The example used is the following. Say it is bench day. Next time you enter the gym try this. Do your pyramiding of weights up from a warm up set or two to where you complete say 5 sets of 5 and then finish with a couple of sets of 1RM's and then finish with some partials or bands or the like. By then you will be smashed. Then take a moderate weight, say 60kg in the powerclean and do the following. 10 sets of powercleans supesetted with 3-5 chins and 3-5 dips. so it would look like this 10 powercleans, 4 chins, 4 dips, straight back to 9 powercleans, 4 chins, 4 dips, straight back to 8 powercleans, 4 chins, 4 dips etc and so on until you work down to just 1 powerclean but the 3-5 chins and dips. This will take you between 8 to 15 minutes depending on how fit and strong you are. If you push hard enough in just say 10 minutes you will be so fatigued and your heart rate so high you will be exhausted. You will however had created a massive rush of growth factor in the body as well as provided some supplementary work for your chins, dips and bench. Give it a try and let me know how you got on!
How many of you continue to just do strength training where you choose say 2-3 exercises for the prescribed 5 x 5 or something of that nature time after time? Whilst there is absolutely no argument that this will doo wonders for your strength levels provided you continue to add weight to the bar, there are other ways to build strength as well as throw in some conditioning work that will also release more testosterone as well as build size and strength.
The example used is the following. Say it is bench day. Next time you enter the gym try this. Do your pyramiding of weights up from a warm up set or two to where you complete say 5 sets of 5 and then finish with a couple of sets of 1RM's and then finish with some partials or bands or the like. By then you will be smashed. Then take a moderate weight, say 60kg in the powerclean and do the following. 10 sets of powercleans supesetted with 3-5 chins and 3-5 dips. so it would look like this 10 powercleans, 4 chins, 4 dips, straight back to 9 powercleans, 4 chins, 4 dips, straight back to 8 powercleans, 4 chins, 4 dips etc and so on until you work down to just 1 powerclean but the 3-5 chins and dips. This will take you between 8 to 15 minutes depending on how fit and strong you are. If you push hard enough in just say 10 minutes you will be so fatigued and your heart rate so high you will be exhausted. You will however had created a massive rush of growth factor in the body as well as provided some supplementary work for your chins, dips and bench. Give it a try and let me know how you got on!
0 Comments
As was mentioned in my previous book review of Super Squats by Randall J. Strossen this book is an excellent read and far exceeds what Super Squats provides the reader. The book is entertaining as well as informative and provides a lot more value with a total of 260+ pages, well over twice as much content as was provided in Super Squats.The strengths of this book is it's style of prose, McCallum uses a dialogue between people as the mainstay of his writing and this gives the reader the type of feel that they are there experiencing the conversation as it happens. His stories are light and often funny. They detail stories of either his daughters boyfriend and his quest to get big and strong or alternatively has various characters all pursuing the same goal. In amongst each of these stories McCallum provides a myriad of different techniques, programs or strength ideas. Where this book is superior to Super Squats is that you get the benefit of many programs that are suitable for the beginner, intermediate or advanced trainer. As a result of this book coming together through a collection of his articles that he had written for Strength and Health from 1965 to 1972 you receive a rich source of strength advice which had often been communicated to the reader over various months of publications, however as they have been brought together in this book the reader can see the progression of these programs quickly and easily.
There is one thing that the reader may find difficult with this book. It is to, at a glance take the program from the article as the sets, reps and exercises are buried within the dialogue of the characters. This can be annoying if you want to just remind yourself of what the program was in that article. To overcome this just try and use a post it note inside the book and write the exercise, set's and reps specified and leave it on that page, that way you can always at a glance remind yourself what that program was. This is overcome however as this book is difficult to put down because the stories are engrossing and you often want to keep reading in order to see what happened to that character in the article. Some of the articles that stood out were Gain weight to build you arms (how many guys you know spend countless hours doing curls and pressdowns without much success, compared to the guy who squats heavy, deadlifts, chins and benches and has monster arms), Parallel bar dips - This is an excellent article highlighting this often neglected excercise and how with the addition of a weight belt and some weight you can seriously work the upper body. The other articles of note are Get big drink - after reading this I would recommend that anyone wanting to try this better be prepared for some discomfort from the amount of fullness they will feel. Just drinking this thing is enough to make you want to pass out let alone eating on top of it. I have a training buddy who tried it and let me tell you he struggled to eat a single morsel on top of this but he did pack on about 2kg in 4 days.Finally throughout the book Strossen writes about breathing squats and 20 rep squats. This is where the value lies between this book and Super Squats, In Super Squats all they talk about is just the squat, in The complete Keys to Progress Strossen covers not only just this but many many more strength ideas. This is why this book is recommended over Super Squats. This is a very entertaining and informative DVD. Narrated and produced by Colin Bryce (those of you who have watched a lot of strongman will recognize this guy) this DVD is comprehensive and includes heaps of training footage. Essentially broken up into two major parts it showcases Svend and his big personality training in his own gym and then at a commercial gym. His own gym is something to behold. When he takes us in there the first thing he says is "Welcome to Valhallla!". For those of you like me who just dream of having this type of place to train you will agree that this is a very apt comment, it really is heaven. He takes the viewer into a huge warehouse where he has every possible strongman and exercise equipment you could imagine. Add the fact that this is in the wilderness and it is heavily snowing outside it just gives that raw gritty feel that would just make you want to train the moment you stepped in. He then takes us through a multitude of exercises ranging from log lifts and atlas stones to some of his own ideas like the Karlsen press and clean. The DVD also gives a synopsis of each day of his training which is something to behold as he does a very high volume of training. The second part takes us to a commercial gym where he takes us through a predominately lower body training session. His front Squats and deadlift sessions are something to behold and the ease at which he begins to deadlift around the 300+kg mark is certainly motivating. Throughout it he introduces us to a few other gym goers and it all has a feel of a real little subculture. Included in the DVD is some footage of him competing and an interview with Svend by Colin Bryce talking about his supplement and diet routine.Overall this is a great DVD. I personally have watched this countless times and it never gets boring. With a DVD length of well over 1 hour this is one DVD that any strongman or budding strength athlete should purchase. It is an excellent training and motivational tool I enetered my first powerlifting competition earlier this year and had an awesome time. It has just cemented in my mind that I want to continue to improve and get as brutally strong as possible. The contest certainly didn't go by without it's hiccups however so in the spirit of trying to save someone the same type of issues I faced these are the things that I learned the hard way:
I like I'm sure many of you have to travel from time to time for work. This shouldn't get in the way of your training. In fact this is a good opportunity to get in some really good training time. How and why you may ask? Firstly often you will have more time in the morning or evening as you will not have the distractions of home life eg - Feeding the kids, doing the washing up, getting ready for work to beat the rush hour etc. You can wake up in your hotel room and hit the gym with little getting in the way. Also by ensuring you train whilst you are away on business means you are likely to keep the momentum of your existing training and hence keep the gains coming. You have a range of options for the training. You could simply put your joggers on and go for a run. Many hotels will have a small fitness centre that you could use or alternatively if you want to continue your lifting properly and require an olympic bar and some serious weight I find the best thing to do is to jump on the internet and find the local gyms that are available. One way of saving money is to try and avoid the commercial gyms like Fitness First and find the university gyms. These are usually subsidized but often have lifting platforms and proper lifting areas for the university athletes. Other ways of making sure you get in a good workout are to do the following:
If you think that the only way to get into excellent physical condition is to put your running shoes on and hit the streets or log hours on a treadmill or stationary bike then this book is for you. Brian Jones has done an excellent job in compiling every conceivable way to get fit. This book is an excellent reference for the trainer who is looking for variety in their conditioning workouts and would like to learn a multitude of ways that they could approach those workouts.The book begins by discussing a number of concepts in relation to general physical condition. Brian discusses at length the various energy systems used when exercising such as the anaerobic and aerobic systems. The book then discusses the process of defining and constructing a workout schedule that will get the trainer into top physical condition regardless if you are starting from a very low base or you are already a tremendously fit and explosive individual. Much of the book is devoted to explanations of just about any type of exercise that can be used for getting into top shape. Brian explains the more well known styles of training such as running or bodyweight exercise right through to more unknown or underground styles of training such as sled pulls, kettlebells, sledge hammer training and even tyre flipping. The book concludes with a huge number of possible training schedules as well as a specific section on MMA trainers.The benefits of this book are the many workouts that are provided throughout the book. You can pick this book up at any stage and read it in pretty much any sequence and get something worthwhile out of it. Whether it is an exercise you hadn't considered for conditioning or a combination that Brian has put together, this is a very worthwhile book for anyone serious about getting into top physical condition. You! stop reading......Go trainLift this way for multiple sets of singles = Strength.You may be thinking by the headline for this article that you would learn a wonderful secret of some ancient and mysterious exercise that only a select few people know about or are capable of doing? At the possibility of disappointing you the reader, unfortunately there is no one exercise that will do this. It is essentially any exercise you choose. Let me explain. Provided you train with enough intensity, eat right and get the required amount of sleep you could choose pretty much any exercise, train with that one movement as hard and heavy as you can for say 30 to 60 min and you will achieve some fantastic results. Now we should caveat that by picking some inane exercise like tricep kickbacks or dumbell flyes the likelihood of you getting stronger, building muscle mass and explosive power from it is about as likely as the sun not coming up tomorrow morning. However you choose a movement that employs multiple joints and engages much of your muscular system and you will be on the right track. Examples of the right type of movements for this would be the following - Squat, deadlift, bench press, power cleans, snatch, military press, dips, chins or bent over barbell rows.
If you took just one of these movements and trained on just that movement solidly for say 45 mins working up in weight and in decreasing repetitions for multiple sets you will have an extremely effective workout. The big "but" with choosing this type of workout however is the need to really push yourself and challenge yourself. You need to have a win at all cost mentality and not fear for example missing the lift. Remember for every lift you miss it is one lift closer to you actually completing it.Why not try it for 4 weeks. From the list of movements above choose say 4 movements eg - Squat, Dips, Chins and powerleans. Train each movement one day a week say Monday - Squat, Tuesday - Dips, Thursday - Chins and Friday - Powercleans, and do this for 4 weeks increasing the weight in each successive set until you are down to singles. Then continue lifting singles until you are absolutely spent. You may get through say 10 to 20 sets in a 45 minute workout. Each week look to better the maximum lift you completed the week before. Forget being a hard gainer or any of that nonsense. You do this and you will gain size, strength and explosive power. If you don't, you didn't push yourself hard enough. Remember the key to any progress is progressive resistance and giving it all the intensity you can muster. When she started lifting she had just one plate each side!There are days that you just feel stronger than normal. Most people if they are serious about trying to increase their strength levels will only attempt PB's on these types of days. This often applies when you are seeking a max lift. An example would be trying to deadlift 200kg for the first time or benching 3 plates. whatever it is there is no doubt that chasing that new personal best is something you should be attempting.
Other days you are just feeling weak, lethargic or just plain not intersted. These are days that you should also be seeking a PB. I know your probably thinking that there is no way you are going to do this if you aren't feeling strong or motivated but it is all in relation to your frame of thinking. what's to stop you grabbing a kettlebell and going for the most consecutive snatches you have ever done. Or powercleaning that 60kg weight more times than you have done in a 3 minute period. Regardless of what it is you are attempting by constantly looking for new and novel ways to do something you haven't done before your body has no choice but to respond. When you become a serious lifter the only thing that slows your progress is your mind. If you can overcome this by re-framing things then there is no reason, regardless of what current physical stage you may feel that you can't continue to push yourself into a zone your body has never gone to before.If you are having one of those days where you are just feeling completely hyped up and super strong than by all means go for that PB. One piece of advice is to not jump too far ahead. Take small increments. The reason is that mentally the success of each consecutive lift acts as further motivation to go for the next one. You will be surprised how far you can push into new max territory when you are making only 2.5kg increments. There are times I have pushed a good 3 times into a new PB using that type of system. your previous best may have been say a 200kg deadlift. Don't jump to 210kg, do a 202.5kg. You will find that if you lift that it spurs you to go again and go for a 205kg. If you jumped to the 210kg and miss it badly you'll be surprised how you then can't do the 202.5kg. It's as if you have just hardwired your brain to think of failure after that attempt. go small and build it up and you will be amazed how the momentum of success can go on for weeks.Happy (brutal) lifting! I recently purchased a pair of Fat Gripz and they are great. They came from the US and arrived relatively quickly, just over a week. I have now been using them extensively on a range of movements on both barbell and dumbbells. The Fat Gripz consist of a dense type of rubber that is blue and non slippery, regardless if your hands get sweaty or not. They are essentially a rubber cylinder that fits snuggly over a regular olympic bar or pair of dumbbells cause they have a slit down them and you just wrap them around the bar.
The movements I have found to be most useful are barbell military press, these really force your wrists to work hard. Dumbbell clean and presses and of course fat bar style barbell curls. Particularly on the barbell curls they work parts of your forearm and grip strength you typically have not felt before when using a regular bar. They are great as you can easily fit them into your gym bag and totally change the feel of your workouts that you have been doing at the gym. You will find that on things like curls for doing thick bar deadlifts you will struggle to use the type of weight you may be accustomed to when using a regular bar. You have probably seen plenty of videos of the strongmen at the Arnold expo trying to lift the circus dumbbell with it's really thick handle. the beauty of these Fat Gripz is you can recreate your own circus dumbbell or the inch dumbbell just by putting them on your dumbbells. This is a lot of fun and absolutely excellent way of working your grip strength. Without any hesitation I would recommend Fat Gripz. They make your workouts fun and challenging as well as adding a great deal of variety to your regular workouts. As you become more adept at training it is interesting to take some time and ponder what exactly is your training philosophy. For each individual it will be very different. Some may believe that training frequently and short gets the best results. Others may believe that lifting a maximum of 3 times a week is what is required to gain unbelievable strength. whatever philosophy that you want to undertake their are 3 fundamentals required in order to achieve your full potential. These are:
- Setting SMART goals - Training with all out intensity - Keeping a log book of your training You may be asking yourself how do these 3 things ensure that I become the strongest most conditioned individual I want to be. They will do this through the following. Whilst everyone would love to be able to take a pill that would strip fat and build muscle the unfortunate truth to the matter is that the only thing that will deliver these results is serious hard work. Therefore in order to keep yourself working at a level that will continue to drive results you need to firstly set some goals. By not setting goals you will only fall short of what you could truly become. When setting the goals stick to the SMART principle: S = Specific M = Measurable A = Attainable R = Realistic T = Timely These things are vitally important as they are what will help drive you to phenomenal achievements. Let me give you an example. A poor goal would be: "I want to compete in my first powerlifting competition this year." Notice that this goal only has one of the 5 principles, that is that it is attainable. there is nothing specific or measurable in this goal. A SMART goal would be: "I will compete in the "x" powerlifting competition on the "x" date and will lift a total of 540kg's." Note that this goal is specific to which competition, is measurable because you have set a target - 540kgs, this should be attainable if you train right for it and based on the lifters current strength levels should be realistic and because the date of the meet is included it also allows for it to be done in a specific time frame. The next fundamental once you have set your SMART objective is to train with all out intensity. As was suggested in the opening the philosophy of how you want to train is in essence irrelevant if you don't push yourself hard enough. The key is to continually push for more weight or more reps. If you do this then your muscles have no other option but to get stronger. Without going into the principles of periodization and cycling etc if a lifter continually strives to push for more weight or more reps with a given weight then you are training with the required intensity. The third and related fundamental is keeping a training log. The reason this is related is that there is no way you can cheat yourself particularly in choosing which weight to use if you have been recording them then you have no way of trying to convince yourself that the weight on the bar is more than you lifted last time. By keeping the log it acts as your conscience and it is always on hand to ask the question of yourself as to wether you are pushing yourself or not. If these 3 fundamentals are adhered to throughout your years of lifting then it should a successful lifting career. |
Into all things Strength and Conditioning. A bachelors degree in Leisure Studies and an M.B.A. Certified Elite Trainer with the ISSA - PT, Specialist in Strength and Conditioning & Sports Nutrition. Published author on Powerlifter Today and The Iron Exec. I compete in IPF sanctioned powerlifting competitions and am a former professional Rugby player. Archives
February 2023
|