C.H.A.M.P. Training and Nutrition

03/31/2024

CHAMP 24/7 Gym will open in its new location Tuesday, April 2, 2024.
7566 Wall Triana Hwy
Madison AL 35757

02/21/2023

Do you experience pain in overhead movements?
Pull-Ups ?
Lat Pulldowns ?
Shoulder Presses, etc. ?
 
If you encounter pain and can’t properly perform overhead movements, then you lack the prerequisite training capacities necessary to progress in these exercises (without the constant fear of injury).
 
However, if you are relatively healthy but unable to get in the proper position to perform specific exercises, then you may need to temporarily delete the painful EXTERNAL TRAINING exercises from your program and increase your INTERNAL TRAINING for those specific joints.
 
What do I mean by Increase INTERNAL TRAINING and Temporarily Delete EXTERNAL TRAINING?
 
First, temporarily delete EXTERNAL TRAINING or Named Patterned Exercises that can’t be performed properly without pain.

Example 1: Dumbbell or Barbell Shoulder Press. 
If your Shoulder Press looks like a super arched high-incline bench press, then maybe you should temporarily replace it with a few sets of Side Delts and Rear Delts.

Example 2: Lat Pulldown.
If your Lat Pulldown looks like a leaning-back high row, then maybe you should replace it with an exercise that is properly performed at that angle (Hammer Strength, High-Row).
 
Second, Increase your INTERNAL TRAINING.
Remember: INTERNAL TRAINING is dedicated to improving joint (articular) capacity, resilience, robustness, and intelligence.
Example Exercises: CARs, PAILs / RAILs, PRH, PRLO, Hovers, ERR, ENG, and KinStretch.
 
INTERNAL TRAINING, Step 1: Add CARs to your Daily Routine.
 
Perform 3 to 5 Reps of CARs (Minimum àShoulder and Scapula, But All Joints are Preferred), 3 Times/Day.
 
[1.] Morning Routine = 3 to 5 Reps of CARs within ~ 30 to 60 minutes of Waking. (Low, 10% to 20% Effort)
 
[2.] Pre-Workout = 3 to 5 Reps of CARs (Modest, 50% Effort)
 
[3.] Pre-Bed = 3 to 5 Reps of CARs (Low to Modest, 20 to 40% Effort)
 
** INTERNAL TRAINING, Step 2: Add PAILs / RAILs to your Daily Routine. **
 
** Step 2 à PAILs / RAILs will be described in the next post… **

02/15/2023

Credit to Will Eaton for bringing up the topic of connective tissue (mobility) and hypertrophy. After our conversation, I realized that some of the things we discussed may provide value to other physique-focused athletes. 
 
As with most topics, it is impossible to communicate without proper terminology or language.  Therefore, I will begin by defining a few important terms.
 
First, it is important to understand that there are various types of connective tissues and fascia throughout the body. Since these terms are broad and encompass various densities and directional arrangements of tissue, we need to narrow our scope of discussion to the soft connective tissue associated with skeletal muscle (muscle fasciae).
 
Muscle Fasciae is a continuous 3D structural matrix that surrounds each muscle fiber (Endomysium), fascicle (Perimysium), and whole muscle (Epimysium). It can be thought of as an adaptive tensegrity-like structure that has mechanosensitive and force-transmitting properties.
 
These Intramuscular, Intermuscular, and Extramuscular layers of connective tissue impact force transmission. Abnormalities or Disorganization within these lines of tissue can affect the flow of force. Therefore, it may be a good idea to dedicate some time to priming and training these connective tissue structures.
 
If you have access to a certified FRA (Functional Range Assessment) specialist, schedule a session with them, and they can provide a strategic approach to enhancing your articular health and movement capacity.
 
While you may not have access to a certified specialist, you probably know where you are excessively stiff or restricted. Most individuals can identify their lack of mobility during typical exercise. For example: It may be difficult to perform overhead movements, squatting movements, elbow flexion/extension movements, etc.
If you have specific areas that are worse than others, it may be a good idea to put primary emphasis on improving those tissues first.
 
In the next post, I’ll provide examples of how to train and improve some common issues.

01/30/2023

Muscle ROM and Motor Unit ROM are two terms that may help you understand the relationship between regional hypertrophy (specific physiological adaptations) and the specific ROM provided by the “named patterned exercise”.
 
Muscle ROM represents the ROM for an individual muscle (distinct origin and insertion) from maximal lengthened/stretched position to maximal concentric shortened/squeezed position. Muscle ROM is similar to a term used in therapeutic exercise textbooks, Functional Excursion. Functional Excursion is defined as the path of maximal stretch to maximal concentric contraction with consideration of the joint or joints crossed. Therefore, some individuals may use these terms interchangeably.
 
Motor Unit ROM represents the ROM for a Motor Unit and its connected Muscle Fibers. This term helps understand regional hypertrophy. If we accept that hypertrophy is related to the mechanical tension stimulus, then the specific Motor Units (the connected fibers) experiencing the stimulus provided by the ROM of the exercise will have the greatest potential for hypertrophy.
 
Please understand that these terms are only one piece of the puzzle. They provide information that helps to understand why the ROM of specific exercises can cause different physiological adaptations. Especially relating to the All-or-None Principle of Muscle Physiology. If an individual hasn’t been formally educated in physiology, then they may think the entire muscle contracts from exercise due to the All-or-None Principle. But it does NOT. For example, The hamstring muscle, Bicep Femoris – Long Head, crosses two joints and has thousands of motor units. Therefore, only the necessary motor units are recruited to perform a movement. This is why various exercises cause different hypertrophic adaptations per individual muscle group. Example: Individual Muscle: Bicep Femoris, Long Head. Specific Exercise Stimulus: May cause more Distal vs Proximal stimulus… or more Superficial vs Deep stimulus. Again, this example only refers to one of the hamstring muscles, and these regional adaptations to the imposed stimulus are possible for all individual muscles.

01/27/2023

First, it is important to understand that a robust and accurate vocabulary is necessary for all types of communication. Humans think and visualize in words/language.  Therefore, precise terminology is vital for sharing or exchanging information about a specific topic. The goal of this ROM series is to provide individuals with proper terminology to enhance their ability to intellectually discuss their ROM opinions.
 
Full ROM (fROM) and Partial ROM (pROM) are used to describe a specific exercise’s predetermined patterned movement. Full ROM symbolizes performing the predetermined ROM for the patterned exercise, and pROM represents performing less than the predetermined fROM for the patterned exercise.
 
While it may be possible to use these terms to simultaneously describe the ROM of a monoarticular muscle group (a muscle that crosses 1 joint) in specific isolation exercises, it is nearly impossible to use these terms to accurately describe biarticular muscles (a muscle that crosses 2 or more joints) in compound exercises.
 
For example: Performing a Full ROM bicep curl typically takes the monoarticular elbow flexion muscles (Brachialis and Brachioradialis) through their Full Muscle ROM. However, the Full ROM bicep curl does not take the biarticular elbow flexion muscles (Bicep Brachii - Long Head and Bicep Brachii - Short Head) through their Full Muscle ROM.
 
Therefore, it is prudent to speak with context and clarity in the discussion of “Named Exercise” fROM or pROM vs “Specific Muscle” ROM.
 
In my opinion, the term Partial ROM (pROM) is too broad and leaves room for misinterpretation. Partial ROM should be divided into a minimum of 3 subcategories: Lengthened pROM, Mid-Range pROM, and Shortened pROM.
 
I posted a full description on IamCHAMP.com; if you are interested in learning more about proper ROM terminology, please visit:
 
https://www.iamchamp.com/blogs/news/
 
It is imperative to develop a foundational understanding of ROM to correctly identify fROM, Lengthened pROM, Mid-Range pROM, and Shortened pROM of the named exercise before you attempt to tackle the relationship between Range of Motion (ROM), Muscle Length, and Mechanical Tension.

01/26/2023

Since Range of Motion (ROM) is the degree of movement that occurs at a joint, it may be best to start your educational journey by learning Active ROM and Passive ROM.

Passive ROM is simply defined as a movement created by an external force without internal tension. For example, when an FRA-certified specialist tells an individual to completely relax as they move their joint through its Passive ROM.

Active ROM is the individual's capacity to internally stabilize their joint and move it through a ROM without external assistance. For example, during an FRA exam, after the certified specialist performs the Passive ROM test, they will ask the client to attempt the same ROM without the practitioner's help.

Usually, the Active ROM is ~ 85% of the Passive ROM, but if there is a large discrepancy between Passive ROM and Active ROM, then the trainer can modify the individual's periodization and programming to address the issues. Since hyper-muscular individuals can be limited by their joint’s biological and/or neurological capacities, this information can be quite valuable.

Continued in Comments…

01/24/2023

Range of Motion (ROM) is a topic that I have heard discussed and poorly argued numerous times. Since most individuals don’t truly understand the definition of ROM or how to use it in the correct context, their arguments become littered with logical fallacies and elementary reasoning.

In an effort to provide clarity and context to the discussion about ROM, I wrote a brief summary describing the textbook definition of ROM and providing a few subcategories to help individuals be more precise in their ROM discussions.

Over the past few years, my absence from social media, has provided me with countless hours to read, learn, enhance my intellect, and closely monitor numerous supplement, nutrition, and training strategies.

I have greatly enjoyed living and implementing the scientific method (observation, rational/skeptic research, hypothesis, testing/experiments, analyze data, interpretation, and conclusion…), without distraction of social media drama and the world around me.

But I think it may be time for me to start sharing some of my knowledge again.

Why? Because recently, more than ever, I have noticed individuals discrediting science because they don’t have the prerequisite education in biology, chemistry, physics, or physiology to understand the basics.

Yes, there have always been people with low intelligence believing statements without proper evidence or explanation. But the amount of poor information that I have observed recently has surpassed my threshold for tolerance. Therefore, I plan on providing education on a variety of topics this year… Data Driven Clinical Science blended with Anecdotal Experiences and Observations.

If you read this and you have a question or topic of interest, please comment below with a topic or question or send a message with topic / question.

08/08/2021

🚨🚨Exciting changes coming!!! Training! Membership! Supplements! Swag!

07/06/2021

The PRIME Plate Loaded Chest Press.
This piece, like all of our Selectorized and Plate Loaded equipment, is equipped with our SmartStrength Technology. Giving the user the ability to manipulate the resistance profile to overload different areas within the exercise movement for a more effective/efficient workout.
Setting 1 - Middle
Setting 2 - End (Shortened)
Setting 3 - Beginning (Lengthened)
This piece also features three back pad adjustments/starting positions (for optimal pre-stretch setup based on the individual’s range of motion), and two different grip options. (Wide and Close).
And like all Prime Equipment, it’s hand crafted, made to order and proudly made in the USA.

03/18/2021

03/17/2021

This is the Pull Session A, of the 6 Day Training Program...
Pull A,
Push A,
Lower A,
Pull B,
Push B,
Lower B.

REST Days are Auto-Regulated as needed. Rest Days are dedicated to “Internal Training” with the Funcional Range Systems, CARs, PAILs, RAILs, and along the linear path as needed (I’ll discuss in future posts).

The next training session post will be Lower Body A.

Depending on your schedule, level of development, goals, and injuries... your “External” training may be every other day (alternated with “internal focus” training)... or...2 Days On / 1 Day Off ... or ... 3 Days On / 1 Off... it is completely INDIVIDUALIZED.

I can’t stress the importance of joint articulation and performance enough. The ability to control your joints independently and place maximal tension throughout the full ROM is critical for long term health and hypertrophy. Joint control and active mobility is the base for our external training... a pyramid is only as tall as its base is wide...