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There’s a new gym in town and Greg Direnzo is the man behind it. A former Raceway Park competitor is a well respected trainer in the motocross field and has helped top pro and amateur motocrossers achieve their success. Check out this pres release below for the latest on Greg and EFA.

November 16, 2009
-Press release-

EFitnessAcademy (EFA) – ProFormers Training and Sports Enhancement

EFA – ProFormers Training is proud to announce our new Training and Sports Enhancement Center. The new center is 25,000 square feet with construction to start on an additional 18,000 square feet soon. The new facility is a full health club and fitness center with specifically designed rooms for Sports Training, Group Training, Spin, Cardio Cinema, TRX, Yoga, Pilates, Massage and Chiropractic, as well as a full cardio deck and free weights and machines.

“We are extremely excited! We will continue to focus on extreme sports athletes such as MX, but now we can be even better, and make our athletes even better, we have facilities and resources we didn’t have before. Our success in MX has opened opportunities for us that are allowing us to expand our reach into traditional sports” said Greg DiRenzo, President. “Our athletes will be ready; they also will understand the practical application of injury prevention through the development of Balance, Spatial Awareness, Kinesthetic Differentiation, Rhythm and Movement through all Planes. The methodologies taught will periodize each athlete for maximal performance in an atmosphere conducive for personal growth” added Will Schreiber, Director of Training.

“Our philosophy is simple, we help athletes and individuals excel and achieve their goals, we help our client reach his or her potential both physically and mentally. We use cutting edge training techniques, correct instruction and utilizing proper equipment. We are hoping to get Jimmy Albertson here soon so we can dial him in before he goes overseas and races MX1 GP’s.

Jimmy Albertson

Jimmy is a kid who has worked tremendously hard with us, he deserves this shot!” DiRenzo added. Their client list includes many elite and professional athletes as well as numerous others in their continued success from middle school through Division 1 schools and through the pros. Many of their athletes hold numerous state and national championships as well as athletes preparing for the NFL and MLB, current NFL and MLB players and other professional sports. Clients also gain invaluable experience on how to structure their lives in a way that would allow individuals to achieve goals one only dreamed about. Clients experience how to truly maximize ones strengths and build on weaknesses as well as how to become strong physically and stronger mentally.

“With our new facility we can help our athletes even more. Between myself and the other trainers we have played every sport on the planet, and at all levels, as well as MX. My trainers have college degrees and are certified as well as have been top amateurs and pros in their sports, I feel our experience, expertise and credentials will surely prove our value to our clients. We get results.” DiRenzo added.

For more information contact Greg DiRenzo at 973-356-1144, gdirenzo@aol.com

Greg Direnzo with two of his athletes 2008.

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The importance of fluids in sports nutrition is, thankfully, beginning to become more and more recognized. Comprehensive research is being carried out in such areas as the amount of fluid lost during various types of exercise, and the optimal composition of sports drinks for use before, during and after exercise.

Too often, of course, participants in different sports are looking for an ergogenic aid to enhance their performance, ignoring the fact that if they paid more attention to proper nutrition it would do far more for them than any artificial stimulant. This should be the priority of all athletes and coaches.

And fluids are a vital part of proper nutrition. Whether you’re an elite marathon runner, rower, cyclist, dirt bike racer or simply work out a couple of times a week in the local health club, it is a virtual certainty that some sort of fluid replacement will improve your performance. Here are two important points to bear in mind. First, get rid of the idea that you only need to think about sports drinks on event or race day. Correct fluid replacement is essential for training just as much as competition, although more attention tends to be given to the latter. If you are going to use sports drinks in competition, it is imperative that you have tried them out in training first because some drinks cause stomach upsets in the uninitiated.

Second, it is wrong to think that you only need to drink on extremely hot days when you have become a little thirsty – you need to drink whatever the temperature. Yes, on a hot day if you wait until you are thirsty the chances are you are already on the way to becoming dehydrated, with potentially disastrous consequences for your workout or competition.

Why you need to take in fluids:
When you exercise, many metabolic reactions take place in order to produce the energy needed for muscular contractions. One of the by-products of these reactions is a large amount of heat. This means that if you are exercising for a long time at moderate to heavy intensity your heat production is going to be considerable. You may not think this is a problem until you remember that the body temperature has to be kept within a very narrow range. When you are exercising the extra heat has to be lost somehow and this is done by a variety of mechanisms, the most effective of which is, of course, sweating.

The problem with sweating is that after a while you are in danger of losing of losing a considerable plasma volume from your circulatory system and this will certainly impair your performance. It is well-documented that a loss of fluids equating to just 2% of your body mass will have a very detrimental effect on performance. Identifying how much fluid you actually lose is not always easy, but the best method is to weigh yourself before and after exercise. I need hardly remind you that excessive fluid losses in very hot environments can even lead to death.

Such risk of fluid loss is not confined to marathon runners and cyclists but can occur in most sports, especially those involving high-intensity intermittent exercise or during gym workouts. The point I’m making is that, although you must pay special attention to fluid replacement in a warm environment, it is also possible to lose fluid in a cool one if you are working hard or long enough.

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NJ Motocross contributor Greg Direnzo was recently interviewed by MXPTV’s Matt Wozney.

Read all about it at the link below.

Greg Direnzo Interview

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Post-exercise nutrition is a vital aspect of recuperation for any  athlete, but especially during multi-day competitions or after  hard training.  Although there’s plenty of evidence that a post- exercise high-carbohydrate diet can improve recovery, the  evidence that a high-protein diet can similarly aid recovery is, at  best, equivocal.  However, scientists from New Zealand have  examined the effect of post-exercise dietary protein content imposed over a high-carbohydrate background on subsequent  performance and come up with some intriguing results.  Twelve cyclists completed three high-intensity rides over four days as follows: day 1 comprising of a 2.5-hour high-intensity  ride; days 2 and 4, comprising of repeated sprint performance  tests, 15 hours and 60 hours after the initial session respectively;  day 3 as a rest day.

During a 4-hour recovery on days 1 and 2, the cyclists  ingested one of two diets:
1-Protein-enriched – 1.4 grams per kilo per hour of carbohydrate,
0.7 grams per kilo per hour of protein and 0.26 grams per kilo  per hour of fat.
2-Control – 2.1 grams per kilo per hour of carbohydrate, 0.1
grams per kilo per hour of protein and equal fat.

At all other times, the cyclists ingested a standardized high- carbohydrate diet.  A number of assessments were made during the study including muscle growth/breakdown (by measuring nitrogen balance), the degree of muscle stress and inflammation (by cortisolandcytokines), skeletal-muscle membrane disruption
(by creatine kinase), and damage from oxidative stress (by malonyldealdehyde).
The results showed that although means print power was not  clearly different on day 2, on day 4 it was 4.1% higher in the protein-enriched condition relative to control. Moreover,  overnight nitrogen balance was positive in the protein-enriched  conditionon day 1 (indicating muscle growth) but negative in the  control condition. The effects on oxidative stress, inflammatory  markers, and cortisol were considered in onclusive or trivial.  The researchers concluded that a delayed performance benefit
(at 60 hours) was observed following protein-enriched high- carbohydrate ingestion; these findings suggest that athletes  involved in several consecutive bouts of hard exercise over a period of a few days could benefit from an increased protein intake.  Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 2008;33(1):39-51

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Numerous studies have shown that ingesting carbohydrate before and during exercise in the form of a drink can improve exercise performance.  This is because it helps to maintain blood glucose levels and spares stored carbohydrates in the muscles (glycogen).  However, as well as drinks, there are also other forms of carbohydrate supplementation, notably gels and ‘jellybeans’, but, to date, there’s been little data available on just how effective they are compared to carbohydrate drinks.  To endeavor to shed some light on this issue, Californian scientists have carried out a study examining the effects of four treatments in 16 athletes who first cycled at 75% of VO2max for 80 minutes before immediately completing a 10 km time-trial at maximum pace.

The four test conditions were as follows:
·         carbohydrate drink;
·         carbohydrate gels;
·         carbohydrate sports beans;
·         water(control condition).

In each of the carbohydrate treatments, which were given randomly before, during and after exercise, the subjects each consumed identical amounts of carbohydrate (0.6g of carbohydrate per 2.2 lbs of bodyweight per hour).  The researchers then recorded the effects of the different treatments on blood glucose levels and time-trial performance.

The results showed that the carbohydrate supplements all maintained significantly higher levels of blood glucose than the water treatment (5.7 mmol/L for sports beans, 5.6 mmol/L for sports drink, 5.7 mmol/L for gel, and 4.6 mmol/L for water) but that there was no significant difference between carbohydrate treatments.  Moreover, the 10 km time-trial results for the carbohydrate treatments were significantly faster (17.2 minutes for sports beans, 17.3 minutes for sports drink, and 17.3 minutes for gel) than water, where the average time was 17.8 minutes. But once again, there was no significant difference between carbohydrate treatments.

On the basis of this study, therefore, it seems that what matters is whether or not you use carbohydrate supplementation-not what in what form you ingest it!

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Each day we receive questions about training. So I’ve taken those questions that we hear the most and answered them in a little different format.

1. Static stretching prepares you to compete/practice

Static stretching actually reduces power output. Athletes should prepare for practice and events by doing a dynamic warm up that moves from basic, low intensity movements to faster, more explosive movements as the muscles loosen up. You want to simulate movements that athletes will go through in practice or a event. What happens when you try and stretch a cold rubber band? In a way, you can think about your muscles the same way.

2. Strength training makes females too bulky

This is a popular mindset with many female athletes that we have worked with. Simply look at some elite female athletes like Mia Hamm, Lisa Leslie, etc. These athletes certainly train with weights and no one would accuse them of having manly physiques. Strength training will improve performance and reduce injury if done correctly.

3. You can’t train running speed or athleticism

For some reason it is a popular belief that you are born with a certain amount of “speed or athleticism” and you can’t improve it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Most young athletes are so physically weak and mechanically out of tune that significant improvements in speed and athleticism can be made often just by working on technique and form. Athletes at any age and any level can improve both when implementing a complete training program designed to improve and develop the entire athlete.

4. Training slow makes you fast

I don’t think coaches directly think this way, but their training implies otherwise. This is especially true in sports that involve a higher aerobic element such as football, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, etc. I see kids running miles and doing long slow intervals of several minutes of continuous running. And this will get them in shape for sure, but in games I see kids jogging, jogging and then sprinting at full speed for 20-30 yards, run, jog, sprint for 20-30 yards. If you want kids to improve their acceleration and top speed so they can get to the ball faster or get back on defense, then you have to train by running at full speed in practice.

5. You can train hard every day

The workout itself is only a piece of the training puzzle. It is the time between intense workouts, the recovery, where athletes make their improvements. And generally it takes 36-48 hours to recover from high intensity training. If athletes are doing too much, too often they become over trained. Coaches can expect to see an increase in injuries, kids complaining that they are sore more often, decreased performance, higher levels of fatigue earlier in games. It’s always better to under train an athlete than over train.

6. Strength training will stunt a young athlete’s growth

This is another myth held over from a different time. On a daily basis, kids as young as 7 years old are playing organized sports year round, tackling, getting tackled, sliding, falling etc.. These loads on the body can have a much greater physical impact than a well designed strength training program. Though we don’t usually begin training with weights with pre pubescent athletes, they can benefit from body weight exercises such as push ups, lunges, sit ups, etc. This will increase muscular efficiency, speed up recovery, improve coordination and overall speed.

7. The harder the workout, the better the result

Some athletes, trainers and coaches have the mentality that if a workout doesn’t reduce them to complete exhaustion and/or make them vomit, that it wasn’t an effective workout. I can tell you that those who have this mentality probably see a lot of injuries and frustrating performances. The purpose of a workout is to stimulate an adaptation by the body. If the body is forced to do too much work in a given time period, it will break down. The skill in good personal training/coaching is to stimulate the adaptation in the body, without reaching a point of diminishing returns.

8. Interval training is the same as speed training

Running repeat 100s, 200s, etc will not improve top speeds. Even running repeat 40s with short recovery will not improve acceleration and top speeds. Speed work is defined at 2-8 seconds of maximal intensity running with full recovery. That means at least 2 minutes of light dynamic movement between each effort. This goes against the experience of some coaches, but simply put, is the only way to improve speed. An athlete must be able to focus on proper form and maintain intensity in order to get faster. If they do not recover properly from each interval, they will not be able to replicate proper mechanics with consistency and they can not improve.

9. Flexibility won’t help you get faster

Both coaches and athletes spend so much time on the skills of their sport, speed training and conditioning that they often forget a fundamental component of success: flexibility. After practice or a game, the muscles are warm and loose. Now is the time to work on increasing flexibility. So many athletes suffer injuries or compete below their capacity because poor flexibility inhibits their range of motion and speed. We see this often in the hips and hip flexors where athletes’ stride length appears conspicuously short. Most often we see this in male athletes who will lift weights, train hard and then skip out on their cool down and flexibility work.

10. Lift your knees

I hear so many parents and coaches yelling to their kids when they want them to run faster or when they are beginning to fatigue, “Lift your knees, Get your knees up”. This is one of the most backwards cues we can give to athletes. The way to run faster is to apply more force to the ground. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so the more force you apply to the ground, the more the ground will give back. So when we cue athletes to lift their knees we’re doing two things incorrectly. One, we’re telling them to use their hip flexors to lift instead of their glutes and hamstrings to drive down. Just think about the size of your hip flexor versus the size of the glutes and hamstrings. Now which muscles do you think can create more force and therefore more speed? Second, we’re cueing them to do learn a movement that is in opposition to what generates speed. If an athlete learns at age 7, to lift their knees when they need a burst of speed, that improper cue will be hardwired into their brain. To unlearn that as a teen and try to do the opposite and drive down, that athlete will have a difficult time coordinating an entirely new way of running and will potentially have to take a step or two backwards. That’s why it is critical to learn proper form early and get an advantage over those who still aren’t getting the best instruction. So cue athletes to step over the opposite knee and drive the foot down into the ground, with the foot landing underneath the hip.

Efitnessacademy.com was established in 2004 and since then the company grown tremendously. EFA is currently training and consulting with some of the top pro and amateur athletes in motor sports.

Sincerely,

Greg DiRenzo, CPT

EFitnessAcademy

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“Lactic acid” in endurance sports – motocross: myths, legends and reality.

Most endurance athletes, in this case motocross athletes still believe that lactic acid is released during hard or unaccustomed exercise and that this is what limits performance, as well as being the cause of stiffness and “arm pump.” Neither is correct. But not even is the terminology of “lactic acid”.

Lactic acid does not exist as an acid in the body: it exists in another form called “lactate”, and it is this that is actually measured in the blood when “lactic acid” concentration is determined, as is done from time to time. This distinction is important not only for the sake of correctness, but more importantly, because lactate and lactic acid would have different physiological effects.

The greatest myth is that lactic acid is the cause of the stiffness felt during and after an endurance event such as a motocross race or practice. Stiffness is due mostly to damage to the muscle, and not an accumulation of lactic acid or lactic acid crystals in the muscle.

Image via Wikipedia

Another misconception is that lactate is responsible for acidifying the blood, thereby causing fatigue. To the contrary, lactate is actually an important fuel that is used by the muscles during prolonged exercise. Lactate released from the muscle is converted in the liver to glucose, which is then used as an energy source. So rather than cause fatigue, it actually helps to delay a possible lowering of blood glucose concentration, a condition called hypoglycemia*, and which will cause an endurance athlete to feel weak and fatigued if it occurs.

A more recent addition to the muddled thinking is that of the Anaerobic Threshold (AT). AT is what athletes term “hitting the wall,” it is the point at which you begin working your muscles without oxygen. There have been pictures of athletes having a blood sample taken with an accompanying caption indicating that the workout is being monitored by measuring “lactic acid”. The supposed rationale is that as running speed is increased, a point is reached at which there is insufficient oxygen available to the muscle and energy sources that do not require oxygen contribute to the energy that is needed. This results in a disproportionate increase in the blood lactate concentration, a point identified as the anaerobic threshold. This is also known as the lactate threshold or lactate ‘turnpoint’. There are two problems with this. Firstly, the muscle never becomes anaerobic: there are other reasons for the supposed disproportionate increase that is measured in blood lactate concentration. Secondly, the so-called disproportionate increase causing a ‘turnpoint’ is not correct, in that the increase is actually smooth and incremental. This led to another way of using blood lactate concentration to monitor running performance.

If blood lactate concentration is measured at different, increasing running speeds, it is possible to eventually draw a curve depicting the continued increase in concentration as the running speed gets faster. The position of this curve changes as fitness level changes. Particularly, the fitter a runner gets, the more the curve shifts to the right, meaning that at any given lactate concentration the running speed is higher than before. Often, the running speed at a lactate concentration of 4 mmol/l is used as a standard for comparison. This can also be used as a guide for training speed i.e. a runner could do some runs each week at the speed corresponding to the 4 mmol/l lactate concentration, some runs above this speed, and recovery runs at a slower speed. Of course, as fitness changes and the curve shifts, these speeds will change, and so a new curve will have to be determined. This is all very well, but the problem is to know how much running should be done below, at, and above the 4 mmol/l concentration. Remember, 4 mmol/l is a fairly arbitrarily chosen amount. Thus the real value in determining a “lactate curve” is to monitor how it shifts with training. The desirable shift is one in which a faster running speed is achieved at a given lactate concentration than before. This regular testing can be done in the laboratory with the athlete running on a treadmill or on a track in which running speed can be carefully controlled, such as by means of pace lights.

While useful information can be gained from regular testing to determine an endurance athlete’s lactate curve, it is important to keep in mind what is fact and what is fiction.

*Hypoglycemia – hy-po-gly-ce-mi-a (n.): An abnormally low level of sugar in the blood.

Greg DiRenzo, CPT

gdirenzo@aol.com

The informaion provided above is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition and before starting a training program.