Joe D, Sun Fearlessness, A New Study, Zone 2 Challenge And The Event Of The Year

What is happening fam!

We have a BIG one for you today jammed with all the goodies.

Want to dive right in? Click here:

Today we’re covering:

• The Industrial Strength Show 🎙️

• A sun story 🌞

• Supersets vs Straight Sets, a new study 📑

• A Zone 2 Conditioning Challenge 🏃‍♀️

• Join us in October!

Let’s take a peek at today’s issue!

Let’s dive in!

x x x

THE WARM UP | JOE DEFRANCO

By Jason Brown

  
One of the most influential coaches in my career as a coach was and still is, Joe DeFranco.

Joe catapulted to fitness fame in 2008 with his program Westside for Skinny Bastards as it was a sensation over on t-nation.com.

I spent many hours of my life reading every word Joe put out…all written articles back in the day.

Studying the way he programmed among some of the other greats like Waterbury and Poliquin was one of the ways I learned.

So getting an invite to come on Joe’s podcast last July was a huge honor.

I’m bringing this one back for those who have not heard it, and here’s some important timestamps:

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8:50 – Jason Brown joins the show | Podcast begins…

9:35 – Jason’s training background & early influences

19:30 – Jason’s experience w/ Crossfit

26:45 – The value of providing free content online

31:05 – What aspects of Crossfit training does Jason no longer program

39:30 – Benefits of aerobic conditioning & how Jason incorporates Zone 2 cardio into his programs

49:25 – Why Jason sold his beloved Elitefts T-Bar Row machine?

51:25 – The main reason why Jason switched from an Upper/Lower split to Full Body split

52:20 – Examples of how to make your Zone 2 cardio less boring

57:10 – Training variability | Why Joe & Jason prefer 3-4 week training blocks

1:05:40 – Why & When Joe and Jason incorporate chains into their programs

1:10:45 – One of the most overlooked traits of a great coach

1:16:45 – How to keep clients longterm and grow your business “from within”

1:20:05 – The 4 “R’s” of growing your business

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Listen to Episode 428 of the Industrial Strength Show with Joe D & Jason Brown

THE MAIN LIFT | SUMMERTIME SUNSHINE

By Dani Brown

  
Yesterday was day 2 of summer camp for our three kids, and a day I am always prepared for.

It went like this:

I walk toward the pick-up field and I see a group of counselors ready to hand over my oldest daughter. When I arrive they hand me the clipboard to sign her out and immediately a 20-something man says…

“Amelia was a bit upset today. Everyone got out their sunscreen and she didn’t have any. She was adamant that you didn’t want any on her. We DID end up putting another child’s sunscreen on her as it was super sunny, but we wanted to ask you…”

I pulled out my soapbox and took a breath..

“We use limited sunscreen that I put on her in the mornings for the first 2-3 weeks at camp and that’s it, so she is exactly correct, I will not ever send her with sunscreen and I do not want her using anyone else's.”

He paused, confused, and looked at a second male camp counselor.

“Ok so just to confirm: NO sunscreen on Amelia any day?”

I continued…”Sunscreen is the thing to be scared about, not the sun. She gets tan and is protected.”

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I know I have talked about this several times in E-WOD but it bears a retell every now and again.

In its most simplistic explanation, here’s how incredible your body is:

When you stand in the sunshine, your eyes take in the light.

The eyes communicate the amount of UVA/B rays to the brain.

Via chemical messengers, the brain signals the proper hormones to be sent out to the dermis and epidermis. One is a well known hormone called melanin.

Melanin is the protection from the light; and the amount produced will vary depending on the strength of the sunshine.

This DOES NOT MEAN you won’t burn. More on that in a sec.

Do you ever notice however, if you cover yourself in sunscreen, wear sunglasses all day, and then you miss a spot? That spot usually gets torched.

That’s because you’ve blocked your eyes' ability to determine the strength of the sunshine with your sunglasses.

Then you’re adding gas to fire with the chemical shitstorm of commercial sunscreen that gets oxidized in the sunlight and absorbed by the skin.

Add on top of it a diet rich in seed oils, and this is a recipe for the C-word that shall not be named.

Now, back to the burning.

You obviously can’t go full bore in the sun coming out of winter.

I use a toxin free sunscreen for the kiddos (SPF 30 typically, 15 or 30 for myself) in the mornings so it wears off as the sun’s strength decreases. I do this for a couple weeks when summer kicks off. In 2-4 weeks, I use zero unless we’re going to have a beach day or something. I also have them wear hats 100% of the time at camp so they can see, and so their eyes can do their thing.

They don’t burn.

One last thing to mention here is common sense..

We use more sunscreen than ever in history, yet Google says this: “In the United States, melanoma incidence increased by over 320% from 1975 to 2018, from 7.9 to 25.3 per 100,000 people.”

It ain’t the sun friends.

File this under things doctors won’t tell you for another 10 years, if we’re lucky.

Stay healthy out there and shoot me a message if you test my theory. I’m on standby :).

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THE PUMP | SUPERSETS V STRAIGHT SETS

By Jason Brown

  
Recently, I came across a post by Dr. Brad Schoenfeld regarding a study on supersets.

This study found that supersets are not only just as effective for strength and hypertrophy when compared to performing a single exercise, but they also offer the obvious benefit of being more time-efficient.

Now, I don’t believe this is the ‘end-all’ approach, and I’m not suggesting that you should only use supersets in your programming.

However, I do want to address that many high-level coaches have been advocating the benefits of performing one exercise at a time with long rest intervals between sets, claiming it is the ONLY and BEST WAY to train for hypertrophy.

While there is some merit to this approach, it is simply one way of doing things.

What about those pressed for time?

What about those who don’t care as much about hypertrophy?

What about those newer to training?

There are many questions to consider when choosing an approach; blindly stating that there’s one way to hit the goal post is silly.

Now that we have a study supporting the efficacy of supersets, does that mean they are the only way?

Absolutely not.

If supersets are effective, would the same be true for giant sets or circuits?

Possibly.

To sum up, here are some recommendations that address a variety of goals:

• Strength Gains: Train one main lift (squat, clean, bench, deadlift, press) with 2-3 minutes of rest between heavier sets.

• Power Gains: Train for speed with one main lift, resting 90 seconds to 2 minutes between sets.

• Size Gains: Utilize push/pull supersets with 45-60 seconds of rest between sets.

• Efficiency: Use giant sets or circuits if you train from home, want to be efficient with your time, and are less concerned with strength/power gains.

Sample Full-Body Sessions:

• Strength & Power

  • Main Lift (Speed or Heavy)

  • Assistance Lift for Main Lift

  • Remaining body-part giant set

  • Abdominal Work

• Hypertrophy Gains

  • Push/Pull Supersets (e.g., Squat & Row, Press & Hinge)

• Work Capacity Gains

  • Full Body Circuit (e.g., squat, pull-up, press, carry) plus 1-2 accessory movements to finish (e.g., hinge & direct triceps)

I’ll never be a coach that ‘dies on a hill’ with one approach…both have merit in this argument.

THE COOL DOWN | ZONE 2 CHALLENGE

 By Jason Brown

There was a time I wouldn’t touch long conditioning sessions with a 10ft pole.

Now, you won't see me go a week without it.

Knowing what I now understand about conditioning, I could never not include it in my training.

It’s one of the simplest ways to boost your endurance, performance, and strength all with less than 2 hours per week, especially when paired with a great strength plan.

What happens when you do Zone 2 work?

• Efficient Energy Use: Z2 training primarily uses fat and some carbs for energy, enhancing your body's ability to use glucose efficiently. More efficient energy use means less fatigue.

• Enhanced Cellular Function: this type of training improves the function and density of mitochondria—the powerhouses of your cells—leading to increased energy production.

• Boosted Cognitive Function: Z2 training also increases brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNF), which support cognitive functions like learning and memory.

Now fortunately for women, they can reap the same benefits as men can from Z2 work doing a little less.

For women, 60-90 minutes per week will be a huge improvement, and for men, 90-120 minutes each week. And of course, wear your heart monitor so that you know for certain, you are in Z2.

Zone 2 is between 60–70% of your maximum heart rate (HR max). For example, if you're 35 years old, your zone 2 heart rate would be around 111–130 beats per minute. It should feel slow and easy.

When I look at the training stats of my athletes on EVOLV in TrainHeroic, the conditioning compliance is significantly lower than on the strength training days.

Here’s a challenge, specifically for those of who know deep down in your little heart that you should be doing conditioning but typically don’t…

==> For the entire month of July, do all prescribed conditioning sessions. For EVOLV and CXC that’s two days each week.

I’ll even make it interesting: anyone on one of my teams that completes all conditioning sessions for the month of July, we’ll enter you into a random drawing to win a $250 Amazon gift card.

(*the optional Saturday in EVOLV or Sunday recovery in CXC are NOT required)

Are you in?

Let me know with a post in the athletes group ==> JBC Athletes.

COACHES NOTES  

The Vigor Fitness & Business Summit page is LIVE, and I can’t even tell you how PUMPED I am to present at this one. I’m not doing just any presentation; Luka and I are running something I’ve dreamed of:

A live programming presentation where we literally help coaches write a program start to finish, giving insight into how WE think when we design client programs.

I would only agree to do this type of thing with a handful of people; Luka is one of them.

Check out the details here. I even think Dani will come with our three kiddos 😃 and we’d love to meet you.

As always, thank you for reading this week’s issue of E-WOD!

See you next week and remember, results are king! 

JB + DB 

PS - if you have a moment would you give us your opinion on E-WOD? There may be a free gift involved 😌⇩