“There are thousands of single muscle fibers in each muscle arranged in functional units (motor units – a nerve cell and all the fibers innervated by it). This varies from 5-10 fibers/unit in the eye muscles to up to 2000 per unit in large leg muscles. The motor unit functions as a whole either in complete contraction or relaxation. Thus the greater number of units active and the greater frequency of action of individual units, the greater the degree of contraction of the whole muscle and thus the degree of tension generated.” – The Body Movable by David Gorman

My definition of sports performance is to help the athlete achieve high levels of relative strength! If you want to get stronger without getting significantly larger, which is often the key to improving athletic performance, you have to teach the body how to recruit more motor units. One of the best ways to do this is by using a method called Cluster Training, developed by Carl Miller. Use 80% to 95% of your maximum weight for one repetition (1RM) for 3 – 5 reps with a brief “rest pause” of 10 to 15 seconds between each rep, for 5 or 6 sets. Make sure you take adequate rest between sets – at least 4 minutes.

What cluster training does is hypertrophy fast twitch fibers and improve explosiveness, speed, and strength – key attributes for many athletes. This method of training is also excellent or if you want to break through a lifting plateau. When doing clusters it is best to cluster every muscle group. Note that if you are training at the proper intensity you may have trouble sleeping at night due to the over stimulation of the nervous system. Only use cluster training once every three months to prevent overtraining.

What I find nowadays is a lot of strength coaches don’t take the time to get their athletes strong! Find out how strong each athlete should be for their given sport, and then get them to that point as fast as possible with a well-planned training regime. When my athletes go through a cluster training phase they immediate feel the difference in their given sport. They feel more explosive, faster, and stronger. The athlete who has greater relative strength, who can recruit more motor units when called upon, has an edge in their given sport, regardless of what it is!

Here is an example program:

A1. Bench Press – 5x (1,1,1,1,1), 4010 tempo, 120 seconds rest
A2. Wide Grip Pull-Ups – 5x (1,1,1,1,1), 4010, 120s
B1. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press – 5x (1,1,1,1,1), 4010, 120s
B2. Bent Over Row – 5x (1,1,1,1,1,) , 3011, 120s

For more information on nutrition, weight training and conditioning go to www.laylor.com or contact any of our staff at 416 360 0460.

By Clance Laylor

Let me share one of my favorite methods to shed fat, increase strength endurance, and most of all get rid of that unwanted fat – the German Body Composition program.  I learned this method from world-renowned strength coach Charles Poliquin.

The German Body Composition program basically involves following these simple rules:

1.  Do no more than 10 reps per set.

2.  Keep your rest periods short – 60 seconds or less.

3.  Use compound movements, that is, movements that work big muscle groups.

4.  Train 3 to 5 times per week.

5.  Do not perform any cardio!

Advanced German Body Composition training:

1.  Minimum of 8-12 sets per body part.

2. Rep range 3 – 50

3.  Train each body part twice per week.

4.  Train 6 times per week in total.

Both basic and advanced trainees should change their training program after a maximum of six weeks.

Sample Program:

Day 1

A1.  Back Squat – 4 to 6 sets x 10 reps, 4-0-1 tempo, 60 seconds rest

A2. Close Grip Chin – Ups – 4-6 x10, 3-0-1 tempo, 60 seconds rest

A3. Lunges – 4-6 x10, 3-0-1 tempo, 60 seconds rest

A4. Incline Dumbbell Press – 4-6×10, 3-0-1 tempo, 180 seconds rest

Day 2

A1. Deadlift – 4-6 x10, 4-0-1 tempo, 60 seconds rest

A2. Dumbbell Flat Bench Press – 4-6 x10, 4-0-1 tempo, 60 seconds rest

A3. Stiff-legged Deadlift – 4-6 x10, 4-0-1 tempo, 60 seconds rest

A4. Seated Row – 4-6 x10, 4-0-1 tempo, 60 seconds rest

Note:  Tempo refers to how fast you should perform the various parts of a given lift. The first number indicates how many seconds you should take to do the eccentric, or lowering, part of the movement. The second number indicates how long you should pause between the eccentric and the concentric, or raising, portion of the lift.  Finally, the third number indicates how fast you should lift or raise the weight.

Take a crack at it!

For more information on weight training and conditioning go to www.laylor.com or contact any of our staff at 416 360 0460.

By Clance Laylor

For many people who have never seen a gym in their life, when age fifty (or perhaps even age forty) roles around they really begin noticing they are getting slower, walking up steps is a little harder, playing hockey with the boys is getting tougher as they don’t have that pop to get to the puck any more.  Playing tennis with friends is getting tougher, as they don’t get to the ball like they used to, and their general mobility is declining.  All in all these people realize they are losing muscle and getting soft all around.

Regardless of your age, if this sounds like you, the question you need to ask yourself is, “What do I do to get in better shape?”  As an experienced Strength and Conditioning professional, my answer is that you should become familiar with the benefits of weight training and hit the gym.

Running is great for improving endurance, but it will not improve your muscle mass or increase your strength and power, elements you desperately need to maintain to limit the effects of aging.  After the age of forty, people lose 1-2% of muscle per year unless they are taking specific steps to avoid this decline.   Let me repeat – after the age of forty, someone who is not engaged in a reasonably intense weight training program loses 1-2% of muscle mass per year.   This accumulating loss of muscle mass and strength is the cause or precursor of many of the negative effects of aging.

In contrast, some of the health and lifestyle benefits resulting from a systematic weight training program include:

Increased muscle size and strength

Improved insulin sensitivity, which reduces unwanted weight gain

Increased functional independence

Reduced risk of diabetes

Reduced blood pressure

Improved sleep quality

Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease

Reduced risks of falls that result in broken hips

Reduced likelihood of depression

For more information on effective weight training methods go to www.laylor.com or contact any of our staff at 416 360 0460.

Effective methods, proven results – that’s the promise of Laylor Performance Systems.

By Clance Laylor

If you want to do 5 ladders of 5 reps, this would be designated as 5 (1,2,3,4,5).  To complete this routine doing a single-arm lift like kettlebell presses or snatches, you would do 1 rep on left arm, 1 rep on the right arm, 2 reps on the left arm, 2 reps on the right arm, and continue in this way until you hit 5 reps.  That’s 1 ladder completed on each arm, with 4 more to go.  So you would repeat the process all over again four more times, and by the end of this you would have done a whopping 75 reps per arm.  You can apply this scheme to any exercise.

Hope this helps.

You have to get strong to handle the stresses of the downhill skiing, as imbalances in your quadriceps and hamstrings will reap havoc on you knees!   Your hamstring to quad strength ratio should be at least 80%.  A weak core will definitely put your lower back at risk, as downhill skiing puts a lot of stress on both your lower back and knees.

Here is a sample leg program:

A1.  1¼ Front Squat – 5 sets of 5 reps, 4112 tempo, 90 second rest interval

A2.  Leg Curls 2-1 toes pointed inward – 5×8, 4011, 90s

B1.  Low Pulley Split Squat – 3×10, 90s

B2.  Good Morning – 3×10, 4010, 90s

C.     Low Cable Pull-in – 3×12, 3110, 60s

If you don’t know what a 1 ¼ Front Squat is check out this video:

Plan for the hills and hit the gym with a plan!  For more information on performance-oriented weight training and nutrition go to www.laylor.com.

The areas golfers need to focus on in the gym include:

“Core” – Improving one’s “core” strength is vitally important for all athletes, including golfers, but is often misunderstood.  At Laylor Performance Systems, we train the core muscles in a manner that is truly functional and will transfer to improved athletic performance.

Back – Get off the lat pull down machine and start pulling your own body up to a bar and watch your driving power soar.

Upper back – The Powell raise and Trap 3 lift are extremely effective for training important postural muscles that are usually poorly developed.  Never heard of these lifts?  Let us show you!

“Rotator Cuff” – Performing a variety of special exercises designed to improve your external rotation strength at least twice per week will ensure this key area for shoulder health and stability is not neglected.

Forearms – If you don’t train with fat implements, train your forearms three times per week.  At Laylor Performance Systems, all of our dumbbells are 1 ¼ inches thick, which makes extra forearm and grip training unnecessary.

Do I really have to mention flexibility?  If you want to improve your flexibility you must commit to stretching for at least three hours a week!  The typical ten minutes of stretching after a workout is important, but it is not going to significantly improve your flexibility.

Hope this helps.

Clance Laylor

Try this – pick a load that you can lift for a 10-rep maximum.  Lift that weight for 5 reps and do 15 sets.    The goal is to do 15 sets of 5 as fast as possible!   Time your workout and try and beat that time every workout.  When you can no longer improve your time, rest up for a few days and then test your lift.  If you have done this correctly, you should have put 5-10% minimum on any given lift.  This type of workout will also potentiate the fat burning effect of your training.  Try it and let me know what your think, or email me at info@laylor if you have any questions.