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Building Muscle and Performance
A Program for Size, Strength & Speed
360 Pages
Every weekend warrior has two goals: compete successfully and look great doing it. Enter Building Muscle & Performance: The Program for Strength, Size, and Speed by expert trainer Nick Tumminello.
By combining the most effective approaches and exercises, Tumminello has developed a high-octane, high-efficiency system for building muscle and boosting performance. Step by step you’ll learn the best exercises for increasing speed, explosiveness, athleticism, and endurance. Push yourself to the limits with strength and power lifts and progressions, power training drills, and cardio conditioning workouts. The results are challenging yet exhilarating. You will discover performance and physique that you never thought possible.
Building Muscle & Performance includes numerous exercises and ready-to-use programs. Detailed photo sequences depict every movement as well as variations to increase or decrease difficulty. You’ll find expert advice, equipment tips, and safety precautions. More important, you’ll find the results you’ve been looking for.
You no longer have to choose between a chiseled physique and athletic performance. Building Muscle & Performance delivers the best of both worlds: the muscle and the hustle!
Part I Principles and Rationale
Chapter 1 Functional-Spectrum Training
Chapter 2 Building Muscle, Increasing Strength
Part II Exercises
Chapter 3 Cardio Conditioning
Chapter 4 Upper Body—Pushing
Chapter 5 Upper Body—Pulling
Chapter 6 Lower Body
Chapter 7 Core
Chapter 8 Warm-Up and Cool-Down
Part III Workout Programs
Chapter 9 Foundational Programming
Chapter 10 Performance Programming
Chapter 11 Muscle Programming
Chapter 12 Performance and Muscle Programming
Chapter 13 Customizing Programs for Personal Results
Nick Tumminello is the owner of Performance University International, which provides strength training and conditioning for athletes and educational programs for trainers and coaches all over the world.
As an educator, Tumminello has become known as the trainer of trainers. He has been named 2016 NSCA Personal Trainer of the Year by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He has presented at international fitness conferences in Norway, Iceland, China, and Canada. He has been a featured presenter at conferences held by such organizations as the IDEA Health & Fitness Association, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and DCAC Fitness Conventions, along with teaching staff trainings at fitness clubs throughout the United States. Tumminello holds workshops and mentorship programs in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is the author of Building Muscle and Performance: A Program for Size, Strength & Speed (Human Kinetics, 2016) and Strength Training for Fat Loss (Human Kinetics, 2014), has produced more than 20 instructional DVDs, and is the coauthor of the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Program Design Essentials and Foundations of Fitness Programming. Tumminello is also a continuing education course provider for the American Council on Exercise, the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
Tumminello has been a fitness professional since 1998 and co-owned a private training center in Baltimore, Maryland, from 2001 to 2011. He has worked with a variety of exercise enthusiasts of all ages and fitness levels, including physique and performance athletes from the amateur to the professional ranks. From 2002 to 2011, Tumminello was the strength and conditioning coach for the Ground Control MMA fight team and is a consultant and expert for clothing and equipment companies such as Sorinex, Dynamax, Hylete, and Reebok.
Tumminello’s articles have appeared in more than 50 major health and fitness magazines, including Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Oxygen, Muscle Mag, Fitness Rx, Sweat Rx, Status, Train Hard Fight Easy, Fighters Only, and Fight! Tumminello is also a featured contributor to several popular fitness training websites. He has been featured in two New York Times best-selling exercise books, on the front page of Yahoo and YouTube, and in the ACE Personal Trainer Manual. In 2015 Tumminello was inducted into the Personal Trainer Hall of Fame.
“Nick Tumminello's expertise in exercise science is second to none. I've trained all over the country and found no one better. His methodology in regard to building a bigger, faster, stronger body is a formula for success.”
Steve Weatherford-- Former Punter for the New York Giants (2011-2014)
"Working with Nick Tumminello allowed me to see training in a whole new light. The way he was able to combine functional movement, flexibility, and strength training was like nothing I'd ever done before. Not only was I completely gassed at the end, but I found myself wanting more!”
Quinn Sypniewski-- Former Tight End for the Baltimore Ravens (2006-2009)
Arm Walkout and Medicine-Ball Walkout
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees.
Arm Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Walk your arms out in front of you as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figures b and c). Reverse the motion, walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
Medicine-Ball Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands on the top of a rubber or sand-filled medicine ball just above your shoulders and your arms straight (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Roll the ball out in front of you by walking with your arms in hand-over-hand fashion as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figure b). Reverse the motion, rolling the ball back toward you by walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
- If using a rubber medicine ball (the kind found at most gyms), choose one that is fully inflated and large enough - at least 8 pounds (3.5 kg) - to accommodate both of your hands.
- If using a sand-filled ball, you can make the exercise harder by using a heavier ball.
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Performance Workout Programs
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
Here are a few key points to remember when performing the exercises:
Speed Exercises
- Perform each rep as explosively as possible.
- If the exercise involves jumping, land as quietly as possible.
- If the workout calls for throwing a medicine ball (outside or against a solid wall) and your training environment prevents you from doing so; simply choose an alternative, non-medicine ball exercise option from the Total-Body Power Exercises section of chapters 4 through 7. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of sets and reps that were recommended for the original exercise.
Strength Exercises
- While maintaining optimal technique, perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep as forcefully as you can; during the eccentric (lowering) portion, maintain good control.
- Use a weight load that allows you to perform the indicated number of reps in the fashion described in the preceding point. In each workout, you ensure improvement in strength either by adding weight and performing the same number of reps as in the preceding workout or by performing more reps with the same weight.
Size Exercises
- Focus on the working muscles in each exercise and maintain strict form without "cheating" by using additional movements or momentum.
- Perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep at a normal tempo and maintain control during the eccentric (lowering) portion.
- The set and rep numbers used for exercises in this section are undulated with three schemes. Regardless of the scheme you're on, use a weight load that leaves you unable to perform any more reps than indicated while maintaining proper control and technique.
Cardio Conditioning
- If the workout calls for a particular supramaximal interval training (SMIT), steady-state cardio, or metabolic conditioning protocol (MCP) that your training environment prevents you from performing, simply choose a comparable alternative exercise from chapter 3. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of reps, rounds, or time that were recommended for the original exercise.
- Only workouts A and C of each program involve a cardio conditioning component.
Performance Workout Programs (Three to Five Days Per Week)
In the following programs, perform a, b, and c exercises as tri-sets and perform a and b exercises as paired sets. Perform all indicated sets and reps in a given tri-set or paired set before moving on to the next set. If necessary, rest a bit longer than indicated between sets in order to complete the designated number of reps with good control. This program emphasizes movement quality over quantity!
Before you begin each workout in the following programs, be sure to perform one of the dynamic warm-up sequences (of your choice) provided in chapter 8. To help you personalize these workouts to best fit you, refer to chapter 12.
Performance Workout Program 1
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Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Maximize Training Transfer
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Transfer for Improved Performance
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Functional capacity is one's range of ability; in other words, higher functional capacity means that a person can perform a broader range of specific tasks. Within this framework, the four primary types of exercise addressed in the functional-spectrum training system (again, total-body power, cross-body, compound, and isolation) are each classified as either specific or general based on how they transfer functionally. These two categories of exercise - specific and general - offer different benefits; more specifically, each type benefits certain interdependent components of fitness and performance that the other category may miss.
Specific Exercises
Specific exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance and functional capacity because they are based on the principle of specificity. That principle has been defined as follows by Dr. Everett Harman in the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (2000, 25-55)
"The concept of specificity, widely recognized in the field of resistance training, holds that training is most effective when resistance exercises are similar to the sport activity in which improvement is sought (the target activity). Although all athletes should use well-rounded, whole-body exercise routines, supplementary exercises specific to the sport can provide a training advantage. The simplest and most straightforward way to implement the principle of specificity is to select exercises similar to the target activity with regard to the joints about which movement occur and the direction of the movements. In addition, joint ranges of motion in the training should be at least as great as those in the target activity." (1)
Specific exercises create a more ideal environment than general exercises for enhancing the specific force-generation and neuromuscular-coordination patterns of the targeted athletic movements.
General Exercises
General exercises are essentially conventional strength-training exercises and may consist of either compound or isolation movements using free weights, cables, or machines. In most cases, general exercises create a more ideal environment than specific exercises for stimulating increases in overall muscle strength and size. Therefore, these applications offer general transfer into improvements in human performance by increasing muscle hypertrophy, motor-unit recruitment, bone density, and connective tissue strength, which can improve overall health and reduce injury risk.
On the other hand, because these exercises do not necessarily reflect the specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns of many common movements in athletics, their positive transfer into improved performance potential is less obvious. This fact has led some personal trainers and coaches into mistakenly labeling them as "nonfunctional" and therefore not valuable. That is a false belief.
Granted, the further an exercise gets away from replicating the specific force-generation patterns of a given movement, the less directly it carries over to improving the neuromuscular coordination of that movement. However, this fact doesn't make an exercise bad, and it certainly doesn't make it nonfunctional. It simply means that the less specific an exercise is, the more general it is.
For this reason, instead of referring to some exercises as "functional" - which implies that others are "nonfunctional" - it is more accurate (and less confusing) to refer to exercises as either general or specific. Each of these types offers a unique set of benefits that transfers into improvements in performance and overall functional capacity.
Common Confusion Associated With Specific Exercises
Working on sport skills with specific exercises is not the same thing as working to improve specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns, which transfer into targeted athleticmovements. Unaware of this distinction, some strength and conditioning professionals advise athletes and clients to perform what they call "sport-specific exercises" or "functional exercises" by attaching a resistance band to the end of a golf club or hockey stick, for example, or shadow-boxing against bands strapped around the back. Loading specific sport skills in this manner misapplies the principle of specificity and rests on a misunderstanding of how to properly use specific exercises.
In reality, improving one's ability to perform certain sport skills is not about replicating what a specific movement looks like but about replicating the specific force-generation patterns involved in the movement pattern. In other words, when training focuses only on what an exercise looks like, one can easily make the mistake of loading sport-specific skills instead of working to improve the specific force-generation patterns used to perform sport movements.
The problem lies in the fact that sport movement skills involve accuracy components that are not just similar but exact. For example, consider studies of the use of weighted bats in baseball. Contrary to general public understanding, studies have found that the heavy bat not only alters the batter's perceptions of bat heaviness and swing speed, but also slows the batter's swing speed for as many as five swings after using the weighted bat (2,3)! Sure, some baseball players might prefer to "warm-up" by using a weighted bat, but the smart ones will also take several more swings with an unweighted bat to normalize themselves before stepping up to the plate.
You can test this effect for yourself: Shoot 10 free throws with a regular basketball, then take 10 more shots with a 2-to 4-pound (1 to 2 kg) medicine ball. You'll quickly find that the fine-motor pattern (i.e., skill) used to throw the heavier ball accurately is completely different, and your shots with that ball will likely come up short until you hone the pattern. After shooting with the medicine ball, go back to the normal basketball for 10 more shots. Your first few shots may go over the backboard because shooting the much lighter basketball involves a different fine-motor sequence than shooting the medicine ball.
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Arm Walkout and Medicine-Ball Walkout
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees.
Arm Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Walk your arms out in front of you as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figures b and c). Reverse the motion, walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
Medicine-Ball Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands on the top of a rubber or sand-filled medicine ball just above your shoulders and your arms straight (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Roll the ball out in front of you by walking with your arms in hand-over-hand fashion as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figure b). Reverse the motion, rolling the ball back toward you by walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
- If using a rubber medicine ball (the kind found at most gyms), choose one that is fully inflated and large enough - at least 8 pounds (3.5 kg) - to accommodate both of your hands.
- If using a sand-filled ball, you can make the exercise harder by using a heavier ball.
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Performance Workout Programs
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
Here are a few key points to remember when performing the exercises:
Speed Exercises
- Perform each rep as explosively as possible.
- If the exercise involves jumping, land as quietly as possible.
- If the workout calls for throwing a medicine ball (outside or against a solid wall) and your training environment prevents you from doing so; simply choose an alternative, non-medicine ball exercise option from the Total-Body Power Exercises section of chapters 4 through 7. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of sets and reps that were recommended for the original exercise.
Strength Exercises
- While maintaining optimal technique, perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep as forcefully as you can; during the eccentric (lowering) portion, maintain good control.
- Use a weight load that allows you to perform the indicated number of reps in the fashion described in the preceding point. In each workout, you ensure improvement in strength either by adding weight and performing the same number of reps as in the preceding workout or by performing more reps with the same weight.
Size Exercises
- Focus on the working muscles in each exercise and maintain strict form without "cheating" by using additional movements or momentum.
- Perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep at a normal tempo and maintain control during the eccentric (lowering) portion.
- The set and rep numbers used for exercises in this section are undulated with three schemes. Regardless of the scheme you're on, use a weight load that leaves you unable to perform any more reps than indicated while maintaining proper control and technique.
Cardio Conditioning
- If the workout calls for a particular supramaximal interval training (SMIT), steady-state cardio, or metabolic conditioning protocol (MCP) that your training environment prevents you from performing, simply choose a comparable alternative exercise from chapter 3. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of reps, rounds, or time that were recommended for the original exercise.
- Only workouts A and C of each program involve a cardio conditioning component.
Performance Workout Programs (Three to Five Days Per Week)
In the following programs, perform a, b, and c exercises as tri-sets and perform a and b exercises as paired sets. Perform all indicated sets and reps in a given tri-set or paired set before moving on to the next set. If necessary, rest a bit longer than indicated between sets in order to complete the designated number of reps with good control. This program emphasizes movement quality over quantity!
Before you begin each workout in the following programs, be sure to perform one of the dynamic warm-up sequences (of your choice) provided in chapter 8. To help you personalize these workouts to best fit you, refer to chapter 12.
Performance Workout Program 1
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Maximize Training Transfer
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Transfer for Improved Performance
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Functional capacity is one's range of ability; in other words, higher functional capacity means that a person can perform a broader range of specific tasks. Within this framework, the four primary types of exercise addressed in the functional-spectrum training system (again, total-body power, cross-body, compound, and isolation) are each classified as either specific or general based on how they transfer functionally. These two categories of exercise - specific and general - offer different benefits; more specifically, each type benefits certain interdependent components of fitness and performance that the other category may miss.
Specific Exercises
Specific exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance and functional capacity because they are based on the principle of specificity. That principle has been defined as follows by Dr. Everett Harman in the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (2000, 25-55)
"The concept of specificity, widely recognized in the field of resistance training, holds that training is most effective when resistance exercises are similar to the sport activity in which improvement is sought (the target activity). Although all athletes should use well-rounded, whole-body exercise routines, supplementary exercises specific to the sport can provide a training advantage. The simplest and most straightforward way to implement the principle of specificity is to select exercises similar to the target activity with regard to the joints about which movement occur and the direction of the movements. In addition, joint ranges of motion in the training should be at least as great as those in the target activity." (1)
Specific exercises create a more ideal environment than general exercises for enhancing the specific force-generation and neuromuscular-coordination patterns of the targeted athletic movements.
General Exercises
General exercises are essentially conventional strength-training exercises and may consist of either compound or isolation movements using free weights, cables, or machines. In most cases, general exercises create a more ideal environment than specific exercises for stimulating increases in overall muscle strength and size. Therefore, these applications offer general transfer into improvements in human performance by increasing muscle hypertrophy, motor-unit recruitment, bone density, and connective tissue strength, which can improve overall health and reduce injury risk.
On the other hand, because these exercises do not necessarily reflect the specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns of many common movements in athletics, their positive transfer into improved performance potential is less obvious. This fact has led some personal trainers and coaches into mistakenly labeling them as "nonfunctional" and therefore not valuable. That is a false belief.
Granted, the further an exercise gets away from replicating the specific force-generation patterns of a given movement, the less directly it carries over to improving the neuromuscular coordination of that movement. However, this fact doesn't make an exercise bad, and it certainly doesn't make it nonfunctional. It simply means that the less specific an exercise is, the more general it is.
For this reason, instead of referring to some exercises as "functional" - which implies that others are "nonfunctional" - it is more accurate (and less confusing) to refer to exercises as either general or specific. Each of these types offers a unique set of benefits that transfers into improvements in performance and overall functional capacity.
Common Confusion Associated With Specific Exercises
Working on sport skills with specific exercises is not the same thing as working to improve specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns, which transfer into targeted athleticmovements. Unaware of this distinction, some strength and conditioning professionals advise athletes and clients to perform what they call "sport-specific exercises" or "functional exercises" by attaching a resistance band to the end of a golf club or hockey stick, for example, or shadow-boxing against bands strapped around the back. Loading specific sport skills in this manner misapplies the principle of specificity and rests on a misunderstanding of how to properly use specific exercises.
In reality, improving one's ability to perform certain sport skills is not about replicating what a specific movement looks like but about replicating the specific force-generation patterns involved in the movement pattern. In other words, when training focuses only on what an exercise looks like, one can easily make the mistake of loading sport-specific skills instead of working to improve the specific force-generation patterns used to perform sport movements.
The problem lies in the fact that sport movement skills involve accuracy components that are not just similar but exact. For example, consider studies of the use of weighted bats in baseball. Contrary to general public understanding, studies have found that the heavy bat not only alters the batter's perceptions of bat heaviness and swing speed, but also slows the batter's swing speed for as many as five swings after using the weighted bat (2,3)! Sure, some baseball players might prefer to "warm-up" by using a weighted bat, but the smart ones will also take several more swings with an unweighted bat to normalize themselves before stepping up to the plate.
You can test this effect for yourself: Shoot 10 free throws with a regular basketball, then take 10 more shots with a 2-to 4-pound (1 to 2 kg) medicine ball. You'll quickly find that the fine-motor pattern (i.e., skill) used to throw the heavier ball accurately is completely different, and your shots with that ball will likely come up short until you hone the pattern. After shooting with the medicine ball, go back to the normal basketball for 10 more shots. Your first few shots may go over the backboard because shooting the much lighter basketball involves a different fine-motor sequence than shooting the medicine ball.
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Arm Walkout and Medicine-Ball Walkout
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees.
Arm Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Walk your arms out in front of you as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figures b and c). Reverse the motion, walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
Medicine-Ball Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands on the top of a rubber or sand-filled medicine ball just above your shoulders and your arms straight (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Roll the ball out in front of you by walking with your arms in hand-over-hand fashion as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figure b). Reverse the motion, rolling the ball back toward you by walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
- If using a rubber medicine ball (the kind found at most gyms), choose one that is fully inflated and large enough - at least 8 pounds (3.5 kg) - to accommodate both of your hands.
- If using a sand-filled ball, you can make the exercise harder by using a heavier ball.
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Performance Workout Programs
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
Here are a few key points to remember when performing the exercises:
Speed Exercises
- Perform each rep as explosively as possible.
- If the exercise involves jumping, land as quietly as possible.
- If the workout calls for throwing a medicine ball (outside or against a solid wall) and your training environment prevents you from doing so; simply choose an alternative, non-medicine ball exercise option from the Total-Body Power Exercises section of chapters 4 through 7. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of sets and reps that were recommended for the original exercise.
Strength Exercises
- While maintaining optimal technique, perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep as forcefully as you can; during the eccentric (lowering) portion, maintain good control.
- Use a weight load that allows you to perform the indicated number of reps in the fashion described in the preceding point. In each workout, you ensure improvement in strength either by adding weight and performing the same number of reps as in the preceding workout or by performing more reps with the same weight.
Size Exercises
- Focus on the working muscles in each exercise and maintain strict form without "cheating" by using additional movements or momentum.
- Perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep at a normal tempo and maintain control during the eccentric (lowering) portion.
- The set and rep numbers used for exercises in this section are undulated with three schemes. Regardless of the scheme you're on, use a weight load that leaves you unable to perform any more reps than indicated while maintaining proper control and technique.
Cardio Conditioning
- If the workout calls for a particular supramaximal interval training (SMIT), steady-state cardio, or metabolic conditioning protocol (MCP) that your training environment prevents you from performing, simply choose a comparable alternative exercise from chapter 3. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of reps, rounds, or time that were recommended for the original exercise.
- Only workouts A and C of each program involve a cardio conditioning component.
Performance Workout Programs (Three to Five Days Per Week)
In the following programs, perform a, b, and c exercises as tri-sets and perform a and b exercises as paired sets. Perform all indicated sets and reps in a given tri-set or paired set before moving on to the next set. If necessary, rest a bit longer than indicated between sets in order to complete the designated number of reps with good control. This program emphasizes movement quality over quantity!
Before you begin each workout in the following programs, be sure to perform one of the dynamic warm-up sequences (of your choice) provided in chapter 8. To help you personalize these workouts to best fit you, refer to chapter 12.
Performance Workout Program 1
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Maximize Training Transfer
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Transfer for Improved Performance
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Functional capacity is one's range of ability; in other words, higher functional capacity means that a person can perform a broader range of specific tasks. Within this framework, the four primary types of exercise addressed in the functional-spectrum training system (again, total-body power, cross-body, compound, and isolation) are each classified as either specific or general based on how they transfer functionally. These two categories of exercise - specific and general - offer different benefits; more specifically, each type benefits certain interdependent components of fitness and performance that the other category may miss.
Specific Exercises
Specific exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance and functional capacity because they are based on the principle of specificity. That principle has been defined as follows by Dr. Everett Harman in the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (2000, 25-55)
"The concept of specificity, widely recognized in the field of resistance training, holds that training is most effective when resistance exercises are similar to the sport activity in which improvement is sought (the target activity). Although all athletes should use well-rounded, whole-body exercise routines, supplementary exercises specific to the sport can provide a training advantage. The simplest and most straightforward way to implement the principle of specificity is to select exercises similar to the target activity with regard to the joints about which movement occur and the direction of the movements. In addition, joint ranges of motion in the training should be at least as great as those in the target activity." (1)
Specific exercises create a more ideal environment than general exercises for enhancing the specific force-generation and neuromuscular-coordination patterns of the targeted athletic movements.
General Exercises
General exercises are essentially conventional strength-training exercises and may consist of either compound or isolation movements using free weights, cables, or machines. In most cases, general exercises create a more ideal environment than specific exercises for stimulating increases in overall muscle strength and size. Therefore, these applications offer general transfer into improvements in human performance by increasing muscle hypertrophy, motor-unit recruitment, bone density, and connective tissue strength, which can improve overall health and reduce injury risk.
On the other hand, because these exercises do not necessarily reflect the specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns of many common movements in athletics, their positive transfer into improved performance potential is less obvious. This fact has led some personal trainers and coaches into mistakenly labeling them as "nonfunctional" and therefore not valuable. That is a false belief.
Granted, the further an exercise gets away from replicating the specific force-generation patterns of a given movement, the less directly it carries over to improving the neuromuscular coordination of that movement. However, this fact doesn't make an exercise bad, and it certainly doesn't make it nonfunctional. It simply means that the less specific an exercise is, the more general it is.
For this reason, instead of referring to some exercises as "functional" - which implies that others are "nonfunctional" - it is more accurate (and less confusing) to refer to exercises as either general or specific. Each of these types offers a unique set of benefits that transfers into improvements in performance and overall functional capacity.
Common Confusion Associated With Specific Exercises
Working on sport skills with specific exercises is not the same thing as working to improve specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns, which transfer into targeted athleticmovements. Unaware of this distinction, some strength and conditioning professionals advise athletes and clients to perform what they call "sport-specific exercises" or "functional exercises" by attaching a resistance band to the end of a golf club or hockey stick, for example, or shadow-boxing against bands strapped around the back. Loading specific sport skills in this manner misapplies the principle of specificity and rests on a misunderstanding of how to properly use specific exercises.
In reality, improving one's ability to perform certain sport skills is not about replicating what a specific movement looks like but about replicating the specific force-generation patterns involved in the movement pattern. In other words, when training focuses only on what an exercise looks like, one can easily make the mistake of loading sport-specific skills instead of working to improve the specific force-generation patterns used to perform sport movements.
The problem lies in the fact that sport movement skills involve accuracy components that are not just similar but exact. For example, consider studies of the use of weighted bats in baseball. Contrary to general public understanding, studies have found that the heavy bat not only alters the batter's perceptions of bat heaviness and swing speed, but also slows the batter's swing speed for as many as five swings after using the weighted bat (2,3)! Sure, some baseball players might prefer to "warm-up" by using a weighted bat, but the smart ones will also take several more swings with an unweighted bat to normalize themselves before stepping up to the plate.
You can test this effect for yourself: Shoot 10 free throws with a regular basketball, then take 10 more shots with a 2-to 4-pound (1 to 2 kg) medicine ball. You'll quickly find that the fine-motor pattern (i.e., skill) used to throw the heavier ball accurately is completely different, and your shots with that ball will likely come up short until you hone the pattern. After shooting with the medicine ball, go back to the normal basketball for 10 more shots. Your first few shots may go over the backboard because shooting the much lighter basketball involves a different fine-motor sequence than shooting the medicine ball.
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Arm Walkout and Medicine-Ball Walkout
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees.
Arm Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Walk your arms out in front of you as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figures b and c). Reverse the motion, walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
Medicine-Ball Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands on the top of a rubber or sand-filled medicine ball just above your shoulders and your arms straight (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Roll the ball out in front of you by walking with your arms in hand-over-hand fashion as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figure b). Reverse the motion, rolling the ball back toward you by walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
- If using a rubber medicine ball (the kind found at most gyms), choose one that is fully inflated and large enough - at least 8 pounds (3.5 kg) - to accommodate both of your hands.
- If using a sand-filled ball, you can make the exercise harder by using a heavier ball.
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Performance Workout Programs
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
Here are a few key points to remember when performing the exercises:
Speed Exercises
- Perform each rep as explosively as possible.
- If the exercise involves jumping, land as quietly as possible.
- If the workout calls for throwing a medicine ball (outside or against a solid wall) and your training environment prevents you from doing so; simply choose an alternative, non-medicine ball exercise option from the Total-Body Power Exercises section of chapters 4 through 7. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of sets and reps that were recommended for the original exercise.
Strength Exercises
- While maintaining optimal technique, perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep as forcefully as you can; during the eccentric (lowering) portion, maintain good control.
- Use a weight load that allows you to perform the indicated number of reps in the fashion described in the preceding point. In each workout, you ensure improvement in strength either by adding weight and performing the same number of reps as in the preceding workout or by performing more reps with the same weight.
Size Exercises
- Focus on the working muscles in each exercise and maintain strict form without "cheating" by using additional movements or momentum.
- Perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep at a normal tempo and maintain control during the eccentric (lowering) portion.
- The set and rep numbers used for exercises in this section are undulated with three schemes. Regardless of the scheme you're on, use a weight load that leaves you unable to perform any more reps than indicated while maintaining proper control and technique.
Cardio Conditioning
- If the workout calls for a particular supramaximal interval training (SMIT), steady-state cardio, or metabolic conditioning protocol (MCP) that your training environment prevents you from performing, simply choose a comparable alternative exercise from chapter 3. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of reps, rounds, or time that were recommended for the original exercise.
- Only workouts A and C of each program involve a cardio conditioning component.
Performance Workout Programs (Three to Five Days Per Week)
In the following programs, perform a, b, and c exercises as tri-sets and perform a and b exercises as paired sets. Perform all indicated sets and reps in a given tri-set or paired set before moving on to the next set. If necessary, rest a bit longer than indicated between sets in order to complete the designated number of reps with good control. This program emphasizes movement quality over quantity!
Before you begin each workout in the following programs, be sure to perform one of the dynamic warm-up sequences (of your choice) provided in chapter 8. To help you personalize these workouts to best fit you, refer to chapter 12.
Performance Workout Program 1
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Maximize Training Transfer
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Transfer for Improved Performance
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Functional capacity is one's range of ability; in other words, higher functional capacity means that a person can perform a broader range of specific tasks. Within this framework, the four primary types of exercise addressed in the functional-spectrum training system (again, total-body power, cross-body, compound, and isolation) are each classified as either specific or general based on how they transfer functionally. These two categories of exercise - specific and general - offer different benefits; more specifically, each type benefits certain interdependent components of fitness and performance that the other category may miss.
Specific Exercises
Specific exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance and functional capacity because they are based on the principle of specificity. That principle has been defined as follows by Dr. Everett Harman in the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (2000, 25-55)
"The concept of specificity, widely recognized in the field of resistance training, holds that training is most effective when resistance exercises are similar to the sport activity in which improvement is sought (the target activity). Although all athletes should use well-rounded, whole-body exercise routines, supplementary exercises specific to the sport can provide a training advantage. The simplest and most straightforward way to implement the principle of specificity is to select exercises similar to the target activity with regard to the joints about which movement occur and the direction of the movements. In addition, joint ranges of motion in the training should be at least as great as those in the target activity." (1)
Specific exercises create a more ideal environment than general exercises for enhancing the specific force-generation and neuromuscular-coordination patterns of the targeted athletic movements.
General Exercises
General exercises are essentially conventional strength-training exercises and may consist of either compound or isolation movements using free weights, cables, or machines. In most cases, general exercises create a more ideal environment than specific exercises for stimulating increases in overall muscle strength and size. Therefore, these applications offer general transfer into improvements in human performance by increasing muscle hypertrophy, motor-unit recruitment, bone density, and connective tissue strength, which can improve overall health and reduce injury risk.
On the other hand, because these exercises do not necessarily reflect the specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns of many common movements in athletics, their positive transfer into improved performance potential is less obvious. This fact has led some personal trainers and coaches into mistakenly labeling them as "nonfunctional" and therefore not valuable. That is a false belief.
Granted, the further an exercise gets away from replicating the specific force-generation patterns of a given movement, the less directly it carries over to improving the neuromuscular coordination of that movement. However, this fact doesn't make an exercise bad, and it certainly doesn't make it nonfunctional. It simply means that the less specific an exercise is, the more general it is.
For this reason, instead of referring to some exercises as "functional" - which implies that others are "nonfunctional" - it is more accurate (and less confusing) to refer to exercises as either general or specific. Each of these types offers a unique set of benefits that transfers into improvements in performance and overall functional capacity.
Common Confusion Associated With Specific Exercises
Working on sport skills with specific exercises is not the same thing as working to improve specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns, which transfer into targeted athleticmovements. Unaware of this distinction, some strength and conditioning professionals advise athletes and clients to perform what they call "sport-specific exercises" or "functional exercises" by attaching a resistance band to the end of a golf club or hockey stick, for example, or shadow-boxing against bands strapped around the back. Loading specific sport skills in this manner misapplies the principle of specificity and rests on a misunderstanding of how to properly use specific exercises.
In reality, improving one's ability to perform certain sport skills is not about replicating what a specific movement looks like but about replicating the specific force-generation patterns involved in the movement pattern. In other words, when training focuses only on what an exercise looks like, one can easily make the mistake of loading sport-specific skills instead of working to improve the specific force-generation patterns used to perform sport movements.
The problem lies in the fact that sport movement skills involve accuracy components that are not just similar but exact. For example, consider studies of the use of weighted bats in baseball. Contrary to general public understanding, studies have found that the heavy bat not only alters the batter's perceptions of bat heaviness and swing speed, but also slows the batter's swing speed for as many as five swings after using the weighted bat (2,3)! Sure, some baseball players might prefer to "warm-up" by using a weighted bat, but the smart ones will also take several more swings with an unweighted bat to normalize themselves before stepping up to the plate.
You can test this effect for yourself: Shoot 10 free throws with a regular basketball, then take 10 more shots with a 2-to 4-pound (1 to 2 kg) medicine ball. You'll quickly find that the fine-motor pattern (i.e., skill) used to throw the heavier ball accurately is completely different, and your shots with that ball will likely come up short until you hone the pattern. After shooting with the medicine ball, go back to the normal basketball for 10 more shots. Your first few shots may go over the backboard because shooting the much lighter basketball involves a different fine-motor sequence than shooting the medicine ball.
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Arm Walkout and Medicine-Ball Walkout
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees.
Arm Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Walk your arms out in front of you as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figures b and c). Reverse the motion, walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
Medicine-Ball Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands on the top of a rubber or sand-filled medicine ball just above your shoulders and your arms straight (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Roll the ball out in front of you by walking with your arms in hand-over-hand fashion as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figure b). Reverse the motion, rolling the ball back toward you by walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
- If using a rubber medicine ball (the kind found at most gyms), choose one that is fully inflated and large enough - at least 8 pounds (3.5 kg) - to accommodate both of your hands.
- If using a sand-filled ball, you can make the exercise harder by using a heavier ball.
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Performance Workout Programs
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
Here are a few key points to remember when performing the exercises:
Speed Exercises
- Perform each rep as explosively as possible.
- If the exercise involves jumping, land as quietly as possible.
- If the workout calls for throwing a medicine ball (outside or against a solid wall) and your training environment prevents you from doing so; simply choose an alternative, non-medicine ball exercise option from the Total-Body Power Exercises section of chapters 4 through 7. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of sets and reps that were recommended for the original exercise.
Strength Exercises
- While maintaining optimal technique, perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep as forcefully as you can; during the eccentric (lowering) portion, maintain good control.
- Use a weight load that allows you to perform the indicated number of reps in the fashion described in the preceding point. In each workout, you ensure improvement in strength either by adding weight and performing the same number of reps as in the preceding workout or by performing more reps with the same weight.
Size Exercises
- Focus on the working muscles in each exercise and maintain strict form without "cheating" by using additional movements or momentum.
- Perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep at a normal tempo and maintain control during the eccentric (lowering) portion.
- The set and rep numbers used for exercises in this section are undulated with three schemes. Regardless of the scheme you're on, use a weight load that leaves you unable to perform any more reps than indicated while maintaining proper control and technique.
Cardio Conditioning
- If the workout calls for a particular supramaximal interval training (SMIT), steady-state cardio, or metabolic conditioning protocol (MCP) that your training environment prevents you from performing, simply choose a comparable alternative exercise from chapter 3. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of reps, rounds, or time that were recommended for the original exercise.
- Only workouts A and C of each program involve a cardio conditioning component.
Performance Workout Programs (Three to Five Days Per Week)
In the following programs, perform a, b, and c exercises as tri-sets and perform a and b exercises as paired sets. Perform all indicated sets and reps in a given tri-set or paired set before moving on to the next set. If necessary, rest a bit longer than indicated between sets in order to complete the designated number of reps with good control. This program emphasizes movement quality over quantity!
Before you begin each workout in the following programs, be sure to perform one of the dynamic warm-up sequences (of your choice) provided in chapter 8. To help you personalize these workouts to best fit you, refer to chapter 12.
Performance Workout Program 1
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Maximize Training Transfer
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Transfer for Improved Performance
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Functional capacity is one's range of ability; in other words, higher functional capacity means that a person can perform a broader range of specific tasks. Within this framework, the four primary types of exercise addressed in the functional-spectrum training system (again, total-body power, cross-body, compound, and isolation) are each classified as either specific or general based on how they transfer functionally. These two categories of exercise - specific and general - offer different benefits; more specifically, each type benefits certain interdependent components of fitness and performance that the other category may miss.
Specific Exercises
Specific exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance and functional capacity because they are based on the principle of specificity. That principle has been defined as follows by Dr. Everett Harman in the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (2000, 25-55)
"The concept of specificity, widely recognized in the field of resistance training, holds that training is most effective when resistance exercises are similar to the sport activity in which improvement is sought (the target activity). Although all athletes should use well-rounded, whole-body exercise routines, supplementary exercises specific to the sport can provide a training advantage. The simplest and most straightforward way to implement the principle of specificity is to select exercises similar to the target activity with regard to the joints about which movement occur and the direction of the movements. In addition, joint ranges of motion in the training should be at least as great as those in the target activity." (1)
Specific exercises create a more ideal environment than general exercises for enhancing the specific force-generation and neuromuscular-coordination patterns of the targeted athletic movements.
General Exercises
General exercises are essentially conventional strength-training exercises and may consist of either compound or isolation movements using free weights, cables, or machines. In most cases, general exercises create a more ideal environment than specific exercises for stimulating increases in overall muscle strength and size. Therefore, these applications offer general transfer into improvements in human performance by increasing muscle hypertrophy, motor-unit recruitment, bone density, and connective tissue strength, which can improve overall health and reduce injury risk.
On the other hand, because these exercises do not necessarily reflect the specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns of many common movements in athletics, their positive transfer into improved performance potential is less obvious. This fact has led some personal trainers and coaches into mistakenly labeling them as "nonfunctional" and therefore not valuable. That is a false belief.
Granted, the further an exercise gets away from replicating the specific force-generation patterns of a given movement, the less directly it carries over to improving the neuromuscular coordination of that movement. However, this fact doesn't make an exercise bad, and it certainly doesn't make it nonfunctional. It simply means that the less specific an exercise is, the more general it is.
For this reason, instead of referring to some exercises as "functional" - which implies that others are "nonfunctional" - it is more accurate (and less confusing) to refer to exercises as either general or specific. Each of these types offers a unique set of benefits that transfers into improvements in performance and overall functional capacity.
Common Confusion Associated With Specific Exercises
Working on sport skills with specific exercises is not the same thing as working to improve specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns, which transfer into targeted athleticmovements. Unaware of this distinction, some strength and conditioning professionals advise athletes and clients to perform what they call "sport-specific exercises" or "functional exercises" by attaching a resistance band to the end of a golf club or hockey stick, for example, or shadow-boxing against bands strapped around the back. Loading specific sport skills in this manner misapplies the principle of specificity and rests on a misunderstanding of how to properly use specific exercises.
In reality, improving one's ability to perform certain sport skills is not about replicating what a specific movement looks like but about replicating the specific force-generation patterns involved in the movement pattern. In other words, when training focuses only on what an exercise looks like, one can easily make the mistake of loading sport-specific skills instead of working to improve the specific force-generation patterns used to perform sport movements.
The problem lies in the fact that sport movement skills involve accuracy components that are not just similar but exact. For example, consider studies of the use of weighted bats in baseball. Contrary to general public understanding, studies have found that the heavy bat not only alters the batter's perceptions of bat heaviness and swing speed, but also slows the batter's swing speed for as many as five swings after using the weighted bat (2,3)! Sure, some baseball players might prefer to "warm-up" by using a weighted bat, but the smart ones will also take several more swings with an unweighted bat to normalize themselves before stepping up to the plate.
You can test this effect for yourself: Shoot 10 free throws with a regular basketball, then take 10 more shots with a 2-to 4-pound (1 to 2 kg) medicine ball. You'll quickly find that the fine-motor pattern (i.e., skill) used to throw the heavier ball accurately is completely different, and your shots with that ball will likely come up short until you hone the pattern. After shooting with the medicine ball, go back to the normal basketball for 10 more shots. Your first few shots may go over the backboard because shooting the much lighter basketball involves a different fine-motor sequence than shooting the medicine ball.
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Arm Walkout and Medicine-Ball Walkout
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees.
Arm Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Walk your arms out in front of you as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figures b and c). Reverse the motion, walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
Medicine-Ball Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands on the top of a rubber or sand-filled medicine ball just above your shoulders and your arms straight (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Roll the ball out in front of you by walking with your arms in hand-over-hand fashion as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figure b). Reverse the motion, rolling the ball back toward you by walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
- If using a rubber medicine ball (the kind found at most gyms), choose one that is fully inflated and large enough - at least 8 pounds (3.5 kg) - to accommodate both of your hands.
- If using a sand-filled ball, you can make the exercise harder by using a heavier ball.
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Performance Workout Programs
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
Here are a few key points to remember when performing the exercises:
Speed Exercises
- Perform each rep as explosively as possible.
- If the exercise involves jumping, land as quietly as possible.
- If the workout calls for throwing a medicine ball (outside or against a solid wall) and your training environment prevents you from doing so; simply choose an alternative, non-medicine ball exercise option from the Total-Body Power Exercises section of chapters 4 through 7. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of sets and reps that were recommended for the original exercise.
Strength Exercises
- While maintaining optimal technique, perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep as forcefully as you can; during the eccentric (lowering) portion, maintain good control.
- Use a weight load that allows you to perform the indicated number of reps in the fashion described in the preceding point. In each workout, you ensure improvement in strength either by adding weight and performing the same number of reps as in the preceding workout or by performing more reps with the same weight.
Size Exercises
- Focus on the working muscles in each exercise and maintain strict form without "cheating" by using additional movements or momentum.
- Perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep at a normal tempo and maintain control during the eccentric (lowering) portion.
- The set and rep numbers used for exercises in this section are undulated with three schemes. Regardless of the scheme you're on, use a weight load that leaves you unable to perform any more reps than indicated while maintaining proper control and technique.
Cardio Conditioning
- If the workout calls for a particular supramaximal interval training (SMIT), steady-state cardio, or metabolic conditioning protocol (MCP) that your training environment prevents you from performing, simply choose a comparable alternative exercise from chapter 3. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of reps, rounds, or time that were recommended for the original exercise.
- Only workouts A and C of each program involve a cardio conditioning component.
Performance Workout Programs (Three to Five Days Per Week)
In the following programs, perform a, b, and c exercises as tri-sets and perform a and b exercises as paired sets. Perform all indicated sets and reps in a given tri-set or paired set before moving on to the next set. If necessary, rest a bit longer than indicated between sets in order to complete the designated number of reps with good control. This program emphasizes movement quality over quantity!
Before you begin each workout in the following programs, be sure to perform one of the dynamic warm-up sequences (of your choice) provided in chapter 8. To help you personalize these workouts to best fit you, refer to chapter 12.
Performance Workout Program 1
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Maximize Training Transfer
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Transfer for Improved Performance
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Functional capacity is one's range of ability; in other words, higher functional capacity means that a person can perform a broader range of specific tasks. Within this framework, the four primary types of exercise addressed in the functional-spectrum training system (again, total-body power, cross-body, compound, and isolation) are each classified as either specific or general based on how they transfer functionally. These two categories of exercise - specific and general - offer different benefits; more specifically, each type benefits certain interdependent components of fitness and performance that the other category may miss.
Specific Exercises
Specific exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance and functional capacity because they are based on the principle of specificity. That principle has been defined as follows by Dr. Everett Harman in the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (2000, 25-55)
"The concept of specificity, widely recognized in the field of resistance training, holds that training is most effective when resistance exercises are similar to the sport activity in which improvement is sought (the target activity). Although all athletes should use well-rounded, whole-body exercise routines, supplementary exercises specific to the sport can provide a training advantage. The simplest and most straightforward way to implement the principle of specificity is to select exercises similar to the target activity with regard to the joints about which movement occur and the direction of the movements. In addition, joint ranges of motion in the training should be at least as great as those in the target activity." (1)
Specific exercises create a more ideal environment than general exercises for enhancing the specific force-generation and neuromuscular-coordination patterns of the targeted athletic movements.
General Exercises
General exercises are essentially conventional strength-training exercises and may consist of either compound or isolation movements using free weights, cables, or machines. In most cases, general exercises create a more ideal environment than specific exercises for stimulating increases in overall muscle strength and size. Therefore, these applications offer general transfer into improvements in human performance by increasing muscle hypertrophy, motor-unit recruitment, bone density, and connective tissue strength, which can improve overall health and reduce injury risk.
On the other hand, because these exercises do not necessarily reflect the specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns of many common movements in athletics, their positive transfer into improved performance potential is less obvious. This fact has led some personal trainers and coaches into mistakenly labeling them as "nonfunctional" and therefore not valuable. That is a false belief.
Granted, the further an exercise gets away from replicating the specific force-generation patterns of a given movement, the less directly it carries over to improving the neuromuscular coordination of that movement. However, this fact doesn't make an exercise bad, and it certainly doesn't make it nonfunctional. It simply means that the less specific an exercise is, the more general it is.
For this reason, instead of referring to some exercises as "functional" - which implies that others are "nonfunctional" - it is more accurate (and less confusing) to refer to exercises as either general or specific. Each of these types offers a unique set of benefits that transfers into improvements in performance and overall functional capacity.
Common Confusion Associated With Specific Exercises
Working on sport skills with specific exercises is not the same thing as working to improve specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns, which transfer into targeted athleticmovements. Unaware of this distinction, some strength and conditioning professionals advise athletes and clients to perform what they call "sport-specific exercises" or "functional exercises" by attaching a resistance band to the end of a golf club or hockey stick, for example, or shadow-boxing against bands strapped around the back. Loading specific sport skills in this manner misapplies the principle of specificity and rests on a misunderstanding of how to properly use specific exercises.
In reality, improving one's ability to perform certain sport skills is not about replicating what a specific movement looks like but about replicating the specific force-generation patterns involved in the movement pattern. In other words, when training focuses only on what an exercise looks like, one can easily make the mistake of loading sport-specific skills instead of working to improve the specific force-generation patterns used to perform sport movements.
The problem lies in the fact that sport movement skills involve accuracy components that are not just similar but exact. For example, consider studies of the use of weighted bats in baseball. Contrary to general public understanding, studies have found that the heavy bat not only alters the batter's perceptions of bat heaviness and swing speed, but also slows the batter's swing speed for as many as five swings after using the weighted bat (2,3)! Sure, some baseball players might prefer to "warm-up" by using a weighted bat, but the smart ones will also take several more swings with an unweighted bat to normalize themselves before stepping up to the plate.
You can test this effect for yourself: Shoot 10 free throws with a regular basketball, then take 10 more shots with a 2-to 4-pound (1 to 2 kg) medicine ball. You'll quickly find that the fine-motor pattern (i.e., skill) used to throw the heavier ball accurately is completely different, and your shots with that ball will likely come up short until you hone the pattern. After shooting with the medicine ball, go back to the normal basketball for 10 more shots. Your first few shots may go over the backboard because shooting the much lighter basketball involves a different fine-motor sequence than shooting the medicine ball.
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Arm Walkout and Medicine-Ball Walkout
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees.
Arm Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Walk your arms out in front of you as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figures b and c). Reverse the motion, walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
Medicine-Ball Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands on the top of a rubber or sand-filled medicine ball just above your shoulders and your arms straight (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Roll the ball out in front of you by walking with your arms in hand-over-hand fashion as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figure b). Reverse the motion, rolling the ball back toward you by walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
- If using a rubber medicine ball (the kind found at most gyms), choose one that is fully inflated and large enough - at least 8 pounds (3.5 kg) - to accommodate both of your hands.
- If using a sand-filled ball, you can make the exercise harder by using a heavier ball.
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Performance Workout Programs
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
Here are a few key points to remember when performing the exercises:
Speed Exercises
- Perform each rep as explosively as possible.
- If the exercise involves jumping, land as quietly as possible.
- If the workout calls for throwing a medicine ball (outside or against a solid wall) and your training environment prevents you from doing so; simply choose an alternative, non-medicine ball exercise option from the Total-Body Power Exercises section of chapters 4 through 7. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of sets and reps that were recommended for the original exercise.
Strength Exercises
- While maintaining optimal technique, perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep as forcefully as you can; during the eccentric (lowering) portion, maintain good control.
- Use a weight load that allows you to perform the indicated number of reps in the fashion described in the preceding point. In each workout, you ensure improvement in strength either by adding weight and performing the same number of reps as in the preceding workout or by performing more reps with the same weight.
Size Exercises
- Focus on the working muscles in each exercise and maintain strict form without "cheating" by using additional movements or momentum.
- Perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep at a normal tempo and maintain control during the eccentric (lowering) portion.
- The set and rep numbers used for exercises in this section are undulated with three schemes. Regardless of the scheme you're on, use a weight load that leaves you unable to perform any more reps than indicated while maintaining proper control and technique.
Cardio Conditioning
- If the workout calls for a particular supramaximal interval training (SMIT), steady-state cardio, or metabolic conditioning protocol (MCP) that your training environment prevents you from performing, simply choose a comparable alternative exercise from chapter 3. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of reps, rounds, or time that were recommended for the original exercise.
- Only workouts A and C of each program involve a cardio conditioning component.
Performance Workout Programs (Three to Five Days Per Week)
In the following programs, perform a, b, and c exercises as tri-sets and perform a and b exercises as paired sets. Perform all indicated sets and reps in a given tri-set or paired set before moving on to the next set. If necessary, rest a bit longer than indicated between sets in order to complete the designated number of reps with good control. This program emphasizes movement quality over quantity!
Before you begin each workout in the following programs, be sure to perform one of the dynamic warm-up sequences (of your choice) provided in chapter 8. To help you personalize these workouts to best fit you, refer to chapter 12.
Performance Workout Program 1
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Maximize Training Transfer
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Transfer for Improved Performance
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Functional capacity is one's range of ability; in other words, higher functional capacity means that a person can perform a broader range of specific tasks. Within this framework, the four primary types of exercise addressed in the functional-spectrum training system (again, total-body power, cross-body, compound, and isolation) are each classified as either specific or general based on how they transfer functionally. These two categories of exercise - specific and general - offer different benefits; more specifically, each type benefits certain interdependent components of fitness and performance that the other category may miss.
Specific Exercises
Specific exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance and functional capacity because they are based on the principle of specificity. That principle has been defined as follows by Dr. Everett Harman in the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (2000, 25-55)
"The concept of specificity, widely recognized in the field of resistance training, holds that training is most effective when resistance exercises are similar to the sport activity in which improvement is sought (the target activity). Although all athletes should use well-rounded, whole-body exercise routines, supplementary exercises specific to the sport can provide a training advantage. The simplest and most straightforward way to implement the principle of specificity is to select exercises similar to the target activity with regard to the joints about which movement occur and the direction of the movements. In addition, joint ranges of motion in the training should be at least as great as those in the target activity." (1)
Specific exercises create a more ideal environment than general exercises for enhancing the specific force-generation and neuromuscular-coordination patterns of the targeted athletic movements.
General Exercises
General exercises are essentially conventional strength-training exercises and may consist of either compound or isolation movements using free weights, cables, or machines. In most cases, general exercises create a more ideal environment than specific exercises for stimulating increases in overall muscle strength and size. Therefore, these applications offer general transfer into improvements in human performance by increasing muscle hypertrophy, motor-unit recruitment, bone density, and connective tissue strength, which can improve overall health and reduce injury risk.
On the other hand, because these exercises do not necessarily reflect the specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns of many common movements in athletics, their positive transfer into improved performance potential is less obvious. This fact has led some personal trainers and coaches into mistakenly labeling them as "nonfunctional" and therefore not valuable. That is a false belief.
Granted, the further an exercise gets away from replicating the specific force-generation patterns of a given movement, the less directly it carries over to improving the neuromuscular coordination of that movement. However, this fact doesn't make an exercise bad, and it certainly doesn't make it nonfunctional. It simply means that the less specific an exercise is, the more general it is.
For this reason, instead of referring to some exercises as "functional" - which implies that others are "nonfunctional" - it is more accurate (and less confusing) to refer to exercises as either general or specific. Each of these types offers a unique set of benefits that transfers into improvements in performance and overall functional capacity.
Common Confusion Associated With Specific Exercises
Working on sport skills with specific exercises is not the same thing as working to improve specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns, which transfer into targeted athleticmovements. Unaware of this distinction, some strength and conditioning professionals advise athletes and clients to perform what they call "sport-specific exercises" or "functional exercises" by attaching a resistance band to the end of a golf club or hockey stick, for example, or shadow-boxing against bands strapped around the back. Loading specific sport skills in this manner misapplies the principle of specificity and rests on a misunderstanding of how to properly use specific exercises.
In reality, improving one's ability to perform certain sport skills is not about replicating what a specific movement looks like but about replicating the specific force-generation patterns involved in the movement pattern. In other words, when training focuses only on what an exercise looks like, one can easily make the mistake of loading sport-specific skills instead of working to improve the specific force-generation patterns used to perform sport movements.
The problem lies in the fact that sport movement skills involve accuracy components that are not just similar but exact. For example, consider studies of the use of weighted bats in baseball. Contrary to general public understanding, studies have found that the heavy bat not only alters the batter's perceptions of bat heaviness and swing speed, but also slows the batter's swing speed for as many as five swings after using the weighted bat (2,3)! Sure, some baseball players might prefer to "warm-up" by using a weighted bat, but the smart ones will also take several more swings with an unweighted bat to normalize themselves before stepping up to the plate.
You can test this effect for yourself: Shoot 10 free throws with a regular basketball, then take 10 more shots with a 2-to 4-pound (1 to 2 kg) medicine ball. You'll quickly find that the fine-motor pattern (i.e., skill) used to throw the heavier ball accurately is completely different, and your shots with that ball will likely come up short until you hone the pattern. After shooting with the medicine ball, go back to the normal basketball for 10 more shots. Your first few shots may go over the backboard because shooting the much lighter basketball involves a different fine-motor sequence than shooting the medicine ball.
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Arm Walkout and Medicine-Ball Walkout
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees.
Arm Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Walk your arms out in front of you as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figures b and c). Reverse the motion, walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
Medicine-Ball Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands on the top of a rubber or sand-filled medicine ball just above your shoulders and your arms straight (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Roll the ball out in front of you by walking with your arms in hand-over-hand fashion as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figure b). Reverse the motion, rolling the ball back toward you by walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
- If using a rubber medicine ball (the kind found at most gyms), choose one that is fully inflated and large enough - at least 8 pounds (3.5 kg) - to accommodate both of your hands.
- If using a sand-filled ball, you can make the exercise harder by using a heavier ball.
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Performance Workout Programs
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
Here are a few key points to remember when performing the exercises:
Speed Exercises
- Perform each rep as explosively as possible.
- If the exercise involves jumping, land as quietly as possible.
- If the workout calls for throwing a medicine ball (outside or against a solid wall) and your training environment prevents you from doing so; simply choose an alternative, non-medicine ball exercise option from the Total-Body Power Exercises section of chapters 4 through 7. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of sets and reps that were recommended for the original exercise.
Strength Exercises
- While maintaining optimal technique, perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep as forcefully as you can; during the eccentric (lowering) portion, maintain good control.
- Use a weight load that allows you to perform the indicated number of reps in the fashion described in the preceding point. In each workout, you ensure improvement in strength either by adding weight and performing the same number of reps as in the preceding workout or by performing more reps with the same weight.
Size Exercises
- Focus on the working muscles in each exercise and maintain strict form without "cheating" by using additional movements or momentum.
- Perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep at a normal tempo and maintain control during the eccentric (lowering) portion.
- The set and rep numbers used for exercises in this section are undulated with three schemes. Regardless of the scheme you're on, use a weight load that leaves you unable to perform any more reps than indicated while maintaining proper control and technique.
Cardio Conditioning
- If the workout calls for a particular supramaximal interval training (SMIT), steady-state cardio, or metabolic conditioning protocol (MCP) that your training environment prevents you from performing, simply choose a comparable alternative exercise from chapter 3. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of reps, rounds, or time that were recommended for the original exercise.
- Only workouts A and C of each program involve a cardio conditioning component.
Performance Workout Programs (Three to Five Days Per Week)
In the following programs, perform a, b, and c exercises as tri-sets and perform a and b exercises as paired sets. Perform all indicated sets and reps in a given tri-set or paired set before moving on to the next set. If necessary, rest a bit longer than indicated between sets in order to complete the designated number of reps with good control. This program emphasizes movement quality over quantity!
Before you begin each workout in the following programs, be sure to perform one of the dynamic warm-up sequences (of your choice) provided in chapter 8. To help you personalize these workouts to best fit you, refer to chapter 12.
Performance Workout Program 1
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Maximize Training Transfer
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Transfer for Improved Performance
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Functional capacity is one's range of ability; in other words, higher functional capacity means that a person can perform a broader range of specific tasks. Within this framework, the four primary types of exercise addressed in the functional-spectrum training system (again, total-body power, cross-body, compound, and isolation) are each classified as either specific or general based on how they transfer functionally. These two categories of exercise - specific and general - offer different benefits; more specifically, each type benefits certain interdependent components of fitness and performance that the other category may miss.
Specific Exercises
Specific exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance and functional capacity because they are based on the principle of specificity. That principle has been defined as follows by Dr. Everett Harman in the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (2000, 25-55)
"The concept of specificity, widely recognized in the field of resistance training, holds that training is most effective when resistance exercises are similar to the sport activity in which improvement is sought (the target activity). Although all athletes should use well-rounded, whole-body exercise routines, supplementary exercises specific to the sport can provide a training advantage. The simplest and most straightforward way to implement the principle of specificity is to select exercises similar to the target activity with regard to the joints about which movement occur and the direction of the movements. In addition, joint ranges of motion in the training should be at least as great as those in the target activity." (1)
Specific exercises create a more ideal environment than general exercises for enhancing the specific force-generation and neuromuscular-coordination patterns of the targeted athletic movements.
General Exercises
General exercises are essentially conventional strength-training exercises and may consist of either compound or isolation movements using free weights, cables, or machines. In most cases, general exercises create a more ideal environment than specific exercises for stimulating increases in overall muscle strength and size. Therefore, these applications offer general transfer into improvements in human performance by increasing muscle hypertrophy, motor-unit recruitment, bone density, and connective tissue strength, which can improve overall health and reduce injury risk.
On the other hand, because these exercises do not necessarily reflect the specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns of many common movements in athletics, their positive transfer into improved performance potential is less obvious. This fact has led some personal trainers and coaches into mistakenly labeling them as "nonfunctional" and therefore not valuable. That is a false belief.
Granted, the further an exercise gets away from replicating the specific force-generation patterns of a given movement, the less directly it carries over to improving the neuromuscular coordination of that movement. However, this fact doesn't make an exercise bad, and it certainly doesn't make it nonfunctional. It simply means that the less specific an exercise is, the more general it is.
For this reason, instead of referring to some exercises as "functional" - which implies that others are "nonfunctional" - it is more accurate (and less confusing) to refer to exercises as either general or specific. Each of these types offers a unique set of benefits that transfers into improvements in performance and overall functional capacity.
Common Confusion Associated With Specific Exercises
Working on sport skills with specific exercises is not the same thing as working to improve specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns, which transfer into targeted athleticmovements. Unaware of this distinction, some strength and conditioning professionals advise athletes and clients to perform what they call "sport-specific exercises" or "functional exercises" by attaching a resistance band to the end of a golf club or hockey stick, for example, or shadow-boxing against bands strapped around the back. Loading specific sport skills in this manner misapplies the principle of specificity and rests on a misunderstanding of how to properly use specific exercises.
In reality, improving one's ability to perform certain sport skills is not about replicating what a specific movement looks like but about replicating the specific force-generation patterns involved in the movement pattern. In other words, when training focuses only on what an exercise looks like, one can easily make the mistake of loading sport-specific skills instead of working to improve the specific force-generation patterns used to perform sport movements.
The problem lies in the fact that sport movement skills involve accuracy components that are not just similar but exact. For example, consider studies of the use of weighted bats in baseball. Contrary to general public understanding, studies have found that the heavy bat not only alters the batter's perceptions of bat heaviness and swing speed, but also slows the batter's swing speed for as many as five swings after using the weighted bat (2,3)! Sure, some baseball players might prefer to "warm-up" by using a weighted bat, but the smart ones will also take several more swings with an unweighted bat to normalize themselves before stepping up to the plate.
You can test this effect for yourself: Shoot 10 free throws with a regular basketball, then take 10 more shots with a 2-to 4-pound (1 to 2 kg) medicine ball. You'll quickly find that the fine-motor pattern (i.e., skill) used to throw the heavier ball accurately is completely different, and your shots with that ball will likely come up short until you hone the pattern. After shooting with the medicine ball, go back to the normal basketball for 10 more shots. Your first few shots may go over the backboard because shooting the much lighter basketball involves a different fine-motor sequence than shooting the medicine ball.
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Arm Walkout and Medicine-Ball Walkout
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees.
Arm Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands flat on the floor just above your shoulders and your arms straight under your shoulders (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Walk your arms out in front of you as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figures b and c). Reverse the motion, walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
Medicine-Ball Walkout
Setup
Assume a kneeling position with your hands on the top of a rubber or sand-filled medicine ball just above your shoulders and your arms straight (see figure a). Your torso should form a fairly straight line from your head to your knees. You may also need to place a pad, pillow, or folded towel under your knees for comfort.
Action
Roll the ball out in front of you by walking with your arms in hand-over-hand fashion as far as possible without allowing your lower back to extend beyond the starting position (see figure b). Reverse the motion, rolling the ball back toward you by walking your hands back so that they end up just in front of your shoulders.
Coaching Tips
- Keep your body in a straight line throughout; do not allow your hips or head to sag toward the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes tightly each time that you walk your hands out to the long position.
- Walk your arms out only as far as you can without feeling discomfort in your lower back.
- If using a rubber medicine ball (the kind found at most gyms), choose one that is fully inflated and large enough - at least 8 pounds (3.5 kg) - to accommodate both of your hands.
- If using a sand-filled ball, you can make the exercise harder by using a heavier ball.
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Performance Workout Programs
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
The functional-spectrum training system not only allows you to train both your hustle (performance) and your muscle (strength and size) but also can be adjusted easily to emphasize a particular aspect of training. The programs presented here focus on improving overall athleticism and functional capacity.
Here are a few key points to remember when performing the exercises:
Speed Exercises
- Perform each rep as explosively as possible.
- If the exercise involves jumping, land as quietly as possible.
- If the workout calls for throwing a medicine ball (outside or against a solid wall) and your training environment prevents you from doing so; simply choose an alternative, non-medicine ball exercise option from the Total-Body Power Exercises section of chapters 4 through 7. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of sets and reps that were recommended for the original exercise.
Strength Exercises
- While maintaining optimal technique, perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep as forcefully as you can; during the eccentric (lowering) portion, maintain good control.
- Use a weight load that allows you to perform the indicated number of reps in the fashion described in the preceding point. In each workout, you ensure improvement in strength either by adding weight and performing the same number of reps as in the preceding workout or by performing more reps with the same weight.
Size Exercises
- Focus on the working muscles in each exercise and maintain strict form without "cheating" by using additional movements or momentum.
- Perform the concentric lifting portion of each rep at a normal tempo and maintain control during the eccentric (lowering) portion.
- The set and rep numbers used for exercises in this section are undulated with three schemes. Regardless of the scheme you're on, use a weight load that leaves you unable to perform any more reps than indicated while maintaining proper control and technique.
Cardio Conditioning
- If the workout calls for a particular supramaximal interval training (SMIT), steady-state cardio, or metabolic conditioning protocol (MCP) that your training environment prevents you from performing, simply choose a comparable alternative exercise from chapter 3. Perform the alternative exercise for roughly the same amount of reps, rounds, or time that were recommended for the original exercise.
- Only workouts A and C of each program involve a cardio conditioning component.
Performance Workout Programs (Three to Five Days Per Week)
In the following programs, perform a, b, and c exercises as tri-sets and perform a and b exercises as paired sets. Perform all indicated sets and reps in a given tri-set or paired set before moving on to the next set. If necessary, rest a bit longer than indicated between sets in order to complete the designated number of reps with good control. This program emphasizes movement quality over quantity!
Before you begin each workout in the following programs, be sure to perform one of the dynamic warm-up sequences (of your choice) provided in chapter 8. To help you personalize these workouts to best fit you, refer to chapter 12.
Performance Workout Program 1
Save
Save
Learn more about Building Muscle and Performance.
Maximize Training Transfer
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Transfer for Improved Performance
The goal of exercise programming for enhanced human performance is to maximize training transfer. Some exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance in sporting actions and overall functional capacity, whereas others provide less obvious transfer - that is, indirect transfer.
Functional capacity is one's range of ability; in other words, higher functional capacity means that a person can perform a broader range of specific tasks. Within this framework, the four primary types of exercise addressed in the functional-spectrum training system (again, total-body power, cross-body, compound, and isolation) are each classified as either specific or general based on how they transfer functionally. These two categories of exercise - specific and general - offer different benefits; more specifically, each type benefits certain interdependent components of fitness and performance that the other category may miss.
Specific Exercises
Specific exercises provide obvious and direct transfer to improved performance and functional capacity because they are based on the principle of specificity. That principle has been defined as follows by Dr. Everett Harman in the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (2000, 25-55)
"The concept of specificity, widely recognized in the field of resistance training, holds that training is most effective when resistance exercises are similar to the sport activity in which improvement is sought (the target activity). Although all athletes should use well-rounded, whole-body exercise routines, supplementary exercises specific to the sport can provide a training advantage. The simplest and most straightforward way to implement the principle of specificity is to select exercises similar to the target activity with regard to the joints about which movement occur and the direction of the movements. In addition, joint ranges of motion in the training should be at least as great as those in the target activity." (1)
Specific exercises create a more ideal environment than general exercises for enhancing the specific force-generation and neuromuscular-coordination patterns of the targeted athletic movements.
General Exercises
General exercises are essentially conventional strength-training exercises and may consist of either compound or isolation movements using free weights, cables, or machines. In most cases, general exercises create a more ideal environment than specific exercises for stimulating increases in overall muscle strength and size. Therefore, these applications offer general transfer into improvements in human performance by increasing muscle hypertrophy, motor-unit recruitment, bone density, and connective tissue strength, which can improve overall health and reduce injury risk.
On the other hand, because these exercises do not necessarily reflect the specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns of many common movements in athletics, their positive transfer into improved performance potential is less obvious. This fact has led some personal trainers and coaches into mistakenly labeling them as "nonfunctional" and therefore not valuable. That is a false belief.
Granted, the further an exercise gets away from replicating the specific force-generation patterns of a given movement, the less directly it carries over to improving the neuromuscular coordination of that movement. However, this fact doesn't make an exercise bad, and it certainly doesn't make it nonfunctional. It simply means that the less specific an exercise is, the more general it is.
For this reason, instead of referring to some exercises as "functional" - which implies that others are "nonfunctional" - it is more accurate (and less confusing) to refer to exercises as either general or specific. Each of these types offers a unique set of benefits that transfers into improvements in performance and overall functional capacity.
Common Confusion Associated With Specific Exercises
Working on sport skills with specific exercises is not the same thing as working to improve specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns, which transfer into targeted athleticmovements. Unaware of this distinction, some strength and conditioning professionals advise athletes and clients to perform what they call "sport-specific exercises" or "functional exercises" by attaching a resistance band to the end of a golf club or hockey stick, for example, or shadow-boxing against bands strapped around the back. Loading specific sport skills in this manner misapplies the principle of specificity and rests on a misunderstanding of how to properly use specific exercises.
In reality, improving one's ability to perform certain sport skills is not about replicating what a specific movement looks like but about replicating the specific force-generation patterns involved in the movement pattern. In other words, when training focuses only on what an exercise looks like, one can easily make the mistake of loading sport-specific skills instead of working to improve the specific force-generation patterns used to perform sport movements.
The problem lies in the fact that sport movement skills involve accuracy components that are not just similar but exact. For example, consider studies of the use of weighted bats in baseball. Contrary to general public understanding, studies have found that the heavy bat not only alters the batter's perceptions of bat heaviness and swing speed, but also slows the batter's swing speed for as many as five swings after using the weighted bat (2,3)! Sure, some baseball players might prefer to "warm-up" by using a weighted bat, but the smart ones will also take several more swings with an unweighted bat to normalize themselves before stepping up to the plate.
You can test this effect for yourself: Shoot 10 free throws with a regular basketball, then take 10 more shots with a 2-to 4-pound (1 to 2 kg) medicine ball. You'll quickly find that the fine-motor pattern (i.e., skill) used to throw the heavier ball accurately is completely different, and your shots with that ball will likely come up short until you hone the pattern. After shooting with the medicine ball, go back to the normal basketball for 10 more shots. Your first few shots may go over the backboard because shooting the much lighter basketball involves a different fine-motor sequence than shooting the medicine ball.
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