Enter Through the Barbarian’s Gate
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As you have read here, there are few pieces of gym equipment I have any use for, save for a couple. One is the Glute Ham Developer, (GHD) and another, the Reverse Hyper Machine, (RHM).
Olympic lifting has a long tradition in sports other than Olympic weightlifting for strength, power and conditioning but it is not without it’s detractors by strength coaches mostly, I suppose, because of the steep learning curve it takes to master the lifts. Many coaches are of the opinion the time could be more effectively used for other movements that provide similar benefits.
Gratuitous Deloading Athlete
You can get stronger doing less, but only after you have done more, a lot more! After three weeks of intense training, I can sense I am getting a bit stronger and my work capacity shows signs of improving.
It has been about six months since several of us left a gym that became neutered from what the old-style gyms were like. As the chrome and fern corporate gyms began dotting the landscape, our box, while not hardcore, “tolerated” some of the serious old school training we did.
But that ended and we found a new gym, Brian Hood’s American Gym, which encompasses the widest range of training styles you’ll find in southern California. Brian has somehow found a way to put it all together and cater to us all and now we live in peace and harmony! Seriously, if you are in the area, come on by for a visit and train hard.
We found a kindred spirit in Jason Hanisak, of Hanisak Sports Performance in New Jersey. (It looks like these Jersey guys get it, ain’t that right Scott)?
In this week’s Elitefts, Weekly News and Articles, Jason posted a great article on“The Return of Hardcore”. Check it out. He makes the case for hard-core training as if the case even has to be made at all. Some people just need to be reminded.
Just some tidbits, lying around looking for a place to go. Let’s start with some motivation from the tv program, “Scrubs”, courtesy Justin Lebel.
The Prowler Awaits It's Next Victim
Jim Wendler of EliteFTS has been coughing up lung for 4 years with the Prowler. In his article, The Prowler Challenge, he gives up his “favorite” 4 Prowler workouts.
Amnesty International should see these Prowler workouts. Waterboarding is a cool shower compared to walking around the block with one of these beasts.
It seems whenever I link to some kind of training routine it serves as a reminder to me that it is time to do one of them. So that time has come. Which workout should I do? Tough call in all cases.
Recently, I linked to an article strength coach Steven Morris has over at EliteFTS about his Top 11 exercises for athletes.
Overhead Lifting With Sandbags
One of the tools Coach Morris uses for his football athletes is the sandbag, which is becoming one of my favorite tools in the arsenal.
According to strength coach Steven Morris in an article over at EliteFTS, here are the top 11 exercises that build better athletes. I was in full agreement with most of them and do some of them consistently, (in spite of my relative lack of athleticism). The exercises I do regularly are in bold.
I look forward to adding in the others I haven’t been doing, although I am surprised not to see the standard back squat in his top 11.
Take a look at Morris’ article for his descriptions of each.
Cardio is one of those things you just have to add in to achieve the fitness levels and fat loss you want. No getting around it. But you don’t have to waste your time using an elliptical trainer either. Since there are many means to achieve that all-important cardio fitness, let’s just cut through the crap and find one workout that gets the job done better than anything I’ve ever used. Meet the Prowler. Read the rest of this entry
Keeping score is something most of like to do in sports and life. It provides a measuring stick for our progress and achievements. “Score” can mean a time in the 5K and the lower the better. In sales and weightlifting, higher of course, is better. If you know what your competitor’s score is, you know what you will have to do to beat him and that is to get the higher score!
Pretty elemental stuff and necessary for competition. But what if you don’t compete? Is “keeping score” meaningful when lifting weights? I say yes. Setting Personal Records, PR’s, is your record of achievement. You begin by setting your baseline which is the most you can do today. Your training, dedication, genes, diet and more are what determines how much over your baseline you will go. For most of us, setting these PRs is motivating and for a little while, satisfying, but not for long. We enjoyed the last victory and we want another! Just be careful not to go overboard in your quest for PR’s because it can be very stressful and puts a lot of “performance anxiety” on an athlete. There are times you will hit a plateau and as martial artist, George Leonard would say, “honor the plateau”. Keep things in balance. Improvement is assured.
So how do you nail PR’s in your lifts? Chris Cooper of Catalyst Fitness writes an interesting article on how to get PR’s for EliteFTS. Cooper says the secret is in the warm-up. In the article, he outlines specific templates for the squat, the bench press and the deadlift. I am anxious to use his guidelines for my next maximum effort.
I would be interested in knowing if this plan works for you. If you have recently gotten a personal best, tell us about it in the Comments.
Speaking of PR’s, I have added a couple of them, modest as they are to my front and back squats. I am looking to improve my deadlift single soon but my Olympic lifts are woeful and in need of a breakthrough in technique. <sigh>!
By the way, while over at EliteFTS and after reading Cooper’s article, you might want to check out another good piece, this one written by Jason Hanisak who admonishes athletes NOT to train like bodybuilders. Here is a sample:
“Bodybuilding programs are meant for bodybuilders. Every athlete needs to train specific to his/her sport to become better at that sport”.
Train heavy!
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