Tag: Fitness

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 24, 20174:25 pm

Forgotten Exercises: The One Arm Clean and Jerk

Recently I had the good fortune to stumble across Alan Radley’s excellent History of Physical Culture work. A combination of fun facts, serious scholarship and enough photographs to keep any Ironhead happy, it’s likely that I’ll be dipping in and out of this work for years to come.

In any case, Radley’s scholarship highlighted a number of odd lifts and techniques that although hugely popular during the heyday of physical culture in the early 1900s, have now largely fallen by the wayside.

The focus of today’s short post is one such lift, namely the one arm clean and jerk.

Physical Culture and Domestic Bliss – an Unlikely Pairing…

The following article comes from Ireland’s Own in 1912. Published, one hopes, as a satirical piece, the anonymous author highlights the dangers of privileging physical culture over one’s domestic duties. A decision that comes it seems, to […]

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 23, 20173:41 pm

Guest Post: 5 Fun Ways to Lose Weight This Summer

It’s true that we all make promises to ourselves to be skinny when the summer comes but we also know that these kinds of things rarely go according to plan. However, summer is a great time for losing weight for many reasons. First of all, you’ll probably have more time to devote to it. Besides, there are plenty of outdoor activities you can engage in, burn some calories, and have some fun along the way. So, if you’re not much of a gym lover, here are top five ways to lose weight this summer.

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 21, 20176:37 am

Guest Post: What You Need to Know about Vitamin B12 [Infographic]

Taking fitness seriously not only means training regularly but also means paying attention to the vitamins and nutrients that our body needs. While working out is often half of the battle towards increasing fitness, enhancing health and protecting against anti-aging, getting the right amount of nutrients is a long term battle.

Most of us know about the ‘headline’ vitamins such as vitamins C and D but B is often talked about much less, and specifically B12 is one of the most under discussed vitamins, that a growing number of people are deficient in. B12 plays a vital part in many of our body’s core functions such as the production of red blood cells and nerve cells.

Not only that, being deficient in B12 is likely to make you tired, sluggish and prone to getting headaches. To find out more about vitamin B12 and the symptoms, causes and treatments check out the below infographic by psysci:

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 20, 20171:09 pm

The History of the Reverse Grip Bench Press

Without doubt one of the odder movements in the gym goers’ repertoire, the reverse grip bench press is a lift you’re unlikely to see on a regular basis. Somewhat circus-like in its execution, the lift is nevertheless an invaluable one to those suffering from issues of shoulder mobility and I’d suggest, boredom.

A fun lift to try, even just once, the Reverse Grip Bench Press (henceforth the RBGP) has a relatively recent and interesting history. A history that stems primarily it seems, from the world of powerlifting and hardcore bodybuilding gyms. A history that will be examined in today’s brief post.

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 14, 20176:53 pm

Guest Post: How to Encourage Your Children to be Physically Active

active-children

As parents, it is our responsibility to keep our kids healthy. Physical activity helps them build strong muscles and bones, and also gives them a really good night’s sleep. Researchers say children need compulsory physical exercises not only to prevent obesity but also to improve their cognitive skills and academic performance.

When we talk about physical activity for young children we don’t mean signing them up for the gym. It is all about being active and moving around instead of sitting in one place.

Training by Conor HeffernanJun 13, 20171:58 pm

Forgotten Training Protocols: 4 x 10 Clusters

weights-664766_960_720

For whatever reason some training systems remain in the public psyche while others fall to the wayside, continued only by a few dedicated and often fixated trainers. Thus while nearly every intermediate and certainly every advanced trainee is familiar with manipulating rep ranges, few seem to stray outside the comfort zone of 5 x 5, 8 x 3 and whatever other bland rep schemes we chose. What about 7 x 4 for a change?

Musing aside, today’s short post details 4 x 10 clusters, a method of volume training first introduced to me several years ago by an older trainee and a fallback I use whenever my training gets a little stale.

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 9, 20175:29 pm

Mike Mentzer (1995) – Mr. Universe Mike Mentzer’s Training Invention

Mike_Mentzer

In the decades before bodybuilding became fashionable, when young men wanted to workout, they would say, “Hey, lets’ go to the YMCA and lift weights” In fact, during the early part of this century, weightlifting was much more popular than bodybuilding, in part because bodybuilding was regarded as too narcissistic.

Inveterate observers of weight-training history will recall how prevalent “odd lift” contests were back around the time of World War I. Competitions were held and records established for such odd lifts as the “two hands anyhow.” the “bent press” and the “one-hand deadlift.” For various reasons, these eventually fell from grace and were replaced by the three Olympic lifts: the press, snatch, and clean and jerk. These new movements required considerable athletic ability and, thus, were viewed as more respectable by the international sport community. They even were accepted as official events in the Olympics and are still quite popular today.

Eventually, some of the esteem reserved for Olympic lifting was wrested away by powerlifting, which has long had a strong following and gained even more recognition and acceptance after it became an official sport in the 1960s.

Finally, due primarily to the efforts of Joe Weider, bodybuilding assumed its rightful place in the sun in the ’60s and has progressed to its current predominance. It has thoroughly supplanted Olympic lifting and powerlifting in public appeal.

Training by Conor HeffernanJun 8, 20171:07 pm

Guest Post: Reaching the Plateau – And Overcoming It

If you’ve tried basic diet and exercise to shed unwanted pounds, chances are, you are no stranger to the weight loss plateau dilemma. When we first alter our diets by cutting calories and adding a side of exercise, we tend to shed pounds quite rapidly. Yet, once we get down to the nitty gritty of shedding those last ten to 15 pounds to reach our goal weight, we then learn that it’s not nearly as easy as it was in the beginning. That’s because once our body starts to reach a comfortable weight, it becomes more difficult to shed the rest of those pounds.

Resources by Conor HeffernanJun 7, 20175:25 pm

Bill Pearl On Deltoids (1975 Interview)

INTERVIEWER:
Your approach to training has always been to use heavy weights for quality lasting muscle. It was in articles about your training as far back as 1953. You always combined pushing movements and lateral movements for total development of all three heads of the deltoid muscle. Will you update us on your deltoid training here, Bill?

BILL:
If you know enough about anatomy, you understand that you have three deltoid heads, all of which are important in bodybuilding.

The posterior delt is just as important as the lateral and front heads. Whenever I make out a delt routine, I always make sure I include exercises for each head. I also do it on triceps, biceps or whatever muscle. I try to get a muscle from every angle. I was always impressed with weightlifters’ deltoids. They convinced me that the only way you are going to get thick deltoids is with overhead presses. I have always been included toward heavy presses behind neck, military and dumbbell presses. The rear deltoid’s seems to get lost because no one gets to see it on themselves. It’s totally lacking on some people because they do nothing to attack that area. I stress bent-over exercises and incline exercises facing into an incline-bench.