June 5, 2025 • 26 mins
Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness.
My name is Rob Maxwell and I'man exercise physiologist and
personal trainer.
I am the owner of Maxwell'sFitness Programs and I've been
in business since 1994.
The purpose of this podcast isto get to the real deal of what
really works and, mostimportantly, why things work.
(00:21):
Hence the name.
There is a a method to themadness.
Before I get to today's show, Iwant to thank Jonathan and Lynn
Gildan of the Gildan Group atRealty Pros.
They are committed to providingthe highest level of customer
service in home sales.
Why don't you give them a shoutand figure out what your home
is worth?
386-451-2412.
(00:44):
Welcome to the show everybody.
So I had a conversation theother day, and oftentimes that's
how I decide what podcast I'mgoing to do.
What I'm going to talk about isthe questions that come up at
the gym, and a question came upthat was basically about
(01:07):
specificity, and one did, Idon't know, a month ago or so as
well, and it sparked aconversation with a client, and
you know.
So I know I talked aboutspecificity recently and that's
why.
But I'm going to talk about itagain, but in more detail this
(01:28):
time, because not that the otherpodcast wasn't thorough.
I think they all are.
But I really want to dive intothis specificity topic a little
bit more because I do think itis so important and in the
podcast about a month ago it wasreally about like watching out
(01:48):
for what other people do andthen trying to copy them at the
gym.
You know it was more in thatregard when I talked about
specificity.
But this is going to be more ofa deeper dive really into what
we need to be specific about inour workout and basically, like
the heart of the matter, of themethod, to the madness, like why
(02:08):
things work.
So this is going to be brokenup into a couple episodes
because it's a lot ofinformation and I don't want you
to get too bored because youknow, when we hear a lot of
information, we can only take somuch right About 20 minutes or
so, the research says, and thenafter that we start to kind of
(02:28):
tune out a little bit.
So I don't want to jam in toomuch in a short period of time
and I don't want to devalue it.
So I want to make sure that Icover it well.
So I'm going to break it up.
So let's get after it.
I'm going to talk aboutspecificity.
That, essentially, is one ofthe seven principles of physical
(02:49):
fitness and it's the one thatsays, in short, that if you want
to improve something, then youhave to train specifically for
it, specifically for it.
And it comes from the SEDSprinciple, which is specific
(03:10):
adaptations, to impose demands,which means that if you want
specific changes which is whatadaptations are then you have to
demand specifically what youwant.
When you break it down that way, that only makes sense, right?
So let's get deeply into ittoday.
(03:30):
So specificity means that youreally have to target everything
.
Like too often we think of onlya couple things.
When we think about training,for example, we might think
about.
A simple example would be well,if I want to bench press more
(03:55):
weight, then I need to benchpress with more weight.
I mean, that is very, very true, but why so?
In that example, you might onlytake the load part, or you
might only take the exercisepart.
That's probably a betterexample.
In that example, you might onlytake the fact that it's bench
(04:18):
press, but there is a lot ofdifferent things we have to
think about.
So I want to start out like Isaid, it's going to be a pretty
deep dive.
So I want to start out into thedifferent body systems.
There's a lot of systems to thebody, like it's not just
(04:38):
muscles, it's not just heart.
There's a lot of systems.
Now, not all of them do we needto necessarily worry about when
we're talking about specifictraining, but there are a lot of
systems.
Skeletal system is exactly whatyou think it is.
(05:01):
It is your bones and yourconnective tissue.
I'm going to go back throughand talk about the ones that we
need to worry about withspecificity and, yes, the
skeletal system we do.
There is the muscular system, sothat is the skeletal muscle.
There is the muscular system,so that is the skeletal muscle.
(05:22):
There is the nervous system.
There is the endocrine system,which is basically all of the
hormonal system, which is really, really critical.
There is the integumentarysystem, which is your skin and
(05:43):
nails.
There is your cardiovascularsystem, which is the heart and
everything makes up, making upthe cardiovascular system, so
the blood vessels, the veins.
There's the lymphatic system,so that helps with the drainage
and recovery.
There's the respiratory system,so the lungs and alveoli.
(06:08):
There is the digestive system,which is how we basically absorb
and eliminate food.
There is the urinary system,which is how we excrete a lot of
our fluids.
There is the reproductivesystem, the system so we can
(06:29):
reproduce.
Pretty sure I said the nervoussystem, but I can't remember if
I did so.
The nervous system makes up thebrain and spinal column.
So when it comes to fitness,like, are we training all of
those systems?
No, but we're training morethan just the big two that we
(06:51):
often think of when we thinkabout physical fitness.
So the big two in this casewould be the muscular system and
the cardiovascular system.
So yes, those two we aretraining and we do have to think
about specificity.
For example, in the muscularsystem alone, you have either
(07:13):
slow twitch or fast twitchmuscle fibers and we have type
2a muscle fibers which are theintermediate fibers which kind
of go either way.
They can act like slow twitchif you train predominantly slow
twitch, or they could act likefast twitch if we train
(07:35):
predominantly in a fast twitchmanner.
And that means that they arevery, very important.
When we're talking aboutspecificity, because, let's say,
we go back to the bench pressexample and you want to bench
press more weight, that meansthat you want to strength train,
to have the fast twitch musclefibers most activated.
(07:58):
So if you do a lot of slowtwitch activity, for example
jogging, power walking orcycling, then you're taking
those type 2a muscle fibers moretowards the cardiac side or
more towards the slow twitchside.
So specificity is veryimportant in the muscular system
.
They are going to go in thedirection that you train them.
(08:22):
So, no, you can't make a fasttwitch muscle fiber slow twitch
and you can't make a slow twitchmuscle fiber fast twitch.
But the type 2a fibers, theintermediate fibers, you can
switch based on your training.
Now they can be good at both.
So if you do strength trainingand cardio, they're going to
(08:44):
kind of stay in the middle orkind of kind of whatever you
want to say.
All right, you know what Imeant, but then you're not going
to be great or your best at oneof them.
So specificity matters.
If you want to go to Hawaii,like you want to win or whatever
, go to the Hawaiian Ironman Imean most likely not anybody I
(09:07):
know is going to win theHawaiian Ironman.
But if you want to go to theHawaiian Ironman, which I guess
they consider the grand poobahof all the Ironman events,
you're going to have to trainvery specifically for that,
which means you're going to haveto train those slow twitch
muscle fibers more because youwant your muscular system to
bend more towards endurance, allright.
(09:30):
So that's just an example inthe muscular system alone and
that's only part of it.
I'm just really kind of gettingwarmed up here, all right.
And in the cardiovascular system?
So once again, thecardiovascular system is
considered kind of one of thebig two that we think of.
(09:51):
That's also going to have to betrained specifically, all right
.
So let's just take time.
Endurance and cardio alone.
If your goal is to be, say, thestrongest guy in the world or a
bodybuilder, well, yourcardiovascular system isn't
(10:11):
going to need the priority ofyour muscular system and your
nervous system and yourendocrine system.
But we still have to thinkabout it, right.
So the cardiovascular system, inother words, how your heart
responds to exercise, whether ithypertrophies or not, because
(10:35):
that's what happens when westrength, train our heart.
The heart is actually a muscle.
So when we do cardio,respiratory endurance, the heart
, specifically the leftventricle, is actually getting
stronger, a little bit bigger,in a healthy way, not in an
unhealthy way, not like cardiacmyopathy, but left ventricular
(10:59):
hypertrophy means that the leftventricle is actually getting a
little bit bigger and strongerand when it does that, it
improves the cardiac output andit improves the stroke volume,
which means that your heart cannow pump more blood per single
beat.
All right, we want that.
(11:21):
If we want to be morerespiratory,
cardio-respiratorily fit, moreaerobically fit, right.
If you're training for amarathon, if you're training for
a 5K, you want that ejectionfraction to be greater.
You want the heart to pump moreblood per beat, because that
means you have a stronger heart.
(11:42):
So, therefore, thecardiovascular system needs to
be trained.
If that is your goal, if yourgoal is, say, a better physique,
like you only care aboutmuscular fitness or strength,
then you don't have to worryabout the cardiovascular system.
I'm not saying that's a goodthing.
(12:03):
I think we should all strivefor balanced fitness.
I'm just trying to say thatthat's where specificity comes
in in that system.
But it doesn't end there.
And today we are just talkingabout the systems.
All right.
Now the skeletal system.
We have to consider as well.
That does need to be thoughtabout when we talk about the
(12:28):
specificity principle, like well, what does the skeletal system
have to do with that?
Well, think of it this way Now,number one bones do get
stronger via exercise.
They get stronger, and they getstronger by adding bone density
via exercise.
I think everybody knowsespecially women who have been
(12:50):
talked to from their physicians,thank goodness, about their
bone density and making surethat they are trying to do the
best they can to preventosteoporosis.
So they know, women know, andmen should know too, that we
need to exercise to strengthenour bones.
So that's what happens when wedo both strength training and
(13:14):
weight-bearing exercise,specifically walking, jogging,
whatever that is going to buildup the bones.
So we know that right.
But that's not what this isabout.
If we have a very specific goalin fitness exercise, sport we
need to think about the skeletalsystem.
(13:34):
Now I've heard people say this.
So this is kind of where westart to get into the
nitty-gritty, where you're goingto have some aha moments and
think about this a little bit.
I've heard people say well, youknow, I have a really good
cardiovascular system, like I'vehad my VO2 max tested and it's
pretty high.
(13:54):
I know that.
Or maybe they're going by whattheir watch tells them, which is
decent.
But let's just say in thisexample that they know their VO2
max is pretty good, all right,and they know they have pretty
good joints, like they haven'thad any issues and they know
they're mentally tough andthey'll say so I think I can
(14:15):
just go out and do a marathonwithout much training.
Now, from that perspective theymight be right.
For example, if you have areally high VO2 max and you have
a good aerobic system ingeneral just talking about, say,
the endocrine system alone andtalking about the cardiovascular
(14:36):
system alone, and then let'sjust say, talking about the
muscular system alone, so let'ssay those three systems are
really good.
So that argument makes sense.
Well, yeah, if you paceyourself, if you slow down and
you've never run more than threemiles or whatever, if you slow
down and you've never run morethan three miles or whatever,
yeah, you probably, based onthose three systems, can finish
(14:57):
a marathon in decent time.
But here's the problem whatabout the skeletal system?
If the skeletal system hasnever been on its feet with that
kind of pounding for thatduration and it takes fast
runners to run it in three hours, like that's really fast, elite
(15:18):
runners do a marathon in, youknow, two hours and three
minutes to three hours.
Basically that's elite, that'ssuper, super, super, super fast.
All right, really fast runnersin three hours.
You know more.
Normal people get in thefour-hour range and beyond, like
that's normal.
That's great.
You know, there's nothing wrongwith that.
(15:39):
I'm not saying a fastermarathon is better.
I'm just trying to give you anidea of how long these things
actually take, which means howlong you're actually on your
feet.
That's a long time to be onyour feet, moving for four hours
If your skeletal system hasn'tgotten the reps.
I don't care what kind of shoesyou have, I don't care how the
(16:00):
best hoke is in the world, ifyour skeletal system hasn't put
in the reps day in and day out,using the overload principle of
getting more time on your feet.
That's the value of the longrun People think well, it builds
my fitness and I'll say well,not really.
Like.
Your aerobic system has gottenall it really really needs
(16:20):
around an hour maximum Most ofthe time.
Your muscular system even lessthan that.
Your endocrine system isn'treally wired that way.
Where duration is a big deal,it's more about intensity.
But your skeletal system hasn'teven gotten warmed up yet.
It's used to what it's used to.
So if your skeletal system isused to a two or three mile run,
(16:41):
that's where I like to runthese days in that range, two to
four miles somewhere in there.
Then have I done a marathonbefore?
Yes, I've done five.
Could I go out and do one nextweek based on my level of
cardiovascular conditioning?
Yup, could I do it based on myskeletal system right now?
Absolutely not.
I mean, I might do real damageor I just might get to the point
(17:05):
where I can't finish it becausemy skeletal system is too
banged up.
We'll get shin splints, we'llget all kinds of issues, we
could get stress fractures.
It's just not ready for it.
And the bones are like everyother system, and that's what
this podcast is about.
The bones need the reps.
That's why the long run forpeople who do long races is
(17:27):
critical.
It's not about building theirfitness.
It's literally about buildingup their skeletal system slowly
but surely until they can handlethat kind of distance.
And you know, it's also thething that holds people back.
Sometimes, as they train, theyover-train and they find out
(17:48):
that their skeletal systemstarts to break down a little
bit, and that's what does theirtraining in.
So that shows you how importantthat skeletal system is.
Now, the endocrine system isalso a system that we do have to
think about.
When it comes to specificity oftraining.
(18:08):
Now this one gets talked aboutquite a bit in strength training
circles, because there is adifference between somebody who
wants maximal strength andsomebody who wants maximal size,
hypertrophy.
And yes, ladies and gentlemen,there are those people out there
that think about it that way.
Some guys and gals just want tobe strong.
(18:31):
They don't care about theaesthetics, so much, about how
they look, their tonicity, theyjust want to be strong.
They don't care about theaesthetics, so much, about how
they look, their tonicity, theyjust want to be strong.
Some people and I would saymore especially in the male area
, you know, maybe younger.
I'm just trying to thinkbecause a lot of people I knew
growing up were like this wantto look bigger and don't
(18:52):
necessarily care about theirstrength, they just want big
muscles.
They want to look like ArnoldSchwarzenegger, they could care
less what that does in the gym,and you know, to get there, yes,
they have to lift heavierweights, but they also don't
care so much about that.
So that is where the endocrinesystem really comes in, about
(19:13):
that.
So that is where the endocrinesystem really comes in.
So those two things,hypertrophy and strength, do go
hand in hand very much a lot ofthe time.
So to get bigger you have tolift heavier weights, and when
you lift heavier weights you getbigger.
This is true.
But where it does get a littlebit dicey is when we factor in
(19:34):
the endocrine system.
So you can get stronger and notmaximize your muscle mass.
And you can maximize yourmuscle mass without being
brutally strong.
You'll get stronger.
But there are differences andthat's because of the endocrine
system.
So when you do strong, heavysets that basically are like
(19:59):
five reps and lower, theytypically take less than 20
seconds.
When that happens you are inwhat is called the intermediate
energy system.
In the intermediate energysystem there is no hormonal
production per se.
It basically all happens at themoment.
(20:20):
It's very brief, it's a centralnervous system driven action
that basically recruits the mostamount of muscle fibers it can
in a short period of time andyou will get stronger by doing
that.
But the endocrine system doesnot secrete a lot, or if any,
(20:41):
testosterone, human growthhormone or insulin, growth
factor F, and those are thethree hormones that are related
to hypertrophy.
The set needs to last at leastlonger than 20 seconds, closer
to 30 seconds up to 90 seconds.
(21:04):
So 30 seconds up to 90 secondsfor maximal amount of acute
levels, meaning at the time,levels of human growth hormone,
testosterone and insulin, growthfactor F, which are your
anabolic hormones that promotegrowth.
To get muscle growth andhypertrophy maximal hypertrophy
(21:28):
those have to be present and getinvolved, flowing through your
bloodstream as part of theinstant recovery process.
If it's shorter than 20 seconds, by doing very heavy loads,
they are not going to come outand play, they're going to stay
(21:49):
dormant.
So you're not maximizing yourability to increase muscle mass
when the set isn't long enough.
So that is an example of theendocrine system specificity
that is necessary.
That will change one person'sgoal or goal reaching from
(22:09):
getting stronger to gettingbigger.
So specificity in the endocrinesystem is really, really
important.
And that is the case as wellwhen we are talking about
different types of distances inrunning too.
So shorter events will requiremore testosterone and those
(22:33):
types of hormones flowingthrough the blood system.
It's going to change versuslonger distance events.
So, yes, we do have to thinkabout specificity in the
endocrine system, all right.
So those are the systems wehave to think about regarding
(22:54):
specificity, all right.
The skeletal system yes, Checkit on your box.
The muscular system yes, checkit on the box.
The nervous system, which Itouched on briefly, but yes,
it's very important.
The nervous system has to knoware we moving quickly or are we
(23:15):
moving slowly?
And that is very, veryimportant.
So if you want to bench press alot of weight, you need to get
your muscular system and yourcentral nervous system ready to
react to very heavy loads.
You can get stronger, but thennot practice these heavy lifts
(23:38):
and unrack it and all of asudden the brain goes.
I'm not ready for this.
It almost goes into a type ofshock.
So you have to specificallytrain the central nervous system
to carry out and handle veryheavy loads.
If you are more interested inhypertrophy or general strength,
(23:59):
like the general population,then the central nervous system
training doesn't matter as much.
But we do have to think aboutthe speed of movement for that
very big reason.
Endocrine system I already toldyou why.
Cardiovascular system I alreadytold you why we have to train
(24:21):
it very specifically.
All right.
So those are the systems wehave to think about and I know
I'm leaving you hanging rightnow, but there's a reason for it
.
In part two I'm going to getinto the movements and the way
we have to think about this, totrain specifically, because what
this all boils down to is youhave specific goals.
(24:46):
You want to get therespecifically.
There is a more direct path.
We're going to get advice allthe time on what people tell us
to do.
Unfortunately, it just happensin my industry all the time.
All I can say is there's prosout there that really know this
stuff that can steer you in theright direction.
I'm not trying to say it'soverly complicated.
It's really really not.
(25:06):
I'm giving you the whys behindit.
Specificity is an easy concept,right, but I'm giving you the
whys because I do think whymatters.
I think once you hear it you'llgo oh well, that person really
doesn't know what they'retalking about.
All right, so in part two wewill pick it up and I will see
you then.
Thank you for listening totoday's program.
(25:30):
I ask you to please follow theshow wherever you get your
podcasts and please selectautomatic download, because that
really helps the show.
Now I want to thank overheaddoor of daytona beach, the
area's premier garage doorcompany.
They have the best product.
They have the best service.
(25:50):
I personally vouch for jeff andzach hawk, the owners.
They are great people with agreat company.
If you have any door needs,please give them a shout at
386-222-3165.
Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness.
My name is Rob Maxwell and I'man exercise physiologist and
personal trainer.
I am the owner of Maxwell'sFitness Programs and I've been
in business since 1994.
The purpose of this podcast isto get to the real deal of what
really works and, mostimportantly, why things work.
(00:21):
Hence the name.
There is a a method to themadness.
Before I get to today's show, Iwant to thank Jonathan and Lynn
Gildan of the Gildan Group atRealty Pros.
They are committed to providingthe highest level of customer
service in home sales.
Why don't you give them a shoutand figure out what your home
is worth?
386-451-2412.
(00:44):
Welcome to the show everybody.
So I had a conversation theother day, and oftentimes that's
how I decide what podcast I'mgoing to do.
What I'm going to talk about isthe questions that come up at
the gym, and a question came upthat was basically about
(01:07):
specificity, and one did, Idon't know, a month ago or so as
well, and it sparked aconversation with a client, and
you know.
So I know I talked aboutspecificity recently and that's
why.
But I'm going to talk about itagain, but in more detail this
(01:28):
time, because not that the otherpodcast wasn't thorough.
I think they all are.
But I really want to dive intothis specificity topic a little
bit more because I do think itis so important and in the
podcast about a month ago it wasreally about like watching out
(01:48):
for what other people do andthen trying to copy them at the
gym.
You know it was more in thatregard when I talked about
specificity.
But this is going to be more ofa deeper dive really into what
we need to be specific about inour workout and basically, like
the heart of the matter, of themethod, to the madness, like why
(02:08):
things work.
So this is going to be brokenup into a couple episodes
because it's a lot ofinformation and I don't want you
to get too bored because youknow, when we hear a lot of
information, we can only take somuch right About 20 minutes or
so, the research says, and thenafter that we start to kind of
(02:28):
tune out a little bit.
So I don't want to jam in toomuch in a short period of time
and I don't want to devalue it.
So I want to make sure that Icover it well.
So I'm going to break it up.
So let's get after it.
I'm going to talk aboutspecificity.
That, essentially, is one ofthe seven principles of physical
(02:49):
fitness and it's the one thatsays, in short, that if you want
to improve something, then youhave to train specifically for
it, specifically for it.
And it comes from the SEDSprinciple, which is specific
(03:10):
adaptations, to impose demands,which means that if you want
specific changes which is whatadaptations are then you have to
demand specifically what youwant.
When you break it down that way, that only makes sense, right?
So let's get deeply into ittoday.
(03:30):
So specificity means that youreally have to target everything
.
Like too often we think of onlya couple things.
When we think about training,for example, we might think
about.
A simple example would be well,if I want to bench press more
(03:55):
weight, then I need to benchpress with more weight.
I mean, that is very, very true, but why so?
In that example, you might onlytake the load part, or you
might only take the exercisepart.
That's probably a betterexample.
In that example, you might onlytake the fact that it's bench
(04:18):
press, but there is a lot ofdifferent things we have to
think about.
So I want to start out like Isaid, it's going to be a pretty
deep dive.
So I want to start out into thedifferent body systems.
There's a lot of systems to thebody, like it's not just
(04:38):
muscles, it's not just heart.
There's a lot of systems.
Now, not all of them do we needto necessarily worry about when
we're talking about specifictraining, but there are a lot of
systems.
Skeletal system is exactly whatyou think it is.
(05:01):
It is your bones and yourconnective tissue.
I'm going to go back throughand talk about the ones that we
need to worry about withspecificity and, yes, the
skeletal system we do.
There is the muscular system, sothat is the skeletal muscle.
There is the muscular system,so that is the skeletal muscle.
(05:22):
There is the nervous system.
There is the endocrine system,which is basically all of the
hormonal system, which is really, really critical.
There is the integumentarysystem, which is your skin and
(05:43):
nails.
There is your cardiovascularsystem, which is the heart and
everything makes up, making upthe cardiovascular system, so
the blood vessels, the veins.
There's the lymphatic system,so that helps with the drainage
and recovery.
There's the respiratory system,so the lungs and alveoli.
(06:08):
There is the digestive system,which is how we basically absorb
and eliminate food.
There is the urinary system,which is how we excrete a lot of
our fluids.
There is the reproductivesystem, the system so we can
(06:29):
reproduce.
Pretty sure I said the nervoussystem, but I can't remember if
I did so.
The nervous system makes up thebrain and spinal column.
So when it comes to fitness,like, are we training all of
those systems?
No, but we're training morethan just the big two that we
(06:51):
often think of when we thinkabout physical fitness.
So the big two in this casewould be the muscular system and
the cardiovascular system.
So yes, those two we aretraining and we do have to think
about specificity.
For example, in the muscularsystem alone, you have either
(07:13):
slow twitch or fast twitchmuscle fibers and we have type
2a muscle fibers which are theintermediate fibers which kind
of go either way.
They can act like slow twitchif you train predominantly slow
twitch, or they could act likefast twitch if we train
(07:35):
predominantly in a fast twitchmanner.
And that means that they arevery, very important.
When we're talking aboutspecificity, because, let's say,
we go back to the bench pressexample and you want to bench
press more weight, that meansthat you want to strength train,
to have the fast twitch musclefibers most activated.
(07:58):
So if you do a lot of slowtwitch activity, for example
jogging, power walking orcycling, then you're taking
those type 2a muscle fibers moretowards the cardiac side or
more towards the slow twitchside.
So specificity is veryimportant in the muscular system
.
They are going to go in thedirection that you train them.
(08:22):
So, no, you can't make a fasttwitch muscle fiber slow twitch
and you can't make a slow twitchmuscle fiber fast twitch.
But the type 2a fibers, theintermediate fibers, you can
switch based on your training.
Now they can be good at both.
So if you do strength trainingand cardio, they're going to
(08:44):
kind of stay in the middle orkind of kind of whatever you
want to say.
All right, you know what Imeant, but then you're not going
to be great or your best at oneof them.
So specificity matters.
If you want to go to Hawaii,like you want to win or whatever
, go to the Hawaiian Ironman Imean most likely not anybody I
(09:07):
know is going to win theHawaiian Ironman.
But if you want to go to theHawaiian Ironman, which I guess
they consider the grand poobahof all the Ironman events,
you're going to have to trainvery specifically for that,
which means you're going to haveto train those slow twitch
muscle fibers more because youwant your muscular system to
bend more towards endurance, allright.
(09:30):
So that's just an example inthe muscular system alone and
that's only part of it.
I'm just really kind of gettingwarmed up here, all right.
And in the cardiovascular system?
So once again, thecardiovascular system is
considered kind of one of thebig two that we think of.
(09:51):
That's also going to have to betrained specifically, all right
.
So let's just take time.
Endurance and cardio alone.
If your goal is to be, say, thestrongest guy in the world or a
bodybuilder, well, yourcardiovascular system isn't
(10:11):
going to need the priority ofyour muscular system and your
nervous system and yourendocrine system.
But we still have to thinkabout it, right.
So the cardiovascular system, inother words, how your heart
responds to exercise, whether ithypertrophies or not, because
(10:35):
that's what happens when westrength, train our heart.
The heart is actually a muscle.
So when we do cardio,respiratory endurance, the heart
, specifically the leftventricle, is actually getting
stronger, a little bit bigger,in a healthy way, not in an
unhealthy way, not like cardiacmyopathy, but left ventricular
(10:59):
hypertrophy means that the leftventricle is actually getting a
little bit bigger and strongerand when it does that, it
improves the cardiac output andit improves the stroke volume,
which means that your heart cannow pump more blood per single
beat.
All right, we want that.
(11:21):
If we want to be morerespiratory,
cardio-respiratorily fit, moreaerobically fit, right.
If you're training for amarathon, if you're training for
a 5K, you want that ejectionfraction to be greater.
You want the heart to pump moreblood per beat, because that
means you have a stronger heart.
(11:42):
So, therefore, thecardiovascular system needs to
be trained.
If that is your goal, if yourgoal is, say, a better physique,
like you only care aboutmuscular fitness or strength,
then you don't have to worryabout the cardiovascular system.
I'm not saying that's a goodthing.
(12:03):
I think we should all strivefor balanced fitness.
I'm just trying to say thatthat's where specificity comes
in in that system.
But it doesn't end there.
And today we are just talkingabout the systems.
All right.
Now the skeletal system.
We have to consider as well.
That does need to be thoughtabout when we talk about the
(12:28):
specificity principle, like well, what does the skeletal system
have to do with that?
Well, think of it this way Now,number one bones do get
stronger via exercise.
They get stronger, and they getstronger by adding bone density
via exercise.
I think everybody knowsespecially women who have been
(12:50):
talked to from their physicians,thank goodness, about their
bone density and making surethat they are trying to do the
best they can to preventosteoporosis.
So they know, women know, andmen should know too, that we
need to exercise to strengthenour bones.
So that's what happens when wedo both strength training and
(13:14):
weight-bearing exercise,specifically walking, jogging,
whatever that is going to buildup the bones.
So we know that right.
But that's not what this isabout.
If we have a very specific goalin fitness exercise, sport we
need to think about the skeletalsystem.
(13:34):
Now I've heard people say this.
So this is kind of where westart to get into the
nitty-gritty, where you're goingto have some aha moments and
think about this a little bit.
I've heard people say well, youknow, I have a really good
cardiovascular system, like I'vehad my VO2 max tested and it's
pretty high.
(13:54):
I know that.
Or maybe they're going by whattheir watch tells them, which is
decent.
But let's just say in thisexample that they know their VO2
max is pretty good, all right,and they know they have pretty
good joints, like they haven'thad any issues and they know
they're mentally tough andthey'll say so I think I can
(14:15):
just go out and do a marathonwithout much training.
Now, from that perspective theymight be right.
For example, if you have areally high VO2 max and you have
a good aerobic system ingeneral just talking about, say,
the endocrine system alone andtalking about the cardiovascular
(14:36):
system alone, and then let'sjust say, talking about the
muscular system alone, so let'ssay those three systems are
really good.
So that argument makes sense.
Well, yeah, if you paceyourself, if you slow down and
you've never run more than threemiles or whatever, if you slow
down and you've never run morethan three miles or whatever,
yeah, you probably, based onthose three systems, can finish
(14:57):
a marathon in decent time.
But here's the problem whatabout the skeletal system?
If the skeletal system hasnever been on its feet with that
kind of pounding for thatduration and it takes fast
runners to run it in three hours, like that's really fast, elite
(15:18):
runners do a marathon in, youknow, two hours and three
minutes to three hours.
Basically that's elite, that'ssuper, super, super, super fast.
All right, really fast runnersin three hours.
You know more.
Normal people get in thefour-hour range and beyond, like
that's normal.
That's great.
You know, there's nothing wrongwith that.
(15:39):
I'm not saying a fastermarathon is better.
I'm just trying to give you anidea of how long these things
actually take, which means howlong you're actually on your
feet.
That's a long time to be onyour feet, moving for four hours
If your skeletal system hasn'tgotten the reps.
I don't care what kind of shoesyou have, I don't care how the
(16:00):
best hoke is in the world, ifyour skeletal system hasn't put
in the reps day in and day out,using the overload principle of
getting more time on your feet.
That's the value of the longrun People think well, it builds
my fitness and I'll say well,not really.
Like.
Your aerobic system has gottenall it really really needs
(16:20):
around an hour maximum Most ofthe time.
Your muscular system even lessthan that.
Your endocrine system isn'treally wired that way.
Where duration is a big deal,it's more about intensity.
But your skeletal system hasn'teven gotten warmed up yet.
It's used to what it's used to.
So if your skeletal system isused to a two or three mile run,
(16:41):
that's where I like to runthese days in that range, two to
four miles somewhere in there.
Then have I done a marathonbefore?
Yes, I've done five.
Could I go out and do one nextweek based on my level of
cardiovascular conditioning?
Yup, could I do it based on myskeletal system right now?
Absolutely not.
I mean, I might do real damageor I just might get to the point
(17:05):
where I can't finish it becausemy skeletal system is too
banged up.
We'll get shin splints, we'llget all kinds of issues, we
could get stress fractures.
It's just not ready for it.
And the bones are like everyother system, and that's what
this podcast is about.
The bones need the reps.
That's why the long run forpeople who do long races is
(17:27):
critical.
It's not about building theirfitness.
It's literally about buildingup their skeletal system slowly
but surely until they can handlethat kind of distance.
And you know, it's also thething that holds people back.
Sometimes, as they train, theyover-train and they find out
(17:48):
that their skeletal systemstarts to break down a little
bit, and that's what does theirtraining in.
So that shows you how importantthat skeletal system is.
Now, the endocrine system isalso a system that we do have to
think about.
When it comes to specificity oftraining.
(18:08):
Now this one gets talked aboutquite a bit in strength training
circles, because there is adifference between somebody who
wants maximal strength andsomebody who wants maximal size,
hypertrophy.
And yes, ladies and gentlemen,there are those people out there
that think about it that way.
Some guys and gals just want tobe strong.
(18:31):
They don't care about theaesthetics, so much, about how
they look, their tonicity, theyjust want to be strong.
They don't care about theaesthetics, so much, about how
they look, their tonicity, theyjust want to be strong.
Some people and I would saymore especially in the male area
, you know, maybe younger.
I'm just trying to thinkbecause a lot of people I knew
growing up were like this wantto look bigger and don't
(18:52):
necessarily care about theirstrength, they just want big
muscles.
They want to look like ArnoldSchwarzenegger, they could care
less what that does in the gym,and you know, to get there, yes,
they have to lift heavierweights, but they also don't
care so much about that.
So that is where the endocrinesystem really comes in, about
(19:13):
that.
So that is where the endocrinesystem really comes in.
So those two things,hypertrophy and strength, do go
hand in hand very much a lot ofthe time.
So to get bigger you have tolift heavier weights, and when
you lift heavier weights you getbigger.
This is true.
But where it does get a littlebit dicey is when we factor in
(19:34):
the endocrine system.
So you can get stronger and notmaximize your muscle mass.
And you can maximize yourmuscle mass without being
brutally strong.
You'll get stronger.
But there are differences andthat's because of the endocrine
system.
So when you do strong, heavysets that basically are like
(19:59):
five reps and lower, theytypically take less than 20
seconds.
When that happens you are inwhat is called the intermediate
energy system.
In the intermediate energysystem there is no hormonal
production per se.
It basically all happens at themoment.
(20:20):
It's very brief, it's a centralnervous system driven action
that basically recruits the mostamount of muscle fibers it can
in a short period of time andyou will get stronger by doing
that.
But the endocrine system doesnot secrete a lot, or if any,
(20:41):
testosterone, human growthhormone or insulin, growth
factor F, and those are thethree hormones that are related
to hypertrophy.
The set needs to last at leastlonger than 20 seconds, closer
to 30 seconds up to 90 seconds.
(21:04):
So 30 seconds up to 90 secondsfor maximal amount of acute
levels, meaning at the time,levels of human growth hormone,
testosterone and insulin, growthfactor F, which are your
anabolic hormones that promotegrowth.
To get muscle growth andhypertrophy maximal hypertrophy
(21:28):
those have to be present and getinvolved, flowing through your
bloodstream as part of theinstant recovery process.
If it's shorter than 20 seconds, by doing very heavy loads,
they are not going to come outand play, they're going to stay
(21:49):
dormant.
So you're not maximizing yourability to increase muscle mass
when the set isn't long enough.
So that is an example of theendocrine system specificity
that is necessary.
That will change one person'sgoal or goal reaching from
(22:09):
getting stronger to gettingbigger.
So specificity in the endocrinesystem is really, really
important.
And that is the case as wellwhen we are talking about
different types of distances inrunning too.
So shorter events will requiremore testosterone and those
(22:33):
types of hormones flowingthrough the blood system.
It's going to change versuslonger distance events.
So, yes, we do have to thinkabout specificity in the
endocrine system, all right.
So those are the systems wehave to think about regarding
(22:54):
specificity, all right.
The skeletal system yes, Checkit on your box.
The muscular system yes, checkit on the box.
The nervous system, which Itouched on briefly, but yes,
it's very important.
The nervous system has to knoware we moving quickly or are we
(23:15):
moving slowly?
And that is very, veryimportant.
So if you want to bench press alot of weight, you need to get
your muscular system and yourcentral nervous system ready to
react to very heavy loads.
You can get stronger, but thennot practice these heavy lifts
(23:38):
and unrack it and all of asudden the brain goes.
I'm not ready for this.
It almost goes into a type ofshock.
So you have to specificallytrain the central nervous system
to carry out and handle veryheavy loads.
If you are more interested inhypertrophy or general strength,
(23:59):
like the general population,then the central nervous system
training doesn't matter as much.
But we do have to think aboutthe speed of movement for that
very big reason.
Endocrine system I already toldyou why.
Cardiovascular system I alreadytold you why we have to train
(24:21):
it very specifically.
All right.
So those are the systems wehave to think about and I know
I'm leaving you hanging rightnow, but there's a reason for it
.
In part two I'm going to getinto the movements and the way
we have to think about this, totrain specifically, because what
this all boils down to is youhave specific goals.
(24:46):
You want to get therespecifically.
There is a more direct path.
We're going to get advice allthe time on what people tell us
to do.
Unfortunately, it just happensin my industry all the time.
All I can say is there's prosout there that really know this
stuff that can steer you in theright direction.
I'm not trying to say it'soverly complicated.
It's really really not.
(25:06):
I'm giving you the whys behindit.
Specificity is an easy concept,right, but I'm giving you the
whys because I do think whymatters.
I think once you hear it you'llgo oh well, that person really
doesn't know what they'retalking about.
All right, so in part two wewill pick it up and I will see
you then.
Thank you for listening totoday's program.
(25:30):
I ask you to please follow theshow wherever you get your
podcasts and please selectautomatic download, because that
really helps the show.
Now I want to thank overheaddoor of daytona beach, the
area's premier garage doorcompany.
They have the best product.
They have the best service.
(25:50):
I personally vouch for jeff andzach hawk, the owners.
They are great people with agreat company.
If you have any door needs,please give them a shout at
386-222-3165.
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