Who is the Performance Analyst?

My last work for Performance Analysis this year was to speak about the figure of the performance analyst. We were allowed to use any format: powerpoint, audio, video, essay... everything goes.

This is what I did.


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Who is the Performance Analyst (PA)?

From the lessons that I have been attending so far I can tell that you there is not a final answer to this question. There are grey areas where the PA operates and he\she shares these areas with other sport professional, for instance with coaches and psychologists.

Nevertheless, I have been trying to reply to the answer.

Here there is a monologue, written by myself, of a PA that questions himself about his nature. Even if it is a monologue, there are two characters in this dialogue: the PA himself and the PA's mind that guide him to the answer according to the Socratic method “maieutics” (Plato, c. 385–380 BC).

Who are you?

'We are beyond the curtain.

We are away from center stage.

We stay in the darkness.

We are shadows'

Who are you?

'We know what we could be.

We do not know what we are.

We are everything and we are nothing.

We are not born to become.

We are born to be.

Let Him decide who will we be.

We are Proteus'

Who is “Him”?

'He is the Master'

Are you his slave?

'No, I am free'

Do you depend on him?

'Yes'

Are you free?

'No.

I depend on Him'

Does he depend on you?

'Only if He wants so'

Who are you?

'I am who He wants me to be.

Be his wisdom

and I shall be Athena;

be his strength

and I shall be Ares;

be his support

and I shall be Atlas'

Who are you?

'I am who He wants me to be'

Are you alone?

'No, I am not'

Who is with you?

'My Brothers'

Who are your Brothers?

'They are who They want them to be'

Who are your Brothers?

'They are everything and they are nothing;

they are Proteus'

Who are your Brothers?

'We are Performance Analyst'

To give a name is power upon the named one;

the Book teaches us (The Holy Bible, Genesis 1:28)

To name is to sort things according to their nature;

the Book teaches us (The Holy Bible, Genesis 2:20-21)

Who are you?

'I am everything and I am nothing'

Who are you?

'I am a Performance Analyst;

I am who Him wants me to be'

Is that the truth?

'There is no truth;

there is no lie.

Everything is relative'

We can give hundred interpretations of a glare in a mirror;

yet, the image that generates that glare is only one.

Look in your mirror.

What do you see?

'A Performance Analyst'

Who are you?

'I am who him wants me to be'

Is that the truth?

'No'

Who are you?

'I am a Performance Analyst;

I am everything He can possibly need'

Who is He?

'He is the Master'

Is that the truth?

'No'

Who is He?

'He is a Man'

Who are you?

'I am a Man'

Who are you?

'We are One'

There is no general without an army;

yet, an army without a general is not.

Who is One?

'I am a Performance Analyst;

he is a Coach.

He needs me;

yet, without him I am not.

We are One'

Who is One?

'Our nature is different;

yet, we walk the same path'

Who is One?

'I am One,

I am a Performance Analyst;

he is One,

he is a Coach.

Our nature may be different;

yet, we share the same destiny.

I shall think with his mind

and

he shall see with my eyes.

Two men;

one path.

We are together

and

we are One!'

Now that I have figured out who (I believe) is the PA, I need to discovery what does he\she do.

I have been trying to think about the absolute performance analyst (it is not a new kind of vodka). The word “absolute” comes from the Latin absolutus, which means: not relative to something else (Chambers, 2000). In a nutshell, I am trying to figure out the PA's activity not linked to any sport, but I want to discovery its nature and essence, or its archetype, if we want to use the platonic philosophical idea (Plato, c. 370 BC).

Tackling the problem from an abstract point of view allowed me to get rid of the tasks of a single sport, such as opposition analysis in football, which is not present or is minimal in other sports, such as in triple jump or in archery.

After reading articles online, from blogs and the SOOC, I came out with this definition: the performance analyst improves and predicts performances based on the information he/she possesses.

There are three key points: improvement, prediction and information.

I do realize that the most important key point is the last one.

Without information there is no PA and an analysis cannot exist without data. Basically, no info no cry, as Bob Marley used to sing.

Data collection is crucial for the the analyst. If he\she collects no data, he\she would have no job; and if he\she collects the wrong data, he\she will end up with no job.

There are a lot information that can be collected and many ways to collect them, but is not my intention to illustrate them. For me, the bread and butter of performance analysis is the collection of data.

The will to know the future is part of the nature of the human being. Heroes in ancient Greek used to visit the Delphi Oracle before a battle and Roman Emperor used to divine, which is to foretell or to predict, before going to war. The verb “to divine” comes from the Latin divinare:to be inspired by a god (Chambers, 2000).

More generally, to know what the future holds is one of the question of life. Now, I do not want to write about life and death; what I am trying to say is that PAs are not doing anything new. They may use new techniques and technologies, but, in the end, they are doing the same that our ancestors used to do five-thousand years ago.

Yet, I would like to go a little further.

In the Art of War of Sun Tzu (6^th BC, pp. 96)it is said:

“Prior information

Enables wise rulers

And worthy generals

To move

And conquer,

Brings them success

Beyond that of the multitude”

Basically, to know your enemy before the battle is necessary to win. We can apply the same concept to a PA that does pre-match analysis of the opponent.

However, Sun Tzu (6^th BC, pp. 96) states:

“This information

Cannot be obtained

From spirits;

It cannot be deduced

By analogy;

It cannot be calculated

By measurement.”

After the book continues saying that the only way to get “this information” is through spies.

Anyway, it is stated that is impossible to predict the opponent's moves by analogy or by measurement. In other words, the PA's job could be right on paper but on the day of the match it may be a disaster.

Personally, I do agree with this statement.

If we take any “prediction job”, we can see that they are not 100% accurate (and this is why they predict). Weather forecast is one of them.

Meteorologists try to predict the weather condition of tomorrow, but they will never say:”Tomorrow is going to rain”; instead, they are more likely to say:”70% of chance of raining for tomorrow”; and we are going to translate it as:”Tomorrow is better that I take the umbrella with me because it may rain”.

Another example is the broker. They try to predict the market's next move and invest their money based on their data; still, that prediction may be right or wrong.

When performance analysis is working on the opposition, we are talking of inexact science.

Now, I am not giving a qualitative judgment.

I do believe that the accuracy of the prediction relies in the analysis' skills. There is a lot people that made a fortune in the stock market, such as George Soros (The Forbes 2013, online), and this is the point when you bring the inexact science of trading to a state of art.

A PA should aim to this, to elevate his\her science to art.

As there is no much room for a theoretical\philosophical debate about the last key point, improvement, which is quite self explanatory in my opinion, I would like to draw my conclusions.

PAs may play a crucial role to bring a team to success. Coaches should “use” them wisely in order to achieve valuable results as they can make a difference between glory and failure.

REFERENCING LIST

Chambers, 2010. Chambers Dictionary of Etymology. Edinbrugh: Chambers Harpers Publishers Ltd.

Plato, (c. 370 BC). Phaedrus. In: Edith, H., Huntington, C., ed..1961. The collected dialogues of Plato, including the letters. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press.

Plato, (c. 385–380 BC). The Symposium. Translated from Ancient Greek by Christopher Gill and Desmond Lee. London: Penguin Group.

The Forbes, (2013). The Forbes 400: The Richest People in America. http://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/list/ [accessed 6 December 2013]

The Holy Bible: New International Version, 1996. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Tzu, S. (6^th cent. BC). The Art of War. Translated from Chinese by John Minford. London: Penguin Group.

I segreti della grossaggine

“Voglio andare in palestra per tenermi in forma”

Balle.

“Dal mese prossimo inizio ad andare in palestra perché quest'estate voglio andare al mare”.

Balle.

Tu vai in palestra perché vuoi diventare GROSSO. Punto.

Tu vuoi andare in giro a mostrare la vastitudine del tuo petto. E lo so che questa parola non esiste; ma non c'è parola per definire la grossaggine di quel petto.

Quando la gente ti vede camminare, tu vuoi che pensino:”Quello è proprio grosso!”. E tu, leggendo i loro pensieri, sorriderai mostrando loro il tuo bicipite possente.

E fin qui è tutto normale. Tutti noi vogliamo un corpo possente. E chi nega ciò, mente; sapendo di menta.

Ma come faccio a raggiungere cotanta agognata possentezza?

Bhe, la cosa più facile è la chirurgia estetica; poi puoi sempre bombarti fino all'anima, assumendo qualsiasi sostanza, stupefacente e non; si sa che in fondo il fine giustifica sempre i mezzi.

Se invece cerchi un approccio più etico, qui c'è quello che fa per te: i cinque processi fisiologici che stanno dietro alla crescita muscolare. Per un allenamento più ingrossante. E si, questa parola esiste.

Sollevare pesi sempre più pesanti, aumentare il numero di ripetizioni o di serie sono solo un mezzo, non il fine. Il nostro obbiettivo è la crescita muscolare: la grossaggine. Per questo motivo dobbiamo concentrarci su ciò che ci fa diventare grossi.

(1) Tensione dell'allungamento (1)

Quando il muscolo si allunga (streccia dall'inglese stretching) per colpa del peso che stiamo usando e il muscolo non è pronto ad allungarsi, come durante i movimenti negativi (= eccentrici), si danneggiano le fibre muscolari.

La tensione creata tra il peso e il muscolo “fa male” alle cellule forzando il nostro corpo a ripararsi, e quindi a crescere. Questo tipo di tensione è un ottimo input per la grossaggione; si può sfruttare questo meccanismo accentuando la fase eccentrica.

(2) Tensione della contrazione (2)

Quando il muscolo fa fatica a contrarsi a causa del peso che stiamo usando, il muscolo diventa più forte. E' il principio dell'adattamento; affinché il muscolo cresca, bisogna cercare sempre di aumentare il peso che si usa. Troppa gente fa palestra da più di un anno ed utilizza gli stessi pesi con cui ha iniziato, o al massimo con minime variazioni. Ricorda: la grossaggine odia il tedio e la monotonia. Pure la monogamia; ma questa è un'altra storia.

(3) Tempo sotto tensione (3)

Il peso che stiamo utilizzando è il mezzo principale per raggiungere la grossaggione. Ma qual è il peso da utilizzare? O meglio: per quanto tempo devo tenere il mio muscolo sotto tensione?

Kurmar e colleghi (2009) hanno condotto uno studio mirato a rispondere a questa domanda. I dati sono abbastanza chiari, come mostrati dalla tabella qui sotto, adattata dal loro studio:

Peso Utilizzato	Variazione della sintesi proteica
20% RM	30.00%
40% RM	46.00%
60% RM	100.00%
75% RM	130.00%
90%RM	100.00%

Più il peso si avvicina alla Ripetizione Massima, ossia il massimo che peso che si riesce a sollevare, più aumenta la sintesi di proteine, i mattoni per ricostruire le fibre muscolari. Più mattoni = più grossaggine.

Se siete lettori attenti, vi starete chiedendo: “Se è vero che la RM e la sintesi proteica sono collegate fra di loro, perché con 90%RM ho un valore minore che con 75% RM?” Ottima osservazione!!

La risposta è perché sollevando un peso prossimo al massimale, sistressa più il sistema nervoso e il muscolo non sta abbastanza tempo sotto tensione per danneggiare le fibre nella stessa misura in cui verrebbero danneggiate se si utilizzasse un peso pari al 75%RM, che equivale a circa 8-10 colpi eseguiti correttamente e in maniera controllata.

(4) Brucia!!! (4)

La sensazione di bruciore nei muscoli è data dall'accumularsi dell'acido lattico; a meno che non siate letteralmente in fiamme. Cercate di far durare la sensazione di bruciore il più a lungo possibile e non fate le fighette.

Questo è un altro metodo che dice al nostro corpo di sintetizzare più proteine ed è meno traumatico dei tre fattori spiegati in precedenza, perché stiamo parlando di una risposta chimica e non meccanica.

E per tagliare la testa al toro e ridurre le vaccate al minimo, l'acido lattico viene rimosso dai muscoli, tramite il sistema cardiovascolare, in 45 min al massimo! Quindi se un vostro amico vi dice che non riesce a pompare perché ha l'acido lattico da ieri, insultatelo per piacere.

(5) The Pump! (5)

Per tutti quelli che hanno visto Pumping Iron di Arnold, sanno di cosa sto parlando. Per gli altri, andate a vederlo su youtube altrimenti la grossaggine non sarà mai con voi.

Continuando a fare ripetizioni, i muscoli si riempiono di sangue. Questa è la pompa. Il flusso di sangue porta nutrienti alle fibre muscolari e maggiore è la pompa, maggiore sarà la pressione del sangue sulle fibre muscolari. Ciò spinge il muscolo a “deformarsi”.

Questo processo è meno efficace rispetto ai primi tre perché non è meccanico, ma si può fare più spesso ed è meno traumatico.

Dato il notevole afflusso di sangue prodotto, la pump è ottima per accelerare il recupero tra un allenamento e l'altro.

Ora che conoscete i processi fisiologici della grossaggione, andate e pompate come se non ci fosse un domani!!

REFERENZE

Delavier, F. & Gundill, M. (2010). The strength training anatomy workout II. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Kumar V, Atherton P, Smith K, Rennie MJ. (2009) Human muscle protein synthesis and breakdown during and after exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology,106:2026–2039.

Parliamo di forza, parte II

 

  laserpotato @ deviantart.

[Parte I] [English Version]

Nell'ultimo post abbiamo parlato dei fattori che influenzano la forza, ossia massa ed accelerazione; la prima è la massa muscolare (sezione trasversale del muscolo) e la seconda è il sistema nervoso centrale (SNC).

Per la massa, vi rimando a questo link.

Ora invece ci concentreremo sul sistema nervoso.

Ci sono sei aspetti del SNC che possiamo migliorare per diventare più forti:

• Reclutamento delle fibre muscolari
• Fire rating
• Coordinamento intra-muscolare
• Coordinamento inter-muscolare
• Disinibizione del muscolo antagonista
• Crescita e “Potatura” delle connessioni neurali

Più c'è bisogno di forza, più aumenta il reclutamento. Quando la tensione muscolare raggiunge la "zona di pericolo", per esempio troppo peso, il nostro sistema nervoso evita gli infortuni riducendo il numero di fibre reclutate. Tuttavia, con l'allenamento, è possibile ridurre questo processo inibitorio, il che aumenta li numero di fibre reclutate; più fibre, più forza.

Il fire rating avviene quando tutte le fibre di un muscolo sono reclutate. In pratica, il nostra SNC sente che tutte le fibre stanno lavorando e quindi manda più impulsi elettrici al muscolo per dire alle fibre di contrarsi più velocemente, in modo tale da aumentare la forza prodotta.

 

Il coordinamento è l'abilità del muscolo di sincronizzare la contrazione tra le sue fibre, intra-muscolare, e con gli altri muscoli, inter-muscolare.

In gente non allenata, le unità motorie mandano segnali a caso ai muscoli per reclutare la forza necessaria; allenandosi di più, il loro SNC migliora la qualità di firing delle unità motorie.

E' come il canottaggio: la squadra andrà meglio se tutti vogano c.on lo stesso ritmo invece che a caso.

La disinibizione del muscolo antagonista può migliorare la forza prodotta dal muscolo agosnista. Ciò si può fare strecciando intensamente il muscolo opposto a quello che volete lavorare. Per esempio, strecciare i tricipiti se state pompando i bicipiti.

Questo processo è detto inibizione reciproca; il SNC manda segnali al bicipite di contrarsi mentre ne manda altri al tricipite dicendo di rilassarsi.

La crescita e "potatura" delle connessioni nervose è un processo automatico che avviene nel cervello; quindi, non entreremo nei dettagli.

Più si pratica un movimento, più le connessioni nervose per quel movimento diventeranno forti. Pensiamo alla tecnica degli squat: all'inizio non si è in grado di farli in maniera decente perché è la prima volta che si provano. Ma, dopo due, tre, quattro settimane di pratica si diventa dei professionisti (si spera...).

(per tutti questi paragrafi, Low, 2011)

Va bene... ma come alleno il mio SNC?

Per aumentare la forza massimale, si dovrebbe lavorare con pesi tra l'80% e il 100% della propria 1RM, da 1 a 4 serie (Bompa, 1996). Bisogna sempre ricordarsi che questo tipo di allenamento è stremante sia per il sistema nervoso che per i muscoli. E' meglio mantenere tempi di recupero tra i 3 e i 6 minuti (per i pesi 95%/ 100% 1RM); questo è il tempo necessario per ricreare le riserve di ATP all'interno dei muscoli.

Il metodo più popolare per aumentare la forza è quello di fare esercizi aumentando gradualmente il peso (Kurz, 2001). Un allenamento assomiglia a questo:

(serie·ripetizioni @x% della RM)

3·3 @60% della RM

1·3 @70% della RM

1·3 @80% della RM

2·2 @85% della RM

2·2 @90% della RM

1·3 @70% della RM

REFERENCES

Bompa, T. O. (1996). Power training for sports: plyometrics for maximum power development. Ontario: Mosaic Press.

Kurz, Thomas (2001). Science of sport training: how to plan and control training for peak performance. Island Pond: Stadion.

Low, Stewen (2011). Overcoming Gravity: a systematic approach to gymnastic dn bodyweight strength.

Let's Talk about strength, part II

 

 laserpotato @ deviantart.

[Part I] [Versione Italiana]
In the last post we spoke about the factors that generate strength, which are mass and acceleration; the first one is the muscle size (muscular cross-sectional area) and the second one is the central neural system (CNS).


For the mass, I will redirect you to this post.
Now, let's focus on our neural system.


There are six aspect of the CNS that we can improve in order to get stronger:

• Fiber Recruitment
• Firing Rates
• Intra-muscular Coordination
• Inter-muscular Coordination
• Antagonist Disinhibition
• Growth and Pruning

The more force is needed, the more the recruitment increases. Our nervous system is able to prevent injuries by reducing the number of fiber recruited when the tension on the muscles goes behind the “warning point”, i.e. too much weight. Yet, with training this inhibitory process can be reduced, which increases the number of fiber recruited; remember: more fibers, more force.

When all the fibers of the muscle are recruited, fire rating occurs. Basically, when our CNS senses that all the muscle fibers are recruited, it sends more electrical signals to the muscle to tell them to contract faster which further increases the strength produced.

Coordination referees to the ability of the muscle to synchronize its contraction between it own fibers, intra-muscolar coordination, and between other muscles, inter-muscular coordination.

In untrained people, motor units fire random signals to the muscles to recruit the force necessary; as they further train, their CSA is able to synchronize the firing of the motors units.

It is like rowing; the team performs better if everybody row at the same time instead that randomly.

Antagonist disinhibition can improve the strength produced by the agonist muscle. This is achieved by extensively stretching the muscle opposite the one you are going to work. For instance, stretching the triceps if you are going to work the biceps.

This process is call reciprocal inhibition; the CSA sends the signals to contract the biceps and at the same time it sends a message to the triceps to relax.

The growth and the pruning of neural pathways is an automatic process that occurs in the brain; for this reason, we will not go in details. The more you practice a movement, the more the neural pathway for that movement grows stronger. Think about a new technique, over head squat for instance; at the beginning you may not be able to perform it properly because you haven't never done it before. But, after two, three, four weeks of over head squat you will master it (well, you should....).

(all this session, Low, 2011)

So, how do I train my CNS?

To develop max strength, you should work with weights between 80% and 100% of your 1RM, 1 to 4 sets (Bompa, 1996). Bear in mind that this kind of training is very strenuous for both your CNS and muscles. Keep the rest between 3 and 6 minutes (for the 95% /100% 1RM); this is the time necessary to restore the ATP stores within your muscles.

The most popular method to develop strength is doing exercises with gradually increase the weights (Kurz, 2001). A work-out may looks something like this:

(set·rep @x% of RM)

3·3 @60% of RM

1·3 @70% of RM

1·3 @80% of RM

2·2 @85% of RM

2·2 @90% of RM

1·3 @70% of RM

REFERENCE

Bompa, T. O. (1996). Power training for sports: plyometrics for maximum power development. Ontario: Mosaic Press.

Kurz, Thomas (2001). Science of sport training: how to plan and control training for peak performance. Island Pond: Stadion.

Low, Stewen (2011). Overcoming Gravity: a systematic approach to gymnastic dn bodyweight strength.

Parliamo di Forza

 dnbarman @ DeviantArt

 [English Version]

Scriverò un paio di post sulla forza, cos'è, come si sviluppa e come si mantiene.

Prima di tutto, definiamo la forza in fisica:

F=m·a

Forza = massa*accelerazione

Come possiamo vedere, la forza è il prodotto di due fattori: massa ed accelerazione.

Spostandoci dalla fisica alla fisiologia, la massa (m) corrisponde alla sezione trasversale del muscolo, grezzamente “quanto è grosso il muscolo”, e l'accelerazione (a) corrisponde al sistema nervoso (Kenney, Costill & Wilmore, 2011).

Tutto chiaro fino a qui?

Ok, entriamo un po' più nello specifico.

I nostri muscoli sono fatti di fibre e ne esistono tre tipi:

• Tipo I
• Tipo IIa
• Tipo IIb

Le Tipo I sono le nostre “fibre lente”, chiamate anche “fibre rosse” per via del considerevole numero di mitocondri che si trovano fra di esse. Queste fibre hanno un'elevata capacità di resistenza e sono le più sviluppate negli sport di resistenza.

Le Tipo IIa sono una specie di ibrido fra le Tipo I e le Tipo IIb. Il loro colore è sul rosa e condividono le caratteristiche di entrambe le fibre. A seconda del tipo di allenamento, il corpo è in grado di convertile in fibre di Tipo I o Tipo IIb.

Le tipo IIb sono le nostre “fibre veloci”, dette anche “fibre bianche” data la mancanza di mitocondri. Esse si basano solamente sul sistema anaerobico e si stancano velocemente. Invece, sono in grado di contrarsi rapidamente e sono le fibre maggiormente sviluppate negli sport di forza e potenza.

Mentre mi allenavo in palestra, sentivo spesso gente dire qualcosa del tipo:”Devo allenarmi in questo modo perché i miei bicipiti sono composti da fibre rosse” e così via. A meno che non ci si infili un ago nel braccio e si estragga un pezzo di muscolo, è impossibile sapere la percentuale di fibre che compongono il nostro muscolo. Tuttavia, con il giusto allenamento, è possibile “modellare” le fibre di Tipo IIa; per esempio, un atleta che corre i 10000m sarà più propenso ad avere fibre rosse di un sollevatore di peso olimpico. Al di la di ciò, il numero di fibre lente e veloci è predeterminato dalla nascita.

Quando invece parliamo di accelerazione (a), stiamo considerando le unità motorie e il sistema nervoso centrale.

Le unità motorie sono composte da un neurone e tutte le fibre muscolari che esso innerva. Ogni neurone innerva un solo tipo di fibre sebbene possa innervare più fibre.

Il sistema nervoso centrale è composto dal cervello e la spina dorsale. Il sistema nervoso centrale governa l'attivazione delle unità motorie.

(per tutta questa sezione: Birch, MacLaren & George, 2005)

Ok, per oggi è abbastanza.

Nel prossimo post parlerò in che modo il sistema nervoso centrale può influire sulla forza.

[Parte II]

REFERENZE

Birch,K., MacLaren, D. & George, K. (2005). Sport and Exercise Physiology. Oxford: BIOS Scientific

Kenney, W., Costill, D., & Wilmore, J. (2011). Physiology of Sport and Exercise. Leeds : Human Kinetics

Let's talk about strength

 dnbarman @ DeviantArt

[Versione Italiana]

I am going to write a couple of posts about strength, what is it, how to develop it and how to maintain it.

First of all, let's define what is strength in physic:

F=m·a

Strength = mass*acceleration

As we can see, strength is the product of two factors: mass and acceleration.

Moving from physic to physiologic, the mass (m) corresponds to the muscular cross-sectional area, roughly “how big the muscle is”, and the acceleration (a) corresponds to the nervous system (Kenney, Costill & Wilmore, 2011).

All clear so far?

Let's go a little bit deeper.

Our muscles are made of fibers and there are three kinds of them:

• Type I
• Type IIa
• Type IIb

Type I are our "slow twitch" fibers, aka "red fibers" due to the elevated number of mitochondria that are located within them. This kind of fibers have a great endurance capacity and are the ones most developed in endurance sports.

Type IIa are kind of hybrid of Type I and Type IIb fibers. Their color is pinkish and they share the characteristics of both fibers. According the kind of training, your body is able to convert them in Type I or Type IIb.

Type IIb are our “fast twitch” fibers, aka “white fibers” due to the lack of mitochondria. They rely solely on the anaerobic system and they get fatigued very quickly. Yet, they are able to contract very rapidly and they are the main fiber developed in power and strength sports.

While I was training in the gym, I have been listening to a lot of people say stuffs like: “I gotta training this way 'cause my biceps are made of red fibers” and so on. Unless you put a needle in arm and you take a bit of your muscle to analyze it, it is impossible to know the percent of fibers composing your muscles. On the other hand, with proper training, is possible to “shape” the Type IIa; for instance, a 10000m runner is more likely to have more red fibers than an Olympic weight lifter due to the different kind of training that they follow. By the way, the number of slow and fast fibers it predetermined from the birth.

When we are talking about acceleration (a), we are considering the motor units and the central nervous system.

Motor units are composed of a the neuron and all the muscle fibers that it innervates. Each neuron innervates only one kind of fiber although it can innervated more than one fiber.

The central nervous system (CNS) is composed of the brain and the spine cord. The CNS govern the activation of the motor units.

(for all this session: Birch, MacLaren & George, 2005)

Ok, for today is enough.

In the next post I will cover in which ways the CNS can affect the strength output.

[Part II]

REFERENCES

Birch,K., MacLaren, D. & George, K. (2005). Sport and Exercise Physiology. Oxford: BIOS Scientific

Kenney, W., Costill, D., & Wilmore, J. (2011). Physiology of Sport and Exercise. Leeds : Human Kinetics

Allenamento coi pesi per il climbing? Ma che !!?!?

                                                                                                        JenElizabeth @ DeviantArt

[English Version]

L'allenamento coi pesi in palestra va bene per il climbing?

Dopo un rapido giro su Internet la risposta sembra abbastanza chiara: “no” e “perché mai dovresti farlo?!?!?”

Quindi caso chiuso....

…. forse.

La principale critica mossa contra l'allenamento coi pesi è che ti fa diventare grosso. Come si può ben immaginare, più peso può rendere l'arrampicata più difficile.

Tuttavia, credo che molta gente pensi qualcosa di simile a questo: PALESTRA = GROSSO.

Di sicuro sollevare pesi ti fa diventare “grosso”, poiché si tratta dell'adattamento del tuo corpo all'allenamento; ma non esiste un solo modo di allenarsi coi pesi. E ritengo che la maggior parte dei climbers ne conosca solamente uno: allenamento per la massa (ipertrofia).

Quel tipo di allenamento è certamente controproducente perché si allena più la massa e meno laforza – in altre parole, diventi grosso. Il che è fico quando ti aggiri per la spiaggia a chiedere alle ragazze se vogliono giocare a beach-volley mostrando il tuo petto enorme. True story bro.

Ma...

… se invece seguissimo un programma di forza?

Il concetto si spiega da sé; stiamo parlando di un allenamento mirato ad aumentare la forza. Siccome lavoriamo con pesi sub-massimali, ci sarà un minor guadagno in termini di massa rispetto a quelli di forza e ci sarà un miglioramento a livello del sistema nervoso centrale. Il motivo di ciò?

Lavorando con pesi sub-massimali, per esempio 2 set di 2 rep @ 90% della 1RM, le fibre muscolari non subiranno uno stress tale da favorire lo sviluppo della massa, in relazione ad un allenamento di ipertrofia; invece, la maggior parte dello sforzo sarà concentrato sulle unità motorie – neurone + il muscolo che innerva – e il sistema nervoso centrale, che include:

• Reclutamento delle fibre muscolari
• Fire rating
• Coordinamento intra-muscolare
• Coordinamento inter-muscolare
• Disinibizione del muscolo antagonista
• Crescita e “Potatura” delle connessioni neurali

Inoltre, un climber forte può arrampicare più a lungo e con maggior intensità. E' stato dimostrato che un allenamento con pesi sub-massimali migliora la resistenza muscolare (Hoof, Gran & Helgerud, 2002).

Come il mio amico Joe the Climber scrive qui, perché in quasi tutti gli sport ci sono programmi di resistenza e condizionamento della forza – o più semplicemente preparazione atletica – e non nel climbing?

Abbiamo deciso di provarci.

La seconda parte dell'articolo verrà pubblicata presto; non preoccupatevi.

REFERENCE (like a pro)

Hoff, J., Gran, A., Helgerud, J. (2002).Maximal strength training improves aerobic endurance performance.

Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 12(5), 288-295.

Weight training for climbing? WHAT DA?!?!

                                                                                                        JenElizabeth @ DeviantArt

[Versione Italina]

Is weight training good for climbing?

I surfed a little bit on the Internet and the answer seems to be pretty simple: "no" and "why would you do that!?!?!".

Case close...

...maybe.

The first argument moved against weight training it is that it makes you bulk; as you can imagine more weight may make you climb more difficult..

Yet, I think most people assumes something like this: GYM = BIGGER.

Sure lifting weight makes you "bigger", it is the adaptation of the body to the training; but there is not only one way to train with weights. And I do believe that most of the climbers knows only one: gain mass (hypertrophy).

That kind of training will be unproductive for sure because "you train more the mass and less the strength" – in other words you get bigger. Which is cool when you walk around the beach asking girls if they would like to play beach-volley while you are showing off your enormous chest. True story bro.

But...

… what if we follow a strength training?

It is quite self-explanatory; we are talking about a training focused on gaining strength. Because we work with sub-maximal weight, there will be less mass gain than an hypertrophy training and there will be an improvement of the central neural system. Why is that?

Working with sub-maximal weights, i.e. 2 set of 2 rep @ 90% of 1RM, the muscle fibres are not stressed enough to promote mass gain, compared to hypertrophy training; instead, most of the effort is focused on the motor units – neuron + the muscle that it innervates – and the central neural system, which includes:

• Fiber Recruitment
• Firing Rates
• Intra-muscular Coordination
• Inter-muscualr Coordination
• Antagonist Disinhibition
• Growth and Pruning

Moreover, a strong climber can climb longer and harder. It has been proven that sub-maximal training improves the muscle endurance (Hoof, Gran & Helgerud, 2002).

As my friend Joe The Climber writes here, why there are strength and conditioning programs for almost every sport and not for climbing?

We decide to try it out.

Second part coming soon; don't worry about that.

REFERENCE (like a pro)

Hoff, J., Gran, A., Helgerud, J. (2002).Maximal strength training improves aerobic endurance performance.

Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 12(5), 288-295.

Killer Upper Arm Workout

Hi Everybody!

Here there is a very effective and challenging workout for your biceps and triceps.

Take a look.

You may ask:"What the hell  does 3NEG mean!?"
No Panic! I will show you.

3NEG means that once you have completed all the ten reps, you will perform three negative (or eccentric) repetitions straight away.
If you are pumping your biceps properly, you will not be able to lift the dumbbell after ten or elven reps; so, in order to perform the 3NEG, use the free arm to pull the weight to the chest.
The eccentric movement should last between three and six seconds.

Instead, SLOW means to perform the Push Down in a slow and controlled fashion. Both the concentric and eccentric movement should take two or three seconds. Moreover, make sure you lock your shoulders and elbows to focus the effort on the triceps; always engage your abs.
If you would like to make this exercise more challenging, after the concentric movement, rotate your wrist 90° out and squeeze your triceps hard for one second. I guarantee that it will burn! 

And finally last, but not the least, the STRIPPING(1). It simply means to drop the weight after completing ten repetitions and do other 10 reps straight away.
Push\pull + Drop + Push\pull = one series

When you are pumping iron, always remember to squeeze the muscles you are working!

The workout should take about one hour with warm-up and cool-down.
Try it and let me know how it went ;)

Enjoy it,
CronosVirus00

The 5-0-5 Agility Drill

Today I would like to talk about one of my favourite agility drill: the 5-0-5 acceleration test.

The idea of this drill is to found out  how fast an athlete can fully stop from max speed and sprint back again.
This drill can be used in those sports where agility is a "must", such as American football, basket, football etc etc.

Let's see how this drill works.
Our pinkish cubic athlete will sprint from a distance that allows him to reach sub max speed before the 5 meters mark; generally, 10 meters away is a good distance. So, he will run toward the stop line, stop in front of it, turn back, and sprint again to the starting point.
The time starts when the athlete pass the 5m mark for the first time and we will stop the clock when he pass the 5m mark for the second time.

One key point of this drill is the stop phase. When the athlete reaches the stop line, he does NOT perform a change of direction (one foot on the line and sprint back); instead, he places boot feet in front of the line and then sprint back. Basically, he has to perform an 180° spin.
Moreover, the athlete, on the way back, has to sprint toward the starting point and not decelerate after the 5m mark.

We can adjust the marks according to our needs. For instance, we can start the clock at 10m and stop it when the athlete reach the 10m mark again.

In order to have an accurate result, is better to perform this test three time, allowing the athlete to have enough rest between sets. Moreover, we can do a practice set before the drill begin.

Adaptive Efficacy in Resistance Training [Infographic]

Here there is another infographic, this time about adaptive efficacy in resistance training.

In a nutshell, what are you training for according the RM (repetition maximum, which is how many reps you can do with a certain weight).

Enjoy it ;)

CronosVirus00

Olympic Games [Infographic]

Click to enlarge.
Enjoy it ;)

CronosVirus00

PS: done in about 3h with Inkscape

Light Traffic [Warm-up Drill]

The warm-up could be the most boring part of the training session.

2 laps of run, back-pedalling on the short sides, sprint the last 20 meters. Then, all on one line and do some dynamic stretching; job done.

Every time the same routine. If people spends a lot of time thinking about new drills to avoid the tedium, why shouldn't we do the same for the warm-up?

Here I will show you a nice warm up drill that I use when I am coaching multisport.

This drill is called “The light-traffic”.

All your players are on the line (again?). When they are ready, you shout red, orange or green.

Green → they sprint forward

Orange → they slowly run forward

Red → they stop

You keep on shouting the colours and you can even change the exercise, e.g. back-pedalling or frog jumps, focusing on the muscles that the players are going to use the most during the training.

To make the drill more competitive and fun, you can introduce a forfeit every time a player doesn't follow your command, for instance you shout red! Then, red again and someone runs forward instead of staying still.

The effectiveness of this drill depends on the “creativity” of the coach and on his ability to make the training “interesting”.

Coaches in UK [Infographic]

I quite like infographics. They allow you to represent data in a creative way... "Miscere utile dulci" as Orazio said once (for those of you who does not speak Latin - unbelievable - it means "to mingle the useful with the pleasant").

This is my actual first infographic (click to enlarge) and I do recognise that there is a lot of room for improvements. Please let me know what you think :)

Enjoy it!
CronosVirus00

 

Netball: Possession analysis 1.5

As I promised in my last post, I watched a match on youtube to test my performance table.

Well... I watched only a quarter...

I came up with some improvements.

Column POSS.

If the team get possession because the opponents committed a fault, e.g. foot work, I will put F under this column.

Moreover, if the team loses possession because of a fault, I will draw a line over that possession.

It might happen that the team is defending and loses a rebound. I should put this under the REBOUND.DEF column, but in this way I will use a line for the possession and the team hasn't got the ball (my table track possession only).

So far, I put an L to remind me that they lost a rebound and to not count that line as possession; I think I should write them down somewhere else.... any idea?

Anyway, this is an infographic that I created to show the data of the 1st Quarter Commonwealth Netball Final between New Zealand and Australia.


Bye bye!

Netball: Possession Analysis 1.0

During our last lecture of Performance Analysis we have been asked to design a table to analyse the possession in netball.

I thought: "Cool! Eventually we begin to do practical stuffs!"

Yet, I have only a little concern. I have no idea how to play netball. Just a small detail.

In my country netball basically does not exist; the same goes for cricket for instance. So I decided to go to watch the training of one of the uni team.

After getting a vague idea how does this sport work, I came up with this table (click to enlarge):

I am considering all the output of the possession: shoot (miss or score) and losing ball (due to wrong pass or interception by an opponent). I am not counting the number of passes because it is irrelevant, unless there is a specific need, e.g. decrease the passes to get into opponent’s area.

Moreover, on the first column I am tracking down how the team got possession and the data concerned to rebounds is in the last two column.

Next image shows the table with some raw data in it. Bare in mind that is a “hand and paper” table. I just virtually recreate it for the purpose of this article.

I am going to explain how this table works.

Every line represents one possession and the output of that possession.

Column POSS.

If it is empty, it mean that the team get possession after a shot missed by the opposition, so they move the ball from their area or they keep possession after scoring. If they intercepted the ball, I put In; if they won a rebound in defence, I write down Re and I use Wr if they got the ball because the challengers missed the pass .

Column SHOOT\SCORE and SHOT\MISS

This one is very easy. If they score I put O and if they miss I put X under the right column.

Column WRONG\MISS and WRONG\INTER.

You will find an X under MISS if the team misses the pass. On the other column, you will find an X every time their passes are intercepted.

Still, there is one more output. If the pass is intercepted but the ball goes out (the team still keep possession). In this case, you will find X(F).

Column REBOUND\DEF and REBOUND\ATT

If the team win the rebound, I write O under the correct column (if it happens while attacking, under ATT and under DEF if it happens while defending); on the other hand, if they lose the rebound, I write X.

Apexes

You may have noticed that sometimes there is a number close to an X. I use this number (apex) to keep chronological information of the possession.

Let's have a look at the row 6. The team intercepts the ball and they manage to shoot but they miss (X¹); yet, they win the rebound (O²) and finally score (O³).

Let me know what do you think and how can I improve it.

One limit of this table is that is general and not specific to the single athlete; moreover, we do not know in which part of the court interceptions and missed passes take place.

I am going to watch more games (real one would be better; otherwise youtube is the place to be) to test it further more and to make some arrangement.

Hypertrophy Training: planner overview

To track the progression of my friend's hypertrophy workout I created a training log with OpenOffice Calc, a software like Microsoft Excel but free.
This is what a week of training looks like (click to enlarge):

We use the Strength Training Anatomy book of Delavier as reference for the exercises. The number  between brackets referred to the page of Delavier's manual.
This is a daily workout:

This image is from TUE workout.
We started with a warm-up with the skipping rope. 15 set of 30sec, 10sec between sets. Follow this, we did dynamic stretching for the upper body.

First body part worked was shoulders. We began with a superset focused on the front deltoid; after we did the Nautilus in stripping mode to isolate the deltoids and to stress them as much as possible. Last exercise for the shoulders was focused on the front deltoid too.

Second body part was upper arms.
All the exercises were executed normally and wee mainly focused on the biceps for this session.
As you can see, the triceps extension is highlighted in green. It means that my friend enjoyed this exercises or he found it very useful to pump the muscle. In this case, he felt that the squeezing was very emphasized during this movement.
On the other hand, I will highlighted an exercise in red if something went wrong (or he didn't like it).

A workout ends always with a cool down, generally a low intensity run on the treadmill, followed by 10 min of dynamic stretching.

The next image referred to the feedback.

On a scale 1 to 5, we cover fun, challenging, satisfaction, fatigue pre\post workout of the day. He also write me his weight after the training.
Training intensity is a formula (tot.reps divided by tot.sets) to have an idea of the workout load.

This is how my planner looks like!

Calculate how long a workout will last

When I was planning the first week of hypertrophy training for my friend I realized that I had no idea how long a workout session would last.
So, I tried to come up with some sort of formula that could roughly predict the total time of the workout.
After various attempts, I have this formula that has a 10 min range of error (between my prediction and the actual time that my friend has been training):

set.tot*1.55+25

set.tot is the total amount of sets in the session.

1.55 is an estimation of the duration of a single set plus the rest between set. 1 min of rest between sets and more or less 30 second to complete one set (1+ 0.55)

25 includes the time for warm-up, cool-down, stretching and some setbacks that may happen in the gym, for istance waiting to use the bench press

This formula helps me a lot when I'm a workout, especially if my friend has to go to the gym between classes.

Hyperthophy (muscle mass) Training: workout structure

INTRO

Last August a friend of mine asked me for an hypertrophy workout. This friend of mine is absolutely in love with the gym, he would literally spend all day pumping iron.
So I accepted his request.

(Before the hypertrophy training, we worked one month on his strength)

I designed a workout based on bodybuilding trainings that will last until February (currently we are at week 3).
I'm not going to discuss the aerobic training and the diet. I will focus on the “weight” part of the program. I would just like to say that my friend takes protein shakes after every training session and he follows an healthy diet.

Here is the plan in details.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS

• 82kg of muscle mass by February
  
• Get a V shape
  
• Do at least 5 dips and 5 pull-up with 20% of body weight loaded by February
  
• Reduce body fat percentage
  

STRUCTURE
5 days of gym training, from MON to FRI, for 5 weeks + 1 one of deload. Repeat the cycle until Febrary.
I'm using a split training system, divided in even and odd weeks.

EVEN WEEKS

MON	TUE	*WED*	THU	*FRI*
chest........... back............	shoulders........ upper arms..... lower arms.........	legs..... abs.......	chest........... back............	shoulders........ upper arms..... lower arms.........

ODD WEEKS

MON	TUE	*WED*	THU	*FRI*
shoulders........ upper arms..... lower arms.........	chest........... back............	legs..... abs.......	shoulders........ upper arms..... lower arms.........	chest........... back............

*WED* ---> Wednesday is the “test day”. My friend has to pick a body part not trained the day before (that's why the workout is divided in even and odd weeks, otherwise he will always test the same body parts), e.g. chest, and try to beat his 1 RM max. After that, he carries on with legs and abs.
I added this test day to motivated him to go beyond his limits and to set new targets every week.

*FRI* ---> Friday is the high intensity day. I introduced this day to shock the muscle and to avoid its adaptation to the workout. I wanna catch it by surprise with more weight and less reps than usual.


TRAINING METHODOLOGY

Always keep an equal number of pulling and pushing exercises to maintain a balanced body structure.

Train to failure. If you have to do 12 reps of bench press, you have to reach the 12 ^th reps almost dead and try to do a couple more. As Arnold said, are those two last reps that make the muscle grow (and make the difference between champions and normal people)

Lifting weight is a mean, not the goal. We are training to make our muscles grow and not to lift heavier weights. You need to know the right weight for the right exercise and for the number of reps you are going to perform. This is an ability that comes with the experience.


Number of reps and rest. Generally, we will work between the 8 and 12 reps per set with one minute of rest between set.

Warm-up and cool down. Every session begins with a warm-up (rope skipping + dynamic stretching) and it ends with a cool-down (low intensity treadmill run + static stretching)

Feedback. At the end of the session, my friend has to follow a little questionnaire about his pre-and-post workout fatigue, enjoyment, satisfaction, challenging (scale 1 out of 5). Moreover, he writes me his weight after training and the duration of the workout. Finally, he tells me what he liked and what he didn't liked about the training session.

Focus on the muscle that we are training. Targeting the muscle is a matter of technique and right weight. All exercise should be execute with the proper technique. Wrong weight might deviate from hypertrophy training and could even lead to injuries.

Listen to your body. Learn to listen to your body will help you to train better and to avoid injuries. If it hurts (actually pain) then stop!


SHOCK THE MUSCLE
To work the muscle harder, I use this techniques in top of the basic concentric movement.

Squeezing: squeeze the muscle at every contraction! You will work it even harder

Stripping: get to the last rep, push to the limit and go above the limit. Now, drop the current weight, immediately pick up lighter one and repeat from the beginning. You will surprise how much energy you muscles have when lifting a lighter weight.

Negative: get to the last rep and instead of dropping the weight, perform an eccentric movement (negative). Ask to someone to help you to lift the weight again and perform eccentric movements until you can.

Supersets: perform two or more exercises in a row without rest between series.

Isotension: between sets, keep on flex and contract your muscles. This help to feel “the pump”, which is to keep the blood pumping in the muscles. Arnold said that the pump is like an orgasm (or maybe better)...

Body weight exercises: this kind of exercise stimulate the body to produce growth hormones.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is it.

At the beginning I had two main issues:
a) In his gym there is anything to measure body fat (I don't really trust the formula method)
b) V shape?!
Bonus) I'm in UK, he is in Italy.

For the first problem, I will use photos to track his progress. I had a picture of him before begin the workout and I will ask him to send me one at the of the program.

To get a V shape I will make him work on the superior part of the latissimus dorsi (with pull up for instance), expand the thoracic cage (pull-over), shoulders and I will try to get his waist slimmer.


WHERE WE ARE SO FAR?
While I'm writing this article we are in week 3 of training and he is 79kg. At the end of August he was 76Kg. During September we worked to improve his general strength and the workout described above started on October.


CONCLUSION
I will post example of a week planning later on; I need to collect more data first.
If you have any advice, question or critic, please don't be shy and fell free to leave a comment: I will really appreciate it.

CronosVirus00



REFERENCES
I know I know, I am a student and I'm supposed to reference properly (e.g. in text); yet, I have already finished the article so... maybe next time :)

Bompa, Di Pasquale and Cornacchia. Serious Strength Training
Delavier. Strength Training Anatomy                                                                              Freitas de Salles, Simao, Miranda, da Silva Novaes, Lemos and Willardson. Rest Interval between Sets in Strength Training                                                                                    Low. Overcoming Gravity                                                                                      Schwarzenegger. The New Encyclopedia Of Modern Bodybuilding