Prime Time With EC

Training Bodybuilding
81

The best bet is to be around coaches who understand it. Typically, they have a background in either PT or ATC and performance enhancement training. I’ve been fortunate to have just that and to have been around several coaches who really “get it.”

Definitely check out everything that Coach X has at elitefts.com; he and I have had some excellent conversations/exchanges about the need for prehab. He really knows his stuff. While you’re there, read up on Martin Rooney; he’s also well-versed.

Honestly, though, the best way to get good in these situations is to experience them yourself!

[quote]Driven wrote:
Eric,

DO feel there are any good sources for post rehab information such as books and or seminars? IF so, could you recomend something.

Thanks[/quote]

82

Hey im not sure if this is your area, but talked to dr. Ryan about drug testing, and how taking stuff im on, like HOT-ROX , Carbolin 19, Spike, im just taking a real small dosage of Maximum Strength HOT-ROX, BCCa’s Surge, and Power Drive, and protein, Dr. Ryan wasnt sure how the HOT-ROX metabolizes and your body and take trazodone, zanax, and Paxil 15-20 mg, he asked me to ask CY, about this but wanted to know if knew anything or had any input its just a drug test, but i heard some fat burners can show up as pos. for methamphetimines, thanks for any input

83

Right on. You’ve probably got a little case of internal impingement going - much like you’d see in a swimmer, pitcher, or tennis player. Welcome to the club! :slight_smile:

[quote]bigpump23 wrote:
no I defaintly understand after playing college bball in boston my whole life I can truely understand and appreciate that. I had a technique for rebounding, part cheat part smart that just killed my shoulder, your basicaly swimmove the person trying to bok your out but your under hook there arm and shoulder drive them back. if done correctly it just looks like your fighthing for position, but yes shoulder trainign was defaintly helpful
[/quote]

84

[quote]trailer36 wrote:
EC,
Pat Myers sends his best. he just got the head assistant coaching job at bucknell so give him a shout if you get a chance.[/quote]

Good stuff; I’ll have to get in touch with him.

[quote]On to my question. i jave only done conventional deads in my routines along with good mornings and RDL’s. I am currently carb cycling with a caloric deficit to lose some BF and have actually hit my PR tonight to my suprise doing deads. my question is how much will exercises like pulling from a deficit and glute/ham raises and hypers effect my deads. would these be good variation to implement next mesocycle and stop doing actual pulls?
My goal is to induce hypertrophy but still be a strong SOB. [/quote]

I would definitely mix in some variety. As an athlete, you need to be exposed to a wide variety of movements in order to expand your motor pool so that you can adapt to whatever chaos comes your way on the field. Coaches who just use the same exercises over and over again are really doing a great disservice to their athletes.

With most athletes with whom I work, we’ll cycle maximal effort movements every two weeks. Week 1 is more of a learning session; they might take a few heavy triples or even fives. Week 2 is when the heavy loading comes and they use the motor program they started to establish the week before to move some big weights. I generally use assistance exercises for three weeks, change things up for the back-off week, and then give them a whole new set in the next program. This is kind of the tip of the iceberg, but you get the picture.

85

Can’t say that I do. Cy is definitely your man on this; he really knows his stuff.

[quote]Ejonesunt wrote:
Hey im not sure if this is your area, but talked to dr. Ryan about drug testing, and how taking stuff im on, like HOT-ROX , Carbolin 19, Spike, im just taking a real small dosage of Maximum Strength HOT-ROX, BCCa’s Surge, and Power Drive, and protein, Dr. Ryan wasnt sure how the HOT-ROX metabolizes and your body and take trazodone, zanax, and Paxil 15-20 mg, he asked me to ask CY, about this but wanted to know if knew anything or had any input its just a drug test, but i heard some fat burners can show up as pos. for methamphetimines, thanks for any input[/quote]

86

Thanks for answering the email. I’ll think I will try to do the strength upper body day on sunday in the morning. thanks for the advice.

87

No sweat. You know where to find me if you have anymore questions.

[quote]brotzfrog10 wrote:
Thanks for answering the email. I’ll think I will try to do the strength upper body day on sunday in the morning. thanks for the advice.[/quote]

88

EC, could you provide us with some of the things you do with your field athletes (football players, etc.)? Maybe even outlining a typical week of training for them.

From your last post it seems that you favor a Westside approach. Do you stay with a Westside approach for most of the sessions? Also, how do you modifiy it (rep work, d/e work, prehab, energy systems work) for your athletes?

Thanks

89

I’d say that it’s Westside-influenced, but then again, it’s influenced by a ton of other things. Above all, how I write a program is dependent on whether an athlete is more reactive, more maximal-strength dominant, or a combination of the two.

As a little example, here’s what I used for the August program for a current client of mine. As a little frame of reference, he was a professional volleyball player in Europe. He was extremely reactive, so he made ridiculous progress in-season (+3" on his VJ) while gaining a substantial amount of muscle mass in preparing for his new goal: rugby. He responds really well to pure maximal strength work, so speed training hasn’t been as much of an issue.

Over the past few months, though, he’s needed to get reaccustomed to movement training (you move, but you don’t run that much in volleyball), so we’ve tinkered with his programming to include more change of direction and linear speed work. This is the last month of his off-season, and here’s how we’ve set things up:

Monday: Lower - CNS intensive effort

Tuesday: Rest/Recovery Modalities

Wednesday: Linear speed, conditioning

Thursday: Isometric and Dynamic upper

Friday: Isometric and Dynamic lower, linear speed, lateral movement

Saturday: Rest/Recovery Modalities

Sunday AM: Lateral Movement, Agility, Conditioning

Sunday PM: Max Effort Upper

Again, this is just one example. It would entirely depend on the sport in question, the athlete’s needs, and his/her schedule.

[quote]buckeye75 wrote:
EC, could you provide us with some of the things you do with your field athletes (football players, etc.)? Maybe even outlining a typical week of training for them.

From your last post it seems that you favor a Westside approach. Do you stay with a Westside approach for most of the sessions? Also, how do you modifiy it (rep work, d/e work, prehab, energy systems work) for your athletes?

Thanks [/quote]

90

EC, thanks for the look at your athletes week.

Could you explain what the dynamic/isometric upper and lower body days consist of? The use of isometric work seems interesting on this day and I am interested to see how you use these methods.

Also, do the movement/condtioning days resemble the parameters that Defranco talked about in his latest article?

91

[quote]buckeye75 wrote:
EC, thanks for the look at your athletes week.

Could you explain what the dynamic/isometric upper and lower body days consist of? The use of isometric work seems interesting on this day and I am interested to see how you use these methods.[/quote]

I can’t give away everything, man! Suffice it to say that we hit both weighted and just bodyweight isometrics for various durations, and we train all along the speed-strength continuum.

They’re different for each athlete. Some need more linear movement training and some need more lateral movement training. Others need more dynamic flexibility work or plyos at this time. It’s all very individual.

92

EC
Thanks for all your input about my injury and my rehab. I am coming along quite nicely. Glutes are starting to fire, pain is decreasing. I have a couple q’s I was hoping to get your opinion on, though. I have weak trunk flexors, but my herniation requires caution when training them due to the lumbar flexion (thanks Dr. Ryan). Dr Ryan suggested a towl roll under the small of my back for crunches, but they feel really freaking wierd. Are there any movements for the trunk flexors that dont actually flex the trunk? Would holds on a decline bench be a bad idea? I can see such a movement producing quite the strain on the lumbar region. Thanks a million.

93

I’ll be back on tomorrow night, so keep the questions rolling.

Thanks for participating tonight, everyone.

94

EC going to the meet in trumbull this weekend?

95

EC,
Thanks for your response on my last question. I just recieved a pair of single polyester squat briefs from Frantz sports that I ordered (for DE squats). They took my height, weight, waist measurement, and mid-thigh measurement. I have yet to lift with them on but I just put them on and I have two concerns; first it is very hard to take a wide stance- I can’t go nearly as wide as if I dont wear them. Secondly, when I take as wide of a stance as they allow and try to go to parallel it seems like they are going to rip. I am confident that I measured myself correctly, but does this mean they are too small or do they just need to be broken in. Thanks for your help and good luck in your upcoming meet,
TR

96

I think your best bet is to work with pure stabilization work for the time-being. You can train the rectus abdominus pretty well with just isometric actions, but I wouldn’t go the decline route.

Glad to hear you’re doing better; just stay the course and you’ll get to where you want to be eventually.

[quote]DA MAN wrote:
EC
Thanks for all your input about my injury and my rehab. I am coming along quite nicely. Glutes are starting to fire, pain is decreasing. I have a couple q’s I was hoping to get your opinion on, though. I have weak trunk flexors, but my herniation requires caution when training them due to the lumbar flexion (thanks Dr. Ryan). Dr Ryan suggested a towl roll under the small of my back for crunches, but they feel really freaking wierd. Are there any movements for the trunk flexors that dont actually flex the trunk? Would holds on a decline bench be a bad idea? I can see such a movement producing quite the strain on the lumbar region. Thanks a million.[/quote]

97

If it’s Saturday, August 6, probably not. If it’s on Sunday the 7th, I can probably make it. I can’t recall which day it was.

Truthfully, I’m only thinking about a day in advance right now; things are crazy!

[quote]bigpump23 wrote:
EC going to the meet in trumbull this weekend?[/quote]

98

Just break 'em in. Briefs definitely have more give to them than squat suits; you’ll probably think that they’re loose in a few months!

[quote]bigTR wrote:
EC,
Thanks for your response on my last question. I just recieved a pair of single polyester squat briefs from Frantz sports that I ordered (for DE squats). They took my height, weight, waist measurement, and mid-thigh measurement. I have yet to lift with them on but I just put them on and I have two concerns; first it is very hard to take a wide stance- I can’t go nearly as wide as if I dont wear them. Secondly, when I take as wide of a stance as they allow and try to go to parallel it seems like they are going to rip. I am confident that I measured myself correctly, but does this mean they are too small or do they just need to be broken in. Thanks for your help and good luck in your upcoming meet,
TR[/quote]

99

EC, not sure if this is too general but, whenever I do good mornings(spread my arms out over the back of the bar) my right shoulder kind of freezes so too speak and locks. Any thoughts or input into what this could be? Could it just be the positioning of it? really doesn’t bother me after the fact except one time where it bothered me a day after

100

Thanks a million, I appreciate the hell out of it.