Strength Weight Training: Anything and Everything II

keyboard_warrior

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Isolation exercises, especially sit ups are typically bad for your spine as they involve lots of abnormal spinal movement and stress. I spent many years doing situps, bridges and other ridiculous exercises in the gym trying to build my core strength, after 1 year of lifting heavy my core is far stronger and defined than ever (and I'm 35).

sit ups get a bad wrap. they dont involve any abnormal movement, your spine is designed to move into flexion and extension. Its poor technique that will put undue stress on the joints, like with any exercise i guess. its just they arent overly functional, but neither are many exercises that 'target the core'. but a sit up is more functional that a plank i guess.
 

keyboard_warrior

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but a sit up is more functional that a plank i guess.

how so?

When do u ever in life have to hover horazontally with a rigid back? When do you have to use abs to move your back off the ground? Probably when u go from lying in bed to sitting. Yes you do other stuff to help but u use the move a hell of a lot more than just hovering

Do 100 situps and tell me how your core feels.

Do a 2 minute plank and tell me how your core feels.

/topic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w-uD-uPCBQ&feature=player_embedded#!

Now that is core strength/endurance.

Best core stuff is probably done with cables. Try loading up cables to what you can bench then try and press it. Start adding split squats and lunges to the press with more weight. Thats functional core strength. Actual movements you do in real life
 

cptkirk

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When do u ever in life have to hover horazontally with a rigid back? When do you have to use abs to move your back off the ground? Probably when u go from lying in bed to sitting. Yes you do other stuff to help but u use the move a hell of a lot more than just hovering

Best core stuff is probably done with cables. Try loading up cables to what you can bench then try and press it. Start adding split squats and lunges to the press with more weight. Thats functional core strength. Actual movements you do in real life

a bsit up can be done without ANY core activation at all...a prone hold in the correct position cannot...granted its entry level core training but if you can't hold a prone hold properly doing anything standing up will look beyond comedy

and when do you have a cable attached to you in life? see that argument can work anytime
 

keyboard_warrior

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a bsit up can be done without ANY core activation at all...a prone hold in the correct position cannot...granted its entry level core training but if you can't hold a prone hold properly doing anything standing up will look beyond comedy

and when do you have a cable attached to you in life? see that argument can work anytime

A sit up needs core to stabilise the spine. A crunch requires no core but a bastardisation of the two is just putrid to watch.

Its about the movement pattern When it comes to function. Heaps of situations u need to push s**t when u are standing. Im not sure about stayin rigid for over 2 mins tho
 

cptkirk

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like i said a prone hold is entry level, you don't so it forever

and if you can stay out of extension in a prone position you have no chance in a standing position
 

cptkirk

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the psoas is a bitch

it can be short and tight being a hip flexor but also weak a sit's the only hip flexor that flexes past 90 degrees of hip flexion (another strike against a shitload of long distance slow running)

to test sit down on a bench that puts your knees/hips at about 90 degrees then lift your knee up past 90 degrees and see if you can hold it there for 15secs without cramping...also without any compensations either (lumbar hyperextension, lateral flexion, incomplete range of motion)

the muscle tissue also needs to have excellent quality for optimal performance...usain bolt's psoas cross sectional area is 2 x the size of other elite sprinters so you can see how important it is for sprinting speed

you can activate them with the test exercise too or the standing version

training wise you can do hip flexion movements but finish them above 90 degrees but simple sprinting is the best choice
 
I have quite large legs which have the appearance of looking muscular and defined despite never doing any sort of resistance training before. However my verticle leap is near non existant.

I've started going to the gym with a mate who's a bit of gym junkie and talks like he knows what he's doing. He has quite skinny legs and is aiming to bulk up. Because I already have large legs I don't want to increase size but I'd love to increase strength/power for verticle leap. My mate says just to do the same exercises, reps and sets at the same intensity as him and I will reach that my goal of increasing verticle leap and not gain any mass on my legs because I have "hollow muscle". However if he's doing exercises designed to increase mass, wouldn't I gain mass as well?

What would be your suggested exercises/reps/sets/intensity for increasing verticle leap and strenght/power in the legs without increasing size?
 

GeeUUess

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Power cleans, start higher reps 10-12 work down to 5-6 making sure form is good, too easy to lose sight of form because its an explosive movement. 3 sets.
ATG squats, low reps.
Deadlifts.
Lunges and calf raises - for both of these go one leg (obviously for lunge).

As these lifts progress you can make split squats replace ATG squats and start plyometric training - which you can learn about when you can power clean 1.5x your body weight.
 

Hungryhaydo

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As these lifts progress you can make split squats replace ATG squats and start plyometric training - which you can learn about when you can power clean 1.5x your body weight.

u do know that would be quite an achievement right?

:D

New here and happy to help where needed.
 

GeeUUess

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u do know that would be quite an achievement right?

:D

New here and happy to help where needed.
Squat would be 1.5...but power clean 1x. Whichever comes first, then start plyos.

Can do plyo excercies beforehand but I think with the a clear end goal to be more explosive its best to focus on strength first then power.
 

lysp

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I have quite large legs which have the appearance of looking muscular and defined despite never doing any sort of resistance training before. However my verticle leap is near non existant.

I've started going to the gym with a mate who's a bit of gym junkie and talks like he knows what he's doing. He has quite skinny legs and is aiming to bulk up. Because I already have large legs I don't want to increase size but I'd love to increase strength/power for verticle leap. My mate says just to do the same exercises, reps and sets at the same intensity as him and I will reach that my goal of increasing verticle leap and not gain any mass on my legs because I have "hollow muscle". However if he's doing exercises designed to increase mass, wouldn't I gain mass as well?

What would be your suggested exercises/reps/sets/intensity for increasing verticle leap and strenght/power in the legs without increasing size?

You should always train every part of your body regardless. All your muscles counter-act each other so only half training can cause imbalances in them.

What i think your friend is trying to say is that as you start to train, fat on your body (and legs) will lower and you'll gain some muscle which will in terms of size keep them around the same size. You may find they might even get a little bit smaller if you lose some weight.

In terms of what sets/reps to use, it shouldnt really matter. Just follow whatever program you are doing. Increase weight when you can complete the sets without failing (progressively overload) and don't worry too much about size changes, you wont get anything too noticeable.
 

Hungryhaydo

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Squat would be 1.5...but power clean 1x. Whichever comes first, then start plyos.

Can do plyo excercies beforehand but I think with the a clear end goal to be more explosive its best to focus on strength first then power.

ahh that sounds a bit more like it...

i was gonna say...if i can powerclean 130kg i would be ballin :p

Does anyone here teach proper power clean form..? around the melbourne area..

Looking at you cptkirk...
 
You should always train every part of your body regardless. All your muscles counter-act each other so only half training can cause imbalances in them.

We just finished a two month base building/strengthening program and now we're starting to concentrate more on specific muscle groups every session.

What i think your friend is trying to say is that as you start to train, fat on your body (and legs) will lower and you'll gain some muscle which will in terms of size keep them around the same size. You may find they might even get a little bit smaller if you lose some weight.

I don't have much fat on me. Fat % wise, my mate and I would be roughly the same. I just have large muscular legs which don't seem to have much power in them at the moment

In terms of what sets/reps to use, it shouldnt really matter. Just follow whatever program you are doing. Increase weight when you can complete the sets without failing (progressively overload) and don't worry too much about size changes, you wont get anything too noticeable.

I've read so much about to build power you lift heavier weights with low reps and to build mass you lift lighter weights at more reps and to tone you lift even lower weights at even higher reps. Any of that correct?
 

cptkirk

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I have quite large legs which have the appearance of looking muscular and defined despite never doing any sort of resistance training before. However my verticle leap is near non existant.

I've started going to the gym with a mate who's a bit of gym junkie and talks like he knows what he's doing. He has quite skinny legs and is aiming to bulk up. Because I already have large legs I don't want to increase size but I'd love to increase strength/power for verticle leap. My mate says just to do the same exercises, reps and sets at the same intensity as him and I will reach that my goal of increasing verticle leap and not gain any mass on my legs because I have "hollow muscle". However if he's doing exercises designed to increase mass, wouldn't I gain mass as well?

What would be your suggested exercises/reps/sets/intensity for increasing verticle leap and strenght/power in the legs without increasing size?

to increase vertical leap it's 2 things only:

1 - get stronger
2 - drop bodyfat

anyone can do low level plyo's at any stage of their training because sprinting is plyometric and there's some big boys who run around in reserves football...power cleans are decent but i don't class them as the holy grail as they take so long to teach and you can get the same results from easier and safer exercises

getting stronger means increasing your 3 - 5 rep max for back squats in this case
 

lysp

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Finally failed on my squats today.


Started again at 3x6x100kg at the end of January. Managed to get up to 122.5 which i repeated last week as i struggled. Tried to give 125 a go today and failed on the 3rd rep (of 5-6). Dropped the weight for 2nd/3rd sets back to 120 and got through it just although was pretty fatigued.


Going to reset it back down to 115 and build my way up again. Might even give smolov a try in 5-6 weeks time.


Also i've been doing a 20 rep set as 4th workset and have got that from 12-14x80kg in Jan to 20x90kg today (still pushed through quite easily even though i failed earlier in workout). I will keep slowly increasing the weight on this set as i don't feel the need to drop this one back.


Quite happy with the progress as i was previously stuck around 100-102 for ages last year.
 

PoidaCat

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Regarding Dumbell and Barbell Bench Press do you guys find that you keep your shoulders retracted even on the push part of the movement?

It makes ense to keep them retracted since when you have heavy weight providing downards resistance you'd want to have a much support to your body/back/shoulders on the bench as possible.

But the squeeze of the chest seems to work against keeping the shoulders retracted.

Maybe I need to address my technique it's why my chest is so poor.
 
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Do you guys think it's possible to put on muscle and lose fat at the same time ?

I need to lose about 6kgs of fat but I have increased my food intake so I put on muscle from weight training. It feels weird to be eating more and trying to lose weight but I'm hoping the extra muscle will increase metabolism ect
 

cptkirk

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Regarding Dumbell and Barbell Bench Press do you guys find that you keep your shoulders retracted even on the push part of the movement?

It makes ense to keep them retracted since when you have heavy weight providing downards resistance you'd want to have a much support to your body/back/shoulders on the bench as possible.

But the squeeze of the chest seems to work against keeping the shoulders retracted.

Maybe I need to address my technique it's why my chest is so poor.

you should able to retract and squeeze the pecs at the same time...protracting the scap just rolls your shoulders forwards more, it doesn't give you more squeeze
 

cptkirk

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Do you guys think it's possible to put on muscle and lose fat at the same time ?

I need to lose about 6kgs of fat but I have increased my food intake so I put on muscle from weight training. It feels weird to be eating more and trying to lose weight but I'm hoping the extra muscle will increase metabolism ect

it can be done but it will be a very slow process...drop the 6kgs then build muscle
 
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