Should Athletes Use “The Big 3?”

Question: Hey coach, I was just wondering if you consider the squat, bench press and deadlift essential exercises for all athletes? Do you have to do the big three in order to become a better athlete?

Answer: Absolutely not. As an athlete you usually need to get stronger and more explosive. You need to improve mobility, dynamic flexibility and agility. Speed position players and weight class athletes need to minimize bodyfat. Many athletes need to improve conditioning, and often times they need to build muscle. You can accomplish all of those tasks without any of the lifts you mentioned.

Athletes are not powerlifters so why would we assume that the three powerlifts are the best exercises for them? Many times strength coaches get caught up in chasing numbers. I made this mistake myself for several years. The thought process is that you take a football player who squats 225, pulls 315 and benches 185 and bring him up to a 315 squat, 405 deadlift and 225 bench, then… PRESTO- he’s the next Bo Jackson.

It’s not that simple. Unfortunately he may be the exact same player he was with the weaker numbers. As unfathomable as it may sound he could actually be worse. If in the pursuit of those numbers he beat up his joints or ignored other important facets of his training, let imbalances occur, or perhaps wasn’t ready to be squatting because one hip flexor was much tighter and weaker than the other (or a million other possibilities) then he may have compromised his movement efficiency and no longer be as good as he was.

The concept that athletes should do some type of compound squatting, pushing and pulling movement is a solid one. These are definite requirements; the exercise choice, however, really depends on the athlete.

The back squat is a great exercise and I personally love it, yet a lot of people cannot perform it correctly. Even if the athlete in question has a perfect back squat I think a smarter choice for some would be a safety bar squat or a front squat with a harness. Purists will be upset with this recommendation (which I totally get) but I have seen a lot of people put undue stress on their shoulders and elbows while back squatting (which is why I recommend a high bar position but this can still be problematic for certain individuals). You can add in wrist stress if you use the free bar front squat.

If you are training an athlete to become better why would you want to even consider the risk of possible nagging upper body injuries being accumulated from a LOWER BODY EXERCISE?! It’s asinine.

I’m not saying don’t squat. Definitely squat but maybe use the safety bar instead if elbow or shoulder issues are a possibility. Or at least use a high bar position that doesn’t stress the shoulders.

And maybe the squat doesn’t have to be trained extremely heavy with certain athletes who are incapable of doing so. The act of squatting is what is important. So sometimes you may have an athlete who can only kettlebell front squat or goblet squat. That’s fine. Then you will have to find another way for them to get maximal strength work in.

Remember, the goal is for him to play better on the field, not to have a higher powerlifting total.

If bilateral squatting is out of the question for whatever reason (injury, imbalance, restriction) go with some type of single leg squatting exercise and heavy sled work. This will get the job done and sometimes more effectively for certain athletes.

As far as pulling goes the deadlift isn’t a horrible choice but an Olympic lift variation is a better one. I don’t use straight bar deadlifts from the floor with athletes. I’d recommend pulling from rubber blocks or mats set somewhere around mid shin height. The other option is the high handle trap bar deadlift. In both cases submaximal weights should be used and the bar should be dropped to eliminate the eccentric component. This is THE exercise where picture perfect technique is crucial.

I know that Hugh Cassidy, John Inzer, Mark Chaillet and numerous other powerlifters round-backed up a new PR or world record. This does not concern me when training guys who want to be better at getting from the 20 yard line into the endzone.

The bench press is truthfully not the greatest exercise for athletes. It’s widely considered a “shoulder-fucker.” So if you have an athlete who has a goal of one day playing in the Pro Bowl do you think it’s a great idea to prescribe them an exercise that has led to more rotator cuff surgeries than any other? Probably not. Healthy shoulders usually come in handy on the gridiron. Or basketball court.

If they get tested on it then you have to train them on it. But I would minimize the damage by spending most of the off season working with fat bars with neutral or angled grip handles like the ones we have at Renegade. Even mix in some two board presses. Then switch them over to straight bars and full range as camp gets closer.

==> The bars we use at Renegade (use the coupon code JasonF for a discount at checkout)

If you don’t have to worry about testing then go with an overhead press, some type of heavy, one-arm horizontal dumbbell press, a standing landmine press and ring dips and pushup variations for heavy pressing work.

So, yes, all athletes need to do some variation of “the big three.” They need to push, pull and squat. That could be a pistol squat, a power snatch and a handstand pushup or it could be a back squat, high pull and fat bar 2-board press. Nothing is written in stone, nor should it be.

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Why You Should Take Systemic Enzymes

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Today I have a guest post from Dr. William Wong about one of my favorite, secret supplements for fighting inflammation; systemic enzymes. You never really hear about these which is a shame because they’re awesome for anyone over 35 or those guys who are beat up from years of athletics, heavy training, etc.

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What have the years of pounding your knees, grinding your shoulders and pushing all of the other joints of your body done to that smooth sponge like gliding surface?

The hyaline was formed early in life from something called mucopolysaccharides. Your body stopped making the stuff somewhere during or after puberty. Now, the inside of the joint has no blood supply. The articulating surfaces are fed directly by the mucous synovial fluid which gets it’s supply of nutrients through the joint capsule membrane from the blood supply on it’s outside. If we still made these mucopolysaccharides our joints hardly ever wear. But we don’t so they do.

Dr.Max Wolf M.D. and Ph.D. times 7 of Columbia University is widely acknowledged as the father of systemic oral enzyme therapy. (1). Wolf found that as we age or are under stress our bodies own production of enzymes is depleted. Age related changes he said are directly attributable to depletion of enzymes. Systemic enzymes differ from digestive enzymes in that the tablets are taken in between meals so that the constituents can be absorbed into the blood stream and do their work there instead of expending their action on digesting food.

With 40 years of use and over 160 peer reviewed verifying studies behind it, systemic enzymes are the second best selling over the counter preparation in Germany. When a joint or any soft tissue is injured or infirm the body creates irritants called Circulating Immune Complexes. It’s these complexes that cause the inflammation of joint capsules, bursae, tendons, muscles, blood vessels, internal organs etc. These complexes also are responsible for autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus. In those conditions a large build up of the complexes attack the joints or muscles, respectively thinking these to be foreign invaders. Enzymes eat Circulating Immune Complexes. (2).

In eating away at the substances that cause inflammation, its pain, swelling and redness are reduced. As a consequence pain is relieved. But for athletes the other actions of systemic enzymes are just as important. These enzymes are anti-fibrotic. “Over expression” of Fibrin and Fibrinogen create the matrix in the blood vessels for arteriosclerotic plaque.  Systemic enzymes control this over expression and eat away slowly at established plaque. Systemic Enzymes are also used in Europe to fight thrombosis, blood clots deep in the veins. (3). Isn’t cardiovascular health why most of us started exercising in the first place?

Now science has found that a little critter called a C- reactive protein is the cause of inflammation in blood vessels and can possibly lead to heart disease. Two things destroy C-reactive proteins: aspirin and systemic enzymes. Aspirin use has side effects; the natural enzymes do not.(4).  According to the Wall Street Journal, April 20 1999, 20,000 Americans die from aspirin, ibuprofen and that whole class of Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs. That means that more Americans die every year from aspirin and its related drugs than die from AIDS!

The enzymes are also a great blood cleaner. In eating away at Circulating Immune Complexes, necrotic derbies and fibrin in the blood these actions reduce the viscosity of blood by removing the gunk. This is a different mechanism for reducing blood viscosity than aspirin. (5)  To anyone who exercises or plays a sport, thinner blood means improved circulation to working muscles and increased micro circulation. Most folks walk around with blood that’s as thick as catsup! (6). Folks who exercise make that worse by the dehydration they suffer. Many endurance athletes make things worse still by taking the drug EPO which in order to have greater numbers of red blood cells to move oxygen around with. EPO was invented for cancer therapy patients suffering from extreme anemia. It was never meant to augment the hemoglobin count of athletes.  Mainly triathloners, tennis players and cyclists use this drug. They have also been dying of blood clots caused from using this stuff!

Systemic Enzymes help the body to recover faster from exercise, preventing micro trauma from becoming macro trauma. In cases of injury, systemic enzymes are used by pro-athletes to reduce the effects of injury and speed healing. European sport physicians have found that recovery times are cut dramatically. (8).

Now we come to something that over exercisers and endurance athletes are seriously lacking in – an immune system. It is common knowledge in exercise physiology that for each day of heavy training there are two to three days of immune suppression to follow.  If you tag too many workout days together, as we manic compulsive boomers tend to do, then in time the immune system becomes completely trashed. There are numerous cases of marathoners coming down with chronic reoccurring infections because they don’t have anything in their bodies to fight bugs for them. Systemic Enzymes to the rescue!
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This is a supplement that I take regularly during periods of heavy training or increased volume, or really any time I have any aches and pains I want to get rid of. I also have many of my clients on them. If it sounds like something you want to try click HERE now and use the coupon code “JASONFE” at checkout for a 15% discount.

Tags: Autoimmune Diseases, Blood Stream, Blood Supply, Columbia University, D Times, Digesting Food, Digestive Enzymes, Dr Max, Dr William, Immune Complexes, Internal Organs, Max Wolf, Oral Enzyme Therapy, Production Of Enzymes, Puberty, Soft Tissue, Synovial Fluid, Systemic Enzymes, Tendons, William Wong

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