For the past 18 months at Fit Body Bootcamp, we integrated the Functional Movement Systems philosophies into our program design.  Our beliefs and methodologies have been based around these training systems for quite some time, and have been using the FMS baseline screening system for classifying if someone is able to safely enter our program to get the results they are looking for.  Integrating this system into our large group format program design has been nothing short of amazing.  Our team at Fit Body Bootcamp here really believes that this form of screening and standardizing movement is essential for safe, timely, effective results.

In order to better understand the premise of where these beliefs stem from, let’s take a look at some of the rules that Functional Movement Systems are based around.

• Pain should not be present while performing basic bodyweight movement patterns.  If there is pain associated with these basic movement patterns, movement patterns will be compromised and substantially increase the likelihood for developing further injury to the site of pain.  Also, this could lead to a secondary injury from the body compensating to avoid the pain or restricted movement.
• Having multiple limitations within several basic movement patterns, even if they’re pain free, can create compensations and general weaknesses that may lead to a greater likelihood of injury.
• Basic unilateral movement patterns should be symmetrical on both right and left sides of the body.
• Fundamental and basic movement patterning should precede performance related activities.
• Basic before Complex, Stable before Unstable

Foundational movement patterns need to be assessed before we can create a program designed to fit each individuals needs.  Our goal at Fit Body Bootcamp is to provide the best personal training services in Colorado Springs.  Using the Functional Movement Screening Systems, we were able to establish a solid baseline screening system to better help manage and prevent injury to the musculoskeletal system.  Also by establishing a baseline scoring criteria, we will be able to monitor and track progress to ensure that the right program is being implemented.

All of this screening, assessing, and implementing the right mix of corrective exercises into the programs are going to help keep our clientele safer and healthier for long periods of time.  We realize that injuries are going to happen.  However, it’s our job to reduce the likelihood of injury.  After all, if someone gets injured during training, their outlook and thought processes about exercise can be compromised for the rest of their lives.  Exercise should be enjoyable…Exercise should be well thought out and serve a purpose…Exercise should help you meet and exceed your goals…Exercise should help improve movement patterns and make daily activities more enjoyable.

This training philosophy is the foundation of our personal training and boot camp program design at Fit Body Bootcamp.  We’ve had multiple questions about exercises being “red lighted.”  The reason for taking certain exercises out of your program all stem back to these five rules.  It’s our job to get results and keep you injury free.  It’s all about the quality of the movement, not the quantity.

“For wrestlers, mental /psychological recovery is so important because too many wrestlers peak mid way through high school and never continue wrestling after high school or as seniors. Long term progress means everything regarding young athletes. This is why I never train them more than 3 x week. If we train a 4th time it is usually a day devoted to various form and agility drills and stretching.

As I mentioned before, the Russian conjugate and concurrent methods are great. The constant variety strains the CNS to a lesser extent and helps them avoid burn out. One thing I learned from Coach Ethan Reeve was to purposely make some work outs easy, allowing the athlete to go home still wanting to do more. This gives them that extra recovery and keeps them returning stronger. This is also where wrestlers and young athletes in general want to do more because they don’t understand how beneficial this is for them to actually do less during certain workouts. If I would have known this back when I was a kid I would have reduced my injuries greatly, many of which were overuse injuries!

With out doubt though, there are many tough workouts that challenge my athletes physically & mentally. If a workout was very taxing one day, the next workout I will make sure to taper the intensity level. We also taper our training before the season and in season. The volume, intensity & time are lowered during these times to keep the athlete healthy and in a state of peak performance as often as possible.”

-Zach Even-esh

Strength and Conditioning Interrogations

Alwyn Cosgrove 2006

From Chad Waterbury’s work we can use speed of movement as our gauge. When your speed slows, end the set.

Technical Progressions and Sophistication of Exercises

Olympic Lifts

Technical sophistication. These olympic lifts seem cool, but aren’t they dangerous? No. Not when progressed properly and the actual lifts are coached. They are actually one of the safest sports injury wise. Safer than general lifting weights. There are over use injuries, but you are getting them, you are probably working with some world class coaches that will help negate them.

These are just the way I like to progress things. Taking somebody with no experience to technical lift. Some people may be able to skip and progress in a matter of hours. Others may take years. Find yourself an USAW Club Coach to teach you proper mechanics when you get to the dowel rod phase. They are much more common than you would think(I’m one) and your football coach in high school most likely taught you incorrectly.

-Deadlift and it’s progressive variations(bodyweight, sandbag, kettlebell/dumbbell, etc)
-High pulls with various implements(bar, med balls, kettlebells, sandbags, etc)
-Kettlebell swings, this teaches the hip drive while using the arms as only attachments and not doing any of the work.
-Overhead throws, these teach 75% of what an olympic lift is. Taking something off the ground and getting triple extension(ankles, kness, hips) Use various implements and odd objects.
-Kettlebell and sandbag clean and presses. Find a good kettlebell coach to show you these and you’ll be very close to having the technical mastery needed for O-lifts.
-Dowel and PVC O-lift skills practice. I like to use this as a warmup prior to lower body work. Muscle snatches are excellent for warming up the shoulders prior to grappling or upper body work.
-At this point you should get a coach to analyze form, at a minimum send a video in to a coach if you don’t have one near by. Don’t go past this point without professional coaching unless you can promise to never ever blame a single injury on olympic weightlifting. I love the sport and it is extremely safe, but there are millions of douches giving it a bad rap when they have never even bothered to take one hour out of their life to have someone teach them properly.

As a side note the actual bar lifts have only two advantages over other implements. Heavier weights and increased coordination skills. For the majority of people the kettlebell/sandbag and odd object(logs, kegs, etc) lifts will be enough. I view the actual olympic lifts as the very end goal after years of skills sophistication or as a hobby sport.

Pullups

Refer to Pull-up Strength 2.0 for full progressions and video’s

The following learning progressions may apply to both categories depending on your current level.

Strength based-

• Start with negatives- slowly lowering yourself as described in the original article,beware eccentrics will cause more muscle soreness


• Progress to mixed grip- one palm facing you, one facing away, switch hands between sets


• Then chins- palms facing you


• Pull-ups- palms facing away 


• Finally weighted versions of all the above


• You may also use a band of partner to assist on any of the unweighted progressions.

Conditioning based-

• Jumping pull-ups- jump up, then lower yourself under control, but not slow like the strength based negatives. These are an excellent conditioner at any level if done with a good speed


• Mixed grip kipping- Same as strength based but this time use a kip to get a rhythm and speed


• Chin grip kipping- Same as strength based but this time use a kip to get a rhythm and speed


• Full kipping pull ups- Same as strength based but this time use a kip to get a rhythm and speed

Brutal Wall Walking for Serious Power

By Jim Smith, CSCS

Hand balancing and other gymnastic movements were used by the old-time strongmen such as Eugen Sandow, Otto Arco and Sig Klein. As you know, these physical culturalists had some of the strongest and most ripped abdominals ever displayed. In fact, some of their feats of strength have yet to be equaled. What most don’t realize is that these men used gymnastics and simple bodyweight movements to build their insane strength.



A movement that I utilize with my wrestlers and combat athletes is wall walking. It is one segment of the full execution of walking on your hands. The full version of walking on your hands takes a while to really get the hang of, so working the same musculature but with a more rudimentary movement is easy and quicker to implement.

Wall walking involves having the athlete setup in a hand stand position against a wall. From there, they will walk their hands out until their body is parallel to the ground. To complete the movement, they begin walking their feet back up, returning to the starting position close to the wall. That is one rep. Continue walking out and walking back up the wall for the desired volume or until the athlete collapses!



Building huge upper body strength, elite levels of torso strength and helping to regulate breathing, wall walking will without a doubt provide your athletes with a truly brutal exercise that will have them crushing their opponents.



About the Author
Jim Smith is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and an expert trainer who writes for Men’s Fitness and the Elite Q/A Staff. Jim has been involved in strength training as a performance enhancement specialist for over 8 years and has worked with athletes from various sports who compete at various levels. He has published articles about his unique training style and innovative methods for many prominent strength and fitness related sites. He is also the authored of three renowned strength manuals. For more innovative training solutions, visit CombatCoreStrength.com

For real core strength, check out:
CombatCoreStrength.com

Combat to the Core

By Jim Smith, CSCS

In this recent news story, Combat to the Core, Staff Sgt. Carlos Diaz discusses strengthening of our service men and women discusses a comprehensive approach to their abdominal training.

Here are a few excerpts:

“Core strength refers to abdominal and back muscles used to support the spine and keep bodies stable and balanced.” and

“In general, strength core exercises such as Pilates and yoga have become very popular over the years because they concentrate on building good posture.”

In this article it also shows the service men and women engaging in sit-ups. Let’s take this point by point:

• Yes, the “core” does involve the abdominals and back, but what about the activation of the glutes and hip complex and their role stabilizing the pelvis?
  
  
  
• Yes, posture is very important and determines the athete’s ability to activate and engage the appropriate musculature for specific movements. Bad posture will spawn dysfunctional and compensation. Pilates and yoga inherently promote better flexibility, but how much is needed? Be careful as some yoga asanas engage extreme positions and could lead to promoting flexibility in areas that require stability, namely the lower lumbar. Improve the tension / length relationships of the musculature and surrounding soft tissue and execute a balance of movements, i.e. a push for a pull during your workouts.
  
  
  
• Stop doing sit-ups! This hip flexor dominate exercise only acts to exacerbate tight hips, anterior pelvic tilt, glute dysfunction and over-active hamstrings. Get off your back and start moving!
  
  

Nomar Garciaparra’s Baseball Core Routine

By Jim Smith CSCS

From the Stack, this article details Nomar Garciaparra’s (a six time all-star with the Dodgers) baseball core strengthening routine.

I really like this statement outlined in the article:

“…think of a young athlete that lifts weights for the first time. Jen Walker states that rapid gains are made, but those gains aren’t at the muscular level, they are at the neurological level. The gains are made through an efficiency improvement in overall movement.”

This is an imperative distiction when considering to load an athlete as they improve. Foundational strength levels must be well established and evaluated before speed of movement is considered. This is especially true of young athletes or those whose stregth training age is young. It is also of equal importance when discussing the explosive rotational movements of baseball players.

Another training concept to highlight:

“Everything that we do is geared towards augmenting our athletes’ on-the-field movement,” explains Friedman, “So we focus on body movements rather than the individual parts of the body.”

Simple, sensible and yet profound. The goal is essentially to improve athletic performance. Strength training or GPP increases the athlete’s potential to perform at a higher level on the field and since movement does not occur in isolation, the athlete must be trained with compound, full-body movements.

Craig Friedman (trainer) focuses Nomar’s core training on medicine ball work. He incorporates explosive exercises such as: Med Ball Swings, Granny Tosses, Squat-to-Press Passes, Overhead Passes and Chest Passes, Craig understands that explosive movements where the weight or implement is released have a higher power output and a faster speed of movement.

About the Author
Jim Smith is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist who writes for Men’s Fitness and the Elite Q/A Staff. Jim has been involved in strength training as a performance enhancement specialist for over 8 years and has worked with athletes from various sports who compete at various levels. He has published articles about his unique training style and innovative methods for many prominent strength and fitness related sites. He is also the authored of three renowned strength manuals. For more innovative training solutions, visit CombatCoreStrength.com

For real core strength, check out:

CombatCoreStrength.com

The Benefits of Zercher Lifts

By Jim Smith, CSCS

You would be hard pressed to find a strength professional that wouldn’t back up the benefits of zercher style lifts. They are irrefutably some of the toughest means of core training that should be part of any serious strength program.

A zercher lift involves the weight, typically a bar, being held in front of the body in the bend of your arms. When the weight is in place you perform a basic movement, instantly turning the exercise from basic to a “big money” movement; getting more bang for your buck so to speak. Try for yourself and experiment with one of the following combinations and see if you can find a muscle group that you weren’t aggressively engaging.

Zercher lifts can be performed with:

• Sandbags
  
• Barbells
  
• Axles
  
• EZ Curl Bar
  
• Rocks
  
• Logs
  
• Partner’s Bodyweight

• Lunges
  
• Step-ups
  
• Squats
  
• Deadlifts (sometimes called Prisoner Squats)
  
• Walks
  
• Torso Rotations

Politically Incorrect Holiday Fat Loss Tips

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

I was at a big event last week and was reminded how
important it is to have strategies for this season of high-calorie
parties and busy schedules. But I get ticked off by the tired old
suggestions you find on the Internet or in magazines like Woman’s World.

Often the suggestions are lack any substance, because the writers don’t want to imply you actually have to make a sacrifice to succeed. They make fat loss sound easy, as if all you had to do was park at the far end of the parking lot and you’d burn all the
calories from 5 shortbread cookies.

Well it doesn’t work that way…So here are my politically
incorrect, unique Turbulence Training strategies to help you keep off the holiday pounds.

By the way, I “borrowed” a few ideas from contestants in my
Turbulence Training Transformation Contest. The Transformation is rocking with social support and success stories right now, even while the rest of the world struggles with weight gain, these TT users are losing fat over the holidays.

Click here to get started with Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

Strategy #1 – Green Tea & Almonds

One of the most common tips you’ll hear is to “fill up” before you
go to a party where there will be lots of goodies.

Unfortunately, most people I talk to have no luck with this tip.
Most people still go to a party and eat everything in sight.

But recently TT users have told me that having a cup of Green Tea and one ounce of almonds has helped them avoid holiday cravings better than anything ever before.

The fiber from the almonds reduces appetite while the small amount of caffeine from the Green Tea seems to increase mental alertness and keep you “energized” at the party.

Hopefully that might work for you…

Strategy #2 – Don’t waste your time on any fancy cardio programs

Listen, the bottom line over the holiday season is that your success depends almost entirely on your nutrition.

You can’t expect to hit the cardio confessional and burn off last
night’s 2000 calorie smorgasboard. That’s a 4-hour workout. Instead, don’t get into that situation in the first place.

Here are more nutrition tips:

- Focus on portion control (and if you have no discipline, forget
even trying to eat just one)
- Nix all drinks mixed with calorie-containing beverages, or better yet, just stop getting drunk. Period.
- Write down everything you eat to identify your problem spots. Then do whatever you need to do to eliminate your weaknesses. If you don’t record your nutrition, chances are you’ll miss big
opportunities to change your diet and lose fat.

Strategy #3 – Take care of yourself first.

My friend Holly Rigsby (of http://www.fityummymummy.com) is always reminding busy moms to take care of themselves first, and I think that suggestion applies at this time of year to everyone.

So take a deep breath. Ask yourself as you’re running around to
please everyone else, “Have you set aside time for yourself”

Be selfish. Make sure you have had some exercise time, some good nutrition, and some rest before overextending yourself and doing too much for other people when you haven’t taken care of yourself and your goals first.

Strategy #4 – Get on a roll

This one comes from a TT Transformation contestant who is too busy losing fat to get off track over the holidays.

Don’t procrastinate till January 1st. Get started now. Dozens of
men and women are doing their Turbulence Training Transformations right now – through the heart of the holiday season.

They aren’t waiting for Jan. 1st to show up. They are taking
control now, and getting on a roll, and not letting anything (from
work parties to peer pressure) get in their way.

Strategy #5 – Exercise in short bursts whenever you can

Don’t be afraid to dance at your Christmas party. Don’t worry, there is bound to be at least one worse dancer than you out on the floor. Have fun and get down!

On a more serious note, here’s how to avoid falling off the fitness
program during the busy holiday season.

Get your butt out of bed 15 minutes early so you can have 3 minutes to wake up and 12 minutes to do the December 2007 Turbulence Training 12-Minute Workouts.

Get this workout as part of your bonuses when you start using
Turbulence Training today: Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

Stay healthy and fit over the holidays,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author

Learn about the “Dark Side of Cardio” in the free report from Craig Ballantyne at www.TurbulenceTraining.com. Craig is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Interview With Jim Smith, CSCS – Author of Combat Core

By Nathan Cragg

Editors note-If you purchase AMD, you have the option of Combat Core manual as a package

I recently had a chance to sit down with Jim Smith, CSCS of the Diesel Crew and the author of Combat Core. I was able to get the low down on his new product and talk to him about what “real” core strength is all about.

[Nathan] Question: Jim, First off, thanks for the interview. What do you think is the biggest mistake most trainers make when trying to develop core strength?

[JS] Most trainers focus on what I have dubbed building strength of movement patterns. What they fail to realize is that this is only one piece of the total puzzle. Building strength in the gym with movements like leg lifts, sit-ups, reverse sit-ups and so on…is a compliment to a bigger, more comprehensive core strength program. There are other criteria that make up the rest of the pyramid that I have established in Combat Core.

[Nathan] Question: What, in your opinion, is the biggest myth concerning abdominal programs?

[JS] For trainers, I would point to my previous response. For the general public and even athletes, I would say that they believe that “more is better.” They believe, if they do 1000 crunches each workout, they will get ripped abs. Of course, the real answer is that being able to display a sick set of abs is the direct result of low body fat levels. If you want abs, you better get the fat off that is covering them.

[Nathan] Question: How does core strength affect back pain and posture?

[JS] Your abdominals and back musculature work together to stabilize and protect the spine, hips and pelvis. If any of these muscle groups (and surrounding structures) are weak, posture is affected and sometimes the muscles (groups) become inhibited which causes the secondary movers to become overactive or on-tension. This will inevitably lead to injury and poor performance. Building torso strength by incorporating compound exercises that activate many muscle groups at the same time, teaches the lifter or athlete to move their body as a single, coordinated unit. Isolated exercises tend to lead to imbalances if used too much.

[Nathan] Question: How has your abdominal training strategies changed over the years?

[JS] I used to think that by throwing in a couple sets of sit-ups or leg raises at the end of the workout was enough torso strengthening work. But over the years as I have gained experience and continued to study performance, I have developed a new, more comprehensive training model specific to athletes. The same attention and effort that you put in to planning your primary training sessions, you must also spend on designing your core training strategies.

About the Author
Jim Smith is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist who writes for Men’s Fitness and the Elite Q/A Staff. Jim has been involved in strength training as a performance enhancement specialist for over 8 years and has worked with athletes from various sports who compete at various levels. He has published articles about his unique training style and innovative methods for many prominent strength and fitness related sites. He is also the authored of three renowned strength manuals. For more innovative training solutions, visit CombatCoreStrength.com

For real core strength, check out:

CombatCoreStrength.com

The Top 5 Fat Burners

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Let’s get right to it…here are 5 ways to make this a great
fat-burning day…

1) Do Something You Love

If you are a beginner and you hate the gym, just do something you love! Don’t make your healthy lifestyle a prison sentence. Enjoy what you eat and do. Just don’t eat garbage and don’t look at exercise as punishment.

2) Strength Training

A very, very recent study (published in the May issue of the
Journal of Applied Physiology 102:1 767, 2007) showed that
resistance training boosts metabolism by 10% and increases fat
burning by 100%!

3) Interval Training

The latest research from Australia showed a more weight loss from interval training than from long, slow cardio. In fact, the long, slow cardio group didn’t lose any weight. AND – this study was done in women…so yes, Turbulence Training works for women. Strength training and interval training are the 1-2 punch that blowtorch fat off your body.

4) Eat 6 Small Meals of Whole, Natural Foods

Fruits and vegetables, protein, nuts, and healthy fats. It’s that
simple. Don’t spend another dollar on “the latest diet”. You
ALREADY KNOW what to do!

5) Avoid Booze, Sugar, Trans-Fats, & Inactivity

Yeah, I know, real “secrets” here, CB. “Thanks”, you’re thinking
sarcastically. Listen, sometimes we just need the motivation. Maybe there is a donut within reach, or you’re thinking about watching the tube instead of exercising, or you’ve got a cookie in one hand and an apple in the other.

Let this be a simple reminder to make the right choice.

Everything you do takes you closer to OR away from fat loss,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com