Mel Siff Blog

Someone on another user group responded to my letter on making medicine balls
like this:

<< Someone posted before and I have tried with success a way to make your own
medicine balls. Take a kickball or soccer ball. Carefully pull out the
piece where the air goes in. It is just a rubber seal. Fill the ball with
sand or water and put the rubber seal back in. It really works! I filled a
small one with water and it doesn’t leak, it can bounce and it only costs a
few bucks! >>

Mel Siff:

***Yes, I posted that information a while ago. I have been making my own Read more…

This extract from a recent article on supplementary training for golf shows
how ill-understood cardiovascular processes and bioenergetics can be among
fitness professionals, many of whom seem to think that the duration of an
event alone determines if it is “aerobic” or “anaerobic”, irrespective of its
exact nature and intensity.

<Training for Optimal Golf Performance

Mike Pedersen (Personal Fitness Training, Feb 2002)

…..Cardiovascular Training

Cardiovascular training for golf may not seem important, but if you want your
clients to maintain their concentration and energy levels, it becomes a key
element to great golf. Many trainers and golfers don’t feel that cardio is
important in training for golf, but I believe it is very important. Golf is
an athletic event that can take up to four and a half hours to complete. That
does not count the half hour to 45 minutes on the range before. Now we are
pushing five hours.

With a poor level of cardiovascular conditioning, your clients will start
losing focus and concentration around the 15th or 16th hole. Guess what? The
last three holes now become a golfer’s nightmare!

Double bogey, bogey, triple bogey to finish the round! This is a very common
scenario for most amateurs. Why? They simply got tired! Implementing a cardio
routine, such as 30 to 45 minute treadmills two to three times each weak with
varying inclines, will greatly improve your clients’ aerobic capacity
specific to golf. If your clients are de-conditioned, start them out at a
shorter duration and lower intensity, which will in turn allow your clients
to finish their rounds strong and play their best. >

*** According to the same argument, it must be lack of cardiovascular
endurance which causes fatigue among cricketers who can spend the whole day
fielding, as well as among field site supervisory workers or soldiers on
guard duty who might stand or march around the perimeter of an area for many
hours on end.

Notice here that the author refers to “aerobic capacity specific to golf”,
even though research has shown that over 90 percent of the metabolic cost of
golf relies on anaerobic processes (e.g. see Fox & Matthews, The
Physiological Basis of Physical Education and Athletics). There is no
aerobic capacity which determines golfing fitness or prowess – its alleged
role is due to someone’s personal opinion and a limited understanding of the
nature of fatigue. Fatigue in this case is being equated with fatigue or
depletion of muscle glycogen produced by demanding endurance events, which
certainly is not the case with golf.

There are several different forms of fatigue and the one which probably is
most pertinent to golf is one which I discussed at length quite recently in a
letter concerning the fact that in many prolonged postural tasks, the
perceived fatigue probably has far more to do with ligaments and joint
capsules than muscles (Basmajian, Muscles Alive). Thus, in sports like golf
and cricket, where one may be required to maintain a limited number of
postures (like standing and walking) for many hours on end, the fatigue has
little to do with stress on the cardiovascular system, but a great deal to do
with perceived fatigue signalled by receptors in ligaments and joint
capsules. Of course, the need to maintain focus for prolonged periods
creates high levels of mental stress, which can further exacerbate the
overall situation, but this, too, is not something which is determined by
cardiovascular efficiency.

This is not to totally discount the possible value of some cardiovascular
training for athletes like golfers because it can play a role in
vascularisation, stress reduction, enhanced lymphatic drainage and general
restoration. However, cardiovascular endurance does not directly play a role
in golfing competition and any fitness professionals would do well not to
stress its value for entirely the wrong reasons.

Just because an event lasts for several hours, this does not automatically
mean that it fulfills the criteria required for exercise to be regarded as
predominantly cardiovascular, namely LSD (Long Slow Duration). The exercise
must be LSD of a certain minimum intensity for that to be true. Any aerobics
fanatic will tell you that this means training within a certain target heart
rate zone (where the increase in heart rate is due to muscular activity, not
mental stress or pathology) for that prolonged period — and that does not
happen in normal golf.

Fortunately, the publication concerned is just a popular, largely advertising
aimed magazine and articles are not properly reviewed, else some list members
surely would have remarked about the serious inadequacies of the publication.

Mel Siff

Mel Siff sets you straight on some common misconceptions held the world over on stretching and warming up

Recently we have been discussing the effects and value of stretching before
or during training, so I wish to elaborate a little on this topic.

At the very outset, one needs to note that stretching is not the same as a
warm-up, so what I am referring to here is the way in which some very brief
episodes and patterns of flexibility training can be included in a “warm-up”
(or more accurately, the pre-event preparation phase). If anyone is
interested in flexibility training as something distinct from the warm-up,
then Ch 3 of “Supertraining” addresses this topic in depth.

While prolonged yogic or static type stretches held for many seconds at a
time may decrease the ability of the muscles to produce maximal strength for
many minutes afterwards, the use of controlled dynamic stretches which
imitate parts of the sporting movements, as well as brief, intermittent,
progressive isometric stretches or sports related contract-relax stretches
should have minimal adverse effect on subsequent exercises or lifts, especial
ly if they are blended progressively into slow execution of the actual
lifting or sporting movements, done with no added loading initially.

All in all, the entire warm-up session would not last more than 5-8 minutes.
If you wish to dispense with any form of separate warming-up, then simply
carry out your training exercises with very light loads on the bar and
progressively take it from there. Many competitive lifters follow this sort
of regime without injury, so, if you prefer this approach, as they say, “go
for it!”, as long as you don’t force yourself into very heavy, complex,
explosive or forceful actions before you feel well prepared and dynamically
supple enough for them.

For those who like PNF, it is useful to note that PNF may involve both static
or dynamic ’stretches’. Actually, PNF uses Specific Relaxation techniques
and Specific Activation techniques in very specific patterns and not just the
contract-relax, hold-relax regimes popularised by many speakers in the
stretching field. Russian scientists, including Iashvili, have carried out
considerable research in this field and have shown that active flexibility
correlates more strongly with sporting proficiency than passive flexibility
(Siff ‘Supertraining’ 2000 Ch 3).

They have shown that greatest improvement in functional flexibility is
achieved via integrated strength-flexibility exercises. This would seem to
run counter to the common belief that all stretching should be done with
muscles completely relaxed, but the latter method is primarily for mechanical
deformation of connective tissue rather than for functional sports
flexibility.

The regular use of fixed cycles, ’spinning’ and treadmill walking or jogging
at low pace tends to decrease the functional range of movement of the hip
flexors in particular, unless adequately balanced by “functional” flexibility
regimes to counter this effect, so one needs to be cautious about the overuse
of cardiovascular machines in health clubs (‘Supertraining’ Ch 3.5).

Since some people report that they do actually feel better prepared to
undertake a give exercise or session by doing some stretches, then there is
no reason not to go ahead and apply them in short efficient bursts, leading
into more dynamic versions of whatever they are currently doing. One should
never forget the value of achieving the appropriate mental state before
exercise, and if some brief familiar intervals of relatively harmless,
well-proven stretches help you in this regard, then continue in this vein.

What you can do to enhance your workout further is integrate mental
preparation (visualisation and motivation) regimes into this flexibility
preparation phase. This type of integrated mental-physical procedure is
lacking from most sport specific flexibility regimes and you will find that
the tone of your entire session can be uplifted very significantly before you
begin the main action!

If anything, you could replace your cycling with mild skipping or broomstick
simulations of all the lifts that you are going to do in that session, so
that your warm-ups involve gravitational loading and mild impact. By all
means, end off with some cycling (followed by hip and trunk extension
flexibility actions), especially since mild cyclical activities can
facilitate restoration and enhance capillarisation (see Russian research
articles by Zalessky, Birukov, Sinyakov and others in Part 1 of Siff MC &
Yessis M ‘Sports Restoration and Massage’ 1992).

For those who are interested in gaining a basic knowledge of “PNF stretches”,
then consult Ch 7 of “Supertraining”, where I now have included diagrams of
the main movement patterns that one needs to use in sport. If you are
interested in learning directly from the horses’ mouths, the two therapists
who wrote the first and definitive book on PNF were Knott M & Voss M,
“Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation”. Remember that more recent
research modifies some of the explanations and methods, but, all in all, this
is the bible on PNF. Note well that it is not intended for sports users, but
for therapists and as such, needs to be interpreted for sporting applications
(which I have attempted to do in “Supertraining”).

Mel Siff

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining/

<An interesting development has been made in this area by some colleagues of
mine at the University of South Australia (A Prof Kevin Norton and Neil
Craig) whereby a player is tracked and analysed in real time using a pen and
drawing tablet, combined with a sophisticated software system. Now, whilst
this system has its own limitations, a recent study (funded by the AFL) led
to some researchers performing extensive video analysis over an AFL season to
conclude that the average distances covered by AFL midfielders was something
like 16.8km. Using this method it would have taken over 3 days to analyse
each game. Using the new software, the figure produced was 16.5km and
analysis was instant. This system is also being used to analyse training to
ensure that training is as specific to performance as possible. >

Mel Siff:

*** There is far too much emphasis on “perfect” specificity of training,
which tends to go against the idea of various combinations of General and
Specific Physical Preparation (GPP and SPP) being useful for all sports.
There is no proof that reliance on specific exercises or routines is
superior to a combination of GPP and SPP. The OBJECTIVES of the training
need to be specific, not the type of every exercise – and specificity of
objectives may include “specific” and “non-specific” exercises. There is no
such magic formula for optimal use of highly sport specific exercises.

If we wish to train with 100 percent specificity, that immediately means that
we should discard all supplementary training and all “strength coaches” as
often is the case in weightlifting and gymnastics, because there is nothing
more specific than the sports movements themselves. I am sure that many
soccer players feel like that and are very skeptical that sports scientists
can help because top soccer players have done extremely well training the
traditional way without any more supplementary training than running and a
few field exercises.

Darren:

< So I think the technology is there, it’s just a matter of convincing some
coaches that there IS a need for Sports Science in football.>

Mel Siff:

*** When I visited the State Central Inst of Sports Science in Moscow about a
decade ago, some of the scientists there showed me the computer program
(using telemetry, with little transmitters attached to players) that they
used to track what their players in team sports were doing, where they spent
most of their time, where the ball (or puck) went, how long each action
took, what the heart rate was, etc. Even though the West generally appears
to have more sophisticated technology, it does not mean that they are using
to best advantage. By the way, while it may be interesting to know how far
each player runs, this does not tell one about the type of fitness required,
unless it analyses time spent a different velocities or at different
accelerations.

Anyway, while all of this may be of academic interest, from existing research
into the different types of running we already know what type of fitness is
required and one simply trains the players accordingly. The use of heart rate
(HR) telemetry alone would be more informative than most video tracking; even
standard heart rate and HR recovery time measurement after various field
activities would be more immediately useful insofar as cardiovascular issues
are concerned. As someone else noted, can a competent coach not observe who
is “fit” or not “fit” under game conditions? Of course, this does not produce
a computer printout, unless the coach keeps a gymnastics-like points card
based upon his subjective observations. Augmenting such subjective ratings
with a few standard field and gym tests should be more than enough to provide
an adequate view of the player’s motor and metabolic qualities. Are we going
overboard with excessive laboratory style testing which is of more value to
scientists looking for publications than to athletes looking for performance?

Gary Stebbing:

<<Football in the UK has been notorious for resistance in the area of fitness
and, even today, many teams are still highly skeptical about whether they
even need a fitness specialist. Often the team coach thinks they can do it
and even when they recognise the role of a specialist, they often interfere.
If team performances aren’t good, the fitness person is one of the first to
see the door. As for the use of targeted weight training……well, forgive
me if I stop there. >>

Ben Freeman:

<Gary – why is it that football coaches in the UK feel somewhat ‘threatened’
by conditioning staff ? What is wrong with another perspective in this area
?>

Mel Siff:

*** I don’t think that the problem is that simple. As I commented above,
many players simply are not convinced by the cases put forward by
conditioning specialists or sports scientists definitely will help them
improve. Of course, they are prejudiced and are not at all knowledgeable
about the value of supplementary strength training, but the blame also lies
with those who want them to change. Thus, it would appear that the whole
marketing of conditioning as system has not been successful and the main
problem is not one of science, but of competent professional marketing, as
has been the case in the USA.

In fact, the North American situation carries some useful lessons in this
regard. In the USA, if we are to judge from feedback, a huge number of
strength coaches are not at all sufficiently knowledgeable and often rely on
very poor knowledge of training science, limited methods like HIT, the latest
machines and the best marketed guruesque drills and toys which have never
been proved to enhance performance. Results all too often are a consequence
of “something being better than nothing”, the astute use of “supplements”
(yes, yes, we all know that nobody takes drugs any more because of stringent
testing), belief, placebo, athlete selection, money and high levels of
motivation. Far more N American athletes have “bought” the well-marketed
belief that one cannot become a star without supplementary training and
supplementary other things. It is not the quality of S&C is so great across
the Atlantic – it is just that the marketing has been so much better.

In fact, even in American football, one could probably dispense entirely with
the weights gym, all free weights and machines, and substitute a mixture of
track and field and gymnastics activities coupled with a well-chosen mixture
of martial arts forms (karate, wrestling, boxing, ultimate fighting,
Taekwondo, judo, aikido, sumo and TaiChi) – and produce equally phenomenal
players.

However, the concept of S&C (Strength and Conditioning) has been marketed so
well because of its enormous commercial value and because it has spawned a
whole new industry (CSCS, Personal Trainers, strength coaches, etc) that
nobody would even dare to suggest NOT using the standard methods of S&C.
After all, one does not have to make the muscles produce force in the form of
weights and machines – biomechanics show us quite clearly from the most basic
Second Law of Newton (F = mass x acceleration) that one can use added mass
or acceleration in any training situation, such as wrestling, pushing,
hitting, throwing or catching an opponent or training object on land or in
water. And the “multidimensionality”, “functionality”, “torso training” and
“core stabilising” is excellent under these conditions!! Indeed, why bother
to enter a weights gym at all?

I have little doubt that a Martial arts-Track-Gymnastics (MTG) program would
produce NFL players, for example, who just as proficient as their
weight-trained counterparts, all other supplements, game practice and rewards
being equal – and at much lower cost. After all, I think that the Marines
and Special Forces do quite well with that sort of training. I used this
sort of program for many years with young rugby players where gym facilities
simply did not exist, and it really can work extremely well. Oh and what
about the testing? How do they test one in the military? Treadmill,
vertical jumps and shuttle runs?

Mel Siff