Is Your Workout Caffeinated?

By Amanda Carlson-Phillips January 19, 2012

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Q: I’ve always followed standard workout nutrition guidelines, but will adding caffeine to my routine improve my performance?

A: Studies have shown that drinking caffeine about an hour before working out can help boost endurance, energy, and performance, but the findings are mixed as to whether caffeine has an effect on power or strength.

Some studies have shown that drinking 150-200 mg of caffeine (similar to a Starbucks grande vanilla latte), may boost performance, while others recommend increasing it to 2.5-5 mg per kg of bodyweight (about 200-400 mg of caffeine for a 180-pound guy). But people react differently to caffeine. For some, it’s a performance enhancer; for others, it can over-stimulate them and decrease performance. You may want to experiment with different amounts of caffeine during practice runs and workouts to see if it’s helpful to you.

Having caffeine on days when you feel tired or need an extra boost is a good strategy, but don’t rely on it as your main energy source. If you feel tired all the time, you’re probably not getting enough energy from real food. Also, caffeine shouldn’t replace your normal pre-workout snack, but should complement it. Stay away from energy drinks that have chemicals, colors, or high citric acid content. Stick to coffee or tea.

Bottom line: Caffeine can be helpful for some people, but you need to see what works for you.

http://fitgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/Toe-Touch-and-Spine-Posture-Stability.pdf

The body loves balance. If there’s weakness in one muscle group, its opposing muscle group will often become tight as an adaptation and result of muscle weakness. Muscles like to balance each other. If one muscle is not doing enough, the other will actually do more on its own, without any intervention by you, in an attempt to maintain stability around the joint. Simply stretching the tight muscle is only half of the remedy. You need to identify the corresponding muscle weakness.

Here are a couple common examples of this:

1. Tightness across the front of the thigh or quadriceps muscle is often associated with hamstring weakness on the backside of the thigh. Reduced flexibility in the quadriceps and decreased strength in the hamstring is one of the leading causes of knee problems in young athletes. You can easily remedy this muscle imbalance with a flexibility program, core training, and a little focus on movements using the hamstrings.

2. Many active adults experience tightness in the low back and are always looking for things that stretch the low back, not realizing that there is a corresponding weakness throughout the entire anterior abdominal wall. Immediately following back stretches, abdominal strengthening will reinforce muscle balance and reduce the need for those back muscles to tighten down now that the muscle strength of the front and the back of the torso are equally balanced.

The next time that you are stretching or thinking about tight muscles, just remember that there is a lot more going on than just the muscle that feels tight. You may have an underlying weakness that’s contributing to pain and could be setting you up for injury.

I started to write a post on my StrengthCoach.com website explaining my response to a thread about Tabata intervals.  I probably was a little short with my answer because I thought the question was phrased poorly and loaded with assumptions. The writer took offense and responded “I’m just trying to learn”.

I went on to explain to him that the intelligent people in our industry are fighting a war of sorts.  Because we are constantly battling misinformation, half-truths, lies and out right stupidity we can often come across as impatient. The enemy has many names, Crossfit, P90X, Insanity, Bar Method, Tracey Anderson and so many others. A new enemy constantly appears on the horizon and they all have the same theme. The enemies simply ignore science and empirical evidence and replace it with marketing. They ignore common sense and replace it with marketing. They prey on the uniformed.

Our job as fitness professionals, personal trainers or strength and conditioning coaches is to continually try to keep the pendulum in the center and use our common sense. One of my favorite quotes comes from Benjamin Franklin is:

“common sense is not very common”

This can be combined with another great quote:

” a little knowledge is dangerous”

We exist in a fitness world overpopulated by people with a little knowledge and too little common sense. The resultant combination of a little knowledge and a lack of common sense is the foolish programming that we are forced to battle against. What the smart people do in this industry is make the client feel and look better while at the same time keeping the client healthy and safe. Is that too much to ask?

The only thing that makes me feel better is that we are succeeding. Our business at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning has nearly doubled in 4 years. This is due to a great program and a great staff that delivers consistent, reproducible results. Microgyms ( think opposite of the Big Box, lots of equipment, no instruction) are thriving all over America. Keep it up, don’t sell out. Don’t throw up a Crossfit sign or any other sign for its marketing value. Continue to deliver great programming and great results.

To your success,

Mike Boyle

By Tracy Chapman, TPI Golf Fitness Specialist

Sit up straight. Pull your shoulders back. Stick out your chest. Bring your head back.

This is not your mother speaking. It’s your teaching professional.  There is general agreement among teaching professionals that most, if not all, of a golfer’s inconsistent swing motions are in some way caused by incorrect posture at address.  Poor set-up posture also contributes to physical stress.

The most common mistake is bending from the wrong place.  Most golfers tend to bend from their waist and/or mid-back rather than from their hips. This interferes with a safe and consistently effective golf swing in three primary ways:

• It prevents ideal balance.
• It limits a complete turn.
• It reduces optimal swing motion along the swing plane.

When a golfer bends too much from the mid-back (thoracic spine) at address, the center of gravity moves excessively to the heels.  The initial positioning greatly affects both static balance during the address position as well as dynamic balance throughout the entire swing.  The golfer must make compensations or adjustments wherever possible to maintain balance during the swing.  This challenges the out-of-balance golfer’s ability to consistently move his hands and club in the proper swing plane.  Also, the lack of rotational ability in the spine forces an excessive amount of leg and hip turn during the backswing.  This often leads to a reverse pivot on the backswing and a lateral sliding motion during the downswing.

It’s one thing to know what the proper posture at address is; but a totally different thing to be able to achieve a spine angle that is straight with an appropriate amount of bend from the hips and knees.

To correct a postural problem at address, golfers need two essential things.  First, they need to understand how to initiate the proper sequence of body motions to achieve ideal setup posture.  Second, they must have the necessary combination of flexibility, strength, and control to coordinate their body into the ideal setup position and maintain it swing after swing.

Club Behind The Spine Drill

Here is a simple drill to get a perfect address position every time.  Please consult with your professional instructor, however, before practicing this drill to determine whether this postural technique is consistent with what he believes is right for you.

Stand tall and place a golf club behind your back with the clubface pressed against your tailbone and your head against the grip of the club. Next, bend forward in such a way that the club shaft stays pressed against your belt line.  Bend forward enough for the shoulders to get in line with your toes.  (PGA Tour players have a forward bend of  35-45 degrees) This will allow for your arms to hang freely straight down from your shoulders and ensure that you are bending from your hips.

If you use this club behind the spine method to practice arriving at an ideal address posture, it could not only help your game but it could also help with sound body mechanics in everyday life.

This helpful posture-building exercise can help improve your ability to achieve a better posture at address.  Remember, however, please consult with your physician before attempting any exercise program.

 If you have any questions about golf injuries, posture, or other physical performance factors related to golf, please feel free to contact Body Balance for Performance at 317.816.91355 or visit www.indianapolis.fitgolf.com.

The ideal golf swing results from controlled, balanced rotation of the upper body over a fairly stable base of support or lower body.  Your feet provide the connection to the ground while the knees and hips create the stability for upper body motion.

One of the “keys” to maximizing lower body efficiency is to put the lower body in a position where it can be successful.  The low back is not designed for repetitive rotational strain and therefore the knee and hip joints are important in controlling motion of the spine over the the lower body.

Lower Body Efficiency is dependent on:

• Achieving a good address posture with a proper hip hinge and knee flex.
• The availability of strength, flexibility and endurance throughout the musculature of the lower body.
• Coordination of the lower body focusing on kinesthetic awareness at the hips, knees and foot complex.
• Stability and controlled motion of the lumbar spine / low back.
• The quality of motion over a stable base of support / dynamic balance.

By Tracy Chapman, Golf Fitness Specialist

Most golf professionals agree that every good golf swing begins with a sound, correct setup and posture position.  Correct posture is the foundation of every successful player’s golf swing.  Consequently, every golfer should be aware of the physical requirements necessary to achieve correct posture at their address position.

Tight hamstrings are a common limitation found in many golfers today.  Hamstrings are the muscles behind the thighs which extend from the hips and attach below the knee.  They allow for the bending of the knees during activities such as walking and running.  The hamstrings also control the degree to which your pelvis and spine can bend forward in the address position of your golf swing.  If the hamstrings are tight, you will be unable to bend forward enough from the hips in your posture position, resulting in a posture position that is bent too far from the knees or overly rounded in the spine.

If you think tight hamstrings are affecting your posture position at address, try the following hamstring stretch which will allow you to achieve ideal posture at address and minimize swing flaws influenced by your current posture position.

Find a corner of a wall in your home where you can lay down on your back.  Place your right foot up against the wall and your left leg flat on the floor.  Position yourself appropriately before beginning the stretch by placing a small towel roll under your lower back for support.  Choose a distance from the wall that will not create an excessive, painful amount of stretch to the back of your leg as you reach your leg up on the wall.  Begin the stretch by gently contracting your lower abdominal muscles, flattening your lower back into the towel roll.  Gently squeeze your right thigh muscle to comfortably straighten your right knee.  Bend your right ankle down toward you so you feel a gentle stretch in your right calf.  If you are properly positioned away from the wall, this stretch will create a comfortable pulling, stretching sensation to the back of your knee, your upper and lower leg in the hamstring, and the calf muscles.  If you feel too much stretch, move farther down the wall and try again.  When you have found the right distance from the wall, hold the stretch position for 3-5 minutes or until a complete release of the stretch feeling has been accomplished.  Switch legs and repeat the stretch.

You can advance the stretch when ready by gradually moving closer to the wall and sliding your leg farther up the wall.  Perform this exercise at least 3 days per week for

2-3 weeks.  You should begin to notice a big difference in your ability to achieve a correct posture position at address and a more consistent golf swing.

To learn more about Body Balance for Performance, please call Tracy at 317.816.9135 and visit www.indianapolis.fitgolf.com

 Angle 1

Angle 2

Check out this article/video!

Efficiency is the rating of motion and performance in your swing. Do you have maximum performance?

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