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By
Phil Stevens |
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I constructed the prowler performance
protocol after months of experimenting with the prowler to
develop the most beneficial system for myself and clients
where performance, HARD quality work, and progression are
the goals and measuring tools. This is a very athlete-oriented
approach as opposed to the usual exerciser mind set approach
where physical exhaustion or puking is the goal.
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That is not to say that exhaustion
or even the occasional prowler flu is always a bad thing, but my
personal opinion for myself, most of my clients, and the majority
of the world at large is that exhaustion or puking should not be
the goal of a great training session.
Rather, the goal should be to deliver
quality work at a high level of performance and, ultimately, to
progress. To achieve maximal progress, an individual MUST work extremely
hard and push the body to the limit. In such a case, exhaustion,
soreness, puking, and fainting are sometimes a simple by-product
of hard work. However, they should remain by-products and should
not be the goal of an athlete, coach, or trainee who is aiming to
make the most progress in the least amount of time.
Any idiot TV personality trainer can
exhaust a client. My job and your job for yourself (if you train
on your own) is to progress, plain and simple. Progress means making
yourself better and stronger, not worse. I tell my clients that
as a coach, a perfect week of training is to have a client walk
in the gym and be able to outperform anything they have done prior
and to have them leave the gym feeling great and without lingering
side effects like soreness. That is progress. You have just done
more! You are better and stronger than you were before, with no
ill effects.
So How Does One Train to Perform and Progress?
One should look to work up to, and
just past, their threshold of performance. Aiming to train hard,
make progress, and reward oneself for that progress. Think about
this: once a horse has fallen down, there is no good to be done
by continually kicking it while it is down. Rather, training to
perform and progress requires you to push yourself to the point
where your performance has consistently dropped and then STOP! You're
done and you have no further work needed for that day. You have
already created the stimulus for adaptation that you need. It's
time to recover and reap the benefits of hard training.
I can do more now! I get to add more weight!
The ability to do more and add more
load is a positive, not a negative. You should look at progress
and added ability (load) as a badge of honor. You should walk in
the gym not to kick your own ass (i.e. puke), but to kick the weights
ass, and when you do that you have just earned the glorious right
to add more load. More load that you will work to conquer!
OK Phil out with it! Where the hell is the prowler program?!?
Yea, yea, I'm getting to the program.
That stuff above wasn't just filler. It is intended to explain my
mind set while creating the program so that I wouldn't have to go
into details of "why this?" and "why that?"
during the program or in emails after. Now I can lay out the program
and if you have questions that are not answered above or by common
sense, then drop me a line.
The Prowler Performance Protocol Nuts and Bolts.
Goal:
Ten runs of 100-feet or a single run
under 6 seconds flat.
(*Note you can adjust the time goals
to meet your needs. If your chosen sport leans more toward flat
out hard maximal strength endurance and the ability to move near
maximal weight, then maybe you up that time to 20 seconds or more
and load the prowler with a ton of weight. I have found that for
me in my chosen sports (Powerlifting and Highland Games) that this
goal compliments my other maximal strength training, and doesn't
detract from it. That should be the goal of anything added to your
programming.)
Loading:
So now that we have identified the
goal, our next assignment is to determine the load needed. Not too
tricky. For some on the lower end of strength, the empty prowler
may work best. For others, the load will be higher. It doesn't matter
where you start, we're simply looking to progress, and so if you're
using 5 lbs today, that's OK. In time the load will increase based
on your performance.
What you're going to do on your first
session is find a load that you can push in an all out sprint somewhere
in the high 7-second range. That could likely be the first session
in totality if it takes a good amount of runs, but try and reach
the goal in the minimal amount attempts possible. It's OK if you're
not perfect the first, second or third time. Know that the program
will adjust as you get better. If you hit 7:50, fine, or if its
8:10, that's OK. Just try not to get too far over 8 seconds. Even
if the progress is small, I'd rather see a lot of positive small
progressions.
(For example, one of my client's times
from his first session with this protocol was 7:84 seconds.)
Performance, Reward, Punishment System:
Now that we have the goal and the
loading set in place, let's get to the system.
You come in to train with the mind set of having ten runs to complete
at your highest performance. If you perform well and are able to
go above your initial performance, then you get rewarded by not
having to do more.
In other words, if you kick ass you're
done for that day and are rewarded for your progress. On the other
hand, if your performance drops and consistently stays low, then
you are punished by again not being able to do more work and trying
to get better. You're cooked for that day and it will do us no good
to further work you once you've hit the state of fatigue.
To calculate the performance and reward
standard, take your initial time (in one client's case, 7:84 seconds)
and subtract 10% from that (in his case that would be 7:84 - 0:78
= 7.06). If he in any of the ten runs hits that time then he is
rewarded and able to stop for the day. He has made great progress
by pushing himself well beyond his prior limits and can walk home
feeling good for that. We then take that new time (7:06) and subtract
10 percent from that for the next goal time to beat starting the
next session (so it would now be 7:06 - 0:70 = 6:36 seconds) and
so on.
Part two of the performance and reward
aspect is, if and when the trainee hits sub 6 seconds flat, they
are done for that day and are rewarded for it. They hit the ultimate
goal. They are also rewarded on the next session with new load of
a 20% increase, and get to start over with a whole new time. So
in my client's case he is using 50lbs external load added to the
prowler. When he hits 6 flat we will add 10 more lbs to the load
and reset his performance time goal.
The same system is used to determine
lack of performance and punishment. We would take the initial time
and add 10% to it. (So, 7:84 + 0:78 = 8:62). This figure is the
fatigue stop point. If a client's time drops to or above this for
three runs, they are done for the day. They get no more chances
to improve for that day. They are fatigued and done. They go home,
rest and come back ready to push the prowler and kick ass the next
time.
Again, like I explained above, more
work and greater ability should be earned and seen as a positive.
Added ability is not as a negative. I try and teach this from day
one, and it is why we (my clients and I) get punished by taking
away more run attempts and the chances to progress. We do not get
punished by requiring more work for doing poorly, which is the preferred
punishment method for most so-called trainers.
Progress can also been seen by how
long you are able to sustain performance. You can progress and still
not do ten sets. Ten sets very likely will be what you work up to.
I sent home the same client I mentioned above after 5 sets the other
day because he had three strikes. Aside from looking to progress
by getting his time 10% under his initial best, we are also aiming
to have him progress by being able to sustain a higher performance
level at the next session. If he can come in and maintain 90% and
above performance and do 6 runs as opposed to 5, then great he progressed
and did more work.
(*Note: Again we always instill the
mind set of PUSH IT, and look to perform and progress on every set
and every rep. This is a very type- A personality trait. Most times
I can convert a lazy type-B person to take those traits on and adapt
to the system. Sure they will start with lower times and make easy
progress but that's gets addicting. They start to like winning,
like progress, and soon they are pushing themselves hard.
There are those few though that no
matter what you try, they are just lazy as all hell, and you are
forced to have them do more work or fire them as a client. They
have to do more as they never push hard enough. They are mentally
too weak to push themselves to true fatigue and a state that demands
adaption without simply being made to do more work. If you have
those people, this may not work. Try to get them to adapt first,
but if not just run them ragged in a ten sets linear loading progression.
)
That's it!
That covers the program. It's simple
really once set in motion and if you get it going in a group setting
all the better! Push to perform to get better. As the Army says
"Be All You Can Be," and have a blast doing it.
In short:
- A load you can run 100 feet in
under 8 seconds approx.
- Ultimate goal sub 6 second run
- Daily programming 10 high performance
runs
- Reward of no further work for the
day if you do 10% better than your initial test time. If you do
then you reset the new sub goal to another 10% lower and aim for
that next session.
- When you hit 6 seconds or lower
you are rewarded with no further runs that day, and you have earned
a 20% load increase next time and to set a new initial time
- Punishment of No further runs for
the day happens when you get three strike, When you hit your fatigue
stop (10% added to the initial time) 3 times
- Progress can also be made by getting
more sets in. If last week you hit your three strikes after 5
runs shoot for 6.
- ** As a side note I would also
track your best time. Even if it doesn't reach the 10% sub goal
barrier or ultimate 6 second or lower barrier, its good and enjoyable
to track small progress.
Here is a sample example of one client's
numbers in action....
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Sample
Session With Prowler
Performance Protocol
- Goal ten runs at 90% + OR
progress by beating a 7:06 time
Run #1 = 7:84
Run #2 = 7:72
Run #3 = 8:65 (strike 1)
Run #4 = 8:68 (strike 2)
Run #5 = 8:87 (strike 3, you're out)
-Goal next time = One more
run at 90% + or progress by beating a 7:06 time
*Note: I would not say the
results above are typical. Usually I see clients hitting
near or at the ten run mark, but this does happen and it's
perfectly OK. This client will progress next time because
we didn't over-fatigue him and we created a reason to adapt.
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About The Author
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Coach Phil Stevens is an accomplished
strength athlete with considerable experience in both powerlifting
and strongman competition. Phil is the 2007 APA World Champion
in the 242-pound class (total). He currently holds the APF
275-pound class raw National bench, squat, deadlift, and total
records. Phil’s marquis lift was his 700-pound raw deadlift,
performed on February 14, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Phil has been ranked in the “Top 10” in the deadlift Nationally across all powerlifting federations, also serves as the Arizona State Chair for the North American Highlander Association, as well as the founder of Lift For Hope, an annual strength-competition
with proceeds donated to Charity (www.Lift4Hope.org).
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