Yesterday I noted a news feature from Travis Haney of the CHARLESTON (SC) POST & COURIER and Joe Person of THE STATE (SC) in which Steve Spurrier’s daily exercise routine was presented in meticulous detail.

(Fitness Pro Pauline Nordin Critiques Coach’s Touted Personal Workout)

To his credit, the head football coach of South Carolina, who just turned 65 and is a former elite athlete, still looks to be in reasonably good condition for his age. (Witness his posing for the newspapers shirtless.)

As Haney and Person actually worked out with Spurrier and recorded quotes from him throughout the process, we got a lot of very specific information on an exercise routine  Spurrier has been doing for decades – and swears keeps him in optimum condition:

“When I was in my 40s, I never thought I’d coach into my 60s. But now, shoot, I feel better than I did when I was 45.”

With that kind of conviction from the coach, I thought I’d call on an expert in the exercise field, professional fitness model and certified personal trainer Pauline Nordin, to examine Spurrier’s claims.

Nordin, a native of Sweden who runs the popular fitness blog FighterDiet.com, is a former competitive bodybuilder who has been profiled extensively in countless fitness magazines, including Muscle & Fitness and Flex. Based in Los Angeles, she’s also served as an on-camera trainer in the production of television’s The Biggest Loser reality show.

I emailed Nordin the Spurrier article and asked for her reaction to his published exercise routine. Nordin, who is also an accomplished fitness blogger, wasn’t shy in her critique of the coach’s workout:

Weights: He’s (Spurrier) doing a lot of repetitions to keep his heart rate up but it appears he’s not really lifting to build muscle because the reps are extremely high.

Cardio: Was he having a conversation with a writer while doing his cardio? If he was, that isn’t intense training. At least not intense enough for what I think he should be doing.

500 situps and 500 pushups: Why is he doing that many repetitions? Why not add weight? He must be doing them so fast that he’s just bouncing up and down, which needlessly stresses his joints and tendons.

Conclusion: I would like to see his form on all the exercises. In watching football players train over the years, for whatever reason, many tend to lack proper form. A lot of throwing around, not really targeting the muscles at all. Just a little bit of everything.

His training style to me sounds very old school, but not in a good way. I wouldn’t call his workout really smart or progressive training.

But hey, if he’s happy, I’m cool with it!

After receiving that critique of Spurrier’s workout, I requested Nordin provide me with some workout tips for a man of the coach’s physical condition and age.

1. Adding weights builds muscles that degenerate with age. By stimulating muscle-building with lower reps and heavier weights – along with perfect form – his body will rebuild new lean mass. High repetitions normally don’t achieve that regenerated muscle.

2. Increase the intensity with intervals when doing cardio. They don’t have to be super intense, but peaks and valleys increase the hormones in our body that keep us looking young.

3. Slow down the tempo! By bouncing during reps you run a higher risk of tearing ligaments and muscle fibers.

4. Quality instead of quantity. There is no reason to force two hours of “work” into one hour. That only proves he’s not really pushing himself. It’s like a hamster on the wheel: spinning, spinning but not really getting anywhere.

Would it be unreasonable of me to also describe the recent fortunes of the Gamecocks football program under Spurrier as, “spinning, spinning but not really getting anywhere“?

​Every week we introduce you to a new shmuck. This week: 24-Hour Fitness.

I've noted my hatred for gyms before. But this week, 24-Hour Fitness cemented itself as one of the world's douchiest operations, their admirable commitment to wellness aside.

Here's the story: As anyone who's joined a 24-Hour knows, they have a murder-inspiring policy that basically allows them to continue charging your credit card for weeks after you (inevitably) quit the gym, because, you know, you're more an “activity person” than a “gym person.” I'm not sure how it works, I just know that I've tried to fight it before, only to realize that it's exactly what I signed up for in the first place.

But one pissed off gym-quitter fought back.

According to a class-action settlement notice received by me and everyone I know, someone named Daniel Friedman recently sued the gym franchise over this policy, claiming it violated state and federal law.

I have no idea if it actually does violate the law — I sort of doubt it, since the policy is right there in the contract — but I'm more amused by the way 24-Hour decided to settle the case. Basically, they're using the suit as a way to entice old customers to come back to the gym, by offering — for all members of the class-action suit — three months access to their neighborhood 24-Hour.

Let me repeat: For the thousands of former members who “sued” 24-Hour over their cancellation policy, the lawyers “representing” those former members and the court overseeing the case allowed 24-Hour to offer, as part as a settlement, the opportunity to rejoin the club and be subject to whatever other devilish cancellation policy the club implements to replace the one thrown out by the suit.

Or they can get $20 — about 10 percent of the value of the three-month membership — and buy themselves a ten-pack of Hostess products. I'll take the $20, thanks.

The American justice system, ladies and gentlemen. Its weirdness knows no boundaries.

Meet more shmucks in our Shmuck of the Week archive.

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Fitness is crucial for all soccer players. The most important fitness components in soccer include aerobic capacity, flexibility, strength, power and speed. From these fitness components aerobic capacity and strength can be improved the most by physical training, whereas genetics play a large role in determining flexibility, power and speed. The focus of this discussion will be on fitness tests and training to improve a player's fitness for soccer (with an emphasize on physical fitness and not on soccer skills).

Fitness testing for soccer
Testing of a soccer player's conditioning should be done regularly so that the effects and progress of training can be measured. Ideally a fitness testing battery would be designed for a team (or for individual players if their roles in the game are significantly different) and performed before and after training blocks of two to three months.

In soccer a player's aerobic capacity is essential for all roles other than goalkeeper. The most appropriate test to measure aerobic capacity are time trials or the beep test. The time trial would be between 3 and 5 kilometres of continuous running at maximal effort. The beep test which is effectively a shuttle run of 20 metres back and forth to exhaustion is more specific than a time trial for soccer fitness as it also demands a good degree of agility.

Strength is important in contests for the ball and running/kicking form. Tests for strength would include maximal strength tests where the player lifts as much weight as they can in a single effort. These would be focused on the core muscles abdominals, hamstrings and quadriceps.

Fitness scores in aerobic capacity and strength should be the focus of training and improvement but the following fitness components may also be tested:
Flexibility static stretches of hamstrings
Power maximum vertical and horizontal jumps
Speed sprints eg. 10, 50 and 100 metres
Agility timed around a course of cones

Training for soccer
After testing players fitness with the above tests the results should be analysed to determine their strengths and weaknesses. The focus of their training should then be to maintain (or improve) their strengths and turn their weaknesses into strengths. Most of the training should involve running (say 60-70%) at various speeds (developing aerobic capacity, power and speed), gym work for strength (10-15%), and flexibility (5-10%). The goalkeeper would probably focus more on agility, power and speed with much less emphasise on aerobic capacity. Drills to improve soccer skills and tactics would be integrated into the program so that fitness and skill level are developed at the same time.

Here is a very brief example of a training program for a soccer player:
Off-season (1-2 months):
- easy running (1-2 days per week)
- strength work (1-2 days per week)
- speed/power development (1-2 a week) (can be done following easy run)
Pre-season (1-3 months)
- easy run (2-4 a week)
- strength work (3-4 days per week)
- speed/power (2-4 a week)
- flexibility, agility, skills should be incorporated into sessions
In season (5-7 months)
- soccer game (1-2 a week)
- easy runs (3-5 a week)
- speed power (3-4 a week)
- flexibility and agility worked on every second day
- skills (6-7 days a week)

Soccer fitness is important and as has been discussed it can be improved significantly by training. To ensure training has a positive impact on a players condition always test their fitness before and after blocks of training and come game day they should be at their best.

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