At 6:09 PM Thursday, April 8, I received an e-mail that made me smile. It was from a member of Gatorade’s PR team. She asked if I was interested in flying out to Athlete’s Performance in Phoenix, AZ to train and test out their new line of G-Series Pro Products that will be launched May 1. With all of the expenses paid and three nights at an awesome hotel, I was pretty sure that whatever I had planned for those few days in the coming week could wait.
For those of you who don’t know, Athlete’s Performance is a company founded by Mark Verstegen, and they train some of the best athletes in the world. Having gone through the Phase 1 Mini-Mentorship last year in NYC, I had been eager to make the trip ever since. Their training methods are of the highest quality and they've incorporated a large variety of different protocols to make sure that their athletes achieve the highest levels of success. A kitchen that works directly with their nutritionist to prepare the athletes' meals, a cold and hot tub outside the facility for contrast recovery baths, multiple soft tissue therapists on-site, and many other factors make this one of the most complete facilities I’ve ever been to.
Before I get too ahead of myself, I want to mention that Gatorade is running a sweepstakes with the launch their new G-Series Pro products. They're going to send some people out to the facility to do what I did, but for an entire week, rather than just a few days. I wanted to provide a recap of my experience from the trip because I learned a great deal as a trainer/business owner and trainee.
In the first session of Day 1, we went through the typical testing procedures. These included a Functional Movement Screen, VO2 Max test using the IMett software, and a body composition analysis. The Functional Movement Screen is a tool that I'm familiar with through certification, but that I’ve yet to implement with as many clients as I’d like to. It was created by Gray Cook and is a way of objectively evaluating movement pattern inefficiencies and fixing them without trying to specifically diagnose biomechanical or muscular reasons for the issues. So rather than saying your squat pattern is poor because of tight hip flexors and hamstrings, the strategies to fix the problem involve fixing the squat pattern. It sounds pretty simple, and that’s part of the beauty of it. We also did a body composition analysis using a 7-site caliper test. I came out at 10.68 percent bodyfat at 189 pounds. Far learner than I’ve been in my powerlifting days, but still not lean enough for the manorexic bodybuilder in me that was 5.5 percent a few months ago.
The VO2 Max test on the treadmill was given using the IMett software. Based on the test, it can print out months of energy systems programming using specific heart-rate zones based on the sport and goals of the trainee. During the mini-mentorship, all of the other trainers at my gym were egging me on to be a guinea pig for the test. I think they just wanted to see what it was like to watch a powerlifter try a VO2 max test - kind of like trying to make a snail sprint. At the time, I refused. But since I’ve left bodybuilding and powerlifting, I’ve incorporated some more higher intensity energy systems work, so the test didn’t crush me as bad as I thought it would. The EST (energy systems training) at the end of our workouts were a different story entirely, but I’ll get into that in a bit.
We took a break from the morning session to have some lunch prepared by the Athlete’s Performance kitchen. Those who come to the facility have a nutrition program tailored specifically to their needs and all of their meals are prepared by the on-site chefs. And let me tell you - it was tasty! Definitely better than the grilled chicken breasts and spinach that I make most days. Although, I suppose that’s not much of a difficult dish to top. Over lunch, I got the chance to chat with one of the seven Gatorade scientists about the development of their new product line and what kind of place it has in an athlete’s pre, peri, and post-workout arsenal. Most of my clients have body composition as a primary goal and he suggested that maybe the G2 Series would make more sense for them as it’s a big lower in calories and sugar. He also mentioned Gatorade Natural, which excited me because it will be an all-natural sports nutrition product that they're putting out.
The G-Series Pro is designed for the trainee who is focused on performance first and foremost. I asked if they would ever make a calorie-free drink, like Powerade Zero recently did. The answer I got was one that I respected; the problem with Powerade Zero is that it’s not really a “sports drink” because it doesn’t replenish the calories that are expended during training. So just as inappropriate as it may be for a guy to drink Gatorade while sitting on his couch watching tv, it also makes no sense for the athlete to drink Powerade Zero while hoping to perform at his highest level in a game. It’s all a matter of priorities and consuming the products at the right time and in the right context.
The second session of the day consisted of a great deal of movement training on the small field outside of the facility. Soft tissue work with the Stick and lacrosse ball was used pretty extensively before getting into the dynamic stretches. That’s one big thing that I took away from the weekend and something that most trainees overlook, myself included. At AP, they really have their athletes take their time with the warm-ups, and make sure that everyone is sweating a bit before beginning the workout. After some activation drills and band work, my glute medius felt like someone had taken a blowtorch to it. This is one of the many signs of imbalances that I’ve developed over years of similar movement patterns without a whole lot of variation. I’m sure this doesn’t shock most of the powerlifters out there.
It was interesting for me to do the various plyometrics, running mechanics drills, medicine ball work and movement training given my pretty limited athletic background - excluding powerlifting. Many of the things that I’ve known for a while were highlighted again in this session, including my lack of tissue stiffness and reactivity. Part of this is due to hypermobility and the inability of my tissues to store elastic tension very well, and the other part is that I haven’t done much training in this regards. So, some of the drills might have looked more like I was doing a potato-sack race rather than practicing marching, but I certainly did the best that I could for being pretty far out of my comfort zone. In order to show a great range of progressions for informational purposes, we did a bit more volume in these drills than they might normally prescribe, but I was still quite surprised by how fatigued I was. Thankfully, Gatorade’s PR people kept our cups filled with G2 to keep us from getting too depleted. In another situation, I might have been worried about taking in extra sugar, but I was now more worried about getting through the session while staying hydrated and with plenty of energy to burn.
After that, I got my first taste of the EST that Athlete’s Performance is so famous for. I had my first war on the battling rope,s which took me greatly by surprise in terms of difficulty. This was the preliminary asskicking before I got destroyed on the VersaClimber. I’d never been on the thing, but I knew how brutal it was from it’s reputation. Thankfully, they had just been warmed up by ten Chinese, female Olympic rowers who just dominated the machinery. There I was, ready to do a modified Tabata (modified meaning much easier) protocol, when I was soon hanging off the machine like a half-dead corpse. My quads were so filled with lactic acid and blood, that they basically stopped working. After I barely finished the protocol, I crawled over to the foam roller and laid on top of it. I got my first experience with the new G-Series Pro recovery drink as I laid on the floor slurping it up. It was a sad sight to see. I finished up the session with what was my first contrast bath ever. It was basically a more painful version of this:
Waking up the next morning, I wasn’t nearly as sore as I expected to be. Especially considering that I went out and partied that night, only getting four hours of sleep. Not necessarily a smart choice, but as they say, “when in Arizona.” In the morning we fueled with the G-Series Pro “Prime” bar and ready-to-drink meal replacement shake. Going into the resistance training session, I knew that it would be a big help just to have the extra calories and carbs. It’s obviously a bit more of a challenge to get in quality nutrition when on the road.
Once again, the movement prep and dynamic warm-up got me actually sweating. Something that rarely happens in my own training sessions, because I’m either too impatient or pressed for time. I must say, it felt very nice to take my time performing the different activation drills on the TRX and PowerPlate as well the mobility work beforehand. The training session was simple and effective. I didn’t touch any significantly heavy weights and the closest I got was dong pullups on the Keiser rack with 40lbs of pneumatic resistance. Not a second was wasted during the session and rest periods were filled with various stretches and activation drills, rather than sitting around and chatting. For anyone who complains about finding the time to stretch, they might want to consider examining the length of their rest periods and their activity during them. There’s no reason you can’t do some upper body stretches during a primarily lower body circuit, or vice versa.
As we approached the end of our lifting, I knew that the EST was on the menu once again. I drank two bottles of G2 during the workout just to make sure that my glycogen levels were topped off before I got obliterated again. The protocol was 20 seconds on and 20 seconds off the Woodway force treadmill for three rounds followed by a rest. Then, 20 seconds on and 20 seconds off the Woodway Curve, followed by a rest for a total of four rounds of three. By the way, the Woodway Curve is the most badass treadmill I’ve ever used; it’s self-powered and requires that the athlete maintain a vertical torso - top speed position - when using it. I made it to the end and felt significantly better than the day before. With the amount of Gatorade that I had consumed over the weekend, I was fully expecting to sweat colored liquid like the commercials. No such luck there, but I did find that it helped me get through the sessions and recover afterward.
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For those interested in the products, they will launch at GNC on May 1, and there will be a “Train Like a PRO” Sweepstakes that allows you and a guest to train at Athlete’s Performance for a week, a $6,000 cash allowance, nutrition consultation and some other cool things. Here's more info, including in-store opportunities to meet some great athletes.