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solidj55
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This was written by a guy that studied and trained with Charles Poliquin.
Begin with the Basics
by
David Harris
When I was 18, I took up resistance training really for the first time. I was a late beginner compared to a lot of my friends but I had always been a big guy and unlike some of my other smaller friends, I didn't need weights to make me feel bigger. In university I enjoyed hitting the old weight room at the University of Western Ontario -- the dungeon -- it was a great iron-lifting gym, it had two bikes and two Stairmasters but it had a lot of free weights.
Since I was studying Kinesiology, I tried to apply what I was learning in the classroom to what I was doing in the gym. It became apparent to me that the latest "Flex" workouts just didn't work for me or any of my friends. And worse when I did try to follow these workouts I would be fried, sooner or later I would get sick and be out of action for a while. Since I wasn't taking anything to "assist" my system and I was often stressed due to school it seemed to me that I had to find a better way to train.
In my own round about way I learned what the Germans referred to as "training economy". I went about and tried to discover what exercises gave me the most bang for my buck. And besides I didn't want to spend every waking moment in the gym. I was studying, I was a varsity athlete and I wanted a social life!
So in those days my routine consisted of:
Presses
Squats/Deadlifts
Rows
Pulldowns (I couldn't do a chin-up in those days!)
Hamstring Curls
That was it!! I can honestly tell you that in four years of university I think I devoted an entire workout to arms five times! In fact, I hated doing them - I found it boring! The amazing thing was that some of my friends really criticized my training or lack of training. One guy in particular wanted to constantly measure arms. We agreed to have a little "contest" and we measured our arms -- whoever had gained the most after three months would buy the other guy dinner. I stuck to my basic plan and he stuck to whatever workout was in any of the magazines at the time. After three months I gained 1/4 of an inch on my arms he had gained nothing!! I can still taste that steak…To further prove a point he asked me how many times I had trained "arms," much to his chagrin I replied, "Zero!"
This base was essential in my development. I entered university 210 lbs and left 240 lbs with the same fat percentage. Now I'm not saying I was ready for any ab contests but the point was I was able to consistently add mass while performing very basic workouts. This by the way was recently demonstrated in the latest Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (vol. 14, no. 3, Aug. 2000).
Way, way, way in the back there is an abstract that was presented at the 2000 NSCA conference. Entitled The Effect of Supplemental Isolated Weight-Training Exercises on Upper-Arm Size and Upper-Body Strength, researchers Rogers et al. examined whether or not supplemental exercises are necessary for increasing strength in the compound movements and increasing upper arm girth. Two groups completed a program consisting of bench press, lat pulldown, dumbbell incline press and one-arm dumbbell rows. That was it for the control group, meanwhile the testing group added "biceps curl and triceps extension exercises".
After 10 weeks testing was done on 5 RM bench and lat pulldown plus arm girth and although both groups improved strength and upper-arm girth, no significant difference between either group in strength or arm size! The researchers concluded that isolation exercises are not needed to improve strength in compound exercises and increase upper-arm girth and suggest that strength coaches could save time by not including isolation exercises in their athlete's programs and still achieve progress. Alas, I have been vindicated!
Now the specifics of the program were not given in the abstract, however, the point is still worth noting. You can start a good program with the basics and make significant improvements. Granted this sort of advice does tend to work better for a beginner. If you are just starting out don't waste your time doing wrist curls and cable cross-overs - stick to the basics! It is also good to keep programs like this in mind for times of increase stress and less workout time. Essentially, if you can't workout 4 times per week chances are you will be able to maintain any strength and size on a program that focuses on the basics. When your schedule returns to normal you can resume your normal split.
Recommendations:
Pick a "core" lift and focus on that lift for a given time period (e.g. 6 weeks)
When training legs pick either deadlifts or squat as the main exercise for legs -- for a while I used to do deadlifts and squats in the same workout!! Can you say overtrainied?
Try low sets and high reps for squat and deadlift workouts…try 3 sets of 20 reps of squats or deadlifts and tell me those aren't difficult. Finish your legs off with 4 sets of 6-8 reps of hamstring curls and your leg workout is over!
Do Chin-ups/Pull-ups -- and if you can't, work on them!! Get a training partner to help you up and lower your self thereby "working the negative", sooner than later you'll be able to do a chin-up on your own. (Here's a tip I picked up from Charles: When you are able to lower yourself for longer than 30 seconds you should be able to perform 1 full repetition) I realize this can be frustrating and embarrassing, 2 years ago I could not do 1 chin-up (palms facing me) -- now I can do wide grip pull-ups for reps -- keep at it!
Press, Press, Press. Shoulder, flat and incline bench presses are all great to do. I recommend using dumbbells as often as possible especially when you're a beginner.
Always respect perfect form!
Now that's practicing Safe Flex!
About the Author
Dave is a Strength & Fitness Consultant in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has worked with Charles Poliquin in training some of the world's best hockey players and has also worked with track and field athletes and professional football players. Currently, he is the strength coach for the University of Toronto Men's Hockey team and specializes in preventative and rehabilitative exercise. He can be reached for consultation at [email protected] via email.
Begin with the Basics
by
David Harris
When I was 18, I took up resistance training really for the first time. I was a late beginner compared to a lot of my friends but I had always been a big guy and unlike some of my other smaller friends, I didn't need weights to make me feel bigger. In university I enjoyed hitting the old weight room at the University of Western Ontario -- the dungeon -- it was a great iron-lifting gym, it had two bikes and two Stairmasters but it had a lot of free weights.
Since I was studying Kinesiology, I tried to apply what I was learning in the classroom to what I was doing in the gym. It became apparent to me that the latest "Flex" workouts just didn't work for me or any of my friends. And worse when I did try to follow these workouts I would be fried, sooner or later I would get sick and be out of action for a while. Since I wasn't taking anything to "assist" my system and I was often stressed due to school it seemed to me that I had to find a better way to train.
In my own round about way I learned what the Germans referred to as "training economy". I went about and tried to discover what exercises gave me the most bang for my buck. And besides I didn't want to spend every waking moment in the gym. I was studying, I was a varsity athlete and I wanted a social life!
So in those days my routine consisted of:
Presses
Squats/Deadlifts
Rows
Pulldowns (I couldn't do a chin-up in those days!)
Hamstring Curls
That was it!! I can honestly tell you that in four years of university I think I devoted an entire workout to arms five times! In fact, I hated doing them - I found it boring! The amazing thing was that some of my friends really criticized my training or lack of training. One guy in particular wanted to constantly measure arms. We agreed to have a little "contest" and we measured our arms -- whoever had gained the most after three months would buy the other guy dinner. I stuck to my basic plan and he stuck to whatever workout was in any of the magazines at the time. After three months I gained 1/4 of an inch on my arms he had gained nothing!! I can still taste that steak…To further prove a point he asked me how many times I had trained "arms," much to his chagrin I replied, "Zero!"
This base was essential in my development. I entered university 210 lbs and left 240 lbs with the same fat percentage. Now I'm not saying I was ready for any ab contests but the point was I was able to consistently add mass while performing very basic workouts. This by the way was recently demonstrated in the latest Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (vol. 14, no. 3, Aug. 2000).
Way, way, way in the back there is an abstract that was presented at the 2000 NSCA conference. Entitled The Effect of Supplemental Isolated Weight-Training Exercises on Upper-Arm Size and Upper-Body Strength, researchers Rogers et al. examined whether or not supplemental exercises are necessary for increasing strength in the compound movements and increasing upper arm girth. Two groups completed a program consisting of bench press, lat pulldown, dumbbell incline press and one-arm dumbbell rows. That was it for the control group, meanwhile the testing group added "biceps curl and triceps extension exercises".
After 10 weeks testing was done on 5 RM bench and lat pulldown plus arm girth and although both groups improved strength and upper-arm girth, no significant difference between either group in strength or arm size! The researchers concluded that isolation exercises are not needed to improve strength in compound exercises and increase upper-arm girth and suggest that strength coaches could save time by not including isolation exercises in their athlete's programs and still achieve progress. Alas, I have been vindicated!
Now the specifics of the program were not given in the abstract, however, the point is still worth noting. You can start a good program with the basics and make significant improvements. Granted this sort of advice does tend to work better for a beginner. If you are just starting out don't waste your time doing wrist curls and cable cross-overs - stick to the basics! It is also good to keep programs like this in mind for times of increase stress and less workout time. Essentially, if you can't workout 4 times per week chances are you will be able to maintain any strength and size on a program that focuses on the basics. When your schedule returns to normal you can resume your normal split.
Recommendations:
Pick a "core" lift and focus on that lift for a given time period (e.g. 6 weeks)
When training legs pick either deadlifts or squat as the main exercise for legs -- for a while I used to do deadlifts and squats in the same workout!! Can you say overtrainied?
Try low sets and high reps for squat and deadlift workouts…try 3 sets of 20 reps of squats or deadlifts and tell me those aren't difficult. Finish your legs off with 4 sets of 6-8 reps of hamstring curls and your leg workout is over!
Do Chin-ups/Pull-ups -- and if you can't, work on them!! Get a training partner to help you up and lower your self thereby "working the negative", sooner than later you'll be able to do a chin-up on your own. (Here's a tip I picked up from Charles: When you are able to lower yourself for longer than 30 seconds you should be able to perform 1 full repetition) I realize this can be frustrating and embarrassing, 2 years ago I could not do 1 chin-up (palms facing me) -- now I can do wide grip pull-ups for reps -- keep at it!
Press, Press, Press. Shoulder, flat and incline bench presses are all great to do. I recommend using dumbbells as often as possible especially when you're a beginner.
Always respect perfect form!
Now that's practicing Safe Flex!
About the Author
Dave is a Strength & Fitness Consultant in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has worked with Charles Poliquin in training some of the world's best hockey players and has also worked with track and field athletes and professional football players. Currently, he is the strength coach for the University of Toronto Men's Hockey team and specializes in preventative and rehabilitative exercise. He can be reached for consultation at [email protected] via email.
