Strength Training – Zoom Performance

Strength Training for Endurance Sports

Matthew Zepeda — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 19:13:59 +0000

Strength training is a component of fitness often overlooked by endurance athletes. The excuse often heard is, “I’ve got limited time to train and don’t want to take time away from my sport.” The irony is that by incorporating strength training into your training program, you can make big gains in your desired specific sport, without even actually doing that activity! The composition of your strength program will change depending on what time of the year it is, but it should always be present for optimal performance. Identify strengths and weakness and which exercises are most effective for your sport and then commit to it!

Injury Prevention: Resistance exercises strength the bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Repeated movements in endurance sports stress certain body parts, so strength training helps our bodies become better able to endure these repeated stresses.
Speed: Resistance training improves both muscular strength AND endurance. This allows you to continue to deliver maximum output throughout a workout and delays fatigue, thus making you faster!
Power: Muscular power is also increased. This is especially important for shorter distance endurance activities such as sprint/Olympic triathlons, 5-10k runs, and cycling races of all disciplines. You’ll be able to respond quickly to changes in speed and then recover from those efforts so that you can do it again.
Body Composition: Strength training decreases body fat and increases lean tissue. The less unnecessary body weight endurance athletes have to carry, the easier it is on the body.
Confidence: You’ll look and feel better about yourself if you have a toned, lean, and strong body. This translates into overall greater self-confidence which helps in all areas of life.
Mental Health: If you go through the whole year without mixing up your exercise routine, you are going to begin to experience burn out. Incorporating different types of exercise can help to keep you motivated. Strength training is also a great activity to do with a friend who has similar goals!

As with any type of training, it is important to listen to your body. When you first begin incorporating strength work into your program, you will probably feel more fatigued during your sport specific workouts. Being consistent is important because your body will begin to adapt to the new stresses. Then you will begin to enjoy all of the great benefits of strength training!

Top 5 Strength Movements for Endurance Athletes

Zoom Performance — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 16:52:36 +0000

The relationship between strength and performance is well-documented, but for endurance athletes focused on performance that relationship represents a balancing act. The trick is to incite muscle gains while also maintaining range of motion and retaining flexibility.

This means focusing simultaneously on the “how” as well as the “what”. By doing the right exercises in a controlled way, focused on form and high reps, athletes can incorporate strength training to elevate performance and reduce injuries.

These exercises represent some of the best.

Deadlift

Perhaps the best full body exercise, the deadlift uniquely ties muscle groups together as an overall fitness builder. A deadlift involves a controlled motion to lift a loaded bar from the ground taking you from a bent position at the waist to standing up straight. Done properly your back remains flat (neutral) throughout and knees have only a slight bend. Your hips (not your knees) provide the power.

Performance keys: Straight to slightly angled shins, midline stability, never put an arched spine under load

Primary Gains: Back, glutes, legs
Secondary Gains: Overall fitness
Performance Gains: Strength-builder for leg drive and stability
Alternatives: Hip hinge

Squat

The mention of squat likely brings to mind overloaded bars bending over a division one football behemoth’s back. While that may be the same motion, the reality is that squatting can be done with only your body weight, a kettle bell or dumbbells. The focus should be starting slow with no weight or very light weight and focusing on keeping your spine straight throughout a controlled motion.

Performance keys: Straight back, knees aligned with feet, simple squat taking your hips beyond parallel to your knees

Primary Gains: Glutes, calves, quadriceps
Secondary Gains: Abs, lower back, shoulders and arms
Performance Gains: Overall strength, explosiveness
Alternatives: Hip Sled (though many ancillary benefits to core strength will be missed)

Pushup

It’s a classic for a reason. Pushups are a simple bodyweight exercise that requires no equipment and through modification virtually anyone can do them. Yet despite the simplicity, pushups offer significant upticks in upper body strength. In addition they are one of the more flexible exercises where simply varying hand placement can focus work on specific muscle groups.

Performance keys: Touch chest to floor, if you can’t do sets of at least 10 consider modified (knees on floor)

Primary Gains: Chest, Triceps
Secondary Gains: Abs, deltoids
Performance Gains: General upper body strength– great for swimmers
Alternatives: Bench press or dumbbell flys

YTA’s

Building strong shoulders and improving your posture looks a lot like imitating the Village People. In this instance however the pertinent letters are Y, T and A and the A is executed a little differently than you remember.

To execute YTAs simply grab a set of dumbells or the ends of a resistance band secured under your feet. With perfect posture (shoulders back) and in a controlled motion, move your arms to the Y position then back to the your sides, then T and finally A. For the A your arms will not go over your head but remain at your sides as you pivot your hands so our palms face to the front. All three motions end with hands returning to your sides after each rep.

Performance keys: Slow and deliberate motion, do not compromise form for heavier weight

Primary Gains: Deltoids
Secondary Gains: Lats, abs and traps
Performance Gains: More powerful pull on swimming strokes
Alternatives: Seated dumbbell shoulder work

Side Lunge

The side lunge is a variation on the standard lunge that helps engage your core while tying the motion in your hips, glutes and thighs together. They are executed similarly to a standard lunge, but as the name implies the lead step is taken to the side of the body. Properly executed your torso will stay tight and your weight will be on your heels.

Performance keys: Keeping torso straight, shin directly over your foot. Heels of both feet flat on the floor throughout

Primary Gains: Glutes and quads
Secondary Gains: Hamstrings and abs
Performance Gains: Better pedaling strength, knee stability for runners
Alternatives: None

A Custom Strength Plan

Incorporating a strength program can be crucial to maximizing results for endurance athletes, but finding the right program depends greatly on your body type, current strength level and goals. At Zoom Performance we are dedicated to understanding all factors and finding the right solutions for you.

If you are ready to take your performance to the next level, contact us for a free consultation.

Strength Training: Your Secret Weapon for Peak Performance

Zoom Performance — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 17:00:09 +0000

Endurance athletes are creatures of habit. Most began training because they love the core discipline of their craft, therefore their workout routines are very much… routine. Their favored fitness pursuits include a long ride, breaking a sweat on a run or the solitude of a lap pool.

While these athletes can understand how strength training might help them excel at their craft, they may still be resistant to adding it to an already full and carefully crafted plan.

“I train enough and can’t find the time for more”
“Lifting weights just isn’t fun”
“I don’t even belong to a gym”

While the thoughts behind these objections are valid, the reality is that resistance training need not be expensive, hard or time consuming. More importantly, the upticks are profound with benefits that resonate through race day and beyond.

Benefit 1- Injury Prevention
Endurance athletes know that even when done with efficiency and care, repetitive motion can lead to significant injury risk. While proper form can help mitigate many of these risks, a strength program can also help. Because of this, physical therapists have incorporated strength programs as a means to treat and prevent injuries. By building ancillary muscle their patients can help to promote stability in their joints when under duress. This is not only applicable in a physical therapy setting, but also for endurance athletes who often experience loss of form from exhaustion while competing.

Benefit 2- Improved Range of Motion
For years weight training was synonymous with lunks so musclebound they couldn’t even put their arms all the way down to their sides. This is unfortunate because the reality of resistance training can be the polar opposite. By focusing on specific exercises with low weight and high reps, range of motion is actually increased by weight training. The result is improved motion patterns and even better form. By adding lean muscle, athletes can increase the efficiency of every stride or stroke. The sum of these tiny changes can lead to significant performance increases.

Benefit 3- Increased Force Production
To truly excel at athletic pursuits means building your body into an efficient machine that converts energy in power. While cardio training can be integral to overall fitness, load-bearing exercise takes power generation to the next level. By breaking down an athlete’s motion and focusing on very specific exercises to complement them, overall efficiency in generating power can grow. The result is more power for less effort.

Benefit 4- Improved Body Composition
By incorporating weight training you not only complement your overall fitness goals you fundamentally change your body. You’ll increase your metabolism, decrease the impact of every heel strike and even streamline your aerodynamics on a bike. Changes to body composition not only help you as an athlete, they enhance your life. Perhaps the greatest impact to strength training can be summed up in three words. Look. Great. Naked.

The Bottom Line
Resistance training offers significant enhancements to an endurance athlete’s performance. Even longtime competitors can see significant changes by incorporating a modest weight training plan. If you are serious about performance and have yet to incorporate strength training, our coaches would love to help you find a plan that works for you. Getting started need not require extensive equipment, a gym membership or a significant time commitment but it will improve your outcomes. Contact us today to get started today.

Optimize Your Training with Metrics & Testing

Zoom Performance — Fri, 20 May 2016 17:00:04 +0000

For many casual endurance athletes, assessing performance and tracking metrics begins and ends with a training journal. Athletes diligently chart training mileage along with their performance on race day, using the limited data set to tweak their recipe and improve.

While this approach can be effective for moderate gains, the science of training has much more to offer. By applying a little science and technology, athletes can fine-tune mechanics, manage a nutrition plan, and supercharge their training.

At the heart of this is establishing metrics through testing. A basic understanding of three categories of testing and several tests within each can help athletes understand how exercise science can help them reach peak performance.

Mechanics Testing
Mechanics tests are designed to improve form and efficiency. Optimal form can be key in reducing the likelihood of injury while also increasing power and stamina. A few popular tests are below.

Movement Analysis
How does it work?
This is a one hour assessment across a variety of weight bearing and stretching disciplines delivered by a certified coach.

What is the outcome of this test?
Athletes receive a functional strength and movement assessment, a consultation and a six-week program outlining how to improve.

How would I use this?
Joint mobility and strength are different in every athlete, an assessment of yours is key to adapting your training and style to reduce injuries and improve deficiencies.

Running- Gait Analysis
How does it work?
Test involves a short workout on a treadmill equipped with video to capture your running form.

What is the outcome of this test?
A full critique of every component of your stride by a certified coach– knee bend, foot strike, upper body positioning, etc. Coach will deliver suggestions to improve both form and efficiency

How would I use this?
An efficient stride means reduced effort, increased stamina and resilience

Cycling – Spin Scan
How does it work?
A coach-supervised workout on your bike while computer-monitored via a special training device

What is the outcome of this test?
Following your workout you will receive a graphic map of your entire pedal stroke – defining any dead spots, areas that need work or inefficiencies

How would I use this?
Frequently small changes can yield large results. An efficient pedal stroke means reduced effort, increased power and efficiency.

Nutritional Guidance
Used to dial in the right mix of fuel to aid in training goals.

Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)
How does it work?
Following a 12-hour fast, athletes sit comfortably while a machine assesses them

What is the outcome of this test?
This test defines your daily caloric burn baseline broken down by food type (carbs vs fat). In short, a map of how your body uses food.

How would I use this?
Armed with this information an optimal nutrition plan can be built based on your goals, adapted specifically to your body’s metabolism. This aligns the precise mix of food needed to fuel positive outcomes.

Overall Fitness Level
Used to improve overall fitness level and efficiency in converting effort into energy

VO² Max Test
How does it work?
This test consists of exertion on a treadmill or bike trainer at varying levels of intensity

What is the outcome of this test?
A clear picture of your optimal heartrate training zones, your oxygen consumption and carbohydrate utilization

How would I use this?
Defining a clear picture of caloric burn in each training zone can help determine which level of effort is sustainable. This can help tailor workouts and define nutritional needs while training or competing.

Threshold Power Test
How does it work?
Test requires a 35-minute, high effort bike workout on a trainer, preceded by a warmup and finishing with a cooldown

What is the outcome of this test?
An objective measurement of the amount of power generated in every portion a race.

How would I use this?
This test delivers a better understanding of the various training zones used during exercise. Understanding these zones can aid optimal workout construction. Multiple tests can also be used to track improvements over time.

Each of these assessments are administered by certified coaches at the state of the art Zoom Performance Center. To learn more about how these and other tools can help you reach your next level, set up a free consultation today.

Move Better, Perform Better: An Introduction to Mobility Training

Matthew Zepeda — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 21:11:58 +0000

What if I told you that you could simultaneously improve your performance and reduce your risk of injury in as little as 20 minutes a day? You’d probably think that I was going to try to sell you a shake weight. But alas, I’m only going to attempt to sell you on something that you probably already know about or potentially even do already as part of your training program, yet maybe not with as much priority or focus as it requires. I want to sell you on mobility.

Mobility is a trendy word that has been thrown around recently and is slowly gaining some traction within the athletic domain. For the sake of this article, I will define mobility as the process of improving joint capsule range of motion, decreasing muscle tightness and tendon restriction, and improving sliding surfaces. A lack of mobility will result in decreased force production, inefficient movement patterns, and movement restrictions which may lead to injury.

Some athletes may already do some form of mobility practice, potentially including the occasional short foam rolling or stretching session before or after a workout; but a mobility practice needs to be more strategic than that. A mobility practice needs to take into account an athlete’s specific athletics as well as their lifestyle. The human body is an amazingly adaptable machine and it will form itself into (almost) any shape you put it in, whether for better or for worse.

With that being said, what position are you subjecting your body to the majority of the day: aero position on the bike or lazy position at your work desk? That’s what I thought. This means your strategy for mobilization should not only focus on preparing yourself for your one hour workout but also at improving some of the joint restrictions caused by the shapes that you put your body in the other 23 hours of the day. If you want to improve your performance and reduce the amount of nagging injuries, you need to improve the quality of your tissues so that you train and race on a body that isn’t consistently in a compromised position.

In the future articles, I will specifically address these major parts of the body and how you can improve the mobility of each: The foot and ankle, the knees, the hips, the shoulder, and the spine. But so that you don’t go away empty handed, the following are five lifestyle changes that you can do right now to improve your mobility and body position. You don’t even need a foam roller!

Point your feet straight ahead

You’re a human, not a duck, why are your toes pointed out? Your body was engineered to perform most efficiently when your feet are parallel and pointed straight forward. Non-parallel feet are disastrous for your body, including collapsed arches, inward knee tracking, and much more. Your feet should not only be pointed forward while you’re running, but throughout the entire day. You can fix this problem by consistently checking your feet throughout the day and adjusting them if they turn out.

Stop wearing elevated heels

Elevated heels mean that the heel of the shoe is raised above the forefoot of the shoe. Wearing elevated heels puts your foot into a constantly plantar-flexed position (toes pointed down) which in turn causes the arches of the foot to collapse and the heel cords (Achilles’ tendon) to shorten, basically removing your dorsi-flexion (toes pointed up). This is not as simple as trading in your stability super running shoes and buying a pair of zero-drops that will almost certainly result in disaster. Instead, purchase a pair of minimalist shoes and spend at least two months transitioning into them. Start out by doing your warm up in the minimal shoes and then transitioning into your current shoes; each week increase the duration by about 5-10 percent. Also, if you’re wearing elevated heels to work, go buy zero drop dress shoes; they make them, I promise.

Stand up

You’ve heard it, right:“Sitting is the new smoking”? This isn’t just from a cardiovascular health standpoint; it’s really a dumpster fire and it’s ruining your body. At a minimum, sitting turns off your posterior musculature (If you’re sitting while you read this, how fired up are your glutes right now? Oh, they’re asleep?), shortens your hip flexors and the connecting musculature of your quads, and misaligns your femur towards the front of the joint socket. All of these ingredients are a recipe for a highly compromised run gait, among other issues. Therefore, limit your time spent sitting! If you have the option, use a stand up desk at work or set an alarm on your phone every 30-60 minutes to stand up and work on your hip extension for a couple minutes before sitting back down.

Don’t slouch (and stop texting!)

How much time during the day do you spend slouched over your laptop or your phone texting? While this may seem like a comfortable and relaxed position, you’re putting yourself into a shape of compromise with a tight thoracic spine, rolled forward shoulders, and a forward head. Neck pain, poor shoulder mobility, and lower back pain are usually the most common results of this poor position. To improve your position, consistently work at “pulling your shoulder blades together” and sitting up with a stable core. When texting, maintain this same position but bring the phone in front of your neutral head; don’t move your head to the phone (this is going to look weird, but your body will thank you).

Hydrate

Hydration is one of the single most important factors that an endurance athlete has to deal with. Hydration is not as simple as just helping you cool down on a hot day. Water plays a role in every function of your body, down to the cellular level. Body heat regulation, tissues, joints, nerves, cartilage, regulatory systems, and so much more are all effected by your level of hydration. To improve this, you should be drinking around 2-3 liters of water per day and replacing the amount of fluid lost during exercise. When you’re not drinking water with food, make sure that you’re also adding in a small amount of electrolytes to your water to improve absorption.

Use these lifestyle changes right now to begin cultivating a mobile body, so that you can move better to perform better!

By Coach Nick Mongar

Case Study — solving tendonitis

Matthew Zepeda — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 19:30:14 +0000

Many cyclists have experienced knee issues in one form or another. I can remember having bouts of tendonitis where riding was out of the question for extended periods. The high volume of miles, hours and pedal revs will wildly magnify any imperfections or alignment issues in the pedal stroke causing inflammation and irritation in the hip, knees or ankles. Two years ago I had a local pro with a notable US Pro team approach me with pain in one of his knees. Due to the knee issues, the athlete had missed going to Asia with the team to race. He was frustrated because traditional methods hadn’t yielded results. We agreed to work together to resolve the issue.

The athlete, we’ll call “A” had worked with a noted fitting agent on his bike and they had made some changes to the balance of the bike and how he sat on it. A’s team requires him to use a sponsor saddle and the saddle was not the right width for him causing him to hold himself ever-so-slightly just off the saddle. We were able to communicate with the team to get a sponsor correct saddle that was the right width for him. That allowed him to comfortably sit ON the saddle without constant tension on the legs. This got us going in the right direction. He also made changes to his shoe/cleat interface based on recommendations from his team resources.

A chronic problem with cyclists is weakness in the gluteal complex (butt muscles) that cascades all the way down to the knee and ankle. In A’s case, this weakness caused his ankle to collapse at the power phase of his pedal stroke AND created misalignment of the knee. Because A had made the above mentioned changes to his shoe/cleat interface, this partially eliminated the collapsing of the ankle and knee alignment issue.

Next, we began a strengthening program that addressed three elements.

First, we worked to strengthen his gluteal complex. Because of the linear motion of pedalling, the musculature that helps to stabilize the pelvis and femur can become inactive and disproportionately weak compared to the rest of the gluteal muscles.

Second, we worked to create synchronization in the firing or activation of his quadriceps muscles. (medialis and lateralis). A, like most cyclists, has tremendously well-developed quads but his inner quadricep muscle (medialis) fired before his outer quadriceps muscle (lateralis). This created a slight turn of the patella (knee cap). The patella slides in a “groove” at the bottom of the femur and any misalignment is incredibly irritating which leads to inflammation.

Third, we worked on core strength and stabilization. The muscles of the hips, legs, spine and of course, abdominals are attached to the pelvis. When a cyclist pedals the musculature of the legs, spine and abdominals pull on the pelvis. His legs and glutes were already quite strong but we needed to shore up the low spine and abdominals. If you’ll recall one of the t-mobile or HTC/Highroad physios a number of years ago said that …”if you’re core is weak, it’s like shooting cannon while in a canoe.” (I’m paraphrasing here) We also added in some stabilization exercises to “wake up” his little stabilizer muscles starting in the foot all the way up to the hip. Many of his exercises were done bare- footed and/or on an unstable platform. Many moves also involved holding weights over the head to elevate his center of gravity there-by destabilizing “the platform.”

This combination of elements allowed us to get A back on his bike in a limited capacity in 30 days and back at full capacity in approximately 75 days. I also gave him “homework” to do while he was on the road to help maintain the work we did.

At the time of writing he had been able to put in a considerable amount of mileage at team camp as well as on his own.

A holistic approach to issues with the hip, knee or ankle often yields favorable results. In my experience there is usually no ONE factor but a constellation of factors that lead to irritation/inflammation issues which in turn become tendon or joint issues.

Ainslie MacEachran, the author of Simple Cycling Performance, is a Level 2 cycling coach with www.getzoomperformance.com. Ainslie is a AAAI/ISMA certified personal trainer and a Level 2 USACycling coach.

The Benefits Of Resting

Matthew Zepeda — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 14:51:14 +0000

Ever since my race in Mexico I have been struggling to get things going again. I was a little sick going into the race and then really sick coming out of it, some kind of mucous-cold thing or maybe allergies, I don’t know. So after the race I took a week relatively easy to let my body get over whatever was going on inside it, but I always had one eye on the next race coming up, itching to get back into full training mode. As a driven athlete I am all always trying to improve and there is always much to improve. It can be very hard to sit still for too long, so once my easy week was over I eagerly began to ramp things back up with a big swim and run focus.

The first couple of days went ok, I could tell that I wasn’t as fresh as I should’ve been after a week easy, but maybe that was just because I was flat from taking a week easy. But as the hard days rolled on my performance continued to drop. It was a feeling as though there was constantly something holding me back, not allowing me to reach the production level I needed. The feeling of not firing on all cylinders really sucks, I just couldn’t get my heart rate up to push my body hard enough to illicit the training response I needed and no amount of ice bathing or foam rolling was making a difference. Worse, my confidence began to drop as I underperformed one workout after another.

For most athletes, this is where the experience and guidance of a coach is critical. It’s hard to make yourself take that time off you need. Just complete rest to reset the body so that you can hit the high effort performances that you need to get better. As you become better, your hard days become harder and your easy days need to become easier. It’s a concept that I often preach to the Zoom Performance Athletes that I coach, but it’s always a hard pill to swallow when I have to do it myself. From an athlete perspective, it’s easy to see how doing a track session or really smashing it in the pool will make me better. It is much harder to understand how laying around for two days could ever make me faster.

Hopefully these two days of complete rest will reenergize my system and allow me to really crush it in the next two weeks leading up to Barbados. It’s hard to sit still when you want to get better and even harder when you know the competition is out crushing it. Soon enough I’ll be back at it though and with renewed vigor!

Strength Training: Three Reasons to Hit the Gym

Zoom Performance — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 05:00:00 +0000

Strength Training: Three Reasons to Hit the Gym

Endurance athletes already deal with a full training schedule in addition to their professional, personal, and home lives. When it comes to adding strength training sessions to the mix, many athletes feel their time is better spent with swim/bike/run than in the gym. Let’s look at why strength training is important and how to add it into your program as a benefit, rather than an inconvenience.

Benefits of building strength for endurance athletes:

Minimizes chances for injury
Improves resistance to fatigue
Improves muscular endurance

While the benefits sound great, the key to reaping those benefits is in selecting the appropriate exercises for your sport, your current weaknesses, and any injuries you’ve suffered.

One of the most important aspects to consider when selecting the correct strength exercises is the concept of specificity – the exercise is specific to the work the muscles will perform in sport. For example, the leg extension machine will work the quadriceps muscle group, but only in isolation without any other contribution muscle groups. In cycling, however, the quadriceps muscle must work in conjunction with the glutes and hamstrings to extend the hip and knee, so a step-up exercise would be a more appropriate choice for a cyclist wishing to increase the strength of the quadriceps.

If the athlete has suffered from injuries in the past, it is recommended that the athlete undergo an assessment to determine where there may be a weakness in the muscular chain. Many runners endure IT band injuries for years without determining the cause. Often, there is a link between weak glutes and tight/irritated IT bands. A conditioning program that focuses on strengthening the gluteus medius can relieve IT band issues. A physical therapist, strength and conditioning specialist, or personal trainer can help with the design of an appropriate program.

Check out the Video Gallery to see demonstrations of three great strength training exercises for triathletes, and three exercises for swimmers.