Huge Mistakes I Made Prior to the Year 2014 - Part I

Rather than rolling out a forward-looking, “Goals for 2014” type of post, I decided to go in the opposite direction, and take a look in the rearview mirror.  The carnage I saw, as a result of the past mistakes I had made, was painful to revisit.  Please do not make the same ones, I beg you.

 

1.  An Aversion to Steel.  The No. 1 spot on this list dates back to my swimming career, but it remains the biggest mistake I made as a young athlete.  Strength is the prerequisite to increased power, speed, and endurance, and as Bill Starr would say, a stronger athlete is a better athlete.  Without this vital component in my training regimen, I was unable to compete with the top tier of NCAA athletes in the shorter distances, specifically the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, and my lack of exposure to different movement patterns, specifically squatting and overhead pressing, left me vulnerable to a slew of “overtraining” injuries.  Against the backdrop of my own experiences as well as those of my teammates, I have come to believe that swimmers should perform a healthy dose of squats (back, front, and overhead), and all types of pressing and pulling exercises, assuming there are no limiting preconditions.  In terms of the specific programming, I think “Starting Strength,” would be a good place to start for younger athletes and novices, alike, because Rippetoe emphasizes the development of lower body strength, something almost all swimmers lack.  For the time being, I will not wade out into the quagmire that is the “high bar verse low bar” debate, but I do recommend the former to most athletes simply because of the increased mobility demands.  Regardless of chosen style, increased strength in the squat will invariably help the athlete produce more power off the start and turns, making them dangerous, if not deadly, in the “short course,” 25-yard competition format.  A college teammate of mine was a tremendous squatter, and he was dynamite off the walls.  This was not a coincidence.   

2.  Not Prioritizing Strength in the Offseason.  No. 2 dovetails nicely with the earlier discussion, because it further illustrates how inverted my thinking was “back in the day.”  Rather than focus my offseason (May through August) on gaining strength and improving flexibility, I used that time to build my aerobic base.  While this was certainly not a waste of time, it was not the optimal approach for producing faster times nine or ten months down the road.  If given the chance to do it all over again, I would use the summer months as a time to gain strength, improve general physical preparedness, and perform a maintenance level of aerobic work in the pool.

3.  Failing to Seek Out Expert Advice.  The first two mistakes on this list probably could have been avoided if I had been smart enough to ask the right questions while in high school and college.  Bill Starr – yes, that Bill Starr, the Godfather of 5x5 and the author of Only the Strong Shall Survive – was, for several years, the head strength coach for my university’s varsity athletics teams.  Revisiting his teachings would have been a very worthwhile use of my time, but I was a 20-year-old, know it all so it might not have taken after all.



“The discipline and doing things you don’t enjoy make you a great athlete and give you the ability to stand with the fittest and the strongest.”

-- Bill Starr

4.  Metcon Obsessing.  Like so many others, my first exposure to weightlifting, i.e. the snatch and clean and jerk, came via Crossfit [insert condescending “jump and shrug” or “triple extension” comment].  At that time, however, I was far more concerned with metabolic conditioning than actual strength training, not realizing the latter helps the former far more than the reverse.  In short, I was “WOD Drunk” and most likely metabolically broken.  (If you are unfamiliar with the latter concept, I strongly encourage you to read the following post on, “Confessions of a Crossfit Coach.”).  “AMRAPS” of all kinds – 20-, 30-, and even 40-minute beatdowns were the order of the day, and I was proud of my sweat angels.  The longer, the better.  But here was the rub: my overall fitness was stagnating, though I could run for days without tiring, and my body composition changes had flat-lined.  I really enjoyed reading this post on the Crossfit Amplify page as well as this one over at Greg Everett’s Catalyst Athletics website.

"This is the soup that makes the soldier"

History buffs and my fellow nerds might recognize the title of this post from the French proverb, “C’est la soupe qui fait le soldat."  Attributed to either Napoleon Bonaparte or Frederick the Great, the French aphorism quite literally means “this is the soup that makes the soldier,” though others may know it as “an army marches on its stomach.”  To their credit, Napoleon and Frederick realized that without sufficient food stuffs, a general could keep his army in the field, and Bonaparte, in particular, used unorthodox tactics to group and maneuver his forces while on campaign.  The same can be said for a weightlifter, as he or she must continually fortify their supply line.

 

A weightlifter’s supply line consists of sleep and calories.  While both are vital to facilitating progress in the gym, the former aids recovery in ways the latter cannot, as sleep allows for a resting of the central nervous system and more active secretion of plasma growth hormone (GH).  Such concepts are not revelations.   In fact, in 1968, researches from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri measured GH, insulin, cortisol, and glucose levels in eight young adults over a 38-night period.  The results of that study are clear.  “In eight of the nine subjects, [researchers] observed an elevated level of plasma GH during the night.  They speculated that since the longest interval between meals occurred at night, the increase secretion of growth hormone was a response to fasting and the associated need for an accelerated mobilization of free fatty acids.”[1]  A more detailed study was carried out some years later, and those researchers once again observed that plasma GH levels were low during light sleep and depressed for several hours following a meal.  Conversely, peaks in plasma GH were routinely observed during “deep sleep;" hence, the genesis of John Welbourn’s statement, “sleeping 8 hours or more a day makes you bullet proof.”  His full post, “42 Things I learned Leading Up to 2013,” can be found here.  It is an excellent read, and I would strongly recommend it.

In terms of calories, keep it simple – eggs, fish, fowl and straight up animal flesh are all excellent sources of dietary protein, while leafy green vegetables, such kale, collards, spinach, broccoli, etc., and roots and tubers provide wonderful health benefits.  Meat for strength, vegetables for health, as they say.  I’ve been quoted as saying, “You can’t get strong eating f*cking hummus.”  For the root and tuber intake, I stick primary with yams and sweet potatoes, because they are simple to prepare, easy to transport, and cheap to buy.  Carrots are another one of my favorites, though less carbohydrate-dense.  Yukon Gold potatoes taste great, especially when mashed, but they tend to give me mild digestive issues.

Keeping it simple will also help to ease ancillary strains on the supply line, such as travel, work, or other familial obligations.  It is not unusual for me to cook several pounds of food before a trip, then pack it all in plastic bags and transport the reserves via cooler.  Do yourself a favor, and call ahead to the hotel to see if they have a refridgerator in your room.  If I am travelling to my grandparent’s house in Ohio, for example, I ask my grandmother to thaw out 5-10 pounds of ground venison the day before my arrival.  Ground red meat allows for quick and flexible meal preparation.  It sounds strange, but it all works.  Remember, weightlifters must fortify their supply line if they wish to continue progressing in the gym.

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[1] Y. Takahashi, D. M. Kipnis, and W. H. Daughday, “Growth Hormone Secretion during Sleep,” Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Metabolism Division, St. Louis, Missouri, 1968.