Classika Fitness 2306 Bedford Avenue / Lynchburg VA 24503 / 455-4788

Results of volleyball group

A quick note on four high school volleyball players who went through an eight-week training protocol recently here:

1. Player 1 attended 15 of 17 workouts and improved her vertical 6 percent.
2. Player 2 attended 13 of 17 workouts and improved her vertical 21 percent(!).
3. Player 3 attended 10 of 17 workouts and improved her vertical 4.4 percent.
4. Player 4 attended 13 of 17 workouts and improved her vertical 9.5 percent.

For safety reasons we did not attempt a pre-test 1-rep max deadlift, so we can't compare before-and-after progress, however, all girls could DL between 115-137 percent of their bodyweight in the final testing session. I'm quite pleased with these results, especially for being a relatively small number of sessions. Should they come in again in the summer, we will then judge progress against these numbers.

Jumping higher is due to a number of factors. Strength (as represented by the ability to deadlift) can be thought of as the raw material for a good jump. We use squats, deadlifts, get-ups, and lunges to build strength. Power is the ability to use that strength quickly, and we use a combination of explosive lifting (cleans, snatches), jump rope, plyometric training, and good old jump training to improve the quickness of the muscles firing. Finally, we work on the basic form of jumping. This might seem superfluous -- can't everyone jump? -- but form often needs to be fixed, and it involves working on engrained bad habits, so it is a longer-term process. All these together help to improve one's vertical jump.

We will form at least one or two small groups this summer to improve vertical jumping ability. If you or your child are interested, please call us at 455-4788. These groups will likely begin in early June, to conclude before tryouts begin in early August.

Wendy

Periodically, we'll feature a client and find out what benefit they've gotten from coming to Classika and any advice they might have for getting in better shape generally. First up: Wendy!

Mark: How long have you been coming to Classika?

Wendy: I've been coming two years this month.

Mark: Two years this month; and what benefits do you get from coming here?

Wendy: There are a lot of them. My overall strength is better. My core strength is stronger, my balance is better. When I first came here I had significant knee and shoulder issues. By working here, I've strengthened the muscles in my legs and shoulders, so those issues are about gone. Another thing for a person my age is bone density -- that's very important, and I feel that the combination of walking and coming here and doing strength training has kept my bone density strong. I've gotten good bone density reports.

Mark: So, better joints, better balance, better bone density?

Wendy: Yes.

Mark: What advice would you give someone thinking about training?

Wendy: I think they'd get a lot of benefit from it. I think it's really great because it's a combination of training -- it's cardio, it's strength training, it's not the same every time so you don't get bored with the workout. It's just an overall good training program here.

Mark: Thanks, Wendy.

Eat a lot, lose weight

OK, that's oversimplifying. But I do want to draw attention to this article explaining that a very low carbohydrate diet often creates major, uncontrollable cravings and weight gain comes back. The study in the article advocates a manner of eating sometimes expressed by the saying: "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper." The basic idea is:

• Eat a big breakfast. Even on a 1200-calorie per day diet, subjects had a breakfast of about 600 calories. Breakfast was carb-heavy.
• Make lunch and dinner subsequently smaller. Carbs are progressively removed from meals as the day goes on.

Subjects in the study who ate a low-carb diet lost a little more weight over four months than did those who were on the "big breakfast" plan: 28 to 23 pounds. However, over the next four months, the low-carb dieters gained most of the weight back; the big breakfasters lost even more pounds.

The bottom line is, your body needs a certain amount of healthy carbs, and it will get them eventually if you deprive it long enough. The key is to load them toward the beginning of the day.

The effect of supervision on elite VB players

This article illustrates a study on the effect of supervised strength training for elite Swedish volleyball players versus unsupervised training (i.e., the honor system). Players who were supervised in their strength training sessions had a significantly increased performance level.

From my personal experience, athletes perform far better when engaged in an intense strength and conditioning program, especially before the season starts. It always amazes me when athletes pass up this obvious route. However, that just means that athletes who do work out to improve performance have that much more of an advantage than their counterparts.

Just FYI, Classika is hosting volleyball strength and conditioning small groups for eight weeks beginning Jan. 11. Classes would start at 3:30 and 4:30. We're also hosting a softball small group at 5:30 in that same time frame.

A pain in the neck!

Over on the right-hand side of the page, there is an article about how strength training significantly reduced pain that office workers had in their shoulders and necks. We see this effect here at Classika fairly often. As we become more sedentary in our work, and more repetitive in what we do at work, our muscles will tend to weaken and tighten. The exercises used in this study were basic, and subjects didn't do that many reps, but it was enough to notice a difference. That's one of the things folks often forget about with regard to exercise, but the reduction in pain can be significant. We've also seen a lot of mild lower back pain disappear after people begin an exercise regimen. We trainers are not always just giving pain; sometimes we take it away, too!