Post by Dennis on Aug 24, 2004 14:51:50 GMT -5
Joe Average
part 5
Band Tension: When training with bands it is important to progress through the various levels of band tension in such a manner as to prevent injuries. The muscle can adapt to an increase in band tension much faster than the ligaments and tendons. If you let your ego get in the way and jump too quickly from one level of band tension to the next before you have let your tendons and ligaments adapt, it can lead to some serious injuries that may require surgery. In past articles I have discussed that on max effort days we do not make a tension increase until we have reached a bar weight that is equal to 50 percent of our max. One of the biggest reasons for this is to prevent injuries and to let the body adjust to the band tension. When increasing band tensions you don't necessarily have to make big jumps. Rather than going from a half small, or as Westside calls it double, to a half medium, try doing half small and a half mini. Making gradual increases in the band tensions can prevent serious injuries.
This is also one of the most important reasons that we do the 10 day training cycles. The bands can be very hard on the body. Rest and recovery between workouts when training with bands is important. We have found that working the muscle groups every 5 days rather than twice in a 7 day cycle is optimal for rest and recovery.
"Cock Strong": We’ve all heard the comment, "Man that guy is cock strong!" There are some guys out there who were just born that way. They have incredible natural strength. Guys like Chuck Vogelpohl, George Halbert and Bill Crawford are great examples of this. I don't have a problem admitting that when growing up I was not strong or a great athlete. I was just average. But it is what I did about it that has made a big difference. How can an average guy like me become "cock strong"? The answer is weighted dips and weighted pull-ups. I was recently criticized for teaching dips at the gym. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Will doing weighted dips and pull-ups make me a better powerlifter? I think so. Will they make me a stronger person? Definitely. I am looking for any advantage that I can get to make me a better powerlifter. How can making yourself naturally stronger not help your powerlifting? Do guys like Vogelpohl, Halbert or Crawford have to do dips or pull-ups? Probably not, but they can probably do them. If some guy walks into my powerlifting room and wants to become a powerlifter but cannot do a dip or pull-up, guess what? I'm going to lay the foundation for that guy by teaching him to do dips and pull-ups. This will help start building that foundation to make him successful. Laying the foundation for a beginner is very important and in my opinion dips, pull-ups and the sled is where every beginner at the Body Factory should start.
I started doing dips and pull-ups when I was in the Marine Corps. Being in an infantry unit we were always training. Not once did I see a gym in the jungle or the desert. We did whatever we could so that we could do dips and pull-ups to maintain our strength. As a coach, I'm always looking for weaknesses and how to get rid of them. How many guys in the 308's or SHW have great totals but cannot do a dip or a pull-up? Dips, pull-ups and pulling the sled are three great ways to increase GPP. Our SHW, Gene Rychlak weighs about 340, recently benched 750, and can do 6-7 pull-ups. Did the dips and pull-ups help? Who knows but being average I'm not going to take the chance and stop doing them. I firmly believe that they helped to lay the foundation that helped me pull a 700 deadlift last year at 235lbs. The guys that want to criticize me for doing dips and pull-ups are probably the guys who can't do one and will use any short cut possible to obtain their goals rather than hard work. Great lifters that coach average guys should realize that because they may not need dips and pull-ups does not mean their lifters don't need them. Lay the foundation.
I was recently looking at the WPO results and realized that three of the greatest squatters did not particularly do that well in the squat. All three did not obtain a personal best. Is it possible that all three were off that day? Perhaps, but I think there is a strong possibility that it was their squat suits that were off that day.
Here is a quick lesson on the material being used in the gear. Polyester material has a stretch and rebound effect. As you squat down the material stretches and then rebounds to get the lifter back up. Canvas is made of cotton and does not have this rebound effect. A properly altered suit will help push you out of the bottom. The problem with canvas is that the cotton stretches and does not return back to its original form. The more you wear these suits the less supportive they become. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to constantly alter your gear. While training or at a meet, if your gear did not perform as well as you thought, maybe it is time to make some alterations. My canvas squat suit from Ginny Phillips has gone back to her 4 times to get altered. My denim bench shirt has been altered over 5 times by Ron. Whenever a polyester suit comes from Titan it goes on the lifter and then immediately goes to Ron so that he can tighten up any loose spots. After the lifter has worn the suit 3-4 times it goes back to Ron. Why is that? The suit has been broken in. Once the suit or shirt breaks in it has to be altered. If any of you think Titan and Inzer gets the gear right every time based on 2-3 measurements, you are greatly mistaken. Unless they have a perfect mannequin of your body, they are just guessing and getting it as close as possible. Not correcting this can cost you between 100-200 pounds on your total.
Learn to read your body: I touched on this briefly in the first section. In regards to rest and recovery, how does a lifter know whether or not he is getting enough time off between workouts? Whether you do 7 day cycles, 8 or even 10 day cycles should be up to the individual. Time will always answer your question. If you begin to develop joint problems, aches and pains, lack of motivation, and are not making gains in your lifting, you may be over trained. Maybe it's the program that you are doing and you aren't resting enough between workouts. Perhaps you are resting too much. Either scenario can have a negative effect on your lifting. Have you ever come into the gym, lay down on the bench, started warming up and every weight felt like a ton? Maybe you are having an off day but if this feeling becomes the norm, you may be over trained. Don't be afraid to change your training cycles around so that you can get the maximum out of your body.
part 5
Band Tension: When training with bands it is important to progress through the various levels of band tension in such a manner as to prevent injuries. The muscle can adapt to an increase in band tension much faster than the ligaments and tendons. If you let your ego get in the way and jump too quickly from one level of band tension to the next before you have let your tendons and ligaments adapt, it can lead to some serious injuries that may require surgery. In past articles I have discussed that on max effort days we do not make a tension increase until we have reached a bar weight that is equal to 50 percent of our max. One of the biggest reasons for this is to prevent injuries and to let the body adjust to the band tension. When increasing band tensions you don't necessarily have to make big jumps. Rather than going from a half small, or as Westside calls it double, to a half medium, try doing half small and a half mini. Making gradual increases in the band tensions can prevent serious injuries.
This is also one of the most important reasons that we do the 10 day training cycles. The bands can be very hard on the body. Rest and recovery between workouts when training with bands is important. We have found that working the muscle groups every 5 days rather than twice in a 7 day cycle is optimal for rest and recovery.
"Cock Strong": We’ve all heard the comment, "Man that guy is cock strong!" There are some guys out there who were just born that way. They have incredible natural strength. Guys like Chuck Vogelpohl, George Halbert and Bill Crawford are great examples of this. I don't have a problem admitting that when growing up I was not strong or a great athlete. I was just average. But it is what I did about it that has made a big difference. How can an average guy like me become "cock strong"? The answer is weighted dips and weighted pull-ups. I was recently criticized for teaching dips at the gym. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Will doing weighted dips and pull-ups make me a better powerlifter? I think so. Will they make me a stronger person? Definitely. I am looking for any advantage that I can get to make me a better powerlifter. How can making yourself naturally stronger not help your powerlifting? Do guys like Vogelpohl, Halbert or Crawford have to do dips or pull-ups? Probably not, but they can probably do them. If some guy walks into my powerlifting room and wants to become a powerlifter but cannot do a dip or pull-up, guess what? I'm going to lay the foundation for that guy by teaching him to do dips and pull-ups. This will help start building that foundation to make him successful. Laying the foundation for a beginner is very important and in my opinion dips, pull-ups and the sled is where every beginner at the Body Factory should start.
I started doing dips and pull-ups when I was in the Marine Corps. Being in an infantry unit we were always training. Not once did I see a gym in the jungle or the desert. We did whatever we could so that we could do dips and pull-ups to maintain our strength. As a coach, I'm always looking for weaknesses and how to get rid of them. How many guys in the 308's or SHW have great totals but cannot do a dip or a pull-up? Dips, pull-ups and pulling the sled are three great ways to increase GPP. Our SHW, Gene Rychlak weighs about 340, recently benched 750, and can do 6-7 pull-ups. Did the dips and pull-ups help? Who knows but being average I'm not going to take the chance and stop doing them. I firmly believe that they helped to lay the foundation that helped me pull a 700 deadlift last year at 235lbs. The guys that want to criticize me for doing dips and pull-ups are probably the guys who can't do one and will use any short cut possible to obtain their goals rather than hard work. Great lifters that coach average guys should realize that because they may not need dips and pull-ups does not mean their lifters don't need them. Lay the foundation.
I was recently looking at the WPO results and realized that three of the greatest squatters did not particularly do that well in the squat. All three did not obtain a personal best. Is it possible that all three were off that day? Perhaps, but I think there is a strong possibility that it was their squat suits that were off that day.
Here is a quick lesson on the material being used in the gear. Polyester material has a stretch and rebound effect. As you squat down the material stretches and then rebounds to get the lifter back up. Canvas is made of cotton and does not have this rebound effect. A properly altered suit will help push you out of the bottom. The problem with canvas is that the cotton stretches and does not return back to its original form. The more you wear these suits the less supportive they become. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to constantly alter your gear. While training or at a meet, if your gear did not perform as well as you thought, maybe it is time to make some alterations. My canvas squat suit from Ginny Phillips has gone back to her 4 times to get altered. My denim bench shirt has been altered over 5 times by Ron. Whenever a polyester suit comes from Titan it goes on the lifter and then immediately goes to Ron so that he can tighten up any loose spots. After the lifter has worn the suit 3-4 times it goes back to Ron. Why is that? The suit has been broken in. Once the suit or shirt breaks in it has to be altered. If any of you think Titan and Inzer gets the gear right every time based on 2-3 measurements, you are greatly mistaken. Unless they have a perfect mannequin of your body, they are just guessing and getting it as close as possible. Not correcting this can cost you between 100-200 pounds on your total.
Learn to read your body: I touched on this briefly in the first section. In regards to rest and recovery, how does a lifter know whether or not he is getting enough time off between workouts? Whether you do 7 day cycles, 8 or even 10 day cycles should be up to the individual. Time will always answer your question. If you begin to develop joint problems, aches and pains, lack of motivation, and are not making gains in your lifting, you may be over trained. Maybe it's the program that you are doing and you aren't resting enough between workouts. Perhaps you are resting too much. Either scenario can have a negative effect on your lifting. Have you ever come into the gym, lay down on the bench, started warming up and every weight felt like a ton? Maybe you are having an off day but if this feeling becomes the norm, you may be over trained. Don't be afraid to change your training cycles around so that you can get the maximum out of your body.