Some Athletes Should (At Some Point) Play 2 Sports

Yeah, I believe this. 

Training multiple sports at the same time really does not get enough credit, especially in adolescent/teen/youth sport. I'll have you know that I love specificity, but it is hard to deny the multitude of benefits an athlete gets from training different stuff than their main sport. 

 What are some of these benefits?

1. Early Skill Acquisition

2. Mental Preparation

3. Physical peaking: This is the main benefit I see from training multiple sports. Some athletes do not peak for their sport until post puberty, and some into their late 20s. This is more common in sports where physical development is very important, like weightlifting or rugby. This is less applicable to higher skill sports like cricket or soccer. By training multiple sports before you peak as an athlete, you keep more eggs in your basket and also build a bigger base.

Notice I said you should 'train' multiple sports. Not compete in multiple sports at the same time. That would be hard (though not impossible, but hard).

So what are my recommendations? I think training 2 sports at once is possible. To some extent, all my athletes train 2 sports at once. My rugby players train both rugby and S&C, same with soccer and cricket players. As a weightlifter, I also train for BJJ. 

~ Prem

Accessories SHOULD NOT Be Heavy

I find people go really, unnecessarily heavy with their accessory work. This is common amongst both strength athletes and sport athletes. I hypothesis this is due to a misconception that using higher weights in accessories will directly transfer to higher weights in the main lifts. To some extent, this is true, but is highly overplayed.

The reality is that number-chasing on accessory exercises is counter-productive. One, you risk yourself injury, which is bad. Two, you get less bank for your buck.

The first point goes without saying. Use more weight with shitty technique, get injured. I've heard of people getting injured whilst doing fucking dumbbell skull crushers. I can understand getting injured on a back squat or heavy deadlift, but a skullcrusher? Pathetic.

Second. Quality over quantity. Many top powerlifters will use weights that normies would consider 'light' because they are getting the MOST out of the weight! They are going through a full range of motion, using higher reps, pausing, and using a slightly slower eccentric. I've had some of the fattest pumps of my life whilst using relatively light weights.

Moral of the story: If you are doing an accessory exercise that is NOT your main lift that you compete in, don't start number chasing just because you want to look cool or feel like you're doing something. It is always better to use slightly lower weights and focus on quality.

ALL HAIL THE UNITED CREATES

Strength & Conditioning For Cricket

Here is a basic guide on how I would go about strength and conditioning for cricket.

Firstly, I would have someone do S&C work 3x a week, whilst training for cricket 3x a week, with a cricket match 1x a week (most clubs operate similarly to this). Cricket really isn't a sport that depends largely on strength or conditioning (unlike rugby, for example), so I would have a cricket player spend more of their week training the actual sport rather than in the weight room.

Secondly, exercise selection. I like olympic lifts and I like unweighted jumps. I would probably include power or hang versions of the olympic lifts for cricket players since teaching the full clean/snatch is probably not worth it for the specific sport (this applies to most sports). Also, I really wouldn't spend too much time working on plyometrics for a cricket player. I would much rather allocate training economy to strengthening the shoulders, core and hips since these areas are common injury points. Plyometrics would be more valuable for field sport athletes, basketball or volleyball players.

So I would probably stick to the back squat, power clean, strict press and romanian deadlift for the majority of the strength work. For conditioning, this is very simple. For cricket, bowling run-ups and runs are all around 20m long. So acceleration work of 20-40m done once a week is plenty for conditioning when paired with some low intensity steady state work.

 Here is a sample program for 3x a week S&C training:

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
1	Power Clean - 5 x 3 @ 60% of max clean	Strict Press - 4 x 12 @ 40% of max strict press	Behind The Neck Push Press - 6 x 6 @ 85% of strict press max
2	Back Squat - 4 x 10 @ 55% of max squat	Romanian Deadlift - 4 x 8 @ 45% of max deadlift	Power Clean - 5 x 3 @ 70%
3	Bench Press - 5 x 8 @ 65% of max bench press	Barbell Row - 6 x 6 @ 40% BW	Back Squat - 5 x 8 @ 60%
4	Weighted Chinup - 4 x 4 with 5% BW	Lu Raise - 5 x 10 with 5% BW per hand	Tricep Extension - 4 x 12 @ 10% BW
5	Hanging Leg Raise - 4 x 10 BW	Superman Plank - 4 x 30 secs BW	Barbell Curl - 6 x 10 with empty barbell
6	20m Sprint - 7 total sprints, 2 mins rest between sprints	30 mins stationary bike - Zone 2	30 mins stationary bike - Zone 2

Notes:

• The sets and reps here are just a guide that you could use for the first week of your training; I may release a full program later
• Bench press can be replaced with floor press, another good option
• Back squats should be done to full depth
• Some work like the chinups and rows are programmed as a percentage of your bodyweight (BW)
• Sprints should be done on a field/track with cleats/spikes on
• the 30 mins cardio should be done at a relatively easy pace for at least 25 mins to work on aerobic capacity. I chose stationary bike here since it is less stressful on the knees

~ Prem

Training While Sick

I just contracted the common cold. It made me wonder how many people train whilst they are sick. Here are some general tips to maintain progress whilst you are sick.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional. This is NOT medical advice. If you have any symptoms that extend beyond the common cold, consult a medical professional.

1. Don't train. This is a pretty big mistake people make. Just don't train when you are sick. It'll take longer to fully recover and the quality of the session will not be high anyways. Just take a few days off: it's fine not to train during those days.

2. Recover. A large portion of sickness comes from stress and/or sleep deficiency. My No. 1 tip for anyone recovering from sickness is just to sleep. Plus, taking paracetamol and drinking lots of water also helps.

3. Load management. Whilst coming back to training after the sickness becomes to disappear, it's fine to skip accessories. Reducing the number of sets you do could also be a good idea.

TLDR: Don't train when sick, just sleep/

~ Prem

Stoicism and Training

Stoicism is incredibly valuable for training for athletics. The core principles of stoicism include disconnection from emotion and the acceptance that life is difficult and problems will always rear their heads, but that ultimately the individual can triumph. In a sense, it takes an objective approach into accomplishing tasks, and also physical training.

The essence of physical training is that you never win. Training is mundane, and at the elite level, you are constantly feeling aches, getting injured, and having suboptimal training sessions. Stoicism provides a way to approach these tasks, even when they seem boring or hard.

The times where I have stayed most consistent with my diet, mobility, and sleep as been when I've taken an almost disconnected approach to training. Disconnected from emotions or how I feel on any specific day. I recognized I had responsibilities, and shit had to be done, so I did it. Some may call it harsh, but they're not breaking records anytime soon. I believe all elite athletes (if not, most), use the philosophy of stoicism in some way or another as part of their lifestyle.

TLDR: Don't think, just do. That is the only way to stay consistent.

~ Prem

Is hypertrophy work necessary for weightlifting?

Nah. It can be helpful, and I often program hypertrophy work, but not a lot of it. Just to keep a baseline level of muscle. Most olympic weightlifters are only jacked because they are on unholy amounts of PEDs. Olympic weightlifting is not a sport akin to muscle growth (unlike powerlifting, for example), and very few weightlifters focus a lot on hypertrophy work.

~ Prem

Reworking My Warmups and Rehab work!

So I was going to change my warmup and rehab protocols because of new problems I would like to address. So I thought I would take you through the process of redesigning your supplemental work.

Firstly, here is my new warmup:

1. Steady State Cardio: 5 mins max, stationary bike: I used to do cardio as a warmup on the treadmill, only to later realize this likely contributed to the knee pain I have in my right knee (likely patellar). So I switched over to the stationary bike. The stationary bike is also really good for specifically warming up the quads, which is necessary for any weightlifter.

2. Foam Rolling: I've always done foam rolling, and I stand by the fact that it is an easy way to get in some soft tissue work and boost recovery a bit.

3. Leg Extension isometric: I hold my leg at a 45 degree isometric on the leg extension with some moderate weight for at least 45 seconds (several studies support this, including this study). This is to address my knee pain and warm up the quads and knees as well. I used to do isometric lunge holds, but I find these just more convenient and effective. 

4. Front Rack stretch: This is basically when I hold a barbell in the front rack position and flex and extend my upper back (the first exercise in this video). Good for warming up the wrists and the front rack position, as well as the T spine and lats.

5. Lu Raise complex: I hold some light plates out for an isometric and then perform some Lu raises with lighter weights. These warmup the shoulders for the overhead position. I used to do facepulls here, but my rotator cuff has become less of an issue now. Now, I prefer to focus on a strong overhead position with strong scapula. 

6. 3rd world squat: 2-3 mins with some weight: I sit in the bottom of a 3rd world squat for 2-3 mins. I've said this before a lot, but this is just a super specific way to warmup for weightlifting. I put the barbell on my knees for extra resistance. I've always done these as well, and I recommend them to every strength athlete.

Next, here is my revised rehab protocol that I do separately from my workouts at the end of the day:

1. Couch Stretch: I've moved these from my workouts into the rehab slot. I find that when I put these as a warmup, I do not spend enough time in the stretch. To actually make this stretch effective on the hip flexors, you have to sit in it for around 2 minutes or more.

2. Pancakes: This is to address my adductor mobility. I used to do a ton of mobility stretches for the glutes and hamstrings, but I've removed them since my mobility in these areas is already good. My adductors, on the other hand, have always been (and still are) constantly tight.

3. Single Leg Touchdown: Hands down, these are the single best exercise for knee rehab. I felt a difference after a few weeks of doing these on my right knee.

4. Lat Stretch: I do the second set of stretches presented in this  video. I started doing these to help my overhead position in the bottom of the snatch, which requires to hand to go behind the ears (ie. a large degree of lat mobility).

5. Overhead walks: I do these with a relatively heavier dumbbell to get stronger shoulders and to reinforce my overhead position. I also want to keep my elbow healthy as I have had some minor elbow issues in the past.

6. 3rd world squat (bodyweight) - 5 mins total: I do these for squat mobility. I used to do them banded, with a band around my knees. However, this really fatigued by adductors in about 1 minute, which meant I skipped the other 4 minutes of this movement. This movement needs to be done for a longer period of time to actually be effected, so I ditched the band and just do these bodyweight now.

~ Prem

Training Is Mundane

Training is mundane. Training is boring. Workouts are typically the same in structure, and if you do them long enough, they do tend to get boring. However, this is normal, and this is required. Anyone who became successful at any sport did it by working really, really hard at the basics. Every good weightlifter got good at weightlifting by doing the snatch, the clean and jerk, the squat, the pull, and some press. Any they did this day, after day, after day. That is what is required to be the best.

Learn to enjoy mundane-ness. Enjoy the work. Enjoy sleeping consistently, doing your mobility work, getting your meals in, no matter how boring. That is the only way you get through boring training.

~ Prem

No, Bosu Balls Are Not Effective

Bosu balls are not useful for any purpose. Whether that be 'stability training' or rehab work. 

First of all, specificity is king. If your sport requires 'stability', then the best way you can train is is just by playing your sport more. When surfers want to be more stable surfing, they train by surfing more. Sports are not played on bosu balls. Sports are played on fields, or in the water, or on ice. It would be much better off to allocate time and resources to training your actual sport rather than wasting time on a bosu ball.

Secondly, I have never heard of ANY rehabilitation work that requires a bosu ball. I've reviewed material from Dr Aaron Horschig, Dr Stephane Gregory and Dr Stuart McGill, and I have never seen ant of them use a bosu ball in practice. Even for knee stability issues (like caving in the squat etc.), these can often be screened by doing pistol squats, hip tests and jumps. Rehabing the knees can also be done with basic exercises like tibialis squats, knee extensions, lunge isometrics, 3rd world squats etc.

Finally, I would like to make a point on credentials. Just because someone has a Masters or a PhD does NOT mean they are even moderately intelligent. Joel Seedman and Mike Israetel both have PhDs and are still retards and not highly respected in the serious strength community. Keep this in mind.

~ Prem

Straps for Weightlifting

There are several straps that one can use for weightlifting. Today I have presented types of straps and which ones I think are the best to use. These are in order from best to worst (in my opinion):

1. ZKC/WBCM straps

   

These straps are superior for two reasons. First, they are quick release, meaning that they will instantly drop the barbell once your hand stops actively gripping. This reduces the risk for injury when ditching the bar. Secondly, these are typically more durable than other olympic weightlifting straps (these are usually made of cotton).

2. Hookgrip/Ironmind Nylon Straps

Although nylon tends to be durable, I find the grip a bit worse on these than on cotton straps. These are still quite popular, since they can also be made DIY. These are also quick release straps, and are also a solid option.

3. Nylon Webbing

These are reserved for more advanced weightlifters. Although they are durable, they require some level of skill to use correctly. As a result, you only see these being used rarely by a handful of advanced lifters. I would not recommend these for most people; the above two options work equally well.

4. Lasso Figure 6 Style Straps:

DO NOT use these for weightlifting. The reason is that these are NOT quick release, meaning sometimes when you have to ditch the bar (specifically ditch the bar back in the snatch), the straps will not let go immediately, which could lead to serious injury. Literally this morning, I almost had the bar crash onto my back when I ditched a snatch using these straps. These straps work for pulls and deadlift, but not olympic lifts. Using any of the other straps is better.

~ Prem

Zone 2 Cardio For Strength Athletes

Strength athletes almost always have poor cardiovascular conditioning and VO2 max. This isn't a problem for other athletes like field sports players or track runners since this population already gets plenty of aerobic work from their sport. Strength athletes spend most of their time using the anaerobic system, and having a poorly developed aerobic system can effect recovery capability both between sets and between sessions. 

All strength sport athletes (mainly powerlifters and weightlifters) should do some dedicated zone 2 cardio at least twice a week. These should be done for AT LEAST 20 MINS, as this is the minimum time required to work aerobic capacity. I personally do zone 2 work for 25-30 mins, although you could do it up to 1 hr. I would do a maximum of 6 of these sessions a week.

In each of these sessions, you should be working at Zone 2 specifically. There are two ways to measure if you are in zone 2. First, subtract your age from 220. If your heartrate is between 60 and 70 percent of this new number during the session, then you are working in Zone 2. Another way coaches cue zone 2 is "work as hard as you can whilst still breathing through your nose". If you cannot breath through your nose during the workout, you are not working in Zone 2, but higher. 

This is a short and time effective way to facilitate strength gains. I like to do these on my rest days, and I find that's when people have free time to get this type of work done.

~ Prem

Jumps And Sprints Are Useless For Weightlifting

Just because elite athletes do something, it does not mean that you should. People often see elite weightlifters training jumps (ie. chinese team) or sprints (ie. soviets), and think that this is somehow useful for the sport. It isn't.

The reality is that olympic weightlifting is a fragile and highly specialized endeavor. Anything that isn't easy zone 2 cardio or some mobility work WILL impact performance in weightlifting. This includes jumps and sprints.

Firstly, jumps are not comparable to weightlifting. Jumps are to weightlifting like sprinting is to swimming: completely unrelated. If you theoretically wanted to add jumps/plyometrics to a weightlifting program, they would need to be done for high volume at the start of the session where you are the freshest. You can see how this is a problem: you will be fatigued from all the jumping volume before you even start weightlifting! Plus, some jump variations like depth jumps are actually very stressful on the joints even if they are not weighted, which again impacts weightlifting performance.

Secondly, sprints. Sprints are even worse than jumping as far as impact on weightlifting. Max effort sprints are tough to recover from. They have a particularly high injury risk at both the ankle and the knee joint, especially if sprinting on flat terrain. They also contribute more to the interference effect. So stay away from sprinting as well.

A common argument for including jumps and sprints in a weightlifting program is that they help with 'power production'. Sure, to some extent. But this does not translate to weightlifting. Firstly, weightlifting is technical, and training technique whilst being the most fresh and recovered is high priority. Secondly, power production for weightlifting is trained sufficiently with pulls and the competition lifts.

There are only a handful of cases I would prescribe jumps or sprints to a weightlifter. If the weightlifter is a beginner or a youth athlete or obese, I may add some jumps and hill sprints as GPP training for a couple of weeks every training block. If the athlete is a hobbyist, then I may also add these jumps and sprints. 

But I would not advise anyone who takes weightlifting seriously to include jumps/sprints into the program. That time should be allocated to other, more productive work.

~ Prem