National Athlete of the Month | Eric Shanteau | January 2010

On June 19, 2008 Shanteau was diagnosed with testicular cancer, less than a year after his father was diagnosed with lung cancer in July 2007. To add to the debilitating news, Shanteau was slated to compete in the 2008 Olympic Trials shortly thereafter. But after a series of medical exams, one week prior, he was cleared to participate in the Trials and qualified for the 2008 Olympic Team in the 200m breaststroke.

In last year’s U.S. Championships, Shanteau captured an American-record time of 2 minutes, 8.01 seconds in the 200m breaststroke, and won the 4x100m medley relay in a world-record time of 3:27.28 at the FINA World Championships in Rome. Additionally, at the FINA World Championships, he finished second in the 200m freestyle, third in the 200m individual medley and fourth in the 100m breaststroke.

Shanteau is an 11-time NCAA All-American from Auburn University, and despite finishing just short at the 2004 Olympic Trials, he was the first American to win gold medals in the 200m IM and 400m IM events at the 2005 World University Games. Also, during the 2007 U.S. National Championships, Shanteau was a silver medalist in the 200m breaststroke and 200m IM, and took home bronze medals in the 100m breaststroke and 400m IM.

Exercise of the Month | Single Arm Bicep Curl | January 2010

The Single Arm Bicep Curl is an excellent exercise to gain strength and muscle tone in your arms. It can be performed sitting or standing. Start by holding the weight with a supine grip, resting at your thigh. In a curling motion, slowly bring the weight up to your shoulder keeping your back straight, elbow at your side and your core tight. Using correct form requires keeping your wrist locked during the entire exercise ... assisting the lift with your wrist decreases the integrity of the lever arm established by the exercise. To finish, slowly return the weight back to the starting position, pausing between repetitions to eliminate the assistance of momentum.

Major Muscles Involved: Biceps Brachii, Brachialis, Brachioradialis

Weekly Training Article | Why Women Should Strength Train | 1/25/10-1/31/10

By Dave Elger

Ladies, are you as strong as you were 10 years ago? Do you notice fat where there used to be muscle? Do you feel older than you would like? Are you finding it more difficult to maintain your weight even though you are eating less? These are just some of the questions that author/researcher Dr. Miriam E. Nelson poses to women over age 35 in her book entitled, Strong Women Stay Young.

According to Dr. Nelson, there is now substantial evidence that women can delay and in some cases even reverse these physical changes with a program of regular strength training.

Do not be deceived by the fact that on average, women are only 2/3 as strong as men. According to William P. Ebben in a 1998 article published in Physician and Sportsmedicine, when strength is calculated per cross-sectional area of muscle, there is NO APPRECIABLE DIFFERENCE between men and women.

Furthermore, several studies have demonstrated that women experience percentage gains in strength comparable to men on a similar weight lifting program. The difference is that strength gains in women are not accompanied by large increases in muscle bulk.

Unfortunately, several myths about women and strength training still exist. For example:

MYTH: All women should lift very light weights many times to tone rather than bulk.

FACT: Just like men, unless a muscle is fatigued to the point of near exhaustion, it will not change in shape or firmness. How often have women been advised to repeat lifting weights as light as 3 or 5 pounds? It is doubtful that women can fatigue their muscle using such light resistance. If muscle has not been exhausted in 15-20 repetitions, it is time to increase the weight.

MYTH: Women interested in weight loss should avoid weight training.

FACT: With few exceptions, women that lift weights generally do not add muscle bulk due to lower testosterone levels. They should, however, experience a decrease in body fat and girth measurements due to an increase in metabolic rate.

MYTH: The elderly should avoid strength training.

FACT: Dr. Nelson was involved in a weight-lifting study using 90-year-old men and women residing in a nursing home. Following just 8 weeks of supervised strength training the group increased their average strength by an amazing 175%! They demonstrated convincingly that age should not be a barrier.

MYTH: You need to spend hours at the gym and do multiple sets of different exercises.

FACT: There is more than one way to apply resistance to muscles. If you cannot go to the gym, you can always use dumbbells or rubber tubing at home. Be creative with crunches, lunges, push-ups, pull-ups, back extensions and dips. At home or in the gym, its possible to complete a well-rounded strength training workout in as little as 20 to 30 minutes.

Other benefits of strength training for women include increased bone density and prevention of osteoporosis, improved joint integrity, enhanced quality of life and improved self-esteem.

Beginners that aren't sure where to begin should visit their local fitness center for some expert guidance on how to lift weights properly.

Women can and do benefit from regular weight training. The author explains why in addition to dispelling some old myths pertaining to women and weight training.

Source: physicalfitnessarticles.net

Dave Elger is a well respected authority within the running community having written hundreds of articles on the topics of running and wellness. You can contact him at http://www.daveelger.com.

Weekly Training Article | How to Properly Train for a Marathon | 1/18/10-1/24/10

By Stephanie Larkin

Most people balk at the idea of running a marathon, usually because they think it is torture and that training will kill them long before it makes them stronger. However, if you properly train for a marathon, running one can be fun and rewarding for you.

Running a marathon is an increasingly popular trend, and many people add it to their "list of things to do," especially as a New Year's resolution. The fact is most people know how to maximize the performance of their bodies with proper training. The first marathon was in Massachusetts in 1897 and had 18 men participating. Since then, marathons have expanded to 150 organized yearly marathons around the world. Both men and women participate in marathons, running 26.2 miles.

Running a marathon, for most people, symbolizes strength and motivation. But little do many people realize that running a marathon takes work -- lots of training, and the more proper and better the training, the more likely running a marathon will be a fun experience instead of dreadful torture.

For first time marathoners, it's important -- if you are training by yourself -- to find a running group or someone else to train with you. It can be both fun and rewarding to run with a running group -- learning from experiences had by other runners and marathoners, and having someone there to motivate you to keep going.

The key to running a marathon is the training, and there's no specific guide to marathon training. But you should follow a basic recipe to ensure that you are doing it correctly and to help maximize your results. Below is an example of an 18-week program for new marathoners, perfect for people who are running their first marathon and have never trained for one before. Of course, any marathoner can use this recipe for marathon training, and adapt it to fit their strengths and needs.

The 18-weeks before a marathon:

Mondays - Rest Day, each week.

Tuesdays - Easy running day

Weeks 1-10: three miles

Weeks 11-13: four miles

Weeks 14 -16: five miles

Week 17: four miles

Week 18: three miles

Wednesdays - Medium difficulty running day

Weeks 1-2: three miles

Weeks 3-4: four miles

Weeks 5-6: five miles

Weeks 7-8: six miles

Weeks 9-10: seven miles

Weeks 11-12: eight miles

Weeks 13-14: nine miles

Week 15: 10 miles

Week 16: eight miles

Week 17: six miles

Week 18: three miles

Thursdays - Easy running day

Weeks 1-7: three miles

Weeks 8-11: four miles

Weeks 12 -16: five miles

Week 17: four miles

Week 18: REST

Fridays - Rest Day, each week.

Saturdays - Cross Training Day, each week.

Sundays - Long runs and race days, each week.

Week number- type and length of run

1- six miles

2- seven miles

3- five miles

4- nine miles

5- 10 miles

6- RACE six to 10 miles

7- 12 miles

8- 13 miles

9- 10 miles

10- 15 miles

11- 16 miles

12- RACE 10 to 15 miles

13- 18 miles

14- 14 miles

15- 20 miles

16- RACE six miles

17- eight miles

18- Marathon day!

By sticking to a schedule such as the one above, you are conditioning your body for race day as well as training yourself for an increase in activity. The most important days of the schedule are not the hard days, where you have to run further, but rather the rest days, where you have to submit to allowing yourself NOT to train that day. Your body needs this time to recover and adapt to all of the difficult training you've done throughout the week. If you don't rest on the rest days, your training will be much harder and you could do some serious damage, rather than making and building yourself up to be stronger.

For the cross training days, you can do a variety of exercises that will help you in your marathon training. When you choose your activity for the day, however, you shouldn't over-do yourself. You can participate until you feel a little fatigued, but don't push yourself beyond your limits. As your training continues on through the 18 weeks, you will find that you can spend more time cross training because it takes longer to fatigue. Activities that will help your marathon training include:

Bike riding

Swimming

Weight training

Brisk walking

The next most important days of your training are the long run days, each Sunday. These long runs help your body adapt to the physical exertion and stress of a long distance run, similar to what you will experience on marathon day.

Don't forget to listen to your own body -- if you have pain other than just sore muscles, you should cease your training and seek a doctor's advice.

Source: www.articlecircle.com

Weekly Training Article | Marathon Training: Running Your Next Marathon | 1/11/10-1/17/10

So, one of your goals this year is to run a marathon? This is quite a task and it will take more than keeping in shape and watching what you eat if you are serious about achieving it. To train effectively for this goal, you must have a well thought out and coherent plan that will bring you gradually to the right fitness level. -- This holds true for all fitness levels you are at.

So, how do you go about training for a marathon?

Well, the best advice for doing this is to break your training down into different phases. What each phase entails and how much time you spend on each phase depends heavily on your current fitness level. It will also depend on how much time you have to prepare yourself. Obviously, if you have a year to prepare, your training regime will be different than if you only have two months.

What most professional marathon runners advise, is that regardless of your fitness level, you will want to break your training into various phases. One aspect of each phase will be that you will want to bring your running ability close to the 26-mile length of a marathon. This will usually be more of an issue for beginners than for more seasoned runners. -- It is a major issue for beginning runners as many people can hardly run one mile, never mind 26 of them right after each other!

A good example would be if you had 26 weeks to prepare. Then, you could aim to go for a long run once a week, which would gradually increase by a mile each week, until you could run at least 20 miles. This would not be the only aspect of your training, but it would be one way of ensuring that you had the stamina and energy to run the entire length of a marathon.

As well as worrying about the length of you running capability, you have to make sure that you are running frequently. Of course, you will take rest days, and you may even rotate your training so that you are only running five days a week. The other two days you should be exercising your upper body. However, the important point to remember is that you should have a regime and stick to it.

Source: www.articlecircle.com

Weekly Training Article | The Perfect Rep Range for Building Muscle | 1/4/10-1/10/10

By Sean Nalewanyj

No matter what you read or who you talk to, everyone has their own opinion of what the "perfect" rep range should be to allow for maximum muscle stimulation and growth. In this article I'm going to clear up the confusion once and for all and teach you the truth about choosing the most effective rep range for optimal muscle-building results.

Sets that utilize heavy weight and low reps are without a doubt the most effective means of stimulating muscle growth. For every set you perform in the gym, you should utilize a rep range of 5 to 7. This means that for every set you perform, the weight should be light enough that you can complete 5 reps in good form, but heavy enough that you cannot complete more than 7. What's so special about 5 to 7, you ask? Well...

1) Each set will only last between 20-30 seconds.

Maximizing your muscle gains is all about intensity and efficiency. By utilizing a lower rep range, your sets will only last a short period of time, allowing you to generate 100% mental focus and effort. Training with 100% intensity is critical to stimulating muscle growth and it is much easier to maintain this level of effort for shorter periods of time. You will not have to psyche yourself up for marathon sets lasting minutes on end, but rather for a short burst of all-out effort lasting only several seconds.

2) Muscle stimulation will be maximized.

Our bodies are made up of 2 main types of muscle fibers: slow twitch and fast twitch. Slow twitch fibers cannot generate large bursts of power and are utilized during prolonged activity. They have a high tolerance for endurance exercise but do not have a very high potential for increased growth. Fast twitch fibers on the other hand produce large bursts of power and are utilized during short, explosive movements. They contain a large amount of mitochondria (an area in the muscle cell where energy is produced) and have the highest potential for increases in both size and strength. By utilizing a rep range of 5 to 7 you will tap into these extremely responsive fibers and this will result in the greatest amount of muscle growth and strength gain possible.

3) Maximum resistance can be used.

By performing only 5 to 7 reps per set, you will enable your muscles to handle heavier amounts of weight than you could with a higher rep range. Building muscle is a byproduct of building strength, and training in a lower rep range is the most effective way to accomplish this. Since your strength will shoot up much faster using 5 to 7 reps per set, so will your muscle size.

4) Lactic Acid production will be kept to a minimum.

Training in the range of 5 to 7 will also decrease the amount of lactic acid that is secreted within the muscles. Lactic acid is a metabolic waste product that is produced as the body burns carbohydrates for fuel. Lactic acid accumulates in the muscle tissue at increased rates the longer you exercise. By limiting the amount of lactic acid production you will decrease muscle catabolism and create an environment in the body where greater amounts of energy can be generated. This will translate into greater power output and maximum strength potential.

Okay, so we've established that a rep range of 5-7 is the absolute most effective means of stimulating muscle growth. However, this does not apply all the time or on every single lift. There are a few select muscle groups that should be stimulated using a slightly higher rep range. These are the calves, abs, forearms and upper traps. These muscle groups are predominantly made up of slow-twitch fibers, and therefore will respond better to higher reps. For this reason, a rep range of 10-12 should be utilized for these muscle groups. Again, this means that the weight should be light enough for you to complete at least 10 reps, but heavy enough that you cannot complete more than 12.

Summary:

Perform 5-7 reps for the chest, lats, biceps, triceps, shoulders and thighs.

Perform 10-12 reps for the calves, abs, forearms and upper traps.

Source: www.physicalfitnessarticles.net