Training Pillars
The Training Pillars for getting started
1. Periodization and planning
2. Variety: HIIT/Weights/Cardio/Muscle Confusion and Stress
3. Nutrition and Recovery/Sleep
Pillar 1- Periodization
The question is do you want to get stronger/faster/fitter? Do you want to avoid plateaus?
All of us would like to improve 1% per day, every day for a year. This way we could take a 135lb bench press and turn it into a 600 lb bench in a year. Doesn’t work that way. We all want and expect our gains in strength and performance to be linear but the body needs programmed, planned recovery. The body must heal and periodization allows for us to program this concept into our workouts.
Lifting example
Week 1 you start at 115 on the bench and at Week 9 you are up to 135. But in that time interval you have increased your 3 Rep Max to 155. The weights may change but the concept is how you incrementally go up in weight, down in reps, and inch your way to your goal.
Running example
Week 1- 15 minute mile
Week 2- 14 minute Mile
Week 3- 13 minute Mile
Week 4- 12 minute Mile
Week 5- Restart back to week 2 pace- 14 minute mile
-Repeat- In order to keep pushing yourself and avoiding plateaus
Weight loss can be more linear but can follow a similar pattern of plateau/breakthrough.
Pillar 2- Variety: HIIT/Weights/Cardio
High Intensity Interval Training- HIIT- the new rule not the exception.
Medical descriptions of HIIT are as follows: four high-intensity intervals of 30–60 s at an RPE of 15–17 interspersed with 1–5 min of low-intensity intervals at an RPE < 14, progressing to 5–8 high-intensity intervals of 2–4 min during 20–45 min of training according to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines. The ACSM recommends that most adults engage in moderate-intensity cardiorespiratory exercise training for ≥30 min·d on ≥5 d·wk for a total of ≥150 min·wk, vigorous-intensity cardiorespiratory exercise training for ≥20 min·d on ≥3 d·wk (≥75 min·wk), or a combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity exercise to achieve a total energy expenditure of ≥500-1000 MET·min·wk. On 2-3 d·wk, adults should also perform resistance exercises for each of the major muscle groups, and neuromotor exercise involving balance, agility, and coordination. Crucial to maintaining joint range of movement, completing a series of flexibility exercises for each the major muscle-tendon groups (a total of 60 s per exercise) on ≥2 d·wk is recommended.
HIIT Examples:
1. 12 x 1 Minute sprints at >85% effort followed by 1 minute of active recovery (still moving but not sprinting)
2. 6-8 x 4 minute sprints at >85% effort followed by 2 minutes of active recovery
This super charges the metabolic system and has been shown to result in increased weight loss/improved performance. This is why HIIT workouts have been shown to be so effective for “treating the metabolic syndrome”. IE HIIT typically results in improved insulin sensitivity and decrease in fat percentage (among other benefits.
All this research has led me to recommend of 300 minutes of physical training a week to my patients. Conveniently that is what I am doing now: 60 minutes x 5 days/week. This is a bare minimum.
I call it physical training because it’s more than just exercise. We are training for a goal.
ACSM Recommendations
· 2-3 Days of Vigorous Training- HIIT/Cardio
· 2-3 Days of Resistance Training
· 2 Days of Range of motion/flexibility training
Mix and Match. Keep your body confused and always progressing. That is at the essence of what High Intensity Intervals do. The body is stressed by short burst of high output (sprints/increased rate of reps) intermixed with periods of low output recoveries.
Pillar 3- Nutrition and Recovery
Optimizing nutrition is the key to success in training and weight loss.
Read the book Fiber Fueled because it is probably the best review on the current state of nutrition. I really like the final conclusion: Eat a whole food, plant-based diet and try to get less than 15% of your calories from meat based sources.
Dietary Goals
· Organic
· Whole Food, Plant Based, Fiber Fueled
· Quality Protein
· No processed foods
· Intermittent Fasting- this topic is fascinating
· No sugar (like cookies/cake/etc), soft drinks
· No alcohol (5 glasses of red wine a week OK if healthy liver)
80% of the grocery store is highly processed. You want food that has sunshine and water as the ingredients. Real food.
Recovery
- is another vital consideration.
The book Why We Sleep is excellent and recovery is crucial to progress. Quantifying sleep is easier with current technology like the Whoop strap, Oura ring, apple watch. This technology not only lets you assess your sleep quality but also assess how recovered you are. Heart rate variability (HRV) is good and means you are recovered so these devices typically look at HRV in addition to other metrics to see how recovered you are. You may be interested in purchases one of these devices to quantify your progress and current condition