M&F Raw 2.0: Drop Sets
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Dropping weight can up the intensity. Dr. Jim Stoppani explains how.
How do you push your training past muscle failure? Drop sets. Dr. Jim Stoppani explains how lowering the weight can actually help you boost the intensity of your workouts for even greater strength and muscle growth. Learn how to properly utilize this technique for maximal gains. Watch more M&F Raw 2.0 >>
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Fitness via Muscle & Fitness https://ift.tt/2zjtGBz October 30, 2018 at 12:36PM
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'Raw' Recap: Brock Lesnar F-5's Braun Strowman on the Eve of 'Crown Jewel'
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Courtesy WWE
The WWE Universal Championship is up for grabs, and both a “Monster” and a “Beast” have their eyes on the prize. With Roman Reigns vacating the belt due to illness, it was determined that the next champion would be decided at Crown Jewel in a 1-on-1 match between Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar. At the beginning of Raw this week, acting GM Baron Corbin got quickly interrupted by Lesnar and his “advocate” Paul Heyman. As always, Heyman used his boisterous rhetoric to tell the crowd that Lesnar beating Strowman wasn't just likely – it was “a fact, a 100% guarantee.” Of course, Strowman had something to say about that. “The Monster Among Men” wasn't afraid of Lesnar, and told him that at Crown Jewel, he was going to “get these hands.” Corbin tried to defuse the situation, but all he got for his efforts was two running powerslams, courtesy of Strowman. Lesnar, clearly amused by the whole situation, encouraged Strowman to take down Corbin a third time. This time, however, Lesnar used Stowman's blind spot to his advantage, and delivered a powerful F-5 to the “Monster.” He then posed with the belt and left the arena. Against anyone else, Lesnar's mind games may have given him the upper hand. But when it comes to Braun Strowman, the last thing anyone wants is to see him angry. We'll find out if his rage is enough to get him the championship in four days at Crown Jewel.
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Fitness via Muscle & Fitness https://ift.tt/2zjtGBz October 30, 2018 at 12:22PM
Make Big Investments in Your Weak Points for Big Returns
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Much like a bridge has beams and pillars that serve to keep the structure intact, the human body has similar structures which we take for granted and turn into cumbersome weak points in our training if left unchecked. This article will discuss how to spot weak points and focus on common ones such as the elbows and ankles.
Weak points in a stable cross beam structure of a bridge typically arise from stress on joints and bracings. To test or do a fatigue life assessment contractors utilize a principle called eigenfrequencies, which is a “function depending on the cross-section’s bending stiffness EI, the structural member’s length L, the mass per meter m and the type of the boundary conditions (λ).” Much like a building, the human body has functional weak points built-in and require their own form of testing.
Stress and StrainWhat we typically test for are principles called stress and strain. Strain is where material, like a bone, undergoes deformation in length relative to the force placed on it. Strain occurs in humans most in tendons and ligaments but also occur in bone, however, comparatively bone cannot be strained much.
Stress, however, relates to a force applied over a unit area. Imagine pressing on someone’s back with a hand outstretched versus pressing on them with a pencil with the same amount of force. The pencil press provides more stress because a smaller area with a large force produces more damage. This principle can be applied to small areas such as the elbows and the ankles.
Notice Your Weak PointsDo you ever notice that in a range of motion during a pressing exercise it's simply painful? Maybe, during a squat, your ankle wants a vacation from supinating or pronating (rolling) or your heel manages to pop up off the floor no matter the adjustment made. Perhaps during a deadlift, you can’t move past your knees.
These sticking points expose your weaknesses. A sticking point during an exercise is a sudden drastic and “disproportionate increase in difficulty as you continue the lift.” The weak point, however, is the prime contributor to that sticking point, whether it’s a collection of muscles in one area or joints or tendons. A weak point in this sense is akin to the brace or a joint moving out of place in a bridge. It is where more reinforcement is necessary.
To provide reinforcement increasing muscle mass in the neighboring joint (mass per meter increase), compression such as wraps or sleeves (increasing stiffness) and in some cases inhibiting range of motion and slowly increasing it over time through mobility drills (length) will prove useful.
Checklists for a weak point:
Elbows and AnklesElbows tend to be prone like (knees) to overuse injuries. It experiences forces from the bicep and triceps in high frequency during training whether it’s a workout or athletic drill. We’ve seen more advanced lifters wear sleeves or veterans wrap their arms.
This increases overall stiffness, as the olecranon process weakens at full extension during a lift or throw. Once it experiences extension beyond the activation of the triceps it’s only a matter of a UFC armbar or a heavier than usual dumbbell press (at extension) to undergo unnecessary stress and strain.
The first few times the body will enter survival mode and increase the stimulus to the forearm “grip” thus tricking the body into believing it can handle the weight, however, surrounding muscles will tend to fatigue faster thus causing an unfortunate “hazard release” of the weight. This leaves neighboring joints such as the shoulder exposed for injury as well.
It is advised to leave ego at the door and lift within your means when going heavy or “sleeving” up if stiffness is a limiting factor. However, sleeves shouldn’t be your saving grace, your muscles simply need better conditioning.
A good “litmus test” for the health of the elbows are the following exercises:
Dips: Self-Resisted Extension
Bicep Curl: Resisted Elbow Flexion
Ankles tend to be prone (like shoulders and knees) to mobility, hypermobility, and hard and soft tissue injuries. It experiences load from the top down and more importantly doesn’t have as much support as the elbow. I think of a few of my clients who have fractured their tibia or tore their Achilles or have weak calves. Like the elbows there exist ankle sleeves and braces for sport and provide stiffness to the area as well.
The ankle experiences most issues, pun intended, in the Achilles tendon and lateral ligaments more specifically the anterior talofibular ligament. Most people tend to “roll” or sprain this ligament and never truly recover. During the squat or during a gait assessment, a client who over-supinates is on their way for a tear here if not corrected.
On a whole, each person has a “normal” degree of supination or pronation. The role as a gym goer is to ensure your supporting muscles aren’t contributing to weakness by looking at sticking points, stretching between sets (do not stretch cold muscles) and fixing imbalances.
A good “litmus test” for the health of the ankles are the following exercises:
The human body has weak points that can impede our workout but can improve our physique and body mechanics if we pay attention to them. Watch your weak points like your stock portfolio or risk zero return on your investment for joint health through exercise.
Lift well, my friends! Fitness via Breaking Muscle https://ift.tt/1GxgPEe October 30, 2018 at 11:15AM
5 Halloween Candies Worth Breaking Your Diet For
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The Role of Your Grip
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A strong grip is important in most sports. We are certainly aware of that in weightlifting and powerlifting. You have to be able to hold on to that bar. It is also important in wrestling, rock climbing, tug-o-war, gymnastics, canoeing, kayaking, and many other sports. Less obvious examples include ball throwing (baseball or football) and horse racing. The better one’s grip, the more spin one can give a ball. Many might be surprised at the grip strength of jockeys, those little men who barely top one hundred pounds. They need to control a horse weighing 10-12 times their own weight. They cannot afford to lose their hold on the reins because that could be fatal. As a result, they all have phenomenal grip strength.
When we talk about grip strength we should be more specific. There are three types of grip strength. The most familiar one is that of crushing strength where the fingers are contracted around an object with the goal of crushing it like an empty beer can or at least maintaining contact with it as seen in a pull-up. The importance of gripping strength is most obvious when we iron-heads clean or deadlift a barbell. We can have great leg or back strength but if that is combined with a weak set of hands the lift may need to be dropped before it can be completed.
The second type is gripping strength as seen when a heavy object is pinched between the thumb and other fingers. A favorite test of pinching strength when wide-lipped barbell plates were standard involved holding two 45 pound plates together back-to-back merely with pinching strength alone. Very few could do this. Most who attempted it were at least smart enough to keep the plates’ position well away from their toes, for dropping them was the usual abortive outcome of such attempts.
The above two gripping feats involve single attempts at demonstrating strength, similar in concept to doing heavy singles. Progression, in that case, consists of gripping ever-heavier objects as the grip gets stronger. So far, so good. Gripping gets more interesting (read: difficult) though when endurance becomes the objective. It is difficult enough to grip a heavy object only momentarily. It is quite another to maintain that grip for a longer time. Such a gripping feat is then an isometric movement. Examples of this will include repetition deadlifts, farmer’s walks, or wheelbarrow pushing. Progression then takes the form of holding the grip on a certain weight for ever-longer periods (or distances as in the farmer’s walk) or gripping ever-heavier weights for the same time period. Usually, both are trained.
What Influences Grip Strength?What physical factors most influence gripping strength potential? These are two-fold—one’s genetic endowment and the current strength one’s gripping muscles derived from proper training. Let’s start with one’s physical endowment. The most obvious factor influencing grip strength is that of body height. Height? Yes, height. The taller a person is the longer one’s hand will likely be. And the longer the hand, the longer the fingers. There may be exceptions but this is generally true. From there it can be seen that longer fingers are able to grip more of the object, imparting more force. Lucky you if this is your situation. Gripping will be much easier for any strength level. Shorter fingers mean a weaker grip.
Closely related but not often considered is hand width. A wider hand will also have more contact with a gripped object so again more force can be exerted. Of course, hand length and width are closely related. If a hand is longer it is usually wider as well. Those who have large hands can do well at the deadlift. This is why relatively tall people are often the deadlift record holders in each weight category. That same height is not so advantageous in the bench or squat, so they seldom hold the total records. Old-time lifters Paul Anderson, Doug Hepburn, and John Davis were world beaters at most lifts but their small hands could put them at a disadvantage if they had to deadlift. Women are on average five inches shorter than men, so inevitably they will have more problems with their grip. That is why Olympic weightlifting uses a thinner barbell for women, 25 instead of 28 mm. Shorter men have just as much difficulty gripping the 28 mm bar as the women but they do not, so far, have the option of using a smaller bar. The reverse is true for women in powerlifting. They must use a 28-29 mm bar regardless of size.
A person cannot do much to increase their hand size. One has to work with what they've got. All is not lost though as one can train grip strength just like any other muscles. Besides the small muscles in the fingers, the main grip muscles are those in the forearms. Their flexors and extenders supply the strong foundation of those in the hand, as they cross the wrist joint providing a solid foundation.
Improve Your GripThere are several ways to improve the grip. One is to train with larger diameter barbells or conversely to artificially increase the width of the bar. After a period of such training, a reversion to the standard barbell handle will feel, and be, much stronger.
In training, one can use straps to literally tie the hands to the barbell when doing pulling movements but that is a mixed blessing. True, this allows more weight to be handled but straps have an obvious drawback. They improve the lifter-barbell connection but do not improve gripping strength. The strap does all the work. This prompts many coaches to advise against their use in pulling exercises, especially if there is a sub-optimal level of gripping strength. This sounds like reasonable advice since the grip will then not be sufficiently trained. This all gives the lifter a false sense of his or her pulling ability. It is disingenuous though since the rest of the pulling muscles will then not be adequately challenged if poundages have to be limited to what can be pulled with a weaker grip. The solution is obvious. Weaker grips must be trained separately from other pulling work until grip strength matches pulling strength.
Another grip strength expedient is the reverse grip where one hand grips the bar overhanded while the other goes underhanded. This is a stronger grip although it can cause problems because it can twist the spinal column slightly. This is standard procedure in the deadlift while strongmen use it to continental-pull a non-revolving bar to their chests. The weight is pulled up in this manner to the top of the abs where the grip is quickly released and re-attached in overhand fashion before heaving it up the rest of the way to the shoulders. The bar in question is usually an extra thick one which is great for improving grip strength in the first place.
Alternatively, some remedial bodybuilding may be advisable. Bodybuilders develop a lot of gripping strength via their many pulling and arm exercises. This is not always realized by those in the other weight trained disciplines. I remember one time that our local weightlifting people wanted to publicize how strong their athletes were, especially vis-a-vis bodybuilders. What better way than to have a tug-o-war battle between the two. It was incorrectly assumed that since weightlifters are always stronger than bodybuilders that they would easily win such an event. This would result in an embarrassing defeat of the “body-beautiful boys” and a propaganda coup for the lifters.
Well, no such thing happened. First of all, the bodybuilders were bigger than most of the lifters, so had an advantage right off the bat. Most bodybuilders were 180 pounds or over while the lifters had a number of smaller men. Another thing the lifters did not count on was the superior gripping endurance of the bodybuilders. All had much more impressive forearms which do most of the heavy work in gripping. It was really no contest. The bodybuilders won easily with greater grip endurance while the lifters had to give up when the contest ended up lasting longer than expected. The lifters had to go home re-calibrate their egos. (I won’t get into tug-o-war technique (yes, it exists) which was another factor again.)
You Have to Have GripThe bottom line to grip strength is simply how important it is to overall strength. We in weightlifting always like to point out that leg and back strength is far more important than arm strength in determining the fitness of athletes, regardless of what the general public may celebrate. But even a sport that is more dependent on lower body strength will find its practitioners at a complete loss without adequate grip strength. Arm, leg, or back strength are meaningless without the ability to hold on to whatever needs to be moved.
Fitness via Breaking Muscle https://ift.tt/1GxgPEe October 30, 2018 at 09:04AM
Becoming a Legend: Frank Zane’s Top 10 Training Tips
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Fitness via Muscle & Fitness https://ift.tt/2zjtGBz October 29, 2018 at 03:38PM
Jujimufu Casually Mowed the Lawn With 500 Pounds on His Shoulders
https://ift.tt/2Q2E8CR Jon Call, aka Jujimufu, is unquestionably one of the all-aroundfittest guys on Instagram. His insane strength and flexibility make for some seriously entertaining stunts, but one of his latest feats of strength took mowing the lawn from mundane to strongman competition-worthy. Rather than do the chore like an average guy, Call threw 500 pounds onto his shoulders to make it just a little more taxing.
Even Call looked just a little shaky while carrying the weight, so it's safe to say you shouldn't go trying this at home. In fact, you shouldn't try any of his stunts at home. But check out a few of his recent videos below, and follow him on Instagram at @jujimufu
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Fitness via Muscle & Fitness https://ift.tt/2zjtGBz October 29, 2018 at 02:55PM
5 Ways to Improve Your Pushup Form
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Fitness via Muscle & Fitness https://ift.tt/2zjtGBz October 29, 2018 at 01:02PM
Parents, You Must Find Time for Fitness
https://ift.tt/2PshzKL “Just wait until you have kids.”
“Must be nice to have that kind of time.”
“Yeah, I used to be in shape, too, before… them." (The speaker points to his children while drawing a long sip of soda.)
I’ve heard sentiments such as these more times than I can remember. They are the go-to of friends and acquaintances who’d rather rationalize my fitness habit as one of those selfish pursuits only habituated by the childless. They find comfort in believing that even their routine-oriented, fitness freak friend, Shane, will let his health fall by the wayside when he has kids. It is just the way life works. Until recently, I’ve always just smiled. What could I say?
However, in the past month, I’ve experienced an exceptionally crazy introduction into fatherhood, while maintaining a daily exercise discipline. My wife and I drove to Georgia and adopted two beautiful babies, a 5-week-old girl, and her 19-month-old big brother. Due to adoption law, we could not leave Georgia to head home until all paperwork was finalized. True to its reputation, the bureaucratic processes stretched what we’d hoped would be a five-day stay into two and half weeks, three different lodging arrangements, two separate U-Haul rentals, and one frantically rushed departure just in time to elude Hurricane Michael. Now, having returned to work, I’ve experienced a fairly broad spectrum of the fathering constraints that often preclude exercise.
Things certainly do change when you have children, but when you prioritize your health, it is fairly simple to find a way to exercise. The trick is to take advantage of the short intervals when they present themselves. This requires a degree of self-mastery. If you are yet to have kids but know they are around the corner, I highly recommend learning to train willpower first.
Taking Time to Exercise Is a GiftThere is this myth that parenthood requires an absolute sacrifice of health, hopes, and dreams. Marriage must become passionless, purposeful work must be reframed as a necessary evil, and any individual pursuits must be abandoned. The reality is that self-neglect is the worst thing you can do for your kids. First of all, if you allow yourself to become a fractured version, you will have less to give your children. You cannot pour from an empty cup. Taking time for your own health will magnify your positive impact. Our world often focuses on quantity, but quality time is what always matters most.
Coach Shane Trotter of Inspired Human Development in Mansfield, Texas
Movement is not an activity you fit into your life. It is the essence of living. This is true both figuratively, as nothing is static and we are always growing, and literally. Movement is the foundation of all learning and development. Watch children and you’ll truly begin to respect this truth.
A few years ago my father-in-law fell off the roof, lacerating his kidney. Doctors quickly got him stable and comfortable, but his condition turned scary after days of not moving. His hospital bed induced extreme immobility halted most of the bodies natural processes. An ileus developed, where his bowels completely shut down causing his body to stockpile toxins. He was miserable for days as a tube pumped black poison out of his gut. All of this occurred simply from not moving.
Your model is the most powerful tool you have for influencing conduct. Children will see your example as the gold standard of appropriate behavior. Children whose parents value health are far more likely to grow up exercising, eating well, and, consequently, thriving. In a time when lack of impulse control and lifestyle-related illness are the leading killers, your model may, literally, save their life. You’ll never know it did, but that is alright.
Make no mistake, children complicate everything. They are masters of inserting chaos into your perfect little plans. I do my best writing first thing in the morning. Yet, writing takes a pause when baby girl needs a bottle. She ain’t waiting! The certainty of chaos does not preclude planning, rather it necessitates systems. Just as with the military, there is not one singular routine, but many routines set up for each unique brand of chaos.
Lift Heavy at the GymFinding time to exercise could be as simple as communicating this need to your spouse and setting a time where he handles all childcare duties. Having a home gym or gym at work can make this even more doable. For many, this is all you’ll need to do to fall into normal exercise patterns. If you can only get to the gym a couple days a week, or only for short periods, I recommend prioritizing heavy lifting and compound movements. Pick one day a week where you do heavy squats, heavy rows, heavy RDL’s, and heavy overhead or bench press. In less than 30-minutes, you send an overwhelming signal to your body that it needs to maintain every muscle. If you get another day later in the week, consider barbell or kettlebell complexes for a tremendously metabolic total body blast, in a very short time.
Become a Bodyweight GuruThose who are simply trying to make home fitness fit into their daily routine will have to be a little more creative. At our Airbnb, I spent a week with nothing but a TRX. Despite having access to motel gyms in the next week, daddy duty often precluded my escape and resigned me to training in a small, packed room. If you invest the time becoming a master of bodyweight exercise, there will be no situation where you can’t sneak in fitness. Your training may not be as well-planned and intentional as you’d like, but some movement is better than none. Consider this randomized approach a rediscovery of the unplanned movement the typical human body experienced throughout most of history. You can still be very productive by following a few directives:
Here is a sample of my freelanced work-outs from those weeks in Georgia:
Scenario One: My 19-month-old wakes while mom and the baby are still asleep. No time to waste. I make an executive decision to throw a new diaper on him and initiate a 30-minute workout. This is a new automatic routine. If the 19-month-old is up, but no one else is, I work out with him by my side. He loves this. To him, we are just playing.
After my standard morning 5-minute flow I do 5 rounds of this strength circuit:
Scenario Two: Both kids wake up at the same time. I let Mama catch up on sleep after a few nights of broken rest. At this point, I’m tending to the children’s needs for most of the day. I know I’ll have to insert fitness into whatever breaks the day offers. Around 11, my youngest falls asleep for a bit in her dock-a-tot. The 19-month-old is playing with blocks, so I know I can get a few quick Tabatas in while I keep my eyes on him. A Tabata protocol is 8 rounds of one exercise, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. The whole metabolism spiking circuit takes less than four minutes. I do a push-up tabata, a superman tabata, and a jump lunge tabata.
Scenario Three: My wife gets sick. It’s Saturday and we’re both exhausted. She’s napping and I’m watching both the kids with the Texas versus OU game on. I’m tired and have done nothing today, but both kids are up and needy. It’s time for a 5-minute wakeup. I hold a kid in each arm and begin 5 minutes of lunges in place. Baby girl is snug and secure and baby boy thinks this is awesome. I’d only recommend holding children if you feel very strong in your lunges. I rest and repeat this 5-minute challenge after moving each kid to the opposite arm.
Scenario Four: We’ve moved again to the world’s smallest motel room. Morale is low. We can’t believe we haven’t been released to drive home yet and we have no clue what to do in this small town on the Alabama border. Mom is holding the baby and my eyes are on the young wild-man as he explores everything. I set up right next to him and start repeating between this pattern:
There is no rule saying each day’s workout has to happen in a neat 30-60 minute period. I’ve called this strategy of inserting short bursts of exercise throughout the day the 5-alarm method. The basic premise is that by setting five alarms or five consistent three or four minute intervals throughout the day, even the busiest people can piece together a full workout. This is ideal for working out with children. You can make this as simple or varied as you like. At home I’ll do airborne lunges, front levers, handstands, and 1-leg glute bridges. Some days I’ll just go back and forth all day inserting pull ups and push ups, whenever I get the chance.
The point is to pick a balanced array of exercises and insert them in small, convenient doses throughout the day. To make this easy, select an exercise from each category:
Do one round of each exercise at a prescribed number of reps at five different points throughout the day. As you find routines this should be easy to habituate. Define five specific times that you associate with one round of work. The intervals will be specific to you, but if I was staying home it might look something like this:
For more clarity and more ideas, I highly recommend consulting my 5-Alarm Method article.
You Can Do ThisThe reality is that exercise is essential and possible. When in doubt, decide that you will move when the opportunity presents and just start moving. I recommend selecting one go to movement, like air squats, that is your default fill-in whenever you are in a pinch. All it takes is a little willpower to overcome the inertia. Whether air squats, lunges, push ups, mountain climbers, or supermans, by committing to daily movement you give your family the gift of health and vitality.
Fitness via Breaking Muscle https://ift.tt/1GxgPEe October 29, 2018 at 10:48AM |
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