Functional Strength Training…
“Functional strength training” has become a buzzword. However, as popular as it seems, there are still people everywhere who don’t get it. So, let’s take a quick look at what it is, why it’s important, and how to do it.
Functional strength training is basically using exercises in your workouts that transfer to real life in a practical way. Think about your training program - especially if you’re into bodybuilding. Will tricep extensions carry over to real life? What about chest crossovers? Leg extensions? Leg curls? No, they won’t. Even the ever-popular bench press offers very little in the way of practical use. None of these will be much use to you as you Read more
Tags: Barbells & Dumbells, Bodyweight Training, Hardcore & Odd Object, Kettlebells, Muscle Building, Strength Training, Womens TrainingPopularity: 30% [?]
Gaining Size… Why?
I’ve had this thought on and off over the years and thought I’d post.
I remember when I was 18. I saw some photos of bodybuilder Achim Albrecht in a muscle magazine and thought, “Man, I’d love to look like that.” If I remember right, he was about 5′10″ (my height), and weighed about 250 (about 100 pounds more than me). But, I really wanted to look like that.
I just looked up some photos of him (same photos, in fact) and, well… Read more
Tags: Barbells & Dumbells, Muscle Building, Strength TrainingPopularity: 15% [?]
Proper Squatting Form
Even though I’m an advocate of working out at home, I still go to the gym once in a while. I’ll get the occasional urge to do something a little different that I don’t want to do (or can’t do) at home, or maybe just want a change of scenery. It’s also a good opportunity for me to get a chance to see what others are doing, and see some common mistakes.
The squat rack is, sadly, one station that doesn’t get much action. And when it does, it’s often by people who could use some help. So, here are a few pointers on cleaning up your squatting technique.
- Don’t rest the bar too high on your traps. Let it sit comfortably low. Too high and it’s too close to your neck. This can hurt your neck, as well as put an awkward tilt in your upper body, which is bad form.
- Toes should be about shoulder-width apart, pointed slightly outward, and your knees should track over them.
- Bend at the hips first, sticking your butt out back. Don’t bend your knees first.
- Sit back rather than down. Imagine you’re going to sit in a chair that’s slightly too far behind you.
- Squat between your legs. As Dan John said long ago, your body doesn’t fold like an accordion. You’re not accordion-folding your hips, thighs and knees. Squat down between them. To get the idea, try to squat (bodyweight only) all the way down, sitting on your haunches. To do this, you’ll have to squat between your legs. If you “accordion-fold”, your balance will likely be off and you’ll fall backwards. Remember this “between the legs” thing.
- Keep your shins fairly vertical. If you’re doing everything else right (hips first, sitting back not down, between the legs), then your shins will automatically remain relatively vertical.
- Squat below parallel. Be honest with yourself - did your hip joint get level with your knees or lower? If you’re just dipping down a few inches, you’re kidding yourself. Take some weight off of the bar so you can go below parallel.
- Drive the weight up with your hips, glutes and thighs. Think of them as one unit to create the hip-drive necessary to lift the weight.
The above is a description of how to do a standard squat for normal trainees. There are more advanced methods that don’t exactly fit this model, which I won’t discuss here. You also may notice that the overall method is similar to the kettlebell swing. It all centers around proper body mechanics to create a powerful hip drive.
If you’ve been squatting with poor form, take some weight off the bar and start from the beginning. You’ll be better off in the long run, with better gains and an overall safer lift. Leave your ego at the door.
One issue that sometimes comes up is whether squats are bad for the knees. The answer is yes and no. If you are squatting with poor form - especially if you’re bending at the knees first - then you’re putting your knees at risk. Another indicator is your shins. If your shins are moving significantly forward of vertical, then you are likely putting undue stress on your knees.
Another potential knee problem is squatting all the way to the ground if you don’t know what you’re doing. Squatting all the way to the ground, with added weight on your back can damage your knees if you release tension. You need to hold tension in the knee in this position. Relaxing in this position (with a barbell) can put extra stress on the tendon/ligament structure of the knee because of the stretching effect caused by the leverage of your leg musculature and the weight. It takes a conscious effort to hold tension in this position, so I don’t recommend it without an experienced trainer.
Given that, most people will be fine using the guidelines listed above for proper squatting technique. The squat is an excellent exercise, and is one of the best if your goal is overall size and strength. But be sure you’re doing it right!
Tags: Barbells & Dumbells, Muscle Building, Strength TrainingPopularity: 67% [?]
The Evolution of Cardio
Guest article by Craig Ballantyne. Whether you’re interested in interval training for lean muscle gains or fat loss, Turbulence Training is one of the best ways to get started. This particular article focuses on cardio for fat loss.
The Evolution of Cardio
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
I’ve been meaning to write this email for a long time. Today I’m
going to give you the story of how I solved the problem of getting an efficient and effective fat loss program finished in 45 minutes. Essentially, how I invented Turbulence Training.
And then I’ll end with a sample TT workout for you…
But first, let’s take a trip down memory lane to the winter of
98-99. I was but a lowly grad student, studying the effects of
androstenedione (the supplement taken by the might Mark McGwire during his record-breaking home run quest in ‘98).
In my study (which was published in the Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology for any science nerds like myself out there), we had guys use the supplement and go through a couple of weight training sessions. By February of ‘99 I was stuck in the lab Read more
Tags: Barbells & Dumbells, Bodyweight Training, Circuit Training, Fat Loss, Interval Training, Turbulence TrainingPopularity: 41% [?]
Top 5 Fat Loss Tips
Guest article by Craig Ballantyne discussing fat loss, just one of the benefits of interval training. Be sure you check out everything that’s included with Turbulence Training - lots of great bonuses!
Top 5 Fat Loss Tips
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
Men’s Fitness magazine recently asked me for 3 of my best fat loss secrets. Since most times the magazines just don’t have enough space to run my full tips, I thought I’d give you a more detailed explanation of my secrets here (plus a few extra bonus tips that I didn’t send to the magazine).
Secret #1 - Focus on burning carbohydrate, not fat, during your
fat-loss workouts.
Sounds backwards, right? But not when you look at how I structure my workouts. Remember that Turbulence Training focuses on resistance training and interval training. Both of these use carbohydrate as the main source of energy. So it’s obvious Read more
Tags: Barbells & Dumbells, Bodyweight Training, Circuit Training, Fat Loss, Interval Training, Turbulence TrainingPopularity: 40% [?]
The Best Ways to Burn Belly Fat
Guest article by Craig Ballantyne. Check out all of the bonuses that come with Turbulence Training.
The Best Ways to Burn Belly Fat
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training for Fat Loss
Best Ways to Burn Belly Fat
I often get asked, “What’s the best way to burn fat and lose my belly?” People want to know if aerobics is better than strength training, or if traditional cardio exercise is better than intervals.
Well, to say I’ve done them all would be an understatement.
With over 15 years experience helping others, training myself, training for sports, spending countless hours in the gym, AND actually conducting laboratory research studies on different exercise methods, I’m pretty confident in knowing Read more
Tags: Barbells & Dumbells, Circuit Training, Fat Loss, Interval Training, Turbulence Training, Womens TrainingPopularity: 37% [?]
The Turkish Get-Up…
The Turkish Get-Up is a great exercise for overall bodywork. It’s a good workout for the core, shoulders, and even the legs. In addition, there’s an added element of shoulder stability and flexibility that you don’t get with many other drills. These are a few reasons why Pavel has made it one of the only two exercises in Enter the Kettlebell.
Another great thing about the Turkish Get-Up is that it can be done with different tools. While kettlebells are excellent for them, you can also get creative and use a dumbbell, a sandbag, even a barbell with some work.
Jeff Martone has a great article on the Turkish Get-Up that covers both a warm up and the TGU itself on his Turkish Get-Up article.
Tags: Barbells & Dumbells, beginners, Kettlebells, Strength TrainingPopularity: 56% [?]
New $5.00 Book Store…
I remember when I was a kid and it was time for the Scholastic Book Fair. We’d get these catalogs with dozens of books in them and they were always really inexpensive. I remember buying books for $1.00 - $5.00, and just getting really excited about it. Of course, these were mostly 10-20 page kids’ books, but I just loved it. There’s something fun about feeling like you can pick up five or six things and hardly spend any money.
So, I’m trying to incorporate that idea here. If you look at the top of the site, or under “Pages”, you’ll see a page called “$5.00 Book Store”. I plan on buying the rights to ebooks, reading them to check for quality, and offering them there if they have value. I plan to have books ranging from $3.00 to $10.00, keeping the average around $5.00.
Obviously it takes time to get these books and read them, so they’ll be added slowly. I’m not going to put up any useless junk - only books that I see some value in, and think you guys might like.
UPDATE:
I’ve put this on hold for the time being.
Popularity: 50% [?]
Kettlebell Drills With a Dumbbell?
One of the questions most frequently asked by someone new to kettlebells is, “Can’t I just use a dumbbell instead?” The answer is yes and no, but mostly, no. The kettlebell is far more flexible, offering much more than a dumbbell. When I first became interested in kettlebell training, I just went out and bought a 25-pound dumbbell and went to work.
Here’s what I found out. Swings, the most foundational of the kettlebell exercises, don’t work well with a dumbbell. With a kettlebell, the weight hangs below the handle, so it swings easily between the legs. A dumbbell doesn’t work nearly as well. Because the handle is in the center of the weights, a dumbbell is much wider than a kettlebell.
This makes for an awkward swing between the legs. There is a very real possibility of smacking yourself Read more
Tags: Barbells & Dumbells, beginners, KettlebellsPopularity: 24% [?]
Designing a Weight Lifting Routine Part II
In Part I of designing a weight lifting routine, we talked about the cornerstone; a large, multi-joint movement. Training at home, I recommended the deadlift. The next step is to choose another multi-joint movement; a press.
There are a few choices for the press. There’s the classic bench press, the overhead press, the side press, and the bent press, to name a few options. Out of these, I recommend the overhead press or the side press, and I’ll tell you why.
The bent press is a great exercise, but Read more
Tags: Barbells & Dumbells, Muscle Building, Strength TrainingPopularity: 26% [?]
