Dan Falloon
Staff writer
When talking about the strength coaches whose methods he follows, Terry McMahon lauded them for their tendencies to not pull punches.
And the local strength coach followed up on that admiration, taking on a couple of commonly-held training exercises and suggesting alternatives as the weather warms and more locals look to tone up after a long winter.
One key is to get set up with a program that’s right for the athlete.
“Proper conditioning is just getting the right program,” he explained. “That would be a start.
“The wrong kind of program could be detrimental,” he warned. “It could make you worse.”
McMahon took care to note training should be as sport-specific as possible, and that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all program.
“Keep it simple and do your homework about what you want,” he stressed. “[There are] different programs for different goals.
“There’s not a universal program that will get you strong, skinny, that’ll do it all.”
However, one activity he feels isn’t helpful to performance is jogging.
“Take jogging, for instance, it’s terrible,” McMahon argued. “If you want to make a kid lousy at sports, tell him to start jogging and endurance training.
“Basically, you’re training your body to be slow. . . . It’s just the wrong way to train your system for most sports.”
Jogging and endurance training could be useful in sports where athletes run for long distances, leading McMahon back to his key point that training should mimic the sport as closely as possible.
“Most sports, you’re not running for five kilometres. Most sports are start and stop,” he reasoned.
Instead of jogging, McMahon recommends interval training in many instances, where athletes train in short, intense bursts, like sprints.
Interval training increases the body’s ability to “deliver and utilize oxygen,” which is measured by a test referred to as the VO2 max.
A strong cardiovascular system allows athletes to go harder in shorter blocks of time.
“Interval training is just alternating periods of rest and work,” he explained. “Most sports go in short bursts, like hockey. You go for 30 seconds, then you’re off.
“You do a play that’s about 15 seconds, that’s about the average for football,” he added.
Another exercise McMahon shuns is sit-ups because that activity bends the lower back and increases the risk of disc herniations.
But with abdominal strength a key to preventing injuries, he recommended other safer exercises.
“Most people think sit-ups [for core training], but sit-ups are actually bad for you,” he reiterated. “When you do a sit-up, a crunch it’s [also] called, your lower back flexes, it rounds, and that’s not a good thing.
“Your abdominals are supposed to protect you, and keep you upright.”
Instead, McMahon suggested that planks—an exercise in the push-up position—are a reasonable alternative to sit-ups.
“Stability exercises like planks would be best [for strengthening abdominals],” he remarked. “You get into [the] push-up position, but you would actually be on your elbows.
“You just hold that, then, to see how long you can do it.”
McMahon’s third tip involved improving a trait that easily can be overlooked in strength training-flexibility.
“Flexibility is a big one. Most people don’t even think about it, but a lot of injuries come from a lack of flexibility,” he maintained.
“Just keep it simple. [Stretch] head to toe.
“Don’t just stretch your legs,” he stressed. “Don’t just stretch your chest, stretch your back, too.”
While the results of proper training may not be evident on the surface, McMahon said focusing too heavily on the most impressive muscles to look at often doesn’t lead to the most impressive results in game action.
“A lot of guys are concerned about the beach muscles, the arms and the abs, which never really come into play during sport,” he observed.
“Legs are the most important for sports. You don’t run on your arms.”
McMahon made it clear that strength training and conditioning is a developing science, so there may be outdated information out there.
“If anything, just do your homework if you’re not going to hire anyone,” he urged. “There’s just so much bad information.
“With the Internet, there’s so much old information, but people think that it’s good information,” he warned.
McMahon recommended works by strength coaches Michael Boyle and Robert Dos Remidios as a starting point for any athlete looking to build up muscle.
“These guys are the best in the world. They train the best athletes in the world,” he lauded. “Everything they do is based on results and research.
“Results are the main thing.”
