You don't need a bigger cannon!

Hey Guys,

Today we continue the Strength and Conditioning (S&C) article by coach Mal Fitzgerald.

Take a look and let me know what you think!

YOU DON’T NEED A BIGGER CANON!

Athletes want to win.  No matter what the sport, you take part to win – either as part of a team or as an individual.  In every sport there are winners and losers; but at the end of a fight – it’s your hand you want in the air. 

Strength & conditioning enables you to express your technical skills (punching, kicking, sprinting, jumping, etc) with more power, speed and energy – it’s that simple.  I have seen very talented and technically brilliant fighters lose because they ran out of power or energy in the crucial stage of a fight. Although developing a strength & conditioning programme can be a complex process, even without access to a specialist, there is a   LOT you can do to structure your training to improve those vital physical qualities.  So, let’s start with the basics.

In strength & conditioning, there is a phrase that get used a lot – ‘You can’t shoot a canon from a canoe!’.   It’s pretty simple really – you could have a bigger canon than everyone else, but if you don’t have a solid base to fire it from, then you just making a big noise!  (plus, you end up being very wet!) So a solid foundation is vital and in this case; that foundation is strength. 

There are very few sports that don’t require an appropriate level of strength (darts and snooker being the only ones I can think of, if you can think of some more, please let me know) to perform them effectively.  If you are a runner and you can exert more force with each foot strike you are going to travel faster and need fewer steps.  If you’re a fighter and you can punch faster and harder, you significantly increase your chances of inflicting more damage to your opponent.  Strength is the foundation that every other physical quality is built on: Force, Power, Speed.  Think of what happens if you replace your canoe with a concrete island!

My experience is that far too many athletes focus on conditioning in their training, probably because their greatest fear is ‘gassing out’; running out of energy in a game or a competition.  Developing your energy systems is important for any sport and I will cover this in later articles, but for right now – start with the foundation.  Without strength you cannot have power.  Force x Velocity = Power (or put another way, Strength x Speed = Power).  One thing I do need to point out is that I am not talking about getting bigger.  If your sport is bodybuilding (yes, it’s classed as a sport) then size is your goal, so ‘crack on’ – but for the majority of athletes (with the exception of Rugby) you want to be stronger, not bigger. 

A lot people compete in specific weight categories so adding size and weight is the last thing they want.  Being stronger doesn’t mean being bigger.  Strength is developed by making your muscles more effective at moving a load, not by making them bigger.  To develop strength you have to put your body under load and you have to increase the load progressively over time. So how can YOU do this for yourself? 

• 1.     Build a foundation of strength, particularly if your sport has an ‘Off Season’.  Spend at least 8-12 weeks developing your strength at least three times per week. 
• 2.     Do a proper warm up! I don’t mean have a quick five minutes on the treadmill either.  A good warm up should take the majority of your joints through a good range of motion, get some blood flow to the muscles, raise your body temperature and prepare you for the movements your about to tackle. 
• 3.     Use compound movements.  Compound movements use a combination of different muscle groups; Squat, Deadlift, Full Body dips, Pull Ups (my opinion is that ALL athletes should be able to do at least 10 bodyweight pull ups).  If your sport has some kind of overhead limb movement you can include some shoulder press movements in there, if you have no shoulder mobility or injury issues.
• 4.     Do whole body sessions, include movements for lower body, upper body and trunk stability.
• 5.     Perform 3-5 reps for between four to five sets of each movement.  If you are using heavy loads, take longer rests of 2-3 minutes between each set to let your energy systems catch up with the demand.
• 6.     Limit the number of movements/exercises you do – stick to between four or six per session; quality over quantity!
• 7.     Keep a training log.  This is probably the most important thing to do.  Make a note of your exercises, how many sets you did, how many reps you did and what weight you used.  Did you hit your target for that set or session?  What weight will you use next time?  Think about progression – increase the load you move over time. 
• 8.     De-load!  Every four to six weeks, reduce the load you are lifting.  Stick to the weight, just do less sets or reps to give yourself (and your body) time to adapt.  Some people will need to de-load sooner, some later – everyone will adapt at a different pace.

That gives you the basics.  Don’t forget, they are not called ‘Basics’ because they are easy or for beginners.  They are the foundations to build a better athlete.

Mal.

You can find more from Mal HERE

Stay healthy,

Mike

Interview with Barry Gibson from GrappleFit

Hey Guys,

Today I want to share with you an interview I did with Barry Gibson from GrappleFit.

Barry is a strength and conditioning coach that works with people from all walks of life, from regular people to professional athletes including the UFC stars Ross Pearson, Colin Fletcher and many others!

Me and Barry work with quite a few athletes together and I know how amazing he is at creating strong, powerful athletes. With that in mind I sat him down to pick his brains a bit!

Sorry for the lack of video on the video as it is just audio. It's well worth a listen and I learned a ton just from doing it!

Please watch and share!

Barry is an amazing coach and you can find out more about him and GrappleFit HERE

Also for more interviews and articles make sure you have a quick look here.

Stay healthy,

Mike

Strength and Conditioning Article from Mal Fitzgerald

Hey Guys,

Here is our monthly S&C article by our resident Guru Mal. Enjoy!

I had something completely different to write up for this article (well, in my head at least) – but over the last couple of weeks I have had messages and emails that have all pretty much been on the same issue – Christmas!  Unfortunately, none of them were asking me what I wanted for Christmas (now there is a surprise) but rather how they cope with Christmas interfering with their training.

At this point I can feel the readership splitting, with one half saying ‘Seriously’; with the other half saying ‘Yeah, makes sense’. 

Now, when I write an annual plan for an athlete I always plot in their holidays and breaks so that I know what I need to do to work around them.  The majority of people I work with never have any competitions or events during the Christmas break, so as long as they don’t have something booked in around this period - I don’t schedule any training in, which for some could be about two weeks off (obviously if they do have a match or competition, then the story changes).

I can hear the gasps of horror already while some people are reading this – ‘What…no training for two weeks!!’.  (I know, I should be struck off for making such outlandish statements) Guess what – that is exactly what a lot of the athletes say too! 

Every year…same thing.  Even though they have seen the plan; even though they know what they are working towards and when they need to peak (which I will cover in a future article) some of them still freak out at NOT training (although I suspect it also has something to do with not having an excuse to escape the in-laws).  Now, whilst I may not plan anything in, a lot of people do fit in training sessions during Christmas and that’s fine, if it is what they want to do.  The important thing is that they reign back on the volume and intensity and have a BREAK.  There, I said it! If you are training consistently – if you have a plan – if you have set goals about what you are aiming for – then take the break.  Nick Grantham (a really top level S&C Coach, you should check out his blog) once explained it very simply. 

Think of your training like a bank account.  Every training session is a deposit into that account.  Throughout the year you are paying in, paying in, paying in.  Every now and again, you can make a withdrawal – you take something back.  This is your break.  Think of it like a planned cheat meal in your nutritional plan. 

The summer holiday in Ibiza; withdrawal.  The weekend at the races with your mates; withdrawl.  Even taking a break due to injury is a withdrawal from your account.  I had major surgery on my shoulder last year.  It took months before I could train again.  It is a terrible feeling being in a gym training other people when you can’t do anything. When I did start training again, it didn’t take long before I made progress to get back to where I (almost) was.  I have been paying into my account for years and because of that, I didn’t fall into the RED.

So as long as you are consistent, making regular payments into your account – every now and again you can take something back and not have to pack your backs from the resulting guilt trip.  You are not going to lose your ‘GAINZ’.  You not suddenly going to develop lungs like small party balloons and that fine chiselled physique is not going suddenly look like Christian Bale in the Machinist.

The other side of this is of course is that you can’t take out more than you have put in.  I do know people that are not consistent in their training or nutrition and are constantly ‘overdrawn’.  A very small percentage of people can perform for a period of time based on good genetics; but in the long game – a poor lifestyle will crush great genetics every time.  

For the rest of you hard working, dedicated people – take something back and have a really good Christmas and look forward to a great New Year.

NEW SERIES! Strength and Conditioning articles!

Hey Guys,

Today we start our Strength and Conditioning article series with Coach Mat Fitzgerald.

Here is what he had to say!

‘YOU’RE A WHAT?’

..or put another way ‘What the hell is a Strength & Conditioning Coach anyhow?’

I know, not exactly a snappy title right?  It is hard coming up with a title that is going to grab your attention and make you read the words below it.  This was my fourth attempt; ‘The role of strength and conditioning professional in performance enhancement and the critical elements of periodization for optimal performance’ wasn’t really doing it for me – so hence the rather shorter one above!   Still awake?  Ok, lets crack on then…….. 

If you work in a job that isn’t on someone’s  register of ‘I know what that is’ then the chances are, this has happened to you.  In any kind of social gathering; parties, christening, that kind of event - there is a point where you will come across someone you don’t know and inevitably in the flow of polite conversation comes the question ‘So what do you do?.   That’s when the ‘You’re a what?’ comes back at me.

I’m a Strength & Conditioning Coach and to the general population these words conjure up an image of huge men lifting barbells full of weights or bodybuilders strutting round in really tight little pants.  To be fair, unless you were an elite athlete or a professional in your sport it was probably something you had ever been exposed to or experienced before either.  It doesn’t help that different job titles pretty much mean the same thing; Performance Specialist, Physical Performance Coach, Sports Enhancement Consultant, Re-Conditioning Coach….it’s basically all strength & conditioning. 

Some people think that kettle bells, ropes, sledgehammers or tractor tyres are strength & conditioning; ‘Right lads, we’re doing strength and conditioning tonight…break out the prowler’. 

(Note: if you have never used a prowler before – it’s really not what you think.  You should try it sometime…honest!)  

These are actually some of the ‘tools’ that we use in strength & conditioning, but in reality, it is a little bit more involved than that. Thankfully more and more athletes understand what they get from strength & conditioning and gradually it is becoming more accessible to recreational, amateur and semi-professional athletes across a wide range of sports and it is no longer just the preserve of high level performers.  So…just for clarity…let’s look at what S&C really means and what it involves.

I always take the view that if you take part in a sport, then you want to be GOOD at that sport.  I can’t really think of any one I have worked with that didn’t really care how they performed (you may know different).  Being good at any sport depends on three important elements coming together.  Together these elements are what I call the ‘Model of Optimal Performance’.

Technical Preparation + Tactical Preparation + Physical Preparation = OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE

Technical preparation – traditionally this has the biggest focus for most athletes (and while I’m at it - if you take part in a sport, at any level – you’re an athlete).  This is about learning and developing your skills in your sport.  You can learn a skill quickly, but it can take years to develop that skill and most athletes will continue to improve their skills for however long they participate in their sport.  Even for sports that might look quite simple to execute, for example throwing a javelin.  The number of different motor skills that have to be developed then brought together seamlessly to have the ability to propel the javelin across long distances is staggering.

Tactical preparation – this can apply to team and individual sports.  What is your plan going into the game or match?  Tactics can apply to what formation your team will play to give you an advantage  or It could be knowing that your opponent is carrying an injury and how you will use this to your advantage.  Tactical preparation enables you to solve problems and think how you put together your skills to come up with solutions. 

Physical preparation – this is where I come in.  My role as an S&C Coach is to make sure an athlete has the physical capacity to use and sustain their skills at the highest level possible.  Strength & Conditioning Coaches use science and evidence of what works and put into practice in a plan for the athlete. 

Every athlete is individual and every sport has very different physical demands, so if you really want to be good (or even the best) at your sport, your training should be structured to meet the demands of your sport – and not how good you want to look in a pair of ’swimmies’ on the beach in Ibiza.

How this works in practice – what we actually do!  When I start to work with an athlete there is a basic process to go through.  Before we even look at a weight or get out on to a field, we learn! More specifically…..I learn.

The most important part of the whole process is the athlete.  A good S&C Coach will get as much information as possible about that person.  How long have they being taking part in their sport?  At what level do they take part?  What is their injury history like?  Have often do they train?  What other commitments and pressures do they have in their life?  How much sleep do they get?  There is a lot to find out; because if I have any chance of improving their performance in a sport, I need to make every plan I write individual to them! 

The next part of the process is understanding the sport.  An S&C Coach should be able to improve performance in ANY sport.  To do this I analyse the physical demands of the sport.  I look at movement patterns (not just muscle actions).  Are there are lot of quick changes in direction?  How fast do you need to be?  What distances do you need to cover?  What is the work to rest ratio?  How long is the total play?  What forces are the body and the joints subjected to?  What is the potential for injury and what are the common injuries of the sport? 

A big part of S&C (if not one of THE most important parts) is to minimise the risk of injury.  You could be the star player in your team; but if you miss half the season through injury, the guy (or gal) who is not as good as you but has played every game and had more chance to improve than you have is going to be the better choice for any coach.

After I have collected all this information I have to put it together in a plan.  Sometimes the plan covers a fairly short space of time, like an 8 week Fight Camp or six weeks of pre-season football training.  Other times it will cover a full year where the athletes has anywhere from two or three competitions right through to an entire season. 

The plan gets you to your ‘Peak’ before your competition.  It tells you when and how to train and when to rest.  The plan is there to develop all the physical qualities you need improve, whether that is movement efficiency, strength, co-ordination, speed or power.  Everything the S&C Coach does is focused on you as an athlete and how to make you better at your sport. 

Ok, so maybe now you have a better understanding (if you didn’t already know) about what we actually do and what S&C is all about – this is however making it sound very simple, which sometimes it is and other times it is very, very complex.   What I hope to do is make S&C more accessible, for everyone. 

Through regular monthly articles on this site, I have the opportunity to break down S&C into manageable, understandable chunks.  From planning training, developing power and speed- right through to improving specific aspects of performance.  

I will talk about why being strong doesn’t mean having bigger muscles and or making you slower.  Why running isn’t the only way to improve your aerobic capacity.  I will cover why resting is vital to your performance and why learning to move properly is foundation of all sports and might be what is holding you back in your sport.

You may have questions – great, send them in and I will try to answer them. If you have a specific issue or topic you want me to cover….just let me, or Mike know!   I do this job because I want to make people (athletes) better at what they do.  Hopefully that will include YOU!

Biography

Mal Fitzgerald is a self-employed Strength & Conditioning Coach and Personal Trainer trading as Performance Conditioning & Fitness.  He works with a broad range of individual athletes (mainly combat athletes) and teams at all levels from recreational though to British & World Champions.  He is currently studying for an MSc in Strength & Conditioning at Teesside University and as well as being an Olympic Lifting Coach, competes in the Masters Category of weightlifting.  

Strength and Conditioning articles for Unorthodox Nutrition

Hey Guys,

I'm over the moon to announce that we now have a strength and conditioning coach on board who will be doing a monthly column on how to make yourself stronger, faster and an all round better athlete!

Allow me to introduce Mal Fitzgerald!

If you have any Questions for Mal you can get him the Q&A on the website

Make sure you come back next week to check out his first article!!

Stay Healthy,

Mike

Interview with Ollie Richardson

Hey Guys,

Today I wanted to share an interview I did a while ago for YourMMA with Strength and Conditioning Coach Ollie Richardson.

Give it a read and let me know what you think!

YourMMA.tv's Mike Leng recently caught up with strength and conditioning coach for Team Rough House, Ollie Richardson. Richardson is a respected figure, not just in UK MMA circles, but in the strength and conditioning field as a whole. He also works with the Leicester Tigers and world-class grappler Victor Estima. There are many hot topics in the blurry field of MMA strength and conditioning, and here is what Ollie had to say.

YourMMA.tv: Ok so first things first, in your opinion what are the biggest mistakes people make in strength and conditioning?

Ollie: OK, well it depends if you mean when they are coaching or when they are doing strength and conditioning workouts for themselves.

I think the biggest mistake coaches are making is not taking the time to understand the physiology that underpins what they do. Although there is plenty to learn from other coaches, simply copying what other more established guys do will ultimately limit you as a coach. The principles of strength and conditioning are universal; once you learn the physiology you can adapt and apply them to any sport you choose. You can't be an ‘MMA strength and conditioning coach' or a 'lawn bowls strength and conditioning coach'. You become one by learning the principles of the profession and then apply those principles to the sport you choose.

In terms of the major problems for people training, I would say that being blinded by the lights would be a problem. There are no miracle programs. Stick to the basics, be consistent and if you are competing in a sport, make sure you understand that strength and conditioning is only part of your training, don't neglect your technical work.

The other problem would be reliance on volume. The more research that is done, the clearer it is that you don't need a lot of volume to become stronger. Accurate, quality, intense exposures with plenty of time between them will elicit strength gains with far less gym hours needed.

YourMMA.tv: How many weights workouts would you say as a minimum, have to be done to elicit gains?

Ollie: This would depend on a lot of things (genetics, other training requirements, quality of those exposures etc.) but I know for a fact that someone can get 'stronger' with one exposure every seven, days but how much stronger and how much more they could gain with more would be dependant on the individual. However, for a professional MMA fighter, I usually recommend two strength/power exposures (usually 30-45 mins) and one conditioning session (15-20 mins).

YourMMA.tv: If someone is 100% dedicated to a strength routine, what are realistic gains someone can make (taking out genetic freaks)?

Ollie: Tricky question and very much dependant on their previous training history (beginners will make huge gains but more advanced lifters will make small improvements). I look for an athlete to consistently improve one of their physical qualities every time they train. If they are not improving, even if it’s only by 1-2%, then why are they training? I plan for a 3-5% increase in max strength over a 10 week period, but like I said that is dependant on a lot of other factors.

YourMMA.tv: As people become more focused on nutrition (and rightly so) what are the main priorities fighters should have providing they are not in camp?

Ollie: Balance is key. Camp is a very stressful and restrictive time for a fighter - they have to train, they can't eat what they want and then at the end they have to go and compete. So once that is all over, it's important that they do get to eat and drink some of the things they want. However, I would recommend that they still stick to the basics in the off season. Plenty of lean protein, plenty of green veg, fish oil supplementation and stay hydrated all the time.

If they get themselves into bad shape it is just much harder on them when it comes around to camp time again. They have to realize that the training load will also decrease outside of camp as well so there is a calorie discrepancy to address. Having said all of the above, I am not aware of any fighters who don't go a bit crazy in the weeks after they fight. I won't mention any names but a certain Rough House fighter has been known to mainly live off all you can eat Chinese buffets for a month after fights. His initials are JW.

YourMMA.tv: As MMA fighters people rarely get an 'off season', do you think it would be important to be taking time off inbetween fights to work on strength issues?

Ollie: Yes, definitely. Once a fight is set it's time to fine tune and drill their game plan. Strength and power development at this stage is important but not a priority. Once the fight is over and they have taken some time out, it’s a great opportunity to make some serious progress in terms of mechanical strength and power as well as improving their technical capabilities.

YourMMA.tv: Would you say it is more important for a fighter to get consistently stronger or work on areas of weakness i.e. power? Is there a base of strength that must come first?

Ollie: I'm not 100% sure what you mean here, but fighters have to see strength as a long term plan. You can't get strong over night. You might get more efficient at the strength exercise you are performing but to actually get those strength gains ingrained and transferable to the sport takes time. An aggressive, consistent and accurate approach to strength training will ultimately give you the best results that are useful to you in your sport.

YourMMA.tv: What would you consider the top five strength exercises that people aren't aware of or aren't doing?

Ollie: There are no magic exercises, but basing your program around the basic lifts will set you in good stead. Deadlifts or squat, barbell bench press, prone row, some sort of loaded jumping exercise (Olympic lifts, box jumps etc.) and some sort of med ball throwing movement. I'm not a big believer in exercise change being a good change of stimulus. I usually keep the exercises the same but manipulate the load, speed, variable resistance and range of motion.

YourMMA.tv: How important would you say it was for fighters to work on percentages when getting stronger? Is this an area where some fighters are lacking, preferring to just go by 'feel' in the gym?

Ollie: I have no idea how people think they will improve their force, power or velocity qualities without firstly knowing their existing peak force capacity, and then without implementing progressive overload methods to encourage adaptation. Beginners will pretty much get stronger whatever they do, but once someone has had a few years of training, a very calculated and informed approach is the only way to get consistent results. Coaches have to be objective, they need numbers to inform them, not feelings.

YourMMA.tv: Running. Still got a place in MMA training or a relic from a past age?

Ollie: [Laughs] I have this argument a lot. I can only see a limited place for running.

Steady state running has pretty much been covered and I think most people are accepting that it is a very outdated training concept that will not aid performance in combat sports, but even interval or anaerobic running based conditioning sessions I think are limited as the mode in which a fighter is conditioning does not match their competition. It would be like a marathon runner doing all the training on a bike - at no point will a fighter do any kind of running in competition. This is why all of the conditioning sessions I do are based around the activities in the sport, with some key pre-fatiguing exercises thrown in that overload key musculature (anterior deltoids and leg drive).

Some very short sprinting (5m) may well be beneficial for developing power as sprinting is the fastest type of plyometric you can train, so there maybe be some use there in terms of developing horizontal power and velocity.

YourMMA.tv: What's the most impressive MMA performance you have seen recently?

Ollie: Nick Diaz when he fought Daley. I still don't understand how he got back up after being dropped by Paul. He is definitely a fighter's fighter and earnt some serious respect by taking the chance and standing up with Paul. That was the most exciting first round I've seen in a long time. I would like to see him against Georges. But I'm also glad Daley seems to be back in favour with the UFC, he'll always be one of the best in the welterweight division.

YourMMA.tv: What are the 5 top things rocking your world at the moment?

Ollie: Top 5 things at the minute.... in no particular order:

1. At last there being some sunshine in the UK!
2. The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
3. Thor
4. Deadlifts
5. My little girl, Mia (and my girlfriend, Anna!)

YourMMA.tv: Thanks for taking the time to talk to Your MMA Ollie.

Stay healthy,

Mike