Nugent Coaching Systems

DROM – Dynamic Range of Motion

If you’ve been in any training session with me you have been through DROM during the warm-up.  Part ritual, part preventative maintenance, there’s more to meets the eye than a bunch of arm-waving and hip gyrations.

Here’s the DROM I usually do:

10 – 2o reps of each

• Head up-downs
• Ear to shoulders (keeping shoulders down)
• Head turns – right to left
• Shoulder circles forward
• Shoulder circles backward
• Back taps
• Hula-hoops (10 -20 hip circles each direction)
• Knee circles (feet together, knees together, hands above the knees)
• Ankle circles
• Wrist circles
• Shoulder dislocates
• Bayonets

Equipment needed:

• PVC or long closet dowel

Why do this?

One reason is to prime the nervous system for movement.  Kind of like turning on all the switches to a complicated piece of machinery.

The second reason is that you’re doing a pre-flight check of your body.  There are times where you are sore or tight, and you may not know it.  Marching through DROM will allow you to find it (usually) and prepare for the WOD (workout of the day).  If you find yourself tight in an area, you can spend a few more minutes doing mobility work on that section.

Some may think it’s about getting blood flow to the muscles, well maybe.  I don’t look at it that way, but I suppose it could be true.  The other oft-quoted reason is to get fluid in the joints and warm them up.  Sure.  Why not?

The primary reason I do DROM, is that it sets my body in motion for a good workout.  It’s largely ritual, but it’s an important part of the mental prep.  If done regularly, it becomes a familiar friend and chief information source for your muscular/nervous system well-being.

Try using DROM in your next warmup and let me know how it goes!

Happy Training!

-Brandon

Recommended Reading:   “Super Joints” By Pavel Tsatsouline

Sometimes going heavier isn’t always the answer. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. It depends on your goals and your capacity. In my case, I can shoulder a 122 lb stone, and a 94 lb stone with relative ease. However, I can get more accomplished with the lighter stone as I can move it faster in the same amount of time.

The graph above shows the power output of two identical workouts, one using heavier stone than the other. If my goal is always to produce high power output, I would use only the 94lb stone. That’s not always my goal though. I want to get stronger, and I don’t want my system getting used to using just one weight. So I used the 122 lb stone this time. There are a lot of ways to vary workouts (volume, intensity, weight…) This one has the same time constraints (5 minutes), and it’s traveling the same distance (10 feet – ground to shoulder, back to ground).

Both workouts have been recorded in beyondthewhiteboard (one of the best workout tracking sites I’ve ever used).

I’m guessing that now that I’ve pushed myself a bit with the heavier stone, I can go back to the 94 and try this again, possibly moving even faster and producing a better power number. At some point, there will be a wall where I can only move so fast (no matter what the weight) and there will be diminishing returns. So far, that hasn’t happened yet.

Here’s the workout as I captured it earlier this week:

The workout: 5 minutes. As many reps as possible. Ground to shoulder.

Simple.

So what stone should you be using? The answer is both, and others. Cycling between light, medium and heavy days has been a proven method for building strength and overall athletic capacity. In this case, I would get one more stone, a heavier one, and use that as a strength lift, (i.e. 5 sets of 5) and rest between sets. The lighter ones for more high-rep work.

Atlas stones are challenging and fun, and while I am nowhere near what a strongman competitor does (nor do I intend to be a strongman competitor), the strength building aspect of stone lifting cannot be denied. My deadlifts are going up, I am running faster and in general, my core strength is more solid than ever.

Which stone to use? The one in front of you!

Today the final pieces of the new Rogue rack were put together and it had to be assembled. Lunch time is WOD time for me and today I figured putting a wannabe strongman slant on it would be fun. It was HARD.

Afterward my whole body was lit up. There was no escaping the body fire that the combination of stones and zercher carries provided.

Beyond the Whiteboard WOD

This one was fun and I did it for time. 15:31. I KNOW I can do this again faster. Maybe tomorrow?

Cheers,
-Brandon

This graph is actually about work done.  It’s not indicative of my exact work capacity, but with the workouts that I’ve been doing lately, could be a close approximation.  What’s interesting is that my training hours haven’t changed much.  I’m still averaging 6 to 7 hours of training a week.  My ability to move weight and produce power has changed.  To be fair here, I am also choosing workouts that maximize power output (i.e. kettlebell snatching)

Moving weight a farther distance faster, will produce the higher power numbers, and theoretically elicit a better athletic response when it comes to performance.

Does this mean I will run the American River 50 four times faster than last year?  No. (that would be AWESOME)  But I am expecting a big difference in times.

Why should you care?

CrossFit, and in general any training that is geared towards measurement, takes into account power output.  Cycling and triathlon training nowadays, if you’re trying to get to the podium, will involve training with power.   Rowing, crossfit training, and kettlebell training all utilize power.  It’s a true measurement of how much work you’ve done and to gauge your fitness.

How do you get started using power?

• Tape measure
• Timer
• Pen and Paper
• Weight scale (if you’re lifting odd objects like rocks – yes, you can train with power using rocks)

Step one: find out how much you’re lifting.

Step two: find out how far it’s traveling.

Step three: find out long it took you (time it)

Step four: CALCULATE!

Example:

You have a rock that weighs 95 pounds.  You decide to deadlift with it.  You decide you want to deadlift it as many times as you can in 5 minutes.  Let’s say your deadlift pull travels 2 feet.

2 feet x 2 = 4 feet (up and down)

5 minutes = 300 seconds

Now it’s time to do the workout.  You pull with clean, perfect form for 100 reps.

Power (ft-lbs/sec) = (( 4 ft x 95lbs ) / 300 sec)

Power = 126 (ft-lbs/sec)

Work (ft-lbs) = 4 ft x 95lbs

Work = 38,000 ft-lbs

Write this down, RECORD YOUR EFFORT!  Do this workout again after a couple weeks of similar but different style of training.   The next time you do your workout you should see an increase in power or work, or both.  Because this workout uses a fixed time variable (5 minutes), the next time you do this, you should see an increase in both power and work.

Take Away:

Use power to track your fitness progress.

Being scientific about your training does not mean you have to have access to million dollar equipment (or any equipment).

Measure and record if you are training towards a goal.  It’s the only way you’ll know if you’ve met your goal.

When’s the last time you lifted something awkward off the ground?

Odd object training is a great way to develop a body that works as a unit.   When you lift something that doesn’t have a handle or grip point, your body has to find another way to get the work done.

Atlas stone training is a great way to do that.  There are no hand holds, just you and the object.   If you want a core workout, this is hard to beat!  It reveals weak points in your system.   You will need arm strength, back strength, and leg strength – big muscle groups are recruited to get the stone off the ground.

As a multisport athlete, getting your body to work as a unit is critical.  It doesn’t help if you’re only half strong.  Strong legs will help, and a strong back will help even more.  Having a body that can intuit an obstacle and work as one system is priceless when the unexpected happens.  Portaging, mystery events, helping another teammate, or just getting your gear to the start line all  need that ‘functional’ cohesive strength.

Atlas stone training is a core strength guarantee.  There’s no other way around it.

About the video:

The video above is me lifting the very first stone of the series.  Making a stone takes some setup and a little skill.  I worked in construction with my grandfather a few summers while paying for college and he LOVED to work with concrete.  I only wish he was around so I could show him the latest “crazy project”.  Since those college days I’ve made concrete countertops for my house  (Thanks Cheng Concrete!) and a few outdoor projects.  Concrete is a fascinating medium to work with and it’s FUN.

Train with Stones!

If you’re interested in starting stone training, and live in the bay area (near San Jose, California) let me know.

Own Your Own Stones!

Purchase your own Nugent-made atlas stones here.