Random Thoughts

• Was anyone really surprised by A-Roid's admission that he used steroids from 2001-2003? The only two things I'm surprised about are, one, that he used them only over a three year span. And, two, he seems to think you have to wear lip gloss when you're on the stuff.
• Do you know the same people who are always sick or always complaining about being tired? May be, even worse, you know people who are both sick and tired all the time. I'd bet a good amount of cash, $1, that these people have poor nutritional habits. They may think there's some bug going around or they have to much work to do, when the truth is they're not supplying their bodies with the nutrients it needs to fight off illness or feelings of being tired. They're protein intake is probably way down. They're probably not getting enough fruits and vegetables in. And they're probably relying on processed foods for a good portion of the day. If they cleaned up their diets they'd have a much better chance of not getting sick and having higher energy levels.
  
• Another question. Haven't you heard people say before that the reason they do machine based training instead of working with free weights is because they don't want to get injured? From what I see at the gym, I think people have a far greater chance of incurring injury through the use of machines. You'd think it be hard to screw up a machine based movement. Wrong. Tempos become too fast. Ranges of motion become shortened. And too much weight is usually being used. Today, I saw some guy doing things with a lat pulldown machine that I thought weren't even possible.
  
• Kind of tying into the last thought, I haven't used the leg press (seated, 45 degree, or whatever other one you can think of) in nearly two years with a client. To me, I'd rather have people working on their squat or deadlift techniques, doing some single leg work and strengthening the posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, lower back).
• Here's a good principle to apply to your training strategies. Stength coach Charles Staley refers to it as the 180 Principle. Look at what most people are doing in the gym and do the complete opposite. For instance, if most people are doing machine training, work with free weights. If most people are doing long, slow, steady state aerobics, do some high instensity interval training. If most people are working in high rep brackets (15-20) , work in low rep brackets (3-8). The idea is that most people in the gym don't have a clue as how to go about their training and are doing the opposite of what they should be doing. Makes sense to me.
• I'm off to London next week and may actually attend my first professional soccer game. That being said, I will never refer to soccer as football and football as American football. Got me?