03.05.04
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Click
here to Ask Joe about training. If you send a
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Q: Joe,
I've just recently discovered your website - LOOKS
GREAT!
I've been flicking through some of your past postings
and see that in several of the articles you prescribe
hamstring curls in a few workouts. In a lot of the
literature I've read, hamstring curls and leg extensions
have been reported as very unrelated (unfunctional
- I know you dislike that word) to sports performance.
Enlighten me as to your thoughts on both these exercises
and in what cases they can and should be used.
Thanks.
MICK
A: Mick,
Leg extensions are worthless. Leg
curls, on the other hand, are a different story.
Leg extensions put shearing forces
on your knee and they have no place in the “training
economy” for athletes. There are just too many
more productive exercises out there that work your
quads. The “quad” exercises that I prefer
are step-ups, single leg squats and lunges. As I’ve
said time and time again, these exercises work your
quads while simultaneously working your glutes, hamstrings,
flexibility and your conditioning. That is what makes
these exercises “functional”. You just
don’t get the same benefit sitting in a chair
and flexing and extending your knee.
Leg curls are beneficial because
there are not a wide variety of exercises that work
knee flexion. Getting strong in knee flexion exercises
are important to prevent hamstring pulls. I focus
on knee flexion exercises more during the off-season.
This is because they have a tendency to make the athlete
sore. As the season gets closer, I focus more of my
attention on hip extension exercises. The most common
knee flexion exercises that I use are glute-ham raises
and leg curls.
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Q: Joe,
Our high school football
team is doing Pilates for core strength. I don't see
the “bang for the buck” as you say!! I
would love to hear from you on this one.
Thanks,
Adam
A: Adam,
Your high school football team is going to get their
ass kicked if they don’t find their way back
to the gym! It’s not that Pilates is bad for
you; I just feel that there are too many other productive
things that football players should be doing in the
off-season. Pilates just doesn’t fit into the
plan. Unfortunately, it seems to be the new trend.
Tell your football team to leave the Pilates classes
to the unhappy housewives. Get your team squatting,
benching, deadlifting and sled dragging. These exercises
will make for a much less embarrassing season!
Joe D.
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Q: Joe,
Thanks for not being politically correct. I appreciate
the brutal honesty.
You've mentioned in articles that you read whatever
you could find on training when you were first starting.
What is on your list of "must read books"
for those interested in strength and conditioning
careers? What magazines do you subscribe to?
Continued success.
KC
A: KC,
Good question. If you want to be successful in this
profession, you must have a thirst for knowledge.
You should NEVER stop educating yourself. I still
read and learn something new every single day. Below
you will find my TOP10 list of books that have helped
me develop into the strength coach that I have become
today.
SUPERTRAINING by Yuri
Verkhoshansky & Mel Siff
FITNESS and STRENGTH TRAINING
for ALL SPORTS by J. Hartmann & H. Tunnemann
THE POLIQUIN PRINCIPLES
by Charles Poliquin
SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF STRENGTH
TRAINING by Vladimir Zatsiorsky
THE CHARLIE FRANCIS TRAINING
SYSTEM by Charlie Francis
DINOSAUR TRAINING by
Brooks Kubik
SCIENCE OF SPORTS TRAINING
by Thomas Kurz
MODERN TRENDS IN STRENGTH TRAINING
by Charles Poliquin
OPTIMAL MUSCLE TRAINING
by Ken Kinakin
ANATOMY TRAINS by Thomas
Myers
Besides reading these books, make
sure that you speak with as many reputable strength
coaches as possible. You will get different views
from each coach and then it is up to you to draw your
own conclusions.
You should also read everything on
the following websites:
www.DeFrancosTraining.com
www.T-mag.com
www.EliteFTS.com
Best of luck.
Joe D.
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Q: Joe,
Great website! Just listened to your interview with
Chris Scarborough and gained a wealth of knowledge.
As a student majoring in exercise science and a former
college athlete I am constantly searching for useful
information in this field. I have been into serious
strength training for about 4 or 5 years. I have always
had trouble improving my bench press. I would like
to know if you have any good chest exercises that
would really isolate and work my chest?
A: First of all,
there is a MAJOR difference between exercises that
improve your bench press, as opposed to exercises
that isolate your chest. You must decide what’s
more important; do you want to bench press massive
amounts of weight or do you just want a muscular chest?
Obviously, it’s possible to have both; it’s
just important to know that they are not the same
thing.
Here’s a crash course in lifting
biomechanics as it relates to the bench press. It’s
not that one of these techniques is better than the
other; it depends on your training goal.
Most bodybuilders advocate the “flaring
elbows” version of bench-pressing because benching
in this (horizontal) plane recruits the pectoralis
major to a greater extent. (It’s important to
know that joint position dictates muscular recruitment
patterns.) So, if your sole purpose for bench-pressing
is to put some muscle on your chest, this form is
probably your best bet. I have found this version
to place more stress on connective tissue and the
Acromioclavicular joint (AC joint), though.
Powerlifters originally popularized
the “elbows tucked” version of the bench
press. This is how I teach all of my athletes to bench
press as well. I coach them to lower the bar to just
below their nipple line. The upper arms should be
at a 45-degree angle in relation to the upper body
in the bottom position. I then coach them to accelerate
the weight upward in a straight line. Bench-pressing
in this manner is less likely to tear connective tissue
surrounding the shoulder joint. Benching in this (sagittal)
plane recruits the triceps and latissimus dorsi to
a greater extent, while the pectoralis major is less
involved. It is also more specific to the pushing
movements required in most sports – offensive
lineman pass-blocking, hockey players checking , etc.
As you can see, your bench press
form must vary depending on your specific goal. The
exercises that you focus on will be different as well.
If you just want a more muscular chest, I would focus
on dumbell and cable fly movements, as well as barbell
and dumbell bench-pressing movements in the horizontal
plane.
For a more powerful bench press,
my favorite exercises are rack lockouts, board presses,
floor presses, weighted dips and thick bar bench-pressing
with bands and chains. Also hit your lats and external
rotators hard.
Good luck.
Joe D.
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Q: Coach
Joe,
I just listened to your audio interview with Chris
Scarborough and thought it was great…very informative.
You are definitely THE MAN when it comes to preparing
football players for the season. The thing I found
most interesting was how you manipulate the Westside
Barbell system for some of your younger high school
kids. You said that you substitute the dynamic day
with a repetition day. You are the first person that
I’ve ever heard of doing this. Can you elaborate
a little more on why you do this? It seems like it
makes sense, but I’d like your explanation.
I appreciate your hard work.
Charlie
A: Charlie,
Manipulating the “Westside Barbell System”
is something that I’ve been experimenting with
for many years now. This system has influenced many
of my views on training, but I don’t think it’s
perfect for “mainstream athletes”. This
is a topic that I will be writing about extensively
in the weeks and months to come. I think athletes
and coaches will find my research on this topic to
be VERY helpful. Stay tuned.
Now onto your question: It is true
that we substitute dynamic effort days with repetition
days with our less experienced high school athletes.
One of my reasons for this is that I feel it is unsafe
for a young athlete to try and move a weight explosively
when they lack adequate size and strength. This would
be the equivalent of coaches who teach athletes to
power clean before they teach them how to deadlift.
It’s absurd.
The repetition method is a great
method for adding muscle mass to a young athlete’s
frame. Controlled tempos are used and muscle mass
is built in a safe and effective manner. (It’s
important to know that a bigger muscle has a greater
potential for becoming a stronger/more explosive muscle
later on in life.) The repetition method compliments
the max effort method we use during the other workout
of the week. (For younger high school athletes we
shoot for a 5-rep max, as opposed to a one-rep max.)
The repetition method focuses on the muscular system,
whereas the max effort method focuses on the nervous
system. This is a great “one-two” punch
for a high school kid who is looking to get bigger
and stronger. This combination lays a great foundation
for the dynamic days that will be implemented later
on in their athletic careers.
Although this is a very in-depth
topic, I hope this gives you some insight on how we
“tweak” the system to better suit some
of our younger athletes.
Look for more to come on this very
interesting topic.
Joe D.
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