Back to School

Every good "pre-prep" bulking period includes an attack on weakpoints.  For me, this includes (among other things) back.  Everything about it, width, thickness, I need more of everything.  Here are some of the exercises I've been trying lately to help this pet project along. 

Upper Inner Chest

So even though I've been somewhat off-the-grid lately, I still get a fair amount of questions and/or comments from the other fitness geeks I encounter.  One of my more recent discussions centered around building mass for the upper inner chest.  The gent I was speaking with was complaining about having difficulty with this area and it wasn't too difficult for me to diagnose the problem.  Here's what I told him, and here are some of the things I focus on myself.

Catch and Release

We all know the human body is lazy.  And while the degree of laziness can vary from person to person, even the most dedicated and well-trained individuals will still fall victim to the body's own energy saving techniques.  If you're seeking an adaptive response, that is, if you want to grow, you'll need to actively counteract these tendencies.  Here are my thoughts on the subject.

Chest By Request

After my last video went up, a few of my subscribers requested a chest video for my next upload.  Here it is, along with a few pointers!

Peak My Interest!

Biceps training has always been one of my favorite training sessions, but my biceps are probably one of my weakest bodyparts--why?  Improper training of course!  Here's some changes I've been making that have helped, plus selected sets from today's training at 15 weeks out.

Heat It Up

We can all agree that progressive resistance and high intensity training are the key to seeing serious strength and size gains.  But warming up properly is equally important, and in fact, warming up is an integral part of HIT--too few warm-up sets and you could miss out on strength and power during your working set, too many and you'll end up in the same boat.  Here's my guide to a great warm-up (and a great workout).

Reconditioning Part II

For my previous injury-related post regarding knees, shoulders, and hips, read this.

Back

When initiating a back rehabilitation routine, it is important to remember a few key spinal qualities.  Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, the spinal extensors are static muscles.  Unlike other skeletal muscles, which stretch and contract in order to facilitate movement, these extensors are only meant to hold a static, stable position with a (relatively speaking) very limited range of motion.  To perform this function, the spine is held in place not by one or two pairs of extensors, but by many overlapping pairs of varying lengths.  This network stabilizes and supports the spine, while myriad other skeletal muscles use this layered foundation to rotate, extend, lift, and lower the shoulders, arms, neck, and legs--there are almost no activities which do not affect the back.  This means that this musculature can both withstand and exert an extreme amount of force, making it highly resilient but also highly susceptible to injury--especially if the spine is not supported properly.  And in spite of this strength and resilience, the back is still fairly delicate, so working around an injury involving the back may contraindicate lots of exercises, even for non-affected areas.  Sharp pain is usually a good indicator that an exercise or stretch should not be performed—this is not to be confused with muscular “discomfort” that needs to be explored and pushed!

Reconditioning Part I

My last post covered injury prevention techniques and can be read here.

Let's say it's too late for prevention and you've already hurt yourself in some way.  Whether the injury is severe or mild,  a proper rehabilitation protocol needs to be implemented immediately in order to prevent further regression and inhibition.  You'd be surprised how many people have "life changing injuries" that could have been just "injuries."  Immediate effort to restore function and mobility can be the difference between complete restoration or lasting disability.  Here are some basic rehab techniques for common problem areas.

Tri This

The triceps isn't a particularly complex muscle, but it can be a tricky one to develop properly.  A lot of people have problems in their upper body with symmetry and proportion, and the triceps is no exception (I am no exception either--left side fail!).  Most people have imbalances within the triceps as well, usually caused by chronic imbalances in the training itself, not to mention structural differences and variations in chronic postural tendencies from side to side.  That being said, here are a few pointers to help with symmetry, general development, strength, and size!

Work It, Just Not Too Hard

Tendonitis and tendinosus are two very common symptoms of overuse.  They are slightly different, yet overlapping; meaning that one could very well be misdiagnosed as the other, and vice versa.  In most cases, varying degrees of both would occur in the same individual, even in the same injury.  For most people, these are symptoms of chronic over-use, but for a few, these can simply be the aches and pains associated with a new training regimen.  In untrained individuals, some initial joint pain is to be expected, in addition to the usual delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).  When new training elements are introduced, or when a sharp increase in activity occurs, acute tendonitis and tendinosus are common--untrained skeletal muscle and connective tissue exhaust more quickly than trained tissues, so even a daily workout will seem like over-use to a muscle that is accustomed to doing nothing. 

HIT It Hard for Summer

Yes, I've beaten the high intensity horse quite a bit, but there is still a lot of confusion out there about it, so I'm going to keep beating.  I've also seen quite a few videos (like when I check the channels of my subscribers) regarding "changing things up" and "trying something new and radical" in order to get the results that haven't been achieved using other methods.  There are a few issues that will prevent the "shaking it up" from working super well in most cases and I'll talk about those in a minute.  But ultimately, HIT absolutely works!  If it's not working, you're not doing it right!  There's a reason most huge bodybuilders gravitate towards the same type of training in the end--if you look at the splits, rep ranges, and general training principles being used by most pros, you will see that they are largely the same.

Going HAM

"I like the way the seam runs up the back of the stocking..."  Yeah, me too.  But what David Lee Roth should have said after that is: "especially when it has to take the long way--cuz she's got such monstrous hamstrings!" :P

Quadzilla!

Finally!  (I wrote this post like a month and a half ago...)  Here it is, my leg training how-to!

Dead Like Me

So in my last post, I explained how training too heavy can impact range of motion (ROM) and rep ranges.  Basically, if you can't do more than one rep, or you can do 6 reps but they're all partials--you are training way too heavy!  But training too heavy also impacts form, and form is possibly even more important to pay attention to, especially in those areas where people are tempted by setting personal records for themselves, i.e. Olympic lifts such as deadlifts, cleans, etc.  Ever wonder why you never see people doing PR's on biceps curls?  You're probably thinking "It would be pointless to do that on biceps curls."  Well, it's just as pointless to do it with any other exercise also--the logic is the same in either case.  Deadlifts are a great strengthener for hips, lower back, core, and legs--but they must be performed for reps and they must be performed perfectly!

No. 9 // Baby Got Back

Thanks to a runner friend of mine who posted a link on facebook, I recently read an article describing eight ways to get out of a funk (the post was running-related but it works for pretty much everything else too).  Motivation to train hard consistently usually isn't a problem, but I did find that I was more motivated to continue my blog and video projects after skimming the article in question.  Of course there were the usual "change your playlist," and "run with a friend" tips, but also a few more nuanced perspectives that could use some remembering from time to time, such as "it's ok not to run (or not do whatever it is you do)," "less is more," and that thing about not just setting small goals but also creating a more pervasive mindset that embodies something larger than any one achievement.  This one in particular struck home with me.  I often find myself making small, short-term goals or plans as a way to stay de-funkified--especially in the off-season--and this not only stresses me out, but it also causes me to become myopic and distracted from enjoying my life.  Constantly looking forward to something, or constantly thinking about some random goal can be a very easy way to lose out on a lot of precious moments.  Creating a goal that is larger than any one thing can help off-set this; it can also help you keep a healthy perspective on how far you've come when you are in it for the long haul and have a lot of hauling left to do.