Fitness As Sport

213 Pages·19.587 MB·English

by  Jacob Tsypkin

T H E O R Y & P R A C T I C E
F I T N E S S

A S S P O RT
J A C O B T S Y P K I N
Preface Scientific Principles of Strength Training P 1
T H E O R Y & P R A C T I C E
F I T N E S S

AS SPORT
J A C O B T S Y P K I N
Dedicated to the Memory of my Grandmother, Izora
Petrovskaya, without whose courage, wisdom, intellect,
and wit, I would never have been capable of writing a
book.
And to the Memory of Jason Nolan, without whose
selfless help in building effective systems and processes,
TZ Strength would have been a shadow of the company
that it is today.
Jacob Tsypkin Fitness As Sport: Theory & Practice P 3
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

PERIODIZATION IN FITNESS SPORT 10
What Is Periodization? 11
Periodization & Sporting Form 16
Macrocycles 20
Mesocycles 26
Microcycles 32
WEIGHTLIFTING 37
Weightlifting in Fitness Sport:
Reps One to One Hundred 39
Variables Of Training 39
Means 42
Methods 45
STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT 51
Strength in Fitness Sport:
The Strength Spectrum 52
Variables of Training 57
Means 61
Methods 73
GYMNASTICS 79
Gymnastics in Fitness Sport:
Low Horsepower, High Gas Mileage 82
Means 87
Jacob Tsypkin Fitness As Sport: Theory & Practice P 4
ENERGY SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT 136
Basic Bioenergetics 137
Bioenergetics in Fitness Sport 142
Means 152
Methods 154
SPORT SPECIFIC PREPARATION 165
Finding Specificity In Variance 166
Principles of Analysis 168
Principles of Speculation 170
Sport Specific Periodization 174
Testing Protocol Design 178
INDIVIDUALIZATION 182
Individualization In Fitness Sport:
Eliminate Weaknesses, Balance Strengths 183
Athlete Classification 184
STRATEGIC & TACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS 195
Output Management 196
Event Assessment 197
Scoring & Placing 204

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 208
WORKS CITED 211
Jacob Tsypkin Fitness As Sport: Theory & Practice P 5
I N T R O D U C T I O N
In 2007, the first CrossFit Games were held in Aromas, California. It
was a competition of roughly forty men and twenty women, which was
equal parts test of fitness and backyard barbecue, in which judges were
selected from the crowd and one event was quite literally drawn from
the hopper. If you had told me then that a mere eight years later, tens of
thousands of fans of fitness sport would crowd into a major stadium in
Southern California, to watch men capable of near four hundred pound
clean & jerks and low five minute miles, I would have laughed in your
face.
And yet, here we are.
This book is the result of nearly a decade of being involved in the
functional fitness community, and an all-consuming obsession with
fitness sport since that weekend in late June 2007 in Aromas. It is built
upon a lot of tacit and anecdotal knowledge about the sport itself, a
good deal of analysis of trends, some science regarding the constituent
domains of the sport, and a little bit of theory. Where possible, I
have tried to support these theories with the science in areas such as
strength development and bioenergetics. The research on concurrent
training (training for strength and endurance at the same time) is
sparse, and for fitness sport in particular, it is non-existent. Therefore,
I can not reasonably claim that this is a scientific text. It is based upon
my own experience, and my ability to logically sort through it, and the
comparison of my experience and conclusions to data from the sport
and the science.
Jacob Tsypkin Fitness As Sport: Theory & Practice P 6
In his book “The Undercover Economist”, Tim Harford writes about
models:
“There are other models of the coffee business, useful for different
things. A model of the design and architecture of coffee kiosks could
be useful as a case study for interior designers. A physics model
could outline the salient features of the machine that generates the
ten atmospheres of pressure required to brew espresso; the same
model might be useful for talking about suction pumps or the internal
combustion engine. Today we have models of the ecological impacts
of different disposal methods for coffee grounds. Each model is useful
for different things, but a ‘model’ that tried to describe the design, the
engineering, the ecology, and the economics would be no simpler than
reality itself and so would add nothing to our understanding.”
The bulk of the book is organized as a series of chapters about the
constituent domains of the sport: weightlifting, strength development,
gymnastics, energy systems development, and sport specific preparation.
It presents conventional models of training for each of these areas, as
well as my observations and suggestions for how those models must
change to be applied to fitness sport.
I do not aim to build an all
encompassing, absolute, singular
model of training for fitness sport.
Jacob Tsypkin Fitness As Sport: Theory & Practice P 7
In part, this is because I am not entirely sure it is possible at this time.
But perhaps more importantly, I am not convinced of the usefulness
of such an endeavor. Though it may be eventually possible, that model
will be built on the underlying facts about training for each aspect
of the sport, and tied together by the interactions of those domains.
Therefore, this text seeks to create an understanding of those facts and
interactions, so that you, the reader, may incorporate them into your
training and programming methodology.
My hopes for this book are twofold
1. Firstly, I hope that you, the reader, find in this book at least a few
pieces of theory, experience, or analysis that are directly helpful in
improving the way you approach your training, and/or that of your
athletes.
2. Secondly, I hope that this text aids in pushing forward and further
expanding the growing conversation among coaches and athletes
of philosophy, methodology, and best practices in fitness sport.
Jacob Tsypkin
Aliso Viejo, CA
October 2015
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D I S C L A I M E R
This book is a record of the program I prescribe to the athletes in
my care who are training to compete in fitness sport. It is not a
recommendation of training for any particular individual. Neither
the author, TZ Strength, or Juggernaut Training Systems take any
responsibility for injuries incurred if a reader chooses to attempt training
based on this book. Always consult a physician before undertaking any
exercise program.
The methods and opinions described in this work are solely the author’s
and in no way claim to be representative of the practices of and/or
opinions held by CrossFit, Inc. CrossFit® is a registered trademark held
by CrossFit, Inc.
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C H A P T E R O N E
P E R I O D I Z AT I O N I N
F I T N E S S S P O R T
Periodization is a hotly debated topic within fitness sport communities,
with some well known coaches and athletes decrying its importance,
even as others tout it as the fundamental basis of effective program
design.
Often the parties on either side of the debate seem to have relatively
little understanding of what periodization actually is. Its detractors
represent it as an theory built upon the failures of sport scientists, who
have fundamentally misunderstood strength and conditioning since the
Chapter One Fitness As Sport: Theory & Practice P 10