Training Matters: Advice from a dedicated workout artist

By Alex Graham on May 17, 2019.

agraham@mhc.ab.ca

When I was in high school I worked at Subway. Yep, I was a sandwich artist. Now, as a strength and conditioning coach, I still see my job as building great sandwiches, work out sandwiches.

Let’s break this down. Everyone’s favorite part of a sandwich is the filling; meat, cheese, etc. Same goes for workouts. I refer to the actual workout as the filling. Squats, lifting, conditioning, whatever is on the program for the day.

The bread on the other hand, tends to not be the focal point. Some people even cut their crusts or skip it all together, same goes with a workout. I like to think of the bread as the warm-up and cool-down. They’re on either side of the workout and as much as they are often neglected, they’re one of the most important aspects of your training day.

The warm-up truly is more important than the workout. If you’re not preparing your body for the session to come, you’re not getting the adaptations you want. I like to break down my warm-up to 3 parts that I call Triple H; heart, hips, head.

The heart is easy, get your blood pumping, increase your core temperature. Easily achieved by a few minutes on the bike or running. The hips are critical because we use our lower body for so much. I like to incorporate air squats, hip hinges, etc to warm up the lower body and get moving through some dynamic range of motion. We can’t forget the upper body, but I usually throw that in with hips.

As all of my athletes know, I use a dynamic warm-up called a Harden. The Harden takes you through a hip hinge, into a squat. Then walk that out to a pushup position, up to downward dog, and walk those hands back in. Simple, easy, and it hits all major muscle groups.

Finally on to the head, the most ignored part of Triple H. We tend to forget to prime our brain for training. It’s like starting a cold vehicle in the winter and expecting it to perform. We want those motorneuro pathways sending full-speed. Priming the brain can be done by performing some dynamic speed movements. Some great examples are plate jumps (getting those feet moving up and down quick), fast feet, fast side taps, etc. The key here is fast, small movements. Give it a try, do three sets of 10 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest. What happens between sets one to three? You do more reps. The reason why is now your brain is firing!

We want to take that adaptation and apply it to the rest of our workouts. This will improve rate/force development and help optimize the workout.

Now let’s discuss that final slice of bread, the cool-down. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m horrible at doing a good job of this. Tight on time, too busy, et cetera, but there is no good excuse. Forgetting to do a proper cool down leads to increased DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), injuries, tight muscles/adhesions, and reduced adaptations. If you are going to put the effort in to do the work, make sure you finish! You’re setting yourself up for future failure by not taking care of yourself after a workout.

A proper cool-down should include some of the same aspects of a warm-up. You’ll want to slowly reduce your heart rate, again a bike or light jog is great. Then make sure you spend some time wither foam-rolling, doing some dynamic stretches, focusing on the areas you worked. I like to take this one step further and suggest a nice ice bath or cold shower to help reset the neurological system. Again, we’re hitting Triple H in the cool-down.

If you want to make gains this summer, please take my advice and focus on making the perfect workout sandwich. Triple H on either side of your routine will help you make the improvements you want to see.

Alex Graham, corrective exercise specialist, is a strength and conditioning coach with Alberta Sport Development Centre’s Performance Enhancement Team and can be reached via email at agraham@mhc.ab.ca.

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