foundation for his own swing.

Check out the video below! In case you missed them, here are links to Part I and Part II.

To set up a an appointment with Don, visit his website to set up an appointment today

Choosing 1 Exercise for Life

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:23:00 +0000

Daniel Guzman, BS, CSCS

The team at Prevail has been talking about their favorite movements or exercises to do in their programs. Some of us love metabolic work and others are more strength based. So we proposed the question:

If you could choose to perform just one lift or exercise for the rest of your life, what would you choose?

Office Manager Jade Mundell:
I would probably say a Tabata of some sort because they are quick, intense an effective. I like that I can add them into any workout to boost metabolic work. Also, if I’m short on time, I can do one anywhere with no equipment.

Coach Jacob Goodin:
I suppose I would have to say the deadlift. It uses and coordinates more muscle mass then any other lift. It also builds posterior chain strength, a nice bootay, and when coached correctly can help fix a host of postural problems. Plus, nothing feels better than ripping huge weights off the floor and then dropping them.

Coach Juliann Lynch:
My number one is a deadlift, but I love the push up as well. They require great scap and core stability through out the entire exercise. Plus, they can be done is so many different ways to alter where the workload is concentrated and body tension is really needed.

Coach Peter Blumert:
The Snatch. It has/teaches all the components of pure athleticism: mobility, stability, technique, power, strength, balance. More so than any other exercise, if I can still do a full squat snatch in 30 years from now, I will be a very happy old man.

Coach Chris Ecklund:
If only one: Clean - Front Squat - Jerk (from the floor). Probably a 2:2:1 ratio. Great posterior chain pull from the floor (and relatively light for us old guys). Helps maintain hip and ankle mobility, grip strength, upper body pulling patters. Good scap stability and dynamic pull. Triple Extension explosive movement. Love front squats, so I like this combo because it gives rise to various catch heights (catching high into a full squat, catching low in a squat). Also, the jerk for upper body push and shoulder girdle stability. Good eccentric shoulder press pattern.

Coach Daniel Guzman:
I would choose any form of the Clean (from the floor or hang, high catch position or low catch position). First, the clean is a movement that I have a lot to work on and I know I could continue to learn and perfect my clean for the rest of my life. It is a dynamic movement that calls for specific direction and rate of force development by recruiting typeII muscle fibers. One of the top choices for athletes as well.

Coconut Oil Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:39:00 +0000

Jill Latham, MS, RD

This is the third in a series of nutrition tips from our registered dietician Jill Latham. Each video is packed with practical tips and information to keep you eating healthy during every season of life. Check it out and tell us what you think!

Visit Jill at her website Vibrant Earth Juices.

Protein and Resistance Training

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 02:05:00 +0000

Jill Latham, MS, RD

This is the second in a series of nutrition tips from our registered dietician Jill Latham. Each video is packed with practical tips and information to keep you eating healthy during every season of life. Check it out and tell us what you think!

For nutrition consulting or juice orders, contact Jill directly or visit her website Vibrant Earth Juices.

Lifting with the Editor: Deadlift PR

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 02:04:00 +0000

skip to 1:45 for the final set

The Lift: Nothing increases posterior chain strength, recruits maximal motor units, and packs on slabs of lean muscle like the deadlift. That said, it is an oft-butchered exercise that can lead to big problems in the lumbar spine when form suffers or is poorly coached. You want to pull the bar into your legs as you keep a proud chest and put tension into the bar. Drive the heels into the floor as your glutes pull the weight up to your waist.

The Good: I have been deadlifting 3 times/week using low percentages of my previous 1RM so this was my first attempt at anything over 80% of my previous max. The form felt great on each set and when I hit 315 it felt relatively easy. After bumping it up to 335, it was hard, but I thought I could get 10 or 15 pounds more. After thinking it over, I decided to save that for another day and be happy with my new record. No sense in over-extending yourself for a few pounds more.

The Bad: I felt the slightest bit of movement in my low back on the last rep, which is fine since I was going for a max, except that it's not something you want to do more than a few times in a year. And even then it's best to back off early. That is what kept me from going for another heavier PR.

Importance of a Training Regimen for Firefighters

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 02:04:00 +0000

Daniel Guzman, BS, CSCS

Firefighters have a very physically demanding job. Not to take away from all the logistical and emotional strength that goes along with it as well; however, simply being able to perform a variety of movements in a specific time is important.

Let's take a step back. When I was in college at Westmont in Santa Barbara, there was a huge fire that ran through the school (The Tea Fire). I remember firefighters were being called from all around California to help put out the fire. These men and women must have worked continuous hours, possibly days, without a break. I am so thankful for everything they do and did that weekend to help our school and community in our time of trouble.

The Physical

Imagine the strength and endurance an individual would need to do this. The jacket, trousers, air equipment, supplemental equipment can weigh up to 70+ pounds. On top of wearing all that extra weight, these people have to physically work as long as it takes to get the job done. Whether this is putting out a fire, showing up to medical calls or being on a hotshot crew. It only makes sense that firefighters would need a well thought out training regimen in order to keep their movement and performance at a high level to be able to do their job.

The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research published a study in their March 2013 issue regarding physical fitness in Firefighters. This article said "The lack of an appropriate regular exercise program for these professionals may contribute to high on-duty injury rates and deaths caused by heart disease," (1).

Fundamentals of Active Duty

The article goes on to talk about the physical, mental, and emotional demands an individual will encounter while on duty. So what type of exercise program does a firefighter need? Look at the basic demands of active duty:

Low intensity physical activity for long periods of time accompanied by random bursts of high intensity activity.

What Should They Do?

I propose the following. Train for strength, train for endurance, condition healthy movement, prevent injury. First, firefighters need to have a foundation of strength just to wear the uniform (literally)! We are asking them to save our possessions, workplace, animals and personal lives. Second, they need to perform various movements for an undetermined amount of time. They don't know if they will be working for 5 minutes or 5 hours, so I high level of endurance is required. Thirdly, teach healthy movement. This is a career that people will plan to stay in their entire lives. Even if that leads to a desk job later down the road, you still want to allow that person to be able to enjoy their movement. The program should never be designed to sacrifice good movement for better conditioning only to let their bodies fall a part later on. As coaches we always want to teach proper positioning and correct movement, end of story. Finally, if a firefighter is injured, then they cannot do their job. So take the correct approach to injury prevention in your program. A big part of this can be the recovery outside the training program.

Be thankful for these men and women who work in our communities. If you're a firefighter seeking a good program, look for these things.

Need guidance on your own journey to better health, fitness, or performance? Contact Daniel directly or head to prevailconditioning.com to set up a free session today!

Originally published on Daniel's blog Daniel Guzman Strength and Conditioning

Neutral Thoracic Spine with Hip Hinge for Golf Swing Performance

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 02:03:00 +0000

This is the second of a 3-part video series on golf posture by PGA pro Don Parsons, from the Studio at Twin Lakes. Don is an experienced and knowledgable golf pro with decades of competitive and teaching experience. When he is not analyzing golf swings, he trains with Prevail Coach Guzman to build a better physical foundation for his own swing.

Check out the video below! If you missed Part I, find it here.

To set up a an appointment with Don, visit his website to set up an appointment today!

Nutrition and Performance Seminar

noreply@blogger.com (Jacob goodin) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 02:03:00 +0000