Matthew Rains Exercise Physiology in Sydney, Australia | Sport & recreation

Matthew Rains Exercise Physiology

Locality: Sydney, Australia

Phone: +61 434 522 880

Address: 152 Bunnerong Road 2036 Sydney, NSW, Australia

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23.01.2022 BLOOD FLOW RESTRICTION TRAINING . @ariaunaxo is currently a couple weeks post abdominal surgery and is already killing it in her training. With the surgeons advice of limiting load used, we’ve designed a program around low load - high stimulus exercise options. This will still encourage recovery whilst allowing her to build up muscle and capacity in other areas which she will need when we return to heavier loads. . Enter blood flow restriction training (BFR) ... . BFR is an excellent method to utilise during times where load used needs be limited. This could be post surgery, chronic pain or even a someone looking for a new stimulus to build some muscle . It creates a greater hypoxic environment for muscles distal to the cuff. This targets the ‘metabolic stress’ adaptation mechanism. It’s been shown in the literature to be superior for strength and hypertrophy adaptations compared to light loads with no restriction (Wilson et al 2013, Spranger 2015) . There’s very little circumstances where complete rest is ideal for rehab, especially for athletes. It’s times like these where you need to be adaptive to the situation and figure out what can still be done so that when the time comes for training to commence again, they are more than prepared See more

20.01.2022 TEMPOS . So before we get into this, lets quickly define that slow tempo is purposely prescribing > 2 second concentric/eccentric contraction during a rep. There can be great uses for these but a lot of trainers will treat it like rubbish just to market their exercise service a bit fancier Here’s my take on the research. WHEN TO USE ... . 1 Teaching new movement patterns . Slowing down a movement is an excellent way for motor acquisition to occur to find efficient or self selected patterns. I would pair this with light loads and RPE however . 2 Injury rehab and those with load tolerance issues. . Simply, you cant use as much load with slower tempos. So, being able to maintain a high relative intensity (RPE) has been shown to have benefits for both strength and hypertrophy (Headley SA et al 2011). Also becomes a lot more useful when training specific adaptations such as developing eccentric strength which is highly utilised in running/change of direction related tasks . 3 Deload variation. . You can’t lift heavy all the time, but when the evidence says high frequency programs are better than low frequency then my gawd you better get squatting 2-3x a week. This can also be a good variation for bodybuilders if there main work comprises of regular tempos . WHEN NOT TO USE . 1 Main Strength/Power Exercises . Building strength heavily relies on increased neural output. Slow tempos is a great way to accumulate fatigue and crap on that (hatfield et al 2006) . 2 Main Hypertrophy Exercises . As we know, volume has a big relationship with hypertrophy and slow tempo work will reduce the total volume you can do per set. Although when relative intensity is matched it doesn't seem to have a big effect in the short term but when we think of long term progression, it's quite difficult to quantify progression with slow tempos. Are you improving by just going quicker or are you actually adapting? . 3 Too Frequently . Slower tempos will naturally create more muscle damage/DOMS (insert insta PT thinking this is amazing and why all their clients crave it). DOMS isn’t required for progression and can harm future bouts See more

20.01.2022 My recent post talked about how energy system development (ESD) or ‘conditioning’ needs to be programmed as specific as you would strength training . One of the ways in which we can accurately program the aerobic system in a way that’s quite practical in both team and individual settings is the use of Maximal Aerobic Speed (MAS) . It may not be as accurate as being hooked up to a machine to record a v02 max test, but it gives a solid indicator to an athletes fitness level i...n an affordable and time effective manner. . MAS testing should be repeated generally every 6-8 weeks of ESD training for it to be most effective. This is to ensure that prescriptions are accurate to the athletes currently level of fitness. @ Matthew Rains Exercise Physiology See more

15.01.2022 CLIENT SPOTLIGHT @ariaunaxo . The self proclaimed bad bitch is unstoppable at the moment! Ari first came to me last year with anterior knee pain and had never lifted a barbell before. . The 10kg barbell onto a box was the starting point, any more weight was just too difficult at that point. Week by week we slowly progressed, either by adding an appropriate amount of weight or lowering the box to not only build up her knee tolerance but also build strength.... . As the PBs came in and the knee pain gone, Ari enjoyed the process more and more. . Training became no longer all about aesthetics, but how to improve performance, which ironically still built the muscle she wanted but also improved her confidence in her own body and developed friendships with like minded gym goers. . This is what strength training is all about! Not just lifting more weight, but the transformation of body and mind alike See more

14.01.2022 Such a simple but such an effective tool to increase strength of a movement . I’m going to sell myself short here, but I believe a major reason for the initial strength results I get with my new clients can be attested to simply increasing the exercise they want to improve from 1x a week to 2x a week . Yes improving technique efficiency and using appropriate loads help but being able to repeatedly be exposed to these attributes will further cement them in ... . Think about it, going from 1x a week squats to 2x a week squats doubles the amount of opportunities you’re able to improve in it. That's 52 more times a year. Lifting is a skill much like golf and if we had 52 more opportunities to practise playing golf, we would all be much better golf players . Most people will get scared at the thought of squatting twice a week initially. This is usually due to the fact that they smash themselves so much on that squat session that they don’t recover till the next week anyway. . My tips to increase frequency of a movement is to drop the load and volume that you usually do on the one day and split it over 2 days initially with appropriate rest in between. . I usually program a heavier day and a lighter variation on another day. I.e. Monday regular squats and Thursday paused squats. . The more you perform the movement, your ability to recover from it improves and therefore overtime won’t be as uncomfortable doing it more frequently in the training week See more

10.01.2022 So after ‘flexing’ my new @flex.stronger velocity tracking device the other day, I got plenty of questions asking about the utility of it. Swipe across to see the main reasons I’ll be using it with some of my clients and my own training . It’s important to note that this is one measure of data and should be used in conjunction with various other objective and subjective assessments. . For example, measuring velocity to influence auto regulation decision making can be used with subjective assessment of how the person is feeling that day. If they feel crap but the bar is still flying, maybe adjustments still need to be made. @ Matthew Rains Exercise Physiology

08.01.2022 THE BIGGER THE BASE, THE HIGHER THE PEAK . To get stronger I need to use low reps and heavy weights right? Not entirely . Yes, you will need to dedicate a large sum of your training utilising heavier loads (>85% 1RM) to develop max strength but you will be missing a large piece of the puzzle if you never venture outside of this zone. ... . Extensive training or training with higher volumes can be seen as ‘widening the base of the pyramid’ so that the peak (maximal strength) can be taller. It’s best used to potentiate the next intensive/specific phase and does this by a number of ways: 1 TISSUE PREP - hypertrophy and work capacity are further built in periods of higher volume training. This means that you not only have more tools to work with (larger muscle fibres) in your higher intensity phases but you will also be able to work with these tools for longer (decrease risk of injury, tolerate higher frequencies or sets, etc.) . 2 TECHNIQUE REFINEMENT - training at higher volumes allows you more time to work on technique and creating the most efficient lift . 3 VARIATION - Important for not only reducing risk of overloading issues but also allows you to work on areas that are missed in specific training blocks (i.e. greater ranges of motion, different force vectors, etc.). These would still have ideal carry over to the main lifts you’re trying to work on. For example, switching to a dumbbell bench press from a barbell bench press allows the horizontal press to still be trained, but now loads unilaterally, with greater range of motion and limits overall weight used. . Having variation also allows for a new stimulus to be achieved, something that the body will more likely adapt compared to something that is heavily repeated overtime.

06.01.2022 VELOCITY BASED TRAINING . Had a few weeks to play around with the new @flex.stronger velocity tracker and already been able to utilise it effectively. . Squat on left = 200kg @ 0.4m/s... Squat on the right = 195kg @ 0.31m/s . Couple weeks ago, fresh from a deload I did the squats on the right @ 195kg. This was smack bang in the middle of the christmas festivities so routine was out of whack and plenty of partying was occurring. Probably not the best deload . As a result, a slow and shitty feeling squat. Not what the program had called for at all . Second week, similar thing had occurred. Went to 198kg and again, a slow squat coming in at 0.3 m/s . Knowing this, I decided to take an extra day off training that week, made some modifications to volumes and made extra emphasis on some other recovery modalities to mitigate some of the fatigue I was experiencing . Wallah! We’re back baby! . Feeling good in the warm ups today and seeing that they were moving quick, I decided to up the weight again. 200kg flew, even despite a bit of a misgroove on the first rep . Generally, the more you use the device and the more data collected, the practicality of it will improve. But being able to objectively see the result of training adjustments in the past few weeks has been awesome to see! See more

05.01.2022 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WEIGHTLIFTING & POWERLIFTING . With the MAX OUT challenge past the half way point and various athletes participating, the challenge has given me a solid opportunity to program for the two different barbell sports. The two barbell sports have lots of similarities however there are key differences in how they should be programmed. . Weightlifting is more complex in nature, having more technical demand and requiring a more varied physical development t...raits (power, acceleration, strength, timing) compared to powerlifting which is largely maximal strength based (ironically not very ‘power’ oriented). . Due to the complex nature and larger degree of movement in weightlifting, not as much weight can be moved compared to powerlifting. The complexity of weightlifting also will require a greater degree of specificity in training compared to powerlifting. . With these things in mind, here are some tips when programming for these respected lifts. . 1 Weightlifting has a lower fatigue trade off due to relatively lighter loads used, therefore can be completed more frequently and at higher % of 1RM. . 2 Powerlifting being less technically demanding and requiring a greater degree of maximal strength will benefit from longer phases of volume intensive and higher variety training (better cross over effect) to promote increases in muscle mass and longevity. . 3 Weightlifting being technically demanding and having a bar speed requirement for efficient lifts, usually is programmed with less reps (rarely going above 5) compared to powerlifting (common to see above 5 reps for main movements) See more

05.01.2022 like all things in this world, it usually comes full circle. . Evidence shows lifting technique rarely causes injury, rather ineffective load management is the main culprit. Technique variance may be more observable during heavier loaded tasks and thus ‘poor’ technique gets a bad wrap. . This has lead to a large amount of coaches adopting the ‘biomechanic’ approach. Banding up clients at every joint, continuously touching them and throwing in multiple cues per set and avoid...ing adding load until their idea of ‘perfect’ technique is created. . However, too far on the other curve and ignoring technique due to either its poor connection to injury risk or just from lack of competency can also have negative outcomes. . It can be as simple as just not getting what you want from the exercise. A simple example is a bicep curl should involve an emphasis on elbow flexion for building bicep hypertrophy or strength etc. Swinging the weight and using momentum will reduce this effectiveness of this movement for that adaptation being sought. . Find that happy medium and place emphasis on technique for what is ideal for your client. A general pop client being introduced to training and looking to lose weight won’t need as much emphasis on technique compared to an elite athlete with years of weight training experience @ Matthew Rains Exercise Physiology See more

01.01.2022 So recently I’ve been deadlifting heavy... Generally the heavier I go, the more I naturally opt for a flexed back position to lift from. . Unsurprisingly, this causes a bit of outrage and confusion amongst the people of the interwebs, which is fair enough. I once had this train of thought as well until i read some of the literature I’ve referenced in this post and learnt off some highly respected practitioners in the field that I also tagged. . The idea behind this post is t...o encourage confidence in movement by normalising a very common yet heavily criticised movement option. Maybe it will lead to more person centred decisions (I.e. asking the client how a weight felt rather than stripping down the bar at the first sight of flexion) . Remember build up tolerance first, earn the right to lift heavy and then enjoy the liberating feeling of movement freedom . Let me know your thoughts on flexed back deadlifting in the comments below! @ Matthew Rains Exercise Physiology See more