Benefits of Unilateral Training

Our philosophy at Art of Strength Tampa Bay is simple. We will do whatever we have to do to make a person move the way God intended them to move. God loves it when we squat deep, press our head through the window on a press, keep a vertical shin when lunging, and a flat strong back when it is necessary...which is always.

To help people learn to master movement patterns with balance and control, we mix in unilateral training in our skill segments, strength regiments, and workouts. We believe doing this will drastically increase strength and balance in bilateral lifts like the Squat, Deadlift, Clean, and other compound traditional lifts.

Put simply, unilateral training means developing one side of the body independently.

As an example, a barbell squat would be a bilateral exercise because you are using two (bi-) legs to lift the weight. A lunge would be an example of a unilateral strength training exercise, because one (uni-) leg is dominant in the movement.

Unilateral strength training provides several benefits, that traditional bilateral training often doesn’t, or can’t provide.

First, unilateral training helps activate deep core muscles, small stabilizer muscles, and creates more neurons to fire engaging and training your CNS (Central Nervous System). The benefits of this are endless and unilateral training will also illustrate in real time where inefficiencies may lie that you could not detect with bilateral movements.

Second, most activities on a day to day basis are unilateral. Thus, unilateral training is "functional". Think how often you use one side of your body when doing an activity. Picture yourself carrying groceries in one hand and talking on the telephone with the other. Think back to college when you held a beer in your left hand and punched an opposing teams fan with you other. See, unilateral training is very useful and practical.

Training like this will help improve your quality of life and your ability to perform at your best.

Speaking of daily activities, most of us have a dominant side.  Meaning we over-develop our stronger side and under-develop our weaker side.  As time goes on, muscular imbalances develop, putting us at risk of injury.  Most causes of back pain originate with weak abdominal stabilizer muscles.  This imbalance from front to back causes injury.

Rounded shoulders often mean weak upper back muscles, or overdeveloped upper body pushing muscles.

Golfers and Baseball players are at big risk for muscular imbalances and overuse injuries.  Performing the same movement, with the same side over and over again predisposes you to injury. Unilateral strength training will help offset the effects of these types of activities.

One thing to consider when doing unilateral training is to always train your weaker side first. This is important because if you train the stronger side first the weaker side will fire to aid it and by the time you do your weaker side it will not be strong enough to work at it's full capacity.

I hope this was useful guys. Make sure to incorporate this into your training to create a balanced body that is free from injury. 

Like the wind...

7/11/13

Warm-up: #3

Skill: KB Lateral Walkouts 3x20

Strength: Bulgarian Split Squats with KB/BB in rack position 3x6 (L/R)

Workout: 20 on 10 off for 8 Rounds

Box Dips

Rest 3 Minutes

8 Min EMOM (M: 20kg/W: 12kg)

6 DBL KB Swings to a Squat
10 DBL KB Reverse Lunges

Barbell Club

Warm-up: #3

Skill: KB Lateral Walkouts 3x20

Strength: 5x1 1 Clean Pull + 1 Hang Clean  + 1 FS  + 1 Jerk

Rest 2 min

Front Squats
5x3 AHAP

Last Samurai-Self Discipline

This whole scene is incredible but really pay attention around 1:45 in

"Excellence is a talent or quality which is unusually good and so surpasses ordinary standards. It is also used as a standard of performance."

At Art of Strength Tampa Bay, as trite as it may sound, we believe in the Art of Excellence. Excellence in motion, strength, character, and determination.

We believe that when each of you shows excellence in your work (whether your work at that moment is in the gym, at home, or at your job), amazing outcomes happen and lives are changed through the diligent pursuit of excellence. 

There is nothing better for us as coaches than to see your dedication pay off and you realize the results you worked so hard for! That is why we are so strict on your form, why we ask you to fold the ropes up correctly, why we show you how to put the kettlebells in line and even for some of you, clean the gym. Pursuing this excellence in the little things daily will translate to the bigger things in your life.

Aristotle put it best when he said: "We are what we repeatedly do . . . excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." 

Actively choose excellence today. Then do it again tomorrow.

Like the wind...

7/10/13

Warm-up: #1

Skill: Shoulder Mobility - Band Work 1x15 of each

Strength: Superset
1) 3x5 Crossover Press - Thick grip DB
2) 3xME BL Pikes
Rest 45secs

Workout:
Part 1: 3 Min AMRAP - 70% GUSU Max

Part 2: 6 Rounds
5 Chin-ups
8 BL Reverse Fly's
30 secs Max Circles

*Advanced
5 Chin-ups
8 Bent Over TGDB Reverse Fly's
30 secs Max Circles


Barbell Club

Active Rest Day

Go swim in the ocean/pool. Nice easy pace for about 15mins - watch out for water spouts.

5-10-5 Drill and Analysis

We always say that our goal as coaches is to prepare you for whatever activity, goal, or situation you may be faced with. Preparation is the key to success and with that being said it is our job to prepare you for everything.

For example, you never know when you will be caught in a vicious game of pickle so drills like the 5-10-5 drill will help you shine when that moment comes.

The 5-10-5 drill is a staple for finding out how quick an athlete is because it defines agility to a science. It will test how quickly a person can accelerate, decelerate, stop, and reaccelerate without losing their balance and body control. The ability for an athlete to change directions at top end speed is crucial for optimal performance and that ability to be honed by the skills learned in the 5-10-5 drill, L-Drill, and Star Drill.

Keys to the 5-10-5 drill are:

• Keeping a low center of gravity
• Keeping the arm action "lip to hip" and near the body to keep the athlete running in a straight line
• Planting without taking too may stutter steps and then pushing off the instep of the outside foot to get as much power as possible on the backside to change directions
• Taking 3 steps on the 5 yard portion, 5-6 on the 10 yard portion, and 2-3 on the final 5 yard segment

Use this drill to test agility and see where you stack up against the pros by clicking here. The 5-10-5 drill is listed as 20 yard shuttle.

Enjoy and learn from this analysis of two of our stud high school baseball players going at it.

Like the wind...

7/9/13

Warm-up: #5

Skill: Rope Climbs - Alt w/ Partner for 5 Mins
Strength: 10 Min EMOM
2 Clean Pulls + 1 Clean @ AHAP

Workout:
Ropes  for 2 rounds (20 on/10 off)

1 Round:
Alternate wave with a squat
Speed Skaters
Criss Cross Slam

5X100 M
-1 minute betwen sets
After last sprint immediately go into a 2 minute recovery jog

Then...

Ropes (20 on/10 off) for 2 rounds
Alternate wave with a squat
Speed Skaters
Criss Cross Slam

Barbell Club

Warm-up: #5

Skill: Rope Climbs - Alt w/ Partner for 5 Mins
Strength: 8 Min EMOM
2 Snatch @ AHAP

1) 3x3 Push Press - work up to heavy set - heavier than last week
2) 3xME Pullups
Rest 45 secs between sets

Back Squat
5x2 Pause Squats (3sec pause at bottom) at AHAP - work your way up

Two Weeks to the Day! Open House on July 20th!

Art of Strength Tampa Bay's Open House...
where kids, AoS Pride, and sheer joy are combined.

To those brave souls who came out this morning to roll around in the grass, chase each other around the parking lot, and bask in the sweet coolness of the shade, I say thank you. You ballers straight merked that workout. For those that missed it...well you're still a little cool. From now on, we will be having FREE bootcamp style workouts on the corner of Forest Lakes and Racetrack every Saturday morning at 9am...except for July 20th.

Speaking of July 20th! (Perfect lead in, I know) Exactly two weeks from today we will be holding our first ever Art of Strength Tampa Bay Open House! It's going to be the ish because not only will we have delicious Hawaiian food brought to you by Jen Byrd, a free workout, fitness contests, organic beers and wine, TEN Product giveaways, a bounce house for the kiddos, but a certain apparel company known as Lululemon will be gracing our hallowed grounds with their perfectly svelte clothing. You will have the opportunity to browse various styles of athletic apparel while sipping on a refreshing adult beverage and relaxing as your kids go ape shhhh in the bounce house.

This unforgettable day will start at 9am and end way too soon at 3pm so make sure you stop by, eat some food, take part in a contest, grab some swag, and drink a brewski...can I make that sentence anymore toolish? Anyways, this day is going to be a time for us coaches to give back a little to you and thank you for making this gym the best, the strongest, and by far, the dopest (tool?) gym in Tampa Bay.

All we ask is for you to please tell your friends, family, strangers on the street corner, next door neighbors, co-workers, and anyone else you can think of about it and literally bring them with you. It will be an incredible day with a ton of chances to win some sweet prizes, grab some new clothes, and even give blood! So grab your peeps and join us at the gym on July 20th!



Like the wind...

Gehrig's Farewell Speech

This country was built around perseverance, hard work, and the ability to change your own fate. 74 years ago tomorrow, a man who embodied that gave one of the greatest speeches of all time in the greatest country there is while playing a sport that is as American the Red, white, and blue.

Have a wonderful day tomorrow celebrating the Independence of our great nation. Thank you to all the fearless men and women who fight for our freedom daily. This country is built around your courage, strength, and loyalty.

Happy Fourth of July.

Like the wind...

Jimmy's PR Back squat Analysis (405lbs)

"Lift that sternum up. Deep Breath, hold it, explode out of the hole. Drive those knees out. Stay in your heels. Activate your glutes. Speed, speed, speed! Use that stretch reflex. Stay strong through your midline."

Those are just a few choice phrases you will hear buzzing around the gym during squat day. Each one is as important as the previous one and the one following it.

Cale and I are constantly barking out words of encouragement and little nuggets of knowledge with hopes that it will help propel you to a new PR and a new level of understanding of the movement.

In theory, you should practice what you preach so today Cale will take out his multimedia marker and break down two separate PR's of mine in an attempt to illustrate the nuts and bolts of the back squat and what a happens to the movement when individual necessary components break down.

Cale is the John Madden of Squat Day. He will draw up some X's and O's on this play and perform verbal surgery on my squat.

P.S. Shirts are in tomorrow and we will pass them out beginning Friday at our one and only 10 AM class.

Like the wind...

(6/3/2013) AoS

Warm up #2

Skill/Mobility: Shoulder Mobility Strength: 1) 2x5 Push Press @ 100% of Strict Press 2) 2xME Negative Pullups (5 count down) Rest 60 seconds between supersets 3XME Push Ups -Rest 1 min between sets Workout: 6 Min AMRAP 20 Sink n' Presses 20 DBL KB Duck Walks (1 rep is one step) ***Stay in heels and practice perfect squat form*** Rest 2 minutes Repeat The Barbell Club Warm Up #2 Skill/Mobility: Roll out, mobilize, smash, and stretch your way to a new you Strength: None (Active Rest Day) Workout: Warm Up #1 X2 -No rest between drills Rest 2minutes Ladder Drills 10 Separate Drills X2

4th of July and all it's Perks

Nothing like following up a PR filled max week like celebrating Independence Day in all it's glory the week after! This year's 4th has quite a few perks...4 day weekend, Rays are at home, beautiful beaches just a few miles away, and ridiculously easy ways to save some moolah at your favorite bad a$$ gym. But first things first.

Schedule change this week. Thursday, July 4th, the gym will be closed for the 2nd greatest holiday ever behind Christmas. On Friday, July 5th, we are going to accommodate all of you crazies by having one class at 10am.

Now onto the perks! We have started a new program that we are extremely pumped about and pretty sure you will be too, unless of course you don't use Facebook/Twitter and hate saving money. This program is called Perkville and it's really easy. Just sign up and start earning points towards $25+ off your membership. You earn points by referring a friend, posting to Facebook and Twitter about the gym (make sure to tag us in it), and more! Basically now you get rewarded for doing all the stuff you already do, making your life easier, healthier, and wealthier.

Reminder! Our Open House will be on July 20th from 9am - 3pm. It will be the best day of your life. Hands down. There will be more to come on that but in the mean time, just get excited.

Like the wind....

7/2/13

Warm up: #3

Skill: Windmills -> Curl -> Press 3x3 (L/R)

Strength: 3 Position Cleans (1 Power Clean, 1 Hang Power Clean, 1 High Hang Clean)
8x1 @ 70%

Workout: 4x400m Rest 1:1



Barbell Club

Warm up: #3

Skill: Windmills -> Curl -> Press 3x3 (L/R)

Strength: Power Snatch + 1 OHS
6x2 @ AHAP
Rest 60 secs between sets

1) 3x3 Push Press - work up to a heavy set
2) 3X60 sec Jump Rope

Back Squat
5x2 Pause Squats (3 sec pause at the bottom) @ AHAP - work your way up in weight