No Leg, No Colon, No Problem

The year was 2010, and I seemed primed for a takeover of the limb-deficient sector of the Paralympic swimming world. Fresh off an American record in the 100-yard freestyle and a first place finish in the 50-meter freestyle at Spring Nationals, I figured to be sitting pretty leading up to the 2012 Paralympics. If I just continued to improve at the same rate, surely I’d be close to the top of the world rankings heading into the Games.

Then disaster struck. I’d been having digestive problems throughout the collegiate swim season, but I’d been so focused on my athletic and scholastic endeavors that I avoided dealing with them as much as possible. Finally, the situation became acute. With my dorm room bed frame actually stained pink from Pepto Bismol, I couldn’t avoid it any longer.

T Nation: 5 Ways You're Wasting Time in the Gym

If you're anything like me, you love lifting weights. It’s the best part of your day. There’s no finer feeling than the blood coursing through your veins, no finer sound than metal clanking against the floor. But when your life starts to revolve around three-hour marathon gym sessions, you’re no longer getting the most out of your training.

Though your intentions are pure when it comes to these all-day exercise affairs, your results are suffering. You see, building muscle depends on a delicate hormonal balance. Anabolic, or muscle-building, hormones are released at the onset of training, and catabolic, or muscle-wasting, hormones are released around 40 minutes in. Spend much more than an hour pumping iron, and you start tipping the scale in the wrong direction.

It’s easy to fall into this trap. We’ve all been there. One minute you’re warming up; the next you’re only halfway through your workout, it’s two hours later, and you’re late for dinner. Through a combination of improper warm-up, suboptimal exercise selection, and idle rest periods, you’ve managed to turn what should have been a gym quickie into some sort of tantric chest and triceps experience.

With a little extra attention to detail, though, you can get back to building serious muscle without the full-time plus overtime commitment. In my latest T Nation article, I chronicle 5 Ways You're Wasting Time in the Gym -- and what to do about them. Read it here:

>>https://www.t-nation.com/training/5-ways-youre-wasting-time-in-the-gym<<

Call Me Coach Pollenator

My resistance training journey started off humbly enough, in the dirty basement weight room of the local YMCA. With Bill Pearl’s Getting Stronger in hand, I plowed through every exercise in the book -- or at least the ones I was able to do given the congenital absence of my left leg. Back then, I never would have thought my hobby would one day blossom into a career.

My goal at the time was largely performance-based (and perhaps a little aesthetic -- whose isn't?). I had my sights set on the Paralympics for swimming, and I knew resistance training would be an integral component of my training. I had no idea I was following a bodybuilding program, though. I thought lifting weights was lifting weights. I was getting stronger, and that was all that mattered.

Over the next few years, I read more books -- on heart rate monitoring, stretching, and the psychology of peak performance. I thought I knew all there was to know about training. Then, in the summer of 2009, I joined a new gym. The sign-up deal included two free training sessions. The cocky bastard I am, I doubted I would learn anything new, but I jumped on the freebies anyway.

Biofeedback: Bogus or Brilliant?

Key Concepts:

• Biofeedback is an autoregulation, or self-monitoring, technique. It provides information about the “agreeableness” of a particular movement with your body.

• Range of motion testing, like the toe touch, and handgrip strength are two of the easiest ways to apply biofeedback.

• To find the best variation of a movement for you on a particular day, simply establish your baseline measurement, then repeat the test in between a few variations of the movement to see which one tests the highest.

• Biofeedback can be used to individualize and optimize training, help get out of pain, or just become more in tune with your body.

RobertsonTrainingSystems.com: Putting the C in S&C

Let's say you're training a pro American football lineman who needs to develop an aerobic base. At upwards of 300 pounds, running for hours on end would be ill-advised due to the principle of specificity, the risk of injury, and the effects of interference.

In order to develop the lineman’s aerobic energy system safely, effectively, and in accordance with the types of movements required in football, you're going to have to get a little creative.

In our new article for Robertson Training Systems, my coauthor, Marc Lewis, and I tackle this issue and so much more.

Read Putting the C in S&C: An Energy Systems-based Approach here:

http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/putting-the-c-in-sc-an-energy-systems-based-approach/