Diesel Crew - Muscle Building, Athletic Development, Strength Training, Grip Strength
Strength and Conditioning for Elite Athletic Performance - Free Articles, Videos for Coaches, Fitness Professionals, Personal Trainers, Athletic Trainers, Physical Therapists for All Sports
In December of 2022, I put together this Playlist of QnA Videos.
Feel free to watch them here, DIESELS!
Be sure to like the videos by hitting the thumbs-up button.
Subscribe and click the bell for notifications.
And I still plan on doing regular QnA’s if I have good questions to work with so, leave your best question in the comments.
All the best in your training.
NAPALM
Video #1 in the #3aDaysofQnA
Last week, I attended the 2017 Juniata College Strength and Conditioning Clinic. Of all the years I’ve attended, and I’ve been to I think ALL but 2 since it first took place in 2000, this was one of the best, in my opinion!
Today, I went through y notes and compiled a list of all my biggest take-aways from the clinic, and shot a video covering them all.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topics I cover, and of course let me know if you have any questions.
I hope you enjoy it.
All the best in your training,
Jedd
I have a few sayings I’m known for.
One of them is, “It’s not about how much you lift, It’s about how much you LOVE Lifting.”
What that means is, lifting is about being passionate about something and doing it with fire.
Lifting is about setting goals to always be improving.
Lifting is about feeling good, and feeling good about yourself.
So, a couple months ago, or so, when I really took a look at some of my training, I came to realize I wasn’t following my own advice.
The whole idea about that saying is that you should be pushing yourself because you love lifting.
It has nothing to do with pushing yourself so hard that you reach your goals at the expense of everything and everyone else.
But, there I was, trying to reach some goals related to the Barbell Bench Press, and instead of getting closer, I was coming further and further away each session because the exercise was tearing my shoulders up, and leaving me in pain.
It’s now been the better part of this year, that I have quit Benching with the Bar, and moved exclusively to Dumbbell Bench Press. And although my numbers were completely embarrassing at first, I now feel like I’m living more in tune with my beliefs.
And, after a couple months, or however long it’s been, I’m starting to see some good increases, feeling better in the shoulders, and I think even seeing a bit of growth.
I LOVE LIFTING, but I think I was coming severely close to having the majority of my training SHUT DOWN due to the pain I was feeling in my shoulders.
I encourage you to do the same as well – by all means train hard – don’t just go through the motions in the gym.
But, if there’s a movement that is tearing you up inside, don’t feel the need to push through pain and suffer because of it.
Remember…It ain’t about how much you lift. It’s about how much you LOVE lifting.
All the best in your training.
-Jedd-
P.S. Along these lines, I want to help you out as much as I can, to get you to your goals. And that means helping you learn to do your goal lifts properly and as safely as possible.
There’s no question about it, Overhead Lifting is without a doubt my favorite form of lifting to test general body strength. I don’t know why that is, but I just plain enjoy picking something up overhead, whether it’s a barbell, log, axle, or whatever is just lying around!
I’ve been working on hitting a new all-time PR on my Overhead Press – 225lbs for 4 consecutive reps – for the last several months. I’ve done 3 reps a couple different times, but the 4th rep always escapes me.
Last week, I was finally able to hit it. The video below is of 225lbs for 4 consecutive repetitions.
This truly came out of nowhere, as my Press workouts haven’t been too extraordinary lately, but here are a few points that might have had something to do with it.
I’ve really backed down on the volume: For several months, I was hitting my 25-rep “program.” I picked one specific weight and tried to reach 25 total reps as quickly as possible, with the weight varying from 185lbs to 215lbs. That approach worked great for a while, but I think this level of intensity caught up with me and I needed a change, so I dropped it down to either 3 or 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps. One difference was I started focusing on pressing the weight up as fast as possible, no matter what the weight was.
Modified My Ramp-up Approach to Working Set Weights: I normally hit a couple sets of barbell only, then a set of 95lbs, and then a set of 135lbs for my warm-up sets. Then, I would usually go right to my working sets. I found that the jump from 135lbs to 185lbs, or whatever the weight might have been that day, has been too much recently. So I started doing intermediate sets of 3 at 155lbs and 175bs instead. This has made a big difference in reducing missed first-reps on my initial work sets.
I’ve re-incorporated speed work: I’ve been trying to stick with 1 workout every 4 to 6 weeks where I stick with lighter bar weights and press against band tension, very similar to the methods used by powerlifters on lifts such as the Bench Press, Squat and Deadlift. I’m been feeling much more powerful on my presses, especially last week when I got my new PR, since focusing more on speed.
Dead Stop Training: I was finding that I was relying too much on stretch reflex in my press training, so I was really letting the bar crash down hard and then pressing back up. I decided to allow the barbell to settle at the bottom position a bit more the last few weeks, which made my presses harder, but I felt I was developing more pure strength. You can see in the video, that I went from a dead-stop on rep #2. I didn’t mean to do that, but I guess I’m just used to doing it now.
These are just a few changes I’ve made recently to my approach to pressing. They seem to have paid off, as a whole.
I’ll also mention that I took this weekend off from any training (I was away camping), and my left shoulder which has been giving me trouble for several months feels much better. I hope it continues to improve, and maybe I will see 225lbs go up for a set of 5 reps soon!
All the best in your training.
Jedd
It’s been since January of 2004 since I set a regular Deadlift PR, when I lifted 545-lbs. 11+ years.
I was 26. I’m almost 37 now, so it’s been a lengthy drought, you might say…
2004 is when I started experiencing routine back injuries that would sideline me for days or even a week at a time.
Unfortunately, my young, idiotic brain, just wanted to keep pushing harder and harder, and that meant the pain I’d experience would get worse and worse.
I’d hobble around for a week after my Strongman contests.
I’d literally limp through the hallway at my old job, after hard weekend workouts involving Deadlifts and Squats.
Finally, in 2008, I think, I had enough.
Since Squats and Deadlifts were so bad for me, I decided I wouldn’t do them anymore.
From 2008 until 2012, I rarely did heavy Deadlifts or Squats.
Of course, I continued to do Axle Deadlifts, because it’s a staple in Grip Sport competition, and I’d dabble every now and again with Squats and Deads, but never got back into them seriously until June of 2013, when I decided I was finally ready health-wise to get back under the bar and pull some weight off the floor.
For Squats, I literally started with the bar, hitting sets of 10. That’s how much I lacked confidence and stability.
For Deadlifts, I decided I’d guard my back by only doing Double Overhand grip (I was afraid of tearing a biceps anyway).
The Coan Philippi Deadlift Program
This Summer, I decided I was ready to finally train the Deadlift with some conviction, and I started a run through the Coan Philippi Deadlift Program.
I gotta say, it was AWESOME to push myself on Deadlifts! It was the first time I’d EVER followed a Deadlift Program in my life.
When you start the Coan Philippi program, it asks you for your starting max and your goal max at the end of 10 weeks, and then it computes everything for you.
I stayed a bit conservative and put in a 500-lb Max to begin with and a 550-lb Max for the end. My partner, Luke Raymond, started out with the same numbers, and it worked out really easy training with him, because we didn’t have to change the weights around at all.
The weights at the beginning of the program were super light, so Luke and I started on week 3 or 4. Everything went smooth until like Week 7. That’s when the volume caught up with me.
I struggled through to Week 9, when I hit 535-lbs, but my body just wouldn’t cooperate with me for Week 10, and I decided against going for a new PR on 3 separate Saturdays, until this past week.
The conditions still weren’t optimal, as I was up at 2AM to take my parents to the airport, and I trained at 5:30AM with my buddy, Brad Martin, but my back felt fully recovered after the 3-week layoff from heavy work, so I went ahead with the Week 10 plan.
And, I’m happy to say I was successful in my 550-lb lift, with potential for probably a few pounds more, although I didn’t push it.
Here’s the video:
Jedd Johnson All-Time PR Deadlift – 550lbs
What an awesome sensation, to FINALLY feel somewhat strong again.
Thankfully, after staying patient, working back slowly, and using my brain instead of my ego, I have been able to break one of my longest standing PR’s.
I must also say, I LOVE the Coan Philippi Program. It made me feel like a monster, and sometime this Fall, I plan on running through it again, once Luke’s schedule evens back out and we get train it together again.
Look for more updates, especially on my YouTube Channel, once I start the program up again.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
I had the amazing opportunity to put together an article for sponsor, Onnit’s magazine, Onnit Academy.
It’s called “The 7 Deadly Sins of Strength Training.”
Here’s a picture of the magazine:
Here’s what you’ll learn from the article…
No matter what your main objective in your training is, it takes a LOT more than just getting your workouts in, to be successful.
There’s other stuff you’ve gotta do to support your training and recovery in order to ensure you see the results you want.
Whether you’re trying to build a massive yoke, excel at strongman, or training to close bigger grippers, when you get these 7 things right, you see better results in your training.
As my sponsors, Onnit has sent me a special link so that my readers can get a copy of this issue, and all you need to do is pay the shipping charges.
Special Onnit Academy Link for my DIESELS
This is a complete STEAL of a price, too.
This is easily the highest quality fitness magazine I’ve ever seen. The cover and pages actually feel more like catalog quality than cheapo magazine stock.
Plus, the information is top notch. This issue alone features contributions from:
Plus, I flipped through the thing and found just ONE ADVERTISEMENT in the whole issue.
So you’re not staring and endless supplement ads as you go through it like most magazines that are out there.
Instead, you’re getting solid information.
So, get yourself a copy for as cheap as you possibly can, by just paying shipping:
Onnit Academy Magazine – pay just $4.95 to cover shipping costs
I hope you pick it up and let me know what you think of the article!
Thanks and all the best in your training.
Jedd
We can all identify an explosive athlete. Explosiveness is very noticeable, but extremely difficult to train and incorporate into a traditional high school strength program.
As a coach for arguably the most explosive athletes on the planet, track and field throwers, and owner of a gym that specializes in building the most explosive athletes in Rhode Island, I have been able to incorporate explosive movement training in ways that are non-traditional but very successful. In this article, you will learn how to incorporate these methods into your own coaching and training to build incredibly explosive athletes.
High school and college strength coaches have traditionally been brought up to think of athletic training in terms of maxes. It is what I like to call the “as _____ as possible” mentality.
For example, strength is defined as moving a weight “as heavy as possible” one time. A great example of this is a one rep max in the squat.
Strength endurance is defined as moving a certain weight “as many times as possible.” The 225 pound bench press for reps test at the NFL combine is a perfect example of this.
Straight ahead speed like you see in track and field sprinters is defined as running a certain distance “as fast as possible.”
Endurance is defined as doing a movement “as long as possible.”
It is my finding through years of training young athletes and speaking to strength coaches around the country that we are taking the wrong “as _____ as possible” approach when we try to build explosiveness in athletes.
More often than not, when a strength coach approaches me and is having trouble getting athletes more explosive, they are incorporating too much maximum weight into the equation.
For example, I recently had a coach email me his training template that consisted of Power Cleans, Hang Cleans, and Box Jumps to build explosiveness. While these are great exercises to build explosiveness in athletes, his approach was totally wrong.
He had his athletes jumping on to a box “as high as possible” 1 time for multiple sets. He has his athletes doing power cleans “as heavy as possible” for sets of 1 without varying the weight. He had his athletes doing hang cleans “as heavy as possible” for sets of 1 without changing the weight.
The thing to keep in mind when training explosiveness is that an athlete will rarely have a heavy external load on their bodies while competing. Using a maximum weight for multiple sets or jumping to a super tall box one time is not building explosiveness, it is merely testing explosiveness over and over again.
With all of this being said, what is the correct formula for building explosiveness? What is the correct “as _____ as possible” approach to ensure your athletes are doing everything they can to become as explosive as they can be. In order to guarantee your athletes are training for explosion, you must make sure they are training certain movements with “as much force as possible.”
I believe this is why strength coaches have such a hard time training explosiveness. Unless you have extremely expensive testing equipment, measuring force is nearly impossible. It is a lot easier to measure the weight on a bar, the height of a box, or the time it takes to run a certain distance. Add to this the fact that athletes are asked to be explosive and produce force over and over again during the course of a game and the training difficulty multiplies.
Force equals mass times acceleration. So the easiest way to measure force, or for a coach to see if an athlete is applying more force, is to watch the speed that he performs a movement with a selected weight through 5 repetitions.
My favorite explosive exercise to do with my throwers is a one arm dumbbell clean and press for 5 reps per arm. It is a full body movement that incorporates massive force with the lower body, transferring that force through the core into the upper body, and applying that force to the dumbbell. Very similar to the way a track and field thrower applies force to a shot put, discus, or javelin.
The application is simple. Give an athlete a dumbbell you know they can easily clean and press multiple times. Have them perform 5 repetitions with each hand, starting with the non-dominant (non-throwing) arm. Watch the speed that the dumbbell moves. Ask yourself, is the dumbbell moving as fast (or almost as fast) on the 5th rep as it did on the 1st rep?
If the answer is yes, the athlete is allowed to increase the weight of the dumbbell by 5 pounds for his second set.
If the answer is no, the athlete should decrease the weight by 5 pounds on his next set.
When dealing with training explosion, the name of the game is speed. Being able to keep the same speed (or have a very slight decrease in speed) over 5 reps will ensure that an athlete is able to produce maximum force and replicate that force time and time again, similar to what they will be asked to do during a competition.
While I truly believe that having a separate day 100% dedicated to training speed and explosion is the most effective way of getting an athlete to produce more force, it is not possible in a typical high school setting. Let’s face it, practicing the actual sport is the most important thing a high school student will do and should take up the most amount of practice time.
If an athlete practices 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, they might only be in the weight room 2 days a week for 30-40 minutes at a time. How does a strength coach go about training explosion with a large team in a small weightroom while the athletes are also expected to be getting bigger and stronger at the same time?
One strategy is to combine the strength and explosive movement training into the same exercise. This is something I have done for the past few years and it works very well, especially with large groups. When an athlete is performing a strength based exercise on a typical linear periodization template, they will normally begin with a very light weight and gradually increase each set.
For example, an athlete with a 225 pound bench press will perform 5 sets like this:
Instead, why not add one more set, and work the first 3 sets for 6 reps as explosive as possible?
The athlete is still doing the same amount of reps for the exercise in both templates. As you can see, the addition of one extra set of 6 reps makes this one exercise become a blend of explosiveness for the first 3 beginning sets, and strength for the last 3 sets.
Instead of moving the lighter weight slow and steady, he is now moving the bar with as much speed as possible. Every week simply increase the weight by 5 or 10 pounds and decrease the reps by 1. After 3 weeks, change the exercise slightly (move to an incline press or a dumbbell press) and follow this same template for another 3 weeks.
This can be done with all of your basic compound lifts like squats and bench press. You will see great increases in speed and explosiveness without a decrease in strength.
Another strategy is to replace a standard compound or isolation movement with a similar exercise focusing on explosion. For example, on the days that you have your athletes squatting, you may have them also doing a lunge variation.
Rather than do the lunge in a typical slow and steady manner, why not change the exercise to a jumping lunge?
So rather than doing 3 sets of 10 reps per leg while holding a dumbbell in each hand, do 6 sets of 5 jumps per leg working on getting as high in the air as possible? Or to look at it another way:
(Both are lunges, both very easy to teach, but two separate results).
The same can be done by switching a dumbbell bench press to an explosive push up, or exchanging a leg press or leg extension with a repeat jumping squat.
A third strategy that you can use that works great with larger teams or if you have limited time is to superset an opposite explosive movement immediately after a strength exercise. For example, if you have your athletes doing a typical 5 x 5 strength template and you have 4 athletes sharing one piece of equipment, you are inevitably going to have athletes taking a large amount of rest between each set while the bar is loaded and unloaded.
Instead of having the athlete finish his set and sit down for a few minutes of rest, have him do an explosive movement immediately after his set is complete.
Here is a great example.
Exercise: Squats – 5 sets of 5 reps – increase weight each time
Superset with clapping push ups – 5 sets of 5 reps – perform immediately after squats.
This is a great way to blend a strength based exercise with an explosive exercise. With this strategy, just make sure that the explosive exercise is opposite (uses a different movement pattern) than the strength exercise. So if the main strength exercise is a bench press, superset with an explosive jumping movement.
In my experience, supersetting an explosive movement with a strength movement that is too similar will be counterproductive. The athlete will be too tired to produce the energy necessary to lift heavy and the heavy lifting will prevent them from being explosive. Truly a lose-lose situation. Neither exercise will accomplish what it sets out to do.
Properly implementing these strategies should be done gradually so you do not throw off whatever progress you have accumulated thus far. Don’t completely revamp your training templates and switch around what your team has been doing. Take one strategy from the three above and implement it for the first 4 or 5 weeks of the season. Test it out with your team (certain sports and athlete body types respond to each strategy differently) and see if the response is favorable when they play their sport. If it is, try to incorporate an additional strategy for the next 4-5 weeks and see how your athletes respond.
If your athletes show an increase of explosion in their sport, you know what you are doing is working.
If your athletes are looking lethargic and are gassing out during their weight room sessions, that is a sign to pull back and decrease the amount of explosive work.
Whatever is done in the weightroom should enhance what is done during competition. You are training athletes. They can’t be bodybuilders in the weightroom and athletes on the field. They can’t be Olympic lifters in the weightroom and athletes on the field. They can’t be powerlifters in the weightroom and athletes on the field. Train them like athletes by blending their strength training, explosive movements, and hypertrophy in the weightroom to compliment what they do in their sport. You will see over time that their explosion increases along with their strength and muscular size.
-Coach Matt Ellis-
PrimalATC.com
DIESELS, Coach Ellis and I worked together on a project last eyar and we are about to release it. It’s called Grip Training for Track and Field Throwers.
You can get on the early bird list for this DVD release by adding your email to the box below. You’ll be the first to know about it when it comes out.
All the best in your training – Grip for Throwers comes out next week!
Jedd
By Josh McIntyre
Check out Josh on his YouTube Channel
We were seated at a common table with a family we didn’t know. No problem, my wife is pretty social and I can fake interest in just about anything for 30 minutes. It was the German Bier Garten at Epcot, and $13 a beer wasn’t going to stop me from enjoying myself.
As I looked around the large auditorium like seating area, I noticed something troubling. At nearly every table sat a skinny, smug looking d-bag with either a livestrong bracelet or some kind of motivational running t-shirt. What was stranger, none of these “men” even had a beer in front of them.
One man with hair past his ears appeared even to be wearing a beret! As I turned to look at my wife in bewilderment, down sat a young guy in the vacant seat next to me. I watched on in horror as he opened his beardless face and a high, slightly pitchy and annoying voice screeched out. Thus spoke the Beta-male: “I can’t wait for tomorrows 5k!”
I won’t bore the masses with every feminine thing this little neophyte said, but here’s a run down:
That last one hit my ears as I lowered one of the liter beer mugs from my face only to raise another with my other hand, and it made chills of rage run down my spine.
I turned to look upon the baby deer like runner, my neck creaked as scar tissue broke under the immense weight of my beast fur. My beard twitched as it parted the way like great red drapes for my mouth, reminiscing of Moses when he made the Red Sea into a nature path. Surprise and terror washed over this wuss’s face as I set my cold dead eyes upon his virgin baby blues. With sheer malice, the churning hell pit of my stomach sent forth a metric ton of gas. The terrible cloud left my face at nearly mach 2 and blew the club-friendly-rock fan’s head clear from his shoulders. His own family cried as they thanked me for what I had done. I responded with an aftershock.
Once I cleared out the entire left half of the buffet and broke a third of the dishes due to just how rough I eat, I decided that super lunch (the meal between lunch and 1st dinner) was over. I payed in red whiskers and tipped the waitress with 3 farts, which she graciously accepted.
As we walked out in search of more beer for my face, I couldn’t help wondering:
It wasn’t until much later when I sat down to release a school of brown trout into Walt Disney’s magical sewer system that it hit me!
A “race” To 5k (5000#)!
I flushed the toilet and immediately contacted Jedd Johnson. This is what I told him:
The 5k challenge will be as follows:
(Example: if DL is your best lift then it may look like:
SQ, B, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL = 5000)
Glory is just 3 steps away:
This challenge is for the Alpha-females as well! I know not every lady is sitting around the house reading 50 shades of Gray. Some of you She-Ra’s are doing power cleans and front squats with twice the weight that our beta-male could curl in any standard power rack. So Ladies, get your war face on, tie your hair back with some barbed wire and embarrass some of these guys.
The Top 10 Performances (men and women), using as few attempts as possible, will be posted here at DieselCrew.com
This is a new spin on the 3 classic lifts. Who can do this in 15 lifts? 10? 9? Less!? Give it a try and see where you stack up!
By Josh McIntyre
Check out Josh on his YouTube Channel
We were seated at a common table with a family we didn’t know. No problem, my wife is pretty social and I can fake interest in just about anything for 30 minutes. It was the German Bier Garten at Epcot, and $13 a beer wasn’t going to stop me from enjoying myself.
As I looked around the large auditorium like seating area, I noticed something troubling. At nearly every table sat a skinny, smug looking d-bag with either a livestrong bracelet or some kind of motivational running t-shirt. What was stranger, none of these “men” even had a beer in front of them.
One man with hair past his ears appeared even to be wearing a beret! As I turned to look at my wife in bewilderment, down sat a young guy in the vacant seat next to me. I watched on in horror as he opened his beardless face and a high, slightly pitchy and annoying voice screeched out. Thus spoke the Beta-male: “I can’t wait for tomorrows 5k!”
That last one hit my ears as I lowered one of the liter beer mugs from my face only to raise another with my other hand, and it made chills of rage run down my spine.
I turned to look upon the baby deer like runner, my neck creaked as scar tissue broke under the immense weight of my beast fur. My beard twitched as it parted the way like great red drapes for my mouth, reminiscing of Moses when he made the Red Sea into a nature path. Surprise and terror washed over this wuss’s face as I set my cold dead eyes upon his virgin baby blues. With sheer malice, the churning hell pit of my stomach sent forth a metric ton of gas. The terrible cloud left my face at nearly mach 2 and blew the club-friendly-rock fan’s head clear from his shoulders. His own family cried as they thanked me for what I had done. I responded with an aftershock.
Once I cleared out the entire left half of the buffet and broke a third of the dishes due to just how rough I eat, I decided that super lunch (the meal between lunch and 1st dinner) was over. I payed in red whiskers and tipped the waitress with 3 farts, which she graciously accepted.
As we walked out in search of more beer for my face, I couldn’t help wondering:
It wasn’t until much later when I sat down to release a school of brown trout into Walt Disney’s magical sewer system that it hit me!
A “race” To 5k (5000#)!
I flushed the toilet and immediately contacted Jedd Johnson. This is what I told him:
The 5k challenge will be as follows:
(Example: if DL is your best lift then it may look like:
SQ, B, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL = 5000)
Glory is just 3 steps away:
This challenge is for the Alpha-females as well! I know not every lady is sitting around the house reading 50 shades of Gray. Some of you She-Ra’s are doing power cleans and front squats with twice the weight that our beta-male could curl in any standard power rack. So Ladies, get your war face on, tie your hair back with some barbed wire and embarrass some of these guys.
The Top 10 Performances (men and women), using as few attempts as possible, will be posted here at DieselCrew.com
This is a new spin on the 3 classic lifts. Who can do this in 15 lifts? 10? 9? Less!? Give it a try and see where you stack up!
A few weeks back, I invited my personal training client, Mark, to come train with me on a Saturday. He travels a great deal in his business, so that particular week he was unable to train with me at all, so i thought this would be a good way for him to get some work in.
That day, it was a great workout. We really got a lot of good quality work in, so I told him if he wanted to do that session with me each week, I would not charge him for the session, and he agreed.
This past Thursday morning, we were supposed to train together again, but his flight schedule got changed, so he wasn’t going to make it in. And so he called me on my cell while I was warming up and let me know he wouldn’t make it.
I normally train in the afternoon, so I almost said screw it and went back upstairs to work, but instead I hit the workout solo, and I am glad I did because it was awesome.
See why in the video below.
A little tribute to two of my best friends, Rick Walker and Mike Rinderle. Thanks for always having my back guys! I dedicate this workout to you.
Jedd
Random pic of Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle) never hurt anybody…
I was driving a few weeks ago and decided to give an old friend, Kyle Kintner, a call.
Kyle and I had known one another since at least the 5th grade, went to the same high school and college, and have always kept in touch here and there. He had moved away when he got married though and I had just recently heard that he moved back into the area, so I gave him a ring to see what was up.
We chatted for a few minutes and before hanging up I invited him to come up and lift with me if he ever was in the neighborhood and had the interest. Kyle’s job takes him all over the county and when I described where I lived, he said that he drives by multiple times a week, he just didn’t know where I lived or else he would have stopped in sooner.
I live in a small town and admittedly don’t get out much, nor do I really want to, since I’d rather hang around with my family, but that situation makes it hard to find a training partner. I thought I picked one up last Fall, but the Winter hit and he disappeared just as the Arnold Classic Mighty Mitts was coming up, so I was back to training alone again.
It’s one thing to train alone. It’s something altogether different to start to depend on somebody during a workout and then as the start time for the session approaches the guy is late every time or just plain doesn’t show up.
So, I had made the overture to Kyle, like I have done countless times to friends and people I meet who have a history of training, but wasn’t sure what to expect as far as a follow-up response.
To my surprise, however, Kyle texted me back about training the very next day. He said his rounds were bringing me back by my house and that he’d like to train and try out some of the stuff I was doing.
I was even more pleased that when Kyle showed up he came ready to throw down. Kyle was always an athlete, setting the Pole Vault record in high school and earning a scholarship to college for his track and field prowess, and he brought that same athleticism to the gym – it was an awesome workout right off the bat, and he said he hadn’t used free-weights in a workout for years because he owned a Bowflex, but it was hard to tell by watching him throw the weight around.
In a Grip sense, he was also very impressive, getting partial lifts on 5-Tens-Pinch and 2-35’s-Pinch.
For some reason, I wasn’t smart enough to film our first few lifts together (we’ve been hitting it for about a month now) but I did grab the camera last week and I put together a highlight video.
Some of the stuff we did:
1. Overhead Push Jerks and Presses
Kyle is a naturally powerful athlete. We would train together in college occasionally and he would almost always match me in the Olympic lift variations we would do. To this day he is still able to move the weight fast.
2. Incline Bench
Our previous two workouts, we hit flat bench, so we made sure to switch it up a bit. I don’t have an adjustable bench, so we sat one end of the bench up on a stack of bumper plates. Works great.
3. Grip Training
We did Adjustable Thick Bar and various forms of Plate Pinching. I got a good lift with either hand on 2-45’s-Pinch and Kyle got his first full lifts on film with 5-Tens-Pinch.
3. Biceps and Triceps
This was kind of a De-load Workout, if you can call it that, because we had been killing upper body so hard, but we made sure to stick some Curls and Push-downs in there for good measure. We hit some volume sets, and then I went for the “All important 1-rep maximum bicep curl,” aiming for as strict of form as possible i.e. The Vigeant Curl Challenge, and I matched my best ever mark of 75-lbs with either hand. I must say that this time it felt much better on my elbows, as the last time I had a touch of elbow pain, but my preventive work that I share in Fixing Elbow Pain has been working very well.
I didn’t film the Tricep work because my machine is in the storage room adjacent to the garage and it is scary in there.
Training with Kyle has been great. He is Intense and brings it hard every workout. He gets in my face, picks up on form and technique errors, and even has the balls to mention them, plus the biggest benefit of them all is that Kyle is supportive. You might not hear it in the video, but he gives the little cheers you want to hear before big attempts. That is the kind of thing I have been missing for years in my training.
I will close this post by saying this…
You don’t NEED a partner in order to have a good workout or to get stronger. Since 2008 when I began training alone, I have never had a steady partner for more than a few months.
So if you are using the excuse “I don’t have a partner, so I can’t train,” then that is complete hog wash. Get in there and get some work done, partner or not.
However, I do plan on getting Kyle fully immersed in the Grip Life, and I am hoping to get him to help me try some drills I have been meaning to try for some time with the Inch Dumbbell but haven’t had anyone with me strong enough to do them. It should go well.
Stay tuned for more developments, as I am sure Kyle is going to learn fast and with time progress nicely.
All the best in your training,
Jedd
P.S. I also plan on getting Kyle involved in some Strongman Training. I will of course work him in slowly.
If you want to introduce Strongman Training to your program, or that of your athletes, make sure to do it the right way with the right technique.
Our DVD, Introduction to Strongman Training will help nicely.
I have had a lot of incredible and unforgettable workouts in the past.
For instance, I’ll never forget the time I deadlifted 405-lbs one repetition every minute for about an hour and then ended up with a total of 100 reps in 75 minutes or so.
I remember marathon training sessions doing strongman training out in the yard with half a dozen or more friends on more than one occasion. These were the types of workouts where you just knew it was going to take two or three days to recover from them, but you were having so much fun enjoying training that you couldn’t stop.
And I’ve also had days where the lifting I did was no fun at all, in fact it was downright scary, like the time I found one of my long-time friends tipped over in her SUV after a car accident on Christmas Day a couple of years ago and had to pull her out to safety.
But the toughest lifting of my life, in fact the downright scariest lifting of my life, took place yesterday.
I got a call from one of my best friends in the world, Tom, from where I used to work. “Hey would you be able to help John (another guy from work I am friends with) move something this afternoon?”
“Sure,” I said, “Just tell me where to be and I will be there.”
Now, ever since I was 12, I have been known as the tall guy. I was almost as tall then (6 feet) as I am now (6’ 2”), so it wasn’t unheard of for a teacher to ask me reach something for her in a classroom or for an elderly person to tap me on the shoulder at a store, or even for my grandmother to call me to come to her house and grab something.
But now, as an adult, since I worked at a company with a 1200-employee roster where I met about 3000 people from 2001 to 2010, and I was practically the only guy there that lifted weights seriously, I was also known as the strong guy. There haven’t been that many requests to help move stuff, but there have been a few. And if it is someone that is a genuine friend, I always go help them out as long as I am not sick, hurt, or out of town.
This Thing is a Lathe
So, around 4PM, I drove to the spot where I needed to be and found that the thing that needed to be moved was a 600-ln lathe. If you not familiar with what a lathe is, or does, then you are not alone, because I barely know either, but I do know two things about lathes:
1. Lathes are capable of extremely precise work, able to work within ranges of accuracy of like .000002 inches
2. Lathes are very heavy
I soon found out that this particular lathe, which the original owner used to craft replacement parts for guns, and that it was also upwards of 600-lbs. In fact, when it was first purchased by the original owner, the factory wouldn’t touch it. They had it strapped to a pallet, lifted it with a fork truck in order to load it into the owner’s truck and then they said they had no responsibility for it whatsoever.
I also learned that this lathe was extremely unbalanced. Talk about odd object lifting, 400 of the 600 pounds were on one side and then the rest of it was spread throughout the rest of the nearly 4-feet of length of this piece.
Also, I’d estimate the head of this lathe stood about 2.5 feet in the air, making it extremely top heavy.
I chatted with the original owner for the first few minutes and he told me some stories about being in Kuwait during the most recent gulf war and also time he spent in preparation for Desert Storm, although he never went over. His tale of a trip from one city in the Middle East to another city 8 hours away just to test fire some equipment in an area with enough sand dunes for a good backdrop in 150-degree plus heat seemed to be an eerie foreshadowing of what was about to come as we embarked upon our trip to relocate this immense lathe.
Not sure how good at lifting lathes these guys are…?
After a couple of his stories, I heard some cars pull up and I saw the new owner, another man of about 50+ years old and two other men who I know are in their 40’s. The original owner would be of no assistance in the move, as he has a very banged up knee from his time fighting. Also, the girlfriend in the car ended up never even touching the lathe throughout the whole entire day.
I knew right away that this move was not going to be an easy one. I knew all three of these men very well, and none of them did any sort of regular exercise aside from their day-to-day jobs. In fact, I think all of them were full-time smokers putting away at least a pack a day.
Let’s just say it was clear without stating it that I would be carrying the heavy end of the lathe.
We began assessing the weight, bulk, positioning and other factors about the lathe and how it would be best for us 4 guys to move this thing off a 4-foot work bench, 5-feet to the doorway and then another 4 feet to the truck. At the same time, the heavier end of the lathe had some sort of a gear box in it that wasn’t very sturdy, so it would not serve well as a spot to hold it.
Instead, the holding spots were four 4-inch handles that could be pulled out. Unfortunately, they were almost completely even with the bottom of the lathe, meaning we could not get our fingers under the handles unless we tipped the lathe up using a sturdy object like a board. Of course, every time we did that, the top-heavy 400-lb end of the lathe would try to completely turn over so we had to be very careful.
We got into position, holding what we could, and attempted a lift. With these three guys, it would have been impossible. We stopped the job and two of the guys went to get another guy, a friend of theirs from a nearby bar.
Fantastic. Another helper whose the better part of a 6-pack into a Thursday night bender. Awesome.
That took about 45-minutes, as I believe the two guys that went and picked up the 5th guy had a can of Old Milwaukee inside the bar, but they finally got back and I was relieved to see the 5th guy in the equation was about as big through the belly as he was tall.
Again we planned and postulated the best methods for moving the lathe. This time, we decided that instead of crushing our fingers with the lathe’s actual handles, we would use ratchet straps wrapped around our hands in sort of a human-link type of fashion to support the weight of the lathe.
This was my idea as I had seen some sort of professional movers’ commercial on the Yankees Sports Network utilizing straps, and it seemed to work very well as we were able to pick the 600-lb lathe up and move it the 5 feet toward the doorway.
Unfortunately, once we got to the doorway, we were in trouble. The doorway was just a regular-sized doorway and there was no way for me, the lathe and the guy across from me to all fit through the door at the same time. As we all strained to support rh weight of the lathe, I tried to let the guy across from me go through the door first. To my dismay, not only did his shoulder or elbow knock a phone off the wall (and I am talking one of those out-dated phones with the obscenely short spiral cord on it) but he also got one of the little “spinny-turny” (sorry, I don’t know the terminology) handles of the lathe caught inside one of the shoulder straps of his wife beater. Yes, he and his brother both were wearing the plain-jane white wife-beaters like Eminem, and matching faded black stone-washed jeans. I am not creative enough to make this stuff up.
Eminem
Incidentally, I think Eminem could out-lift all four of my partners, put together.
So once this handle got stuck in this guy’s favorite wife beater, he started to panic, which in turn caused all the rest of us to panic, and before I knew it, the lathe was on the floor. I don’t know how it didn’t end up on someone’s foot or over on it’s side, but it was still in one piece, an unscathed lathe, if you will.
This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as now, we could do the unthinkable – push the lathe the rest of the way to and outside the door. In our rush and apparent Groupthink, we never even considered just lifting the table down carefully off the table and down to the floor in order to scoot it around. This was an important lesson that we built on later on this story though…
Once we got outside, it was time for refreshments and recovery. I was given a Pepsi, while the other gentlemen somehow managed to score more cans of crisp, clean, Old Milwaukee. We took a break and I watched the original owner of the lathe throwing this mangled dog toy out into the grass and then his dog, which I am told is a cross-breed between a one sort of nice, peaceful kind of dog and a Dingo.
Dingo
If you don’t know what a Dingo is, they are these fierce, crazy pack-hunting dog-like creatures from the Australian outback which are famous for eating children. They get wild like an LSD Zombie. This dog would jet across the yard like a flash and would nearly catch the dog toy in the air, or sometimes on one bounce and I thought that it would probably be real tough to beat him in a game of Kickball 500, where you kick a ball back and forth to a guy and they have to catch it either in the air or after as few bounces as possible because they get fewer points after each bounce, and you go to 500. The original lathe owner told us that he was walking the dog one night around 10:30 PM and a pack of 6 coyotes came up along the trail and his dog, Mr. 500, killed 3 out of the 7 of them by gripping their bodies in his mouth and shaking them until their necks broke.
Would have been nice to have had
Dingo Warrior involved in this move…
After everyone finished their cold one, we tackled the lathe once again, utilizing the straps to the best of our ability. This time, the lift wasn’t nearly as hard, but somehow the original owner with the bad knee got involved and somehow crushed one of his fingers to a certain degree, but I am not sure how bad. We pushed the lathe further into the bed of the truck and they took one of our ratchet straps and harnessed it down.
The new owner drove very carefully with his new toy the entire 5 miles back to town where he lived. I am pretty sure I could have scored perfectly in the full first round of Angry Birds, playing one-handed during this drive, we were going so slow.
Then there were two surprises…
1. The two brothers, the girlfriend, and the guy from the bar all of a sudden took a mysterious detour. I was in the end of the caravan, and then they turned off the road and I was now driving behind the new owner. I followed him the rest of the way. He continued to drive very carefully throughout town, that is until he got to his driveway, at which point he decided to seemingly “floor it” and I saw the lathe wavering back and forth like a buoy out on the ocean.
2. Finally the two brothers with matching wife-beaters and faded black stone washed jeans came pulling in with a giant monster truck looking vehicle following them. To our surprise, they had enlisted the help from the brother of the 5th man in the equation, who had also been at the bar drinking as well. We were now 6 strong.
The last part of the job would be to lift the lathe out of the truck and move it into the new owner’s machine shop, which was very dark and extremely hot.
The idea was to put this 2 by 6 board beneath the lathe and then carefully rock the lathe over the edge of the pick-up truck’s gate and then slide it down the floor. Good, efficient idea right?
Immediately upon trying this, the lathe started to slide all over the place and it nearly fell out of the truck.
So at this point, I am starting to get scared. Not only are these guys up in years, but they are also severely out of shape and now fatigued (not to mention some of them half drunk).
When I was still at work at the company, I was in the Safety and Training field, so I had trained most of these guys on one or more occasions. I guess they felt used to listening to my guidance, because when my worry hit a climax I finally spoke up to them…
I said, “Wait guys. We need to make sure we’re doing the right thing here. That lathe almost fell off that board.”
We decided to get the 2 by 6 board out of the equation completely and we got extra straps, this time, legitimate 3-inch broad tow straps in order to lift it up from the bed of the truck, and then one of the women’s wives would pull the truck away and we would gently set it down.
Plus, at this point we had another extra guy added to the mix, the new lathe owner’s son-in-law, who thankfully had on what looked to be Spider Man sandals. We might not have noticed them, but thankfully the new lathe owner pointed them out to us under his breath, “Oh God, he’s got on sandals.”
We were getting smarter with each step of the game and we were able to lower the lathe out of the truck very easily when the wife pulled the truck out from under it. Now it was a matter of pulling the lathe in through the door of the shop. I hooked the original ratchet strap under the heaviest part of the lathe and with both hands performed a partial deadlift and then scooted it backwards on top of the step-up leading into the building.
We then scooted it along the floor over to his work bench, when we got the final shock of the day…
There was no work bench.
Instead of a work bench, the new owner had a wobbly particle-board table. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It looked like it would snap if I leaned against it, let alone if we loaded it with a 600-lb lathe. The new owner assured us it would hold, as apparently he had been storing something else of a comparable weight on that very same table.
In our final lift of the day, we hoisted the lathe up onto that table. During this maneuver, I was clenching the straps that were wrapped around my hands so hard that I popped seemingly every blood vessel in my left hand. The lathe also was sat upon the new owner’s leg for a short time before it made its way fully to the table. All 6 or 7 guys that helped on this lift (I had tunnel vision at this time, so I don’t really know who all pitched in) were huffing and puffing, thinking we were done.
I say thinking because we had made one critical error in our planning process – the “spinny-turny” handles were positioned facing the wall, and the back of the lathe was facing out. We then had to turn this thing all the way around in order to get it facing out the right way.
At that point we were done with this insanity, and I made my way home to be with the family. While the temperature never hit 150-degrees and the trip didn’t take 8 hours down and back, it still seemed like a nearly endless affair.
Earlier, I called this the Scariest Lifting Session of my life, or something like that, and the reason is because it was downright scary how out of shape these men were.
I found myself not only worrying about my lifting form and how to keep this monstrosity balanced so it didn’t clip off one of my fingers or jack my back, but I was also trying to best situation these guys based on their height and abilities so they didn’t get hurt as well. All of these guys have manual labor jobs they do, so through my head was running all of these thoughts like how I could make it easy on them as possible, but there was no EASY about this at all.
It made me glad to be in good enough shape to carry the brunt of the work through many of the efforts but at the same time, I was just in disbelief.
I never want to be in that position. I started lifting all those years ago so that I could be in shape all throughout life. So that I could be the grandfather that all the kids talk about as the strong grandpa.
I hope this is why you train as well. Sure numbers in competition are impressive.
Of course it’s good to look great in a swim suit…
But the most important thing is about being healthy. The strong, the size, and the power should all be the by-products or the coincidences of being healthy.
Keep that in mind DIESELS. I don’t want to sound like I am preaching, but my eyes were certainly opened up yesterday.
All the best in your training and health.
Jedd
P.S. I am very thankful that we got the lathe to where it needed to be without any serious injuries and without damaging the equipment.
P.P.S. If you are looking to get back into the game, you might want to start with Bodyweight Bodybuilding Secrets from Zach Even-Esh.
This is a huge packaged program and it is on sale at a big discount until Midnight Tonight. SO if you need to get back to form, this is a resource you might want to check into.
Inch Dumbbell Overhead (Photo by Joe Mugovero)
One of my main body strength goals for 2012 was improving my Overhead Pressing ability, so I really began to look at all the contributing factors to a big press. Things like a strong core, lockout strength and speed off the shoulders were some of the things I looked at most heavily, because when I was doing strongman training, those were the things I focused on most often for building the press.
However, one of the things I did not take a real close look at, at first, was my flexibility and mobility in my shoulders and torso. To my surprise, working stretching into the routine has proven to be the absolute biggest factor in my increase in pressing strength recently.
It’s kind of ironic that including the simple practice of stretching would have such a big effect. I remember watching Lee Haney videos on ESPN when I was a teenager, so it’s not like this is the first time I ever heard of the concept.
My absolute neglect for stretching and any kind of range of motion or mobility maintenance came when I started studying NSCA materials. The literature stated that if you performed exercises with a full range of motion, then there would be no worry for loss of it.
More recently, several proponents of Biofeedback/Gym Movement have even spoken of their lack of use of stretching and mobility work in their routines.
Well, here is the problem with all those organizations and belief systems, from Lee Haney, to the NSCA, to GM: they are only referring to lifting and NOT what is going on the other 22 hours in the day.
For me, and maybe some of you reading this, the most important factor for my flexibility and range of motion status (aside from sheer genetics), I feel, is my positioning during those 22 hours.
The amount of time I am in a seated position, whether it is working, driving, or just lounging around is staggering. Sometimes, it seems as though if I am not walking to or from my car, or if I am not training, then I am sitting on my ass, and getting more and more locked up.
In relationship to my pressing numbers, I posted a few weeks back how I was able to make incredible jumps in pressing strength with some stretching and soft tissue work prior to and during my pressing workout. That post is here: What’s Working Now – Improving Overhead Press.
Now, although the improvements I saw in that workout were impressive as far as the actual weight jumps from one workout to the next, the numbers were still not where I would want them because in the past I have been capable of much more.
So, I began going back through some old video clips of myself pressing, and one thing I noticed was that several years ago I looked much more fluid. These days in my videos, I walk like Frankenstein, as if my spine is fused and when I press, I have almost zero lean in the thoracic region of my back at all. In the past, my thoracic mobility was far greater and a real strength of mine, so I knew I had to do something to get back there. Once I began incorporating drills right into my workout, I began instantly seeing some good results, thus the post I mentioned above.
And once I started seeing progress, I began trying out even more movements to see what would work the best. I’ve come up with three movements that I have gotten continued good results from and I want to share them with you so you can try them.
These three movements have proven to have the biggest benefit for me in my training, of the dozens I have tried. If you think you are lacking in the mobility department for your thoracic spine, or if you think your shoulders are inhibited in some other way, then you should give these a try.
If these drills don’t seem to do anything for you, then I encourage you to do some experimenting. We are all different and have different limitations, so in turn we will all need to do different things in order to address those limitations.
In recent memory, in the Barbell Press out of a cage, my best has been 215. I have gotten that number so many times I have lost count. That really irritates me, because it is about 40 lbs under my best strict press on a barbell.
Without stretching or soft tissue work, I was topping out at 215 whether I did overhead press first or if I did Bench Press first. And that little factoid irritates me because you would think that after benching the triceps would be too tired to match my best PR, but it has seemed to have no effect whatsoever.
So, here is a recent video of some new high water marks for the Barbell Press out of the cage.
I am not sure if you can tell in the video clips, but I am able to get a bit more extension in my thoracic spine in the new PR video (I could certainly feel the difference that day). In the working sets video from a few months back, I don’t get anything at all. The benefit to getting this fluidity in the thoracic portion of the spine is that each repetition feels better, and feel less like I have two baseball bats running from my shoulders to my glutes, restricting me. Being able to bend ever so slightly back near the shoulder area lets me press much easier.
Take note, I am not talking about bending the lumbar spine like a 1950’s Olympic Press, as shown above. That is something that you should try to avoid. I played Russian Roulette with that too often back in the day and have no desire to go back to it. What I am looking to improve is my thoracic spine, the mid to upper torso (shown below)
My numbers in this had been so bad, that I was pretty much stuck at 50’s. Then with time working on my ROM and soft tissue, I was gradually able to work up to 70’s and now 85’s is becoming my new standard. Below, I hit a set of 6 with 85’s, a set which felt so easy up until the last set, it is hard to put it into words.
In the video above, I think it is a bit easier to see the extension I am getting in the thoracic spine. This video was shot two pressing workouts after the Barbell Press workout where I pressed 235.
To sum things up, although my upper back/torso issues are not so bad that I walk around with like Quasimodo or have scapular winging, I still have issues with tightness in the shoulders and lack of thoracic mobility. Like an addict with a gambling problem, it took my a long time to admit to having these issues, but now that I have owned up to them and begun addressing them, as well as seeing the results, I feel I will be able to continue to improve.
Look for more updates coming down the pike on this. Until then all the best in your training.
Jedd
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I want to share with you some of the most popular videos I put up last year.
I looked at all of my videos on YouTube that I uploaded last year and grabbed the top 10 most popular ones and pasted them below.
As you will see, I have three main focuses in my training.
First and foremost is Grip Strength. I work to develop as strong of a Grip as possible for the Grip Contests I compete in and because I have seen the benefits of a strong grip in my other training. Also because I love Grip Training and Grip Sport so much, I love talking about it here on the site, sharing my experiences and helping others succeed.
Next, I love Strongman Training, both Strongman like the competitions involving Atlas Stones, Log Lifting, and Odd Objects, and Strongman style training involving Feats of Strength such as Bending Nails and Tearing Cards.
Finally, I do a great deal of training with the objective of building muscle and strength. While I am not the biggest, most muscular, or strongest, I am very well rounded and understand the proper technique of lifts and want to make sure readers do lifts correctly and safely so that they can enjoy their training and see benefit.
It’s really all about helping others succeed in their goals. Much of what I post is based on questions I get from readers who are shooting for goals and want to know how to get there. Helping you attain your goals is awesome for me, so keep me posted on your journey.
So, again, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter and make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, so that you are always up to date on what is going on here at DieselCrew.com.
Now let’s check out 2011’s top videos – Enjoy!
#10 – How Often Should You Train with Grippers
Grippers are easily the most popular form of Grip Training and one of the biggest events at Grip Competitions. Unfortunately, there is not nearly as much good information about Gripper Training as there are people trying to sell them, so I put out this and many other Gripper Training videos last year.
Check out the post here on Diesel: Gripper Training Questions
#9 – Slim Lever – Grip Strength Challenge for Slim the Hammer Man
Of all of the Grip Strength Challenges I ran last year, this one was perhaps the most special, because it was devoted to Slim “the Hammer Man” Farman, who was recognized by being inducted into the York Barbell Hall of Fame Last Year. The Slim Lever is a very intense sledge hammer lift, and if you can do it by the rules described in the video below with a 16-lb hammer or heavier, then you are the freakin’ man!
Check out the post here on Diesel: Slim the Hammer Man Farman
#8 – Full Body Tension Movement – Camel Clutch (posterior chain)
For this one, I wanted to figure out a way to replicate some of the effects of the Glute Ham Raise, if you don’t have one. This variation is something that someone can do to blast the posterior chain until you save up your loose change to get the real thing.
Check out the post here on Diesel: Innovative Posterior Chain Training
This video was a submission for one of David Horne’s many lists of Grip Performances. Because one edge of a Blob is straighter than the other, it can make the lift much more difficult to perform when you put your thumb on the rounder edge, as in this video.
See more Blob Lifting Videos
#6 – Build Muscle Mass and Strength – How to Do Rows the Right Way
I hate when I see exercises being done incorrectly on the web. It’s one thing to do them incorrectly if you have been training for many, many years. However, when new trainees see long-time veterans doing movements on-line incorrectly and they try to replicate that form, the new trainees can get hurt pretty badly. Since Rows are such a beneficial movement, I wanted to put this one out there and people seemed to get a lot of value out of it.
Check out the post here on Diesel: How to Perform Dumbbell Rows
Those are 10 through 6 for the year’s most popular videos. Check back later in the week for the rest of the 2011 Top 10 Most popular Videos.
Make sure you are up-to-date. Sign up for updates in the box below.
All the best in your training,
Jedd
In Part I of this Build Muscle The Right Way Article Series, I spoke about the three most important keys I use for building muscle and gaining strength at the same time: Multi-joint Movements, Training for Power and Speed, and Working for Muscular Balance. You can read Part I here: Keys to Muscle Building.
In Part I, I put a lot of emphasis on maintaining antagonistic balance so that you do not develop muscular imbalances that will cause you trouble later on down the road. Also as I stated Part I, if you perform your complementary Push and Pull movements on the same day, it can be easier to keep everything balanced. However, because I spend so much time training for Grip Strength, I run out of time in order to accomplish everything I like to do, so I split the two days up. Lately, my split has looked like this:
In other words, I go Push, Pull, Lower, Grip for the first week and then flip flop the Push and Pull so it goes Pull, Push, Lower, Grip the second week.
Here is a recent workout I did for Upper Body Push. This workout took place on a Monday. It was followed by an Upper Body Pull Day on Tuesday and then a Lower Body Day on Thursday. One week later, I followed the schedule and did my Upper Body Pull Day first and the Upper Body push day second, etc.
Optimally, the order of this day would go like this:
1. Overhead Power Movement: Requires the most skill and energy, so it should take place first
2. Bench / Incline Bench: Because the body is supported on the bench, even after doing a big movement like the Overhead Variations, I still feel strong on the bench going second.
3. Auxiliary Bench Movement: Examples could be Speed Bench Against Bands, Incline Bench, Dips – All these are awesome, especially if your shoulders are feeling good.
4. Isolation Movement: If isolation movements are your thing, you can include them here or you can do another auxiliary movement, work on the rotator cuffs, or bring up a weakness in your upper body (triceps, etc)
On this day, I started off with Bench Press, although often I will actually start off with Overhead Press, especially if I am using the Log. I was able to work up to an unassisted single of 365 on the Bench Press, for the first time in about a year. My all time best is 405 with a spotter.
In order to perform this one correctly and get the most out of it, you should be moving the bar much quicker than this. I should have either used lighter bands or lightened the bar weight, but I did not.
My back was feeling a bit seized up after the heavy benching, because I was actually arching pretty hard for me. That is about all the angle I get. If I worked on my thoracic mobility more, I think I could get a better arch. Anyway, because my back was tight, I stuck with Military Press instead of a more powerful movement. Like I said, I like to do a Push Jerk, Push Press or a straight out Jerk movement first, but it didn’t work out that way this week.
This is a combination I never even knew about until I reviewed the book, Vince Gironda, Legend and Myth. In that book he has what he calls the 8 Sets of 8 Keep-You-Honest Workout and the finisher for Upper Body Day is Side Laterals followed immediately by what he calls the Dumbbell Swing, but I have affectionately called it the Pirate Ship. Regardless of what you call it, it mimics the movement of the Pirate Ship ride at the amusement park in the way the arms swing rhythmically back and forth.
I don’t want to say that this movement pairing or even that just doing the Pirate Ship movement “fixed” whatever was aching in my shoulder the last few weeks, but after doing it every week for roughly 6 weeks straight as my finisher for my Upper Body push day, my shoulders have felt outstanding! I was able to perform dips pain free, getting my rib cage to touch the cross-bar on my dip station for the first time I can remember in years, and I was able to Bench 365 touch-and-go style for the first time in ages. I encourage you to try this out. At the very least the combination pumps your shoulders with a very nice burn.
This is how I set up the strength training muscle building workouts. Because I work a variety of percentages of 1RM, a variety of speeds, and train volume as well, I have been fairly successful at building muscle and strength at the same time as long as I am eating enough calories, staying injury free, and getting enough sleep.
I have had several months in a row now where I have been free of lower back injuries so I have not missed many workouts and recently my strength levels and size have increased.
Now that the latest Grip Contest, Gripmas Carol 2011, is out of the way, I plan on adding conditioning work back into my weekly routine separate of my workouts and cleaning up my diet as well in an effort to trim down a bit and get just plain ripped to shreds in 2012.
If you want to watch some of the stuff that I do for conditioning and fat loss, I can certainly film it, but only if you are interested. I don’t know if this is something you want to see or not on my site, so please leave me a comment an let me know.
Thanks and all the best in your training.
Jedd
For further information on building muscle, check out Smitty’s AMD Program by clicking the image below. This is one of the best Muscle Building Programs on the market, shares many of the same principles I am sharing here, and includes many other ways to keep you healthy and balanced in order to build muscle the right eway.
Hello DIESELS! Today I have an interview for you with Chris Miller from Maximum Fitness. Chris and I met through Nick Tumminello, and as I found out more about him, I realized he was doing a lot of similar training in his gym that I do in mine, especially Strongman Training, only he has been doing it with athletes and personal training clients, turning them into brutally strong, DIESEL-powered monsters. So I wanted to get some thoughts from him to see how he has been able to work Strongman Training into the routines with his clientele. I hope you enjoy it and if you have any questions, please a comment below.
Jedd: Please tell us a little about yourself – your athletic and training background and how you got involved with training athletes.
Chris: My name is Chris Miller, and I’ve been a certified Personal Trainer, and Strength/Conditioning coach for over 10 years in Columbia, Maryland. My company is called Maximum Fitness; which is located in Columbia, Maryland. My athletic background consists of playing Pop Warner football as a child, High school football, as well as college football. My training background consists of clients that are; little league football players, high school football players, basketball, lacrosse players, college football and soccer players, as well as MMA fighters, and boxers. I also do personal training and boot camps for the novice clientele to experienced clients.
I became involved with training athletes from the passion I had for sports growing up, and as an adult currently. I looked back on how I trained and viewed the workouts I used in order for me to prepare myself for football; and realized it was a totally different way of life training in the 1980’s. After I graduated from college, I started coaching little league football and high school football. I would see how uneducated these athletes were, and how wrong their workouts were in the weight room. This encouraged me to branch out, and develop ways in which I thought would be more effective in training these athletes. The fitness industry is ever changing; so I researched different training methods and products and created my own system in working with athletes; as well as used pieces of other systems I would see during my research.
Jedd: Many members of the Diesel Universe either compete in strongman training or do strongman training on a regular basis. Do you have any experience with Strongman Training?
Chris: Yes, I have trained with various strongman techniques; but have never competed. I’ve always wanted to compete, but never took the plunge to pursue it. Working at a landscaping company throughout college; me and a few other guys use to perform lifts of logs, trees, cement bags, and rocks all the time. We thought we were the famous guys that competed on ESPN. LOL…
Jedd: Have you included Strongman Training or Odd Object Training into your athletic training protocols?
Chris: Yes indeed! Strongman training is a great way to turn any athlete into a powerful force. I’ve used everything from Keg throws and lifts, heavy cement bags and tires, as well as tractor-trailer rims; before all the common day objects became available to purchase.
Jedd: Since incorporating Strongman Training into your routines, what benefits have you seen?
Chris: I’ve noticed an increase in power, strength, range of motion; as well as muscular endurance.
Jedd: Which athletes do you incorporate Strongman Training with? Football Players? Baseball? Etc.
Chris: I incorporate Strongman Training with all of my athletes; from high school age, college as well as my MMA/Boxing clients.
Jedd: What lifts do you find to have the best carry-over to athletic performance?
Chris: Tire flips, Sled pulls, Sled push, heavy med ball throws, sledgehammer slams on tires.
Jedd: How do you include Strongman Lifts into the routines? Primary movements? Explosive Movements?
Chris: With my offensive/defensive line clients, I like to use explosive movements, since the average play in football is 3-4 seconds; I like to work on explosive movements that simulate coming off the ball in a violent, but controlled manner. The MMA fighters I train explosive and some primary movements; due to the nature of simulating the actual combative movements during competition. I’d say I combine the two on occasion, but mostly using the explosive method for stimulating the fast twitch muscles which are used very much in these sports.
Jedd: How do you go about monitoring your athletes’ performance when using Strongman lifts? Do you ever “dial back” the intensity of the strongman lifts?
Chris: I monitor my athletes by measuring his/her threshold and tracking results through reps and time. Measuring how effective their body reacts pre- and post-lift is key for me. I try to “Dial back”, the intensity a few days before games or matches, because I don’t want to over work a particular muscle group; causing fatigue and muscle tear-down before they compete. I try to keep the intensity at 70-80% 2 days before games, and 60-70% a week before my MMA clients compete.
Jedd: What is the number one Strongman Lift you suggest other strength coaches put into their programs, out of all of the possible choices?
Chris: I’m glad you asked this question, because I personally say, don’t prescribe an exercise to a client, that you wouldn’t do yourself. I suggest all strength coaches incorporate the Deadlift into their programs. Every athlete needs a strong back and core in order to compete week in and week out. There are many variations of the Deadlift; therefore you can reap benefits from many variations, as long as safety and form is monitored.
Jedd: Have you had athletes push back on you when you introduced Strongman Training?
Chris: I train a college Division I Lacrosse player and Division III football player currently; and I’ve been training these kids since I coached them in high school. When I introduced the heavy chains and sled pulls 3 years ago; they looked at me and thought I was crazy. They refused at first, because their college strength coaches were stuck on the basic barbells and dumbbells exercises. After a few days of training, and 3 years later; they can’t get enough of the Strongman exercises.
Jedd: What is one piece of advice you would give to other Strength Coaches about instituting Strongman Training into their routines?
Chris: Great question! I first would advise the coaches to research the routines and experiment amongst the staff, then introduce the routine to their athletes. I would also remind them of the safety issues concerning these routines.
Jedd: Thanks so much for your interview. Please feel free to tell us where we can learn more about your training.
Chris: Thank you sir; it was a pleasure having the privilege to participate in this awesome interview! The Diesel Crew is doing big things, and I appreciate the education, and information that is being delivered daily by you all!
My company is called Maximum Fitness, and we are located in Columbia, Maryland. Website and contact information is below.
Maximum Fitness
Email: maxxfit@comcast.net
Chris thanks so much for the interview. DIESELS, Strongman Training is an excellent way to take your athletic training to the next level of Strength and Power. If you want to include this type of training in your programs in order to start reaping the benefits that Chris Miller is seeing with his athletes, pick up our Intro to Strongman DVD, so you can see how to perform the lifts properly and keep your athletes injury free while also becoming brutally strong!
All the best in your training,
Jedd
For more information on Strongman Training, sign up for the Strongman Training Newsletter:
When I first began delving into Strength and Conditioning literature after I got out of college, I was given a copy of a strength training documentary about Werner Gunthor called, L’heritage d’une carriere, by my friend Dan Cenidoza
At the time, I was reading a lot of the materials from the NSCA, and even though they were much more geared toward strength training than the bodybuilding magazines I read in college, even the NSCA manuals did not prepare me for the type of training I would see in this video.
To my dismay, I somehow lost my copy of the tape and had not watched it in years, but I was able to find it recently, in its entirety on YouTube.
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I want to drink Ovaltine out of this…
The Goblet Squat is an outstanding alternative to the Back Squat that you can use from time to time in your training in order to mix things up and enjoy a bit of variety. It is most often performed with a dumbbell or kettlebell, but odd objects can be used as well.
The Goblet Squat was invented by the world-renowned speaker, author, accomplished athlete, and all-around strong dude, Dan John.
Dan John Loading up for a Monster Discuss Toss
How to Perform the Goblet Squat
The Grip
I was able to train some heavy Grip Stuff tonight for the first time in about 6 weeks, and it felt great.
On a whim, I decided to set up T-Bar Rows using a barbell with one loading sleeve jutted up against the G-Rex and used a Rope as the gripping surface and to my surprise, it felt OUTSTANDING!
In fact, I liked it so much, I ran up and got the camera to film some of it.
In this first video, I show you how to set this up in case you haven’t tried it before.
This lift will work just about ANYWHERE as long as you have the equipment, so give this one a try.
Next, I then decided to load it up heavy and see what I could do with it…
WOOH! Felt good to shock the Grip! (more…)
I literally just walked back in the door from meeting my tee shirt guy, Bill.
He handed me four new sample tee shirts with the new Skull design I just got done by Stronger Designs.
Check these out…they are a solid shirt color with two inks in a stressed print format.
IMPORTANT: When you make your order, be sure to (1) Select a Size, (2) Select the Color of the Shirt, and (3) Include the Ink color combination in the Note Section. Some combinations are shown below, but I can get them made to order.
ORDER HERE:
Guest Post by Mike Fitch of GlobalBodyWeightTraining.com
I already know what you’re thinking, not another ab article, how many times can we repackage the same old crap?
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A guest post by Joe Meglio
One of the biggest problems I see in high school, college, and professional baseball players is their off season training program. Too often I see these athletes performing the WRONG exercises. Some athletes focus on the “beach muscles” that don’t have any positive effect on performance. Others will only train their “core” and do rotator cuff work. While it is important to train the core and rotator cuff, by no means should they be the meat and potatoes of your program.
Instead of focusing on these exercises that don’t have any positive effect on athletic performance, baseball players should perform compound lifts. These lifts give you the best bang for your buck and help you optimize performance. Once the baseball season approaches, baseball players should start to include more jumps, medicine ball throws and sprints.
Below is a list of my top 10 lifts for baseball players in the off season.
Check out Part I = > Diesel Mindset Part I
If you are reading this site, then chances are you take your training very seriously.
You maintain a very tight training schedule.
You watch your diet, eating and hydrating for sustained high performance.
You track your training results, whether formally or informally.
You take each set and each rep seriously.
And if you are someone who is serious about their training, you know that FAILURE is occasionally a part of the equation.
Sometimes when people FAIL at a lift or MISS their desired reps in a set, it can really have an effect on them.
That set can linger in the back of their mind and have a negative effect on the rest of the workout.
There’s no place for negative thinking in a serious strength or muscle building program.
You have got to move past that sh*t and not let it eat you up inside or else it is going to hold you back.
It’s time to change your MINDSET and look at failure, misses, and other non-successes differently.
Next time you miss a lift or fail to hit your mark, whether it is a squat, deadlift, bench, snatch, clean, press, curl, push-down, pinch lift, gripper attempt, etc, you need to approach it like this:
You missed a lift – JUST A WARM-UP – get it next time.
You didn’t hit depth – JUST A WARM-UP – get it next time.
You lost the jerk out in front – JUST A WARM-UP – get it next time.
The fact of the matter is, sometimes it’s just “not in the cards” for you to hit that big lift or set that big PR.
There are so many variables that impact performance and if just one of those is slightly off that day, it can affect your upper range lifts.
That’s a lot of stuff to have all in line. Not everyone is going to keep all of those points in order, every day and some are completely OUT OF YOUR CONTROL.
Now, I guarantee you can think of a time where you missed a lift, re-grouped, and then came back and hit it for a successful lift.
The fact is, your body may need an extra attempt in order get ready to do something amazing.
That little thing that is “off” might actually get corrected during your miss and you might be ready to set a new milestone if you try it one more time.
So does it make any sense at all to just stop trying something because you failed at it one time???
Below is an example from a recent training session where I failed, MULTIPLE TIMES, but just kept on going and ended up setting a substantial PR for volume.
I was lifting what is called a Fatman Blob Clone.
It is an iron weight that is cast from a mold from an Original Fat Man Blob. I don’t know the actual weight, but Clones are much harder to lift than other Blobs because they ended up coming out bigger and they surely seem heavier as well.
More info on “the Clone” = > Blob and Clone Facts
Here’s the video from that workout where I talk a little bit more about the concept Misses are Just Warm-ups.
When you push yourself to new heights, Failure is a part of the game.
Misses are part of the game.
However, Misses don’t have to be the end of the game.
MISSES ARE JUST WARM-UPS.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
I have a confession to make.
For years, I thought warming up was a joke – a waste of time. DUMB.
Trainers like Guy Razy would come to train with us and show us cool warm-up drills, and I would ignore them. DUMB.
Guys like Coach Mike wrote me emails telling me I needed to improve my flexibility and mobility and I put it off. DUMB.
Smitty and Brad told me how much better they felt after incorporating more of this stuff into their training and I ignored them. DUMB.
It wasn’t until more than a year later when Smitty and Brad actually ran me through a battery of intense warming up that I realized what I was missing. Now I warm-up intensely every single workout.
In addition to warm-up and dynamic flexibility strategies to get ready to WREAK HAVOC, I’ve also found that I respond well to jumping exercises before hitting the weights.
I’ve always loved jumping, but unfortunately my ceiling is too low for me to leap up on top of jump boxes, so that’s out of the question.
But I recently found something just as good. You’ve probably heard them called Kneeling Jumps, but I call them Up Downs.
Up Downs spark the Central Nervous System BIG TIME.
After doing these, I am ready to DROP BOMBS. I feel more aware, more focused, and I have hit several PR’s since including them. I want you to try these out.
You may have seen these done differently elsewhere, but this is how I do them. This way actually makes it harder to perform them, causing you to work just a bit harder, focus more deeply, and as a result, pushing you to a better warm-up finisher.
Starting Position:
Kneel down on the gym floor, placing your entire shin flat on the ground, plantar flexing the foot. This position takes your ankles out of the movement and forces you to engage everything else more intensely.
Power Transfer:
It is imperative to get the arms involved in the movement in order to generate the power to get up off the ground and to the landing position. Swing them back to engage a sretch reflex, then fire your leg and glute power to drive yourself upwards.
Recovery Position:
Once airborne, you must pull your feet out from under you to stick the landing. Try to land as quietly as possible to absorb the energy, and get into an athletic position, like a puma ready to pounce on its prey.
Here’s a quick video demo showing some of the stuff I have done to modify Up Downs even more.
If you’re like me and have hated and dreaded warm-up, you should try this out.
Go through some dynamic warm-up and mobility stuff and then finish it off with some Up Downs or something similar to really prime the CNS. I think you’ll be surprised how good you feel.
Try them and let me know what you think. I think you’ll have a KICK-ASS workout setting MONSTER PR’s.
All the best,
Jedd
Hey there.
I know that sometimes sticking to your training program can be tough.
Sometimes life gets in the way and makes it hard to stay consistent.
Maybe you aren’t hitting PR’s.
Maybe you wonder why you even continue to lift.
Maybe, you’ve thought about giving up lifting in order to take up some other activity instead.
If that is the case, I’m going to share with you why I think you should hold the course, and keep putting the time in with the IRON. (more…)
I opened up my YouTube account and checked out my Subscriptions the other day and couldn’t believe what I saw…
Jordan Vezina, RKC, recently uploaded his entire DVD, “The Corrections,” to YouTube.
I have had this DVD in electronic version since it first came out back in like 2008. Jordan is very knowledgeable about correcting technique and I even reviewed it prior to going to the RKC in September.
It’s not everyday that someone uploads an entire DVD on their own accord, especially a good quality one, like Jordan’s.
If you’re new to Kettlebells or if you’ve acquired some bad habits, you may want to check these out.
If you’d like to see what else Jordan has to offer, check out his YouTube Channel, his website, AverageToElite.com, and his blog, StrengthBeyondStrength.com.
Now, check out the various sections of the DVD.
Hope you enjoy it. And if you do, make sure you shoot Jordan a note at one of his sites or leave him a comment on his YouTube Channel.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
Before you grab yourself a piece of cake, do these 5 Grip Movements for your Workout Dessert
No doubt you love your strength training and want to get the most out of it, whether you are a strength enthusiast, athlete, or coach.
I’ve spoken for years with you about the importance of including Grip training in the strength training program.
A strong grip helps you in many ways:
However, although everyone knows grip training is important, sometimes they have trouble figuring out where to put it into their program.
The way I do it is this: I complete my warm-up and either upper or lower body training in the first part of my workout and then I go into my Grip Training after that, essentially having another completely separate workout for Grip that sometimes lasts longer than the upper/lower body training I’ve done.
Full workouts devoted to Grip Training are not a necessity for most people. I do it this way because I compete in Grip Contests. This kind of volume would be a waste of valuable time for most people and likely lead to injuries due to not being conditioned.
In most cases, it would be better for you to use Grip training as the “dessert” for your workout, something that you add in at the end.
I actually do this quite frequently, especially when I de-load my grip or if I have no contests coming up. I will devote a little extra time to my upper/lower body training, and then pick one or two Grip movements that I will do for only 15 or 30 minutes to stimulate the grip that day.
Here are some of the movements I use most often for Grip Finishers.
I have grown to absolutely love training with the Mace. I use the Stronger Grip Mace/ Core Club from StrongerGrip.com. The dynamic nature of the Mace Swing causes you to clamp down hard with the thumb and the last two fingers. I also like to wear gloves on these to make the Grip emphasis even more challenging.
VOLUME: I like to hit 4 to 6 sets of 20 repetitions with my Mace, alternating between having the right hand and left hand on top each set.
Also, what is great about these devices is that their weight is adjustable. They are filled with shot through a hole in the head and you can get started light and gradually work up as your technique gets better.
If you’re interested in picking up a Mace, click here => Stronger Grip Mace. I work with Ryan at SG as an affiliate, but that isn’t why I recommend them, it’s because these things are cool, tough, and fun!
Club Swinging is similar to Mace Swinging in that the movements require a strong grip in order to perform the movement correctly. If you have weak hands or wrists, then there is no way you can do a lot of the movements with the Clubs unless they are very light. I keep the clubs loaded to capacity with steel shot and keep the movements simple in order to focus on dynamic hand and wrist strength.
One thing you may not realize is that Clubs and Maces also require substantial engagement from the lats in order to perform swings with them, especially if you are going heavy. For that matter, I like to hit some simple casting movements with my Club prior to bench, overhead press, and pull-ups.
VOLUME: I like to hit 3 sets with each hand. I stick with groups of 12 reps. The first set is done with a regular cadence, starting with my hand near my rib cage and ending there as well. I then do a set that involves quite a bit of momentum and speed, focusing on whipping the Club forward over my shoulder back to the order position. My third set is then done with a dead stop behind my back and then blasting back to the order position. This really is great for stretching the tricep and loosening up the shoulders.
There are literally dozens of more variations you can do with these, especially if you stay very light, but I generally stay on the heavy side for that Grip Strength emphasis.
This is where you can pick up your fully adjustable Stronger Grip Clubs. <= Click there
Forearm Rotation (Pronation and Supination) is a must for anyone who plays sports and runs the risk of developing forearm pain like epicondylits (Tennis Elbow and Golfer’s Elbow). When I do a good job keeping this in my routine, my forearms are pain free. I’m guilty of complacency just as much as anyone though, and sometimes I do forget, but for the last couple of months, I have been hitting these at least once per week again and I am feeling solid.
For years I did Forearm Rotation stuff seated with a sledge hammer, but I have been getting a lot more stimulation recently by doing them standing with my forearm parallel to the ground.
I often just use a sledge hammer or a leverage bar, but Stronger Grip also has a loadable Leverage Ball that I used with my baseball players when they were coming in the Summer and early Fall.
I think these things are great for Baseball and Softball players and I think they would also be great for Football players, especially Quarterbacks and Running Backs/Kick Returners because it requires a more Open-Hand position while maneuvering the forearm than sledge hammers and leverage bars do.
This is where to get your Leverage Ball => Stronger Grip Store.
VOLUME: I like to hit 3 sets of 10 to 15. I like to move the hammer really slow in order to feel it the whole way up my forearm.
You saw my recent post on kettlebell flipping with gloves on. That was VERY TOUGH. But usually I just do these without gloves on and I try to get as many forward flip and catches as possible.
This works the Grip big time. It is very dynamic and you must have strong fingers and thumbs in order to reverse the momentum of the flipping kettlebell and bring it back up for another repetition.
Kettlebell Flipping also requires a significant work load from the posterior chain, and from the postural muscles in the back and shoulders. Because so much muscular activity is taking place, you get breathing very heavily, so this one has the added benefit of increasing your conditioning as well.
VOLUME: It really depends on how I am feeling and how rusty I am. When I do these regularly, I can hit 20 in a row alternating between hands, no problem. My hands get slow if I haven’t done it in a while, but I shoot for 4 sets of 12 to 20 reps with the 95-lber.
Dragon Door makes outstanding Kettlebells. You can buy them here => Dragondoor Kettlebells.
I honestly feel that this may be the toughest Grip Exercise I ever “invented.” And when I say invented, I simply mean I came up with it on my own. For all I know the Mighty Atom or Slim The Hammer Man might have been doing this for decades before I even knew what Grip training was.
Sledge Hammer Chain Twists literally hit every single aspect of your lower arms.
In order to do these right, I am convinced you HAVE to use a chain for accommodating resistance. I like to just wrap the chain around the sledge handle and tape it on with athletic or duct tape, otherwise it may slide around on you while you are working the movement.
VOLUME: I generally do just one set with the right hand on top and one set with the left hand on top, because these are brutal. I use a hammer that is 8-lbs and then the chain is like 20-lbs, so it gets pretty heavy.
Sledge Hammers are available all over the place – hardware stores, amazon, different sites. Just google it and you should be able to find something, but get something you like because they are pretty expensive.
Look, you know you need to work your Grip and what you do for it needs to be high impact. If you are looking for High Impact ways to get strong from the elbow down, these 5 ways have my backing.
Any questions, let me know.
Thanks,
Jedd
P.S. Click the banner below to sign up for my Nail Bending Newsletter…
7 Awesome Single Leg Squat Variations and Why You Should Be Doing Them
by Ben Bruno
When it comes to strength training, the hardest things are typically the most important. Not surprisingly though, these are also the things most people are first to leave out because, well, they’re hard. Single leg work is one of those things. When it comes to training for sports, single leg work is absolutely essential. There are lots of different single leg exercises out there, but for my money, if I had to choose just one, I’m picking the Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat (RFESS), more commonly known as the Bulgarian Split Squat. I cannot think of an exercise that does a better job of addressing all the things necessary for athletic development: balance, health, mobility, and strength. I am going to outline exactly why I think it is such an effective exercise and show 7 different variations that you may not have tried before to take your training to the next level.
Let’s first look at the benefits:
The connection to back health is again indirect but nevertheless very important. Low back pain is one of the most common complaints amongst athletes. This can make lower body training problematic do to the high compressive loads being used in traditional exercises like squats and deadlifts. The RFESS circumvents this problem to a large degree because the loads are not as high as they are during bilateral work, which means less spinal loading. For athletes with existing back conditions, this is golden.
Now that we have covered the benefits, let’s look at some of the progressions and variations. You typically see these loaded either by holding two dumbbells at the sides or by placing a barbell across the shoulders like in a squat. These are certainly ok, but I have found other ways to be more effective. Regardless of how you load it, however, there will be a brief adjustment period while you get used to it. You might find that balance is the limiting factor rather than leg strength. Do not worry, this is completely normal. You may also struggle with how far away to stand from the bench: too close and you will feel jammed, and too far away and you will feel as if your back leg is going to slip. I had this problem at first, but things changed when I made one simple adjustment. I put down a small pad in front of the bench and learned where I had to put my front leg in relation the pad so that when I came down into the squat I was in the proper position. This also had the added benefit of providing padding for my back knee so it did not bang the floor and provided a way to ensure I hit a consistent depth on each rep. It’s funny how little things like that can make such a big difference. I highly suggest you use this method yourself.
Goblet. Holding the dumbbell using the goblet hold forces you to keep your torso upright and get your form in check immediately. Using this method, the lift really teaches itself. If you lose your posture, you drop the dumbbell. I think a lot of people see goblets as a sissy exercise, but that is because most people only do them with very light dumbbells. Grab a heavy dumbbell and it is a whole different animal. After some heavy goblets, not only will your legs be smoked but I promise you your abs will be sore the next day.
Double Kettlebell. This is similar to the goblet hold but can be employed once you have maxed out the dumbbells in your gym. I got the idea for these from Smitty, who calls these “braced” split squats. This is a great name because in order to do them you will have to brace like crazy or else you will fall forward and the kettlebells will fall. These are much harder than they look.
Overhead. Another variation that can help you feel more comfortable with the form is holding a plate overhead. Even more so than the goblet hold, this ensures that you remain completely upright throughout the entire set. The problem with this variation is that it difficult to load heavy enough to stress your legs, but I do think it has merit in the initial learning phase to get a feel for the form. I also think in addition to a strength exercise, it may be able to be used as a warm-up to simultaneously work on hip and shoulder mobility.
Added Range of Motion. This is similar to a traditional RFESS only you also elevate the front leg slightly. The small elevation may not seem like much, but it dramatically increases the range of motion and difficulty of the exercise. If you don’t believe me, please try it for yourself and feel the difference (you will be sore!). In addition to making it tougher, the extra range of motion will also help with overall hip mobility, work the VMO even harder, and involve the ever-important hamstrings and glutes to a higher degree. Plus, when you return to the standard range of motion, you will be shocked with how easy it feels and your numbers will skyrocket.
“Speed Skaters.” This style is very similar to the above variation, only here you use “1.5 reps.” I got this idea from Joe Defranco, who coins these “speed skater” split squats. Essentially, you go down, come back up half way, go back down again and finally return back to the top. That’s one rep. Obviously, this is much harder than regular reps and burns like crazy. These can also be very effective for adding leg size due to the increase time under tension. Here it is in action.
Jumps. Jumps are a fantastic way to build single leg power. Most power movements are performed using a partial range of motion so this is also a way to develop power using a full range of motion. Weight can be added via light dumbbells, a small weighted vest, or even a barbell. Keep in mind, however, that the goal here is power development, not strength. As such, do not get carried away with the weight and focus more on speed and power production.
Zercher. Anything with a Zercher hold will involve the core and upper body to a high degree and essentially turn it into a total body lift. Warning: not for the faint of heart.
So there you have it, 7 great variations to make your training more effective. Have fun and get to it!
Author’s Bio
You can find more from Ben at his blog at http://www.benbruno.blogspot.com/ and on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/user/bruno082985.
The Nail Bending eBook and the Nail Bending DVD
In this day and age we have such busy lives and schedules that it is crucial to make the most out of our time in the gym. Many times we often forget the most important aspects of training and just go in and start throwing weights around. In the long run this causes more problems than it saves time. I get asked quite often how to get in all aspects of training with very limited time to do so. When we think about training we think about strength, conditioning, flexibility, mobility in that order when in fact it needs to be the complete opposite to stay in the game. Mobility and flexibility of the joints, muscle tissue, ligaments and tendons surrounding those joints is crucial for maintaining a healthy body that can withstand heavy loads year in and year out.
Here is a great upper body warm up that incorporates dynamic warm-ups, mobility and muscle activation to prep our shoulder girdle, thoracic spine and rotators in 5 minutes. It is a simple, quick and effective warm-up for upper body days.
To warm up and activate the muscles in the shoulder region, upper back and thoracic spine. Properly prepare our tendons, ligaments and muscle for the task to come and to improve joint integrity of the shoulder and thoracic spine.
Shoulder muscles including the all rotator cuff muscles, teres major and minor, rhomboids and thoracic spine.
1. Unilateral External Circular Rotations – 10x each arm
2. Unilateral Internal Circular Rotations – 10x each arm
3. Bilateral External Circular Rotations – 10x
4. Bilateral Internal Circular Rotations – 10x
5. Corkscrew Shoulder Twists – 20x
6. Squat Position Unilateral Thoracic Mobility Reach – 10x each side
7. Band Shoulder Dislocates – 10x
8. Band Diagonal Shoulder Dislocates – 5x each way
9. Band Pull Aparts – 10x
10. Diagonal Band Pull Aparts- 10x each way
Give this warm-up a try on your upper body days or even on a squat day if your shoulder are tight. It will help alleviate some tightness in the shoulder while squatting with a bar on your back. Many times our shoulders get just as beat up on a squat workout as they do on a bench day.
This warm up is quick and it works. If you are pressed for time it will take 5 minutes and your shoulders will feel like a million bucks
Check out Mike and his killer blog at http://www.hanleystrength.com . He has a massive free report, you better go pick it up!
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by Jim Smith, CSCS
It is true that there must be a balance with all training. Unfortunately, the “go” muscles of the posterior chain are most often neglected in strength programs. Lower back issues, hamstring strains and unrealized strength potential are just some of the everyday issues you will face if your training programs don’t include unilateral training AND strengthening the posterior chain (lats, erectors, glutes, hamstrings, gastrocs, soleus).
Powerlifters, athletes, strength enthusiasts, meat heads, weekend warriors and everybody else must incorporate exercises that target the posterior chain in their lower body training days. Not only for increasing your lower body strength potential and reducing your risk for injury but making sure you don’t end up looking like a lightbulb (big upper body and no legs).
The Big Posterior Chain Movements
FREE EBOOK WITH OVER 199 + MUSCLE BUILDING EXERCISES
In today’s article we are going to specifically talk about developing the hamstrings and the exercise we are going to focus on (and modify) is the glute ham raise or GHR. Muscle strength ratios are important and many researchers have attempted to define the exact percentages required for each kinetic segment. It is very difficult because these ratios “not only vary with joint angle, joint velocity and type of movement, but also with muscle group and the type of athlete. (i.e. knee extension strength vs. knee flexion strength: 60:40 ratio)” (Reference 6, Siff and Verkhoshansky)
Regardless of the exact percentages, we need to understand the basics. The surrounding, supportive, antagonistic muscle groups for each kinetic segment must be developed to ensure the integrity of the engaged joint. That is the basics, bottom line. Simple, right?
Elevated Glute Ham Raises [VIDEO BELOW]
In this article we are showing an advanced version of GHR’s. Instead of overloading GHR on a GHR bench, we are going to increase the intensity by elevating the back end of the bench with a box.
Why do this?
Because at this angle, there is constant tension on the hamstrings and there is no release of the tension. Also more of the lifter’s bodyweight is being utilized. These are no joke, trust me! Try them out and let me know in a comment below.
Which muscles are engaged with GHR’s?
“The erector spinae are active, primarily isometrically; the glutes and hamstrings raise the upper body to parallel; the glutes maintain isometric activity, and the hamstrings contract further and raise your body higher by flexing the knees; the gastrocs press against the foot plate, contracting isometrically. A glute/ham/gastroc raise lets you use the muscles of extension of the lower body one at a time.” (Reference 2, Kreis)
Many people don’t have access to a GHR bench. If you don’t, you can perform natural glute ham raises. This is a glute ham raise performed on the ground with someone holding (anchoring) your feet. You definitely want a pad underneath your knees for this one. They are much harder than GHR performed on the actual GHR bench. As always, these too can be progressed if you are super strong. Check out the variation below.
Natural Glute Ham Raises
A partner will hold the lifter / athlete’s feet while they perform GHR’s. This variation is much tougher than the variation done on an actual GHR bench because momentum and pad angle plays a huge role in the moment arm and percentage of the lifter’s bodyweight that is utilized.
Advanced Natural Glute Ham Raises
This variation is done on a decline sit-up bench. Because of the angle the intensity and strength requirement is off-the-charts. Only your elite athletes will be able to do this. As always, to aid in the concentric phase of the exercise, a plyometric push-up done off the bench can be incorporated.
When do you use GHR’s?
They should be used in conjunction with squats (all variations), deadlifts (all variations), kettlebell swings, barbell hip thrusts, sprinting, etc… on your lower body days.
Volume for GHR’s on GHR Bench:
Bodyweight Only – typically 3-4 sets x 12-20 reps
Weighted (weight vest, chains, bands) – typically 3-4 sets x 8-12 reps
Volume for Natural or Advanced Natural GHR’s:
Bodyweight Only – typically 3-4 sets x 8-12 reps
Weighted (weight vest, chains, bands) – typically 3-4 sets x 6-8 reps
1. Horrigan, Joseph M., IRONMAN Magazine, August 1995 (updated 2007)
2. Kreis D.A., E.J., Speed-Strength for Football, Taylor Sports Publishing, 1992.
3. Baechle and Earle, Essentials of Strength and Conditioning 3rd Edition, NSCA, June 2008
4. Schache AG, Crossley KM, Macindoe IG, Fahrner BB, Pandy MG., Can a clinical test of hamstring strength identify football players at risk of hamstring strain?, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20697691, Aug, 2010.
5. Silder A, Thelen DG, Heiderscheit BC., Effects of prior hamstring strain injury on strength, flexibility, and running mechanics., Department of Biomedical Engineering, Aug, 2010
6. Siff and Verkhoshansky, Supertraining – 6th Edition, UAC, 2009.
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Get Lean/ Get Strong
By John Alvino
It has been stated that a non-chemically enhanced lifter cannot get stronger while on a fat loss program.
The popular justification for this claim is that in order to lose fat, you need to create a caloric deficit through dieting and higher volume training. And caloric deficits are NOT conducive to gaining strength or building muscle.
This is why when most people want to get stronger and/or bigger, they go on a high calorie diet and reduce their training volume. Unfortunately, this usually results in unwanted gains in body fat. It’s a classic catch 22 scenario.
Then, when they try to drop their recently gained body fat, they usually follow a typical fat loss protocol (low carbs/low calorie diets, high intensity cardio, high volume resistance training), and although they may lose some fat, they can kiss their strength gains goodbye. And then they are right back where they started.
Does it have to be this way? Or can you lose your unwanted body fat while INCREASING your strength simultaneously? The good news is yes: you can (and should) increase strength while decreasing body fat.
In order to accomplish this, you must focus on three different aspects. Here they are:
1) Target the nervous system with your training – To a large degree, your strength is a function of the efficiency of your nervous system. This is because your nervous system is responsible for synchronizing and activating your motor units. For those of you who don’t know, a motor unit consists of a bunch of muscle fibers and a motor nerve cell.
Increased synchronization and activation basically means you will be able to utilize more motor units per contraction. This phenomenon will increase your strength dramatically.
How do you target the nervous system? Well, there are two ways to make significant neural gains.
The first is to lift heavy weights. In fact, the weights must be 85% or more of your 1 rep max. This will result in performing sets of 1-5 reps each.
The second way is to move the resistance at high speeds. Any type of explosive movement will do the trick here. Examples of explosive movements are jumping, plyo pushups, Olympic exercises and various med ball drills.
It is important to note that the nervous system can take up to 10 times longer to recover than the muscular system can. Therefore, in order to maximize this training technique, you should be sure to get near full recovery in between sets. For an experienced lifter, this could result in up to 4-5 minutes between sets.
2) Maintain or increase your lean muscle mass. This is critical, because even if you make neurological gains, you can still compromise your strength if you lose muscle tissue.
There are two things you must do to increase muscle mass during your fat loss program.
The first muscle boosting trick will involve your nutrition. The key is to NEVER stay sub caloric (below maintenance level of calories) or carb depleted for more than 3 consecutive days. Obviously you will need to reduce calories in order to lose fat.
Just don’t keep them low every day. Keeping them low everyday will result in losses in lean muscle mass. Instead, lower your calories and carbs on light training or off days and then INCREASE both carbs and calories on HEAVY training days.
The second trick is to include some hypertrophy sets in your routine. Hypertrophy sets involve using a weight which allows you to get 6-10 repetitions. The key is to keep the volume low on these sets.
Do not exceed more than 4 total hypertrophy sets for each movement pattern. More than that can result in overtraining and/or muscle loss.
Additionally, these sets should ALWAYS follow your heavier neural sets.
3) Stay hydrated and nutrient loaded. Training at high intensities while dieting can result in dehydration. This will decrease your strength and thus negatively impact your workouts and future gains.
The obvious way to try and combat this is to drink plenty of water. Be sure to drink a daily minimum of half of your bodyweight in ounces of water. Although drinking a sufficient amount of water is important, it is not enough all by itself to maintain a high level of strength performance.
Additionally, 30-45 minutes before your heavy workouts, consume a liquid meal consisting of 30 grams of protein, 500 mg of magnesium, ¼ tsp of salt, 5 grams of glutamine, 5 grams of BCAA’S and 60 grams of carbs.
This will help jam nutrients into the body, thus improving workout performance.
I have used this protocol with great success with many of my clients. But just recently, I put this protocol to the test on myself for 6 weeks. Here are my results:
Starting weight – 211lbs
Finishing Weight – 202lbs
Starting Body Fat% – 13%
Finishing Body Fat% – 8 ½ %
Trap Bar Deadlift Starting Max – 505lbs
Trap Bar Deadlift Finishing Max – 545lbs
I also did a Trap Bar Deadlift rep test. The test was simply 405 for max reps. At the beginning of this program, I was able to get 11 reps. After just 6 weeks, I was able to pull 20. Here is the video:
I also performed a similar before and after test using a Military Press.
Standing Military Starting Max – 175lbs
Standing Military Starting Max – 205lbs
Those were the only two exercises I took maxes on. These are very good results. For strength athletes, the benefits of this protocol are obvious. But this is incredibly beneficial to anyone who looking to lose body fat as well. Give this protocol a try, You’ll be glad you did!
About the Author
John Alvino is a strength And Conditioning Coach, Fat Loss Coach, Vegetarian, Fitness Author, MMA Junkie, Ex Convict and Pit Bull Advocate from Morristown, NJ
Get his killer new FREE report at www.johnalvino.com
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“Plank routines are dull, unsexy, and I don’t feel the burn” is the gist of the response I typically receive from most clients when explaining my approach to core training—and I can understand their frustration.
After all, when it comes time to train there are few things as boring as holding still when you could be going to war with sit ups and crunches.
But after hundreds of hours working toward a better stomach, I have either prescribed or witnessed every crunch, leg lift and torso twist variation known to man. And though some worked better than others in “feeling the burn”, one conclusion I quickly reached is that banging out several hundred at a time is more likely to lead to a bad back then six pack abs.
My beef is not with crunches themselves, but any exercise which does not result in maximal return on investment. And much like the plank, this approach amounts to a long duration, low load stress being placed on the torso.
The difference is that much of this stress is directed toward the spine versus the abs– probably not the best idea for those already hunched over a computer several hours a day!
While neither exercise fits the bill alone, the missing link for building a ripped and functional torso is understanding how to condense sufficient intensity and density (amount of work performed) in to a routine which does not jack up the spine.
In this article, I will address the problems associated with both the plank and crunch and explain how to incorporate each exercise in to a routine which will challenge even the strongest stomach while busting your ass in the process—all in around five minutes.
While planks are intended to provide a sustained, low load contraction to build endurance in the abdominals, the static variety clearly falls short when it comes to abdominal development.
That being said, everything changes when we incorporate movement of the arms and legs. Specifically, this is done by performing moves such as crawling and stepping in a plank position while maintaining a flat back and abdominal brace.
Suddenly, this exercise becomes infinitely more difficult and offers several benefits:
Especially when combined with a high stress stimulus, dynamic planks suddenly become the ultimate accessory exercise by providing prolonged time under tension for the abs while limiting spinal stress.
This is accomplished by pairing low rep exercises which involve torso flexion with planking movements to increase time under tension. The decision on which exercise to use comes down to the area of the stomach you intend to target.
In a recent article on the Best Exercises for Abdominal Activation, strength coach Bret Contreas lists several choices for each area of the stomach:
After determining the target area of the stomach, the next step is exercise selection. The idea is to choose one core strength exercise followed by two plank variations performed back to back to prolong time under tension.
While Bret’s article offers a comprehensive selection for strength exercises, we want to choose plank variations which incorporate limb motion in the particular area we wish to develop.
For the rectus abdominus and anterior external obliques, this would include two frontal plank variations which involve the arms and legs. For the lateral external obliques’, this would mean two side plank variations.
We will divide these two areas in to anterior core (front of stomach) and lateral core (side abs) for simplicity.
Sample Workout #1- Anterior Core focus
This workout is intended to target the lower rectus abdominus.
In order to do so, we have chosen an exercise involving leg lowering followed by two frontal planking exercises which utilize the arms and legs.
Because the rep ranges are kept fairly low, it is important to move slowly enough to maintain an abdominal brace and build optimal fatigue
1. Stability ball leg lower — 5 reps
2. Stability ball push out — 8 reps
3. Stability ball knee tuck — 8 reps
Video example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTdrbgv2VEU
Sample Workout #2- Lateral Core focus
The half get up is a favorite of mine for targetting this area while also promoting stability of the shoulder.
We follow this up with two weighted side plank variations which will the sides of the stomach. While each of these movements can be made progressively heavier, they do not require much weight to be effective (10-20lbs works well for most) and should also be performed with slow and controlled movement.
1. Half get up — 5 reps
2. Weighted side plank pulse — 8 reps
3. Side plank row— 8 reps
Video example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-ujk4RBBUs
One thing you will notice from the above is that we did not include sets with our rep ranges. In our system, this is mainly due to the issue of time.
Because our clients are often faced with time constraints and short attention spans, our solution has been to incorporate timed circuits popularized in Charles Staley’s Escalating Density Training to really ramp up the intensity.
This can be done by simply setting a clock for 5-7 minutes and performing as many rounds as possible with proper form. Ideal for the time challenged trainee, this approach is also a great finisher after your strength training or conditioning work.
With a solid core (I couldn’t resist) of planking know-how, this sequence of exercises is all you will ever need to build superior strength and definition in your torso. Simply pick one strength exercises which directly targets your chosen area of the core followed by two supplementary plank movements from the list provided below.
Because the abdominals recover quickly, training for these muscles should be performed 4-5 times per week. Generally, we will rotate exercises and/or target areas of the stomach every two to three weeks.
But while more advanced trainees may benefit from a split which targets one area of the stomach only, a solid split for most beginners is devoting one day to both anterior and lateral core for overall development.
Sample split:
Mon: Anterior Core
Tues: Lateral Core
Wed: off
Thurs: Anterior Core
Fri: Lateral Core
Sat: Off
Sun: Off
For anyone doubters on the effectiveness of the plank, I challenge you to sample the workouts above and prepare for the plank beat your abs (and ass) in to submission!
1. Lower extremity frontal plank examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKbcUeFfjF8
2. Upper extremity frontal plank examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQE8dVMChdM
3. Side plank examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAVWltGpKM
Chris Kelly is a strength coach, fitness writer and educator based in T
ampa Florida. He specializes in innovative strength, conditioning and core training solutions for athletes, models, actors and figure competitors preparing for show. Check out his blog at http://modelfit1.blogspot.com
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It depends on who you are and what you are training for.
If you are a powerlifter, max effort means one all out rep, typically referred to as absolute strength.
If you are a bodybuilder, a max effort attempt could be a repetitive effort set done to failure with miminal rest and with high intensity, i.e. clustering sets, doggcrapp, 5/3/1 last set, drop sets, giants sets, etc.
If you are an athlete, a maximum attempt is typically a 3-5 reps set done with 90% + 1RM (depending on the athlete). Max efforts of 1 rep are not typically done with athletes due to the risk factor and because athletics lift raw (without gear).
Even though maximal effort can mean different things depending upon who you are and what you’re training for, maximal effort means maximal effort. All out with no hesitation and no regrets. Many people aren’t ready for this. You have to truly be mentally tough. Because of the damage max efforts take on the body and mind, they take time to recover from and they must be cycled in and out of training correctly.
Regardless of your training, when you are preparing yourself for a max effort workout, it starts long before stepping into the gym.
Hydration – how you been drinking enough water during the last 2-3 days?
Periodization – when was your last workout? What was the effort? Have you recovered?
Nutrition – Are you eating regularly? Every 2-3 hours? What do the meals consist of? Good protein (chicken, fish, beef, yogurt, cottage cheese, tuna), carbs (fruit, vegetables, oatmeal, rice, pasta) and good fats (walnuts, peanut butter, almond butter, avocados, fish oil)?
Rest / Recovery – have you been getting enough deep sleep? Were you hitting the foam roller and light mobility drills on your days off? Many people don’t realize the exact same exercises you use to warm up for your workout should also be used on your days off to speed up recovery!
Gym Bag – did you bring your ipod? Is it charged? Do you have your workout drink and post workout drink? Do you have your training journal? Do you have your warm-up, workout and cool down written down? Do you have your belt? Do you have your wraps?
Training Partner (this is key) – you’ll need someone there to push you to your potential. You’ll need someone to spot you! Sometimes you’re not mentally ready to hit that max effort set and the training partner is the key. Sometimes the music isn’t enough and for the sake of safety, the partner is essential.
You know I am a HUGE proponent of the warm-up and its effects on the rest of the workout (and recovering from the workout). With a workout that the lifter will be hitting a max effort attempt, it is even more critical.
Here are some AWESOME warm-ups you can do:
3 Insanely Effective Upper Body Warm-up
Get Your Hips Right – Lower Body Warm-up
After the warm-up, the sets leading up to the maximal effort should really focus on form and continuing to prepare the muscles for the upcoming attempt(s).
BUT, they should NOT fatigue. If the prep sets are too heavy and with too much volume, you have a risk of not being ready for the max effort set(s). Again, I am saying set(s) and not set because depending upon your workout (i.e. doggcrapp and powerlifting) you might be hitting multiple max effort attempts.
Bad Warm-up Sets for Max Bench (max attempt 315lbs)
Set 1: bar x 20
Set 2: 135lbs x 10
Set 3: 185lbs x 10
Set 4: 225lbs x 8
Set 5: 275lbs x 6
Set 6: 315lbs x 1 attempt
Set 7: 315lbs x 1 attempt
Set 8: 315lbs x 1 attempt
There’s too much volume at too high of a percentage of the lifter’s max!
A better lead up to the attempts would be this example.
Set 1: bar x 20
Set 2: 135lbs x 10
Set 3: 185lbs x 8
Set 4: 225lbs x 3-6 (this one is the turning point, if they set feels really good, hit 6 reps, if you still need more prep, only hit for 3 reps, auto-regulation)
Set 5: 275lbs x 3
Set 6: 295lbs x 1
Set 7: 315lbs x 1 attempt
Set 8: 315lbs x 1 attempt
Set 9: 315lbs x 1 attempt
But like everything else, it is an individual thing. The above is only one example, there are many others. That is why the training journal is so important. What did your last max effort for bench look like? What was your warm-up and prep sets. You have to keep track so you can use this for your next heavy session.
Alright, so now look at the fun stuff.
The below video is Ryan hitting his last set of squats on the 5/3/1 program. The last set is done all out without leaving anything left. This is a maximal effort attempt.
A few things I want you to notice.
Where is the spotter? Right there for every rep! The spotter jumped in an gave minimal help to keep the weight moving. He didn’t pull Ryan quickly back up. He let him fight it out but he (the spotter) controlled that last rep.
Did Ryan go until the weight crushed him? No, he did all reps with good form and did not go to the point where there is no return. Max effort is max effort done safely. Remember that.
Did Ryan’s form break? No. Does form break under fatigue? Yes. That is why is so important to drill form while the weight is light so it becomes second nature.
Did you notice Ryan’s Breathing Pattern? He took a huge breath, held it and isometrically braced his abdominals outward against his belt and engaged his lats. He repeated this pattern for every rep.
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Here is a muscle building workout for big arms. There are some unique volume combinations we will use for both biceps and triceps.
Perform 8 reps, 8 breaths rest (rest only the time it takes to take 8 slow breaths)
Perform 7 reps, 7 breaths rest
Perform 6 reps, 6 breaths rest
Perform 5 reps, 5 breaths rest
Perform 4 reps, 4 breaths rest
Perform 3 reps, 3 breaths rest
Perform 2 reps, 2 breaths rest
Perform 1 reps, 1 breaths rest
Perform 2 reps, 2 breaths rest
Perform 3 reps, 3 breaths rest
and so on…
then try and work your way back up to 8 reps, see how far you get! This is a max effort attempt. Your goal is to try and start at 8 reps, go down to 1 rep and back up to 8 reps.
*Note: if you can’t perform 8 reps, start with a lower number, try starting at 6 reps for the first set. On the other hand, if you are strong at chin-ups, add additional weight with a dip belt.
HOW TO DO CHIN-UPS VIDEO – CLICK HERE
For the tricep ladders, we will do something a little different. Pick whatever attachment you want; a tricep rope, v-handle or straight handle. Get on the cable stack and use the heaviest weight you can do for 1 rep. If you can do the whole stack no problem and for multiple reps, overload the movement with an elastic band.
Heaviest weight, 1 rep, drop pin to next lighter weight, no rest
Next weight, 2 reps, drop pin to next lighter weight, no rest
Next weight, 3 reps, drop pin to next lighter weight, no rest
Next weight, 4 reps, drop pin to next lighter weight, no rest
Next weight, 5 reps, drop pin to next lighter weight, no rest
Next weight, 6 reps, drop pin to next lighter weight, no rest
Next weight, 7 reps, drop pin to next lighter weight, no rest
Next weight, 8 reps, drop pin to next lighter weight, no rest
now try to work your way back up! After your 8 rep set, ADD 10 lbs and perform 7 reps. Keep going back up (adding 10 lbs each progressive set) toward the 1 rep weight, until you can’t perform the required number of reps with good form.
HOW TO DO TRICEP EXTENSIONS – CLICK HERE
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Finally, a new video compilation of training here at the compound. I haven’t made one in years, but the last video compilation I made inspired so many.
Hopefully this new video will do the same. It contains some never-before-seen footage and exercises guaranteed to kick your training programs in overdrive.
As always, please click on the video itself and when it takes you to YouTube, please “LIKE” the video at the bottom left. It really helps with ranking!
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Here is a quick video showing you how to setup your own wrist roller with minimal equipment.
I saw this technique being utilized by Mike Rojas of Strong 101 Gym.
Here is the equipment you need.
– kettlebells or dumbbells
– elastic bands OR rope *
– a power cage
– an Olympic bar
* Rope setup – if you use the rope setup, you might need some duct tape to adhere it to bar so it doesn’t slip around. Also, when we have used the rope setup, we tied a carabiner to the end of the rope to loop around for quick change around.
Step 1 – Offset Olympic Bar
Step 2 – Loop Through Kettlebells
Step 3 – Be Cool
Step 4 – Do Work
P.S. Fore more ideas for easy-to-make pieces of strength training equipment, check out the Home Made Strength On-line DVD. In less than an hour you can be on your way to assembling over a half a dozen new pieces of equipment = > Home Made Strength
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As we move from the strength phase of our training it becomes necessary to start incorporating movements that build strength endurance and stability. We must also engage in exercises that allow us to transition to more dynamic movements; such as submaximal plyometrics. This is in preparation to handle the ballistic forces in the upcoming explosive / jump training phase.
It is true that isometric exercises strengthen +/- 15-20 degrees of the joint angle being engaged (2). What happens if we incorporate isometrics all along the strength training movement pattern through the eccentric (lowering / yielding) phase. We get dynamic isometrics.
Benefits of Dynamic Isometrics:
Secrets of Russian Sports Fitness and Training
“Dynamic isometrics is now known as explosive isometrics. ” The explosiveness comes from the fact that after the isometrics are engaged, compensatory acceleration (CAT) is attempted. CAT is taking the weight and moving it as hard and as fast as you can (think tempo “x”).
As you can see in these images and this video, we utilize a giant cambered bar for our squats. This is essential when working with all athletes to prevent shoulder irritation and gain a proficient squat while you are still working to improve thoracic mobility.
Each position is held for 3 seconds and there are 3 position for each repetition. Approximate time under tension (TUT) is around 30 seconds each set.
An altitude drop is a abbreviated form of a depth jumps (Verkhoshanksy). You step off of a box and land and stop the movement as quickly as you can. We do NOT ask the athlete to reverse the movement, ONLY absorb. Remember, we are using this submaximal plyometric to prepare for the next phase which will include the full execution of the depth jump AND many other upper and lower body explosive movements. In our example, we are also modifying it slightly to increase its benefit for the athlete.
Benefits of Altitude Drops
As you can see in the pictures and video, I modified the altitude drops two ways and improved its base benefit profile.
1. I did not have the athletes stop immediately on the landing. We are still in preparation mode for our plyometric phase and the athletes are still learning to land proficiently. So we want to reinforce the landing mechanics and develop the eccentric strength to absorb the impact. We ask the athletes to land softly. This is a great transition to the full execution of the movement.
2. I also did not start the movement just by dropping off the box. I added specificity to the altitude drop by preceding it with a dynamic step up. The goal was to get the knee higher than the hip to promote not only hip mobility but strength mobility (ie. strength in this new ROM). This is an amazing modification.
You can also see the movements were performed in bare feet and the athletes were landing on a soft platform, ie. a wrestling mat. The athlete must possess a solid strength foundation before attempting either dynamic isometrics or shock training. Finally, volume is of concern for both of these heavily CNS intensive exercises, so monitor carefully.
Dynamic Isometric Squats, 3×3
Altitude Drops (with Diesel modification), 3×5 each leg
