Via Jim comes another great tutorial on Beast Skills (if you haven't already seen the site, have a look around - there's some fascinating stuff on there) regarding standing ab rollouts.
Warning: they're much harder than he makes them look.
Incidentally, if you want to see some video of someone making these look ridiculously easy, go no further than Ross Enamait. There are a few on the Low Tech, High Effect video [.wmv, 5.1mb] , and The Home Gym [.wmv, 6.1mb] trailer. Good stuff.
After reading Alberto's comment this morning on last week's 3 finger chins, I decided to try a few more. I was curious to find out just when things switched from a comfortable 20-30 (both hands, normal grip) to 3 (2 fingers plus thumb, each hand).
The answer, perhaps a little surprisingly, is somewhere between 3 and 4. 4 fingers (well, 3 plus thumb - little finger tucked under the bar) is fairly comfortable, and feels similar to a regular supinated grip. 3 (2 fingers plus thumb, both little and ring fingers tucked) on the other hand is difficult. My grip just gives way.
What does this show? That :Now, for the rest of the past week :
Thursday
The magic 50 once again. Regular, close-grip chins.
Chin-up 10,10,10,10,10 @bw
Friday
Total Gym work
Hack squat 4×10@60/132, 2×10@80/176
Chin-up (sternum) 3@bw
Saturday
A lethargic set of chins.
Chin-up 5@bw
Sunday
Almost in Zombie mode. Even the lure of rack pulls proved insufficient.
Monday
Not quite as tired. Yesterday's rack pulls called.
Rack pull (4 holes showing, sumo, dbl o'hand) 2×20@60/132, 2×10@80/176, 2×5@100/225, 2×5@120/264
Tuesday
Various Total Gym work.
Wednesday
The scheduled session postponed a day. Only chin-ups for now.
Chin-up 5@bw
Chin-up (4 fingers) 5@bw
Chin-up (3 fingers) 2,1 @bw
I first heard about Inside Out via Smitty's great interview last month with Mike Robertson. If you haven't heard of it before, think of it as Magnificent Mobility for the upper body. As the Inside Out subheading states, it's the 'Ultimate Upper Body Warm-up'.
Now that it's out, it's definitely on the shopping list. After watching the trailer [.wmv, 2.1mb] you'll understand why.
If the latest Mike Boyle article on T-Nation has you considering the Front Squat, you may be mindful of just how awkward it can be to hold the bar. Like Zercher Squats, they're often overlooked simply due to the difficulty.
There are several ways to hold the bar for the Front Squat. If one method doesn't feel right, or your current flexibility or injury precludes it, try one of the others. It really is a great exercise.
Clean position
This is generally considered the optimum position - if you have the option, do it this way.
Think of it simply as the top of a Hang Clean (a reverse barbell curl if you like). It will get a lot easier with practice.
Arms crossed
Another common method is to cross the arms over the bar, holding the left side with the right hand and vice versa. If the abovementioned Clean method is out of the question for you, try this.
Note that the hands are only helping to stop the bar rolling about, rather than trying to support it.
Hands Clasped
Whilst frowned upon by many purists, this technique is still used occasionally. Clasp your hands together and use them to push the bar onto your chest/front delts.
Log bar
A much less common version (but intriguing nonetheless) is the Log Bar Front Squat. As you can see, a log bar prompts a vertical grip, which takes a similar amount of flexibility as the Clean grip.
Straps
I noticed this yesterday in Mike Boyle's article Strong Athlete, Zero Injuries. It's an excellent idea, and well worth considering if you lack the flexibility required for the Clean.
JV Askem had a similar idea many years ago with two pairs of pliers.
Stingray
The Stringray device is designed to counter the basic deficiencies of the crossed arms approach. The two pads help keep the bar aligned and stable, allowing the widest possible grip to be used. The Stingray also lifts the bar slightly, keeping the weight over the front delts whilst keeping it away from your throat.
If the Clean position is out due to lack of flexibility, the Stingray is well worth considering.
Front Squat Harness
The Front Squat Harness performs a similar role to the Stingray (making the Front Squat a little more comfortable); although in a very different way. Here the bar is held - again with reasonable stability - slightly further forward, and is held using a narrow hammer grip.
If it looks like a serious, large, strong device; it is. The original version was tested to over 600 lb, the current model exceeds that by a good margin.
Double kettlebells
Got two kettlebells? Try this. Remember to Clean them one at a time.
Goblet
The Goblet Squat is often considered a separate exercise, however I've included it here for completeness. It can be performed either using a dumbbell as shown, or by grabbing a kettlebell 'by the horns'.
Hands free
If none of the different holds shown above appeal, there's always the 'hands free' method (thanks Kris for the video). Unconventional to say the least.
I must have been pretty close to waking when the alarm went off this morning. Usually when the alarm sounds my thoughts are along the lines of 'ugh, what?' - this morning I was going step-by-step through the day's major tasks. I could see myself doing them.
Now, whilst this probably doesn't sound anywhere near as fun as a bit of dream recall (and some of my dreams are just downright weird), it is quite handy. The usual 15-20 minutes spent waking up is ignored (or at least delayed until an automatic task arrives - such as showering or eating breakfast); now I need to find out a way of achieving this more often. Every day, preferably.
Following nap
Another 3 hour nap - not quite sure why; I wasn't particularly tired. Today's scheduled workout got pushed to tomorrow (so it could've been generally keeping busy I guess), it wasn't terribly hot and I made sure to keep the on vs in distinction.
I think I'll keep to the planned 4.5 hours for the next sleep.
It seems that some people will never understand Mike Boyle. Following Eric Cressey's excellent interview The Misunderstood Strength Coach, some of the comments made this fact abundantly clear.
I don't often read more than the first few comments to a T-nation article (which are usually along the lines of 'Great article!' or 'Keep up the good work') but this piece - Strong Athlete, Zero Injuries - inspired me to do just that. And once again, it was clear that some people just don't understand the man.
Among the fascinating (and a little controversial) views espoused in the article :
I'm a big believer in the technical failure concept. The set ends at technical failure, not when you can't cheat through another rep. I'd always rather undertrain than overtrain. Tomorrow is another day. The tortoise beat the hare. The healthy trainee lives to train another day while the hurt guy goes to PT.
Many of my older (30-plus) clients no longer do conventional squats or Olympic lifts. Their bodies no longer tolerate it. We do jump squats, kettlebell swings, and lots of single leg stuff with these guys because the objective is to keep them playing.
Back pain has three root causes as it relates to lifting. Torque (forward lean), compression (high spinal loads), and flexion are what cause back injuries. Front squats lessen torque, compression, and flexion, and are therefore inherently safer [than back squats].
Knee wraps are not an injury prevention tool. They're an elastic launching pad to allow you to lift more weight. Knee wraps don't protect the knee.
and the one that really got me thinking :
Treat your vertical pulls just like the bench. Cycle them. Do heavy triples. Whatever you do for horizontal presses, do the same for vertical pulls. Your shoulders will love you for it.
Despite often being misunderstood, Mike Boyle gets results. As the article states :
My average athlete can also do a 1 RM chin-up with more than he can bench press.
That's including the bodyweight of the lifter, but it still isn't bad. Now, time to take a serious look at the chin-up part of my routine. Heavy triples coming up.
Just under 4.5 hours (woke up naturally about 10 minutes before the alarm). Feeling very refreshed. It's incredible what a difference one day can make. Very nice.
Following nap
One of the rare times that waking naturally perfectly coincided with the sounding of the alarm. The sleep duration? Precisely 90 minutes.
Rif points to a great video [streaming, 3.1mb .flv download via keepvid] showing just how seriously the USOEC Greco-Roman wrestlers take their training. There's some good stuff in there.
Blaine kicks off our current collaboration on rest with a look at Active vs Passive Rest. It's all about the heartrate.
As Mike's been finding lately, trying to sleep in the daytime just isn't the same. After 90 minutes of lying in bed thinking about sleep, I decided to get back up and wait until I was ready to collapse before trying again.
One thing occurred to me as I was climbing into bed last night (this morning, really) : over the past few weeks I've been following a pattern of lying on top of a bed for naps, and climbing in for the main sleep. This probably makes more of a psychological difference than I'd previously thought, as for the last couple of nights I've been climbing into bed on both occasions (cold nights, despite the daytime temperatures). I'll revert to the on/in distinction beginning with this evening's nap.
Following nap
Well at 3 hours that wasn't as bad. This followed the usual pattern; 90 minutes of sleep terminated by an alarm, followed by 90 minutes of 'natural' sleep.
At least I woke up prior to midnight, giving myself a real chance of following up with the scheduled bout of 4.5 hours' slumber. Ahhh.
