A Return to the Rest Pause
by John Carl Mese


When Mike Mentzer was in Miami I discussed training methods with him, in particular his recent marked improvement. Mike mentioned he was using a form of the rest-pause system as a means of intensifying exercises. 

Rest-pause is a set of an exercise performed with rest intervals between reps. For example, Barbell curl – 1 rep, rest 10 seconds; 2 reps, rest 10 seconds; 3 reps, rest 10 seconds, etc., on up to 10 reps. The rest-pause is done not only in ascending rep fashion as in the example but also in descending rep fashion. For example, Barbell curl – 10 reps, rest 10 seconds; 9 reps, rest 10 seconds, etc. on down to one rep. As can be expected, this is a terrific pumping type of training and is very effective for two to three week periods. This format has worked exceptionally well for me. 

The application of rest-pause that Mike incorporated was slightly different. He would do one set of 6 reps with a weight he would normally handle for 2 good reps. He would do 1 rep, rest 15 seconds; 1 rep, rest 15 seconds, etc. This would increase the intensity of training and the amount of work done is a short period of time.

Well, we all know Mike has genetic advantages that most trainers don’t possess, so I tried the system to see how effective it is on us lesser mortals. The system was appealing to me because I have very limited time to train lately, I grow on low reps, I like heavy training and have a tendency to overtrain – like most lifters. 

Results – It has worked for me on the three exercises I tried. I used three group exercises – squats, deadlifts and barbell curls. My exercise weights increased steadily and I felt well spent the next day. I intend to expand the use of rest-pause to other exercises at a later date. A step by step summary of how to try this method in your own training follows, using the squat as an example.

1.) Perform several progressive warmup sets to prepare the muscles, ligaments and tendons. This system is extremely hard when lifting heavy weights. It is easy to pull or tear any of the above.

2.) Select a weight you can use for five consecutive reps.

3.) Use this weight to perform a set of 10 or 12 reps with a rep being performed every 10 seconds, in good form. (A squat in this case). 

4.) Every workout, try to increase your weight. Work hard at increasing your poundage.

5.) Put the weight on the squat stands while you are taking your 10 second rest between sets so your spine and trap muscles are not being compressed.

6.) Do two sets of an isolation exercise following the squats (e.g. leg extensions, etc.).

You could then do rest-pause deadlifts and standard-set leg curls to complete you workout. 

This system is effective, but as always, changes need to be made to fit the individual. The first problem is the starting weight, and in the above case I suggested a 5 rep weight so the trainee can work into heavier weights. The other problem is the selection of exercises. I feel that compound type exercises will be most effective, especially since it is hard to use heavy weights on isolation movements unless they are done on machines. Even then, isolation exercises are better done with moderate weights to fully work the muscle.

Don’t be afraid to experiment – the key is to train hard.

1.) One of the favorite movements of Georg Hackenschmidt was to hold a barbell at arm’s length, then lie down and get up again without lowering the weight. This wonderful exercise is rarely practiced these days, if it IS used at all, and I feel that is should enjoy a greater measure of popularity than it does. It is difficult to advise what poundage one should commence with, but a STANDARD can be easily set by using a weight which will enable you to make 8 to 10 reps with a given weight. It is best to use a dumbell as this piece of apparatus will lend itself to easier balance. At first, start by laying on the floor and having a training partner hand you the dumbell. You can start with the right or left hand, it is of no importance which one. From a “flat on your back position” with the weight held at SINGLE arm’s length overhead, start to raise the trunk and then TURN SIDEWAYS. If you are holding the weight in the right hand, then turn to the LEFT SIDE. As you turn over, press on the deck with your left hand and support the weight on the entire forearm and push your body up with all you have. From there on, it is a matter of balance and thighs. You will probably find it necessary to bend slightly over to the side away from the weight in order to prevent it falling from arm’s length. Lower the weight to the ground and resume the commencing position and repeat the exercise. You will find this movement fairly exhausting at first, but as you get used to it, you will find it possible to start from a standing position and resume that position after having laid down. Use as many reps as possible – up to 20 reps with each hand, but NEVER use more than a single set of this exercise.

2.) Here is an exercise which will be more than useful not only to the Olympic lifter but also to the bodybuilder. It is a grand exercise for tying in the strength and development of the deltoids with the kin qualities of the lower back and thigh. It has been used by the immortal Charles Rigoulot, the massive Hermann Goerner – who possessed one of the strongest backs of all time – and the wonderful Ronald Walker. it is technically known as the “Two Hands Swing.” For this exercise, a dumbell is used. In record attempts it is the custom to load up one end of the bell with more weight than the other, and the heavier end is placed to the front when the lifter makes his attempt so that the additional weight out in front of the bell will help to give it impetus. However, for the exercise, the orthodox loading procedure is best. Here again, the choice of poundage is a bit of a problem, but by a few trials one will soon find the weight which will enable you to perform 8 reps as your initial use of the exercise. From there, you can, using 3 to 5 sets of the exercise, work up your reps to 12 to 15 before increasing the weight. When increasing, add only a 2 ½ pound disc at ONE end of the bar.

Place the dumbell just between the legs, and spread them as wide apart as you stand when making a snatch or clean. Reach down and grasp the dumbell with both hands, then, standing upright, swing the bell a little forward and then back between the legs to gain some “way” on the weight. As the dumbell travels forward again, take it to arm’s length overhead, either slightly bending the legs or else making the split as in a snatch. Personally, I think it is best to use a slight dip or bend of the thighs as one will, if he uses a split, come to depend TOO much on it, and so lose much of the benefit which the exercise confers on the lower back, deltoids and trunk.

3.) Here is an exercise which was a favorite of Georg Hackenschmidt. Here it is possible to settle upon a definite weight to start off your use of this excellent movement. Take the best prone press you have ever made – I refer to the floor prone press, or as it is correctly known, “the press on back.” Pull the weight over and let it rest in the groove where the thighs meet the trunk – across the groins. Raise the hips slowly, and then let them drop, and suddenly thrust upwards again with all you have, at the same time pulling on the bar with the arms. Lower the bar to the commencing position and IMMEDIATELY return again to the finish position, with the weight at arm’s length over the chest. Bill Lilly, another old-timer, was able to make a lift of over 450 pounds. The actual name of the lift is “the Wrestler’s Bridge with body toss” and it was shortened to BODY TOSS some few years ago. Start off with the usual 8 reps and increase to 12 or 15 reps for 3 sets before increasing the poundage by ten pounds.

4.) Another unusual exercise which will solidly increase your trunk power and weight jerking strength is the single legged squat. The most difficult feature of this weight movement is to retain balance. I have found it best to make use of THREE articles – a box, a piece of wood an inch thick and a dumbell. The box should be at least 18 inches high and not more than 2 feet. Now let us suppose you are first exercising the right thigh. Place the piece of wood on the box and then stand on the box with your right thigh, resting the heel on the wood. You are now ready to commence the one legged squat. Thrust the arms out from the shoulders to retain the balance, and then start to squat. as you lower the body, raise the non-exercising thigh so that it does not assist you to rise or come in contact with the floor. Recover to upright as soon as you are as low as you can get. I suggest that you first try the exercise without weights so that you can get accustomed to keeping your balance, and keeping the non-exercising leg from helping you. Start off with 10 reps and work up to 20 reps for 2 sets each leg. Form here, you can start to use a weight. If it is possible for you to make 20 reps with each leg for 2 sets, then you can start off with a 25-pound dumbell when you are ready to add weight as a means of resistance. Hold the dumbell in the same hand as the side on which you are squatting – if you are squatting on the RIGHT thigh, then hold the dumbell in the RIGHT hand. Just squat as before, but allow the opposite hand to rest alongside the body. You will find it easier to keep balance as your center of gravity is considerably lower. Start off with 2 sets of 10 reps each thigh, and work up to 2 sets of 20 reps before adding weight. When you do increase the weight, add only a 2 ½ pound plate. 
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Deep Knee Bend - Charles A. Smith 










The Deep Knee Bend
by Charles A. Smith (1949)


A weightlifting competition is a great source of enjoyment for me. It is also a source of information. In my capacity as an AAU official, I count it poor if I fail to learn something new at a strength show. In this game, you are NEVER finished learning. The guy who thinks he knows it all is one of two things – a fool or a liar.

When the lifting is finished, and the hall emptied, there is nothing I like better than to gather a few of the boys around me – or as many as like to put in their two cents worth, adjourn to some local hostelry and chew the fat over the evenings doings. Why did so-and-so fail in his last snatch? What’s wrong with Joe’s press? Why doesn’t Jim improve his clean? Will Harry ever make that 350 jerk? We talk of everything we can think of pertaining to lifting and bodybuilding. We speak of schedules. we chat about the many styles and the National training methods. We let the argument wax hard over the merits of this or that method of working out. I am asked, and in turn, ask questions by the score. But sooner or later, the talk ALWAYS gets around to the single subject – What exercise or exercises contribute more than others to a lifter’s strength and efficiency? The question doesn’t always come in that form, but the content is the same no matter what words express it.

Competitive lifting is a great deal different from bodybuilding. The objective sought is entirely different. The lifter exercises in order to increase the poundage of a single lift, or of three lifts in order that his total is higher than previously. The bodybuilder is, in the majority of cases, concerned with proportion of physique, with the development in their entirety of the various muscle groups. The weightlifter aims for great bodily strength. Both of these widely separated groups use an exercise which in my opinion is THE key exercise to strength and development. The bodybuilder uses this exercise for chest size and thigh building. The weightlifter uses it to accustom the body, the thighs, and the back to working hard AND rapidly under the strain of a heavy weight. The bodybuilder uses a great number of reps with a given weight, the weightlifter uses a heavier poundage and less reps. The exercise: THE DEEP KNEE BEND!


Some years ago, this movement made its debut as the answer to a prayer for added bodyweight. During the years that have followed, it has developed into the GREATEST aid – apart from the stiff legged deadlift – to the Olympic lifter. All over the world, opinions are divided as to the number of reps or the poundage.

In Egypt, deep knee bends are performed with a lighter poundage – not more than bodyweight – for a great number of reps, and as rapidly as possible. Up to 30 repetitions are used with little or no pause between each squat. The Egyptians argue that NO exercise should be used which allows the lifter to move slowly. They maintain that each and every movement should be as fast as humanly possible, and any exercise which calls for deliberate movements should be discarded.

The late Ronald Walker of England used the deep knee bend occasionally, like the Egyptians ALWAYS with a very light poundage – never more than bodyweight, and for a much lower number of reps. He never used more than 10 or 12, believing as did the men from the land of the Nile that rapidity of reflex was a quality to aim for.

In Korea, a country rapidly coming to the fore in the world of strength, the deep knee bend is required practice of every strength athlete. The sensational middleweight Kim gives ample evidence of his devotion to the DKB in the superb development of his thighs. He uses sets of reps from a weight of 250 odd pounds right up to 350 in 10 reps for each set. The others in the Korean team use a like system. In the USA, there is scarcely a lifter of note who does not use the Squat. Think of ANY outstanding champion, and it is a safe bet that the deep knee bend is part and parcel of his workout.

Johnny Davis has ALWAYS included this exercise in whatever schedule he used. No matter if he trained to improve his press, snatch, or clean and jerk, the good old squat always finished up his workout. Recent workouts have seen Davis performing 3 sets of 10 reps with 450 lbs. Louis Abele was another sensational lifter who depended a great deal on the deep knee bend to supplement his incredible power. Stan Stanczyk, Pete George, Jim Bradford, Joe Pitman and Frank Spellman are devotees of this wonderful and RAPID path to GREATER POWER. It is, indeed, a FOUNDATION OF STRENGTH.

While this article is written primarily for Olympic lifters, the bodybuilder too can use the squat to improve his thigh and body strength. The important thing to remember is that the two divisions of exercisers are working for different qualities of POWER. The lifter will naturally tend to fewer reps and heavier poundage. The bodybuilder looks for more reps with a lighter poundage. Another CARDINAL POINT is that the deep knee bend is no more than an AID. It comes within the category of ASSISTANCE EXERCISES. Efficiency and improvement in the Olympic lifts come only with the practice of those lifts. The exercise has many variations, the chief of these being: Deep Knee Bend, Parallel Squats, Half Squats, and Shoulder (front) Squats.


First we will take the correct position for squatting. I have had countless numbers of fellows come up to me and tell me that it was impossible for them to keep balance while deep knee bending. It took less than 30 seconds to convince them otherwise. ANYONE can squat safely if they remember the following points: Keep the legs well astride. Keep the toes POINTED slightly OUTWARDS. Lean FORWARD slightly from the hips. KEEP THE BACK FLAT. NEVER LOOK DOWN. ALWAYS PRESS THE BACK OF THE NECK AGAINST THE BAR. When you commence to squat, simply take a deep breath, and then, remembering all the foregoing advice, drop under the bar and recover AT ONCE. NEVER stay down before recovering. If the exerciser maintains the above positions, he will have no fear of hitting rock bottom in the squat and failing to recover from that low position – this of course providing the weight he is using is chosen wisely within his power. For the Olympic lifter, the reps should be performed as rapidly as possible, with little pause between the squats. 5 to 8 reps is sufficient before an increase of weight. The exerciser – the bodybuilder – can use from 10 to 15 or 20 reps, and like the lifter, can use up to 3 or 4 sets. 


Parallel squats have come more into favor during the last year. This type of squat has been popularized in New York City by Kim Voyages and Val Pasqua, and outside of New York City by Larry Barnholth, director of the American College of Modern Weightlifting. It has been used successfully by many of his pupils, including Pete George, world lightweight champ. Here again, the exercise had been subdivided. The famous bodybuilders, Pasqua and Voyages, used the parallel squat as follows. The weight is taken on the shoulders and the lifter squats until the upper thighs are level or PARALLEL to the floor. The muscles are not allowed to relax, and as soon as the parallel position is reached, a muscular rebound is made and a return to the original position with subsequent reps to follow. High numbers of reps are performed. Voyages has made 50 reps with 300 pounds.

The final exercise in the deep knee bend family is the Shoulder or Front Squat. The weight is held across the front of the shoulders as if preparing for the jerk. This is where deep knee bend stands come in very useful. The weight can be lifted from these stands and returned to them between each rep. Again a very heavy poundage can be used with great benefit to the lifter. By gradually increasing the distance or depth of the dip, the exerciser will be able to develop a powerful jerk, and the stress occasioned by supporting the weight across the shoulders can also lead to an increase in pressing power. The lifter’s former limit presses will feel lighter where they formerly felt like they were NAILED there. In using this method of squatting, it will be found best to get the weight WELL ACROSS THE CLAVICLES, at the same time tilting the ELBOWS WELL UP and pointing them STRAIGHT FORWARD. This ensures a strong, firm position, with little or not danger of dropping the weight. Again I would stress the need for catchers. Here, a high number of reps can be used by BOTH bodybuilders AND lifters, and a great poundage can be used when resetting the bar on stands between reps. Up to 20-25 reps for two or three sets.

OK. Solution number one: go to high reps on everything, from curls to squats. But start slowly. Many lifters are amazed at how demanding lighter weights can be after a prolonged diet of the heavy stuff.


Another way to deal with the can’t-improve bugaboo would be to clean up your lifting style. Are you keeping your hips down when you bench, or do you resemble the Brooklyn Bridge when driving the bar to lockout? Are your squats deep and full with a flat back throughout, or do you belong to the six inches down is far enough school? And how about your curls? Do you heave so much to rep with weight that your back is sore the next day and your biceps stay the same old?

I know, I know! You think your form on all the movements is just great, but if you want to get out of that rut you’ll have to lose the rosy view and put on those clear lenses again. Ask yourself, “Am I cheating a little too much here and there? Could my squat be a little deeper?” Because ultimately, over the months a “little” cheating and sloppiness adds up to a lot. In other words, you’ll never receive the stimulation needed and won’t grow or become much stronger that way. And why should you? If your benches look epileptic you’ll never develop much of anything. The body is no fool! It responds exactly to the demands you place on it.

A third and further method to change the training program around without changing the exercises is to simply cut down on the rest periods between sets

All one has to do is to obtain pipes long enough to reach from collar to collar on your barbell and dumbell bars. (You will dispense with the revolving sleeves). I have found that it helps to have barbells and dumbells of various weights already loaded, and you will gradually accumulate a variety of these different-weighted “challenge” barbells and dumbells in your gym. But pipe from the plumber about 2 ½ inches in outside diameter at least or they will not sufficiently tax your grip. Probably 2 ½ inches is enough if you are small-handed. You might wrap the bar in cloth and then slide it in the pipe or wrap friction tape around the dumbell handle as packing because you must not have the bar slipping around, and you want it centered or you will get a dead point which would defeat your object. Using this kind of weight enabled Thomas Inch (with only six inch wrists and hands upon which he could wear a woman’s ring on any finger) to develop a 15” forearm and the strongest grip George Jowett “ever saw.” If you don’t want to bother with the pipe, just wrap friction tape around your bars, but it will take a lot of it, for those handles must be thick. Assuming that you have equipped yourself, here is the way to genuine strength:

1. Swan-neck dumbell (kettlebell even better) curl from floor.
2. Endways (thumb-up) dumbell curl.
3. Reverse dumbell curl with wrist down one set, wrist up for the other.
4 and 5. Hand-open curl with fingers in line with hand, curling wrist only and not bending elbow. Open hand held straight, palm bent forward as high as possible. This wrist curl should also be performed with the back of the hand up, but hand will have to be closed. Use a kettlebell for the first one. Various handles can be used, and try opening your hand toward the end of these movements and resting the weight mainly on the thumb.
6. One and two-handed deadlifts with barbell; use large and ordinary-sized handles from time to time.
7. One and two-handed deadlifts with dumbells of various-sized handles.
8 Deadlifting with kettlebells.
9. One-finger lifting using each finger. Have a ring with a hook on it made to fit your middle finger. Practice with each of the fingers.
10. Cleaning barbells and dumbells of various-sized handles using only two fingers.
11. Heavy snatches, presses, jerks, bent-presses, swings, and tossing from hand-to-hand mostly with thick handled dumbells.
12. Curling dumbells of various-sized handles with palm up, palm down, and thumb up.

The above routine can be alternated with twirling barbell bars, lifting loaded (at one end) dumbell bars across the legs whilst seated on the floor, pinch-gripping barbell plates, wrist-twisting, finger-pulling (these daily if possible), the bending and twisting of iron, spikes and horseshoes, the tearing of cards and thick newspapers, working with grippers and all manner of grip machines, practicing handstands (start against wall), use of thick wrist-rollers, chinning a thick bar, rafter or bar with wood blocks attached (varying hand spacings, and facings – one palm toward you, one palm away from you; cross handed chinning), and, if you are really ambitious, obtain a wooden barrel and a keg. The water filled barrel (filled with varying amounts) is lifted by the chines (edges) and later managed from ground to knee to shoulder with one hand. The keg is a great teacher of open-handed lifting and can, of course, be made as heavy as you are capable of lifting.


In all exercises use low (3 to 5) reps and increase resistance as fast as your strength allows. Use more weight, thicker handles, or a combination of both. For the iron bending and card tearing increase the diameter of the iron or the number of cards.


Vary the exercises used, movements and positions, from time to time, as well as the size of the grips, and remember to stress plenty of curls and one-arm deadlifts, both with oversize handles. The one-arm deadlift is best because you don’t need so much weight so that your legs and back won’t give out. Your grip will become enormously strong as you will be using your legs and back and only one hand; also, one strong hand cannot help a weaker one. But also practice two-arm deadlifting sometimes.


When single-finger lifting, work each finger 2 to 5 reps for maximum weight, but go easy at first especially if using a tight fitting ring so as to avoid pulling a tendon, and always increase poundage gradually. George Jowett wrote that his boyhood ideal, John Marx, performed about eight of these large-handled movements daily, and twisted wrists and pulled fingers at every opportunity. You might start off by cleaning and jerking, pressing, curling, and swinging thick-handled dumbells from 20 to 25 lbs., depending on your strength, gradually working into weights of 90 lbs. and more in jerks and swings with one hand. You will like this work for by the time you can clean and jerk the 90-pounder single-handedly, you will find that most others will fail when attempting it – they won’t like the thick handle. They won’t have your gripping power. The inch or more which you pack on your forearms will flow into a thicker wrist and your grip will express the might existing in both. And in my opinion you will, in the long run, get a better biceps from this work; especially around the elbow. But most important of all, you will have a pair of arms that not only look good but are much stronger even then they look, and will not fail you, whatever the test. 
(International Strong Man Association) Rule Book. Lifts 17 and 18 – Right (and Left) Hand Dead Lift with barbell.

The bar used may be cambered (bent) but center of bar shall not have a maximum height of greater than 9 inches from the floor. Bar shall be lifted with one hand until the bar passes the height of the knees and the legs are straight. Lift shall be held in this position for 2 seconds. The lifter can either straddle or face the bar in lifting. Feet may be apart throughout.


You will note that it says bar may be bent or cambered. This is a great aid to the grip as the bar will not roll out of the hand. However, the bar must not be more than 9 inches fro the floor, so you must use plated that will adjust the bar at center to this height. The bar must be marked at center perfectly so that you will have perfect balance in lifting. To have the weight unbalanced means failure even with a small weight. 

We find very few men who can lift best with both feet on one side of the bar suitcase style, or facing it as in the two hands dead lift. Most fellows lift by far the most by straddling the bar and placing the feet where the greatest strength can be exerted. Place the disengaged hand on the thigh in order to aid in the lift. Squat down as in doing a deep knee bend to grasp the bar. Some fellows prefer to keep the legs a little straighter than this and use the back more, but the best lifters use more of a squat. Be sure you know the exact center of balance – test it with both hands if necessary – then grasp the bar with the hand wrapped far and firmly around the bar as possible (it is permitted and desirable to use some chalk or resin on the lifting hand). Keep the head up and hips down, and with the back flat begin a steady, even pull. All that is necessary is to stand up until the bar is above the height of the knees and the legs are straight. Hold in this position for 2 seconds. The lift is completed. Yo will no doubt find certain variations to the above form to your liking.

Some lifters prefer to use a hook grip (lapping the fingers over the thumb). This gives a very secure grip but is very painful until you get accustomed to it. One should use care at first, or the skin of the hand may be torn with heavy weights. Give your hands a chance to toughen up. Of course the use of heavy weights is the only way to acquire enough strength for making records. However, this can be a marvelous exercise for all muscles concerned by doing repetitions with lighter weights. This is an especially fine exercise for the back when performed in stiff legged style. 

 building lockout power. When you take a weight overhead, you have to possess two things . . . the ability to straighten the arm and the ability to KEEP it locked out at the elbows. The first is a press-out power, the second a sustaining power.

Exercise 1. Load up the Basic Power Bar to a poundage equal to your best press. Increase the length of the chains so that when you raise the bar itself as high as you are able, you only have to press it out two inches to completely straighten the arms. Your width of grip should be the normal width used for your actual press. Stand under the bar and press out the weight. LOWER IT AS SLOWLY AS POSSIBLE. As soon as you feel the weight touch the floor, RELAX . . . COUNT THREE . . . then press out again, lower slowly and repeat. Start off with as many reps as you are able to make . . . up to 15 reps, 3 sets. After that, add ten pounds, start off again with 3 sets of 10 reps, working up to 3 sets of TWENTY reps before increasing the poundage. DON’T FORGET . . . Lower the weight as slowly as possible . . . PAUSE for a count of THREE between each rep.

Exercise 2. To build sustaining power, you need a heavier poundage. All you have to do is get used to supporting increasingly heavier weights overhead . . . AND MOVING WITH THEM. Start off with a poundage 20 to 30 pounds BELOW your best jerk. Increase the length of the chains so that if you were pressing the barbell out, you would have only an inch to do so. Raise the bar overhead and LOCK the arms out. This must leave you with your KNEES UNLOCKED. Take a firm grip on the bar . . . the same handspacing you use for your clean and jerk, and lock out or straighten your legs. You will be performing a movement akin to a very slight squat while holding the bar at arm’s length . . . Just sufficient play so that you have to lock and unlock the knees, lowering and raising the weight an inch. Once more lower the weight as slowly as you can, feeling it down every fraction of that inch. Relax completely between each rep, then repeat. Start off with 3 sets of 10 reps until you get used to the movement, then at once increase the bar to TEN pounds ABOVE your best jerk. Start off with 3 sets of 10 reps working up to 3 sets of 20 reps before increasing your exercising poundage.


The sole difference between a deadlift . . . lifting a weight off the floor . . . to cleaning it is the ability to keep the weight moving. People speak glibly of first and second pull . . . actually there are no such animals but there ARE distinct “areas” or “zones” through which the weight moves when being cleaned, and it is during the passage from one zone to another that that little extra power has to be turned on and the weight given that additional boost, bringing it safely into the shoulders for the jerk. It is my personal opinion that there are “THREE” areas when the lifter has to turn on his strength during a clean. The first, form floor to knee . . .second, from knee to waist . . . third, from waist to shoulder.

Exercise 3. Rest the Basic Power Bar across a stout, heavy box. Shorten the lengths of chain so that all the slack is taken up and the plates on the ends of the chain touch the floor. Stand on the box and squat down, taking hold of the bar, gripping it one hand each side of the box. From here recover to upright position, lower the body slowly and repeat. Start off with a reasonably light poundage until you are used to the movement, then load the bar with a weight you can handle for 3 sets of 7 reps, and work up to 3 sets of 15 reps before adding more weight. 

Exercise 4. Increase the length of the chains until the bar is level with your KNEES. Load up the bar with a weight equal to your best dead lift, grip the bar with your clean hand spacing, raise the weight until the body is upright, LOWER SLOWLY and repeat. 3 sets of 4 reps is sufficient to commence, working up to 3 sets of 10 reps before increasing the exercising poundage. This movement is identical to the high box or power dead lifts previously explained in my earlier articles.

Exercise 5. Increase the lengths of chain until the bar is waist high. Take your usual clean grip. Stand completely upright . . . the weights on each length of chain should be resting on the floor. Raise the bar chin high in the upright rowing motion . . . DON’T influence the movement by body motion . . . make it a simple “half” upright rowing motion. Use a poundage with which you can make 3 sets of 8 reps. Increase to 3 sets of 15 reps before adding poundage.

The final exercise in the Basic Power routine is for stability . . . just standing rock firm under a heavy weight. There is no reason why you should be subject to attacks of the “staggers” recovering from heavy snatches and cleans. If you make certain that your foot base, spacing of feet, is wide and NOT close, then your stability should be good. If you have the correct foot spacing yet are still liable to wobble during recovery, then you have poor stability due to lack of ability to control the weight . . . your “recovery muscle power” is poor. The remedy is simple. Just practice recovering, using the same method as in all basic bodybuilding and weight training routines. Take a poundage you can handle easily and gradually build up . . . first on the number of reps and secondly on poundage.

Exercise 6. Go down in a deep split or squat, hold your arms above your head full length . . . same width you use to snatch . . . and get a training partner to shorten the lengths of chain to the height of your unstretched arms. Load up the chain lengths with a poundage about 20 lbs. below your best snatch. Sink down into a deep split or squat . . . grasp the bar . . . recover the upright position. Then sink slowly down into a deep split or squat again and once more recover; repeat the movement. Commence with 3 sets of 5 reps working up to 3 sets of 10 reps before increasing the poundage. 

In using the basic power routine, go through your regular schedule of full range movements first and when that is over start in on the routine. After you have finished the basic power routine take a rest of 10 to 15 minutes, then take the heaviest weight you can dead lift, hold it in your hands for as long as you can and shrug the shoulders until you are compelled to put the bar down. Don’t forget, “By effort to the stars” and WORK HARD. 

Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Pushing For Power Part Four - Bill Seno 
Click Pics to ENLARGE












The Deadlift


“The meet doesn’t begin until the bar hits the floor.’ These words have been said or thought by many great lifters, all of them great deadlifters. Among many great lifters the deadlift is the deciding lift; most subtotals are close going into this final lift of the meet. Some lifters realize they do not have the capabilities to win a meet on the last lift, so they had better gather a great sub-total, great enough to defeat the opponent or at least, to apply pressure on him during his last attempt. However we look at the competition, the lifters with good or great deadlifts are at an advantage. They can wait out the opponent, and when he is through, they can choose the numbers they need to win.

All of the powerlifts, when lifted to maximum effort, give a feeling that the body is in a vise, there is agony, pain and discomfort all attempting to escape from the head, but you won’t let it until the lift is achieved. It may sound masochistic, but the lifting athlete enjoys this, especially when he defeats the weight after having gone through such torment. 

The deadlift, especially, is pronounced with this tormented feeling. I usually tell a novice lifter, who so often quits as he senses this feeling, that when the lift begins to get hard it will feel as though your insides want to come out, but hang in there, keep pulling until the lift is completed. Then, the exhilaration is acute because the lifter never experienced extending so much effort in such a way before. I have seen happiness came from the acknowledgement that they can tolerate the pain, thus getting a better picture of their inner selves. Besides, it opens up a whole new mode of attainment – heavier numbers on the horizon.


The deadlift strengthens the hips, lower back, upper back, trapezius, latissimus, abdominals, forearms and even some of the bicepital group. As you can see, most of the aforementioned is the back, and the back and hips are most of the three powerlifts. The back is even used during the bridge in the bench press; therefore, it is essential that the back is worked and rested for proper efficiency. Also, since the back is being used so much in the training of the three lifts, one is always building a strong back and should be cautious about overworking such a critical area.


First, let’s explore how the lift is done and the proper methods of performing the deadlift for the rules and for each individual. As the bar sits on the floor, the shins of the lifter should be up against it. The width of the stance and the hands are up to the discretion of the lifter; he will know not only his most comfortable body position but also his posture of advantage. Usually the lifter assumes a shoulder width stance with his hands, one hand pronated and one hand supinated grasping the bar anywhere from the beginning of the knurl to 3 inches out. 

I once saw a demonstration of the deadlift on a video tape by a well known lifter. The demonstration assumes that all lifters are built like the demonstrator and, therefore, should deadlift in the same manner. The demonstrator’s hands, first of all, are inside of his knees. This is not advantageous for all lifters because their backs may be stronger than their hips and thighs when they are placed in the deadlift position, especially if body structure is considered. It is not feasible to believe that any position can be made stronger than the natural position of strength for a particular human structure. Everyone’s anatomy is different, and the lifter will eventually feel the most comfortable positions of all of the lifts; also, he will become stronger and avoid injury more if he does not go against his natural structure.
The demonstrator on the video tape also claimed that the best way to lift the bar is by keeping the head and back upright. The theory is certainly believable. If one wishes to go up, then keep straight and look up rather than down, but not all bodies are built or work the same way. First of all, by keeping the back entirely vertical, the brunt of the lift os placed on the hips and thighs, similar to an upright squatter. As some people cannot squat in this manner, neither can they deadlift in this way. If their backs are their leverage, they should use them. The head also need not be kept back during the entire lift. Sometimes the angle of the back and hips of a back lifter will not allow this, and it is not time for a back deadlifter to concentrate on the head, yet, anyway. Very often the back deadlifter will bring his head up as the bar moves up. He will thrust his head back when the bar hits his particular critical point somewhere above the knees. Even though the back deadlifter may not keep his back in a vertical position, it will, at least, remain flat; that is, the back will not be concave. It will remain as straight as possible until the acute part of the lift, at which the back will become concave.
Who knows? Maybe the demonstrators are instructing this way to protect themselves from law suits. After all, any doctor or health pamphlet that instructs on how to pick up any object will convey it as the video tape does. But an athlete is not interested in propriety for propriety’s sake. How he lifts the most weight tells him he is doing it right.


Now that we have established that form is in accordance with the nature of the individual, we can attend to elevating the bar from the floor. The rules state that the bar must be constantly in motion during the pull, no stopping, and that no hitching or resting on the thighs shall occur, to paraphrase. To avoid that agonizing feeling, novice lifters will start tot hitch or kick the bar up with their thighs, or they will pull it to a point on their thighs while they attempt to lower the hips and squat the bar past the critical point. Not only is this method not a competitive lift, but strength is not being developed in the back where it is needed. Another reason for not kicking the bar around is to prevent injury to the vertebral column.


Some lifters are strong off the floor and some are strong at the finish of the lift. One would work his deadlifts off blocks if he is weak from the floor to the knees. The lifter stands on plates or wooden blocks of various heights, usually a height that places the feet about two or three inches from the bar itself. The development starts in the very lowest part of the back when lifting the bar over a great distance whereas a deadlift from the knees up will develop the upper back. Sets of higher reps should be used off the blocks. They will help condition a weak area and prevent injury and staleness – about 5-8 reps, no more than four sets once a week. Since the lifter is reaching so low for the weight, the poundage should be much lighter than his ordinary maximum for 5-8 reps of the regular deadlift. 

If your problem is a sticking point above the knees, the power rack is the key. At this advantageous point, since the distance the bar is lifted is short, more weight than the lifter usually handles will be used. The weight used for reps will be well above the maximum single from the floor. The system that seems to work best here is doing triples all the way up to a maximum triple. This is done once a week, but since the load is so heavy, the alternate weeks may be taken lighter because of recuperation. This is left up to the discretion of the lifter. He may go heavier if he feels he can take it or stop at a point below last week’s triple if he feels he can’t go on. Very often, if a heavier set is taken when the body is saying no, either a set back in training or an injury may occur.
Some lifters will work the rack from various pin positions during the workout. I don’t believe this is necessary. Choose a position that is all encompassing for power. We are dealing with too small of an area, so the overload will take care of the few inches of deadlifting the lifter thinks he is missing. Simply lower the pins the few inches and keep it there, or don’t lower the pins but add more weight. Don’t be capricious, give the body a chance. 

Should auxiliary lifting be incorporated into the routine? Sometimes powerlifters will do floor deadlifts once a week followed by rack or block work or other assistance lifting such as stiff legged deadlifts of bentover rows. These exercises may be done either immediately following the regular deadlifts or on the light training day. 

Personally, I believe doing too much deadlifting will weaken the back and interfere with the other lifts, also. But it is always worth a try to find out individual to the most effective routine. Each lifter will have to find his own range of efficiency. He will know if he can’t lift what he previously lifted when working another routine.

I have observed lifters who need so much back rest that the only way they can expect to lift anything in a meet is to hardly ever touch a deadlift. On the other hand, some lifters have been known to work the deadlift heavily four times a week or more. Ernie Frantz, of Illinois is the latter case while Brian Wadie of Texas is the former. There are, of course, extreme cases. Most of us are somewhere in between. 


We have explored the deadlift from the rack and off the blocks, but what good are stiff-legged deadlifts or bentover rows? The stiff-legged deadlift is a concentrated erector spinal exercise; not much weight should be used because the legs are not being used. It is exactly how most doctors will tell us not to lift – reaching down and lifting with all back and no legs. Yes, it is possible to become injured working this exercise, but it is also possible to become strong and have a muscular back. I used to work 3 sets of 15 in this exercise 3 times a week for one year. The disc between my fourth and fifth vertebrae is as flat as a pancake. I am still capable of extremely heavy deadlifts, but I no longer can work the extreme stiff-legged deadlift. It may be that a more moderate routine may have worked better, but I was young and indestructible and didn’t realize the consequences. There is, however, no real way of knowing that this, specifically, was the cause of any of my back problems because of 24 years of doing all kinds of exercises.

If one is going to incorporate the stiff-legged deadlift into his training because he wants those large cable-like muscles on either side of his vertebral column, it is wise to be cautious and work it periodically, not continuously over a prolonged period of time. The reps should be around 10 and not more than 3 sets once a week. After a six week period, I would test out the floor deadlift. Either way, if the results are good or not, I would not continue the stiff-legged deadlift for some months to come.


The bentover rows aid the lower back because it is the low back that must hold the body in a bentover or flexed position for the duration of the set. The upper back is worked when the lifter pulls the weight into the chest or abdomen. This exercise is done with heavy enough weight so that it can alternate as a deadlift workout every other week. Some lifters find heavy deadlifting every other week palatable. Bentover rows would suffice for the off week. 


Some problems occur with grip. The back may be strong enough to lift the bar, but the grip is not strong enough to hold it. A controversy continues among the lifting ranks whether it is wise to strap the hands to the bar. The opponents of strap use claim that their hands are already weak and allowing straps to hold on for them will only weaken the grip further. The proponents of the strap affirm that by not using the strap, the back can go no further in strength development, and why should an entire back suffer strength gains because of weak smaller muscles in the forearm and fingers? I maintain that the grip is still being worked with straps for two reasons: one, the weight used will be heavier because of the straps, and two, the hand will still have to hold on for the duration of the set, thus building power in the hands. Besides, just in case the grip is overworked, the straps allow the grip to tighten to capability of the grip power for that day and still allow the back to be worked separately without the burden of a weak grip.

The deadlift tends to show the natural power of a man, for in men who have never lifted a weight before, if they have body power it will show in the deadlift. Many items are lifted from the ground to the hanging position of the arms, everything from furniture in a house to bales on a farm, so it does pay to have longer arms for a structural advantage in the deadlift. 

Monday, November 3, 2008
Pushing For Power Part Three - Bill Seno 
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The Squat

How many times have you walked into a gyms health clubs and YMCA’s and seen loads of weight trainers with big arms and upper bodies trailed by birdlegs? This is because of the dreaded squat, which used to be called the deep knee bend. There is always a discomfort in the pit of the midsection while doing squats. This is why it is one of the most difficult to get novices to do because they simply don’t like the feeling. They have all been running for years and running doesn’t give them the same sickening feeling unless they push themselves beyond their endurance, at which they will stop running. One doesn’t need spotters to stop running, but to be caught under a weight, a veritable prisoner, isn’t pleasant; furthermore, unless the lifter shows signs of great effort to the spotters, it will be a blueprint of his internal make-up because the weights and gravity tell no lies. The only other alternative would be for the lifter to dump the bar off his back, and that would be a further embarrassment. So the result remains that we see loads of good upper bodies with underdeveloped legs within the weight gyms across the country. Legs develop only when the desire to develop the whole body is greater than the tolerance level of the squat. Good powerlifters and good bodybuilders finally defeat the squat and are able to work it hard and grow to love it when the body tunes in and progress is noted.

Working the squat hard cannot be explained, only experienced. At times it will seem as though your intestines want to jump out while the rest of the body is about to admit defeat, but if the desire is great enough, the lift is won. By conquering the lift, a “high” is created that can be doubled if done in competition. I have heard lifters say there is no feeling like it. It is always a boost to the ego and confidence level to have been faced with great odds and to come out the winner.

Before powerlifting became sanctioned, the old squat used to consist of placing the bar on the top of the trapezius and going all the way down, folding up like an accordion. This was great for hip flexibility and concentrated quadriceps development. The back remained upright and did not come into play very much except to guide and hold the position by tightening the erector spinae. Since it was a great quadricep developer, bodybuilders used it to pump, but it is difficult to hold the position long enough to get the kind of pump bodybuilders want in the legs. This is why bodybuilders use leg presses, leg extensions and other groove devices so they can concentrate on pumping the target muscles only – the quadriceps.

Even when powerlifting competition began in 1963, the lifters where using the old style squat. So it was a combination of many things that allowed the squat records to fall: lowering the bar to the second ridge on the back (below the traps resting on the posterior deltoids), knee wraps, power suits, steroids and techniques such as bouncing out of the bottom position. The new powerlifting squat position allowed a lifter to hang in longer and fight the bar with grueling tenacity, whereas the Olympic squat didn’t. The critical point of the squat was too long, and the leverage worked against the squatter. It is as if one were attempting to lift a load by hand with the arms extended away from the body rather than with the hands closer to the body so that one could, indeed, use the power of the body to advantage. I have, however, seen some prodigious poundages lifted Olympic style: around 700 lbs. without a suit or wraps. Of course, the same lifter with all other advantages would do closer to 850 lbs.


The toughest feat for most squatters in the power style is to sink the squat below parallel; that is, the upper part of the frontal thigh is below a point at the top of the knee. Since the bar is lower on the back, the lifter bends forward somewhat to control the weight. In so doing, the hips pick up and the knees move forward. This position makes it difficult to fulfill the full squat unless the lifter squeezes down or moves the hips back, which can put the lifter in a pit or possibly make him fall. The wide stance squatter does not encounter this problem as much because the wide base adds to stability. The lifter lifts with the hips and thighs more than the lower back; therefore, it is advantageous for the lifter to assume a more upright position whereas the close stance squatter uses more back and can pitch forward and lose his balance on a smaller base. This is not to say that the wide stance squatter is superior. As in the bench press or deadlift, whichever grip or stance is advantageous to the bodily structure and muscular development of the individual is the best way to go with. Any lifter with any stance can develop into a world record holder. I have seen world record holders such as Dennis Reed 852 at 242 lbs. and Larry Pacifico 810 at 220 lbs. Reed is a close stance squatter and Pacifico is a wide stance lifter.
If a lifter is thinking of changing his squat stance, he is in for a difficult venture, especially if he has been lifting a long time. The longer one has been lifting; the body develops for the particular body positions that are used. If a person does not find the switch hard, it is because he is and always has been built for the new position or stance but never had the physical inclination to use it to his advantage. So the question arises, how may a person realize his most advantageous positions for lifting? Some people have a feel for their strengths and weaknesses and are tuned in to their bodies. Some are not. This is why there are coaches or why it is wise to train with experienced powerlifters. It is best to have a reflection of ourselves if our mind’s eye cannot perceive what is happening.

Again, everyone starts out doing sets of reps for training. This also applies to the squat. The excuse has always been that novice lifters need more muscle development, and only sets and reps will do this. This is not so. I have trained novices with singles, that is, singling up to a maximum and quitting and saving the reps for the light training day, and the results made them the best squatters in the meet. I problem may arise when some lifters and coaches feel that if singles work for one lift, they should work for all. This is also not true. As I mentioned in the bench press chapter, each of the lifts are to be considered different and, thus, treated differently. I have seen lifters treat them alike and not come up to their full potential until they vary the training for each; however, it is true that singling up to a maximum once a week is the best way to work the squat when cycling for a contest. Most lifters continue this method for 6-10 weeks prior to the meet. Dennis Reed, Sam Mangialardi, Ernie Frantz and Bill Nichols work the squat this way, and all squat between 830 and 900. If the lifter has a lot of energy, he can experiment with another set of 5 reps of maximum effort, but that is all once each week. The other day, which considered light, can be experimented with leg presses, one to three sets of cruising squats (somewhat effortless), or nothing at all. I have experimented with loads of lifters doing a maximum set of 10-15 reps on the light day mainly to tune them in to gut lifting. The results were haphazard. Some made good gains up to a point, and some made small gains. All were continual, however. After the weights become substantial, which is squatting between four and five hundred pounds, I stop pushing them on the light day because recuperation becomes more difficult, so they do one to three sets of 6 reps with moderate effort but not all out. This seemed to work best. For myself, I have found leg presses on the Universal machine to work best on my light day – one set of 15 reps. This keeps my quads and hips strong without tiring the back, since they are done sitting in a chair. The squatting power is always up oh the heavy day due to resting the back while working the legs. The legs need work, but the back needs more rest.
Reps are fine conditioners for power and can make a lifter strong, but doing a weight for 4 or 5 rep sets is not the same as doing a heavier single. The body and mind become accustomed to a certain degree of afferent and efferent nerve stimuli with lighter poundages that are lifted over a longitudinal period. It will, therefore, take time for the body to convert whatever strength gains were made in the rep sets. This is why lifters begin peaking or doing singles some weeks before meet time. In some instances the peaking or singles never convert.


Keeping in mind that it is always best to experiment to see which routine or variations of a routine work best for you, here is a good squat routine: supposing that the maximum squat is 600, begin warmups with 135 for about 10 reps followed by 225 for about 5 reps. Begin singling up with 315, then 405, 500, 550 and finally 600 for the maximum lift and quit. 550 will definitely indicate if your maximum power is above 600 for that day. It is possible to gauge your feeling of the weight comparable to the last workout with that warmup single. You will know. If there is a positive indication, be conservative and go up ten pounds to 610 on your last attempt. Sometimes 605 might be a wise choice. It the old bird in the hand attitude. If the 610 feels light enough, one can always take another single. Even if the next maximum single is not made, the lifter still has a personal record to his benefit, otherwise, it will always be guesswork as to where the body power is.

Another side benefit to this training is preparing for meets. Starting light saves the lifter from a bomb-out and allows him to climb to the heights with confidence right out on the lifting platform where confidence is most needed. In short, it breaks the ice.
Since the squat is the first lift in competition, it also presents the greatest amount of nervousness for the lifter. It is the lift that takes the longest to prepare for, considering all the wraps and suits, and it also consumes a greater amount of meet time than either of the other two. Another facet that adds to the nervousness is hitting the proper position and depth. It is difficult enough to lift a heavy weight without having to worry about meticulous techniques. Also, being the most difficult lift to judge, this adds to the lifter’s tension as he knows full well that his efforts may be in vain as they are left up to the whims of subjectivity; therefore, it is always smart to start light for the opening squat.

There, of course, are many extraordinary lifters with emotional control. I once remember Chip McCain being turned down by the judges on a 705 squat. He then jumped to 788 and buried it for a good attempt. This is not the usual case, so don’t get greedy.

After a while some lifters develop shoulder problems from squatting low on the back. Stretching so far back while attempting to hold the bar is the culprit. If this is the case, move the bar back on top of the trapezius for a period of time until the shoulders heal. Squatting high on the back is very beneficial for leg power. Also, many lifters claim that when they return the bar to the low position o the back, their squat is stronger due to more leg isolation. I think this training can be tempered if squatting high on the back works for you. For example, try squatting high on the back on the light day only, or every other heavy day, etc. The goals will have to be different since the lifts are different. The lifter will have a high on the back record and a low on the back personal record to keep things interesting.

Many good lifters claim that the only way to work the squat is to bury them or go below parallel each rep. This is a good method and certainly a lifter can do no wrong working in this way; but is he necessarily doing as much for himself as he could?
The lifters who claim that working on the squat below parallel for each rep do so because they feel that this is what is expected in a meet; therefore, why not do it in training? Also, they feel that the flexibility in the hips will come easier to the lifter, and he will have no trouble trying to get down. To say the least, the low position, out of the bottom is being worked constantly which can only make it strong, and the body and mind are learning one complete method with no variation for mistakes.

I speak positively about the above method, but beyond any method, there is still the individual and his differences.

I have known great squatters, world record holders, who train the squat above parallel to parallel. It seems to work for them if they attain world records. What is their theory behind working the squat high? There are many reasons, but most of them come right down to overload or handling more weight. These squatters ask themselves why they should struggle through a critical point at the bottom position for five pounds at a time when they could be lifting 15 to 30 pounds more an inch above parallel. This position is an advantageous one for being able to hang in there and fight the weight which allows them to continually handle heavier weights and get stronger. The conversion of what they can do below parallel plus the hip flexibility can come later, and very often it does.

Lifters who train the squat high will occasionally try their strength by doing a parallel squat, being able to gauge by the ease of the lift what they can do below parallel; otherwise, they may at times decide to really bury a squat to test their strength. Usually, they find that they are strong, but they may be sore the following day from the unaccustomed stretch. Once in a while an injury may even occur from the quick change in style. This is why it is best to begin at a lower poundage some weeks before peaking out. This system may have some disadvantages, but one advantage it does have is strength.


Other methods of training the squat that are worthy of recognition are the squat in the rack and bench squats. Most lifters don’t work these exercises unless their squats have leveled off; they feel that their squats have gone nowhere or no progress has been made for a long time. Both types are usually worked above parallel. The bar position on the back may be either, but the second ridge allows for more overload.

The basic advantage to the rack is the adjustment of the pins to any desired height. Of course, the exact height for you just may be in between the pin holes; then, it is best to stand on a few 45 lb. plates or a board to accomplish the desired height. Even though the lifter may seem as though he is below parallel or at the parallel position when he gets under the bar in the power rack, he will be a little higher when he begins to move the bar from the pins. This is the real height for the lift, so the level of his thighs should be observed at the point of push by a training partner. Again, the adjustment may be made to work the rack at any level, but chances are the lifter went stale in the full squat. There is nothing like high squats (above parallel) to bring the lifter back from stagnancy. The reason is probably due to a more advantageous position for the push coupled with allowing the muscles to recuperate, which have been overworked in the low position.
High reps are better to aid recovery after being traumatized and, of course, accustom one to the rack. The rack is not like a groove machine, but the bar may hit the uprights if the two uprights are too close together. This will, therefore, interfere with the lifter’s groove. The problem is minor considering the benefits. Sets of 6 to 8 are good until the lifter tunes in and begins to see progress. It is always good to get hungry lower the amount of reps; but too much weight too quickly or for too long a period can put the lifter back where he started. Of course, once strength returns, the lifter will return to full squats, or it is possible to mix rack squats into the regular routine. Tony Fratto, a world champion, once did 750 x 3 at 198 at this lift.

The same principles apply to the bench squat. The main difference is the bar is not resting on a pin but is taken off a free rack while the lifter squats to a position where the buttocks tough a bench beneath him. The rack squat is very difficult to start because the muscles must all become tense before lifting the first rep. Once the muscles are in control, the following reps are easier. The bench squat does not have this first rep difficulty because of the freedom from the rack groove and the dead start; touching the pin or the bench.


The squat is the one lift chosen by powerlifters and bodybuilders alike as the single most beneficial overall body developer and conditioner. It is this lift in competition that adds up to the most weight lifted when we total any ten lifters at random. Obviously, many muscles are coming into play; therefore, it is a demanding lift on the structure and lungs. The squat is the lift that makes the human anatomy appear complete. 

Showing newest 4 of 21 posts from October 2008. Show older posts Showing newest 4 of 21 posts from October 2008. Show older postsFriday, October 31, 2008
Pushing For Power Part Two - Bill Seno
 
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Pushing for Power – Part Two
The Bench Press


The bench press is the most popular lift among the lifting populace. It is so popular because most kids are introduced to calisthenics to begin building their physical statures and strength, and within the gamut of exercises, pushups seem one of the most, if not the most, renown. Youngsters are constantly aware of who can do the most pushups. They keep abreast of who is who within their own peer groups, and the person who can do the most pushups is considered prestigious in the realm of strength. He may not be skillful, but he is one to be reckoned with in combative sports.

Moving along through high school, students are introduced to weight training by almost any coach in the sport, and the continuation of the pushup mystique is furthered by the upside down pushup – the bench press. Again, students find a meaning in upper body power that seems to emphasize strength whereas, in their minds, legs are not as impressive.

I surmise that this attitude stems from several sources. When a child is young, attention is geared to legs and walking; as he continues through school, most sports activities still center around the use of the legs: soccer, basketball, track, football, hockey, etc. Being brought up in a leg conscious society, the person with a well developed upper body is not the norm. So a mystique grows. He is thought to have an advantage over the normal male. People envision the slow moving, crushing power of Hercules lifting boulders. When we speak to people at eye level, we do not stare down at their legs, so we are unaccustomed to mounds of muscle staring back at us as we converse.

Some people feel offended as if a direct personal affront has been made on their egos. Some people think it is freaky and a waste of time, for what can be done with all this muscle? Whatever personal shortcomings arise, the point remains that the lifter with the big upper body remains noticed. It is also surprising the interesting traits and characteristics the lifter observes in people’s behavior regarding the difference in stature, anything from a smile to a nervous twitch. 

Needless to say, the necessity of weight training in athletics has been proven time and time again, and the athlete from freshman in high school to senior in college will always remember his weight training once his athletic days are over. He can always feel the comfortable, individual carryover of the iron, to be used at will, probably even for a new beginning. Even the non athlete who feels a need for physical exercise remembers the pushup; also, the ease of the supine position is enticing. Isn’t it great to be able to lie down and build a great body?

In spite of the enigma of the great upper body, the legs are too big, too strong and have had too great of a head start. There will always be ore people with squat ability and even deadlift ability than bench press ability. This is what makes the desire for a good bench press even greater – the fact that it is rarer than the other two. There are more people closer to the squat and deadlift records by formula than the bench record by formula. This proves what I have always believed: the good bench presser is harder to come by than either of the other two. It doesn’t mean the bench presser is the strongest because only the total can show this.

The foremost principle I have used concerning the bench press is to follow the body.

It is well and good to write out a routine and attempt to follow the paper, but what is written is not the key; the body is. If a lifter is following 4 sets of 4 with a given poundage, and the body is struggling to recover from the last workout, gains will be small or nonexistent. When there is a gain, the body is saying Yes.

When I began lifting at the age of 20, I benched 240 for 5 and 280 for 1. 300 pounds came within one month, and by my eight month I was benching 400. My initial bodyweight was 180, and by the eighth month I was 200. All I had ever done was pushups, and plenty of them, which gave me a good base. Of course, the routine that I was on then was not the pyramid that I developed by trial and error but merely 5 sets of 5 – the old standby. The old standby got old fast. I found that pushing for a single rep more often allowed me to lift a heavier single than the five reps did. It seems that as one improves in the reps, he doesn’t improve enough in the single until it is done more often.
In those days I was working out heavily three times per week. Several years later I decided that I couldn’t recuperate enough from the heavy single and sets that followed. I think I should mention two principles here that I employed then, and that I stand by to this day. I remember my days in college and high school sports when the coach merely warmed us up before an activity, making sure we were warm but not expended. I often noticed lifters working their heads off with reps before they ever got to their maximum effort and thought, “I wonder what he could do fresh?” By observation I noticed the same thing occurring in the warmup area during contests. Some novice lifters, due to lack of knowledge, or confidence, seem to think it is necessary to lift close to or even more than the starting attempt. I couldn’t believe my eyes while watching a lifter who was about to go out for his first attempt in the bench with 315 do a double with it in the warmup area to assure himself that he would be able to do it on the platform. They don’t realize how important it is to remain fresh. There is no reason to approach closer than 30-50 lbs. to the starting attempt. I knew fresh was better because it allowed my body to handle more, more often and thus become stronger if I could recover. Thus, my principle was don’t work up; warm-up and work down. I found even my sets working down were easier and grew quickly; however, there was still something bothering me. The sets grew stale. I thought to incorporate as many other principles as I could to work for me. No set was the same poundage, no set was the same amount of reps, and SPEED and THRUST became all important.
I thought that by running the gamut on poundage and reps I couldn’t possibly grow stale, and I was right for many years to come. I worked the bench in this manner three times per week for seventeen years. Within that time, however, the three heavy workouts diminished to two heavy and one medium, then to one heavy, one medium, and one light. In my eighteenth year of lifting the light set became so light I dropped to two bench workouts per week. The only thing that has changed since then is the amount of sets has lessened and the reps have gone up to rehabilitate my old bones and tendons more. I cannot go as heavy as often. I must wait for a more opportune time – a time of recovery. Notice, through it all, my body was my gauge and still is.
I did not allow other lifters’ routines or new commercial equipment to sway me from my course – what my body demanded.

I well remember the isometric racks and how they were supposed to make lifters stronger, faster. A few tries on the rack showed me that it could not compete with isotonic training. My body was very sensitive at the time, and my bench would move up, down, or stagnate within short periods of time. To this day I tell athletes: lifting weights cannot make you throw a baseball or football skillfully; only continued throwing can help itself. Weights are strength builders, so it can give distance to the throw, but not the spins and the curves. The same thought applies to isometric racks, mini gyms, Nautilus, Universal machines, etc., etc. They do not train the muscles as they will be used during the actual squat, bench and deadlift. These machines cut off the use of stabilizing muscles – muscles that control the heavy poundages in a most necessary and expedient groove. Without stabilizer strength and control the lifter will lose the lift. I must, however, speak up for the groove machines, also, because they do have their function in introducing students to weight training and have the ability to serve many students at once. Besides this convenience the groove machines do have a benefit for the experienced lifter, also. It is convenient to work auxiliary muscles and, possibly, rehabilitate on these machines. The benefit in working auxiliary muscles such as the deltoid or tricep on the groove machine is greater as an exercise for the bench press because the machines keep the particular muscle toned and strong without tiring some of the stabilizing muscles, and it also limits the use of joints and tendons which makes for greater recuperation while capitalizing on strength. The same reason can be applied to rehabilitating injured areas, and, possibly, keeping them safe from injury.

The groove machines can also be beneficial for the squat because by working the leg press, one can increase the leg strength without tiring the many joints of the spine, which again makes for better recovery: any exercises will insure quicker recovery and stronger, better conditioned muscles.

In considering which width grip for the bench press is best for you, something extraordinarily strange occurs, and I think I know why. So many beginning lifters feel confused upon gripping the bar. It is as if they have no feel of power or coordination. They grab the bar very wide, too wide for their structures. or too close, or off center. This is to be expected because they are novices, but they do not have the same degree of problems with the squat stance width. I think the reason is again connected to most people having more faith in their legs than arms; therefore, the novice lifter, even though terrified of failing, adjusts better to leg stance. Besides, he can find a degree of comfort more easily because his physical inclination is more geared to legs.

This is the principle I use to seek the best grip for the individual – physical comfort and inclination. I ask the prospective lifter to drop to his normal pushup position (without mentioning grip). I ask him to adjust his arms until comfortable and he has a feel for power: a few pushups will accomplish this. Measure the distance between forefingers and you have the grip of power for that particular physique structure.

So many lifters, even great ones, will say the wide grip is the best, or the close grip is the best. The best grip is the one that is suited to your power structure. Power structure is the particular build of the individual by which certain muscles in that structure are emphasized; for example, one person may have flaring deltoids and a flat rib cage. The chances are very great that this person will have to bench wide. The rule for competition states that the distance between forefingers cannot exceed 81 cm. which comes to almost 32 inches. The wider the individual is, generally, the wider the grip. Conversely, the individual who has a flaring rib cage, one with breadth and large pectorals, will have more drive off the chest and, thus, will assume the close position of his power. I have seen lifters built for close grip assume wide grip and develop prodigious benches, but ultimately nature catches up to them and injury and even surgery becomes evident. This happened in the cases of Larry Pacifico, Sam Mangialardi and Fred Hatfield. This is not to say that any other bench position can deep one safe from injury because maximum efforts for prolonged periods of time make anyone vulnerable. 

The compactness of the close grip gives protection. There is more muscle supporting muscle rather than joints out on a limb. A good test of the instability of the wide grip is to place your hands out in front while spread far apart. Have someone try to move your arms. Try the same with your triceps close to your ribs and latissimus dorsi. Get the message? Your arms can be moved at will while wide but hardly at all while close. Close grip gives the lifter the stability of the torso. In the close grip the distance to push may be farther than the wide grip, but prevention of injury, greater development of the torso, coupled with more thrust with the close far outweigh the wide grip. It must be remembered that we are not all built for the close bench. In spite of what I have shown above, nature has a way of protecting its own, so go with our natural tendencies. 
The wide grip primarily uses the lateral or outer edge of the pectoral and the anterior or frontal deltoid. Not much lat or tricep is used because the rotation or the lat is cut down considerably in the wide grip, and since the bar has a shorter distance to travel, there is not the extra needed push for the extension and, thus, less tricep development. The development of the wide gripper is in the shoulder, to a swooping pectoral.

The development of the close gripper is in the major pectorals (closer to the sternum and the middle of the pectoral muscles) and the triceps. Because of the tightness of the combination of muscle groups, there is a greater surge off the chest. The great surge still, of course, will incorporate the use of the anterior deltoid but not as much as the wide bencher. The great explosion off the chest even has a way of passing up the deltoid to a triceps catch and press. Even though speed is all important, especially in the close grip, control on the down groove is just as important. The wide bencher must be more careful with his groove; as I said earlier, the arms are more apt to wave with a wide grip. If the descent of the bar becomes too fast, the weight increases in poundage. If the descent is too slow, the muscles tire from holding the bar too long. The trick is to lower the bar under control as quickly as you can in the groove. The groove is a term used to indicate that critical area of any lift in which the lifter has the utmost control and power. 


So many beginning lifters and even some experienced lifters feel that there is little or no difference in the psychological preparation for lifting a maximum single versus a maximum set of repetitions. This kind of thinking limits their ability to make gains. It is absolutely essential that the lifter prepares his mind for the degree of intensity and speed; that is, he must zero in on his power capabilities for that day, that set: he must know within a few pounds how much he is capable of lifting at that time. He must also prepare himself for the amount of air he will need to complete the set; one deal with lung capacity and endurance more when going for a higher number of reps. The lifter will suspect or know that he is stronger by the feel of the warmup and by how the trend of his workouts has been doing lately. 

Sometimes a lifter will gamble strictly out of greed or rashness because some lifters become impatient of fail to acknowledge their limitations, therefore, manufacturing or imagining lifts that they really cannot handle. Handling weights that are too heavy can be disastrous to making gains because these poundages take their toll on the body which fails to recuperate even more, and it is all downhill from then on, until the lifter realizes what is happening and how to deal with the problem.

The lifter preparing for the maximum single must have warmed up properly without having expended much energy. The thought foremost in his mind is the single; nothing else matters, not possible injury, his girlfriend or his bills; he is hypnotized to one and only – pushing this new poundage that his mind and body have never before experienced. As he is warming up, the tension is building, but the warmup poundages must be made to feel light and, indeed, lighter than before. This is accomplished by being in shape, mentally prepared, having adrenaline flow, speed and maybe the effort with ego and death before failure. Any wavering in the feel, the timing and control, or the amount of thrust will lose the lift, but making the lift will bestow a “high” of personal accomplishment that is unique and difficult to duplicate.

It the single is strong, you will know you are that day, so use that power to attain more strength. Go down and do reps with poundages never before attempted. These new records will secure the strength and confidence you will need for future maximum singles. An example of a routine for a strong day: warm up to a maximum single, come down to a maximum set of 3 or 4 reps with a weight never attained before; then, drop to a poundage which allows 5 or 6 reps, then a set of 8-10 and finish with a close grip flush (a 16 inch grip) for 12-15 reps. If the single is not very strong or it is a miss, immediately drop to a lighter weight and higher reps. Follow the single with a set of 8 reps or higher, depending on how you feel that day. If you feel fatigued – quit; if not, continue with a set of 10-12 followed by 12-15 or higher. at least the lifter can still work speed.

The mental preparation for repetitions is similar, yet different. The higher the reps the greater the preparation for a longer battle. The overall battle will not be as intense as the single, but the last rep will be. The endurance factor will be higher; the air needed must be more, and the determination level must be held a longer period of time, which really tests desire.

As I said, a good time to do record reps is following a record single because the mind and body have been ultimately prepared, but a record rep set can also be done as a peak set; that is, a lifter warms up to that set alone for the specific purpose of a rep record. The set may be a record at any number of reps desired.


Techniques for working the bench are varied, and these various techniques must be chosen correctly for use depending on the individual lifter’s strong points, structure and grip. A close grip bencher will have less trouble off the chest whereas this is most of the problem for the wide gripper. The reverse is, therefore, true; the second half of the push is more troublesome for the close gripper but much easier for the wide gripper. both lifters will work on thrust off the chest, but the close gripper can make the advantage work for him by increasing the drive which will help it past the critical point of the upper third of the lift. The wide gripper will most likely work the holds at the chest with lighter poundages to increase thrust. The holds may be anywhere from two to ten seconds.

Close grip benchers may also benefit from occasional 2/3 bench presses from the power rack. This may help if the thrust becomes stale, but I have found the rack to have limitations. One must use extraordinarily heavy weight from a rack, and recuperation can be difficult. My experience has been that the rack gains come quickly and do not last long. If one continues working the rack too much per week or too long in time, the bench will become weaker.

The best method for the close grip bencher is to take what the rack will give, no more than one or two sets once a week until the regular bench movement seems to be tight, that is, a slight struggle above what he normally feels with that poundage. When this occurs, it is the signal to quit the rack. Even more beneficial, the lifter should quit before he gets the tight feeling, but we must pay some price for experimentation, or we can never really discover how we personally tick.

So often I read of lifters who are constantly working their weak points, pounding away to overcome this obstruction, but this weak point is basically a part of nature for that individual. It is not saying that this obstacle cannot be improved upon, but because of structure or other reasons, possibly favoring certain muscles, a mind to body coordination or dependency can be extremely difficult or impossible to overcome. There are reasons beyond our control why these certain muscles remain weak at certain angles in a movement for certain individuals; therefore, it can only become frustrating and discouraging to continue to work a weak point and gain such a small percentage of strength over a long period of time when the same time and effort could have been applied to a strong point, thus gaining two or three times the amount of strength.
So the close grip bencher whose main power is thrust from the torso should definitely improve his thrust by working speed with intermediate or lighter poundages. This will assure a greater burst off the chest which will continue momentum through the weak points of the shoulder and tricep. The constant handling of these poundages through the sticking point will inevitably make the weak points stronger.


Auxiliary exercises are often considered by the powerlifter to aid his power in the three lifts. The philosophy behind the auxiliaries is to make the individual parts stronger and, therefore, the whole will be stronger when all of the parts come together to perform. Basically, this thinking is sound, however, caution must be taken so as not to overwork and, therefore, be two steps behind in recuperation. Of course, we all wonder what is too much ad what is not enough. It is easy to be fooled sometimes because the weight may feel easy at the time, especially if the lifter is not breathing hard, but when it comes time to put it all together for the bench press, for example, the power is simply not there. We are always fighting the battle between rest and work. The key is to find the proper amount of work, whether high or low sets and reps, and coordinate that work with the proper amount of rest. Only time and experimentation will tell you.

Two of the best auxiliary lifts for the bench press are the press or press or press behind the neck, and the shoulder and trapezius shrug. The trapezius do not contract during the bench. First of all, after a warmup, it is not necessary to do more than 2 or 3 sets, or the bench will be negatively affected. These are to be done twice a week with high reps 8-15. The high reps assure blood to the area, conditioning, strength, and above all, healthy shoulders. As the athlete approaches competition, the sets may get heavier, but take care by feeling for the slightest shades of pain. If one continues, the pains will grow and become a detriment to the bench press. Merely stop for that day and come back lighter with higher reps next time. 

It is not necessary for a close grip bencher to consider lateral raises or flies, as they are called. The closer the grip, the more pectoral is used toward the sternum; the wider the grip, more pectoral toward the arm is used. So it would stand to reason that a wide grip bencher would benefit from flies. The flies should be heavy with bent arms.

If the arms are straight, the concentration is not on the pectorals but on the arms. Wide grip benchers also benefit much more from holds at the chest than do close grip benchers. Most of the bench for the wide gripper is off the chest whereas the close gripper’s problem occurs after the initial thrust off the chest. This is not to say that the close grip bencher should not practice a hold. It is advantageous to hold the last repetition of each set but not to hold each rep in a set as wide grip benchers do. 



An example of a routine using the pyramid system is as follows:
warm up to a maximum single;
work down to a set of 3 or 4, followed by 
a set of 6-8
end with a set of 10-15
This is an example of a heavy day routine. 

On the light day:
warm up to 90% of your recent maximum single, followed by
a set of 6-8, followed by
a set of 10-12
end with a set of about 15, which is a 16 inch grip flush set.

This is the routine that evolved out of following my body week after week until something seemed to work best. The variance in repetitions is necessary because the individual may be strong one day and not another. On a strong day, stay with a heavier poundage for 10 reps, for example, whereas a light day will call for the 15 rep set. Also, lighter weights allow for the lifter to practice for speed thrusts, that is, firing the weight in one explosive movement form the chest to arms length all in one motion.


One obvious mechanical advantage for all benchers is to bring the bar to a point at the chest where the position is most comfortable and powerful. This point for most of us is at the bottom of the pectoralis major or slightly below the nipples. The tricep can be compared to the thigh during the squat. If the upper thigh goes below parallel, it is more difficult to recover from the low position, likewise with the upper arm. The lower the elbow points downward, the more difficult the initial drive will be. So the trick is to bring the bar to the most comfortable point on the chest while compensating with an arch so that the triceps will not have to work as hard to get out of the pit, so to speak; keeping the chest high will also be an advantage here. Also, by hunching the muscles up tightly, it will give a greater thrust off the chest because all of the muscles are forced into a position that they will naturally try to spring from. 

It is this thrust, the same principle a shot putter uses in his explosion as he performs the release, that can be advantageously practiced; some lifters call these thrusts “shorts” for short movements in the reps. They appear to be repetitions, but the lifter is moving heavier poundages off the chest many more times with speed. The full rep takes a greater amount of energy, and the benefits become less. If the lifter can thrust the bar from the torso to a point where the triceps are taking over and then return for the next thrust, the power off the chest increases twofold. 

Using the above principle, speed, recuperation, running the gamut on reps, your own structural grip, choosing proper weights without missing, lowering the bar as quickly as you can under control, driving with the legs and letting your body be your guide will help you to master the bench press. 

Saturday, October 25, 2008
Neck Training - Hoffman, Grimek, McCallum 











Neck Specialization
by John McCallum

Work your neck at least twice two days a week. If you really want to build it fast, three. Figure on spending half an hour to an hour on your neck each time you work it. Pump it up all you can.

Start out with shrugs. Lift your shoulders way up around your ears and then let them drop down all the way. Use a reverse grip and alternate your grip each set. Get up over 300 pounds as quickly as you can and do 5 sets of 12 reps. Shrugs will bulk up the traps and give you a nice tie-in to the neck.

Next, alternate the following exercises for 5 sets of 10 reps each. Start with the wrestler’s bridge. You might find it pulls your hair a bit. If you can get hold of a tight fitting toque, wear it while you’re doing the bridges. Make sure you do all the work with your neck. Don’t just push-up with your legs and rock back and forth on the top of your head. Lower right down till your shoulders touch the ground, and then lever your body back up again. Work up to using extra weight as fast as you can. Hold the weight across your chest and brace your legs well apart for balance. 

After each set of bridges, do the following. Lay face up on a flat bench with your head sticking over the end. Hold a weight on our forehead and raise your head up and down. Let your head roll back as far as it’ll go, and then raise it up till the muscles cramp on the front of your neck. Put padding on your forehead. Hold the weight in position with your hands, but don’t use them to lift it. Make your neck do all the work.

Rest for a couple of minutes after you finish those two exercises, and then stick on your head strap. Hook it to your pulley machine, and stand so that the pull is sideways on your neck. Roll your head down sideways like you were trying to touch your shoulders with your ear, and hold that position for a split second. Let your head go back up again, and repeat for 12 reps. Alternate both sides of your neck for 5 sets each.

Finally, do the exercise for the back of your neck with the head strap. Brace your hands on your knees, keep your body bent forward, don’t move anything but your head. Do 5 sets of 8 reps.

Now, if you have time, finish off with resistance work. Use a moderate pressure with your hands and concentrate on pumping. You should be able to pump up your neck a good inch or so.








Develop A Strong Neck
by John Grimek 

Two or three neck exercises should be included in one’s training program; two for developing and one for strengthening those muscles. Hand-resistance can be used at the beginning to get the neck muscles accustomed to such work, then weight resistance exercises can prove of more value. The following are some of those which can be used:

Mono-resistance –
Place left hand against left temple, now force head to opposite side while resisting the push. Repeat 12 to 15 times each side. 
Put hands with interlaced fingers on back of head, force head front while opposing with neck resistance. Repeat as above.
Reverse position. Place hands on forehead and push head backwards, resisting with the neck muscles.


Head Strap –
Bend forward so weight hangs free of body and brace yourself by putting the hands on the thighs. By allowing the head to drop forward and then raising it the neck is well exercised. 12 to 15 times.

Same as above in reverse fashion, the chain should be in back of head. This exercise is best done while lying on a high flat bench or on an incline so the weight hangs free. Raise head in an effort to touch chest with chin.

If headgear is not available, use barbell plate or dumbell (covered with a pad) and place it across the forehead. Sit or lie on an incline or flat bench and exercise the neck by dropping the head as far back as possible and then raising it and supporting the weight so it doesn’t roll off.

Wrestler’s Bridge –
Regular. Lie flat on back with some padding under head. Now bridge by arching your body so your weight is supported on head and feet, adjusting feet so position is comfortable. Rock back and forth on head and feet. Going to each extreme position is good and the neck muscles benefit tremendously from this exercise. Repeat 12 to 15 times, gradually working up to 25 repetitions, then, using weight for added resistance, begin again at 12, working up to 25.

Reverse. Lie face down, then raise the body in jackknife position, supporting yourself on head and toes. Now rock back and forth, also in a circling motion. Repeat 10 times in each direction.

A program for neck developing should consist of at least two exercises; one isolation style exercise to develop the muscles, the other to increase the strength of the neck structure. Wrestler’s bridges are excellent strength builders. Also, in the same position such exercises as the pullover and bridge press, etc. can be done to make the neck stronger. 







Building The Strength Of Your Neck
by Bob Hoffman 

The best way to develop the neck is by use of the head strap and progressive weights, and by performing various forms of the wrestler’s bridge with heavy weights. Simple, non-apparatus, light movements are only substitutes for exercise of a real nature.

You must determine what type of neck you desire to develop. At one time there was a fad of displaying the largest possible bull or wrestler neck. later there was a desire on the part of most body builders to have a neck only moderate in size. The choice is yours. It is possible to bring the neck to a larger size faster than the calf or arm. 

The best way to develop the neck is by lifting weights with it. Some men use a device for teeth and jaw lifting, made of leather, cut to shape, to develop the neck. Many strength athletes by practicing this lift have developed enough strength that they can be hanged without ill effect, an ability that may come in handy on long and lonely nights. Some years ago there was a dentist in Rochester who specialized in this form of lifting, reaching a record of well over 500 pounds. A lifter by the name of Joe Vitolla a few years ago made a record of 550 pounds in this style of lifting. Joe Zimmerman used the strength of his neck and jaw in his professional act to straddle his brother Dick, about 150 pounds in bodyweight, pick him up with his teeth lifting device and run around the stage with him. Don’t grasp the rope fastened to the weight with your teeth, this will in time be injurious to them, but obtain or make a mouthpiece made to fit your own jaw. These are so made that an old man without teeth at the fair was doing what is actually called teeth lifting, the leather mouthpiece held back of his gums. A well-developed, square jaw will accentuate the size of your neck. Head strap exercises, weighted wrestler’s bridge variations, and bridging pullovers will enlarge and strengthen the muscles of the neck quickly. 

A shrug performed with the bar bell back of neck, as in a deep knee bend is often performed. By holding the shoulders up position and tensing the neck simultaneously, great stress is placed on the entire muscle structure.


A Strong Neck And A Powerful Jaw
by Bob Hoffman

There are three accepted methods of neck development. Resistance exercises provide little benefit for other parts of the body, for instance as in moving the head against hand-applied resistance. Resistance exercises will serve as preliminary movements before going into the various forms of bridging and neck strap exercises and little more.

There are some who do not like bridging exercises for they feel actual pain as they practice them. But you should not be too uncomfortable if you procure a cushion on which to rest your head. 

Perform bridging movements both with the front of the body facing up, and with the front of the body facing the floor. A multitude of neck strap teeth lifting variations are possible, and the more often you perform them, the more blood will be sent to the neck structure, resulting in growth and development. Aside from the development these exercises will provide for the jaw and neck, a smooth unwrinkled face will also result. 

Showing newest 8 of 19 posts from September 2008. Show older posts Showing newest 8 of 19 posts from September 2008. Show older postsTuesday, September 30, 2008
True Or False - Jeff Everson
 










True or False?
by Jeff Everson (1982)


1.) Working on the preacher bench correctly and selectively develops the lower biceps.

FALSE – What is being stressed here is the brachialis muscle because of its origin and insertion and the resultant angle of pull upon the muscle. Motor unit firing and subsequent muscle innervation is contiguous which, simply put, means you cannot selectively stimulate the lower biceps over the upper biceps. This is pure rubbish. The strain felt in the crook of the arm while doing preacher curls is due to the stress upon the brachialis muscle and the bicep short head, not the lower bicep.




2.) Doing heavy cheat E-Z curls will be more effective in building the mass of the arm flexors as opposed to strict, heavy concentration curls.

FALSE – Why should it be? Granted, you use a heavier weight, but doing so might involve more synergistic muscle use, whereas heavy concentration curls isolate the elbow flexors and this is what is important for size and strength. Remember, though, this is heavy, strict concentration curling, not light dumbell cramping.




3.) Use of the straight bar is more effective than the E-Z curl bar for building mass in the collective elbow flexors.

FALSE – Basmajian, the great muscle researcher, has shown by use of intricate EMG that the collective strength of the elbow flexors is greatest when the hand is in midposition (such as in the use of the E-Z bar). Do not confuse this with building the biceps itself which is a different story and might respond better to the straight bar.




4.) Training with heavy weights is the best way to convert red or slow twitch muscle fibers to fast white muscle fibers.

FALSE – You cannot convert one fiber into another type. You can change some metabolic characteristics of some intermediate type fibers and hypertrophy the white fibers but never convert them.




5.) To build total muscle mass it is necessary to train with the heaviest weights possible at all times. 

FALSE – Training with heavy weights primarily builds the muscle fibers but not the whole muscle mass which includes the sarcoplasmic proteins and connective tissue. Actually, to build total mass it is best to use heavy weights frequently and moderate weights frequently for the pumping effect that stimulates sarcoplasmic constituents and the myofibrils.




6.) One set to absolute failure is probably enough to stimulate maximum size and strength.

PROBABLY FALSE – There has been no published research to verify this, yet there has been research to verify that multiple sets of varying reps build size and strength.


7.) Negative work is more effective than positive in producing strength gains. 
FALSE – Let me ask you, would you rather walk up a flight of 20 stairs or walk down a 20 flights of stairs? Positive work has been shown to involve more motor units and create greater changes in internal muscle temperature. Most of the research indicates that there are no additional conditioning benefits from negative training.

Showing newest 8 of 19 posts from September 2008. Show older posts Showing newest 8 of 19 posts from September 2008. Show older postsTuesday, September 30, 2008
True Or False - Jeff Everson
 










True or False?
by Jeff Everson (1982)


1.) Working on the preacher bench correctly and selectively develops the lower biceps.

FALSE – What is being stressed here is the brachialis muscle because of its origin and insertion and the resultant angle of pull upon the muscle. Motor unit firing and subsequent muscle innervation is contiguous which, simply put, means you cannot selectively stimulate the lower biceps over the upper biceps. This is pure rubbish. The strain felt in the crook of the arm while doing preacher curls is due to the stress upon the brachialis muscle and the bicep short head, not the lower bicep.




2.) Doing heavy cheat E-Z curls will be more effective in building the mass of the arm flexors as opposed to strict, heavy concentration curls.

FALSE – Why should it be? Granted, you use a heavier weight, but doing so might involve more synergistic muscle use, whereas heavy concentration curls isolate the elbow flexors and this is what is important for size and strength. Remember, though, this is heavy, strict concentration curling, not light dumbell cramping.




3.) Use of the straight bar is more effective than the E-Z curl bar for building mass in the collective elbow flexors.

FALSE – Basmajian, the great muscle researcher, has shown by use of intricate EMG that the collective strength of the elbow flexors is greatest when the hand is in midposition (such as in the use of the E-Z bar). Do not confuse this with building the biceps itself which is a different story and might respond better to the straight bar.




4.) Training with heavy weights is the best way to convert red or slow twitch muscle fibers to fast white muscle fibers.

FALSE – You cannot convert one fiber into another type. You can change some metabolic characteristics of some intermediate type fibers and hypertrophy the white fibers but never convert them.




5.) To build total muscle mass it is necessary to train with the heaviest weights possible at all times. 

FALSE – Training with heavy weights primarily builds the muscle fibers but not the whole muscle mass which includes the sarcoplasmic proteins and connective tissue. Actually, to build total mass it is best to use heavy weights frequently and moderate weights frequently for the pumping effect that stimulates sarcoplasmic constituents and the myofibrils.




6.) One set to absolute failure is probably enough to stimulate maximum size and strength.

PROBABLY FALSE – There has been no published research to verify this, yet there has been research to verify that multiple sets of varying reps build size and strength.


7.) Negative work is more effective than positive in producing strength gains. 
FALSE – Let me ask you, would you rather walk up a flight of 20 stairs or walk down a 20 flights of stairs? Positive work has been shown to involve more motor units and create greater changes in internal muscle temperature. Most of the research indicates that there are no additional conditioning benefits from negative training.




8.) Forced reps have been shown to be very effective in stimulating size and strength.

FALSE – Shown by who? There has been no published research on forced reps. When the muscle system fails, it fails. You cannot stimulate additional growth by forcing reps (except in the spotter). And you wonder why you see all these skinny guys doing negatives and forced reps until they’re blue in the face.

11.) The bench press actually does little for pec development since it’s approximately a 75% deltoid exercise.

FALSE – The stress from this exercise is totally dependent upon the position of the elbows. With the elbows out, the pecs are more involved; with the elbows in, there is more triceps and deltoid involvement

16.) Muscle soreness is typically due to the spilling out of lactic acid in the blood stream. Unless this soreness takes place your previous workout was probably unproductive.

FALSE – Residual soreness is best described by an excess of connective tissue enzyme, hydroxyproline. While it can occur, muscle soreness does not always follow a hard workout
Weightlifting 101: Getting Started
by Randall Strossen

Part One
Olympic-style weightlifting (“weightlifting,” for short) consists of two lifts: the snatch and the clean & jerk. Both are considered quick lifts and both start with the bar on the ground and end with it being at arm’s length overhead. In the snatch, the entire lift is performed in one continuous movement, with speed and good technique sometimes substituting for raw strength. The clean & jerk is really two lifts in one. First, the bar is lifted to the shoulders, and from there it is jerked overhead. Speed and good technique certainly help on the clean & jerk, but there’s no way you can clean & jerk a lot of weight without being just plain strong. In fact, the clean & jerk is probably the ultimate power lift.

Let’s not make any bones about it: weightlifting is not the easiest thing in the world to learn. For anyone who is less than a first-rate athlete learning the lifts will be quite a challenge, so be prepared to invest months of effort before achieving even a moderate level of technical skill. So why put up with these rites of passage when you can learn to perform the powerlifts and most bodybuilding movements much quicker?

For starters, whatever reservations some people might express about weightlifting, it is the only branch of the Iron Game that –indisputably – is a true sport. Thus, anyone with even an inkling of athletic skill or ambition will find it infinitely more rewarding to perform even a power clean than all the benches and curls in the world. And for the select few, the ultimate athletic showcase – the Olympic Games – awaits weightlifters, while bodybuilders and powerlifters can only become spectators. By extension, weightlifting is the preferred weight-training medium for virtually all sports.

Second, the qualities required to be a top weightlifter are essentially independent of those required to be a top bodybuilder, so it’s very possible that someone who might not even make it to the finals in a regional bodybuilding contest could become a champion weightlifter. This might be a refreshing revelation to all who aspire to great achievements in the Iron Game, but whose genetic gifts simply do not present the opportunity for significant success in competitive bodybuilding.

Third, the amount of equipment required for weightlifting is a pittance compared to either bodybuilding or powerlifting. A top-flight weightlifting gym is nothing more than a platform, an Olympic set and a pair of squat racks. Period. And you can start with much less than even those three elements. For example, Bud Charniga – who at one time was snatching within spitting distance of the world record – used to snatch 260 pounds on a 6-foot York standard exercise bar in his basement, early in his lifting career. Mario Martinez – easily the top performing American weightlifter of the past decade – spent his early training days bending exercise bars and putting holes in his parents’ patio. Mario would straighten out the bars with a hammer, and move to one side of his latest set of holes before starting anew.

But what about some of those negative things you might have heard about the sport of weightlifting?

In recent years, someone started the rumor that weightlifting is dead in the USA, and that even for athletes this is just as well because light bodybuilding movements, machines and powerlifting could produce better results anyway. The truth is that weightlifting is undergoing something of a resurgence in the United States – in no small part because coaches from track to football realize that there is no better way to increase the power of their athletes than to have them train on the Olympic lifts. In fact, the elite strength coaches’ professional organization – the NCSA – has become increasingly involved in introducing weightlifting to its members and their athletes.

Ignorance – rather than malice – has probably led some people to claim that the sport of weightlifting is inherently dangerous and has an extremely high rate of serious injuries, when the facts contradict this situation. One need look no further than to such a seemingly tame sport as gymnastics to find injury rates higher than in weightlifting, and by the time you get to something like American-style football, any comparison becomes ludicrous.

Finally, there seems to be a residual feeling in some quarters that all weightlifters are drug users. To be sure, at least in the USA, the earliest applications of anabolic steroids in sports were with weightlifters, and since that time many weightlifters have used these, and other, drugs. What you should also know is that the sport of weightlifting will probably go down in history as being the first sport to seriously try to eliminate drug use: Weightlifting has be far the most stringent drug-testing program and by far the most severe penalties for drug positives of any sport.


Getting Started

Your active involvement with weightlifting can be either as a means to an end, or as an end in itself. In the first case, for example, you might be a bodybuilder, primarily, who is interested in the unparalled back development achieved through weightlifting; or you might be a basketball player looking for a big boost in your vertical jump, or a football player looking for more horsepower coming off the line. In the second case, you might be interested in seeing what you can do on the lifts for their own sake, regardless of whether you ever enter a lifting contest. Whatever your motivation and goals, you will essentially start your weightlifting career the same way. 


Assuming that you are basically in sound physical condition and have been training steadily with weights for at least a year or so, the most important way to kick off your weightlifting journey is to start stretching to increase your flexibility. Talk to a qualified coach or buy a good book on stretching and start to systematically work, minimally, on your shoulders, wrists, hips, knees and ankles. Start to stretch before every single workout and don’t hesitate to stretch as many times during the day as you can. Please don’t think that stretching is a waste of your time: Whatever flexibility you develop will only augment your performance when you actually grab the barbell, and it just might be the most important factor in preventing injuries.

In addition to stretching, you need to start thinking about speed: Weightlifters are among the very fastest of all athletes (some would argue that they are the fastest). Until you see a world class lifter hoist hundreds of pounds to arm’s length overhead faster than you can follow the bar with your eye, it will be hard to fully appreciate the level of speed we are talking about. To put yourself on track, just remember two things: 1) A world class lifter will snatch the heaviest of weights in less than one second, literally, and 2) as your technique develops, try to move ever more explosively on the lifts. 

Start by making the following adjustments to your current training program:

1. Stretch daily.

2. Perform all your back squats in a high-bar, medium-stance, rock bottom style, with no support gear.

3. Add standing presses to your routine.

4. Add the clean deadlift and shrug to your routine, performed as follows. Using a moderate weight, grab the bar with a conventional overhand grip, using a grip a little wider than your shoulders. Perform a conventional deadlift, but strictly maintain a flat back and your hip-shoulder position throughout the lift. At the top of your deadlift, shrug the bar as high as possible, rising on your toes as you shrug. Perform each rep like this.

Do 5 sets of 5 reps in each of these movements, using progressively heavier warmups for your first 2 sets and then do 3 sets of 5 with your “working weight.” Be sure to include a little abdominal work at the end of your workout as well. 

Making these changes in your routine will help lay a foundation for the next step in your training. Don’t forget to stretch!


Part Two
Last issue I introduced the Olympic lifts and had you start to incorporate related movements into your training. Now we are ready to build on that preliminary step and advance in your adaptation to weightlifting.


High Pulls From the Hang

The essence of weightlifting is to get the weight to arm’s length overhead by first pulling a weight as high off the ground as you can and then instantaneously reversing directions and getting under it. Pulling the bar in the most efficient manner possible is likely to be very different from what you might have already been doing, so try to ignore your preconceptions as you learn to pull. 

For simplicity, consider the pull to comprise two stages: 1) The first stage involves breaking the bar off the floor and getting it to above the knees for 2) what is usually called “the second pull.” The first pull somewhat resembles a deadlift; the second pull is the essential aspect and is much harder for most people to learn. Thus, your training on the pull will begin with pulls from “the hang,” that is, you will do your pulls with the bar starting off a little above your knees.

In the first photograph of Naim Suleymanoglu (Turkey) he is just starting his pull, where the primary objectives are to break the bar off the floor and put it in the best position for the second pull. Note the relative position of his hips, back, shoulders and head. In the second photo of Suleymanoglu, the bar ready to receive the second pull; this will be the starting position for all your pulls from the hang position.

From the hang you will, in order, straighten your legs, back and finally shrug your shoulders to finish in a position as shown in the third photo of Suleymanoglu. Note the arms are mere connectors in this chain of events – you do NOT perform something like an upright row. Pulling with “bent arms” or “arm pulling” at the end of the movement will be a natural temptation, but don’t give in to it – these faults will only weaken your pull, and from a bodybuilding perspective will turn a great back movement into a lousy biceps exercise. 

Pulls are done for both the snatch and the clean, with the primary difference being one’s hand position. Snatches are done with a very wide grip, and cleans are done with the hands a little more than shoulder width apart. The first two photographs of Suleymanoglu illustrate the hand position for a clean pull, and the third photo illustrates the hand position for the snatch pull. If your time/energy is limited, perform snatch and clean pulls in alternate workouts; otherwise do your snatch pulls first and follow them with your clean pulls. The weight used for snatch pulls should be about 80% of what you use for clean pulls, with the bar reaching about pec-height on snatch pulls, and about waist-height on clean pulls. Don’t let your form deteriorate in an attempt to handle too much weight too early.


The Push Jerk

No matter how strong they are on the standard bodybuilding movements or the powerlifts, most people new to weightlifting will be very weak overhead. Since the Olympic lifts are overhead lifts it’s a good idea to start working on your overhead strength immediately.

To simultaneously lay a foundation for learning the classic jerk and for building overhead strength, you should begin with the push jerk (also called the “power jerk”). The idea is to begin standing upright with the bar on your chest as if your were going to do an overhead press. Next, in sequence, dip, and then forcefully straighten your legs, push up with your arms, and simultaneously drop under the bar. The net result should be that you catch the bar on fully straightened arms, in the position illustrated in the photograph of Ronny Weller (Germany).

If this entire sequence proves too difficult to learn initially, don’t be afraid to spend several weeks training on the push press instead: Start as above, but simply dip, straighten your legs and finish the movement by pressing the bar to arm’s length overhead. After a few weeks on the push press the transition to the push jerk should be fairly direct.


The Overhead Squat

The overhead squat is considered by many to be the single most unpleasant movement in the weightlifter’s program – so you might as well learn about it immediately. The overhead squat is nothing more than a full squat with the bar held overhead in the snatch position, which sounds innocent enough, but for most beginners it will leave the wrists and shoulders absolutely screaming for mercy, so progress slowly, allowing your body to loosen up and your mind to toughen.

Begin the movement with a wide grip (collar to collar or thereabouts for anyone from medium height on up), as the bar fests on your shoulders (as if you were going to do presses behind the neck of squats). Now, in sequence, dip the knees, quickly straighten the legs while pushing up with your arms – jerking the weight to arm’s length overhead. This is your starting position, and from here you will lower yourself into a full squat – as illustrated by Igor Sadykov (Uzbekistan). Balance will likely be tricky at first, so descend slowly, always under control and don’t be afraid to start off with your heels slightly raised on barbell plates or a block of wood.




Back Squats and Front Squats

Perhaps no exercise/lift is capable of such a wide variety of interpretation as is the squat. Thus, what a powerlifter calls a squat would probably cause an Olympic lifter to ask, “What’s that?”

To be sure, if your sole objective is to see how much weight you can “squat” with, you will want to emulate powerlifters – from position to gear. For weightlifters (as with bodybuilders), the squat is a means to an end – an absolutely critical tool, but one that must be used properly for best results, even if this requires that less weight be moved than in a different style. Of course the irony is that while a top weightlifter could easily adapt to the powerlifter’s style match his poundages, a powerlifter converting to the weightlifter’s movement will probably get a very cold shower when it comes time to load the bar.

In the get-set position of an Olympic squat:

1. the bar is high on the traps
2. the chest is up
3. the chest is lifted
4, the feet are about hip-width apart
5. no wraps, squat suit or belt are used

Once you have developed proper Olympic squat technique you will understand why the old-times referred to this movement as “the deep knee bend” and not “the squat.” Note Chakarov’s depth in the photo, as well as the position of his head, chest and feet. The key element is that the hip-back-shoulder position does not deteriorate into a simulated good morning with a lean forward and the back taking up the work – instead, form is held even when breaking through the sticking point. By the way, Chakarov’s best effort in this style, at 198 lbs. bodyweight is about 772 pounds.

In addition to properly performed back squats start to do front squats as well. Front squats will be performed just as the back squats except that the bar will be held on your chest, instead of your upper back. At least until your wrists and shoulders loosen up, feel free to front squat with the bar only resting lightly on your fingertips, rather than feeling you have to maintain a death grip on the bar. Be sure to keep your elbows high, maintain your hip/back/shoulder position throughout the lift, and squat to rock bottom. Also be sure to keep your elbows clear of your knees. If you have to dump the bar while front squatting and your elbow hits your knee, you can end up with a severely sprained wrist.

Perform back squats and front squats in alternate workouts, doing back squats, for example, on Monday, front squats on Wednesday, back squats on Friday, and so forth.

Here’s how your whole training program will look:

Snatch Pull
Clean Pull
Push Press/Push Jerk
Overhead Squat
Back Squat/Front Squat

Perform 5 sets of 5 reps of each. Make the first two sets progressively heavier warmup sets, and then do three sets with your “working weight.” Finish off your workout with a little abdominal training. Train 3 days per week, allowing one or two rest days in between workouts. This is a lot of work and if it leaves you overtrained cut down on the number or work sets and/or make one training day fairly light, one day moderately heavy and make the remaining day heavy

The shrug, as taught to me by Hise, should be performed with a resistance which permits 20 repetitions. During the early repetitions the bar will be shrugged up, while inhaling, a vertical distance of 2 to 3 inches; towards the end of the set the bar will rise only about half an inch or even less. The specific shrug Hise was referring to was what eventually became known and “the Hise shrug,” but the same basic manner of performance applies to other types of shrugs used for this purpose, though the range of motion would not be the same for all the variants.

Anything which resembles inhaling against resistance may be called impeded breathing. The impedance, however, will not necessarily be in a downwards direction. As you bend forward to start to clean a weight and bring the muscles of your legs, hips, back and arms into play your posture and muscular effort will tend to obstruct inhalation and exhalation. With repetition cleans the forces that oppose expansion of the thorax work in a horizontal as well as a vertical direction. It’s this breathing against resistance which, on Hise’s account, produce the anabolic effect on the body.


Ultimate Hard Gainers

Senescence is the process of growing old. I’ve used this term because it commonly appears in current scientific articles on aging. The elderly are the ultimate hard gainers. In the normal course of events all they can look forward to are negative gains. According to some authorities, after the age of 25 there’s a 1% decline in the functions of the body; by the age of 50 the average sedentary person will have lost 25% of his or her own strength and endurance. Every 10 years there is, on some accounts, a loss of 6 pounds of lean muscle which is replaced by fat. Typically, as lean body mass decreases, the skin loses elasticity and grows thinner.

In respect of some characteristics senescence begins toward the end of the third decade! This is when bone mass starts to decrease, when the immune response grows less efficient, when the rate at which protein is synthesized begins to slow and when there’s a decline in the ability of cells to take up glucose in response to the stimulus of insulin.

Although there’s a substantial literature on aging, a consensus has not yet been reached concerning the process of senescence on the molecular level. One theory of senescence is worth mentioning since the underlying changes are said to be influenced, in part at least, by environmental factors, including diet and level of physical activity. According to this view much of the degeneration of old age is due to damage to nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Free radicals are the cause of this damage. Free radicals are incomplete, unstable molecules containing oxygen. Stable radicals, on the other hand, have an unpaired electron at their surface; this makes them highly reactive and they steal electrons from any compound they encounter.

It’s this process of oxidization that’s said to produce the damaging effects of senescence. The free radicals continue to be generated in a chain reaction; it’s believed that they are deprived of their power to injure when they encounter anti-oxidants such as vitamins E and C. Free radicals are produced both in the environment and also within the body’s cells themselves. Environmental sources of free radicals are radiation, including solar radiation, industrial pollution of the atmosphere, and tobacco smoke. Another source is cooking with fats. It seems that olive oil, which is a monounsaturated fat is the safest for cooking with. Olive oil is a very special oil and should be used outside of cooking, in salad dressings and in place of margarine and butter.

It’s essential to grasp that even without a full knowledge of the biological processes of aging, the appearance of many of the bio-markers of senescence such as loss of muscle mass, osteoporosis, decline in cardiovascular efficiency and loss of mental sharpness can be delayed significantly. The elderly who exercise systemically are comparable in body composition and cardiac output to people twenty of thirty years their junior. The female members of an American masters swimming team, who were all in their seventies, had an average bodyfat percentage of 23.5; the average bodyfat of that age group is 44.6. In fact, the bodyfat percentage of the swimmers was that of young women of the 19–24 age group.

In respect of many physiological measures – aerobic capacity, cardiovascular characteristics, pulmonary function – middle-aged women who train rationally reach values typical of the average young male.

There is, in our culture, a common opinion that inactivity is the natural state of the middle-aged and especially the elderly. However, one of the main causes of muscle wasting, of bone demineralization, of loss of aerobic capacity is muscular inactivity. Progressive overload exercise (involving both isotonic and isokinetic) can soon make a noticeable improvement in the appearance of the limbs of the elderly and in the ability to perform physical work. When resistance exercise is supplemented by endurance exercise there’s a reduction in heart rate, in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and in skin fold measurement.

In not-exercising subjects bone mineral is lost at a rate of 0.7% per year between the ages of 30 and 70. A sedentary lifestyle, too much alcohol, too much dietary fat, all seem to speed up senescence; rational exercise and rational diet slow down the aging process. It’s not really the fault of the elderly that they adopt a physically inactive lifestyle. The decline in physical activity is due to cultural factors as well as to true physiological aging. It requires great firmness of purpose to go against the flow. 

Once the elderly see evidence, in their own bodies, that progressive overload exercise can produce muscular growth and increased cardiac output their emotional state, even their world outlook can be transformed. In addition to a feeling of being in control there is, with the realization that the rate of aging can be modified, a growth of optimism and a sense of a new beginning.

The phrase “Hise Effect” in the title of this article refers to the general anabolic state that results from the performance of the special exercises advocated by J.C. Hise – especially breathing squats, round bench pullovers and shrugs. A Hise program should be part of the exercise regime of the elderly; it has been proved over the years to be extremely effective in producing muscular hypertrophy in the chronically underweight.

A chief virtue of the Hise approach is that it’s minimalist; the cardinal aim of Hise training it to produce growth with the smallest possible volume of exercise. Catabolic factors must never be allowed to outstrip anabolic factors.

A second positive feature is Hise’s emphasis on posture. Typically, senescence is accompanied by a deterioration or posture. Central to Hise’s cartilage mass theory of growth is the view that a perfectly erect body is both a symptom and a means of achieving good body mechanics. Primarily, Hise shrugs, squats, etc., provide the stimulus for the growth and increase in strength of the muscles that control posture (in calf, thigh, back, neck, chest). As these muscles grow stronger the posture and carriage of the body approach that state most favorable for the growth of the connective tissue system which, in Hise’s account, is the essential prerequisite of general muscular hypertrophy. As Hise put it: “Good body mechanics will increase cartilage mass without which the body cannot grow.” Hise’s methods work, and if they work with the chronologically underweight it’s plausible to claim that they will also work to some extent with the elderly.

Research at Harvard University indicates that progressive overload exercise can produce muscular hypertrophy even in extreme old age. The Hise principle of parsimony that requires training sessions to be brief, careful in the disposal of energy and well intervalled makes good sense, especially in the case of the elderly. Progressive overload training on Hisean lines will stimulate the greatest possible muscular growth while stopping short of the point where exercise becomes destructive.

A plausible explanation of the benefits of brief exercise sessions may be connected with the production of growth hormone (also known as somatropic hormone of somatropin) which is a very potent anabolic hormone essential for the growth of skeletal muscle (it’s not, however, an anabolic steroid but a peptide). Growth hormone is secreted in the anterior pituitary gland and is at its peak in adolescence, declining significantly from the thirties onwards. Growth hormone helps to transport amino acids through the cell walls and is involved with protein synthesis and growth. It also mobilizes fatty acids from bodyfat tissue and helps to use up adipose tissue for energy; this in turn may increase lean body mass.

Growth hormone is secreted in short bursts throughout the day and is influenced by exercise, nutrition, stress and mental state. Most growth hormone is secreted during the first two hours of sleep. It seems that resistance exercise stimulates the release of growth hormone but only for about 60 to 90 minutes. After this point release of growth hormone is suppressed. People who work at hard manual jobs, marathon runners an triathlon competitors don’t have enhanced growth hormone secretion – they work too hard.

Aside from the contribution that good posture is alleged to make to general muscular growth, the elderly will undoubtedly benefit from the correction of their standing and sitting posture. When the elderly sit for prolonged periods of time the spine assumes a relaxed posture. As the lumbar spine becomes fully flexes, the ligamentous structures are stretched to a harmful extent. The typical profile of a seated elderly person shows extreme thoracic kyphosis with the neck bent almost horizontally. This flexed position of the lumbar spine interferes with the fluid flow within the intervertebral disc, and intradiscal pressure rises. 

It’s advisable for the subject to sit with correct posture, or even slightly overcorrected posture immediately after a Hise training session. In fact, this sitting while maintaining the correct lordosis and cervical posture should be considered part of the program, and will help to consolidate the gains just made in the efficiency of the postural muscles.


Nutrition

There’s much anecdotal evidence, some of which is supported by epidemiological studies, that those races or peoples who stay strong and healthy even in extreme old age live on diets that are low in calories but high in nutritive value. In particular, those populations that consume diets that primarily consist of fruits and vegetables have healthy blood pressure, low glucose levels and low total serum cholesterol levels.

When there have been epidemiological surveys of such populations’ results have shown far fewer occurrences of many sorts of so-called Western diseases. In addition, these people maintain good levels of lean body mass, strength and cardiovascular efficiency into the ninth decade and beyond. It’s thought that the diet of these people, which is high in anti-oxidants, limits or even reverses the damaging effect of free radicals.

It has to be emphasized that the typical diet and lifestyle of the developed countries is very unhealthy. One person in two dies from heart disease. One man in four will have a heart attack before retiring. Even pre-teen school children have fatty deposits in their arteries. Strokes and heart attacks don’t come out of the blue. They are the result of a steady, year-by-year accumulation of harmful factors such as stress, high-fat diet, lack of exercise, excessive alcohol, high salt and sugar intake, smoking and too little fibre. The body is like a credit ledger; you’re free to make any transaction you like but the day will come when you have to pay in full.


The Shrug

There’s an equivocation in the use of the term “shrug.” The term sometimes refers to the raising and contracting of the shoulders against maximum resistance, as an auxiliary exercise for lifters. The same tern, however, is also used to refer to so-called Hise shrugs with sub-maximal resistance which are intended to make inroads in the breathing and postural muscles and which are said to produce a positive effect on the synthetic aspects of metabolism. As I noted in my previous article, Hise believed that shrugs, squats and pullovers had the power to cause radical change in the body. 


Shrugs should be varied – across the shoulders (the Hise shrug), held in front of the shoulders (rack position shrugs), at arms length overhead (snatch shrugs – more effective if done seated) and held in the deadlift finishing position.

To perform the Hise shrug adopt the position as if you’re standing with the bar over your shoulders and ready to squat. But don’t squat. Instead, shrug your shoulders and raise your chest as much as possible with each inhalation. Hise believed that shrugs should be performed only if one is already breathing hard from the preceding exercise.

I’ve never come across any scientific account of why Hise shrugs should produce this anabolic effect. Nonetheless, I’ve witnessed considerable improvement in physique and work capacity in subjects of all ages using this exercise.

It’s necessary to point out a third type of shrug, an exercise which could be called the “shrugless shrug.” By this I mean exercises which incorporate a chief feature of Hise shrugs – impeded breathing – but which don’t necessarily entail the full raising of the shoulders.

During inhalation the configuration of the thorax changes in a very complex way. As a first approximation, however, we need to consider only the raising of the ribs and the sternum, the increase of the thoracic cavity upwards, the depression of the diaphragm and the lateral expansion of the lower ribs. Whenever the mechanics of a particular exercise offer resistance to the horizontal and vertical expansion of the thoracic cavity, “impeded breathing” (or “shrugless shrugging” or “effective shrugging”) is taking place. A 20-repetition set of heavy deadlifts (weight not being allowed touch the floor) will entail a particularly intense form of impeded breathing, whether of not shrugging in the strict sense is being performed.

Impeded breathing exercise, judiciously supervised, may have a positive contribution to make to the anabolism of elderly subjects.

There’s a place for all three variations of the shrug in exercise programs for the elderly unless contraindicated by back problems. 

Hise said that it’s an act both of optimism and of courage when a person who is no longer young embarks on a program of resistance training. It’s an act of courage because that person is taking responsibility for himself; activity is being chosen over passiveness, physical energy over inertness, self-assertiveness over quiescence. “You and only you,” Hise would say, “are choosing yourself and taking control of yourself. Even if your gains are small, even if they are barely perceptible, you will still have the feeling that you are in control, that only your choices and decisions matter in your life.”
No one should ever stop exercising. There’s an exercise regime for everyone, whatever their age, whatever their medical condition.

“You should wake up each day with the sense of just having been born and all that matters are the decisions you are going to make that day.”

J.C. Hise

The Hise Regime

Joe put me on what’s now the classical Hise regime for the underweight: “dinky squats” followed by round-bench pullovers, shrugs, hopper deadlifts neck exercises. He added the one-arm dumbbell press and barbell curl. He would absolutely not allow any abdominal exercises which, he believed, brought all growth to an end. Hise held that the constant effort of the postural muscles involved in keeping the body perfectly erect would provide optimal exercise for the abdominals.

Erect posture was, for Hise, the essential prerequisite for growth. He often praised the physique and posture of John Grimek. I was struck, when I first met Grimek, by the remarkable erectness of his body. In fact, sitting or standing, he was so erect he seemed to be leaning backwards. I once sat near him in a restaurant and not once during the meal did he relax from this perfect uprightness of spine. 

Joe constantly stressed the importance of rationing the intensity and volume of exercise for hard gainers. The extreme hard gainer – classified by William Sheldon and his associates as the ectomorph, characterized by a thin peaked face, high forehead, narrow chest and abdomen, thin arms and legs and a little subcutaneous fat – should be restricted to one or two sets of “dinky” squats of 50–70 pounds, the round-bench pullovers, the hopper deadlift, and one set of shrugs, as core exercises. No more than four other exercises were to accompany these core movements.

In about five weeks I’d jumped from the minimalist squats to bodyweight squats, and then a few weeks later to squats with 200 pounds for 2 sets of 10. Though 200 felt very heavy, I discovered that if I descended fairly quickly and bounced back up from the bottom position the whole movement became much easier. Bad mistake. This was the start of years of knee problems.

The hopper deadlift was performed with 200 pounds. I stood with my knees on either side of a strong kitchen chair and lowered the bar so it made contact with the chair seat and rebounded upwards. I got away with this because I wasn’t using a very heavy weight – otherwise the chair would have collapsed. I should have done this the classic Hise way using tires mounted on the bar, or used a form of his “hopper” platform. Even the “proper” way can be harmful, so I’d caution you against it unless you have a “Hisean” type person who really knows what he’s doing and is willing to supervise you. Hise felt this was a useful developmental exercise for the hard gainer. In later years I worked quite intensively on the regular deadlift as an all around strength and growth exercise.

Joe emphasized that the pullovers were to be performed on a round bench while still breathing heavily from the squats or deadlifts. 

The workouts were finished by performing Hise’s “towel exercise” for the neck. A towel is placed on the back of the head (not the neck); the ends of the towel are held in each hand and the head is tilted back against the resistance supplied by the hands.

He told me to perform another exercise throughout the day whenever I had the opportunity, an exercise to stretch out and enlarge my rib cage. One should stand about two feet away from an open door; the hands should be placed on each vertical of the door frame at about head height (or even higher, on the lintel). Next the body should be pushed forward until a strong sensation of stretching is felt in the region of the sternum. Deep breathing should accompany the stretching. 

For certain body types this exercise can actually be too effective and eventually make the ribcage look grotesque. It’s a sort of “super Rader chest pull.” Some individual fine-tuning is necessary, for foot and hand positioning, angle of lean, extent of bending the arms, etc., as these factors are influenced by limb and torso length, height and their relative proportions. 

I was, during this period, getting attracted to vegetarianism, which was a further hindrance to my following Hise’s instructions on diet. I didn’t dare inform Joe that, far from eating steak, chops, sausages and hash three times a day, I had difficulty in drinking a pint of milk in one go. Three quarters of a pint plus a banana was not a bad accomplishment for me at that point. For a long time I would sit over a meal, eating slowly and without pleasure, feeling uncomfortably full. It took a while before I could manage what the average person would regard as a substantial meal. I noticed all kinds of changes taking place as I progressed with Hise’s training routine. I ate better. I slept better, I relaxed better. Interestingly, I seemed to acquire an intolerance to alcohol (G.W. Kelling noticed this as well). A couple of beers would leave me faintly nauseous.

After two or three months of the basic Hise regime I changed from 2 x 10 x 200 in the squat to 1 x 20 x 200. At the end of about six months I’d progressed to 1 x 20 x 240 in the regular squat and 1 x 10 x 200 in the front squat. I would take several deep breaths before each rep, shrugging the bar high as I inhaled. I feel that front squats performed in this manner are even more productive than regular squats. For many years, front squats were the only squats I did. While I was still breathing deeply from the squats I would follow up with round-bench pullovers. I later added pullovers from a wrestler’s bridge. The wrestler’s bridge is not a good exercise, and doctors frown on it. Some American college wrestling coaches proscribe this exercise. 

If I remember correctly, I gained around 15 pounds during six months of Hise training. I was soon to discover, however, that this was not a stable, permanent weight gain. Either the muscle I’d acquired was not of the highest quality, or my body simply didn’t wish to operate at a higher bodyweight.

Considering the wide area it covers, inch for inch the lower back is possibly the weakest part of your body. This is a rather strong contrast from what you have been led to believe, isn’t it. But don’t take my word for it, make the above experiment yourself and see.

You can’t discount this on the basis of bad leverage because of the extended upper body. The same condition of overcoming leverage enters into all exercises. In the curl, the weight is carried away from the body; in the squat the thighs are at right angles with the calves at a certain point (which is a bad leverage position); in the bench press the upper and lower arm bones must overcome an adverse leverage position. The lower back just isn’t as strong as your have been told it was, that’s all!

Just as long as the training for the lower back depends on strong action in the hips and legs, this part of your body will never get the direct stimulation that it should, and will always remain comparatively weak. Now don’t misunderstand me, I know, it is compound and often cheating exercises which pack on muscle bulk and cooperative muscle action in movements must be followed for all around power and size. The cheating exercises which build bulk and strength are based on this idea. However, some direct activity must also be included. Only by this will the individual muscle area be encouraged to grow strong and powerful in itself, so that when combined with the other stronger parts the lifter will be free from the possibility of lower back strain. 

Now, while it is true as proved above that the lower back is not the seat of greatest demonstrative power in the body, it is just as true that it IS the seat of rugged, virile power. What it may lack in muscle strength it makes up for by supplying the source of powerful life. 

Situated in the lower back area is the important “sacro” section of our body. From here originates the strength and virility of the individual. Poor tone or weakness in this part shows up strongly in the lack of strength of the individual. Muscular power in this area strengthens the functioning of all parts of the body. 

While we must not neglect deadlifts and other cooperative lower back movements in our routines, we must at the same time make sure that direct action is given to it as well. If we don’t, regardless of how efficiently it might work with other body parts, it will always remain a potential source of danger. As another example let us examine the training of a weightlifter. Today, the majority of weightlifters do practice some bodybuilding movements, but years ago this was not so true. One part of their bodies which was bothering them a lot was their elbows. The reason for this is that they practiced many heavy cleans to the shoulders from various start points, but did little if any direct arm work. The arms, particularly curling power was weak, and the muscular attachments were weak as well. Heavy cleans, especially from positions other than the floor, subject the these attachments to a severe strain and it showed up in strained and sore elbows.

I personally watched several top weightlifters of some years back, all of whom were annoyed by painful elbows, correct this condition through weeks and weeks of steady practice of various forms of the curl, first with light weights and then with heavier ones as the pain subsided and left. By strengthening the biceps muscle they actually helped themselves in lifting and were able to clean more weight to the shoulder with little or no elbow pain.

A similar comparison is possible with the lower back. While the elbow serves as the hinge to raise the weight from the lifting platform to the shoulders, the lower back works as the hinge which works with the legs and hips in raising weights off the ground. If it is weak it may become strained, just as the elbow did. If it is strong not only will it be able to withstand more strain, but it will also be able to contribute to the power of the legs and hips, making it possible to raise even more weight from the ground. Just as it took direct arm action to strengthen the elbows, so will it require direct lower back exercises to strengthen this part. And here are some exercises which will do just that.


EXERCISE 1. Side Bend to Floor with Weight Held Overhead.
Stand with a light barbell held above the head. Twist the body to one side, keeping the knees stiff. Now, bend down to that side, keeping the arms vertical to the head. Lower right to the ground, or as close as possible at first. Keep the knees stiff. Then, still keeping the arms vertical to the head, raise the weight and body again to the starting position. Repeat 10 reps to one side and then after a short rest perform 10 to the other side. Work up to 3 sets over time.


EXERCISE 2. Front Squat Supports.
To tighten and toughen those strands of muscle along each side of the lower back supporting heavy weights is ideal. Adjust your squat racks until they are a few inches below shoulder height. Load up the bar to a heavy poundage. Now, get under the bar and just raise the weight off the supports in a racked at the shoulder position. Hold the weight in this position for a 10 count and then lower to the supports again. Take a few deep breaths and repeat. Perform 10 reps of this. Use a weight that will really make you work and feel how the lower back muscles tighten up. One set of this will be enough.


EXERCISE 3. Good Morning Exercise.
I consider this exercise better than the deadlift for lower back exercise, since the strain is thrown more directly on the back muscles. Stand with the weight held across the shoulders as in the back squat. Arch the back a bit and bend forward to a right angle. Return to the erect position. This movement can also be done with straight legs and a rounded back, however, it should be worked into gradually and less weight should be employed. Perform 3 sets of 10 reps.


EXERCISE 4. Lying Hyperextension.
This exercise is the one I mentioned in my article as being the most direct test of lower back strength. Lie on a flat exercise bench, face down. Have an assistant hold your ankles or strap them to the bench. Have upper body extending over edge of the bench. Place a light weight behind your neck and raise and lower the body towards the ground for 10 reps, 3 sets.


These four exercises will all reach your lower back in a local manner. Incorporate them in your training program, but as advised previously do not neglect your regular back-related compound movements. Just add this approach to your schedule see how much more power you will soon have for the big movements. They will fill in that gap of lower back exercise so often missing in the usual programs, add variety to your training and make your cleans, deadlifts and presses more certain than before. Remember these points:

It is a fallacy that the lower back is one of the strongest body points. In itself it is quite weak, only showing what appears to be power when working in conjunction with the hips and legs.

Because of its weakness, it is a potential danger point, and must be strengthened.

Correct training will strengthen it and tap into an important source of virile powers, which will improve your sense of well being.

Don’t neglect deadlifts and other standard compound lower back, hip and leg exercises for these are still most important, but make sure you add one or all of these localized movements to your routines.

One basic method of training intensity in the power rack is the Theory of Maximum Fatigue. Basically, this method consists of breaking each movement into three parts and performing our sets and repetitions within each of these three parts, from one set of pins to the other. The Maximum Fatigue Theory comes into play at the last repetition of the set. What we would do here is to push against the top pin for an additional six to eight seconds with all our might. Then we would lower the bar back to the starting point and then we would try to perform an extra repetition with this weight. Using this theory, each movement could be broken down into three positions with three sets done as just described, for each of the three positions. Nine sets done this way is quite a workload!

Another method of training intensity could be called forced, partial repetitions within a power rack. What we would do in this case would be to use only one set of supporting pins, placed at the bottom position of our chosen movement. Now we could either begin our set from a deadstop at the bottom or we could take the bar in the usual way, from the top position, inside the rack. If our chosen repetition scheme is somewhere between five and seven repetitions, then we would perform these reps in the usual manner until we would come to the last repetition which we could complete on our own, and from here we would continue to perform as many partial movements as we could until no movement whatsoever would be possible. What we would be doing, in this situation, is forcing the muscle fibers within the sections of the muscle groups under stress to fully exhaust themselves to the point of momentary failure. With this in mind, it should become even more apparent that the power rack allows us to work much harder than any other method, with strength as our training goal. Also, we must remember that this piece of equipment allows us to fully and completely exhaust our muscle fiber’s supply of growth promoting fluids. 


When you train on power rack work for any real length of time, the poundages you will be capable of handling in a certain position will literally astound you! One training partner of mine is regularly performing lockout bench presses with close to 700 lbs. I can perform partial standing presses with no leg drive with a little over 600 and regularly handled over 1,000 in the quarter squat position when I was concentrating on improving my back squat poundage. It is not hard to parallel squat with 500 lbs. when you can quarter squat with over 1,000. Also, we should bear in mind that these heavy, partial repetition movements will most adequately strengthen our joints and ligaments which, in a round about way, will enable us to handle heavier exercise poundages in the usually performed style of training. This is one of the greatest benefits of properly applied power rack training – it develops within you an excess of usable strength!

For increasing our poundages in the three power lifts, the power rack is downright indispensable. First of all, it allows us to work the lifts themselves in complete safety without the necessary use of spotters. Second, it forces us to perform each repetition of every set strictly and according to the rules of the competition. Also, through the use of either the Maximum Fatigue Theory or Forced Repetition Theory, we are enable to fully work each and every set with the most intense application possible. We are literally enabled to work ‘past the point of momentary failure.’ As a scheme to figure out how much in the way of sets and repetitions we should utilize for proper power lifting gains, I would advise somewhere between 3 and 5 sets of each of the three positions for each of the chosen movements we have decided to use, with the repetition scheme falling somewhere between 4 and 7 repetitions. This will enable us to handle some fairly heavy poundages in our training movements, thereby assuring that our gains will not be solely ‘bloated’ tissue, but more densely developed tissue. The end result would be a muscular development which would be capable of hoisting some really heavy poundages in the accepted Power Three. Since most powerlifters train each lift twice weekly, I would then advise you to work o the rack once per week or each lift, and once per week in the usual fashion using full range movements with the intensity on this second day falling between 70 and 80 percent of maximum capability. In this way you are assured that you will not lose any ability on the actual competitive performance style of the chosen lifts with the brunt of your workload falling on your power rack training one day each week.


While on the subject of powerlifting we should also mention the ability of working our particular ‘sticking points’ on the rack with great success. What we would do would be to combine isotonic (movement) with isometric (no movement) at the point of least strength within the range of exercise performance of the competitive movements. What I would recommend is, after your usual rack work for any given exercise, place the bar just below the point where you are the weakest and try to move from this point all the weight you can budge for between 3 and 5 repetitions. By placing a second set of pins two inches above this ‘sticking point’ and by working within this range, we can also contract isometrically at the end of each set.

With regular application of this principle we could eventually turn our sticking points into strong points within the range of the exercise movement. Needless to say, this type of training will eventually work for just about any interested and dedicated trainee. The main obstacle to overcome is the initial muscular weakness in this area, since this area is our point of lack of strength. However, we should persist past this initial period of physical adjustment, the additional strength gained through this system of training will astound you!


For general training and the sole increase of muscular size we can afford to be somewhat more liberal in our choice of sets and repetitions since we are not attempting to channel our training into any particular lifting movement. In this case we incorporate more fully a general training methodology and power rack training, with the end result being a more densely packed physique – one that possesses both size and strength as well as shape and definition. In this type of training I would recommend a somewhat higher set and repetition scheme since our main goal would be to thoroughly work and congest the involved muscles with additional growth promoting blood as well as deeper fiber stimulation due to the severity of the pertaining exercise.


For rapid increases in muscular size I would recommend a mixed repetition scheme somewhere between 6 and 8 with the forced partial repetitions being included at the end of each of these sets. We would not be working with ‘sticking point’ movements in this case, so we could afford to utilize more in the way of additional sets for each movement and the sections of the movements themselves. This additional work would thoroughly congest the involved muscles with growth promoting blood and the heavy partial movements performed at the end of each set would literally ‘tear’ into the muscle fibers in a way which simply must be felt and experienced to be appreciated. In the case or our size seeker, the amount of work and the duration of his training lies entirely within his will and desires. It is up to him to decide just when he has had enough. Within the scope of a four-day routine, we could utilize the power rack on two training days and the usual training methods on the other two. By combining both training methods we assure ourselves of a more complete muscular response. 


As I come to the end of this discussion, I am made all the more aware of the complexity and profoundness of this training method. To fully discuss this type of training would take a small book within itself. Since we do not have this much space for this topic, what I have tried to do is impress upon you the effectiveness of such training in hopes that you will be able to incorporate it into your personal training scheme so as to further your gains in both size and strength.

Power rack training is one sure method of increasing your muscular size and strength. It will enable you to experiment with intensified methods of training while at the same time it will enable you to greatly decrease your training volume and workload, due to the intensity of the training methodology. In other words, you will be training so severely and intensely that your routines will have to be shortened somewhat. This will not only enable you to completely recuperate from past periods of overtraining with the conventional methods but will enable you to more completely develop yourself and your strength to the limit of your genetic potential. 

If I had to pick one piece of training equipment, besides a barbell, that I would consistently use, it would without a doubt be a power rack. I consider it that important, not only for its versatility and strengthening factors, but also for its ability to safely aid in gaining strength and size.

 the size of the wrist has very little to do with the eventual strength and development of the forearm. You may have a six-inch wrist, but that does not mean you will never have a large and strong arm in its entirety. As a matter of fact AND record, one of the strongest men this world has ever seen – I believe he is the strongest, has hands and wrists so small that he can get his wife’s gloves on. Yet I have seen him pinch two 35-pound plates together – smooth sides out – and lift them merely by the thumb and finger – a terrific feat of forearm and hand power. Try it some time. He has also deadlifted over 700 pounds. His forearms are titanic in their strength and you will, I know, readily appreciate the formidable force in his fingers evidenced by the feats quoted above. The all-round bodily power of this man is beyond belief, yet what good would that power be, and how could it be displayed if his forearms were so poorly developed that his grip was always giving out. Figure it out for yourself. What use would big deltoids and biceps and triceps be if your lower arms were weak. Your forearms would be tired out long before your other arm muscles had had a good workout. So you see, fellows, altho you might despair of building your calves up, and thus be neglected to neglect them, there IS one section of the body you must never neglect. Your hands, wrists and forearms.

Both the bodybuilder and the lifter should concentrate on exercises which are designed to strengthening the grip. I have already instanced the example of the weightlifter with small hands who developed tremendous gripping power. Among the bodybuilders, it is Abe Goldberg who has very small hands and fingers. A few months ago, Abe was finding it hard to hold 400 in his hands while performing repetition deadlifts. Now he can hold 500 all night if he is so inclined. Coming a little closer to home, the author had to strap his hands to the bar while performing deadlifts with the wispy poundage of 350. Recently I held 565 pounds in my hands for a little over a minute after having deadlifted it – and I might add that Hy Schaffer of the Adonis AC lost a bet of a bottle of beer over that. In Abe’s case, his small hands and short fingers prevented him using higher poundages and in my case it was plumb plain weakness. We both made terrific improvement in strength by a course of specialized exercises. Can you imagine how much more powerful Abe and the weightlifting champion mentioned would be if they had larger hands and thicker wrists?

Let’s talk some more about powerful grips. The old-timer, Charles Vansart – known as Vansittart, the Man with the Iron Grip – performed feats of gripping and forearm strength which are not likely to be duplicated – EVER. He would place the bowl of a clay pipe between each of his fingers and by using finger strength only, smash the pipes to pieces by crushing his fingers together. He could tear a tennis ball in half – using fingers only. Another charming little stunt he liked to perform was to wrap a champagne bottle – empty – in a towel, and placing the bottle in the bend of his forearm and upper arm, would close both and smash the bottle. Easy? Are you kidding? Perhaps the greatest feat of all was his billiard cue feat. He would place the tip of a cue between his fingers – he used three cues – and would hold out the cues at full length by crushing his fingers together. A certain Englishman named Caswell could break an English penny in half by placing it on the first and third fingers and resting the second finger on it. Be smashing his fist down on the finger resting ON the penny, he cracked the bronze coin in halves. A British penny is around the size of our fifty-cent piece and as thick. Mac Batchelor – that Son of Scotia – is world renowned for finger and grip power. Mac can bend beer caps between thumb and forefinger as fast as you care to toss them at him, while at wrist wrestling he is unbeaten.

Speaking of strength, how about Hermann Goerner with his 602 ¼ lb. one hand deadlift on a STRAIGHT BAR. And imagine if you can the power of hand needed to perform the following. Hermann, sitting on a low stool, would PRESS a solid steel ball weighing 220 lbs. BETWEEN his hands – the ball had no handles and was absolutely smooth – and lifting above his head he would place it on a shelf and then REPLACE it on the floor.

Going from the physical to the intellectual side of humanity, the famed pianist Paderewski developed such power in his hands and fingers from a constant swarming up and down the keyboard that he could crush a potato in his hand. That’s something else for the book, for I doubt there’s any man in these United States who could come close to that unless he boiled the spud first.


Commencing your exercises for the forearms, you will find a great and rapid increase in power long before you are able to record an increase in size. As with the calves, there is a great deal of dense tissue to break down before the muscles of the forearm are able to grow. Space prevents me from going too deeply into the “why and how” of muscular growth, in fact I am unable to touch upon this subject at all in this article, altho I am preparing something along these lines for a future edition. Suffice for me to say that it is possible for you to work the lower arms, not only once a day but even two or three times. it is also necessary to be prepared to work considerably harder and with a greater variety of exercises than you use for other parts of the body. Forcing the reps and using many sets produces more in the way of results than any other method. 


Let’s start with the exercises. First on the programme is that good old stand-by, the Wrist Roller – and of course with the usual difference – as there is in all of these power exercises I am sharing with you. Don’t attach the usual length of cord – a yard or so! Use at least a five foot length and better still six feet! Stand on a box, bench or stool to perform the movement in order to obtain full benefit from the extra length of cord. Commence with a light weight at first – say a ten-pound disc and keeping the elbows tightly against the sides, raise the elbows so that they are parallel with the deck. With your palms uppermost, start to wind the weight up moving no other part of the arms but the hands and wrists. When the weight is up to the roller start to lower it again AGAINST the resistance of the weight. In other words, don’t just let the weight run down by itself but lower it down while resisting it. Perform 5 sets of this exercise and then change the position of the hands so that the palms face DOWN and repeat. 5 sets in this manner too. Increase the weight by five pounds as soon as you are able to make 5 sets comfortably in both directions and the muscles do not ache too much the day after the workout.

Another wonderful forearm developer and grip strengthener is to hold a heavy weight in the hands. What’s the best poundage you have ever deadlifted with two hands? Well, that will do as a start. Take the bar a few inches off boxes or the racks and time yourself with a watch. Try and increase the time you can hold the bar in your hands by a second or two each training day. As soon as you are able to hold it for a minute, then add weight. If I may inject another story into the serious side of this article, Johnny Davis carried two 100 lb. dumbbells along the length of a block and up three flights of stairs to Sig Klein’s gym. See how far you are able to carry two 50’s for a start and progress from there. Climbing stairs will make it harder to hold the bells.

Another great lower arm developer is a favorite exercise of Barton Horvath. Take two dumbbells loaded up to a weight which you can just curl 5 reps. Make these 5 reps, and then allowing the dumbbells to hang at the sides, palms facing to the rear, bend the wrists and lift the palms of the hands UP. Putting it a little more simply, you flex the wrist on the forearms. This is guaranteed to give your lower arms a real workout. Flex the wrists as many times as you can, forcing out every rep possible in both directions. Increase the curls by one every two weeks and force out the repetitions in the wrist flexing. As soon as you are able to perform 8 curls increase the weight by 5 pounds and commence again with 5 reps in the curls and as many forced wrist flexes as possible.

Here is another excellent forearm developer – a rather unusual exercise by our standards but nevertheless a grand strengthener of developer. Take a light barbell – from 30 to 40 pounds and clean it to the shoulders – you can start off with either the right of left hand. Seat yourself on a bench and place a back hang on the bar. That is, grasp the bar off center. Holding the elbow tightly against the side and moving the forearm at the WRIST ONLY, pull the barbell up from the back hang until it is level, then allow the bar to drop into the back hang again. As soon as the motion is stopped, bring the bar to level again and repeat. Force out the reps and as soon as you are able to make 5 sets of 15 reps, add weight or increase the “back hang” by shifting the hand nearer to the plates at the front end of the bar. The position of the bar can be reversed by allowing the bar to have a FRONT hang and pulling it level from that position.

Here is one more wrist strengthener. Take a dumbbell rod and tighten a collar up on one end. Grasp the rod in the hand at the free end – the collarless end – and, placing the elbow on a table so that the forearm stands straight up and down, rotate the rod by wrist movement only. Keep it rotating until the forearms and wrists ache. Rest a while and commence again. 


A point to remember throughout any forearm exercising, and of importance in any schedule is that it is necessary to FORCE out every rep. You might feel that it is utterly impossible to make another rep, but this is just where you go right ahead and make it. Hard work is essential and plenty of it, Joe Buck. Don’t be afraid of placing extra stress upon the muscles of the lower arm, for the more work you do, the stronger your forearms will grow. 
Once a week the athlete should work up to or beyond his limit. That is the day when you break your own records, handle poundages you never lifted before, or exceed the maximum repetitions you have ever made with a certain poundage. The other training days you work out rather moderately. On the first of these, Monday, you could exercise about eighty percent of your limit and two days later about ninety percent of your limit. 
Between these heavy days you can, if it suits your ambitions and the time available, have dumbell days, as a partial rest between more vigorous movements of as additional exercises after the harder barbell exercises. The moderate dumbell days will develop your muscles from many different angles, make them more shapely and stronger. They will tone the muscles and prepare them for the harder days to come. In the dumbell movements you will find that it is at times possible to handle heavy bells and in other exercises from ten to fifteen pound dumbells is sufficient. When I was using this system in my athletic endeavors, each Saturday I would have races or time trials in training. This of course was my limit day. Two other days I trained quite hard, and two days I took things easy striving for better form and better muscular coordination.

In order to obtain all-around benefit in strength and development it is necessary to include in the training program exercises which come under the following five classifications:

1. Exercises for building muscles and strength. Exercises to develop the ligaments, cartilage, tendon and even add to the size and thickness of the bones.
2. Exercises to build vital force, strengthen the internal organs, improve the process of elimination, improve circulation, develop the endurance of the lungs which is commonly called wind.
3. Exercises to increase speed, prevent possible slowness, stiffness or sluggishness which could be the result of utilizing too many slow exercises in a training program.
4. Stretching exercises – those which make the body more supple, flexible, and keep it constantly youthful.
5. Exercises which develop timing or coordination, which develop control and command of the muscles, balance and exactness in all movements.

GREASED-HANDS DEADLIFTING

This one is the most obvious approach to grip strength in the deadlift, but is not often employed in a lifter’s training. There are two basic ways to do this: 1. During your training (let’s say every other workout), liberally grease your palms with Vaseline or lard and train as usual. Then, when this training is over, on a power rack, or with bar up on boxes, do lockout deadlifts (about 2”) with a much heavier weight than you could ever hope to do in a complete movement. Have the palms greased well and support the weight until your grip simply gives out. This can be done 1 to 3 times after your deadlift session, really fighting the weight as it slips from your grasp. This one usually does the job!




OLDE TYME “RECTANGULAR FIX” EXERCISE

This is an old strongman’s lift used to prove grip and forearm strength, but is certainly is not obsolete. It’s a static (almost isometric) “reverse curl” exercise, but it has different and result-producing properties over the reverse curl that will be evident when you perform it, It is very demanding in strict performance, and will definitely develop exceptional self-discipline, and this is extremely important since the muscle’s ability to produce contractile nerve force is almost completely a matter of attitude of the mind (in a healthy person).

The performance is simple, and rather deceiving, and is done as follows: 1.) Warm up by doing 2 or 3 sets of light up to heavy reverse curls, 8 to 10 reps, in regular style. Rest, then; 2.) Hold bar at chest as in top position of reverse curl, palms down, then lower bar until forearms are horizontal to floor, hold a full 3 to 5 seconds, then without any body movement, raise the bar back up to starting position and repeat. Do each set to complete failure, or add weight. Use a grip with both fingers and thumb wrapped around the bar in a regular grip rather than a grip with fingers and thumb wrapped around the bar together as many lifters like to do the reverse curl with. 

It’s impossible to prescribe how many sets and reps to do with this exercise when I don’t know anything about you, but you might try doing 4 or 5 sets of 5 reps after your deadlift routine, then go from there for your personal needs. 


SLIDING PINCH GRIP

There are many forms of pinch-gripping exercises, and apparatus to do this common exercise with, but there is one way that is superior, in my opinion, and here it is: Take completely metal Olympic plates, not rubber bumpers, place them together so that the smooth surfaces are on the outside where you’re going to grip them in a pinch grip; then proceed to pinch-grip them (without resin or chalk, and sometimes even with a thin film of grease on palms and fingers) and lift them up and walk definite distances that you measure so you can record progress. The “sliding” occurs between two plates and requires a stronger grip. Either measure progress by the distance walked or by adding more weight and walking over a set, unchanging distance. This can be done 1 to 3 times each hand after deadlift training. 

I really like this one, and have pinch-gripped two 45-lb. Olympic plates (total 90 lbs.) and have walked 90 feet with them at a bodyweight of 160 lbs. and was doing most of my powerlifting then, although they were called “Odd Lifts” at the time. These three exercises allowed me to do the following lifts where grip strength was vitally important: sets of 6 reps in the one arm bent row with 250 pounds; deadlift of 675 with a French grip (both palms facing body, not staggered grip), 375 for 33 reps with the same grip; deadlifts with only thumb and forefinger. These were done at a bodyweight ranging from 160 to 170, before I did other experiments in muscular bodyweight gains. I’m not citing this to create grounds for belief concerning what I’ve personally done as this is immaterial; I’m only doing it in order, hopefully, to encourage others to use these exercises to further their deadlifting abilities if their grip is what is holding them back.

Here’s an additional helpful suggestion you might be able to use it the deadlift. Rather than “smothering” the bar with a full grip where your fingers and thumb are completely wrapped around the bar and your skeletal leverage is oftentimes weak, try just using a from of hook grip in which only your last two finger joints are flexes to support the weight as this is often many lifters’ strongest leverage in a hanging grip situation

to locate the trapezius anatomically as well as to completely understand its anatomical functions. It is to be noted that I have used the plural word “functions” in relation to the trapezius and the reader will be amazed later on as this article progresses at all the varied tasks the trapezius performs, and when fully developed it performs these tasks very proficiently.

The trapezius muscle is situated on the upper half of the back, starting thing at the spine at about the middle of the back and spreading out in a fan-like manner until it practically covers all of the upper back and a portion of it blends right into the shoulder muscles. It then narrows off again as it rises higher and covers much of the back of our neck and continues right up to its final insertion at the base of the skull. 
In addition the trapezius is not satisfied to contain itself to the back alone, for a part of it can be seen from the front of the body as well, as it permits that pleasing slope of muscle to be formed from the neck to the shoulders.

If this section of the trapezius is developed out of proportion to the shoulders it will tend to make the shoulders look narrow, but if the shoulder muscles are also highly developed this optical illusion cannot exist.

The muscular function of the trapezius is manifold. It helps to pull the shoulders up to the ears, it helps to move the neck about, it helps to squeeze the upper back together and it helps to pull the shoulders down.

It should be rather obvious at this time that in every upper back motion the trapezius comes into play to some extent. In some movements this assistance is slight, while in others it is great. It is for that reason that many readers will perhaps be surprised when I later on explain the actual motions, in terms of bar bell and dumbell movements which have some effect on the important trapezius muscles.

To further our complete knowledge it should also be explained that the trapezius is actually capable of motion in any one of four separate sections without much immediate influence upon any of the remaining three sections. Section 1 is that high upper section on the rear of the neck. Section 2 is the one that imparts the slope to the shoulders and Section 3 is the one just below section 2 but it is the one that is brought into play in conjunction with any rotary action of the scapula or shoulder bone. Section 4 is the part located down towards the middle of the spine and works mainly in conjunction with the lower back muscles. In effect they form a chain that works in sequence and contributes greatly to making it possible for a person to lift an object from the ground to an overhead position. To locate these four sections readily, I suggest the reader refer to an anatomy text for himself.

Let us now follow through the action from lifting a weight off the ground to above the head. At the start we bend forward and lift the weight off the ground. Section No. 4 comes into play. After we have stood nearly erect we pull our shoulders up towards our ears so that we can obtain the power for the clean of the weight to the shoulders. Section No. 2 comes into play now. Kindly note that we have jumped right over section No. 3 and have gone from section No. 4 to section No. 2. However, we now start raising the weight above the head with a lot of rotary action in the shoulder blade and here is where section No. 3 takes over and finally when the weight is fully extended above the head section No. 1 is contracted. When the weight is held overhead all four sections are contracted, though there is not too much strain on section No. 3 with most of the effort being handled by section No. 2 and No. 4.

I believe that the reader will now have had sufficient technical information to permit him to follow me in a discussion of the various movements which tend to develop the trapezius fully.

Let us start with section No. 4. Obviously, this section works in conjunction with the lower back muscles and therefore all that need be done to develop it fully is to perform lower back exercises such as dead lifts, repetition cleans and so on. 

Section No. 3 is the part that is most active when there is a rotary motion at the scapula or shoulder girdle. By rotary action I refer to some action aside from the one that is straight up and down such as in a straight shrugging motion. A rotary action would be one in which the shoulder girdle rotates as in raising the elbow to right angles with the body, one which rotates the scapula or shoulder girdle.

Naturally there are a huge variety of movements that cause this action and almost all active shoulder movements fall into this class. Gymnastic work places a great amount of strain upon this area and as a result many gymnasts have extremely well developed upper sections of the trapezius. Naturally all heavy overhead lifts bring this section into play and as a result most weight lifters show a fine development of the trapezius muscles. Later on I will list actual exercises for full trapezius development, but merely mentioned the two above types of exercises as an illustration.

Section No. 2 of the trapezius muscle is that section that works mainly in drawing the shoulders up to the ears. Naturally the shrugging motion exercise is ideal for developing this area of the trapezius. Section No. 2 and No. 3 also work in conjunction with the latissimus dorsi muscle, another large back muscle, in pushing the shoulders down. The bulk of the work is done by the latissimus dorsi admittedly, but the trapezius does assist and should be credited as a result. Also, sections No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 all work together in pulling the shoulders up and back though here too the latissimus dorsi gets a workout also.

The last section of the trapezius muscle is section No. 1. This section is affected mainly when there is action at the neck and nearly all neck exercises will influence it to some degree.

At this time I should like to bring out a pertinent observation. While in this particular article we are containing ourselves as much to a discussion of one muscle as is possible, it continually becomes necessary to bring out the fact that this muscle either assists another muscle or group of muscles in a particular motion, or in turn is assisted by other muscles itself.

It is important that this fact be emphasized, for it is my contention that good training is not training in which the trainee attempts to limit the movement to any one particular muscle. The very best exercises are those which utilize the largest number of muscles or groups of muscles at the same time. I have made this observation so that when I list those exercises which I feel are the best for fully developing the trapezius the reader will not question the fact that some of them involve many other muscular areas. Indeed it has long been my contention that a complete development of any muscle in the body is dependent to a large extent on the full development of other associated muscles. There are some exceptions to this rule but for the most part this fact is true. Therefore, while this is a course of development for one single muscle, if the reader was to follow the exercises as outlined for this one muscle he would find that he would be following a very nearly complete all round exercise course. This is exactly the way it should be. For any specialized course of instructions to be worthy of its title, the course must not only restrict itself to the most obviously direct movements, but must also consider other general movements in which the muscle that is being specialized on is assisted by other muscular groups. 

I believe that the reader should now have a very good working knowledge of the anatomical location of the trapezius along with some idea concerning its full development. Just before we enter into the actual exercise phase of this discussion I should like to point out just one more bit of incidental knowledge. I always like to feel that I have done a thorough job on any subject so I therefore feel that it is in order to bring out the advantages of a well developed trapezius, aside from the obvious advantage of pure muscular strength. I should say the pure primary function of he trapezius is to assist in holding the shoulders square and flat and also the head upright and well placed. In other words a well developed trapezius will do much to eliminate a slouchy posture and enhance a person’s social and business progress. also the No. 1 and No. 2. sections of the trapezius will do much towards keeping one from suffering a fractured neck in the unfortunate event of a severe blow or an accident. These two reasons alone should make us resolve to develop our trapezius even if we have no desire to become “supermen.”

Let us now consider the actual exercises which will develop the trapezius fully. Obviously it should not be expected that one single routine of exercise will serve the requirements of all enthusiasts. All body builders can be broken down into three distinct classes. These three classes are the beginner, the intermediate and the advanced. The beginner is one who has had little or no previous bar bell and dumbell training. The intermediate is one who has had some experience and his body already shows very definite improvement. The advanced trainee is one who has a nearly perfect development, and is just putting on the finishing touches. Naturally each of these three types wil need to train differently for best results. Perhaps the reader never dreamed that there were so many different matters to be considered in weight training, and while to some the entire affair ma appear as being a bit complex, truthfully it really is not and is quite simple to the qualified professional instructor.

However, this is one reason why some beginners do not make the progress that they ought to. They rely upon the advice of well meaning to be sure, but not qualified friends, and as a result waste much valuable time. so take a tip from me an of you readers who are not satisfied with your progress, and procure professional advice either in person or through the pages of any of the fine courses and books that are advertised in this magazine as well as its associate magazine “Your Physique.” Also read all of the articles contained in both of these magazines, for the authors are all qualified and have had vast experience. Don’t ever make the mistake of accepting just any training partner’s advice.

As stated previously, the beginner, the intermediate and the advanced trainee will each need to follow individual training programs. Therefore I will now list a separate course of instruction for each of these three groups.


Exercises for the Beginner

The beginner will have a comparatively simple matter before him so far as showing a definite response as a result of performing a few elementary exercises. Naturally after a while he will have made enough improvement to follow the intermediate exercises but I suggest that he adheres strictly to this preliminary routine for at least several months.

Exercise No. 1. The most direct trapezius movement is the shrug. The beginner should use a barbell. The elbows remain stiff throughout.

Exercise No. 2. Another rather direct trapezius motion is the rowing motion exercise. This exercise involves the other upper back muscles too, but it does influence the trapezius very strongly. Lift the bar to the chest without any motion from the body. 

Exercise No. 3. The forward neck strap exercise will develop the upper area of the trapezius. Let there be no motion from the rest of the body and restrict all movement to the neck only.

Exercise No. 4. The two arm overhead barbell press is the final exercise I will list for the beginner. 

As a summary let us study just how much of the trapezius muscle has been influenced by these four exercises. The shrug has taken care of the No. 2 section of the trapezius, and also due to the fact that we were forced to lift the weight off the ground to start the movement, the No. 4 section was also involved. The rowing motion went after the No. 2 and 3 areas mainly, though of course there was also some stimulation in the No. 4 area. The forward neck strap lift was a very nearly entire sections No. 1 and 2 exercise, while the overhead press affected all four areas with emphasis on areas No. 2 and No. 3. It is therefore rather apparent that this routine will do much to start you on the road to full trapezius development.



Exercises for the Intermediate

Now that we have gotten the beginner embarked on the road to super trapezius, we can consider the intermediate. It will not be necessary for me to be so detailed in my exercise descriptions since the intermediate ought to know most of the standard exercises by name, and should have some idea of their correct performance. 
Exercise No. 1. The intermediate should use the shrug movement as his warm up movement. He can make one variation though, and that is instead of just pulling the shoulders up to the ears, he can perform a sort of a circular movement. By this I mean that he should pull them back to the rear and finally lower, still holding the shoulders to the front and repeat the entire movement. This exercise will vigorously affect all the sections of the trapezius with the exception of section No. 4.

Exercise No. 2. This is the press behind neck. This exercise causes a vigorous contraction of the upper three sections of the trapezius and is a fine movement.

Exercise No. 3. This exercise is the upright rowing motion. Because of the upright position of the body, more strain is thrown upon the trapezius that the standard rowing motion exercise and it should be practiced.

Exercise No. 4. The dumbell side raise is considered by most persons as being a deltoid or shoulder muscle exercise, and while it does affect the rear head of the deltoid a lot, it also exercises the upper sections of the trapezius tremendously. The dumbells are held to the rear of the body at start, are raised to shoulder height with the arms remaining stiff throughout.

Exercise No. 5. The rocking wrestler’s bridge is a swell trapezius developer. Resistance can be added by holding a barbell in the arms extended position.

Exercise No. 6. The repetition clean from the hang position is a great all round exercise but it will place a very heavy demand upon the trapezius muscle and should be practiced by all means. Do not be too particular with the style you use, for this is a muscular exercise and is not intended to be used as a practice for lifting form. Just heave the weight up to the shoulders and lower to the hang position, and then repeat.

Exercise No. 7. The dip between the parallel bars while leaning forward is another fine upper back exercise, as well as being fine for the trapezius. 

Exercise No. 8. The chin behind the neck is also a good one for trapezius growth.
Exercise No. 9. Here we have another dandy trapezius exercise. Start the movement standing upright with the arms at either side, holding a light dumb bell in each hand. The palms should be facing directly to the rear. Now raise the arms straight back as far as possible. You will feel this forcibly in the trapezius though you may have to toughen up your arm muscles first before you will be able to perform this exercise correctly.

Exercise No. 10. You can now wind up your work-out with the one arm dumb bell press and when you have you may be certain that you have performed just about every type of trap exercise that an intermediate is ready for. Naturally there are still other exercise I have not mentioned, but in this course there is at least one of each distinct type of intermediate trapezius exercise and other exercises would either be too advanced for you or else would merely be a slight variation of one of the exercises that I have listed and not needed if you follow my suggested routine.

After a while you will advance further in your training and you will be ready for harder work. Don’t try to rush things, for it will be of no value for you to follow advanced methods until you are ready for them.




Advanced Exercises

Well, finally we have reached the point where you advanced trainers and myself can have a talk. I will be able to ‘talk turkey’ to you boys for you surely must understand my language or else you aren’t advanced at all and have no right to think you are.

As an advanced trainee it is to be expected that you have already obtained a much better than average development of the trapezius. But of course you are human and want to go even further. O.K. I’m all for you so let us study advanced methods. Advanced methods will extend all the way from tow extremes. They will need to be very direct and isolated movements as well as exercises which use large masses of muscle.

Let us study the direct methods first. The most direct type of exercise is posing and muscle control. Yes, if you want clean delineation of the trapezius muscle you will need to pose for muscular display and practice muscle control. Get a good book on muscle control and practice those controls that are intended for upper back display.

Less direct methods would be gymnastic movements such as muscle up and kips on the
Roman Rings and high bar as well as parallel bar stunts of a similar mature. Hand balancing and certain tumbling movements will also bring out a lot of definition.

While I admit that weight training is far ahead of any other method of physical method of physical training, I know that all perfect men have devoted at least some time to gymnastic moves. Do not make the mistake of becoming too enthused over these gymnastic movements, for they should not comprise more than about one fifth of your work-out time, and it is not even necessary to follow them each workout. Just practice them with a fair amount of regularity and all will be well.

In addition there are some expander and pulley exercises which must not be overlooked. Exercises of this type should also comprise only a very small part of your work out period, and it is to be understood that the bulk of the exercises to be followed are to be with either dumb bells or a bar bell. However, these other exercises have a very distinct place in the routine of the advanced trainee.

Advanced weight exercises are the dumb bell shrug, the shrug wit a bar bell, but with the bar bell held behind the back, the dumb bell upright rowing exercise, the dumb bell alternate press, as well as all the various types of straight arm raises which are mainly associated with shoulder development but in reality play an important role in trapezius development. The advanced trainee will find that he will need to include more and more dumb bell movements in his routine if continued progress is to be made.

The most advanced trapezius exercises are those which utilize large masses of muscles. At the start, even an advanced trainee will need to perform them with a bar bell. However, later on he will find that better results will be forthcoming form following these movements with dumb bells instead. The two arm repetition snatch from the hang position, the two arm repetition clean from the hang position as well as the repetition jerk from the shoulders are all advanced movements. When performed with dumb bells they become so strenuous that none but the most advanced men can follow them.

These are the types of movements to ultimately aim toward, and besides giving your trapezius muscle a severe work out, your all round strength and general health will show a marked improvement.

This is the only way it can be, for no person can really develop only one part of his body to perfection unless all the other parts are exceptional also. So you advanced fellow who wish to specialize on any part of your body, regardless whether it is the trapezius or not, see to it that your routine puts a stress on the desired section, but that in addition it also includes those vital exercises that promote a full all ‘round growth of the entire body. The final result will depend upon just how much you put into it yourself. Good luck to you. 

THE ONE LEGGED SQUAT
by
John Grimek
The one legged squat is employed more often as a feat of strength than it is as a training exercise. One the other hand, many training enthusiasts have employed this form of leg work when they didn’t have enough weight to use in regular squatting, and then substituted this movement – the one legged squat – in their routine. This exercise does make a difference, and you don’t need very much weight in this movement to exercise your legs either.

A Test of Balance

There’s no doubt about it, this one legged variety does require considerable balance for proper performance. Many a lifter who is capable of squatting with three to four hundred pounds may have trouble doing this exercise, of may not be able to do it at all even without any weight.

It’s an exercise that requires good balance and persistent practice before it is finally mastered. And most bodybuilders DON’T include it in their training simply because they find it difficult to do. Of course since most bodybuilders have enough weight to use they feel there is no real purpose for using the one legged variety. But there is. To prove you have good coordination and balance, and once you’ve mastered it, it’s quite simple and provides the trainee with plenty of exercise and variety.

How to Master It

If you have never tried this type of squatting don’t be surprised if you are unable to do it without falling all over the place. But once you’ve mastered it, you’ll be surprised how terrific it really is, and that you can handle a considerable amount of weight in this exercise.

One way to master it is by holding on to something with one hand for balance while doing the movement. Another way is to stand atop a box, bench or chair and, instead of extending the free leg outward, allow the leg to hang down in front. Surprisingly, this makes considerable difference and simplifies the performance of the exercise. Once you have acquired good form and can do the exercise without losing balance, then fold your arms across your chest and do the exercise in this manner for about 10 to 15 reps. When you can do 15 reps easily, employ a small barbell (not over 50 pounds, preferably less to start) and put it across your shoulders or hold it on your chest during the exercise. Increase the weight only when 15 repetitions become easy to do. However, as a feat of strength, three to five reps can be utilized to good advantage, and increasing the weight as you fell capable.

If dumbbells are preferred to a barbell, these can be held along the sides (along the thighs) or you can hold them at the shoulders, whichever way you find it best or most convenient.

As a Strength Feat

Henry Steinborn, old-time strongman, lifter and wrestler, is still the champion in this exercise (1970), having done well over 200 pounds. Sig Klein, at 154 pounds bodyweight, also lifted a commendable poundage in this movement, and well over bodyweight. Since these two men were always a source of inspiration to me, I always tried to emulate their feats. Eventually, I worked up to 200 pounds in this exercise, but did not try more after that.

Thursday, February 14, 2008
Trapezius Development - Charles A. Smith 
Here are the four sections of the trapezius muscle
indicated by the thick black lines, and
the directions of their actions.











Trapezius Development, Part One
by Charles A. Smith

In this article we will consider the Trapezius not only as a back muscle, but also as a very important posture muscle and one that in some mysterious way has a profound influence on the size of the chest and bodyweight gains. The trapezius, apart from the effect it has on movements of the neck, also moves the shoulder blades and shoulders themselves. It helps maintain an erect posture and overcomes the effects of too much pectoral work (the pectorals have a "shoulder rounding" effect). It is a very prominent muscle to be considered in remedial exercises when bad conditions of kyphosis are present for it helps to overcome bad postural defects as well as acting as an antagonist to the chest muscle.

A cardinal point to remember when specializing on a certain muscle or group of muscles is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to divorce one section of the body from another and this MUST be kept in mind throughout any specialization routine. If you worked hard on those neck exercises mentioned in my last article, you would have found out that not only did the muscles at the front and back of the neck get stiff, but also right down the middle of the back and chest, too. The muscles of the human physique can be likened to a single chain in which each muscle or group is a connecting link. Weaken one and you weaken the lot.

I am trying as hard as possible to keep this series of articles interesting, but anatomy and physiology can be very dry at times. However, it is very necessary that you have a good working knowledge of the function of each muscle or group so that you can choose the movements that will give that muscle a thorough workout. Apart from the actual function of the muscle and the selection of a given group of exercises, there are certain other considerations which will be fully dealt with from time to time and as the discussion of them is opportune.

The trapezius muscle comes into play when you have to carry a heavy weight on the shoulders. It rotates the head or moves it backwards. When you raise your shoulder blades, squeeze them together, or rotate the shoulders, the "traps" are doing most of the work. Briefly, this is how they function, but let's go into further detail and try to determine why so many fellows undertake a shoulder specialization course yet fail dismally to build any size, shape or power.

The trapezius is best studied in its four separate parts. In my previous article, its attachments were fully explained as well as the fact that it was a "multi-muscle." The first part is a thin sheath of fibers dropping down from the base of the skull, curving sideways and forwards to where it is attached to the collarbone. The second part is thicker and stronger. Part three is more powerful still, while part four is not so strong as the two middle portions, yet is more powerful than the tip section of the muscle, the one running from the base of the skull to the collarbone.

If you had access to a skeleton, you would be able to observe the exact action of the traps, but since the only skeleton the average guy has is in his closet, you'll have to take my explanation as reference. When the head is free to move, the first section of the muscle will lower the BACK of the skull and turn the head to one side. As the skull is poised freely on a pivot at the base, this action of dropping back the head will also tilt the chin up and turn the face to the opposite side. And obviously when the right and left sections of the first part of the traps contract at the same time, they PREVENT rotation of the head and will tilt the chin UP with DOUBLE FORCE. So here you see why it is IMPORTANT to FORCE the head BACK when performing shoulder shrugs. Here is another very eminent factor for you to remember and contains the clue to the reason why so many lifters find it hard to get good trapezius development with only shoulder shrugs. When the head is held still and the shoulder girdle is allowed free movement, contraction of the first portion of the trapezius muscle will lift the shoulder blades and collarbone but WITH LITTLE FORCE BECAUSE THIS SECTION OF THE MUSCLE IS THIN AND WEAK.

Action from part two of the trapezius pulls upwards and inwards on the collarbone and the acromium, that flattened end of the spine on your shoulder blade. Depending on the position of the neck and shoulder, it also pulls slightly backward or forward as well as up and in. The third part of the trap pulls the shoulder blade towards the spinal column from where it is attached to the "spine" of the scapula . . . this is the action of squeezing the shoulder blades "together". The fourth section of the trapezius pulls the edge of the shoulder blade near the spine, down and slightly in, with the power fibers exerting more direct downward pull.

Perhaps, before we go on to the posture and weight gaining factors attached to the development of the trapezius, it would be well to consider some interesting facts. First, let us go back to the first section of the muscle again. Now, I have already pointed out that it exerts little force, and this is probably the reason why many bodybuilders fail to gain the best results from a plain common shoulder shrug. To test this for yourself, try the following. Press the tips of two fingers down behind the outer end of your collarbone. Shrug the shoulders. Not only does the first section of the traps fail to lift your fingers out, but when you remove your fingers while the shoulders are lifted, a big hollow remains. Now press your fingers down behind the collarbone again and RAISE THE ARM SIDEWAYS ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE SHOULDER. Not only are the fingers thrust strongly OUT but the pocket disappears. Another curious point is this - if shrugging of the shoulders is done strongly against resistance, the first section of the trapezius DOES act in SOME subjects but not in ALL. Thus once again, what we are always pointig out - musclebuilding schedules must be INDIVIDUALIZED.

What a muscle can do is no sure indication of what it will do. At first glance, the first section of the trapezius is admirably suited for shoulder shrugging, and when stimulated by Faradism (electrical current) it does shrug the shoulders. Therefore, it would be natural for the bodybuilding beginner, if he witnessed the electrical stimulation of this muscle, to draw the conclusion that this is what the first part of the trapezius is for, whereas, in the preceding paragraph I have shown you that it does nothing of the kind in the MAJORITY of poeple, remaining in COMPLETE relaxation while the shrugging motion is performed.

Another point to remember is this: The muscle is very important in the performance of deep knee bends. Recollect that the trapezius supports the bar as it is held across the shoulders. Now, many lifters complain of splitting headaches occurring during a deep knee bend session. I have experienced this myself, and after comparing notes with Joseph Curtis Hise I found that he too had the same trouble when his squatting weights climbed above 375 and over the 400 mark. At the time, J.C put the headaches down to an insufficiency of protein in his diet; but it has recently become my opinion that these "deep knee bend headaches" are caused through strain on that section of the trapezius muscle where it is attached to the occiptalis, also by the retarding of blood supply to the brain by bar pressure. A session of squats I engaged in recently produced headaches along the back of the neck, and these were quickly dispelled when I undertook neck specialization exercises, particularly those that powerfully affected the first section of the trapezius.


Now we come to the postural and weight-gain effects accrued from trapezius work. The popularity of flat and incline bench exercises has produced a crop of outsize chests insofar as pectoral development is concerned. Those men who perform no compensating exercises quickly gained the appearance of round shoulders and FLAT CHESTS . . . for, believe it or not, the pectoral muscle DOES TEND to produce a flat chest condition if these "compensating" exercises are not engaged in. Therefore, all men who use inclined bench and exercise bench presses should undergo intentional trapezius specialization courses at intervals to combat the effects of too much pectoral exercise on the posture.

Some years ago, Joseph Curtis Hise introduced what he called the "Cartilage Mass Theory." A lifter grew muscle size, or mass, by the stimulation of the cell manufacturing areas - the Reticulo-Endothelim system. "Growth," said Hise, "depends on mass of connective tissue," and went on to point out that to maintain a favorable balance of cell manufacturing areas, exercises for growth should be FEW and EASY, and for strength should be FEW and HEAVY. He tried to strike a balance between growth and strength by exercising the pectoral muscles, because these "require the use of little nerve energy." In effect, what Hise said was this . . . "The better your posture, the more efficiently will your body function . . . the more quickly will you become bigger and stronger."

One of the exercises suggested by Joe Hise was his "Symbolic Squat." You simply held an extremely heavy weight across the shoulders, shrugged them as high as you could at the same time taking several deep breaths, making an effort to inhale and exhale! The body was held erect, the knees locked, the floor was "gripped" with the toes . . . that is, the toes pressed down on the floor. Hise suggested that the exerciser should breath through the mouth, lift the chest HIGH with each breath, contract the trapezius and the muscle in front of the neck, making a DELIBERATE effort to raise the chest and shoulders as high as possible. His theories, later examined by Dr. J. S. Van Wye, an osteopathic surgeon, were approved: Dr. Wye adding that in this "Symbolic Squat" the bar should be raised up and down two to three inches with each breath with light weights and as much a possible as the exercised grew accustomed to handling extremely heavy poundages.

It is easy to see why this heavy "Symbolic Squat" was so successful in building larger chests, better posture and an increase in bodily weight . . . and if you read over the last few words carefully, you will see that each effect explains the next . . . "The large chest came because of the practice of the forced breathing . . . the breathing muscles were strengthened. The tidal capacity of the lungs increased, and so did the endurance of the lifter. His metabolism functioned more efficiently because improved lung and heart tone, his posture improved too and finally, as a result of this more efficient functioning of the metabolism of the body, food itself was assimilated more efficiently making for an increase in bodyweight because of the better use made of the body fuel. Muscle breakdown as the result of exercise was repaired more rapidly. Recuperation period shortened; energy and stamina increased . . . and all because of improved posture caused by the intensive work applied to the trapezius and breathing muscles.

In summing up this initial chapter on trapezius development and specialization for same, it would be well to again point out the profound effect certain parts of he muscle have on t he posture of the trunk in actions of the second and third parts. A glance at the accompanying chart will show the great importance of these movements . . . When the shoulder is lifted as high as possible or when a heavy weight is held on the shoulder with the bodybuilder maintaining an erect position, part two contracts strongly and part three hardly at all. If the bodybuilder assumes a stooping position, that is as if lifting an object from the ground, sections two, three and four all act at once with the lower sections RELAXING as erect posture is reached. The only action that employs the ENTIRE trapezius is when the arm is raised sideways above shoulder level . . . NO OTHER BODILY MOVEMENTS SEEM TO EMPLOY THE WHOLE OF THE MUSCLE AT THE SAME TIME.

Here is your guide to trapezius development. You have the simplest and the best method of specialization, of getting the most from a muscle by way of strength, size and shape. Definition is another matter entirely, so we will not mention it here. This subject will be dealt with thoroughly in a separate article because definition requirements that apply to one muscle group apply to all. So you can see that to obtain muscle mass and power, the easiest way is to make a thorough study of the muscle action, determine exactly what it ca do in what position, then select the exercises that will give you the best results . . . and these exercises will be given in the next chapter. 

 American Method

The body is braced very firmly and the knees are locked firmly. There is a slight set back to the shoulders. The hand spacing is wide and is what assures a strong first drive to the bar. The elbows slant slightly inwards and are pressed against the latissimus. As the weight is pressed away from the shoulders, the latissimus muscles are relaxed and momentum is maintained by a slight thrust back. The full power of the deltoids combines with the triceps and there is no wasted effort. The latissimus muscles form a firm foundation from which to start the press and keep it going . . . Wide grip . . . Slight inward slant to the elbows which rest firmly against the lats . . . Knees and body firmly braced . . . Slight set back to the shoulders . . . Weight pressed up and slightly back. 


B.) Russian Method

Makes use of a wide grip with a slight tilt back of the head and a distinct slanting in of the elbows. The body is set in a curve back from heels to shoulders taken before the press proper is begun. The chest is held high, and as the weight is pressed to arms length there is a follow through to the front with the head, while the body recovers from the “set.” It is obvious that this press violates the rules set down by the International Federation. However, the Russian attitude is a realistic one. Their pressing method makes it possible for the lifter to maintain balance during the crucial portion of the press. Men who have a distinct forward curve to the lower back might find this style very effective. Wide grip . . . Elbows slanting down and in from hands to body . . .Chest held high . . .Slight tilt back of head . . . Slight set back of body. 


C.) Egyptian Method

Here the width of the grip is somewhat narrower, barely wider than shoulder width. As you grip the bar to clean, press down on it and contract the trapezius muscle. The bar is cleaned into the shoulders and the elbows point forward. As the weight is pressed away from the shoulders and arrives in the area of the sticking point the elbows are pointed out and the trapezius muscle relaxes. This allows the shoulder blades to partially rotate, thus enabling the weight to pass more easily through the sticking point, and be pressed successfully to arms length . . . Grip slightly more than shoulder width and not wider . . . Trapezius contracted . . . Elbows pointed forward . . . Elbows switched to “out” . . . Trapezius relaxing as bar reaches sticking point.

To accomplish having a straight back squat, some lifters must of course raise their heels so that they will not be in a strain in this position. The bar placed across the shoulders and back of the neck is never going to be the most comfortable thing going, so in practicing, a pad should be used and only the “limit tries’ should be done with a bare bar. I feel that sometime in the future the bar for a contest will have to be larger than our regular 1 1/6 inch bars, because these are going to be quite dangerous with 900 plus pounds.

Try to squat naturally. By this, I mean to try to make it a natural movement. Judge your foot spacing and heel height to what feels good to you. Don’t try to get in an unnatural position just to handle more weight. In the long run this is going to work down on your poundage instead of build it up as you may temporarily think.

 three basic styles of deadlifting. One was what might be termed the Anello style. This is for the natural deadlifters. Spack and Anello are the two lifters one thinks of when discussing this technique. The have relatively long trunks, long arms an rounded flexible backs. When they lift it looks like the power starts low in the back and then moves up the vertebrae like a series of electrical impulses. Their backs are rounded to start and straighten up as the lift progresses. To me Anello is the greatest deadlifter on the scene today. He has the natural physique for the lift, trains diligently for it, has great technique and terrific mental drive. His lift at this year’s Nationals in the 198-lb class of over 800 lbs. was out of sight.

The second style I call the O’Brien or Matz technique. These men are tall, relatively slender (wider than thick in the trunk) with straight backs and long arms. Usually they lift proportionately more in the deadlift than in the bench or squat. They use a shoulder width foot stance, pull mostly with a straight back and have a sticking point about knee height. Farchione may also be said to lift in this manner.

Pacifico, Phillips and Kidney, while not being constructed like the above named men, being thicker throughout the limbs and trunk, use a similar style but get more legs into their lifts.

The third style is usually used by lifters with short arms and trunks. Here the feet are kept relatively close together. Hands are closer together, just on the knurling. In this style the sticking point is usually the first three inches off the deck. Reinhoudt uses this form and does quite well with it.

Now we are seeing more and more lifters using a radical style where the feet are spread wide and the arms grasp the bar just inside the knurling while the arms are inside the thighs. We refer to this as the “Sumo” style, as the lifter, in setting his stance, does a movement similar to a sumo wrestler getting set. This technique is highly recommended for the lifter with short arms or trunk. The best execution of this style that I have seen was performed by Ravenscroft as he went on to win this year’s Senior Nationals. The lift was flawless, as were all his lifts on that day.

Let us now cover the deadlift in general, and then the sumo style in particular.

The most common errors in performing a deadlift are as follows:

1.) Allowing the hips to come up too fast, throwing the weight onto the back muscles alone.
2.) Allowing the weight to move out from the body, forming an arc in the pulling groove.
3.) Trying to rip the weight off the floor too quickly on the start.

The lift should be done by moving the weight up from the floor to the lockout position in the straightest line possible. Looking at a lifter from the side, the weight is pulled up through the center of his body. That is, it should rise in a straight line up through the legs and not out and around in an arc. As the weight rises, the lifter should be pulling up and slightly back into himself. The weight should be hugging his body all the way up. This is accomplished by keeping the head up and back on the traps.

Specifically, then let us cover the performance of the deadlift sumo style.

Approach the bar and spread your legs so that your shins are about 6” from the start of the knurling. The bar should be about 1” in front of our shins. Rotate your thighs outward and place your feet at an angle pointing out slightly. Make sure your feet are firm on the platform. Next, bend over and grasp the bar on the inside of the knurling. Your hands will be on the smooth surface. Arms are straight and are inside the thighs and along your trunk. Keep your buttocks very low, the back is very flat and almost straight up, head is well back on the traps with the eyes looking at an angle between straight up and straight out. Let’s say the eyes are at about a 130 degree angle. Now we are ready for the lift itself.

Exhale, then inhale through the mouth, slowly take up the slack in your arms and body and then slowly inch the bar off the floor smoothly. Once you have it started, increase your momentum and consciously push the floor down and away with your leg power. The weight should be scraping you all the way up. Concentrate on pulling and flexing those legs, forcing your head up and back on those traps. Once you do a few in the groove you will really get to like this style and the feel of it. After a session with this style of deadlift you will feel it in the legs, traps and the lower lumbar in about that order.

I feel, for the lifter with short arms an trunk, this style offers several advantages over the more conventional styles. You can really get the buttocks low while keeping the back straight. As the bar comes up to knee height you can keep the bar in tight as it does not seem to move out away from the body as in the other styles. Since the back is almost straight from the start of the lift most of the work is done with the legs and traps. The slow even pull to start is most important. Don’t rush or jerk the weight. Make sure there is no slack or bend in the arms.

Since this is a new style for you if you decide to give it a try, plan on using it for at least eight weeks. For the first few weeks I would suggest you do a lot of reps with medium weight. This will prepare the back for the work to come and also make the neuromuscular paths second nature to you. Being something of a purist, I don’t believe any other assistance exercises are necessary aside from the lift itself if you perform sufficient reps. I recommend you practice it twice a week for six or seven sets per workout. In the first workout I would go light and the second workout heavy. For example, the first workout might go 10 reps, 8-6-4, then 3 sets of 5 reps. The second workout might be 10-8-6-4, then 3 sets of 3 reps. Add weight when you are successful with your plans. You have to be your own coach to some extent.

Following the deadlifts I recommend some close grip chins for stretching and some situps to get the antagonistic muscles. This practice can help cut down on injuries. 

Jerk Technique
by Carl Miller


In recent years much attention has been focused on the jerk because of its decreasing success following the dropping of the press from competition. The important basics of a successful jerk have been scrutinized with some previous concepts being dropped, some being sustained and some being added to. Certainly more concepts will evolve as it has only been a few years that such scrutiny has taken place. In this article will be presented some concepts both new and old that have thus far come out as being on solid ground.

The main power for the jerk comes from the hips and thighs. Shoulder strength is needed for support for stability to insure constant contact of the shoulders with the bar as it rests on the shoulders throughout the dip and drive. Shoulder strength is also needed from hail line level to the full extension in order to push the body rapidly under the bar and to lock properly underneath the weight.

When the bar is on the shoulders the elbows should be directed at an angle to the side and pointing slightly below horizontal. This position has proven to be the strongest from practical experience and also from cable tension tests on the supporting muscles of the shoulders.

The head and eyes are slightly tilted up, and in some cases the head is tucked back. A compact feeling should be felt all across the shoulder and chest area. To ensure this, the chest is thought of as being high. It may or may not appear this way depending on the development of the chest of the lifter. The adductors and abductors of the upper arm are contracted to stabilize the upper arm when the bar is at the shoulders, during the dip and drive.

The center of gravity of the body should pass from the shoulders down through the ankle bone if the lifter is standing upright. If the rear end is slightly tilted back then the center of gravity is slightly forward. Assuming that the lifter is standing upright, he dips four to six inches straight down with the hips level. If the lifter dips with his hips slightly to the back, then the four to six inch dip will be with hips slightly tilted back with the pelvis tilted to the front. There is also the lifter who dips the four to six inches with his hips slightly to the back and then rotates them till they are level on the drive up. This last type of lifter is using a rotary drive.

Since I have alluded to three different types of accepted dips, I would like to discuss them a little. The lifter who dips straight down with his hips right underneath him will have the center of gravity go well toward the front when he dips. The weight will be felt in the middle of the front thigh. With this type of dip the extension upward is straight and powerful and well-positioned.

The lifter who dips with rear end slightly tilted back (pelvis tipping forward of horizontal) has to make sure his drive does not go forward. The tilt of the pelvis should remain stable and not increase. A lifter who dips this way sometimes has a tight sacroiliac joint, and to ask him to push his rear end in (pelvis horizontal) usually results in pain in this joint. With his rear end slightly tilted back, as he dips the weight is felt more in the hips and front of the thighs. The center of gravity when he dips will not go as far forward as it does for the previous lifter described. A lifter who lifts this way has been very successful in the past because he drives the weight so powerfully with the hips slightly back. He has to watch that he does not drive the weight forward, as mentioned before. One thing he can do is to keep his lower back as flexible as possible. Another thing he can do is to really move the front foot well forward in the split. (I will say more on this later.)

When discussing the previous lifter, I am not talking about the lifter whose rear end is way back and goes even farther back when he dips so that he constantly throws the weight out front. I am talking about the lifter whose natural tilt of the pelvis is such that the rear end is only slightly tilted back and represents no major problem as long as other things are watched and adhered to.

The final type of dip I mentioned is the one which imparts a rotary drive up. This is a very unique type of drive, and more will have to be learned about rotary motion of the human body in order to say whether or not it is a superior technique. However, there are some advantages which are readily apparent. When this lifter dips, his rear end is slightly tilted back. As the drive starts, the rear is still tilted back. This results in a much stronger drive up than if the hips were level to begin with. This has been proven on force plate machines and can be seen on the read-out dial on the slow speed of an Isokinetic Power Rack. After a short moment the hips are brought in and forward so that they are underneath the upper body. With this style there exists the possibility that the lifter gets the best of both worlds. He gets a stronger drive and he drives the weight straight up. Whether there is any loss of power in the rotary action itself is a subject for further study. In any case, some lifters in our country are using this rotary action and some of the international stars are also using it.

The lifter using this style gets another advantage, namely, by pushing the hips in a rotary type style the hips have momentum travelling forward. This allows the lifter’s upper body to lean back, which in turn allows for facilitation in reaching out with the front foot, and it also allows for easy clearance of the head by the bar.

An aspect of the dip applicable to all three methods should be mentioned. Sometimes in the dip an instability is felt. A conscious pinching or adduction of the glutes (rear) will help overcome this feeling. An instability can also be felt not only during the dip but also while supporting the weight before the dip and while supporting the weight when the bar is overhead if there is no stability around the waist area. This means that strong muscles are needed in this area. Usually the lower back is strong enough, but where strength may be lacking is in the abdominal and oblique muscles.

Something else applicable to all methods of dipping is flexibility in the ankles. No matter what method is used, the bodyweight has got to shift forward, and this will be more difficult with a lack of flexibility in the ankles. If this is lacking, then the lifter has a tendency to push from the back center of the foot, and this results in a strong possibility of driving the weight forward. Also, to reach a four to six inch dip with the hips underneath or the hips slightly in back (but remaining stable throughout the dip), a lifter has to have flexible ankles. All this is because the foreleg has got to go well forward in the dip. It can if there is good flexibility in the ankles, and it will not if there is not. If ankle flexibility is lacking, then the body usually inclines forward in the dip with the rear shooting out back; the resultant drive will throw the bar in front or the dip will not be low enough to get proper leverage for maximum drive. In trying to keep upright or maintain stable hip position when dipping, the body cannot dip low enough with inflexible ankles.

The positioning of the feet when the bar is at the shoulders is a subject of discussion. While there are some lifters who place their toes straight ahead, many have their feet pointing slightly out. This results in greater force being used by the total quadriceps. This has been shown on force plate machines and in connection with electromyographs.

It is very important to dip four to six inches. Any more of less results in less leverage for maximum thrust of the hips and legs. Most lifters are able to dip the four to six inches by using a stance about equal in width to the shoulders. Some lifters find this dip difficult; they usually go too low or are inconsistent in their depth of dip. In this case a narrow stance will keep the lifter from going lower. This is usually accompanied by the toes pointing toward the front which further prevents going lower. Wide stances have been experimented with but without too much success to date.

The speed of the dip should be controlled. Neither an extra slow or an extra fast dip is wanted. The thinking is that the lifter will usually find out his own best speed. The bar used makes a difference, especially when heavy weights are used. With a less springy bar, the lifter can dip faster, and with a more springy bar the lifter should dip slower. also, with a less springy bar the lifter should dip farther, and with a more springy bar he should dip less.

When the four to six inch drop is reached, with the hips level or slightly back, a violent but controlled upward thrust takes place by the extension of the hips and legs. As stated before, an extension straight upward is wanted, not out in front. If the bar goes out in front, then it is usually because the hips have gone farther back in the dip or in the drive upward; thus in the drive up the body inclines forward and is not vertical. In the rotary drive the same effect is wanted, an extension upward, not out in front. Another cause of a forward drive is the center of gravity staying back. Even with the hips underneath or at a slight tilt or in the rotary action, a lifter can “get trapped on his heels”. If the body inclines forward but the hips do not go further back and the shoulder area is stable but does not change position, then it is possible that the lifter is driving off his heels instead of the whole foot, so the weight goes out in front. Also, if he is driving off of his heels, he will not be able to extend on his toes as easily, if at all.

As the drive continues it is a must that the lifter extends all the way up on his toes. We hear of cutting the pull short. Well, many lifters cut the drive of the jerk short. This is usually because they split before they fully extend on their toes.

After the lifter has extended on his toes and as he is splitting, he leans back slightly. This lean back:
1.) helps the front foot move well ahead because it takes most of the restriction away from getting the front foot out as far as desired. (if the lifter were leaning forward instead, the front foot would have restrictions placed on it and it would be harder to get it out far enough.)
2.) helps drive the hips under the weight, and
3.) helps the bar clear the head.

World records have been jerked without a lean back as just described, but I subscribe to the lean back because of its many advantages. However, a lifter who has a big forward tilt of the pelvis so that the rear end sticks out quite a bit may have trouble doing this because the sacroiliac joint is formed so that his tilt forward takes place. For such a lifter to lean back may not be possible because of pain since the joint when formed this way does not want to go in that direction and/or because there is not sufficient flexibility to permit this. I advise staying as loose as possible in the sacroiliac joint in order to possibly use this lean back style or at the very least to prevent injury in that joint since many stresses are put on it which seem to accentuate this tilt forward, and nothing is done to lessen the stresses. Flexibility work will lessen the stresses.

The bar being driven off of the shoulders should go to the hairline level; this is the height needed to successfully push oneself under a jerk. Any higher is usually wasted height and motion unless a lifter is not flexible and/or is slow and needs the extra height. As this height is being reached, the elbows come out a little more to the side. This elbow position while the bar is at the hairline level should be the same as when the bar was at that level when doing the press (when that lift was being contested). This is a very strong angle for the lifter to push himself underneath the weight, and pushing himself under the weight with the bar in such a position is what the lifter wants to do. He cannot drive the weight farther up because he has extended on his toes. He must push himself underneath the weight with speed and force so that he can get a good position for a solid support of the weight overhead.

In pushing himself under the bar, the lifter should reach up and out with his arms. This locks the arm better at the elbow and where the upper arm fits into the scapula. It also fixes the scapula better on the ribs. In doing this the elbows will turn to the outside. Merely to push up so that the elbows are straightened is not enough; many a heavy jerk has come down because there was not supportive leverage of the weight. The lifter should be thinking of pushing himself down, and as the elbows reach a straightened position, he should reach up and turn the elbows to the outside, at the same time thinking of stretching the bar out.

The chest, which is held high when the bar is at the shoulders and during the dip and the drive, should be kept high and should move forward. Lifters and coaches talk about “forcing the chest through” on the jerk. This is really a must if the weight overhead is going to be adequately supported. If the chest is not “forced through”, then the weight is not only less stable overhead, but also it is not overhead where it should be (a little behind the head is permissible); instead it is out in front.

The split fore and aft should be close to the ground. Almost a shuffle is wanted, but without friction from the floor. A minimal distance between the lifter’s feet and the floor is wanted during this “shuffle”. Any more is a waste of time in the air and loss of time in positioning underneath the bar.

The split should be long. In past years it was advocated that the front foot travel one measure for every two measures of the back foot. Now the thinking is that the front foot should travel one-and-a-half measures for every two measures of the back foot. For the lifter with a big forward tilt of the pelvis this will seem like an especially long distance, and getting the front foot out will be harder. With the pelvis tilted forward, the front foot comes down quicker, something like a long jumper who is tilted forward in the air; his feet come down quicker.

With this further reach by the front foot, a 90 degree angle or more between the upper leg and lower leg is formed and is wanted. This is because more fore and aft mobility can take place with a heavy weight and a better leverage angle is obtained than if an acute angle (less than 90 degrees) were formed. With an acute angle it is difficult to maneuver fore and aft, and recovery with heavy weights is harder because of poorer leverage. Also, with a 90 degree angle or more, a wider base of support is gained, which means more stability.

The back knee can be slightly bent because it will not buckle with this elongated stance. The heel can be off the floor. With the back knee bent and the heel off the floor, the lifter can more easily adjust his body weight than if the back knee were straight and the heel on the floor. Also, with the back knee bent and the heel off the floor, the lifter can adjust for the uneven timing of the placement of the feet fore and aft in the split. The front and back feet should be in their place at the same time. If the back knee were straight and the heel on the floor, the late placement of the front foot would cause such a jar and the supporting structure of the legs would be so rigid that the jerk would stand a good chance of coming down.

It should be mentioned that although the placement of the feet in the split should be at the same time, uneven placement sometimes occurs. If the back foot is in its place first, with the back knee bent and the heel off the floor, the lifter can sink and cushion the impact of the later placement of the front foot. The back foot placing first is easier to adjust to because there is not so much strain with a long split. A sinking motion of the front foot is harder to do because there is more concentration of force felt on that leg than on the back leg, and the lifter usually resists this sinking of the front foot because he feels such a loss of leverage. This is a very uneasy feeling with a heavy weight overhead. However, with a 90 degree angle or an obtuse (more than 90 degree) angle between the upper leg and lower leg of the front foot, this sinking feeling produces less loss of leverage than if an acute angle were formed. By leaning back as he splits the lifter ensures that if any uneven placement is going to take place, it will be the back foot that is placed first in the split position, not the front.

The toes of the front foot are turned in slightly to prevent slipping, and the back toes can be turned slightly out for the same reason. Some lifters believe in turning the back toes slightly in, but this throws the weight on the outside of the foot which is shorter and offers less support. By turning the toes slightly out, support is thrown on the longer inside of the foot which means more support. Slippage does take place too often because of uneven support. The positioning of the feet as just described will help prevent some slippage. If the support is too uneven then very little can be done to prevent slipping.

With heavy weights overhead one must be very careful during recovery. It is known that many world records are recovered with one step back and one step forward and with the feet coming high off the floor. It can be done, but every once in a while a heavy jerk is lost while taking such steps. It may be that the jerk is positioned wrong or it is so heavy and the lifter so low that with that much distance to be covered by only one step back and one step forward, too much base of support is lost for that heavy a weight in that position, and the jerk comes down. Or it may be that by picking the front foot up high off the ground an also the back foot, too much time is spent in the air with no base of support, so again the jerk comes down. The lifter should take two steps back with the front foot, actually shuffling of sliding back, and then he takes one step forward with the back foot, again with the foot close to the ground.

In any case it is usually incorrect to recover with the back foot first. Too many jerks are thrown forward from their base of support and dropped. However, an exception to this is the lifter with a pronounced tilt of the pelvis; he might have to recover from back to front. This is because there is so much weight concentrated on the front foot that it is impossible to pick up. This forward tilt is because of the structural formation of the sacroiliac joint. This type of lifter should be careful about several things. One is that he must be quick. Pushing from back to front means that even more weight is going to be forward, and until a solid base of support is gained there is going to be a lot of instability with the weight wanting to come down in front. If the lifter is not quick, then he will not be able to gain stability in time. Another thing is that he must keep pushing up and out; the lifter will need this bone leverage more than ever since the stability is uncertain. Finally, he must keep coming up. This means that the body should be rising up when coming forward, not sinking. If the lifter recovers forward and sinks, he will be driven down; he must rise.

There is a style taught by the American coach, Joe Mills, in which the lifter is taught to recover back to front. Joe tells me that he only teaches it when the conventional style does not work and if the lifter is quick. A analysis of this style brings out certain merits. The lifter drives the weight up and then runs under it, pushing off the back foot, reaching up as much as possible. What this means is that before the weight has slowed down, the lifter is exerting force up from his run up to the bar which is still going up. The lifter has to be quick because if he is not, then when he runs up and under the bar and reaches up, he is going to be pushed down by the weight which has started its descent. But if the lifter is quick enough, he will catch the bar as it is still going up, and his going up will add to the upward motion of the bar. 

Saturday, January 9, 2010
Conditioning for Overload Training - Russ Knipp 





Conditioning for Overload Training
by Russ Knipp


The purpose of weight training is to increase your own ability to defy the law of gravity by jumping, running, hitting, lifting, pushing and throwing. This is important for all sports. Athletes need to train scientifically with heart in order to achieve maximum results.

A good athlete knows that one should never workout heavy all of the time – the continual tearing down of the muscle causes poor results in contraction efficiency. Overtraining in any sport causes a buildup of lactic acid (waste products) in the muscles that restricts their stretching ability. If a muscle becomes too congested it is highly vulnerable to pulling and tearing.

Some of the overall body symptoms of being overtrained are loss of appetite, restless sleep, tension and irritability. This is why proper nutrition, methodical training and adequate rest are vital to maintaining steady progress.


PHASE ONE

In many long years of weight training, I have found that the only way to make gains is to train under a well-developed program. Before developing your program, you must first find out how much you can do in each exercise. Suppose you can bench press 200 pounds. Your whole routine is based on percentages of this poundage. Based on a three day a week program, a weekly routine for your bench would look like this:

First Week
70% of 200
75% of 200
70% of 200

Second Week
85 %
70%
80%

Third Week
92%
75%
80%

Fourth Week
105%
70%
100%

The first two weeks the exercises are done using 7 sets of 5 reps; the third week they are done using 7 sets of 3. During the first three weeks, use the first three sets of repetitions to warm up the muscles by using progressively heavier weights. Then lift the maximum percentage for the remaining four sets. For example:

Set No. 1 – 120 lbs.
Set No. 2 – 150 lbs.
Set No. 3 – 150 lbs.
Set No. 4 – 190 lbs.
Set No. 5 – 190 lbs.
Set No. 6 – 190 lbs.
Set No. 7 – 190 lbs.

The fourth week the exercises are done using progressively heavier weights, with fewer repetitions, to warm up to your new maximum weight. For example:

Set No. 1 – 120 lbs. for 5 reps.
Set No. 2 – 140 lbs. x 5 reps.
Set No. 3 – 160 lbs. x 3.
Set No. 4 – 180 x 1.
Set No. 5 – 195 x 1.
Set No. 6 – 210 x 1.
Set No. 7 – 210 x 1.

The first week has to be light in order preparation to go heavier in the remaining weeks. Likewise, after the heavier workouts in the fourth week, you must work light again to recuperate from the previous heavy workouts. Once you’ve exceeded your previous best in the fourth week, you again begin the first week with your new percentages of your new best poundage. This percentage routine applies to all exercises.

The exercises I recommend in a general power routine for all sports are as follows:

Back Squat – back must be arched at all times.
Curls – these should be done with the back and hips resting strictly against a wall.
Deadlift – the back must be arched, legs lifting first, then lifting with the back by bringing it to a straight position, then continuing upward with a trap shrug.
Bent Arm Pullover – done lying on the back with the head extended over the end of a bench.

Figure out your program with the exercises I recommended after you have determined your maximum for singles in each of the lifts.


PHASE TWO, ADVANCED

Note – Before beginning Phase Two you must first go through Phase One at least four to five times.

The principle involved in overload training lies in moving the weight from a partial position (such as in the press from eye height on the power rack) to a lockout position. The partial movement enables you to handle much more weight than you would handle in a full range movement. This puts a greater demand on more muscle fibers (strengthening the connective tissue that binds the fibers) resulting in greater muscle efficiency.

The following weight training program is a percentage-based program combined with heavy overload movements to reach maximum results in a shorter period of time without the effects of being overtrained.

The percentages used in this program are designed to make a weight trainee work on specialized training loads which increase intensity. To follow the program you must keep a written work diary.

First begin by determining your maximum in the following exercises:


I. PRESSING

A. Bench Press
Position one – full extension from chest to lockout.
Position two – six inches from chest to lockout.
Position three – twelve inches from chest to lockout.

B. Overhead Press
Position one – shoulders to lockout position.
Position two – eye height to lockout position.
Position three – two-thirds to lockout position.


II. SQUATTING

(The squatting muscle groups are the strongest and largest muscle mass on the body and to the detriment of many an athlete are often the least considered in athletic performance. All-around successful performance has its primary foundation in leg strength. Overworking and fatiguing the leg muscles can mean defeat the day of competition.)

A. Front Squat – arched back (shoulders back over hips); rotating around the knee instead of the hip forcing the weight on the front thigh. Use a three inch board to help keep back vertical.

B. Back Squat – Full squat, weight behind the neck using hips as axis point which forces the weight on the gluteus. Do not use a board.

C. Two/Thirds Squat – (same position as back squat) A partial movement enabling the athlete to handle greater weights. Use a power rack to insure safety and handle maximum weight.


III. POWER CLEAN

Pull weight from floor to chest catching the bar at the shoulders.


IV. HIGH PULL

Use a wider grip than the clean and pull from the floor as high as possible without catching the bar.

But how about the building of power? How is this accomplished? By the use of weights, of course, but again this is merely a generalization, a statement of the obvious. Power is built by ATTENTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF EVERY MUSCLE involved in the movement and by the constant handling of heavier weights. Heavy poundages with low repetitions . . . remember . . . it is the resistance that builds power, and resistance is POUNDAGE allied with REPETITION. In other words, the weight is NOT resistance until you have performed AT LEAST one repetition with it.

So, the principle behind the building of power is the forcing of heavier, progressively heavier, work on the muscles. If you take one poundage and never handle anything more, you will never get stronger because no demand is made on the muscles for harder or heavier outputs, and they will only do the work demanded of them. Still yet another factor enters into the picture . . . the so-called “unusual movements.” If you use solely customary exercises to be found in basic routines, the muscles get used to running along one track. After a considerable period with no change, there is no response to the stimulation of the various exercises. You start to get fed up with your workouts, bored, wishing as soon as you commenced them that they were over. But immediately a change is made and the exercises in your workout program are substituted for others, you start to progress again.

The muscles involved in the two hands press are the deltoids and sections of the pectoral muscles, the triceps, trapezius and serratus magnus. The deltoids and pectorals are involved until the upper arms are level with the ground, and form right angles to the body. From here on, the triceps and trapezius take over with the serratus magnus muscles helping at the end of the lift to hold and fix the weight at arms’ length overhead.

Here is your POWER PRESS schedule. You will notice it is composed of exercises that are “unusual” and exercises that are within the field of “Power Movements.” There is no doubt in my mind that the schedule, used diligently, will immeasurable improve your press and physical development.


EXERCISE 1. BOTTOM PRESSES

Here is an exercise that gives the deltoids a lot of work in the pressing movement. Take a very wide grip on the bar and pull it to arms’ length overhead . . . snatch it to this position. Then lower the barbell down to the shoulders, and when you get to what would normally be pressing position, let it travel down the chest even further. The lower you can get it the better. Illustration #1 shows you the commencing position. From the bottom position, press it to arms length overhead, lower and repeat. Start off with a weight you can handle comfortably for 5 sets of THREE reps, working up to five sets of SIX reps before increasing the poundage.


EXERCISE 2. BOTTOM PRESSES BEHIND NECK

The reverse of the previous exercise, the behind neck version, gives plenty of work to the posterior section of the deltoid and sections of the trapezius. Hold the bar with a wide grip . . . lift it off the back of the neck and allow the bar to sink down the back as far as you can go. Here is your starting position. From here press the weight to arms’ length, lower and repeat. As in the previous exercise, start off with a weigh you can comfortably handle for 5 sets of 3 reps, working up to 5 sets of 6 reps before adding weight.


EXERCISE 3. CONTROLLED LOWERING OF A HEAVY BARBELL FROM OVERHEAD

If you haven’t made that Basic Power Bar yet, you’d better get on the job because the next two movements are performed with that piece of apparatus. The Basic Power Bar is made up of two lengths of stout chain, hung from your exercising bar by means of shackles and kept in place on the bar by collars. Two shackles on the ends of the chain keep the plates in position. Load up the chains of your Power Bar with a poundage equal to your LIMIT press. Shorten the chains so that the bar lies across the collar bones in the pre-press position . . . squat under the bar, or jerk it to arms’ length and take a firm stance . . . contraction of the buttocks and thighs will help . . . from this position SLOWLY lower the bar, fighting it every inch of the way, until it is back across the shoulders. Jerk it overhead again, or else squat beneath it and once at arms’ length, repeat the controlled lowering. 3 sets of 3 reps, working up steadily to 3 sets of 4 reps before adding weight.


EXERCISE 4. LOCK OUT PRESSES

Take your chains up to a length so that when you hold the bar overhead it clears the top of your head by three inches. Load it up with a poundage equal to your best press. Grip the bar with our normal grip for the press. Press the bar out to arms’ length, then lower and repeat. Start off with 5 sets of 3 reps and work up to 5 sets of 6 reps. When you reach this combination of sets and reps, don’t add weight to the bar but instead, lower the bar by ONE LINK of the chain. Start off again with 5 sets of 3 reps and work up to 5 sets of 6 reps. Again shorten the chain by one link. You will commence this exercise with the bar three inches above the head and when it is level with the chin, add 25 pounds to the bar and lengthen the chain again to three inches above the head.


EXERCISE 5. DUMBELL SHRUGS

“But why use dumbells for shrugs?” I hear you asking. The reason is that shrugs can be performed more efficiently and will produce better results with the use of dumbells. The motion is more complete and the trapezius muscles get a much more thorough workout. Hold a pair of heavy dumbells in the hands and hunch the shoulders forward. From this position raise the shoulders UP and OVER. The motion is a CIRCULAR one. When they have completed one circle BACK, make one circle FORWARD. Start off with a poundage you can handle easily for 5 sets of 5 reps and work up to 5 sets of 10 reps before increasing the weight of the bells. DON’T FORGET, the motion of the shoulders is a CIRCULAR one . . . FORWARD . . . then BACK!


EXERCISE 6. INCLINE BENCH POWER PRESSES

Once more you have to make use of your Basic Power Bar. Adjust the chains of the bar so that when you lie on the incline bench . . . which should be at its steepest angle . . . the upper arms are LEVEL with the ground when the chain is tight (see illustration #6). Use a hand spacing the same as your pressing grip and from commencing position press the weight to arms’ length overhead, resisting the weight when you lower it, controlling it back to commencing position. Start off with a poundage you can handle for 5 sets of 3 reps and work up steadily to 5 sets of 5 reps before increasing the exercising poundage.


You can use this routine in conjunction with your normal training, and if the capacity for hard work is great within you, you will thrive on it. But the majority of weight trainers will find it advisable to either use the routine in its entirety with NO OTHER movements included, except for squats or deadlifts, or else, if they are not willing to give up the schedule they are following . . . and this might well be because of the good results they are obtaining from it . . . they will find it best to select two or three exercises that appeal to them, that they feel will develop he qualities lacking, and perform these at the END of their workout program. After you have completed your usual workout, take a rest of 10 or 15 minutes and then go through the exercises you have selected from the Pressing Power routines. 

Friday, February 5, 2010
Leg Work for the Olympic Lifter - Carl Miller 
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Leg Work for the Olympic Lifter
by Carl Miller


Let me open this report by emphasizing that leg work for the Olympic lifter is not an end in itself. Rather, it is only a means to the end of snatching and clean & jerking more weight.

The theory of training is based on adaptability. An individual’s body, based on his inherent characteristics and exposed to what is scientifically and empirically known about training, is brought to adapt to a higher degree of intensity of progressive resistance. The higher the degree of intensity one can adapt to, the greater weight he will lift. This report which deals with leg work reflects such. There are specific items which will be clarified. Not every lifter can fit into a program designed for his level of lifting when he is not used to it. I continue to stress that it is okay for a lifter to fit into a lower ranking if it feels more comfortable. But from this base point, adaptation to higher levels should take place.

The reader will find a good deal of dependency on high reps (10-20) in doing leg work. This should not create a problem. Fast twitch muscle fibers (which are the power lifting fibers) can be trained by either low or high reps.


The theory of specificity is closely adhered to. This means that as the lifter gets closer to a contest peak, more things are done like they will be done at the contest. General development because of its broad carry-over value is stressed early in the cycle when the contest is far away.

The leg work exercises will be placed into categories. These categories are based on the leg development that is needed for the lifter to make progress in his snatching and clean & jerking. Lifters in the lower classes do exercises in the two most basic and broad categories of this leg development. As they advance in rating, more specific categories are added to hone leg development to its finest for Olympic lifting. Below are listed the categories and their placement into lifting rankings. The number of days per week that leg work is done is taken from the Bulgaria #3 material, namely, Classes III and IV – 2 days per week, Classes I and II – 3 days per week, Master – 4 days per week, and Elite – 5 days per week.

Classes III and IV –
day one: Front Thigh
day two: Hip and Upper Thigh

Classes I and II –
day one: Front Thigh
day two: Hip and Upper Thigh
day three: Speed

Master –
day one: Front Thigh
day two: Hip and Upper Thigh
day three: Speed
day four: Deep Penetrating

Elite –
day one: Front Thigh
day two: Hip and Upper Thigh
day three: Speed
day four: Deep Penetrating
day five: Specialized Pull

Next, exercises thought to be among the best will be placed under these categories.

Front Thigh –
1. Front Squat – reps.
2. Super Killer.
3. Sissy Squat.
4. Front Squat – reg.
5. Hack Squat – reps.

Hip and Upper Thigh –
1. Back Squat, hips in – reps.
2. Back Squat, hips in – reg.
3. Back Squat, hips out – reps.
4. Back Squat, hips out – reg.
5. Back Squat, shoulder straps.

Speed –
1. Back Squat – reps.
2. Front Squat – reps.
3. Back Squat – reg.
4. Front Squat – reg.
5. Throws.

Deep Penetrating –
1. Eccentric.
2. Isokinetic.
3. Functional Isometric.
4. Electro-stimulation.
5. Dead Stops.

Specialized Pull –
1. Bottom Pull Back Squat, floor.
2. Bottom Pull Back Squat, below knee.
3. Top Pull Back Squat, above knee.
4. Olympic Dead Lift, clean – reps.
5. Olympic Dead Lift, clean – reg.

These exercises are arranged below based on when the categories under which they fall are practiced within the different classes. The reps are taken from my article Bulgaria #5 with the exception of high reps, the eccentric reps, isokinetic reps and functional isometric reps. These are dealt with separately in other reports and will be briefly reviewed when a list of the exercises is given later, and peculiarities about them will be discussed. THE TIME – IN MINUTES – ALLOTTED TO THE EXERCISES IS UNDER THE HEADING OF WORK and is taken from my Bulgaria #3 article. The intensity at which they are practiced will immediately follow these exercise charts of the six classes (see tables above).


Intensity

There is a broad but structured guideline for the intensity at which the exercises should be done. Again, it falls under the exercise categories.

Front Thigh –
Every 3 workouts a 100% effort should be made for whatever reps are being used. The other 2 workouts should be done in accordance with how the lifter feels but not falling below 75% effort for whatever reps are being used. Once a good warmup is completed on the 100% day and the 100% is tried, then the lifter should stay as heavy as possible for what time remains in the time slot. A good guideline on the other days is:

1.) to work up to a weight that the lifter might have done one or two reps more with – one more on a medium day and two more on a light day – when he is doing seven reps or less, and
2) to work up to a weight that the lifter might have done two or three reps more with – two more on a medium day and three more on a light day – when he is doing ten reps or more. Once this is reached, then the lifter should stay as heavy as possible using the same guidelines.

Hip & Upper Thigh –
Every 5 workouts a 100% effort should be made for whatever reps are being used. The other 4 workouts can be cycled down to 75%. An example would be 75%, 80%, 85%, 92% and 100%, though not necessarily in that order. Once the planned percentage is reached for the day, the lifter should try to stay there for the time that remains in the time slot; he should make an all out effort to do so.

Speed –
Every 2 workouts a 90% effort should be made for whatever reps are being used. The other workout an 80-855 effort should be made.

Deep Penetrating –
Every 2 workouts an all out effort should be made for whatever reps are being used. This would mean the following with different respective deep penetrating exercises:
Eccentric – 110-140%.
Isokinetic – slowest speed possible but yet moveable when using machine; when doing manually each rep takes 6 seconds.
Functional Isometric – all the weight that can be handled, pushed to the top pin and held for 6 seconds.
Dead Stops – all the weight that can be handled from the lifter’s respective position with good form.

The other deep penetrating workout a sub-effort should be made for whatever reps are being used. This would mean the following with the different respective deep penetrating exercises:
Eccentric – 95-105%.
Isokinetic – fastest speed possible on machine; when doing manually each rep takes 2 seconds.
Functional Isometric – 85-90% pushed to the top pin and held for 6 seconds.
Dead Stops – 85-90% from the lifter’s respective position with good form.


Specifics of Each Category of Exercise

Most readers of this paper will be familiar with the normal ways of performing the exercises mentioned. I will list here some specific modifications and not all the details of how to do the exercises, which we be repetitious.

One thing should be stressed which is specific to each exercise to be discussed, and that is that the lifter should EASE INTO the last two or three inches before the bottom is reached. One of the biggest problems of lifters right now is tendonitis of the patella tendon. Every care should be taken to avoid this because it is so hard to get rid of. Easing into the last two or three inches will mean less weight but more carry-over value to snatching and clean & jerking more weight.



Front Thigh –
In all front thigh work the hips should be ahead of the heels, even if this means elevating the heels on a 2-4 inch board. This idea of the hips being ahead of the heels is what is wanted when the lifter is coming up from a clean or even a snatch. Flexibility work should go along with all leg work. Specific flexibility in the Achilles tendon and quadriceps muscles is needed. A gain in flexibility in those places will allow the hips to move ahead of the heels.

Front thigh development is basic in lifting because so much of the intensity of pulling and jerking is felt by the front of the thigh. What often happens when the front thigh development is below par is faulty technique. The practice of front thigh exercises in correct form is essential. Only in this way is there development that is functional to snatching and cleaning & jerking. Faulty form will result in the exercise not working the front thigh in the manner needed to be of help in the snatch and clean & jerk.

1.) Front Squat – reps. some important points to remember are these:
Keep the elbows up and do not let the shoulders round; this has a chance of happening when doing high reps. The rhomboids get stretched and do not get developed, and as a result rounding of the shoulders takes place in the clean and also when jerking. KEEP THE SHOULDERS UP!
Ease into the last two or three inches before bottom position is reached. This was stated before, but is should be stated again because when doing high reps the tendency is strong to not ease into those last two or three inches.

2.) Front Squat – regular. Remember the points made for exercise #1 because as heavier weights are handled for regular reps the tendency will be to round the shoulders and to not ease into the last two or three inches before the bottom. THINK SPEED when doing the regular reps on all weights. Get your neuromuscular system trained to power not strength.

3.) Super Killer – This is a front squat done on a 4 inch board with a broom handle or some other long vertical object held by another person behind the lifter’s heels and a little ahead of them. The lifter’s hips are thus well forward. His back should be just about vertical. As he rises he concentrates hard on moving his hips even further forward. If his hips do come back, they will hit the vertical object. The training partner who is holding the object should not let it move so that the hips move forward again.

4.) Sissy Squats – These have been described in many bodybuilding magazines. The only deviation is to have the feet spaced apart the width they are when coming up from a clean, toes slightly turned out. This exercise is often overlooked by the Olympic lifter because not much weight can be handled. A tremendous degree of intensity is placed on the front of the thighs. When doing this exercise, keep the knees well forward and do not let the hips even come close to moving back. When more weight is needed, tie it around the waist with a strap or rope.

5.) Back Squat – Like sissy squats, these have been described over and over in bodybuilding magazines so no further description will be made here. As with the sissy squats, put the feet clean recovery width apart with the toes slightly turned out.



Hip & Upper Thigh

The known role of these muscle areas has increased as the thinking on pulling has evolved. Pulling is now thought of as a hip and thigh lift with the back blending in later on, instead of the back lifting and then the hips and thighs entering in.

Because this type of leg work has general carry-over value to pulling, the hips when doing this work are sometimes permitted to go back since they are worked more this way, as is the upper thigh. But because of specificity, at various times the hips are also not allowed to go back because they do not go back when pulling. In other words, general overload is wanted at certain times and then, to get as much carry-over value as possible, specific overload is wanted at other times. Take a stance as close to clean recovery stance as possible when doing the exercises, with the toes slightly pointed out.

1.) Back Squat, hips in, reps – Have the bar placed high on the traps and not low on the shoulders. This will encourage a more upright back position and thus the hips will be in more. In many instances the hips will not be able to be ahead of the heels but should be as far forward as possible even if a 2-4 inch board is needed. EASE INTO the last two or three inches before bottom. Thrusting the elbows forward when coming up will also help keep a more upright position and keep the hips in.

2.) Back Squat, hips in, regular – Remember the same points covered in exercise #1.

3.) Back Squat, hips out, reps – The bar can rest low on the shoulders for this. This will encourage the hips to be back. Much more weight can be handled, as much as or more than 100 pounds than with the hips in. More strain will be on the lower back since the back tilts forward more. Do not use more weight than the lower back will stand. If pain develops, use less weight. Previous work should have included lower back work to prepare for such an exercise.

4.) Back Squat, hips out, regular – Remember the same points covered in exercise # 3.

5.) Back Squats, shoulder straps – This exercise is used with a piece of equipment like the Magic Circle, which is described in Iron Man magazine. There are two wide straps that go over the lifter’s shoulders and with hooks or snaps attach to a barbell or some supportive apparatus to which weights can be loaded. It is used mainly with beginners to give them a dispersed feeling of weight on their shoulders instead of the concentrated one that a barbell gives. But it can also be used with more advanced lifters. This equipment distributes the weight over a broader base and puts less strain on the shoulders. Good squatting technique, either with the hips in or out, is thought to be achieved quicker with this exercise.



Speed

Speed exercises cannot be emphasized enough. There are many lifters with strong legs. That means they can come up with heavy weights when squatting. But there are fewer lifters who can come up with a little less weight when squatting but with great speed. Pulling is a fast motion, and coming up from a clean should be a fast motion. These movements take leg POWER, and that means SPEED. You can train a muscle to move fast. Neurologically, if you think speed your muscles will contract faster. Speed is specific. If you squat with heavier and heavier weights while not paying attention to speed, you will get stronger with heavier and heavier weights. But your legs will not get more power for the athletic speed you need to clean or snatch a heavy weight. I am not discounting squatting with heavy weights and grinding out the reps. Apparently, what this does is activate deep muscle fibers. However, after they are activated, they must be trained for speed if the strength developed is to be converted into the power needed for the lifting of heavy weights in the snatch and clean & jerk.

When doing speed exercises the lifter should have someone help him by using a stop watch. As the lifter starts to rise from the low position, the watch is started. As his knees straighten at the top, the watch is stopped. Then the watch is started again when he has returned to the bottom and starts up once more. Sporting goods stores sell stop watches which accumulate time. Again, EASE IN AT THE BOTTOM! Do not crash or even slow down at the bottom; ease in.

These speed exercises, besides building power for snatching and clean & jerking, are fun. It is a real challenge to try to beat your previous time. It is a new incentive. These exercises also take the strain off the lower back since a lighter weight is handled. The back feels more alive and fresh. In all speed squats the hips should be in. Nothing new need be said about any but one of he exercises since a referral back to similar exercises points out what should be paid attention to.

1.) Throws – The bar is at the shoulders and the lifter goes down as he would be doing for a normal front squat. After easing in at the bottom, he then accelerates as fast as possible with sufficient power to throw the bar off his shoulders high enough so that he can catch the bar on his traps. If more than one rep is called for, he then goes into a normal back squat and then accelerates as fast as possible with sufficient power to throw the bar off his traps high enough that he can catch the bar on his shoulders. It may seem at first that not enough weight can be used to truly call this a leg building exercise, but remember that power is using strength quickly enough to be able to pull a weight to a sufficient height or come up from a clean easily; as long as there is progressive resistance (more and more weight as the body adapts) then power will be developed. If this exercise is done correctly, especially with reps, the thighs really feel worked. It will take a few sessions to get the timing down to be able to catch the weight in the right spot and without any jarring. Give in with the legs a little as the bar is coming down, and this will cushion the catch.



Deep Penetrating

These are the exercises that have been shown by physiological studies to activate more muscle fibers than do normal kinds of progressive resistance. Many times muscle fibers would never have been activated if it were not for these exercises. Some physiologists believe they are so deeply penetrating because the natural defense mechanism of the body, which prevents a person from contracting a muscle so hard as to hurt himself, is partially bypassed. It is not entirely bypassed since there seems to be enough natural defense in operation to keep from getting hurt, because the injury rate from these exercises is no greater than from normal exercises.

1.) Eccentric – This is basically lowering the weight under control. In the squatting exercises suggested for legs, the lifter bends his knees and slowly gives in to the weight so that after 6 seconds he has bent his knees enough to be in a full squat position. The incentive is to use more and more weight in correct form for 6 seconds. If the lowering is faster than 6 seconds then too much weight is being used. Naturally, spotters are needed to help the lifter up from this full squat position so that another rep can be done. When training alone in a power rack, only single reps are possible.

2.) Isokinetic – This is constant resistance throughout the whole movement. Therefore, the lifter works his strong areas of movement in addition to his weak ones. In normal exercises with a barbell, usually only the weak areas are worked hard, because when they are, they give out and the exercise cannot be continued; this leaves the strong areas not given as much work.

There is a company called Mini-Gym in Missouri which sells an isokinetic ham-quad unit. The unit has multiple speeds. The slow speeds work the deepest muscle fibers, and the faster speeds train the fibers to be more powerful. As stated during the section on intensity, both speeds need to be used.

The quadriceps can also be worked isokinetically by manual resistance. A partner puts his hands on the lifter’s foot and presses down evenly while the lifter tries to straighten his knee. If using a training partner for manual resistance a lifter can assume various positions in which he can straighten of flex his knees, extend his hips or abduct his thighs. Please refer to other sections of this article for intensity and work suggested.

Isokinetic movement isolates muscles that are normally used in their entirety when the lifter is doing some sort of pull or squat. Therefore, whether the isokinetics are done manually or with a machine, it is advisable when doing them to work the quads, the thigh biceps, the hips and possible the outsides of the thighs.

3.) Functional Isometric – With the bar between two pins one hole apart on each side, the bar is pushed up from the lower pin and held against the upper pin for 6 seconds. The movement of the squat should be divided into 8 equal distances apart and one rep per distance should be done. The incentive on a maximum day is to hold heavier and heavier weights against the top pin for 6 seconds. In all distances, keep the hips in. Use the back squat.

4.) Dead Stops – With the bar resting on the pins in a power rack and on the traps, and the lifter one to two inches from dead bottom, he drives up fast to complete extension. After finishing the reps at that position, he puts the bar on pins set at a height so that the thigh bone is right above parallel; he drives up fast for the required reps. Then he sets the bar on the pins so that the body is 4-6 inches lower than full height; he drives up for the required reps. Thus there are three positions. In all positions keep the hips in, and use the back squat.



Specialized Pull – These leg exercises are very effective in working the legs along the lines they will be used when pulling. They add a lot to the leg program by using the leg power already gained and zeroing in on exactly what is going to be done in competition. Because they are specific and their value lies in their specificity, adherence to correct execution of them is of great importance.

1.) Bottom Pull Back Squat, floor – With the bar on his traps the lifter assumes the position he would be in if he was going to pull the bar from the floor. From here he nearly straightens, then re-bends and straightens his knees as if he were doing the double knee bend. The hard part here is to keep the hips from shooting out back and to have the shoulders go forward enough when the bar – if there were a bar being pulled – passes the knees. The lifter accelerates the movement as height is gained. After the re-bending when the hips go down and forward, there is a marked increase in leverage and a great acceleration can take place. After the knees straighten, the lifter goes up on his toes and remains there for 3 seconds. Remaining on the toes for 3 seconds means that the forces to extension add upward, and not forward or backward.

2.) Bottom Full Back Squat, below knee – With the bar on his traps the lifter assumes the position he would be in if he were going to pull the bar from 2-3 inches below the knee. From here he nearly straightens the knee, then re-bends and straightens his knees, as described in exercise #1 above.

3.) Top Pull Back Squat, above knee – With the bar on his traps the lifter assumes the position he would be in if he were going to pull the bar from 2-3 inches above his knees. From here he bends his knees (as in the re-bend exercises #1 and #2), then straightens them and goes up on his toes as described in exercise #1.

4.) Olympic Deadlift, clean (reps) – This should be done exactly like the double knee bend and with straps. When done this way it gives the thighs a tremendous workout. When form is broken, then the back is worked, which is not wanted. There is no shrug done here. The weight is lowered after the knees straighten, and another rep is started.

5.) Olympic Deadlift, clean (regular) – This is no different from the previous exercise. Since more weight is used, and a lot of weight can be used, strict adherence to good form is a must. 
 
 barbell exercises, but if we were to segregate the basic movements we would find about a dozen basics. But let’s see what happens when we do one thing at a time.

Let’s start with the basic press. Am I suggesting that you just practice just this one exercise and none other on a training day? Yes, I am. You might wonder where the inspiration and variety are in this idea. Just to work on presses for a long time at once and nothing else would bore you, more than likely.

In the press you have countless variations, too many to list them all here. Strict military press, Olympic press, press behind neck, continental press, narrow and wide grip presses, one dumbell military presses, side presses, see-saw presses, dumbell push presses, one and two arm variations, etc., etc., etc. An endless variety, and nothing written in stone says you have to stick with just one form of the press each session, does it? You can drop it if you want to. You can always go back to your customary routine.

Everyone knows how to curl. There are countless variations here as well. Barbell, dumbell, swingbell. plate, standing, seated, incline with bar or dumbell, spider curls, reverse, Zottman, hammer, pulley, etc., etc., etc.

The rowing movements, pullovers, squatting, etc. all lend themselves to endless varieties. No monotony here. What sometimes causes exercising to lose allure is lack of creativity.

To recap. Select a movement: pressing, curling, pulling, squatting, benching, etc. Now, for that day’s session perform several variations on the basic theme. Did you ever consider how many forms of prone pressing there are?

Analysis Of The Basic Power-Building Exercises

The course of exercise that is best for the attainment of our goal is very clear and very limited, when you consider that literally thousands of exercises do in fact exist. I see no point in considering or even discussing second best when we can start off and deal in depth with the best.

For the purpose of analysis I am going to divide the exercises into four main categories, and three supplemental aspects of training. The four main categories are:

Press movements, and their variations.
Pull movements, and their variations.
Squatting movements.
Bench work.

The supplemental aspects of power-bodybuilding are:

Partials.
Rack work.
Isometric contraction.

My reason for analyzing the exercises in this manner is to help you achieve a balanced and orderly understanding of the arrangement of the required movements. This is desirable since, eventually, you will be off on your own and you’ll have to be your own trainer. This is the way the most effective and successful physical culturists work out. Know yourself, and know your tools!


Press Movements And Their Variations

Press movements are builders, primarily, of the shoulder assembly. They produce enormous benefits to the upper-back as well, and build triceps, trapezius and, when done standing, aid in the development of the low back area and the hip muscles. I suggest that all pressing be done in a regular standing position. Seated pressing can be followed at times, but essentially, standing presses are the way to go.

Military Press

This is the most widely known and certainly one of the finest press movements one can do. Generally, trainees do their military pressing incorrectly, and thus fail to gain full benefits. When you do you presses . . .

Stand as erect as possible.
Look straight ahead, not up.
Drive the bar hard, tensing the hips and mid-section for extra power and full support.
Keep a tight grip on the bar.
Lockout completely in military pressing, and return the bar in a controlled, steady fashion to the starting position.

The feet should be a comfortable position apart, and every effort must be made to fight for the maintenance of perfect balance throughout the movement.

The best way to train on heavy presses is to do your reps and sets off a pair of good squat racks. If you do each set commencing with a cleaning action you will be using too much energy – especially when four, five or possibly six sets are involved, as they often are in power training.

When military pressing is done with only light or moderate weights there is no reason to do them off racks, unless you happen to like them done this way.

Persons who are strong pressers generally find that they are capable of using somewhat wider handspacing on the bar when they press, than others who are “poor pressers”. The important thing is to find your best individual position and stick to it. You will reach your own best output in effort and achieve the best results if you stay with the handspacing you find most comfortable.

Suggested set/rep schemes are:

General development – 2 or 3 sets of 8-10 reps, with a moderate poundage.

Advanced development – 3 sets of 10-8-6 reps, adding some weight after each set.

Power development – 2 set of 6 reps, add weight and do 1 set of 3, add weight and do 1 set of 2-3, add weight and try to squeeze out a final 2 reps.

When going for a new limit single attempt – 1 set of 6, 1 set of 5, 1 set of 3, 1 set of 2, 1 set of 2, 1 set of 1 (near limit), 1 set of 1 (limit) – if feeling energetic do the limit lift again for 1 rep.

The above represent good basic examples, and you should try them. If experience or preference urges you to make some minor alteration in the set/rep scheme by all means do so; you must use your own experience and judgment to a high degree.


Press Behind The Neck

This is the single finest all-round press movement in existence, when done properly. Follow all the tips for the regular press when doing presses behind the neck, plus:

Be especially careful not to let the bar drop or bounce on the back of the neck in the downward motion.
Don’t do “jerks” instead of presses.
Do full-range movement presses behind the neck – i.e. gently touch the back of the neck (near traps) after each rep and then go to a full lockout press.

Suggested set/rep schemes are the same as for the military press.

I have tried to give you the benefit of my experience here, again, but you must try always to use your experience, where appropriate, and your own judgment in your training.

Presses behind the neck should be done off the racks.

Excellent variations of the two fundamental press movements can from time to time be utilized. Heavy dumbell pressing is always a good movement to use for variety. They should be done in a standing position, not sitting. This permits much heavier weights to be used, and it enables a good share of benefit to be distributed to the low back area. Simultaneous heavy dumbell presses should be done for 2 or 3 sets of 8 reps with every possible ounce of iron you can handle on the bars. Light presses, once you’re accustomed to heavy barbell work, are about as effective as lateral raises.

Alternate dumbell presses are more of a bodybuilder’s exercise than a power man’s. Still, they are from time to time valuable. Do 2 or 3 sets of 8 reps. Heavy!

Also, for some crazy reason, there is a strong tendency to look UP when doing dumbell presses. I can’t know why this is so, but I urge you: look straight ahead during all pressing movements. When you look up there is a natural tendency for your body to lean back. This shifts, partly, the burden of effort from your shoulders to your chest, which is defeating the whole purpose of the exercise.

JERKS can be used profitably from time to time, however, they do not really provide all that great benefit as is commonly believed. Jerks off the racks are popular, I suspect, because they make PRESSES easier to do with a heavier weight, more than because they provide superior gains. The best power and shoulder/tricep/trapezius development I ever saw was on men who worked behind the neck STRICT, HEAVY pressing into their routines regularly, and who were good at heavy, STRICT military pressing as well. I would restrict the use of jerks off the racks to instances where staleness and boredom have set in, and perhaps to those few times when a sticking point is encountered.

Guard against the tendency that some power-men have to call a jerk off the racks a “press”. I have seen well-intentioned lifters going for a new limit press and satisfy themselves that they had achieved it when all they did was jerk the new limit instead of pressing it.

If you’re going to use heavy jerks in your training I suggest a warmup set of military presses AND behind the neck presses (10 light reps each) to insure a fully warmed up shoulder assembly. 

Friday, April 2, 2010
Powerlifting, Part Three - Bradley Steiner 
Ken Waller
Photo, Ray Beck



Norbert Schemansky



Doug Hepburn




Powerlifting, Part Three
by Bradley Steiner


Pull Movements And Their Variations

Pull movements hit the back heavily. Olympic lifters train practically on pull exclusively, and, as a result they have the finest back development of any athletes in the world. Back work is synonymous with power work. Back work builds tremendous muscularity in the entire upper body and power to the Nth degree. While pressing builds great arms in the sense of TRICEP development, pulling builds great arms in the sense of BICEP development. Read that sentence again. A balanced ration of the heavy press/pull exercises in your routine will give you strong, well-developed arms in a way that all the curling and tricep isolation movements never can. Believe me! If you want arms concentrate on press/pull basics.


Power Cleans

This exercise is so superbly excellent that I have come to the conclusion that the only reason it is not more widely used is because of laziness. It is a rugged movement, I’ll concede, but it provides so much great benefit that everyone who works out should use it from time to time. Power cleans provide puff-and-pant exercise, fantastic back, arm, trap and leg work, and generally increase overall body strength at a fantastic rate. All the movement really consists of is a floor-to-shoulders rapid lift of a heavy barbell, and then the return of the barbell to the floor position. It cannot be done for high reps and heavy weights, unless you happen to be a born superman. Low reps (no more than 6 a set) are indicated, and sets of 3 to 6 are best. Also points to bear in mind when power cleaning include . . .

VERY tight grip on the bar.
Hands comfortably spaced, not too narrow, not too wide.
DO NOT rise up on toes when cleaning.
Finish the lift part of the clean in a solid, secure position.
Lower the weight RHYTHMICALLY, do not drop it.
Lift partly with leg strength, as well as back and arm power.

Suggested set/rep schemes for effective training in the power clean are:

5 sets of 5 reps. Here, the first 2 sets are progressively heavier warmup sets, and the final three sets are done with an absolute limit.
4 sets of 6 reps are also good.
Going as heavy as possible, I’d use a set/rep scheme like this – 1 set of 6 (warmup), 1x6 (heavier), 1x4 (added weight), 1x3 (added weight), 1x2 (added weight), 1x1 (near limit), 1x1 (all-out limit).
For general conditioning 2 sets of 10 reps with a moderate weight are fine in the power clean.


Bentover Rowing

Reg Park regarded this exercise as the single best back movement. Park was perhaps one of the three best examples of a champion power-bodybuilder during the 1960’s. Most men who know their business in the physical training field know how great the bentover row movement is as a basic pull. Key points in the bentover row:

Warm up the lower back first before going into the exercise.
Use a very tight, CONTROLLING grip on the bar, and a comfortable handspacing.
Pull the bar to touch the midsection or chest, and lower to full arms’ length for every rep.
Do not permit excessive body swing to assist in the basic rowing action (although some body swing is inevitable when handling heavy weights).
Try to remain as “bentover” as you possibly can so that the fullest burden of work is thrown upon the thick lat muscles.

Best set/rep schemes are:

2 or 3 sets of 8-10 reps for general development.
5x5 or 5x6 (as described for power cleans) for power-bodybuilding.
1x8, 1x6, 3x5 (weight increases following each set) for variety in power-building.
NOTE: I have found there is no value in training for single attempts in this movement.


Power Snatches

Many believe the Olympic lifter’s snatch movement to be the finest all-round weightlifting movement. In many ways it certainly is. However, the “pure” Olympic split or squat style of snatching is neither necessary or all that desirable for the power-bodybuilding oriented trainee. It requires too much total devotion in training because of its strenuous nature and difficult movement patterns. Better to do the variation of the lift known as power snatching, which will provide the many of the benefits and take less single-lift involvement on the part of the trainee. When the power snatch is done with a light weight it is called the FLIP SNATCH. I favor flip snatches above any other movement (except perhaps rope-skipping) as an effective warming up movement.

The power snatch is simply a floor-to-overhead rapid lift, starting from the same position you’d use for power cleans, except with a wider handspacing. The bar is secured by the hands, the hips are dropped low for drive, and the head is raises. Then, DRIVE! The hard pull is made and as the bar travels upward the knees are bent slightly so a modified “dip” under the rising weight is permitted. As the bar locks out overhead the body is brought to an erect, solid, upright posture. The weight is lowered, and the next rep is started.

The virtues of power snatches (or flip snatches) are many, and I stress that they are essential in some form, from time to time, in your schedule. When power snatching, remember:

Keep the feet solidly placed and drive with the legs to aid in the lift.
Keep the tightest possible grip on the bar.
Lock out fully overhead – arms STRAIGHT!
Pause after each snatch, to make sure of you solid position.
Coordinate every muscle in your body to achieve a smooth, good-feeling lift.

Suggested set/rep schemes:

1 or 2 sets of 6 reps as a warmup (light flip snatches).
1x6, 1x5, 1x3, 1x1 (basic heavy workout, adding poundage after each set).
5x5 – advanced power training (using first 2 sets as progressive warmups, and adding weight for 3 sets of 5 reps with a limit weight.


The Deadlift

One of the accepted powerlifts, the deadlift is also a fine power-bodybuilding EXERCISE. This is especially true when done in stiff-legged style. Working the lower back via very heavy deadlifting is not advisable too often as this part of the anatomy tends to be somewhat prone to injury if overworked. Yet, the low back area is also a critical zone and, in addition to exercises like snatches and cleans that indirectly hit the area, specific deadlifting from time to time is desirable. Here are some tips on performance:

Use an over-under grip when training heavy.
Control the weight, don’t swing it or bounce it.
Warm up adequately.
Keep the head up.
In regular deadlifting drive with the legs.
In stiff-legged deadlifting remember not to “jerk” the body up.
Most of the time if is better not to use a too-heavy weight.

Set/Rep Schemes:

Regular deadlifts – 4x6 or 5x5 or 4x5.
Stiff-legged deadlifts – 2x10-12 or 3x8 or 1x8, 1x6, 1x5 (adding weight each set).
NOTE: Go for a limit only in the regular deadlifts, never with the stiff-legged variation.


High Pulls

Generally thought of as a weightlifter’s assistance movement (which it is), the high pull is also a power-bodybuilder par excellence! It induces muscular gains throughout the body and builds great strength and power. In all, a VERY desirable exercise. It is definitely rugged.

My interpretation of high pulls are upright rows done from floor to head height. The handspacing is either clean grip or the wider snatch grip. They are rough and it is best to do them in fairly low-rep sets to avoid awkward and potentially dangerous poor technique. Remember . . .

Pull hard! Try to touch the ceiling with the bar.
Let the high pull be a coordinated movement that utilizes every muscle group.
Work as rapidly as you can, avoid pausing for too long between reps.

Suggested beginner’s schedule: 3 sets of 6 reps.
Advanced: 1x6, 1x4, 1x3, 1x3, 1x2 (adding weight after each set).
There is no need to go for limit singles in high pulling.


Squatting

The basic squat to full or to parallel position is THE basic power exercise, and one of the best overall bodybuilding exercises as well. There are a few worthwhile variations to the squat – the most valuable being the front squat. The power-bodybuilder should put his effort into BASIC squats, and include front squats from time to time as a variation, an aid, or as a means of avoiding staleness. Essentials to remember:

NEVER bounce or drop into a squat! This is the cause of knee and back injuries.
Always have two attentive spotters or a power rack when you are going for heavy and for limit reps.
Try to keep your back flat and erect.
Go into the full squat position only with weights that do not approach your absolute limit, otherwise stick to parallel squats.
Warm up well before going into heavy squats.
Keep your head up.
NEVER pause and wait at the bottom of a squat. Come up fast!
Try a shoe with a raised heel to see if it helps.
Learn to breathe, powerfully and effectively when you squat, through experimentation.

Suggested set/rep schemes:

2 or 3 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions for intermediate trainees.
4x6 or 3x8 or 5x5 for advanced people (using increased weights for each set).
BEGINNERS will follow either a breathing squat (1x20) routine to gain weight, or a basic 1 or 2 by 12-15 routine to build up generally for the first three or four months of training.
Front squats should be worked the same (set/rep-wise) as standard squats.
In going for an all-out limit squat try this sequence:
1x12 (warmup), 1x8, 1x6, 1x3, 1x2, 1x1, 1x1 (adding weight after each set).


Bench Work

The bench press is a basic powerlift as well as a fundamental power-bodybuilding exercise. In training it should be used on a flat as well as an incline bench from time to time for variety. The dumbells can be utilized on the bench, and if they are used the weights should be heavy. Flyes on the incline bench are good for power-bodybuilders too.

Too much emphasis should not be given to bench work. The reason why many trainees favor bench pressing above standing presses is because the bench permits the use of heavier weights with the expenditure of less effort. Naturally, this means, to all who are honest about it, that the overall benefit to the entire body is less with bench pressing than it is with standing pressing. Bench work is valuable and important, but in recent years it has been given way too much emphasis by bodybuilders and lifters alike. Do it, but don’t OVERDO it. Some tips for getting the most out of bench work:

Work strictly, not bouncing the bar off your chest, or swinging instead of lifting the dumbells.
Keep hips on the bench – don’t over-arch.
Keep a tight grip on the barbell or dumbells.
Be sure to have two attentive spotters or a power rack whenever you go for a new maximum, be it a single or maximum reps with a weight.
NEVER do benches to the neck! The “upper” pecs can be worked adequately and well by simply reverting to an incline bench or doing incline flyes, instead of bench presses to the neck.

Recommended set/rep schemes:

Beginners: 2 or 3 sets of 8-12 reps with moderate weights.
Advanced: 3 or 4 sets of 6 reps. 4 sets of 8 reps. 1x8, 1x8, 2x6 (adding weight after each set). Also, 5x5 as shown in the power clean example.
Set/rep schemes apply to barbell and dumbell bench presses and flying movements with heavy dumbells – all exercises done either on a flat or incline bench.


Partials, Rack Work And Isometrics

In 90% of the training you do the emphasis should be on picture-perfect form AND heavy weights. Cheating is undesirable, and while it SEEMS that you are working harder because you are lifting more you are, in fact, working less intensively since the “heavier” work is being distributed over many hefty muscle groups – instead of being placed on the ones that you wish to work.

Sometimes – SOMETIMES – a little cheating is okay. But more often than not when the urge comes to really pile on the workload you are better doing partials. This way you will actually be putting forth the work where it is desired, with no outside assistance. Let me show you what I mean by partials.

Let’s take the deadlift. We’ll say you normally do 4 sets of 5 reps with 300 pounds. Now you are hungry for more strength and power, so one day you may do the following . . . you do the first 3 sets as usual to give your back a good basic workout, and also to insure an adequate warmup. Then, you put 400 pounds on the bar. You know you can’t get a full deadlift with that weight, but you also know that a PARTIAL lift, once you’ve thoroughly warmed up, will provide a good stimulus so that perhaps in a few workouts you’ll manage 310 pounds for 5 reps. You go right ahead and deadlift the 400 pounds from the floor as best you can. As it turns out you succeed in lifting rep #1 to about knee height. After a few breaths, rep #2 is the same. Rep #3 won’t budge after going mid-distance up your shin, and by rep #4 your hands are begging to let go of the bar. But you set your mind as firmly as your muscles and you go foe the final rep. Murder! You eke out an inch-off-the-floor lift, and drop the bar like it was the end of a Sherman tank. That’s a good set of partials for you!

You will need partners or a power rack to do bench presses and squats as partials. Never try to do this without a high quality power rack or two husky, attentive spotters.

You can make your deltoids feel like they were made of cotton if you press 3 normal sets of 6 reps and then 2 sets of 3- or 4-rep partials with an excess of iron on the bar some day. Try it. Don’t do this often, though, since more than one such workout a month or, at the most, every three weeks, is plenty. The same can be done with bench presses, squats, etc. by using different settings in the power rack.

Partials build power and strength in abundance. You can – and I am not exaggerating – sometimes improve a lift after one workout where you apply partials properly. The trick is to see that you don’t do them too often and get enough rest between attempts.

With the warning that, again, partial movements are a supplementary aid, not a recommended method of constant training, I commend the technique to you as truly valuable.

I mentioned racks and their use with partial movement workouts. Not only can you use the rack to do partial movements, but you can use them to aid in isometric contractions and in all forms of really heavy, borderline lifting. Borderline lifting is when you’re only half-sure that you’ll make the set, or the rep.

Isometrics were once offered as the final answer to rapid strength and muscle building. This was too bad, because the idiots that did this ruined what could have been a good thing in its own right. After all, something doesn’t have to be perfect of be a kind of panacea for it to have genuine value. In its place, isometric contraction exercise is valuable. It is certainly no substitute for vigorous weight training. Not by a long shot. Isometrics CAN keep the muscles toned when weight training facilities are not available. They can also help overcome a sticking point in a particular lift by overloading a specific area of the movement.

beginning routine.


Exercise One: PRESS MOVEMENTS

Do one set of regular presses with a light warmup weight. FEEL the movement all the way, don’t fight for reps, this is strictly a warmup. Then, set the bar back on the racks and do one set of 10 behind the neck presses with the same weight. The purpose again is to warm up the shoulder assembly, not to fight for reps or work hard.

Load the bar up heavy now and do a set of 6 behind the neck reps. These should be very hard. Rest a few minutes, and do another 6 reps. Rest again, and add more weight to the bar (perhaps 10-15 pounds). Do 3 strict military presses.


Exercise Two: LEG WORK

Do 15-20 very light squats in perfect form to warm up the hips, legs and lower back. Add weight to the bar and do two more sets of warmup squats, 6-8 reps. Don’t tax yourself with these. Warm up, and use these sets to work on your form.

Now, load the bar heavy. Do 6-8 hard reps. Fight! Rest a few minutes. Try to get another 6 reps with the same weight. Rest again, taking as long as you need to do justice to the next set. Add about 20 pounds more and see if you can get 3 perfect reps.


Exercise Three: ARM WORK

Do two strict sets of barbell curls with a moderate weight. Don’t work too hard on these. Save your energy for the big lifts.


Exercise Four: BENCH WORK

Do 12-15 light, wide-grip bench presses on a flat bench to warm up. Add weight and do 8 more reps using a normal width grip. Add weight again, and do 5-6 very hard reps. Rest, and try for all the weight you can handle for 3-4 last reps. When doing these last heavy sets, of any exercise, remind yourself beforehand that this is the last set. Give it all you have and don’t hold anything back. Learn to believe you can do more than you believe. Believe me, once you believe this you won’t believe what you can do!


Exercise Five: DEADLIFTING

Do 13-15 light stiff-legged deadlifts. Add weight and do 10-12 regular deadlifts, beginning to work harder. Rest. Now do 3 sets of 5 heavy deadlifts with all the weight you can handle.


Exercise Six: BENTOVER ROWING

Do 10-12 light warmup reps. Go heavy and do 8 hard reps. Rest, and try for another 8 reps with the same weight. Add more weight, and see if you can get 6 final reps.


Exercise Seven: ABDOMINAL WORK

Do 2 sets of 30 lying leg raises or leg raises while hanging from a chinning bar. Use no weight.


The program is not lengthy, and you should guard against adding any exercises in addition to the seven given. You can cut a set off of any exercise here and there, when you honestly find yourself lacking in energy, but DON’T add any sets! If the program seems easy as it is written it’s because you aren’t putting enough effort into the exercises. Make your sets harder and harder, but don’t increase their quantity.

Keep plugging away, adding weight when you can make the required reps. You are training large muscle groups and the goal is power, so pile the iron on whenever you can!

If possible you should end each workout by hanging from a chinning bar, straight-arm, for as long as possible. The reason I advocate this is to alleviate the stress caused in the lower back by any form of heavy lifting. It stretches out the spine nicely and results in a natural “traction” movement for the entire back. It will also build your grip. Time yourself and try to beat your best. You will soon agree there is a certain pleasure in beating your best.

Remember that sets given for relatively high reps and indicated as warmup sets should stay light, relative to progressively heavier work sets.

Follow this program for not less than two months’ time, and not more than four months’ time. Then take a two week layoff. You’ll need it if you’ve been working hard, and will progress much better following this layoff. During the two week layoff spend a few minutes each day doing some light aerobic exercise, easy isometrics and some abdominal movements. Use this period to check your posture and mobility. Feel free to practice your squat, deadlift and bench press technique with light weights. Take this time to learn more about the history and future of what you are doing, where these training ideas came from, and where they seem to be headed. Read a book, take a walk, feel okay, eh. 
 
THE PROGRAM

1.) Warmup

Use flip snatches as your basic warmup. I suggest a set/rep scheme of 1x6, 1x5, and 1x4, while adding weight for each of the three sets. Try to work up to bodyweight, eventually, for that final set of four reps!


2.) Press Movements

Here you must do both presses and presses behind the neck whenever energy permits. Do sets of 6 reps, even the warmup sets. If you do work sets of 3x6 military and 3x6 behind the neck presses, you’ll achieve a very good workout for the entire shoulder assembly.

3.) Squats

Do squats with all the weight you can properly handle. They are one of the keys to all-round body power. I suggest you use 4 or 5 sets of about 6-8 reps. Use 8 reps in the starting warmup sets and 6 or 5 in the really heavy sets. You will know by now how many work sets you can handle without going stale too quickly.

Do calf raises either between each set of squats while you rest or following completion of the entire series of sets. Omit calf work if energy or time is short. 2 or 3 sets of 20-30 reps is plenty.


4.) Bench Work

When energy permits, superset your heavy bench presses with either flat bench or incline bench lying laterals. This will produce extremely fine upper body development. BUT THIS IS ONLY FOR YOUR OCCASIONAL HIGH-ENERGY TRAINING DAYS, and, if you’re a relatively easy gainer. Do 4x8 bench presses and 4x8 lying flyes. For the last set or two of bench presses you might want to drop down to 6 or 5 rep sets.

If you prefer to do your bench presses first, then your flyes, that’s fine. Also, if the two-exercise combo is just too severe do EITHER flat bench presses OR incline bench presses. You can alternate these two exercises over the weeks so that some form of variety and balance are included in your training. Do 4-5 sets of 6 heavy reps with either variation.


5.) Deadlifting OR Power Cleans

You may work either on regular or stiff-legged deadlifts, OR you may work on power cleans. Don’t train on two or these exercises in one workout, however, for that would be too much.

I think the best plan is to find your favorite variation of the deadlift (i.e. stiff-legged or regular) and use this for a week’s training, then switch for a week to heavy power cleans. The power cleans are very good as an alternate to deadlifting, since they benefit the back but do not cause quite as much stress in the lumbar area as deadlifting can. These set/rep schemes are suggested . . .

Deadlifts: 5x5
Stiff-legged Deadlifts: 3x8 or 2x12
Power Cleans: 4x6 or 5x5


6.) Heavy Rowing

Either the bentover barbell row or the heavy dumbell one-arm version are suitable. Rowing with the loaded end of a seven-foot bar is also used in some quarters to good effect. The variation you pick is not as important as the hard work you apply to the movement. 3 sets of 6-8 reps are good for all forms of heavy rowing.

When you feel a little tired of the standard rowing, try a few high pulls in their place. You’ll find this deals with the back muscles differently, and when worked heavily will produce great results. Heavy repetition high pulls can make returning to bentover rows a pleasure! Use the set-rep scheme discussed earlier, for high pulls. If you have a workout where your rows are feeling weak and abnormally awkward, and it will happen, switch to the high pulls for that workout. A change like this can often save the workout. Be flexible. A successful hard workout should be the goal.


7.) Arm Work:

This is optional, to be done when energy is high, time is abundant and you have the inclination to pump up those popular little biceps. Heavy barbell or two-dumbell curls. You can stand, sit or even lie back on a bench . . . get the workout you want! The weight should be heavy enough to make you work, but never so heavy that you cheat. Do 2 sets of 8 reps. Then, if you feel like it, do a little tricep work. One arm triceps extensions with a dumbell, lying, seated or standing. Again, 2 sets of 8 – per arm – are plenty.


8.) Abdominal Work

This is always important. There are two basic ab exercises, situps and leg raises. They are simple, effective, and have many variations that will get the job done. I suggest relatively high reps in all abdominal work. 12 or more reps are sufficient. Hold a weight plate behind your head, use plate loading health shoes, but add resistance when you can. With no weights to make the abs struggle you should be able to do 50 or more reps easily. That is boring. Very boring.

Again I suggest ending the workout by hanging for a while from a chinning bar. Topping off a workout with a short jog, walk or period of easy rope skipping isn’t a bad idea either.


You can see that the schedule I have outlined for you is broadly adaptable to all types of trainees, and it lends itself to accommodating many types of special interests within the bounds of a basic power-bodybuilding goal. This is, I am convinced, of far more use to the trainee than a rigid, “do it this way” approach to training.

The course suggestions above will produce strength and muscularity until it comes out your bleedin’ ears – but it is not, I remind you, a pure powerlifter’s course. It will develop great strength when used three times a week, and I certainly can endorse it fully as a schedule used to build you up for eventual powerlifting. What happens if and when you decide to devote your energy to the powerlifts? How can you combine powerlifting with power-bodybuilding for the best results? These are the questions, and others, that I will begin to answer next. So let’s start out to examine the powerlifts themselves more closely. The bench press, deadlift and squat. For some ardent barbell men these three basic lifts constitute an obsession. An obsession that challenges their very fiber and spirit in the wonderful sport of POWERLIFTING.

Powerlifting, Part Five
by Bradley Steiner


The bench press throws its heaviest burden of effort upon the triceps, pectorals and frontal deltoids. There are overlapping demands made upon the forearms, hands, grip strength, abdominals and, to a degree, the neck, legs and back. This might be difficult to imagine, but that’s only because you’ve likely never seen how tremendously hard some lifters train on the movement. All-out benching definitely approaches being a total body exercise.

For training purposes it is only necessary to work on the actual bench press schedule, and on a couple of supplementary exercises that will assist the primarily affected muscle segments.


Isometrics Help

Sticking points in the bench press occur because the muscle fibers involved in the movement do not all develop consistent power at the various levels or stages of the lift. Some people find the initial start off the chest to be where they bog down – others get stymied half-way up – some are unable to lockout fully. Whatever the problem and wherever the sticking point may be, isometric contractions definitely help. They should be used specifically at the point where drive in the bench has become impossible. In this manner the weak area of the involved muscles will quickly overcompensate the added effort and the needed additional strength will result. But it must be a true, full, hard contraction. Not a half-hearted attempt.


Dumbell Assistance Work

Dumbells have a knack for reaching “hidden” muscles and muscle fibers that barbell exercises sometimes fail to develop. One of the best dumbell exercises you can do to help improve bench pressing is the HEAVY lying dumbell flye movement. I stress the word heavy because doing the movement any other way will only be a waste of time and effort.

Dumbell flyes are preferably done as a flat, rather than an incline bench movement, when they are employed to help bench pressing. The heaviest possible weights should be used and during the exercise THE ELBOWS MUST BE BENT. Do full range movements, but never stretch beyond the natural point. You’ll feel the natural stop point in the descent. Don’t go beyond it thinking somehow that overstretching and possibly doing damage to your chest and shoulder assemblies will miraculously improve your bench or give you a deeper chest. That’s simply ridiculous, and you should be using enough weight that an idea like this never enters in. I’d suggest using the dumbell flye every third or fourth workout, in the following manner . . .

1st set: 8 reps, warmup.
2nd and 3rd sets: 6 reps each, very heavy.
4th set: the maximum you can handle for 4 or 5 perfect form reps.

That’s it. In training it will be perfectly acceptable for you to employ only 3 or 4 reps in a very heavy set if that’s all, on any given Al Pacino, an all-out effort honestly permits. But shirk nothing! You absolutely must go all-out on lying flyes or, as I said before, you’ll be wasting your time.


Close-Grip Barbell Bench Presses

There is one excellent variation of the bench press that is a tremendous help to many in building added triceps power. It is the flat bench press done with a narrower than normal grip. Use about a shoulder or slighter wider grip on the bar. Don’t bother with any one or two inch grip benches. They will not help you find what you are seeking, but if you have the overwhelming urge to trash your wrists, elbows and shoulders please feel free to load up the bar and go nuts. A few well-placed hammer blows following one of these sessions should satisfy any deluded masochist’s desire for self-punishment. I generally recommend an attentive and like-minded training partner if you have trouble holding your wrist stable while applying the 400 Blows.

The close-grip bench press can be used profitably from time to time, when needed, on a schedule similar to this suggestion . . .

1x8, warmup
3x8, as heavy as possible.

Press to the chest, then right back up again, in very good form. Don’t cheat. The object here is to hit the triceps strongly.

Now, what about the bench press itself? It’s a great lift even though it has become the stopping by woods on a snowy evening of the iron game. It seems every green lifter who finds you have an interest in strength training feels obliged to ask, “How much can you Robert Frost?” Even in the dungeon-style gyms it’s the same old thing . . . “Bro, how big’s your Bukowski?” But how might one go about training on it, the competition Frost-Bukowski? This is the question we will now answer.

The bench press in competition is judged for style as well as amount of weight lifted. Of course a minor degree of cheating is permitted, but the lift must be done in essentially good form, and through a full range of movement. Almost locking out doesn’t count, in bench pressing and in bank vaults, so horseshoe-throwing hand grenade enthusiasts please take note. Lowering the bar halfway to the chest instead of touching it prior to the signal to commence will not be counted.

A degree of arching is permissible but the buttocks must remain in contact with the bench. The arch will shorten the stroke of your bench press, enabling you to handle greater weights. Here we are not talking about power-bodybuilding with the bench press, we are discussing successful maximum single attempts. So there.

NEVER press to the neck. Ask yourself why.

Keep a comfortably-distant handspacing on the bar. Remember there are many more muscles groups involved in a successful bench attempt than just pecs. Floppers, hangers, hairholders. Nipshelves.

Keep the feet braced, balanced and on the floor. Don’t, if you want to try for a limit bench press, bend your knees and prop them up on the end of the bench. Establish a solid base with your feet and legs as they are a necessary part of the drive needed to succeed with a lift.

There are two ways to grip the bar. The first is to fully encircle the bar with the hand, thumb on one side and fingers on the other. Another style is the thumb and fingers both on one side of the bar. Don’t.

Don’t get in the habit of bouncing bench presses off your chest. Just don’t. Watch some of the most effective bench pressers alive and note the slow, coiled-spring descent. Consider the fact that they may know some small thing about just what it is they’re doing. Possibly even more than your high school football linemen did. Study the greats.

Aim to raise your bench press total by steady, intelligently planned hard work. Don’t try to rush things or they’ll slow down. Is your bench press a stubborn mule? Stop beating your ass and get a carrot.


Avoiding Injury

There is really no absolute way to insure that an injury won’t take place, and, I’d say that MINOR pulls and strains will have to be accepted over the course of your powerlifting training, just as they are in struggles involving other physical arts. The best way to be reasonably sure that your injuries are minimal is to learn more about what goes into performing these lifts. Don’t just plop yourself down on a bench and belly-bump a bar. Study. As in all endeavors except binge-drinking, good judgment and common sense are necessary to succeed.

One thing is certain: when an injury does occur, DISCONTINUE TRAINING. See a physician just to set your mind at ease. Serious injuries can be avoided 100% of the time simply by being careful and thinking before you act. Weight training is one of the all-round safest sports in the world, and there are more than likely a higher percent of injuries in numerous other more popular sports.

A good rest can sometimes be the solution to training injuries of a minor nature. Don’t idiotically try to “work out” a pulled or injured muscle. Be sensible.

Overtraining, as I have mentioned numerous times, should be avoided. Not only in bodybuilding but especially in lifting. There is a simple, practical reason for this, and that is because too much training will be certain to keep your strength down. If sheer power is your goal you are better off doing too little training than too much. many famous lifters and strongmen have gone for long periods of time on one or two workouts a week – and they gained beautifully.


A Good Bench Press Schedule

Always start out by warming up on the bench. A warmup set can go as high as 20 reps for some men and as low as 6 for others. You’ll just have to experiment to find the best for yourself. Once the warmup has been done, drop the reps back drastically if you did more than 6. The trick in hitting good maximum lifts is to carefully channel available energy and avoid depletion during initial, build-up sets. Go right into the heavy stuff after your warmup.

Your first work set should go very heavy, and 5 reps is plenty. 4 is enough, but it should be with a weight that really makes you fight.

Rest a few minutes and get your strength back. Now do a set of 3 or 4 reps with the same poundage you used in the previous set.

Rest.

Add weight to the bar. Do a fourth set of 3 reps in good form. The weight should require very, very hard fighting.

Rest as long as necessary to get your oomph back, and add still more weight to the bar and see if you can do one or two final near-limit reps.

Properly done, that schedule will serve the purpose of building muscular power and helping you increase your ultimate limit single lift.

Most men will recuperate rather quickly from a schedule of sets and reps like I’ve given, since there is a careful check against overwork in the set/rep/poundage arrangement. This is all to the good. Perhaps a more lengthy schedule will be suitable as you mature with experience, but the one given is foolproof.

When going for an all-out single attempt (which ought never be attempted more than once every three or four weeks) you can use a schedule like this . . .

1x12 – warmup.
1x5
1x3
1x2
1x1 – attempt at limit single.

You can see that no excessive amount of work precedes the limit attempt, yet a thorough warmup is done. This is necessary to avoid energy depletion and to insure that the body is fully ready to make that all-out attempt. After working on the lift for some time the basic principles will fall naturally into place, and I dare say that you’ll find your strength gaining in a manner that may surprise you, considering the simplicity of the program suggested.

So, if you really want to see how much you can bench, and if developing tremendous benching power is important to you, you now have one of the keys that will open the door to the treasure you seek. 

Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Powerlifting, Part Seven - Bradley Steiner 
Lee Phillips



Doug Hepburn




Powerlifting, Part Seven
by Bradley Steiner


The Competition Squat

The squat is definitely one of my favorite exercises – and although I’ve never myself competed with it, I’ve trained many men who have, and I respect a top squatter more than any six bench pressers you can bring around. The squat is truly the King of exercises, and in my opinion, the King of the powerlifts.

If there is one movement that both builds AND tests one’s overall rugged body power more than the others, it is the squat. And this fact is so evident to those who understand weight-training it is not even debatable.

If I were coaching you personally – whoever you are – I would, unless you simply refused to listen, persuade you to put the bulk of your efforts toward the attainment of power and powerlifting excellence in the squat. Yes, it is that good a lift.

You see, squatting does it all. Honest. It builds one’s capacity for strength in the bench press and deadlift. It builds muscle. It builds character. The squat has built more solid men than all the other bodybuilding exercises put together. It is a fabulous overall health builder and it will build an armor-clad heart, lungs like mighty engines, the all-round robust well-being of a lumberjack and it can turn empty beer cans into ascended beings who order the universe secretly while we sleep.

So, concentrate hard on squats.

While it is true that certain exercises assist squatting (like straddle lifts, front squats, etc.) and isometrics can be used sometimes to build power in weak areas of the lift, it is better, I’ve found, to simply GET GOOD AT SQUATTING BY SQUATTING. It produces more excellent results when one varies his sets, reps and poundages, rather than works on assistance exercises.

The squat hits the following areas heavily:
Legs.
Hips.
Back (lower especially).

Carry-over work is distributed throughout the body, and as I said before, squats when performed hard and heavy work everything.

The problem with using the squat in all-out limit training (as you will for powerlifting) – is that you must be extra-careful to avoid using near-maximum weights too often. The hip and leg muscles can take it, of course, but the lower back area cannot. If one trains to excess in heavy squatting (going to a limit attempt too often) he will experience almost perpetual low-back soreness. On the other hand, if training is properly done, taking care to only hit the heavy, limit lifting say, once every three weeks to a month, steady and often incredible gains can result. Not all people can reach stupendous squat poundages, but given a body free of serious structural defects and starting in reasonably good health and condition, three to four hundred pound squats and beyond are highly likely in time. I have never met anyone who, with training, would have been incapable of a 300 pound limit lift. Not even honest-to-goodness physical wrecks.

So there you have it. The squat should be your key exercise and lift, and it will reward you, providing you give it a 100% chance, with more power and muscularity than you ever hoped for.


How to Squat

To go all-out in heavy squatting you must have squat racks, and you will need either spotters or a power rack. Also, you will do well to obtain a stout lifting belt. Good lifting shoes will help, and you should find the ones that suit your style of squatting. Do not elevate the heels on a board.

Warming up is vital. Freehand squats are good, but the key thing to warm up is the lower back. I’d advise hyperextensions or light good mornings prior to squatting heavy weights. Get the back loose, limber and warmed up. Then, work on loosening up the legs. Spend five to ten minutes stretching and limbering before the real lifting.

The correct position for effective power squatting is one that will permit you to feel naturally solid, well-balanced, and strong throughout the movement. To a certain extent the correct position varies with individuals. Let me suggest, however . . .

Keep the head up when squatting.
Try to keep the back as flat as possible.
Let the bar ride as low as is comfortable. The lower, actually, the better for an all-out lift. Study the bar position of some successful squatters.
Keep the feet comfortably spaced, but wide enough to allow for maximum power.
Drive hard out of the bottom position. Never pause.
“Think” up when squatting, so your mind is psyched to drive you upward when you reach bottom.
Never simply drop or fall into a heavy squat.
Squat to at least the parallel position.

Let me dwell momentarily on the last point – the one about going to at least parallel. Actually, your mind must be “set” to stop when the body hits parallel, and you should have your concentration focused on that muscular rebound upward, just as the body reaches that parallel position. This will, in practice, more often than not result in you just breaking parallel position before starting to come up. Learn to feel and know instinctively when you have squatted to the proper depth. Don’t feel around for it. Know it.

Again, never drop and bounce out of the bottom position.

Squatting is extremely depleting when done for high reps. Therefore, I urge you never to exceed 6 reps, even for warming up when going for a limit lift. Power-output will be greatest when one drops quickly to low, low reps in one’s sets, and piles on the weight. Frequently, one can actually lift do five or ten pounds more in the squat – if he just tries, and puts the weight on the bar – than he thought he was capable of from prior training experience. Naturally, as you advance it becomes more and more difficult to continue adding weight to the bar.

There is much self-learning to be done in this art of powerlifting – make no mistake about it. The learning is just as important as the training, since the more you learn about yourself, the more intelligently you will be able to direct your workouts and tailor them to your own personality. The fundamentals are tools that can be given to you, but the use of those tools varies with each man.

Let me say again that as you progress you should listen increasingly less to others and more and more to that inner voice gained only from personal experience. Nothing will serve you better. Systems vary among weight-men, and this is because weight-men vary as people. Don’t make the mistake of following instructions or individuals dogmatically. in the beginning you will need help. Books and articles like this will give it to you. As you become more advanced you might need professional assistance, but be very careful who you attain it from. Better by far to work things out on your own after study than to follow the misinformation of a pseudo-instructor.

I say all these things to help you gain a clear and understandable view of the road ahead. It is not all that difficult, certainly not beyond your power to travel, and not in need of one-half the help some would have you believe absolutely necessary. Study, then think for yourself. If you do that, and are willing to work very, very hard, you will progress and succeed. Now, here is a good basic program for training on the squat . . .

Warmup: 1x6
Add considerable weight: 1x4 or 5
Add still more weight, enough to cause real fighting: 1x4
Do another set of 1x3-4 with the same weight.
Go close to maximum for 1x2.

Do not go for a limit lift too frequently. Every three or four weeks, when you wish to see how heavy you can go in your squat, try this . . .

1x6
1x4
1x2
1x2
1x1, near limit
1x1, limit
Gradually add weight following each set. The last set should be the only one that sees you working brutally hard.

I shall now close this out by outlining a possible advanced squat schedule for those who believe themselves ready to handle it.

1x6
2x5
1x4
1x3
2x2
1x1

I knew a very good lifter who used this program twice a week and made outstanding gains in one 5-week period. But he was a “natural” and you cannot imagine how hard he was able to work and still recover from it. The low reps might not seem like much, but use heavy weights with each set and it is murder. 

Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Powerlifting, Part Eight - Bradley Steiner 
Click Pics to ENLARGE



Lamar Gant



Jim Williams




Powerlifting, Part Eight
by Bradley Steiner


The Deadlift

Of the three basic power lifts the one with the greatest potential for overall poundage lifted off the floor is the deadlift. Power men with no particular outstanding record of lifting in competition often routinely work out with 400-500 pounds in this movement. In time, you will probably be able to do so too, if you work hard and intelligently.

The reason why such incredible poundage lifts are possible the deadlift is not only because of the particular muscles that are called upon to work – but because, in addition, they are called upon to work from their strongest possible point of leverage. No lift, except perhaps the harness lift, permits a man to so favorably bring into play the strongest lifting muscles of his body.

Surprisingly, the deadlift works almost the exact same muscles as the squat – but in a much different manner. The simple difference of not having to support the weight on the back and shoulders, and instead being able to let it be pulled up off the floor, enables much more weight to be hoisted in the deadlift. Now I am not saying the deadlift is the same as the squat, and I am not indicating that all of the movements and exertions made in both of these lifts are 100% alike; but I am saying, at least in regard to leg and hip action, that the squat and deadlift are in many interesting ways much the same.

One critical difference between the two is the fact that squatting is a push action lift, while deadlifting is a pull action lift. Regardless of the degree of similarity between squats and deadlifts, or regardless of the dissimilarity between squats and deadlift movements, the fact remains that both have great merit, both as physical developmental exercises and as power lift feats.

My experience in training both myself and others has pointed one very definite fact out about why many encounter problems with their deadlifting (injuries, never can achieve limit lifts, etc.): in more than 75% of the cases where men work seriously at powerlifting they overtrain in the deadlift. That’s right. The vast majority of well-intentioned lifters, in their zeal to do as well as they possibly can, often do too much deadlifting, too frequently, and thus end up defeating their ultimate purpose of maximum power-output in this lift. Possibly this is because the deadlift is a relatively simple lift – yet so much more satisfying, poundage-wise, than say, the bench press. It’s always nice to leave the gym feeling, “Hey, I lifted 500 pounds tonight!” One can do this quite honestly, and just neglect to mention that one lifted that “500” in the deadlift, not in the overhead press, the squat or the bench press. It sounds good to someone who doesn’t know the difference.

Seriously, don’t overwork the deadlift. The lower back area can be the real weak spot in a man’s anatomy, and it can be as fickle as a woman! One day you can train your lower back for two hours and hit a 600-max deadlift, then leave the gym feeling fine. You wake up the next day and feel like training again. Yet, some athletes have seriously wrenched their back by sneezing! So, respect the crazy nature inherent in your lower-back structure. The low back can, with patient, steady work, be built up to levels of truly phenomenal strength. But take your sweet time about it. Any injury or strain to this critical area will put you painfully out of action, possibly for a month or more.

For all persons breaking into heavy power training, I advise giving the back a full 4-8 weeks of patient, steady break-in training before going all out. This may seem like an overly cautious approach, but I’d rather be careful with a person about his back rather than be negligent. We have plenty of time to go for world deadlift records!


Daily Moderate Exercise Desirable

It is advisable to work your lower back every day, if possible, with some mild form of freehand stretching or calisthenic movements. The Yoga Cobra exercise, Hindu cat stretches and Tiger bends are all very good for this purpose. Also, there is one extremely simple and relaxing movement that, in my opinion, should be an integral part of every heavy lifter’s regimen: hanging from a chinning bar.

Hanging, without moving or chinning one’s body at all, from a high bar, with arms straight is a cheap, simple, enormously beneficial natural traction movement for the lower and upper back and for the spinal column in its entirety. Doing this every day for a few minutes can, by itself, alleviate minor back soreness, and often, when done immediately following a workout, can prevent the onset of any soreness. I cannot commend this movement too highly. Everyone should do it.

Aside from the above, there really are no “assistance” exercises suitable for deadlifting. You could arrange to practice deadlifting off low boxes, or you could build deadlift hoppers to slightly assist the movement. But these little gambits are effective only to a certain extent. When it comes to the actual deadlift and attempting a limit you cannot use any such assistance, so perhaps it is better to train the actual lift. You avoid strain simply by not doing the deadlift too frequently. Instead, work the lower back with a different movement . . .


Stiff-Legged Deadlift or Power Clean?

The stiff-legged deadlift is, for those who find no problems from doing it, the finest single basic EXERCISE for the lumbar muscles of the body. It is also a tremendously effective overall conditioner, having overlapping effects on the entire body – with special benefits to increased flexibility. The stiff-legged deadlift with moderate to moderately-heavy resistance rates as a super exercise for the back in lieu of the standard deadlift.

No attempt need be made to go to extreme poundages in the stiff-legged deadlift. Bodyweight on the bar can provide an exceptionally fine developmental workout. Those who find that they have a special liking and propensity for the movement may go as heavy as they wish, of course, with enormous gains to be carried over when the standard deadlift is attempted.

Some few individuals can do their stiff-legged deadlifts off the end of a sturdy block or bench, allowing the bar to actually be lowered below the level of one’s feet! This is okay if you can do it, but I’d be careful, especially with heavy weights.

For those who enjoy the stiff-legged deadlift it can be used for 95% of one’s deadlift training – provided one is able to go heavy on it. Otherwise, simply use it as a light substitute for the standard deadlift after going all-out during a workout or a meet.

For those who find deadlifting a necessary evil, there is (in my judgment) the more valuable power clean exercise, that, whenever one wishes to do back work, can be used as a deadlift substitute. This exercise builds the low back quite well.

Never fear that your capacity to deadlift will be weakened if power cleans are used in most workouts to hit the low-back area. This is not so. As long as you power clean heavy you’ll be able to deadlift heavy.

Don’t use more than 5-rep sets in the power clean. Sets of 3 or as little as 2 are oftentimes effective when sheer power is the goal.

If you wish you may alternate between stiff-legged deadlifts and power cleans in your training, and use the standard heavy deadlift perhaps once every two or three weeks in a somewhat heavier training session. This is an effective way to train, and the deadlift numbers you achieve this way may surprise you.

Spend most of your time on squats; spend pretty much your balance of time on bench presses. Every now and then see what you can do on the deadlift.

While that rule might seem too casual and not at all in accord with many of the publicized deadlift training methods, I assure you it is a very sound rule. It is used my many of the top powerlifters who have learned from their years of experience that the lower back’s power is something to be maintained by moderate exercise and tested only occasionally by heavy lifting.


Suggested Deadlift Training

What might be a good beginner’s deadlift schedule? Here is a suggestion:

Workout Monday and Thursday on the back area.
For FOUR workouts do the following –
Power clean: 4x4, heavy weights.
Stiff-Legged deadlift: 2x10, light weights.

On the FIFTH workout do –
Stiff-Legged deadlift to warmup: 1x10.
Deadlift: 1x5, 2x3, 1x2, 1x1, 1x1 (weight increase after each set to ultimate all-out lift).

Follow the above training – after each workout – with about 5 minutes of simple hanging from a strong overhead bar.


More Advanced Training

Largely, how you train as you become a more advanced lifter will be your own decision, born ultimately from your own gradual experience and understanding of your body. However, the following is a good advanced deadlift workout suggestion. I recommend that it be followed only ONE DAY A WEEK AT MOST.

1st set: EITHER stiff-legged or regular deadlift to warmup, 1x12.
2nd set: EITHER stiff-legged or regular deadlift with about a 30 lb. increase, 1x8-10.
3rd and 4th sets: REGULAR deadlift, 6 reps each set, very heavy.
5th set: REGULAR deadlift, 3 reps.
6th set: REGULAR deadlift, 2 reps.
7th set: REGULAR deadlift, 1 rep.

That’s a lot of work, but an advanced, powerful lifter can benefit from such a routine if it is not performed too frequently. If you find once a week to be too much, do it less often. Think for yourself. The goal is to hit that new limit poundage, and the back needs to be fully recovered and thoroughly warmed up before the try is made. The object, once again, is not to see how often you can lift the same weight, but to show how much weight you can deadlift. Remember that always!

It is a very common practice for many men to train by starting off light, adding weigh and dropping reps in the sets they do, and then, once they hit their limit they start decreasing weights again, and they begin to do progressively more reps again. If I were to TRY, I could not invent a more wasteful way to train! Don’t train this way. It serves only the questionable purpose of aiding in PUMP. And if you train properly you’ll get all the sane pump you need to grow without spending twice the necessary time on workouts and without burning up 6,000 extra calories and several nerve endings each workout. Be sensible. It actually works. 

Showing newest 9 of 19 posts from July 2010. Show older posts Showing newest 9 of 19 posts from July 2010. Show older postsThursday, July 29, 2010
Bench Press, Part Six
 




Bench Press, Part Six


2.7 - The Sequence of Bar Movements Used in Raising the Bar

The differences in bar path used by the expert and novice bench press groups were found to be even more extensive than the horizontal shift of one relative to the other (as discussed in the previous section). The angles used to define the motion of the additional bar from instant to instant during the bench press provided additional insights into the lift. (Please refer to Figures 2 and 3 and especially Figures 10 and 11 of the last section). Note in Figure 11, in particular, the differences between groups for 3 (circled) and 4 (circled). The light expert group (as shown in Figure 11) moved the bar off the chest at an average angle of 60.3 degrees with the horizontal, while the novice subjects average 84.4 degrees for this same angle 3 (circled). This difference in angle was very significant statistically, and raises an interesting question. Does this rapid movement of the bar right off the chest (toward the head) serve to increase the capacity for force exertion when the bar is at the sticking point (by reducing the moment at the shoulder required to generate that force)? Note also in Figure 11 that 4 (circled) results are analogous to 3 circled. Table 7 presents this angular data on heavy expert lifters (from references 7 and 9, Section 1.4).

As shown in Table 7, he heavy expert group has a similar trend regarding the sequence of bar movements to that shown by the light experts. It is important to remember that the significance of the differences for 3 (circled), as well as 4 (circled), between expert and novice groups is magnified when you consider that this marked push toward the head occurs right off the chest (before the bar is but a few inches up!). The important point to remember here is to quickly begin the push of the bar horizontally toward the head right as the bar is first pushed off the chest. To not do so will result in a path not unlike the novice group. I am not saying that one should follow a specific angle off the chest, but rather that every bench presser needs to push MORE toward the head immediately off the chest. It was interesting to note that world class bench pressers I analyzed over time decreases 3 (circled) and 4 (circled) over the years as their lifts increased.

A final point of interest regarding the bench press and competition. It seems possible that a lot of lifters may forget about their technique in competition (or with new personal record attempts in the bench press) and mistakenly push up more than they normally would. From experience, I often find myself thinking more about "blasting" a record bench press weight off my chest than about following a better bar path. When any lifter in this situation sacrifices his technique and "blasts" the bar off the chest his path mimics more the one in Figure 11 for novices, and typically may result in a failed lift. Like in all sports, technique is actually MORE important in maximal, competitive situations. So, try to remember to follow the sort of bar path we've discussed when you're on the platform. It should help.


2.8 - Grip Spacing

In addition to bar path, two factors must be specified to completely describe the bench press technique. The first is hand position on the bar (i.e. grip spacing). The second is the rotation of the forearm and upper arm about an axis through the shoulder and the hand (which will be discussed in the next section, 2.9).

Any bench presser should increase the distance between his hands to further enhance his performance. Although expert lifters demonstrated no significant differences in upper body length relative to the novice lifters, their finishing bar position was significantly closer to the shoulder. The normalized average heights above the shoulder were 0.923 meters and 0.794 meters for the novices and light experts respectively (reference 7, section 1.4). If arm length is proportional to to body length this could occur only if the competitive lifter's hands were placed further apart on the bar than were the novice's. The benefit associated with the increased hand spacing is to help compensate for the increased tricep involvement required by the optimum path described earlier. If the bar is held fixed and the hands moved outward, the elbow moves closer to a vertical line through the bar. This motion reduces the elbow extension movement required. The required tricep involvement is correspondingly decreased. The lifter could conceivably reduce the shoulder torque requirements without affecting the elbow torque requirements by modifying his bar path and hand spacing in a coordinated fashion.

The large expert bench pressers also used grip spacings significantly wider than the novices and analogous to the light experts. For these larger lifters the mechanics of the bench press are affected b the rules of powerlifting. When a very tall individual bench presses competitively, the 32 inch grip width limit works against him since a wider grip would be more advantageous. For very big bench pressers this limit on width roughly approximates a smaller lifter having to "close-grip" his bench presses! Perhaps the rules on grip width can someday be amended to be proportional to shoulder width, height, etc.

As I have just mentioned, yes - I have said here that a wide grip is optimal for bench pressing. My major reasons for supporting this view came from a study that I did with Dr. Nels Madsen back in 1982 (reference 6, Section 1.4). We did a three-dimensional analysis of yours truly performing three types of bench press: (1) wide grip (31 inch), hitting high on chest; (2) wide grip (32 inch), hitting low on chest; and (3) narrow grip (shoulder width - 20 inch), hitting high on chest. (NOTE: the grip spacings here are the distances between index fingers (as in rules), and "low" on chest was base of pectoralis major and "high" on chest was 2 inches above that toward the head). A three-dimensional cinematographical analysis was performed as I did single lifts with 300 pounds using all three styles. In addition, a simplified musculoskeletal modeling approach was used, incorporating the pectoralis major (chest), anterior deltoid (shoulder), and triceps (arm) muscles. These three muscles are by far the major muscles involved in the bench press. Markers on the body and bar were used to track the arm and bar in space during my lifts. Forces required in these muscles to successfully perform the lifts were calculated in several ways using optimization techniques. However, of greatest importance here was the prediction of the maximum force that I could have exerted at my sticking point (or how much I could have maximally bench pressed using each style). We used a variation of the work equation for a fixed direction here, and predicted that I would be strongest in the wide grip styles by about 10 to 23%.

There are several final comments I'd like to make before we leave grip spacing:

1.) As anyone proficient in bench pressing knows, a little change in grip width can cause significant changes in muscle involvement. A wide grip involves the pectoralis major (chest) and the triceps (arm) less, and a close grip does the reverse. The largest muscle by mass involved in the bench press is the chest and it is logical to involve it more, using a wide grip, to lift ultimate weights.

2.) I find that those top bench pressers using narrow grips are few and far between, and more often than not they use a narrow grip because of a former pectoralis injury.

3.) From a mechanical work perspective, the wider the grip the less the distance required to push the bar to completion (and less work required as well). Bench pressers who break world records are typically endowed with (or have well-developed) large chests and short arms. Coupled with a wide grip these people are terrors in competition when when bench press time comes around.

4.) Obviously, a few people can excel in bench pressing with narrower grips, but just think what they could do with a wide grip if they gave it some time. It is important to realize here that narrow grip benchers are tricep and deltoid strong and pectoralis major weak. When switching to a wide grip it is necessary to give yourself some time to get the chest up to par (and for a while your maximum lift will possibly be less with a wide than narrow grip). It just takes some time.


2.9 - Angling of the Arms

The ideal arm position during the bench press is difficult to determine from a two-dimensional analysis. The necessary three-dimensional studies to determine this are presently underway. If the hand is fixed on the bar (which it is) and the bar is not allowed to move, there is still one degree of freedom in positioning of the arms. This freedom is equivalent to a rotation of the arm about an axis (or line) through the hand and shoulder. The range of motion of the rotation during a bench press is small, but critical. The location of the end of the bar and the shoulder cannot be used to determine the position of the elbow. Investigation of the optimal arm orientation during a lift awaits more three dimensional kinematic studies of the bench press.

The angle I have defined is most easily seen (Figure 12) at its maximum position, when the elbows have rotated as far as possible toward the shoulders. From my film studies I have found this to be the final position of nearly every bench presser who MISSES a lift. This also happens to occur at the (guess where) sticking point. What's really funny about this is that any hope of pushing the bar through the sticking point is dashed when the arms rotate to this position. Since the hands can't move outward along the bar, there is little the triceps can do here in extension. Also, the anterior deltoid is largely ineffective by this point, and the pectoralis major is also not at the greatest leverage here either. It would be better to rotate in the other direction (elbows more towards sides) to at least put the arm in a position where the tricep could help more.

This brings up an interesting point, that rotating the arms here is a very crucial timing skill. The narrower your grip also the more critical it is since a narrower grip shortens the pectoralis major and thus makes it less of a contributor to bench press force production (since the shorter a muscle the less force it can generate). Ever notice that the narrow grip bench press specialists have tremendous trouble locking out at the top? With this grip, once they rotate themselves out (as in Figure 12) there is even less help possible from the chest to lock the lift out. I have seen this in Kazmaier and others, and we also showed it in my narrow grip style lift in our three-dimensional study (reference 6, section 1.4). The triceps kill you once you rotate out. Narrow grip benchers and probably ALL bench pressers need to avoid this maximm rotation position until the lift's completion. It will be fun to explore this further and somday show how this rotation should be performed optimally in the bench press.


2.10 - Torques About the Shoulder

A torque (or moment) is a measure of the effect of a force to produce rotation, the "turning effect" of a force, if you will. It is the product of the force multiplied by the perpendicular distance from that force to the point of rotation. An approximation of the total three-dimensional torque required at the shoulder during bench presses was obtained by calculating the moment of the force exerted on the bar about the shoulder (references 7 and 9, section 1.4) All torques calculated i this way are two-dimensional approximations of the net torque actually acting on the shoulders .These torques are due to the total force provided by the lifter (i.e., both arms are included). This is felt to be a good approximation of the total torque about the shoulder, since our three-dimensional data showed this was by far the largest component of the total torque.

Despite the enormous difference in the forces applied to the bar by the light experts versus the novice bench pressers (reference 7, section 1.4), the shoulder torques (whether normalized or not) required by the two bar paths showed no significant differences at any of the characteristic instants (see, for example, Figure 11). In fact, at the sticking point the torque required by the novice lifters was actually less than that required by the light expert lifters was actually less than that required by the novice lifters (see Table 8). Torque requirements were typically of the magnitude of 200 NM for the light experts and novices, as shown in Table 8.

The light experts' path has allowed them to lift 79% more weight without increasing the torque at the shoulder their musculature is required to generate. The large horizontal component of the bar motion as it leaves the chest moves the bar considerably closer to the shoulder when the sticking point is reached. The torque required to prevent the force decrease associated with the sticking point is reduced to a level attainable even in this "worst" configuration. Although the change in bar path may place the muscles crossing the shoulder joint in a position of reduced mechanical advantage, the drastic reduction in torque required would seem to more than compensate. In light of the moment it can produce at a joint or joints, as shown here it is probable that differences in kinematics play a significant role in determining differences in performance between groups.

When heavier expert subjects were later analyzed (reference 9, section 1.4), it was discovered that the torques produced at the shoulder were larger than for the light experts and novices. A look at Table 8 shows that at all positions evaluated they are about twice as large as the the values reported for the two lighter groups. The heavier group did lift 30% more weight and had upper body lengths 9% larger than the light experts (.508 meters versus .466 meters). If geometrically and temporally identical identical bench press techniques were used by all groups, then an increase in torque of 42% would be expected for the heavier lifters. Obviously, a much greater increase occurred. For some unknown reason the larger lifters positioned the bar farther away from their shoulder, relative to their upper body size, than did the smaller lifters. What may explain this unexpectedly great increase is the restriction in grip spacing to a maximum of 32 inches, which may prevent the larger lifters from maintaining geometric similarity with the smaller lifters. With a narrower (relative to their body size) grip the larger lifters are faced with a choice of either increasing moment at the elbow by increasing elbow flexion or of increasing increasing shoulder torque by moving the bar path horizontally away from the shoulder. Apparently, most large lifters choose the second alternative. This leads to the intriguing situation that while the weight lifted does not increase as fast as the body weight, the shoulder torque, which determines the muscle loading, increases faster than body weight. It may be that the heavier lifter is trying to copy the technique of the smaller lifter as much as possible within the grip width limitations of the rules of powerlifting.

Probably the most critical result from the analysis of the heavier lifters is that torques about the shoulder can be expected to be greater for bigger athletes during bench pressing. There is a logical link here supportive of the need for possible additional training of the shoulder and tricep musculature, or greater emphasis on beneficial techniques (horizontal bar path position, etc.) discussed previously. For larger athletes, both of these would appear important to help them handle the larger shoulder torques. Specialized training and technique work is thus probably more important the larger you are. 
 
Bench Press Rules

1. The lifter must assume the following position on the bench, which must be maintained during the lift: with head and trunk (including buttocks) extended on the bench, lifting shoes flat on the floor.
2. The referee’s signal shall be given when the bar is absolutely motionless on the chest.
3. After the referee’s signal, the bar is pressed vertically to straight-arm’s length and held motionless for the referee’s signal to replace the bar.
4. The width of the bench shall be 30 cm. The height shall be 45 cm. The length shall not be less than 1 meter 22 cm. and shall be flat and level. The height of the bench uprights on nonadjustable benches shall be 87-92 cm. from the floor to the bar rest positions.
5. The spacing of the hands shall not exceed 81 cm., measuring between the forefingers.
6. If the lifter’s costume and bench top are not of a sufficient color contrast to enable the officials to detect a possible raising of the buttocks, the bench top may be covered accordingly.
7. For those lifters whose feet do not touch the floor, the platform may be built up to provide firm footing.
8. A maximum of four and minimum of two spotter-loaders shall be mandatory; however, the lifter may enlist one or more of the spotter-loaders to assist him in removing the bar from the racks. The lift-off may only be given to the lifter at arm’s length and not down at the chest.
9. In the event of a spotter error, a new attempt may be given the lifter.


Causes for Disqualification in the Bench Press

1. During the uplifting, any change of the elected position.
2. Any raising or shifting of the lifter’s head, shoulders, buttocks, or legs from the bench or movement of the feet.
3. Any heaving or bouncing of the bar from the chest.
4. Allowing the bar to sink after the referee’s signal.
5. Any uneven extension of the arms.
6. Stopping of the bar during the press proper.
7. Any touching of the bar by the spotters before the referee’s signal to replace the bar.
8. Failure to wait for the referee’s signal.
9. Touching against the uprights of the bench with the feet.
10. Touching the shoulders against the uprights of the bench.
11. Allowing the bar to touch the uprights of the bench during the lift.

exercises for development of the deadlifting muscles.

1.) Snatches and Cleans – These Olympic lifts take a great deal of work on technique that most powerlifters would not want to do. You could try power-snatching and power-cleaning. Recent research shows that high velocity lifting reaches more muscle fibers than a slow lift. Do five repetitions and feel the workout your legs, back and grip get.

2.) Jefferson Lifts – This is one of those old favorites which lost its popularity over time. It can be used to hoist huge poundages, approaching the weight you can deadlift. Straddle the bar with your left foot parallel with the bar and your right foot at a 90-degree angle with the left. Take hold of the bar with your left arm forward and your right arm back, look over the left shoulder and while keeping the back as straight as possible lift the bar. After a set, switch the positions of the hands and feet and repeat the same number of repetitions. This exercise puts more strain on the legs than the back and is a good way to increase the pull from the floor.

3.) Stiff-Legged Deadlifts – These put more stress on the lower back than the regular bent-legged deadlift and they are good for working the involved muscles without putting a strain on the ligaments and joints. Since this is a remedial or developmental exercise it is best to do high repetitions. To really pump the back do from 12 to 15 reps. If done without straps your grip will get a real workout as well. Stand on a few plates or on the corner of the platform to get a good stretch and work these deadlifting muscles from a different angle.

4.) Goodmornings – These are very important to the powerlifter as the squat as performed today is more of a good morning than a strict squat. There are different ways of performing the goodmorning depending on the amount of knee bend that is employed and the depth the upper body is lowered to. If the stiff-legged variety is used, it is best done fairly slowly and with good control. Slightly bending the knees will put more stress on the gluteus (but) more weight can be used. This method is probably better because of the decreased strain on the vertebrae. Bending the knees even and going down to a position similar to the squat, but with much more lean forward puts even more stress on the gluteus. Very heavy weights can be used. Lower reps, six to eight, can be used with this exercise. Goodmornings should be used as a strength developer rather than a test of strength.

5.) Hyperextensions – This is another good remedial exercise which almost completely isolates the lower back. You can use these as a warmup or a strength-building exercise. Place a plate behind your head until you are strong enough to handle a bar behind the neck. High reps are used for this exercise and overarching at the top should be avoided.


Besides lower-back work the powerlifter must develop the other muscles in his back, the trapezius and latissimus especially. The lats and traps are strongly used during the lift. Bentover rows are good for both these muscles. All the different ways of chinning strongly influence the lats. Shrugs, cleans and snatches work the traps thoroughly.

There are three fundamental rules to observe for acquiring all-round strength:

(1) Employing maximum resistance.
(2) Employing minimum repetitions.
(3) Lifting and supporting heavy poundages.

exercises by classification, and perhaps we may clarify our future choice of exercises in our schedules by arranging these various movements under three general headings, viz., SHAPING Exercises, CONDITIONING Exercises, and STRENGTH-BUILDING Exercises.


(1) Shaping Exercises
Curls
Pullovers
Leg Raises
Side Bends
Sit-Ups

(2) Conditioning Exercises
Squats (high repetitions)
Bouncing Split
Stiff-Legged Deadlift and Shrug
Squat While Pressing From Behind Neck
Overhead Squat

(3) Strength-Building Exercises
All Supporting Lifts
Shoulder Shrug
Dead Lift
Leg Press
Heavy Squat
Pullup
Clean
Handstand Pushup
Dumbbell Press

power training routine we’ve been talking so much about.

First, as a warmup, you perform a half-dozen complete cleans and presses, lowering the bar to at least the knees each time. Rest two minutes, add 10 pounds, and do as many presses as you can with the increased weight. Keep working up, adding 10 more pounds, with two-minute rest breaks each time – until you can do no more than two presses, or a single.

Now you’ve finished your presses and are ready to tackle the second exercise. First, you add 10 pounds to the weight you’ve just finished pressing with. Then you power clean it for two repetitions, and power jerk the weight overhead after the second clean. The power cleans are to be done without splitting and with only a semi-squat, no more than a quarter of the way down. The power jerk is to be done the same way – just a semi-squat to lower yourself under the bar and fix it overhead. Most well-coordinated athletes will find that they have to shuffle their feet slightly to the sides in doing both power cleans and power jerks – it just comes naturally – and this is all right as long as the shuffle and dip doesn’t become a real squat-style lift. As in the press, you keep working up with doubles in the power clean and single a power jerk, adding 10 pounds per set until you reach the point where you can’t make a second clean.

By this time, you probably need three minutes rest between sets, after which you are ready for the third exercise in the simplified power routine – the high pull. Add 20 pounds to the bar beyond your final power clean, and get set exactly the same as you do for the clean. Now, try to clean the weight. The bar won’t come all the way up, naturally, but you should try to haul it as far above belt height as you can. Then, lower it to knee height and pull a second rep as high as possible.

Repeat several sets of two in this power pull exercise, adding 10 or 20 pounds to the bar after each set, trying always to get the bar above belt height. When you finally reach a weight that you can’t pull belt high, switch to the regular dead lift – adding at least 20 more pounds. Keep working up in the deadlift, doing sets of two repetitions each time, until you reach the point where you know that even another speck of dust on the bar would prevent you from making the second rep.

Now, let’s see what that workout would amount to for a fellow whose best press was 200 pounds and whose best dead lift was around 400. He could start out with six cleans and presses with 135 pounds. Then he would jump to 160 for six presses, 170 for 4, 180 for 3, and 190 for 2.

Continuing to add weight to the bar, he would power clean 200 twice and jerk it once, repeating the same double clean and single jerk with 210, 120, and 230 in succession.

Still adding weight, he would do double reps in the high pull with 250, 260, 270, and 280. Then he would up the weight to 300, 330, 340, and 350, doing two repetitions in the dead lift with each weight.

How long does this workout take? Allowing for from two to three minutes of rest between efforts, the above workout should take no more than one hour. This is not too long, by regular training time standards- yet it provides a good power routine for a weight lifter who is pressed for time – as well as for the athlete and bodybuilder. The main emphasis, of course, is on body and leg power. So if time permits, it would be a good idea to finish off with several sets of bench presses, using enough weight to limit the reps to no more than a half-dozen for the first set. Then work up in 10-pound jumps to a limit weight for two reps. This will keep the upper body in peak muscular condition.

A lifter whose best bench press was 275 pounds might work up as follows: 226x6, 235x4, 245x3, 255x2, and 260x2.

Merely adding the bench press to the initial series of lifts from the floor makes the workout an all-around one, with adequate training to maintain or even increase your upper body power. The bench press should add no more than 20 minutes to the workout. You’ll find it well worth the extra time.

This abbreviated power routine has another advantage besides being a timesaver – it can also be used by the serious and ambitious weight lifter who takes one or two major workouts each week at a gym, but who wants to train at home, too – even though he lacks the space or facilities to go through a more complex routine.

Even an athlete who works out in his basement or garage can follow this routine, though he may have to forego the overhead lifts if the ceiling of his “training room” is low. In this case, it would pay to start off with a series of seated presses with whatever could be lifted for four, three, and a couple of sets of two. Then, the “ceiling zero” barbell man would move on to the power cleans (without jerks, of course), high pulls, and dead lifts.

Before closing, let me say that the little power training routine just outlined is an excellent one for an occasional variety workout by bodybuilders who have gone stale on a steady diet of three-hour multiple set routines.