Archive for exercise programs, exercise Q&A, fitness commentary, strength training
Q&A: Hip Bridge: Push or Pull?
In the midst of a project related to the curriculum at FPTI, a healthy debate arose last week amongst my colleagues: What determines whether a lower-body exercise is termed a “push” or a “pull?”
With the upper body, it’s pretty clear: A push is a vertical or horizontal movement that involves moving a load AWAY from the body (either overhead or to the front, respectively), whereas a pull is a vertical or horizontal movement that involves bringing a load TOWARD the body (either from overhead or from the front, respectively). Here are some examples:
Do We Really Need To Stretch?
Hope everyone had a nice holiday!
Christmas with my family is never dull, to say the least. I have Porky Pig to thank for this year’s entertainment:
It’s no stretch to say that I must have heard that song close to 25 times in the two days I was actually home – yet everyone still got a good laugh at that poor pig’s expense every time. Thankfully, it looks like 2012 will bring some better music: In case you hadn’t heard, Van Halen will be touring with David Lee Roth!
More Support For Circuit Training
Circuit training is typically touted as a time-efficient way to improve body composition and general fitness. But because its use of short rest intervals usually requires lighter loading, circuit training has never really been viewed as an optimal way to increase strength – until now.
Random Thoughts
1. I’m working with the strength & conditioning department at Columbia this semester and they have a pretty cool way of teaching proper back squat technique. Here’s how to do it:
- Remove the catch bars from the rack.
- Rest the bar on the backs of your shoulders (high-bar position). NOTE: This exercise is really meant to be done with just the bar (65 lbs. MAX).
- Walk forward in the rack as far as you can until the bar hits the posts.
- Set your feet at about hip width but DO NOT MOVE THEM BACK.
- Sit your hips back and descend into a squat. THE BAR SHOULD GLIDE AGAINST THE POSTS.
- Push back up to the starting position. THE BAR SHOULD GLIDE AGAINST THE POSTS.
The idea is that by constraining the bar to a vertical path, you can’t lean forward from the torso (thereby reducing torque on the low back) and you have to sit your hips back first. But the key is to NOT move your feet back after you walk forward in the rack. So it’s kind of like a Smith machine squat, except not stupid.
Effective Exercises: Band-Assisted Chin-ups
The vertical pull is one of several fundamental movement patterns just about everyone should do. Moreover, it’s one that just about everyone could stand to get better at. Problem is, it often gets left out because it’s hard for a lot of people to do a pull-up. But as goes one of the best quotes from one of the greatest movies of all time (leave a comment if you know what it is!), “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.”
Different variations of the lat pulldown are fine for beginners, but they do little for core strength and stability, and they don’t teach you to handle your own bodyweight. Nothing screams strength like pull-ups and chin-ups. Of course, it takes time to get your back strong enough to pull up your entire bodyweight. You can usually find an assistance machine in a conventional gym, but what if you train somewhere else?
Enter the Superband.
Training for Parenthood: Part 1 with Ilene Bergelson
If you missed our introductory Q & A with Ilene, be sure to check that out first here. Today, we talk with her about some specific lifting considerations for pregnant women and people with excess abdominal weight.
When Bracing Goes Bad
Before I tell this story, I need to make a couple of disclaimers:
1) What I’m about to tell you did not, in any way, change my belief about the importance of core stability training (nor should it change yours); and
2) The fact that I find the following incident somewhat laughable in hindsight is OK because it happened to me. Your laughing at the potentially dangerous situation, however, is NOT acceptable, and if I catch you smirking the next time I see you I will beat you down!
What Unpredictable Performance Really Means
Have you ever had weeks where you seem to lift flawlessly one day yet struggle to get even one good rep just a few days later?
You probably chock it up to fatigue (CNS or otherwise), but that may not be the only explanation. I’m taking Motor Development this semester and we’ve recently been discussing how motor learning isn’t a linear process at all. Skill acquisition typically occurs in steps with multiple periods of regression, and performance can therefore vary greatly from one day to the next. Perhaps this explains Christina Aguilera’s butchering of our national anthem at the Super Bowl…
Core Training in 2011
“Core training” is always a hot topic, New Year or not.
Now that Dr. Stuart McGill’s evolving research has shown us that training for core stability – the ability to control the position of the spine when subjected to an outside force – is the way to go, the bigger question is, How do we do this in the most effective and efficient manner?
Over the last couple of years, “anti-rotation” exercises have headed the list of essentials; the latest variation from Tony Gentilcore is shown here:
Non-Linear Unplanned Undulating What??
Undulating periodization is as popular as Facebook these days.
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