Training Programs

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by John Williams

EVO Summer Softball Program RB

If you are interested in the special RB softball program for EVO Sport Performance Training.
Click the link below to give your girls the best opportunity to improve:
- First step explosion = Better push off the mound

- Better balance for improved agility = Improved ability to change direction

- Lower body power and mobility to prevent injuries = Explosive power necessary to drive the ball when hitting and run faster.

- Upper body power and structural balance = Increased upper body power for increasing ball speed and movement.

Jay Schroeder Interview

Here is an interview I recorded in June with Jay Schroeder; the father of the system we use here at EVO SPORT. He speaks candidly about a variety of topics and answers a host of my questions.

Enjoy!

Positive News!!

Dr. Joe,

Just wanted to pass along a picture of Ashley during our State playoffs. I thought you might be proud to know that she pitched extremely well that weekend, and maintained her strength through the whole tournament. After finishing the State playoffs she received e-mails from several different colleges interested in her playing for their team. My husband and I can not thank you enough for all you have done for Ashley. We firmly beleive that she has come this far because of what you have done for her and also because she has maintained her work outs and is not over pitching herself either. I hope it doesn't seem like we are bragging about Ashley, but because of what she went through this past summer with all the negativity she received from her past coaches saying that she would never recover from her injury, it's hard not to brag when we see how far she has come because of you and her will power to continue playing. We are coming to see you this weekend. Ashley wanted to get a little adjustment, she is going to UGA camp this Sunday and she wants to be good and loose. They were one of the first schools that recruited her after the State playoffs. Again, thanks so much for what you have done!!!

Thank You,

Anneliese Anderson

Thou Shall NOT worship false idols !!

The Biblical reference is clear;

You shall not make for yourself an idol, you shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.

Whether we agree that God is jealous or not I think he made his point.

The last 15 years has seen a significant increase in the appearance of the perfect face, the perfect body, the perfect shape. As a society we have fallen victim to the mastery of the skill of "photo manipulating". It's obvious the effect of this behavior has transcended the the simple pages of the publications we are exposed to, but in turn influencing the fashion and dietary habits of our youth. This short clip speaks to the deception present in the media and serves to answer the question of what are we really investing our emotional energy into and are we becoming worshipers of false ideology? Is the pursuit, admiration and expectation of perfection, akin to idolizing perfection?

Hopefully this will provide fuel for your fire of disdain for the "accepted" and at least in your mind you will not fall victim to the worship of these false idols.

"Fast Track to Elite Performance" Seminar

John Williams, C.S.C.S

Managing Director of EVO Sport Atlanta

(Formerly Paradigm Performance Lab)

in conjunction with

Georgia Spine & Sports Rehab

Cordially invites...

The Parents, Coaches & Athletes of

Gwinnett County

To a private gathering of

Concerned parents and coaches

for the purpose of exploring the

latest technological breakthroughs in

Performance Training & Injury Prevention.

Come share and interact while enjoying the healthy

and rejuvenating juices & smoothies complimentary of our friends at Juices Wild.

In the

“Fast Track to Elite Performance”

seminar you will hear:

How we took a mediocre performing javelin thrower who was over trained and nonperforming from 50 in the world to Beijing as an Olympian and now 10 in the world in just under 12 months!

Sound interesting? How about a baseball catcher; who was able to catch for 16 straight innings in ninety-degree heat and was not only able to keep going, but still had enough power in the late innings to blast one over the fence.

What about the athlete who came into fall conditioning as the best conditioned player on the field by far, after training with us. Despite the fact that she Never did any running or Speed & Agility training!

There’s more….. We sent a freshman athlete to one of the top Division I athletics programs in the country and upon evaluation by the group hired to identify any performance weaknesses in both their incoming & returning players. The final report…

“We can’t find any area where you are weak; you’re clearly

the best prepared player on the team!”

Exclusive Seminar for parents and coaches of athletes who aspire to be among the Elite.

By accepting this FREE invitation, you join a select group that is united in a common cause:

To ensure your athletes are truly prepared for the rapidly changing highly competitive arena of high level sport.

This gathering offers you the ability to become instantly current with the latest technology, both Performance training and Injury prevention, as well as the

ultra-secret methodologies used by the Soviets to utterly Dominate

the world of athletics for over

20 years!

We have taken a quantum leap from outdated & often ill applied Speed Agility & Quickness training. To ultra advanced training systems which are designed to elevate the performance to previously unattainable levels

in a short period of time,while simultaneously reducing risk of injury.

You are being offered the opportunity to meet, interact

and be influenced by other parents & coaches in the system, all the while learning how this technology will give your athlete(s) a much needed competitive edge in the challenging years ahead.

If you would like to know more about this exclusive seminar,

or to RSVP,

please call John Williams directly at 770-815-3531.

In addition to the FREE refreshments…

As an added BONUS

I will include two of our

special reports a $49.00 value…

Bonus #1.

Why Sport specific training is slowly Destroying your players chances of excelling in sports.

Bonus #2.

Why it took me 10 years to figure out that Speed Agility & Quickness training doesn’t work!!

Date: November 21st, 2008

Time: 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm

Location:

Paradigm Performance Lab

811 Brogdon Rd. Suite 110

Suwanee, GA 30024

770-815-3531

Please RSVP by November 14th, 2008

Here’s what other parents and coaches have had to

say about what we do:

We’ve been to other training facilities and been disappointed. "The staff at Paradigm has been better than we imagined; they are dedicated to the success of each one of their athletes and the system they use is amazing! It has produced such improvement in my daughter’s mental strength as well as her physical performance. Combined, it allowed her to go from #15 in the country to #1 As a parent, what more could I want."

- Sue Min

"As a professional coach, I thought I had seen everything under the sun when it came to training. These guys are way ahead of anything else out there and their ability to produce improvements in speed and power far surpass conventional systems."

– Rick Lewis

Head Coach Halifax Rainmen

"My son has made tremendous gains in his speed and strength over the last two months and I only wish we had found Paradigm sooner." - T. Echols

"We originally came to see John because our coach recommended him to improve my daughters first step quickness. After going through an assessment John quickly identified several areas in which my daughter was at a high risk for injury. He went on to explain that her body was preventing itself from moving at high velocity because it was not able to handle the stress. After two weeks of training, she was not only faster but she moved much better. Her coach said to her it’s obvious you’ve been running more because you’re definitely faster…. She then said, I have not been running at all. By the way, Ariel just got an invitation to Harvard for an official visit.

keep your fingers crossed"

– Lori Caldwell

Cross Fit, or Crossed Out??

The Case Against CrossFit

A closer look at this controversial workout program

by Charles Poliquin

"The best program is the one you're not using," is one of my favorite axioms. I say this because I've never believed that there is one perfect workout system. The high-intensity training methods of the late Arthur Jones work...for a time. Strongman training works...for at time. And weightlifting and powerlifting methods work...for a time. Variety, whether it be correcting a lack of it or too much of it, is one of the keys to making continual progress with your training and achieving your goals. And that brings up the topic of CrossFit, Inc. ^TM.

If you Google the words "Poliquin" and "CrossFit," you'll find that there has been a considerable amount of discussion about my recent comments on another website about this method of training. Although my intent was to make a few general comments about what I thought of this method of training - and throw in a few wisecracks in the process - it's obvious that a more in-depth discussion about CrossFit is in order. So, here it is.

What is CrossFit?

Founded by Greg Glassman nearly three decades ago, CrossFit is a militaristic type of workout that uses a variety of training methods, including gymnastics and Olympic lifting, using short rest intervals. CrossFit is very popular with the military, police forces and mixed martial artists. CrossFit offers certifications, and graduates can pay a fee to become an affiliate. And because the equipment used is relatively inexpensive, it's relatively easy to open a CrossFit gym.

Often with CrossFit you won't perform the same workout twice, and because CrossFit often facetiously uses feminine names to describe their workouts, your training schedule might look like this: Monday, "Fran"; Wednesday, "Grace"; Friday, "Helen." Here are some workouts I've found on a CrossFit website:

Linda

Perform the following circuit using this repetition scheme 10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1 - for time:
A1. Deadlift, 1 1/2 Bodyweight
A2. Bench Press, Bodyweight
A3. Clean, 3/4 Bodyweight

Nancy

Perform five sets of the following superset, for time:
A1. 400 meter run
A2. Overhead squat 95 lbs x 15

Diane

Perform three supersets of the following exercises, for time, performing sets of 21/15/9 reps.
A1. Deadlift 225 lbs
A2. Handstand push-ups

The CrossFit program is controversial. A New York Times article published on December 22, 2005, presented these quotes by Glassman: "It can kill you...I've always been completely honest about that," and "If you find the notion of falling off the rings and breaking your neck so foreign to you, then we don't want you in our ranks." The article also said that a popular axiom among CrossFit practitioners is "I met Pukey," which suggests they have vomited as a result of training so hard. Notes the author of the article, Stephanie Cooperman, "Some even own T-shirts emblazoned with a clown. Pukey. CrossFit's other mascot is Uncle Rhabdo, another clown, whose kidneys have spilled onto the floor presumably due to rhabdomyolsis." Rhabdomyolsis is a serious kidney disease, often associated with excessive exercise.

On the legal side, on October 9, 2008, the Associated Press filed this story:

“MANASSAS, Va. — A former Navy information systems technician has been awarded $300,000 after suing a Manassas gym over an exercise program he says left him permanently disabled.

“Makimba Mimms, 29, of Bristow says the CrossFit workout he did in 2005 caused him to urinate blood and his legs to swell.

“Mimms sued Manassas World Gym, where he did the workout; Ruthless Training Concepts, a CrossFit affiliate at the time; and a Ruthless employee who administered the workout. A Prince William County jury found all three defendants liable Wednesday.”

In the legal complaint, these were the specific breaches of duty (constituting negligence or gross negligence) cited against instructor Javier Lopez:

• He failed to exercise ordinary care.
• He failed to refrain from injuring plaintiff.
• He failed to give plaintiff proper and reasonable instruction.
• He gave plaintiff unreasonable and hazardous instructions, entreating and demanding that plaintiff exert extraordinary effort, not cease to rest, not cease to drink fluids or regain his strength, breath and resilience.
• He failed to refrain from exposing him to extraordinary hazards and actual injury to his person.
• He failed to observe and monitor plaintiff so as to guard and protect him from injury.

In the basic CrossFit certification, which costs $1,000, participants are introduced to numerous workout protocols and exercises, including the Olympic lifts. According to recent comments on a website from an individual who went through the certification, and from information that I viewed on their website, these certifications primarily consist of participating in workouts. There is no written exam to determine if the participants fully understand the material presented. Pay $1,000 and you are certified, and pay $1,000 and you can promote your business as an affiliate. The first CrossFit gym opened in 1995, and I've read where there are now over 600 CrossFit affiliates.

A Cause for Concern

Many individuals love CrossFit, and in fact it has been criticized as having a cultlike following. Many of these individuals believe it is the perfect program that will enable them to achieve their goals and are very satisfied with their progress. And I have no doubt that some individuals have never been injured from CrossFit. That being said, here are six of my major issues with this form of training.

1. Lack of Sufficient Testing Protocols. In looking over detailed notes from a CrossFit certification, I was concerned about the lack of testing for structural balance issues with trainees. There are protocols for beginning, intermediate and advanced workouts using multi-joint movements. But in my work with Olympians in 20 different sports and with numerous professional athletes, before having any athletes perform their first power clean or squat, I recommend a series of structural balance tests to red-flag muscle imbalances that could increase the athlete's risk of injury. And if there is a history of injuries with an athlete, those should be addressed in any workout design.

One reason Olympic shot-putter Adam Nelson could not perform power snatches before I started working with him was that he had adhesions in his rotator cuff muscles - after we addressed this injury with such treatments as Active Release^TM, Nelson was able to reintroduce this valuable exercise in his workout and within a month did 286 pounds for three reps. Jim McKenzie, a professional hockey player I've trained, went from a 280-pound close-grip bench press to 380 pounds in less than four months by focusing on corrective exercises - and for the first three months of this program Jim did not perform bench presses!

2. Focus on a Single Training Protocol. In regards to the concept of specificity, the protocols in CrossFit are not appropriate for developing the highest levels of strength or power or speed. It is doubtful that you will see any elite powerlifters, weightlifters or sprinters using CrossFit protocols as their primary method of conditioning. For example, I'm training Sam Baker, an NFL lineman who needed to dramatically increase his strength and muscle mass. Prior to Baker's entering the NFL, where he went as a #1 draft pick, in two months my training protocols enabled him to add 25 pounds of solid muscle, reduce his bodyfat by 8.1 percent, increase his vertical jump by four inches and significantly increase his strength. I didn't accomplish this by having him superset high-rep push-ups with mile runs.

Many sport coaches often overemphasize energy system training with athletes, often to the detriment of other physical qualities. Check out any exercise physiology textbook and look at the studies performed on elite athletes and their VO2 maxes. It is not necessary for a baseball player, or a basketball player for that matter, to have a VO2 max of 70. The promotional materials I've read about CrossFit imply that this type of training addresses all the strength and conditioning needs of an athlete, but the concept of specificity suggests that if you try to excel at everything it is unlikely that you will reach the highest levels at anything. This is why we don't see individuals who can run a mile in four minutes flat and also bench press 500 pounds.

3. Insufficient Instruction for Teaching Complex Training Methods. It takes more than a single weekend seminar to develop the competency to teach certain types of exercises or be able to adequately prescribe protocols for complex training methods. In this category I would include the classical Olympic lifts, strongman exercises and plyometrics. Often in the strength coaching profession these aforementioned training methods have been criticized as dangerous; but when you look at why athletes become injured from these training methods, it can often be traced to poor technique.

4. Inappropriate Repetition Brackets for Complex Exercises. Although high repetitions and short rest intervals can be used to develop muscular endurance, these protocols should not be used in some exercises. This is especially true with the Olympic lifts, as it is difficult to maintain proper technique when using high reps with these exercises - especially when supersetting them with other multi-joint exercises such as deadlifts. Simply watching CrossFit trainees performing these lifts in videos on their website will confirm this truth. Further, the Olympic lifting movements are most appropriate for developing power; if you want to develop muscular endurance, simpler movements should be used.

5. Inappropriate Exercise Order. To achieve specific responses from exercises, the exercise order should be addressed. As shown in the "Linda" workout described earlier, what is the logic in fatiguing the lower back with deadlifts prior to performing power cleans? To activate the high-threshold motor units with power cleans and to perform them with optimal technique, all the sets of the power clean should be performed before deadlifts. Further, combining weight training exercises with sprints places an athlete at a high risk of injury, especially to the hamstrings.

6. Endorsement of Controversial Exercises. On one website of a CrossFit affiliate, I saw video clips of athletes jumping onto cars and standing on Swiss balls. I appreciate having a wide variety of exercises to use with clients, but you have to question the logic of using such high-risk exercises in a program.

The principle of individuality suggests that not everyone will response equally to the same workout program, and that for optimal results a workout program should take into account those factors that are responsible for this difference. If you're an 18-year-old Army recruit about to be deployed to Iraq, then perhaps the CrossFit program might be appropriate for this individual. If you're an elite athlete trying to reach the highest levels in your sport, a CrossFit approach may not be the optimal way to train.

Because of these concerns, I cannot recommend CrossFit training, especially for those seeking the highest levels of athletic performance. But in the interest of being open-minded, let's leave it at this: Despite its many inadequacies, CrossFit is a workout system that is continually evolving. It'll be interesting to see how the program changes as more athletes, and non-athletes, participate in this program.

About the Author:

CHARLES POLIQUIN
Founder, Poliquin Performance Center

Charles Poliquin is a native of Ottawa, Canada. While completing graduate studies in Exercise Physiology in Canada, Charles began coaching athletes, a career move that has resulted in hundreds of medals, wins and personal bests of many elite athletes. He is known worldwide for producing faster athletes. When a country wants a Gold medal, they come to Charles.

Coach Poliquin has been hailed as the most successful strength coach in the world. He has spent years-researching European journals (he is fluent in English, French and German) and speaking to other coaches and scientists in his quest to optimize training methods. He has perfected the art of writing routines that produce results, and his books and courses are the culmination of his theories and knowledge.

Charles Poliquin has lectured extensively on practical and theoretical aspects of physical conditioning in eight different countries and in 3 different languages. Charles has also written over 500 articles for various web sites, magazines and journals. His work has been translated in 7 different languages. English, Swedish, German, French, Italian, Dutch and Japanese.