Dr. Colgan's Power Program

8:38 AM Posted by jo

My husband and I are big fans of Dr. Michael Colgan and we have most of his books. Dr. Colgan has a lot of cutting edge information about sport nutrition, healthy aging, power training, and hormonal health. He always backs up his information with science which makes him very credible. He has his own institute where he does his own research in sports nutrition. Over the years he has worked with thousands of professional athletes.

Some couples go out for a romantic date and my husband and I do Colgan's Power Program together. I guess it is a matter of priorities.I can assure you we are having a lot of fun working out together.

So, what is the Power Program?

The Power Program is different than many other strength strategies since it is based on that you grow power without gaining excess mass. Many strength building programs make people slower, bigger and less powerful.

The first thing to consider when doing the Power Program is not to do the program during the competitive season if you are an athlete. The training is divided based on that athletes have about six months of competitive season per year. That leaves 25 weeks divided into an 8- week Extension- Connection Cycle, a 10 week Strength Stabilization Cycle, and a 7 week Power Cycle to train for power. You can adapt the program to your individual need which is what Dr. Colgan does to the athletes at the Colgan Institute.

It is important to strengthen the connective tissues and joints before you gain muscles since starting off with heavy weights leads to injuries. Therefore the program starts with an 8 week Extension- Connection Cycle. This cycle focuses on full extension, multi-joints exercises which trains the connective tissues and the joints to to rotational movements they were designed to do.

The Strength-Stabilizing Cycle. A common mistake seen today is that many are using isolation machines in the gyms that hold the body in place, which make it impossible to strengthen the stabilizers. Stabilizers are muscles that hold the joint in the right place of motion. Athletes for sure develop impressive quadricep strength but the stabilizers fail to take the increased stress put upon them. Incorrect leg training like this will eventually lead to decreased sprinting speed. As Colgan says in his Power Program book " Weight training makes you faster, a lot faster, but only if you do it right." The Strenght-Stabilizing Cycle is a very important part of the Power Program. 10 weeks are dedicated to stabilize the joints to withstand more stress once more strength is added, and to increase the strength of the prime movers. It is no wonder that professional athletes go to the Colgan Institute.

Colgan says that nobody should do whole body weight exercises like deadlifts and high pulls, unless they have trained for three to six months doing the extension, connection and stabilization cycles. After all, Colgan has worked with over 10,000 athletes. Young athletes make the mistake by doing whole-body high pulls or deadlifts without training for several months doing the extension, connection and stabilization first. They are using many muscle chains at the same time, as well as using their connective tissues, arm and shoulder joints at their fullest extension. A few weeks later they are surprised that their lower backs or rotator cuffs are not keeping up.
This cycle brings together all the previous weight work done in the earlier cycles and it is 7 weeks long. It will link the strengthened connective tissues and joints to the strengthened stabilizers and prime movers, it is done as Colgan says " in a network of complementary muscle chains that permit smooth, efficient transfer of power from the ground, or any fixed point of limb connection."

Colgan Institute offers classes in the Power Program for anyone interested in becoming an instructor. You can also try to find an instructor near you. For more information about Dr. Colgan and the Power Program go to Colgan Institute.

Thanks for visiting!

Johanna is an aromatherapist and an independent distributor of Young Living Essential Oils. She is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives. She received her aromatherapy education at the American College of Health Care Sciences. Johanna also runs Naturally Sports & Wellness with her husband.
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