👋 Hey. Welcome to issue #169 of The Everyday Athlete Newsletter.
Here are my 3 favourite ideas, learns and resources to help you improve your performance this week (4 min read):
🏋️ The strength method that beats traditional training (but hard to do at your gym)
This one’s probably more for the athlete than the everyday athlete. But, cool…
Before we dive in, context:
In strength training, the eccentric part of an exercise is the lowering phase (e.g. going down in a squat). I’ve always remembered it as “eccentric feels easier”.
The concentric phase is the part of the movement where we lift the weight up (e.g. standing up in a squat). Thanks to gravity, this is the hard part.
Traditional strength training uses the same weight going up and down - we load the bar and perform our reps. And each rep has one eccentric phase and one concentric phase.
Ok, now for the meat and potatoes:
Eccentric-focused training uses heavier weights in the lowering phase than you could lift in the concentric phase.
In this study, guys did 120% of their max lowering and 75% of their max lifting.
So say the most weight you can lift for one rep of a squat is 100kg. You’d do 120kg on the way down. And 75kg on the way up (with the help of a couple mates who’d quickly take off 22.5kg of plates from each side when you hit the bottom).
And the research suggests this style of training leads to more strength, muscle and power than traditional strength training (like 10-20% more).
My opinion: Athletes should have 6-8 week blocks of this in pre-season (in key lifts).
Why pre-season? Because the load of 120% 1RM will tax the central nervous system pretty aggressively. Making it a tough one to put on athletes during season (what I see as a strength maintenance phase anyway).
Everyday athletes could do it too. But it’s pretty impractical for the everyday gym-goer. Could be cool in group strength sessions - maybe if I ever open another gym 👀.
🏃 Train-cation
There’s lots of wellness/recovery retreats focused on down-regulating.
But who’s doing train-cation retreats…?
Train. Recover. Fuel. Chill. Learn. Hike. Breathe. Caffeinate. Play. Connect.
My mood board…
Who’s in? (And who’s funding it? 😂)
🥦 Why elite athletes are knocking back broccoli shots before races
The likes of..
- Andreas Almgren (EU half-marathon record holder)
- Cole Hocker (olympic gold medal middle distanc runner)
- Mads Pedersen (former world cycling champ)
...are pounding a Swedish broccoli extract called Nomio (in training and before races).
It’s packed with natural compounds from cruciferous veggies known as ITCs. That switch on a pathway (Nrf2) linked to recovery and mitochondrial adaptation.
Early studies (and Nomio marketing claims) show lower lactate levels during intense exercise 10-60 mins.
And some pretty convincing anecdotal reports from world-class athletes.
But there's no clear proof it makes you faster yet.
Deeper dive article on it all here.
If curious, here's how we can work together:
- 💪 Adaptive Vitality Program: This is my 1-1 online coaching program. If you want to work closely with me, watch the video and follow the instructions
- 🗓️ Lean & Lively 21 Day Sprint: A lite version of Adaptive Vitality designed to give you the momentum to get back on track in just a few focused weeks
- 📞 1-1 consult (60 mins): A one-off deep dive with me. Ask anything. We’ll unpack your situation and walk away knowing exactly what you need to do next
That's it!
Have a great weekend 🤙
Matt
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The Everyday Athlete Newsletter is not a licensed health service nor a substitute for professional health advice, treatment or assessment. The information shared in this email is general and written for a specific audience. If you’re struggling, please see a healthcare professional.
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