Barbell vs Isolation Exercises: Good vs Evil?

Ah yes, that villainized word which oozes from the disdainful mouths of the realm of functional fitness and CrossFit:

ISOLATION  E-X-E-R-C-I-S-E-S! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Yes, YEs, Y-E-S!

Dramatic introduction?  Yes, indeed. Which is quite fitting for a subject that many people have become quite passionate about- especially against.  Outside of the Bodybuilding and Powerlifting circles, isolation work has gotten a bad rap in recent years.  Heck, even I used to ridicule it back in my CrossFitting days.  But today, I am here to break the silence. I’m giving you permission to embrace the isolation work!  Actually, I’m not just giving you permission, I’m telling you it is integral to increasing your overall strength- and, dare I say it, preventing injury.

Today’s blog post will center on the 4 most common arguments touted by the functional fitness community today on why you shouldn’t do isolation or accessory movements.  And I will

(Belated) Friday Five: Overcoming Adversity, Good & Bad Programming, Fat Loss, & More

Here is the second round of the Friday Five- where I pick 5 outstanding blog posts, videos, pictures, or articles that can help you in your training and in your quest to get stronger and fitter.  But since today is a Saturday, consider it a belated Friday Five.  Hey, at least I wrote it at all!

What is Hard Core?: this excellent Elitefts article written by Brendon Doherty is an amazing motivational read. This guy went from Bodybuilder to being diagnosed with liver cancer, given only 2 years to live after most of  his liver was removed, and told by the doctors that he wouldn’t be able to do anything physically productive for the rest of his life (naturally).  Not only did he not take the docs up on their crappy advice, he continued his bodybuilding pursuits and actually won a competition while utilizing diet and training to improve his health. Amazing story!

5 Benefits of Proper Programming: Is Your Coach up to Par?:  an excellent article by Katie Chasey about the importance of tailored programming instead of the one-size-fits-all approach used by the majority of personal trainers and coaches.  She goes into what separates good programming from bad programming.

The Minimum Effective Dose for Fat Loss: an intriguing post on implementing the minimum effective habits that will produce fat loss, instead of going balls-to-the-wall and burning out before you’ve even gotten started (pretty darn common, I think we can all agree).  This subject definitely deserves further exploration.

Squats: Toes Forward or Toes Out?:  this article on Tabata Times discusses how your toes should be positioned in a squat for maximum torque and what to do if you currently have mobility issues.

How Often Should I Test my Max?:  a Lift Big Eat Big blog post that discusses how often beginners should text their 1RM on any given lift.  Although I disagree with some of the statements made in this post, it’s still an interesting read that promotes discussion on this debated topic, which is always valuable.

What are your thoughts about any of the articles/blog posts above? Is there anything you agree or disagree with? Let me know in the comments!

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Strength Gains: Consistency vs. Intensity

Just read the post. You’ll see.

You’ve had it. Your strength gains just aren’t going anywhere.  A few weeks ago, you hit a major bench press PR and now, only a few weeks later, it’s down 20 pounds. How could this have happened?  You just don’t understand it.  You complain about your misfortunes to the other guys you occasionally train with.  You can’t seem to replicate the magic that took place and that you feel should be rightfully yours to keep.

What on Earth Happened?

Then one of your training buddies asks you a seemingly innocent and innocuous question: “How often have you been training lately?” And then you say, “Well I missed a few training sessions here and there. I went on a week long vacation. Then I only trained one day a week for the next two weeks. But my training sessions were super hard! I really trained hardcore and ran myself into the ground for 3 hours to make up for the missed sessions. My strength should still

Do You Make These 7 Box Squat Mistakes?

If you look like this guy, you might have some box squat issues…

Over the past several years, the box squat has increased in popularity among Powerlifters, CrossFitters, athletes, and strength training enthusiasts alike and rightfully so. You won’t find a much better movement for building explosive power from a stationary position. However, with so many people performing box squats on their own with no coaching, there is also an increase in mistakes. Don’t be one of the casualties. Here are the 7 most common box squat flaws and a simple solution for each problem:

1) Bouncing off the Box

This is absolutely the #1 greatest error in box squatting hands down. If all you’re doing is bouncing your butt off the box, you aren’t getting much of anything from a box squat. The main benefit from the box squat is that it breaks up the eccentric and concentric phases of the squat. That means no stretch reflex. Breaking up the stretch reflex increases the challenge for the hip extensors, resulting in increased power development, absolute strength, explosive strength, and reversal strength. But when you bounce off the box, you aren’t breaking up this stretch reflex and aren’t reaping the benefits that come with it. The result: you’re robbing yourself of power development.

The Fix:

Callus Tears: An Ounce of Prevention…

Ok guys, now time to talk about a not-so-pretty subject- the tearing and ripping of calluses on your hands. Ewwwww. Finished being grossed out now? Okay, great. I’ll go over a simple trick that is WAY under utilized for preventing missed training sessions and to keep your blood away from the barbell.

Callus File!!!!

This is the best prevention tool you can use to prevent callus tears, hands down. Forget wrapping your hands up in a pile of athletic tape.  Just get a file as pictured above, available in any CVS, Walmart, Target, or any store with a toiletry department. They are quite inexpensive (here’s a dirt cheap callus file on Amazon.com, currently $0.50 at the time of this blog post).  A good file will have a tiny cheese-grater-like appearance on one side and a nail file appearance on the other.

When Should I Use the Callus file?

You should file your calluses down once they:

Friday Five: Weight Belts, Mental Game, Squat & Bench Technique

Today begins a new series that will be posted on a weekly basis: the Friday Five. On Fridays, I will post five blog posts, videos, pictures, or other articles that I feel would benefit my readers along their way to increased strength and athleticism. I will post only the information I find to be most helpful. The topics could include anything that you might find on this site: techniques, gear & supplement reviews, training programs, motivational videos or anything to help you in your training. Actually, this Friday is more like the Friday Six, due to the pretty darn amazing pic above as a bonus. Hope it gives you an extra kick of motivation in your training!

If you would like to see something in particular on the Friday Five, feel free to contact me and let me know your ideas.

So here it is, the first

How to Rapidly Improve Your Power Clean Now, Part II

 

In Part I of this Two-Part Series, I laid out a simple yet effective program to increase your power clean in 12-16 weeks- and to hit a HUGE PR to boot. Today is the continuation of that blog post- I’ll go over how to adapt the template to a 3-Day strength training program, such as a linear progression, the specific accessory movements with videos, and must-have equipment (as well as recommended equipment). So, let’s get started!

For Those with a 3-Day Strength Program…

For those that follow a 3-Day Monday/Wednesday/Friday strength program, perform your main barbell movements first. Then finish with the accessory work listed below. You may follow this

How to Rapidly Improve Your Power Clean Now, Part I

Today’s post will give you a quick and simple program of how you can increase your power clean- without actually doing the power clean very often at all.  This will seem counterintuitive- or dare I say blasphemous- to many out there in the barbell strength training community today. But this program simply works. I’m not above going against the grain if it actually brings results. No point in sticking to old school hand-me-down-coaching from the 1970s if there’s something better out there now.

For a full report on how this program came to be, please visit Better Power Clean Now: Case Study of Rapid Olympic Lifting Increases.

The Program Principles

So now that you’re not doing cleans, what should you be doing? Take 12 weeks this year to try this program on for size.  You may just continue with it far beyond the 12 weeks (which is highly recommended).

But first, here are the principles we will

Better Power Clean Now: Case Study of Rapid Olympic Lifting Increases

One of the biggest myths perpetuating in every field but especially in athletic performance is that if you want to get better at a specific task or event, you just have to do it more. Practice makes perfect. Certainly, you do have to actually practice a lift to learn the technique and incorporate the proper motor patterns so your body can learn how to do it right. But there comes a point of diminishing returns; eventually, your performance will not only plateau but may even start to suffer from performing the same physical task again and again.

Misconceptions & Excuses

One of the lifts where this seems most apparent is in the power clean and with olympic weightlifting in general. Want to get better at your cleans? Just

The One Best Strength Training Program for Women?

What NOT To Do: Wimpy strength training & an improper squat to boot.

THIS is more like it. Real deadlifts with real weight. And look, she didn’t wilt over like a flower…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Women, let’s face it. We’re fed so much BS regarding our health and fitness and especially what our health and fitness is supposed to be. According to most women’s fitness magazines (and sadly many “coaches” and personal trainers), the epitome of women’s fitness is remaining purposely weak and frail (yes, it’s a choice, not an inevitability). Look into any issue of Women’s Health and it’s decked out with full color photos of women standing one-legged on a bosu ball lifting a 5-pound dumbbell while holding a yoga pose.

Most of the women reading this blog will probably call this kind of “exercise” what it is- ineffective bullsh*t. But for those of you on the fence, let me clarify it for you- this is