Optimum Performance Training

Of all the Dolly Parton content I saw yesterday, a short segment from a conversation she was having with Reese Witherspoon was my favourite.

Reese - “I’ve always wanted to be more like you. You’ve inspired me so much. You still inspire me.”

Dolly - “Well, don’t be like me. Be like you.”

I have had several role models throughout my life. Having a role model can be very helpful. Helpful as an Athlete, helpful as a Coach.

That said, one thing you may notice as you continue to use them as point of reference is that you keep failing. Failing to implement things or to create things the way they did or do. Falling short in one way or another.

While you are noticing all these things, the areas you need to improve upon as an Athlete or a Coach, you are ignoring one very important thing.

You have strengths too. Many people simply fail to acknowledge that. They don’t think of their strengths as anything unique or anything valuable. They simultaneously see the strengths of others and their own failures or inadequacies.

The way you succeed and the way they succeeded will not be in perfect alignment. The way you fail and the way they have failed will not be in perfect alignment. You need to succeed and to fail in your own unique ways. Just like they succeeded and failed in way that are unique to them.

A beautiful parallel to this is being a Dad. My son wants to be like me in many ways. He wants to be tall like his Dad, he wants a cool car like his Dad, he wants to sit in the front seat with his Dad, he wants to have a nice house like his Dad, etc.

Just as it is with Coaches and Athletes, I must remind him “don’t be like me, be like you”.

—Michael

Short term tests are good for assessing beginners. The more “hardware” based the test is, the more reliable the result will likely be for an initial assessment. The less learning that is required for the test to be optimally performed the better of an actual result you’re probably going to get.

I often joke during my mentorships that it would be great if Fitness assessments were like getting a blood test. That would mean the individual wouldn’t need to do anything other than just sit there and give you the data you’re looking for. Unfortunately, for us, the individual is required to perform work in order for us to collect data. It is not a passive process.

Once your understand this reality, it becomes important to then select the type of testing you are going to do with beginners.

Barring some physical ailment or limitation, it is easy to have an individual hang from a pull up bar and attempt a pull up. It is also easy to set them up for a push-up, a shoulder press, a bike sprint, a wall sit, etc.

Compare these examples to picking something like a 10 Minute AirBike for Max Calories (or something longer and more complex). The person may show significant improvement in a short time simply because they now have experience doing the test. They know the terrain of the test now, they know how to do better execute. In this case, in a short time frame, what you’re assessing is the individuals ability to learn, not so much a change in the hardware (a commensurate improvement in their actually physiology).

To compare this back to the blood test example, you didn’t obtain good data because you didn’t set the testing parameters appropriately. You want to set up good parameters for testing so you can assess actual improvements.

An easy way to mitigate this would be leverage what is done in many research papers. Allow the individual to perform a familiarization trial. This may counteract some of the learning issues mentioned.

What you don’t want to do is perform these tests on day 1 and then retest them a 3-4 weeks later. You are not showing the efficacy of your training program, you are revealing your lack of concern for data collection.

—Michael

The volunteer crew for this past weekend’s competition in Calgary. Some volunteers are missing from photo.

An event like this past weekend simply cannot occur without volunteers. These people give up their weekend to support an event like this so that the athletes will have judges, the event will be organized and run on time, scoreboards will be updated and everything else. Their service allows the athlete to be an athlete. To show up, compete, go home.

This sport (ie - fitness) is not large enough to support paying people to do these things. It never has been, and likely never will be. And that is just fine with me!

Volunteering is a good thing to do. Not everything you do needs to be valued monetarily. The value is in the act of service, to something greater than yourself. In this case, to a group of athletes wanting to participate in their sport. I was honoured to be a part of making that happen.

—Michael

Incredible weekend at the Canadian Functional Fitness Federation🍁🇨🇦 National Championships.

We had a large crew compete this weekend. It was so enjoyable to watch everyone do their thing.

Myself, Scott and Kat considered it to be an honour and a privilege to coach the people we do.

I have been attending weekends like these since 2008. I tried to never take these weekend for granted. There will come a time when I can’t do this anymore, so while I am doing it I’ll love it as much as I can.

My favourite part of these weekends is getting up close and seeing the athletes perform. It’s raw, it’s real. There’s no filter or edit button for your performance. It is what it is. It’s why competition is a wonderful opportunity. You will find out where you falter, you will find out were you excel but most importantly it may help you find out who you are.

—Michael

This information is not new. It was first demonstrated decades ago. However, I think in the world of fitness it needs to be reiterated. Please read (and share).

The amount of lactate measured in your blood, at any time, is a result of the difference between the rate of “appearance” versus the rate of “disposal”. “Appearance” meaning lactate produced, “disposal” meaning lactate being utilized by various tissues within the body to create energy (1).

As exercise intensity increases, particularly above the lactate threshold, the rate of “appearance“ will far out pace, the rate of “disposal“, and therefore there will be a rise in blood lactate (1).

Untrained or non-endurance trained individuals will generally have a low ability for lactate “disposal”. Meaning, they do not have sufficient mitochondria to dispose of the lactate being produced, utilizing it as a fuel source. Conversely, highly trained endurance athletes generally have a very high ability for lactate “disposal”. Meaning, in comparison to the untrained or non-endurance trained individual the highly trained endurance athlete will be able to exercise at significantly greater power outputs and still have a very low level of blood lactate (1).

Muscle fatigue is a reduced ability to produce force, reversible with rest. The amount of lactate in your blood does not increase or decrease the amount of muscle fatigue. In fact, many studies show a protective effect of lactate with regards to managing muscle fatigue (2).

“You break down carbohydrates through a process called glycolysis, which produces lactate. So, if you’re doing high intensity exercise, lactate will always accumulate”. (2)

Keto adapted or low carbohydrate athletes will generally display lower amounts of blood lactate across all intensities. If lactate was a cause of muscle fatigue then you would observe superior performance among these individuals during high intensity efforts. However, what is observed is the exact opposite. Lower blood lactate and significantly worsened performance, on average (3).

—Michael

References in comments.

Your value as a person is not contingent on your physical capabilities.

In your life you will gain and you will lose. You will fight for what you build and then what you build will fade, willingly or unwillingly.

All too often we off load our self worth situating it outside of us. Maybe you place your worth/your value in “being an athlete”, “being competitive”, achieving a certain standard in your sport, or even in a particular movement/lift.

Placing too much of your worth into your physical ability is folly. That said, avoiding this is much easier said than done.

Why is it folly? First, you don’t get to decide how “able” you become. You don’t decide your parents, where you are born, when you are born, etc. Starting points vary markedly, and they matter.

Yes, you are entitled to try, and you should try. You should try your very best. Effort is under your control.

However, your peak level is not really up to you. You will go as far as you are able, not as far as you may want.

I have worked with many many competitive individuals over my years as a Coach. I don’t think any one of them got to where then wanted to be. They always wanted more. That desire is what made them great.

Regardless of how able any of our clients are, they are still human beings. Worthy of love and respect.

Their ability’s vary, their value doesn’t. I believe that. I hope you do too.

—Michael