Weight Training Article

[old] John Rupp · Post by **[old] John Rupp** » January 10th, 2005, 8:36 pm

Here's a pulley problem for you physics experts. I guessed and got 4 of the 8... but don't know the formulas. <a href='http://bardeen.physics.csbsju.edu/cgi-b ... es/G2.html' target='_blank'>http://bardeen.physics.csbsju.edu/cgi-b ... G2.html</a>

[old] Yoda1 · Post by **[old] Yoda1** » January 10th, 2005, 8:44 pm

Mark, On the contrary, the amount of weight that you would use would more than likely go down. That is, of course, if you are going to use Super Slow. John, I would suggest using individual handles rather than a bar. Remember, you will have to purchase the bands or tubing, so it will be important to know what resistance you need before hand. A blue Therband tube has about 10 pounds of resistance at 100% stretch, so you would have to buy enough to use several strands in order to get the resistance you would be looking for. pduck and Mark, The bowflex is a good piece of equipment if it is used in a controlled enviroment. The bows resistance are effected by the temperature. So, if you are like me and use the garage as a gym and live in Phoenix, Arizona, workouts in the winter become difficult and the summer quite easy. Actually, a person could, very inexpensively build a full working gym utilizing nothing but bands and tubing and not spend a whole lot of money. Something to think about. A wee bit of 2x4's, some tubing and bands, some screweyes, and you're off and running. Please continue as we have---without yelling. Yoda

[old] Slow Boat · Post by **[old] Slow Boat** » January 10th, 2005, 8:50 pm

John Rupp, The blocks (pulleys) I used were some left over sailboat hardware, specifically some Schaefer Marine padeyes with a flap attachment plate for four wood screws. I've read that others use the therebands looped over the pullup bar with a lark's head know. One site that uses these is www.crossfit.com No time for pictures until Friday (going out of town). I'll check back then.

[old] gw1 · Post by **[old] gw1** » January 10th, 2005, 9:25 pm

Yoda I have been using bands and chains for the last few years. I bought the green "medium bands" from: <a href='http://elitefitnesssystems.com/elite-ho ... efault.asp' target='_blank'>http://elitefitnesssystems.com/elite-ho ... a> Even though the bands are classified as medium they are recommended for those who squat around 500lbs so they are really hard core (from memory there were 2 flexes of bands harder than mine!!!!!). I use them for incline bench, deads and squats, 1 or 2 sets only once a week. The principle of the bands and chains is great as it adds resistance as you move into the strongest phase of the range of motion. I actually used the bands doing the SS inclines the other day with only a 25lb plate either side of an O bar at a tempo of 2-2-10. For those who don't are have not used different speeds of movement, that is 2 seconds during the positive (lifting) phase, a 2 second pause at the top and bottom and a 10 sec negative (lowering) the weight. After a 4 reps i had the death shakes and barely made 2 more reps without wearing the bar. As far as tubing is concerned that is more for rehab, for things like baseball pitchers shoulder girdles and even golfers impact drills. Cheers GW

[old] kwadams · Post by **[old] kwadams** » January 11th, 2005, 11:10 am

Yoda-- I did my third SS workout this AM and it was another killer. The noises that were coming out of the basement truly frightened my wife! My main issue today was that either I've gotten stronger already in a week or I'm just getting better accustomed to the SS routine, as a few of the exercises were probably a little too easy, ie. I was able to get to 6 reps and in one case, I think even 7-8 (lat pulldowns). The shaking has gone away and I'll add another plate or two for the next workout and see what happens. BTW, if you'd like to critique my routine, what I've done over the last week is a SS session on Tuesday (in this order)--bench press, leg extensions, lats, upright row, seated row, leg curls, arm curls, and tri pushdowns, followed by a SS push-up set(nothing like falling on your face). Then on Friday I did a smaller SS routine of shoulder press, pec deck, calf raises, dumbell shoulder flys, and then some concentration work (SS) with dumbells on tri's and bi's. Originally, this second workout was going to be the so-called "flushing" workout, but I decided to do another SS routine to work in some other exercises. Basically, I felt good and just wanted to do another SS workout (old habits are hard to break). What do you think--is this too much or should I continue? I wish I had a leg press machine as I would rather do that than the extensions/curls. I think squats would be too risky since I don't have any side supports for when failure occurs. Thanks for your advice. So far so good. I could see where you could literally get to doing just 3 or 4 exercises in the SS mode--push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and maybe some curls--without even using weights (just body weight or bands), and get a great resistence workout with plenty of time left during the week for rowing, cycling, running, etc., ie, whatever you are actually training for. Kevin

[old] gw1 · Post by **[old] gw1** » January 11th, 2005, 11:25 am

Kevin <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td class='genmed'>QUOTE </td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>I think squats would be too risky since I don't have any side supports for when failure occurs. </td></tr></table> Try body weight squats, holding onto a power rack or similar fixed object with a very light finger grip for stability. GW

[old] kwadams · Post by **[old] kwadams** » January 11th, 2005, 2:49 pm

GW-- I checked out that site you referenced and I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Can I order some heavy duty bands that I could do squats with and not worry about weights? What would you recommend for a basic order of bands? I noticed they have "platforms", too--would these be useful for standing on and doing squats (hooking the bands on the platforms and around your arms/shoulders) or do I have it all wrong? The blast straps look pretty cool, too. Thanks for any advice you can give here. I would be interested in heavy duty bands for both upper and lower body work. Kevin

[old] gw1 · Post by **[old] gw1** » January 11th, 2005, 3:11 pm

Kevin The link re the bands was in response to Yoda. If you are currently following the Super Slow protocol, i would be more inclined to stick with body weight squats with the slight aid of holding on to a fixed object as i mentioned in my last post. If that becomes to easy then you could do single leg squats with your other foot extended behind you on a box 12-18" high. Cheers gary

[old] Yoda1 · Post by **[old] Yoda1** » January 11th, 2005, 5:18 pm

Kevin, You scare the hell out of me. A couple of things for you to consider. You are doing upright row and seated row one after the other. Then later in the workout you're doing curls. Why? If you follow the protocol, the biceps have already had their butts kicked. Now, that's if you took the exercises to failure. You're right, old habits are hard to kick. Think it through. Why duplicate working a muscle that has already been worked? Try this. Visualize each exercise in your mind and the motions that you go through throughout each exercise. In your mind, feel which muscles are being worked on each exercise. Once you get that set in your mind, you should be able to put together a routine that works every muscle you want to work, to failure, without duplication. Squats-Gary is right. Try to stick with bodyweight squats. Either do them the way Gary suggested or stick one leg straight out in front of you. When you can do those, find something that you can hold on to with both hands that is at about waist level. Steal on of the kid's backpacks and put some iron into it. Place the backpack on backwards, so the pack itself is againest your chest. Place your feet under your hands and lean back. Now do SS squats. Your body postion will be similiar to a semi-hack squat. If you want to try bands, get a piece that is long enough to place one end under each foot. Wrap the band up over your shoulders and do the squats. A warning though, this is a completely different feel than with weights. It's just as good, maybe better, but it's different. Did you read that site about Arthur Jones that Gary put up at the very begining of this thread? It's a goodie. Any more questions, just ask. No yelling is allowed. One of us will be happy to try to help. Yoda

[old] FrancoisA · Post by **[old] FrancoisA** » January 11th, 2005, 7:28 pm

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td class='genmed'>QUOTE (John Rupp @ Jan 10 2005, 09:41 PM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>Has anyone made a "pull up trainer"? This is basically an incline board that slides up and down, with a pull up bar at the top, similar to the "total gym" and "total trainer". I'm planning to make one, so if anyone else has done this or is interested, let me know. </td></tr></table> The <a href='http://www.vasatrainer.com' target='_blank'>Vasatrainer</a> might be what you are looking for. It is an adjustable inclined board with a pulley and all kinds of stretch cords attachments. the swimmers on our Varsity team use one and they find it quite versatile.

[old] John Rupp · Post by **[old] John Rupp** » January 11th, 2005, 9:02 pm

Francois. Thanks for the link. Yes it looks like the Vasatrainer does this too.

[old] kwadams · Post by **[old] kwadams** » January 11th, 2005, 9:46 pm

Yoda-- I scare myself sometimes, too. So you're saying that I'm either doing too much or perhaps I'm not really following the SS protocol properly because if I was I'd probably be too wasted to do duplicate exercises, eg, curls after pull downs or tri's after bench presses? Like I said, old habits are hard to break. I think I am taking each exercise to failure, but maybe someone standing over me would think otherwise. In other words, if I had someone screaming in my face to do another rep (I know you said no yelling), maybe I could, I don't know. I was in Borders over the weekend and spotted "Slow Burn" or something like that. This, I guess, is by one of the current advocates of SS. Anyway, he gives sample workouts in the back and he recommends 2 "small" workouts a week rather than one big one. Only about 7-8 exercises per day with less than 5 days in between. The same deal, 90-120 seconds per exercise/set. I didn't buy the book so I can't rememeber for sure, but he probably doesn't do any duplicate muscle groups the same day (although he did for the week). So here's where I'm coming from: yes, the biceps get hit hard doing pull downs, but still not the same motion (muscle contraction) as doing curls. And upright rows contract different muscles than seated rows (and I mixed up my order--they don't follow each other directly). So is it wrong to do all this together if I feel up to it or are you saying that there's no way I should be able to if I'm truly following the SS protocol, ie, complete failure? Since you havn't seen me workout, I will mention that when I'm doing a set, I think it gets to failure...I rest for a minute or so (really the time it takes to set up the next exercise)...then go on to the next one. When I'm done with the workout, I always think "that's it? I should do more"--basically because of the limited time it takes. However, about 2-3 hours later my muscles are aching and my body feels "heavy". Right now, some 15+ hours after this morning's workout, I'm still feeling it (my forearms are tired just typing this). So, am I on the right track or do I need to pare it back--less exercises (at least no duplicates) with even more intensity? Thanks for working with me on this. BTW, are you a personal trainer? Kevin

[old] John Rupp · Post by **[old] John Rupp** » January 11th, 2005, 11:42 pm

Plans for construction of rollerboard: <a href='http://www.nensa.net/equipment/rollerboard.gif' target='_blank'>http://www.nensa.net/equipment/rollerboard.gif</a>

[old] Yoda1 · Post by **[old] Yoda1** » January 12th, 2005, 8:44 am

John, I'd like to make a couple of suggestions if you're going to build this thing. 1. Install the pulleys on to the base incline supports instead of on the uprights. 2. Lenghten the glide board to about 54". 30" is to short. 3. Use crossbars on the uprights that would pass through the screweyes. They can be placed about 6" apart. That way you'll be able to increase the incline as you improve in your movements. Place heavy duty hooks on the end of your incline supports so that you can hook the incline base on to the horizontal crossbar. Yoda

[old] Yoda1 · Post by **[old] Yoda1** » January 12th, 2005, 9:13 am

Kevin, Do you think your biceps know whether or not your hands are over your head or by your sides? All they know is that they are being asked to perform a given function. When you duplicate the movement, they or any isolated muscle if worked to failure on the first exercise, are not going to be able to perform on the second. So, you've wasted time. If you've taken a muscle group to failure once, do you think that doing it twice or three times will make additional inroads? I have, on many ocassions seen people perform leg press to failure. In some cases, they have remained on the leg press itself for 4-5 minutes just trying to recover enough strength back to stand, let a lone do another set. Using leg press as an example, would you, after doing SS to failure, turn a round and do leg extension? Would the quads be able to give you the performance necessary to make further gains? There is nothing wrong with two workouts per week, IF, and it's a big IF, the person doing the workouts has recovered from the first workout. SS sneaks up on you. Yes, you get sore, just like traditional training, but when the soreness disappears it doesn't mean that you are ready for the next workout. After a couple of weeks of SS, the trainee will begin to feel a heaviness to their body. When that happens the workouts should be moved further apart. That heaviness is the body telling the trainee that he's not recovered. What seems to be difficult for most people attempting to use SS, is the mental portion of it. It's hard to understand why it's okay to work out every 9 days, or 6 days. To go to failure on each exercise, each time you workout is extremely difficult and takes a long time to adapt. But trust me on this, if done as suggested, it will work. Try this. Separate your body parts. Write down 3 exercises for each body part you want to work. Pick one exercise from each of those body parts. Look at whether or not there is duplication. This should give you 5-7 different exercises for your first workout. Then pick another group from the list. Check for duplication and if there isn't any within that group, this could be your flushing workout or second workout for the week. Yes, I am a personal trainer. I am not certified, but have been training folks for more years than I care to remember. It's getting close to 50 now. Most of the folks I work with now are over the age of 50, although there are some young ones as well. I hope this helps. Yoda