I have been traveling to Panama and surrounding countries this past year or so. An interest in Fitness/Body Building has been growing rapidly in the region. Some of you may recall some prior vids I did from Panama, specifically Power Club Gym, a chain in Panama I frequent.
Recently, the PowerClub put on their first fitness/body building competition, and I was invited to be a guest judge for their show. Here’s the vid from the show.
The Barbell Bench Press is obviously the most common exercise for working the chest…yet it has a major flaw. A good portion of the movement doesn’t necessarily focus on the pecs. The top half of the movement involves a lot of triceps activation.
So how do we increase the specific tension being placed on the pecs during the barbell bench press? Easy. We focus more time on the bottom 1/4 of the exercise, where the pecs are under greater stretch.
This is done by using a technique called “one and a quarter reps”.
So I’m at the Arnold Classic recently and saw the FatGripz booth; another one of those “why the hell didn’t I think of this?!” simple products that adds so much potential value to a workout for the cost, it’s a ‘no-brainer’ to own them. While at the booth, I did a few sets of chins ( see minute 3:20 of Arnold Classic Vid) and as usual, I could feel it in my grip, and arms much more so then if doing it without the FatGripz. They are one of those uber simple cost effective products that simply works in an increasingly overly complicated world, but more on that shortly…
Here’s a simple fact of life: if your back and legs can dead-lift 700lb, but your grip ends at 300lbs, your dead-lift is 300 lbs. Thus, your grip is truly the final link in the chain that dictates what you can pull off the ground or what you can hold onto in general, be it a chin up bar, barbell, or other objects. Your grip is your ultimate contact with the weights. For strength athletes, such as power lifters, strongman competitors, and others, grip strength is king. Without it, you are no place. When it comes to strength, you are only as strong as your weakest link and most strength athletes know that fact all too well.
Here I present three methods which, when used consistently, will help you spend less time in the gym while getting better results at the same time.
Only applied knowledge is power, so don’t just read, but apply!
If you’re familiar with the plank exercise, you know how good it is for overall core strength and stability. The normal plank is done on both elbows, in the prone position. The side plank is used to target the muscles of the side abdominal wall (duh) and it’s an excellent one, too.
Now we’re going to extend the concept and add some resistance to that side plank and really challenge your core.
Most people will visit the chiropractor for back and neck injuries, but although it is not as well known, is that chiropractors can also treat sprains and strains. The body tends to compensate for any injury or weakness, causing additional problems in areas that were previously healthy. A person who sprained their ankle may end up developing back pain because the body has slightly adjusted their walking stride. A chiropractor can locate and treat these areas successfully before they become problematic.
A sprain occurs when a ligament or joint capsule is stretched beyond its normal range of motion. Severe sprains may even involve a tear in the ligament. The most common areas to suffer a sprain are the ankles, knees, wrists, and feet. Sprains are often caused by lifting heavy items, inadequate stretching or warm up before physical activity, or trauma that causes the joint to move out of position and overstretch the ligaments. These traumatic injuries are common in contact sports such as football and may also occur in non-contact sports where the person jumps and lands wrong, stretching the knee and ankle ligaments.
It’s interesting to note; the single most important factor to not just getting the weight off, but keeping it off, is between our ears. That is, how people approach the issue, psychologically speaking, is an essential component of success. And yet, 8 zillion weight loss books and programs out there, and at best, this aspect of weight loss gets lip service only.
Many diet programs out there don’t address the psychological aspect of why people fail to be successful with long-term weight loss. However, quite a few studies exist that have looked at just that. In many respects, the psychological aspect is the most important for long-term weight loss, and probably the most underappreciated component.
Should you invest in a home gym? If so, what do you need in the home gym? Are home gyms for everyone? No! Here’s some thoughts on the issue of home gyms vs commercial gyms.
Protein intakes – especially as it relates to strength athletes and those involved in regular resistance exercise – has been a hotly debated topic for decades. That’s due in large part to nutritional authorities simply ignoring the data… While the bulk of the data suggests strongly that there’s benefit to protein intakes well above the RDA for protein for those involved in resistance training looking to improve body composition, not all of the studies agree. Why?
The reason for that appears to be explained in the recent paper by Bosse and Dixon which covers the protein “spread” and “change” theories as it applies to the bulk of studies that examined the issue. This excellent review postulates the “spread” and “change” theories accounts for why some studies find clear benefit to higher protein intakes, while others failed to.
Although the bulk of the studies finds benefits to higher than “normal” protein intakes for those hitting the weights intensely, not all studies find the effect. This review examines why, and answers it. I highly recommend people read this paper, and stick it under the nose of the next person who tells you ‘there’s no benefits to additional protein,’ and I have posted the (provisional) abstract below with link to full study.
Finally, my article on protein myths, also explores some of the issues surrounding studies on the typical myths of protein and athletes, and there’s additional articles and vids covering the topic here on the BrinkZone.
I see this as a continuum going from Anabolic <—> Catabolic with people tending to fall on either side of point 0, tending toward one or the other. Me, I’d say I’m a 2 on the right side of point 0.
Anabolic
Metabolism 5- 4 – 3 – 2 – 0 – 1 -2 – 3 – 4 – 5 Catabolic Metabolism
Hallmarks of the Anabolic Metabolism:
• Put on muscle easily
• Has difficulty getting lean
• Will respond well to lower carb intakes (approx 30%)
• Responds well to higher training volumes
Hallmarks of the Catabolic Metabolism:
• Has difficulty adding LBM
• Gets lean easily (but has difficulty retaining LBM)
• Responds well to higher carb intakes (approx 50%)
• Responds best to lower training volumes
Where do drugs factor in?
The above is based on non drug using people. Drugs are the great genetic equalizer: those who add muscle easily but can’t get lean are able to do so, and those who have great difficulty adding LBM, but have no problems staying/getting lean, can do so while retaining LBM. Obviously, genetic traits still play a role (or everyone would look identical and respond identical, etc) but drugs allow for genetic limitations in the above, faster recoup, ability to tolerate higher training volumes, etc.
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