Aris DeMarco part 1
In an effort to continue with the 'training information for the everyman' nature of this blog, I've written up the second part of my 'simple progression' series. Basically, this is for guys with minimal equipment (i.e. pullup bar, maybe a few dumbbells, etc.) who want to improve strength and conditioning as efficiently as possible, while taking minimal time out of their busy days.
Part one was all about increasing your one-set max repetitions. However, an approach like that might leave your work capacity wanting when it comes to multiple sets. Plus, overall conditioning is generally improved by, well, being active longer--so you need a way to compress a lot of work (multiple sets) into a short amount of time. Enter circuits.
Basically, a circuit is a series of exercises done in succession, for multiple rounds. Thus:
exercise 1
exercise 2
exercise 3
exercise 1
exercise 2
...and so forth. Some people advocate resting after each 'round', or between exercises, others don't. One option is to do a set number of repetitions for each exercise, each round, and repeat for as many rounds as possible in a given time frame. Ross Enamait's 'work capacity 101' conditioning workout uses that format:
Not quite doing full deadhang pullups here, but we can forgive him that--he's Ross.
As you can see, you have a few different variables to play with: exercises/lifts used, repetitions done, number of rounds, or amount of time the workout takes. Doing the exercises one after the other keeps your heart rate up and improves your overall conditioning, and doing multiple sets of each exercise with relatively short rest periods (doing the other exercises in the circuit) improves your muscular endurance. Given the great amount of work done relative to time taken up, it's possible to get an excellent full body workout in 20 to 30 minutes. Progression is simple. Use more difficult exercises in the circuit, do more rounds total, do more rounds without stopping, or do more total repetitions for each exercise.
As far as exercise choice goes, it's a good idea to pick 4-5 movements that 'cover' your entire body.
Upper body pushing--pushups, dips, handstand pushups, one arm overhead presses or push presses
Upper body pulling--pullups, chinups, horizontal rows, one arm dumbbell rows
Lower body pushing--squats or squat jumps, lunges, pistol squats or progressions thereof
Lower body pulling/hip extension--hyperextensions, glute bridges, glute-ham raise progressions, db or kb swings
Midsection/core--lying or hanging leg raises, ab wheel rollouts, 'windshield wipers'...
...there are plenty of possibilities, those are just a few examples. Obviously, depending on exercise choice, your circuits can range from a strength to an endurance focus. Resting in between exercises or rounds can help you get more repetitions in, but of course, the workout will take more time. One thing you can do is add a sixth 'active recovery' movement, say, jump rope or light jogging in place, for 1-2 minutes at the end of every round. That way, all your muscles can get a bit of extra rest, but your heart and lungs are still working.
Here are a few circuits I used several years back. At the time, I'd just quit running track for the first time due to foot/ankle issues but wanted to improve both my strength and endurance along with general cardio conditioning. All I had was a pullup bar and a pair of kettlebells.
Workout 1:
pushups
horizontal bodyweight rows
bodyweight 'free' squats
kettlebell swings-16kg
lying leg raises
--all done without rest between exercises or rounds, for 20-40 reps each exercise, for 5-10 rounds
Workout 2:
Handstand pushups (on the floor, against a wall)
Pullups to one side
Pistol squats
kettlebell swings-24kg
situps on the floor, 10lb plate behind head, feet unsupported
--all done without rest between exercises or rounds, as many repetitions as possible without pausing or stopping, for 5 rounds. Keep track of total reps done in 5 rounds and try to improve on that number.
The pistol squat--a very solid exercise overrated by some, underrated by many others
I alternated between the two workouts 3-5 days each week. This was a tremendous workload, at the time, far greater than any I had experienced before. After the first week or so, the initial soreness had decreased to the point that I could train more or less daily, alternating between my 'strength' and my 'endurance' circuit. After a couple of months, I managed to do more than 10 handstand pushups for the first time, 20+ full pistol squats with each leg, and was averaging 250-300 very strict pushups, each several times per week. I tested myself on a 1 mile run and broke the 6-minute mark for the first time while on this routine, without doing any running.
Circuit training is fantastic for those with limited equipment and time. Bodyweight, kettlebells, sandbags; virtually any tool (or none at all) can be used. Routines are simple to design and easy to implement, and results tend to come quickly. Thus, circuits are an excellent format for busy individuals who want a bit of everything in their workouts but don't have a lot of time to work for it.
...The next post in the 'simple progression' series will be the first of many articles I'm writing about density training--but first, I'll put up the next piece in the lifter profiles series.
You can leave comments and questions below or send them to affectinggravity@gmail.com, and watch our youtube vids here.
People suck at change. Plain and
simple. With New Year’s Resolutions being broken at record paces every year, it’s
no wonder that people do the same things, day after day, year after year – they
don’t know how to make habits stick. While there are many ‘ways’
to make change, most of them…well, are garbage. Absolutely craptastic. The
proof is in the pudding – an ever growing ‘diabesity’ epidemic, smoking and
alcohol addiction, a nation of people wasting their glutes away watching ‘Days
of Our Lives’, or, dare I say it, Duck Dynasty…
Unfortunately, berating people
and informing them of their own inadequacies only makes change harder. More importantly, I suck at
change just as much as everyone else does. So, how do you go about change when
change is hard?
Coffee – The Struggle
I LOVE coffee. That can be a
problem with all the added stress of college – burning the candle at both ends, studying,
stressing about grades, playing intramurals, having a social life… all these
little stresses add up over time and put a HUGE workload on the adrenals. Not
having coffee is unacceptable during Finals week though. Giving the adrenals a
break is a must – but cutting out coffee cold turkey is like asking for 2 weeks
of debilitating headaches and brain fog. The following method is what I
consider a one-stop shop for cutting out coffee – and making changes in all
other arenas of life as well, properly applied.
Identify Your Problem (what you want to change)
My problem was simple; how can I
cut out the coffee and give my adrenals a break, without ANY headaches or
mental fog?
Introspection
Otherwise known as…work. Examine
your habits and come up with potential solutions. In my case:
1. Monday,
Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday: 36 ounces of coffee, or 3 “cups” for me.
2. Tuesday,
Thursday, Friday: 24 ounces of coffee, or 2 “cups” for me.
Brainstorming Solutions:
1. Cut
down on the amount of grinds used in coffee over a period of a couple of weeks.
2. Gradually
phase out caffeinated coffee with decaffeinated coffee over a period of a
couple of weeks.
3. Cut
down on the amount of coffee drank each day over a period of a couple of weeks.
“Rate” Your Solutions
Take the easiest first step
possible. Success builds on success – it’s like the little snowball that starts
rolling down the hill; when it gets to the bottom, it sure as heck ain’t
little. Everyone knows about the ‘rate’ method – simply put, on a scale going
from 1-10, 1 being HARD, and 10 being “I could do that in my sleep”, rate each
solution. If the solution doesn’t get a 9 or a 10 on the scale, discard that
solution. Make the EASIEST change possible.
Potential Solutions
1. Gets a 6 out of 10. I like my coffee strong – if
I can’t catch the aroma and flavor of the grinds, I ain’t drinkin’ it.
2. Gets a 9 out of 10. I’ve used a method very
similar to this before – and I only had a minor headache the day I completely
cut coffee out.
3. Gets a 7 out of 10. While I’ve used something
close to this before, I like routine. Cutting a cup out here and there
certainly isn’t impossible, but when that clock hits 1:00 P.M., my body’s gonna
be very disappointed and it’ll literally weigh on my mind for the next hour or
two.
Flesh it Out
With your solution selected, it’s
time to flesh out the details of the plan. Make it specific and make it
measurable – there’s no room for vague ambiguity here.
My selected solution: gradually
replace caffeinated coffee with decaffeinated coffee over the span of a few
weeks.
Fleshed Out:
Week 1 – Make the last cup of
each day half-caf – that is, half caffeinated grinds, half decaffeinated
grinds.
Week 2 – Make the last cup of
each day completely decaf.
Week 3 – Keeping the last cup of
each day decaf, make the first cup on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and the
2nd cup on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays half-caf.
Week 4 – Keeping with the changes
made in the previous weeks, make the first cup on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays
and the 2nd cup on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays full
decaf.
Week 5 – Keeping with the
previously made changes, make the 1st cup on Mondays, Wednesdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays half-caf.
Week 6 – Keeping with the
previously made changes, make the 1st cup on Mondays, Wednesdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays full decaf.
Again, to reiterate: the changes
you make should be so small it would be IMPOSSIBLE not to make them. EASY.
With that being said, I have
fast-tracked the above method and gotten down to about 2.5 weeks with no
adverse headaches at the end.
What Next?
There’s 2 options, really –
maintain the changes you have made, or build another habit. For instance, after
week 6, I would probably start slowly cutting down the cups of coffee to save
some money. Somehow saving money while in college is a Godsend.
If all else fails, relentlessly
apply the following:
Identify the Problem
Introspection
Brainstorm Solutions
“Rate” Solutions
Flesh It Out
Maintain/Take on a New Problem
Practice it. Experiment with it.
Internalize it.
Have you applied/experimented
with this yet? Having trouble applying the steps above? Hit me up in the
comments section or at affectinggravity@gmail.com
and I’ll hook you up with some help.
Big
shout out to Precision Nutrition – these guys are geniuses when it comes to
change and these concepts are heavily influenced by PN. Check them out here.
I had a few questions regarding part one of part one after sharing it around a bit. Jason asked:
why do you say that the old timers were less flexible? What is that based on, and what do you think led to modern weightlifters being more flexible?
To which I responded:
It’s not ‘the oldtimers’ as a group so much as the European superheavies, the ones who lifted in the ‘continental’ style. They didn’t have good technique, they didn’t bother to become fast or flexible, so their competitions revolved around brute power. In the olympics today, even the fattest guys are gonna be doing squat cleans. The German ‘continental’ lifters just did a sort of high pull, rested the bar on their bellies, and then shouldered it (continental). Same goes for layback in the press. They didn’t want to be limited by the ‘military’ form, so layback was allowed. This wasn’t a sophisticated double layback olympic press either, just leaning back as far as they could/needed to, to press the bar out. They allowed their off hand to be placed on their leg/knee in the one arm snatch, too, unlike the ‘clean’ style of lifting. Basically, continental style lifting was big guys moving big weights, just like the WSM today–judges won’t be calling anyone on hitching deadlifts, using leg drive on overhead ‘press’, etc. Modern weightlifters are more flexible because it’s advantageous to be flexible, given the rules. The Chinese have so much usable flexibility that many of them can do bottoms-up overhead squats with nearly the same poundage that they use on front squats. Because of that, they can drop right to the bottom to catch a squat jerk. This gives them an advantage over lifters who have to catch the bar higher. These enormous refinements in technique have made weightlifting an entirely different sport. In the ’50s and ’60s, lifters just pulled the bar up high and stepped forwards under it, to snatch it. In the 1900s, they probably didn’t even bother to step under it, that’s why snatch poundages were relatively low. Anyway, flexibility was more of a thing for the french, who loved ‘clean’ lifting; and the guys who did gymnastics as well as heavy lifting (sandow, maxick, sig klein, otto arco). Saxon, Aston etc. were doubtless more flexible than the ‘continental’ competitors as well, at least in some places, because they could bent press. I doubt that steinbach, swoboda, et al could bent press at all.....
Just the other day I found this bit written by Sig Klein in 1936:
"The Bent Press was never very popular with the continental lifters . . . most of them were too bulky to perform it . . . they could not lean forward or sideways enough to make a good lift in this style. Not that they didn't try . . . they all wanted to make good in this lift since one can put up more weight with one hand this way than it is possible with any other one-handed lift. There have been men who could put up more weight with one hand in the Bent Press than they could with two hands in any other style. Continental lifters called the Bent Press "a trick" . . . said it was harmful . . . that it was not a true lift, but a supporting feat. As a result of their wails the lift was eventually barred from competition on the continent."
So, there you have it. This, of course, brings us to the man who probably most influenced the entire course of western physical culture at the time--Eugene Sandow.
5'9'' and 180 pounds of shoulders and leopard trunks.
Real fur, probably, too.
Sandow was born in Prussia in 1867. His was a common tale among strongmen and weightlifters-to-be. He grew up with physical ability that was average at best, but a chance encounter--in Sandow's case, visiting a museum that held classical Greek statues--drove his desire to become strong.
By all accounts, Sandow trained himself by (against his parents' wishes) stealing away to wrestling clubs and sneaking off to the circus to work out with the strongmen and acrobats. It isn't exactly clear how strong he became during this period, however, after meeting several well-known 'professors' of physical culture for the first time, it was noted that he was stronger than many of them even at this early stage in his career so clearly, Sandow had tremendous natural gifts. A few of these individuals were impressed enough to sponsor him and allow him to teach classes at their facilities.
"Sandow? Oh... he even."
--'professor Attila'
Eventually, Sandow left home and began travelling, using his newfound talents to make money along the way. In late nineteenth-century Europe, physical culture was experiencing something of a boom at the time and, apart from teaching gym classes, there was plenty of money to be had for weightlifters as part of circus acts, street shows, and as models for the classical era-obsessed artists and sculptors of the time. Undoubtedly, Sandow's rather unique combination of agility and strength served him well as an 'attraction' while doing this: Most performers at the time were either acrobats/handbalancers or weightlifters, not both!
Sandow's fame gradually grew not only from his pure physical talent, but also through rather uniquely brazen publicity stunts. For example, in Amsterdam one night he drove around the entire city in a cab breaking the fragile pulley machines set up in public places for normal passers-by to workout with.
Kinda like this.
Sandow purposely got himself arrested while in the act of doing this, claiming that he had committed no crime--he had merely attempted to exercise, but he was simply too strong for the machines! He rapidly gained fame throughout the city; crowds followed him wherever he went, and he gained a deal at a local theater that paid him 1200 guilders each week to perform. (Apparently that's about 2000usd. I have no idea about the inflation rates on Dutch currency from 1900, but it's a ton of money to be paid for, in essence, lifting and then posing for an audience for an hour every evening.)
Not sure if this ridiculousness is worth the equivalent of a six-figure salary, but whatever works....
As you can see from the clip, Sandow's posing looks a bit strange even for those of us who have seen modern bodybuilding competitions. However, the clip shows just how famous Sandow grew to become--not many films were being taken in 1894, and according to the video description one of Thomas Edison's associates was the one who did the filming here.
We can pretty safely assume from the massive fame and monetary success that Sandow gained, that he was indeed much more popular than the massive, beer-bellied strongmen who had been more popular before then. Apart from his more outrageous publicity stunts, he knew exactly what people wanted. In a time completely taken by the classical era, a man who looked exactly like some of the ancient statues--and had many, many professional photographs of himself taken to prove this fact--was a 'must see' attraction. Especially for women, of course. When the average 'really fit' guys at the time looked something like this:
Seeing Sandow must have been quite a shock for the ladies. He capitalized on this, too, arranging even more showings and performances for eager audiences. I can't find it online but in a book someplace I saw a picture of Sandow literally surrounded by a group of fascinated women with the stereotypical long skirts, fans, and feather boas of the time period. Unlike the street and circus strongmen, Sandow specifically marketed himself to the higher-paying members of high society and it paid off in terms of both money and reputation.
He didn't forget his roots in the circus, though, and accepted weightlifting challenges from other strongmen. He made shows out of these, too, of course. These were something like high-class versions of professional wrestling, with a great deal of posturing from both lifters and their entourages, bets being placed from the audience, and so forth. Here's part of one account from when Sandow faced 'Hercules':
...The regular contest then began, Hercules setting the first task, which was to raise with the left hand from the ground at arm's length above the head a weight of 170 lbs. The challenger accomplished the feat, and Sandow was also successful at the third attempt, the limit allowed for each trial. Sandow then, amidst renewed applause, raise a dumbbell weighing 226 lbs. with his right hand at arm's length above the head. Hercules declined to attempt the feat, his decision provoking loud cries of disapprobation and a good deal of hissing...." (from Sandow on Physical Training).
From this report, it's difficult to tell exactly what lifts the two men were doing, as most of the lifts of the time ended up with either one or two arms overhead. However, it seems likely that the first lift was a one arm snatch, the second, the bent press--wherein the lifter tipped the barbell on one end, held it in one hand with his elbow firmly supported on his hip; then commenced bending forwards and down away from the weight. The upper arm actually stayed supported against the lifter's side until it was completely straight, so the 'bent press' really was not a press at all, but rather a supporting feat. Once the arm was straight, the lifter would slowly squat under the weight and stand up with it overhead in one hand. As noted by Sig Klein above, the 'poundage potential' of the bent press was absolutely tremendous, bodyweight on the bar was considered a good beginning lift and many accomplished weightlifters could do more in the bent press than in the two arm press, or even push jerk.
Poster showing Sandow completing a bent press with human weights
This, of course, brings us to the question of what Sandow could lift. He was known to exaggerate his numbers (perhaps the first of many men to claim a 'twenty inch arm') and in some advertisements, said that he was the strongest man in the world. He did one arm military presses with what he claimed was a 150-pound dumbbell, and said he could bent press 300 pounds several times in succession. However, the heaviest weights he lifted in a competition wherein the barbells were actually weighed (i.e. not an exhibition with his own weights) Sandow did much less. He apparently put up a 180ish-pound one arm snatch, alternate pressed a pair of hundred-pound dumbbells for a few reps, and did a backflip with a pair of 35-pound weights (he claimed they were 55 apiece). According to David Willougby, Sandow's only official weightlifting record was a 269 1/2 pound bent press, which was soon surpassed by several other lifters, and of course was much lower than Sandow's claimed ability. He was apparently seen by many to do two hundred consecutive strict pushups, in addition to doing a one-finger one arm chin with any of his ten fingers, (get started on that here, Alex is already well on his way to a one-finger OAC!)though he used a sort of 'hook grip' arrangement on a strap to assist his thumb (Willoughby).
As to how he trained, he built the majority of his ability in his formative years, and from then on primarily maintained it with his daily performances. He did a great deal of advertising for his 'system' of training with very light dumbbells--which probably played no role in his own development, but were definitely easier to sell than full barbell sets!--in addition to publicizing various methods of physical training for men in the military. This is perhaps what we should give him the most credit for; being a tremendous spokesperson for lifting, health, and physical culture, and playing a huge role in popularizing being lean, agile, and 'in shape' as well as strong. Of course he was a very good lifter too, though only average for the time, in comparison to the massively powerful 'continental' lifters (of course, his overall athleticism was far beyond theirs) but his legacy is by far his greatest accomplishment: Simply put, he was the right man at the right time to truly bring physical culture to the masses. Moreover, he's considered by many to be the 'father of modern bodybuilding' for his obsession with aesthetic goals. The 'Mr. Olympia' professional bodybuilding trophy is, and always has been, a statue of Sandow himself for a reason.
Yep, Arnold has seven of these.
Finally, of course, Sandow paved the way for many individuals who came after him. The next 'lifter profile' I'll do will be for either Arthur Saxon or Max Sick--and I'll have a lot more actual information on his training in that blog post. Stay tuned!
Sources:
Klein, Sig. How much can you bent press. 1936.
Adam, G. Mercer. Sandow on Physical Training. 1894.
1. showing what I ment by training muscles that assist in the important movements I'm working now.
2. the importance of working antagonist muscle groups and how to save time doing it
nothing wrong with pumping it up!
In this video is an example of what i do now to strengthen the chest and shoulders. They are important in training hand balancing and pullups. Building the shoulder girlde will also prevent damage when going for maximal strength in such movements. I use slightly higher repetitions than on my main movement training.
Flyes and rear delt flyes are not movements that I want to perfect or think are awesomely cool, but they are good for assistance. As you see,I pair the antagonist muscle groups here to save time and I don't think they interfere with my performance, although I don't care much if I perform my best when doing higher rep work like this.
In this video I train forearm pumping. This is a complement to my finger training to build the surrounding muscles of the forearm and pump blood into the area. One thing I do for fingers is dead hang on a small edge, like in this video and I like to have the finger strength to do stuff like in this video: edge front levers
I trained antagonists here as well. Brachioradialis in the first set of cross body hammer curls and the flexors in the set of wrist curls.
I believe these lighter things have benefit for me to keep training the harder stuff without getting injured and to keep progressing witout weak links.
What do you think of the subject? Well needed or unnessecary energy wasted?
Aris DeMarco
In part one, I wrote about the general factors you should consider when designing a specific training program, regardless of what your goal(s) are. Here's a detailed example; a recent program of mine that got me to my first triple bodyweight deadlift.
Setting the goal:
After joining the strongfirst deadlift team, I of course began thinking of our competition and wanted to put up a good number on the platform. About two months before the meet, my best deadlift was 395. The goal I settled on was simple--add 15+ pounds to my deadlift 1RM in 8 weeks. I'd been hovering around a 2.5-2.75x bodyweight pull for some time, and figured that my first powerlifting meet would be a good place to smash through the triple bodyweight barrier and break through into the 400s. Plus, a triple bodyweight lift would be a state record in the IPA, albeit an unofficial one (as it would not be done in a full power meet).
Limitations:
I had some severe limitations at this time. I trained at home, and my mismatched plates, knurling-deficient bar and uneven basement floor didn't exactly provide great lifting conditions. Also, I'd be recovering without the very high protein, high calorie diet of the all-you-can-eat meal plan I enjoyed while at school. Thus, I had to take steps to adapt. First off, because I was training under less than ideal conditions with only 8 weeks to go before the meet, any sort of pre-planned periodization cycle would be ill advised at best.
Not exactly the Russian camp at Taganrog...
Sacrifices:
Given my recovery limitations and the fact that I really wanted to work as hard as possible on deadlifts, I decided to cut all 'unnecessary' exercises out of my training. Ideally, of course, I'd do some sort of pullups, rows, hyperextensions, shrugs, or whatnot to help boost my deadlift; or include squats or presses to balance out my routine, but I decided that wasn't necessary to improve my pull. I'm built pretty decently for the deadlift and can gain well on it just by doing it. So deadlift I did, and... for 7 weeks that's all that I did.
Personal enjoyment:
This was pretty straightforward. The deadlift is one of my favorite lifts, and I was perfectly content doing nothing else for almost two months. Meet prep was frustrating at times, especially when my basement flooded and I had to wear rubber boots to lift, but my eventual progress was definitely worth any temporary lack of my usual zeal for training.
An effective approach:
Over the past couple of years, I'd come to notice that moderate frequency, low to moderate volume, high intensity training was best for my deadlift. Working up to a top set of varying reps every 4-7 days or so really seemed to be the best course. I decided to stick with those basic guidelines (moderate frequency, fairly low volume, high intensity) when planning my prep program for this meet.
Regarding my deadlift itself, speed off the floor is definitely my strong suit and lockout is my weak point. Generally, I rip the bar off the floor and try to blow through most of the sticking point with momentum from a fast start, then grind the rest of the way to lockout. I decided to alternate sessions in which I spent a lot of time developing speed, with sessions developing grinding strength and lockout power. So:
Day 1
Beltless speed pull doubles in 2 or 3 progressive waves of 2-4 sets, for example:
215x2, 245x2; 235x2, 265x2; 215x2, 285x2; 255x2, 285x2, 305x2
*I tried to increase the weight I could lift in 1 second, videotaping many sets in order to time the lifts. I pulled from a low pause because it wasn't as rough on my recovery. I don't have a video of this, but I slowly squeezed the bar off the floor about an inch, paused, and snapped it to lockout from there; a 'standing start', if you will.
Day 2
Ramp up to a top set of 3-5 belted deadlifts, or a top double-paused DL single. I often followed the double-paused pulls with a set of 5-10 RDLs, e.g.
Double pause DL 135x5, 215x1, 265x1, DL 305x1, 335x1, double pause DL 365x1, RDL 215x5, 285x10
*Double pause deadlifts were done with a short pause just off the floor, and another at the knee. This was to take away my momentum completely and force me to grind the lift all the way through instead of relying on my speed.
Terrible video quality, but you get the idea
And... there you have it. I designed a program based around 1. my very clear goal, 2. what had worked for me in the past, and 3. my training conditions (and limitations) at the time; trained very hard, and was successful. My deadlift went from 395 to 412.5 in 8 weeks.
Other stuff...
As I anticipated (though I did hope--and try--to prove myself wrong) I was unable to pull a really good top single in training; failing with 375 and 385 several times... quite stupid, really. The biggest weight I moved during prep was 365. I did manage 360x4 about two and a half weeks out from the competition, and that let me know that I was on target. Simply put, the strength I built could not be demonstrated well under training conditions.
As far as tapering for the meet went, I just worked very very hard and then took the week off before competing. Doing only one lift, I chose my first two attempts very conservatively (360 and 385) so that I'd have plenty of energy to go all-out on my third; a strategy that paid off.
The lift I wanted to make before I even started lifting....
As always, I hope this blog was informative (and didn't bore you to death!) --I'll have the next posts for the old(e)time strongman series and the bodyweight progressions series up before too long.
You can leave comments and questions below or send them to affectinggravity@gmail.com, and watch our youtube vids here.
I’ve read
many times about making the distinction between training movements or training
muscles. I think the main point is that the ones who regard themselves as
athletes or functional train movements and bodybuilders, fitness models and
regular beach buffs train their muscles.
What is a
movement? – I train to be strong in the squat!
What is a
muscle? – Today, I’m training quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings!
The
difference lies in what you’re trying to accomplish. If the movement is your
focus, you’ll do whatever you need to get better and stronger in that movement,
even if that means less visual difference. Such a thing may be the bench press
with an arched back and a close grip.
If the
muscle is your goal to work, you’ll do whatever it takes to stimulate growth in
that specific muscle, disregarding how strong you get in a certain movement. Bench
pressing with a wider grip and a flat back and slower tempo to fatigue the pectorals.
I have been
thinking in movements a long time now because I think that when training mostly
bodyweight and gymnastics, it’s hard to isolate a specific muscle. I also get
more joy and fun out of training for a skill, rather than a pumped muscle!
Lately
though, I have been thinking more about muscle. Not as in I dream of Arnold
(not every night, at least) but as in I’m starting to contemplate what I get
from training. What I carry with me after working a movement very hard, except
for mastery of that specific movement of course.
One BIG
aspect is what I call carryover. I’m talking about, for example, if you train
your body to achieve a one arm pullup over a long time – what else can you do
after that? I know I could do a bar muscle up the first time I tried it. I
could almost hit an iron cross on rings. Hands only rope climbs were downright
easy. My front lever holds became better with very little direct work.
Training in my ninja dojo. Has carryover to everything you can think of.
Of course
this is not only carryover from one arm pull-ups but from the many hard
sessions of core training, handstands, lifting weights and my endless grip
training I do each week. But it’s a very fun state to reach, when you can try
new (and sometimes pretty advanced) stuff and learn it really quick and reap
benefits right away.
It’s fun to
train movements, but I've started to recognize that it is also the muscle strength that
give you the carry over and perhaps get some great gains in strength and skill when you try nre stuff. So, if you're not competing in a certain lift, why wouldn't you train in way that strengthens all the muscles involved and get you as all round strong as possible?
What about:
1. build a base with good compuond exercises, perhaps my basic bodyweight routine in The minimalist series
2. get awesomely strong at that and start to test new exercises, perhaps gymnastic movements
3. identify what muscles need to become stronger to get ever more awesome, and work them specifically, perhaps using stricter form, similar movements as the ones you train, or isolation exercises.
I always
keep my base the same. Chins, pushups, squats, lifts. But I also keep a portion
of weak point bodybuilding, as I call it, in my training. Right now, I’m working
my shoulders a lot with lateral raises and reverse flyes. Not just to get big
deltoids, but to get better handstands, pull-ups and ring training.
No right or
wrong here. Just doesn’t have to be “either/or” when it comes to training,
especially if you are training to have fun with a lot of different things!
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