CategoriesProgram Design

13 Ways to Transmogrify Any Exercise

I’ve been lucky to have so many people offering to write stellar content for me lately. Today I have a post by none other than Jon Goodman; friend, colleague, best selling author (Ignite the Fire), and pretty much the Don Corleone of personal training information.

He won’t leave severed horse heads in your bed, but you should listen to what he has to say if you want to do well in this industry as a personal trainer.

Today’s post deals with how you can make any exercise harder or more challenging.

So you wanna change up your routine, bro?

Not a problem and there are many options, but you’ve got to keep your goals in check. There’s wobbly boards, rolly thingies, and rubber whathaveyous that take up space in the gym and really don’t add much to anybody’s program.

Variation can put a hamper on your results if you’re not careful. So today I want to talk about variation done right. Below are 13 ways to alter any exercise; when to use each, and what to be careful of.

Some of these variations make the movement harder, some easier. Others change the purpose of the exercise altogether.

Some of these principles you may have seen before, others maybe not. I hope that, after reading this article, you know how to vary movements and loading schemes to better achieve your goal, whatever that may be.

1. Balance.

The more balanced you are, the more force you’ll be able to produce. Altering your center of mass or putting yourself off-balance changes the challenge of the exercise.

Not only that, but the closer your center of gravity is to the ground, the more balanced you’ll be. Ever take a look at the body composition of top wrestlers or judokas? They’re usually as wide as they are tall and the result is that they’re much more difficult to knock down.

If you want some real-World proof, the next time that you see Tony in-person take out his legs. The first thing that he’ll do is crouch and then probably deadlift you off of the ground and Hulk smash you.

So a few things: First, If you ever want to generate more force on a movement you can either widen your base of support (lowering yourself) or crouch down further. If you want to increase the stability challenge you can do a whole bunch of stuff ranging from standing on one leg to putting your feet together to using a variety of wobbly, bouncy, shaky things you’ll find in most gyms.

This comes with a warning — always keep your goal as the #1 priority. A squat on a Bosu ball makes the exercise harder, but it isn’t going to make you stronger. Always respect the rule of specificity.

Out of all the tools in the gym, the stability ball is Tony’s favourite.

 

2. Manipulate reps.

Certain exercises can have their reps manipulated more than others.

You would have a hard time performing the lateral raise, for example, in the heavy-weight/low-rep zone. The movement doesn’t allow lifting heavy loads explosively. How much to manipulate reps is contingent on your goal.

One other fun way to manipulate reps is by doing partials. In a conventional rep, tension is relieved before starting the next (i.e. locking your elbows at the top of a bench press to rest for a second before starting the next rep). In a partial, each rep becomes extended for 1 and ½ or more times putting the muscle under more tension.

Here’s Ben Bruno crushing some 1-1/2 rep ring chin-ups

 

3. Tempo

Tempo is ignored far too often. In order for me to talk about it, you’ve got to understand the nomenclature. Every rep of a lift can be broken up into 4 phases: eccentric, pause, concentric, pause, all measured in seconds.

A bench press with a “41X0” tempo would call for 4 seconds in the down phase; a 1 second-pause at the bottom; an explosive press (denoted by the “X”); and no pause at the top before starting the next rep.

Often when you see a workout printed in a magazine or given to you by a trainer, you’ll see 3 or 4 numbers like what I’ve noted above (sometimes the final rest isn’t listed). A tempo will change dependent on the goal of the exercise.

A blocker on a football team, for example, would do a more explosive version of the bench press – somewhere in the 20X1 range. Somebody looking for max hypertrophy is going to want more time under tension (TUT) and may opt for a 4020 on that same bench press.

4. Weight.

If it’s heavy, it’s hard.

5. Lever length.

The human body is really just a series of levers and, like any lever, the closer the load to the fulcrum the easier it will be. Now that you understand this basic biomechanical principle you know how to make any exercise easier or harder.

Want to increase the difficulty of movement? Move the weight away from the fulcrum. An example of this is performing the plank with straight arms in front of your shoulders.

Want to make an exercise easier, move the weight closer to the fulcrum. This explains, in part, why you can lift more in a bent arm lateral raise than you can with straight arms.

While this principle applies to any exercise, please note that it’s a simplistic approach. There’s some muscle physiology mumbo-jumbo like motor unit size and optimal recruitment patterns that also has an effect. For most it’s a good heuristic to train with.

Watch how Tony makes use of this transmogrification here:

 

6. Shape of Implement.

While not always commercially available, odd-shaped implements are fun to lift and can add in a new dimension to training. One could argue that it’s also a more functional way to train (although the word “functional” has lost all meaning). Sandbags, for example, have uneven and changing weight distribution. Be creative and you can build some fun equipment pretty cheap.

Perhaps the most common example today is the kettlebell. Because the weight distribution isn’t uniform (the weight is concentrated at the end) the bell generates more inertia farther away from the body. This forces a different muscle engagement pattern than a conventional weight – even swinging a DB is different. The extra inertia caused is the primary reason why it’s such an effective piece of equipment to develop the posterior chain.

For years I organized a get together every Sunday morning in the summer. Along with my kettlebells, my arborist friends brought rope (makeshift battle ropes), and we built tools like slosh pipes from PVC piping bought at Home Depot.

You can have some fun with this. Don’t think that you need to lift perfectly symmetrical DB’s and lubed-up machines to get strong.

The video below shows Tony doing a suitcase carry with a rope slung around a kettlebell. The instability and grip challenge here will definitely be different from anything you’ve done before.

 

7. Stance.

Despite popular belief, the only way to stand when performing an exercise is not with soft knees and your feet shoulder-width apart. Stance, when manipulated properly, is a powerful variable that can jumpstart your program. Here are my favorite variations:

Split stance. This is easier on the back and allows you to maintain a strong posture. The wider the split, the more balanced you’ll be. Switch the leading leg evenly to get an oblique benefit on each side.

 

Kneeling. A great way to get the abs firing on a host of upper body exercises is to do them on your knees. Instead of sitting on a bench or ball, do your shoulder presses or biceps curls kneeling maintaining a strong upright posture. This variation is especially good for me because I travel a lot and heavy weights are hard to find. That, and the extra ab work doesn’t hurt, you know, for the beach.

 

Half-kneeling. This is in-between standing and kneeling. There’s a great core benefit here and the glutes on the side of the resting leg will fire as well. Not only that, but you’ll get a nice stretch in the hip of the trailing leg.

 

Wide stance. A wide stance makes it easier to balance. It also gives the adductors a stretch, which almost every lifter needs. It’s probably not advantageous for most exercises but works well for things like cable chops.

 

8. Slow Eccentrics (Negatives).

A “negative” is a very slow, controlled contraction that causes a lot of muscle damage. These should only be used for advanced trainees and definitely only with sets of fewer than 3 to 5 reps. A negative usually lasts around 10 seconds. Use a spotter to assist in the concentric portion of the lift or do an easier variation of the exercise as a “cheat” to get the weight back up.

Negatives will make you very, very sore the next day and are only advised for advanced lifters. They’re especially good for breaking through plateaus.

In the video below, notice how Tony’s client is jumping up, or cheating, and then focusing on the eccentric, or negative, phase of the movement.

 

9. Rest Time.

Rest between sets is another one of those variables that isn’t used properly often enough. Most people have an idea of how long they should rest but few give it the conscientious attention that it deserves. A basic overview:

0-45 seconds of rest builds endurance.

45 seconds to 90 seconds (1.5 minutes) of rest builds muscle.

1.5 minutes and more of rest is for strength training.

Have a stopwatch with you. Set it to your rest interview. The minute that you finish a set, hit the button. When the timer beeps noting the end of your rest, start right away. Don’t screw around in the gym if you’re serious about your results.

You can vary the rest intervals by decreasing or increasing the time (duh). Decreasing the time will make the exercise more aerobic. You won’t be able to lift as much weight but if you’re looking for fat loss it may be warranted. Increasing the rest period to a maximum of 3 minutes is advised for power training. Higher rep ranges are generally used on large multi-joint exercises like a squat or bench press if the lifter wants to keep the reps low and lift heavy.

10. Loading Schemes.

Loading schemes can add or decrease intensity of a workout, or the challenge to a particular muscle group. I use the term “loading schemes” to describe the order that exercise appear in relation to one another.

There are too many to list here but two favourites are pre-fatigue and post-fatigue.

Pre-fatigue. This is when an exercise is performed that exhausts a single muscle group, immediately followed by a multi-joint exercise using that muscle. This can be dangerous if the lifter isn’t experienced. For example I wouldn’t perform hamstring curls before a deadlift unless the lifter has a couple years of lifting experience.

Post-fatigue. This is when a multi-joint exercise is followed immediately by a single joint movement using one of the main muscles of the multi-joint movement. For example, a deadlift followed by a hamstring curl would be considered post-fatigue. I use this loading scheme often when ramping up intensity and volume in my programming.

What it comes down to is this: Despite what your high school gym teacher told you, there are other ways to build a program than starting with a large multi-joint exercise followed by isolating muscle groups and ending with abs before a slow jog.

11. Pauses.

Pausing could be incorporated into the earlier discussion of tempo but I decided to give it its own category. Momentum is a powerful way to generate force but sometimes it’s not warranted. Pausing can be used for 3 purposes:

Increase intensity – Pauses at various stages of a rep can lengthen the total time under tension (TUT) of a rep, adding to the difficulty of each set.

Improve power generation – Lifting with momentum (like bouncing the weight on a deadlift) can be good or bad. If you’re working on your power then you probably want to avoid it. Additionally, pauses can be good to strengthen weak points of a lift.

Learn form – You cannot unlearn habits. Instead you’ve got to learn a new habit powerful enough to replace the existing one. It follows that the stronger an existing habit, the harder it will be to replace it. When learning a new exercise it’s important to only practice it well. This generally means reducing fatigue in the learning stage. Pauses after each rep to recompose yourself and ensure good form will speed up the learning curve.

The video below shows Tony pauses and resetting himself after each rep of a deadlift to improve the speed of the lift.

 

12. Range of Motion (“ROM”).

We’re taught to perform full ROM movements all the time and, for the most part, it’s a good idea. There are times when cheat techniques of semi-reps are warranted as long as they’re performed safely.

I always said:

“If the choice is to get 0 percent because you cannot perform a full rep or get 30 percent and perform a partial rep. I would choose the 30 percent.”

Partial reps are also great for keeping constant tension on the muscle. The next time that you do lunges don’t lock out at the top, keep tension on your hammies and glutes the entire set. It’s nasty. You’ll see what I mean.

If you’re already proficient with your form then partial reps can add more intensity into the movement. Especially on arm day. You know, for the pump.

13. Grip.

I saved grip for last because of how strongly I believe every trainee should master it. Different grips force the body into different positions, engage different recruitment patterns, and force the body to use different muscles.

There are countless ways to alter the grip on most major exercises. I’ll use the chin/pull up as an example. You can perform the exercise with your hands wide, medium, or close together. It can be done on a thick bar; a thin bar; rings; or even playground equipment. You can also grip the bar with your palms facing up, down, or each other. These are just some examples.

Note from TG: here’s a video of a former 50+ y/o client of mine performing chin-ups with softball grips. And yes, she’s shrugging a bit on her reps…..relax.

 

Every major exercise has a host of different grips. These nuances are what makes training fun and interesting. If you’ve been doing a lat pull down or chin up for a while, change your grip to any-or a combination of the options I’ve listed above.

Thank me tomorrow when you have to ask a friend to help you open a door.

I mentioned at the beginning of this article that the human body is relatively simple when you break it down. A muscle only has so many functions. The biceps flexes the elbow and internally rotates; the pec major flexes, internally rotates, and horizontal adducts (think pec fly); the gastrocnemius (calf) points the toe; and so on.

When you consider all the ways to vary an exercise it’s easy to see how diverse your options are. Have fun, but don’t lose sight of your goal.

Also, I made up the word transmogrify and then I found it that it was actually a real word. Guess I did learn something from Calvin and Hobbes, eh?

About the Author

Jonathan Goodman is the author of Ignite the Fire, a book that teaches how to become a personal trainer and build a successful career. To learn more about his personal training books and free collaborative resource for trainers, go to the Personal Trainer Development Center.

CategoriesExercise Technique

The Single Dumbest Way to Bench Press

A few months ago I wrote a post on why incorporating barbell glute bridges prior to an upper body day (namely, bench pressing) may be a nice way to help “potentiate” the glutes to fire to better help with performance.

I wrote it and people loved it. I had no idea so many people would share it.

One of the more comical responses to it was from my boy Dean Somerset:

“If you’re one of those D-bags who bench presses with your feet in the air:

1. Punch yourself in the face. Hard.
2. Read this article and realize that leg drive is necessary (NECCESSARY) to have sufficient stability and neural drive to press up some realistically heavy weights.”

His comment brought up an interesting “debate” (which I don’t really feel is an actual debate; at least to those who put rationale thinking into practice) on the whole “bench pressing with the feet in the air” parade, which led me to write this article for Stack.com that went live yesterday.

It’s a short one (something like 600 words), and may serve as nice ammunition for those reading who have that buddy or friend or colleague or coach from 1985 who’s adamant that doing so is safer or that it isolates the pecs more, and need something to tell them to shut up.

Stop doing this, please. Just stop.

UPDATE: I should mention that there is one thing that’s dumber: bench pressing with a thumbless grip – like THIS. Now THAT’s pretty much like playing with fire.

CategoriesAssessment personal training

What I Learned Taking the FMS

This is what I looked like last Sunday after spending three days and 20 course hours taking the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) I & II modules.

That’s my face melting.

It sounds (and looks) like a bad thing, but I assure you it’s the exact opposite.

Sitting through 20 hours of anything can be daunting.1

Sitting through 20 hours of non-stop talk on anatomy, assessment, corrective exercise, and how much I suck at the Active Straight Leg Raise can be downright overwhelming. And to be honest there were times I was overwhelmed.

But this was easily one of the best 20 hours I’ve spent doing anything not involving a book, baseball, Star Wars, or chocolate covered strawberries. BOM CHICKA BOM BOM.

Trying to overview the entire experience in one simple blog post isn’t doing it any justice. But I figured I’d try to highlight some “big rock” concepts and tidbits of information I learned while everything was still fresh in my head.

Lets Do This

I’d be remiss not to first give a shout out to both Functional Movement Systems and Perform Better for putting on and running a class-act event. The two together are like peanut butter and jelly or Jordan and Pippen or Batman and Robin (<— without the weird sexual tension).

I’d also be remiss not to lend a huge kudos to the bandleader, Brett Jones, who was the epitome of class and professionalism the entire weekend. He’s like Justin Timberlake, only with kettlebells. And a 500+ lb deadlift.

He along with Mike Perry and Diane Vives did an amazing job coaching all the attendees up and offering their expertise. A slow clap goes out to all of them.

NOTE: From here on out I’m using bullet point format because what follows is going to be a massive brain dump that may or may not make any sense. Good luck.

– The “S” is the most important letter in “FMS.” It’s a (S)creen. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s NOT an end-all-be-all assessment. I’ve always used components of the FMS when assessing my athletes and clients, but always viewed it as the outer layer of an onion. If I need to peel back more layers and dig deeper with other protocols I will.

What does the FMS accomplish? In a nutshell: it ascertains whether or not someone can “access” a pattern.

– Simplifying things even more: the FMS helps to figure out if “you move well enough to do stuff.”

– The FMS can also be seen as a litmus test to see if someone is at risk for injury. Of course a previous injury is going to be the greatest risk factor, but the FMS looks at other things such as asymmetries, mobility, stability, and neuromuscular control.

A great analogy that Brett used to describe the process was to ask the audience whether or not smoking increases the risk of cancer? Yes. Does not smoking protect you from cancer? [Interesting question, right?]

Just because you do or do not do something doesn’t mean anything. The primary goal(s) of the FMS is to set a movement baseline, identify the pain or dysfunction, and set up proper progressions and conditioning to address it.

– Fitness professionals are the worst at testing. We overthink things. There’s no such thing as a “soft” or “hard” 2. There’s no such thing as a 1+ or 1-. The screen is the screen, and it’s important (nay, crucial) to hold yourself to the standards and criteria set forth by the manual.

I’m paraphrasing here, but either shit looks good – and meets the criteria for testing – or it doesn’t.

You can’t overthink things or start doing stuff like, “well, his heel only came up a teeny tiny bit, and only rotated 8.3 degrees. I guess that’s a 3.”

– We can’t feel bad for giving people the score they present with and deserve. It’s doing them a disservice in the long run. It’s just like Brett said and made us pledge as a group before we started testing one another: “I’m still a good person and am not a failure if I score a 1.”

It’s not the end of the world and you won’t be considered the spawn of Satan if scored a “1” on your Deep Squat screen.

Life…will…go…on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ois60CobLZM

 

– If pain is present…ALWAYS REFER OUT. If pain is present and persists, don’t just blame the hip flexors. Again, as Brett noted, there’s 32 muscles that act as hip flexors, why is the psoas always the culprit for back pain? If you do the screen, apply the correctives, and pain persists, it’s (probably) something deeper and outside your scope of practice.

Seriously, refer out.

But that doesn’t mean we still can’t train the athlete or client. As coaches we can usually train around any injury; we don’t need to keep everyone in a safe bubble where we just tell them to “rest.” To me that’s unacceptable and not an option.

– Take a gander at the Functional Performance Pyramid. Don’t worry I’ll wait.

If you decrease one’s movement capacity and increase their performance (make the movement block less wide compared to the performance block), that’s bad.

If you increase one’s movement capacity (think: yoga) and decrease their performance, that’s also bad.

We’re really good as coaches and personal trainers at building better engines (improving performance), but neglect to address the brakes and suspension (movement). Hence, people often break down sooner.

This is also another fantastic reason why the FMS is valuable. It’s helps you figure out where people need the most work/attention.

– Raise your hand if you feel the Active Straight Leg Raise is a great screen to test for hamstring length.

It’s not.

If anything it’s more of a screen for the “core,” and how well you’re able to control your pelvis. I.e., can you maintain extension on the down leg as you bring the other into hip flexion (and vice versa).

– The Deep Squat Screen (<—- bolded on purpose) takes place with the toes pointing straight a head. It’s not how we coach the squat in the long run.

1. Toes forward provides some semblance of standardization. It doesn’t make sense to allow people to externally rotate their feet (even a little bit) because that defeats the purpose. You allow someone to rotate 5 degrees, and the next person rotates 15. Like, WTF?

2. Toes forward also makes it easier to see faults and compensations in the pattern.

I literally had a “tense” exchange with a female attendee who gave me push back on making her perform the screen with her toes pointing forward.

Her: “Well I can’t squat if they’re forward!”

Me: “Then you won’t get a 3.”

Her: “Last time I went to this (she attended module I at a previous time), I was told we could point our toes out.2

[Relax, deep breaths]

Me: “Sorry but we were told otherwise yesterday. Toes forward.”

Based off her reaction you would have thought I insulted her yoga pants. With a little bit of a huffy attitude she reluctantly conceded and ended up with a 2.

I guess I’m an asshole.

– Corrective exercise is like boxing. It’s generally accepted that there are four different kinds of punches in boxing: the jab, cross, hook, and uppercut. The Five-Point-Palm-Exploding-Heart-Technique from Kill Bill didn’t make the cut.

 

You don’t need 500 different correctives to “fix” something. You only need a few and to OWN each one. Don’t overwhelm your clients with 17 different variations of glute bridges to perform before they go to bed. They’re not going to do them. Ever.

– Breathing is all the rage in fitness today. And for good reason: it’s something that needs to be addressed.

I’ve seen magical things happen when you help someone address a faulty breathing pattern. But pigging back off the previous comment about corrective exercise, you don’t need to get all fancy pants on people.

Showing your athletes and clients how to properly perform “crocodile breathing,” where they learn to get 360 degree expansion (and to not rely on their accessory muscles like the upper traps, scalenes, etc) can go a long ways in helping to set the tone on fixing stuff….even a straight leg raise or shoulder mobility.

Dumbledore can’t even do that.

 

How’s that for a super scientific explanation.

– You need to be RELAXED when you foam roll. We’re not deadifting max effort weight here. Chill out.

– Don’t underestimate the power of grip work (squeezing the handle of a dumbbell or kettlebell) to help improve rotator cuff function as well as shoulder mobility.

– You need a minimum of 30 degrees of ankle dorsiflexion to run well. Just sayin…..

– Here’s one of the best analogies I’ve ever heard with regards to overhead pressing courtesy of Brett Jones. When explaining the path of the DB or KB during an overhead press tell your client to pretend as if there’s a booster rocket underneath the elbow and that it takes the weight to space.

The path should be straight up, not to the side or in a zig-zag fashion. Straight up.

I Could Easily Keep Going

But I think that’s enough.

Needless to say I HIGHLY encourage any and all fitness professionals to attend one (or both!) of these courses if you have the opportunity to do so. I learned a ton and there’s no reason to suspect you wouldn’t either.

Categoriesspeed training Strength Training

Do Absolute Strength Athletes Need to Train For Power?

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of TG.com regular, Justin Kompf. This is Justin’s fourth or fifth article on this site, but admittedly it’s been awhile since he’s contributed because he’s gotten all fancy pants and has a job and website and stuff.

Today he tackles a “touchy” topic: speed/power training (what it means and how to apply it into programming).

Enjoy!

Also, before we get into the meat and potatoes of the post I wanted to remind everyone that Justin’s responsible for organizing the 2nd Annual SUNY Cortland Strength and Conditioning Symposium.

You can read all about HERE (<—- link to my site), or go directly to registration HERE.

For $60 you can attend an event where myself, Nick Tumminello, Mark Fisher, John Gaglione, and Joy Victoria will be speaking. That’s literally nothing for what mounts to a night at the movies.

No excuses young fitness professionals. Get it done. Come listen and learn from some of the best in the fitness industry.

Do Absolute Strength Athletes Need to Train For Power?

Powerlifters often incorporate speed training into their programming. This is called dynamic effort training. For example, they may train at high intensities for a few weeks or training cycles then add in some maximal speed training with sub-maximal load.

This protocol is great for developing force quickly but likely not nearly as effective at increasing absolute strength as training at high intensities are.

It takes about .4 seconds to develop maximal force. Therefore, if you lift at a high velocity, which is only possible with lighter weight, you cannot develop maximal force.

However, some good things happen with speed training, namely athletic development or maintenance. Powerlifters may not want to become accustomed to only lifting heavy weight slow.

No one would argue that speed training is important for athletic development but how important it is for maximal strength is another story. There are a few equations and concepts that need to be understood to help elaborate on why lifting sub-maximal loads faster may not have an impact on strength.

These concepts include the relationship between force and velocity and the equation for force.

Force Velocity Relationships

According to the relationship between force and velocity, as the external load being moved increases the velocity at which it is being moved decreases. This means that as force increases velocity decreases. In fact you can produce more force in isometric conditions where the bar is not moving than in concentric conditions.

 

To give a practical example of this relationship think about it this way; it is possible for most resistance trained athletes to squat 135 at a high velocity. To ask them to squat 315 pounds at the same maximal velocity would not be possible.

Force

It is often argued that because force equals mass multiplied by acceleration, training acceleration with a constant load will increase force production. When the load increases and acceleration decreases force should still be high and when the load decreases and acceleration increases force should also still be high.

Unfortunately, this may be a misunderstanding of acceleration and the force equation.

Acceleration is the change in velocity over time, whereas velocity is the change in distance over time. Just because barbell speed is high, does not mean that acceleration is high if the speed remains constant.

Change the equation force = mass x acceleration to acceleration = force/mass (it’s still the same equation) and we see that the greater the force an athlete puts into a lift the greater the acceleration. Remember that force and velocity have an inverse relationship. High forces cannot be generated at high velocities. The goal of speed training is to lift the bar at high velocities.

Therefore, if velocity is low due to maximal weights being lifted then force is actually high. Another easy way to think about it is like this; if mass goes up and the load is moved force goes up. If mass goes up barbell velocity goes down. With high velocities maximal force cannot be trained. Lifters may have been misinterpreted acceleration with barbell velocity.

Practical Recommendations

In the book Science and Practice of Strength Training the authors states that….

“The method of dynamic effort is used not for increasing maximal strength but only to improve the rate of force development and explosive strength”.

This article is by no means advocating slow speed training. We know that doesn’t work for strength training. In fact loads have to be reduced by 30% to get the equivalent number of repetitions with intentionally slow speed training. The only real rationale for slow contractions would be a function of the load being moved, meaning if you’re lifting heavy weight the speed of contraction is going to be slow.

Training for power, which is (force x distance)/ time, is an important part of athletic development and should hold some place in every individual’s program. However, training for power which necessitates low loads, likely will not have a cross over effect to maximal strength. If you want to get strong you have to lift heavy weights and progressively increase the intensities you are training at.

For athletics, rate of force development, or the change in force over time is extremely important. As mentioned before, it takes about .4 seconds to build maximum force. However, sporting movements happen in shorter time periods than .4 seconds. Therefore, the ability to rapidly produce force is important. However, because speed is high and the time to produce force is low, force production will never be maximal.

Also, the intent to maximally accelerate a load, regardless of weight and subsequent bar velocity may be important in strength development.

One study examined 30 division one collegiate football players and put them into two groups. A control group, that continued training at regular bar velocities and an experimental group that was instructed to train at maximal velocities.

This protocol lasted for 14 weeks, during the upper body training days the athletes used the bench press, incline bench press, behind the neck press, and arm curls. They were pretested and post tested in the one repetition maximum bench press, seated medicine ball throw, and the plyometric pushup.

The experimental groups bench press went up by 8.6% compared with the controlled groups 3.8%. The authors concluded that…

“The intent to maximally accelerate concentrically with heavy weight may be better for improving strength and power than slower heavy strength training.”

This study was interesting because the control group performed the same program and continued to train at the exact velocity they had been training at.

Should You Throw Out Speed Training?

It is clear that as weight increases the potential barbell speed decreases. Because power is dependent upon speed and force is dependent on load, one cannot produce high rates of power and force at the same time.

If you want to specialize in being as strong as possible, focus your training on working with high training intensities.

Speed training certainly can and should have its place in programming.

Speed training could be used to accumulate extra training volume for a movement. For example, on a heavy deadlift day using a submaximal squat weight for speed training can be programmed in after the deadlift. Speed training can also be used to focus on technique with lighter weight. Finally, speed training as previously mentioned is vital in athletic performance.

There is not a definitive answer out there saying speed training absolutely will not help you increase strength.

It is entirely possible that training with sub-max loads (think 70% or even heavier quick singles at 80% & not 40-50%) can help a lifter break the bar off the ground on the deadlift, come out of the hole quicker on the squat, or get the bar off their chest in the bench press.

Also if speed training helps a lifter build up momentum prior to their sticking point, it may help them surpass that region.

Finally, this is not an argument for lifting weights slow, as a matter of fact research supports maximally ‘intended’ concentric contractions for strength training. This means you should try to lift a weight fast regardless of the weight and regardless of how fast the bar is actually moving.

The point here is that training is specific.

If you want to train to be as muscular as possible, focus on training volume. If you want to be as fast as you can, focus on training speed, and if you desire to be as strong as possible the majority of your training should be focused on increasing training intensities.

There certainly can be a mixed approach for well-balanced training. Bodybuilders lift at high intensities in their training cycles so they can handle more load when they go back to training for volume and powerlifters may take on a bodybuilding training approach to increase lean body mass and thus produce more force.

There is nothing wrong with a powerlifter incorporating speed training into their routine as long as they realize that speed training alone probably is not going to have much of an impact on absolute strength.

Further Reading (a lot of the concepts were drawn from the following)

Hales, E.M.(2011). Evaluating common weight training concepts associated with developing muscular strength: Truths or myths? Strength and Conditioning Journal. 33: 91-95

Jones K., Hunter G., Fleisig G, Escamila R., Lemak L. (1999). The effects of compensatory acceleration on upper-body strength and power in collegiate football players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 13: 99-105.

About the Author

You can check out more of Justin’s stuff at his website HERE.

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CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 2/20/15

I’m in Burlington, MA for the next three days attending the Functional Movement Screen I & II workshops.

Photo Credit: Perform Better Europe

I’m excited because not only do I expect to learn a ton over the next three days, but I also get to learn from and listen to a coach I highly respect….FMS content advisor, co-creator of  the CK-FMS program, RKC Master Instructor, and guy who could snap me in two in two seconds (not that he’d want to do that), Brett Jones.

Chances are I’ll have a ton of new ideas and content brewing in my head when I’m through, so expect some blog post on what differentiates a “2” squat and a “3” squat.  Speaking of which, funny story.

A few months ago my good friend (and University of Washington strength coach), Dave Rak, was in town visiting and getting a lift in at CSP. He has been battling some nagging injuries so myself and fellow CSP coach, Miguel Aragoncillo, were taking him through a few screens. We did an overhead squat screen and it didn’t look pretty.

Me: “Dude, that’s technically a 1.”

Note: a score of “1” is considered a poor squat pattern

Dave (with no hesitation): “Well, technically I won my last powerlifting meet.”

Me & Dave & Miguel: HAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHA.

Whatever! It was funny. You had to be there.

Here’s this week’s list of stuff to read.

6 (More) Things Elite Coaches Do – Kate Solovieva

I love reading about what other coaches do to become great. I also love hearing about which books they gravitate towards and recommend.

This article, from the Precision Nutrition website, hits on both fronts.

Core Confusion – Nick Tumminello

This article explains why it’s WRONG to say that squats and deadlifts are all anyone ever needs to train their core.

BroScience debunked!

Inside the Life of a Celebrity Trainer – FitSmart Podcast

An AWESOME listen with LA-based, celebrity trainer, and owner of PUSH Fitness, Chad Landers. Chad’s an awesome dude. I’ve interacted with him many times and have met him in person too, and I know he’s a quality human being (and trainer). I mandate that ALL personal trainers should take the hour and MAKE TIME to listen to this podcast.

Some great advice from all parties involved (shout out to hosts Roger Lawson and JC Deen).

CategoriesExercise Technique

Passive vs. Active Foot For Squatting Performance

There’s a lot to think about and that can (potentially) go wrong when you have a barbell on your back.

Photo Credit: Elitefts.com (Julia Ladewski)

Is it better to high-bar squat or low-bar squat?

Big air!

Are my lats engaged? Where are my elbows positioned?

Head position?

On the descent is it hips back or knees forward? (Hint: it’s both).

Are my knees out? Too far out? Or are they caving in?

What about out of the hole: am I maintaining tension, is my core braced, am I leaning too far forward?

Am I getting my hips through at the top?

Shit, did I forget to turn my stove off before I left my apartment?

Goddammit, I totally forgot to pack my protein shake. I’m totally going to lose all my gainz after this workout.

Last episode of The Walking Dead was amazeballs.

Did I get deep enough on that set?

Basically, Squatting Can Be a Mindf*** of Epic Proportions.

What works for one person, may be a disaster for someone else….and there really is no such thing as one right way to squat. Different people are different. Anthropometry, leverages, training goals, and injury history will have an effect on how one person squats compared to the next.

That said: you should pay close(r) attention to detail when squatting. Far too often I see people approach the bar with a nonchalant attitude with nonchalant technique, and not surprisingly they have nonchalant numbers to show for it.

If gym goers put as much effort into improving their squat technique as they did perfecting their “selfie” taking in the locker room or trolling fitness message boards to argue macros we’d probably have many more stronger, leaner, and happier people.

And less douchebags.

However, even for those who consider themselves more of a connoisseur there’s one component to squatting that’s often overlooked or dismissed altogether. And I’d argue it’s one of the most important.

Tripod Stance.

…….or recognizing the difference between a passive foot and active foot.

This is something I “stole” from Chad Wesley Smith of Juggernaut Training a few weekends ago while attending his powerlifting workshop here in Boston.

I’ve always known about tripod stance, and have always incorporated it into how I coach squats with my athletes and clients. However, I never heard the idea described in the same fashion as how Chad described it. And that’s what I wanted to share today.

Passive vs. Active Foot

A Few Things to Consider

1. I’d recommend taking your shoes off to really get a “feel” for what’s described in the video. There’s really no other way to get a firmer grasp of the concept and to get the tactile/proprioceptive feedback than to take those cement blocks you call shoes off.

And yes, this means you too psycho minimalist, I-read-Born-to-Run-and-wear-my-Vibrams-everywhere-I-go-and-make-sure-to-tell-everyone-about-it guy.

2. I look, like, way more intelligent when I wear my glasses.

3. Don’t misinterpret my mentioning of “knees out” when cueing the squat. Telling someone to push their knees out is one thing (and correct), but it’s another thing altogether to tell them to push out so far that they end up on the outer edges of their feet.

4. Practice barefoot with bodyweight only. From there you can put your shoes on and try to get the same pressure points, and then add the barbell.

5. As noted in the video, with an ACTIVE foot you’ll probably notice you won’t be able to squat as deep, and that’s okay. You won’t go to hell. I promise.

6. It isn’t enough to just get the pressure points. Really focus on “corkscrewing” your feet into the ground (and gaining external torque in the hips to improve stability)….this is the final step in gaining the active foot.6

7. It’s amazing how many people who swear they have flat feet and have been told their entire life that orthotics are the only answer who are still able to get an arch and maintain an “active foot” with some practice.

Give it a try today. It will feel weird. It will effect how much weight you can use (at the start). But I promise with a little practice it will make a profound difference in the long run.

CategoriesNutrition

Losing Fat and Building Muscle With a Simple Lifestyle Diet

Note from TG: Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Ohio based personal trainer, Collin Messer. Collin wrote an interesting guest post a few weeks ago HERE, and afterwards proposed a post on how to help people develop a simple lifestyle diet. I like simple. Simple works. Enjoy.

As the saying goes, the best diet is the one that you stick to. Some people have the capacity to stick to intense or complex diets and they get great results. But that’s not me. I prefer a nice lifestyle kind of diet that I can just tweak here and there to burn some fat or grow some muscle.

Usually my clients resonate with this too after they’ve wrecked their metabolism doing all kinds of crazy diets and detoxes. This led me to take the most simple approach I could. I start with a general foundation, then make small adjustments as I go depending on the client.

This is how you do it…

The Foundation

First I start with a simple foundation that all my clients can adhere too pretty well. There are five rules that I have found to be fairly painless for most people to follow.

  1. Eat well 90% of the time and don’t worry about the other 10%.
  2. Eat 2-3 meals per day.
  3. The majority of your diet should be lean meats and vegetables with occasional intake of fruits and carb sources like white rice, quinoa, or oats.
  4. Avoid processed foods, food products, and sugar as best as possible.
  5. Try to only drink water, tea, or coffee.

Usually when I give new clients these foundational principles they drop a few pounds of water weight and lose some of the bloating they didn’t even realize was there. I’ll have people build good habits and focus only on these rules for 1-2 weeks before doing anything else.

One thing to notice here is that I didn’t give any recommendation on calorie intake. I have found that by cleaning up the food choices people tend to eat in normal amounts and their body adjusts to a healthier lifestyle.

 

Building Upon The Foundation

After I establish a solid foundation with the client then I’ll start to build upon it and tweak things depending on the person’s goals, habits, and lifestyle. There are a lot of things you could do from here but I have a few adjustments I routinely make.

Note that I only add one or two adjustments at a time and it always depends on the client. Not every option is good for everyone, use your own judgement and you’ll do just fine.

Intermittent Fasting For Fat Loss

If the client is focusing on fat loss then I like to work in some intermittent fasting. I really like the 16/8 model found at LeanGains.com. It’s essentially a 16 hour fast followed by an 8 hour eating window. The easiest way to do this is to just skip breakfast and have your first meal at a your regular lunch time. So you would have a normal lunch, a normal dinner, and a meal or snack in between as necessary.

At this point I still don’t tell clients to try and eat less. For most people, the “diet” part is the fast in the morning. If you try to lower calories and skip breakfast then you’re probably going to be drastically undereating and clinging to that body fat for dear life.

Note From TG: for more information on Intermittent Fasting, I’d highly recommend checking out THIS resource by the peeps over at Precision Nutrition. Easily one of the best resources I’ve ever come across on the topic. It doesn’t make your head hurt with big words and it’s free. So there’s that.

Carb Back Loading For Fat Loss

Some people just don’t like skipping breakfast. It gives them a reason to get out of bed and not hate the early morning life. And that’s just fine because I can work with that. My go to solution here is back loading the carbs to later in the day.

By shifting the carbs later in the day you body will stay more sensitive to insulin for a longer period of time (one of the goals of intermittent fasting). Depending on the person and their lifestyle then I’ll have them eat their first carbs at lunch, post workout, or dinner. So, they’re eating breakfast but still taking advantage of the low levels of insulin that the.

My go to breakfast option that won’t spike insulin is a few eggs with a fatty meat like bacon or sausage. Top this off with some black coffee and you’ll be good to go.

IF or Carb Back Loading For Muscle Gain

While these strategies are great for fat loss you can definitely use them for muscle gain. I’m currently using the 16/8 IF strategy to build muscle myself. The main difference is to make sure you’re eating above maintenance on the calories. So if you can’t fit in all of you calories in 2-3 meals in an 8 hour window then this isn’t the method for you.

The reason why I skip breakfast even though I’m building muscle is because I feel it helps me stay leaner while still building muscle. More muscle with less fat is always a good goal. Plus it fits my lifestyle well as I feel very clear headed and focused in the morning, so I get a lot of writing and programming done.

Refeed Meals

With the foundation I laid out, it would be easy to find yourself eating a pretty low carb diet (less than 100g carbs per day). Though that’s not exactly the point of the foundation, it usually benefits people to reduce their carb intake a bit.

After the initial 1-2 week adjustment period, if the person seems to be continually eating lower amounts of carbs then I usually advise to up their carb intake at dinner. A sweet potato or some extra rice will work well here. If they have hit a fat loss plateau then we’ll usually break through it again.

This works well for some people, but not everyone. They either think they’re upping their carbs when they really aren’t, or they just still need more. This is where the gift of a refeed meal comes in. For one dinner, I want them to significantly ramp up carbs and whatever sugary dessert they want.

The refeed is going to really help kickstart more fat loss and provide more energy. Plus it’s always a great mental break for them to enjoy their favorite dessert again.

Be careful with these though. The refeed doesn’t mean you can go on a weekend binge fest while watching the entire Lord of The Rings trilogy in one sitting. Usually just having a big bowl of ice cream at dinner is going to work well.

Putting It All Together

There you have it folks, this is the template for building a successful lifestyle diet. You start with the foundation and then adjust it as you go to maintain steady progress towards your goal. Once you reach your goal, its as simple as adjusting your calorie intake to maintenance level and you’re good to go.

Sometimes the most simple things are the most effective.

About the Author

Collin Messer is a Personal Trainer at MesserFit Strength and Conditioning in Lebanon, OH. He primarily works with younger athletes and weekend warriors. When he’s not crushing deadlifts or back bends he’s writing at CollinMesser.com about all things life and fitness.

CategoriesExercise Technique Program Design Strength Training

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Deadlifters – Part 2

In case you missed it, last week I shared a few thoughts on deadlifting. You can check out part one HERE.

In it, rather than regurgitate the same ol’ obvious things most people who write about deadlifts regurgitate (don’t round your back!, good deadlifters don’t “jerk” the bar off the ground, 2+2 = 4, water is wet, Kate Upton is hot, my cat is the cutest cat in the world) I opted to highlight a few things I feel most lifters overlook or aren’t aware of in the first place.

Things like:

– how the lats play a key role in pulling big weight off the floor.

– how to engage the lats more optimally.

– how paying closer attention to your setup may result in better performance.

– and what it really means to pull the slack out of the bar. I promise, despite the nefarious connotation, the explanation is completely PG rated.

– But seriously, my cat is off the charts cute.

Pretty much the best writing partner a person could ask for.

A photo posted by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

As promised I wanted to continue my stream of thought and hit on a few more “habits” of highly effective deadlifters.

4. Think of 315 as 135.

Chad Wesley Smith of Juggernaut Strength hammered this point home a few weekends ago during a workshop he put on here in Boston at CrossFit Southie.

To paraphrase: You can’t be intimidated by the weight. You need to approach the bar on every set and show it who’s boss. Every time.

Like this monster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4jO21-a2W0

 

Setting a little expectation management, though, if you’re training in a commercial gym and acting like this before a set of 225, you’re an a-hole. Lets calm down a little bit and put down the ammonia packets mmmm kay?

Many trainees will attack a lighter load and then turn into Bambi once the barbell hits a certain weight or threshold. Lighter loads will generally go up faster than heavier loads…..duh, I get it. However, this point does speak to something larger, and something that’s a bit more psychological in nature.

If you approach the barbell with a defeatist attitude – oh shit, oh shit, oh shit – before you even attempt the lift, how will you ever expect to improve, much less lift appreciable loads?

If you watch good (effective) deadlifters you’ll notice that every set looks the same. Regardless of whether there’s 135 lbs on the bar, 315, or 600 lbs, everything from the set up to the execution of the lift is exactly the same.

Which is why, flipping the coin, we could also make the argument that 135 lbs should be treated like 315. Getting good at deadlifting requires attention to detail and treating every set the same. Even the lights ones.

5. Don’t Just Think “Up.” Think “Back.”

The deadlift is nothing more than bending over and picking up a barbell off the ground, right?

Well, yes….but it’s a bit more complicated than that.

Many will view the deadlift as a pure up and down movement. Meaning, the barbell itself will move in a path that’s literally straight up and down.

Ehhhhhhhhhhhh, wrong.

23.7% wrong, at any rate (<—- trust me it’s science).

The deadlift is actually much more of a horizontal movement than people give it credit for. To quote my good friend, Dean Somerset:

“Deadlift drive comes from the hips when you start in flexion and move into extension. In other words, deadlift drive comes through hip drive. Driving your hips forward, coupled with vertical shins and a stable core, causes the torso to stand up vertically, pulling the weight with it.”

When people get into the mindset that deadlifitng is more of vertical movement they’ll often resort to initiating and finishing the movement with their lower back rather than their hips. Which, as you can guess, leads to some wonky habits of the rounded back nature (which we’d like to avoid as much as possible).

A cue I like to use to help initiate more of a horizontal vector is to tell people to think about “driving their sternum to the back wall.”

When they initiate the pull, they shouldn’t think up but rather……..BACK!

It sounds weird, but I like to describe this phenomenon by telling people that if they do it right – and think about pulling their sternum back – that they’d fall backwards if they decided to let go of the bar.

6. Deadlifts Don’t ALWAYS Need to be Max Effort, I’m Going to Shit My Spleen, Heavy.

Yes, you’ll need to train with max effort loads in order to improve your deadlift. To quote Ronnie Coleman, you’ll need to “lift some heavy ass weight.”

That’s pretty much a given.

But you DO NOT need to do it all the freakin time.

This is another point that Chad Wesley Smith touched on a few weeks ago. To paraphrase him (again): “I could care less about gym PRs. I want to PR when it counts.”

Understandably, most of the people reading this post aren’t competitive powerlifters like Chad, so how he trains and prepares (and peaks for a meet) is going to be drastically different from most of us.

But the message still resonates and reigns true for most trainees. You don’t need to train balls to the wall 100% of the time.

This is a tough pill to swallow for many people, especially in the shadow of CrossFit where training all out, to the point of exhaustion is not only encouraged but accepted as normal.

 

Don’t get me wrong: I LOVE when people train hard, and I think CrossFit has done some good in terms of getting more people excited to not run a treadmill.

However it’s also set a dangerous precedent in brainwashing people into thinking that a workout or training session is pointless if you don’t set a PR or come close to passing out.

NOTE: this doesn’t apply to every box or every Crossfit coach. So relax guy who’s inevitably going to shoot me an email saying I’m nothing but a CrossFit hater.

1. I actually have written a fair amount praising CrossFit. Like HERE. 

2. I also workout at a CrossFit 1-2x per week – albeit during “off” hours when I have the place to myself along with the other coaches.

3. Shut up.

More often than you think, training with SUB-maximal weight (60-85%) is going to be the best approach for most people, most of the time. Not only does it allow for ample opportunity to focus on and work on technique, but it also allows people to train the deadlift more often.

The best way to get better at deadlifitng is to deadlift. A lot.

If you’re someone who constantly trains with max-effort loads this is going to be hard to do because 1) you’re going to beat up your joints 2) you’ll fry your CNS and 3) this requires more recovery time.

Not every training session requires you to hate life. This is especially true when it comes to improving your deadlift. QUALITY reps are the key. Oh, this is weird…..it just so happens I have a deadlift specialization program that follows this mantra to a “t.”

You should check it out.

Pick Things Up

7. Pull & Push

The deadlift is a pulling dominant movement. But it also involves a fair amount of pushing.

Yep you heard me right, pushing.

Think of it like this: in order to pull an ungodly amount of weight off the floor (or for those less interested in ungodly amounts, a boatload or shit-ton) you need to generate a lot of force into the ground and push yourself away.

I’ve heard this best described as “trying to leave your heel print into the ground.”

It’s a subtle cue, but it works wonders and it’s something that effective deadlifters keep in the back of their mind all the time.

And there you have it. While not an exhaustive list of habits, I do feel the one’s highlighted in both parts of this article will help many of you reading dominate your deadlifts moving forward.

Got any of your own habits to share? Chime in below.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 2/13/15

Gentle reminder fellas: Valentine’s Day is tomorrow.

But I’m sure I didn’t have to say anything because as every guy reading who has a girlfriend, fiancee, wife, or is within a tw0-mile radius of anyone who’s a raging case of estrogen is fully aware…..50 Shades of Grey opens in theaters this weekend.

It’s pretty much going to be THE Valentine’s weekend movie of all time, and will serve as every female’s payback for being dragged to movies like Taken (1 through 3), The Fast & Furious (1 through 117), and any movie starring Jason Statham.

No lie, here’s the conversation Lisa and I had yesterday.

Lisa: Guess what comes out this weekend?

Me: Sooo, you and Jess (one of Lisa’s BFFs) are going to go see 50 this weekend, huh?

Lisa: Yep.

Me: Oh, good. Have fun. I’ll go down to Coolidge Corner and…….

Lisa: And you’re coming with us.

Me: No I’m not.

Lisa: Yes, yes you are.

Me: Uh, no I’m not!

Lisa (don’t eff with me, look of death stare): do you know how many movies I’ve sat though with you? You’re going!

Me: [Pretty much my reaction below]


Have fun fellas. I’ll be right there with you. Washing my eyes out with broken glass.

Here’s this week’s list of stuff to read.

Complete Speed Training – Lee Taft

Today’s your last chance to take advantage of the sale price of Complete Speed Training by renowned speed coach, Lee Taft.

After midnight tonight (Friday, 2/13) the price jumps (<— or should I say, bound? Lame agility joke)…..by quite a bit.

Coach Taft is someone who has a lot of respect in the industry and he doesn’t release a ton of new material too often. When he does, though, it’s stellar.

This is easily one of the best resources I’ve come across that discusses everything from warm-ups to progressions with linear and lateral speed drills, strength training, and everything in between that will help you and your athletes dominate on the field.

Stop Doing Box Jumps Like a Jackass – Eric Bach

There’s a right way to do box jumps, and the jackass way. This article highlights the former.

Lessons From Chad Wesley Smith – Prashanti Ganesh

I had the chance to head to CrossFit Southie (located in South Boston) last weekend for a one-day powerlifting workshop put on by Juggernaut Training Systems co-founder, Chad Wesley Smith.

The man is a beast. Not only because he owns the 8th highest (raw) meet total in history, but because he’s also a very knowledgable coach who takes a more pragmatic approach than you would think.

This was an excellent write-up on some of the things he covered during the day.

CategoriesExercise Technique Program Design Strength Training

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Deadlifters – Part 1

When I was a junior in college one of my professors had us read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

Yeah, I didn’t read it.

But who actually reads in college anyways? I was too busy playing baseball, lifting weights, watching Party of Five, and not hanging out with girls because, well, I was watching Party of Five.

I mean, all I had to do was look at the title and I knew it was going to put me to sleep within five minutes of turning the cover. And besides, was this book going to add 5MPH to my fastball and get me drafted? Pffffft, I think not!

Fast forward five years.

Surprise! Nothing I read added 5MPH to my fastball. Professional baseball didn’t pan out and I was a year or two into my career as a personal trainer. I finally listened to my professor and read the book. And it was game changer.

I won’t bore you with the details – it’s a quick read – but The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People speaks to things like how to be more proactive, why it’s important to think about the future so that you can more concretely figure out what to make a reality, the value of the “win-win” mentality, seeking to understand shit before you open your mouth (<— that’s my own interpretation), and what it means to “sharpen the saw” (I.e., seek out activities like exercise, yoga, meditation, etc. to expedite mental focus), among a handful of others.

Needless to say it’s a book I recommend to a lot of people, and something who’s theme I’m going to rip off today.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Deadlifters

Being a massive human being helps (^^^^^^^^^), so I’ll just skip that one and try to focus on some less obvious points.

NOTE: What follows is more of a commentary on deadlift technique with the goal to lift a lot of weight. It’s not going to cater to CrossFit and more of the tap-n-go, bounce off the floor, (high) hinge deadlift.

NOTE II: Please don’t take this as a knock against CrossFit. It isn’t. I get that the tap-n-go approach is more relevant to the demands of a CrossFit class or competition, where high(er) reps are performed. I also recognize that there are some strong people who do CrossFit.

But if you’re a CrossFitter and you’re that easily butt-hurt over me poo-pooing a tap-n-go deadlift, I’ll ask you this: why is the exercise called a DEADlift?

NOTE III: Nothing I mention below is concrete and will apply to every lifter in every situation. While I feel much of what I have to say with resonate with a lot of people, I’m not that much of an egotistical asshat to think that it will apply to 100% of the lifting population. So take that for what it’s worth.

Anyways……..

1. Your Lats Are the Key (Point #1)

In order to move big weights (safely, and long-term) you need two things to happen: you need to place a premium on tension and alignment.

If either of the above are lacking you’re not going to be able to develop as much force.

To the former point (tension), the lats are kind of a big deal.

The latissismus dorsi (or “lats” in bro-talk) are a massive muscle, which, on top of playing a role in humeral extension, internal rotation, and adduction (blah, blah, blah), also has significant play in breathing patterns and more germane to this conversation spinal stability.

In short: get the lats to engage and garner TENSION during the setup of a deadlift, the more stable you’re going to be, and the less likely you’ll look like this:

To do this I like to use any one of the following cues:

1. Squeeze an orange in your armpits

2. Protect your armpits.

3. Phew…your armpits stink.

4. Put your shoulder blades in your back pocket.

All are fantastic external cues to help people get the lats to fire to provide more tension and thus, stability. Despite this, some people may still look at you as if you’re speaking Elvish when you tell then to “turn on” their lats.

Sometimes it’s beneficial to give them more tactile feedback or cues.

Band Lat Activation with Hip Hinge

Or what I like to call “TRICEPS”


Lat Activation (via Mike Robertson)

 

2. Your Lats Are the Key (Point #2)

Pigging back on the point above, your lats are what “connects” you to the bar. Yes, your hands are grabbing the bar, but it’s where your armpits (where the lats insert) are located – in relation to bar placement – that plays a huge role in deadlifting badassery.

I’m a fairly decent deadlifter. I’ve pulled 3x bodyweight….570 lbs at a bodyweight of 190. I’m no Andy Bolton, but not many people are.

For years I’ve set up with my shins as close to the bar as possible, and while it led to some success it also led to some pesky back issues.

Why?

When setting up as close as possible to the bar, think about what’s happening.

1. My shins are more vertical.

2. And because my shins are more vertical, my armpits are in front of the bar, creating an awkward line of pull I have to overcome.

This not only puts me in a mechanical disadvantage, but over time is going to make my lower back flip me the middle finger. And it has, many times.

In the past few months I’ve had to overhaul my setup so I’m a little further away from the bar in that my shins can translate forward a bit, which then allows me to get my armpits directly over the bar, which in turn puts me in a more mechanical ADvantage (which helps me garner more tension), which in turn makes my lower back happy.

FYI: the picture below doesn’t show that right before I pull, I’ll push my hips back a smidge

And no, I’m not squatting the deadlift…….;o)

3. Pulling Slack Out of the Bar

Running with the tension theme, another habit of highly effective deadlifters is learning how to take the slack out of the bar.

It’s important to leverage yourself against the weight when you’re setting up. Another way to think about it is to act as if you’re “pulling” yourself (against the bar) into proper position.

This is what it means to get the slack out of the bar or what I like to say instead “bending the bar before you pull it.”

NOTE: I was in the middle of filming a video of this last night when my camera puttered out. Damn you Droid!

Luckily CSP coach, Greg Robins, filmed a video not too long ago on this very concept:

That’s it for today. I’ll be posting part II of this article sometime soon. But in the meantime I want you to recognize the key theme of all the points listed above:

That the setup is very, very, VERY important.

Like almost as important as Bilbo giving Frodo Baggins the blade Sting when leaving Rivendell on his way to Mordor.

95% of the time any mistake or snafu in technique with the deadlift can be attributed to how someone sets up in the first place. Far too often trainees fail to put much thought into it and just haphazardly bend over and pick up the bar. And far too often people end up getting hurt and/or never making any progress.

Place more precedence on getting tension and watch your deadlift take off.