If you want to make use of some old gold and really apply yourself, you can gain lots of weight. If you want to quit scratching around for something new for a couple of months, you can get as bulky as you want.

Let’s review the old method, and then we’ll outline a program for you. We can sum up the essentials very quickly. Squats and milk. That’s the gist of it. Heavy squats and lots of milk and never mind if the principle is years old. If you’re in doubt, let me tell you this. I get scores of letters from lifters around the country who’ve tried the squats and milk program. They all say the same thing. They gained more weight in a month on the squats and milk than they had in a year or more on other types of programs.Gains of twenty to thirty pounds in a month are not uncommon. If you don’t gain at least ten pounds a month you’re doing something wrong.

Lets take it piece by piece. We’ll start with the milk bit. The bodybuilders who don’t gain well on milk usually fail because they misunderstand the instructions to drink a lot of it. I’ve met a few men who thought a couple glasses was a lot. That’s not what I mean. When I say a lot of milk, I’m talking about a gallon or so a day. A gallon of milk a day may sound excessive, and perhaps it is, but it’s a sure guarantee of fast gains.

You can even soup up the milk a bit by adding a few items to it; like a day’s supply of protein supplement, some ice cream or maybe some skim milk powder. Either way, just make sure you drink a gallon a day. The other essential to the program is the squat. This, like the milk, is often badly misunderstood. Let’s outline a bulking up routine for you, and discuss the squat in it’s proper place in the program.

You should start your program with a brief warmup. Spend about five minutes bending and twisting, doing light repetition snatches or cleans, sit-ups, running in place, and so on. Don’t wear yourself out on the warmup. Just get your blood moving and a good feeling about the whole thing. Your first exercise is the press behind the neck. Do three sets of twelve reps. Don’t be frightened by the relatively high reps, and don’t be stampeded into using low rep stuff. The value of low reps has been greatly exaggerated. Moderately high reps, properly used, provide umpteen times the growth stimulation, and are so much better for your health that comparisons become ridiculous.

Do the presses in strict style with a medium width grip. Work hard on them and try to force the poundage way up. There’s no use kidding yourself on this or any other exercise. If you use baby sized weights, then you can expect baby sized muscles. It’s as simple as that and there’s no way out of it. If you want respectable deltoid, trapezius, and triceps development, then you’ve got to work up to about three-quarters of your body weight for the twelve reps. That means around 105 pounds for a 140 pound man, 120 pounds for a 160 pound man, 150 pounds for a 200 pound man, and so on. Nothing less will do. If you think it will, forget it.

The biggest fallacy in weight training is the foisted notion that you can build big powerful muscles without hard work on heavy weights. You can’t do it, brothers, and you’re wasting your time trying. If you’re not gaining like you should, give your training poundages a long hard look. The fault may be entirely yours. Take a short rest after the presses. The next exercise is the big one, the key to the whole thing, the squat. You’ll do one set of twenty reps, in puff and pant style, with all the weight you an handle.

Twenty rep squats are the solution to everybody’s weight gaining problems. They’ll stimulate growth beyond belief if you work hard enough on them. Warm up your knees with a few free squats and then start right in on the heavy stuff. Take three huge gulping breaths between each rep. Hold the last breath and squat. Blast the air out violently as you come erect. Hold your head up and keep your back as flat as possible. Don’t go below parallel position. You should use a weight so heavy that the last five reps are doubtful. I continually get letters from trainees complaining about their slow gains in bodyweight. Eventually I find out they’re using weights in the squat that an old lady with arthritis could lift. You’ve gotta force the poundage. 150% of your bodyweight for twenty reps is rock bottom minimum. That means 300 pounds for a 200 pound man. And remember, that’s a minimum figure. You should figure on going well above that.

As soon as you finish the squats, do twenty pullovers with a light weight. Twenty pounds or so is plenty. All you want to do is give your rib box a good stretch. The next exercise is the bench press. This exercise has been published enough so that you shouldn’t need any special instruction on it. Do three sets in a rather loose style. The next exercise is bent over rowing. Do three sets of fifteen in very strict style. Rest your forehead on a block or lean it against a post or something to make sure you don’t cheat. Use a medium width grip and pull the bar to your lower abdomen.

The next exercise is the stiff legged deadlift. One set of fifteen reps. Do the deadlifts standing on a bench or a high block so that you can go all the way down without the plates hitting the floor. Concentrate on a full extension and contraction of your lower back. Don’t set the weight down when you finish the fifteen reps. Stand erect and do shoulder shrugs until you grip gives out. You should be able to get at least a dozen shrugs out of it. Do another set of light pullovers, twenty reps, after the deadlifts and shrugs.

That completes the program, and it looks like this:

Work hard on all the exercises, and work to your limit on the squats. Drink milk as suggested earlier. Get lots of rest and sleep. Maintain a calm, tranquil mind and start saving your money. You’ll need it to buy bigger clothes. In other articles, John McCullum stressed the importance of forcing the poundage on the squat. He said to add five pounds every workout!

from “Strength & Health“, November 1968. By John McCallum

Those like myself, who believe that the old maxim “less is more” holds true when it comes to weight training (and many other things), will love the simplicity of the bare-bones minimalist routines laid out in his books as “frameworks”. The reasoning here, is that one seldom needs more than one exercise per bodypart and when using heavy compounds – squat, bench, rows, deadlifts, cleans, press etc. Using these types of movements you actually get the most efficient workout by hitting several muscle groups with one exercise. McRobert’s approach aims at using the most productive movements, using them as the core or your workout routine. The typical routine of his uses 2-3 compounds per workout, along with some “accessory” movements, few overall work sets, and sufficient rest between sessions – fortified with proper rest, nutrition and lifestyle management.

The approach presented by McRobert is contrary to the “conventional wisdom” promoted by routines in the major muscle magazines on shelves today: the obligatory 6 day per week “muscle building” workout. The training reality for the vast majority of the public is about as far as you can get from these sorts of workout routines. Sadly, go into any gym and you can see the vast majority of trainers who never progress from year to year, all because they are to afraid to go against this conventional thinking of the “bodypart-a-day” 5-6-7 day a week routines. They are slowly running their growth potential into the ground by following the advice of steroid flooded, genetically gifted bodybuilders. Sure, there are those who might benefit from a high volume, high frequency routine for a limited period of time – everything “works” for a while. And these routines might initially look like they work for a beginner, for whom, everything works due to their disuse atrophy, but even this progress will be short lived as the body adapts to the stress. Too many trainers have succumbed to the “more is better” propaganda that typifies so much of our culture today.

And don’t take it from me, listen to what some of the most knowledgeable experts in the field have to say about McRoberts books:

“According to the information in the back, writing BEYOND BRAWN took almost five years of Stuart’s life to complete. All I can say, as a general comment, is that the time invested certainly shows. At just under 500 pages [512 pages in the revised edition], BB may be the most comprehensive book on weight-training/bodybuilding for the genetically average individual EVER written. In fact, I’ll qualify that statement and say, bar none, it’s THE most comprehensive book I’ve ever read on the topic of bodybuilding, and I’ve read several hundred books.

BB is not filled with scientific explanations, information or lots of technical graphs and charts (there are a few) or many pictures (again, there are a few). For the most part, in fact, it’s written in very non-technical language. With 22 total chapters [23 in the revised edition], no aspect of productive weight-training has been overlooked. As an example, when discussing training at home, Stuart makes the (entirely logical but usually overlooked) suggestion to make sure that you’re lifting on a level surface. It’s the little details like this that make BB such a great book.

BB is divided into three primary sections. Section 1 is entitled “Establishing a secure foundation” and discusses general information of value for those who are embarking upon the goal of adding muscle mass.

Section 2 is the real meat of the book and is entitled “How to train.” At almost 200 pages, Stuart has left no topic uncovered with regards to safe and productive training. Topics include setting up a training cycle, exercise intensity, exercise selection and technique, intensity cycling, personalizing your program, overtraining, and others.

Section 3 is entitled “Special issues” and includes a discussion of a real-life cycle (chronicling Stuart’s cycle which led to a 400 x 20-rep deadlifting performance), injuries and what to do about them, nutrition, and others.

As stated above, Stuart has truly left no topic uncovered in BB. More importantly, only topics of true importance to the average trainee are discussed in this book. Unlike most bodybuilding books, which are no more than simple fluff, BB actually accomplishes the goal of providing tons (and I do mean TONS) of useful, no-nonsense information for genetically average trainees who want to increase their strength and size.

Having talked about what BB is, let’s talk about what BB is not. First and foremost, it’s not an overly dogmatical tome which espouses a single way of training for everyone. BB presents numerous interpretations in terms of set and rep goals, length of a cycle, training intensity, and exercise selection.

The last topic deserves further comment. In Stuart’s past writings, it’s obvious that he was biased very heavily towards certain movements (namely the squat and deadlift) as the main mass-gaining exercises. This was especially true in BRAWN. I happen to agree with him, in general terms. However, after suffering various injuries, most of which were related to poor exercise form and overtraining in his youth, Stuart can no longer perform certain movements safely or without injury. Instead he had to find suitable replacements which were also safe, effective and productive.

Individuals who want to be handed a one-size-fits-all exercise prescription for strength and mass gains may be put-off by BB, because no such prescription is forthcoming. By the same token, individuals looking for “get big quick” promises will be let down by this book. While one chapter does discuss a strategy for maximal muscular gains in minimum time, the overall theme of the book is that “slow and steady” wins the race. Put differently, if you’re not willing to put in the time AND hard work to reach your goals, this book may not be for you. However, if you want to know the best way to reach your goals of increased and strength and mass, BB is a book that trainees MUST have on their shelves.

I could probably keep writing about BB for pages and pages, doing a chapter by chapter review of it. But that would be overkill, I think. Ultimately, I guess the best thing I can say about it, repeating from above, is this: “BEYOND BRAWN is, without a doubt, THE most comprehensive book ever written on the topic of strength training and bodybuilding for the genetically average individual.” And, again, keep in mind that that statement comes from a guy who’s read several hundred books on the topic of strength training in the past ten years. So my endorsement does not come lightly.”

Lyle McDonald – Bodyrecomposition

“BEYOND BRAWN is an encyclopedia of information, detail upon detail, of all of the subtopics related to weight training. It is not a powerlifting or weightlifting “book.” This is the book that remains on the floor next to the bed or on the night table which can and should be looked at nightly. It should be brought into the gym and reviewed prior to training, as a reminder to do things correctly and well, and for motivation. This is a book that can serve as a reference for those who seek factual, useable, effective, practical and applicable training information that can make a difference in one’s quest for muscular size and strength. It is information upon information about how to train properly and effectively if you believe in the concept of “basics first” training. I obviously liked it a lot and recommend it highly.
– Dr. Ken E. Leistner, Valley Stream, NY, USA
Publisher of THE STEEL TIP, and co-founder of Iron Island Gym.”

These two are the most honest books on the subject you will find.

Brawn – An Abbreviated, Minimalist Training Routine

Note: add 2 days a week of GPP, cardio, dynamic mobility, stretching to this and you will be looking at becoming the total package!

Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale’s first version of this diet was the “Anabolic Diet”. “The Metabolic Diet” as it is now called is a hight fat, high protein, low carb diet where there is a carb reload period, usually on weekends – similar to the “rebounding diet” of Zumpano in the late 1970s or so.

There has been traditionally an ideological split in terms of popular diets: one group of people who think that high fat diets are the cause of obesity and the other – the low carb camp who claim that not dietary fats but refined high gylcemic carbohydrates are the cause of rising obesity rates around the world. The problem with the former approach, the traditional high complex-carb, low-fat diet is that it lacks the proper amount of protein to build muscle. The issue with the latter, the low carb diet, is that prolonged periods of carbohydrate restriction cause one to get into a state of “ketosis” which occurs when glycogen stores are not available in the cells, so the body looks for other sources of energy and uses fatty acids as an alternative source of fuel. Ketones are molecules generated during fat metabolism and provide a backup fuel source for the brain.

The body experiences a new condition when a person goes on the low-carbohydrate diet. The more commonly used glucose fuel is no longer available. The body reacts by dropping the pancreas’ production of insulin and increasing the hormone glucagon. The glucagon draws stored fat reserves in the form of triglycerides for use by the cells as the new energy source. However, the cells are slow to react to this new fuel source, and the individual feels weak or lacking energy. Quoting Di Pasquale :

“Dietary ketosis, whether or not it can lead to the dangerous ketoacidosis, is not a desirable state to stay in. That’s because it has been shown to be a starvation state, and unless there is adequate protein intake it leads to excessive muscle breakdown (catabolism) if it’s allowed to continue unabated for any length of time. As such, at least in the case of continuous ketosis, the results on muscle mass and energy can be counter productive for anyone who exercises as the chronic ketosis is conducive to losses in muscle mass, strength and exercise performance.”

The big difference in the Metabolic Diet and something like the stock ketogenic diet, “The Atkins Diet” is that there is a scheduled reloading of the body’s glycogen stores by eating a high carb intake on the weekends for 24-36 hours, so the breakdown of muscle tissue that would have happened if one were to stay on a low or no carb diet for a prolonged period of time is avoided. The muscles get replenished with glycogen and come Monday morning, your muscles will look bigger and fuller than ever.

One similarity that the Metabolic Diet shares with the Atkin’s diet however is that there is an induction, or “Assessment Phase”. This Assessment Phase of the Metabolic Diet can be anywhere from two to six weeks. It all depends on your level of comfort or for that matter discomfort. The Metabolic Diet is designed to be a phase-shift diet. That is, the weekdays are lower-carb, while the weekend is higher-carb. The Assessment Phase of the Metabolic Diet is pretty easy to follow as it calls for a higher-fat/high-protein/low-carb diet from Monday all the way through to the following Friday (a total of 12 days) before carbing up. The Assessment Phase is basically 50-60% Fat, 30-40% Protein, 30 grams Carbohydrates. Since some people are more insulin resistant than others and gain fat easier, there is variability in the time span of the weekend reload.

After the assessment phase, comes the “Moderate-Carb” phase , your carb content is limited to about 15 to 25 percent of your diet. So, if you were on a 4,000-calorie diet you would take in roughly 150 to 300 grams of carbs per day. preferably using low glycemic carbs, like lentils, sweet potatoes, basmati rice, oatmeal, etc. The weekend carb reload is an “anything goes” consumption of carbs, according to Di Pasquale, you can have pancakes, beer and pizza! This works wonders for satisfying some mental deviation from the restriction and discipline through the week. (To calculate your daily caloric requirements, visit John Berardi’s site)

Example Of A Weekday Menu

• Breakfast: Eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, peameal bacon, tomatoes, cheese (or omlette containing some or all of these).
• Morning Snack: Cheese and cold cuts, pepperoni sticks.
• Lunch: Ground beef, scrambled eggs and walnuts with flaxseed oil.
• Afternoon Snack: Hardboiled eggs, tuna, sardines with olive oil.
• Pre Workout: Oatmeal.
• Post Workout: Whey protein shake, “just peanuts” peanut butter.
• Dinner: Ground beef, 4-6 egg fritatta with sauteed vegetables and cheese, mixed greens with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and shredded cheese, some berries.
• Bedtime Snack: Cheese, nuts, 1-3 grams Omega-3 capsules.

Example Of A Weekend Menu

• Breakfast: Buckwheat pancakes, grits, eggs and hash browns.
• Morning Snack: Fruit, honey, fresh whole grain bread with cream cheese.
• Lunch: Chicken alfredo with whole wheat pasta, ceasar salad.
• Afternoon Snack: Ice cream or pastry.
• Pre Workoutt: Oatmeal.
• Post Workout: Whey protein shake.
• Dinner: Chicken wings and pizza.
• Bedtime Snack: Samosas or Jamaican beef patty.

 

Foods You Can Eat Unlimited Amounts Of On The Metabolic Diet

• Steak
• Hamburger
• Sausage
• Venison
• Salmon
• Lamb
• Shrimp
• Lobster
• Chicken
• Turkey
• Tuna
• Sardines
• Anchovies
• Cheese
• Eggs
• Butter
• Oils
• Walnuts
• Pot Roast
• Pastrami
• Bacon
• Mayonnaise
• Diet Soda
• Sugar free Jell-O
• “Just Peanuts” Peanut butter

 

]]> http://oldschooltrainer.com/the-metabolic-diet/feed/ 0 http://oldschooltrainer.com/increasing-your-press/ http://oldschooltrainer.com/increasing-your-press/#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:02:39 +0000 admin http://oldschooltrainer.com/osw/?p=432 old school workouts]]>
In the old days, most men who lifted weights in a serious fashion practiced the standing press – and most of them were reasonably good at the lift. Let’s work together to bring that aspect of training back to the Iron Game. Make it a belated New Year’s resolution: “This year, I WILL get serious about my standing press numbers.”

Having said that, let’s discuss some basic points about getting started on the standing press and increasing your poundage in the lift. Here are twelve tips for lifters who are starting to re-discover the standing press:

 

1.) Practice Makes Perfect

There is a very precise pressing groove. You learn “the groove” through practice. To become a better presser, you need to press way more often than once a week or once every 10-14 days of heavy pressing. In the old days, Olympic lifters trained the exercise three, four or even five times a week. Personally, I think that four or five times a week would be excessive. But there’s nothing at all wrong with doing standing presses two or three times per week. In fact, many will find that it’s the best way to improve the lift.]

 

2.) Train Heavy

If you do high or medium rep sets in the standing press, you probably are not going to develop exactly the right groove for heavy presses. With light and medium reps, you use light weights, and with light weights, you can easily push “close” to the right groove, but not “in” the groove. Close only counts in horseshoes, folks. In lifting, your goal should be to make an absolutely perfect lift on every rep you do.

As noted above, the standing press requires you to develop a very precise pressing groove. In this sense, it is both a “skill” lift and a “strength” lift. You MUST train the lift with heavy weights and low reps in order to learn how to do it properly.

Think about how lifters train cleans and snatches. Do they do high reps? No. They do singles, doubles and triples. If you do higher reps in a “skill” lift your form breaks down and you actually teach yourself the WRONG groove.

 

3.) Select the Proper Rep Scheme

To use heavy weights, you MUST use relatively low reps. Anything over five reps is too many. Doubles, triples and singles are great. The 5/4/3/2/1 system is excellent. And remember, you don’t need to do 50 presses in every workout. a total of 7 to 15 presses is fine. (5/4/3/2/1 equals a total of 15 reps, which Bob Hoffman considered to be ideal.)

 

4.) Train the Lower Back
Always remember, the standing press builds works, trains and conditions the lower back. That’s one of the most important aspects of the exercise – indeed, it may be the MOST important aspect of the exercise.

But the other side of the coin is this: if you have not been doing serious work for your lower back, you are NOT ready to train hard and heavy on standing presses.

Unless your lower back is strong and well conditioned, the FIRST thing to do is to go on a specialization program for the low back. After six to ten weeks of concentrated lower back work, you will be ready for standing presses.

This is especially important for anyone who has been avoiding squats and training his legs with leg presses, hack machine squats, dumbell squats, wall squats or any other exercise that takes the lower back and hips out of the picture.

Ditto for anyone who does trap bar deadlifts as his exclusive lower back exercise. The trap bar deadlift is not as effective a low back builder as are deadlifts performed with a regular bar. It’s more of a hip and thigh exercise. Many lifters injured themselves by using trap bar deadlifts as their exclusive low back exercise, not realizing that it really does not work the low back as effectively as other movements. Then they hurt the low back doing squats, rows or curls, and wonder what happened.

Anyone who has been training with bench and incline presses (or dips), back supported overhead presses (or machine presses), leg presses and trap bar deads — a schedule I mention because it is highly popular and similar to that used by many modern lifters – should devote serious attention to training his lower back before he tackles standing presses. Such a lifter may have fairly strong shoulders and triceps, and may THINK that he can go out and start doing standing presses with BIG weights. He can’t. His lower back will not be anywhere strong enough and well conditioned for serious work on the standing press.

Let me also note that one of the very best exercises for building STABILITY throughout the lower back and the middle of the body is the wrestler’s bridge. Try 3 sets of 30 seconds per set (with no weight) and work up slowly and steadily until you can do 3 sets of 3 minutes each. You won’t believe how much stronger and more stable you are when doing your barbell exercises. In this regard, don’t forget that I started to do bridging in the Spring of 2000, and by the Fall I had worked up to 12 reps with 202 lbs. in the “supine press in wrestler’s bridge position.” At about the same time, I hit a personal best of 270 in the standing press. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

If you ask someone to list a few good “assistance exercises” for the press, they’ll usually say, “dumbell presses, side presses, incline presses, push presses, jerks, upright rowing, etc.” – in other words they’ll think of “shoulder exercises” and different types of pushing movements. That’s lazy thinking. The shoulder, triceps, traps and “pressing muscles” get plenty or work from pressing. The most beneficial “assistance exercises” for the press are those that strengthen the middle of the body.

 

5.) Do not neglect training your core.
All of the foregoing points apply to training the waist and sides. Unless you already have been doing this, work hard on these areas for six to ten weeks BEFORE starting to specialize on the standing press.

With regard to the waist and sides, the big problem is the crunch. The exercise gurus who have promoted the crunch for so many years have done nothing but develop a generation of lifters who lack any reasonable degree of strength and stability in the middle of their bodies. Scrap the crunches. Replace them with bent-legged situps (with weight, 3x8-12), lying or hanging leg raises, heavy sidebends and the overhead squat.

The overhead squat? Kubik, have you lost your mind? No, not at all. The overhead squat builds tremendous strength and stability all through the middle of the body. It hits the inner abdominal muscles that lie BENEATH the “abs.” When it comes to strength and stability, these are the muscles that count.

And while we’re talking about core strength, let’s talk about the power wheel. Paul Anderson used a simple cart type of this apparatus, described in an earlier press article in IronMan.

 

6.) Start Your Day With Presses

Many lifters train their presses after doing heavy squats or heavy back work. That doesn’t work very well, because your lower back is tired and you are less stable. Do the presses first. That’s the way Olympic lifters did their training in the old days, and remember, those guys were all specialists in the standing press.

 

7.) Be Aggressive

Every single one of you can develop the ability to do a standing press in perfect form with bodyweight. I mean that. Dead serious. Every single one of you . . . bodyweight . . . in perfect form. That should be your long-term goal.

For the younger guys, and for the stronger, more experienced lifters, bodyweight is just the beginning. Once you hit bodyweight, set your sights on 110% of bodyweight. When you can do that, shoot for 120% . . .

Anyone who can handle bodyweight in the standing press is STRONG!
Anyone who gets up to 130% is handling weights equal to some of the very best Olympic lifters in the world back in the pre-steroid days.

Norb Schemansky, in the 198-lb. class, handled 281 pounds. If you do the math you’ll see that Schemansky was pressing 142% of his bodyweight. These numbers show what a strong, determined man can achieve with years of proper, hard training.

 

8.) Try Cleaning for your Presses

Many lifters find they can press more if they clean the weight than if they take it off racks or squat stands, because the bar is better positioned for a heavy press. So learn how to clean, and try cleaning the bar before pressing it. You might find it adds a little more zip to your pressing.

 

9.) Dumbell Pressing

From Saxon to Grimek, from the beer halls of Austria to Davis, Hepburn and Anderson, many, many old-timers specialized in heavy dumbell pressing. And guess what? The best dumbell pressers usually turned out to be the best barbell pressers! You see, heavy dumbells are very hard to balance. To improve your overhead pressing, you need to do plenty of overhead pressing. Heavy dumbell exercises, however, are a tremendous assistance exercise for the standing press. Keep them in mind, and when your progress slows down, work them into your schedule. Harry Paschall used to swear by them; heavy dumbell pressing is one of the “secrets” in his 1951 classic, “Development of Strength”.

 

10.) Handstand Pressing

Another excellent assistance exercise for the standing press is the handstand press. Grimek used to do plenty of handstand presses and gymnastics work, and he became one of the best overhead pressers of his generation. Sig Klein used to specialize in handstand presses and tiger bends, and he managed an amazing record in the military press – a heels together, letter perfect military with 150% bodyweight. Paschall, who was good buddies with both Grimek and Klein, swore by the movement. Give them a try!

 

11.) Keep the Back, Abs and Hips Tight

For proper pressing, you need to “lock” your low back, abs and hips. Most lifters will do best if they also tense the thighs. The entire body must be tight and solid. Pretend you are doing a standing incline press without the incline bench. Your body must support the pressing muscles and the weight of the bar exactly the same as would an incline bench. (This is NOT to say that you lean back and try to press from a 60 degree angle or any similar foolishness. I don’t want you to lean back as if you were ON an incline bench, I want you to understand that your back, hips and abs have to give you that same level of support that a solid bench would provide.)

 

12.) Specialize for a While

The standing press is an exercise that responds very well to specialization programs. Try a schedule devoted to very little other than heavy back work, squats or front squats and standing presses. Remember, the great Olympic lifters of 30’s, 40’s and 50’s devoted almost all of their time to cleans, snatches, presses, squats and jerks, with a significant amount of their training being devoted to the press. They built enormous pressing power and tremendous all-round strength and power. You cannot do better than follow their example.

The foregoing tips will help anyone become not just a good, but an EXCELLENT presser. And remember one more thing – pressing is LIFTING. The standing barbell press is one of the most basic tests of strength ever devised. It has been a standard measure of a man’s physical power since the invention of the barbell. When you become a good presser, you can rightfully claim your place among the lifters of the past and present. Do it!

by Brooks Kubik

 

Bill March Performing the Press in the 1960s (below)




 

 

]]> http://oldschooltrainer.com/increasing-your-press/feed/ 0 http://oldschooltrainer.com/how-to-deadlift/ http://oldschooltrainer.com/how-to-deadlift/#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:47:35 +0000 admin http://oldschooltrainer.com/osw/?p=426 old school workouts]]>
By far, the movement that involves more muscles in the body than any other lift is the conventional deadlift. Many years ago, a researcher named Per A. Tesch wrote a book called “Muscle Meets Magnet” which published data from various exercises performed under MRI. He found the conventional deadlift uses some 21 muscles in the body. Squats were second, using some 17. The deadlift is a very demanding lift as it uses almost all of the major muscles in the body. Generally, as there is also a high level of injury when not performed properly, it is best practice to use low reps, between 3-8. The conventional stance deadlift is an excellent precursor to other lifts such as Olymplic lifts and also learning how to pick up heavy weights in a clean and safe manner. It is not necessary for trainers to use extremely heavy weights in the deadlift either, as the goal is to build core strength over and above that which squats alone and other assistance low back movements like the hyperextension.

 

Wide or Narrow -- “Sumo” or “Conventional”?

The conventional deadlift has a greater range of knee extension and involves the spinal erectors to a greater degree than the sumo style deadlift. The narrow stance lift is usally a simpler movement to learn than the sumo style an calls for power in the quads, flexible ankles and a strong back and abdominal wall.

Athletes that require straight line power development such as rowers, track and field, running, skiiing, speed skating, sprinting -- would probably be better off with the conventional deadlift, while ones who require lateral movement, like football, hockey, volleyball, soccer etc, would be better of with the sumo style. It has also been noted that people with longer arms are better suited for conventional and those with shorter frames and arms are better of with sumo, however this is not carved in stone as everyone’s unique biomechanics are so vastly different. One really has to learn both lifts correctly and experiment for themselves. It is likely that you will find yourself stronger in the sumo deadlift in any event.

 

Conventional Deadlift

Approach the bar with a stance of about shoulder width and make sure the laces of the shoes are under the bar with the toes pointed outwards slightly. As in the squat, the bar should line itself right over the arch of the foot. The lifter should bend down with the feet flat and grasp the bar just outside the legs. To keep the bar from rolling out of the hands, the palms should be facing in opposite directions with the dominant hand usually facing forwards. The arms should be as perpendicular to the bar as possible with no bend in the arms at all. The shoulders which should be in front of the bar. While keeping the bar as close to the shins as possible, bend at the ankles and knees. The knees should be positioned slightly ahead of the bar with the heels flat and the weight shifted a bit towards the balls of the feet. The head should point slightly upwards.

Before commencing the lift, take a deep breath and expand the chest as you would when setting up the squat. At this point you should feel the arms straighten and the back being pulled tight as the hips move back and up. Now, you should lock the lower back and push down forcefully with the full of both feet using the muscles of the hips and legs. Throughout the strong hip and leg drive, keep a flat back (neutral lordosis). To help keep this position the head should be held up (not dropping and looking at the floor) and the chest should be ahead of the shoulders, which should be in front of the bar. Squeezing the glutes tight helps maintain back strength and leg drive.

Once the bar reaches the knees, the lifter should keep applying force with the legs and hips. Once the bar passes the knees it should slightly slide along the thighs. As the knees and hips extend, the upper back comes into play to achieve the final form position. There should be no hyperextension at the top. ( I know we see it often, but it is wrong!)

 

Sumo Deadlift

In the wide stance sumo deadlift, the inner thighs and hips are used much more than in the conventional deadlift. This technique is well suited to lifters of all physique type and because it shortens the lever arm, it is especially beneficial to those who are long in the torso. In order to do this lift one must have good flexibility in the adductors and strength in the hips. The harder part about this lift is that the initial drive off of the floor is much harder and usually less explosive.

The shins should touch the bar and the feet angled outwards. Try to place the feet out as far as possible, given that the lower leg is vertical to the floor when in a bent position. Grasp the bar with both hands, taking an alternate-palmed grip. The hand spacing is narrower than the conventional deadlift -- depending on your shoulder width, with arms in the perpendicular the grip may be partly off the knurling.

When starting to move the weight, push downwards with the hips and legs with increasing force while pulling up. While applying force, hold the body as tight as possible as the bar comes off the floor. Concentrate on keeping the chests expanded and in front of the shoulders. This position will keep the bar close to the legs and facilitate a superior mechanical advantage as the bar comes upwards. As with the conventional deadlift the hips and shoulders should rise simultaneously with the angle of the back the same from start to finish.

 

Key Points To Check When Deadlifting

• Shins touching the bar when commencing the lift. But before starting the lift, keep the shins a few inches away from the bar, when grabbing the bar, the legs will be straight, then drive the shins forward into the bar, which will bend the knees and dop the hips. By making sure that your shins touch the bar before you start the lift, you ensure that the bar will travel as close to the body as possible, reducing lumbar shear and also will help lower the center of your body.
• Feet shoulder width apart. Keep the toes pointed slightly outwards.
• Chest out, big breath in. By doing this and keeping your shoulders back, upper body and hips and glutes tight, you will ensure that your back does not round.
• Head position. Do not look either excessively up or down. Look straight forward.
• Keep your arms straight. Starting the lift with bent arms is a good way to injure a biceps tendon. Keep your triceps tensed.
• Avoid trying to pull the weight off of the floor. Do not think in terms of “pulling” the weight off of the floor, but rather starting the weight moving by pushing the floor away through your heels. If you were to try to initiate the movement by pulling the weight off of the floor, it is likely that your back will round to compensate for the lack of hip drive. I can bet on that. Remember: the hips move first, and then the knees. Your hips are what move the weight!
• Tense your glutes! As with other full body movements: bench press, overhead press, squat, etc., it is vital that you tense your glutes to involve the hips. In the case of the deadlift, think of the top half of the movement as being all about driving the hips forward, into the bar (again, rather than trying to pull the bar/body straight!) The glutes, hips, grip and back move the weight.
• Lockout with a neutral spine. Do not hyperextend the back at the top of the movement. When I saw the lifter do this, I can be sure that they are not keeping their glutes tight throughout the lift, because if they were, the glutes would have locked them into a 90 degree poistion on lockout.

 

Footwear


Any sort of shoes with a compressable sole will give you an unstable base to lift from. The best, and cheapest solution is to get a pair of Chuck Taylor’s (pictured). If you need arch support, get a solid plastic insert inside them.

 

Safety Concerns on Deadlift Variations

One type of deadlift to stay away from is the so-called “stiff legged” deadlift. Athletes do not need them and they are a dangerous way to work the lumbar muscles because you are overstretching those muscles with too much of a lever. Squatting deep enough is a good way to work your hamstrings and if you are using this type of deadlifting to build erector strength, you might unfortunately find that it taxes more than just the muscles of the lumbar region. Actually, when the torso is leaned far forward, while supporting a heavy weight in the hands (stifflegged deadlifts) or on the shoulders (bad squats, and/or extreme good mornings) the lumbar muscles are at a mechanical disadvantage and a great portion of the weight is left hanging on the supporting ligaments and the spine. And even with a flat back and slightly bent knees, what happens to the discs between the hinge points -- (L4 and l5) and (L5 and S1) -- is potentially dangerous. Indeed, the ligament walls (annulus fibrosus) of these discs are overstretched dorsally (backwards) and squeezed ventrally (toward the belly). This simultaneous squeezing and stretching causes the bulk of the jelly like material (nucleus pulposus) encased in the annulus to shift back into the ligament wall and increases the potential for long term disc damage. Biomechanics of the body just make for these softs of loading of the spine hazardous. Good mornings and stiff legged deadlifts are just mechanically unsound -- unlike conventional or sumo deadlifts.

In terms of biomechanical efficiency, the wide stance (sumo) deadlift is superior to the close stance (conventional) deadlift. Its advantages include: a more even distribution of forces from the booster muscles, a path of travel closer to the core of the body (shorter lever arm!), a reduction in the lift stroke (distance the bar travels) and a move vertical line to the back (spine). It is generally more difficult to master than the conventional style and calls for strength in the hips as well as flexibility in the adductor magnus and gracialis muscles of the inner, upper leg.

 

Sumo Deadlift (below)




 

Conventional Deadlift (below)




 

]]> http://oldschooltrainer.com/how-to-deadlift/feed/ 0 http://oldschooltrainer.com/how-to-improve-your-bench-press/ http://oldschooltrainer.com/how-to-improve-your-bench-press/#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:29:14 +0000 admin http://oldschooltrainer.com/osw/?p=409 old school workouts]]>

“How to improve your bench press” would have to be the most popular search on any weight training article. From the time we started training with weights, many of us have obsessed over our bench press, even though it is not the best exercise one can do for overall chest development, we sort of measure ourselves by “how much we can bench”. This has been the case since the bench press became the defacto upper body measure of strength when it replaced the overhead press somewhere back in the 50s or 60s. As with everything else, technique is king. Like with bad form in the squat and deadlift, we can walk into any gym and see terrible form in the bench press; “spotters” holding on to the bar, butts coming a half a foot off of the bench and the one that bugs me the most -- loading up the bar with tons of weight and only coming down with the bar a few inches -- a good 5-6″ off of the chest! People also complain of shoulder strain from bench pressing. More often than not, when one looks at their form, we see them making the most critical errors: moving the bar in a straight line up and down, moving the bar with a wide grip and bringing the bar too high on the chest, not having the feet stay firmly planted on the floor, not staying tight in the body, and keeping the chest flat on the bench.

 

Fixing The Most Common Bench Press Errors

Error #1: Moving the bar in a straight line. When lying on the bench, the bar should sit directly over your eyes. When locked out, the bar should be directly over the shoulders. When in the bottom position, the bar should be somewhere at least below the nipple line of the chest depending on how high the arch of the torso is and limb length. When viewed

Error #2: Moving the bar with a wide grip. The width of your hand placement has to involve one of your fingers being on the lathe mark of the bar. That being said, the angle of your limbs will best determine hand spacing. When the bar is touching your chest, the humerus should be out at 45 degrees to the body and no more with the bend in the arms at 90 degrees. The forearms should be at 90 degrees vertically. Too wide and there is too much shoulder strain and too narrow and you are at a leverage disadvantage with the triceps doing too much work. There has to be a straight line between the bar, drawn through the forearm and elbow with the elbows always directly below the bar. If the bar is between the elbows and your shoulders, you will be doing something that resembles more of a tricep extension rather than a bench press.

Error #3: Bringing the bar too high up on the chest. If the bar is too high on the chest you will be putting your shoulders at risk of injury. You want to lower the bar on an angle from lockout directly over the shoulders to below your nipple line and raise it back up, sliding it on an angle to lockout over the shoulders where the elbows snap out under the bar, locking it out over the shoulders.

Error #4: Not having the feet stay firmly planted on the floor. When you first get into position on the bench, the first thing you need to do is plant your feet and heels on the floor and push your body downwards into them, digging your heels into the ground. This is where the leg drive comes from, where exploding from the bottom of the movement, the thigh muscles push backwards up the bench, which results in a transfer of force upwards to the bar. I cannot believe the number of people struggling with their bench press who do not even have or keep both feet on the floor when performing the movement.

Error #5: Not keeping your body tight . As pointed out in the last line above, the bench press is a full body lift, so the whole body needs to be tight and stay tight. Don’t believe me? Try tensing your glutes as hard as you can and work on leg drive and see that work magic for your bench press.

Error #6: Keeping the chest flat on the bench. After getting foot position on the bench and sliding your torso towards your feet along the bench as far as you can, you need to push your shoulder blades back and down towards your body too and tense your traps as hard as you can. This tightness needs to be maintained and you should use a spotter to give you a lift off so you can maintain this position. With the shoulders back and down and the traps tensed, your lats come into play more and actually help the lift as they control the downwards motion and help with the upwards drive as well.

 

Setting up the bench press and getting into position (below)




 

The importance of moving the weight upwards on an angle (below)




 

The importance of bringing the bar down low and hand position (below)




 

The importance of position and joint alignment (below)




 

]]> http://oldschooltrainer.com/how-to-improve-your-bench-press/feed/ 0 http://oldschooltrainer.com/how-to-squat/ http://oldschooltrainer.com/how-to-squat/#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:20:56 +0000 admin http://oldschooltrainer.com/osw/?p=396 old school workouts]]>

Probably no weight training movement has been more maligned than the back squat. Over the years it has been blamed for ruining knees and backs, causing disk problems and building a big butt. There is absolutely no ground to any of these claims when we are talking about squatting properly. For one, squats do not destroy the knees or spine. Squats that are bounced out of at the bottom are bad for the knees, and loading up on tremendous weight and doing partial squats is a good way to overload the lower lumbar area of the spine. But squats done with a weight that you can do in good form and going past parallel is the best way to ensure that you avoid any issues with knee and back problems. Shallow squatting is one of the worst things you can do, because you tend to keep adding weight and then -- bang -- one day, there will be an attempt that will injure you because you did not train the movement in a full range of motion and develop the stabilizer muscles involved properly. Partial squats can also cause an imbalance where the quadriceps get stronger out of proportion to the strength of the hamstrings, which in turn contributes to pelvic imbalances and low back issues. So, stay away from the nonsense you see in some gyms where the guys is doing heavy “partials” with his “partner” bear-hugging him from behind -- this is useless for athletic conditioning and muscle building.

There are many who feel the deep wide stance squat done by powerlifters is the only way to squat. It is true that one can typically move bigger weights squatting like this, but we are interested in the muscular development of the thighs. I personally feel that the “Olympic” style squat with the bar held high on the traps puts a far greater load on the thighs and less on the low back and hips, and will avoid thickening this area as well. The most important consideration is that the trainer keep the bar so that it is constantly at a 90 degree angle straight above the mid-thigh and also the arches of the feet (see image below to see the line of gravity drawn through the mid thigh). Find the bar height placement that best suits your individual body mechanics and keeps the bar in line over the femur and mid-foot. One advantage too with the Oly style squat is that one can get far greater depth and range of motion from this method. keeping the bar as low as some powerlifters do, on the shoulder blades practically, doesn’t allow for the best balancing of the load between the hips, legs and back. This is why so many of them have to do a fair volume of good mornings to compensate. To see proof of what kind of squats build better thighs, all one has to do is look at the thighs of the average Olympic lifter vs powerlifter. In many cases the former has well balanced thigh development and the latter has thighs that look big at the top and small below mid-thigh -- why? Because all of the powerlifters strength in the squat comes from the posterior chain -- the hips and not the thighs. With low-bar squats one can lift more weight because the leverage is shortened. Add to that, Olympic lifters focus mainly on the front squat, which I would argue is the best overall quad builder. Our focus isn’t on lifting weights but on building bigger, proportionately developed muscles while gaining in athletic ability and overall strength.

 



 

How To Squat Properly

Before removing the bar from the rack, grasp the bar very tightly with both hands and use as narrow a grip as you can, which will make the traps bunch up and avoid any stress on the neck. Also with the hands in tight, you will be able to push the chest out and thus cut down on the tendency to lean forward.

The feet and hips must be directly under the bar before the bar is lifted off the racks and stay like that throughout the movement. Place the feet about shoulder width apart and toes pointed slightly outwards. The head is held in a neutral position, not looking down or up. A big breath should be taken and the chest pushed outward and shoulders back. The final step involves straightening and locking the muscles of the back before pushing upward on the bar.

After lifting the bar off the rack and moving backward in as few steps as possible, the feet, hips and torso should still maintain their position and the whole body must be kept as tight as possible. You should also concentrate on squeezing your glutes as much as possible and keep them tight as well. (this helps in all full body movements: bench, military press, cleans, deadlifts, etc!) The elbows should be behind the bar.

The descent is initiated by “breaking” the hips and moving them backwards and downwards as if you were sitting down on something. Never should the movement be initiated by knee movement. After the hips break downwards and backwards the knees will bend automatically. You should feel the weight balanced over the middle of the foot -- not the balls of the feet or heels. The downward movement should be controlled and you should never allow your body to drop. Stay tight. The knees should travel directly out over the feet. This notion that the knees should always stay behind the toes is rubbish. As long as the hips break backwards first, there will be no exorbitant strain on the patellar tendons when the knees slightly extend over the toes. This is the norm in the Olympic squat.

Once you have gone deep enough -- just below parallel -- its time to reverse the downward motion by driving up by, again, initiating movement from the hips. As in the descent, the ascent of the squat is started with hip movement. The heavy weight causes the hips to move up and back and in turn causes both the knees to move toward one another and the torso to bench forward. To counteract these natural movements, and in order to keep the bar over the proper base of support -- directly over the arches -- the hips must be moved forward under the bar. This is best done slowly by pushing the knees outward once the upward acceleration has been established bu the hip drive. At no point should the torso be relaxed. You should slightly slow the motion just before lockout to act as a brake on the explosive movement.

 

Example of an Olympic style squat in good form (below)




 

]]> http://oldschooltrainer.com/how-to-squat/feed/ 0 http://oldschooltrainer.com/jim-wendler-military-press-225x11/ http://oldschooltrainer.com/jim-wendler-military-press-225x11/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:30:45 +0000 admin http://oldschooltrainer.com/osw/?p=394 old school workouts]]>
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By far the most popular way people have split their routines is with a so-called “A/B” split. The most common of these is a classic “upper-lower” split with the shoulder girdle and arms being hit one day and then the lower body the next session. Some of the biggest advantages of training like this are that you have to most balanced routine as far as training the legs as much as the upper body. Even with the fabulous push/pull/legs split, you still devote only 1/3 of your training to legs. Another thing is that you have the option of hitting each bodypart twice a week should you choose to train 4x a week. Two of the most popular upper-lower splits are Lyle McDonald’s ‘Generic Bulking Routine” and Dante Trudel’s ‘Doggcrapp training“.

Lyle McDonald’s “Generic Bulking Routine” is a classic approach that combines strength with hypertrophy, using compound movements with a moderate overall volume per session and reps that fall in the middle between training for strength and for size. According to McDonald, the routine is “trying to strike a volume between the issues of frequency (for gene expression and protein synthesis), recovery (failure training can burn people out) and progression (I want to see the poundages going up consistently over the cycle). ”

 

Lyle McDonald’s ‘Generic Bulking Routine

Mon: Lower
Squat: 3-4X6-8/3′ (3-4 sets of 6-8 with a 3′ rest)
SLDL or leg curl: 3-4X6-8/3′
Leg press: 2-3X10-12/2′
Another leg curl: 2-3X10-12/2′
Calf raise: 3-4X6-8/3′
Seated calf: 2-3X10-12/2′

 

Tue: Upper
Flat bench: 3-4X6-8/3′
Row: 3-4X6-8/3′
Incline bench or shoulder press: 2-3X10-12/2′
Pulldown/chin: 2-3X10-12/2′
Triceps: 1-2X12-15/1.5′
Biceps: 1-2X12-15/1.5′

 

Thu/Fri the workouts are to be repeated with substitutions for some of the exercises. As far as volume, if you are an older trainer or do not have the recovery, he recommends to cut the volume back to 2-3X6-8 and 1-2X10-12, or consider making this a 3 day a week routine, M/W/F: week 1 (upper Mon+Fri, lower Wed) and week 2 (lower Mon+Fri, upper Wed), thus A-B-A, B-A-B etc. One thing that McDonald argues that makes this routine so effective for both gene expression and protein synthesis is that each muscle group is hit every 5th day, which is optimum. The big advantage that this routine over the one below is that it is a heck of a lot easier on the nervous system and also, the idea of training the biceps with upper body makes more sense than it does in DC training, where he has you do biceps with lower body. Problem with that is that when you add in all the rowing and chins/pulldowns on upper day, and then factor in hitting biceps on legs day, those little bicep muscles get pounded 4x a week. Not good for my epicondylitis!

 

DoggCrapp Training

Dante Trudel’s routine uses a similar split, with some differences, the key ones being extreme fascial stretching and using rest-pause. It is really a program for advanced trainers. Beginners and intermediates will do better on Lyle McDonald’s generic bulking routine. DC training hits each bodypart with more frequency than the average once a week bodypart split, but uses less volume, with only one max set per each exercise.

The key principles of DC training are

• Maximal weights
• Multiple set rest pausing, with 2-3 drop sets on the final, heavy set per bodypart
• Low volume higher frequency, hitting each bodypart every fifth day
• Extreme fascial stretching
• Carb restriction
• Low intensity cardio
• High protein diet with between 1.5 to 2.0 grams per pound of body weight
• Dual factor “blasting” and “cruising” phases

 

Dual factor cycling is also built into the routine with “blast” (intensification for 6-12 weeks) and “cruise” (accumulation for 7-14 days) phases. In the first phase you essentially go all out, which is very hard on the nervous system and then deload for two weeks to allow for recovery. Trudel has you pick three of your best compound exercises for each bodypart and cycle between them through each workout, doing a different one of each of the 3 exercises you’ve chosen per workout. Workout three times a week in A-B-A, B-A-B fashion. The structure of the split is:

 

Workout A
chest
shoulders
triceps
back width – chins, pull downs
back thickness – rows, rack deadlifts

 

Workout B
biceps
forearms
calves
hams
quads

 

Friday: repeat of Monday (different exercises)
Monday: repeat of Wednesday (different exercises)

 

Rest-Pause Training

“Rest-pause” training is a brutal method of training to failure popularized my the late Mike Mentzer 25 years or so ago (FWIW, Mentzer wasn’t the first to speak of rest-pause, Peary Rader talked about rest pause training in one of his Iron Man editorials in the late 40s). it is essentially a way of training beyond failure with weights about 85% 1RM like this

Set 1 x 6 reps
Rack the weight or lockout and rest 15-30 seconds, breathe deeply and slowly
Set 2 x 4 reps
Rack the weight or lockout and rest 15-30 seconds, breathe deeply and slowly
Set 3 x 3 reps

 

Extreme Stretching

After each rest pause set you perform a weighted stretch for each muscle group with resistance for a minute or so, ie, using a heavy dumbbell held behind the head in the bottom position of a dumbbell extension, after doing triceps – or holding a heavy pair of dumbbells in a flye position after hitting chest. It hurts and its brutally effective for recovery and stretching the thick fascia that surrounds the muscle, arguably allowing it more room to grow inside it.

 

For What its Worth

I have made the best gains on these sorts of upper-lower splits, going back and forth between them 4x a week and push-pull-legs 3-4x a week. The routine below is the one that has always worked best for me:

Workout A
chest – flat bench
shoulders – overhead barbell press
triceps – weighted dips
back – 45 degree chest supported rows
biceps – barbell body drag curls

 

Workout B
hams – Romanian deadlift
quads – back squats
calves – Standing calf raises
forearms – grip machine
core – planks, crunches and roman chair side bends

The parameters I use which suit my recovery best at the moment are (not counting warmup sets, which total about 3 progressive ones on each exercise): 2-3X6-8/3′

 

 

]]> http://oldschooltrainer.com/upper-lower-training-split/feed/ 0 http://oldschooltrainer.com/bill-march-overhead-press/ http://oldschooltrainer.com/bill-march-overhead-press/#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:06:40 +0000 admin http://oldschooltrainer.com/osw/?p=374 old school workouts]]> Bill March was one of the finest weightlifters in the 1960. Here he is performing the press -- a lift that used to be the test of upper body strength before the bench press became popular. This is the best demonstration of the exercise I have ever seen.
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