ViPR is designed for the whole body to give an alternative to traditional strength training, as well as working closely with it. Matt Truscott explains how to create ViPR supersets, staggered training and periodization with ViPR.
However, we must realize each body is going to be different; each person’s lifestyle has different demands day to day and psychological stress is a game changer that can ruin any routine.
These factors make it impossible to say that one product or program or diet regimen is better than another.
Loaded Movement Training vs traditional strength training
When people are first introduced to ViPR, they try to attach familiar movements and traditional strength exercises using ViPR, but ViPR was not designed for muscle isolation, such as bicep curls and shoulder presses. ViPR is a phenomenal tool for a different concept known as Loaded Movement Training.
Loaded Movement Training is movement-based resistance training. It combines full-body, task-oriented movement patterns with load.
Fitness professionals say, “How is Loaded Movement Training with ViPR better than traditional strength training, such as squats, bench presses and deadlifts with barbells?”
Our answer is that variability is key, making both Loaded Movement Training and traditional lifting essential.
We acknowledge the benefits of traditional strength training and understand that it has significant benefits for the body. Loaded Movement Training complements modalities such as traditional strength training because traditional strength training influences the muscles and tissues involved, but in a different manner from Loaded Movement Training.
Why do we go to the gym?
The gym was originally designed as a way to make life tasks or sport demands easier. However, the things in the gym and the things we do in real life or sport do not replicate each other.
Would anyone ever squat and curl their child with perfect form? Do we see anyone lunging to cross the street at an intersection? The answer is no.
We also have to think about how many infinite ways the body can move in real life, yet our training tends to stick to one or maybe two planes of motion. How does working the body in only two planes of motion prepare it for the demands of real life or sport?
At a time when our athletes are bigger, stronger, and faster than ever, non-contact sports injuries are at a high. We need to consider Loaded Movement Training to help create the best version of strength for our bodies.
Why Loaded Movement Training?
· It builds mobility in joints while creating strength in tissue. This is often overlooked and is a large predictor for injury due to lack of mobility.
· Movement variations create a stronger and more diverse fascial web. This will translate and cross over, giving us tissue resilience, which will support raw strength/power for our traditional-based strength training. Think to yourself – if one can fortify tissue strength, then that same individual can more easily load linear patterns, such as a barbell snatch.
· Neurologically, the body will be better connected and prepared for life and sport demands, as the fascial web and nervous system will be better connected throughout the body through afferent signaling.
· Going through these movements will up your hormonal response, in order to offset the workout load. For someone who is looking to recover faster to prepare for their next workout (ranging from aesthetic goals to athletic goals), it is important to have hormone responses like testosterone. This does not mean bulking up; it is simply a benefit to have more balanced hormones.
Implementing ViPR Loaded Movement Training
How could we implement our goals while challenging the body in a manner that is authentic to its design? Here are four ways we could use ViPR to help challenge the body in ways that will also give us gains in our specific goals:
1. ViPR super sets: Using ViPR as a complementary tool in conjunction with traditional exercises
The term ‘super set’ refers to performing a pair of exercises together prior to the necessary rest period. This can be done with two exercises that work the same focus, or two exercises that don’t influence each other; both allow the participant to maximize their time in the gym. When considering a ViPR super set, the idea is to combine ViPR exercises with traditional exercises. For example: pairing a barbell bench press with a prone ViPR drag. We have seen similar examples before in the gym, where gym-goers perform their set of bench presses and then immediately perform push-ups on the ground. This is great; however, adding the ViPR drag to the prone positioning of the push-up allows the body to rotate. Having this type of super set helps the tissues fortify in a variety of directions based on variability in lines of stress, which will translate into other movement patterns as well, meaning these movements will transfer into real life more so than a bench press. This will transfer over to the bench press movement as our workouts progress later with our periodization.
2. Staggered ViPR training: Using ViPR as an auxiliary workout between our traditional workouts
Staggered training refers to workouts that have different influences on the body throughout a workout week. Doing the exact same workout every day would create stress on the same tissues and joints over and over, which in turn would be detrimental to the body over time. Staggering workouts, also known as ‘auxiliary lifting days’ or ‘recovery workouts’, are referring to the days between our focus of the current training method, meaning, if we were looking at a ‘strength phase’, we could potentially do our core lifts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with Tuesday and Thursday being our staggered ViPR training days. Certain ViPR workouts can be used as a recovery: a way to regain mobility of tissues and joints. Regardless of focus, these staggered workouts help the body to recover and prepare for the next workout.
3. ViPR periodization: Using ViPR and Loaded Movement Training for a specific time frame
Periodization is the technique that involves periods of specific focus throughout the course of a year that is built around goals. For an athlete, periodization is also built around when they will be in season. In traditional strength training protocols, we might see a periodization scheme that involves a ‘volume phase’, followed by a ‘hypertrophy phase’, then a ‘power phase’, etc. The strength and conditioning world has a multitude of variations behind this technique, but the point is to stress a specific focus or ‘phase’ and then move onto another focus. This technique prevents a ‘plateau’ and forces the body to always have to adjust to the stimulus that it is given. When we throw ViPR into this technique, we can have Loaded Movement Training as an actual phase within our training regimen.
Having a ‘ViPR phase’ for a month pays off for someone who is trying to continue progressing with their goals by way of keeping the body stimulated and integrated. Different goals need to be considered, so it would vary in how people use ViPR for their ‘ViPR phase’. Here are some examples:
· Strength goals: ViPR workouts that incorporate heavy days and light days where the time under tension and work to rest ratios would be 2:1. This will stimulate hormonal response while cleaning up movement patterns.
· Power goals: ViPR workouts that have short bursts of high force output with longer periods of rest. This allows for the body to work in 3D while still focusing on power development.
· Agility goals: ViPR workouts that use similar movement demands as the movements in sport or a desired influence. Creating this specificity with load keeps tissues and joints moving at the optimum level.
· Mobility/flexibility goals: ViPR workouts involving movement preps and higher focus on tilting patterns. Using load to help influence these goals creates strength and stability in conjunction with mobility in the body.
· Injury rehab: ViPR workouts that use smaller ranges of motion and slower speed of motion to influence the joint/tissues needing attention. This helps different parts of the body learn to work together to aid the injured portion of the body (neural re-patterning).
· Weight loss: ViPR workouts that have variability of timed intervals to influence higher excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).
4. ViPR replacement: Using ViPR as a way to create a different dimension to workouts
ViPR, because of its versatility, can be used in a variety of different ways depending on the focus for the user. Using ViPR to replace a style of training (cardio, strength, mobility, etc.) can be a way to prevent stagnant progress and keep workouts more interesting. For example, ViPR could be used as cardio prior to a lifting session, then as part of a cool-down for mobility on a different day. With this method, the user can still achieve their desired goal but have a varied approach while exploring their own capabilities.