The Dead Lift, Back Strength, and Being Smart

Dead-lifts are great!

They're a great way to work and stretch out those hammies, (actually you should already be stretched out before you dead-lift), but...it's also a good way to strengthen your back. Some people may not realize it, but yes, dead-lifts are supposed to strengthen your back as well as your legs and core.

Now as with any hardcore power lift there's going to be risk of jacking your back. Proper form is a necessity as always.

Lately, I've had to readjust my form in dead-lifting because my spotters told me I was lifting too much with my back and not my legs. Consequently I've had to drop weight. Currently I'm taking about 30% less weight and I've worked on maintaining my form all the way to the ground. NOT dropping the weight but getting that extra bit of work in.

Once I get the weight to the ground I stand up, shake my hands and then do the lift again.

Moral of the story: if your doing something wrong, don't keep on doing it and risk hurting yourself. Instead step back, examine what you're doing wrong and go and fix it. There should be no shame in
it.

Bustin' out a 350 lb. dead-lift and then having a hurt back isn't something to be proud of either.

Lift hard, but lift smart.

John Wood & Oldtime Strongman

A few months ago I came across the site oldtimestrongman.com

It's run by a guy named John Wood who's all about lifting weights like the strongman of old: the natural way.

His site is full of good content and shows how the old fashioned strongman performed great feats of strenght without the aid of steroids or supplements.

Here's a brief look at his website: C:\Users\bturcotte\Desktop\2011-04-10_0352.swf

Be sure to check it out yourself. Let me know what you think.

www.oldtimestrongman.com

It's Not Always About Losing Weight

I find it sad, that people think they should or have to lift just because they're overweight, out of shape or an athlete in training.

Lifting weights and general exercise can be and should be more than that. Granted, you should have goals established on where you want to be down the road fitness-wise. Yet, there can be so much more enjoyment in lifting if it isn't just about losing those extra pounds or having big pecks or arms.

For me, lifting weights usually is one of the highlights of my day. As a college student it can be easy to get bogged down and depressed about the school load. That's why so many college students feel the need to party and have fun on the weekend. They need that release, that time to take their mind off of school and all the stress that comes with it.

But why wait for the weekend to give your mind a rest?

Taking time out of my day (2 hours usually) to get in the weight room and sweat, grunt and work hard is the best way to get my mind of the stress of school and such. It's just lifting hard and laughing with my buddies; encouraging each other to go that extra pound/rep.

Personally, there's an extra motivation in lifting hard every day. I play college football for a Christian college in Wisconsin. Many of my teammates are like brothers to me. Going through a season, with all the sweat, mud, dehydration, and aching muscles,victories and losses, draws a group of young men together. I lift for my buddies. The stronger and faster I am, the more effective player I am on the field. If I can do my job right, faster and harder than the opposing player, then I'm helping my teammates out. That's important to me.

I realize most people aren't in my circumstances, so it'll be different for everybody. Still, finding joy in lifting makes it a lot less of a drag. Being able to look forward to a solid lift each day can really ease some stress out of your life.

You should try it. Find reasons to enjoy lifting, as with all things in life.

How to Clean Powerfully

One of my favorite lifts is the power clean. It helps in explosiveness and body control. It doesn't just work your legs but your core as well. There is just one problem.

It's a lift that's tough to get right. There can be a lot of ways to do it wrong and a lot of ways to hurt yourself if it's done wrong.

To be honest, when it comes to this lift (and many others) I'm still working on my form; critiquing every detail to ensure that I'm not going to hurt myself doing this, and to attain as much work as I can from this lift.

That said, here's an easy and practical look at how to perform the power clean. I hope this is helpful in your endeavorer to get stronger and be safe in the process.

Let me know if you have any additional tips.

Top photo from www.crossfitdaytona.com
http://www.crossfitdaytona.com/my_weblog/2009/03/index.html

The Thomas Jones Arm Workout: A Test of Patience

This past week my friend Kent got me to start the Thomas Jones arm workout with him.

For those who've never heard of Thomas Jones:currently he is a star runningback for the Kansas City Chiefs, and being the guy carrying the ball he has to have strong arms to keep it safe from the defensive lineman and linebackers. He has developed some of the most impressive arms I've ever seen, and seeing that his arm workout is available, I thought, "Yeah, why not?"

I started the first phase of the six phase program with Kent the other day, and the it was the toughest arm workout that I have ever done!

My arms were toast when we were done and it only took us 20-25 minutes.

The first phase of this workout is to isolate and develop the brachialis, the muscle underneath the bicep. Many body builder/ weight lifters forget about this muscle and I'm thinking I fall into that category.

Although my arms were thrashed, I couldn't really see the pump like I normally do after an arm workout. My "unseen" muscles were the muscles that took the beating. I could barely pick up a 30 lb. dumbbell that day!

After that workout, I thought, "Boy, my arms are beat and I can't even see any pump. This is lame. I don't wanna go through this killer six week long program. This is going to take too long, just to get big arms."

Then I corrected myself. I wasn't having a patient, positive attitude about this. I had to make a change.

My previous post was about taking patience in acquiring strength and muscle and I was despairing about the time it was going to take to go through this program!

That first day of the Thomas Jones workout taught me to walk my talk and practice patience.

For more on Thomas Jones and his massive arms: http://stacktv.stack.com/video.aspx?videoID=686946529001_373

Sources for Thomas Jones photos: http://dontmesswithtexans.com/tag/duane-brown/
http://www.operationsports.com/forums/pro-football/208464-yearly-thomas-jones-pic.html

Ya Gotta Start Somewhere

Even as a beginner, you can study the correct form of lifting from people who know what they're doing. You won't be able to do as much as them at first.

That's okay. There's no shame in getting down the fundamentals before you proceed to more difficult lifts and heavier weight.

You're not doing yourself any good by trying to be ambitious and lift a bunch of weight before you've learned how to do the lighter weight the right way. That's how you mess up your back or tear a muscle. Then you've gotten no where. Train hard but train smart.

Learn to be patient. Results come with patience.