RESEARCH:The 10,000 Steps Program

The 10,000 steps program, which was popularized by Japan, is compared to walking about 5 miles. Most people can complete this task in 30 – 60 minutes, which is the recommended amount of daily exercise by the Center for Disease Control. In a recent study that I conducted, we put the 10,000 steps program to the test.

In our research, we used two subjects, who walked for 5 minutes at 3.0 mph, then ran for 5 minutes at twice the walking rate, 6 mph, which we assumed would generate twice as many steps. The subjects were a female, who was 62” tall and weighed 51.4 kg and a male, who was 74” tall and weighed 81.8 kg. We recorded their heart rate and VO2 each minute of the test. At the end of each period we recorded their total number of steps.

The results showed that the female took 541 steps at 3 mph and 812 at 6 mph. The male took 480 steps at 3 mph and 624 steps at 6 mph. The female had a VO2 of .71 at the end of her 5 minute walk and a VO2 of 1.95 at the end of her run. The male had a VO2 of 1.17 at the end of his 5 minute walk and a VO2 of 2.84 at the end of her run. The female had a heart of 100 at the end of her 5 minute walk and a heart rate of 156 at the end of her run. The male had a heart rate of 128 at the end of his 5 minute walk and a heart rate of 189 at the end of his run. The male took 11% fewer steps than the female did at 3 mph and 23% fewer steps at 6 mph. However the male had a higher heart rate and a higher VO2 reading at the end of each period and burned approximately 25% more calories.

In conclusion, the 10,000 steps program is a good program to make people aware of the need to get active, as well as a way to motivate them to track their activity throughout the day. However, as our study showed the 10,000 steps program should only be used as a guideline to an exercise program. Our female subject took more steps, but burned fewer calories. These results could be due to the twelve inch height difference, the weight difference of 30.4 kg, or because our female subject was in better shape than our male subject. The bottom line is get active & stay active.

Spending too much money on post-workout drinks?

Chocolate milk could be the answer to a cheaper supplement. Recovery is the most important component of training. After you workout it is vital that you get what your body needs. A new study, published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, reports that athletes who drank chocolate milk after an intense bout of exercise were able to workout longer and with more power during a second workout compared to athletes who drank commercial sports beverages. Milk protein is an important ingredient in recovery. Post work out drinks are designed to give you the carbs and the protein you need for optimal recovery. Chocolate milk for more calories could be an ideal post workout shake.

Cleveland Indians Spring Training

I just came back from spending three days in Winter Haven with Tim Maxey and the Cleveland Indians. Tim has done a great job in designing one of the best athlete development program in all of professional baseball. The Indians place a great emphasis on the physical development of every athlete that signs with the organization. This emphasis in physical development is a priority that every staff member takes very seriously, which begins with the General Manager and filters all the way down towards the Latin American Academies.

The thing I was most impressed by, was the seamless understanding of the philosophy between the coordinators, assistants and interns. All athletes work hard and disciplined during the training and conditioning sessions. They are well supervised and every workout card is checked-off prior to the finished workout session. There is very little standing around. Players grab their cards and continue with the workout routines and conditioning responsibilities without wasting time.

The workout routines are total body and place emphasis on the posterior chain and extensor muscles. Lower-body movements include squats, rdl, lunges and Upper-body movements include, rows, pulldowns, incline db press or flat db press. There is some form of forearm work to choose from and shoulder routines are a daily necessity that get incorporated into the end of the workout,post-pitching or bullpen day. There are several core routines that are implemented in every workout. The athletes can choose from body-weight ground based, medicine balls, stability balls or corrective stabilization exercises based on pre-determined screening exercises.

Conditioning work is divided by position or player-specific needs; starters, relievers, position players and remedial conditioning for overweight players. During my time at Spring Training, position players ran 3 full gassers and 3 half gassers and pitchers would run poles at varying distances. All players were encouraged to perform 15-20 minutes of cardio work early in the morning to prep the body for the days activities.

The three days I spent with Tim Maxey at Winter Haven, made me appreciate the hard work and long hours all strength and conditioning coaches in Major and minor league baseball have to endure in getting all organizational players ready for the regular season. Good luck to all of you during the next 7 months.

Univ. of Florida Strength & Conditioning Clinic

I just returned from the University of Florida Strength and Conditioning Clinic in Gainsville and was impressed with the topics, speakers and class of the whole staff. The clinic took place on Friday and Saturday. On Friday the Strength and Conditioning staff has an in-service session that covered Neck Training, Plyometrics, Functional Exercise Variations,Training with Machines, and Agility Ladder Work.

The clininc was attended by about 250 coaches, athletic trtainers, physical therapist, strength and conditioning coaches. Coach Marotti and his staff did an outstanding job of running this two-day event. The Saturday speakers included, Susan Tillman, Clinical Coordinator from Shands Rehab, Kurt Schultz, Strength and Conditioning from Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dr. Ted Lambrinides, Director of Performance from Sports+Field, Michelle Rockwell, U. Florida Sports Nutritioninst, and Lon Record, Football Strength and Conditioning Coach for Florida International University.

The thing I enjoyed the most about this clinic was seeing all the guys that have worked together under Coach Marotti at University of Cincinnati and University of Notre Dame. The list includes Mike Vorkapich, currently working with men and women's hockey and basketball at Michigam State. Scott Holsopple, currently working with basketball at University of Kentucky. Lon Record, curently working with football at Florida International University. Frank Piraino and Sergio Lund, currently working football with Coach Marotti at U of F.

It was awesome spending time with the guys that I came up in the field with during the past 13 years. Ideas where exchanged, theories questioned and everyone called out. But one thing was made very evident. That as the field continues to grow and new methods of training are flitered into all these young up and coming coaches, the one constant is that athletics is about mental toughness, increased work capacity and putting it on the line every day for your team. It reinforced all the things we do at St. X as we pay the price everyday as we try to win another state title.

Good luck to all the basketball guys as you go into the tournament next week. Great to see all of you.