If You Train Like Chicken You'll look Like a Chicken -Specific Training

Hockey playing Hell raiser Derek Sanderson was attempting a comeback in the late 1970's.  The Boston Bruins wanted to put him on a running program for his conditioning. Sanderson, always the iconoclast protested. "When Kenya Kipjoo or whatever his name is comes here to run the marathon do they make him put on skates? No   *#@%&*  way! " Even wild man Derek instinctively knew of the training principle of specificity.

 I inadvertently discovered this basic principal of exercise training during my high school days. In that ancient era many of us participated in seasonal sports rather than specializing in one year round activity as is the norm today. I ran school cross-country in the fall. I did interscholastic track and field as a middle distance runner in the spring. In between was church league hockey season. There was some overlap. The end of cross-country season spilled over to the start of hockey season. Track and field was starting up as hockey was winding down into the playoffs.
   During the early hockey season, I could skate for miles but I seemed to be lacking some explosive speed and power.  I was doing mostly aerobic training as a cross-country runner.
   Come early spring, I would be doing anaerobic interval runs for track. Suddenly I felt like I had some extra jump in my legs during the late stages of hockey season. Even though hockey has different mechanics with much lateral movement while track running is mostly straight forward, I was training the same energy systems. (Maybe Derek's trainers weren't totally wrong.) The result was a better training carry over effect to hockey.

   Now I know that this is all in accordance with the S.A.I.D. Principle. S.A.I.D stands for
Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. The different systems of the human body will change according to the stress that is applied during activity or exercise.
Fitness Trainers should know how the human organism will react to specific overloads to the muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory, and central nervous systems.
Fitness Trainers should also know the goals of the client and the physical demands of the client's preferred activities!
   Here are some observations that may summarize specificity:

• Most team sports use the anaerobic energy system. This includes hockey and basketball. 
• The anaerobic system uses glycogen or glucose as fuel. This fuel is broken down from carbohydrate consumption
• Anaerobic sports utilize the fast twitch fibers of the skeletal muscle. 
• Fast Twitch type 2a (Fast Oxidative Glycolytic) muscle fibers are for speed endurance while fast Twitch type 2b (Fast Glyclolytic) fibers are for quick explosive movements. 
• Movements that last for less than 10 seconds make primary use of the alactic system. Examples would include golf, baseball, Olympic weightlifting, track and field events such as throws or jumps, and short sprints.
• The alactic energy system utilizes primarily the type 2b muscle fiber types. It is fueled by a minute amount of adenosine triphosphate and creatine phosphate contained in the skeletal muscles. (CP - ATP)
• Aerobic endurance events such as long distance running, cycling or cross country skiing use primarily type 1 muscle fibers. 
• Aerobic endurance events use primarily fat as fuel. It takes up to 20 minutes of endurance type exercise for the fat burning mechanism to fully kick in.
• Stretching and flexibility is an asset for any sport or activity.

What does this mean for people with varying fitness or athletic goals?

• For athletes in anaerobic team sports, long slow runs on a treadmill won't cut it! 
• A Fitness Training client that wants to lose weight would theoretically be best served by training in the aerobic fat burning zone. However recent studies how shown that such clients might be better served by also training intensely in the anaerobic zone. Got that!
• Weight loss hopefuls should also incorporate weight training into their program since adding muscle mass can speed up the metabolism.
• Clients with office jobs may have a forward stooping posture from constantly working on a computer. Such clients would find more postural benefits from resistance pulling exercises than from pushing exercises such as the ever popular bench press.
• Bodybuilding exercises may not translate well to sports performance but they can help someone look like the King or Queen of the beach.
• Competitive athletes will usually benefit more from free weights than from machines.
• Soccer players often use all three energy systems extensively in a 90 minute game .
• Too much endurance training or cardio may hamper muscle growth. Conversely adding too much muscle mass may slow down an endurance athlete.

   Here are some other extreme examples of sticking to specifics.

1. Sprinter and long jumper Carl Lewis refused to run a slow mile after track practice in high school. Slow miles were not on his speed agenda.
2. Steeplechase track runner Henry Marsh would have a friend drive beside him on training runs and pick him up to drive up hills. His reasoning "There are no hills in a track steeplechase race!"

A Fitness trainer should always do a needs assessment analysis for each client. This should account for the goals and objectives of the client as well as the needs of their lifestyle. A generic cookie cutter training program will not cut it. Instead the training program should be tailored to the client's individual situation. The training program should be  SMART as in:

Specific    Measurable    Attainable    Realistic    Time Oriented

There is a place for some diversity and variety in an exercise program. Speed and power athletes in contact sports may incorporate a hypertrophy phase to gain weight and muscle mass. This may include bodybuilding type movements. Endurance athletes may do some speed workouts. Runners may cycle or swim as cross training on easy work out days. Hockey players may play soccer in the summer.
Hill workouts may give leg strength to track runners in flat races despite Mark Marsh's doubts.
Sure it can seem complicated. That's why there is a need for Fitness Trainers.

Speaking of the ancient era,.....I do miss the good old church hockey league days.  Sometimes I even miss 1:00 am game start times and the inebriated referees.

This muscular man mountain is lifting sandbags to prepare for a
 Strongman competition.
Two hours on the treadmill or a circuit on the machines isn't
going to do it for him!

Until next Time
Keep Fit


Little Bobby Strong















Links
schwabe27.uwmfatloss.clickbank.net
AudienceBuilder.ca
www.fitnwell.com
www.rabbitview.com/rabbitview-crossfit