” In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” 

-Mark Twain

In This Newsletter

Welcoming New Members

Current Training Phase

Meet Lane

Welcoming New Members

Quick note, we want to thank our community for upholding our value of welcoming everyone. It can be very daunting as the new person and it’s important to remember we’ve all been there. This can simply mean introducing yourself, sharing a rack with someone, or offering a spot. A little goes a long way when adapting to a new place.  

For those of you who have been training with us for a while, thanks for being here! For the new faces, we’re glad you’re here! 

Current Training Phase

Summer Series & Recap of Summer Series Prep

Summer is (kind of) here! Our programming and training goals are to have a positive impact on your summer activities, avoid plateaus, and mitigate injuries as much as possible.  

Programming takeaways:

• Why have we switched from back squat to front squat? This change helps re-develop core strength needed for many summer activities, improves body posture, and helps individuals increase their squat depth. This increase in depth elicits flexibility and mobility. Additionally, front squats are more anterior dominant which helps develop your quads, VMO (vastus medialis oblique), and patella tendon. The goal is to develop these muscles and ligaments earlier in the season, so they can endure higher levels of stress later in the season. This should also help decrease pain and injuries to your knees and hips. It’s important to note, we can’t stop all injuries, but we can decrease the likelihood and severity. Later in the summer, we will adjust the programming to create less pressure on these muscle groups. 

• We will also be consistently working the posterior chain (i.e. the glutes, hamstrings, upper and lower back) to ensure high levels of power output which will increase speed when running, cycling, and hiking. 

• Lastly, you will see more unilateral movements or single leg and single arm work to ensure bodily balance.  With some sports, like skiing, people instinctively favor their stronger side and that carries into other athletic movements. If we do this for an extended period, we can create heavy imbalances that decrease performance and increase injuries. To combat this early on, you will see sgl leg squats, Bulgarian split squats, 45-degree lunges, sgl arm rows, sgl leg RDLs, and sgl leg glute bridges. 

Summer Goals:

• Increase strength and power output! 
• Balance the body for increased performance & decreased injuries.
• Muscle Hypertrophy-Building of Muscle 
• Increase speed and change of direction. 
• Develop a high level of work capacity so we can repeat bouts of activity at     high levels of force over longer periods. Example: Sprint longer and faster without getting as tired, this goes for cycling, swimming, and hiking.
• Joint Stability-Ankle/Knees/Hips 

In our last write-up, we included two studies on how excessive running volume can decrease your performance when training for a running event. This also applies to cycling, swimming, and hiking. We love our activities but, remember, too much activity can also be a bad thing. Running, hiking, and mountain biking are considered high impact on our joints and doing a sport 2-3 times per week has been shown to be enough volume for higher performance levels.

Articles Recap:

Within the last 20 years, research has shown that by increasing strength and endurance training while decreasing the volume of endurance activities you’re going to increase performance, especially for endurance athletes. This means running more or cycling more will not always prepare you for your race. For example, recent research shows that decreasing running volume and increasing strength training can increase performance in a 10K by 3-5%. (3,2,1,4)

It is a common misconception that clocking more miles means the more prepared you are for your marathon or triathlon. Building muscle strength, power output, and muscle hypertrophy is what will increase strength, speed, and endurance for your sports. Beyond 8-12 weeks, solely running, cycling, or swimming will not continue to increase strength. Many of you have been doing these for years so you will not get strength or power properties from your activities. This is why we continue to stress the importance of training year round, 2-3 times per week.

 Do not forget to build your body up at the gym, make sure you rest, and fuel your body for your summer activities.

Welcome Lane!

Born and raised in St George, Utah Lane spent most of his time mountain biking in the desert hills and competing in downhill mountain bike races. Lane began his academic career at Utah Tech University earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science. After completing his undergrad and spending the summer as a whitewater rafting guide, Lane attended Utah State University for graduate school. He earned his Master’s Degree of Science in Kinesiology and gained extensive knowledge as a member of the Olympic Sports Strength and Conditioning staff and working as a graduate assistant.

We’re thrilled to have Lane joining our team!