Integral Strength Training: Any Suggestions?

We just started our first "Integral Strength Training" small group in Sedona (one of several small groups that are beginning to emerge now). We're using suggestions from Shawn Phillips and Rob McNamara's Focus Intensity Training Program (there are four videos on Integral Naked that discuss this program), along with information from "The Power of 10", developed by Adam Zickerman. I will include some excerpts from a couple CBS stories about The Power of 10 program below.

Question: What kind of strength training programs have you found to be most helpful? Do any of you have any suggestions, tips, cautions for us?

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'Power Of 10'
Fitness Expert: My Resistance Training With Weights Tones Body
CBS / The Early Show
February 25, 2003

Original Link

For decades, some have assumed cardio workouts help people lose weight and stay in shape. But recent studies have shown that the key to fitness and weight loss is resistance training with weights.

Fitness expert Adam Zickerman explained on The Early Show that slow resistance training with weights builds lean muscle mass. He says by comparison, aerobics builds virtually none, and only lean muscle mass can change the shape of your body to the trim, curvaceous, or muscular form that you want.

Zickerman says he developed a new exercise regime called "Power of 10" to develop a trim body. It's a 10-second cadence: 10 seconds up and 10 seconds down workout movement. You don't stop at the top or bottom, so the muscles sustain a constant, steady load for about 5 to 8 repetitions. You use a weight that will leave you "spent" by the last repetition and it will "fire" the muscles deeply and completely.

He says "Power of 10" is time saving; you are keeping muscle mass; and it's safer to lift weights slower.

In addition to exercise, Zickerman also says there are two other pillars: nutrition and rest/recovery. As for nutrition, you should trade in the fat making foods (soda, nachos and cheese, fries, monster cookies) for healthy and cell-making foods (proteins, healthy fats, whole foods and fiber).

Zickerman suggest you not go on a diet because they, he says, are temporary, but Power of 10 is a way of living. As for rest and recovery, he says that this is probably the biggest success secret of Power of 10. Zickerman says that rest is as crucial as protein, oxygen or any other nutrient. He says you can't possibly have time for the rest your body needs when you are at the gym six days a week. Also, you're prone to muscle tears and strains, joint problems, fatigue and the weakening of the immune system. Zickerman says Power of 10 is designed to let you get the rest you need between workouts.

Zickerman says there are 10 commandments to his program:

1. Speed: 10 seconds up and 10 seconds down

2. Breathing: Freely and evenly

3. Motion: Weights up and down should be smoothe and constant

4. Number of Reps: Do number of reps it takes to run out of gas, until you can't do another (then try to push for 10 more seconds)

5. Number of Exercises Per Workout: About 6 different exercises or sets

6. Correct Weight: Choose a weight where you reach your limit at about 6 to 8 reps

7. No Stopping: Move from exercise to exercise until the workout is done

8. Focus: Concentrate on form, motion and speed

9. Number of Workouts Per Week: One or two if you feel like it

10. Equipment: Machines and/or at home

Zickerman recommends that you start with twice-a-week routines because it gets you comfortable with the form and cadence of Power of 10. In all the routines, you mix compound and simple exercises to 10 to 20 minutes. It should work the entire body and progress from larger to smaller muscle groups. If you do the twice-a-week routine, then you rest for 3 to 5 days between workouts. If you do the once-a-week routine, then you rest for 5 to 7 days between workouts.

Zickerman says the exercise is appropriate for any age. He says he has worked with 15-year-olds and 70-year-olds using the Power of 10. Zickerman warns people who have heart or orthopedic problems should not follow this program.

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Feel The Power
Lesley Stahl And Barbara Walters Share Secret For Staying In Shape
CBS / 48 Hours
July 16, 2004

Original Link

EXCERPTS:

It’s slow, it’s intense, and from the sound of things, it’s bordering on torture. But it’s a workout that Lesley Stahl and friend and ABC News competitor Barbara Walters are doing. Stahl has stuck with this unusual program for three years. “For me, it's maintaining my weight. I have a good metabolism, but I would gain weight if I wasn't doing something,” she says. Now, she says she’s stronger than most men. And she can even leg press 400 pounds. Surprisingly, no cardio workouts are needed. No treadmill, no Stairmaster. “I think we kind of enjoy the fact that we're lifting weights. We think it's cool,” says Stahl.

...

Is the “Power of 10” a fitness revolution, or is it just another fitness trend? To find out, 48 Hours asked identical twins Kelli and Vanessa Dunn, plus-size models living in New York City, to do a little experiment with us...

48 Hours asked the twins to follow two separate exercise programs. They had five weeks to reach their goals. And they were also told to watch their diets. Vanessa was asked to do a traditional cardio regimen three to four days a week. “I’m already dreading tomorrow or the next day,” says Vanessa, who started her program at the midtown Manhattan Gold’s Gym. Kelli tried “Power Of 10,” just once a week for 20 minutes. “I can’t say it was quick and painless, but it was quick,” she says.

In fact, it’s so quick that while Vanessa is spinning, bouncing, crawling and dancing away, Kelli is out shopping and having fun...

After five weeks, the experiment is over.

Kelli has lost a total of 15 pounds and 8 inches across her chest, waist and thighs. Vanessa, who did the cardio workout, lost only 4 pounds and 4 inches. “I was literally putting in 5 hours a week. She was putting in 20 minutes,” says Vanessa. “And she did more than 30 times more weight loss than I had, so the proof's in the pudding.”