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From the Archives : 29 Things to do with a Barbell in the Corner

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : From the archives

I'm travelling for a couple of weeks (back around June 8). In the meantime, here are a few hidden gems from the archives.

Enjoy.

29 Things to do with a Barbell in the Corner

Jason Kirby

Have you been looking for a way to attract some attention in the gym, or some new tricks to slip up your sleeve? Here are a few twists on some old moves using 1 or 2 barbells against a wall. The set up is painfully simple; find some space to place a barbell or two, make sure you have at least 5 or 6 feet on either side of you (for safety reasons) and some plates. In our experience we find that it is a good idea to have several 10 pound weights due to their ease in loading the barbell with steady increments, and they help to increase the range of motion, but to also have a some 45's as well because sometimes, you just need more weight.

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An Introduction to Blobs

posted by Alfred Page
Filed in : Articles
Tags : grip

A Blockweight or 'Blob' as it is commonly known, is a single cut head from a dumbbell. A Blob can come in any size, weight or shape depending on which style of dumbbell it has been cut from. The most common are 'hex' head and the aspirin-shaped cast heads. The original 'Blob' and the idea for a training tool, belongs to Richard Sorin and it is this shape, cut from an old 100lb York cast dumbell, which is used in the GNC Grip Gauntlet.

Training with Blobs can build tremendous total hand and grip strength, with particular emphasis on the often underdeveloped thumb and 'pinch grip'. The idea is simple: Pick the Blob off the floor with one hand.

For my own training, which forms the basis of this article, I use heads from York Legacy Dumbbell, although nearly all of the methods can be applied with most other shapes. These are cast iron and have one fairly flat side and a flared side. I have 5 of these ranging from 12.5kg up to 22.5kg in 2.5kg increments, and before getting them had never touched, or even seen a Blob.

My training

To begin with I trained a brief session almost every day, with a combination of single lifts, timed holds and passing it from hand to hand, or around my body. This daily training soon proved excessive so I eased off to 2 or 3 sessions per week. During this time I was doing little or no gripper work, with is my other main grip interest.

It felt most natural for me to place my 4 fingers on the flared side of the Blob and my thumb on the flat side. I soon realised this was in fact the 'easy' way of lifting them and it was more difficult and thus productive, to attempt all the lifts with my thumb on the flared side. Obviously at first it meant backing down to the smaller weights and building the strength back up and then my goal was always lifting the next weight up in this manner.

Note: Your Pinch strength is ultimately determined by your thumb strength.

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Give it Away : Donating Disused Training Equipment to Charity

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Articles
Tags : charity

I received an email this morning from someone looking to upgrade a few items from their home gym, and wondering what to do with the old equipment. The short answer - give it away.

How? Glad you asked.


Running Shoes : if you enjoy an occasional run, chances are that you have several pairs of shoes that get infrequent use at best. Rather than let them sit and gather dust, consider giving them to an organisation like Shoe 4 Africa or Soles 4 Souls; where they'll be cleaned up, sorted, and given to runners in the poorer parts of the world.

You get a clean cupboard, they get shoes. Everybody wins.

Clothing : although I'm talking about training clothing here, any clothing can be donated in the same way.

If - like me - you've inadvertently managed to accumulate a swag of workout gear over the years that no longer fits (t-shirts particularly), pass on the older models to places like Cancer Research UK, the Salvation Army or local charity shops.

Equipment : if you've been lifting for a while, there are probably a couple of items that don't get used all that often. Or perhaps you've just managed to land yourself a new rack, and there's a perfectly good one just sitting there.

Whatever the case, there are charities that specifically collect and redistribute this equipment. Of these, the largest is the Fitness4Charity group. Fantastic organisation.

NB : for smaller pieces of equipment and sporting goods, the Salvation Army is a great option.

Books : I've been surrounded by books for as long as I can remember, and an avid collector (and reader) for most of that time. To say I've got a few items in my fitness library is definitely understating things.

Given that, I'm always amazed when people sell their own precious strength-training tomes. Of course, if you're going to be getting rid of these gems in any case, why not donate them to Hands Across the Water, Books 4 Tanzania or your local library, school or gym.

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Fix Your Body with a Foam Roller: The Basics

posted by Derek 'D-Rock' Peruo
Filed in : Articles
Tags : recovery

As strength athletes, we spend much of our training time lifting and moving very heavy weight. These loads place tremendous strain on the body and can lead to tension and improper muscular alignment when performed without proper recovery. I'm sure most of us are aware of just how quickly tight hamstrings (for example) break down proper form on a squat or stone lift! Over time, if the form is not corrected, it's quite possible a serious injury may occur. By applying the techniques discussed below, we can release the tension built-up over time from heavy training and help our bodies prevent injury in the future.

The Science

SMR--Self-Myofascial Release--is the simplest way to use a foam roller. Think of it as "stretching without the stretch". During SMR, pressure is applied to a muscle causing activation of the Golgi Tendon Organ, which in turn signals muscle spindles to release and relax the muscle being worked on. In addition, SMR also breaks down scar tissue and unsticks muscle fascia as you work your way from one end of the muscle to the other.

While this double-whammy of "stretch" and "massage" makes SMR an amazingly efficient prehab and recovery tool, the best part is that it can be applied to your current training program without too much adjustment. A 10- or 15-minute SMR progression at the end of your current routine can serve as a great cool down after a hard day of lifting.

General Guidelines

• Roll the entire length of the muscle at a comfortable pace.
• Stop on tender spots for 20-30 seconds and apply static pressure, then continue rolling.
• If a muscle is particularly tight or sore, roll it briefly and return to it later for a second or third pass after you roll the other muscle groups.
• Some rolling is better than no rolling at all. If you're pressed for time, select only a few muscle groups to work on and schedule the rest for a later session.
• The more often you roll, the better; but even 2 or 3 sessions per week will lead to improvements.

When I foam roll, I prefer to begin at my calves and work my way up to the neck. Feel free to experiment and find a sequence that works best for your needs and with your program.

The Techniques

Calves

Sit with your calves on top of the roller. Use your arms to lift your butt off the ground, placing pressure on the calves. Locking the knees straight puts more emphasis on the gastrocnemius; unlocking the knees puts more emphasis on the soleus and achilles tendon.
Rolling onto the inner and outer calves will work the peroneals muscles. To increase the pressure, stack one leg on top of the other.

Hamstrings

Sit with your hamstrings on top of the roller. Lift your butt off the ground and place pressure on the hamstrings. Lifting your feet off the ground and/or rolling one hamstring at a time will increase the pressure on the muscles.

IT Band and Glute Medius

Turn so the side of your thigh is resting on top of the roller. Place the foot of the opposite leg on the ground in front of you and use your arms to control the pressure. Be sure not to turn too far on to the front or back of the thigh. To increase the pressure, lift the foot of the working leg off the ground.
To work the gluteus medius, place the side of your hip socket onto the foam roller. Make sure you don't lean too far forward or back. Lift the foot of the working leg of the ground to increase pressure.

Quads, TFL and Adductors

Turn so the front of your thighs are resting on top of the foam roller. Lift your feet off the ground and/or roll one leg at a time to increase the pressure. Be sure to work both the vastus medialis and vastus lateralis by adjusting the angle of your thigh.
Working one leg at a time, place the front of your thigh on top of the roller. Rock forward and back until you feel pressure right on the hip socket. Use your arms and feet to adjust the pressure.
To work the adductors, lie face down with the roller parallel to your body. Flex one hip and place your inner thigh onto the roller.

Glute Max

To work the glute max, sit with your hands and feet on the floor and your butt resting on the foam roller. Be cautious not to bruise your tail bone as you roll along the length of the muscle. Shifting your weight onto one butt cheek will increase the pressure in that glute.
To hit the piriformis, bring the ankle of the working leg onto the knee of the supporting leg, lifting that butt cheek off the foam roller. Adjust the pressure by shifting weight on and off the supporting hand and foot.

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Transitioning to a Paleo Diet

posted by Methuselah
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
Tags : diet, low-carb, paleo

I won't go into detail on what the Paleo diet is, since that's covered elsewhere. This article is about how to transition to it rather than what it is. However, it is worth briefly pointing out that there are a number of variants that loosely fall under the banner of Hunter Gatherer / Ancestral / Palaeolithic / Primal living. The differences, where they exist, are pretty subtle and certainly not worth worrying about if you are planning to transition from some other eating plan to this one.

The first thing to say is this: everyone is different. I went from being a porridge-worshipping fruit hound who carried a rucksack full of bananas and home-made muesli bars everywhere I went, to a fairly strict Paleo dude in the space of 24 hours. I read about it, it made sense, I did it.

My better half, on the other hand, has taken 3 years to transition. Chances are, you are more like her; but if you are more like me, then you can stop reading here, because you are so obsessive and single-minded about this sort of thing that you don't need advice on how to make the switch anyway.

Step 1 - Identify the Good Guys and Bad Guys

To go Paleo you basically stop eating certain foods and eat more of others to replace the calories. The new foods will be more nutritionally dense that the ones they displaced - hence you get healthier.

So I recommend writing down a list of the foods you need to stop eating (e.g. potatoes, rice, bread, refined sugar) and a list of the foods you need to eat more of (e.g. meat, fish, eggs, nuts.)

You can use this as a reference as you transition, just to remind yourself where you want to get to. Beyond this, how meticulously you plan and document your activities is down to your own style. Do whatever works best for you.

Step 2 - Identify a Bad Guy you Think you can Beat

For my other half, it was refined sugar. The great thing about this one is that you can get some pretty tangible benefits from that change alone.

The key is to pick these suckers off one by one rather than try to do too much. That way your sense of achievement that is not sullied by the fact you are still eating other non-Paleo foods. If you only aimed to give up one thing to start with, then you have succeeded.

Step 3 - Identify the Good Guys

As you start tackling the bad guys, you need to identify your allies amongst the good guys. As you transition to Paleo you will start to lose your treats. No more crackers with creamed cheese or potato chips in front of the TV. You will suddenly become aware of how emotionally ingrained some of the snacking habits you've developed over the years are.

For me, porridge was strongly linked to childhood. I still miss it now. But once I started exploring the Good Guys I realised I had some fantastic allies - and now I have even stronger bonds with Paleo foods and now I wouldn't give them up in favour of porridge or any other non-Paleo foods. My snacking allies are nuts, coconut (in its many forms) and seeds. Other allies are avocado and scrambled eggs.

Step 4 - Re-Position your Thinking on Meal Composition

You have some meat, some vegetables and some brown stuff - this was how I heard a young child describe mealtimes on a recent documentary. Clearly it depends where you are in your transition as to how much and which types of brown stuff you have with your meals. But as you start to pick off the bad guys like rice and potatoes, you need to start seeing meals as meat and vegetables only.

The challenge is then to be inventive and use variety to keep things interesting. Ever eaten a rabbit? Lamb's hearts? Venison liver? Fresh Crab? There are hundreds of types of fish. Indeed there are hundreds of varieties of vegetables too. And with the potential to throw coconut, nuts, seeds and fruit into the bargain, suddenly pasta seems a little dull - mere padding. This is how you need to think. Exciting recipes for Paleo meals abound on the internet.

Step 5 - Re-Position your Thinking on Macronutrients

Paleo is low carb, by definition - as you eat more of the good guys, you'll get more fat and protein. As you eat fewer of the bad guys you will get fewer carbs. Embrace this - it's why you can still get full without the brown stuff. It's why this diet is so healthy.

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Hammering Strength into the Wrists Part II

posted by Jedd 'Napalm' Johnson
Filed in : highlighted
Tags : forearm, grip, hand strength, rugby, sledgehammer, wrist strength

As we learned in Part I of Hammering Strength into the Wrists, wrist strength is very important in sports. With strong wrists, the athlete is more capable of controlling and exerting force with the sporting implement. Also, the athlete with strong, fortified wrists will be more resilient against developing an injury. Strength coaches that are spending time building up their athletes' wrists are helping them to stay in the game longer and to be more successful.

Also in Part I, we learned a handful of basic hammer levering movements and ways to easily modify them for plenty of variation in the training program. The sledge hammer is an outstanding implement for building wrist and lower arm strength. However, we have only skimmed the surface so far! There are many more great ways to use the hammer to pump serious strength into the wrists and lower arms.

Hand-to-Hand Tossing

Tossing the sledge hammer is a great way to build wrist strength and hand-to-eye coordination. To begin, hold the handle in the upright position in one hand. From there, toss it over to the other hand. When you start out out, you may have to toss it with the hands very close together, but you should try to work toward tossing it up and over to the other hand once you get better at the task.

The goal of this exercise is to toss the hammer from one hand to the other without letting the hammer head drop to the floor. This may seem like a simple task, but the dynamic nature of this movement can make it very challenging to keep the hammer head elevated. With an 8-pound hammer, even a slight angle to the hammer makes it hard to control.

You will see right away that you will not be able to catch it perfectly every single time. Sometimes you will catch it in the center of your palm and others you will catch it with your fingers. The further away from the wrist you catch it, the more torque will be involved in the catch, and the more challenging the exercise becomes.

Heavy Hammer Swinging

As you may have seen on the Diesel site, I recently added an addition to my house which caused large cinder blocks and concrete blocks to be deposited in my lawn. I have taken it upon myself to try to break up these blocks by hitting them with a 20-pound sledge hammer, and have found that this is an extreme exercise! Striking tires with a lighter hammer is one thing, but it does not compare to beating on a concrete slab with a giant 20-pounder! Each swing of the hammer wears out your core, shoulders, and chest, but it really does a number on your lower arms, wrists, and especially the thumbs.

I like to swing the 20-pounder in groups of at least 20 repetitions. In order to do this you must find a balance between tension and relaxation of your body. If you tense up or rush too much, your body will fatigue, forcing you to stop early; but if you avoid excess tension, you will be able to perform dozens of repetitions before burning out.

Hammer Chain Twists

I am warning you right now, the exercise I am about to describe is freaking serious. If you are not committed to building the strongest wrists possible, then don't try this. Any weakness of the mind, heart or spirit will cause you to fail.

This exercise involves connecting a chain to the head of a sledge hammer. I did so with some athletic tape, but you can use whatever you like. Next, pick the hammer up to the near parallel position. Once elevated, the idea is to begin twisting the hammer handle in an attempt to completely raise the chain.

I am telling you, this exercise is freaking tough. I use an 8-pound hammer with a thick chain, making it very challenging. I did this the other day and felt it from my finger tips all the way through my arms and into my shoulders. Two days later, and my supinator muscles are still fried! Be sure to twist in both directions in order to maintain balance in the antagonistic muscles. This exercise is a keeper!

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Innovative Training : Band Suspended Weight

posted by Justin Andrushko
Filed in : Articles
Tags : abdominal, bands, Old-Time Strength

You may have heard of the "Crazy Bell" bench press exercise made popular by Louie Simmons of Westside-Barbell with the use of a bamboo bar. Instead of having the weight slide onto the barbell like a typical bench press exercise, the weight is suspended by bands; this suspended weight bench press method is excellent for training stability in the upper body and shoulders. The weight bounces creating pull in different parts of the motion making for a very challenging exercise. The bamboo bar has a higher modulus of elasticity than the standard Olympic bar, meaning it has a greater flex to it, which causes the bar to be more challenging to stabilize through the range of motion required for the exercise.
Now that you understand what the "Crazy Bell" bench press is and how it works, I would like to introduce you to a range of exercises for the lower body that this same method can be applied to. There is no reason that this excellent stability method cannot be transferred to the lower body as long as it is done properly with safe technique. As you can see pictured below, this method does not require expensive kettle bells or fancy bamboo bars; it can be performed with standard plates and barbells. 


Intermediate Lifts

I have intermediate athletes perform both the Zercher Squat and Zercher Good Morning from pins or a "racked position" to give them stability at the bottom of the lift. It may be difficult for an intermediate athlete to perform these lifts safely with the band suspended weight through the full range of motion without putting their knees and/or back at risk of injury, as an intermediate athlete may not be able to maintain proper technique though the full range of motion.

Zercher Squat from pins


This exercise is excellent for building core strength in an athlete. I found that performing this exercise forced me to engage my core more than I normally would have when I rigged up the weight using red bands and 35-pound plates, which provided minimal bounce. I used this exercise on my dynamic lower body day for three sets of ten. I also feel it would make a good supplemental exercise during a max effort lower body workout, to focus on the core and to give the legs a little extra work after performing a max effort lift. I experienced the effects of the exercise immediately after I racked the bar and felt swelling throughout my entire core. The next day I felt minimal soreness in my legs, however, I definitely felt the benefit in my core. This is an excellent supplemental exercise for core training on a leg day.

Zercher Good Morning from Pins


I had similar results to the Zercher Squat from pins with this exercise. The weight I used did not have an overwhelming amount of bounce to it - 35-pound plates with red bands. However, it did create enough instability to engage my core more than without the band suspended weight. I performed the exercise for three sets of ten as a supplemental exercise for my core and posterior chain on my dynamic leg day.

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Pleasure Spiked with Pain : Training for the One Finger Lift

posted by Jeff Wilson
Filed in : Articles
Tags : bending, grip, kettlebells, Old-Time Strength

With certain feats comes the assurance of pain - not the usual type of soreness that's customary with having gone a little overboard on the reps and sets from a traditional workout, but pain that occurs throughout the movement as a result of cuts, blisters, bruising and lord knows what else.

In preparing for pulling a decent number on the one finger lift I knew that I was going to be in for a bit of agony along the way. In training for something like the one finger lift, just as in training for something like barehanded bending, you have to expect and accept the fact that some of your workouts are going to be at least a little unpleasant.

A lot of people would probably question that fact that someone would aspire to a goal that they new was going to cause them some pain and that could potentially cause some serious injury, but those who have a passion for performing these feats of strength understand that it's a matter of testing not only your physical limits - but your mental limits as well.

Despite the fact that you know going into any workout that you could potentially cause yourself harm on a minor or major level doesn't mean that you should just throw caution to the wind though, these types of feats require very carefully planned preparation and a very keen understanding of your body. You not only need strong, developed muscles but all means of support (ligaments and tendons) must be strong and prepared to handle the force that you'll be putting on them as well. Because of this you can't necessarily follow a natural progression as you would with a routine designed to increase your bench press or squat max because it may take the tendons in your hand and wrist longer to recover than it would your chest, back or leg muscles. You'll have to learn the difference between residual soreness that will amount to nothing and the pain that means you need to take an extra day off if you want to stave off injury. This type of feat requires slow, smart and controlled progression to get the best results while staying at as close to one hundred percent as possible.

When my obsession with one finger lifting began just a short time back, I mentioned my intentions to grip legend David Horne via his online grip community and David cautioned me to take great care in attempting lifts of this variety. David, who has managed some astounding numbers on similar lifts, had suffered a nasty injury while performing a one finger lift with the little finger resulting in the need for emergency medical attention. If I hadn't had the advice of an incredible athlete to help me along the way, I believe that there is a very strong chance that my progression thus far may have been halted by injury. With the knowledge I took from this brief conversation, and the decades of personal experience I had in traditional strength training, here is how I got started on working toward a bigger one finger lift.

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DIY: How to Build an Olympic Weightlifting Platform

posted by Kat 'The Mighty Kat' Ricker
Filed in : DIY
Tags : DIY, Olympic Weightlifting

This is an easy design for an eight-foot square platform that will stand up to your heavy training for a long time to come. Protect your floor, your weights, and your knees by lifting at home on a proper training platform.

You'll Need

• Four sheets of 3/4-inch CDX plywood
• One sheet of AB or AC plywood
• One 8' x 4' horse stall (rubber) mat
• About five tubes of industrial-strength adhesive
• Calking gun
• 1 ¼" wood screws
• Drill
• Reciprocating saw

Optional/optimal

• Square


• Chalk/string straight line drawing tool

Construction

1. 

   Lay it out.
   Lay two sheets of CDX plywood lengthwise side by side in the direction you will face to lift.
   
2. 

   Glue it together.
   Spread adhesive.
   
3. 

   More plywood.
   Lay two sheets of CDX plywood crosswise on top of bottom sheets.
   
4. 

   Clamp it down.
   Screw sheets together 2" from edges, 16" apart, around perimeter and along insides edges of top sheets.
   

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Outdoor Fitness: Log Flippin'

posted by ManTis
Filed in : Articles
Tags : conditioning, strength endurance




Great exercise for outdoor training. Image from Log Flippin'.
I used to think that Ren and Stimpy were the only ones crazy enough to like their "Log". Heck, if anyone would have asked me a few years ago what I thought of using a log for getting fit I would have told them they were nuts! But now, I absolutely love them. Why? Because of a few reasons, let me explain.

First and foremost, logs are free. That's right, I said FREE. (Who doesn't want something that's free?!) Logs can be found abundantly in woods and forests and cut to one's own specifications. If the woods or a forest is not an option for some, then scouting for telephone poles new or used is a great alternative. Three of the logs I currently use were all taken from a huge long section of telephone pole that was treated. I stumbled upon it accidentally and it was great find.

Secondly, the workouts that can be done with a log are awesome. Haul it, squat it, carry it, press it, FLIP IT! No matter which exercises are performed they're all tremendous strength builders, hands down.

Thirdly, utilizing an alternative method/object, (i.e. the log) to get fit provides a great opportunity to bring about new mental and physical stimuli, not to mention a lot of fun!

One of my favorite exercises to do with a log is flip it end over end. Somewhat similar to a tire flip, the Log Flip incorporates most of the same muscle groups, (i.e. hamstrings, glutes, lower back, arms, traps, entire core, shoulders) and can be performed in place or over a distance. The weight and size of the log is dependent upon the user. I have three logs that vary in weight; 160lb, 135lb and 100lb respectively with a forth on the way that weighs 250lb+.

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Unusual Goals Require Unusual Measures

posted by Jeff Wilson
Filed in : Articles
Tags : bending, grip, Old-Time Strength




Great exercise - the Plate Curl.
I've been involved in some aspect of sports and fitness for almost my entire life - baseball, soccer, boxing and ultimately strength sports and I have always been a huge proponent of sport/activity specific training in order to achieve the best results. If I wanted to improve my fielding I took ground balls; improving my footwork for soccer meant dribbling drills and upping my deadlift max meant - you guessed it, more deadlifting. Of course there were always supplemental movements incorporated into any stage of my training, but for the most part that's how I treated them - as supplements to the most important movement(s).

When my focus on training took a turn just under a year ago to grip and old school feats of strength I initially assumed that my training would take the same course as it always had. I would focus on a goal and perform the core movements required to get better at and achieve that goal. Well any of you out there who specifically train with focus on these particular feats probably already know that this isn't always the best course to follow regarding some feats of strength.

With power lifting and bodybuilding there is and endless array of plans and formulas based on years and years of research by top performing athletes and coaches that have good track records of proven results. If you want to get a single lift, or your power lifting total, up you can try: Westside, 5 X 5's, 3 X 3's, Buckeye, Smolov, linear periodization, etc, etc, etc. You'll be able to easily find spreadsheets that you can punch your current max and your goal into and the numbers that you'll use to attain your goal will automatically be generated for you - like a road map to your success.

With some grip activities and feats of strength similar modalities of training as described above can be implemented because there is a natural progression towards the ultimate goal. Closing hand grippers is one example of this - CoC, Beef Builder, Heavy Grips etc all have low, medium, difficult (and darn near impossible) grippers that you can work your way through - knowing what your next step will be along the way.

With certain feats of strength though, it's not so cut and dried. The formulas simply don't exist, and with certain feats there is no build up to the eventual completion and very little in the way of track-able progression to tell you how close you are to actually achieving your goal. One of my recent goals was to crush a full soda can - this is one of those feats that there is no training information on, that there is no gradual progression toward and that there is no way of knowing when you're ready. Admittedly, much of my plan was founded through trial and error, but here is how I achieved that goal...

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Six Simple and Effective Kettlebell Exercises for Athletes

posted by Doug Fioranelli
Filed in : Articles
Tags : abdominal, grip, kettlebells




48kg Bottom up Press by 'Unbreakable' Adam Glass.
I am a RKC kettlebell instructor and though I have grown fond of using kettlebells I do not use them solely for my training or the training of my athletes. For some certified kettlebell instructors that is considered sacrilegious, however I feel being a good trainer it is not about using primarily one training tool or program, nor is it wise to mix everything you can into a program with no rhyme or reason.

When training athletes I rationalize which kettlebell movements are useful if they meet three criteria:

• The exercise is easy to learn
• The exercise can't be replicated better with another exercise variation
• The exercise enhances the movements and energy systems we are trying to train

As you will see, all of the following exercises fit these criteria. All are fairly simple to learn so they do not detract too much from the time of the training session. All of these exercises, I feel, are best done with kettlebells rather than any other training equipment out there. These exercises can be implemented in a variety of ways within the varying scheme of sets and repetitions; therefore they can be manipulated to fit the movements and energy system(s) trained.

Deadlift to Goblet Squat

This is a relatively simple exercise that can be used to teach proper deadlift mechanics by driving from the hips and completing with a good snap at the top. I use this exercise a lot at the beginning of a workout to get the hips mobile and to prime the body for training. You will notice that it can be very challenging on the conditioning level, especially if you got for high reps.

Adding Dan John's Goblet Squat into it makes the exercise a bit more challenging because it requires more coordination and stability from the abdominal muscles to keep you from pulling forward.

Keep the kettlebell between the knees and feet, look up to keep a flat back, drive your hips upward. At the top of the deadlift pull the kettlebell up slightly and catch in the Goblet position and then go into a front squat. At the top of the squat drop the kettlebell back down to the low position and begin the deadlift again.



2-Arm Swings with Catch (Variations)


When the athlete can perform 2-arm swings proficiently then it is time mix in some fun along with speed, coordination and grip training. This is a great exercise for martial artists, wrestlers, and boxers who need to have quick hands.

At the top of the swing where the arms are extended simply let go of the bell and "regrab" it without having it pull you forward. When this becomes easy try touching your chest then quickly grabbing the bell, or tapping the handle as many times as you can with alternating hands.

1-Arm Alternating Swings

This swing variation is a great exercise for building up explosive power, conditioning, and grip strength. By switching hands you establish a great rhythm for the movement with your hip snap, which is important when doing conditioning training. Switching hands requires the grip to work more to catch and [slightly] decelerate the kettlebell on the downswing. By alternating arms one can truly train their conditioning because one arm is resting while the other is performing the movement, so high repetition sets are achievable. At the top of the 1-arm swing where the arm is extended meet the handle with your free hand to allow for a simple switch.

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Maintaining the Balance

posted by John Frieser
Filed in : Articles
Tags : juggling




Balance.
An elite athlete must have a number of physical and mental abilities in order to dominate the competition. One of these abilities is balance. Although it is obvious that balance, in the physical sense, greatly contributes to success on the playing field, achieving a general "life balance" is just as critical. Usually the same drive that allows us to push ourselves and compete day in day out also pushes us to take on many activities, jobs and responsibilities at once.

At some point in our lives, we've all taken part in the juggling act that is life and have felt overwhelmed by it. We always demand more of ourselves. We compete. We are "doers". We achieve and we do it all, not because our parents, friends, coaches, or teachers want us to, but because we can't live without the challenge or the feeling of trying something new. Since we are overachievers, we must also be mindful of how easy it is to overload ourselves with too many activities and focus too much attention on one or two tasks. One of the best pieces of advice that I have ever received revolves around this exact topic; balance. The advice was that no matter what was going on in life, you MUST always maintain the 5 Fs to create a healthy balance. The 5 Fs are as follows:

FAITH - No matter what your beliefs are, make sure you satisfy your needs for a spiritual life whether it's attending service, discussing your beliefs with loved ones, praying alone, or simply taking some quiet time for yourself to reflect on the day. Although often times faith is associated with religion, it doesn't necessarily have to be experienced in that manner.

FAMILY - Never, under any circumstances, neglect your family. They are the most important people in your life. They are why you are here and why you have the opportunities you have. Always be respectful and show them the love they deserve.

FRIENDS - After family, your friends are the second most important support structure for your life. Make sure you set aside time to just "hang out" and enjoy yourself. All work and no play makes us very boring people.

FITNESS - Of course, a well balanced, healthy life can not be lived without exercise. This is where strength & conditioning and sports come into play. Whether a child or an adult, novice or expert, this is an absolute must. It's also key in helping us burn off some of the frustrations that other parts of our lives bring into the mix. I've never worked out and not felt better afterwards. Unfortunately, this is often the first activity that is sacrificed in an overloaded schedule.

FOOD - Sometimes when we are busy, we forget to eat and eat healthy. If you are working hard at your job, at school, on the field and in the weight room, you need to fuel your body for success. If you are expending a lot of energy, you need to ingest healthy sources of fuel and get them in at the right time. Like my college coach used to tell us, "your body is a machine, like a new sports car". If you want it to give you the best performance, you need to feed it the premium grade fuel, not the cheap stuff that will just get you by. As athletes, we must aim to eat 5 - 6 small meals a day, with each meal containing protein, carbohydrates, and fats in order to sustain our level of activity and remain mentally sharp. I can't tell you how many times that I've become so involved in a task that I'm doing at work that I forget to eat. By the time I realize that I haven't had food in me for four or five hours, it's already too late. I feel famished, weaker, and less focused.

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Another 30 Days Without Weights

posted by Matt Potak
Filed in : Articles
Tags : recovery




Gymnastics. Photo by Wee Minxy.
In my first article on bodyweight training titled 30 days without weights, I spoke about the many benefits of using bodyweight training during a training phase. After the article was published I started to get questions from many athletes regarding this type of training. Most of the questions were asked about keeping your strength. Many athletes feared that by not lifting weights they would get smaller and weaker, in their current sport. My response to certain athletes varied. In the end I told all of them that if they did difficult bodyweight exercises, with intensity, they would still maintain or even improve their strength levels. Here's how.

The key is to do bodyweight exercises that are difficult.

Don't just do a bunch of pushups and situps to failure. Doing this will get you weaker. You have to try things that you can't or almost can't do. Instead of trying to do a bunch of pushups try to do a one arm pushup or pushups with your feet elevated. Or you can try to do a handstand pushup. Below are some examples of how to keep your upper body strong using difficult bodyweight movements.

Upper Body Movements Without Weights

Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced
Pushups	Pushups ( Feet elevated)	Handstand Pushups
Pullups (assistance)	Pullups (No Help)	Pullups (One Arm)
Dips (assistance)	Dips (No Help)	Gironda Dips
Pushups	Hindu Pushups	Dive Bomber Pushups
Chinups (assistance)	Chinups (No help)	One arm Chins
Pushups with Clap	Pushups (Double Clap)	Pushups (Triple Clap)

Lower Body Movements Without Weights

Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced
B/W Squats (parallel)	B/W Squats ATG	Squat Jumps (get depth)
Lunges	Pistols	One Legged Squat
Lunges	Split Squat Jumps	Side Split Squat Jumps
Hip Ext	One Leg Hip Ext	Glute Ham Raise

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Blast from the Past : Chains

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Blast from the Past




Kettlebell TGU with Chain.
Over the past five years this site's amassed an enormous amount of content. To help you find the highlights, I'll be taking a wander through the archives each Sunday.

This week - Chains.

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I first heard about training with chains from Kris, who noted their use in adding variable weight to the bench press. This is their key benefit - the weight of chain varies throughout the exercise, as part of it is on the floor.

Since then, chains have been used in a number of ways. Here are just a few of my favourites :

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Hammering Strength into the Wrists

posted by Jedd 'Napalm' Johnson
Filed in : Articles
Tags : bending, grip, injury prevention, levering, Old-Time Strength, sledgehammer, wrist strength




Baseball.
Wrist strength is very important for many sports, especially those that include the use of bats, sticks, rackets, and other implements. If the wrists are weak, the athlete will not be able to project full force with the implement of his or her sport, and will not have 100% control. Weak wrists in baseball could cause the batter to not be able to check the swing when he realizes the pitch is a ball.

Wrist strength is also very important for keeping the wrist joint healthy. In contact sports, injuries of the wrist are all too common and they can be very nagging on the field or court. These injuries can take a very long time to heal, keeping the athlete out of the game for weeks at times. Strong wrists are more resilient against injury, so athletes must properly prepare them for competition forces.

Unfortunately, many sports teams are not strengthening their wrists properly. Often, sports teams' main grip, forearm, and wrist training is built around one single movement: Wrist Curls. While wrist curls are great for a pump, they do very little for the important sports-specific properties already established at the beginning of this article - force generation, bat/stick/racket control, and injury prevention.



Proper wrist training should be done through all angles, encompassing the many different functions of the wrist including flexion, extension, and ulnar and radial deviation. The images at the left show these four basic movements of the wrist, and in order to prepare for competition, time in the weight room should be dedicated to strengthening all of them. It is plain to see that wrist curls are not going to cut in order to strengthen the wrist in the many angles of movement in which it is designed to perform. So the challenge is before us to find a suitable way to train the wrists.

The sledge hammer is a starting point. An 8-lb sledge hammer costs roughly $25, so it is not an expensive piece of equipment by any means, making it a painless addition to your training collection. The sledge hammer can be used to train the wrist in flexion, extension, and ulnar and radial deviation in a multitude of different ways. What follows is a series of simple exercises you can start off with, using the sledgehammer.

Vertical Lever to the Nose

The first exercise is the Vertical Lever to the Nose. The hammer is brought to the vertical position, lowered under control to the nose or head, and then returned to the vertical position. This exercise trains ulnar deviation.



Possible variations:

- Perform the exercise for reps at normal speed
- Perform the exercise for reps while moving the hammer slowly during the eccentric portion of the exercise
- Hold the hammer at the lowered position prior to returning the hammer to the upright position
- Adjust the grip up and down the handle to increase or decrease intensity, remove a finger or two to increase the crushing / dynamic support component of the fingers.

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The Truth about Honey

posted by Sam Cox
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
Tags : diet, heart disease, recovery




The real thing. Photo by Indigo Goat.
As of late there has been a great deal of debate about the nutritional qualities of honey. I'm here to set the record straight.

Some of what's in this article will make you scratch your head in amazement.
Some of you reading this are very educated in the field of nutrition and will not know this information.

Some of you may say that I am entirely wrong and have no scientific basis for what I'm saying. Look it up, it's all there.

Let's get down to business shall we?

Know first that when I talk about honey I talk about only raw, unfiltered honey, straight from the hive. This junk in the stores isn't worth a penny of your money unless you have an unusual grocery store like I do.

So what is so great about honey? More than you ever knew...

The sugar in honey is comprised of a couple of things - Fructose, Glucose, and a small amount of Sucrose. Glucose is absorbed into your blood rather quickly whereas fructose gets in there more slowly. This mix makes honey the ideal food for sustained energy, the long release of insulin that's not overly bearing on your body. Now this is usually what turns people off to honey, its high sugar content, but you must remember another massive benefit of raw honey, its mineral content.

Raw honey contains many trace minerals including niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc. This isn't an exhaustive list by any means, there are many more. I tell you this because raw honey has such a high mineral content that the minerals actually act as a buffer to the fast absorbing sugar forcing it to be absorbed more slowly. Cool huh?

Minerals are probably the most underrated micronutrient in the public's diet right now. What do they do? They modulate cellular activity, they feed your heart, pancreas and brain, and they have a small part in regulating your immune system. Minerals take a part in every place of your body. Seriously, enough magnesium can reverse heart disease.

Let's talk about enzymes. Raw honey is the most enzyme rich food in existence. What do these enzymes do? It's been found that the enzymes in honey are by and large most useful for digestion. You can test this by taking a spoonful of honey 30-60 minutes before your next meal. You will notice that after the meal it feels like you didn't eat anything at all, and you'll be hungry sooner. These enzymes in the lab have also cured every stomach disorder we know about. But ill talk more on that later.

This can have massive implications for the lifter whether you lift for strength, health, size or performance, the more food you can assimilate the faster your recovery and the greater your strength.

As a serious lifter and athlete the last thing I want to do is get sick...with anything at all. Honey has great antibacterial properties. So much so that in WWII it was used on wounds of burn victims mostly and later on, they found it healed much faster with less scar tissue.

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Get Mental! The Psychology of Strength

posted by Josh Hewett
Filed in : Articles
Tags : diet, sports psychology




Think about it.
"True strength comes from within".

We've all heard similar sayings. Most successful athletes know that their mentality plays a strong role in their performance. Many recreational athletes and trainees also realize on some level that their thoughts and moods affect their workouts. But very few actually dedicate sufficient time to their Mental Conditioning (to "train their brain"). The fact is that the mind (especially the subconscious mind) actually has INCREDIBLE power that many don't acknowledge. Our mind has the ability to make us stronger, more muscular, more athletic, more powerful, even wealthier and happier! Sound unbelievable? As this article will explain, your inner world creates your outer world.

The intention of this article is to share some of the basics of exercise and sport psychology and to illustrate the importance of our thoughts and emotions relative to our physical goals. I will also describe some simple techniques that you can use regularly to improve you performance. This information is directed to those readers who are already participating in a regular bodybuilding or strength training program and are motivated to achieve greater results.

The truth is that it's our mind that determines what results we will achieve. The process goes something like this: Your thoughts and beliefs lead to your emotions, which in turn lead to your actions, which cause your results. Unfortunately, most of us put up our own psychological barriers that interfere with our performance and limit our success. The four-minute mile was a famous example of a psychological barrier. For years runners were apparently not able to run a mile in under four minutes, although many came close. That led to the common belief that this was physically impossible. Incredibly, within a year and a half after Roger Bannister's famous breakthrough, 16 other athletes accomplished it! It wasn't because these athletes were suddenly training harder. They were no longer limited by their beliefs once Bannister had demonstrated what was possible.

What I'm saying is that with a bit of mental conditioning you can expect far superior results from your training, and in many cases it's all that's holding you back.

The four basic principles of mental conditioning are as follows:

1. Set SMARTER Goals.
2. Create a strong, clear mental picture of these goals using Visualization and Imagery training.
3. Reinforce these ideas often using Affirmations.
4. Maintain a positive focus on your objectives and employ interventions such as negative thought-stopping techniques.

The field of exercise and sport psychology is significantly more involved than this, but these principles provide a great starting point for developing a mental training program.

Setting SMARTER Goals

Studies have shown that appropriate goal setting leads to performance enhancement, with moderate to strong effects. To remember the key principles of effective goal setting, think SMARTER; your goals should be:





• Specific - indicate precisely what is to be done. Avoid vague alternatives



• Measurable - you should be able to quantify your goal


• Action-Oriented - develop concrete plan of actions required to move toward your goals


• Realistic - start with moderately difficult goals, rather than too easy or difficult to reach


• Time-Constrained - set specific time limits for both short term and long term goals


• Evaluated - record and monitor your progress regularly


• Reversible - in cases of injury, or failure to achieve a difficult goal, reset goals as needed



Take some time right now to write down your short term goals as well as your long term "dream" goals (the ones that may seem a long way off and harder to achieve). Writing your goals down is the basis of a contract with yourself. It also helps to publicly acknowledge your goals.

Short-term or daily goals are the most important because they provide a focus for our training in each and every session. Past research on elite athletes found that setting daily training goals was one factor that distinguished the successful performers from the less successful.

Many have also found it useful to write a 'Mission Statement' for themselves, which summarizes their basic goals and primary objectives in their life.

Relaxation and Visualization

Scientific research has shown the use of Visualization (or Imagery) to be an important adjunct to physical training. This is why world-class, elite level athletes and coaches use imagery techniques regularly. In fact, past studies have demonstrated that athletes using visualization dramatically improved their performance by comparison with those who didn't.

With clear and vivid visualization training, certain parts of our brain can be stimulated to illicit small neuromuscular signals and specific hormonal changes that can lead to real physical changes in your body and your performance. In addition, we can reprogram our subconscious mind to develop stronger neural "connections" that will reinforce those positive thoughts and beliefs that empower us to achieve our goals.

For visualization / imagery training to be most effective you need to be in a relaxed state with as few distractions as possible. The following simple Progressive Relaxation exercise will help achieve this.

Progressive Relaxation:

1. Choose a quiet, relaxing place where you won't be interrupted.
2. Before you start, do a few gentle stretching exercises to relieve muscular tension.
3. Make yourself comfortable, either sitting or lying down. Close your eyes.
4. Start to breathe slowly and deeply, in a calm and effortless way.
5. Gently tense, and then relax, each part of your body, starting with your feet and working your way up to your face and head.
6. As you focus on each area, count backwards from 10 to 1, relaxing more deeply with each number. Think of warmth, heaviness and relaxation.
7. Push distracting thoughts to the back of your mind; imagine them floating away with each breath.
8. Don't try to relax; simply let go of the tension in your muscles & let them become relaxed on their own.
9. Let your mind go empty. Some people find it helpful to visualize a calm, peaceful place such as a garden or meadow.
10. Stay like this for about 15 to 20 minutes, and do your visualizations (see below). Then take some deep breaths and open your eyes, but stay sitting or lying for a few moments before you get up.

While you are in this relaxed state it is a perfect time to practice visualization training for a few minutes. This is an important part of your mental conditioning program. The key points to remember when practicing your creative visualization are as follows:

1. Your imagery should be as vivid and clear as possible.
2. Always visualize positive and controllable scenarios.
3. Try to imagine in real time: the visualization of an experience should last as long as the actual event (eg: 1 minute). Often we imagine events more quickly than we actually experience them. Model your imagery in "real time".
4. Visualize both the process of achieving your goal, as well as the positive outcome.

Here are a few simple suggestions of visualizations you can do, to get you started:

• See yourself getting up in the morning and being really excited about your goals. See yourself so excited you can't stay in bed any longer.
• Mentally rehearse your training drills, picturing perfect performance in real time.
• Imagine in vivid detail how much faster, stronger, more muscular, more powerful, more athletic you are becoming and how smoothly your body responds.
• Visualize how successful you will be in competition or training. Visualize your self as a warrior, with unlimited energy. See yourself as unbeatable.
• Imagine that you have already achieved these goals you have. How does it feel? What do you see? What would you be hearing? Picture every detail as if it's real.

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Pinch Grip Training - Hub Lifting Implements

posted by Jedd 'Napalm' Johnson
Filed in : DIY
Tags : grip



In my last article, I discussed hub lifting - a form of grip strength training in which you lift weight plates by grasping the middle part of the plate, called the hub, with the finger tips. Hub lifting is considered a type of pinch grip training, because the thumb opposes the fingers to create enough strength to generate movement of the plate. In the last article, I also showed you that there are many different styles of hub plates to choose from, of varying difficulty levels.

But what if you can not find any good hub plates at your gym? Are there other options for hub lifting that we can choose from, and still get the hand strength benefits? Yes there are!

IronMind.com sells an excellent hub lifting device called the Hub-Style Pinch Gripper. With a 2 and 7/8 inch gripping surface that is as slick as greased cow snot, this is one challenging grip training device. I have one of these implements and train on it from time to time. My best lift on it in pounds is only in the 50's. According to the IronMind page, with a lift in the 50's I'm "doing great," but if I hit 75 pounds, I should give them a call. I am in agreement. Big lifts on this device are earned, for sure. The standard way of lifting with the IronMind Hub, as I call it, is just simply attaching the V-shaped connection on the bottom of an implement to a carabiner, attached to a weighted loading pin or JumpStretch band. The IronMind Hub is a widely recognized standard for hub pinching implements, but other companies also sell them, including John Beatty at FatBastardBarbellCo.com.

Many grip strength enthusiasts also enjoy building their own grip strength implements from scratch. Recently, my good friend, Brad Martin, whom you have seen in many great video clips on the DieselCrew.com site, took the time to devise his own hub lifting implement. The list of items you'll need to make your own set-up is very short:

• 1 hockey puck
• 1 eye bolt
• 1 carabiner clip
• About 2 feet of chain (if you have no loading pin)

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Visualization : The Vision Wall

posted by Jackie Burgmann (Girlwithnoname)
Filed in : Articles
Tags : psychology




Girlwith Noname.
Goal setting. Its important, when you're trying to work towards something, to make sure you've defined your goal(s) pretty specifically. Otherwise, how will you know when you get there?

One really great way of defining your goals is to write them down. I'm personally a bit more visual and not much for making notes and lists, so I decided to put together a Vision Wall for myself.

When I first started my journey, I knew I wanted to get into 'really good shape' and 'lose some weight' but those aren't really very specific goals. So after giving it some serious thought, I defined my goal to specifically be: I WANT TO SEE MY ABS. Hence, the Vision Wall is comprised mostly of pictures of fitness models and other women with fantastic abs. I didn't feel the need to see their faces, its their abs I'm concentrating on. So, sorry girls!! I'm afraid you have go to headless to be on my Vision Wall!

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Push-Up Variations

posted by Vic Magary
Filed in : Articles
Tags : Old-Time Strength




One-armed Dive Bomber Push-up. (video demonstrations below).
From middle school gym class to elite military units, the push up is well known as an exercise for developing the muscles of the chest, shoulders, and arms. Throw a little variety on the movement, and you have exercises for training explosiveness, balance, flexibility, and core stability. The push up is scalable for any fitness level, is completely portable, and is a welcome addition to almost any fitness regimen.

Scalable for all fitness levels: Beginners can start with the push up from the knees or with hands elevated on an object such a chair. For the extremely unconditioned, the hands can even be placed on a wall. Those looking for a challenge beyond the standard push up can move to the push up with the feet elevated, the dive bomber push up, or any of the one-arm push up varieties. For the ultimate push up test of strength, balance, and core stability, try the one-arm one-leg push up!

Ultimate convenience: You can't beat body-weight exercises for convenience. The push up requires no equipment and can be done with minimal floor space. I even know a guy who used to do push ups in a Starbucks bathroom!

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Loveable Leucine

posted by Sam Cox
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
Tags : recovery, supplements




Eggs. Photo by Emuishere Peliculas.
PROTEIN, PROTEIN, PROTEIN!! We know already!!! Stop telling me I need protein to get strong and build muscle. Even people who aren't interested in the iron know this. So, needless to say, this article is not about protein. Nor does it need to be. It needs to be about how I can use that protein, get every drop of goodness out of it, how can I really make that protein work for me. And that's exactly what it's about. I want the biggest return on investment possible when I do something, like most people. SO, if I'm eating the 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight like the experts say is what I need, this raises the question, 'is the protein being used to the fullest', and 'can I increase the effects of the protein I ingest'. Obviously the answer is yes, if It wasn't, I would not be writing this article. The answer comes in a very little talked about amino acid called Leucine. There is a lot of ground to cover and I could write forever on it so I am going to break it down into a couple major benefits for the lifter.

Here they are:

The FIRST benefit of this amino is that it is responsible for the preservation of skeletal muscle tissue, especially under stress. It does this through sparing muscle glycogen, an energy pathway to skeletal muscle contraction. Preserving the glycogen will save the tissue by giving more energy over a period of time delaying breakdown. This preservation means more endurance for the lifter, longer periods of peak muscular contraction. The European Journal of Applied Physiology did a test and supplemented rowers with Leucine over 6 weeks and found the rowing time of the individuals increased over one minute compared to no increase in the placebo group.

The SECOND, Leucine is responsible for nearly all protein synthesis in the body. Leucine present in the blood stream signals your cells to begin breaking down proteins into usable amino acids, more usable amino acids from a signal that is concentrated in the skeletal muscle means more aminos will be transported to the skeletal tissues, even bone. Yes, Leucine is also responsible for the healing of bone tissue.

Martha Stipanuk PhD from Cornell University says, "...it seems clear that most effects of the amino acids on protein synthesis are mediated by Leucine."

Also, there is also strong evidence that Leucine may increase Growth Hormone production in humans.

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Outdoor Fitness: 'Why it's Good'

posted by ManTis
Filed in : Articles
Tags : conditioning, strength endurance




Serious outdoor training. Image from Run and Rescue (video below).
Taking into perspective the fitness world as a whole, it would be suffice to say that most people workout and exercise indoors. Safe from the elements and believing that as long as there exists weights and weight machines to use at their disposal their fitness needs can be met. While this maybe the only option of fitness some have, most, however, have the opportunity to seek fitness in the outdoors; within the elements.

The amount of research and literature on the advantages of outdoor fitness is astounding. The fact that many people prefer to exercise indoors to the outdoors is astounding as well. While there has been a surge in the number of exercise programs and businesses over the last decade that promote outdoor fitness, there still remain the stigmas or should they be labeled excuses when it comes down to it. "It's too hard to workout outside", "too cold to run today", "oh, there's snow on the ground, better stay inside" or "what do I use for weights if I am outside?" are just some of the quotes that come out in regards to outdoor fitness. There hasn't been a big enough shift yet for more people to embrace the outdoor experience, but it's coming. Here are just a few points that are worth considering:

1. "One major benefit to outdoor training", says Cedric Bryant, PhD, chief exercise physiologist of the American Council on Exercise. "is that it tends to be more engaging and mentally stimulating due to the changing scenery and terrain -- not to mention the mood boost that comes from being outside in the sunshine."
2. Exercising on a natural surface imparts tremendous benefit to your musculoskeletal system. Working out on a surface that is perfectly flat like pavement can in the long run cause a relative weakening of joints, tendon, ligaments and small muscle groups. (Metabolic Effect)
3. In order to continue to improve musculoskeletal health, exercising on uneven or natural terrain like grass fields, trails, hills, and other obstacles should be utilized. (Metabolic Effect)
4. Outdoor exercise bolsters your immune system -- studies show that moderate exercisers get 20 to 30 percent fewer colds than non-exercisers do. 
(Mayo Clinic)
5. John Castellani, an exercise physiologist at the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine states, "It turns out that even though cold can be frightening, more people are injured exercising in the heat than exercising in the cold".
6. "There are some very real psychological and physiological benefits to balancing your exercise routine between indoor and outdoor environments"- Kate Larsen, PCC, certified and licensed wellness and business coach.

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Is Chocolate the Ultimate Testosterone Booster?

posted by Sam Cox
Filed in : Articles
Tags : recovery




Raw cacao nibs. Photo by kevindooley.
Chocolate is the most eaten food in the world, but, if one is trying to get healthy or lose some body fat, one of the most forbidden.

I'm not talking about that Hershey bar at Wal-Mart. I'm talkin real, raw, unadulterated cacao (ku-cow). The real McCoy, the thing that Hershey bar started as. It's not what you think. Ill tell you why...

First off, if you're reading this and you one of those hardcore guys who think that guys should eat only meat and potatoes to get strong, you need to get a brain and keep reading. Getting strong, putting on muscle, increasing your endurance is much easier when your hormones are in balance, and the right nutrients are present.

You see, cacao is actually in the nut family. Nuts are naturally high in minerals and cacao is no exception. It's long known that magnesium is very beneficial for increasing test levels, especially when taken at night. Raw cacao happens to be the number one food in the world in magnesium. Higher test levels, obviously means stronger muscles, though not necessarily bigger. Few know that magnesium is also the number one mineral that your heart utilizes. More magnesium=stronger heart. Stronger heart=better endurance, work capacity, and recovery time, stronger organs and better overall health. The dark brown nut has lots of good fats as well. Fats are necessary for the integrity of cellular structures, integrity of the nervous systems and the eyes. These fats are also a vital role in supplying your body with cholesterol, the one thing that your body needs to produce steroid hormones, testosterone, DHT, etc. Good stuff so far? Its gets better. Cacao also contains arganine, and we all know what that does right? Increased size of EVERYTHING. Other significant amino acids, tryptophan, it also contains dopamine, the feel good stuff. It gets better.

Cacao happens to be the number one food in the world in antioxidant concentration. On the ORAC scale, its number one at over 13,000, 30 times what green tea has, 20 times what red wine has. What do antioxidants do? They protect your cells from any damage. They feed your immune system, without an immune system you can not recover from your training.

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Training with Block Weights

posted by Bill 'Body By Long' Long
Filed in : Articles
Tags : DIY, DIY equipment, grip




Notice how close you must cut from the handle to the head of the bell.
Block weight lifting is a form of pinch grip lifting. It is also a cheap version of the "Blob". A Blob is the end or head of a York dumbbell that has been cut off the handle. The only difference between the Blob and Block weights is the block weight is cut off of a hex dumbbell instead of a York dumbbell. Since there are several forms of block weights and blobs out there, I will only be talking about the hex dumbbell version.

Since you may not want to cut up your good dumbbells, you can go to a garage sale and pick up someone's old rusted or banged up weights. To make a block weight, simply use a hacksaw to cut off the end of your chosen dumbbell. Make sure to place the hacksaw blade as close to the head of the weight as you can. Ensuring the proper blade placement will prevent excess grinding of any possible raw ends. Be patient because it will take you awhile to get through the handle. At least this will give you a good workout!


The new Block weight.
Once you finally get through the handle, check the raw edge to see if there are any burrs sticking out. If there are burrs, simply grind them down with a file or bench grinder.

When training with the block weight, you will be using one hand at a time. Your thumb will be the main support while lifting the weight. Your index and middle finger will be the opposing force. Even though your ring finger and pinky can wrap around the weight, they will provide little force for the pinch on this type of weight. Still you will need to use them while you lift the weight. To help prevent slippage, put some chalk on the sides and top of the weight. Remember to chalk your hands up good too. Bend down and pinch the weight, putting the weight deep into the crook of your thumb and index finger. Wrap the rest of your fingers on the other side of the weight and pinch down hard. Stand erect with the weight once you are upright set the weight back down.

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Hub Lifting

posted by Jedd 'Napalm' Johnson
Filed in : highlighted
Tags : bending, grip, Old-Time Strength



Hub lifting is a form of pinch grip training. The hub, or the center of the weight plate, is the spot upon which you will do all your lifting when hub training. This can be a very inexpensive form of grip training, especially if you already own lifting plates that have a decent hub on them. It can also be a very expensive form of grip training, if you try to find some of the rarer types of plates that exist for hub lifting.

Before we get into too much detail about the many types of hubs that exist, it is important to understand a few things about hub lifting. Since this is a form of pinch grip training, it focuses on the development and display of thumb strength - the strength of the thumb will be the limiting factor in completing a hub lift. It is said that you have fully lifted a hub when you pinch the plate or other hub device and then lift it so that you stand in a fully upright position. Breaking the object off the floor only slightly or pulling it a few inches from the floor does not constitute a full lift. You must be able to control it long enough to reach the locked out position.

While many grip strength feats are easier for those with larger hands to perform, hub lifting might just be one of the feats that is easier for the smaller handed athlete to perform. I believe this to be so because the smaller handed individual is able to grasp the hub implement closer to the center of the hand. When a larger handed individual takes a grip on a hub, much of the hand will fail to come in contact with any of the gripping surface of the hub, so leverage and mechanical advantage is decreased. This bottoming out effect is caused by the fingertips hitting against the flat surface of the plate.

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Spicing Up Your Workout

posted by Joe Hashey
Filed in : Articles
Tags : bands, grip




Shane, a Cornell U. football player, nails a 1 handed flip 2 days after major wrist surgery!
I'll keep this article short and to the point. Ever find yourself in a rut? For weeks I've woke up at the same time, ate the same things, and have had seemingly the same conversation with my co-workers day after day. It happens to everyone at some point in their lives. The days become stale and unexciting. Then one day you do something out of the ordinary, like taking the time to make your favorite breakfast. That small change all of a sudden makes it a good day!

The same shake up is required in training. The basics stay the same, just as you go to work every day and eat every day. You should keep the big lifts, squats, deads, presses, etc as primary in your program. However, set aside a few minutes at the end of your workout to mix it up. Grab a plate and try to flip it and catch it, pick up some 35's and try to pinch grip them, or attempt an isometric hold on the glute ham raise. It doesn't really matter what it is, as long as it's different from your usual routine!

I'll give you some ideas by explaining a few shake ups we have attempted. At the end of a lower training day in July, we decided to attempt one handed tire flips. There isn't much of a standard or protocol on how to accomplish this, but we decided to give it a shot. At first, we couldn't get our hands underneath the tire, so we ended up rolling it into the yard and digging a small hole under one of the treads. It was just large enough for us to slide our hand under. After a few attempts people started landing the one handed flips. It was a great sense of accomplishment for those involved! They forgot about the strain of the dead lifts, GHRs and chain step-ups just a few minutes before. The next day, everyone had sore legs, hands and forearms primarily from the tire work.

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Overhead Isometric Work for Form and Posture

posted by Joe Hashey
Filed in : Articles
Tags : grip




Overhead Split Squat
Some of the athletes I work with are fairly new to organized training. Many of them come in with bad or no habits. One of the primary issues they have is body positioning during leg training. The kids love to lean forward at the bottom and/or jerk back out of the motion at the top (lunges, reverse lunges, step-ups, Bulgarian split squats, squats, etc). I can't blame them, they aren't used to fighting pressure when they first start lifting. Their bodies naturally take the path of least resistance (or what they mentally perceive as the least resistance).

Over the last few months, I have been incorporating overhead holds while performing these lifts. By holding the weight overhead, as opposed to at the sides or on the back, the lifting posture drastically improves out of necessity. In other words, if you lean forward or swing back while holding something overhead, you will drop it. That's what we call "self-correcting!" Of course you should spot the lifter to protect them from dropping it straight down, even though the imbalance usually causes them to dump it forward (although I've never had the weight come straight down, better safe than sorry!)

The easiest and safest object to hold overhead is a light sandbag. Just in case the athlete drops the bag, it is soft enough and light enough that it does not present a large safety concern. A medicine ball also works well for the aforementioned reasons.

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Recovery and Regeneration for the Strength Athlete

posted by Patrick Ward
Filed in : Articles
Tags : bands, diet, fitness marketing, recovery, supplements, whey




Farmer's Walk. Photo by Green Colander.
Lets face it - strength athletes are animals! They train. They train hard. And they leave it all on the table! Some of the best workouts I've been a part of took place in a garage in suburban America where we were flipping tires, performing Olympic lifts and heavy deadlifts and pretty much going balls to the wall.

While the strength athletes are certainly gung-ho about their workout, often the most overlooked component to their entire training plan is the recovery and regeneration.

"That stuff is for sissies!"
"If I'm not pushing max weights, I'm not making progress!"

These two dogmas couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, with some proper planning and attention to recovery, strength athletes could potentially make the gains that have eluded them for the past few years. In addition, it's important to remember that in the gym we tear down tissue. We grow and get stronger when we rest and allow our body to adapt to the training stresses we have just imposed on it. If we never give it time to adapt and get stronger, then we're constantly in a phase of breaking down, and that certainly will catch up to us in time.

I have outlined five recovery strategies that can be beneficial to all athletes (not just strength athletes) and instrumental in avoiding overtraining, potentially preventing injury and setting you up for continued progress in the weight room.

1) Unload

Give yourself a break some times! Yes, progressive overload is important to making gains. But, backing off and giving your nervous system a break is also important. You can't max out every day (and probably not every week even...at least not for any considerable amount of time) as you will likely hit the wall sooner rather than later.

Unloading could be accomplished in a variety of ways. It could be just lowering the intensity (the amount of load lifted in relation to your 1RM for a given lift) for a week. For example, if you are squatting 4 sets x 5 reps @ 87%, the following week you could unload the intensity by performing 4 sets x 5 reps @ 75%. It could be in the form of lowering the volume. So, if you are working on squatting 4 sets x 5 reps @ 87%, next week you could unload by performing 5 sets x 2 reps at 87% before ramping back up. Or, it could be in the form of just taking a few days off and maybe partaking in some active rest (an easy walk, riding the bike, etc).

Whatever you choose, allowing yourself to back off a little bit not only helps the nervous system recover from all the heavy/intense training, but it also gives the joints and tendons some time to recover, since going heavy too frequently can lead to a lot of aches and pains.

An easy way to set up time for unloading is to use a 4-week schedule. Week number four is always going to be your unload week before starting to work the intensity back up or changing the training focus (IE, from strength emphasis to power emphasis) in the next 4-week wave. The 4-week wave also fits nicely into a month training plan, which is why I like it.

While there are many ways to incorporate unloading into your program (and some of this will be dictated by your sport and the amount of time you have to prepare for competition), here are two generic examples to give you an idea:

Example 1

	High Volume	Moderate Volume	Very High Volume	Unload
Exercise	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Bench press	4x5	3x5	6x5	2x5
Chin ups	3x8	2x8	4x8	2x8 (decrease load or use body weight if you typically use extra weight for work sets)

Example 2

	Base Week	Moderate Intensity	High Intensity	Unload
Exercise	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Bench press	3x5@80%	4x5@82%	6x3 start at 85% and work up to a max over 6 sets	2x8@70%
Chin ups	3x8	3x5	5x5	2x8 (decrease load or use body weight if you typically use extra weight for work sets)

2) Nutrition Around The Workout

What you eat is critical to what you get as a return on your training investment. Making sure you're getting quality calories is important to ensure that your body is fueled up for the next training bout. Incorporating a post-workout shake or meal is also important to help replenish muscle glycogen (stored energy) that was burned during your workout and to start repairing damaged tissue (protein synthesis).

This year I had the opportunity to attend the NSCA's 31st National Conference. Joel Cramer PhD, Jeff Stout PhD, and Joseph Weir PhD gave a three-part talk on Nutritional Supplementation Before, During and After Resistance Training. They really drove home the point that we need to be on top of our supplementation around workout time. One thing that they talked a lot about was the potential for protein synthesis to be maximally stimulated by increasing amino acid delivery to the muscles at the time when blood flow is increased (which is just prior to and during our workout). After presenting the research, Jeff Stout concluded that, "consuming carbohydrate and protein pre-, during and post-resistance training can significantly reduce muscle damage. By reducing muscle damage, athletes should be able to increase speed of recovery, and allow for them to participate in the next high-intensity exercise sooner."

A simple way to put this into practice is to bring a shake to the gym that you can sip on just before and during your workout. Sometimes, because of how whey protein is, it is not the best texture to sip on during training. If this is the case for you, there are a number of Branched Chain Amino Acid (BCAA) products out there which have a much more manageable texture and taste for prior and during the workout (some of them taste a lot like Gatorade).

3) Paying Attention To Things That Hurt

The five worst words in the English language are "maybe it will go away." If something hurts, it means that something is wrong. Figure out what that something is and correct it before it turns into a bigger problem.

Oftentimes, little, nagging problems can be fixed by incorporating some stretching and corrective exercise into your daily routine. This doesn't mean you have to join a yoga class or stop lifting heavy and pick up five pound dumbbells and wave them around like an idiot on one leg. But, it does mean that you need to be aware of what is going on with your body and know what to do to fix it.

Corrective exercise and stretching are not stressful on the system and can help with your recovery and regeneration. Perform some of the corrective exercises prior to your lifting, as part of your overall general warm-up and perform stretches post-workout once the muscles are warm. As well, since they are not stressful, you can perform the corrective exercise and stretches on off days. In fact, this is recommended, as it will help make the effects of these modalities more long-lasting. Performing some flexibility and mobility work on off days can be a great way to get active rest and keep the body healthy.

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Grip Strength - Where Is It?

posted by Zach Even-Esh
Filed in : Articles
Tags : grip, kettlebells, thick bar




Zach at the Underground Gym.
The typical gym is often packed with machines. The lifters kill the pulldowns, rows and chins using straps on every set, including their 100 lb warm up sets.

Grip strength is not thought about, pumping the forearms is done half heartedly with some light wrist curls...maybe.

With serious lifters leaving the fancy gyms and opting for their garage, basement or backyard - grip strength is becoming a serious focus.


It's becoming serious because these undergrounders realize that weak hands are related to a weak man. If you wanna lift big, the hands must be strong and they must be trained....HARD.

The earlier in the game you start, the better off you will be.

I learned this big time after I met Steve Maxwell for the first time. He told me that when his son was 4, he hung a rope from the ceiling so his son would have to climb up and down the rope to go upstairs rather than using the stairs.

At the time, Steve's son was a teen and he told me that his son had much larger hands than his own, which led to his feelings that the training of hands - especially at a young age - can help mold the hands into more than what they were predisposed to.

Today, in my gym, there are no straps to aid in the grip. There is lots of rope climbing, rope training (attached to sleds, kettlebells, battling ropes, tug of war), thick handled devices and all around emphasis on hand strength.

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Bigger Forearms Anyone?

posted by Mighty Joe Musselwhite
Filed in : Articles
Tags : forearm, thick bar




Mighty Joe Musselwhite
Thought I would share with you an experiment I've been doing for the last 5 weeks to get larger forearms.
I gained a 1/2" in less than 5 weeks. Here's what you need:
• Regular barbell 1" shaft
• Thick barbell 2" - 21/2" works well (If you don't have a thick bar, the regular will work)
• Hercules Bar from "Ultimate Arm Wrestling" (again, if you don't have one of these, the regular bar will work)
Here's what you do:
1. Load enough weight on the barbell to get at least 20 reps in a standing barbell wrist curl.

   Your palms should face your body and don't wrap your thumb around the bar.

   Now, start doing wrist curls. Use only your wrist and try not to raise your arms as you do reps. The last rep should have the belly of your forearm on fire.



2. Immediately without rest, grab your Hercules Bar or regular bar loaded with enough weight to again get at least 20 reps and do sitting reverse wrist curls. Again, use only your wrist. If you're having to swing the reps, lower the weight. The last rep should have the top part of your forearm on fire.

   Do 5 sets of 20 reps everyday except weekends. In 4 to 5 weeks you'll gain at least a 1/2" in your forearms, possibly more.
   
   Rest less than a minute between sets.
   
   After you've completed 5 sets of each, stand with your arms straight out and open and close your hands as fast as possible for 90 seconds. You're done! Now you're on your way to larger forearms. Promise!




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The Right Attributes For The Right Fighters

posted by Adam (Low Tech Combat)
Filed in : Articles
Tags : grip




Training in Combat Sports. Photo by Patrick Doheny.
The rapidly spreading CrossFit protocols have popularised functional, compound movements and high intensity workouts into more of the mainstream (which is a good thing). But has the popularity of CrossFit over-emphasised 'generalness'?



Is a Good General Movement Enough?

Of course, lifts like deads, cleans and over head presses are great, but are these movements specific enough for the specific movements and attributes needed of a fighter? It gets more complicated when we ask what type of combat sport a particular fighter participates in. Different combat sports require different physical attributes.

 For example, a boxer will need a different type of strength and conditioning than a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) competitor.



The Boxer

The boxer in his sport uses predominantly 'pushing' movements with his upper body along with some torso rotation and some pushing with his legs to generate power from the floor up and through his gloves into his opponent. Should a boxer do a lot of cleans? Sure, cleans are a fantastic movement. We all know this. However they are an upper body 'pull' movement. 

The boxer rarely if ever uses such a movement. Are there better movements that have a lot of the similar benefits of cleans but are more specific to a boxers needs? How about thrusters? Or even push presses for reps? These are just a couple of options that more closely replicate movements found in his chosen sport.

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Pack Light, Train Hard

posted by Mark Konen
Filed in : Articles
Tags : bands, grip, kettlebells




Well traveled suitcase.
Soon the holidays will be upon us and many of us will be traveling to be with family and friends. This can be a "dangerous" time for many because our training routine will be interrupted and replaced with all the caloric and sedentary temptations the holidays bring.

How can you still stay engaged in your training and yet not miss a beat? It is unlikely you can bring your kettlebells and certainly not your barbell and bumpers on your trip! In fact, now the airlines are charging for checked-in baggage, so that compounds the problem and streamlining for travel is now more important than ever. If you are runner you're set; all you need are your workout clothes and shoes. But for the rest of use who train hard with resistance exercises, I would like to offer up a few simple ideas.

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The Investments part IV : Two Brutal Drills to Punish the Arms

posted by 'Unbreakable' Adam Glass
Filed in : Articles
Tags : bending, grip, juggling, Old-Time Strength




Adam demonstrating the Plate Curl.
Productive strength training is similar to the process of forging steel Japanese katanas. The steel is heated in an extremely hot fire and beat upon with a heavy hammer, folded over and over upon its self. The steel is folded and heated so many times over that the entire structure of the steel changes. It becomes light weight, extremely durable, flexible to stress and able to hold the sharpest edge.

Japanese steel blades were considered the finest weapons of the middle ages, able to sever the wielders' opponents with a single swipe of their razor sharp blades. So finely crafted are these blades that many have held an edge for hundreds of years.

There are structures in the body that can be honed to the point where their edge will never fail you. I am referring to the tendons of the wrist; responsible for incredible power in the lower arms. Once these tendons are built, they will last a life time. A great example; look at the forearms of any man who labored his whole life. In his 70's or 80's, his shoulders and back may appear frail, but those wrist tendons are still popping out like steel cables. The most shining example can be found on the powerful frame of Lawrence "Slim" Farman, known to the world as "Slim the Hammerman". King of leverage lifting, he is still performing in his 70's and he is AMAZING. Slim's tendons are massive, built from a life time of demolishing stones with a 16lbs cutting sledge, and a million hours of intense steel bending and hammer levering workouts.

I am not going to promise you the Hammerman's strength from taking on this material, but I will put money on stronger hands and forearms from these investments.

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Choked Gripper Training

posted by Jedd 'Napalm' Johnson
Filed in : highlighted
Tags : grip, grippers




A Choked Gripper
Within the community and sport of Grip Strength, the knowledge base continues to grow and the variety of training techniques are always expanding. With this article, I will tell you a little bit about the history of gripper chokers and how to use chokers to your advantage in your Gripper training.


Choker Image via PDA

Several years ago, PDA, Piedmont Design Associates, began selling a choker plate that could be put over the spring of a gripper in order to reduce the length of the sweep between the handles. This device is called the Ironhorse Choker Close Collar and can be found on the PDA website, FractionalPlates.com. I have had one of these chokers for many years and have used it on many of my grippers. As you can see in the image, the disc is slid over the spring, reducing the spread space between the ends of the handles.

If there is one downside to this type of choker, it is because it will slide off if the gripper is tipped upside down. Inverting a gripper like this is very good for training the last two fingers, which I have written about before in a previous article here on STTB. Check it out here.


Image via Germes Online
After some time, I found out that athletes were using hose clamps to tighten down the handles of their Grippers. As you can see, hose clamps com in many sizes. It is important to get the correct size of hose clamp for your grippers, though. A hose clamp that is too small will not spread across the gripper far enough for it to be useful, and a hose clamp that is too big will not tighten far enough to secure the handles. In my training, I prefer to use a hose clamp labeled for 2-inches to 2 ¾-inches diameter. These fit over the handle well and will tighten down just right for a parallel handle choked gripper attempts or wider.

Image Via Tork Clamps Site

In recent years, Choked Grippers has become an event at several Grip Contests. The promoter tightens the clamp down on the handles of the gripper so that they are at parallel. The parallel set, or Mash Monster set, is the most common setting technique used in Grip contests, but it can be difficult for the referee to judge parallel handles during Gripper set for many reasons. The pre-closed choked set eliminates this uncertainty almost entirely.

I am currently preparing for an early-December Grip Contest, the Gripmas Carol, organized by Chris Rice in Crooksville, Ohio. In this contest, Choked Grippers at parallel is one of the events. To prepare, I have choked a handful of grippers at parallel. In my training sessions, I try for max closes with the hardest grippers I have choked. If I successfully close a gripper, I then open up the clamp just a touch and then try to close the gripper again. This has been working very well.

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Full Circle with the Get Up

posted by 'Unbreakable' Adam Glass
Filed in : Articles
Tags : grip, kettlebells, recovery




Adam demonstrating the Chain Get-up.
After years of heavy get ups, this is my feedback.

A few years back I submitted an article to Dragon Door in which I shared my training of Turkish Get up. This article will be considered the Part II for "Mastering the Turkish Get-up for Total Body Power".

First, the revisions:

Mastery is a process. It is not an end goal in itself. The master is better than everyone else, yet he continues to find more, refine more, and polish more. I once thought I had mastered the Turkish get up. I now know I have many more years to learn and improve. I can now stand up with 185lbs with a 7 foot bar in one hand. Many people told me this would never happen, yet I accomplished it in under three years. Now I am eye balling 225lbs. The same people who said I would not get 185lbs are telling me 225lbs is impossible. Fools! Mastery is about improving, even when many think you do not need to improve more. I do not know where the line falls in the sand, but I know I will be the one to call it, no one else.

On variations of the Get up. There are many types of get ups, and depending on your goals some are better than others. If you want maximum strength you need to lift a lot of weight IE the Barbell version. If you want your shoulders to have some crazy strength endurance, use a Kettlebell and go for time. The recent FMS changes to Hard Style have brought in some variations of the get up by prominent RKCs such as Dr Mark Cheng such as the hip bridged get up. The classic use of a sand bag for the get up is an invaluable tool for grapplers. The point I bring to you; know the outcome you want before selecting your tool.

The Get up and the general population: There are 4 drills I personally believe every man and woman in the world should do. The Deadlift, The Get up, the KB swing, and the Goblet Squat. The Get up is the primary upper body drill in my opinion for 99% of people who are beginning a S&C program. A light weight bell such a 16kg will be all the resistance most men can handle for the first month of training. At Unbreakable Fitness it's not an issue of "can you do 1 rep?" The issue is "can you do 1 rep perfectly 30 times non-stop?" If the answer is "no", than you shall not even touch my heavier bells until you reach this goal.

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Grip Training for Athletes

posted by Joe Hashey
Filed in : Articles
Tags : basketball, grip




Hold...
The benefits of grip training have already been touted on this site, so I'll try not to repeat too much! Instead, this article will focus on the application of grip training to athlete training programs. For the most part, athletes need to be able to close their hands quickly and with great strength. Think of a basketball player trying to snatch a rebound out of the air and controlling it while other players slash at it. Or, think of a defensive football player reaching out to grab the jersey of a running back. In both cases, the ability to close one's hands with great strength can save your team points and give you a better chance at victory. Sounds good, right? But how does it differ from regular grip training?

Coupled with the ability to close the hands quickly and powerfully, athletes must also be able to adjust to different pressures while squeezing. Take the above examples. The basketball player needs to be able to hold a basketball while players hit it from all sides. Also the football player must be able to hold onto the jersey as the running back twists and drives for extra yards. Before you even look at the example exercises, take a minute to think about how strong hands can help your game. Take that information into account when you manipulate these exercises to benefit your athletic endeavors. These exercises are generally in order from easiest to most difficult.

Exercise 1 - Thick Grip Climbers - The athlete must hang from a pull-up bar, release one hand and put it on a thick grip. Repeat with the other hand and then climb back to the original hand position without touching the ground. An advanced variation of thick grip climbers is to perform the exercise from a half chin-up. The exercise can be done for time or for reps. The athlete in the video does a good job with the speed of the exercise but has to work on keeping his body under control while changing grips.

*Note: If you do not have thick grips, be creative with a solution such as taping a hand towel around the bar.

Exercise 2 - Rippers - Essentially like tug of war, but with varying tempos. Have an athlete take a good base and hold an object such as a towel or thick rope. Have a partner pull on the rope in different directions and at different intensities. A variation is to have both athletes go at once and essentially try to pull the rope or towel out of the other person's hands. Also for lacrosse athletes, baseball players, and interior linemen we use a shovel handle to represent the stick, bat, or hand fighting. Typically rippers are done for a short period of time.

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Kettlebell Training for Grip Strength

posted by Jedd 'Napalm' Johnson
Filed in : highlighted
Tags : bands, bending, grip, kettlebells, Old-Time Strength



Trainers, coaches and athletes have asked how they can use their kettlebells to increase their Grip strength. The truth is, kettlebells can be used with the express purpose of building Grip strength. We showed many ways to make this work in our Advanced Kettlebell Techniques eBook series. With this article I will show how easy it is to turn just about any kettlebell you have into a piece of Grip enhancing weaponry.

Before we get into this exercise, I first want to explain that it is important to remember that Grip strength is not just about picking things up and holding them there. Grip's more than lifting the Blob or the Inch Dumbbell. There's more to it than closing heavy grippers. Grip strength is even much more than just bending nails.

Grip strength involves all of the musculature from the elbow down. This includes all of the muscles in the forearm, everything that crosses the wrist, everything that controls the thumb, everything that rotates the forearm and all of the muscles that open and close the hand.

When it comes to developing well rounded Grip strength, you must train all of the functions of the hands and the forearms in the right balance. This means including enough extensor work to balance all of the crushing, pinching and supporting you do. It means including work of the elbow flexors with the hand pronated in order to prevent the development of epicondylitis, tendon inflammation, and other forms of overuse injury. And it means you must train your wrists in a variety of angles.

When thinking of wrist training, attacking from many different angles is important. Remember, a great deal of muscles that pinch, crush, and support cross the wrist. As a result, continuity of the wrist musculature and bones is necessary in order to properly transfer strength across that joint.

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Recommended Training Tools : The Ultimate Sled-dragging Manual

posted by Kira Robert Clarke
Filed in : Reviews
Tags : DIY




The Ultimate Sled-dragging Manual.
I stumbled upon sled training via an unusual route (bear with me here) . . .

So I was watching a clip from Conan the Barbarian--you know, the montage scene where wimpy-boy Conan developed into buffed-man Conan by pushing a big-arse grinding-wheel around in circles for a few years (that's such a bad-ass scene!).

Anyways, I thought to myself, that'd be a pretty cool way to improve strength in my stand-up grappling (I'm into muay thai). I'd been thinking for a while that the best way to really develop the type of 'push' strength used in stand-up grappling was to do strength exercises, um, well--standing up.

After much searching, I eventually gave up on finding the same kind of training device Conan used--Bummer! But that was when I stumbled upon some sled training online (via Straight to the Bar, actually). And not only could I train the 'pushing' used in the standup grapple, but I could also work on the pulling and rotational strength I needed too--which was WAY better than what I could've achieved with the Conan set-up alone! And thus my love affair with sled dragging began.

Initially me and the dudes I train with started our 'sled' dragging with a tractor tyre and a thick rope and worked up from there. Now we're about to DIY our finest sled yet (courtesy of a snowboard cut in half and the tray of a wheelbarrow)--but that's a story best left for another day.

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500 Reps of Torture

posted by Parth Shah
Filed in : Articles
Tags : kettlebell




16kg of fun.


I'm looking down at my 16kg kettlebell. I've done it before. A hundred workouts at least with the implement. And yet....I'm deftly scared. My heart has never felt so weak. Despite all the intense workouts I've been performing with it for the past few months. Despite all the intense training with my partners and clients. Despite all the mental strength that I've developed. I'm still....scared.



My goal was to get this workout done in under twenty minutes, and now I'm at the 35 minute mark. What to do? I have a million reasons to quit. But only one reason to keep going....and that's what matters. Just keep going because if you don't, you'll never know if you could do it. You'll never know how long it took, and you'll never figure out a way to improve yourself. Just keeping GOING DAMNIT!



I pick up the weight. It feels like a hundred pounds of solid rock in my arms. I push the KB over my head like there's no tomorrow. One rep, two rep....seven...eight...nine...ten...aargh! I scream and drop the weight. A neighbor glances at me and wonders what the hell I'm doing. I seriously need a fence.



I pick up the weight again after what seems like two minutes of rest, my longest ever. I push the weight up again with my left hand. Three...four...nine...ten...aargh! I sound like a pirate in agony. I look at my list. Only 6 more exercises left, 50 reps each. I keep asking myself, "What the hell is wrong with me?" "Why did I design this workout?" "Why can't I finish it?" "Why is it so hard?"



56 minutes, and 24 seconds later I scribble my time in my notebook. As I'm walking back up the stairs to my room, I wonder what the hell I just did, and what the hell just happened to me.





I was Broken...Mentally



Every once in a while I'll perform a workout that is seemingly impossible and aims to push my mind and body to the limits. The majority of the time it is your mind that fails before your body. The only way to train you mind is to try something you've never tried before. Last time my training partners and I pushed ourselves was the Saragarhi workout. We succeeded in finishing that workout in an amazing time.



This workout....this 500 reps of pure torture...I should have been able to do it faster....but the number....500 reps...and the shear number of exercises....10...and the number of reps per exercise....50...was just...insane!



Honestly, this workout was a pure endurance workout. Here's the workout:



For time:


• 50 Bent over row, 45 lbs
• 50 Push Press, 45lbs

• 50 KB Swings, 35lbs

• 50 KB Press, 35lbs

• 50 KB Clean, 35lbs

• 50 KB Front Squat, 35lbs


• 50 Sumo Deadlift High Pull, 35lbs

• 50 Power Clean, 35lbs

• 50 Pushups

• 50 Bodyweight Squats



I really do not know what kind of drugs I was on when designing this workout. What the hell was I trying to prove?



Even from a design standpoint, there are a lot of flaws to this routine. But you know what, I have a rule: Once it's written, it shall be done.

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»» Continue reading »».



10 Reasons to Start Deadlifting

posted by Parth Shah
Filed in : Articles
Tags : bending, grip, Old-Time Strength




Screaming optional.Photo by Cronfeld.
The Deadlift is the best exercise free weight exercise for lower body growth. The exercise works your quads, hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors, abs, traps, and upper lats. However, Deadlifts are extremely taxing on the body and mind and so many recreational lifters do not perform this hardcore movement. I personally believe that every man, woman, and child on this planet should be performing the deadlift.

 Here are 10 reasons to start deadlifting :

 

1. You pick stuff off the ground on a daily basis
2. You pull stuff out of the trunk of your car
3. You lift things and carry them up stairs
4. You walk on a daily basis
5. The most common injury for middle-aged men occurs in the lower back
6. Works your abs better than a sit-up
7. Works more muscle groups than the squat or the bench press
8. Safer on your joints than the squat or the bench press
9. You need to lift up your couch when you move out of your parent's basement in order to save money on movers
10. The exercise will quadruple your natural testosterone and GH levels.


Ok, so what exactly is a deadlift? 

A deadlift is a movement where you pick up a barbell off the floor. Simple? Yes? Not really. There is a lot that goes into this seemingly easy movement, and, honestly the best way to learn is by actually performing the movement. Here's how you do it:

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»» Continue reading »».



The Pain Train

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Equipment



Just got an email from Kurt Hessenbruch regarding a piece of equipment that he designed and built for his upcoming Strongman contest (Nov 8, Plymouth MI) - the Pain Train.

As Chris said, 'H o l y awesome.. thats beautiful.'. Brilliant idea.

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Pinch Grip Training & Athletic Carryover

posted by Jedd 'Napalm' Johnson
Filed in : highlighted
Tags : grip, Old-Time Strength



I have competed in many Grip Strength competitions over the years. I have trained and competed with some of the best in the sport of Grip and I think I have collected a wide range of knowledge on the subject. I was recently asked in an interview if I though Grip Strength Training was important for athletes outside of the sport of Grip. Without a doubt, I think it is very important to dedicate time in the athlete's training routine to developing solid hand strength, but I also think that some ways are better than others. In my opinion, one of the best types of Grip training for general athletes is Pinch Grip Training.

There are many ways to train the Pinch Grip. In this article, we will look at a few of those ways. You will see videos of Pinch Grip feats and training styles and then I will discuss possible carryover to the sport of grip and other sports with each technique.

First, is a clip from the 2007 grip contest at Total Performance Sports, the Grip Assault. In this clip, I am messing around with a 56-lb Scottish Highland Games Throwing Weight.

As you can see, this is a feat that is suited best for a person with large hands. A smaller handed individual may not be able to spread their fingers far enough to get the fingertips over the edge of the weight.

If you have smaller hands, there is no reason why you still can't train in this style, though. Just find weights that are smaller in size. Block weight training is great because it forces you to lift things with an open hand. Open hand strength training makes the full length of the musculature and tendonous masses work in order to lift the weight. With open hand training, you really feel it throughout your entire hand the next day.

When I do wide pinching, like in the video above, I feel the fatigue from the fingertips to the base of the fingers, through the palm and into the wrist. The majority of my grip workouts involve thick block weight training, yet I still see continued increases in my other lifts. To me, that means there is better carry over in wider lifts than narrower lifts, especially if your training goal is excellent performance in Grip Contests, like me.

Even if Grip Competitions are not your interest, I still suggest that open hand training be a main focus in your grip protocol. If it carries over well to other grip lifts, it will carry over to other gym lifts and other sports as well.

Next, in this video, I'm pinching two 45-lb plates & lift a Half 115-lb Hex Block Weight.

I would consider the Two 45's Pinch feat to be a mid-range pinch feat for me, personally. The two 45-lb plates fit securely in my hand, just about the size of my palm.

The Half 115 Pinch is getting out of the mid-range and moving toward the wide pinch range, although not nearly as wide as the 56-lb weight pinch. Again, the half 115 is going to be much more difficult for a person with smaller hands. It is a rather narrow half 115 compared to some of the other ones I own, but for someone with sub-8-inch hands, it will seem huge.

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»» Continue reading »».



3 SIMPLE Rules For Superior Fitness

posted by Caleb Lee
Filed in : Articles
Tags : diet, kettlebells, recovery




Michael Wardian. Photo by dbking.
Do You Follow These 3 SIMPLE Rules For Superior Fitness? If you've been around the fitness scene for a while (or you're just starting to "Get in shape") then I'm sure you've found a truckload of information.

You're suffering from information overload and to make matters worse a lot of what you're hearing is conflicting information.
You're probably wondering where to start (if you're a beginner)... or... where to go next (if you've been around for a while).

It's time to step back and take a look at the BROAD picture. It's time to keep it simple.

Your Complete Guide To Getting Fit (And Staying That Way) By Keeping It SIMPLE!

This is your "structure" or "model" you can put any new fitness information you learn in to. In its most simplistic form, you need three things for fitness:

• Strength - because strength is the basis of all other physical skills
• Cardio - because you need a strong cardiovascular system and to lose fat
• Nutrition - because you need to eat healthy and it helps you lose fat

So the question then becomes, "How can you maximize each of these areas to become a more "Fit" person?" Glad you asked because that's what the rest of this article is about!

How To Develop Strength


Overhead. Photo by dehwang.
Training Like An Olympic athlete will give you strength, muscle and fat loss gains faster. You develop strength through resistance training. Resistance doesn't have to mean "weight lifting"--it can be any form of resistance. Your body doesn't know what you're using to provide resistance, it just knows "there is resistance"--so the "tool" you use for resistance doesn't matter. Here are the most popular "tools":
• Your Bodyweight
• Barbells or dumbbells
• Kettlebells and clubbells
• Odd objects like Kegs, tires, sledgehammers, etc

There are many training methods to use these tools to get strong. But in order to build strength your sessions should focus on these things:

• CNS Training: train your nervous system to contract whatever musculature you now have harder to get more strength out of the current muscle you have.
• Sets, Reps and Rest: anywhere from 3-5 sets and 3-5 reps. And 3-5 minutes of rest.
• Workout Frequency: 2-3 times per week. You only need simple exercises (simple, not necessarily easy!) to build strength. You should stick to compound exercises. Here is all you need each workout:
1. 1 Push Movement: Bench Press, Overhead Press, Military Press, Side Press, Clean & Press, pushups, one-arm pushups, etc...
2. 1 Pull Movement: Pullup/Chinup, Bent Over Row, Upright Row, Renegade Rows, Deadlift, etc...
3. 1 Squat Movement: Squats, Front Squats, Overhead Squat, Pistols, Deadlift, etc...
4. 1 Hip/Hamstring Dominant or Explosive Movement: Power Cleans, Kettlebell Swings, Snatches, clean & presses, jerks, explosive jumping, plyometrics, straight leg deadlifts, etc

As you can see some exercises fulfill two roles like deadlifts (squat and pull) and clean and presses (explosive and push). Which further reduces the amount of exercises you need, making building strength even simpler. So for each workout you would just pick 1 of each type of exercise (1 push, 1 pull, 1 squat, 1 explosive), mix them up for variety and keep them within the prescribed reps, sets and frequency.

That's about all there is to building strength!

How To Develop Your "Cardio"


A bit of quiet time. Photo by Abraaj.
There are two types of "cardiovascular" systems - aerobic and anaerobic - you'll need to develop both to get all around "Fitness". Luckily, HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) will do this for you! Plus, scientific studies prove you can burn up to nine times more fat with this method of training (as opposed to just slow, steady-state aerobic training by itself). Here's how to do it in the simplest form possible.

Pick an exercise for cardio: bicycling, running, high jumps, and skipping rope are all favorites of mine. You then do intervals of "work" which focus on intense effort and "rest" intervals which focus on recovery.

Your session can last as little as 4 minutes to as much as 20 minutes depending on intensity. Here's a couple quick examples:

• Tabata Protocol: 4 minutes of 20sec work, 10 secs rest.
• 10 Minute HIIT: 10 minutes of 30 secs work, 1 min rest.

Do a 2-5 minutes of your chosen exercise lightly to warm up before the intervals and afterwards to cool down.

You will do this routine 2-3 times per week on days that you're not strength training. Or if you only want to work out 3 times per week (strength and cardio included) you can reduce the intensity of your interval training and do it after your strength sessions.
As a bonus, strength training combined with HIIT both help to create an optimal hormonal environment in your body... increasing testosterone, Growth hormone, IGF-1.... And reducing estrogen.

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»» Continue reading »».



The Benefits of Using a Foam Roller

posted by Rory Hickman
Filed in : Articles
Tags : recovery




Rory Hickman using a Foam Roller.
I've always considered recovery to consist of eating and sleeping as much as possible. Warm-ups involve a couple of sets of band good mornings and pull-aparts, then onto the first set with either 135lbs or just the bar, depending on the lift. I'm young, basically injury-free and these approaches always seemed to work fine. Thousands of people before me have gotten plenty strong over the years without any inclination to try 'self-myofascial release' or being overly concerned about their 'thoracic mobility'. So why the hell did I buy a foam roller 5 weeks ago?

Well, for a long time eating and sleeping as much as possible served me well - I was gaining weight and getting stronger - so I saw no reason why I couldn't keep doing this for a long time. However, as the weights I was using continued to climb and after a 4 month long 'dirty' bulk I was much stronger and 35lbs heavier - great, but now my joints were starting to ache and I felt sore for much longer after workouts. I figured this was just due to the weight gain and that I'd adapt after a week or two of maintaining the same weight.

The two weeks passed - I was still sore, and my left hip was almost constantly aching. This was getting increasingly annoying and it got to the point where I needed to at least try something to help me recover. After lots of reading on the internet I began to notice that foam rollers were mentioned with a much greater frequency than I had noticed a couple of years ago, and it was rare to see an article or training log that didn't mention their use somewhere.

I first read about foam rolling in Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson's article "Feel Better for 10 Bucks" on T-Nation but, whilst very interesting, it really didn't seem relevant to me 4 years ago. I was 17 - how much "soft tissue adhesions and scar tissue" could I possibly have accumulated in that space of time that needed to be broken down? Maybe in a couple of decades it would be something to remember, but at the time I couldn't see the point. A few weeks ago, as I re-read the article and many others on the same subject, I could see that in theory it might be possible to address a number of issues.

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»» Continue reading »».



The History and Future of Standard

posted by Bob Garon II
Filed in : Articles
Tags : kettlebells




Arthur Saxon demonstrating bent press. Photo via Tom Black.
When I think of strength and someone who is fit I do not think of someone who goes out and runs long distances. Now that may be a matter of opinion, but surely I am not alone in this thinking. Where people got the idea that running for long distances is actually good for the body I have no idea. Pheidippides, the first person to run the distance of a marathon after the "Battle of Marathon", actually fell dead after proclaiming victory to his fellow Athenians. There are no other living creatures that regularly jog. If you observe dogs, for instance, when they exercise it is only for brief bursts of intense and fairly short runs. This is the same when small children get together and play in a friendly game of "tag". They run around as fast as they can until they can't run anymore and then stop and rest. Most children are in great shape and they don't jog at all. Around the world you can witness most every native tribe practicing the same. They don't jog around the Amazon or in the bush of Australia, but instead most of the time you will see them walking to where they need to go. When it becomes necessary, for various reasons such as hunting, they will go to maximum exertion for only short periods of time. This seems to be the natural way to exist, exercise, and how every creature that plays does it.

Now of course there are always the exceptions to the rule such as wolves, hyenas, and other wild dogs which are often noted for their great endurance by trotting country sides for hours on end. As for humans, there are many anecdotal stories of African and Native American hunters running down their prey, but again this is not a routine matter as it is with traditional aerobic jogging or any other traditional aerobic fitness forum.

While humans cannot out sprint many animals we can do surprisingly well in endurance running contests. Another great exception to the endurance running rule is the Tarahumara people from the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. They originally began distance running in order to communicate from village to village, but then turned it into competition forming a "foot throwing" sport similar to soccer over long distances.

For every good study that comes out about jogging there will always be a negative one. I am not in full support of distance running in any sense, but only in the times where it may be necessary in life to survive. Looking at it from a hormonal perspective long distance jogging does indeed produce large amounts of cortisol in relation to growth hormone and testosterone. The best exercise to deliver the most "bang for your buck" is increased intense, but brief (15- 45 minutes total), amounts of sprinting variations which use the whole body as opposed to just the legs. Sprinting, Kettlebells, pushups, pull-ups, clean and presses, intense yoga, etc. are all much better then jogging. Essentially sticking to the basic human movements and then simply adding weight will provide the absolute best long-term results packed environment. Not only will you add muscle to your body, but you will get the look of a sprinter, professional dancer or a completive fighter as opposed to a jogger or marathon runner. Personally I like the look of the former a lot better. Not only that, but many studies have shown that high intensity workouts yield much bigger, stronger hearts, lungs and dramatically increase overall physical capacity than compared to that of long distance counterparts. This type of training will enable and empower you to survive critical situations where overall physical fitness is not just needed, but in many cases vital.

I enjoy reading about some of our modern day warriors and even some of centuries old that didn't really battle in wars per se, but instead in the competition arena such as Milo of Croton.

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»» Continue reading »».



Free Ebook on Self-Myofascial Release

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Articles




Self-Myofascial Release.
Via the RTS newsletter : Mike Robertson releases his free ebook on Self-Myofascial Release. A great read.

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Instructional Video Competition

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : competitions




How do I... Photo by flattop341.
It's competition time again here at Straight to the Bar. This time it's a perfect opportunity to share your strength-training passion with the world. Read on, this is a good one.



What to do

Grab a video camera, and record yourself (or a friend) demonstrating a fitness-related training technique. This can be anything at all - show people how to perform a deadlift on blocks, how to execute the perfect Kong Vault or how to do a Goblet Squat with a kettlebell. Anything you like.

Upload the video to YouTube* and leave a comment here telling us where it is.

* I picked YouTube simply as it's the first video-sharing site most people think of. If you don't already have an account here, it's quick and painless (not to mention free) to set one up.

Deadline

The competition begins immediately, and will run up until the end of August (if you're a last minute kinda guy/gal, that's midnight GMT on Aug 31, 2008).

UPDATE : I've received a number of emails asking if this can be extended a little. The competition will now run until Sep 30, 2008.

You choose the winner

At the end of September, we'll list all the entries - together with the number of views they've received. You'll be asked to nominate your favourite; simply by leaving a comment.

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»» Continue reading »».



From The Bar to The Bar

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
Tags : kettlebells




At work in the home gym.
If you've ever wondered why this site's called 'Straight to the Bar', here's a bit of insight. A brief look at my own journey from alcoholic to weightlifter.

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Addressing Weaknesses in The Squat

posted by Rick Walker, CSCS
Filed in : Favourites
Tags : abdominal, bands, free weights




Back.
If you read most strength related material on the web today, you are going to come across a lot of talk about training weaknesses. This is great information, however, if you aren't sure what the weakness is, how are you going to address it, train it, and fix it? The best way is to have a competent lifter watch your squat form with heavy weights, then break down what you are doing wrong. That isn't always the best option. I mean, lets face it, it is downright impossible to find a "competent lifter" in the gym environment! So, I will go over some typical squat faults, what causes them, and what you can do about them to get your squat on the rise again.

Bending at the knees first

This is a common problem among many beginning squatters as the lifter is usually afraid of falling backwards with the weight. Instead of sitting back first, the lifter will bend at the knees to go down. This causes the knees to go forward well over the toes and often times causes the lifter to go up onto their toes in the hole. This is not only dangerous, but you are limiting how much you can squat. The pressure on the patellar tendons in this position is tremendous and leads to big time problems down the road.

Yes, some lifters, especially Olympic lifters, can adapt to these kinds of stresses from having their knees that far forward.

However, the goal here is to improve the squat and move more weight, and that will be accomplished by sitting back into the squat.

How to fix it

The lifter must learn to sit back and not down. This can take a long time to get them to do, and even longer to get them to do it under maximum loads. I start all newbie squatters on a box.

I use a very high box and a very light load, usually the empty bar with some light JumpStretch© bands attached for tension. The basic commands I give are for the lifter to sit back like he is searching for a chair that is behind him. Once the lifter can get down to the high box by sitting back, I lower it an inch and start all over. Eventually the lifter will be able to sit back to a parallel box and the movement will become second nature.

Another possible reason for the lifter's inability to sit back is hamstring strength. If the lifter has weak hamstrings, he won't be able to sit back into a squat without falling. It gets much worse as the weight increases. To address this, get the lifter on the glute-ham machine pronto!

This is the best way to bring up lagging hamstrings and prepare the lifter for handling more weight in the squat correctly. I have also found Romanian Deadlifts and reverse hypers to be effective for improving the sit back portion of the squat.

Knees come inward on ascent

This is probably the second most common error made by a squatter. The lifter usually descends well, but once they hit depth and attempt to come back up, the knees shoot inward leaving the lifter in an awkward and dangerous position. The reason this happens is usually linked to weak hips. The hips are weak, and therefore the body, in attempt to lift the weight, will draw the knees inward. This places the stress on the stronger quadriceps muscles.

How to fix it

Direct hip work will help immensely, but the lifter also needs to learn how to squat. The quickest way I have corrected this with lifters is to take a min JumpStretch© band, double loop it, and put it around the lifters legs at about knee height while they squat lighter weights. The lifter's goal is to keep the band tight and not let it fall down their legs. This will cause them to focus on proper knee position and really driving the knees out, not only during the ascent, but also during the descent. If you do this often enough, it will become second nature for the lifter to drive his knees out during the squat. I have found this to be most useful during wide stance box squat training. The lifter will be handling a lighter load, 50-60%, and thus can focus on the proper mechanics and keeping the band around their knees tight. Once it becomes second nature, there will be no need for the band.

Direct hip work via handle squats, pull-throughs, kettlebell swings, and belt squats will also help bring the hips up to match the strength of the quadriceps. When doing any type of direct hip work, make sure to really drive the knees out and make a conscious attempt to 'spread the floor' with your feet. Drive your feet hard into and out against the platform to assure proper hip activation.

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»» Continue reading »».



The Step-up : a Real Squat Alternative?

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : exercises
Tags : bodyweight, conditioning




Barbell Step-up
In the 1920s - particularly in the US - weight training began gaining favour with the public at large, and the Step-up began finding itself in various books and magazines. However, the back squat gradually started to dominate (largely due to the efforts of the German Henry 'Milo' Steinborn and Joseph Curtis Hise) and the Step-up was all but forgotten.

The Step-up seems to have been largely forgotten as a weight-bearing exercise for the thighs - primarily due to the dominance of the back squat. This article may just make you reconsider its use.


What is it?

The Step-up - as the name implies - is nothing more complex than stepping up onto an object, then stepping back down from it. Although it is an incredibly simple exercise, there are a few things to be aware of.

Factors to consider

Perhaps the most important of these is the height of the step. The basic exercise works the hips and thighs, and the step height adjust things in favour of the quadriceps or hamstrings. A higher step works the hamstrings harder, a lower step targets the quads (1).

According to Anatoly Bondarchuk, the 'normal' or ideal step height (for those with perfectly balanced quad and hamstring strength) is such that when the leading leg has the foot flat on the step, and the corresponding thigh parallel to the ground, the trailing leg has the toes just touching the ground (but the heel elevated) (1). This will naturally vary from person to person, and the use of a weight plate is common to bridge small gaps (it's unlikely that your training partner will have exactly the same requirements as you).

In addition to the step height, speed and number of reps both play crucial roles in determining the effectiveness of this exercise (for your personal goals). The usual rules apply - in general the reps will be lower and the breaks longer when training for maximum strength, and the reps higher/breaks shorter for hypertrophy goals.

The starting/finishing distance of the feet from the step also makes a difference, with a larger gap emphasising the Gluteus Maximus and a smaller gap emphasizing quadriceps (2).

Muscles used

The target muscle group is usually the quadriceps, though the weighting of this can be adjusted by altering the step height and gap as indicated above. Other muscle groups involved are (2) :

Synergists

* Gluteus Maximus
* Adductor Magnus
* Soleus
* Gastrocnemius (Second Leg)

Dynamic Stabilizers

* Hamstrings
* Gastrocnemius (First Leg)

Stabilizers

* Erector Spinae
* Trapezius, Upper
* Trapezius, Middle
* Levator Scapulae
* Gluteus Medius
* Gluteus Minimus

Antagonist Stabilizers

* Rectus Abdominis
* Obliques

As you can see, this is well and truly a compound exercise, and targets similar muscle groups to the squat.

Variations

Bodyweight step-up
The simplest form is a bodyweight-only step-up onto anything of a reasonable height (usually something below knee height). The speed, number of reps and step height will all play roles in the effectiveness of this exercise for your goals. Because of this flexibility the step-up can be used as a warmup, conditioning or strength training exercise.

Dumbbell step-up
As per the bodyweight step-up, performed whilst holding a dumbbell in each hand.

Barbell step-up
As per the bodyweight step-up, performed whilst holding a barbell across the shoulders in the same manner as for a back squat.

Step-ups wearing a weight vest
As per the bodyweight step-up, performed whilst wearing a weight-vest (such as the V-Max).


Sri Chinmoy
Former East Bengalese marathon runner Sri Chinmoy switched to weight-lifting in the mid 1980s (when he was in his 50s); setting a personal record for Step-ups done whilst wearing a 50lb weight vest by regularly performing 100 in 1996 (aged 65). Once again, the usual rules of rep ranges and breaks apply.

Inspired by Chinmoy's effort, the slightly more spritely Ashrita Furman (6) completed 2,574 step-ups (bodyweight only) onto a 15" bench in one hour, later that same year.

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»» Continue reading »».

what we're saying

how to

• Bending (Nails, Horseshoes)
  Easily one of the most rewarding ways to train.
  
• Clubs & Maces
  A great way to get a top workout in, without wasting time.
  
• Grippers
  I love training with grippers. Beautiful things.
  
• Kettlebells
  Fantastic.
  
• Ropes (Climbing/Dragging, Battling Ropes)
  Have you got what it takes?
  
• Sandbags
  If you're ready to take your conditioning workouts up a notch, grab one of these.
  
• Suspension Training
  Perfect for outdoor sessions.
  

»» Want more? They're all here. »»

 

images of strength

Want to see (and learn) more Feats of Strength like this? Dive in.

popular articles

Welcome. Here you’ll find everything that grunts, groans and ticks in the world of strength training. To give you an idea, here are just a handful of this site's most popular articles :

• DIY: How to Build an Olympic Weightlifting Platform [Kat 'The Mighty Kat' Ricker]
  Beautiful.
  
• Building A Neck Of Steel [Mike 'The Machine' Bruce]
  So you want a strong neck? It's actually quite simple.
  
• Straight to the Grip Contest (part II, III, IV, V and VI) [Jedd 'Napalm' Johnson] Getting ready for your first grip contest? Here's what to expect.
  
• A Little Yoke Work : 10 Exercises for a Bigger Neck [Scott Bird]
  Traps maketh the man.
  
• 29 Things to do with a Barbell in the Corner [Jason Kirby]
  This is absolutely superb.
  
• Get Mental! The Psychology of Strength [Josh Hewett]
  The thinking side is half the challenge.
  
• Small Victories [Josh Hanagarne]
  Improve what you can improve, every day.
  

If you enjoyed these, check out the complete 'Best Of Straight to the Bar' list. Fantastic.

recommended

It'll come as no surprise that we've reviewed many, many products over the years. Everything from books, magazines and DVDs to racks, benches and complete home gyms.

To give you an idea :

• You Need More Drugs
• Isopure Protein Powder - My Review
• Hercules for a Day
• CRUSH DVD Review!
• A Critical Analysis: Reaction Ball
• Mizuno Wave Enigma Running Shoes Review
• Review : StrongerGrip Loadable Blob

NB : if you'd like to review a product for Straight to the Bar, I'd love to hear from you. It's fantastic to see how other people put things to the test.

also learning from

join the discussion

Straight to the Bar is very much an interactive website. In addition to the articles here, there are a number of ways to share your passion with other lovers of the iron :

• Seen something cool? Send us a tweet
• Discuss it in the forums
• Join the Gymchats on Google+.
• Vote for stories on StumbleUpon & Facebook
• Add training and comp pics to the Flickr group
• Submit articles on styles and techniques
• Subscribe to the tutorial videos on youtube

Incidentally, for updates whenever new articles are published (as well as lots of other top strength-related stuff), follow me on twitter :

Follow @scottbird

the team

There are some superb writers here, looking at the world of strength training from a number of angles. The regulars :

• Scott Bird (@scottbird)
  Writer and Fitness enthusiast
  

NB : It's a big team - full list here.

In addition, articles are submitted from across the globe. Got a piece you'd like to share? Let us know.

lb to kg, kg to lb

(how to use the converter)

elsewhere

In addition to the articles on this site are a number I've written elsewhere. Including :

• Paleo Diet : Increased Mental Clarity
• The Art of Working Out Alone
• The Ultimate Guide to Freezing Food (part II)
• Rock the Kitchen: Plan for Diet Success
• 10 Challenging Bodyweight Exercises
• Buying Your First Kettlebell
• Switching to Biphasic Sleeping? Start here.

reading

Want more? Try these :

The Diesel Crew Bending eBook

If you're new to the world of nail bending, this is the perfect book to get. It'll show you the exact techniques you'll need to get started right away. Written by world-class bender Jedd Johnson.

The Diesel Crew's Card Tearing eBook

This is a fantastic book. If you've ever considered learning this incredible strength feat, the Card Tearing eBook is the perfect place to start. Love it.

Functional Correction Manual

If you ever wake up with that 'just run over by a truck' feeling, you need a copy of Tim Hull's Functional Correction Manual. Not only will it help you to locate and repair the problem, it'll help prevent it happening in the future.

Precision Nutrition

When it comes to body transformation - whether that's an increase in strength, packing on a bit of muscle or losing a bit of excess fat - this is the perfect place to start. Dr Berardi's Precision Nutrition.

Strength Training Anatomy

This is a fantastic book. As Josh explains, it superbly shows what's going on while you train. Love it.

101 Fitness Myths [Kindle Edition]

A superb combination of fitness mythbusting and no-nonsense advice. If you're not quite sure where to start, grab this.

The Art of Expressing the Human Body

If you've ever watched a Bruce Lee film and marveled at his strength, speed, agility, endurance, flexibility or muscularity, this book should take pride of place in your collection. Unlike many other writings covering everything from Lee's training methods to nutrition, this book is based not on the recollections of people around him; but on Lee's own notes. Brilliant.

And if you're a strength coach or personal trainer, check out the books Derek found invaluable when setting up his (commercial) gym. Fantastic place.

Over to you. What are you reading right now?

technique

Welcome.

If you’ve just joined us, I’d highly recommend checking out the ‘Start Here’ page - which takes a thorough look at what this site’s all about. However, if you’re more the ‘dive right in, read the manual later’ type, you may wish to check out the articles I’ve highlighted below. Just a few personal favourites.

Straight to the Bar copyright ©2004-2012 | Scott Andrew Bird

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