There Is A Method to the Madness
This is a podcast where I will be discussing all aspects of physical fitness. I am an exercise physiologist and personal trainer and owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs for the last 25 years. My passion is health and fitness and I am excited to share my views, some stories, interviews and much more with you.
There Is A Method to the Madness
Specificity: The Blueprint for Targeted Fitness Results
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...
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Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell and I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I am the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to get to the real deal of what really works and, most importantly, why things work. Hence the name there is a method to the madness. Before I get to today's show, I want to thank Jonathan and Lynn Gildan of the Gildan Group at Realty Pros. They are committed to providing the highest level of customer service in home sales. Why don't you give them a shout and figure out what your home is worth? 386-451-2412. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening.
Speaker 1:Whatever time of day you're listening, rob here to talk about some issues, principles in physical fitness. There isn't a day that goes by that someone doesn't say to me that they get confused because there is so much information out there. I had a rather newer client say that to me the other day and you know I told him. I said you know I get it and all I can do is promise you that the true experts have not changed their mind nearly as much as it appears and that really what we see are just marketing changes and people that don't know what they're talking about, given different views on social media or blog posts or whatever, and that stuff all gets shared and circulated around. And in the world of social media today, it's so easy to just say what we want and people will think we know what we're talking about. So that's a big goal of this program is to always try to give you the truth. As I know it and I do think I know it pretty well because I've lived it for over 31 years as a career I have a education in it, I have certifications in it, I continue to study it I look at the science. I don't follow people's blog posts and things like that. No, I actually read the periodicals and the literature. So that's where I come up with the science, not just like from you know, ted, on TikTok, but literally from periodicals. So that's the goal of the show.
Speaker 1:And today I'm going to talk about one of the principles of physical fitness, and that principle is specificity. All right, so we use science. I mean people in this industry should use science, and science means that things have been studied and reviewed and studied again and reviewed again and we draw conclusions. So you know, whenever people give advice, you're hoping that they would be giving advice from a place of science. You know, like well, literature says this or the studies say this, because nobody has a crystal ball. Like nobody can say, well, we know this to be true and this is going to happen. No, but we can look at the studies and see, like, what amount of duration has seemed to lead to the best health outcomes regarding cardiorespiratory fitness? Or is there a range of frequency with strength training that has led to the greatest health outcomes, training that has led to the greatest health outcomes, or has there been certain rep ranges in the gym that seem to be more conducive to good health outcomes? So that's all like looking at the science. So it's not just literally looking at the biology and talking to you about what's going on within a muscle fiber. Of course, that's part of the science too. But another big part of science is the scientific method, which is you have a question, you form a hypothesis, you do a study, you collect your research, you examine your research, you do a study to formulate your research or to conclude your research, and then you come up with a conclusion.
Speaker 1:And there is a lot of science in the world of physical fitness, health and diet. I mean, there's a ton, and what's really cool about it is most of it agrees with each other. Everybody seems to really agree, and you might think. Well, there's people that battle over the keto diet versus plant-based, which seem to be on polar opposite ends of the spectrum, and in a way, they are, because you can't be plant-based and be carbophobic. Not going to happen, or you're going to starve because you're not going to eat. But that's not the science and that's not the researchers, that's not the experts, that's just people arguing, it's just noise. You know, I mean to be honest with you.
Speaker 1:The research isn't conclusive on what the perfect diet is, because one doesn't exist. There is not a perfect diet. We know certain foods work better with humans, dogs, cats, whatever animals, than others. We know if you eat too much, you're going to gain weight. We know if you don't eat enough, you're going to atrophy, whether it be fat cells or muscle cells. We know that sugar raises glucose and glucose creates a production of insulin and too much insulin floods the system. I mean, we know that stuff, but there's no such thing as a perfect diet.
Speaker 1:We know that nutrient-dense foods are better than calorically dense foods. A nutrient-dense food would be something high in nutrients and low in calories. For example, a vegetable is a nutrient-dense food. A hamburger from Wendy's is a calorically dense food. Which one do you think is better? We know the answer to that. Nutrient-dense foods are complex carbohydrates that are high in fiber and lean proteins. Calorically dense foods are foods that are high in fat, high in sugar. We know that what's perfect, it doesn't exist, all right.
Speaker 1:So specificity is one of the seven principles of physical fitness, and I used to always tell my students people can have opinions all they want, but these principles, even though they don't sound scientific, because they're principles, because they're not biology, they're not anatomy, they're not kinesiology, they're not physiology, they're principles, they're theories, but they have stood the test of time, and there are seven of them. They have stood the test of time and there are seven of them. I'm talking about specificity today because it came to me how clueless many people are about what it really means. All it means is that if you want specific outcomes, you must train yourself, train physically, train mentally, as specific to that outcome as possible. So then, yes, we would have to understand the science. So, in other words, there are different ways. There are different metabolisms. There is your aerobic system and there's your anaerobic system. So let's say you want to improve your endurance, you want a better cardiovascular system, okay. So if you understand specificity, that means you must specifically train your aerobic system, and not your anaerobic system per se, but your aerobic system. That means you must train specifically to lower intensity or moderate intensity heart rates for longer durations, because you're trying to improve your aerobic system. So that is specific.
Speaker 1:Or let's say you come in and you tell me I need to make my football team. I say okay, so what's stopping you? My coach tells me I don't have enough power. I say okay. So how does your coach determine that? He says, well, I want to play defensive end and when I go to rush the passer, the quarterback, I can't get out of my stance fast enough and get past the blocker. I'd say OK. Well, yeah, your coach is right, that sounds like a power issue, you.
Speaker 1:So if we understand a little bit about the strength adaptations, we understand that power is force, times, distance divided by time. So what that means is football players, generally speaking, are larger people. All right, so that is the force. Now this person needs to move quickly into the backfield to get to the quarterback, and it's going to be a very brief period of time. I mean, if a quarterback even gets three seconds to throw the ball, he's lucky, right. So you may not know that, but I'm telling you that. So that defensive end has to get back there quicker than that. So that's quickness and power. Not just quickness, it's power, because he is a big individual that has to move that body quickly. So I would say, okay, I agree with your coach, you've got to work on power.
Speaker 1:So we need to set up a program that works on power, because power and strength are two different things. Too often people think they're the same thing and, by the way, this isn't about power and strength, this is about specificity. I'm just trying to give you examples of how we can go wrong in our own training program or if we get with the wrong type of trainers or coaches that tell us to do the wrong things. So strength is basically moving one rep, the highest weight that you can use. So that's going to be very slow, right? I think everybody has tried to push as much weight as they can at one point in their life and you realize, if you do get it. You got it very slowly. That's pure strength.
Speaker 1:Too often we think of football players as being strong. Now they are. They have to have strength to build the power. But in order to play football, they have to have power and that means they have to be able to move their load and other people's loads, meaning push other people quickly, and that's power. So if this were the case and it's been the case I've worked with different football players, basketball players, baseball players, tennis players, swimmers, you name it and I have to develop a specific program for them. So in this case we would have to work on power, which would be things like squat jumps and vertical leaps and plyometrics and things like that. Now, naturally, I would build a foundation first to make sure, but to really hit their goal, we would specifically have to work with power. Now let's say we're doing it in the back of my gym, because sometimes I'll do some of that stuff out back because we might be using medicine balls, it gets a little loud and all that good stuff.
Speaker 1:Now some people will look over and they'll see some pretty fit looking football players, you know, in good shape, you know doing these types of movements, and then they'll think, oh, that's the way to get in shape. And then they'll their goal might be completely different, like they just assume the person's in shape because they might look pretty good, they might have muscles, they might have definition, they might have bulging muscles, whatever which they might right, they don't have to have power, but it's likely that they do and they'll think, oh, that's the way they do it, and then they'll start doing that Next thing. You know, they're doing box jumps and they're doing squat jumps and they're doing plyometrics and they're doing things what we call like plyo push-ups, which are explosive hand clap push-ups. Now, naturally, all this stuff comes after a foundation of strength and, by the way, it's not very good for general conditioning. It's for power. Sure, you're going to burn calories, but it's for power. But I think you see where I'm leading you here, because a lot of people will see people do things online and they'll go oh, wow, you know, I guess that's how you get in shape. They're doing all this stuff, they're doing all this cool stuff. It's like well, no, not necessarily.
Speaker 1:Specificity tells us, and it's one of the seven principles, and I told my students all the time the principles are not going to change when you get confused as to what to do with the client. Go back to the principles Now. The SEDS principle states specific adaptations to imposed demands. So that is the specificity principle. So that means the body will respond specifically to whatever specific demands you impose upon it. So what does the client want? And then let's design a program that's specific for them.
Speaker 1:Most people want general fitness. Okay, that's still pretty specific, though that means they want general strength, and general strength we typically define as a mix of strength and muscular endurance. That's general strength. So, in other words, the weight that they can push for anywhere from, say, 8 to 12 or 10 to 15 reps is what we usually use for general fitness. So most people want general fitness. That means that they're strong within that rep range. So they're not trying to bench press 300 pounds. Some people are, and if they are, you got to put them on a specific program for strength. That's fine. But most people want general fitness, and general fitness means general strength, and that's endurance and muscular strength combined. Again, 8 to 12, 10 to 15 reps. Most people want their whole body to be fit. So that means we have to work all of the 11 major muscle groups, because they specifically want all those muscle groups to be as defined, to be as strong, to have as much endurance as possible.
Speaker 1:You might think, well, doesn't everybody? No, if you're trying to make the NFL and you're smart, you probably could care less what your biceps look like. I mean, some guys do, but they're not always the guys that you think are the best football players. I mean, it doesn't matter. I mean I can give you 100 names right now in the NFL of guys that don't look overly impressive and are so athletic and fit. It's crazy. So no, not everybody wants that. Most people do, but not everybody wants it. Maybe they do later, but no, not everybody wants their biceps to look good. Not everybody wants their calves to look cut. I mean, football players could care less. Most of them Sometimes they just look that way genetically.
Speaker 1:But what they watch football you know, like at the NFL combines, when they measure these guys they always say speed kills. I mean this guy could be like drop 10 balls out of 11 at the combines, but if he runs a 4-1-2-40, he's going to get drafted high because you kind of can't coach speed If they've got it, speed kills. So football players want speed and they want power. They want to be fast and they want to move a lot of load quickly, right. So specificity and the person who wants to be specifically in good shape and have generally good health outcomes.
Speaker 1:Like most of my clients, they say, hey, I want to be strong enough to carry my grandchildren around, I want to be strong enough to go to the theme parks and go down to the farmer's market and carry my groceries home. I want to still play golf, I want to play pickleball, I want to play tennis, I want to do all these things Great. So they want general strength and then with that we can offset sarcopenia, which is age-related muscle mass loss. So that is specifically working on a general strength program and I would imagine and all my clients do maybe they don't always do it, but they want their heart to be in great shape. So they need to specifically work on their cardiovascular system, which means they're going to have to do cardiovascular activity, which is using the larger muscle groups to go out for a sustained effort of at least 20 minutes and get their heart rate up and move to work in that cardiovascular system into a moderate training zone.
Speaker 1:Football players don't care about that. Tennis players may not care about that. Not now, like not when they're playing tennis. They're going to worry more about the anaerobic stuff, the start and stops. They're going to train more with intervals, like how do they move really fast in bursts and then recover, burst recover, burst recover. Because that's what tennis players do.
Speaker 1:If we want specific outcomes, we have to train specifically for it, which means don't be getting all of your exercise programming off of TikTok, instagram, facebook or whatever you know. I mean, ask a qualified person to help you. Number one, a qualified person. Go to qualified sites if you're not willing to do that, but don't get it off of somebody on Instagram that just looks good and so many times they are doing these technical movements that kind of would fall under the category of plyometrics, like they're doing box jumps or they're doing pull-ups, turning into muscle-ups and things like that. That are great if you're specifically training for something like that. But if you're just trying to get in shape and I don't just say that flippantly, I mean when only 25% of our population are doing enough activity to get health outcomes Then it's not just trying to stay in shape. It'd be awesome if everybody was in shape, right. But we don't have to do that stuff. And, as a matter of fact, it could be counterproductive because you're going to get hurt.
Speaker 1:What you need is to work your body, all your major muscle groups, strength training wise, two to three times a week somewhere in a range of 10 to 20. For general strength, you cannot go wrong with One to three sets somewhere in that ballpark. Aim to do cardio five days a week and at least three days per week where you get your heart rate up for at least 20 minutes, preferably 30. Like that's what we need to do and we need to do it consistently. We don't have to do fancy moves that we might see and you know, I see it in the endurance world all the time with people, a lot of people are training, doing different kinds of 5Ks, 10ks, sprint triathlons, ironmans, whatever.
Speaker 1:And they don't either follow the principle of specificity. Say so, what are you training for? Oh, I'm really trying to get faster in the 5K. Oh, great, that's awesome. Now, for those that don't know, a 5K is 3.1 miles and they'll say so I got to get my 12 miler in on Saturday. I'm thinking 12 miler, I mean I get it. Some people want to go a little bit longer because it's their therapy or they like it. But I also think it goes too far and it borders on obsessiveness and it definitely doesn't follow the principle of specificity.
Speaker 1:So if you really wanted to get better at the 5k, guess what you would be doing as frequently as your body could handle it, you'd be running 3.1 miles. I mean that's the bottom line. You would be training specific to the distance, specific to the intensity, specific to the time of day, if you were really trying to be perfect. I mean that specificity, and you know that also follows the old KISS principle I have on my board, which isn't one of the seven principles of physical fitness, but let's make it one, all right. No, we can't do that, but it is on my board.
Speaker 1:Keep it simple, stupid. I mean it's like okay, so you want to get better at running the 5k? I mean you know, you could probably ask a 10 year old what to do and they would answer better than a lot of adults because they say, well, how far is it? Oh, 3.1 miles, I don't know, maybe run 3.1 miles. There you go Like we really don't have to overcomplicate some of this stuff and trust me, I'm an exercise physiologist, I know there's a little more to it, but then again, there really isn't.
Speaker 1:So here's your homework. I want you to think about what are your specific goals? I mean, I spend a lot of time with my clients here Before they start training. I figure out exactly what they want and if they can't put it in the words like the words that I'm looking for, because they might just say something like I don't know, I want to be in shape I ask leading questions and I try to figure it out and then we build a program. You know, and it's not rocket science. I mean, keep it simple. Stupid is on my board for a reason.
Speaker 1:Like you know, we're not nearly as unique as we all think that we are. I mean so, but you know, we do have different things we want to accomplish, and somebody training to lose weight is going to be different than somebody training to gain muscle. I mean, they're two different things. Might be some of the same exercises, might be cardio, and well, they're both cardio and strength, yes, but it will definitely be geared differently, specific to what they need, and so when you're seeing people train on social media, you honestly don't know their goals. You don't know what they're doing and they may not either. So again back to your homework, think about what you really want and let's make sure that you're doing what you should be doing specifically for that, all right. And if you're a client of mine and we're off track, man, we're both in trouble me and you, right. But if you're not a client, I want you to think about that, all right. Specificity is the word of the day.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to today's program. I ask you to please follow the show wherever you get your podcasts and please select automatic download, because that really helps the show. Now I want to thank Overhead Door of Daytona Beach, the area's premier garage door company. They have the best product. They have the best service. I personally vouch for Jeff and Zach Hawk, the owners. They are great people with a great company. If you have any garage door needs, please give them a shout at 386-222-3165.
