So I've added more exercises to get over my bench press plateau. When I'm at the gym, I do a reflexive bench press and standing tricep cable extensions on one day and then give myself rest. On my next workout I do Hammer Strength seated bench presses and Hammer Strength seated decline presses.
The rationale for doing this is that the tricep extensions allow for bringing the forearm and bicep close together almost touching each other. The Hammer Strength seated presses also close the angle gap between the forearm and bicep as well because the handles where you initiate the bench press are swept back to the point where you have to reach beyond the horizontal plane of your chest and thus put the elbows at a sharper angle and a severe swept back position on the fronts of the shoulders. The overlying principle is that when that angle gap is closed and the shoulders are swept back like that, the exercise is more difficult and will eventually help to overcoming the plateau.
This gives us a framework for us to analyze our targeted movements such as the bench press or squat and allow us to overcome our plateaus. When you come to a plateau in your exercise, ask yourself how can I create a translative exercise that is more difficult than my target range of motion. Examine the start of your lift. If there is reflexive bounce that is used to complete the lift, is there any way you can retard the momentum from the bounce and thus force your muscles to work more and elicit an adaptive response? Can you use a pause or elastic bands or chains to cancel out the reflexive bounce?
Also examine the angles at which you put your body joints to complete the lift. Ask yourself which complementary exercises can I do to make the angles the joints take on more difficult and sharper than your targeted exercise. Ask yourself can I use a http://strengthtrainingwithoutsteroids.blogspot.com/2013/05/bench-press-plateau-and-how-cambered.htmlor machine to put the limbs and their joints at more severe sharper angles compared to the targeted exercise.
You see strength training really has nothing to do with how many reps you complete. If you've done my max out workout, you've probably gained strength and you only used one rep sets. I've seen exercise regimens advising doing sets of three reps or five reps sets then three rep sets then a single rep set. It's all nonsense.
It's not the reps that will make you strong. When you do multi rep sets, you are hoping for a strength gain that will translate to your single rep max out. This may get a couple strength gains in the beginning but eventually you will plateau. Your body will become too accustomed to the movement and plateau in strength. That's why you analyze the movement for reflexive bounce and body joints that take on too wide an angle gap between limbs. Then your create more difficult translative exercises with the same range of motion as your targeted exercise that hinder the reflexive bounce or close the angle gaps between your limbs to eventually overcome the plateau.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Bench press plateau and how the cambered bar defeats it
I've been on a serious bench press plateau for a couple weeks now. The pause bench press is not enough of a stimulus to elicit an adaptive response.
My theory is that in order to make a gain on the bench three things have to happen. The elastic effect you get when you swing the shoulders backwards to lower the bar to the chest has to be cancelled out, the angle gap between your forearm and your bicep when lowering the bar to the chest has to be closed, and the shoulders have to severe swept back position.
When you pause the bar on the chest, it inhibits the elastic bounce you get when lowering the bar to the chest, so you're forced to work the chest and tricep muscles. The pause should be enough of a stimulus to make a gain. But what about the angle gap between your forearm and bicep and the position of your shoulders?
Enter the cambered bar. I recently invested $200 in one. It has a bend in the bar to allow the hands to move past the horizontal plane of your chest and close the gap between your forearm and bicep and the shoulders to be swept back. My theory is that since it allows this a gain in strength will be made.
My theory is that in order to make a gain on the bench three things have to happen. The elastic effect you get when you swing the shoulders backwards to lower the bar to the chest has to be cancelled out, the angle gap between your forearm and your bicep when lowering the bar to the chest has to be closed, and the shoulders have to severe swept back position.
When you pause the bar on the chest, it inhibits the elastic bounce you get when lowering the bar to the chest, so you're forced to work the chest and tricep muscles. The pause should be enough of a stimulus to make a gain. But what about the angle gap between your forearm and bicep and the position of your shoulders?
Enter the cambered bar. I recently invested $200 in one. It has a bend in the bar to allow the hands to move past the horizontal plane of your chest and close the gap between your forearm and bicep and the shoulders to be swept back. My theory is that since it allows this a gain in strength will be made.
elbow angle, and IAlso how would you
the importance of a mouthpiece
I can't stress enough how important it is to wear a mouthpiece while you're lifting. The loads you're forcing your body to tolerate while strength training almost require you to clinch your teeth.
This can be a real detriment to your tooth enamel. With the constant clenching of the teeth a mouthpiece will protect your teeth and I vaguely remember from somewhere on the internet that clenching your teeth could lead to gaining strength. Check it out here.
This can be a real detriment to your tooth enamel. With the constant clenching of the teeth a mouthpiece will protect your teeth and I vaguely remember from somewhere on the internet that clenching your teeth could lead to gaining strength. Check it out here.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Squatting and repetitive movement injury
As of late, the multi rep sets I've been doing in the squat exercise has caused my lower spine to become tender and somewhat painful. To remedy this, I've stopped doing multi rep sets and instead I've been doing single rep sets.
This has diminished my pain significantly. The fact that I was breathing with a large load on the back of my neck was compressing my lower back which is somewhat painful. Also with each breath I was also losing that tight straight up and down form so crucial to avoiding putting the spine in a compromised position susceptible to injury.
But the problem with doing just single rep max out sets is that it's harder to achieve necessary fatigue that will induce an adaptive response strength gain. That cliche "no pain no gain" rings true when strength training and I can pretty much guarantee you will no see no strength gains if you don't experience any soreness in your muscles after you workout. To remedy this, I've taken to doing five or six max out single rep sets instead of just the four max out sets. It's true I do experience soreness in my glutes and quadriceps without doing multi rep sets but the degree of soreness is somewhat diminished and seems like my squatting range of motion is not as fluid as with doing multi rep sets.
As far as making any strength gains, I have made some but I really haven't done enough single rep sets to give conclusive evidence that just doing single rep sets will elicit a proper strength gain adaptive response. My guess is that it will but since the degree of fluidity is lessened when just doing single rep sets the strength gains will be smaller. Who knows maybe I'll go back to doing multi rep sets. I guess I could also do single rep sets with lighter weights to increase the speed in the range of motion and this will help with my lifting efficiency.
This has diminished my pain significantly. The fact that I was breathing with a large load on the back of my neck was compressing my lower back which is somewhat painful. Also with each breath I was also losing that tight straight up and down form so crucial to avoiding putting the spine in a compromised position susceptible to injury.
But the problem with doing just single rep max out sets is that it's harder to achieve necessary fatigue that will induce an adaptive response strength gain. That cliche "no pain no gain" rings true when strength training and I can pretty much guarantee you will no see no strength gains if you don't experience any soreness in your muscles after you workout. To remedy this, I've taken to doing five or six max out single rep sets instead of just the four max out sets. It's true I do experience soreness in my glutes and quadriceps without doing multi rep sets but the degree of soreness is somewhat diminished and seems like my squatting range of motion is not as fluid as with doing multi rep sets.
As far as making any strength gains, I have made some but I really haven't done enough single rep sets to give conclusive evidence that just doing single rep sets will elicit a proper strength gain adaptive response. My guess is that it will but since the degree of fluidity is lessened when just doing single rep sets the strength gains will be smaller. Who knows maybe I'll go back to doing multi rep sets. I guess I could also do single rep sets with lighter weights to increase the speed in the range of motion and this will help with my lifting efficiency.
Bench press plateau
I've been on a two week bench press plateau. Maybe it's because I've been taking too long a rest between workouts. I don't know.
I think the real reason is my adaptive stimulus is too weak. If you look at the typical power lifting setup for the bench press, the shoulders are swept back and the shoulder blades are tucked underneath the upper back.
That does two important things. It contracts the upper back muscles. This gives a solid foundation to press from which could lead to a more powerful lift. Secondly, it activates the elasticity on the fronts of your shoulders.
Try this as an experiment. Sweep your shoulders back and then release the tension. What happens? The shoulders fall forward back into place. This rubber band like effect is the elasticity that's helping you clear the bar off your chest when bench pressing. When you setup for the bench press, you're activating this rubber band like tension across the fronts of your shoulders by sweeping the shoulders backwards.
This has been my problem in not defeating my plateau for the bench press. The elastic effect on the fronts of my shoulders has not stimulated the muscles in my chest or on my arms fully so I can get a stronger bench press.
To remedy this, I've been using a more intensive pause bench press. Instead of only just pausing the bar on my chest for a couple seconds, additionally I'm also canceling out the elastic effect on the fronts of my shoulders. This is done by laying my back as flat as I possibly can on the bench. This allows for no upward arching of the chest which allows my elbows to sink deeper into a more severe acute angle when the bar touches my chest. This should force my body to recruit more muscle fibers along the front of the chest which may lead to a strength gain.
Secondly, when I'm setting up for the bench press I'm not sweeping my shoulders back. I'm relaxing my shoulders by the sides of my chest. This cancels out that elastic tension on the fronts of my shoulders. This should increase the tension on my chest and arms thus increasing muscle fiber recruitment in my shoulders, chest and arms which will hopefully lead to a strength gain in my bench press.
I've done this pause relaxed shoulder bench press for only two workouts. My first test day was a failure as I stayed at my bench pressing plateau. The reason I'm guessing is that since more muscle fibers were recruited, my chest and shoulders were not used to this stimulus and instead took on more of an adaptive alignment response. That's where muscle fibers and ligaments and tendons align themselves in a more natural pathway to allow for strength gains.
The second pause relaxed bench press workout did see a strength gain but no strength gain was evidenced in my reflexive bench press. I'm awaiting for my next test day which is tomorrow to see if I have any success or failure in my reflexive bench press. I'll post the results either way in a couple days.
I think the real reason is my adaptive stimulus is too weak. If you look at the typical power lifting setup for the bench press, the shoulders are swept back and the shoulder blades are tucked underneath the upper back.
That does two important things. It contracts the upper back muscles. This gives a solid foundation to press from which could lead to a more powerful lift. Secondly, it activates the elasticity on the fronts of your shoulders.
Try this as an experiment. Sweep your shoulders back and then release the tension. What happens? The shoulders fall forward back into place. This rubber band like effect is the elasticity that's helping you clear the bar off your chest when bench pressing. When you setup for the bench press, you're activating this rubber band like tension across the fronts of your shoulders by sweeping the shoulders backwards.
This has been my problem in not defeating my plateau for the bench press. The elastic effect on the fronts of my shoulders has not stimulated the muscles in my chest or on my arms fully so I can get a stronger bench press.
To remedy this, I've been using a more intensive pause bench press. Instead of only just pausing the bar on my chest for a couple seconds, additionally I'm also canceling out the elastic effect on the fronts of my shoulders. This is done by laying my back as flat as I possibly can on the bench. This allows for no upward arching of the chest which allows my elbows to sink deeper into a more severe acute angle when the bar touches my chest. This should force my body to recruit more muscle fibers along the front of the chest which may lead to a strength gain.
Secondly, when I'm setting up for the bench press I'm not sweeping my shoulders back. I'm relaxing my shoulders by the sides of my chest. This cancels out that elastic tension on the fronts of my shoulders. This should increase the tension on my chest and arms thus increasing muscle fiber recruitment in my shoulders, chest and arms which will hopefully lead to a strength gain in my bench press.
I've done this pause relaxed shoulder bench press for only two workouts. My first test day was a failure as I stayed at my bench pressing plateau. The reason I'm guessing is that since more muscle fibers were recruited, my chest and shoulders were not used to this stimulus and instead took on more of an adaptive alignment response. That's where muscle fibers and ligaments and tendons align themselves in a more natural pathway to allow for strength gains.
The second pause relaxed bench press workout did see a strength gain but no strength gain was evidenced in my reflexive bench press. I'm awaiting for my next test day which is tomorrow to see if I have any success or failure in my reflexive bench press. I'll post the results either way in a couple days.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Deadlift workout
The deadlift workout doesn't use the max out routine. Rather, I only use single rep sets and I alternate between using lifting straps and not using them. Lifting straps are tough and thick cloth straps that loop around your wrist and wrap around the bar to enable you to lift maximum weight loads and place great amounts of tension on your back and leg and shoulder muscles. Without lifting straps, the tension focuses more on your forearms and hands. I've had a pair of Harbinger lifting straps that have held up for close to a year. Maybe in a year or two I'll have to get new ones, but they're the longest lasting straps I've ever used.
Deadlift workout
Warm-up without straps and when the weight gets too heavy to grip, switch to straps.
1 rep max out set with straps
1 rep max out set without straps
1 rep max out set with straps
1 rep max out set without straps
1 rep max out set with straps
1 rep max out set without straps
1 rep max out set with straps
The reason for no multi rep sets is that since lifting the weight without straps will always be less than lifting with straps, the lighter weight will help us to achieve maximal lifting efficiency. It will get our bodies to an optimal operating temperature, it will lubricate our joints and pump blood into the muscles.
The flooring you deadlift on is your most important piece of equipment. It has to be concrete or two forty five lb plates placed next to each other. One foot goes on plate and the other goes on the other plate. The feet are placed on the plate so no part of the heel or toes are sticking through the handle holes in the plate.
I either wear just socks or go barefoot when deadlifting. Any piece of rubber in between your feet and the ground will cause your posture to be imbalanced. This will put severe stress on one part of your body and will most likely lead to injury if not now definitely down the road.
The form for the deadlift is mostly the same with or without straps. The only difference is the grip. With straps you're going to thread one end of the strap through the eyelet at one end of the strap. This forms a loop in the strap. Stick your hand through the loop. If the straps are padded, the padding goes on the back of the wrists. Now you should have a length of strap with which to wrap around the bar, so wrap it around the bar and get it tight as you possibly can without putting severe tightness and stress on your wrists. You're going to wrap so your hand holds the winding in place on the bar so the wrapping layers should almost be on top of each other like a big clump wrapped around the bar. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just make it small enough so you can grip your palm and fingers around all of the wrapping. Do one hand at a time. To adjust the tightness in the strap, grip the wrapping and twist it away from you for extra tightness. Twist the wrapping towards you for loosening the tension.
The grip for deadlifting with no straps is done using a hook grip. First make sure your hands and the bar are dry. I don't use talc to help my grip because I'm trying to place the load on my forearms and hand grip rather than on my back. Now wrap your fingers around the bar and tuck your thumb in between the bar and your fingers. Grab your thumb with your fingers and pull it in tight towards your palm. The bar should be resting close to the base of the thumb where it meets the hand. Do one hand at a time.
Don't do a mixed grip. That's where one hand goes over the bar and the other goes under. It puts the body in an imbalanced stance. This could lead to bicep tears, misaligned vertebrae in your spine, and misalignment in the hips.
The hook grip is used to help keep us in alignment by placing both hands over the bar. Once you start lifting more, the straighter your body is the more you will be able to lift.
Deadlift form
Stand close to the bar right in the middle of it. On most bars there are marks to set off different parts of the bar. Use those to gauge where the middle is. Now bend over at the waist and latch your hands onto the bar with straps or hook grips.
Hand position on the bar is crucial to a successful lift. If you spread the hands too far apart from each other, you lower your head and upper back thus increasing the distance your head has to travel to reach knee lockout at the top which means you're doing more work. If you position your hands to close to each other, when you lift up to knee lockout your hands won't clear the sides of your hips.
Bend at the knees into a partial squatting position and tip toe into the bar so your shins are resting against the bar. If you're wearing shorts, you should wear socks that go all the way up to your knees because the gnarled hand grips on the bar can tear into the skin on your shins and knees.
Position the feet so they are slightly more than shoulder width apart. The closer your feet are to each other the more you will be able to concentrate the load in a smaller area of space and that means you'll be able to lift more. But you still have to leave a big enough gap between your legs so the insides of your thighs don't rub each other on your way to the top of lift. Also point the toes slightly outward.
Now for the breathing. You take in huge gulps of air to extend your belly out and put as severe an arch as you can into the lower back. The reason is twofold. As you extend the belly out, the top of your head is moving higher in height. This shortens the distance your head has to travel to a knee lockout at the top. The other reason is the arch in your lower back that gets deeper and deeper with every breath of air you suck in is the only thing preventing your back from rolling over and lifting with a hump back. This position, lifting with a heavy weight, has a pulling effect on the spine and can lead to injury.
Now that you've taken a couple breaths and pushed your belly out as far as it could go, hold your breath. This is going to form a corset of air around your spine which will lock your lower back into the arch you setup for it. Close your eyes and with as much explosive force as you can muster, lift the bar off the ground with your legs, lower back, arms, and upper back all at once. As you get the bar closer and closer to the knees, the lower back is used as the primary mover so it is important to squeeze the glutes and activate them as soon as possible. Once you get three to five inches above the knees, place the bar on the quadriceps and drag the bar upwards using a squatting motion. Keep holding that huge chunk of air in your gut.
Just as you do in squats, you're going to try and spread the floor apart with your feet. This is going to activate your glutes and quadriceps thus letting them scoop the upper body to the top to a knee lockout position. Once you reach the top, your shoulders will naturally fall into a lockout position. Never use the shoulders to lift. Let your glutes and quadriceps carry you to
lockout. Continue to hold the air in your lungs.
The lockout position for the spine is straight up and down. Don't bend the spine backwards past perpendicular to the floor. I know you see all the big time power lifters bending all the way back but that's just for competition. If you constantly bend all the way back you risk compression of the lower spine and injuring it. Stand straight up and down.
Now put the bar back on the ground by letting it drag downwards on your thighs and once it passes the knees, bend at the knees until the plates hit the floor. Finally let the air in your lungs out.
Now for the more difficult variation of the deadlift which will help you bust through plateaus.
Acute angle deadlifts
These kind of deadlifts use the same form as regular deadlifts. It's extra important you instill and maintain a severe arch in your lower back when doing these kind of deadlifts because the back is being put into a more rounded stance with a greater potential for injury. The only difference between regular deadlifts and acute angle deadlifts is you're going to stand on top of four forty five lb plates. One stack will have two plates stacked on top of each other and one foot goes on that stack. The other stack will have two forty five lb plates stacked on top of each other as well and you stick the other foot on top of that. Position the plates so your heels and toes don't poke through the handle holes in the plates. Stand so the feet are slightly pointed outward.
Standing on top of the plates like this puts your upper back and shoulders in a more rounded position and this will place severe tension on them and hopefully elicit an adaptive response.
You're going to alternate these acute angle deadlifts with the regular deadlifts I outlined above. One day you'll do regular deadlifts. Then you'll give yourself 48-60 hours rest and do acute angle deadlifts on the next workout.
The main key point about deadlifting is that most of what ensures a good lift is your ability to spring up from a crouching position and position the bar high enough up the leg to minimize the use of the lower back and involve the use of squatting motion as soon as possible to lift the bar up to knee lockout position.
The acute angle deadlift helps with this movement because it emphasizes the use of shoulder and lower back muscle to spring the bar up to an acceptable position high enough along the leg so you can immediately involve the legs in a squatting motion.
Deadlift workout
Warm-up without straps and when the weight gets too heavy to grip, switch to straps.
1 rep max out set with straps
1 rep max out set without straps
1 rep max out set with straps
1 rep max out set without straps
1 rep max out set with straps
1 rep max out set without straps
1 rep max out set with straps
The reason for no multi rep sets is that since lifting the weight without straps will always be less than lifting with straps, the lighter weight will help us to achieve maximal lifting efficiency. It will get our bodies to an optimal operating temperature, it will lubricate our joints and pump blood into the muscles.
The flooring you deadlift on is your most important piece of equipment. It has to be concrete or two forty five lb plates placed next to each other. One foot goes on plate and the other goes on the other plate. The feet are placed on the plate so no part of the heel or toes are sticking through the handle holes in the plate.
I either wear just socks or go barefoot when deadlifting. Any piece of rubber in between your feet and the ground will cause your posture to be imbalanced. This will put severe stress on one part of your body and will most likely lead to injury if not now definitely down the road.
The form for the deadlift is mostly the same with or without straps. The only difference is the grip. With straps you're going to thread one end of the strap through the eyelet at one end of the strap. This forms a loop in the strap. Stick your hand through the loop. If the straps are padded, the padding goes on the back of the wrists. Now you should have a length of strap with which to wrap around the bar, so wrap it around the bar and get it tight as you possibly can without putting severe tightness and stress on your wrists. You're going to wrap so your hand holds the winding in place on the bar so the wrapping layers should almost be on top of each other like a big clump wrapped around the bar. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just make it small enough so you can grip your palm and fingers around all of the wrapping. Do one hand at a time. To adjust the tightness in the strap, grip the wrapping and twist it away from you for extra tightness. Twist the wrapping towards you for loosening the tension.
The grip for deadlifting with no straps is done using a hook grip. First make sure your hands and the bar are dry. I don't use talc to help my grip because I'm trying to place the load on my forearms and hand grip rather than on my back. Now wrap your fingers around the bar and tuck your thumb in between the bar and your fingers. Grab your thumb with your fingers and pull it in tight towards your palm. The bar should be resting close to the base of the thumb where it meets the hand. Do one hand at a time.
Don't do a mixed grip. That's where one hand goes over the bar and the other goes under. It puts the body in an imbalanced stance. This could lead to bicep tears, misaligned vertebrae in your spine, and misalignment in the hips.
The hook grip is used to help keep us in alignment by placing both hands over the bar. Once you start lifting more, the straighter your body is the more you will be able to lift.
Deadlift form
Stand close to the bar right in the middle of it. On most bars there are marks to set off different parts of the bar. Use those to gauge where the middle is. Now bend over at the waist and latch your hands onto the bar with straps or hook grips.
Hand position on the bar is crucial to a successful lift. If you spread the hands too far apart from each other, you lower your head and upper back thus increasing the distance your head has to travel to reach knee lockout at the top which means you're doing more work. If you position your hands to close to each other, when you lift up to knee lockout your hands won't clear the sides of your hips.
Bend at the knees into a partial squatting position and tip toe into the bar so your shins are resting against the bar. If you're wearing shorts, you should wear socks that go all the way up to your knees because the gnarled hand grips on the bar can tear into the skin on your shins and knees.
Position the feet so they are slightly more than shoulder width apart. The closer your feet are to each other the more you will be able to concentrate the load in a smaller area of space and that means you'll be able to lift more. But you still have to leave a big enough gap between your legs so the insides of your thighs don't rub each other on your way to the top of lift. Also point the toes slightly outward.
Now for the breathing. You take in huge gulps of air to extend your belly out and put as severe an arch as you can into the lower back. The reason is twofold. As you extend the belly out, the top of your head is moving higher in height. This shortens the distance your head has to travel to a knee lockout at the top. The other reason is the arch in your lower back that gets deeper and deeper with every breath of air you suck in is the only thing preventing your back from rolling over and lifting with a hump back. This position, lifting with a heavy weight, has a pulling effect on the spine and can lead to injury.
Now that you've taken a couple breaths and pushed your belly out as far as it could go, hold your breath. This is going to form a corset of air around your spine which will lock your lower back into the arch you setup for it. Close your eyes and with as much explosive force as you can muster, lift the bar off the ground with your legs, lower back, arms, and upper back all at once. As you get the bar closer and closer to the knees, the lower back is used as the primary mover so it is important to squeeze the glutes and activate them as soon as possible. Once you get three to five inches above the knees, place the bar on the quadriceps and drag the bar upwards using a squatting motion. Keep holding that huge chunk of air in your gut.
Just as you do in squats, you're going to try and spread the floor apart with your feet. This is going to activate your glutes and quadriceps thus letting them scoop the upper body to the top to a knee lockout position. Once you reach the top, your shoulders will naturally fall into a lockout position. Never use the shoulders to lift. Let your glutes and quadriceps carry you to
lockout. Continue to hold the air in your lungs.
The lockout position for the spine is straight up and down. Don't bend the spine backwards past perpendicular to the floor. I know you see all the big time power lifters bending all the way back but that's just for competition. If you constantly bend all the way back you risk compression of the lower spine and injuring it. Stand straight up and down.
Now put the bar back on the ground by letting it drag downwards on your thighs and once it passes the knees, bend at the knees until the plates hit the floor. Finally let the air in your lungs out.
Now for the more difficult variation of the deadlift which will help you bust through plateaus.
Acute angle deadlifts
These kind of deadlifts use the same form as regular deadlifts. It's extra important you instill and maintain a severe arch in your lower back when doing these kind of deadlifts because the back is being put into a more rounded stance with a greater potential for injury. The only difference between regular deadlifts and acute angle deadlifts is you're going to stand on top of four forty five lb plates. One stack will have two plates stacked on top of each other and one foot goes on that stack. The other stack will have two forty five lb plates stacked on top of each other as well and you stick the other foot on top of that. Position the plates so your heels and toes don't poke through the handle holes in the plates. Stand so the feet are slightly pointed outward.
Standing on top of the plates like this puts your upper back and shoulders in a more rounded position and this will place severe tension on them and hopefully elicit an adaptive response.
You're going to alternate these acute angle deadlifts with the regular deadlifts I outlined above. One day you'll do regular deadlifts. Then you'll give yourself 48-60 hours rest and do acute angle deadlifts on the next workout.
The main key point about deadlifting is that most of what ensures a good lift is your ability to spring up from a crouching position and position the bar high enough up the leg to minimize the use of the lower back and involve the use of squatting motion as soon as possible to lift the bar up to knee lockout position.
The acute angle deadlift helps with this movement because it emphasizes the use of shoulder and lower back muscle to spring the bar up to an acceptable position high enough along the leg so you can immediately involve the legs in a squatting motion.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Fish Oils -- Preliminary Anecdotes
I've always been hesitant of taking fish oil supplements. The one big thing holding me back was the fish burps you get after you take fish oil. So I've been taking three grams of fish oil daily for the past couple weeks and it's true. I did get the fish burps. They're nasty fishy tasting belches you get after taking the fish oil, but the benefits outweigh the negatives.
I seem to be losing fat and my appetite has been curbed somewhat. I've always had a theory that the body feels hungry only when it needs a specific nutrient, and the fish oil supplements I guess have been filling my body's appetite for the specific nutrients found in fish oil pills.
Specifically, DHA and EPA are the target nutrients. From what I've seen on the web, it's recommended you take three grams of combined DHA and EPA daily. They're pretty easy to find. I just went to my local grocery store and picked up three bottles. Supposedly they burn fat, and stop the body from breaking down muscle tissue.
I got the idea to take fish oils from this guy. His name is Sean Nalewanyj. He's very knowledgeable about supplements and bodybuilder and strength training nutrition. I don't know if he uses steroids or not but he claims he used to deadlift 600 pounds.
From his recommendations on nutrition, I have gained in strength. He does want you to buy his supplements he's hawking on his website though, but I can't vouch for any of them because I haven't taken them. I usually just find all my supplements either at a grocery store or pharmacy or at a supplement store. I can't recommend any of his strength training routines either because I think mine are the best.
Anyways check him out.
I seem to be losing fat and my appetite has been curbed somewhat. I've always had a theory that the body feels hungry only when it needs a specific nutrient, and the fish oil supplements I guess have been filling my body's appetite for the specific nutrients found in fish oil pills.
Specifically, DHA and EPA are the target nutrients. From what I've seen on the web, it's recommended you take three grams of combined DHA and EPA daily. They're pretty easy to find. I just went to my local grocery store and picked up three bottles. Supposedly they burn fat, and stop the body from breaking down muscle tissue.
I got the idea to take fish oils from this guy. His name is Sean Nalewanyj. He's very knowledgeable about supplements and bodybuilder and strength training nutrition. I don't know if he uses steroids or not but he claims he used to deadlift 600 pounds.
From his recommendations on nutrition, I have gained in strength. He does want you to buy his supplements he's hawking on his website though, but I can't vouch for any of them because I haven't taken them. I usually just find all my supplements either at a grocery store or pharmacy or at a supplement store. I can't recommend any of his strength training routines either because I think mine are the best.
Anyways check him out.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
The max out routine
The max out routine is what will force your body to adapt.
There is a warm-up in it as well as multi rep sets and single rep sets.
Here is the max out routine:
Warm up
Single rep max out set
Three rep set
Single rep max out set
Three rep set
Max out set
Three rep set
Max out set
The max out set is a one rep set. You're lifting as much as you can one time. Pretty simple right? But its simplicity doesn't diminish its usefulness.
The max out set is the single greatest exercise to make your body adapt and get stronger. Alone it will lead to plateaus. Used in conjunction with translative exercises and multi rep sets and significant protein intake, it will make you stronger than you have ever been.
The three reps sets are pretty self explanatory I hope. You're lifting three times in succession to complete one set. The main purpose is to achieve what I call maximal lifting efficiency. This is where your body's joints, central nervous system, and muscles are perfectly coordinated to enable you to lift as much as you possibly can without any noticeable jerks or hiccups in the range of motion in the exercise. If you feel like you can do more reps than three, then by all means do them. Try to burn the muscle out, but I wouldn't go past any more than 6 or 7 reps because any more reps than that requires extremely light weights that don't elicit a training effect from the muscles worked. Upper body movements like chest presses and flyes tend to favor the 6-7 rep range; whereas, lower body movements like squats tend to lean more toward the three rep range. It's up to you. Of course any kind of spinal movement like good mornings or any kind of deadlifts should remain at the 1 rep range to keep your spine in a safe locked position.
You achieve maximal lifting efficiency by warming up with gradually increasing weight until you lift a max out set. You'll notice how I include four max out sets in my routine. Sometimes but not always the best max out set is achieved on the third or fourth try. The reason is that I suppose the body has reached an optimal operating temperature and the joints have become significantly lubricated and enough blood has welled up into your muscles in order to help you achieve that personal best record.
The warm up is self explanatory also. You're loading the bar with submaximal weights to warm the body up, loosen joints, jump start the central nervous system and circulate blood into the muscles. You start off with maybe two 45 lb plates on the bar. One plate on one side and the other plate on the other side. Lift this three or four times. Now add ten or twenty pounds and lift this three or more times. Keep going until you are within fifty pounds of your personal best lifting weight and start putting in single rep sets while still gradually increasing the weight on the bar. Keep doing this until you reach your single rep max out weight.
Most important to the max out routine is the protein shake. Any whey protein shake will do. Make sure though that it has thirty five or more grams of protein if you're drinking a pre-mixed drink from a bottle. If you're using a whey protein powder, make sure it has twenty five or more grams per scoop.
How much you drink is dependent on you. I try not to take in any more than 80 grams per workout. Any more than that you'll probably have to make a run to the bathroom to expel the excess which is very inconvenient during a workout.
There you have it: the max out routine. It's pretty simple. Nothing really complicated about it to understand. Except the execution of it is achingly fatiguing.
that's why you should check out my post workout recovery phase
There is a warm-up in it as well as multi rep sets and single rep sets.
Here is the max out routine:
Warm up
Single rep max out set
Three rep set
Single rep max out set
Three rep set
Max out set
Three rep set
Max out set
The max out set is a one rep set. You're lifting as much as you can one time. Pretty simple right? But its simplicity doesn't diminish its usefulness.
The max out set is the single greatest exercise to make your body adapt and get stronger. Alone it will lead to plateaus. Used in conjunction with translative exercises and multi rep sets and significant protein intake, it will make you stronger than you have ever been.
The three reps sets are pretty self explanatory I hope. You're lifting three times in succession to complete one set. The main purpose is to achieve what I call maximal lifting efficiency. This is where your body's joints, central nervous system, and muscles are perfectly coordinated to enable you to lift as much as you possibly can without any noticeable jerks or hiccups in the range of motion in the exercise. If you feel like you can do more reps than three, then by all means do them. Try to burn the muscle out, but I wouldn't go past any more than 6 or 7 reps because any more reps than that requires extremely light weights that don't elicit a training effect from the muscles worked. Upper body movements like chest presses and flyes tend to favor the 6-7 rep range; whereas, lower body movements like squats tend to lean more toward the three rep range. It's up to you. Of course any kind of spinal movement like good mornings or any kind of deadlifts should remain at the 1 rep range to keep your spine in a safe locked position.
You achieve maximal lifting efficiency by warming up with gradually increasing weight until you lift a max out set. You'll notice how I include four max out sets in my routine. Sometimes but not always the best max out set is achieved on the third or fourth try. The reason is that I suppose the body has reached an optimal operating temperature and the joints have become significantly lubricated and enough blood has welled up into your muscles in order to help you achieve that personal best record.
The warm up is self explanatory also. You're loading the bar with submaximal weights to warm the body up, loosen joints, jump start the central nervous system and circulate blood into the muscles. You start off with maybe two 45 lb plates on the bar. One plate on one side and the other plate on the other side. Lift this three or four times. Now add ten or twenty pounds and lift this three or more times. Keep going until you are within fifty pounds of your personal best lifting weight and start putting in single rep sets while still gradually increasing the weight on the bar. Keep doing this until you reach your single rep max out weight.
Most important to the max out routine is the protein shake. Any whey protein shake will do. Make sure though that it has thirty five or more grams of protein if you're drinking a pre-mixed drink from a bottle. If you're using a whey protein powder, make sure it has twenty five or more grams per scoop.
How much you drink is dependent on you. I try not to take in any more than 80 grams per workout. Any more than that you'll probably have to make a run to the bathroom to expel the excess which is very inconvenient during a workout.
There you have it: the max out routine. It's pretty simple. Nothing really complicated about it to understand. Except the execution of it is achingly fatiguing.
that's why you should check out my post workout recovery phase
squat routine
My squat workout is identical to my bench press workout. I'm gradually working up to a max out set by warming up with gradually increasing weight. Also I'm eating and taking supplements before my workout and I'm drinking whey protein shake before my max out sets.
The routine is the same as well.
Warm-up
1 rep max out set
1 rep max out set
1 rep max out set
1 rep max out set
Add more single rep max out sets if needed to achieve soreness in the quadriceps and glute muscles
If you don't know what I mean by max out set, click the link on the bottom of the page.
Form for the squat
First off, I'm assuming you're using a squat rack with adjustable bar holders or one with multiple j-hooks. The bar is set high enough where you don't have to bend the knees at a sharp angle to get it off the rack. Also if the bar has a gnarled hand grip meshed into the bar where you put the bar on your neck, you're going to want to cover that with a bath towel wrapped around the bar or a bar pad or the mesh will cut into the back of your neck.
I have to mention a word about flooring. That's right. I'm talking about the floor you stand on where you're doing your squats. The floor should be in the range of anywhere between hard rigid floor padding to concrete flooring. The reason is that once you hit the bottom of your squat with glutes almost touching the ground, you're shifting your weight to the back of your heels and driving your legs into the ground. If the ground is soft and you dig your heels into the ground, you will fall backwards and spill the weight off your neck. A major catastrophic failure with potential for injury to your knees and lower spine and many other body parts.
If you don't have access to a hard surface to squat on, it is acceptable to lay two 45 lb plates next to each other on the ground. This will give you a hard rigid floor to squat from. Position the plates so your heel and toes are making contact with the plate and not going through the handle holes in the plate but while still allowing your feet to be far apart enough to let you make a deep knee bend. One foot goes on one plate. The other foot goes on the other plate.
Also don't wear any shoes. Squat in bare feet or socks. When you first drive your heels into the ground, you'll want a hard surface to jam your feet into the ground. Going barefoot will give you a stable base to squat from.
Now for the setup. Make sure the bar is set equidistant between the bar holders. The hand grip is executed by wrapping your fingers around the bar but not the thumb. If you wrap your thumb around the bar you'll put severe pressure on your wrists so just lay the thumb on the bar.
Next position the neck under the bar. Bend your head to the ground. Feel that large bone on the back of your neck. Put the bar just below that and just above your trap muscles. Now take a breath through the nose just enough to fill the chest cavity with air and keep your spine locked in a straight up and down position and hold it. Do not take a breath so deep you put any arch in your lower back but just enough air to support the weight on the back of your neck. It's a matter of practice to figure out how much air to suck in and provide a rigid corset of air in your upper chest cavity to support the weight on the back of your neck. In an arched lower back position with a heavy weight on the back of your neck, you risk crushing your lower spine.
While still holding the breath, drive your legs into the ground and lift the bar off the rack. Step back a couple steps just enough to not hit the barbell against the rack when you squat. Keep that breath in your lungs. Now position your feet slightly more than shoulder width apart to comfortably let you carry your glutes to the ground and point the toes slightly outward to a comfortable semi pigeon toe position. Next, squat to the ground with your glutes almost touching the ground.
You should still be holding that original breath. Now spread the floor with your feet and don't allow your knees to wander inwards and drive your legs downward. This will activate your glutes and thigh muscles which will keep your torso and head in an upright position and prevent you from bending over at the waist.
I can't stress enough how important it is to spread the floor with your feet and not let your knees to wander inwards. This is the primary motion which will keep your upper torso in an upright position and enable your glutes and quadriceps to carry you back to the top to a knee lockout position.
Once you reach the top, breathe in through the nose and out the mouth. The weight on top of your neck has a crushing effect on the lower spine. Unlike the bench press where you are actively trying to achieve a severe arch in your lower back, with the heavy weight on your neck an arch in your lower back could be detrimental and lead to lower spine injury so it's very important to not breathe in through the mouth. Rather breathe through the nose. You take in less air this way and minimize any chance of arching your back while still being able to catch your breath. You're going to breathe like this after you squat before putting the weight back onto the rack.
Now for the complementary exercises to help you bust through plateaus. It's simple. You're going to alternate between pause squats and reflexive bounce squats. On one day you'll do pause squats and on the other will be reflexive bounce squats.
Pause squats have the same form as reflexive bounce squats. The difference is in the pause squat when you squat down, you will momentarily pause for two seconds when you reach the bottom and then drive your legs into the ground. Remember to hold that breath or you will lose tightness in your upper body and this will force the body to have to power the weight back to the top using the lower back which could lead to injury.
The reflexive bounce squat uses the same form except when you squat down, you're accelerating rapidly downward and using a reflexive bounce off the bottom of the squat to carry you back to knee lockout. I like to start out slow until I reach the middle of the squat range of motion and then thrust rapidly downward. This helps to steady the weight through the first top half because at the top the weight is extremely unstable and steadiness gradually increases as you approach the ground. When you come out of your bounce somewhere midrange, there is a tendency for the upper body to lurch forward which could lead to the bar spilling over your head. All I can say is try to keep the upper body upright, continue to hold your breath and concentrate on activating your glute and quadriceps muscles by spreading the floor with your feet and don't let your knees wander inwards.
now that I got you tired, check out my post workout recovery routine
or check out my bench press workout
what the heck is a max out set
The routine is the same as well.
Warm-up
1 rep max out set
1 rep max out set
1 rep max out set
1 rep max out set
Add more single rep max out sets if needed to achieve soreness in the quadriceps and glute muscles
If you don't know what I mean by max out set, click the link on the bottom of the page.
Form for the squat
First off, I'm assuming you're using a squat rack with adjustable bar holders or one with multiple j-hooks. The bar is set high enough where you don't have to bend the knees at a sharp angle to get it off the rack. Also if the bar has a gnarled hand grip meshed into the bar where you put the bar on your neck, you're going to want to cover that with a bath towel wrapped around the bar or a bar pad or the mesh will cut into the back of your neck.
I have to mention a word about flooring. That's right. I'm talking about the floor you stand on where you're doing your squats. The floor should be in the range of anywhere between hard rigid floor padding to concrete flooring. The reason is that once you hit the bottom of your squat with glutes almost touching the ground, you're shifting your weight to the back of your heels and driving your legs into the ground. If the ground is soft and you dig your heels into the ground, you will fall backwards and spill the weight off your neck. A major catastrophic failure with potential for injury to your knees and lower spine and many other body parts.
If you don't have access to a hard surface to squat on, it is acceptable to lay two 45 lb plates next to each other on the ground. This will give you a hard rigid floor to squat from. Position the plates so your heel and toes are making contact with the plate and not going through the handle holes in the plate but while still allowing your feet to be far apart enough to let you make a deep knee bend. One foot goes on one plate. The other foot goes on the other plate.
Also don't wear any shoes. Squat in bare feet or socks. When you first drive your heels into the ground, you'll want a hard surface to jam your feet into the ground. Going barefoot will give you a stable base to squat from.
Now for the setup. Make sure the bar is set equidistant between the bar holders. The hand grip is executed by wrapping your fingers around the bar but not the thumb. If you wrap your thumb around the bar you'll put severe pressure on your wrists so just lay the thumb on the bar.
Next position the neck under the bar. Bend your head to the ground. Feel that large bone on the back of your neck. Put the bar just below that and just above your trap muscles. Now take a breath through the nose just enough to fill the chest cavity with air and keep your spine locked in a straight up and down position and hold it. Do not take a breath so deep you put any arch in your lower back but just enough air to support the weight on the back of your neck. It's a matter of practice to figure out how much air to suck in and provide a rigid corset of air in your upper chest cavity to support the weight on the back of your neck. In an arched lower back position with a heavy weight on the back of your neck, you risk crushing your lower spine.
While still holding the breath, drive your legs into the ground and lift the bar off the rack. Step back a couple steps just enough to not hit the barbell against the rack when you squat. Keep that breath in your lungs. Now position your feet slightly more than shoulder width apart to comfortably let you carry your glutes to the ground and point the toes slightly outward to a comfortable semi pigeon toe position. Next, squat to the ground with your glutes almost touching the ground.
You should still be holding that original breath. Now spread the floor with your feet and don't allow your knees to wander inwards and drive your legs downward. This will activate your glutes and thigh muscles which will keep your torso and head in an upright position and prevent you from bending over at the waist.
I can't stress enough how important it is to spread the floor with your feet and not let your knees to wander inwards. This is the primary motion which will keep your upper torso in an upright position and enable your glutes and quadriceps to carry you back to the top to a knee lockout position.
Once you reach the top, breathe in through the nose and out the mouth. The weight on top of your neck has a crushing effect on the lower spine. Unlike the bench press where you are actively trying to achieve a severe arch in your lower back, with the heavy weight on your neck an arch in your lower back could be detrimental and lead to lower spine injury so it's very important to not breathe in through the mouth. Rather breathe through the nose. You take in less air this way and minimize any chance of arching your back while still being able to catch your breath. You're going to breathe like this after you squat before putting the weight back onto the rack.
Now for the complementary exercises to help you bust through plateaus. It's simple. You're going to alternate between pause squats and reflexive bounce squats. On one day you'll do pause squats and on the other will be reflexive bounce squats.
Pause squats have the same form as reflexive bounce squats. The difference is in the pause squat when you squat down, you will momentarily pause for two seconds when you reach the bottom and then drive your legs into the ground. Remember to hold that breath or you will lose tightness in your upper body and this will force the body to have to power the weight back to the top using the lower back which could lead to injury.
The reflexive bounce squat uses the same form except when you squat down, you're accelerating rapidly downward and using a reflexive bounce off the bottom of the squat to carry you back to knee lockout. I like to start out slow until I reach the middle of the squat range of motion and then thrust rapidly downward. This helps to steady the weight through the first top half because at the top the weight is extremely unstable and steadiness gradually increases as you approach the ground. When you come out of your bounce somewhere midrange, there is a tendency for the upper body to lurch forward which could lead to the bar spilling over your head. All I can say is try to keep the upper body upright, continue to hold your breath and concentrate on activating your glute and quadriceps muscles by spreading the floor with your feet and don't let your knees wander inwards.
now that I got you tired, check out my post workout recovery routine
or check out my bench press workout
what the heck is a max out set
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
workout frequency
Unfortunately there's no cut and dry answer to how much you should workout. It's pretty acceptable to workout every 48 hours but there's still some lingering soreness that will be in your joints even after 72 hours
rest.
I like working out three days a week. That way I can mix up how much rest I take. I might do two workouts in a row with 48 hours of rest in between and then take a full 72 hour rest until my third and last workout at the end of the week.
Bear in mind though, you won't see many gains after 72 hours rest. You might even lose strength but taking just 48 hours rest is very taxing on the central nervous system and joints. You may even feel a little frazzled and haywired so you just may need that 72 hours rest to fully recover.
As a general rule of thumb, anywhere between 48 and 60 hours is enough rest. Although as you approach the 60 hour mark, your chance of making a gain is almost hit or miss. Sometimes I make gains at the 60 hour mark. Sometimes strength is lost.
It's all very personal how much rest you need. That's why you keep a journal so you can track when you make strength gains and when you don't.
rest.
I like working out three days a week. That way I can mix up how much rest I take. I might do two workouts in a row with 48 hours of rest in between and then take a full 72 hour rest until my third and last workout at the end of the week.
Bear in mind though, you won't see many gains after 72 hours rest. You might even lose strength but taking just 48 hours rest is very taxing on the central nervous system and joints. You may even feel a little frazzled and haywired so you just may need that 72 hours rest to fully recover.
As a general rule of thumb, anywhere between 48 and 60 hours is enough rest. Although as you approach the 60 hour mark, your chance of making a gain is almost hit or miss. Sometimes I make gains at the 60 hour mark. Sometimes strength is lost.
It's all very personal how much rest you need. That's why you keep a journal so you can track when you make strength gains and when you don't.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
post workout recovery routine
Even though you're working out three days a week, strength training is a 24/7/365 days a year job.
You must eat and rest and workout for the sole purpose of gaining strength. I've already explained the workout so now for the recovery phase.
Immediately after workout, I may take a small swig off a protein shake and gauge how my body handles to see if my stomach gets upset or bloated. As a word of caution don't drink any protein shake after you workout. I know you see think you need to down a huge post workout recovery drink but I can almost guarantee you'll expel it into the toilet because you've been loading up on protein during your workout so throw away the rest of the protein shake into the garbage and go shower up.
The shower routine. The water should be hot as possible. This will help you relax your muscles and remove tightness out of your joints. Soak in the water for a good thirty minutes.
Now I want you to perform a stretch. Stand at the edge of the shower and lean and bend backwards until you catch yourself with your hands on the shower wall behind you. You will definitely feel your vertebrae crack and align with your pelvis bone. Now push off the wall into a straight standing position. Of course don't do this where your feet slip and you hurt yourself. You can also perform this stretch after you shower and are in a place with less of a slipping hazard.
After you're done showering, go grab a glass of water and a high carbohydrate food source like a muffin or an over ripe banana or a pastry and chug those down. Don't drink any carbohydrate sources such as juice or soda because we need to start taking in slow release food sources.
What I mean by slow release is the body breaks the food down slowly and gradually releases the nutrients into your system. Protein shakes and sugary drinks are like sticking jet fuel into a four cylinder economy car. They won't be absorbed and will be expelled out the body as fast as you drink them.
You're next step is to wait until you feel hungry again. Because you drank so much protein shake during your workout, your body is trying to expel the excess out of your system. You'll end up urinating a couple times or more. That's fine.
Now watch for that first hunger pain. You will definitely go into a catabolic phase in this time.
You're muscles will become looser and weaker and you might even become shaky and anxious. That's fine. We're trying to get your body to accept all the nutrients of your next meal.
Your first meal after workout.
There's not much to it. Basically you're going to want to take in as much high quality low fat protein as possible. Sources such as grilled chicken, beef or turkey mixed with egg whites are the best. The lower the fat content of the protein the better because fat delays the absorption of protein into the muscles. You want the stomach to get as big and bloated as possible. Eat high carbohydrate low fat food sources as well such as white rice or potatoes. Also throw in a small amount of monounsaturated fat sources such as avocados or olive oil. I know I talked bad about fat but it helps to produce testosterone in the body. You're really not being detailed about what you eat here. You're trying to stuff as much nutrients into your gut as possible. Click this link to see how you should time your meals. http://strengthtrainingwithoutsteroids.blogspot.com/2014/01/strength-vs-diet.html
I have to say a word about water injected protein.
What is water injected protein? It's basically any protein that uses water and other preservatives as filler to make the piece of meat or chicken look fuller and bigger and softer and easier to chew. Typically you find these kinds of proteins in delis or fast food restaurants. They are probably cheaper in price than proteins without water injection and they're used so the restaurant can save a couple bucks. They might have some protein in them albeit at a negligible amount.
The bottom line is avoid them at all costs. You need high quality protein to build muscle and water injected meat and poultry are a waste of money because they do not build muscle. At home it should be easy to avoid them. But if you're on the road and you need a quick bite to eat what do you do?
Here are some suitable restaurants with passable sources of protein. Grocery stores. I know they're not a restaurant but they do sell large pieces of prepared chicken at the deli counter. Do not get any of that meat they put on the slicer. That's water injected. Only eat whole pieces of grilled chicken. If they don't sell grilled you might have to resort to fried chicken if you have no other options. But bear in mind that the fat and grease will delay the absorption of protein into the blood stream. Another restaurant is burger king. Their burgers are low fat because they're broiled and the protein quality is acceptable. Don't add cheese or mayo because they contain large amounts of fat and will delay the absorption of protein.
McDonald's sells Angus meat in some of their products. Although the word Angus encompasses a wide spectrum of varying protein quality levels, Angus meat is still passable.
Dunkin donuts sells a wide variety of egg sandwiches. The meat they put on the sandwiches won't build muscle but the eggs will. Eggs are easily the best protein quality even higher in quality than steaks. Avoid the yolk because it has a ton of cholesterol. Eat just egg whites and Dunkin donuts does sell an egg white sandwich.
You must eat and rest and workout for the sole purpose of gaining strength. I've already explained the workout so now for the recovery phase.
Immediately after workout, I may take a small swig off a protein shake and gauge how my body handles to see if my stomach gets upset or bloated. As a word of caution don't drink any protein shake after you workout. I know you see think you need to down a huge post workout recovery drink but I can almost guarantee you'll expel it into the toilet because you've been loading up on protein during your workout so throw away the rest of the protein shake into the garbage and go shower up.
The shower routine. The water should be hot as possible. This will help you relax your muscles and remove tightness out of your joints. Soak in the water for a good thirty minutes.
Now I want you to perform a stretch. Stand at the edge of the shower and lean and bend backwards until you catch yourself with your hands on the shower wall behind you. You will definitely feel your vertebrae crack and align with your pelvis bone. Now push off the wall into a straight standing position. Of course don't do this where your feet slip and you hurt yourself. You can also perform this stretch after you shower and are in a place with less of a slipping hazard.
After you're done showering, go grab a glass of water and a high carbohydrate food source like a muffin or an over ripe banana or a pastry and chug those down. Don't drink any carbohydrate sources such as juice or soda because we need to start taking in slow release food sources.
What I mean by slow release is the body breaks the food down slowly and gradually releases the nutrients into your system. Protein shakes and sugary drinks are like sticking jet fuel into a four cylinder economy car. They won't be absorbed and will be expelled out the body as fast as you drink them.
You're next step is to wait until you feel hungry again. Because you drank so much protein shake during your workout, your body is trying to expel the excess out of your system. You'll end up urinating a couple times or more. That's fine.
Now watch for that first hunger pain. You will definitely go into a catabolic phase in this time.
You're muscles will become looser and weaker and you might even become shaky and anxious. That's fine. We're trying to get your body to accept all the nutrients of your next meal.
Your first meal after workout.
There's not much to it. Basically you're going to want to take in as much high quality low fat protein as possible. Sources such as grilled chicken, beef or turkey mixed with egg whites are the best. The lower the fat content of the protein the better because fat delays the absorption of protein into the muscles. You want the stomach to get as big and bloated as possible. Eat high carbohydrate low fat food sources as well such as white rice or potatoes. Also throw in a small amount of monounsaturated fat sources such as avocados or olive oil. I know I talked bad about fat but it helps to produce testosterone in the body. You're really not being detailed about what you eat here. You're trying to stuff as much nutrients into your gut as possible. Click this link to see how you should time your meals. http://strengthtrainingwithoutsteroids.blogspot.com/2014/01/strength-vs-diet.html
I have to say a word about water injected protein.
What is water injected protein? It's basically any protein that uses water and other preservatives as filler to make the piece of meat or chicken look fuller and bigger and softer and easier to chew. Typically you find these kinds of proteins in delis or fast food restaurants. They are probably cheaper in price than proteins without water injection and they're used so the restaurant can save a couple bucks. They might have some protein in them albeit at a negligible amount.
The bottom line is avoid them at all costs. You need high quality protein to build muscle and water injected meat and poultry are a waste of money because they do not build muscle. At home it should be easy to avoid them. But if you're on the road and you need a quick bite to eat what do you do?
Here are some suitable restaurants with passable sources of protein. Grocery stores. I know they're not a restaurant but they do sell large pieces of prepared chicken at the deli counter. Do not get any of that meat they put on the slicer. That's water injected. Only eat whole pieces of grilled chicken. If they don't sell grilled you might have to resort to fried chicken if you have no other options. But bear in mind that the fat and grease will delay the absorption of protein into the blood stream. Another restaurant is burger king. Their burgers are low fat because they're broiled and the protein quality is acceptable. Don't add cheese or mayo because they contain large amounts of fat and will delay the absorption of protein.
McDonald's sells Angus meat in some of their products. Although the word Angus encompasses a wide spectrum of varying protein quality levels, Angus meat is still passable.
Dunkin donuts sells a wide variety of egg sandwiches. The meat they put on the sandwiches won't build muscle but the eggs will. Eggs are easily the best protein quality even higher in quality than steaks. Avoid the yolk because it has a ton of cholesterol. Eat just egg whites and Dunkin donuts does sell an egg white sandwich.
Friday, May 3, 2013
my bench press workout routine. immediately increase your bench press
This is advice. Follow it at your own risk.
So now you're thinking okay smart guy you talk a good game but can you put your money where your mouth is. The answer is yes.
My bench press workout routine.
Sunday early afternoon no later than eleven am.
One hour before working out, I eat a decent sized breakfast. Something with eggs and meat and carbohydrates in the form of something like pancakes.
Thirty minutes after eating, I eat a chewable three gram creatine tablet and I swallow another 3 gram beta alanine tablet. The creatine should only be taken three grams per day and three grams per day for the beta alanine. Creatine is stored in muscles as a form of energy. Beta alanine is stored in the muscle as a ph buffer to prevent your muscles from being loaded with lactic acid. Lactic acid production in your muscle is what's commonly known as the burn and beta alanine blocks that and reduces muscle fatigue.
The combination of creatine and beta alanine before a workout has a moderate anabolic effect on your muscles. Your muscles will feel tighter and harder and fuller after you take creatine and beta alanine which may translate to a strength gain.
The workout
Pause bench press. I work up to a pause bench press personal best record. What I mean by working up to is first I stretch my chest and shoulders by standing in front of a squat rack and place my hands shoulder high and lean forward thus stretching my chest. I tend to rock back and forth each time going a little deeper into the stretch. When I stretch, I'm looking for that release point of tension. I take it slowly and gently rock back and forth until my shoulder blades can touch each other with relative ease. This can also be performed in a narrow doorway if you don't have a squat rack.
My next step is to circulate blood into my muscles. I start off with 45 lb plates on either side of a barbell and I start putting reps in. I'll do sets of three or two. Each time I do a set, I'll add twenty lbs and do a set of three or two reps. I'll keep doing that until I am within fifty lbs of my max out record. I know my max out weight because I keep a journal. You should too.
Once I get within fifty pounds, I start doing single rep sets while adding more weight until I can't press any more. That's you're first max out. Mark it down in your journal.
The form for the pause bench press is identical to the regular bench press. The barbell is positioned equidistant between the upright bar holders. I like to use a squat rack when bench pressing because I can position the bar closer to my body because the bar holders are adjustable whereas on a regular bench press with fixed upright holders you're limited in how close you can position the bar when you set the bar above you into position. Also when the bar is closer to me, it's easier to stay in a nice and tight position which gives me a better lift. Of course if you have someone to spot you and help you lift the bar out then use a bench press with the fixed uprights. This will help you to keep a fixed tight position as well.
Now lay back on the bench. Tuck your shoulder blades underneath your back by sweeping the fronts of your shoulders towards the floor. This should also thrust your chest upward to the ceiling. While doing this put a severe upward arch in your lower back. The only things touching the bench should be your glutes and shoulder blades and the back of your head. Now take in a big breath of air and hold it until you finished the rep. The taking of air into your lungs will cause you to further arch your lower back and chest to the ceiling, and it will freeze your upper body into a tight position which is crucial to having a successful lift. Feet placement should be wide as possible to give a stable base to lift from and the feet should be pulled in close enough to the body where you can feel a noticeable pull in your thighs but while still allowing you to lay the feet flat on the floor. Also I don't wear any shoes when I bench press. It allows me to feel out the floor with my feet and get in a comfortable position, and it also helps me to incorporate leg and toe drive into all my lifts.
Now lift the bar out above you with your arms perpendicular to the floor. Bear in mind you should be still holding your breath. It's uncomfortable but you'll get used to it and it will keep your upper body locked into position. Now while still holding that breath, close your eyes and lower the bar to your chest while keeping your elbows tucked in. You close your eyes to focus on the internal gyroscope in your head that keeps you balanced. Do not look at the bar. Feel the bar barely touch your chest somewhere in between your rib cage and upper abdomen. Pause two seconds. Now drive your toes and feet into the ground and squeeze your glutes while trying to spread the floor with your feet and use the upper back and the shoulder blades as a leverage point while pushing up the bar off the chest while still tucking the elbows in towards the midsection of your body. Make sure to keep your glutes on the bench. If you lift them off it will put a significant arch in your lower back and make you susceptible to injury. If you spread your elbows away from the body, your shoulders will round out and be put into a compromised position that is susceptible to shoulder injury. You should be actively trying to spread the bar apart with your hands. This will help activate your wrist, forearm, and tricep muscles which will help you to push the bar to a lockout. I can't stress enough how you must maintain holding that breath of air in your lungs until you lock your elbows out at the top. This will help you to maintain that tight position and will help you press more weight. I also can't stress enough keeping your eyes closed until the lockout. This will help you to concentrate which muscles to activate and when to activate them rather than being stressed about the 300 lb weight suspended in air above your chest.
When you lower the bar to your chest, you jam your feet into the ground and spread the floor with your feet and squeeze your glutes. This will cause cause your lower back and mid section to arch upward. Don't over arch your back because it will compress the vertebrae in your back and make you susceptible to back injury.
The slight over arching of your back will shift the barbell weight onto your shoulder blades and upper back muscles. It will also tilt your forearms and the barbell towards your head. Pause two seconds. Pop the bar upwards into a lockout position with your arms almost as if you were performing a standing overhead press. Make sure to keep your glutes on the bench. Also keep squeezing and contracting the glutes to a rock hard position. This will help in clearing the bar off the chest. When you drive your feet into the ground, there's a tendency for the glutes to wander off the bench. This could put a more severe arch in your lower back which could lead to injury.
Notice how the pause at the bottom of the pause bench press cancels out that downward momentum and reflexive rebound from lowering the bar to the chest. You will feel the fatigue in your chest, triceps, wrists and forearms after doing a workout of pause bench presses and those are the primary muscles which we are trying to get to adapt and become stronger.
The single rep set is the set that causes your body to adapt. You hear about guys doing sets of ten or five but there is not a strong enough resistance to trigger an adaptive response in the muscle when doing any kind of multi-rep set. To cause an adaptive response, you must lift as much weight as you can one time. Basically perform a single rep set which is what I call the max out set.
Now after your first max out bench press, take about fifty or so pounds off or just enough that will enable you to put a set of three reps in. Why three? I don't know. It's arbitrary. It's a preference. You might differ and need five reps or two reps. The main purpose is to put reps in.
The putting in of reps is a necessity. As you continue into the training, you will notice that the body and your joints become warmer and more fluid as they are performing their ranges of motion. When you first started warming up on the bench press, the first press you took was stiff. The second was easier and the third was easier still. You're circulating blood into the muscles and lubricating the elbow and shoulder joints by pushing reps in a set. That is the only purpose of reps in a set: to help achieve what I call maximal lifting efficiency.
Maximal lifting efficiency is where your body reaches an optimal operating temperature, your joints are fluid and moving in such a way where you can noticeably perform your bench presses or other lifts in an optimal way with no glitches or hiccups in their respective ranges of motion.
I've done my first max out weight alternated with sets of three and another max out press, and after I had achieved maximal lifting efficiency I was able to max out with more weight on my third max out try than on my first max out.
It seems counterintuitve. You would think since you're completing your first max out that your body is at optimum operating condition. True. The energy reserves in your muscles are at their greatest at the first max out lift. What's also true is that your body doesn't achieve maximal lifting efficiency until after a couple max out tries and a couple sets of three reps are put in. Sometimes but not always you might achieve a greater max out weight on your third try than on your first try.
So to break it down for you, here's the pause bench press workout:
Warm up and stretch
Start light and progressively get heavier until you reach your first max out record.
Mark the weight in your journal
Take fifty or more or less pounds off the barbell and put a set of three reps in. It's almost impossible to hold your breath in between reps, so after elbow lockout take a couple breaths but keep in mind you'll lose tightness in your chest and lower back arch.
Put weight back onto the bar where it's just enough so you can do one rep
Take weight off the bar and put another set of three reps in
Put weight back onto the bar and perform another max out set
Take weight off the bar and put another set of three reps in
Put weight back onto the bar and perform another max out set
That's it.
Warm up
1 rep max out
1 set of three reps
1 rep max out
1 set of three reps
1 rep max out
1 set of three reps
1 rep max out
Notice how we stop at four max out tries. Any more lifting past that is the point of no return. The adaptive response is negligible even non existent and to do any more lifting would be a waist of time.
Also this is the workout routine for any lift you do. Whether it be squats, deadlifts, bench presses, or anything else you should not do any more than this. Also if you put too much weight on the max out set and can't perform the rep, lower the weight ten pounds or more to a point where you can perform the max out. Remember the single max out rep is where you'll yield the greatest adaptive response. On the other hand, if you can only put in one rep of your three rep set don't worry about it. The three rep set is performed to achieve maximal lifting efficiency so add more weight to the bar and move on to the next max out set
and then lower the weight to something you can get some reps in.
I forgot to mention the intake of protein while I workout. Before I perform max out sets, I take a generous swig of protein drink. Any kind of whey protein shake will do. Just make sure it has thirty five or more grams per drink If you're drinking a premixed drink. If you use protein powder, make sure it has twenty five or more grams per serving but don't go over 80 grams per workout. The protein gives an anabolic effect to the muscles and this will help you lift more weight. On the three rep
sets I'll drink protein occasionally but if the protein is causing me an upset stomach I'll lay off it and wait until my next max out set.
Tuesday no later than three in the afternoon.
This is my test day. I am actively trying to set personal records. The test day always follows a workout of pause bench press sets.
We set personal records on the bench press by performing a reflexive bench press. The form for it is the same as the pause bench press but when the bar touches the chest, there is no pause. Lower the bar at a faster rate than on a pause bench press. Now while closing your eyes, feel the bar barely glance your chest and rapidly thrust the bar away from the chest. In effect you're bouncing the bar off your chest.
Thursday night no earlier than ten p.m.
Again I do pause bench presses. The days do not correspond to any particular exercises. All that matters is that you alternate pause bench presses on one day with reflexive rebound bench presses on another day. Also my pre- workout routine is the same before any workout. I'm eating and taking supplements. Also before any sets I warm up and the sequence of sets is the same. Four max out sets and three sets of three reps.
now that I've put you into this predicament, I guess I gotta put you out of it as well so here's my post workout recovery phase
also check out my squat routine
So now you're thinking okay smart guy you talk a good game but can you put your money where your mouth is. The answer is yes.
My bench press workout routine.
Sunday early afternoon no later than eleven am.
One hour before working out, I eat a decent sized breakfast. Something with eggs and meat and carbohydrates in the form of something like pancakes.
Thirty minutes after eating, I eat a chewable three gram creatine tablet and I swallow another 3 gram beta alanine tablet. The creatine should only be taken three grams per day and three grams per day for the beta alanine. Creatine is stored in muscles as a form of energy. Beta alanine is stored in the muscle as a ph buffer to prevent your muscles from being loaded with lactic acid. Lactic acid production in your muscle is what's commonly known as the burn and beta alanine blocks that and reduces muscle fatigue.
The combination of creatine and beta alanine before a workout has a moderate anabolic effect on your muscles. Your muscles will feel tighter and harder and fuller after you take creatine and beta alanine which may translate to a strength gain.
The workout
Pause bench press. I work up to a pause bench press personal best record. What I mean by working up to is first I stretch my chest and shoulders by standing in front of a squat rack and place my hands shoulder high and lean forward thus stretching my chest. I tend to rock back and forth each time going a little deeper into the stretch. When I stretch, I'm looking for that release point of tension. I take it slowly and gently rock back and forth until my shoulder blades can touch each other with relative ease. This can also be performed in a narrow doorway if you don't have a squat rack.
My next step is to circulate blood into my muscles. I start off with 45 lb plates on either side of a barbell and I start putting reps in. I'll do sets of three or two. Each time I do a set, I'll add twenty lbs and do a set of three or two reps. I'll keep doing that until I am within fifty lbs of my max out record. I know my max out weight because I keep a journal. You should too.
Once I get within fifty pounds, I start doing single rep sets while adding more weight until I can't press any more. That's you're first max out. Mark it down in your journal.
The form for the pause bench press is identical to the regular bench press. The barbell is positioned equidistant between the upright bar holders. I like to use a squat rack when bench pressing because I can position the bar closer to my body because the bar holders are adjustable whereas on a regular bench press with fixed upright holders you're limited in how close you can position the bar when you set the bar above you into position. Also when the bar is closer to me, it's easier to stay in a nice and tight position which gives me a better lift. Of course if you have someone to spot you and help you lift the bar out then use a bench press with the fixed uprights. This will help you to keep a fixed tight position as well.
Now lay back on the bench. Tuck your shoulder blades underneath your back by sweeping the fronts of your shoulders towards the floor. This should also thrust your chest upward to the ceiling. While doing this put a severe upward arch in your lower back. The only things touching the bench should be your glutes and shoulder blades and the back of your head. Now take in a big breath of air and hold it until you finished the rep. The taking of air into your lungs will cause you to further arch your lower back and chest to the ceiling, and it will freeze your upper body into a tight position which is crucial to having a successful lift. Feet placement should be wide as possible to give a stable base to lift from and the feet should be pulled in close enough to the body where you can feel a noticeable pull in your thighs but while still allowing you to lay the feet flat on the floor. Also I don't wear any shoes when I bench press. It allows me to feel out the floor with my feet and get in a comfortable position, and it also helps me to incorporate leg and toe drive into all my lifts.
Now lift the bar out above you with your arms perpendicular to the floor. Bear in mind you should be still holding your breath. It's uncomfortable but you'll get used to it and it will keep your upper body locked into position. Now while still holding that breath, close your eyes and lower the bar to your chest while keeping your elbows tucked in. You close your eyes to focus on the internal gyroscope in your head that keeps you balanced. Do not look at the bar. Feel the bar barely touch your chest somewhere in between your rib cage and upper abdomen. Pause two seconds. Now drive your toes and feet into the ground and squeeze your glutes while trying to spread the floor with your feet and use the upper back and the shoulder blades as a leverage point while pushing up the bar off the chest while still tucking the elbows in towards the midsection of your body. Make sure to keep your glutes on the bench. If you lift them off it will put a significant arch in your lower back and make you susceptible to injury. If you spread your elbows away from the body, your shoulders will round out and be put into a compromised position that is susceptible to shoulder injury. You should be actively trying to spread the bar apart with your hands. This will help activate your wrist, forearm, and tricep muscles which will help you to push the bar to a lockout. I can't stress enough how you must maintain holding that breath of air in your lungs until you lock your elbows out at the top. This will help you to maintain that tight position and will help you press more weight. I also can't stress enough keeping your eyes closed until the lockout. This will help you to concentrate which muscles to activate and when to activate them rather than being stressed about the 300 lb weight suspended in air above your chest.
When you lower the bar to your chest, you jam your feet into the ground and spread the floor with your feet and squeeze your glutes. This will cause cause your lower back and mid section to arch upward. Don't over arch your back because it will compress the vertebrae in your back and make you susceptible to back injury.
The slight over arching of your back will shift the barbell weight onto your shoulder blades and upper back muscles. It will also tilt your forearms and the barbell towards your head. Pause two seconds. Pop the bar upwards into a lockout position with your arms almost as if you were performing a standing overhead press. Make sure to keep your glutes on the bench. Also keep squeezing and contracting the glutes to a rock hard position. This will help in clearing the bar off the chest. When you drive your feet into the ground, there's a tendency for the glutes to wander off the bench. This could put a more severe arch in your lower back which could lead to injury.
Notice how the pause at the bottom of the pause bench press cancels out that downward momentum and reflexive rebound from lowering the bar to the chest. You will feel the fatigue in your chest, triceps, wrists and forearms after doing a workout of pause bench presses and those are the primary muscles which we are trying to get to adapt and become stronger.
The single rep set is the set that causes your body to adapt. You hear about guys doing sets of ten or five but there is not a strong enough resistance to trigger an adaptive response in the muscle when doing any kind of multi-rep set. To cause an adaptive response, you must lift as much weight as you can one time. Basically perform a single rep set which is what I call the max out set.
Now after your first max out bench press, take about fifty or so pounds off or just enough that will enable you to put a set of three reps in. Why three? I don't know. It's arbitrary. It's a preference. You might differ and need five reps or two reps. The main purpose is to put reps in.
The putting in of reps is a necessity. As you continue into the training, you will notice that the body and your joints become warmer and more fluid as they are performing their ranges of motion. When you first started warming up on the bench press, the first press you took was stiff. The second was easier and the third was easier still. You're circulating blood into the muscles and lubricating the elbow and shoulder joints by pushing reps in a set. That is the only purpose of reps in a set: to help achieve what I call maximal lifting efficiency.
Maximal lifting efficiency is where your body reaches an optimal operating temperature, your joints are fluid and moving in such a way where you can noticeably perform your bench presses or other lifts in an optimal way with no glitches or hiccups in their respective ranges of motion.
I've done my first max out weight alternated with sets of three and another max out press, and after I had achieved maximal lifting efficiency I was able to max out with more weight on my third max out try than on my first max out.
It seems counterintuitve. You would think since you're completing your first max out that your body is at optimum operating condition. True. The energy reserves in your muscles are at their greatest at the first max out lift. What's also true is that your body doesn't achieve maximal lifting efficiency until after a couple max out tries and a couple sets of three reps are put in. Sometimes but not always you might achieve a greater max out weight on your third try than on your first try.
So to break it down for you, here's the pause bench press workout:
Warm up and stretch
Start light and progressively get heavier until you reach your first max out record.
Mark the weight in your journal
Take fifty or more or less pounds off the barbell and put a set of three reps in. It's almost impossible to hold your breath in between reps, so after elbow lockout take a couple breaths but keep in mind you'll lose tightness in your chest and lower back arch.
Put weight back onto the bar where it's just enough so you can do one rep
Take weight off the bar and put another set of three reps in
Put weight back onto the bar and perform another max out set
Take weight off the bar and put another set of three reps in
Put weight back onto the bar and perform another max out set
That's it.
Warm up
1 rep max out
1 set of three reps
1 rep max out
1 set of three reps
1 rep max out
1 set of three reps
1 rep max out
Notice how we stop at four max out tries. Any more lifting past that is the point of no return. The adaptive response is negligible even non existent and to do any more lifting would be a waist of time.
Also this is the workout routine for any lift you do. Whether it be squats, deadlifts, bench presses, or anything else you should not do any more than this. Also if you put too much weight on the max out set and can't perform the rep, lower the weight ten pounds or more to a point where you can perform the max out. Remember the single max out rep is where you'll yield the greatest adaptive response. On the other hand, if you can only put in one rep of your three rep set don't worry about it. The three rep set is performed to achieve maximal lifting efficiency so add more weight to the bar and move on to the next max out set
and then lower the weight to something you can get some reps in.
I forgot to mention the intake of protein while I workout. Before I perform max out sets, I take a generous swig of protein drink. Any kind of whey protein shake will do. Just make sure it has thirty five or more grams per drink If you're drinking a premixed drink. If you use protein powder, make sure it has twenty five or more grams per serving but don't go over 80 grams per workout. The protein gives an anabolic effect to the muscles and this will help you lift more weight. On the three rep
sets I'll drink protein occasionally but if the protein is causing me an upset stomach I'll lay off it and wait until my next max out set.
Tuesday no later than three in the afternoon.
This is my test day. I am actively trying to set personal records. The test day always follows a workout of pause bench press sets.
We set personal records on the bench press by performing a reflexive bench press. The form for it is the same as the pause bench press but when the bar touches the chest, there is no pause. Lower the bar at a faster rate than on a pause bench press. Now while closing your eyes, feel the bar barely glance your chest and rapidly thrust the bar away from the chest. In effect you're bouncing the bar off your chest.
Thursday night no earlier than ten p.m.
Again I do pause bench presses. The days do not correspond to any particular exercises. All that matters is that you alternate pause bench presses on one day with reflexive rebound bench presses on another day. Also my pre- workout routine is the same before any workout. I'm eating and taking supplements. Also before any sets I warm up and the sequence of sets is the same. Four max out sets and three sets of three reps.
now that I've put you into this predicament, I guess I gotta put you out of it as well so here's my post workout recovery phase
also check out my squat routine