Estrogen and the Male Athlete

       Estrogen is always a popular topic in the sports and fitness crowd. As usual I see mostly misinformation when I read about this topic in the media or see it discussed. People know it as the primary female sex hormone, but seem not to know much about what else it does. They don't seem to know quite what to make of it and what difference it makes to a male anyway. That's a shame because this hormone does a lot of interesting things.  Before we start, let's note that this isn't the final word on estrogen. Endocrinology is a massive and constantly evolving field. We know much more this year than we did last year, and next year we'll know even more, but we have just scratched the surface. There is much more we don't know, aren't sure of, or can't prove. Yet. Always remember science is fluid. So let's talk about estrogen and what effect it has on you as a male athlete.

       There are three primary types of estrogen - which is a steroid hormone just like it's counterpart testosterone - in production in the human body. Estrone is the most prevalent form in aged women, who are in or have experienced menopause. Estriol, the weakest form in terms of potency, plays a major role in pregnancy (as does a fourth estrogen, estetrol, which is only produced during pregnancy). Estradiol, the beta form of estrogen, is both the strongest estrogen in terms of potency and the dominant form for the bulk of a woman's reproductive years. It is this form that concerns us today, as this is the dominant form in men as well.

       First, we'll briefly summarize why you need estradiol. In addition to it's role as a sex hormone, there are many roles of estradiol in the male system as well. It exerts effects on the development of brain, lung, reproductive, and vascular tissues; supports immune function; regulates mood and libido; interacts with other anabolic processes to regulate tissue accretion (fat, muscle, wound healing); and confers some protective benifits to the cardiovasular system. Note that physiologically normal amounts of estrogen are being discussed here. In normal men, normal levels of estrogen carry on the functions above. Problems arise when levels are outside the accepted normal range of ten to forty picograms per millileter of blood.

       Significant elevations of estradiol are known to be risk factors in a variety of conditions. Rather than explain each condition and how estradiol is involved I'll make a simple list of conditions with proven links to estradiol elevations. For further reading I can provide interested parties with references.

• Stroke: Data suggest increases in stroke risk with elevated estradiol levels. In elderly men risk can double. (Abbott RD, Launer LJ, Rodriguez BL, et al. "Serum Estradiol and Risk of Stroke in Elderly Men." Neurology. Feb 2007)
• Heart Attack and Coronary Artery Disease: Data going all the way back to the 1970's indicate elevations in serum estrogen are risk factors for heart attack in men. Subsequent studies have confirmed this countless times. If you search for "estradiol and myocardial infarction" in any database, you'll get page after page of nearly identical studies. This is among the most replicated results in literature that I'm aware of. (Phillips, "Evidence for Hyperestrogenemia as a Risk Factor for Myocardial Infarction in Men." The Lancet. July 1976; Mohammad et al. "Serum Levels of Sex Hormones in Men with Acute Myocardial Infarction." Neuroendocrinology Letters. 2007; etc) Estradiol is also seen as a risk factor for vascular throboses, or blood clots. (Philips, Pinkernell, and Jing. "The Association of Hyperestrogenemia with Coronary Throbosis in Men." Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.)
• Atherosclerosis: Estrone has been implicated here as well. (Dunajska K, Milewicz A, Szymczak J, et al. "Evaluation of Sex Hormone Levels and Some Metabolic Factors in Men with Coronary Atherosclerosis." Aging Male. Sept 2004) Estradiol remains a risk factor in the data as well though. At this point it's effect isn't clear, and we can't say for sure estradiol is a direct influence or an indirect one, affecting atherosclerotic processes via lipid changes. But high estradiol correlates with risk certainly. And more needs to be done to elucidate its role.
•  Peripheral Artery Disease: High circulating levels of estradiol are associated with increased instance of PAD as men age. (Tivesten A, Mellstrom D, Jutberger H, et al. "Low Serum Testosterone and High Serum Estradiol Associate with Lower Extremity Peripheral Arterial Disease in elderly men." Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Sep 2007) 
• Chronic Inflammatory Issues: there are alot of these, and high estradiol shows up regularly in the blood work for male autoimmune patients and those with other inflammatory diseases. Rheumatoid arthritis springs to mind, as does Crohn's disease. Here is one example: "estradiol correlated strongly and positively with all measured indices of inflammation." (Tengstrand et al. "Abnormal Levels of Serum DHEA, Estrone, and Estradiol in Men with Rheumatoid Arthritis: High Correlation Between Serum Estradiol and Current Degree of Inflammation." Journal of Rheumatology. 2003)
• Prostate Cancer: Estradiol is emerging more and more as a risk factor here. See my post about Testosterone for more reading in this area.
• Psychological/Neural/Mental Issues: as estrogen affects the brain and is strongly involved in mood, libido, and spatial reasoning, elevations can have a variety of effects in these areas. Mood swings, altered tolerance to stress, suppressed libido, and difficulty with spatial reasoning have all been noted in the literature or reported in case studies. One of the more studied effects is depression. This just about sums it up: "Depression in men is accompanied by a high production of estradiol..." (Vogel et al. "Roles of the Gonadal Steroid Hormones in Psychiatric Depression in Men and Women." Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology, Issue 4, Volume 2. 1978.)
• Metabolic Syndrome: This is pretty well known. Elevated estradiol correlates strongly with obesity, and can modify fat accretion rates and patterns. Obesity itself correlates strongly with increases in aromatase and thus even more estradiol production. Nifty little vicious cycle huh? While most data indicates little or no direct effect of estradiol on insulin sensitivity, this cyclic action has been described in numerous instances as an adipose promoting chain of events. Insulin action can be indirectly affected in this way. There is still much to learn in this area, but it is crucial that we recognize estradiol and it's relationship to other hormones as a part of the increasingly complex foundation of metabolic syndrome. (Cohen. "Obesity in Men: The Hypogonadal-estrogen Receptor Relationship and its Effect on Glucose Metabolism." Medical Hypotheses, Volume 70, Issue 2. 2008.)
• Gynecomastia: This is another one most people are already familiar with. Elevations in estradiol can lead to growth of breast tissue in men, as the hormone interacts strongly with receptors in the mammary glands.
• Hypogonadism: The last one on the list is yet another commonly discussed issue. Estrogen is highly suppressive to the Hypothalamic Testicular Pituitary Axis, and elevations can lead to decreases in the production of testicular hormones. In men using hormone drugs, suppression is already an issue, but estradiol elevations make it worse, and may contribute to difficulties in recovering when ceasing use of the drugs.  

       Considering that, many men who look into estrogen-related issues, especially those concerned about increases due to steroid use, become somewhat obsessed with estrogen. It is common to find individuals in these groups who are actively trying to eliminate estrogen or reduce it as much as possible. This is not a solution. Low estradiol carries its own set of problems. Remember it is needed for normal processes to carry on. Bear in mind also that physiologically appropriate levels correlate with increased health in many ways, including neuroprotection (up to and including Alzheimer's patients) and enhanced bone regeneration. It should go without saying that eliminating or heavily suppressing a hormone with such important tasks can cause all kind of issues. Here is a list of the more commonly reported issues related to low estradiol. I won't go into the studies as much here, as symptoms vary strongly, and the data is mostly case-studies.

• Low libido
• Aching joints
• Bone mineral loss
• Low immunity
• Itching and increases in allergy activity
• Altered mood
• Altered sleep patterns
• Short-term memory difficulty and general "brain fog"

        Since both elevations and dramatic decreases in estradiol are problematic, the logical solution is to maintain appropriate levels within the physiological range. If you use hormone drugs for performance enhancement purposes or for hormone replacement therapy, it is important to keep an eye on your bloodwork to ensure everything is ok. Always communicate with your healthcare providers to ensure an understanding of needs and risks exists. And always be aware of how your lifestyle and related factors may be affecting your body. Stay safe everyone.

      
      

Gains are fun! Training isn't always.

       Today I don't have any hard science for you. That's coming soon, so check back regularly if you are waiting on an explanation of the controversial Thoracolumbar Sling (it's not controversial to biomechanists and strength coaches - just to the internet and its crew of pseudo-intellectual semiscientists - but we'll get into that later). Today we're talking about work and fun.

     A thread in a facebook group I'm in got me thinking about the need to base training on performance needs rather than how enjoyable the training is. There is an idea held dear in some circles that everyone who works out should be having fun first and foremost and that discipline and results should take a back seat to enjoyment. This has bled heavily into the field of nutrition as well as dietary flexibility has become the cause du jour. But it's the wrong attitude if you expect success in sports.

     Don't take this as an attempt at machismo or stoicism. I'm not against fun at all. In fact, I love what I do. I love my sport and my job and can't think of a better way to grind through life than by hanging out with fantastic athletes and lifting heavy things over and over. But I'm flabbergasted by the idea that if your training isn't always fun it's missing something. Articles abound extolling the benefits of this or that exercise, imploring you to add more and more variety to your ever-expanding exercise selection. This, supposedly, will keep things fun and fresh while covering all your needs more effectively than a less varied routine can. After all, seeing how many movements you can gain proficiency in and constantly changing training elements is more exciting than slogging through another session of heavy competition drills. If you exercise for general health and have no specific goals then this may be for you. As far as non-athletes are concerned there is something to be said for covering the work with a bit of light fun. Moving and exercising is the end goal rather than the performance adaptation being held paramount. Simply going to the gym and doing some work is beneficial to health, and enjoying it might make casual exercisers more likely to stay with it.

     But I'll be very clear to the athletes in the audience. If you try this as a way to stay sport-ready, you will fail. Not a little bit. Miserably. You will get crushed into oblivion by a competitor who wants nothing more than to beat you. This individual would rather succeed than get an "epic training sesh, bruh." Fun in training hasn't been considered. It's all about the present competition and whether preparation has been adequately undertaken. Athletes who can't achieve this mindset don't tend to fare well. As my coach and mentor is fond of saying, "step up or get stepped on."

     The fact is that searching for variety and requiring fun, regardless of the intent, are great ways to avoid the hard and repetitive training that actually makes you better. You can get wrapped up enough in recreation that you become lax in the overall discipline and specificity of your training. It's the job of your coach to call you out on this bullshit and make sure the work you do has purpose. Let me know when they add lateral raise dropsets with band tension and a 20 degree lateral lean to the powerlifting total. And we can do all the circuits you want when they add a CrossFit round to pre-judging at bodybuilding shows. Until then, you're better off spending your time and effort on things that are relevant, even if they don't leave you ecstatic. Let's forget the nonsense. We came to the gym to get better. If that means a workout is difficult and unpleasant, so be it. If that means additions or subtractions to training, make it happen. If it means training more or less, do it. If it means selecting different movements to train with... you get it.

     Those of you who read my training logs know how mind-numbingly boring some of my workouts are. I do what's needed and no more. I follow this rule for all my athletes. Training doesn't have to be exciting. It has to lead to improvement. There's nothing wrong with training in a recreational fashion if if meets your needs and wants but if you have any serious athletic aspirations you need to divorce yourself from the idea that it's just for fun. It's a tool. A means to an end. A way to achieve a goal. And sometimes it isn't fun. But you know what is fun? Setting a personal record, achieving the best shape of your life, placing or winning at a competition, losing the weight, fixing the health issues, or getting the girl/guy. Have fun - yes have fun! - but remember what you're in the gym for and do what you need to do to make it happen. I can guarantee the way forward lies in the work and discipline shown by the successful competitors -not in the fun you'll have in a workout you won't even remember next week.

HMG: a primer

     Much has been and will continue to be said about hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin. This pregnancy hormone produced in the placenta has been used in fertility treatments, anti-aging medicine, testosterone replacement regimens, doping, and weight loss scams. Its many off-label uses have lead to perfusion into a wide array of areas, and if you are involved in a strength or physique sport, or any elite sport you've likely at least heard of it being used to prevent testicular disruption from anabolic androgenic steroids. But you probably aren't as familiar with hMG, which is a similar hormone (actually a set of hormones) that, for the purpose of fertility and testicular health, has some interesting aspects that many consider superior to hCG.

     Human Menopausal Gonadotropin, or hMG, is a mixture of gonadotropins secreted by menopausal and post-menopausal women. This life stage tends to include hypergonadism and thus lends itself to the creation of a virtual biological gonadotropin factory. The primary gonadotropins in vertebrates are luteinizing hormone (LH) and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and both are present in large amounts in HMG. HCG may be in the mixture as well in some cases.

     At this point, if you are familiar with male enocrinology, you'll understand why hMG is so valuable for men with secondary hypogonadism (testes can function but brain isn't sending the signal)or who use endocrine-suppressing steroid drugs. LH stimulates the production of androgens in the testes and FSH stimulates sperm production. While hCG mimics LH and doesn't directly stimulate sperm production, hMG is the real thing. It exerts a direct impact on both androgen production and sperm production, making it an effective fertility drug in most cases and providing an excellent tool for men wanting to maintain not only testicular function but fertility while using steroid drugs.

     As with hCG, though, there are concerns for sensitivity with administration in large regular doses.  Too much for too long will have a deleterious effect, desensitizing target tissues to the gonadotropins and reinforcing the negative feedback loop creating the suppression in the first place. Men seeking to use this as a fertility aid or as a replacement for hCG need to consider the other classic hCG issue with hMG as well: aromatase. Aromatase production will spike in response to the pulses of gonadotropins, adding elevated aromatase levels to the mixture of potential problems.

     In summary, what is hMG? It's a stronger gonadal stimulant than hCG, enhancing both testosterone and sperm production. It has the same uses and carries the same potential risks. Please take it upon yourself if you choose to use illicit PEDs to educate yourself so that risk can be minimized and health optimized. It's not just your performance at stake. You have to live with your health forever, so treat it accordingly.

An Example of Meet Week Prep

       I've been asked quite a bit what my final week before a meet looks like. So as the opening competition of my 2014 season approaches, I want to take the opportunity to put up a basic outline of the things I do during the final week of prep, at the end of training or even after training is over. This is my final prep timeline for this year's WABDL North American Championships, where I'm cutting weight to hit the 125 kilogram class. There will be a 24 hour weigh-in.

1. Monday: hit BP opener for a single, squat (light) to keep the lower body from tightening up into an unusable coiled mass, and do a little barbell rowing; water consumption increased by 50%.

2. Tuesday: PNF and soft tissue work on biceps, triceps, shoulder girdle, and T-spine.
   
     *Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation

3. Wednesday: depletion training to begin my weight cut

4. Thursday: depletion day 2; cals at maintenance, carbs at 150 g. Recovery walk in PM.

5. Thursday at dinner, reduce fluid intake to sipping on water; afterward suck on ice chips and sip herbal tea.

6.  Sleep if possible. Probably not though because I'll be essentially camping in the bathroom epitomizing the concept of the over-active bladder.

7. Weigh at 5 AM, 6 hours out from checking in at the meet. Hit the steam room and take a walk if needed. Monitor weight every half hour until target is hit, sucking on ice chips to keep from over-dehydrating. Continue to monitor until I check in.

8. Check in at 11 AM after vacating the bladder and bowels.

9. As close to 11 AM as possible, start drinking gatorade and eat an easy to digest breakfast; over the course of the day I'll have a gallon of gatorade, a gallon of water, and as much food as I can eat for the rest of the day.

10. See chiropractor and neuromuscular therapist. Adjustment, soft tissue work, and mechanical analysis.

11. Bed early.

The Cardio Boogeyman Exposed

       At this point everyone seriously involved in lifting weights has probably heard the refrain, "cardio limits gains and causes fibers to switch." It's well known that excessive endurance training can impact strength training negatively, and it's well-established in the literature that the two types of training don't always jive well. Additionally, it's been demonstrated that strength training and endurance training don't carry over well to performance in the respective alternate field.

       But be that as it may, the reality for many athletes is that the health benefits or performance improvements from endurance training can help them in their endeavors, and training in both areas is needed for a competitor to excel in many sports. Mechanisms for training adaptations are understood to be specific to context, so we know that performance increases of the type that would be significant to the athlete's game require training that matches the demands. A rugby player certainly needs to be strong, but he also needs to be able to run a 5k during a game while hitting other players, jumping, throwing, falling, and getting crushed by a pile of similarly stressed individuals. A trail runner needs to be in fantastic condition, but if he's got weak legs he'll get crushed by a dude who does his squats regularly when an 800 meter hill comes up. For lifters and bodybuilders, while cardio may present some hindrances, you also don't need to be a sloppy fat-ass with no work capacity and horrible circulation, so you may find yourself in a situation where a little cardio will make you healthier, and thereby better able to train and perform adequately.

       So, having established that there are times where you'd conceivably want to address both endurance and strength, we need to establish the extent of the potential hindrances to performance with concurrent training. Once we understand these and understand the context of the adaptations, we can plan these different training stresses and adaptations to be minimally incompatible or compatible completely in the best case. Let's look at some literature first.

http://www.jappl.org/content/56/4/831.short

http://www.portalsaudebrasil.com/artigospsb/ativfis150.pdf

http://jap.physiology.org/content/59/6/1716.short

       Endurance training induces changes to skeletal muscle. This includes metabolic as well as fiber-type adaptations. Duh. But since some of the cardio extremists insist on harping about how endurance training is too low-threshold to affect muscular development, we'll put these links up there. You'll adapt to endurance training just as you'll adapt to any training. We get better at what we practice. If you are still with me after the remedial assertion that the training you do has a physiological effect, good. You are now ready for freshman health class. If not, I don't know how you found this blog but it's beyond your current level of understanding. Please stick around, but do some major studying too.

http://sriechman.tamu.edu/629/2012/Nader%202006.pdf

       Another concept that should be simple to grasp but still eludes some is that too much endurance training can hinder both hypertrophy and strength development. This is not a problem confined to endurance training. Too much of any training that doesn't carry over to your sport directly will carry risk of hindering progress, for various reasons.

       There should be no debate about whether excessive endurance training can hinder strength and muscular growth. Many of the adaptations caused by endurance training run counter to many       
caused by strength training and bodybuilding. Many have said cardio has no or limited benefit in populations seeking strength and size.

       But looking at the issue in a black-and-white fashion completely ignores how things work in the real world: Energy systems do not function in isolation. All systems are working to keep you alive and functioning. Low aerobic capacity will affect your health and performance in major ways. Adaptation is a way to cope with a changing environment; much of it is transient. And lastly, the biggest thing the no-cardio-ever crowd forgets: a little bit of cardio isn't going to cause the same adaptations as intensive endurance training.

       Clearly, there is a time and a place where endurance work is appropriate. Considering that, it behooves us to look more deeply into how the resulting adaptations occur, especially when combined with strength training. Luckily, the good folks in the military-industrial complex have already figured it out:

http://allasamsonova.ru/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/12/1995_Kraemer-W.J.-at-all.pdf

       This study examines in depth the interaction of endurance and strength training, noting that the two seem to be incompatible. But what is more interesting to us at this moment is the hypotheses about why this is the case and how we might manage it. "Thus, incompatibility of training may be attributed to a large extent to the extreme stress of adrenal activation due to the total amount of high intensity exercise. Whether successful adaptations can occur remains dependent on the ability of various anabolic compensatory mechanisms (e.g. testosterone, IGF-1, and GH) to eventually override a catabolic environment." Later, the author states, "...such data and previous studies have indicated that total work stress may be a potentially significant factor in the development of incompatibility of exercise training. This concept is now supported from an endocrine perspective."

       While attenuation of adaptations was occurring in this study, it's important to note that strength, size, and endurance all increased significantly in groups training concurrently. It's hypothesized that, as discussed above, the limiting factor for the compatibility of the two training types could be determined more by the ability of the athlete to recover from training stresses than by an inherent attenuation. The author goes on to say that rest, periodization, and control of outside stressors contributed to continued improvements even with the attenuation, and suggests controlling these factors may decrease incompatibility of the two training types.

       We also need to note that fiber type conversions took 12 weeks to become apparent, and that other markers of endurance adaptations took a while as well.

       If you want a sound-bite answer to the question of whether cardio is okay here it is: it's not cardio
that kills gains. It's excessive cardio. Controlling training volumes and intensities and making sure the bulk of your work is specific to your goals continues to be the best way to train. Adding some cardio is not going to immediately impact your strength training in any negative way unless you go whole-hog into intensive and specialized endurance work. Appropriate modes of endurance training in appropriate volumes will aid you rather than hindering you.

       The question now is only, "what is appropriate?" If you've learned anything from me so far then you already know the answer. It depends.

The way I do it.

       Since some programs I've used to train for competition were well received upon my recent posting of them on some facebook groups, I've been in several conversations that set off huge waves of requests for my current training methodology. I've discussed alot of training programs and methods I use with clients in detail in various outlets, but it's been pointed out that I haven't really explained the way I train myself. The following is the basic template I set my training up on, and is the result of my experiences as a lifter and my education/study. It took me a long time to work up to this so don't expect it to treat you nicely if you decide to jump in without prior experience with this type of training.

Off-season



 

       I train relatively infrequently in the off-season, which for me is typically 3 months. It's very simple during this time, with low volume. The focus is on full recovery, abbreviated training, and hypertrophy. This template is pretty standard in the HIT crowd, and was heavily influenced by the work of Ellington Darden.

 

       Every 3rd day: 6-8 exercises encompassing the major muscle groups. One set to failure of 6-15 reps after adequate warm-up. Sometimes I break these up into A and B sessions, with squats or DLs in the beginning of session A for a heavy set of 1-5 and bench presses in the beginning of session B. The two are then alternated, so that each main lift is hit roughly every 9 days for a single heavy set.

 

 

In-season

 

       During the season, I swing all the way in the other direction. Training is high volume, high intensity, and high frequency. Training load and volume are purely autoregulated. Targets for average load, total volume, and fatigue level are decided on weekly but are subject to change. The goal is to increase average weekly workload, average weekly volume, and total tonnage throughout the season, with minimal accumulated fatigue and absolutely no over-reaching. I only ever take weights I know I can hit and I err on the side of too light or too few lifts instead of letting fatigue and injury limit me. The daily and even the weekly performance doesn't matter. Daily capacities change. What matters is the trend should always be toward heavier loads and more work. After all, the strongest man is the one who lifts the most weight the most often. This one is less a template and more a set of guidelines.

 

1. Every lift every day.

2. 4-6 times a week.

3. Do singles with a load exceeding 70% in every session.

4. 80/20: 80 percent of my work is squatting, benching, and pulling; the remainder is essential support work.

 

       At present, this takes the shape of:

 

Monday: 

     SQ and BP: heavy triple, then repeated down-sets until fatigue reaches goal

     Sumo DL:single, then a single down-set for 3+ reps

     Row: one top set to failure and a second set either at less weight or using rest-pause reps

 

Tuesday:

     SQ and BP variation (pause squat, close grip, etc): heavy single

     Hip hinge movement (RDL, GM, etc; occasionally GHR, despite it not being a hinge): 6RM

     Upper arm accessories: one set for bis, one for tris, both to failure

 

Wednesday:

     SQ and BP: 80% of Monday's top weight, either for 3 triples or a single set of reps

     Olympic lift variation: work up to a daily max and follow with down-sets of 3

     Upper back/ rear delt: varied depending on the movement chosen

 

Thursday:

     SQ and BP variation: heavy single

     DL from varying positions: heavy single

          *mid shin, knee, and 1-2 inch deficit are the ones that carry over for me

     Upper arm accessories

Friday:
    SQ and BP volume work: see Monday
    Conventional DL: heavy single, then a down-set
    Chins: 2 working sets, typically with negatives on the second, or a reduction in load

Saturday:
     Active recovery: during the warm parts of the year, I hike at least an hour on this day; other times I do LISS cardio, a circuit, yoga, or whatever I want that isn't powerlifting.

     There you have it. I think I'll call it "Boring and Hard."

Just work hard damnit!

       It's humorous how often people warn me that the way I train (very basic without much accessory work) will lead me to sub-par performance on the platform and a huge set of injuries. It's impossible, they tell me, to adequately train and prepare the muscular system for athletic exertion without a massive list of special exercises and corrective drills, and without isolating motor patterns around joints, I'll be hurting myself regularly.

       The fact is, as I've transitioned over the years to a low-variety system based on specificity, many nagging injuries have cleared up. I've PR'ed in 2 weight classes in powerlifting and expanded the number of federations I hold titles and records in by over 100% with no new major injuries. I've attained my largest size yet at a leanness I haven't matched in years.

       My hiking performance has benefitted too. It's the other sport I participate in with serious interest. Times and recovery intervals have decreased while my capacity for long hikes and hard trail runs in a given time span has gone up. I'll add that I sustained no hiking-specific injuries last season either.

       My hamstrings haven't exploded because of a lack of knee flexion in my program. In fact, both hamstrings have old injuries that have improved since removing the fluff from my training to go harder on what works.My pec tendons haven't shortened into unmoveable cords because I don't do deep dumbbell presses and my bench lockout hasn't gone to hell over a lack of triceps extensions. My back requires me to let the seams out on my shirts, even though I haven't done anything for it besides chins and rows since I moved to Portland. Neither ankle has been devastated by the rampaging injuries supposedly common to those who don't train calves, and my calves push on the legs of my pants hard enough to rub all the hair off. And, oh yeah, doing absolutely zero cardio training hasn't affected my conditioning. At all. (Clearly hiking is endurance training and this specificity has been enough to prepare me for the rigors of the sport.) My training is a lifting template so boring you'd have to be in love with powerlifting just to do it and as many hikes in a week as I can fit when the season to hike approaches.

       You'd be surprised how much of an impact proper, basic strength training will have on every single aspect of your athleticism if you give it a chance. Clearly, there is more than one way to train. I'm all for individualizing programming to meet specific needs and I'm all for doing the corrective work and special training that carries over to your athletic endeavors. But I often ask people to look critically at their training and ask what the purpose and result of every lift they do is. If you can't identify a purpose, and the movement doesn't result in a measurable performance or rehabilitative improvement then why are you doing it? Isn't it a waste of time? Many times, athletes are shocked to learn that a large portion of their training falls into the category of lifts without clear purpose or effect. If this describes you, consider going back to basics. It's okay not to be fancy, especially if it allows you to finally train as hard as you always should have been.