A New Year means…
Newbies
and LOTs of really, really bad things going on.
Read the last 5 gym atrocities I went over here……
Here’s a few more things that are not good, and by that I mean completely suck…like, a lot.:
Jacked Up Thing 6: The 2-Minute Stretch the Calves and Hamstrings Warmup
If the totality of your warm-up is 3 minutes of these:
You Suck…..
It takes waaaay more than that to get the body ready to move, and be loaded after a day of keyboard pounding.
If you’re not taking the time to warm-up thoroughly you’re leaving a LOT of your potential performance and progress on the table.
Never mind that whole,
“I think I just broke my spine in three places while picking up this dumbbell”
injury thing…
Parts to a good warm-up include:
- Soft Tissue Work: Foam Roller, Lacrosse Ball
- Stretch the Tight Areas: Hip Flexor, Glutes, Chest
- Mobilize the Joints: Cat Camel, Deep Squats
- Activate the Muscles: X-Band Walks, Band Pull Aparts
Do that stuff, then SFW…..(meaning #3)
Jacked Up Thing 7: Being the 135lbs guy
The best lifters in the world start with a bare bar
NO WEIGHT ON IT AT ALL….
But you of , “my best bench in high school was 300lbs (wink, nod) when I weighed 165lbs and now my shoulder hurts so I only go half-way down but still bench 195lbs” start with 135lbs…
Why?
I know, you don’t want to look like a pussy right?
I guess it’s better to look like an idiot?
NewsFlash: No one cares what you lift. The strong people are too busy giving a damn about getting themselves stronger to waste time worrying about you….
Walking over to the bench or squat rack and proceeding to slap 135lbs on the bar is incredibly stupid.
Starting that high doesn’t allow you the chance to really lock in your technique and get a feel for the movement.
Beginning with a bare bar and “working up” is a much better option.
Example bench press workout to a MAX at 315lbs:
- bar x 10
- 95lbs x 10
- 135lbs x 10
- 185lbs x 8
- 225lbs x 5
- 255lbs x 3
- 275lbs x 3
- 295lbs x 1
- 305lbs x 1
- 315lbs x 1
This progression is much better than making huge jumps because it allows the nervous system to ramp itself up to the and prepare for the challenge.
The weights will feel heavy but manageable and you’ll have more confidence with the heavier weights.
Plus, you’ll get a better picture of what you actually have in the tank earlier in the workout and you can adjust accordingly.
Working up is a vastly underrated skill that can make a huge difference in your performance.
Jacked Up Thing 8: Heels Up
This is a poor squat pattern……like you were concerned about that……
“Heels Down!”- I say that approximately 1,000,000 times a day…..
Whenever you’re lifting think of your heels as your anchor to the ground.
When the heels come up, the weight must shift to the balls of the feet meaning the tibia (shin) has to project forward.
This is a quad dominant, acceleration, position.
In other words, when the weight shifts to the toes and the shin moves forward the body is preparing to move forward.
Shin forward, weight on the toes= acceleration pattern
All this leads to tibial shear and for a lot of people…..Knee Pain.
Keeping the heels down, and pressing through them helps to ensure that the hips are used in the movement on lower body lifts and ensures that you have a stable base to push through on upper body lifts because the ankle, knee hip and shoulder will stay in a straight line minimizing force leaks.
Jacked Up Thing 9: All Show, No Go, Training
“Muscles up front are for show, muscles in back are for go”
It’s that simple.
If everyday is chest and bi’s, it’s no big surprise that you’re not making progress.
You’re only training 1/3rd of your body.
I’m assuming your not doing jack for the legs either, they count too.
The posterior chain (back side) is just as important if not more so , especially when talking about performance, than the anterior chain (front side).
Take a few months and give the glutes, hamstrings, lats and upper back the attention they deserve. I guarantee you’ll look, feel and perform better.
Quick tip: Most people need A LOT more pulling/ rowing in their programs. Mostly it’s necessary just to counteract the effects of a life spent in flexion.
A 2:1 pulling to pressing ratio is a good place to start for most people.
Jacked Up Thing 10: Flexion Based Ab Work
Spinal Flexion, ie.. the crunching/ sit up movement.
It’s not good for you….
More accurate statement: Repeated and or loaded spinal flexion is detrimental to overall lumbar health in the vast majority of people.
According to spinal Yoda extraordinaire Stu McGill:
“There are only so many bends or a ‘fatigue life’,” in your spinal disks, if you keep flexing your spine and bending the disk over and over again, that nucleus slowly breaches the layers and causes a disk bulge, or a disk herniation.”
“When people are doing curl up over gym balls and sit-ups, and this kind of thing, they are replicating a very potent injury mechanism on their back,” says McGill. “Every time they bend it they are one repetition closer to damaging the disk.”- Kate Daily
Read the last sentence again….and again…and again…..
Now STOP doing crunches…
I know, your doctor, who’s 100lbs overweight himself, told you to do crunches to “strengthen your core” and that would help your back pain.
Yeah, that guy was really, really wrong.
Your better off doing anti-rotation, anti-extension, anti-flexion exercises.
The core is about bracing and restricting movement, not creating it.
Do stuff like this:
So as you embark on your “New Year, New You Master Action Plan For world Domination” don’t fall prey to the gym lemming syndrome and simply do what everyone else is doing, chances are it’s wrong.
Even if one of those guys has a polo shirt on that says “TRAINER”, (they always use capitals cause they’re very serious about this stuff..)….just remember, in most gyms, there is a good chance you have a better idea of what the hell is going on just from reading this blog than he does.
Working out should help you.
You should feel better and be correcting problems, not making them worse and jacking yourself up in the process…
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