ChrisWrestling's blog

To start off I will say that I am a personal trainer. The first thing to understand is that we have 3 types of muscle fibers, type I, type IIx, and type IIa and so we should consider what is the most applicable type to train for bodyscissors. I'm not going to say that you should aim for more type IIx or IIa but for the sake scissors type I are not applicable. Type I are defined as being low resistance and use oxygen to create energy. They almost never tire but they have no applicable strength. These are the muscle fibers we use when we run or do jumping jacks or other activities which have low resistance but high rep output. Type IIx are bulky muscle fibers which use muscle sugars called glycogen as their primary energy source. They produce a lot of CO2 and don't process energy well so they tend to burn out fast. These are great for getting someone to tap out fast but for long scissor torture they will cause you to tire quickly. Type IIa are type IIx except that they have developed more mitochondria which helps them process energy better and get rid of waste more efficiently. These muscle fibers behave more like a blend of type I and IIx.

To understand muscle contraction I'd recommend looking up sliding filament theory on youtube. It's better to see it than to have me describe it. What you can gather from that is that we only get strength within the range of motion we train so it's important when designing your program that you consider the full safe range of motion that you train. Some exercises will only work a partial range of motion like a dumbbell triceps kickback (depending on the elbow joint's relationship to gravity parts of the exercise will have no resistance in the triceps). Also keep in mind that over-training some muscles while not working the opposite can create muscle imbalances (such as working the quads more than the hamstrings can alter the front to back tilt of the pelvis creating low back pain).

For straight scissors, as mentioned in my last post, the power of a scissor comes from the straightening of the legs, driving the heels away, not from the squeezing of the knees together so focusing on hip adduction exercises, especially in the seated adduction machine is not going to generate a significant amount of added power to your scissors. The power of a scissors starts from a solid lock at the ankles which is a achieved with an isometric (non moving) contraction of the anterior tibialis (the muscle on the front of your shin), a straightening of the knee (shortening of the quads), the shortening of the adductors, and internal rotation generated in the medial glutes with stabilization of the knee through the iliotibial (IT) band via a flexing of the glutes.

For specific exercises I will be linking youtube videos as well as describing exercises.

For the anterior tibialis you can use a cable machine or elastic band. Anchor your elastic band and then hook it over your foot, moving closer to the hard point to lesson the resistance and further away to increase it. Obviously if you point your toe away from you too far the band will fly off but that's ok because for our purposes we want to be working from just past 90 degrees on one side and coming as far into dorsal flexion (toes to your nose) as possible. We don't have to go super heavy but we want to spend as much time under tension as possible to build more endurance in the muscle.

Here's one of my favorite exercises for the quads. I like this one because your quads work under high load for a very long time without a break again building up endurance.

Eccentric high steps. I don't like this guys form. When you go up and down imagine there is a string attached above your sternum and it is pulling you straight up and keeping you up when you go down. Try not to let your knee travel past your mid foot. Take as much time as you can coming down to the ground. When picking the height of your step put your leg on the step and look at it, it should be 90 degrees or slightly below. You don't want your knee to be at an acute angle.

Now, yes, squats are great, do squats just try to spend as much time in motion as possible, avoiding pauses at the top and bottom.

For your adductors:
I like this movement because it's a relatively safe way to hit the adductors in the anatomical position.

You may also incorporate the seated hip adduction.
For both these exercises you should focus on time under tension and potentially incorporate in isometrics by holding for 10 seconds in various positions.

To work on your internal rotation you can place a foam roller between your legs, bend at the knees to 90 degrees, put ankle resistance bands on your ankles and pinch your knees together as your bring your ankles apart. The bands could the therabands or the bands that Velcro around your ankles.

Weighted bridges and sumo squats would also be good to add.

To increase your endurance start incorporating high rep high speed exercises
Like plyometric high steps

Jump squats
Plyolunges
Drop lunges with heavy weights and high reps
Kettlebell swings (not American style, that has fewer reps per minute)
Shuttles (maintain a low squat while shuttling)

I would design my program by supersetting two exercises, doing 3-5 sets of 12 reps with progressive overload to near failure with 3 minutes rest between sets. Then go to your next superset of two exercises. Get through all your movements. Spend a couple months focusing on building strength doing legs no more than twice a week (not neglecting the muscles not relevant to scissors). In this phase only lift slow and heavy, maybe adding in isometrics (holding exercises). Then spend 6 weeks working in a 20 rep max for 4-5 sets with 90 seconds of rest between sets. Then start going easy into high rep lower resistance exercises like the jump squats hitting 20 reps without pausing. Work your way up to doing high intensity circuits and shortening your rest periods. After a few months start supersetting your heavy lifts with your high intensity lifts starting heavy then doing your plyometrics, then resting. This helps your type IIx become type IIa.

When it comes to bulking and cutting understand that when you cut you lose muscle mass and that includes cardiac muscle. There are no peer reviewed credible studies showing that bulking and cutting increase your gains more than just building gradually. Likewise there is no scientific evidence that eating excessive amounts of protein increase muscle size or strength but excessive protein consumption has been shown to increase the risks for kidney problems, gout, and certain types of cancer especially when a protein supplement is involved. If you must take a protein supplement check out it's rating at www.labdoor.com before you buy. Supplements are not checked by the FDA and are only pulled when the FDA is able to link the supplement to a series of health complications or deaths in a number of people typical of government efficiency. Your muscles use predominantly glycogen which is a muscle sugar when you work out, it is important that your muscles are properly fueled before your workouts and you replenish your blood sugar by consuming carbs immediately after your workout. Your daily carb intake should be between 50-70% of your caloric intake, protein 15-30%, and fats, 10-30%. To calculate your caloric need multiply your weight by 10, then multiply that by your activity factor: sedentary 1.2-1.3, moderately active 1.4-1.6, and active 1.7-2.0. To figure out your macro balance multiply your caloric need with your macro percentage. To convert that to grams divide your protein and carbs by 4, fats by 9. If you are more active you may consume simpler carbs, if you are sedentary try to stick to fiber rich complex carbs. Aim to keep your simpler sugars to right after your workouts. If you are sedentary keep your carbs closer to 50%, if you're more active go with a higher percentage.

This was longer than I wanted. Again if you have questions feel free to post them here or message me directly. Thanks