Tired of having a weak deadlift? The following article should help - originally featured at Elite Fitness Systems.
Stay strong
MR
Showing posts with label Elite Fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elite Fitness. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Bench press introspection, Part II
Sorry for the delay in getting this up, but well, I've been freakin' swamped lately!
So without any further ado, here's what I'm going to do to bring my bench press up to par. Motivational picture of bench press beast Scott Lade included, too.
- I've had an on again/off again pec issue that is currently "on" again. The only thing that has provoked the issue in the past is unstable, open chain pressing exercises like blast strap push-ups. It's not the exercise, as much as my stabilization patterns on my right side. For now, they're out.
(And FWIW, check out a copy of Eric Cressey's Unstable Surface Training manual if you want to learn the proper application of these techniques.)
- Along these same lines, I'm going to bust out my trusty Starr Tool out and get to digging around on my pecs, specifically the clavicular portion. I know they're ratty, I just need to man up and get this done.
- As far as training goes, I'm going to do several things to not only get healthy but develop a base:
* First, I'm going to incorporate more movements for my diagonal pattern connecting my left hip and right shoulder. After some testing and evaluation, I have some weakness in my left glute and right lower trapezius. Essentially, years and years of throwing baseballs and spiking volleyballs off people's faces has shortened that fascial line. To open it up, I'm going to be incorporating some total body PNF drills, chop/lift variations and other exercises to open up this line.
* I plan on re-incorporating my DB fly EQI's post-workout. This really helped the first time around and I assume it will do the same again.
* With regards to actual bench training, I'm going to have two horizontal pressing days per week. One is going to be a bench day (duh), and another will incorporate a push-up variation as the primary movement. Both will be done for high reps initially to help re-develop the connective tissues. Once I get this base built back up, I'll incoporate either a speed day or lockout day, based upon my needs at that point in time. Push-ups will still be incorporated as a secondary exercise.
- Finally, I need to be consistent with some old-school static stretching for the pecs, lats, and posterior capsule. It's not hard and it doesn't take much time, I just need to remember to do it.
So there you have it, my initial game plan for training. I'm leery of setting a goal at this point in time with regards to weight, as it's dependent upon how I feel. Instead, my goal is to feel 100% by the time the new year rolls around and I'll set mini-goals from there.
One final thing, I'm going to purchase the new Elite Fitness bench manual as well. I figure if nothing else it will provide motivation and give me some new tips
Stay strong
MR
Monday, June 30, 2008
Q&A: 5x5 Article
Hi Mike,
I liked your 5x5 article on elitefts.com. You reference moving to a more intensity based routine if you meet certain criteria. Are you referring to a program such as Westside?
Rick
Absolutely Rick - while I have no doubt that Westside can get you super strong, some people simply aren't ready to train in this intensive of a fashion.
In his book "Science and Practice of Strength Training," Zatsiorsky mentions that trainees should focus on repetition method work for 3 years before seriously employing the maximal effort method. Now, this doesn't mean you have to be doing 12's the entire time, but I wouldn't be doing heavy singles in the beginning, either.
You need this "base" for several reasons:
- Development of connective tissue strength
- Development of optimal technique
- Development of confidence
I think the guys who have probably seen the best success with Westside have exhausted their success using other methods. I think most lifters follow a path like this:
Beginner - High rep stuff (8's, 10's, etc. basically newbie gains)
Intermediate - Moderate volume with increased intensity (i.e. 5x5 or 3x3 methodologies)
Advanced - Sheiko, Westside, etc. - basically high intensity stuff. I could get into how Sheiko and Westside are different w/regards to how they go about intensifying the workouts, but that's a whole 'nother blog post ;)
I hope this long-winded answer helps you out!
Best
MR
I liked your 5x5 article on elitefts.com. You reference moving to a more intensity based routine if you meet certain criteria. Are you referring to a program such as Westside?
Rick
Absolutely Rick - while I have no doubt that Westside can get you super strong, some people simply aren't ready to train in this intensive of a fashion.
In his book "Science and Practice of Strength Training," Zatsiorsky mentions that trainees should focus on repetition method work for 3 years before seriously employing the maximal effort method. Now, this doesn't mean you have to be doing 12's the entire time, but I wouldn't be doing heavy singles in the beginning, either.
You need this "base" for several reasons:
- Development of connective tissue strength
- Development of optimal technique
- Development of confidence
I think the guys who have probably seen the best success with Westside have exhausted their success using other methods. I think most lifters follow a path like this:
Beginner - High rep stuff (8's, 10's, etc. basically newbie gains)
Intermediate - Moderate volume with increased intensity (i.e. 5x5 or 3x3 methodologies)
Advanced - Sheiko, Westside, etc. - basically high intensity stuff. I could get into how Sheiko and Westside are different w/regards to how they go about intensifying the workouts, but that's a whole 'nother blog post ;)
I hope this long-winded answer helps you out!
Best
MR
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Random updates
It's been an interesting week overall. For the last 3 days I've been doing some fill-in duties at the local high school; they wanted someone to come in and do a mini-course on strength training, so that's been fun. I've been trying to convince the kids that this is stuff they can use the rest of their lives, and they seem to be really enjoying it. I also forget how easy it is to teach a newbie/blank slate to lift weights, versus re-programming someone who has been taught incorrectly.
The gym is progressing as we speak. There's a rumor on the street that the bathroom/shower buildout will be completed soon, so that means we might even be able to start moving in this weekend! That would be really cool, as I'm ready to get this thing up and running ASAP. In the interim Bill and I have been working hard on the website, and I've had a recent surge of article ideas I've been trying to wrap up. Luckily for me, when inspiration hits it doesn't take too long to flesh things out. Be on the lookout for new material from me on T-Nation, Elite, and even Muscle with Attitude.
I had some good friends in town from Nashville and Ft. Wayne this weekend, so it was great to re-connect and spend time with them. I feel like overall I'm much more "balanced" now than a few months ago - like I have a greater perspective on the big picture and life itself. I know, very philosophical for a meathead like myself ;) I guess I just feel like I'm in a good place right now - mentally, physically and spiritiually.
We'll see if that "balance" can stick around once the gyms opens!
Stay strong
MR
The gym is progressing as we speak. There's a rumor on the street that the bathroom/shower buildout will be completed soon, so that means we might even be able to start moving in this weekend! That would be really cool, as I'm ready to get this thing up and running ASAP. In the interim Bill and I have been working hard on the website, and I've had a recent surge of article ideas I've been trying to wrap up. Luckily for me, when inspiration hits it doesn't take too long to flesh things out. Be on the lookout for new material from me on T-Nation, Elite, and even Muscle with Attitude.
I had some good friends in town from Nashville and Ft. Wayne this weekend, so it was great to re-connect and spend time with them. I feel like overall I'm much more "balanced" now than a few months ago - like I have a greater perspective on the big picture and life itself. I know, very philosophical for a meathead like myself ;) I guess I just feel like I'm in a good place right now - mentally, physically and spiritiually.
We'll see if that "balance" can stick around once the gyms opens!
Stay strong
MR
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Q&A - Deadlift Training
Mr. Robertson,
Hello my name is Andrew and I live on the westside of Indianapolis. I currently train at Next Level Gym with Josh Bolin. I had a question about deadlift training.
I have been seriously training for about a year and a half. Up until recently the majority of my lower body ME days consisted of box squats and good mornings of different variations. My DE lower body days have consisted of only box squats with different bars and resistance, and I have never pulled for speed.
I think the main reason I have not trained the DL very often is because so many people advise against it in different articles I have read. I saw that you mentioned in an article on Elitefts that one should pull more often as a beginner. I feel like I am stronger conventional and I am weak at the lockout at near or around 100%.
How would you recommend I train the DL and how often? If I pull on ME day does that mean I should not pull on DE day? I am sure my deadlift has gotten stronger from other lower body movements and supplemental/accesory work, but I bet I would gain faster if I trained it directly.
Thanks a lot for your time,
Andrew
Wow, a lot of questions in there Andrew! Here goes...
I firmly believe that in the beginning, you HAVE to train the deadlift. Sure if you're already pulling 600, 700 or 800 pounds, you may not need to train it that often. But as a beginner, you absolutely have to train it.
In the beginning, heavy sets in the 3-5 rep range would be adequate. More than anything, you need to get some high quality reps under your belt. How do you know what you need to work on technique wise if you never pull?
Once you get into the 400 and 500 pound range, I would suggest throwing in speed work and/or ME deadlift variations. Let's assume you do a ME workout on Monday and a DE workout on Thursday.
If you perform a ME deadlift variation on Monday, then I wouldn't include speed work for the DL on Thursday. Just DE squats and assistance work.
If you don't perform a ME deadlift variation on Monday, then I would definitely include speed work on Thursday.
The thing I always liked to do (and no, those who train Westside may not approve of this), was to perform a heavy squat workout on Monday, followed by assistance exercises. Then, on Thursday I would perform DE squat work and follow that up with either DE or ME deadlift work as necessary. I really feel like you can train heavy 3-4x/week in the beginning/intermediate phases; it's not until you get to the advanced/elite level that you should consolidate solely into ME and DE days. This was covered in my artice for Elite, The Intermediate Deadlift Cycle.
Regardless of my thoughts, I hope this helps. I would definitely be getting some DL training in every single week, at least until you get to a moderately high level of strength. From there, focusing on the assistance work may be more fruitful than training the DL itself.
Stay strong
MR
Hello my name is Andrew and I live on the westside of Indianapolis. I currently train at Next Level Gym with Josh Bolin. I had a question about deadlift training.
I have been seriously training for about a year and a half. Up until recently the majority of my lower body ME days consisted of box squats and good mornings of different variations. My DE lower body days have consisted of only box squats with different bars and resistance, and I have never pulled for speed.
I think the main reason I have not trained the DL very often is because so many people advise against it in different articles I have read. I saw that you mentioned in an article on Elitefts that one should pull more often as a beginner. I feel like I am stronger conventional and I am weak at the lockout at near or around 100%.
How would you recommend I train the DL and how often? If I pull on ME day does that mean I should not pull on DE day? I am sure my deadlift has gotten stronger from other lower body movements and supplemental/accesory work, but I bet I would gain faster if I trained it directly.
Thanks a lot for your time,
Andrew
Wow, a lot of questions in there Andrew! Here goes...
I firmly believe that in the beginning, you HAVE to train the deadlift. Sure if you're already pulling 600, 700 or 800 pounds, you may not need to train it that often. But as a beginner, you absolutely have to train it.
In the beginning, heavy sets in the 3-5 rep range would be adequate. More than anything, you need to get some high quality reps under your belt. How do you know what you need to work on technique wise if you never pull?
Once you get into the 400 and 500 pound range, I would suggest throwing in speed work and/or ME deadlift variations. Let's assume you do a ME workout on Monday and a DE workout on Thursday.
If you perform a ME deadlift variation on Monday, then I wouldn't include speed work for the DL on Thursday. Just DE squats and assistance work.
If you don't perform a ME deadlift variation on Monday, then I would definitely include speed work on Thursday.
The thing I always liked to do (and no, those who train Westside may not approve of this), was to perform a heavy squat workout on Monday, followed by assistance exercises. Then, on Thursday I would perform DE squat work and follow that up with either DE or ME deadlift work as necessary. I really feel like you can train heavy 3-4x/week in the beginning/intermediate phases; it's not until you get to the advanced/elite level that you should consolidate solely into ME and DE days. This was covered in my artice for Elite, The Intermediate Deadlift Cycle.
Regardless of my thoughts, I hope this helps. I would definitely be getting some DL training in every single week, at least until you get to a moderately high level of strength. From there, focusing on the assistance work may be more fruitful than training the DL itself.
Stay strong
MR
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Q&A 4/29
Hi Mike,
I've just finished reading the Bulletproof Knees manual and I thought it was a fantastic read! It's definitely a resource I'll be using to help myself and anyone I know with knee problems (and hopefully prevent some people even having them!)
I do have a few questions from reading the manual I was hoping you would be able to help with:
1) On the double and single leg jump progressions, is it a good progression to go from wearing trainers to barefoot? I know there has been a shift towards doing warm ups and where possible train barefoot, I just wasn't sure whether it would be too much on the joints or not.
MR: While warm-ups and such are great choices for barefoot training, I really don't advocate taking this over into ballistic/high shock absorption movements like jumps and sprints. Most people's feet are far too weak to effectively absorb the shock, and while their knees might feel great they'll end up with some sort of lower extremity injury. Not good!
2) You mention that if someone suffers from compression or tracking issues they shouldn't wear the knee sleeves. Could you expand on why this is? If someone does suffer, are there any alternatives to wearing knee sleeves?
MR: People that have compression/tracking issues generally like the warmth a knee sleeve provides, but if they're too tight they only create more compression/tracking issues at the patello-femoral joint.
It's not so much that it's contraindicated, but I would definitely make sure they are loose and not furthering altering the normal biomechanics of the knee.
3) I like the idea of using the credit card to remove fluid, when you are scraping the card up the leg, do you just go around the whole knee or if you have a specific area that aches, just scrape over that area?
MR: I will actually start at the lower exremity, work my way up to the knee, and the all the way up into the thigh. If your leg is elevated and straight so that your foot is above your hip, think about working from the upper most to lower most portions.
4) Final question :-). I don't currently have any bands to be able to do the band stomps. I am currently looking to get some ironwoody ones, do you think they would be ok to do the band stomps with?
Thank you very much for your help!
Regards,
Jon
MR: I don't have any experience with the Iron Woody bands; every band I've ever purchased has been of the Topper(?) variety which can be purchased at Elite Fitness Systems (www.elitefts.com).
Thanks for the questions and good luck!
MR
I've just finished reading the Bulletproof Knees manual and I thought it was a fantastic read! It's definitely a resource I'll be using to help myself and anyone I know with knee problems (and hopefully prevent some people even having them!)
I do have a few questions from reading the manual I was hoping you would be able to help with:
1) On the double and single leg jump progressions, is it a good progression to go from wearing trainers to barefoot? I know there has been a shift towards doing warm ups and where possible train barefoot, I just wasn't sure whether it would be too much on the joints or not.
MR: While warm-ups and such are great choices for barefoot training, I really don't advocate taking this over into ballistic/high shock absorption movements like jumps and sprints. Most people's feet are far too weak to effectively absorb the shock, and while their knees might feel great they'll end up with some sort of lower extremity injury. Not good!
2) You mention that if someone suffers from compression or tracking issues they shouldn't wear the knee sleeves. Could you expand on why this is? If someone does suffer, are there any alternatives to wearing knee sleeves?
MR: People that have compression/tracking issues generally like the warmth a knee sleeve provides, but if they're too tight they only create more compression/tracking issues at the patello-femoral joint.
It's not so much that it's contraindicated, but I would definitely make sure they are loose and not furthering altering the normal biomechanics of the knee.
3) I like the idea of using the credit card to remove fluid, when you are scraping the card up the leg, do you just go around the whole knee or if you have a specific area that aches, just scrape over that area?
MR: I will actually start at the lower exremity, work my way up to the knee, and the all the way up into the thigh. If your leg is elevated and straight so that your foot is above your hip, think about working from the upper most to lower most portions.
4) Final question :-). I don't currently have any bands to be able to do the band stomps. I am currently looking to get some ironwoody ones, do you think they would be ok to do the band stomps with?
Thank you very much for your help!
Regards,
Jon
MR: I don't have any experience with the Iron Woody bands; every band I've ever purchased has been of the Topper(?) variety which can be purchased at Elite Fitness Systems (www.elitefts.com).
Thanks for the questions and good luck!
MR
Monday, April 7, 2008
Q&A - Glute-Hams
Hi Mike,
I really enjoy all your articles and I am a big reader of yours and Eric Cressey. I was wondering if you could clarify the technique for the glute ham raise. I searched the articles on t-nation and elitefts and none of them mention this aspect. When I perform the exercise I am able to do more reps with more weight when the bottoms of my thighs(VMO area) drive into the bottom of the pad while curling my body up. However, when I move the foot plate closer and try the exercise with my knees driving into the bottom of the pad I cannot do as much. I wasn't sure if the first way was incorrect and made the exercise too easy. Hope that makes sense.
Thanks very much,
Ryan
You're doing it correctly, Ryan. In fact, I'll generally have someone hold a weight plate across their chest BEFORE moving the foot plate in. It's generally an easier progression.
As you move the foot plate closer, a larger percentge of your body weight is on the other side of the fulcrum, if you will. Basically, your hamstrings are forced to do more work in this fashion!
Here's the progression that I use with most clients:
- Set the foot plate at a point where you can get 8-10 repetitions
- Once this gets easy, hold either a 5 or 10 pound plate in your hands
- Once you can get to 8-10 reps in this fashion, move the foot plate in
- Generally when moving the plate in, your reps will drop quite a bit. Be happy with 6 or so for the time being, and then work back up in this fashion.
Hope this helps!
Stay strong
MR
I really enjoy all your articles and I am a big reader of yours and Eric Cressey. I was wondering if you could clarify the technique for the glute ham raise. I searched the articles on t-nation and elitefts and none of them mention this aspect. When I perform the exercise I am able to do more reps with more weight when the bottoms of my thighs(VMO area) drive into the bottom of the pad while curling my body up. However, when I move the foot plate closer and try the exercise with my knees driving into the bottom of the pad I cannot do as much. I wasn't sure if the first way was incorrect and made the exercise too easy. Hope that makes sense.
Thanks very much,
Ryan
You're doing it correctly, Ryan. In fact, I'll generally have someone hold a weight plate across their chest BEFORE moving the foot plate in. It's generally an easier progression.
As you move the foot plate closer, a larger percentge of your body weight is on the other side of the fulcrum, if you will. Basically, your hamstrings are forced to do more work in this fashion!
Here's the progression that I use with most clients:
- Set the foot plate at a point where you can get 8-10 repetitions
- Once this gets easy, hold either a 5 or 10 pound plate in your hands
- Once you can get to 8-10 reps in this fashion, move the foot plate in
- Generally when moving the plate in, your reps will drop quite a bit. Be happy with 6 or so for the time being, and then work back up in this fashion.
Hope this helps!
Stay strong
MR
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