Finally, we come to the Theory of Adaptation, which will close out this section on useful training principles in the quest for physical strength. What we are going to try to do here is to show you how to adapt to continued increases in both training intensity and volume, for an overall increase in body… Continue reading Anthony Ditillo, The Adaptation Principle in Strength Training
Face it. Every now and then you want to try something new in the gym. A new lift, a new rep range or an entirely new style of training. The mind gets bored of monotony, something which the lifters of yore were all too acquainted with. Today's post on the Sig Klein challenge will not only… Continue reading The Sig Klein Challenge
The Westside Barbell club run by Louie Simmons, is one of the current institutions of the iron game. Known for producing champion powerlifters and even effective machines such as the Reverse Hyper Extension, there is little doubting the club's importance for lifters, whether or not they adhere to powerlifting itself. In today's short post, we're… Continue reading Forgotten Exercises: The JM Press
You cannot spend a third of a century around physical culturists and barbell men without coming to a few conclusions. You see many enthusiasts who thrive on their training schedules and attain a perfectly satisfactory degree of physical development. You see others work and strain without noticeable improvement for months or years. Quite often these… Continue reading Harry B. Paschall, ‘How Barbell Men Go Wrong’, Muscle Moulding (London, 1950)
"Wrap a band around your bicep until it begins to go numb, then pump out 30 reps with a light weight... Trust me, the pump is worth it." These are not the words of an enlightened man but rather my first experience of Kaatsu or Blood Restriction Training. Brought to my attention by a training… Continue reading The History of Kaatsu Training
THE big men often do not know how to handle themselves when in a light, so I will tell them. The greatest mistake that big men make is in spending so much of their time in doing all kinds of work to develop their muscles and wind and hitting powers, and so little in… Continue reading ROBERT FITZSIMMONS, ‘HOW THE HEAVY MAN SHOULD TRAIN AND FIGHT,’ PHYSICAL CULTURE AND SELF-DEFENSE (LONDON, 1901), 106-109.
I was flicking through some old strength magazines during the weekend and came across a lift that I doubt many of us are familiar with. Called the 'Seesaw' press, it is essentially a standing dumbbell shoulder press but instead of pressing both dumbbells at the same time, you alternate between reps. As you lower one dumb-bell, you… Continue reading Forgotten Exercises: The See-Saw Press
I once wrote a piece for the "Behind the Scenes" section in Strength & Health magazine dealing with the subject of sex before competition. I thought that I was quite obviously tongue-in-cheeking the presentation and made the comment that lifters would do well to lay off sex during the final week before a meet. As… Continue reading Bill Starr, ‘Sex and the Barbell’, Defying Gravity How To Win At Weightlifting (New York, 1981), p. 24.
The Westside Barbell club run by Louie Simmons, is one of the current institutions of the iron game. Known for producing champion powerlifters and even effective machines such as the Reverse Hyper Extension, there is little doubting the club's importance for lifters, whether or not they adhere to powerlifting itself. In today's short post, we're… Continue reading Forgotten Exercises: The JM Press
