In Chalk Talk #17 I talked about some joint approximation stuff you can do to work on your hips prior to training. Today’s Chalk Talk puts a new twist on some classic stretches by adding banded distraction. It’s actually easy to perform because you don’t need to tie the band off on anything; you just tie it on your own hip and use your other foot to add tension.
What do you do to open your hips up before training?
PR Friday is a forum to allow you to share your triumphs and failures with your strength training brethren. How has your training been this week? What questions do you have for your peers? Talk and mingle.
Do you have a training question? Ask anyone from the 70′s Big Crew a question in the comments below, on Facebook, or Twitter. Follow 70’s Big on Instagram.
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Finally, the wait is over. The 70’s Big LP e-book is released today. It’s kind of like the Superman quote: “It’s an arm training program! It’s a linear progression! It’s a gateway to intermediate programming! It’s gonna get us jacked! It’s…THE 70’S BIG LP!”
Click to learn more (including Table of Contents).
$19.99
What do you want out of your program? What strength goals do you have? What aesthetic goals do you have?
Ladies. Gentlemen. Today I reveal my next book: The 70’s Big LP.
I know what you’re thinking: “What kind of a stupid asshole puts himself on a cover like that?”
The answer is an asshole who wants to get you stronger. Jacked. Thick. TIGHT!
When I first started planning this book in 2011, I considered it an arm training program. But as I experimented and wrote, it became clear that it’s a legitimate program…that just so happens to make impressive arms.
The 70’s Big LP is a…
At the core of it, this program is an innovative strength program that allows — no, encourages! — you to build those pythons, brother. It places big, compound exercises into a strength program to force the upper body to grow. Then it feeds you curls and triceps work to whet your appetite, because shut up.
Sick of not getting those noodly appendages to grow? Look no further because The 70’s Big LP has you covered. And the best part is, you don’t have to sacrifice your strength training to get there: when I used this program in 2011 I PR’d on press (240 lbs), bench (350 lbs), deadlift (500 lbs), and pull-ups (21 reps) at a 210 body weight.
This is the basic template. It may look a bit vanilla, but what sets The 70’s Big LP apart from other linear progressions or programs is in the set/rep schemes. Each exercise listed in the template has at least three different set/rep schemes to force progress for a long time — many of which I’ve never seen out there on the ol’ world wide web.
It’s a magical program. You can get bigger, jacked, or strong, or all three. You can start or continue your linear progression. You can bridge the gap to intermediate programming. You can use it as a mass gain program. This program is about you getting the results you want. So saddle up partner; let’s get to work.
The 70’s Big LP will be available for purchase tomorrow, 20 February 2015.
PR Friday is a forum to allow you to share your triumphs and failures with your strength training brethren. How has your training been this week? What questions do you have for your peers? Talk and mingle.
Do you have a training question? Ask anyone from the 70′s Big Crew a question in the comments below, on Facebook, or Twitter. Follow 70’s Big on Instagram.
Valentine’s Day Gift — Post lifting videos for critiques to the comments here or on Facebook.
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I highly suggest you check out “No Country for Old Lifters“, a new story from Brent Kim at MopeilityWOD.com. It’s a brilliant satirical piece that smashes Cormac McCarthy together with lifting and the omnipresence of loneliness. Or something. And I’m always tickled to make a cameo…
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Here’s a short excerpt for the new book, which is kind of a late stage novice or early intermediate strength program, but billed as an upper body focused program. This excerpt is in a section called “More Tension Means More Muscle” and is in a later chapter of information that augments the program:
Most trainees have heard the cue “knees out” for squatting. The result of this cue is to make the hips externally rotate, which contracts the external rotators and lateral part of the hip and therefore lengthens the internal rotators and medial part of the hip (to include the adductors of the groin). To simplify the biomechanics, this means that all the muscles on all sides of the hip are active and providing tension. The more tension, the more control there is throughout the range of motion of the squat.
The same principle applies to the pressing movements. The external rotators of the shoulder will activate if the elbows are cued to a) stay at 45 degrees on the bench and press and b) stay close to the ribs on the dip. This lengthens the internal rotators of the shoulder and therefore provides more tension, and therefore stability at the shoulder. Stability is important since the shoulder joint can move around so easily. In the last chapter, we briefly talked about how the scapula and humerus are held in place by muscle and soft tissue. The scapula itself can move around – up, down, in, and out. Not having control of the scapula during a pressing movement means not all of the force the muscles are applying is actually getting to the bar. If the shoulder is stable, then force can be efficiently transferred. And external rotation is vital to stabilize the shoulder on pressing movements.
PR Friday is a forum to allow you to share your triumphs and failures with your strength training brethren. How has your training been this week? What questions do you have for your peers? Talk and mingle.
Do you have a training question? Ask anyone from the 70′s Big Crew a question in the comments below, on Facebook, or Twitter. Follow 70’s Big on Instagram.
There’s a new book on the way, and it’s focus is on working on lagging upper body strength and development. Noodly arms no more! It’ll be out later this month.
Today’s video was created based on a question from last week’s Q&A on building a home gym. I didn’t realize how long the video was until I was done, but if you’re wondering where to start for your home gym, then this video is for you.
Do any of you train at home? Where did you get your equipment? Is there anything you would have done differently in creating your gym? Do you have anything to add to my video?