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Muscle Madness: Triceps Brachii

The Exercise Physiologists at Peak Performance know all the muscles in the body, but which ones are our favorite?! Every week we will feature a different muscle- so you guys get an anatomy lesson and learn how to work that muscle!

Louise, what’s your favorite muscle?

My favorite muscle is the triceps brachii.

Where is this muscle located?

Triceps are commonly pointed out as the “back of the upper arm.”  The triceps actually have 3 heads which originate from different spots; the long head from the infraglenoid tubercle of the scapula, the lateral head from above the radial sulcus, and the medial head from below the radial sulcus. All three heads converge into a tendon which inserts on the olecranon process of the ulna a.k.a your “funny bone.”

What does this muscle do?

The primary function of the triceps brachii is to extend (straighten) the elbow. This is especially important for compound movements such as push-ups, chest press, and shoulder press.

What is a good exercise to strengthen this muscle?

Many of my clients ask for exercises to strengthen this area and there are so many! My personal favorite are “skull crushers,” partially because of their tough name. For this exercise, lay on your back with dumbbells in hand or holding a medicine ball or a barbell. With your arms straight in the air, start to bend the elbow lowering the weight towards your head. Keep those elbows pointed towards the ceiling then press the weight back up to the starting position.

 

Off-Season Weight Training for Athletes

Resistance training is a major component for progression in athletic performance. Although the best way to improve performance would be to practice the skills specific to that sport, resistance training allows athletes to target certain muscles/muscles groups. Strength training off the playing field will help them become stronger for their sport.

Off-season resistance training is a great way to get ahead of the competition without interfering with in-season practice schedules. In addition, due to its length, the off-season allows for longer periods of training for progressing specific resistance exercises. A traditional offseason resistance training program for the majority of athletes should be split in to 3 phases; Hypertrophy, Strength, and Power.

Hypertrophy Phase
Hypertrophy means muscle growth (increases in size of muscle fibers). Increased muscle size translates to muscles that are more efficiently capable of becoming stronger muscles. This type of training is characterized by high volume workouts; high sets and repetitions, low to moderate weights, and smaller rest times.

Strength Phase
Strength is the ability to move the most possible weight. Utilizing the increased muscle size from the hypertrophy phase, athletes should be safely attempting heavy lifts in order to increase overall strength. The strength phase is characterized by lower repetitions, increased weights and rest times.

Power Phase
Power is defined as ones ability to perform an exercise over a specific unit of time. Power exercises are characterized as explosive, sport-specific movements that involve strength and speed (Olympic lifts, box jumps, sled push/pulls etc.) Utilizing strength gains from the previous phase, athletes should be able to move heavier weights more quickly and explosively. Workouts should be sport specific and focus on the speed and efficiency of heavy lifting. The power phase is characterized by lower repetitions, moderate to heavy weights, and moderate rest times.

Following the final phase of the off-season, athletes should decrease their time in the weight room in order to recover and make time for pre-season practice in their respective sports. A well planned training program can keep an athlete in shape during the long off-season and give them the boost they need to be a step ahead of the competition!

 

By David McCalla

Muscle Madness: Piriformis

The Exercise Physiologists at Peak Performance know all the muscles in the body, but which ones are our favorite?! Every week we will feature a different muscle- so you guys get an anatomy lesson and learn how to work that muscle!

Corynne, what’s your favorite muscle?

My favorite is the piriformis. I find that most people don’t know about this muscle and don’t realize how important it is to stretch this muscle, especially if they have sciatic issues.

Where is it located?

The piriformis is located in the hip area. It is deep- below the gluteus maximus. It starts at he base of the spine and connects to the femur.

What does this muscle do?

The Piriformis assists with lateral rotation (turning out) and abduction (lifting away from the body) of the thigh.

What’s a good exercise for the piriformis?

In many people, this muscle is very tight. It may be more beneficial to work on stretching it rather than focusing on strengthening. A good stretch for this muscle is called a figure four position. Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet flat. Take one leg and cross your ankle over the opposite thigh then reach behind that thigh and hug it in towards your chest- keep your neck relaxed!

Muscle Madness: Trapezius

The Exercise Physiologists at Peak Performance know all the muscles in the body, but which ones are our favorite?! Every week we will feature a different muscle- so you guys get an anatomy lesson and learn how to work that muscle. It’s Muscle Madness!

Tyler, what’s your favorite muscle?

My favorite muscle is the Trapezius also known as your “Traps.” I love this muscle not only because they look awesome when developed but it is a muscle that you must earn. The ‘traps’ are a true sign of strength and you must diligently work hard to develop them.

Where is it located?

The trapezius is located on your upper back. This muscle extends from your neck out towards the shoulders and down your thoracic spine.

What does this muscle do?

The trapezius is one of the major muscles of the back and is responsible for moving, rotating, and stabilizing the scapula (shoulder blade) and also supporting/tilting/twisting the head, neck and arm.

What’s a good exercise to strengthen my trapezius?

Some great exercises to help develop them would be: Deadlifts, dumbbell shrugs and face pulls. Overhead presses are also a good way to help build your traps!

Simple Exercises to Strengthen Your Ankle

As the weather gets warmer, the desire to get outside to exercise naturally increases. If you’re like most people then you’d much rather get your cardio done by doing something fun and distracting like sport, rather than being on a treadmill inside. That’s great, and sports are the best way to burn a ton of calories without even thinking twice about how long you’re playing. Unfortunately playing sports comes with its own risks and one of the most common injuries a sprained ankle. Although it doesn’t sound like much, a sprained ankle varies in severity and can be anywhere from a slight roll to nasty, crippling injury.

Speaking from personal experience, not less than a week ago I was playing basketball, jumped up for the ball and came down with all my weight and ended up rolling my ankle. Not only is this terrifying but an eye-opener as well. Escaping with just a bad “grade 2 sprain,” I could have easily fractured a bone or worse. Why wasn’t it worse? Luck, maybe. The fact that I have a strong muscular foundation surrounding and supporting my ankle is what kept me from completely shattering it. The muscles around your ankle hold it together, think of it like a house; you wouldn’t want your house built out of sticks. Same premise applies.

Here are some exercises to help keep your ankle strong and supported:

1) Single Leg Medicine Ball Toss:

Square off with a partner and toss a medicine ball back and forth while standing on one leg. Make it harder by balancing on a foam pad. Shoot for 60 seconds, 5 times.

2) Balance Foam:

Use one foot to stand on a balance foam for as long as you can without toppling over. Focus on stabilizing at the ankle. Do 5 sets for maximal time.

3) Resisted Ankle Pumps:

Sit down and place a mini resistance band around both feet. Strengthen your ankles by rotating your feet upward and outward, against the resistance. Do at least 3 sets of 15.

4) Calf Raises:

This exercise teaches your ankles to have control when your body shifts weight. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, shift weight onto your toes, and slowly lift your heels off the ground. Keep your ankles in a neutral position to prevent them from rolling out

 

By Tyler Palmquist

Staying Accountable For Your Resolutions

Consistency with your exercise regimen is of the utmost importance in order to achieve your desired fitness goals.  Having a trainer is a great way to stay responsible with your health and fitness because it ensures that you schedule regular exercise sessions throughout the week.  However, without a trainer you are solely responsible to keep up with regular visits to the fitness center, which may prove to be harder than it seems due to other obligations such as work and family.

One technique that may help stay accountable is to designate a regular time in which you put aside strictly for exercise.  This could be in the morning before work, or at night as your day winds down.  However, planning to exercise at night leaves more of a chance to come up with excuses to miss the gym, and on top of that we have less energy in the evening/night versus the morning.

Another strategy could be to set a goal for how many days you wish to exercise (ideally a minimum of three days a week) and then make a checklist.  Keep that checklist somewhere you will see every day to ensure you meet your weekly goal.

If for some reason due to lack of time you are unable to make it to the facility, have your trainer design a home workout for you for convenience.  Having exercise equipment at home, such as a treadmill, bike, dumbbells, and/or resistance bands will certainly help keep you accountable—or even if you walk or jog around the neighborhood for at least 30 minutes.

 

By Anthony Locast

Simple Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Cardio Session

“Cardio” is a great way to burn calories and keep your heart healthy. It could be as simple as walking on the treadmill for 30-60 minutes. However, if you’re just going through the motions, you could be wasting your time. Here are some tips to make sure you are getting the most out of your cardio exercise!

Yes, it is true that the longer you stay on cardio machine, the more calories you may burn. However, you can burn more calories in a shorter period of time by simply increasing your intensity. Whether it be increasing the resistance on a stationary bike/elliptical, or increasing the speed or incline on a treadmill.

The “fat burn zone” of cardio is said to be at about 60-65% of one’s estimated max heart rate. At this intensity, 40% of your calories burned will be from fat. This is a fairly low level of intensity and would have to be maintained to for a much longer period of time in order to have a substantial benefit. When you increase your intensity to 75-85% of max heart rate, only 25-30% of your calories burned will be from fat. However, because more work is being done you will burn more total calories and consequently more calories from fat.

Along with changing the intensity, try changing the type of cardio you do once in a while. The human body is great at adapting, and once it is acclimated the same form of cardio may not exhibit the same training effect. If you usually walk on the treadmill, try the bike, elliptical, arc-trainer, stair stepper, rowing, swimming… Try them all!

Finally, it is very important that you eat! Starving yourself before can deprive you of the energy needed to complete a cardio session and starving yourself after will hinder your ability to recover from your workout. In the long run, “starvation” will negatively affect your exercise goals by decreasing muscle and retaining fat.

On other hand, you must make sure you do not eat too much! Just because the elliptical says you burned 400 calories doesn’t mean you’ve earned yourself a 400 calorie meal. Firstly, the machines can only estimate calories so that number may not be 100% accurate. Secondly, weight loss comes down to energy in vs. energy out. So in order to lose weight, you must eat less calories than you’ve burned.

 

By Dave McCalla

Sports Spotlight: Improving Your Sprint Performance

Here is the second part of our Summer Sports Spotlight! This is a three part series on how to increase your sprinting mechanics and get faster.

Improve your sprinting technique

Without ever lifting a weight, it is possible to get faster just be learning to be more efficient! Here are some common aspects of running that get overlooked, along with some techniques to improve them!

  • Strike the ground at the mid foot. By making a heel-to-toe contact as you run you aren’t optimally utilizing your ground striking mechanics!
  • Keep your shoulders relaxed and avoid from shrugging
  • Keep a symmetrical rhythm between your arms and legs and be sure your arms aren’t crossing over your body.

Increase your overall strength

  • The stronger you are, the more force you’ll be able to produce into the ground. This force will be generated from your type two muscle fibers rather than your type one fibers and understanding the differences between these two fibers is the key to ensure you’re training properly.
  • Type one muscle fibers are used to maintain exercise and activity for a long duration of time, which means their ability to generate short term maximal power is limited while type two fibers are explosive and meant to generate a high amount of power for a single rep or a short duration.
  • The best way to grow these type two fibers are to make sure they’re being trained against resistance. Look at the picture to the right and ask yourself, “Which of these two athletes lift in their program?” The answer should be obvious. By using weights at a high enough resistance to build strength (thus leading to increased type II fiber size) he is placing his muscles under the similar demands of generating maximal force into the ground.
  • Although it may seem counter-intuitive to hit the weight room instead of the track to get better at running, you need to have a balance of both. Adding in weight training to your running program could be the key to breaking out of your plateau!

 

Improve your triple extension

  • Triple extension is the simultaneous extension of your ankles, knees, and hips.
  • Improving your explosiveness through this position will let you move faster by improving your stride frequency, this is the amount of times you complete a full stride cycle during your run. The main difference between sub-elite and elite athletes is stride frequency, meaning it’s more beneficial to take frequent steps rather than taking just longer steps.
  • Olympic lifts are exercises that are specific to improving triple extension and are designed to improve explosiveness. These exercises involve total body movement performed as quickly as possible. Note that in frame one and two of the picture (featured left) the athlete has performed a hang clean by moving into triple extension to drive to bar off the floor.

 

Talk to one of our certified strength and conditioning specialists if you feel incorporating Olympic lifts and improving triple extension would take your game to the next level.

 

By Dave Albaranes