Tag Archives: Training

Recommended Reading (8/5/12)

Posted by Tim on

Competition is the force which drives improvement. In some ways its very obvious – competition in the automobile market pushes manufacturers to provide better products at lower prices. In other ways its not so obvious. If the Russians hadn’t competed with the Americans in the Olympics during the Cold War, they never would have invented steroids, which today are used by countless American athletes – hitting home runs and scoring touchdowns – keeping us entertained all year round. Yes, competition is the key.

Speaking of Russians and those ultra-competitive Olympics of the Cold War era, much of what they pioneered in weight training we are still using today. The most common training templates used today by America’s top powerlifters were written about decades ago by Soviet trainers. In more recent times, Vladimir M Zatsiorsky has written Science and Practice of Strength Training.

Zatsiorsky worked with the Soviets for 26 years, training literally hundreds of top-level athletes. Currently he teaches kinesiology at Penn State (let’s just avoid the Sandusky conversation, shall we?), but he also holds honorary degrees from universities in Poland and Russia. He’s authored over a dozen books, and his works have been published in English, Russian, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and other languages.

In Strength Training, Zatsiorsky delivers a complex analysis of the actual science of training. The book is full of charts and graphs, showing the effects of various training intensities, timings, and muscle recruitment. No matter the goal, whether it be strength, size, endurance, or speed, Zatsiorsky and, more importantly, science have the answers. Instead of just giving the reader a mindless training schedule, he gives you the knowledge needed to create your own – the right way. Along with the science, Zatsiorsky gives specific recommendations for certain populations – women, the elderly, and young athletes – and he also includes some tips for injury prevention.

If every trainee, or just every ignorant personal “trainer”, read this book there would be a lot less confusion about how to train for any desired effect. Too often young people go searching the internet forums for an answer to their troubles and all too often they get a bunch of hogwash, and end up just wasting time, if not money as well. Instead of that – buy this book, read it, and apply it. It’ll change the way you look at strength training forever.

On another note, I haven’t had a ton of time to sit down and watch this year’s Olympics, but I did manage to catch some women’s weight lifting last week. A 17 year old girl from Kazakistan weighing 116 lbs lifted 270 lbs over her head like it was nothing. I died a little inside. Really? She’s younger than me, smaller than me, a girl, and she’s way stronger than me. How’d that happen?

Rules of Grip Strength

Posted by Tim on

Anyone who has ever spent a lot of time in the gym and under the bar knows that after a certain point strength is almost useless in day to day life. Sure, being strong makes opening pickle jars easier, an will help you win and arm wrestling match or two, but by and large, being strong isn’t that necessary in today’s world. Oh, you can run a marathon? That’s great. I can drive a car and get where I’m going faster and without breaking a sweat. You see my point?

(That hasn’t stopped people from continuing to pursue their athletic dreams though. I’m not a competitive lifter, and I don’t even discuss my personal records with anyone, but I still keep track of my heaviest lifts and I train so that every couple months I can put up a bigger number. It may not be useful, but I do it for myself.)

One part of lifting that is often overlooked is grip strength. It also happens to be something that is actually useful in everyday life. Every once in a while someone at work will need something ripped apart and they call on me. It seems so easy to me, but no one else could do it. I’m not bragging – I’m just pointing out that my grip is stronger than most people’s. The thing is – I never focused on training my hands, on strengthening my grip. How did it get strong then?

Rule #1 – I am adamantly against wearing gloves, and using lifting straps or lifting hooks when working out. The reason is simple. These tools are aids. They aid you by allowing you to lift the weight more without the bar slipping out of your hands. The natural way to do this is to increase your grip strength, which will come naturally if you don’t use these aids. Want to increase grip strength? Throw away your gloves!

Anyone who says that lack of gloves or lifting straps is inhibiting their rows or deadlifts needs to be patient. Grip strength increases rapidly, and soon enough your grip strength will be able to handle the level of any weight you want to lift. Its foolish to let a weak grip hold you back. Just suck it up, grab the bar like a man, and lift it. Like Mark Rippetoe says – “If you insist on wearing gloves, make sure they match your purse.”

Rule #2 – Free weights are almost always better than machines. Machines limit your range of motion and steady the lift – aiding it. Not only does this mean that your grip doesn’t need to be as strong, but it means that many of the stabilizing muscles are not being used. A bench press (assuming proper form) of 150 lbs will deliver better muscular stimulation than a press machine of the same weight.

Rule #3 – Diversify. Its sad to see so many guys standing in front of mirrors at the gym constantly doing bicep curls. (One of the reasons I left commercial gyms.) As much as I argue that bicep curls are by and large a waste of time for any sport other than bodybuilding, if you insist on doing them try to switch things up. The standard curl is all fine and dandy, but try some reverse curls. Not only will this target the long head of the biceps, giving your arms a better overall shape, but it will really engage your forearms.

Not everything we do in the gym will transfer to real life, and after a certain point, very little of it will. Grip strength is one thing that is always useful, whether its tying a really good knot, opening a jar of pickles, or winning at tug of war. Avoid using aids that inhibit growth and strength gains, go for free weights instead of machines, and add in some reverse curls. Do this and you can throw out your lifting straps and never look back.

The Westside Method

Posted by Tim on

Sometimes without trying we can end up all agreeing on some things. During this heated political climate its nice to take a break from the various campaign news and get back to what I know, or at least what I thought I knew – weight lifting. I heard before that really we all end up coming to the same conclusions about weight training after a certain amount of time. For me, I came to these conclusions years ago – big weights, multi-joint movements, constant progression. It turns out I was also following a famous training guideline without even knowing it.

Louis Simmons, founder of Westside Barbell in Ohio, has been using this method for decades. What is now called the “Westside Method” actually dates back to the old Soviet Union – Russia and Bulgaria in particular. Simmons read all he could about these guys and how they were training and applied it to himself and his trainees. The results were off the charts, and led to lifters setting new records, staying injury free, and competing for more years.

The Westside method is divided into three parts – “Max Effort”, “Dynamic”, and “Repetition”. Max Effort is a day of training where you’ll work your way up to your 1 rep max, doing short sets of 1-2 reps with as much time as needed between sets. Dynamic days focus completely on speed. Heavy weights are not needed, but with sets of only 3 reps or so, rest periods should be short – about 1 minute. Repetition work is just about everything else. Repetition movements are to be done on both Max Effort days and Dynamic days.

A (very) simple template for a schedule would look like:
Monday – Max Effort Squat/Deadlift
Wednesday – Max Effort Bench Press
Friday – Dynamic Squat/Deadlift
Sunday – Dynamic Bench Press

Turns out that I’ve been doing this for some time already. Focusing on heavy lifts one day (max effort), then light but fast lifts (dynamic) another day. Each training day includes extra repetition work to improve whatever weak points I feel I may have. Using these three methods a trainee can maximize strength and speed, the keys to creating power – hence power lifting.

Now, I don’t claim to be an expert (or even knowledgable) about the Westside method. Louis Simmons has done the research and experimented with this method for a long time and he’s without a doubt one of the smartest men on the subject of power lifting. But its interesting that without knowing it we came to the same conclusions about the way to arrange a training schedule. For more info visit Westside Barbell’s website.

Training With a Goal In Mind (Part II)

Posted by Tim on

Having a goal as vague as “lose weight” is a sure fire way to never reach that goal. Goals need to be specific. It also helps to have a vision of what you want to look like after your goal is met. “Lose weight” doesn’t say what you’re going to look like. Do you want a body of Halle Berry, or Rosie O’Donnell?  For some people, Rosie’s body could be a step in the right direction, but I hope it isn’t anyone’s end goal.

The same applies to guys trying to gain weight. I’ll be honest – I’m no expert in losing weight. Frankly, I’ve never had to lose weight myself, so I’ve never put a lot of energy into studying it. I know enough to advise people, but not enough to go in depth. Gaining muscle, on the other hand, is something I know a lot more about. Just as “lose weight” is a vague goal, “gain weight” or “get stronger” is setting yourself up for failure.

For one thing, “gaining muscle” and “getting stronger” aren’t always the same thing. Decide what you specifically want to do, and focus on that. Sets & rep schemes, rest intervals, and % of 1RM, are all important factors in achieving your goal. Without going super in-depth, let’s go over some basics of designing a training program depending on your goal.

As I’ve already noted, if your goal is to gain strength you’re going to train differently than if your goal was muscle hypertrophy. If strength is your goal, first find out your 1 rep max (the heaviest weight you can lift for 1 full repetition). There are a number of formulas for doing this (just search Google), or you could spend a workout with trial and error. Work your way up to a weight that you can’t lift. Go down 10 lbs and, voila, you have your 1RM.

Once you have your 1RM for your 3 main lifts (squat, deadlift, bench press), take out your calculator and write down some basic lift numbers. You’re going to be sticking to low reps (1-5 reps), 5-8 sets, and 80%+ of your 1RM. Because the weight will be a high percentage of your 1RM, you won’t be doing 8-12 reps, but you can certainly bang out 5+ sets. For strength – keep the reps low, sets high, and percentage of 1RM high.

Muscle hypertrophy (gaining muscle) is slightly different. Again, you’ll need to find your 1RM for your three main lifts. Once you know your 1RM, grab that pen and paper, a calculator, and get down to business. Reps should be higher (8-12 reps), percentage of 1RM should be lower (60%), and sets should be about the lower (3-4 sets). Although the weight isn’t as high, you’ll be pushing out more reps and often times going almost to failure.

Now, weight training can also be used for endurance. In this case you’ll keep the reps very high (20+ reps), the percentage very low (40-50%), and the sets high (8+ sets). This would be important if you are in a sport that requires power on a steady basis – soccer for instance. Pure strength would be more applicable to football, where short bursts of a lot of power are the norm.

Your training should change depending on your goal. If you want to gain muscle, lose fat, gain strength, or build endurance, use a few basic guidelines and design a program that will help you reach your goal. Make your goal specific, and have a vision in mind. All of this will help lead you to your goal, and  hopefully prevent you from having the exact same new year’s resolution in 2013.