An Anabolic Primer

A few weeks ago my good friend Jeremy called me as I was walking into the Apple store for an appointment with one of their computer geeks (I love those guys). He was going on and on about how sick he was. He asked me if I was sick because apparently, everyone out in the Detroit area is. I responded with my usual comment, "Jeremy, I never get sick." The very next day I was sick as hell. That was roughly two weeks ago. I haven't been able to train and was starting to feel like a skinny fat man. I was finally able to get back at it today.

I needed to get a mind blowing pump in order to feel like a man again so I decided to do a hypertrophy workout or an anabolic primer if you will. Here's what I did:

A1: Donkey Calf Raise: 3 sets of 8-10 Rest:0
A2: Standing Calf Raise: 3 sets of 12-15 Rest:0
A3: Body Weight Calf Raise: 3 sets of 30 Rest:90 Secs (These are performed with a quick bounce and as fast as possible)
B: Clean Grip Dead Lifts: 3 sets of 10 Rest:120 Secs
C1: Flat Dbell Presses, Neutral Grip: 3 sets of 8 Rest:90 Secs
C2: Supinated Pulldowns: 3 sets of 8 Rest:90 Secs
D1: Low Pulley Fat Bar Reverse Curls: 3 sets of 6 Rest:90 Secs
D2: Lying Dbell Tricep Extensions: 3 sets of 8 Rest:90 Secs

I planned on starting with dead lifts, but both power racks were being used by guys doing barbell curls (typical for a commercial gym). So I had to do something, so figured I'd knock out some quick calf work. After all, summer is hopefully coming and you gotta have jacked calves if you're gonna wear shorts.

I finally feel alive again. Tomorrow I'll probably go back to splitting up lower and upper body workouts. I'll start with legs and do a moderate volume workout.

I'll keep you posted,

Chris Grayson

Show Me The Passion And Education And I'll Show You The Money

Q: I'm a personal trainer out in Arizona. I've been training people for 5 years and I'm starting to get really bored training average people and I'm considering advancing my knowledge so I can train athletes. I talked to another trainer who mentioned you and your blog/website because you are doing what I would like to do. My question is, there's several athletic facilities out where I live and many of them advocate completely different training philosophy's. Is there a way to know which one would be the best? I want to learn as much as I can and as fast as humanly possible.

A: I feel your pain. I had the same problem about four years ago. But there shouldn't be anything to consider. If you're bored and you want to train athletes then do it. Don't stand in your own way. Here's some things you must know.

First and foremost, to be great in this industry you must continue to learn, so reading a lot is paramount. This should be common sense, but to my surprise, most trainers I've come in contact with in my area don't do much of this. This tells me they don't have much passion for this industry and in my opinion, need to get out. Next, find a mentor. If you find out down the road that they aren't that knowledgeable, find another one. So if you take this job and find out it sucks, leave it. That should pretty much be a no brainer.

Another must on education is attending seminars. Last year at this time I lived in Chicago. I was an independent contractor at a gym in the downtown area. Perform Better had a 3 day seminar from Friday thru Sunday. I knew several trainers in the Chicago area and I saw none of them there. I asked a few of them why they didn't go and they told me they hadn't even heard of it. My jaw hit the floor. How in the hell could you not know one of the biggest personal training organizations in the United States.

This tax year I handed my account receipts totaling just over $25,000 on books, cd's, dvd's, and seminars. Over a third of my income. This year I'm opening my first private sports performance facility with my business partner and it's because I'm great at my job. Why? Because of passion, which equals education, which equals knowledge, which equals money. I'd like to state though that I don't do it for the money. I do it because I love it which makes the money come. If you're in it just to make money and not because you love it, you won't excel at it. Don't put the cart in front of the horse.

Here's a few things I would make sure of before hiring on to this performance facility you're looking into:

1. A structural balance assessment: If there not doing this then I'd question there education and therefore their passion. There's a lot of info out there on assessment or screening tests.
2. Collecting Data: Workouts must be progressive. Without this, the body has no reason to change since there's no adaptation required. Loading parameters must be written down and tracked to know when there no longer working. This is evident by math. If you're not getting stronger, you need to change your workout.
3. Soft tissue work and dynamic mobility drills: Bottom line, if there's any problems with fascial tissue and length tension relationships in muscles, the body won't function properly. Again, there's lots of info out there on this topic so there should be no excuses. Yet I still see people doing static stretches before lifting weights.
4. Energy System Development: Picking the right energy systems that are appropriate for the sport. For example, having a high school football player doing aerobic based training is wrong regardless of his position and you should be shot.

To Eat Carbs Or Not To Eat Carbs, That Is The Question

Q: I wanted to know your opinion on daily carb intake. I've been reading these books (Protein Power, Dr. Eades) and they seem to be very negative on any insulin in the system. I'm wondering what you think is the role of carbs especially for someone weight training.

A: We at GTS do Biosignature readings with a 10 site skin fold reading. Biosignature readings are the best non invasive way of finding out what's going on hormonally in the body.

The subscapularis and the suprailliac identify how carb tolerant you are. The subscap is a marker for genetic carb tolerance and cardiovascular disease (CVD). If you're not carb tolerant and yet there's a lot in your diet, your liver will increase triglycerides and thus increase your chances of CVD. The suprailliac is a environmental marker for carb tolerance. So even if your subscap reading is low (telling us you're carb tolerant), we still monitor your suprailliac to make sure you're not eating more carbs than you can metabolize.

Even if you're carb tolerant, we advocate carbs with a high phytonutrient (PN) value. So pop tarts and rice cakes are out. Some of my favorites are sweet potatoes, yams, quinoa, couscous, and brown rice. If you're carb tolerant, you should eat carbs at every meal or you won't achieve your leanest potential. If you're not, we typically only recommend them post workout and occasionally your last meal of the night to raise gaba and serotonin, which will help you relax and, therefore, improve your sleep quality. Keep in mind, how lean you are in the two mentioned sites would determine if and how much carbs you get. If an athlete's body fat is above 10mm, we have them consume glutamine and glycine with their post workout shake instead of carbs. This will replenish glycogen without spiking insulin. We only have athlete's spike insulin postworkout, and only if insulin is their friend. If your body fat is over 10%, insulin is not your friend.

A Return To My Roots

I, along with my close friend, colleague, and business partner Ben, have been anxiously anticipating our sports performance center to open so we can train athletes and ourselves with the best tools and techniques that we know.

We're currently training at a Powerhouse Gym in Canton, Michigan. Since we've been extremely busy with our new business escapades, we've decided to incorporate some great old school body building workouts into the mix:
1. To put on some much needed muscle mass since we've lacked consistency and
2. Because of boredom of having to train in a commercial gym.

We trained shoulders and arms last night and both got a sick pump from this workout. If your workouts haven't been anything but great, give this a try. I guarantee a mind blowing pump or else your testosterone levels are in the toilet.

A1. Seated DBell Press, Neutral Grip: 3 sets of 6-8 reps Tempo: 4010 Rest: 0
A2. DBell Side Laterals: 3 sets of 8-10 reps Tempo: 3010 Rest: 0
A3. Cable Rope Upright Rows: 3 sets of 10-12 reps Tempo: 2010 Rest: 2 Minutes

B1. Close Grip Supinated Chins (hands 4-6 inches apart): 3 sets of 4-6 reps Tempo: 4011 Rest: 0
B2. Standing Barbell Curls: 3 sets of 6-8 reps Tempo: 3010 Rest: 0
B3. Incline DBell Curls (60-70 degrees): 3 sets of 8-10 reps Tempo: 2010 Rest: 2 Minutes

C1. Dips: 3 sets of 4-6 reps Tempo: 4010 Rest: 0
C2. Close Grip Bench Press (hands 10-12 inches apart): 3 sets of 6-8 reps Tempo: 3010 Rest: 0
C3. Seated EZ Bar French Press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps Tempo: 2010 Rest: 2 Minutes

If you decide to give this a try, let me know how it went. And if your testosterone is as low as a pre pubescent girl scout, I can help.

What I've Been Up To

For those of you who might find my blog interesting I apologize for the long delay in posting.

I've moved back to the suburbs of Detroit from Chicago to open up a performance center with my business partner and close friend Ben Knapp. We finally got our lease signed two weeks ago after haggling over the terms with the landlord. Now we're waiting on the permits so our architect can build the bathrooms.

The facility is 4300 sq. feet out of a possible 6900. Hopefully we'll get clients quickly so we can take the whole 6900. I won't bore you with all the details but I am excited that we'll have 1800 sq. feet of astroturf.

I'll be very busy working on the campaign and logistical issues for awhile so I don't know how much writing I'll be doing on training. I will keep posting on the progress of my facility though, and once it's open I'll have a lot more to talk about as far as training goes (videos will be coming). Here's some pics of the facility so far. I'll add more so you can see it transform.

Clarity Is Power

If you haven’t seen results in your training since Bill Clinton was in office here’s some pearls of wisdom for you.

Use your subconscious mind

It’s said that Thomas Edison used to lock himself in a quiet room, give commands to his subconscious mind, and, as he described it, “sit for ideas.”


Have a plan

Obviously nothing new, but I’m amazed at how very few people do this. Next time you’re working out just look around at the personal trainers in your gym. Most have no planned workout or write anything down on their clients training; they just free style with each one, often taking them through the exact same workout as their previous client. I can’t figure out why these people think they need a trainer.

Define your purpose

The programming tool for unleashing the full powers of your subconscious mind is definition of purpose. The clearer your picture of what you want, the more activity you inspire inside your subconscious system. There are three main ways to put this to work, and they all involve writing.

1.Continually develop your goals in writing. If you are not making the progress you’d like to make, it is probably because your goals are unrealistic or not clearly defined. Saying, “ I want to get stronger, put on some muscle, and get my body fat down to six percent is not a clearly defined goal. Saying, “ I want to increase my deadlift by 25 pounds, gain 5 pounds of muscle, and drop my body fat from twelve percent to six percent within two months is clearly defined.

2. Write out your plan on how you’re going to achieve your goals. A written, detailed plan should combine goal setting, action planning, and problem solving. This makes your ideas believable.

3.Create and use daily checklists. You would never want to jump out of an airplane before reviewing a step-by-step process on how to put on and use your parachute. Make your training and the use of your limited time as equally important.

Every single workout on every client should be wrote down with some form of progression planned out. We collect data on EVERYTHING that is done in our facility. Without doing this you’re violating arguably the most important rule in training, progressive overload. Remember this: what gets measured gets improved.

These three action steps have great practical value, but they also serve to communicate to your subconscious mind, in an organized manner, the seriousness of your objectives. There is power in continually sharpening the definition of your goals on paper. Clarity is power.

The Right "Cardio" for MMA and Grapplers

I’ve had countless MMA fighters and jiu jitsu competitors ask me about cardio to improve their conditioning. After some detective work on my part to see what they mean when they say “cardio” and what they’re currently doing, I almost always come up with steady state cardio (oxidative system or aerobic training) being explained. Most people, including athletes, don’t understand that cardio and aerobics are not interchangeable terms. Aerobics is cardio but cardio doesn’t have to be aerobic. So telling me you do cardio doesn’t tell me much. Cardio is just a medical term used to reference the heart. Unless you’re dead, your heart is always working. So according to the medical definition, walking to your local grocery store or a full out sprint for 100 yards is cardio, but the later is much harder.

There are five different types of energy systems and all of them are cardio but only two are aerobic. Training an athlete as opposed to training your average Joe or Jane that just want to be lean and healthy is a lot more complex. Understand this: Fitness and sports science are two different things. With sports, you have to know what to train that will benefit the sport, as opposed to aiming for overall fitness goals. The majority of people that exercise think they know what they’re doing but the reality is, they have no clue.

While every activity in which we participate requires the cardiovascular system, the article at hand will focus on the predominant energy systems involved in training to become an endurance machine.


The 5 Energy Pathways

0 sec 12 sec 90 sec 15 min 60 min
ATP (6-10, depending how fit)
ATP-CP (after 12 sec, some glycogen)
ATP-CP & Glycogen (12 sec – 2min)
Aerobic & Glycogen (12-20 min)
Aerobic Oxidative (20+; explains 2nd wind after 20 min)


Depending on how long the duration of activity and how intense that activity is performed dictates what energy system you are training. The first three energy systems are important for MMA fighters because of the different strength qualities needed and the time limit involved in a fight. Aerobic training is a waste of time. There is nothing in MMA (or any grappling sport for that matter) that is done aerobically – it is done at high intensity, explosively, and at full speed – predominantly without oxygen.

I’m only going to talk about the anaerobic lactic system because that’s arguably the most important and the hardest system to train correctly. When I’m asked the cardio conditioning question, this is the energy system they’re asking for improvements in without knowing it (improving this energy system will have a ceiling effect on the aerobic system). One thing not mentioned the above graph are the two components within each system, power and capacity. I didn’t include these because I’m not trying to write a book or attempting to confuse you, but to shed some light on the complexity of training the energy systems.


ANAEROBIC LACTIC SYSTEM

The reason why this system can be the hardest to train is because of the waste by-products it produces and because it meets the point where anaerobic training ends and aerobic work begins, which is where an MMA fighter has to be conditioned at if the fight goes deep into the rounds. Because of this, the workouts aren’t fun. I’ve had many athletes throw up while training this system. Usually this only happens upon starting this program because you don’t know how well the athlete can remove the waste by-products yet. The good news is that once you know where they fall on the conditioning continuum if you will, you can start progressively making the workouts harder forcing the athlete to adapt by increasing their ability to remove and/or tolerate the waste by-products. Maybe that didn’t sound like good news, but come fight time; the athlete will not gas out. You MUST train harder than you are going to compete, otherwise the training will not transfer. This is why aerobics suck for the MMA fighter or a grappling athlete.


One of my favourite ways to improve this system is with death circuits. These are circuits where you take compound lifts that recruit a lot of muscle and therefore, give you the most return on your investment.

DEATH CIRCUIT SAMPLES:

Back Squat x 12RM, TEMPO 30X0, 60s rest
Supinated Chins x 12, TEMPO 30X0, 60s rest
Bent-Knee Deads x 12, TEMPO 2010, 60s rest
Dips x 12, TEMPO 30X0, 3- minute rest

Bulgarian Split Squat, 12RM, TEMPO 2010, 60s rest
One Arm DB Row, 12RM, TEMPO 2010, 60s rest
Trap Bar Deadlifts, 12RM, TEMPO 2010, 60s rest
Incline DB Press, 12RM, TEMPO 30X0, 3-minute rest
• Repeat 2-4 circuits
• You will most likely have to reduce your weight on each set.
• 10 is the lowest reps you could do with Death Circuits, but 12 is best
• If you can’t do 12 chins/pull-ups, do pull downs

THE TRAINING BENEFITS:
1. Makes possible a higher volume of work at a higher VO2 max (you can work harder)
2. The rest is used to rebuild the energy substrates and to restore oxygen in the muscle
3. Permits a greater specificity of training
4. Simulates the pace of competition with incomplete rest/recovery
5. Improves aerobic capabilities of the fast twitch fibres (which is important for MMA athletes because of the explosive nature needed for long durations of time).
6. Because it leans people out, you could also use it to move a fighter down in his weight class

BASIC RULES TO FOLLOW FOR BEST RESULTS:

• Maximum 12 weeks to train this system because most of the gains happen and you can’t drive quality up with a longer time. If you have more time than this, work on a different energy system/strength quality or whatever else the fighter needs (I haven’t found any that couldn’t use more max strength or that didn’t need any structural work).
• Train two to three times a week max so adequate recovery can take place.
• With the anaerobic lactic system, a 20 % drop off is allowed in performance from the beginning set; while only a 7% drop off for ATP/CP. After this critical drop off point, cease performance (you can’t beat a dead horse).

• To progress energy system training, increase effort and/or reduce rest by 15 seconds every other workout.
• After warming up, spend no longer than an hour on training, as we’re interested in quality of work with athletes. After an hour you’re so low on fuel (glycogen, glucose) and stress hormones are so high that it’s counter productive to continue.
• If the fighter is not showing improvements in their ability to recover between sets/rounds, check the metabolic pathways involved and see if there’s something lacking in their diet.


If you only have a short time (example: 6 weeks) before a fight, you won’t have time to mess around with different work to rest ratios to determine the athlete’s level of conditioning. This could take to long and jeopardize your training and timing to peak before the fight. In this case, to determine their level of conditioning, I recommend using a heart rate monitor and seeing how long it takes for their heart rate to return to a specific percentage based off their max heart rate (can’t tell the percentages and give away my secrets). This is, in my opinion, is the best energy system/conditioning test you can use for fighters. And without performing tests or knowing how to interpret the data collected from the tests, you’re programming blind. If the athlete just needs to lose body fat to increase performance, the tests aren’t necessary.


Hopefully this has explained to you why saying “cardio” means pretty much nothing and that designing energy system programs for athletes requires extensive knowledge and attention to detail. Just jumping on a treadmill, running around the city, or training in your sport like a wild animal isn't going to cut it. The training must be progressive and therefore, must be measured.

Chris Grayson
graysontrainingsystems.com

Body Building Workout Program for an MMA Fighter?

Question:

I'm an aspiring MMA fighter. I currently train jiu-jitsu and kickboxing for a total of three to four times a week. My question is in regards to weight lifting/cardio. I want to make sure my training is appropriate for my goals. Here's a break down of what I'm currently doing. Does this look good?

Day 1:
1 hour of cardio before I train
Chest and triceps:

Flat bench dumbbell press 3 x 14-20
Incline dumbbell press 3 x 14-20
Decline press 3 x 14-20
Cable fly 3 x 14-20
Dips 3 x 14-20
Cable pushdown 3 x 14-20
One arm pronated pushdown 3 x 14-20

Day 2:
1 hr of cardio 2 hours before I train
Shoulders and abdominals

Smith Military Press 4/5 x 10-12
Lateral raise 4/5 x 10-12
Front raise 4/5 x 10-12
Shrug 4/5 x 10-12
Abs

Day 3:
Same cardio as day 1
Back and biceps

Lat Pull down 4/5 8-12
Seated Row 4 x 8-12
Cable row upper 4 x 8-12
Back Extension 4 x 12-20
Preacher curl 4 x 6-10
Dumbbell curl 4 x 4-8
Seated curl 4 x 8-10
Cable curl 4 x 8-12

Day 4:
1 hr cardio

Day 5:
Same Chest routine as Monday

Day 6:
Legs

45-degree leg press 4 x 8-12
Leg extension 4 x 8-12
Leg curl 4 x 8-12
Calf raises 4 x 8-15

Answer:

This is a typical body building style program and it's not of much use for an aspiring MMA fighter, any grappling sport, or any other sport for that matter. Here are some problems with your current program:

1) You're training too often. You don't get stronger while lifting weights but rather from the recovery process that should take place. Based on your program, you only rest one day and for all I know you're still doing jiu-jitsu or kickboxing on that day since you didn't specify what days you do those on.

2) You're doing too many sets per muscle group. On day 1 alone there's 12 sets just for chest. This is way too much. You should focus on the minimum amount required to elicit the desired training adaptation. Any more than that and you're just cutting into your energy reserves that could be used for recovery.

3) Several of the exercises chosen are poor choices (leg extension, smith machine press, front raise, cable flyes, etc.) or redundant. For instance, all your elbow flexor exercises (bicep exercises) are with a supinated grip and again, you don't need 16 sets to get the job done.

4) The strength qualities needed for MMA or any grappling sport are: Relative strength, explosive strength, and strength endurance. (Functional hypertrophy could also be included unless your body fat is very low and you're already within your weight class.) The majority of your repetition ranges are for strength/endurance. There's no work done for the other two strength qualities.

5) You're performing straight sets when you should be super setting antagonistic muscle groups. This will allow you to get more work done in a shorter given unit of time and will assure that your body is balanced on both sides of joints so you're structurally sound.

An example of straight sets is doing a set of a barbell bench press, resting, and then doing another set of barbell bench presses. An example of super setting antagonistic muscle groups would be doing a set of the barbell bench press, resting the desired amount of time based on your goals, and then doing a set of seated cable rows.

6) The cardio workouts you're doing are way too long and close to your weight training workouts. Stop doing cardio before lifting weights and don't do any steady state, traditional aerobic based cardio. You should be getting plenty of effective conditioning while training in your sport. If you're not, you should time your rest intervals between rounds and make sure that they're progressive. If you can't do this, have your coach do it for you.

Since there's no off season for your sport and you're training in it three to four times a week, you need to be concerned with time so you don’t over train, therefore, you should select exercises that give you the most return on your investment. I would also only weight train two to three times a week. I can't promise that you still can't over train since I don't have enough information form you (namely diet) but there's certainly less of a chance than what you're currently doing.
Here are some better exercise choices. Select only one exercise from each group:

Pressing Exercises:

Incline dumbbell press, palms facing each other
Parallel-bar dips
Close grip barbell bench press, shoulder width grip
Barbell or dumbbell floor press
Standing barbell press

Upper-Body Pulling Exercises:

Parallel grip chin-ups
Supinated shoulder-width chin-ups
Wide grip pronated grip chin-ups
Incline dumbbell rows
One-arm dumbbell row
Rope face pulls
Parallel grip seated rows

Leg Exercises, Hip and Knee Dominant:

Back squats
Front squats
Dead lifts, clean-grip, sumo, or snatch-grip
Romanian dead lifts
Power cleans
Split squats
Lunges, decelerative or accelerative

Assistance/Remedial Exercises:

Elbow flexor family (bicep)

Elbow extension family (tricep)

External rotator family

Calves family

Abdominal family

So here's a three-day sample routine that shouldn't take more than an hour. (Listed are exercise, sets x reps, tempo, and rest interval):

Day 1

A. Power Cleans: 4 x 3-5 x 11X0 x 240 second rest
B1. Standing barbell press: 4 x 3-5 x 20X0 x 120 second rest
B2. Parallel grip chin-up: 4 x 3-5 x 3010 x 120 second rest
C1. Lying decline dumbbell tricep extension: 3 x 6-8 x 3010 x 90 second rest
C2. Seated zottman curls: 3 x 6-8 x 3010 x 90 second rest

Day 2

A. Clean-grip dead lift: 3 x 6-8 x 2110 x 180 second rest
B1. Dumbbell floor press: 3 x 6-8 x 31X0 x 90 second rest
B2. One-arm dumbbell row: 3x 6-8 x 3110 x 90 second rest
C1. Incline bench powell raise: 3 x 10-12 x 60 second rest
C2. Incline garhammer raise: 3 x 10-12 x 3020 x 60 second rest

Day 3

A. Telemark squat: 3 x 12-15 x 2010 x 75 second rest
B1. Parallel dip: 3 x AMRAP (as many reps as possible) w/body weight x 2010 x 60 second rest
B2. Pronated grip seated cable rows: 3 x 12-15 x 2011 x 60 second rest
C1. Seated dumbbell external rotation, arm on knee: 3 x 10-12 x 3010 x 60 second rest
C2. Seated calf raise: 3 x 15-20 x 2210 x 60 second rest

Take one day off between workouts. Once every four to six workouts you should change all loading parameters: sets, reps, tempo, rest interval, and exercise selection. Keep in mind that this is only a sample program and there are many other great exercises you could do that will help you, also, in order for a weight lifting program to be more specific for you, I would have to do a structural balance assessment on you and get more detailed information.

Chris Grayson
Graysontrainingsystems.com

Cutting Edge Training or Entertainment Training

Just the other day I was training one of my jiu-jitsu guys and we saw a trainer having his client stand on a bosu ball while performing a dumbbell lateral raise with one hand and an over head dumbbell press with the other hand. This is ridiculous. The first problem is your forced to stand bow legged. This puts a lot of stress on the ligaments of the knee and ankle. If you stand on one foot this wouldn’t happen but you still have the second problem, reducing the load because you’re unstable, therefore recruiting fewer motor units and not properly loading the prime movers of the lift. If you did the same exercise on the ground you would recruit more motor units and thus get stronger because you don’t have to perform this balancing act. But even if you’re on the ground still don’t do the exercise mentioned above, it still sucks. Hopefully you already know that.

As far as training the abdominals or “the core”, which I’m so tired of hearing it called.There are a some good exercises that you can do but recent research has shown that direct “core” training only works for about six weeks anyways. You’ll actually build stronger and better abs from squatting and dead lifting over any direct abdominal exercise because you have to stabilize the spine through abdominal bracing.

Some people think you will develop better coordination and reaction time..... Wrong. You will get better at the specific lift, however, it won't transfer into better coordination in other places. The fact is coordination is 90% established by the age of 12.

I believe most trainers have poor resources for information. They find these so-called expert trainers doing all these unstable exercises on these devices, call it "functional training", and claim it to be cutting edge. The one’s making these outrageous claims simply do not know how to get someone strong. What’s trendy often gets confused for cutting edge and that’s hardly ever the case.

Chris Grayson
graysontrainingsystems.com

Circus Training for Ass Clowns

This is a bad idea regardless of why you train but I'll stick to the fighting sports (mma, jiu jitsu, wrestling, judo, etc.) since that's what this blog is for.

First of all you should be training with free weights and not machines. Machines will have little to no carry over to your sport. Movements should always conform to your body and not your body conforming to movements that are in fixed positions.

There is chaos in fighting sports. You never know where your opponent and therefore you are going to be from second to second. You constantly have to make subtle to major adjustments. This is the same way that you need to train. How you train will determine how you'll perform. 



Also, the man in the video is forced to go into spinal flexion, which puts a lot of compression on the spine. Going into flexion with a lot of weight on your back is a recipe for injury. If this guy continues to perform these circus training exercises he'll probably find himself in a chiropractor's office or even worse, under a surgeon's scalpel. 



Stick to the basics. Don't try to think out of the box until you're a black belt, so to speak, in biomechanics, physiology, and kinesiology.

Chris Grayson

graysontrainingsystems.com

"Nothing Happens Untill Something Moves"

"Nothing happens till something moves"
Albert Einstein

When Einstein spoke these words it was said that he had a twinkle in his eye. He wasn't just talking about physics but about life in general.

I've pondered this idea often lately and I can't think of anything currently going on in my life where it doesn't apply. If you think about it in regards to the fighting sports it really makes sense. If you're stalling or waiting for your opponent to act, most likely you'll be defending more than attacking. Like the saying goes, "the best defense is a good offense". I've noticed from my own experience that as long as I'm moving I'm better off than just sitting there. Perhaps this is common sense to most people and I'll admit, it's certainly not rocket science. But I'm often surprised how people can know something but still seem powerless to change what they know.

Last week during a jiu jitsu class I got choked out from a guy I can usually beat. He used my own gi. I got pissed off and complained about how much I hate the gi. I was tired and instead of moving and making my opponent play defense, I let him control the match and cried about it like a little bitch after getting my ass kicked. My point, if not obvious is, own up and control the situation you're in. Don't let you circumstances control you. Whenever I feel tired and don't want to go the extra mile I think about the people out there creating the life they want through hard work and persistence. These are the people I admire and want to emulate. We are our own worst enemies and are usually the one's standing in our way own way.

Get out of your way.

Chris Grayson
graysontrainingsystems.com

Predictor Lifts For Grappling Sports

For every sport there are certain key lifts that once performed by the athlete will tell you how well they will do in the sport. Once a predictor lift is improved it will correlate with an improvement in performance. Different sports have different predictor lifts. So a soccer player and a swimmer should not be tested the same. These lifts will tell you the optimal strength for the sport in relation to percentages of body weight. For grappling sports like jiu-jitsu, greco roman wrestling, and judo, here are the best predictor lifts to test:

Close Grip Incline Bench Press with fat bar: Grip should be about 12 inches from thumb to thumb.

Medium Parallel Grip Chin-Up with thick handles.

Back Squat: The more you can back squat the easier it is to throw someone.

Grip Strength with various grip tests: The relationship between grip strength and performance in judo and wrestling is as high as 96%. The hands are the first thing that connects you to your opponent. The guys with the best grip had the best performance.

You do not necessarily have to do the predictor lifts to improve them. You can train accessory exercises that target the muscles that are used in the key lifts. I've found the best results if you change the accessory lifts every 2-4 weeks or once your weights aren't going up by at least 2% or reps by 1 every workout. If you're not training the predictor lifts directly, make sure you're testing them every so often. I usually test my athletes every 4-6 weeks.

Chris Grayson
graysontrainingsystems.com

Fight Magazine

I just picked up the latest edition of Fight Magazine last night. They've put out two issues and so far I really like it. One article that caught my eye was on post workout recovery. Since this is one aspect of what I do I try and read as much as possible on what other nutritionists and coaches are saying and doing.

Here are the suggestions the author had on improving recovery from strenous workouts along with what I think.

Step 1) Food and Liquids

The author recommends rehydrating with a sports drink that contains sodium, carbohydrates, and potassium. He mentions and I quote, "While this is not necessary for the average Joe trying to lose weight, it is optimal for the endurance athlete who needs the fastest recovery."

My Thoughts/Recommendations:

I feel sports drinks are far from the best choice to maximize recovery. Most of them (Gatorade being the most popular) have high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener, which doesn't spike insulin and therefore just festers in your blood causing glycation. This is why it's one of the leading causes to obesity. Most fighters I see would perform much better if they lowered their body fat. So why would you take something that's going to move you away from that? I suggest taking branched chain amino acids (BCAA'S) while training. When you train your body will pull amino acids from your muscles to use as a fuel source. You're basically eating away at your muscles at this point. This is a catabolic (breaking down) state. Taking BCAA's while you train is anti-catabolic because your body doesn't have to get them from muscle. They’re already in your blood stream from drinking them.

Restore Carbohydrate Reserves:

The author is stating that you should consume high glycemic carbohydrates after strenuous exercise. It's mentioned that exercise scientists recommend athletes eat 1-1.5 grams of carbohydrates per 2.2 pounds of body weight within 30 minutes of exercise, followed by additional meals every 2-4 hours thereafter. During the next 4 to 24 hours after exercise, and before the next exercise session, athletes should eat enough carbohydrates to total 3 to 5 grams for every pound of body weight.

My Thoughts/Recommendations:

Roughly 75 percent of the population (this includes athlete's) isn’t carbohydrate tolerant; therefore insulin is not their friend. Giving them the amount of carbs mentioned above would make them gain fat regardless of their level of activity. The way of knowing how well someone metabolizes carbs is by checking their skin fold at the subscapularis. The way of knowing if an athlete is consuming to many carbs is by checking their skin fold at the suprailliac. I would first get my athlete to single digit body fat before using carbs to replenish glycogen and lower cortisol. If their not there yet I use glutamine and glycine to do this. For glutamine .3 grams times’ body weight equals the amount needed and .1 grams times body weight equals the glycine amount. This lowers cortisol without having to spike insulin. Once the athlete reaches single digit body fat now you can add carbs post workout to replenish glycogen and lower cortisol because insulin is now their friend. If you’re lean enough to do this you want the best results so use the best stuff. There are a lot of carb powders out there to chose from but I've found that nothing reloads glycogen faster than Vitargo.It's the best choice because it leaves the stomach faster, delivering glucose more quickly to the blood, and potentiating insulin release to a greater extent, compared to maltodextrin, dextrose, or simple sugars. These three metabolic attributes translate into faster muscle glycogen repletion after intense workouts or competition. As far as what the exercise scientists’ recommend doesn't hold much water with me. Exercise scientists are more like exercise historians only validating what strength coaches have been doing for years. Once they do a study and prove something works strength coaches typically have moved on and found things that work better.

Consume Protein With Your Post Workout Meal:

The author states that studies have shown that combining protein with carbohydrates doubles the insulin response. So it is important to include protein in your post workout meal. He mentions that the optimal ratio for carbs to protein should be 4 to 1. So if an athlete consumes 70-100 grams of carbohydrates after exercise they should also consume 17-25 grams of protein with it.

My Thoughts/Recommendations:

There are lots of studies showing that consuming carbs with protein enhances the insulin spike, which leads to better glycogen replenishment as opposed to consuming carbs or protein by alone. However, this still has to do with your body fat percentage and your level of activity that will dictate how glycogen depleted you are. Going back to what I stated before, if insulin is not your friend I wouldn't spike it by taking in carbs. Also, I think 17-25 grams of protein post workout would only be appropriate if you're an 80 pound female. I have my athletes take in their body weight times .3 for protein. So if you're 160 pounds that would equal roughly 48 grams of protein. If you're lean enough to get carbs with your post workout shake I would use between a 1 to 1 - 2 to 1 ratio of carbs to protein.

Step 2) Supplementation

The author suggestions:
➢ Arginine
➢ Ribose
➢ Phosphatidylserine
➢ HMB and Acetyl L-Carnitine
➢ Glutamine
➢ Growth Hormone Analogs or Secretagogues

My Thoughts/Recommendations:

The only supplements worth taking here are phosphatidylserine, acetyl L-carnitine, and glutamine. The rest are either crap or aren't necessary for what the author is recommending them for. They’re also very expensive. I would consider these specialty supplements. And even though all athletes will have specific supplemental needs I think everyone should get the basics covered first. I refer to these as the core four.
I would suggest the following:

1) Multi-Vitamin: A single nutrient deficiency can halt muscle growth altogether. After running countless Comprehensive Metabolic Profiles, it has become obvious that overcoming deficiencies has often blasted plateaus in strength, mass gains and fat loss. Make sure your multi-vitamin is of the best quality (Centrum is not). I have all my athletes take a true Albion mineral chelate, which has the highest absorption.
2) Magnesium: Magnesium plays a number of roles in the body, being required for more than 300 enzymatic reactions, including those involved in the synthesis of fat, protein and nucleic acids, neurological activity, muscular contraction and relaxation, cardiac activity and bone metabolism. Magnesium, potassium, and zinc are the most commonly deficient minerals in active humans. The more active you are typically the more deficient you are. The limiting factor for magnesium has always been absorption; that’s why it’s important to take a chelated form just like your multi-vitamin.
3) Zinc; Zinc is responsible for the healthy functioning of every cell in our bodies. The beneficial effects are extensive because it is involved in so many enzyme and body functions. Zinc is essential for growth and physical development, and for the metabolism of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. This mineral is also vitally important to the immune system. Practically every enzyme reaction in the brain involves zinc and so does the development and function of the central nervous system. Zinc is required for every aspect of male reproduction, including hormone metabolism and regulation. Deficiency in this mineral will lead to decreased testosterone levels and low sperm count.
4) Fish Oil: Fish oil is a must. There have been entire books written on fish oil and it’s benefits but I’ll just give you the highlights here.

➢ Cell membrane health
➢ Turn on the lipolytic genes (fat burning genes)
➢ Turn off the lipogenic genes (fat storage genes)
➢ Diminish C-reactive proteins
➢ Increase utilization of fat stores
➢ Preferential utilization for energy production
➢ Reduced inflammation
➢ Pain management
➢ Regulates blood supply to the brain
➢ Increases serotonin levels
➢ Improve your cardio-vascular risk profile
➢ Decrease blood pressure
➢ A great stress fighter

Every athlete has different nutritional needs, but the above four are where everyone should start based on my experience. Use all of the above on a daily basis and you will have the foundation you need to achieve your goals.

Chris Grayson
http://www.graysontrainingsystems.com

Antioxidants, Recovery and Performance

Yesterday I went to see a chiropractor that claimed he had a way of checking your bodies antioxidant levels by using a laser. It's called a Biophotonic scanner.

Here's how it works.

There are certain molecules, like antioxidants, than can be excited with a certain wavelength of laser light. The molecules then begin to resonate in very particular ways, releasing a very specific light signal of an altered wavelength that then can be measured. By simply placing the palm of your hand in front of a low-energy blue light laser, you obtain an immediate, accurate reading of your antioxidant levels within your cells. Then you get a print out of your skin carotenoid score and where you rank in relation to over 1,000,000 other scans. The scanner records your score between 10,000-50,000+. The higher you score, the higher your antioxidant status. The lower your score, the lower your status

Here are some factors that will influence your score:

1. Your diet
2. Your supplementation
3. Your body fat percentage
4. Your lifestyle
5. Your genes

I was very curious to see what my levels were because the more someone trains the more free radical damage can occur due to the stress that is put on the body. And I train a lot.

I scored at 37,000. Much better than average but not as good as it could be. One of my clients was with me and she scored at 75,000. This was the highest the chiropractor giving us the test has ever seen. When my client aked me why I thought my score was much lower than hers I have to admit I was a little embarrassed. I had to be honest with her. "Apparently, I've gotten a little to laxed with my diet. Since I train so much I stay pretty lean. Because of this I haven't been making the best food choices (which should be thought of as fuel by the way)". This just goes to show that even though I get paid to get people to perform optimally through sound training and dietary protocols I myself fall victim to the same habits and behavioral problems as anyone else.

I have no doubt that once I go back to eating the way I know I should be I'll recover better from my training. Remember this. You do not improve from training. You improve by recovering from training. You recover by eating foods with high phytonutritents and by resting. So here's some diet related tips you should be implementing if you're not already:

1. Eat protein at every meal with a vegetable or/and a fruit.
2. Vary your vegetables and fruits by eating different colors.
3. Besides water, drink green tea.
4. Take a multi vitamin. Make sure it's Albion mineral chelated unless you like paying for expensive urine.
5. Take 9 grams of fish oil in divided dosages with your meals or take 6 grams of krill oil (krill is like fish oil on steroids).
6. Have a post workout meal immediately after training (not after driving home 20 minutes later), preferably a liquid meal.

Here's the bottom line.

Don't think that just because you're lean and look good you can get away with eating garbage. Think of your body as a high performance sports car. What kind of gas would you put in a ferrari. If you put in 87 octane when it should get 94 octane it will still look like a ferrari. It just won't perform like one.

Chris Grayson
graysotrainingsystems.com

Cardio Confusion

Q. I've been doing three cardio workouts a week and I'm still gassing out on the mat in jiu jitsu practice. On two of the days I run for three miles and the other day I run as fast as I can for half a mile after doing a good warm up. I've been doing this for almost a month now and nothings really happening. Do I need to run longer or more often? My friend's a personal trainer and he said I should run more often.

A: Tell your friend that he is wrong and he needs to read up on the energy systems. Jiu jitsu is not an aerobic based sport, it's anaerobic. There are three main energy systems. Anaerobic alactic, anaerobic lactic, and aerobic. The main one you should be focusing on is the second one, anaerobic lactic.

You're gassing out because you can't clear the build up of fatigue substrates. Your body can't remove hydrogen ions from your blood quickly enough which causes your blood PH to drop and become more acidic. This is referred to as muscular acidosis. When you train the anaerobic lactic system and progressively shorten the rest intervals you allow your bodies buffering mechanisms to adapt by increasing the removal of muscle and blood lactate concentrations and therefore post poning or delaying fatigue. Incase I lost you, this means you won't gas out as easily.

You don't have to run to train the energy systems. You could practice jiu jitsu or you can lift weights in a curcuit training fashion with timed work to rest intervals. There's many options.

Since you mentioned running, here's a great program that you do twice per week which I've done with my jiu jitsu and MMA athletes. I must give credit where it's due. I got this program from Coach Poliquin a few years ago at one of his seminars. DO NOT let the simplicity fool you. This is brutal.

Week 1:
Sprint for 45 seconds.
Walk at a moderate pace for 4 minutes.
Repeat 6 times.

Week 2:
Sprint for 45 seconds.
Walk at a moderate pace for 3:45 minutes.
Repeat 6 times

Week 3:
Sprint for 45 seconds.
Walk at a moderate pace for 3:30 minutes.
Repeat 7 times.

Week 4:
Sprint for 45 seconds.
Walk at a moderate pace for 3:15 minutes.
Repeat 5 times

Week 5:
Run for 30 minutes straight at the highest constant speed that you can sustain for the full duration of 30 minutes.

Week 6:
Sprint for 45 seconds.
Walk at a moderate pace for 3 minutes.
Repeat 6 times.

Week 7:
Sprint for 45 seconds.
Walk at a moderate pace for 2:45 minutes.
Repeat 6 times.

Week 8:
Sprint for 45 seconds.
Walk at a moderate pace for 2:30 minutes.
Repeat 6 times.

Week 9:
Sprint for 45 seconds.
Walk at a moderate pace for 2:15 minutes.
Repeat 6 times.

Week 10:
Sprint for 45 seconds.
Walk at a moderate pace for 2 minutes.
Repeat 7 times.

Week 11:
Sprint for 45 seconds.
Walk at a moderate pace for 1:45 minutes.
Repeat 6 times.

Week 12:
Sprint for 45 seconds.
Walk at a moderate pace for 1:30 minutes
Repeat 5 times.

Week 13:
No training the entire week

Now you should be an endurance machine.

Chris Grayson