When we first started Train Adapt Evolve we did everything for free. It was a stellar business model. We started by giving out Omegawave mobile monitors to friends or athletes curious about the technology for free. I will admit, this was also for selfish reasons. I wanted to collect data, watch, and learn. This has now evolved into us putting athletes on our mobile platform and consulting with coaches and/or athletes.
Recently we had an opportunity to consult with a UFC fighter and his coach preparing for an upcoming fight. The daily Omegawave results were not uncommon from what we have seen in the past which include former UFC champions.
Chaos.
As both Ben and I learn more from coaches or nutritionists in the MMA scene, one thing is becoming increasingly clear:
It is chaos.
The 1% of the 1%
I often hear S&C coaches talking about making their fighters tougher. This blows my mind!
If you are a MMA Fighter - you are tough.
If you fight for the UFC you are the 1% of the 1% of the toughest dudes on the planet. Congrats. I hope that is nothing knew to you.
So why in the hell do you think battle ropes and MB slams are going to make you tougher? Maybe I should ask the S&C coach that question. Why is making the athlete tougher the objective? If this was the case, we could go down to the local box gym, pick out a few guys who are burpee’n their faces off at the moment and throw them in the cage.
That toughness won’t last long.
An S&C coach with a “toughness” objective can do more harm than good. Messing with psychology via exhaustive work is sending up a Hail Mary and is a crap tool. Get rid of it and try to look into the future. Wholesale changes will not happen overnight and progress made in a short 8-12 weeks stint of training will be dependent on the athlete’s daily readiness during camp and structural adaptations prior.
In a sport where multiple qualities need training, our job may be better suited in managing fatigue (if no one else will) and secondly, filling in the performance gaps when we can.
We need to take a supportive role.
Therefore structuring depleting-type workouts in the morning, then sending the athlete off to their wrestling coach or sparing in the afternoon is a shit job.
Without a doubt there have been fighters not at the top of their game solely because of old school beliefs still held by S&C coaches.
Chalk one up for Toughness!
Lifestyle
“I am always training.”
Is common phrase often heard in MMA and I don’t doubt that the athletes are in fact training, but are they including the necessary lifestyle modifications to support the training - sleep and nutrition?
Both are always emphasised during training camp but if the athlete is “always training” those lifestyle habits need to be a mainstay day to day. Living hard and training hard don’t mix or have a long shelf life.
If the truth be told, we have have seen signs of overreaching even before training camp has begun - a combination of training and poor lifestyle choices. This could explain the inconsistencies, injuries, and question marks that surface about a fighter’s preparation. Entering training camp in this state will only be maintenance job at best.
The mentality of “living the athlete life” for 8 or 12 weeks at a time is not enough.
We believe post fight is just as important. Especially if a fighter has received a mild to severe brain injury. This opens up the body “literally” to both gut and blood-brain barrier permeability. Taking the necessary steps post fight can not only set the athlete up for the next training period but can also contribute to the athletes health which may prolong their career.
Communication
The biggest hurdle in the process is communication between the coaches. In most cases there is not one person managing the stress of the athlete. General the athlete is left on his own to navigate the process with a collection of coaches/voices. That lack of one true voice steering the ship will no doubt lead to insecurities and unorganized preparation.
There are current UFC fighters that have a team of coaches (S&C, boxing, wrestling, Muay thai, Jujitsu, etc) that have no idea what the other coach is doing, or how the athlete is recovering. All they know is how they are going to implement their own specific agenda. This usually ends with an overload of suboptimal training with very low emphasis on quality.
The bright spot is there are a camps structuring their team using an integrated approach. The two that come to mind are the Blackzilians and Team TakeDown. Medical, S&C, and the multi-discipline coaches are all on the same page, sharing notes, collaborating, and adjusting the fighters preparation.
If you are a fighter, start the conversation with your team. If you are a coach, start the conversation with the other coaches. If not there will no doubt be uncomfortable conversations later through defeat or injuries. Avoid the chaos.
I once was asked “Can you really build a Healthy CrossFit Athlete?”
I mention this not because it’s difficult question to answer, but how disheartening it was to hear — the question is an acknowledgement of a problem. Now this is not a shot at CrossFit, these days you can interchange the word CrossFit with any other name in sports. It’s all the same problem stemming from a lack of education and awareness from the coaches - Regardless of the sport.
I can see the frustration from the enlightened few coaches who are really trying to dig deep — searching for the truth. These coaches spend a lot of time and a butt load of money on their education — certs, seminars, and conferences — always looking for answers.
Maybe I have my nose in too many books but what certification is really talking about biological systems and the combination of morphological and physiological adaptation?
As far as I can tell it’s all the same — a little bit of….
and we can’t forget about this…
Some dress it up by showing off their genetic freaks while others try to build in a perfect assessment protocol. All trying to add value to the same information being sold.
This is why writing about fitness and health on the internet is redundant. The same stories being told by different voices — some witty, some matter of fact, some copy and paste.
“If you can’t say something interesting don’t say anything at all.” — These are words I am trying to live by.
As a mentor of mine once warned me “I don’t want you to sell your soul to the internet” and he is right for saying so, because there is always someone with a cooler website, steeper marketing budget, knows the right people, or just plain talks louder and more often.
I know this because Train Adapt Evolve has been accused of the same but I can honestly say — like the “enlightened few” — we are searching for the truth.
Simply, all the stuff I wish I was taught early on: biological systems and the combination of morphological and physiological adaptation.
No more telling the same stories.
I won’t guarantee you will be rolling in your seats but I can guarantee that the information I will discuss you will see in action. We will have a weekend of exploring the use of not only the Omegawave technology but also Moxy Muscle Oxygenation Monitors.
The impromptu tests that can be created having a Woodway Treadmill, Jacobs Ladder, Rowers, Airdynes and all the strength equipment at our disposal combined with the different perspectives from the therapy, nutrition, and strength and conditioning fields will make for a unique learning environment.
Coach House asked me to weigh in on the article PRI- A Continued Conversation. To be honest when it comes to giving opinions on acronyms via social media I usually stay away. 9 times out of 10 it ends in petty infighting worthy of the Black & Blue Vs. Gold & White Dress debate.
“Duh guys — it’s Gold & White.”
Ridiculousness
On a more serious note I draw parallels to the perennial philosophy when I hear such debates within our industry. I truly believe we all begin from the same universal truth and as time passes our own societal need for uniqueness (research based) balanced with our need for acceptance diverts us into groups, sects, clans, etc. The point being we all start from the same universal truth, we just call it something different.
As a coach who is trying to understand ALL. THINGS. you learn fast not to get overwhelmed and concerned about the fighting between different schools of thought but instead search for universal truths.
As we dissolve the arguments or philosophies down we see the universal truths being breathing, and pattern recognition. All important and all are a part of the process.
Breathing
For obvious structural reasons there is a need to address breathing with our athletes. As Coach House alluded to previously, we need to get off the training table and have this integrated within our sessions. We are strength and conditioning coaches aren’t we? If an athlete is spending more time on a table than on the weight room floor chances are you are doing something wrong.
For simple integration within the session, breathing exercises in the warm ups or core exercises are great focused reminders. This allows you time (not under load) to really help the athlete feel the dynamics of the rib cage in inhalation and exhalation. This also sets up coaching cues used in the actual lifting session — Win Win.
On the programming side it’s important to limit anaerobic work if an athlete is really in need of changing their breathing dynamics. If not you will be chasing your tail (especially in the CrossFit population) though loaded carries and holds sometimes have their place when bridging the gap between table and specificity.
Pattern Recognition
It’s not the patterns themselves but how we recognize patterns in athletes which seems to be the most debated within our industry.
What system do you use? Are you on the table using an orthopedic assessment, stationary or dynamic movement screen?
Just pick one or two, or none. I mean who is this eval for?
It’s for US.
We cling to certain systems to tease out the lowest hanging fruit but these systems…
“makes us see the world as more tidy, simple, predictable, and coherent than it really is. The illusion that one has understood the past feeds the further illusion that one can predict and control the future. These illusions are comforting. They reduce the anxiety that we would experience if we allowed ourselves to fully acknowledge the uncertainties of existence.”
-Daniel Kahneman
How does the athlete feel when they leave the evaluation? Do they feel good about themselves? Do they now feel dependent on you — got you a new client now? Or have we now left them with a “thing” (dysfunction/asymmetry/insecurity?).
I understand the need for some to have a standardized language when discussing athletes between coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, etc. but haven’t we done a shit job using the english language as it comes to communication in general let alone trying to simplify or make it more complex?
That’s why I always enjoy our network in Austin. Ideas and thoughts clearly exchanged but the most important part of this is the willingness to do so.
This always brings me back to the eval process. How can we lose the name (eval/assessment), make it more free flowing, less writing shit down (numbers, letters), make the athlete unaware of what we are doing? Move to the psycho-social model.. yet still tease out the information we need and become more athlete centered?
“Beware of the myth of building a base … always ask yourself – A base of what?” - Dan Pfaff
Anytime I am planning a General Preparation Period (GPP) I always keep the above quote in mind.
A base of what? Endurance? Speed? Strength?
In my mind we need a base of Movement.
For this GPP we have 3 priorities.
Synergy in Movement (Power)
Support Work for SPP and CPP
Lifestyle
Synergy in Movement
Just as the title claims I want all movements to work together. I want to see similarities in foot dynamics within Sprint Drills, Olympic lifts, and Plyometrics.
Simply we should see commonalities in all three.
This synergy enhances the athlete’s ability to stay injury free. It makes no sense to coach one way on the track and another in the weight room — and the reasons are not centered around “Transfer” via the weight room.
It’s simpler that that.
It’s not how much they are loading the bar or how an athlete mimics sprinting movements via strength exercises, its’ how they are loading joints and soft tissue structures.
We want synergy so we don’t have to chase problems via therapy or recovery modalities.
Hamza has progressed well this last year as it pertains to hitting positions during drills and jumping activities. Now that we have a little more time we will break down power development exercises specifically Snatch, Clean, and Jerk Variations (lighter load - technique emphasis) with the focus being full foot power development.
Support Work
Another goal of GPP is to do work that supports the specific work carried out in (SPP & CPP).
Probably a mashup of my endurance background and influences of Anatoliy Bondarchuk (Transfer of Training Vol.I & II, as well as The Olympian Manual for Strength & Size) but I Like the idea of never going too far away from the specifics and simple categorizing of training.
Bondarchuk’s classification goes as follows:
1. Competition exercises – essentially,
these exercises are the discipline in which the
athlete is competing. They are applied both in
competition and the training process. In the
training process they can be repeated under
competition conditions or they can be made
either easier or more difficult.
2. Exercises for Specific development
– exercises that replicate single parts of
the competition movement. Either the same
muscle groups or a major part of the groups
used in the competition movement are engaged
and the same systems and organs
used in competition are activated. With the
help of these exercises one can effectively and
selectively influence different physical abilities
and these exercises promote optimal training
condition. The level of ability and condition
attained via these exercises is realised in the
complete competition exercises.
3. Exercises for Special Preparation
– similar to the exercises for general development,
these do not replicate competition
movements either totally or partially, but the
muscle groups engaged can be the same as
those used in the competition movements.
These exercises activate the functions and
systems of the organism that influence performance
in the athlete’s main discipline.
4. Exercises for General Development
– exercises where competition movements
are not replicated either totally or partially and,
instead, other muscle groups are engaged.
These exercises do not lead directly to enhancement
of the competition result but promote
many-sided development, have a positive
effect on the levels of general working capacity
and coordination, and promote recovery.
No matter the sport this part of the planning will always take place. The outcome will look something like this. (Sport of Weightlifting can be found here)
This is obviously a poor knockoff of Coach Evely and Tyler’s work off of UCoach, but it’s simple enough for me when it comes to planning. All of the above categories are in play at all times during the whole year. The shape just morphs throughout the season in emphasis.
This is also mirrored in how we will monitor Hamza. Loose in GPP — making interventions in extreme cases (Ex: low DC potential on Accel/Coordination days will resort to plan B) and tight through SPP/CPP — looking for optimal windows for specific work.
Lifestyle
This is truly 1# on my list. Without this part everything above is just words on paper. This is also the part that Hamza has to own and be accountable for. Chaos in life will only lead to chaos on the track.
Like I mention in Feedback Analysis Hamza in the past was successful despite living an athlete’s lifestyle — now a bit older we need a different approach.
We have underwent the first round of blood work and are collaborating with Dr. Culleton (Central Texas Integrative Medicine). Culleton is unique for a Functional Med Doc both being an athlete himself and working with elite athletes in the past. His perspective has been instrumental in helping Hamza understand Quality of food is key and you can’t out supplement a crap lifestyle.
Priorities going forward: More Quality Fats, Quality Nutrients — Vegetables, and Improve Meal Frequency.
The basics, but sometimes an athlete needs to hear it from someone other than myself. This usually depends on the level of stubbornness an athlete possesses — Hamza has plenty.
The only hiccup we are facing is meal frequency through Ramadan. This will mean an early rise and will consist of good protein source and smoothie (spinach, fruit, protein powder, etc) every morning. We will move workouts to the evenings so Hamza can refuel right afterwards and the majority of the workouts through Transition (2 weeks) will be in the pool — a way to beat the Texas heat for an athlete we know is coming in dehydrated.
Sleep will be another quality we track. In the past he has averaged around 7.5hrs of sleep per night — with a caveat of 20+ moments of restlessness at times. This is now something we will be writing in on the training plans. The goal will be more sleep on nights after speed/strength sessions (8.5hrs). This is to balance out imposed stress with recovery — and being mindful of it. He has made the investment of a new mattress in effort to help with the moments of restfulness and we believe once nutrition is improved this quality will improve as well — data on this to come hopefully in future posts.
Now this lifestyle portion may seem a bit controlling from an outsider’s perspective, but I believe if you can’t adapt from the workloads — why do it? This last year we have taken a Short to Long approach in planning, even though he is a Long to Short athlete. Hamza wants to feel fit before he can feel fast and enjoys doing longer repeats/sets of special and specific endurance. Yet after the initial assessment when we first started working together (RMSSD of 40) I knew we had 2 options. Low volume of slow running or low volume of fast running. Lifestyle forced my hand to choose the latter. This year we will be planning on a Long to Short approach and I will post details of workouts and monitoring data throughout the year.
I hear it often from strength and conditioning colleagues when they talk about rep schemes or conditioning workouts. It is now becoming borderline bro-ish.
3×10….Simple.
5×5….Simple!
Tempo 200’s… Bro, the Simplest!
I sit back and listen — wondering if coaches actually understand simple? Or are they using “simple” because it takes the critical step of planning out of the equation?
I mean c’mon it’s just words and numbers on paper, and for some their time is better spent focusing on tight coaching shorts and yelling “man shit” in the weight room rather than teaching, studying, or creating a performance environment. They are the quintessential thieves of simple.
The Path to Simple
In the beginning you steal, regurgitating words stolen out of your mentors mouths. Then hopefully somewhere between being average and complacent you decide to dig into the details — the complexities. This (Dazed and Complex) period marks the most frustrating along your path.
You feel as if there is no end.
Very few signs along the way signal the end of your research. Instead, two more roads branch off and dammit if it would not drive you insane if you didn’t travel both — and at the same time. No Robert Frost feel good “and I — I took the one less traveled” in S&C. You take both roads because you can’t stand the fact that there is another coach, say… in Iowa, who is constantly reading more than you.
Not only will this phase be the most frustrating it may also be the most inconsistent coaching you will do, for a couple of reasons:
You will immerse yourself too deeply into study. Though this obsession is needed to devour information it will not allow you the clarity to connect the dots in real time. You can’t see the forest through the trees.
You will lack patience. It’s during this time that you will be more apt to change things on the fly. You may be tempted to play with your shiny new toy. Whatever you are into, chances are you will want to incorporate it. Big Mistake.
Then randomly, after spending an unspecified amount of time banging your head against a wall trying to make a breakthrough, a small crack appears, the clouds lift, and the waters part. It’s in that moment it all makes sense. You can see known variables and hidden intangibles equally.
This is where “Artistically Simple” resides… where choices are made that make the training time most efficient. Where an athlete’s adaptive capacity and the work programed meet and are complementary — it looks simple. Like most things in life it’s all about timing.
It is at this moment you understand the Why, When, and How of “simple” — just as your mentors do. This only leads you to have more respect and understanding of their work.
I wish I could say the cycle one day come to an end — but it doesn’t. Instead, understanding in one field only leads you to possibilities in another and it all starts over.
I am always reminding myself and other coaches that time is our greatest ally. So what if you don’t completely understand the subject matter the first time you read it? Read it again. Then another book on the same subject. Sooner or later the complexities will fade away.
Be Patient.
There is no such thing as failure when you devote yourself to learning. The only failure is satisfaction in mimicry and stealing “simple”.
Growing up in Kansas it was just known that hard work was expected. I had to look no further than my Dad — 6 am out the door for his first job, 10:30 pm in the door from his third.
My initiation into this world started on day 1 of athletics — tee ball to be exact. My Dad and I arrived early to practice, which I would later find out was never by chance. It was always “suggested” that I run the fence line before my teammates arrived — it would make me tough.
This event was repeated frequently, practice after practice, sport after sport, year after year. Of course this was a huge hit with my teammates and I was razzed every year.
Escape from this was hard to find. My grandpa who grew up a farmer during the dust bowl and a former athlete himself would take me out on the country roads and have me sprint telephone pole to telephone pole. In between while I caught my breath I’d hear ‘good ole’ stories of him as a boy doing the same, racing the farm’s work horse along the fence line and how he ran 10 seconds flat for the 100y dash.
I loved running then, but I would be lying if I didn’t admit that winning was my mistress. The combination of hard work, running, and my lust for a good win is no more apparent than my first elementary school cross country race in the 4th grade which I won. Though as I crossed the finish line I was simultaneously balling my eyes out. My parents rushed over and asked
“What’s wrong?”
“It…hurts”
“Well why didn’t you slow down?”
“I wanted…to win”
Did I mention I love winning? This intrinsic and conditioned motivation was a blessing and a curse through much of my athletic career. I believed, as well as those close to me that more was always better — more miles, more intervals, more sprints equalled more wins. It was at this time, though short lived I felt invincible — as if I was Superman.
Yet, this approach lead me to two severe bouts of overtraining before I was 16, and pushed me to uncomfortably seek out a private coach to the chagrin of my high school coaches, but I knew I needed a coach that could hold me back rather than allow me to test the limits on a daily basis.
I was fortunate to find such a coach.
Coach Torres taught me that a workout should have a purpose, be challenging but not hard, to listen to my body, value slowing down before speeding up, and to harness the inner Superman for moments when it counted, not everyday on the country roads where the only person to beat was myself.
I believe all of us who are intrinsically motivated have felt like Superman. To get completely lost in the invincibility of our passion. To push ourselves towards the unbound imagination of greatness.
“No” simply will not suffice.
In fact, when we are in this Flow State feeling as if we are the “Man of Steel” himself, chaos seems to dissipate and all that remains is our laser focus towards the task.
A professor of psychology, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has boiled down a list of 10 components of such States.
1. Clear goals: Expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one’s skill set and abilities. Moreover, the challenge level and skill level should both be high.
2. Concentration: A high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention.
3. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness: The merging of action and awareness.
4. Distorted sense of time: One’s subjective experience of time is altered.
5. Direct and immediate feedback: Successes and failures are apparent, so behavior can be adjusted as needed.
6. Balance between ability level and challenge: The activity is neither too easy nor too difficult.
7. A sense of personal control over the situation.
8. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so action is effortlessness.
9. A lack of awareness of bodily needs.
10. Absorption: narrowing of awareness down to the activity itself.
For an athlete you can’t ask for a better high. It is in this state that all great performances are born.
For a coach it’s the holy grail. Athletes willing to run through walls and if you have any sense about you — you will understand how to stoke the fire.
But the question remains for us coaches: Can you stoke the fire to burn too bright?
We believe that answer is a resounding YES.
Coaches can be an athletes Kryptonite. We have unfortunately seen this far too many times.
We work in an area of Austin known for their great football teams. We coach handfuls of athletes that go to various high schools and as private coaches we are bystanders to the ridiculous stories that are their strength and conditioning.
The damn thing is, the teams are still successful, which only feeds the blindness of the coaches. Too top it off every year athletes relocate to play for their teams, amassing an army of intrinsically motivated athletes. How could you lose?
But this is the machine. Coaches play to it. Friday Night Lights quotes fill the locker room, emotional tugs are directed towards “family” and the “band of brothers”.
This is nothing new — this has been on repeat for generations and you don’t have to widen your scope much to see this monetized in the fitness industry, where former athletes migrate to their newfound tribes and pseudo coaches preach health and fitness but don’t know what true Health is — even if a clean bill of it hit’em in the face.
In both cases the weapons of destruction used by these coaches are the athletes themselves.
They take the unbound imagination and exhaust it. They take the power of invincibility and with the help of father time turn it into weakness.
They see this as a mere playground — not a profession.
Killing the Superman within — their objective is complete, with the athlete alone picking up the pieces.
By: Aaron Davis
-Walking Shadow 10 by Jason Ratliff
-Kotler, Steven. The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance (p. viii). New Harvest.
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