I hope everyone had a good week. It’s PR Friday so share your training PR’s or updates. This weekend also includes two of the last three relevant football games of the football year, so feel free to discuss (Justin Smith ftw).
Operation Shankle
Don’t forget that Donny Shankle will be making a real shot at making the Olympic team. My friend Jacob Tsypikup had the following to say about Donny: “I can say that he is a tremendous person to be around: a former Marine and veteran of the Iraq war, a fierce competitor, and inspirational merely through presence.” Donny has made countless sacrifices in order to be a weightlifter in the past ten years, and recently he’s even moved in with his coach Glenn Pendlay to save even more money. If you have a few doll hairs to spare, donate them to Donny; I know he will appreciate the support very much and make us proud. Donate to Shankle Shankle’s Website (store with products included)
This picture comes up when you Google image search "Shankle"
The Arnold Sport Festival
I think that ‘the Arnold’ will be a really cool experience since it’s a celebration of competitive events. This will be the first “70’s Big Meet Up” that isn’t a workshop, so I suggest you attend. Mike and Chris will be competing in the raw powerlifting event, I’ll be going, and Brent will be going. It’s also where this year’s senior nationals are for USA Weightlifting, and Donny Shankle will be trying to make the Olympics (which will be very fun to watch). There’s also all kinds of cool shit like strongman events and a pro deadlift challenge (which will also be neat as shit). Plus at least 20 other sporting events and that doesn’t even consider the expo itself (where tons of “fitness” or sport celebrities will be present) and the second biggest bodybuilding show of the year.
If you’re concerned about the cost of travel or hotels, then use the comments to see if anyone else near you is interested in going. We can help each other car pool or share hotel rooms and we can meet at certain events, restaurants, and bars. It will be tons of fun — I guarantee it. Because if it isn’t, I’ll make it fun by asking Derrick Poundstone what color his undies are.
Shawn had about a month off from training. You know what that asshole did on squats in his first session back? 135 for 5; 185 for 5; 225 for 5; 275 for 5; 315 for 3; 225 for 10; (next two sets are front squat) 135 for 10; 135 for 6 — that’s a shit-load of work. His normal work sets last year before the holiday were about 325 (he’s using 5/3/1; front squats are his assistance work). His structures weren’t adapted to doing any squats, and he subjected them to stress that was greater than what they could have handled before the layoff even occurred.
Sure, it was dumb. But calling Shawn an idiot relentlessly isn’t going to help his crippling soreness. He told me, “Dude, I am so fucking sore. I had to FALL onto the toilet seat to take a shit earlier.” Instead, I gave him advice on what to do in his next training session to alleviate that soreness. In the research this is called The Repeated Bout Effect and it’s used to reduce Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).
DOMS occurs as a result of doing something that the structures aren’t adapted to. This could include a significant change in volume and intensity, or it could occur from performing a new movement using structures through a different range of motion (ROM). For example, a CrossFitter would experience higher levels of soreness if they started squatting 3×5 at heavier weights than they handle in their met-cons. Conversely, a lifter would experience high levels of soreness if they tried a high repetition CrossFit met-con after being adapted to low repetition lifting (even more so since CrossFit will typically include new or different movements from the lifter’s normal training repertoire). DOMS typically peaks 24 to 48 hours after a bout of exercise. My personal experience and opinion is that the more adapted you are, the shorter the process to achieve peak soreness and subsequent loss of soreness (1).
For me, I can feel the soreness within 12 to 18 hours, and peak soreness occurs 18 to 24 before decreasing. When I was younger and doing bodybuilding stuff, I would routinely hit a peak of soreness at 48 hours. This may be due to a lack of adaptation or strength, but it could also be due to the fact that I did a lot more isolation work for the “body parts” that I was working that day as opposed to the lesser amount of work places on the specific muscles nowadays when I train my whole body each session.
The Repeated Bout Effect states that “subsequent bouts of the same exercise, repeated within several days to several months, do not produce as much damage as the first bout” (4). You can look at that from two perspectives. The first is that by doing very low intensity work (<50%) for a session, subsequent sessions will not produce as much DOMS (even up to 6 weeks after the initial bout of low-intensity work). The second is that if DOMS exists, then using some low-intensity work with the same muscles can help reduce their soreness. It's even shown that this adaptive effect is conferred to other muscles (3), but my assumption is that they are used in synergy with or stabilize the joints and structures of the movement performed (i.e. the external hip rotators may not apply hip extension in a movement, but their action will help stabilize the hip during the movement).
If we look at The Repeated Bout Effect as a preventative measure, then we would have begin our reintroduction to lifting after a layoff with a light day (something that I’ve suggested numerous times on this site). If we look at it as a treatment to crippling soreness — like Shawn’s situation above — then we can drop some light work into our next training session. Shawn will be training today — 48 hours after the squatting session. He’s scheduled to press with pressing assistance, yet I suggested that he squat the following: 135x5x2, 185×5 for one or two sets. This obviously doesn’t provide a stress to grow stronger, yet it provides a stress nonetheless via The Repeated Bout Effect. The research has observed the circumstances in which it can help alleviate soreness, yet the mechanism of how it occurs isn’t fully understood and it’s considered a phenomena. Some theories include neural, connective tissue or cellular adaptations as well as adaptation in excitation-contraction coupling or adaptation in the inflammatory response (2).
The trainee only needs to know how to prevent soreness since soreness can literally make it hard to take a shit, but it can also be debilitating to performance in the following training sessions. If you have extreme soreness due to a new movement or a change in work, then drop in some light exercises in a medium repetition scheme. Common soreness areas are the quads and groin from squats, proximal biceps tendon from dips, hamstrings from RDLs, or lumbar spine from deadlift (typically associated with severe rounding of the back). Muscles that are sore from squats or should just be worked with light squats, yet the other areas can be worked with related exercises. Light dumbbell flyes or push-ups could alleviate soreness in the upper body, and round back extensions (RBEs) or reverse hypers are best to use for the lumbar spine. Light good mornings, deadlifts, and RDLs could be used for hamstrings. Observant trainees will note that these exercises are often used in powerlifting programs as a preventative measure to alleviate soreness (especially in Russian programming — thanks Briskin).
Utilize these same methods if you have a training stoppage due to a meet, holidays, travelling, sickness, or injury, but use them in a light day and gradually increase the stress. I suggest taking a week and using Light-Medium-Moderate training days. Training isn’t a race; the more you can prevent injuries or overreaching, the more success you’ll have over a longer amount of time.
This is one of the few topics that actually has a great amount of quality research. Here are a few resources I used today.
1) Cleary, M.; Kimura, S.; Sitler, M.; Kendrick, Z. (2002). Temporal Pattern of the Repeated Bout Effect of Eccentric Exercise on Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness. J Athl Train. 2002 Jan-Mar; 37(1): 32–36.
2) Nosaka, K.; Sakamoto, K.; Newton, M.; Sacco, P. (2001). The repeated bout effect of reduced-load eccentric exercise on elbow flexor muscle damage. Eur J Appl Phsiol, 85: 34-40.
3) Nosaka, Ken (2008). Muscle Soreness and Damage and the Repeated-Bout Effect. Skeletal muscle damage and repair (pp. 59–76). Human Kinetics. ISBN 9780736058674.
4) McHugh, M.P.; Connolly, D.A.J.; Eston, R.G.; Gleim, G.W. (1999). Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage and Potential Mechanisms for the Repeated Bout Effect. Sports Medicine, Volume 27, Number 3, 1 March 1999, pp. 157-170 (14).
1) Cleary, M.; Kimura, S.; Sitler, M.; Kendrick, Z. (2002). Temporal Pattern of the Repeated Bout Effect of Eccentric Exercise on Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness. J Athl Train. 2002 Jan-Mar; 37(1): 32–36.
2) McHugh, M.P.; Connolly, D.A.J.; Eston, R.G.; Gleim, G.W. (1999). Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage and Potential Mechanisms for the Repeated Bout Effect. Sports Medicine, Volume 27, Number 3, 1 March 1999, pp. 157-170 (14).
3) Nosaka, Ken (2008). Muscle Soreness and Damage and the Repeated-Bout Effect. Skeletal muscle damage and repair (pp. 59–76). Human Kinetics. ISBN 9780736058674.
4)Nosaka, K.; Sakamoto, K.; Newton, M.; Sacco, P. (2001). The repeated bout effect of reduced-load eccentric exercise on elbow flexor muscle damage. Eur J Appl Phsiol, 85: 34-40.
The following was what loaded if you tried to access the site on January 18th, 2012. I saw some complainers whining that protesting was gay or that it didn’t accomplish anything. In this case, it did quite a lot. It raised awareness of a terrible bill that would have repercussions that the whiners would not enjoy if it passes. This isn’t to say that copyright protection isn’t important, because it is. There probably needs to be better legislation but SOPA was not it. In any case, if you joined the fight against SOPA, thank you; It’s rare that common folk will get together and rabble-rabble until they are heard.
EDIT: At least 18 senators now oppose the bill now since the protests.
If SOPA were to pass, you would load this website only to find out it was blocked. Please read why.
Today 70sBig.com is participating in the SOPA/PIPA boycott. The “Stop Online Piracy Act” and “PROTECT IP Act” are respectively House and Senate bills that falsely aim to reduce online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. In actuality this legislation invites Internet security risks, threatens online speech, hampers Internet innovation, bans or censors any website, and reduces our rights we have as internet users.
There’s a reason that other websites like Reddit and Wikipedia are participating in today’s boycott: the bills destroy every free right we have as internet users. Today 70’s Big wants to bring this to your attention so that you understand the implications of the bills and arm you with fire power in how we can help prevent them from passing. If we fail, this website (and many others) may be altered or banned from you.
First I want to share what a friend had to say about the bills. He works in and is knowledgeable about the information security field.
SOPA is the digital equivalent of politicians trying to slowly destroy the fundamental protections of our Bill of Rights through the guise of fear mongering that they’ve been doing with everything from organized crime to domestic terrorism. They market this supposed metastasis of problems with the internet such as digital crime and use it to say, “We need to control this and we’ll do it by basically taking your rights away, even if you don’t know it.” It’s humorous that they think they will solve problems because SOPA’s policies, when put into an actual technical implementation, will make it harder to distinguish the differences between their policy enforcement at network border gateways, real problems that service providers are having, or actual criminal attempts to subvert security and/or availability of network services. This is just one example of the bullshit SOPA presents and represents.
Philosophically, we’d be giving up our fundamental rights to do as we please on the internet. If I wanted someone telling me what I can or can’t do on the internet, I’d move to China, North Korea, or somewhere in the Middle East.
If this issue is confusing, maybe this video will clear things up for you:
Summary, TL;DR
Politics are rarely discussed on 70’s Big, but this legislation would not only affect this website, but your personal experience on the internet. Please review the information above and help us make a stand. It’s up to us to hold onto our freedom.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. –Margaret Mead
I spent most of the Mondays in September and October talking about ways to get your lady friend into lifting weights. The goal wasn’t necessarily to brain wash her and turn her into a lifter, but to teach and implement quality barbell training and high intensity conditioning. Today I want to talk about transitioning from the “slow lifts” to the Olympic lifts. This will not be approached from the perspective of a weightlifter with the result of having a girl compete in weightlifting (although that’s cool). Instead, we’re merely going to add things to the program to have a general strength and conditioning focus that is fun.
By this time the lady in question will understand the utility in lifting and enjoy it. If she didn’t have any experience with lifting, it may be a good idea to get about half a year of lifting before worrying about this transition. Even if the gal has an athletic background, mastering the intricacies of body position while lifting can take time (every girl won’t be like Eva Twardokens or Lindsay Taylor). Pre-existing musculature, strength, coordination, injuries, and skill will dictate when the transition should happen, but if there is no lifting history and athletic history is limited to high school, then don’t rush it. Remember, the idea with gals who are skeptical of lifting is to progress them slowly yet consistently. In order to shift into the snatch and clean and jerk, here are some preliminary lifts to use for a while to ease the transition.
The Front Squat
The first amendment to a standard program is to throw in front squats about once a week. If she was already high barring, then this won’t be a big change, but if she was low barring this will help quite a bit. I’ve seen the front squat solidify positioning in the LB squat and develop quadriceps musculature faster than the low bar. Even more important is that it teaches a good rack position. The elbows should be up and in, and the bar can rest back in the fingers (as opposed to gripping the bar in the fists). Note that the elbows should be “in”; this puts the shoulder in external rotation to allow a good “chest up” position with the shoulders “back and down” in their socket. If the elbows are in, then she won’t need to think about any of that, but will need to maintain the “chest to chin” cue I’ve mentioned here before. The squat itself has the same cues as a high bar squat: “shove the knees out” and “heels out of the bottom” (shortened to “knees out” and “heels”). The rack position consists of passive cues that she shouldn’t have to think about (but should be corrected from day one) while the “knees” and “heels” cues are active cues that typically need emphasis while the movement occurs. The following position is a pretty good rack position, although I’d see if she can bring them “in” or closer together a little more.
Use the front squat every week, but not exclusively. If there are three training sessions a week, make one a front squat session. If there are only two sessions, then front squat on one of them. If high bar is already being used, consider front squatting before or after the HB squat on a volume-type day to teach the rack position.
