Get some pullups, or get your first one!
Getting stronger, fitter, and healthier by sticking to the basics. It's not rocket science, it's doing the simple stuff the right way. Strength-Basics updates every Monday, plus extra posts during the week.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Last day for pullups!
Well, it's 2/28, last day for the February 2011 Pullup Challenge.
Get some pullups, or get your first one!
Get some pullups, or get your first one!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Heart Rate training
Thanks to Pete the Fireman (aka Pete the Triathlete) for finding this for me.
Understanding Lactate Threshold Heart Rate Training by Marty Gaal.
For those of you doing endurance training, this is a way to push up your lactate threshold. That's the point at which your body produces more lactate than it can clear away. The result is fatigue. If you can push that threshold up, you can go harder, longer.
Understanding Lactate Threshold Heart Rate Training by Marty Gaal.
For those of you doing endurance training, this is a way to push up your lactate threshold. That's the point at which your body produces more lactate than it can clear away. The result is fatigue. If you can push that threshold up, you can go harder, longer.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Blog worth reading
Lou Schuler is a writer and editor in the fitness field. Unlike many others, he's not a "guru" as much as he's a very solid writer. His blog is a good example of that - well written, interesting and punchy, well put together, and topical.
His post on George Washington is a fun read, for example, and there are plenty of posts concerning his books, new and old.
It's worth digging around - he's been involved in the industry for a long time, without getting or being catty about it. Good stuff even if it's not always directly related to sets and reps, weights and progressions.
His post on George Washington is a fun read, for example, and there are plenty of posts concerning his books, new and old.
It's worth digging around - he's been involved in the industry for a long time, without getting or being catty about it. Good stuff even if it's not always directly related to sets and reps, weights and progressions.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Things I've Learned - Part V
Keep asking the same questions
Clients aren't always going to volunteer information on injuries, concerns, or problems.
If you have a client with tight shoulders, ask every session - how are the shoulders? Hip pain? How is the hip?
You need to keep probing - gently but firmly and regularly - in order to stay on top of your client's progress. If you let it slide, you're potentially showing you don't care, and you're missing a chance to monitor the results of your training. You might find a need for extra mobility drills or changing sets or reps or exercises. These are things that can't wait, and you need the feedback. Make sure you pursue it regularly.
Clients aren't always going to volunteer information on injuries, concerns, or problems.
If you have a client with tight shoulders, ask every session - how are the shoulders? Hip pain? How is the hip?
You need to keep probing - gently but firmly and regularly - in order to stay on top of your client's progress. If you let it slide, you're potentially showing you don't care, and you're missing a chance to monitor the results of your training. You might find a need for extra mobility drills or changing sets or reps or exercises. These are things that can't wait, and you need the feedback. Make sure you pursue it regularly.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Things I've Learned - Part IV
Exercise progressions don't work for everyone.
What's an exercise progression? A series of progressively harder versions of an exercise. For pushups, it would be something like:
Barbell or Wall Pushups
Pushups
Feet Elevated Pushups
Feet Elevated Pushups w/hands on med ball(s)
One-Arm Wall Pushups
One-Arm Pushups
Feet Elevated One-Arm Pushups
Not for everyone? Sometimes a variation does a bit more than just make the exercise harder. While a 315 pound squat is demonstrably and measurably harder than a 310 pound squat, it's not precisely the same with changing exercises. A one-arm pushup is harder than a pushup, but it also requires some different body positioning. A handstand pushup (the ultimate in "feet elevated") is more like a vertical press than a horizontal press. The exercise hasn't been made more difficult, it's been made different, and that different exercise is inherently harder.
So what happens if you have someone with a shoulder impingement who can't press overhead without injury? Or someone with a spinal loading issue (compressed vertebrae + loading overhead = bad idea)? You can't easily progress them up.
Sometimes you'll often get oddities. I've had clients with knee pain that prevents them from doing a lunge. On the normal progression, something like a Bulgarian split-squat is easier than a dynamic lunge. By any "normal" progression, I'd avoid the split-squat too. However I've found that for knee pain issues, the lack of forward knee tracking on the Bulgarian split-squat means very little knee stress for those clients.
This doesn't mean progressions are meaningless. But it's worth being aware as a trainee or a trainer that everything isn't always going to move along in an orderly fashion for every client.
What's an exercise progression? A series of progressively harder versions of an exercise. For pushups, it would be something like:
Barbell or Wall Pushups
Pushups
Feet Elevated Pushups
Feet Elevated Pushups w/hands on med ball(s)
One-Arm Wall Pushups
One-Arm Pushups
Feet Elevated One-Arm Pushups
Not for everyone? Sometimes a variation does a bit more than just make the exercise harder. While a 315 pound squat is demonstrably and measurably harder than a 310 pound squat, it's not precisely the same with changing exercises. A one-arm pushup is harder than a pushup, but it also requires some different body positioning. A handstand pushup (the ultimate in "feet elevated") is more like a vertical press than a horizontal press. The exercise hasn't been made more difficult, it's been made different, and that different exercise is inherently harder.
So what happens if you have someone with a shoulder impingement who can't press overhead without injury? Or someone with a spinal loading issue (compressed vertebrae + loading overhead = bad idea)? You can't easily progress them up.
Sometimes you'll often get oddities. I've had clients with knee pain that prevents them from doing a lunge. On the normal progression, something like a Bulgarian split-squat is easier than a dynamic lunge. By any "normal" progression, I'd avoid the split-squat too. However I've found that for knee pain issues, the lack of forward knee tracking on the Bulgarian split-squat means very little knee stress for those clients.
This doesn't mean progressions are meaningless. But it's worth being aware as a trainee or a trainer that everything isn't always going to move along in an orderly fashion for every client.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Sled sale
If you want a dragging sled and don't want to DIY one, Christian's Fitness Factory has theirs on sale for $99.95 today with free shipping.
Plate Loaded Drag Sled
That's a good deal for a manufactured sled, so you might want to check it out.
Plate Loaded Drag Sled
That's a good deal for a manufactured sled, so you might want to check it out.
Friday, February 18, 2011
I haven't had time to write any useful content recently, but I did have time to read some. I wanted to post this article link to ensure I didn't lose it.
A Cold Slap In the Newbie Face: Recover More Grow More by Mark Rippetoe
It's exactly what it is billed to be - a hard no-nonsense, deliberately vulgar and direct message to young trainees. Basically, no one cares about your abs when you're skinny, they care about them when you have actual size and strength and muscle. You need to forget about being "lean" and worry about getting big and strong first. It's not about being a pro bodybuilder, it's about getting big and strong when it's the easiest for you to do so, and then working on the details.
It's one of those things you wish you had someone tell you when you were younger, but recognize that you might have argued back instead of just shutting up and listening.
A Cold Slap In the Newbie Face: Recover More Grow More by Mark Rippetoe
It's exactly what it is billed to be - a hard no-nonsense, deliberately vulgar and direct message to young trainees. Basically, no one cares about your abs when you're skinny, they care about them when you have actual size and strength and muscle. You need to forget about being "lean" and worry about getting big and strong first. It's not about being a pro bodybuilder, it's about getting big and strong when it's the easiest for you to do so, and then working on the details.
It's one of those things you wish you had someone tell you when you were younger, but recognize that you might have argued back instead of just shutting up and listening.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
