1. Post any Personal Records you made this week to the comments. If you didn’t have any, update all of us on your training and ask questions if you have them.
2. Have a jolly good Halloween. If you survive, go ahead and send photos of your costume.
3. The September TSC results have been published for quite a while. Here is the LINK to the spreadsheet.
4. Feel free to talk about football in the comments too.
5. Here are various videos that should get you excited.
Thanks to Tyler T. for the vids.
And this marks the first cartoon posted on this site:
I was listening to the “Mike and Mike” show on ESPN radio this morning and heard something that made my ears bleed. JennBrown was giving her report on the Thursday night match-up between #16 Florida State and N.C. State. FSU quarterback Christian Ponder has had some issues with his elbow yet has practiced this week. He told reporters that his injury was a “blessing in disguise” and is “starting to use my core more” when throwing (1). He fucking said “core”.
The term “core” has been demonized and written about plenty of times, and I won’t add too much to it here. It just sounds so…puny (I was going to write a similar word with different consonants, but you get the idea). Saying the word conjures up images of “personal trainers” having their clients do silly shit around the gym to make them sweaty and sometimes sore. More importantly, I don’t like “core” because the way it is said and perceived is lacking from an anatomical standpoint. Proponents of the term would cite the stability needed in the abdominals and back muscles to transfer force and move the body. That definition neglects the hips, which is the area of the body that is most important for acceleration (in the physics sense; in this case referring to a person’s change in velocity). We already know that barbell training is the best way to strengthen the hips (and subsequently the “core”), but I’m more concerned with the seeming misunderstanding of what is important for movement and acceleration.
In QB Ponder’s defense, he does mention his hips in improving his mechanics. What he’s saying is, “The elbow injury has forced me to use my hips in my throwing motion properly, and thus improves my ability to throw the football. Previously I wasn’t using my hips and primarily used my arm, and this is what caused the injury.” As referenced above, his actual first sentence was, “I’m starting to use my core more, which is something I got away from this year.” I don’t expect anybody to care what the term “core” does or doesn’t mean, but I have a problem with how it is perceived. It’s perceived to be abdominal related, and that means this is going to be the primary method of strengthening or improving the area:
Google image 'core' and this is the first fitness related image
Exercises like the squat, press, and deadlift not only strengthen the hips, but also the muscles that attach to the hips from the anterior and posterior. A quarterback will benefit from utilizing hip strength in a throwing motion — that’s why “setting the feet” is so important to football; it allows the quarterback to properly apply force to the ground to move and rotate his legs, hips, torso, and then arm to have a solid throw. This is also why it’s a horrible idea for a quarterback to roll right and throw to the left — there’s not power behind his throw (and the resulting vector the football makes as it travels at an angle across the field allows the defense to react and move towards the ball, but that’s a different point entirely).
You can look at any athletic movement and see how it’s completely dependent on the hips. Look at the picture below of a juke. This juke is quite exaggerated, yet it shows that in order to move to the right, the player has to apply force to the left. When an athlete moves fast, they only have one foot on the ground, so that one foot has to not only apply enough force to move the entire body in the desired direction, but often having to overcome the body’s own momentum (since they are changing directions) as well as any other exterior forces (in this case, other players — gravity is implied while we’re on Earth). In this particular picture, this ball carrier is probably* in the midst of moving left. A bland analysis would say he’s abducting his hip, but anyone who’s played a sport knows that’s stupid — stand up straight and move your left leg out away from your mid-line while keeping you knee straight. Is this how you juke? No. There is plantar flexion (ankle), knee flexion, and hip extension occurring to move laterally and forward. All of those muscles are worked through a full range of motion (with the exception of the plantar flexion muscles, but stay on track here) during a back squat. There’s a lot going on in a juke, but the point is that the abs are not the core of the movement.
A standard ops juke.
It’s interesting to analyze movement, but you don’t have to focus on it while you watch football this weekend. Just know that the foundation for athletic movement comes from strengthening the major joints through a full range of motion, and this is best achieved through barbell training. Once there is a foundation of strength** you apply that strength into the movements and activities associated with a sport. That last part is the “conditioning” part of “strength and conditioning”. I just wish silly personal training rhetoric would stay out of it.
*I say probably because technically we don’t know what’s going on the photo. He could be spinning, or in a stutter step to move to the left, or spinning around after making a catch. Let’s just assume he’s juking to his right.
**Admittedly, the “foundation of strength” is arbitrary. I’d say it’s relative to age and skill level, but that is also another discussion.
Night of the Living Dead, Lifters Without Borders, and My First 600+ Pull
by: Stephen Winburn (blog)
This Saturday I had the honor of not only meeting some of the best lifters in the World, but also competing against them. Many of the lifters would have remained unknown to me were it not for the vision of Alex Campbell and the affronts of a group of people who pulled the Night of the Living Dead from the clutches of the USAPL, though I call it home. The opening of these doors brought a group with greater depth than could have been hoped for from a single federation to lift against one another and forged friendships and camaraderie where monolifts, the number of plys a man, or woman, wears, and whether or not he, or she, is subject to OMTs.
From across the country, and indeed across the seas, lifters descended upon Elizabethton, TN to bend over, grab a piece of steel laden with steel discs, and pick it up all to the applause of hundreds of fans in an unlit high school gym with smoke effects and deafening music. We call it the dead lift, a lift forgotten in the era of lifting equipment. From the smallest, Haydin Spradlin at only 62 pounds and still bearing the load of childhood, to the largest, Andy Bolton weighing a staggering 335 pounds. There were many with world titles and world records to their credit across the diaspora of federations powerlifting now has the sadness of trying to piece together. Great lifts were made and great lifts were missed, but everyone brought only their best and received the cheers of a frenzied crowd as they strode to the stage and faced the PRs of yesterday and the aspirations of the day of competition.
For the women first place was taken by Natalie Freed with a pull of 352.7 pounds at a mere 119 pounds of body weight and second place went to Rhonda Clark who pulled 440.9 pounds missing her third attempt at 463. The men saw the much-anticipated battle of Mr. Andy Bolton and Mr Tom Eiseman. This year Andy Bolton took the win with a Schwartz score of 214.9 via a third attempt pull of 964.5 pounds, wearing a singlet, a belt, and enough chalk to coat a smaller mans body. Mr. Eiseman made a second pull of 755.1, giving him a Schwartz score of 213.38, missing a third attempt at 771.6 pounds, which would have given him the win with a Schwartz score of 218.05, had Mr. Bolton not pulled at least 979.05 pounds.
The other twenty-one competitors did not fail to impress either, and I am humbly including myself in the same group. The complete list of the results, in pounds, is given after the video of my meet and pictures of the competitors, their families,, friends, and some of the people who made this all run smoothly.
For my part I had the pleasure of pulling my first 600+ pull with 606. Although I was unhappy with my training for the last few weeks to a month, and there was a twinge on my last warm-up in my low back, I conquered the challenge that I had set for myself on the platform and look forward to something even greater next year. I would like to thank all the lifters, Alex Campbell, the fans cheering, and the Elizabethton high school powerlifting club for making it such a great experience. I would also like to thank the woman who not only carried my son while I was off chasing dragons, but carried him in her womb until the moment Elijah came into my life. You are my world and without you I have no purpose.
The following is most relevant to a skinny guy who is trying to add some mass and muscle to his frame. The older you are, the more different the weight gain guidelines would be (i.e. a little more clean), but most of you are young anyway. Here’s what I would do.
1. I’d designate alternate weeks as chicken fried steak (CFS) and chili week. Luckily there are good recipes for both (see respective links). If you make plenty on Saturday or Sunday, then you’ll have it throughout the week. This is the best plan, because you don’t have to worry about making food throughout the week. Whether you are a student, working, or just lazy, making the majority of your week’s food all at once is going to work best.
2. I would ALWAYS make fried biscuits with the CFS and corn bread with the chili. The first time I had fried biscuits was the first time Gant invited me over for CFS, and it’s a perfect combo. Just get the easy-make biscuits and put the biscuits in some grease and pull them out after they are browned. Dip or cover them with gravy. Aside from having a delicious addition to your meal, the biscuits/bread will ensure you get extra calories and the carbohydrates for mass gaining. I shouldn’t have to repeat this, but if you’re older or already a bigger or fatter guy, then you won’t need as much. Skinny guys should eat until they are uncomfortable. If you regurgitate your meal, you ate a tad too much.
3. I would make corn bread as a staple too. When you have breakfast, I’m already assuming you’re having plenty of eggs and bacon (and cooking the eggs in the bacon grease). After this, take your already made corn bread, put a bit of butter in the pan, and then re-cook each side of your corn bread in the butter. This will make a slightly crisp and buttery exterior to the piece of corn bread that complements the bacon extremely well.
4. I would cook some other kind of meat throughout the week as well. A pot roast can break up the monotony and even add a third addition to your meal rotation. Ground beef, sirloin tips, and chicken cutlets can all be made in large quantities and stored. I name meats like this because if you’re young, busy, and possibly single, you won’t want to take a lot of time building your food. Prepare lots of another type of meat so that you aren’t eating CFS or chili three times a day.
5. I would make mashed potatoes a staple to the diet. Adding mashed potatoes to your meat mill will ensure you get yet another complete meal. Sure, you can have vegetables with this, but when aiming for mass you’re gonna try and get big hearty meals. When I was going through a linear progression and trying to gain weight I didn’t always get complete meals nor did I build easy meals such as these. I recommend you do because the quality of food will make you enjoy the process much more.
6. This is another thing I shouldn’t have to say, but I have a feeling it needs to be said. If you’re eating “clean” for the sake of aesthetics or health, treat yourself once in a while to an awesome meal. Being kinda weird about what you eat is all right, but being really fucking weird is really fucking weird. If you think you think you catch a cold from a hunny bun, you’re taking it a little far. Gant once said something along the lines of, “If you’re getting knocked out by a happy meal, you’re just not that elite.” Not only is drinking beer while watching football okay, but it’s going to be necessary to make sure you aren’t insane.
Those are just a few things I came up with as I was frying some corn bread this morning. For those of you who have already gone through this process (or those of you who still are), feel free to share any interesting/helpful tidbits. My aim here was to focus on ease and cost effectiveness. Some of you would argue that getting dollar fastfood hamburgers is a solid idea, but I never really cared for that approach (that isn’t to say I didn’t opt for fast food, but only in a pinch).
If you hit any PR’s this week, tell us about them in the comments. Otherwise, you can update everyone on your training and ask questions. There’s good football on this weekend, so enjoy it.
Here’s a picture of Nate and his buddy — they find a way to train hard while in Iraq. Nate recently hit a 380×5 squat set, pressed 185 for 5 singles, and deadlifted 460×5 at 185 pounds. He’s on his way. Nice job, Nate.
Picture from JSS McHenry, Iraq
The need for strong, red-blooded men and women isn’t a new idea: Thanks to Shana W. for the pic.
