I came across this video, which depicts the type of training I do in my thai kickboxing class and in the MMA class held right after my class. You can use these ideas to create your own conditioning program.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP8z0Ks-2S0Archive for the ‘Conditioning’ Category
MMA Training Ideas
Monday, August 10th, 2009Dan Osman Speed Rock Climbing
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009Dan Osman scales the side of a mountain in like a minute. This is one most excellent feat of strength and conditioning.
Unfortunately Dan Osman died when he jumped off a cliff and his rope broke, but it would be sweet if he was still alive, still helping to teach us to test our limits. RIP Dan-O.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-oc-lhqpIABrock Lesnar’s Commendable Work Ethic
Monday, July 27th, 2009Here’s another great Brock Lesnar video that teaches you something about his work ethic. This is why he wins in everything he chooses to compete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqhsqS3jN30How to do a Backflip
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009No, I can’t do a backflip. In fact I’ve never really tried. But honestly I wish I could. I’d throw down backflips all day long if I could. Hell, I wouldn’t even walk anywhere, I’d just backflip to wherever I had to go.
Not sure if you can do a backflip, but I found someone who can. This dude will teach you step by step how to do the backflip. I might eventually try this at home. If you try it, please do NOT hurt yourself. It might be a good idea to have someone spotting you.
Check this out:
How to Flip Tires
Monday, June 22nd, 2009Tire flipping is great!
How can you integrate tire flipping into your workouts?
Tire flipping is great for the following kind of training:
- Strong men doing strongman training.
- Powerlifters needing extra workouts, or trying to increase their work capacity.
- High intensity interval training (HIIT): 10 flips, rest 60 seconds, repeat.
- Conditioning training in groups, usually moving from station to station.
- Conditioning for martial arts, especially when prepping for a fight.
- Odd object lifting programs such as with sandbags and kettlebells – sandbag core training, training with sandbags.
So what is the best strategy for flipping tires?
Do you deadlift the tire?
Is it more of a push?
How do you use your legs?
How do you position your arms?
I can’t put it any better than Josh puts it in this instructional tire flipping video:
This is what happens when you train your ass off and get real good at flipping tires: a 600 pound tire flip:
I personally am not too sure if I could even move that thing, never mind flip it.
How to Calculate Your Target Heart Rate
Thursday, June 11th, 2009 Female Jogger |
You are trying to lose fat and you want that adipose tissue to just melt off your body.
Option #1 is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which uses both anaerobic training to build muscle and elevate the metabolism, and aerobic training to burn fat and increase cardiovascular endurance. This is the option I typically recommend. However, some people are either not able to, or not willing to, even attempt HIIT training.
This then leads us to option #2: cardiovascular endurance training. While I don’t recommend it, I know people will do it, so here’s how to do it right…
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Workout for X-Men Origins
Friday, May 15th, 2009I saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine last weekend and it was great. Many a-hole fanboys will hate on this movie because it doesn’t stay 100% true to the comic book origin of Wolverine or Deadpool, but those guys should just go see Star Trek or something, because Wolverine was just awesome.
 Hugh Jackman: Wolverine |
Standing at 6’3, Hugh Jackman is looking pretty large and jacked these days and I was curious about what he did to prep for the Wolverine role. Here is what I could find out about Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Workout.
MovNat Gets You Out of the Human Zoo and Back Into the Jungle
Monday, April 13th, 2009 Erwan Le Corre |
I recently read a couple articles about a type of training called MovNat, derived from something called Methode Naturelle. As a training philosophy based on functionality, I found it to be a breath of fresh air.
This, along with some of the principles of CrossFit, odd object training, and strongman training, comprise the recent direction of my training focus. I still primarily lift weights, but this is the type of fitness that is really starting to interest me.
Being able to jump, climb, throw, run, defend, lift, and swim, really makes you feel good about yourself, and this type of functional training is what MovNat is all about.
Sandbag Training Video
Monday, December 15th, 2008I recently discovered sandbag training. Similar to kettlebell training, Cross Fit training, and P90X training; this is a revolutionary form of training that should really be considered for functional workouts.
Now, you might laugh at me for calling any of those training methodologies ‘revolutionary’, but they are all training styles that fall outside of strict free weight training, cardio training, powerlifting, or any such well-defined training methodology fad. Of course, all of these idea have led to eye-opening, insightful ideas about training and conditioning.
So, let me introduce sandbag training. Allow me to entice you with this one video, and later I will write more about this methodology with some links to get sandbag training equipment. Anyway, check this out:
12 Mistakes All Athletes Have Made While Training
Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Franco Columbo |
Inexperienced athletes do dumb things. Most people look for the easiest way from point A to point B, and sometimes they become obsessed with trivial details. I did it; you did it… or maybe you still do it; and the newbie that jumps on the bench after you will do it too.
Hell, when I first started training, I was following a 6 day per week, 2 a day program, written by some professional bodybuilder. It took me a year to learn how to do barbell back squats and even longer to start deadlifting. I thought I knew what I was doing just like you do.
In order to take that first step towards knowing everything, we must first realize that we know nothing. This is what I want you to do before you read the rest of this article. Once you can admit that you know nothing about weightlifting, you can read these tips and apply them to what you have been doing, in order to start doing what you should be doing.
Once you have the proper train of thought, you may proceed…
Take The 100 Pushup Challenge
Friday, July 11th, 2008
Introducing the 100 Push-up Challenge
Push-ups are regarding as one of the best tests of physical conditioning. Whether you are an athlete, a powerlifter, an olympic lifter, a martial artist, or a recreational fitness enthusiast… virtually anyone can benefit from this type of training. Not only will it give you a goal and a plan to follow for a couple weeks, but it will also vary up your training and target a type of exercise that you might not normally use.
Push-ups Are Great for Martial Artists
I know for sure this would benefit me, because in kickboxing class we are doing all kinds of one arm sideways pushups and such. As luck would have it, I am about to start a new contract next Monday, so I’m going to need to work out a schedule around my new job. In this case I want to start lifting every Tuesday and Thursday morning before work.
Not sure how the 100 Push-up Challenge will fit into that… I don’t think it will, but I do think I’m going to take this program into kickboxing class and see if the instructors want to work it into their program. It might be a little too complicated to explain to a whole class, but I’ll show it to them anyway.
Will You Take the Challenge?
So, let me know if you’re going to take the 100 Push-Up Challenge. I’d love to know how everyone fares on the program. I have plans to use this concept to create a brand new challenge of my own, which I will reveal in the coming days. The new challenge will be something harder than push-ups, but easier than lifting weights. It will be something men, women, and children can do; but it will also be something that you can really brag about.
Stay tuned…
Poll Results: Squatting to Parallel vs. Squatting to the Floor
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008The results are in for the April 4th’s Question of the Week: Squats to Parallel or Ass-to-Grass? 45% of you said we should be squatting only to parallel, and 48% of you said we should be squatting ass-to-grass, ass-to-floor, ass-to-ankles, or whatever you might call it.
My initial vote went for squatting to parallel or just below. Now that the voting is closed though, I am going to qualify my answer. I think squatting to the floor under a maximal effort load is probably a bad idea. If you are going for a 1-3 rm pr, you should not be squatting to the floor. I just feel that this is one way to destroy your knees and possibly injure your back if you’re not careful. However, I am of the firm belief that squatting all the way down can definitely be beneficial in conditioning drills.
There’s no reason we can’t bodyweight squat to the floor. Nor is there a reason we shouldn’t be able to descend to the floor at the bottom of a jump squat. Many exercises and many functional movements in life depend on us being able to squat to the floor, either to pick something up, to get out of the way of a projectile object, or to prepare of an earth shattering vertical leap.
Let me just leave you with the idea that you should not be squatting 800 lbs to the floor. This is dumb. But definitely pick up your Atlas stone from the floor. Definitely bust out some super wide grip dynamic deadlifts off a box. Bang out 200 bodyweight squats, all the way down to three quarters of the way up (don’t you dare lock your knees out during bodyweight squat sets). Work those knees and strengthen those hips!
Off Topic
One more thing. I have been reading more and more about CrossFit. This type of training really interests me, and I will blog about it much more in the near future.
Increase the Number of Pull-Ups You Can Do By 50 Percent in One Day
Friday, May 16th, 2008Pull ups are hard, but they are one of the few true tests of strength. I say this because some powerlifters can bench 600 or squat 800, but they also weigh 300+ and can barely manage 5 pull ups. This is one of the few exercises where you can measure relative fitness by comparing the ratio of the number of pull ups completed to bodyweight. Some of you might get mad at me, talking about powerlifters training for strength rather than endurance, but the fact of the matter is that when I was powerlifting I could still do 15 pull ups at 195 lbs.
Now, let me take you back to high school gym class… the year was 1993, I was 15 years old. Mr. Buatti the gym teacher, who happens to bare a striking resemblance to Coach Buzzcut, called my name to stand up in front of the class and do an many pull ups as I can. The football jocks each knocked out from 10 to 20 and the wiry tough kid with only 3 fingers on one hand completed 14 of them. I got 3. It was humiliating.
Now we come back to the present. Recently I started doing pull ups again after a year layoff. On my first set, I got 5 reps. A week later I was up to 8 reps. Just yesterday I did a set of 11 reps. But I want more. I’ve done 18 pull ups before; I’ve also done 5 pull ups with a 45 lb plate hanging off a belt. So, how can I get back to that place? How can you get to that place?
No Pain No Gain is Still Sometimes True
Sunday, May 11th, 2008
I totally live by the mantra, “No brain, no gain”, because, “No pain, no gain”, is essentially a counterproductive philosophy. It is one in which you could easily end up sick, injured, or worse. On recent occasion though, I have found it necessary to dig back into my, “No pain, no gain”, mindset in thai kickboxing class.
The reason I say this, is because there does indeed seem to be a problem with my lungs. I still think they might be damaged from some blood clots a couple years back. The thing is though, is if I push myself, how much bad can actually come of it?
My lungs could get stronger. They could be forced to repair damaged tissue. Maybe I really am just straight up out of shape. Well no matter, because when I feel like it’s time to throw in the towel and huddle in a corner gasping for breath, I just repeat to myself, “No pain, no gain”, because this is how I will make it through the workout… this is how I will force my body to adapt and get stronger.
Thai Kickboxing
In the last 4 days I have attended 2 kickboxing classes and I have completed 6 sets of 10 pull-ups. Today I am sore. Kickboxing seems to be getting better after my month layoff. I am feeling stronger and faster during each class. I do feel like my lungs are working better sometimes, but then other times I find myself gasping, taking 1/2 breaths. For now I’ll just keep pushing it.
Pull Ups
The 10 reps on pull-ups makes me feel OK. At least I’m not a complete sissy anymore. My general goal is to hit a set of pull-ups each morning and each evening, nearly every day of the week. On each set I will maintain strict form, and will always try to get one more rep than I did previously. Right now I’ve been stuck at 10 reps for a couple days, but I intend to hit an 11 rep set on Mother’s Day.
Soon it shall be time for me to start working towards my 10 week, 300 Workout Challenge goal. Once again, the 300 Workout isn’t something that we do every day. It is more of a training goal. You train your body for conditioning, endurance, and a small amount of strength, then at the end of your 10-12 week session, the 300 Workout is a test that you can use to gauge just how successful your training went.
That’s it for today… bring on Mother’s Day!
The 300 Workout for Total Body Conditioning
Friday, May 2nd, 2008By now everyone has heard of the movie 300, and most strength and conditioning athletes know about The 300 Workout. This is how all those ripped actors in the movie got into such great shape. The 300 Workout is well known as a pretty hardcore conditioning program. Not everyone can complete this workout, and those that do have seriously trained for it before attempting the final challenge.
The 300 Workout Challenge
- 25 pull-ups
- 50 deadlifts at 135 pounds
- 50 push-ups
- 50 box jumps with a 24-inch box
- 50 “floor wipers” (a core and shoulders exercise at 135 pounds)
- 50 “clean and press” at 36 pounds (a weight-lifting exercise)
- 25 more pull-ups — for a total of 300 reps
- 300 Total Reps
I have heard of versions of this program where you have to complete the desired number of reps by alternating exercises. For example, you might perform push ups as a superset to pull ups, performing 3 sets of 10 reps each to hit a goal of 30 before moving on to the next exercise. I will incorporate this strategy for my first two sets only.
Some 300 Workout routines consist of bodyweight only exercises, while others are apprised strictly of plyometrics. I have included some bodyweight exercise in my attack strategy, and hope to phase in some plyo movements as I get back into shape.
My 300 200 Workout Challenge
- 15 Pull Ups on a tree branch
- 25 Push Ups with push up handles
- 25 DB Deadlifts with 45 lbs on Powerblocks
- 25 1-arm clean and press 35 lbs on Powerblocks
- 25 18-inch bench jumps (box jumps)
- 25 Burpees
- 25 1-arm clean and press 35 lbs on Powerblock
- 20 Jumping jacks
- 15 Neutral grip chin ups on the tree
- 200 Total Reps
I have a stopwatch, which will be nice for measuring progress and setting goals. Some goals will be about adding a new exercise, some goals will be about completing more reps or more weight, while yet others will be about beating my previous time record. I also have to force myself to take pictures and measurements both before and after. All of which I suppose will be posted to this blog.
My weekly schedule will consist of The 300 Workout and Thai Kickboxing. The plan is to exercise 5 days a week. On the mornings when I do not have kickboxing the night before, I will complete a 300 Workout. Other mornings will be off. I must make up missed workouts on the weekends. Eventually I will be doing a true 300 rep workout. My 200 workout is just to help get back into shape again.
So, this is the plan and I am going to stick to it for 10 weeks. There is plenty of room for flexibility, so I should be able to get in at minimum, 4 workouts per week, but I will strive to hit 5. Before and after information will be posted. So who’s with me?
Caution
If you are not in shape, have a heart condition, or some other serious health ailment, please consult your physician before starting an intense exercise program. You should not attempt to complete the original 300 Challenge if you are not already somewhat in shape from conditioning and exercise.
What is the Best Form of Cardiovascular Exercise?
Monday, March 17th, 2008We know cardio is essential to improve the cardiovascular system. This goes without saying. When many people don’t realize, is that cardiovascular exercise can be useful for losing weight as well as gaining weight; for increasing endurance as well as increasing power, size, and strength. The difference is in training energy systems. You can train your anaerobic energy system (builds power and strength) while participating in a cardio workout, just as easily as training you can train your aerobic energy system by performing super-high-rep circuit training on the weight machines (boo).
When trying to determine which form of cardio you should do, you need to evaluate your goals. Are you trying to:
- Lose as much weight as possible without regard for muscle or strength?
- Train for a specific athletic event such as track or a marathon?
- Improve leg power and leg speed along with cardiovascular endurance?
- Build as much muscle as possible in the shortest amount of time?
Endurance Cardio
If you want to be skinny and have high endurance but very little muscle you will probably want to do endurance running; long distance cycling; or use the elliptical trainer to prevent wear and tear on your ankles, knees, and hips. Other monotonous exercise equipment includes rowing machines, treadmills, stair climbers, and stationary bikes. These are all OK for burning calories and ‘toning’ but they will not make you stronger, faster, or more muscular.
Intense Cardio
If you want to be thicker, stronger, more powerful, and develop aesthetically pleasing muscle tone, you should give interval sprints or weightlifting complexes a try. When you use maximal force in your cardio workout, as you do with sprints, you are training the anaerobic energy system and facilitating neurological efficiency to those muscles. This will increase speed and strength, and will ultimately help you gain muscle. For you women out there, this will do a better job of ‘toning’ than those treadmills and stationary bikes.
Interval Sprints
With interval sprints, you can sprint on a flat surface, up hills, or up stairs. Sprint for 30 seconds, walk for 90 seconds, repeat 10 times. On your first sprint workout you might want to consider sprinting for 20 seconds, walking for 180 seconds, and repeating only 5 times. Each workout should become progressively harder. At one point in my training, I was sprinting stairs, timed by a stopwatch, for between 50-70 seconds and only resting enough to walk back down the stairs.
Complexes with Weights
With complexes, you will want to string together several compound exercises like deadlift, hang cleans, push press, and back squats, into one constant exercise. Do 5-7 reps with perfect form, rest 30-60 seconds and repeat 5 times. I talk about this complex all the time in this blog. There are about 1000 different exercise combinations that you can turn into complexes so be creative.
If you get tired of all this stuff, give thai kickboxing or jumping rope a try.
Don’t forget to stretch and drink lots of fluids. I recommend Gatorade.
New Layout, New Purpose for Project Swole
Monday, March 10th, 2008Welcome to Project Swole 2.0! This swell new layout goes right along with my new goals for Project Swole. I am still in love with powerlifting and strongman training, but I have found vacant spot in my heart for martial arts and conditioning.
The Old Goals
Previously in my training career, it was all about size. I trained like a bodybuilder, in the 8-12 rep range, 5 workouts per week, keeping myself lean, with medium weight. Progress was acceptable. My muscles got slightly puffy and I looked OK naked. The downside was that I looked big when I was pumped up after a workout, but much smaller half a day later when the pump was gone. I wasn’t very strong either. My lifestyle was that of diet logs, egg whites, bodybuilding forums, and posing. This left something to be desired.
Next I Decided to Take Up Powerlifting
I learned the ‘secrets’ of The Westside Barbell Club and followed the writings of Louie Simmons, Christian Thibideau, and Dave Tate. My diet became much more liberal, my reps dropped down to 1-5, training frequency to 3-4 workouts a week with heavy weight, and my exercise scheme moved to a max effort, dynamic effort protocol. The results were good. I maintained my pumped up bodybuilding appearance full-time as my muscles became dense and strong. On the downside, my tendons and joints hurt at times, my cardiovascular health went out the window, and I bulked up to about 210-220 lbs. Over time I realized that 190-200 was the upper limit of a comfortable body weight for me.
On the upside, my efforts to learn all the best exercises really paid off:
- bench press – with chains, boards, max effort, dynamic effort, floor-press, wide grip, narrow grip, etc…
- deadlift – off blocks, off racks, half-rep, quarter-rep, with chains, bands, stiff-leg, max and dynamic effort
- squat – back squat, front squat, jump squat, half squat, box squat, one-leg squat…
- overhead press – seated, standing, behind head, in front of head – this is a key exercise to overall strength!
- rows – barbell, dumbbell, t-bar, etc… “Big back, big bench” – a powerlifting mantra
- abs – heavy crunches, weighted situps, rotations – your abs are at the core of every movement you make
- curls, flys, leg extensions, cardio, calves, forearms – directly training these things is a waste of time and energy that could be better directed towards powerlifting (this is not one of the powerlifting beliefs that I necessarily support)
The next phase of my lifting career saw me try to embrace olympic lifting and functional training in combination with powerlifting. I started training 2-3 times per week with full body workouts, and added an extra workout or two per week with olympic lifting complexes. This resulted in my staying strong, my cardiovascular system got healthy, my tendons and joints stayed strong, and my muscles stayed strong as I kept the powerlifting aspects as part of each workout. The downside is that I got bored. Each workout consisted of bench, squat, deadlift, overhead press, abs, and calves. On a bad day, I would push through the workout and it would take me over 60-75 minutes to get everything done. I limited myself to the most effective exercises only, and rarely tried anything new. For some folks who only care to lift weights, this IS the best form of training. For me, I still needed something else.
Enter Mixed Martial Arts
MMA, Jiu-Jitsu, Taekwondo, Judo, Karate, Kenpo, Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do… call it what you want, martial arts are great. Of course I learned and practiced by watching Bruce Lee and Jean Claude Van Damme in my teens and early twenties. Chuck Norris is the man, Bruce Lee is the king, we all know these things. But what could I learn by myself? I had always wanted to take martial arts classes, but had never had the time or resources to get involved. Recently I discovered a Thai Kickboxing class at my local Toykeo Joe’s karate school. Finally I could get in shape with serious conditioning, learn a martial art, possibly get involved with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu down the line… exercise was finally looking fun again.
Future Goals
I still hunger for powerlifting and olympic complexes, for strength and conditioning. On the other hand, I refuse to give up my newfound love for martial arts training. Thus my plan is as follows:
- Thai kickboxing 2-3 nights a week for 1 hour.
- Max effort (1-5 reps) bench, dead, squat, overhead press, once every other week.
- 20 rep bench, dead, squat, overhead press, try to get one workout in per month.
- If possible squeeze in one Olympic complex once every two weeks.
- If possible squeeze in one bodybuilding style workout once a month.
- Eat heartily: high protein, moderate everything else, lots of water.
- Proper supplementation: vitamins, 5-HTP, melatonin, amino acids, Bone Boost, and anything else that I think can contribute to proper over-all health, recovery from workouts, provide energy, and isn’t too expensive.
- Watch strongman and martial arts competitions for inspiration.
Join me in my quest to kick some ass, have emergency strength, stay healthy, and look good naked! Project Swole is a place where we can discuss these matters at length; where we can teach each other and learn from our mistakes. Motivate yourself to get Swole!
The Benefits of Thai Kickboxing
Monday, February 18th, 2008I’ll start off by saying that I never thought I would be writing an article touting the benefits of a Cardio Kickboxing class. On a similar level as cardio kickboxing, one might think that a class called Thai Kickboxing is targeted towards overweight women. Not true. The class I’m in is one of the best conditioning programs I have ever been involved with, aside from some stair-running/jump-roping drills I used to do back in college in the stairwell of the dormitory, and a heck of a lot more motivatingly diverse.
Right around the end of January I visited my local Tokyo Joe’s School of Self Defense in Hooksett, NH. They specialize in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, MMA, and Thai Kickboxing. Now, like I said, my particular class is more about conditioning, but we do learn and practice some Muay Thai combinations. We frequently put together combinations with moves such as jab, hook, cross, thai kick, knee kick, and elbows. For an hour straight we pretty much push it without more than a 1 minute break for air and water. Leg day is pretty fun too, as we get to complete a circuit of squats on the toes, duck walks, 1/2 bottom squats on the toes, duck walks, 1/3 bottom squats on the toes, duck walks, lunges of some sort, and finally lying leg presses with your partner lying on your legs. It’s great stuff.
If you are bored with your current conditioning program, or maybe you are just getting back into fitness after a layoff, or perhaps you have some other reason not to hit the weight room; give Thai Kickboxing a try. At the very least it will cut down on your body fat ratio while strengthening your lungs, heart, muscles, and joints.
Working Out With a Heart Rate Monitor
Thursday, November 8th, 2007This is an old post. For more and better information, check out How to Calculate Your Target Heart Rate. You can also score a sweet Reebok Strapless Heart Rate Monitor on that page.
 Female Athlete |
Do you own a heart rate monitor? If not, then you are not alone. However, heart rate monitors are becoming increasingly popular, especially among athletes and those with certain health conditions.
In the days before heart rate monitors, people would have to stop and manually count a pulse by placing fingers over the carotid artery. Not only would this pressure on the artery distort the reading, but would cause some to get light headed by their pressing too hard in an attempt to find a pulse. Now, with a heart rate monitor, one doesn’t even need to stop to get an accurate reading.
The most important reason to buy a heart rate monitor is for safety.
Most fitness professionals will tell average clients to keep their target heart rate between 55% and 85% of their maximum heart rate. In order to calculate one’s maximum heart rate, simply subtract your age from the number 220. Next, you can then use this number and multiply it by 0.55 to get the lower end of the target zone and by 0.85 to find the cut off point.
Those with threatening conditions would be advised to exercise in the 55-60% range.
Still, let it be known that heart rate monitors are also a vital tool for the endurance athlete. Not only do heart rate monitors make readings simpler, they also make monitoring progress a lot simpler as well.
With a heart rate monitor, an athlete can better determine how to set the pace in an effort to optimize race performance. Without one, endurance athletes would run the risk of either over-training and exhausting the body or under-training and not pushing the body hard enough.
One thing is for certain though, heart rate monitors are useful tools that can simultaneously help and protect both the fittest of the fit and those at extreme risk.
Those trainees that regularly participate in cardiovascular activities can benefit by constantly gauging their heart rate, thus targeting their intensity to more effectively burn fat.
Again, this is an old post. For more and better information, check out How to Calculate Your Target Heart Rate. Get more info about the Reebok Strapless Heart Rate Monitor on that page too.
The Swole Principles of Exercise
Friday, April 27th, 2007How do we maximize our time spent in the gym?
Exercise Selection
Compound free weight exercises are what I choose 9 out of 10 times. The reason for this is several-fold.
a) Free weights build strength in assistance or stabilizer muscles.
b) Free weights eliminate injuries that normally occur from repeated motion along one plane of resistance, such as that with machines or even cables.
c) Free weights burn more calories by stimulating a chain of muscles rather than a single isolated muscle.
d) Free weights = calluses. =)
We also want to reduce or eliminate muscular imbalances, so it is a good idea to use uni-lateral exercises (dumbbell or single leg presses) once in a while in order to determine if one side is stronger.
In order to make the most of our time in the gym, we want to get as much done as possible in the time that we have. Therefore we will be using the concept of Giant Sets nearly everyday. This means we will be pairing each larger exercise with a mechanically unrelated smaller exercise (think of pairing bench presses with calf raises, or deadlifts with cable flies).
Sets and Reps
High reps (25+) will give you endurance.
High-Medium reps (15-25) will give you some mass and some endurance.
Medium reps (10-15) will give you mass, although this is the ideal range for most women and will function more to tighten and tone than to build much mass.
A Project Swole service reminder:
WOMEN DO NOT GET BIG BY ACCIDENT
Low-Medium reps (6-10) will give you some mass and some strength.
Low reps (1-5) will give you strength.
I tend to promote 1-2 warm up sets and 2 work sets on small to medium exercises. I will recommend 2-3 warm up sets and 2-3 work sets on the biggest, hardest exercises.
Exercise Execution
Clearly we do not need to psych up for warm up sets, but for each subsequent work set, we intend to lift more weight or more reps. The initial goal will be to lift a certain weight a certain number of times before moving up in weight the next workout. Sometimes it helps to take a couple breaths and picture yourself completing the set successfully for the prescribed number of reps, before hoisting the first rep. Then it becomes all about breathing and the mind-muscle connection. There is also almost never a reason to drop any weight from 2-3 feet in the air all the way to the floor. If you do this you are as big of a dickhead as the guy that curls in the squat rack or power rack… or on the deadlifting platform.
