Hello everybody, all my smash-mouth and spirited banter aside, I am going to try to post to this thread once or twice daily covering everything that I think is pertinent to success in the shot put. This may be applied from the youth/junior level to high school to Olympic/open level, men and women. There are no differences in my opinion, barring the obvious...
To give you a brief background, I possess approximately 10yrs throwing experience. I threw from age 13 to 23 and never reached distances greater than about 19m as a glider by age 23. As previously stated, I accredit this to sub-par coaching and the lack thereof. There was roughly a 10-year lay-off due to military service and other federal gigs, to include some personal issues that had to be tended to, but we're all good today! Today, at age 33, I boast a meet PR of 20.93m (rotational, spin-to-win, baby) and am progressing at a hells-bells pace and haven't hit the wall yet. This mark was recorded after only 6 months into 'the comeback' at an open University meet earlier this winter as an unattached thrower.
This thread is not about me, but the progression of our sport... throwing, of course; but more specifically the king of the throws...the shot put. When ARE they going to get rid of that little Greek-guy statue winding up with the disc and replace it with the likeness of Brian Oldfield at the release point, about to release the bastard into oblivion? Add a sound effect? Our shot putters' idiomatic 'AAAAAAGGGHHHHHHH!!!' ? Get real, the world record hasn't been challenged in 24 YEARS!!!!
Ok, people, the first topic I'd like to cover is proper nutrition. I know, sounds rhetoric, but is in fact an esoteric concept that too often goes overlooked. Diet is the most important building block of any training program, bar none. The absolute, most important thing you can do is put the right fuel in the tank to make the ball go. And no, I'm not talking about showing up at meets with a 2-liter Starbucks (I think WADA's limit is about 3 cups worth in the system before we reach the 'restricted' level). HOLY HELL, SOMEONE CALL THE COFFEE POLICE!!
I am going to say a few things here that many of you are not going to like; I didn't at first when I REALLY started doing my homework, but guess what...IT WORKS! Many of the basics are attributed to bodybuilding (yes, I hate them, too, glorified sissies, but there is raw data on their diets supporting explosive and extended workouts that directly and indirectly translate into increased performance potential in the throwing ring).
Ok, to begin with, .75-1.25g per pound(.45 kg) of protein consumed daily. This is a pretty loose guideline, but is intended for people of varying body fat percentages. Now, in the military, if you had 18-20% body fat, you were a 'fat-body' and condemned to death (figurative, but they looked like they might have rather died than go through the hell to lose all that in a 10week basic, lol). But as throwers, we don' t mind, you NEED FAT TO BUILD MUSCLE, above 10% is highly recommended. Personally, I'm at 17%, but my shoulders are a meter wide, although I'm going to cut 20lb this Spring. The recommendation is this...if the individual is:
20+% BF = .75g raw protein per pound (.45 kg)
15% BF - 20% BF = 1.00g raw protein per pound (.45 kg)
10% BF - 15% BF = 1.25g raw protein per pound (.45 kg)
As we are leaner, we need more per unit of body weight.
So, with that being said, HS and college throwers... 1 - take pizza out of hand, 2 - throw in garbage; drop the carbonated drinks. Holy shit, I tried drinking a mountain dew before lifting about 3 weeks ago and almost puke-and-shit myself (yes, simultaneously) about 20min into my lifting routine . Beer....LOVE IT....LOSE IT!!! Yes, fermented beverages were fun at Friday night parties after the game trying to get in the cheerleaders' panties, but now that we've subscribed to a life of treating our bodies as temples, the truth is they bloat muscles (lactic acid fermentation is not an efficient way to deliver ATP, kids, we want as much oxidative phosphorylation happening as is humanly possible). This is due to dehydration and the fact that our humoral lymphatic regulatory (negative feedback) system is trying to funnel all those pesky toxins to our liver (mine's huge, how 'bout yours?). Why take away the efficiency of the God-given tool you were put on the earth to use for the sole purpose to throw the shot?
Protein shakes...I use ON(Optimal Nutrition) Whey w/ amino load. It's clean, it's good, all the essential aminos you need. For me, it's not feasible to consume 20 8oz steaks daily. I'd never leave my grill or become a permanent fixture at McCormick&Schmicks... and broke...
Meat... I like it raw, how about you? As lean as possible. Steak, fish, chicken, beef....if it runs around, eat it
Veggies...yeah, eat 'em if they're served. If I don't get 'em, I do 12 oz of V8. Sorry veg-heads
Dairy...lowfat cottage cheese, yogurt(gotta love that acidophilus), DRINK MILK YOU NASTY SOY-LOVERS, soy is terrible for you, wanna grow huge nasty hangin' boobs from overactive mammary glands or get them if you're male?
Ok, other supplements... creatine... ladies, you're putting a heavy ball into outer space, it's ok to have muscles; my fiancée was a ranked NCAA 1500free and 400IM chick, 5'2" with big wide shoulders, love it, I call her my diminutive female version of ME...and 12 years my junior =O. You're an athlete, not some nasty magazine model(I find them disgusting, they're all air-brushed anyway, what's that Freddy Mercury tune?). Use it, 5g/day. Guys, you know the deal, 5g/day. All that creatine does is give our muscles some more water and the precursors to more efficiently facilitate phosphate transfer at the actin-myosin cross-bridge. Unless you have some type of renal failure due to one of may medical conditions in which this is manifest (in which case you're probably not a competitive athlete), use it. It is naturally produced by your body and when you stop using it after long periods of time, your body continues to manufacture it.
Beta-alanine.... HOLY SHIT, LET THE CYCLISTS AND MIDDLE DISTANCE RUNNERS COMPLAIN TO HIGH HELL THAT THEY'RE BEING BEATEN BY 'DRUG USERS'. This is a naturally-occurring non-essential amino acid found in food that facilitates accelerated O2 uptake in skeletal muscle cells (as well as others, but we're talking about diet translating to strength here).
I also use Jack3D pre-workout...more beta-alanine, some caffeine, all legal substances....after 5 years of MDMA and that dimethyl-shit, I didn't take it back then, but it's clean now.
Gaspari's intra-workout....more micronized creatine with some sugar, BCAAs, nothing restricted or banned
OLD GUYS (like me)
glucosamine w/ chondroitin...had a wicked tennis elbow that went away after 3 weeks of this little gem...LOVE IT
Fish Oil....Omegas, HDLs, good for the integumentary(SKIN PEOPLE, IT'S THE LARGEST ORGAN OF YOUR BODY). Betcha' just learned something. Have summa' that. And HDLs = good for the heart and the rest of the cardiovascular system... in excess they actually carry away the LDLs(bad trig's that build up on your arteries). Eat em, they're good.
Cayenne....good 'ole capsaicin...increases blood flow, which means more O2 in those muscle cells, I use about 80,000 heat units daily...take with food(and milk), lest you be a REAL fire-eater. This will heat you up in no time flat, too...you'll feel it, I promise. Jacko....ah, the little Chilliman was on to something. Bring me some come Rio, kiddo! Good for the heart, too.
Multivatmin...twice daily, can't hurt. Love me some FLINSTONES CHEWABLES. Do they make those anymore?
Meals, you know the deal...4-6 daily for optimum uptake, feed those muscles ALL DAY LONG.
Alright people, eat healthy, drop the pizza and beer, we're not in a frat (I WAS), treat your body right, you'll need it for the ring and afterward. Off to get some sleep now, lotta' training tomorrow.
Til next time, eat healthy.