Posts Tagged ‘strength training’
March 10, 2011 | 
Author Every rep counts. That’s right: each rep of each set of each exercise in your training program is there for a reason. With every rep, you have the option of getting the most out of it, or of half-assing it. This is common sense, right? You have at most half a dozen exercises in a given training session, so it shouldn’t be too hard to give maximum focus and effort to each one for 45-60 minutes. And yet, this is less common than you would think.
Some workouts are hard, if not impossible, to complete without taking strides to keep ourselves motivated and on track. This is the very reason people hire personal trainers – to create additional accountability and ward off their inner-pussality.
Yet, if you’re trying to get in shape, and really want to tackle some tough workouts, here are some tips to keep you with it ’til the end. *PLUS!! As a bonus, read to the end to learn a new word for softness that I just invented!*
A Soft and Delicious Destructor. You're just soft.
Today at the Athletic Edge we had a nice little workout. Our day consisted of deadlifting, flexibility and mobility, weighted push up and rotator cuff work. We capped it all off with a Tabata Interval set of Front Squats @ 65 pounds. What is a Tabata Interval, you ask?
20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated for 4 straight minutes. In other words, hard work with virtually no rest for way too long. You won’t see any of us high level athletes lose our composure in battle, but believe me, when the camera turned off Steve, my workout partner for the day, and I were both hurting.
Our spotting method worked flawlessly – instead of racking and re-racking (which takes precious seconds) we had two spotters (trainers Steve Evans and Matt Acevedo) take the weight for the 10 second rest periods. This interval was brutal, even with only 65 pounds on the bar. The fact that we did a lot of high-rep deadlifting beforehand probably didn’t help either. Enjoy!
To supplement is to make stronger, or reinforce, by addition.
I think the modern athlete, bodybuilder and dieter forget this. Often supplements are misused as “replacements.” These come in the form of shakes to replace whole meals, powdered “superfoods” and “greens” to replace vegetables, multivitamins to replace vitamins and minerals, etc., etc.
The supplement industry is founded on nutritionism, which is the reduction of the value of food to its nutrient parts. Michael Pollan, in his book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto
This is the time of year in which it is time to turn one’s focus toward next spring, which means making goals and working toward becoming a better ballplayer.
So set some goals. If you don’t, it will be much harder to stay on track this winter as the weather turns sour, school starts to wear on you, and your comfy bed calls your name.
Get there.
I like to set my goals at the upper limit of what’s realistic, and I don’t worry too much if I don’t reach them, as long as I come close. Many people need to do the opposite, and set many smaller, more manageable goals to act as stepping stones toward a final, better product. To each his own. But, no matter your method, there needs to be a finish line somewhere and the vision to reach it.
So for my winter, which lasts from now until March, my strength goals are the following:
-Reach 195 pounds while staying below 8% bodyfat.
-Deadlift 450×5
-8 Reps Rock Ring Chin-Ups with 45lb added
-Develop the core of a gymnast
My assault on these milestones is going to be pretty complex, so brace yourself: I’m going to:
-Deadlift, chin-up, and lift my ass off
-Eat like a man twice my size
-Only eat carbs for breakfast, and pre and post-workout
-Eat more vegetables than a vegan hippy
I also have pitching-specific goals, but they are more broad, not worth sharing, and really just sum up to: be the most polished, healthy and powerful pitcher I can be. That’s every pitcher’s goal, anyway.
Novelty in the weightroom isn’t always a good thing, but sometimes can provide a fun pick-me-up when routines get stale.
The following are two of my favorite exercises that aren’t very well known, both of which, ironically, start with a Z. These were introduced to me by my strength and conditioning coach at UMBC, Fred Cantor.
The Zercher Squat
The Zercher Squat is a front squat in which you carry the bar in the crux of your elbows. Yeah, you could put a pad or towel there, but that takes the fun out of it.
It’s a great exercise because it easily allows proper and deep squatting form, and it requires more core recruitment to prevent forward lean.
And, it is fun to do with a partner because you can laugh as you both grimace in pain. You can also compare pain tolerances and find out which one of you is the soft one.
The Dreaded Zercher Squat
The Zottman Curl
This is a cool exercise because it combines a concentric bicep curl with an eccentric reverse curl. Gives a nice blast to the brachioradialis and the forearm extensors.
A special thanks goes out to Andrew Sacks, the bad mofo demonstrating in the video. Without an intact ACL or a working pancreas, he still had the courage to do the video . Commitment.