Hi Friend,
Happy Sunday to you!
We made it to Disney's Hilton Head Resort and we had a great week with my family. The trees there are amazing. I love the Spanish Moss. I got 4 workouts in, played hoops twice, biked half the days, was either in the pool or ocean everyday and slept a lot. My nutrition was both on point and relaxed & participatory. It felt good to travel and see other humans again.
And now we're back for Phase 9.
Phase 9
Aug 8 to Aug 26 (3 weeks on, 1 week off)
Empowerment Week: 8/27 to 9/5 (last 3 weeks on, 1 week off of the year).
No classes on Labor Day
Intensity Phase (suggested DB Load = 30-50% BW on strong days)
7-8am, Sat, 8/27, Weekend Workout - Stretch & Sprint
2:1 Hip to Knee Ratio
A couple of years ago I introduced the 2:1 hip to knee ratio for lower body exercises. The purpose was to help counteract sitting and reduce low back and lower leg pain & injuries, much like it's very common to use a 2:1 upper body pull to push ratio to reduce rounded shoulder related pain & injuries.
I think it worked for a while, has a place and I may use it again during different phases or quarters in our programming, but I'm stopping it this phase. The rehab I'm doing on my knee is basically all knee (quad exercises), hip rotation exercises (monster walks or hip abductions) and calf exercises, but no bridges, dead lifts or leg curls, which tells me what's strong and what's weak. I'm very sensitive to feedback in class from our members on how they're feeling and a couple people have had knee soreness or pain, that I wonder if decreasing the amount of quad exercises we did made them more susceptible to knee soreness.
Part of the reason to do the 2:1 hip to knee is when you sit your hips flexors and quads get tight and your glutes and hamstrings get weak. This can contribute to knee pain and back pain and injuries to both areas. Hence the benefit of and introduction of the 2:1 into our programming. My physical therapist had a reaction that she thought it was also cutting edge and a good idea, however we both felt that maybe it's not an all the time thing. I don't yet know the right frequency or formula of when to use it, but I think it's beneficial for some new people or some people who haven't been training in a while or people who have been sedentary for a while or maybe even have sat a lot recently because of work, travel or leisure.
In any event, we're switching back to a 1:1 hip to knee ratio this phase (3 hip exercises and 3 knee exercises). It's the most neutral. 1 push, 1 pull. 1 hip, 1 knee. It's what we did for the majority of our years in CYBBC.
1:1 Hip Push vs. Knee Push Exercises This Phase
Hip
2-DB SLDL
1-DB 1-Leg Bench Hip Thrust
DB OH 1-Leg Curl to Bridge / Nordic Negative + Plyo Push Ups
Knee
DB FSG Reverse Lunge
DB Goblet Lateral Lunge to High Knee
DB 1-Leg Squat to a MB
DB Goblet Lateral Lunges to High Knee
To reduce soreness from a new exercise introduced mid quarter, I'd like to have you do this progression at least the 1st week:
Lateral Squat > Lateral Lunge > DB Goblet Lateral Lunge > DB Goblet LL to High Knee
That means each set you progress to the next level if you choose. I won't be emphasizing the reach to overhead this phase unless I think you really need it as I'd like to solely focus on lower body strength.
Strength / Hypertrophy / Bodybuilding
The Disney gym had 2 treadmills, 1 elliptical, 1 recumbent bike, 1 free motion dual arm cable column with pull up bar, a bench and DB's from 5-50 lbs. It was all you needed, but it was a tight space. No space for stretching or mat exercises, so I made lemonade.
It was fun to use the same program and modify and substitute where appropriate. Most everyone that trained at the same time as me either did bodybuilding or group fitness class style workouts. It was fun substitute in some different exercises and use the treadmill and cardio pieces as my interval options.
This phase like all phases you'll have a choice between training strong or training fast. When you train fast, I want you to focus on moving fast and getting as many rounds as you want. The goal is to recover. When you train strong I want you to push the limits. Try to do higher levels even if it's only for 1 set or some reps. Try the heavier weights at least for 1 set. Try to lift as many reps as possible on the 2nd set because that's probably you're last set and maybe even your 1st set if you under guess your weight or feel like you could do 3 or more reps at the end of your suggested rep recommendation. You'll get stronger, you'll get the hypertrophy and it'll have a nice bodybuilding affect.
Phase 9 - Warm Up
