T-shirt benches are an idea I gleaned from Jennifer Thompson and her husband. They are essentially a speed bench, but with a slow eccentric, or downward, movement. It is a less stressful way to work on both overall tightness throughout the rep, but an explosive punch off the chest. The video demonstrates them, talks about pausing, weight percentages, set/rep schemes, and overall programming.
Remember when we did soft tissue work on the QL to relieve tension on the pelvis and sacrum? Well, now we’re going to do an incredibly useful and necessary exercise to strengthen the quadratus lumborum, and it’s a one arm farmer’s walk. This is a must-do exercise for all populations as it can significantly improve back health and prevent injury.
Regular farmer’s walks are a simple two-handed carry exercise to work on grip strength and loading the entire body. The one arm variation will function differently. Whereas regular farmer’s are to be done heavy, the one arm sort should be light to moderate. The goal isn’t to move the most weight, the goal is to maintain a stable, neutral trunk position (with the chest up and lower abs contracted) without slouching the shoulders. Putting an emphasis on not leaning over in the trunk or hips forces the QL to maintain leverage of the trunk, hence our reason for executing this exercise.
The first time I did this exercise, I just used a 24kg kettlebell (~53 pounds) and could not only feel my QL during the movement, but had a healthy soreness the next day or two. Strengthening the QL along with regular soft tissue work will likely reduce tweaks or strains and improve how your lower back, pelvis, and S/I area feel.
Throw these in at the end of your training session every week, but don’t do them if you’re gonna go heavy in the next session. You don’t want your stabilizing muscles to be sore or fatigued when trying to lift heavy. They would work well in the last session of the week with adequate rest after until you are accustomed to them. Remember, weight isn’t the key; good trunk position and QL activation is.
PR Friday — Post your training updates, PR’s, and questions to the comments for the 70′s Big crew.
Weekly Q&A gives you a chance to ask anyone from the 70′s Big Crew a question in the comments below, on Facebook, or Twitter. Follow 70’s Big on Instagram.
Recap: I posted a 3x/week Olympic weightlifting and strength training template to answer a question from Twitter. Otherwise, it’s kind of a slow week; things will rev back up late next week.
This video is pretty entertaining:
What’s the best training environment you’ve ever been in?
PR Friday — Post your training updates, PR’s, and questions to the comments for the 70′s Big crew.
Weekly Q&A gives you a chance to ask anyone from the 70′s Big Crew a question in the comments below, on Facebook, or Twitter. Follow 70’s Big on Instagram.
Recap: We had a recipe for a calorie-dense protein batter…thing. I dunno, just try it. Also we hit the 5th anniversary/birthday for 70’s Big this past week. I think the comments were pretty funny, so go ahead and post your favorite 70’s Big moment to the comments. Or the worst, I dunno. Chalk Talk will be back in a couple of weeks. Here’s a classic video that AC edited.
Texas Pt. 2 from A.C. on Vimeo.
PR Friday — Post your training updates, PR’s, and questions to the comments and the 70′s Big crew will respond.
Weekly Q&A gives you a chance to ask anyone from the 70′s Big Crew a question in the comments below, on Facebook, or Twitter. Follow 70’s Big on Instagram.
Recap: Monday was the 8th Chalk Talk episode about using speed deadlifts and RDLs in training, particularly during deployments, competitive seasons, or otherwise stressful training to still get decent posterior chain work in. Learning how to feast was the focal point of Wednesday, so don’t miss that article. I was away for a bit, so I couldn’t fix the broken podcast link from earlier in the month, but Episode 19 of 70’s Big Radio is now up. It features an interview with physical therapist Dr. Rob Andrade. Lastly, the throwback article of the week is from a year ago and explains why your post workout meal doesn’t really mean much.
The following video details an Olympic weightlifting battle. Weightlifting is a bit friendlier to spectators because opposing lifters are usually following each other’s attempts. In contrast, powerlifting has the entire flight lift one attempt before continuing onto the next. The structure of powerlifting means you have to already know what’s going on to see the battles. The same goes for weightlifting, but it happens at a faster pace. This video clues you into the battle through narration:
What is your favorite historic strength sport battle? If it’s on YouTube, go ahead and post a link.