10 Laws of Training: We Can All Learn From Louie Simmons At Westside Barbell
Louie Simmons has set the bar for strength—and strength and conditioning coaches from his invitation-only gym…..Westside Barbell in Columbus, Ohio. Simmons's style of training ties together ideas from scholars, athletes, and coaches from the former Soviet Union and Bulgaria, as well as years of training himself and others.
No matter what age you are or what your goals are we can all learn from Simmons, it doesn’t stop you applying the Westside philosophy and training principles to achieving your objectives.
Sweat is Just Fat Crying (some of it anyway).
Fat cells in humans develop primarily during childhood and puberty. After that, the number of fat cells in your body remains relatively stable. These cells make up adipose tissue, and they can send out hormones into the body to help regulate everything from metabolism to body weight.
Because we generally have a set number of these cells, gaining weight doesn't typically involve making more. Instead, individual cells expand as the digestive system breaks down and stores food for later use, then they shrink when the body turns to the fat cell in a moment of need
CrossFit: The Fast Food of Training
CrossFit is a system of exercise that has rapidly grown in popularity over the last decade, through films such as 300 and the Military using a workout name dedicated to a fallen US Personnel. Marketing itself as the ‘ideal’ training system for everyone from housewives to special forces operators, CrossFit aims to physically prepare people for whatever life may throw at them. It is not about following a particular routine, but about constantly varying workouts.
Understanding the risks involved in training in hot climates (25 °C+) and high humidity
Training in hot weather (over 25 °C) puts extra stress on your body. If you don't take care when exercising in the heat, you risk serious illness. When you training in the heat your body sends more blood to circulate through your skin. This leaves less blood for your muscles (reduction in oxygen), which in turn increases your heart rate. If the humidity also is high, your body faces added stress because sweat doesn't readily evaporate from your skin. That pushes your body temperature even higher. Both the exercise itself and the air temperature and humidity can increase your core body temperature.
Why you shouldn’t do cardio immediately after a strength session!
The number of times I’ve seen people going for a run immediately after a strength session, is countless. They are undoing all the hard work they have just put in.
During strength training you are stimulating the mTOR intracellular signalling pathway, mTOR being the primary pathway for increased protein synthesis and muscular hypertrophy. MTOR signalling intensifies the synthesis of the amino acid chain, increasing protein synthesis and promotes muscle growth. In other words, the chemical signal tells your body to grow and therefore muscles get bigger.
By doing aerobic exercise immediately after a strength session will deregulate the mTOR signalling pathway. All the hard work you put into your strength session to stimulate the mTOR pathway to tell your body to grow and adapt is suddenly turned off and the stimulus from the training is reduced.
Ice After Injury
For years when someone is injured or suffering DOMs you immediately hear ‘put some ice on it’, it’s what many in the medical field have been preaching for decades. Ice is NOT helping the healing process from injury and in fact an overwhelming amount of research shows it does the opposite! Other than temporarily numbing the sensation of pain, ice delays healing and recovery.
Are you still doing static stretch in your warm up?
Static stretch has become ingrained in the psyche of athlete, coaches and personal trainers, with injury prevention and performance enhancement being given as justifications for its inclusion with this mantra repeated parrot fashion or ‘this is what your supposed to do’ and ‘we’ve always done this’. However, there is little, if any, evidence that stretching pre or post training prevents injury. Similarly, in terms of the performance enhancement elements, research suggests that rather than enhance subsequent performance, static stretching can compromise muscle performance.
Ice Baths post-workout…Good or Bad idea?
Athletes around the world are always searching to gain an edge on their competition. Many believe in jumping in a cold ice bath or wrapping some ice packs across their legs after heavy training will help accelerate recovery.
But what does the science say?
When you have a tough session, your muscles sustain tiny amounts of micro-damage. This “trauma” sparks inflammation similar to what happens after an acute injury (like a sprained ankle). The rush of inflammatory cells to the site of “damage” help kick start recovery by first eliminating damaged cells.
Performance At Any Age
So many people believe that when growing old comes, an inevitable decline in strength from being a vibrant individual to sudden feebleness. This includes feeling weak and more scarily… the loss of their independence. These declines may have more to do with lifestyle choices, including sedentary living and poor nutrition than a decline in strength.
If you want to enjoy an active, healthy lifestyle, while maintaining your independence (and able to play with your grandchildren, and hopefully great grandchildren)being active and implementing some form of strength must be a priority and become a habit throughout your life.
