Unilateral strength training involves the use of one limb at a time and for this dumbbells, kettlebells and bodyweight movements are the primary implements. I have found out that it is one thing to do a barbell lift but it is an entirely different proposition to do the same lift with dumbells. If you don’t train much with dumbells, expect to have your strength imbalances and weaknesses exposed as I have found out, much to my dismay. Glaring weaknesses. I would benefit greatly by doing an entire cycle of just doing unilateral training. Mixing in DB cleans, snatches, push presses, bench presses, in short, most of the things I do with a barbell. for good measure, adding in some plyometric and bodyweight exercises would increase the “fun factor”.
As an athlete, should you consider it an insult if someone says you are “quad-dominant”? Why? Because it implies the athletic muscles from your posterior side, the backside, are under-developed. Simplistically speaking, the front muscles; bi’s, tri’s, pecs & quads are known as “beach” muscles and while there is nothing wrong with developing them and looking good, the real athleticism comes from the developed posterior chain muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons of the hips, spinal erectors, glutes, hamstrings, calves and down to the ankles.
Since, as Dan John says, “the body is one piece”, you need to work the entire body and not give short shrift to those muscles, ligaments and tendons “hanging out” behind you. Developing these muscles make you more athletic, stronger, faster and a less likely chance of injury. You can’t get any more functional than that, can you? The beauty of human movement is the synchrony of the hips, glutes and hamstrings firing off at just the right time.
As usual, the Green Bay Packers started well, made a pile of boneheaded penalties, had a sieve for an O-line that allowed defenders to sack our quarterback 6 times and then handed a win to a team that has been 0-11 since last season. What is a frustrated and exasperated fan to do?
I went out to the garage and did a bunch of barbell drop snatches and snatches and then finished with a couple sets of these:
2 sets with a 150# sandbag for about 170 feet. Listen to what was playing in the background.
Axle Push Press: 65×5/105×5/165×3/185/175/190/200/. Not enough leg drive. Back Squat: 135×8/185×8/185×5/225×2/ 3 second Pause Squats: 260×5/275×5/285×5/285×5/235×10 (no pause). Chin-ups, 2 mb, pause between reps: 3×4. Barbell Front Raise: 12/12/ Russian Twist: 25#x8/
USC Trojans running back, Stafon Johnson was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery Monday, 9/28/09 after he dropped a loaded barbell on his throat while bench pressing…with spotters. I wasn’t there and hate to second guess, but it doesn’t appear his spotters were either. By the way, where was the strength coach? Every now and then you hear of some kid bench pressing by himself in his garage or basement and and drops the bar on his throat and tragically dies as a result.
If you are going to bench press, use spotters. If you are going to spot someone doing the bench press, be a good spotter.
I have never been a fan of the cliche, “less is more” but that is exactly what Olympic and powerlifting coach, Glenn Pendlay of Wichita Falls Weightlifting Club suggests when he says that most people do too much in the gym.
In a very interesting podcast interview, Pendlay lays out a ton of training gems for the few experienced, competitive lifters to the many novice, intermediate and even for the older lifters (I made sure I turned up the volume on my computer so I could hear it).
Pull it, carry it or put it over your head. Those are the basic lifting movements. Deadlifting, one of the most, if not the most useful overall exercise is a pulling movement and there are many other variations and exercises that pull, like rows.
The flip side to that coin are pushing exercises, like military presses, push presses and jerks.
I use free weights almost exclusively because I enjoy them and the benefits I derive from their use. Even if they were not as safe as using machines, I would still prefer to use them. Read the rest of this entry
I’d like to share a couple of links I have come across recently. One is an old one that was in my Bookmarks folder that I re-visited for the first time in a while and the other site is very new and reflects my new interest in kettlebell training.
Jeff Waters, of liftkettlebells.com has a new venture that is all kettlebell and focuses on great instructional video. You no longer have to go surfing YouTube in search of good kettlebell training videos. Jeff has done all that on his excellent clean and uncluttered site. While you are there, make sure you check the articles and jump into the forum. Go check it out. I think you will like it as much as I do.
The revisited site is one with a great name, Madcow’s Training Information Site. This is a site heavily linked with barbell routines from names like Glenn Pendlay and Bill Starr covering such topics as periodization, the lifts themselves, diet and much, much more.If you use kettlebells and barbells, make a point to visit, bookmark and subscribe to these top sites.
This week was supposed to be a deload week and for the most part it was, except I hit it hard on Saturday. But that is ok, since I got plenty of rest.
I have never been a fan of the cliche, “less is more” but that is exactly what Olympic and powerlifting coach, 
