-
Brace/breathing
While under the bar I fill my stomach with one huge intake of air. At first it was hard to get used to as I kept filling my lungs instead of my stomach which makes an enormous difference. So with the air in my stomach, I make sure this pushes against my belt that I have on fairly but comfortably tight.
2. Clamping/pulling the bar in
Even before I start my squat, during my set up, I ensure I have got as tight as I can. I have my hands on the bar, about shoulder width apart, I get under the bar and start to bring my shoulders in as close together as I can. When I’m comfortable with how tight I am I’ll then walk out. Still staying just as tight. I’ve filled my stomach with air and I clamp the bar, pulling it more into my back. This to me seemed odd at first but through time I warmed to it and realised the difference it was making for me. The harder you clamp, you’ve less chance of losing tightness, especially at the bottom of your squat.
3. Knees out/glute warmup
Keeping my knees out during my squat is something I have really been focusing on a lot recently. Before I squat I would carry out a glute and core warm up routine, something Lauren Rooney brought my attention to. I feel this benefits me a lot as it fires up the glutes and helps while squatting.
While descending I’ll push my knees out as wide as I can, and with just completing the glute/core routine, I’ll find this a lot easier to do. This allows me to drop into depth and helps shoot back up from the bottom.
4. Explode out the hole
At the bottom of my squat, I’ve hit depth and reached the point of this lift that is so important. When I hit depth I feel a bounce at the bottom. I use this to help bring me back to standing upright. Instead of trying to stop still, when I’ve hit depth, I’ll search for this “bounce” and use it to explode up again.
5. Chest up/ Look up
While squatting I’m very aware of the positioning of my chest/shoulders. Before squatting I will do some shoulder and upper back mobility/stretching. This helps to open up the shoulders and avoids any cramping during the squat. This has happened while I’ve been squatting before, and since I’ve started stretching the shoulders beforehand, it has never really came back. When starting my squat I’m thinking of the direction my chest is facing, frontwards instead of downwards. I think a big thing that influences this is where your eyes are looking at. I look up, forwards, never down at the floor.
My name is Gar Benn. I am a coach with Sigma Nutrition.com, a coaching website dedicated to providing objective evidence based educational content as well as supplying a coaching service for everyone from powerlifting to general health based populations. I am also the owner of CityGym Limerick and the co-founder of the European Powerlifting Conference.
It’s an absolute pleasure to be writing a piece for Lifting Ireland. Today I’ve been asked to touch on a couple of topics:
- Calorie intake for powerlifters
- Macros for optimizing training and recovery
- Importance of meal timing and supplements
- Cutting weight, when to and when not to
-
Calorie Intake for Powerlifters
There’s a number of ways to look at this broad topic that we’ll dive into. The first thing we have to consider is what are we trying to achieve? The way I would look at it, we have three options:
- Are we trying to diet down to a lower weight class?
- Maintain weight
- Or are we trying to increase weight and go into a weight class above?
So before we touch on these let’s talk about how you would go about finding out where you currently are
- Track your daily intake of calories and macronutrients over 7-14 days using a tracking app like MyFitnessPal to find a baseline
- From here find your averages. So for example if your intake for the last 7 days was a combined 17’500 calories then your average for the 7 days is 2500 calories per day
- We now know that 2500 calories per day is your maintenance and will keep you at your current weight
(1A) Dieting Down to a Lower Weight Class:
So when we are looking to diet down to a lower weight class there’s two ways to achieve this calorie deficit, either by increasing energy output (exercise or general movements) or decreasing calorie intake. We’ll assume training is planned and won’t change so we are looking to instead create a calorie deficit from diet.
The first point to make here is that picking an arbitrary number like cutting 500 cals per day is probably not a good idea. If there’s an absolute number picked, like 500 cals, then it will impact a large athletic male who’s maintenance could be 3500 calories per day and a sedentary female who’s maintenance could be 1500 calories per day quite differently.
Instead you should look to create a calorie deficit that will facilitate a drop of about 0.5-1% of bodyweight per week. This will help you retain as much muscle mass as possible and reduce the overall hit on your total whilst dieting.
To create a deficit, we’ll look at using a percentage of maintenance style deficit:
- Small deficit: 10 – 15% below maintenance
- Moderate deficit: 20 – 25% below maintenance
- Large: Anything above 25%
Using a small or moderate deficit will probably yield the best results for those in powerlifting. This is a general statement of course and there is times when a moderate to high deficit could potentially help but as a general rule of thumb a small to moderate deficit will probably yield the best results.
(1B) Maintaining Weight
Maintaining weight is very straight forward. In terms of calories, once you have found your maintenance, just keep calories in and around the same.
You might be able to change how your macronutrient intakes are structured throughout the day which we will cover in the next section.
(1C) Gaining Weight
We can gain weight to possibly fill a weight class or even go up a full weight class. Most of the exact same rules apply from our calorie deficit in reverse in terms of percentage style increases.
The rate of gain should be slower than the rate of losing, this will allow for a minimum amount of weight gained to come from fat mass.
How to Track Progress:
The best way to track progress when dieting down or gaining up is to track bodyweight. Every morning, after you go to the toilet record your bodyweight to make weekly averages and see if they are trending upwards or downwards over weeks and months. The more data you can collect, the better. If you can’t weigh every morning that’s fine as well, just try and weigh in at least 2-3 times per week and space the weigh ins out throughout the week.
-
Macronutrients for Optimizing Training & Recovery
There are three macronutrients. Protein, fat and carbohydrates. How we structure our days macronutrients can impact performance, recovery and body composition.
A typical way to structure macros for a strength athlete would be:
- Setting protein somewhere between 1.8 - 2.5 grams per kg of bodyweight
- Set fat somewhere between 20-40% of total calories
- Let carbs fill the remaining calories
-
Importance of Meal Timing & Supplements
Meal timing can most definitely be beneficial and probably more so on a competition day (That’s a point for a different day) but I want to reinforce the points from above that the majority of overall results will come from hitting daily targets with calories and macronutrients.
Once these have been hit, meal timing can play a smaller role. Since we don’t heavily rely on glycogen stores for powerlifting training, there’s no real need to worry about timing carbohydrates for sessions but more so thinking along the lines of a diet that can be achievable every day. So by having low amounts of meals or too many meals per day we run the risk of low adherence, so timing meals every day into a routine can be hugely beneficial to keep you on track.
Timing of protein can also play a big role in the creation of muscle and recovery. Having 30 grams of protein 3-5 times per day and having adequate protein post workout (Roughly 1-2 hours after) can be a huge benefit to your daily nutrition routine.
(3A) Supplements
In the area of supplements there are only a handful of supplements that have actually shown true benefit. To name the few most effective:
- Creatine monohydrate - The most researched supplement out there. Doses of around 5 grams per day are recommended
- Protein - Use it for convenience when wholefoods aren’t an option to hit daily protein targets
- Caffeine – Doses of 3-6mg per kg have been shown to be effective anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes pre session and is highly dependent on the persons caffeine sensitivity and tolerance
-
Cutting Weight – When to Cut & When Not To
In the words of Greg Nuckols: “Generally, your most competitive weight class will be the biggest one you can fill out, while still remaining relatively lean”. If you can fill out a class or be just a little over a class, enough to easily cut in, that’s probably the right spot for you.
You shouldn’t really be cutting weight classes as a beginner or intermediate. You won’t be winning any classes or setting records so it’s just undue stress before a comp. The overall consensus should be aiming towards progression in the long term.
This article today was a general overview of the four topics listed to give people practical information with a once off read. The majority of information on here is talked about in great detail by the people I would have learned this from over the last few years like Danny Lennon of SigmaNutrition.com, Eric Helms of 3DMJ and Greg Nuckols so if you enjoyed this content make sure to check out their content as well. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this piece and if you like what you read here today please feel free to shoot me a message to discuss any of the topics at gar@sigmanutrition.com or find me on Instagram under the handle of garbenn_cg. Thank you
Q & A - Mike Farr aka. Silent Mike
1. Who is Silent Mike?
haha Silent mike is a coach, powerlifter, fitness enthusiast, business man and content creator. I am Mike Farr and we are the same guy.
2. What are your current lifting goals?
Currently really pushing back into my strength. I took some time lost a bit of weight and played around with some olympic weightlifting. For the next few months I'm looking to step back on the platform and hit all-time Prs at a lighter body weight.
3. How much mobility work do you do before training?
To be honest close to none. I think mobility is as specific as strength is. If you cant get into positions you need for your sport or life you most likely need to get stronger. If this doesnt work perhaps you need to do some extra work to get more mobile or flexible. Ill some lighter stretching and mobility stuff at night but I am more a fan of just warming up properly before i train.
4. Are you currently dealing with any injuries? How do you stay motivated whilst injured?
I have some nagging stuff with my back. I hurt it last summer and its still a bit tender. First i always try to find the root of the problem. Perhaps its a technique thing, movement pattern or even a programming issue. Second I make a new plan/program really focusing on things i CAN do not what is limiting. 3rd (guilty of not following this) Id suggest finding a professional to help speed up the recovery process and perhaps help it from happening again. This are all very important steps both mentally and physically. We are all very dedicated to what we do and no one wants to be side lined from chasing down their goals.
5. Who's your favourite lifter? And why?
I have a lot of lifters I like to watch and look up to as coaches and technicians. Currently my favorite lifter is probably Yuri Belkin. The guy is an absolute animal, very strong and lifts with a precision i really admire.
6. What advice would you give to a novice lifter? ie. what do you wish you knew when you started?
Getting solid programming or coaching is key. I went many years spinning my wheels trying to lift too heavy too often with poor technique. In the age of social media and "online" coaching it is difficult to always find a good coach but there are many affordable options out there. Do some research, interview coaches and lifters. Majority of the time you’ll find some really helpful people that can guide you in terms of programming and technique.
8.What was the best advice you were ever given?
This is such a difficult question. I have been lucky enough to have interviewed, chatted, lifted and hungout with some of the most successful lifters and business men/women in the fitness industry. Although everyone has different stories and advice I guess the message is all the same. Finding a constant routine of work-building on good habits daily. Doing the small things day in and day out can lead to really big accomplishments. This plus loads of patience. These are the things I have learned and taken from the many amazing people I have crossed paths with.
STRENGTH TRAINING WITH YOUTHS BY ARTHUR LYNCH.
Resistance training with youths – is it a good idea?
Introduction
It’s no secret that physical activity levels among the general population are on the decline. Broadly speaking, this decline in physical activity levels coupled with poor dietary lifestyles are primarily responsible for the current obesity epidemic (although other factors are involved here). Low rates of physical activity have been observed in children, with overweight and obesity along with all the other negative health outcomes associated with these on the rise. This places a high importance on physical activity promotion amongst youths. For many children growing up in Ireland their only exposure to structured physical activity is through a very limited amount of PE during school hours or through sport. In rural areas particularly it can be a case of “play GAA or play nothing”. Strength training (or more appropriately resistance training which encompasses a broader range of activities) provides an avenue for youths to engage in a structured form of exercise that is safe, effective, helps develop muscle mass and quality helps to promote positive mental health and that can be made enjoyable for participants. That said, many people remain hesitant to let their child take part in resistance training, through a misguided belief that it is not safe, this article aims to address some of these concerns.
Debunking the risk of “stunting children’s growth with resistance training”
Unfortunately, there remains a myth that weight training may stunt a child’s growth. This likely stems from anecdotal fearmongering by people who assume because you’re loading a bone that you’re somehow compressing it and preventing it from growing, physiologically this doesn’t make sense. Bone adapts in a similar fashion to muscle by getting stronger with loading (although over a much longer time period). There was some evidence from Japan indicating this might be the case, however the study in question detailed how young children who worked hard labour were short in stature. An overlooked aspect of this study however was that these children were extremely malnourished, meaning their nutrition was insufficient to promote optimal bone growth and that they were worked excessively. In contrast, weight training has been shown to increase bone density and there is no evidence to suggest it stunts bone growth in children.
But is it safe?
In my own experience, some parents will (bizarrely) have zero issue with their child going out onto a hurling field with all the known potential risks associated with that sport, yet the very thought of their child even setting foot in a weights room absolutely terrifies them. Where this fear stems from I’m not exactly sure. Some of these people are just close-minded and won’t change their stance despite whatever scientific evidence you present to them, which is frustrating but such is life. For those people who are open-minded to the possibility of their child starting resistance training, all current evidence suggests it is a safe and effective mode of physical activity for children to participate in.
“I’m still on the fence. Give me more reasons to resistance train!”
Ok if you insist. Here is a list of some of the benefits of resistance training. Some of these are important for general life and others more pertinent to young athletes playing other sports:
- Improve muscular strength
- Learn how to move safely under load
- Reduce likelihood of becoming injured (particularly ACL, hamstring strain, lumbar, ankle sprain, and shoulder injuries)
- Improve balance and coordination
- Improve speed and power
- Improve posture
- Increase lean body mass and strengthen connective tissue
- Decrease body fat
- Improve flexibility and joint mobility
- Improve self-confidence
- Improve quality of life
- Have fun!
- Reduce anxiety and improve mental health
“Ok, I’m sold! Now how do I go about starting?”
Well, the first thing is to enlist the help of someone who knows what they’re doing and will provide an appropriate training regimen for the child. A word of advice, DO NOT DO A DIY JOB ON THIS! Yes hiring a coach is expensive, but it is worth it in the long run and will benefit the child much more if they are coached correctly from the start. So once you’ve hired a reputable coach (such as one of the fine list of coaches in CityGym Limerick for example) the main thing is getting the techniques learned. Usually this will be done with just the child’s bodyweight and/or a broom handle to simulate a full barbell without the load. Technique always comes before load, particularly when it comes to learning the basic movements (a squat, a deadlift or hip hinge type movement, a lunge movement, a pushing and a pulling movement in both the horizontal and vertical planes). Other more complex movements can be incorporated over time such as jumps or variations of the Olympic lifts if they are ready for them, but nailing down the fundamentals comes before anything else. And then in terms of loading, I recommend a very similar trouble shooting process:
Can they maintain good technique when increased to this weight?
A). Yes => let them do it
B). No => reduce the weight and cue them so that they consciously attend to whatever technical error they are committing (e.g. rounding their back).
Conclusion
In summary, provided it is supervised and coached by a qualified and experienced instructor, resistance training is a great activity for children to take part in. It has the potential to provide many benefits and once the aforementioned provisions are made it is an extremely low risk activity.
References
Barbieri, D. and Zaccagni, L. (2013) 'Strength training for children and adolescents: benefits and risks', Coll Antropol, 37 Suppl 2, 219-25.
Faigenbaum, A.D. and Myer, G.D. (2010) 'Resistance training among young athletes: safety, efficacy and injury prevention effects', British Journal of Sports Medicine, 44(1), 56-63.
Gordon, B.R., McDowell, C.P., Lyons, M. and Herring, M.P. (2017) 'The Effects of Resistance Exercise Training on Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials', Sports Med, 2017/08/19, available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0769-0.
Hallal, P.C., Andersen, L.B., Bull, F.C., Guthold, R., Haskell, W., Ekelund, U. and Group, L.P.A.S.W. (2012) 'Global physical activity levels: surveillance progress, pitfalls, and prospects', The lancet, 380(9838), 247-257.
Kato, S., Ishiko, T. Obstructed growth of children's bones due to excessive labor in remote corners. in: Kato S. (Ed.) (1964) Proceedings of the International Congress of Sports Sciences. Japanese Union of Sports Sciences, Tokyo.
Lloyd, R.S., Faigenbaum, A.D., Stone, M.H., Oliver, J.L., Jeffreys, I., Moody, J.A., Brewer, C., Pierce, K.C., McCambridge, T.M. and Howard, R. (2014) 'Position statement on youth resistance training: the 2014 International Consensus', Br J Sports Med, 48(7), 498-505.
-
Brace/breathing
While under the bar I fill my stomach with one huge intake of air. At first it was hard to get used to as I kept filling my lungs instead of my stomach which makes an enormous difference. So with the air in my stomach, I make sure this pushes against my belt that I have on fairly but comfortably tight.
2. Clamping/pulling the bar in
Even before I start my squat, during my set up, I ensure I have got as tight as I can. I have my hands on the bar, about shoulder width apart, I get under the bar and start to bring my shoulders in as close together as I can. When I’m comfortable with how tight I am I’ll then walk out. Still staying just as tight. I’ve filled my stomach with air and I clamp the bar, pulling it more into my back. This to me seemed odd at first but through time I warmed to it and realised the difference it was making for me. The harder you clamp, you’ve less chance of losing tightness, especially at the bottom of your squat.
3. Knees out/glute warmup
Keeping my knees out during my squat is something I have really been focusing on a lot recently. Before I squat I would carry out a glute and core warm up routine, something Lauren Rooney brought my attention to. I feel this benefits me a lot as it fires up the glutes and helps while squatting.
While descending I’ll push my knees out as wide as I can, and with just completing the glute/core routine, I’ll find this a lot easier to do. This allows me to drop into depth and helps shoot back up from the bottom.
4. Explode out the hole
At the bottom of my squat, I’ve hit depth and reached the point of this lift that is so important. When I hit depth I feel a bounce at the bottom. I use this to help bring me back to standing upright. Instead of trying to stop still, when I’ve hit depth, I’ll search for this “bounce” and use it to explode up again.
5. Chest up/ Look up
While squatting I’m very aware of the positioning of my chest/shoulders. Before squatting I will do some shoulder and upper back mobility/stretching. This helps to open up the shoulders and avoids any cramping during the squat. This has happened while I’ve been squatting before, and since I’ve started stretching the shoulders beforehand, it has never really came back. When starting my squat I’m thinking of the direction my chest is facing, frontwards instead of downwards. I think a big thing that influences this is where your eyes are looking at. I look up, forwards, never down at the floor.
My name is Gar Benn. I am a coach with Sigma Nutrition.com, a coaching website dedicated to providing objective evidence based educational content as well as supplying a coaching service for everyone from powerlifting to general health based populations. I am also the owner of CityGym Limerick and the co-founder of the European Powerlifting Conference.
It’s an absolute pleasure to be writing a piece for Lifting Ireland. Today I’ve been asked to touch on a couple of topics:
- Calorie intake for powerlifters
- Macros for optimizing training and recovery
- Importance of meal timing and supplements
- Cutting weight, when to and when not to
-
Calorie Intake for Powerlifters
There’s a number of ways to look at this broad topic that we’ll dive into. The first thing we have to consider is what are we trying to achieve? The way I would look at it, we have three options:
- Are we trying to diet down to a lower weight class?
- Maintain weight
- Or are we trying to increase weight and go into a weight class above?
So before we touch on these let’s talk about how you would go about finding out where you currently are
- Track your daily intake of calories and macronutrients over 7-14 days using a tracking app like MyFitnessPal to find a baseline
- From here find your averages. So for example if your intake for the last 7 days was a combined 17’500 calories then your average for the 7 days is 2500 calories per day
- We now know that 2500 calories per day is your maintenance and will keep you at your current weight
(1A) Dieting Down to a Lower Weight Class:
So when we are looking to diet down to a lower weight class there’s two ways to achieve this calorie deficit, either by increasing energy output (exercise or general movements) or decreasing calorie intake. We’ll assume training is planned and won’t change so we are looking to instead create a calorie deficit from diet.
The first point to make here is that picking an arbitrary number like cutting 500 cals per day is probably not a good idea. If there’s an absolute number picked, like 500 cals, then it will impact a large athletic male who’s maintenance could be 3500 calories per day and a sedentary female who’s maintenance could be 1500 calories per day quite differently.
Instead you should look to create a calorie deficit that will facilitate a drop of about 0.5-1% of bodyweight per week. This will help you retain as much muscle mass as possible and reduce the overall hit on your total whilst dieting.
To create a deficit, we’ll look at using a percentage of maintenance style deficit:
- Small deficit: 10 – 15% below maintenance
- Moderate deficit: 20 – 25% below maintenance
- Large: Anything above 25%
Using a small or moderate deficit will probably yield the best results for those in powerlifting. This is a general statement of course and there is times when a moderate to high deficit could potentially help but as a general rule of thumb a small to moderate deficit will probably yield the best results.
(1B) Maintaining Weight
Maintaining weight is very straight forward. In terms of calories, once you have found your maintenance, just keep calories in and around the same.
You might be able to change how your macronutrient intakes are structured throughout the day which we will cover in the next section.
(1C) Gaining Weight
We can gain weight to possibly fill a weight class or even go up a full weight class. Most of the exact same rules apply from our calorie deficit in reverse in terms of percentage style increases.
The rate of gain should be slower than the rate of losing, this will allow for a minimum amount of weight gained to come from fat mass.
How to Track Progress:
The best way to track progress when dieting down or gaining up is to track bodyweight. Every morning, after you go to the toilet record your bodyweight to make weekly averages and see if they are trending upwards or downwards over weeks and months. The more data you can collect, the better. If you can’t weigh every morning that’s fine as well, just try and weigh in at least 2-3 times per week and space the weigh ins out throughout the week.
-
Macronutrients for Optimizing Training & Recovery
There are three macronutrients. Protein, fat and carbohydrates. How we structure our days macronutrients can impact performance, recovery and body composition.
A typical way to structure macros for a strength athlete would be:
- Setting protein somewhere between 1.8 - 2.5 grams per kg of bodyweight
- Set fat somewhere between 20-40% of total calories
- Let carbs fill the remaining calories
-
Importance of Meal Timing & Supplements
Meal timing can most definitely be beneficial and probably more so on a competition day (That’s a point for a different day) but I want to reinforce the points from above that the majority of overall results will come from hitting daily targets with calories and macronutrients.
Once these have been hit, meal timing can play a smaller role. Since we don’t heavily rely on glycogen stores for powerlifting training, there’s no real need to worry about timing carbohydrates for sessions but more so thinking along the lines of a diet that can be achievable every day. So by having low amounts of meals or too many meals per day we run the risk of low adherence, so timing meals every day into a routine can be hugely beneficial to keep you on track.
Timing of protein can also play a big role in the creation of muscle and recovery. Having 30 grams of protein 3-5 times per day and having adequate protein post workout (Roughly 1-2 hours after) can be a huge benefit to your daily nutrition routine.
(3A) Supplements
In the area of supplements there are only a handful of supplements that have actually shown true benefit. To name the few most effective:
- Creatine monohydrate - The most researched supplement out there. Doses of around 5 grams per day are recommended
- Protein - Use it for convenience when wholefoods aren’t an option to hit daily protein targets
- Caffeine – Doses of 3-6mg per kg have been shown to be effective anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes pre session and is highly dependent on the persons caffeine sensitivity and tolerance
-
Cutting Weight – When to Cut & When Not To
In the words of Greg Nuckols: “Generally, your most competitive weight class will be the biggest one you can fill out, while still remaining relatively lean”. If you can fill out a class or be just a little over a class, enough to easily cut in, that’s probably the right spot for you.
You shouldn’t really be cutting weight classes as a beginner or intermediate. You won’t be winning any classes or setting records so it’s just undue stress before a comp. The overall consensus should be aiming towards progression in the long term.
This article today was a general overview of the four topics listed to give people practical information with a once off read. The majority of information on here is talked about in great detail by the people I would have learned this from over the last few years like Danny Lennon of SigmaNutrition.com, Eric Helms of 3DMJ and Greg Nuckols so if you enjoyed this content make sure to check out their content as well. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this piece and if you like what you read here today please feel free to shoot me a message to discuss any of the topics at gar@sigmanutrition.com or find me on Instagram under the handle of garbenn_cg. Thank you
Q & A - Mike Farr aka. Silent Mike
1. Who is Silent Mike?
haha Silent mike is a coach, powerlifter, fitness enthusiast, business man and content creator. I am Mike Farr and we are the same guy.
2. What are your current lifting goals?
Currently really pushing back into my strength. I took some time lost a bit of weight and played around with some olympic weightlifting. For the next few months I'm looking to step back on the platform and hit all-time Prs at a lighter body weight.
3. How much mobility work do you do before training?
To be honest close to none. I think mobility is as specific as strength is. If you cant get into positions you need for your sport or life you most likely need to get stronger. If this doesnt work perhaps you need to do some extra work to get more mobile or flexible. Ill some lighter stretching and mobility stuff at night but I am more a fan of just warming up properly before i train.
4. Are you currently dealing with any injuries? How do you stay motivated whilst injured?
I have some nagging stuff with my back. I hurt it last summer and its still a bit tender. First i always try to find the root of the problem. Perhaps its a technique thing, movement pattern or even a programming issue. Second I make a new plan/program really focusing on things i CAN do not what is limiting. 3rd (guilty of not following this) Id suggest finding a professional to help speed up the recovery process and perhaps help it from happening again. This are all very important steps both mentally and physically. We are all very dedicated to what we do and no one wants to be side lined from chasing down their goals.
5. Who's your favourite lifter? And why?
I have a lot of lifters I like to watch and look up to as coaches and technicians. Currently my favorite lifter is probably Yuri Belkin. The guy is an absolute animal, very strong and lifts with a precision i really admire.
6. What advice would you give to a novice lifter? ie. what do you wish you knew when you started?
Getting solid programming or coaching is key. I went many years spinning my wheels trying to lift too heavy too often with poor technique. In the age of social media and "online" coaching it is difficult to always find a good coach but there are many affordable options out there. Do some research, interview coaches and lifters. Majority of the time you’ll find some really helpful people that can guide you in terms of programming and technique.
8.What was the best advice you were ever given?
This is such a difficult question. I have been lucky enough to have interviewed, chatted, lifted and hungout with some of the most successful lifters and business men/women in the fitness industry. Although everyone has different stories and advice I guess the message is all the same. Finding a constant routine of work-building on good habits daily. Doing the small things day in and day out can lead to really big accomplishments. This plus loads of patience. These are the things I have learned and taken from the many amazing people I have crossed paths with.
STRENGTH TRAINING WITH YOUTHS BY ARTHUR LYNCH.
Resistance training with youths – is it a good idea?
Introduction
It’s no secret that physical activity levels among the general population are on the decline. Broadly speaking, this decline in physical activity levels coupled with poor dietary lifestyles are primarily responsible for the current obesity epidemic (although other factors are involved here). Low rates of physical activity have been observed in children, with overweight and obesity along with all the other negative health outcomes associated with these on the rise. This places a high importance on physical activity promotion amongst youths. For many children growing up in Ireland their only exposure to structured physical activity is through a very limited amount of PE during school hours or through sport. In rural areas particularly it can be a case of “play GAA or play nothing”. Strength training (or more appropriately resistance training which encompasses a broader range of activities) provides an avenue for youths to engage in a structured form of exercise that is safe, effective, helps develop muscle mass and quality helps to promote positive mental health and that can be made enjoyable for participants. That said, many people remain hesitant to let their child take part in resistance training, through a misguided belief that it is not safe, this article aims to address some of these concerns.
Debunking the risk of “stunting children’s growth with resistance training”
Unfortunately, there remains a myth that weight training may stunt a child’s growth. This likely stems from anecdotal fearmongering by people who assume because you’re loading a bone that you’re somehow compressing it and preventing it from growing, physiologically this doesn’t make sense. Bone adapts in a similar fashion to muscle by getting stronger with loading (although over a much longer time period). There was some evidence from Japan indicating this might be the case, however the study in question detailed how young children who worked hard labour were short in stature. An overlooked aspect of this study however was that these children were extremely malnourished, meaning their nutrition was insufficient to promote optimal bone growth and that they were worked excessively. In contrast, weight training has been shown to increase bone density and there is no evidence to suggest it stunts bone growth in children.
But is it safe?
In my own experience, some parents will (bizarrely) have zero issue with their child going out onto a hurling field with all the known potential risks associated with that sport, yet the very thought of their child even setting foot in a weights room absolutely terrifies them. Where this fear stems from I’m not exactly sure. Some of these people are just close-minded and won’t change their stance despite whatever scientific evidence you present to them, which is frustrating but such is life. For those people who are open-minded to the possibility of their child starting resistance training, all current evidence suggests it is a safe and effective mode of physical activity for children to participate in.
“I’m still on the fence. Give me more reasons to resistance train!”
Ok if you insist. Here is a list of some of the benefits of resistance training. Some of these are important for general life and others more pertinent to young athletes playing other sports:
- Improve muscular strength
- Learn how to move safely under load
- Reduce likelihood of becoming injured (particularly ACL, hamstring strain, lumbar, ankle sprain, and shoulder injuries)
- Improve balance and coordination
- Improve speed and power
- Improve posture
- Increase lean body mass and strengthen connective tissue
- Decrease body fat
- Improve flexibility and joint mobility
- Improve self-confidence
- Improve quality of life
- Have fun!
- Reduce anxiety and improve mental health
“Ok, I’m sold! Now how do I go about starting?”
Well, the first thing is to enlist the help of someone who knows what they’re doing and will provide an appropriate training regimen for the child. A word of advice, DO NOT DO A DIY JOB ON THIS! Yes hiring a coach is expensive, but it is worth it in the long run and will benefit the child much more if they are coached correctly from the start. So once you’ve hired a reputable coach (such as one of the fine list of coaches in CityGym Limerick for example) the main thing is getting the techniques learned. Usually this will be done with just the child’s bodyweight and/or a broom handle to simulate a full barbell without the load. Technique always comes before load, particularly when it comes to learning the basic movements (a squat, a deadlift or hip hinge type movement, a lunge movement, a pushing and a pulling movement in both the horizontal and vertical planes). Other more complex movements can be incorporated over time such as jumps or variations of the Olympic lifts if they are ready for them, but nailing down the fundamentals comes before anything else. And then in terms of loading, I recommend a very similar trouble shooting process:
Can they maintain good technique when increased to this weight?
A). Yes => let them do it
B). No => reduce the weight and cue them so that they consciously attend to whatever technical error they are committing (e.g. rounding their back).
Conclusion
In summary, provided it is supervised and coached by a qualified and experienced instructor, resistance training is a great activity for children to take part in. It has the potential to provide many benefits and once the aforementioned provisions are made it is an extremely low risk activity.
References
Barbieri, D. and Zaccagni, L. (2013) 'Strength training for children and adolescents: benefits and risks', Coll Antropol, 37 Suppl 2, 219-25.
Faigenbaum, A.D. and Myer, G.D. (2010) 'Resistance training among young athletes: safety, efficacy and injury prevention effects', British Journal of Sports Medicine, 44(1), 56-63.
Gordon, B.R., McDowell, C.P., Lyons, M. and Herring, M.P. (2017) 'The Effects of Resistance Exercise Training on Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials', Sports Med, 2017/08/19, available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0769-0.
Hallal, P.C., Andersen, L.B., Bull, F.C., Guthold, R., Haskell, W., Ekelund, U. and Group, L.P.A.S.W. (2012) 'Global physical activity levels: surveillance progress, pitfalls, and prospects', The lancet, 380(9838), 247-257.
Kato, S., Ishiko, T. Obstructed growth of children's bones due to excessive labor in remote corners. in: Kato S. (Ed.) (1964) Proceedings of the International Congress of Sports Sciences. Japanese Union of Sports Sciences, Tokyo.
Lloyd, R.S., Faigenbaum, A.D., Stone, M.H., Oliver, J.L., Jeffreys, I., Moody, J.A., Brewer, C., Pierce, K.C., McCambridge, T.M. and Howard, R. (2014) 'Position statement on youth resistance training: the 2014 International Consensus', Br J Sports Med, 48(7), 498-505.
