How to Build Muscle, Gain Strength & Become a Better Athlete » Strength & Conditioning

Rotating Exercises, Squats & Deads in the Same Week

Jason Ferruggia — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:01:35 +0000

Question: Jay,

Two quick questions regarding the squat and deadlift and rotating these lifts.

1. How does rotating through several lower body lifts affect your muscular development over the long term?

I know that it is a great way to build well rounded strength and keep your CNS refreshed so you can go hard on lifts, but would focus on one variation and doing longer programming methods result in more size and strength?

2. Also, it seems from your last few programs that you’re not big on squatting and deadlifting from the floor in the same week. Are you starting to get the sense that more than what most intermediate level guys can recover from?

Thanks,

-Chris

Answer: For muscular development it probably won’t make much difference. Bodybuilders use a variety of methods and exercises. But if you are just concerned with improving your back squat it’s probably better to work strictly on that lift with varying loads, percentages and intensities throughout the year instead of doing box squats, front squats, safety bar squats, etc.

To get better at something you need to do it often. So squatting three times per week until you were fairly strong would be a good idea. Once you start moving some very big weights you might want to back off on the frequency a bit just due to the long term wear and tear it may have on your body.

Of course, Olympic lifters squat every day and it can be done with outstanding results. It just really depends on the individual, the recovery ability, the boredom factor, etc. Plus no one really knows what the long term damage may be from loading your spine and knees with three to five hundred pounds multiple times per week. It’s really a guessing game and your call at that point.

If a big squat is important to than you need to squat often for a few years. After that you can decide what you want to do going forward.

Now, to address your second question I will start by saying that most people recover very poorly from squatting because they do it improperly. 99% of all people technically shouldn’t be squatting without first correcting asymmetries, improving flexibility and mobility, doing some unilateral training to improve stability, etc.

This process should take 12-24 weeks. I know that sounds like an incredibly long time but three to six months isn’t really too long to sacrifice if you intend to be doing this stuff for the next 30-50 years. Believe me, it’s way smarter to take care of it up front than to wait for the injuries to start creeping up and being forced to add mobility work instead of doing it by choice from the get go.

After that initial pre-squat period I’d say that about 80-85% of people could probably do a heavy back squat with good form and do so safely.

The remaining 15-20% probably will never be able to squat without some lumbar flexion or other issues that can lead to long term injuries. Now, that’s not to say those people won’t squat or can’t squat, it’s just that if they want to remain healthy for the long term and not be hobbling around beaten, broken and scarred like so many lifters in their 50’s and 60’s it’s not in their best interest.

Remember, if you’re not a powerlifter you don’t need to do exactly what they do. There are always other options.

Picture courtesy of traviscoffmanphotography.com

IF you can squat properly (high bar, Olympic style below parallel with no tuck) you can do it three times per week with very minimal recovery issues as long as you take your time slowly building up to it. I’d recommend something like a heavy, light, medium scheme as Mark Berry advised back in the 1930’s.

If you choose to do a low bar squat with a wide stance your shoulders, elbows and hips will get too beat up to squat multiple times per week and I wouldn’t even entertain the thought.

The deadlift is a whole different animal. Pulling a straight bar from the floor crushes you and impairs your ability to do anything else very effectively for the next few days. With the lower back strain you’ll be experiencing from deads it’s harder to squat, overhead press, bent over row and do just about any other standing exercise.

More effective than eliminating the combo of the two in the same week is the total removal of straight bar deads from the floor (except for a rare testing day if you were interested in that) and the minimizing of heavy pulling for guys who are strong and have been training for a while. Lighter pulls like high pulls and shrug pulls from blocks are more effective for those guys, with the heavy stuff snuck in on occasion.

Nowadays I’d recommend guys that can pull 405 for 5 from the floor instead do sets of 335-405 off of rubber mats stacked 4-8″ high with absolutely picture perfect form and no lumbar flexion or grinding AT ALL. That means when you initiate the pull you don’t start by raising the hips first or by first slipping into a bit of lumbar flexion.

If you deadlift like that it’s far safer. And think about it… even though you’d be using weights that are far below your max you’re still using a weight that is much heavier than any other back exercise you could do. If instead of using 405 on the deadlift you did 355 with perfect form it’s still significantly more weight than you could ever bent over row. So you’re getting the benefits without the negatives.

Remember, submaximal training is what leads to maximal results.

If you liked this post do me a favor and hit the Like button and share it with everyone you have ever made eye contact with.

My #1 Most Bestest, Baddest Training Secret Ever!?

Jason Ferruggia — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 19:22:11 +0000

“Everybody’s doing something. We’ll do nothing!”

If I told you that I’ve got a secret that will help you stay healthier and make far better strength gains this year than any year ever before would you be interested?

Yes?

Okay, here it is…

Do nothing.

Don’t lift weights. Don’t do bodyweight stuff. Don’t run sprints.

Just do nothing.

For a month.

Now before you all get to thinking I’ve lost my mind (which happened many moons ago) let me explain.

First of all, what I’m going to tell you doesn’t apply unless you’ve been training properly for at least three years straight.

For everyone else who’s been training for a while and has been moving some serious weights over the course of many hours accumulated in the gym, listen up. Sometimes a single week off every 8-12 weeks (as I always recommend to everyone) isn’t long enough to let everything heal up properly.

We put ourselves through a pretty good pounding with all the heavy lifting and you have to think about the knees, hips, shoulders, lower back, etc. They need a break once in a while.

Yes, the human body can withstand a lot of punishment. And yes, you can eventually adapt to doing an enormous amount of work. But there has to be a price to pay in the long term. I know we’re made to run and jump and lift heavy things, but probably not at the level that some of us do it at.

Prehistoric man most likely ran a sprint a few times per day when being pursued by a predator or when chasing his dinner. He probably did some heavy lifting a few times per week, if necessary to build shelter or move something out of his way. But he didn’t do rep after rep of it at the frequency and volume that most of us do.

Please understand that I’m not telling you to train heavy, hard and often.

What I’m saying is that you should cycle in less intensive training phases, cycle your loads and most importantly, take some more time off.

Eventually, if you don’t take a break once in a while and scale back the intensity, the volume and even take some complete layoffs things will start to break down. Knees, wrists, elbows, shoulders, etc. Surely some of you know exactly what I mean.

After football season most athletes take at least a month off and do nothing. Now, some guys are training the next day but it’s always light stuff for at least the first 4-6 weeks. In general, football players will take long layoffs, though, in order to let their bodies heal.

When you think about what happens over a year of training and you compare guys who train 52 weeks versus guys who train 16-24 weeks you see that the strength gains aren’t that much different. Any strength coach can tell you this.

Greg Jones & other pros probably take more time off than you do.

When we work with an athlete we’ll usually have 3-6 months. After that they’re back in season or at school. During that time they make the same or better strength gains than the guys who train 12 months out of the year. Most times the gains are actually better.

It’s crazy and probably even disheartening for some people to hear but it is the truth. I see it time and time again.

So what does that tell you? It tells you that you’re doing a lot of training and accumulating a lot of joint stress for very little long term progress.

Many old time Iron Game legends used to recommend and take long layoffs and I truly believe it’s something everyone should do at least once per year.

Of course, doing so is very difficult because of the fact that we all love to train so much. I, for one, should know better; especially since I see it all the time, first hand. I see the guys who train half the year making greater gains than the guys who train all year.

I also see the guys who go pedal to the medal all the time getting one injury after another.

Being the knucklehead that I am I’ve been guilty of this for far longer than I’d care to admit.

Don’t do what I’ve been guilty of doing too often. Take the off weeks I recommend every 8-16 weeks. It will make a world of difference. Deload regularly, somewhere between every three and eight weeks.

I know and understand the fear that deloading or taking breaks will make you weaker, but nothing could be further from truth. Most people get stronger by doing so.

I was talking with my buddy, John Alvino the other day and we were discussing a sixteen week block of training when I made some of the most rapid strength gains of my life, putting over fifty pounds on my squat and deadlift. During this time I trained for three weeks straight at steadily increasing intensity and volume and then took the fourth week completely off.

Three weeks of intense loading followed by one week of deloading is a pretty widely accepted practice. But in this case I didn’t deload. I simply skipped going to the gym. And I can’t remember ever making faster gains. Why I stopped doing it I’ll never know.

Aside from the weeks off and the deloads I recommend one or two extended layoffs per year where you step away from the gym and just rest up for 2-4 weeks. In the beginning of the article I was exaggerating a bit for dramatic effect. You don’t have to literally do nothing. You can still be active and play some pick up sports, hike, swim, surf, snowboard, etc. but it would be a good idea to back off of heavy training for that time. Give your body and mind a break.

During extended layoffs many people report better sleep and elevated sex drive. I’ve also even seen people get leaner during these times. That makes me think that their cortisol was elevated and testosterone was suppressed. The rest was just what was needed to get things back on track.

In order to make these extended layoffs less mentally torturous try to plan them around your busiest time of year or a long vacation.

When you return to the gym it would be best to start out light and slowly ramp your way back up to where you used to be. I wrote a very controversial article many years back about why breaking down your training into longer blocks of less intensive loading with lighter weights throughout the year was probably a better idea than always going balls to the wall heavy as so many people love to do. The recent growing popularity of block periodization tells me that a lot of other people are starting to think the same thing.

Extended periods of easier training and time off is a very difficult concept for many of us to grasp or accept.

I get that.

I have the injuries to show exactly how much I get that. I don’t plan on accumulating any new ones, though.

I hope that you won’t either.

Take some more time off and thank me later.

PS. Uncaged is one of my most popular programs and cycles the the intensity up and down in a very strategic way over the course of 16 weeks. Click HERE to check it out.

And if you enjoyed this post do me a favor and hit the LIKE button below and share it with the rest of the free world.

Thanks!

23 Random Muscle & Strength Building Tips

Jason Ferruggia — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:24:04 +0000

Cutesy intro, blah, blah, blah…

1) Make farmers walks a regular part of your program. They build your traps, core and grip while developing tremendous total body strength and stability. If you don’t own farmers walk implements simply grab the heaviest dumbbells you can and walk around the gym with them until your grip gives out. Do this for 2-3 sets at the end of your workout.

2) If your knees bother you when squatting try doing 2-4 sets of glute ham raises first. I’ve seen this help out quite a bit with clients who had knee issues but still wanted to squat.

3) If you’re too weak to do glute hams properly you can flex at the hip, thus shortening the lever arm which will make them easier.

4) Forward and backward sled dragging before squats is another good idea for the beat up or older lifter. That warms up the knee and gets a little pump in the muscles.

5) Another good pre squat ritual is doing terminal knee extensions with a band. Everyone could benefit from doing this before squat workouts, not just older or beat up lifters. Do 2-3 sets of 15-20 reps.

6) When doing any type of rowing or chin up variation think about driving back with the elbows instead of simply pulling with the biceps.

7) If you need to bring up your calves try doing single leg calf raises followed by single leg hopping in place. Do 10-15 reps on the calf raise with a heavy weight and then immediately hop on that leg until you can’t get off the ground anymore. Rest and repeat for 3-5 sets.

8) Beginners can train their core by simply squatting, deadlifting and overhead pressing. That will be enough for them. Advanced guys who want to bring up their squats and deads need more ab work, though. Lots more. The worlds strongest lifters do quite a bit of loaded abdominal work. Some of the best choices are Power Wheel rollouts, partial range Turkish get ups, Janda sit ups, decline sit ups, hanging knee/leg raises, suitcase deadlifts, 1 arm farmers walks, Pallof presses, anti rotation cable exercises and full contact twists.

9) When doing rotational core work be sure to rotate from the hips and not just your lower back. Rotating from the lumbar spine can be dangerous and lead to injury. Always brace and get the hips involved.

10) If you have shoulder issues do all of your rowing exercises with a weight that allows you to hold a peak contraction for a second or two. That will ensure that the load isn’t so heavy that it could lead to more potential injuries.

11) If you’re doing unilateral (single limb) exercises in hopes that your strength levels will one day be equal in each limb you can stop now. The two sides will never be 100% even. So don’t put that in your head. If there is a huge disparity then you should do them and to try to close the gap. Just know that it will never completely even out.

12) When you decide to implement jumps into your routine for the first time start with box jumps. The kind where you jump on the box and step off. Those are the easiest on the body and should always be your first progression.

13) Broad jumps are another great power exercise but be very, very careful when introducing them for the first time. Your knees, shins and core can take a pounding on those if you’re not ready. On the first day I wouldn’t jump at more than 75-80% of your max. Ease into it over time and let your body adapt.

14) On deadlifts remember to pull back, not just up.

15) If you’re over 40 you may find that you getter better results from doing heavy deadlifts once every other week instead of weekly. Even once every three to four weeks could be enough if you’re strong.

16) If you’re working up to a single on a big lift and make too big of a jump, leading you to miss a weight you should have gotten try waiting a few minutes and then reducing the load by about 5-10%. So if you thought you should have been able to hit 315 but missed it because you jumped from 275 right to it when you probably should have done 295 first try doing this…

Reduce the load back down to 285-295, wait two to three minutes and then blasting out a single with that. By getting a strong rep with that weight your performance on the next attempt will usually be significantly better. This is a little trick I’ve used with great success plenty of times.

17) For shoulder health do some type of pushup variation on a regular basis.

18) Try a thumbless grip on military presses. This seems to work wonders for getting the bar path right and making the exercise feel better on the elbows and shoulders. Thanks to Smitty from the Diesel Crew for introducing me and several others to this idea.

19) Most people could stand to improve their ankle mobility. This is one of the reasons some of you can’t squat to parallel while maintaining a neutral spine. It can also lead to injuries for athletes. Doing something as simple as standing on one foot and writing out the alphabet with your other foot a couple times each day can go a long way. I’m doing it right now as I type this at my standing desk. Give it a shot.

20) Having said that, a pair of Olympic lifting/ squat shoes will improve almost everyone’s squat instantly. It will also make the lift a lot safer because it will drastically reduce the likelihood of tucking at the bottom. You wear specific shoes for basketball, bowling, football and golf, why not get some that are specifically designed for squatting? It’s an exercise you’ll probably be doing quite a bit and one that pays huge dividends. Click HERE for the squat shoes I use and recommend to all my clients.

You have shoes for every other sport, why not squatting?

21) If you’re going to squat or deadlift on Wednesday it would be a good idea to avoid lower back intensive exercises such as heavy bent over rows on Monday or Tuesday. Opt instead for a chest supported or inverted row variation.

22) When in doubt, do more low rep warm up sets. This will always lead to a better performance on your top end sets than fewer high rep warm up sets. If you jump straight into your heaviest set without properly warming up and exciting your CNS the weight will always feel heavier than it should.

23) Join the Renegade Inner Circle. You’ll get a brand new Renegade training program designed by me each month, access to our private community where you can ask me all of your questions on daily basis as well as tons of other great info that will lead to you possibly dating the models of your choice, winning MVP trophies and getting elected to office. Or possibly not. Tough to say. You’ll only know if you join.

Hopefully you picked up a tip or two there that will help you gain some new size and strength. Let me know if you have questions or tips to add of your own in the comments section below.

Also, if you enjoyed this post, could you do me a favor and click the Facebook Like button?

Thanks

Big Blue Sale

Jason Ferruggia — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:48:20 +0000

To celebrate the Giant’s home opener tonight I’m running a one day sale on Renegade Football Strength. This guide is chock full of in season workouts to keep you or your athletes strong throughout the season and has an entire off season plan that you can get started on in the winter.

Check it out at RenegadeFootballStrength.com

How to Box Squat Properly

Jason Ferruggia — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:57:41 +0000

The box squat is a great tool for teaching people how to squat properly. A lot of people can’t squat with passable form their first time out but just about everyone can box squat, as long as you set the box to an appropriate height. That means the point at which they can maintain a neutral spine or where they start crashing into the box due to weak hamstrings. It also teaches people to sit back a bit more and helps alleviate some of the knees forward, quad dominant squatting that is so prevalent in beginners.

It’s also a good exercise for those with bad knees who may not be able to free squat anymore. Today I want to present some of the most commonly seen mistakes on the box squat so that if you choose to use them you actually do them properly and derive some benefit from the exercise.

Sitting Back Too Far- Although I said that box squats teach you to sit back you will also see people overdoing this and making a huge mistake. I see it all the time. What we have here is yet another case of people seeing what Westside does and applying it to their own training without changing a thing. You only sit that far back if you are planning on competing in a squat suit. Otherwise your box squat should look pretty damn similar to your regular free squat. The shins should NOT be perpendicular to the floor. They should be at very near the same angle they would be when free squatting. Unless you have bad knees and the box squat is the only form of squatting you ever intend to do. If you intend to free squat sitting that far back with a negative shin angle will end up having zero transfer when you remove the box.

Taking Too Wide of a Stance- Again, your box squat should look fairly similar to your free squat. There’s no need to spread your feet out so wide that they’re under each side of the power rack. Unless you’re wearing squat briefs or a suit that’s a great way to destroy your hips and it’s not very sport specific in the least. A normal, slightly wider than shoulder width stance should suffice.

Leaning Forward Too Much- At the bottom of a squat your torso should always be leaning forward a bit. It will never be perpendicular to the floor, nor would you want it to be. Your strongest stance would an athletic stance; like if you were playing linebacker or guarding a guy in basketball. That’s how you should look at the bottom of a squat. For some reason I see a lot of guys almost good morning their box squats. No need to do this. Keep the trunk at the same angle it would during a free squat.

Rocking- Those lifters who lean forward too much will usually also be the ones who rock. What happens is they lower themselves to the box with a forward lean, then they rock back so that they are almost sitting straight up then they quickly reverse the motion and rock forward again to generate some momentum before standing back up. Don’t do that.

Skating- The same guys that rock also sometimes do the seemingly impossible and let their feet come up off the ground or start skating around like they’re on ice in the bottom position. In other words they are no longer bolted to the floor. They are completely sitting on the box while letting the pressure come up off their feet a bit while they rock back to generate momentum. When that happens your spine is bearing all the load in an unhealthy manner, being compressed between the bar and the box.

Crashing Onto the Box- This is a pretty serious injury waiting to happen. You want to lower yourself slowly to the box, sit on it, while staying very tight, pause for a second and then explode up. Do not crash on the box if you still want to be walking upright in twenty years.

“Releasing the Hips” or Relaxing at the Bottom- Some people read that dynamic effort box squats had something to do with “static overcome by dynamic work” and started applying that information to every rep of box squats they did; heavy or not.

However, if you are going to use the box squat as a strength building exercise, I personally do not believe that you should ever release or relax anything at the bottom while sitting on the box. EVERYTHING must remain tight. Your upper back, lower back, abs, obliques, hips, legs, grip, everything. You should be sitting on the box like a motionless statue. The only thing you do is pause briefly and then you stand back up the exact same way you sat down.

Good luck.

Are Trap Bar Deadlifts Safer Than Straight Bar Deadlifts?

Jason Ferruggia — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 18:29:08 +0000

People often ask me, “Are trap bar deadlifts safer than straight bar deadlifts?” In the past I might have been inclined to say yes. But that was before I witnessed a lot of average guys sustain some really odd injuries while trap bar deadlifting over the last three years.

You see, when you get used to working with a higher level, more athletic clientele it can skew your viewpoint on things a bit. I’ve found that to be the case with a few concepts that I once believed to be true. After being able to test them on a wider pool of average guys they didn’t pan out as well.

The theory that trap bar deadlifts are safer than straight bar deadlifts is just one of those beliefs that I’m referring to. The trap bar deadlift is thought to be safer than a straight bar deadlift because of the fact that more people can get into the start position of a trap bar deadlift without rounding their lower backs.

Very few people can pull a straight bar from the floor without some pretty serious spinal flexion. Sure, they can improve their hip and ankle mobility and put in some serious flexibility work which will lead to them being able to pull a straight bar with perfect form within 12-16 weeks. But the first time out not a lot of people can do it.

Others just aren’t built for it and will never be able to. Then we have athletes or clients who can only train for a 2-4 months at a time in between seasons. They don’t have the time to work their way into a perfect straight bar deadlift. So in this case the trap bar is often called upon.

The trap bar deadlift is a nice combination of a squat and a deadlift. Like a straight bar dead from the floor, most people can’t squat properly without several weeks of preparation either. But it’s the very rare genetic misfit who can’t do a pretty good looking trap bar deadlift within their first month of attempting to do so.

For that reason right there it becomes the go-to lower body exercise for numerous strength coaches.

The problem, however, is that the trap bar deadlift is a very unstable movement. When you combine heavy weights with shaky, unstable movements you may be asking for trouble. What I mean by this is that unlike the straight bar, which locks you into place because the bar is grinding against your thighs, you’re kind of just out there flapping in the breeze with the trap bar.

I believe Mark Rippetoe mentioned this a few years back but I never gave it much credence at the time. However, I now wholeheartedly agree that the trap bar could be much riskier and cause more injuries than the straight bar. I’ve seen too many weird, Exorcist like moves and injuries the last few years to think otherwise.

With light weights it’s easy as could be to maintain perfect form on a trap bar, but as soon as you start piling on the plates the bar starts moving in places it shouldn’t. Advanced lifters can usually control this. But the benefit of the trap bar is supposedly that novice and intermediate lifters can use it. What often happens is when pulling out of the bottom, they’ll roll the bar. I’ve seen it go forwards and I’ve seen it go backwards. Neither direction is good.

Notice the arm angle and placement of the hands in relation to the torso.

With the straight bar this doesn’t happen. You simply instruct the lifter to pull back and the bar rolls up the shins as it should. Notice the start position of the lifter pictured to the right. If he attempts to pull back from that position, as he would with a straight bar, he could be going over backwards. And getting injured in the process.

At the midrange point on the trap bar deadlift I’ve seen novice and intermediate lifters break out into a full on Beyonce style dance routine, shimmying from side to side as the bar just sways in the breeze. Again, I’ve never seen this with a straight bar.

Finally, at lockout, when a strong hip extension and glute contraction is required, the straight bar will stop you from going too far. You can only hump the bar so much. But have a lifter with less than a year or two of experience do this on the trap bar and you may see some Cirque du Soleil type freakish back bending that results in an injury.

I actually saw a kid do four perfect reps on the trap bar deadlift this winter only to finish out his fifth and final rep by tripling his hip extension for some reason. I guess he just wanted to finish strong. At the top of the lift this hands were actually behind him and it looked like he was about to limbo under an imaginary bar in front of him. My eyes lit up wide like I had just seen a live beheading.

So the answer to the question, “Are trap bar deadlifts safer than straight bar deadlifts,” is no, not necessarily. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t.. My opinion is that with heavier, top end weights the trap bar is more dangerous. But with submaximal weights the trap bar can be safer.

Beginners should only use submaximal weights so the trap bar is a good way to work them down to a straight bar if that is your goal. However, if you get a strong guy pulling more than five or six hundred pounds on the trap bar you have to consider the risk of how free and “out there,” the trap bar is. There’s nothing locking you in like there is with the straight bar and even advanced lifters may get out of their groove just a bit. All it takes is a slight deviation from the perfect bar path and you’re on the shelf for a month or three.

The safest choice of all is a rack deadlift set on the pins as low as you need them to maintain a neutral spine. As I mentioned, the majority of people will round their lower back when pulling a straight bar from the floor. That will probably lead to injury eventually, if you do it heavy enough, long enough. So the solution is to simply raise the bar up on pins or rubber mats (even better) just as high as you need it to keep a neutral spine. This may be two inches for Johnny and six inches for Joey. It depends on your body and a variety of factors.

If you had to pick one form of deadlifting as the safest for the largest majority of people that would be it right there- a low rack pull or a deadlift off a stack of mats.

Lifting heavy weights of any sort is fun, plain and simple. And we all accept that there are serious risks involved. So if you like to pull with one bar more than the other by all means do so. It’s your call. At the end of the day you gotta move some heavy iron and you gotta have fun doing it. I’m just sharing my experience and trying to keep you guys healthy so you can be in this for the long haul.

I’m basing this off of a pool of about 70-80 guys I worked with over the last few years but would love to hear your feedback. Have you found this to be the same? What has been your experience with the trap bar versus the straight bar? What do you think is the safest form or deadlift for the masses?

Arthur Saxon on Conditioning

Jason Ferruggia — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:45:49 +0000

Arthur Saxon was a big influence on me, as obvious by the Renegade logo at the top of this site. I’m obsessed with old time strongmen and old school methods of training. One of the things I like about the early days of Physical Culture is that everyone did everything.

Meaning that bodybuilders lifted heavy weights and competed in contests where they had to do more than pose. Lifters possessed impressive physiques and usually didn’t gain unnecessary fat to simply improve their leverages on an exercise and lift more weight.

Olympic lifts were not practiced only by Olympic lifters but were a part of everyone’s repertoire. And bodyweight training was a staple in the golden era of Physical Culture. Handstands , front levers and various gymnastics exercises that I incorporate into nearly all of my training programs were routinely used by everyone training for strength in those days.

One component of fitness that a lot of strength obsessed individuals forget about is conditioning. In order to be truly fit or to be a dominant athlete you need both strength AND conditioning. Strength without conditioning does very little for you unless you are a competitive lifter. And even then you need a certain level of conditioning, which is why you always hear Louie Simmons stressing the importance of it.

At first glance you might assume that strongman competitors have no conditioning to speak of but after you see some of the events they compete in it you realize that this is far from the truth.

This is why I am always stressing the importance of cutting down your rest periods where appropriate during your workouts and adding in a few weekly sessions of sprints, tempo runs, prowler pushes, or other high intensity conditioning methods. It’s healthy, it keeps you lean and makes you an overall better athlete….which is still important even if you don’t compete in anything. Because honestly, just being a big, fat strong guy who gets winded going up stairs isn’t really in anymore.

Here’s what Arthur Saxon had to say about the issue one hundred plus years ago:

“The usual idea about strength–I mean the idea of the averager eader of health magazines–is generally a wrong one. Although a weightlifter (and weightlifters are supposed to be very narrow-minded in their views on this subject), I hope that I, personally, am broad-minded enough to recognize that a man does not prove himself an all-round strong man just because he is able to lift a heavy weight, especially when the weight is lifted once only. The following is my diagnosis of real strength:

Genuine strength should include not only momentary strength, as proved by the ability to lift a heavy weight once, but also the far more valuable kind of strength known as strength for endurance.

This means the ability, if you are a cyclist, to jump on your machine and ride 100 miles at any time without undue fatigue; if a wrestler, to wrestle a hard bout for half an hour with a good man without a rest, yet without becoming exhausted and reaching the limit of your strength.

Apart from sports, enduring strength means that the business man shall stand, without a break-down, business cares and worries, that he shall be capable, when necessary, of working morning, afternoon and night with unflagging energy, holding tightly in his grasp the reins of business, retaining all the while a clear mind and untiring energy, both of body and brain.

The man who can miss a night’s rest or miss a meal or two without showing any ill effect or without losing any physical power, is better entitled to be considered a strong man than the man who is only apparently strong, being possessed of momentary strength, which is, after all, a muscle test pure and simple.”

Merrell Trail Glove Review

Jason Ferruggia — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:57:09 +0000

“Yeah, I got on sneaks but I need a new pair.”

Like most people who grew up listening to hip hop in the eighties and early nineties, I was a sneaker head. When birthdays or Christmas rolled around sneakers were the only thing I’d ask for. And when I had any extra money in my pocket I’d immediately hustle on over to Foot Locker to grab some fresh new kicks.

But those days are long gone.

That’s not to say I won’t stop dead in my tracks if I see a rare pair of Air Jordan 1’s or 3’s (especially if a big-ass-havin-girl in a thong wearing a Yankees hat is carrying them). Cuz I damn sure will. I just can’t endure the pain of wearing them anymore. Although I’m sure it’s hard to tell because of my ever present Fonzie cool, I’m not that much of a slave to fashion.

The fact of the matter is most sneakers just aren’t that comfortable. Old school Jordan’s are like dress shoes and make the same exact sound when you walk. Like a teacher entering a class room. How can that be a good time?

Same with Dunks and Air Force One’s. Puma’s like Clydes or California’s are a lot better but still not ultra comfortable. My all time personal favorite sneaker from a looks and comfort combo is the Adidas Campus. That’s an old school classic that you can never go wrong with; especially when you go with black laces. I must have had at least a dozen or more pairs of those in my life.

These days, however, I need comfort, first and foremost. I spend a lot of time on my feet, even when I’m on the computer (I work from a standing desk as I recommend everyone does) and after a while the wrong shoes really start to bother my feet, ankles, knees, hips and lower back.

Enter the Merrell Trail Glove. I got my first pair of these about a month or so ago and abso-freakin-lutely love them. I’d say without a shadow of a doubt that from a comfort/performance perspective they’re my all time favorite sneakers.

They’re an ultra light, breathable, flat, Vibram Five Finger made into a sneaker. The soles of the Merrell’s are actually made by Vibram. The cool added benefit that Merrell’s have over the Vibram Five’s is that you can actually wear them somewhere other than the gym without looking like Sir Douche a Lot or “Kooky Workout Guy.”

As comfortable and as good for your posture as Vibram’s may be the fact is you aint gettin’ laid if you wear them out to a bar.

Over the last four of five weeks since purchasing the Merrell’s I have done the following in them:

• Trained- Usually I train in Vibrams (unless I’m squatting) but the Merrell’s were awesome for standing exercises, single leg work and Prowler pushes. Definitely better than any other type of sneaker for lifting in but I’d still give the Vibram’s a slight edge there only because I feel a little bit more connected to the ground in them. But you can’t go wrong with the Merrell’s.

• Ran Hill Sprints- The Merrell’s felt great on the hill and gave a little bit more traction than the Vibram’s. They’re definitely far superior to any other running sneaker; especially the Nike Free which is a high heel dress shoe masquerading as a barefoot sneaker. Those things ruin my lower back after about an hour of wearing them.

• Walked Around Disney Land for Nine Hours Straight- Usually a long day of walking and standing around causes my lower back to start aching. My feet, ankles, knees and hips will also start feeling it after about three or fours as well. After nine hours in the Merrell’s I felt amazing. I could have walked until the next day. In Vibram’s I’m good for a few hours and then my heels start to hurt which must affect my stride because that leads to achy knees and lower back discomfort shortly after. The Merrell’s were pure comfort all day long.

• Got Down To Old School Hip Hop til the Wee Hours of The Morning- For a variety of reasons I don’t go out at night anywhere near as much as I used to. One of the reasons, as I’m sure thirty something’s worldwide will agree with, is that they don’t play the music we grew up with anymore. I like the stuff being put out by guys like Kanye and T.I. but throw on some Main Source or Brand Nubian and I’ll lose my mind.

Well, old school hip hop fans, if you’re ever in Vegas on a Wednesday night check out Lavo at the Palazzo. They play as much good music as you’ll hear out at a bar or club these days.

Anyway, back to the Merrell’s… the truth is that as long as old school hip hop is on I can pretty much fight through anything and feel no pain. But I still felt a hell of a lot better than I would have if I was rocking regular kicks.

• Had Sex- Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, you can only get the pants down as far as they need to go and the sneakers need to stay on. Which is a good thing since certain positions and surfaces require more traction. Again, the Merrell’s get two thumbs up here.

So if you want an awesome pair of sneakers that give you all the benefits of the Vibram Five Fingers without repelling all females within a one hundred foot radius I’d highly recommend getting a pair of Merrell Trail Gloves.

Check out them out HERE.

How to Become More Explosive

Jason Ferruggia — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:34:19 +0000

Being big and strong is great.

But how to become more explosive is a question all athletes need to be more concerned with.

Being big, strong and explosive makes someone a bad motherfucker.

In most sports strength without speed is useless. Strong, slow athletes usually don’t make it to the top, unless we’re talking bout sumo wrestling. But even then, being explosive would give you a huge advantage.

There are countless ways to develop explosive power but I like to keep things simple so here’s the easiest way to do it.

Simply add jumps to your workout 1-2 days per week.

If you train full body these can be done any day. If you do upper/lower splits put them at the beginning of one of your lower body days immediately after your dynamic warm up.

To keep it simple do three sets of five on easy jumps and five sets of three on more difficult jump variations.

Rest about 45-90 seconds between sets (depending on the intensity of the jump, your bodyweight, etc.)

There are fancier jumps than those I’m going to list below but not all of them can be done in public or home gyms so I’ll keep it basic.

The #1 choice here would be box jumps; preferably on a nice padded plyo box.

That is the least stressful jump and the easiest to do and recover from because there is very minimal loading during the landing when compared to all other jumps; especially if you’re on cushioned plyo boxes. If you don’t have padded boxes, wooden or steel boxes will have to do. They will still be less stressful than landing most other jumps on the same surface you took off from or higher, in other words- the floor.

The #2 choice would be hurdle jumps. Set up a box, bench or hurdle and simply jump over it. You can do this straight ahead or you can do lateral hurdle jumps. The first level of hurdle jumps would have you simply jumping over the hurdle, sticking the landing, then turning around and jumping back over it. When you get good at that you can set up three to five hurdles in a row and jump over all of them in sequence with minimal ground contact time.

The #3 choice would be a standing long jump. But I have to warn you BE VERY CAUTIOUS when first starting out on long jumps/ broad jumps. These are by far the most stressful of the three and if you don’t ease into them or aren’t prepared you can definitely end up with some knee injuries, sore shins or even torn abdominal muscles (which I have seen happen, first hand).

I’ve actually witnessed not one but two different people popping abdominal muscles on this exercise because they weren’t physically prepared.

The more important message here is to never let yourself get so out of shape that you aren’t prepared to jump. The human body is made to run and jump so you should do so on a regular basis in order to maintain the athleticism of your youth.

Anyway, that’s the simplest way to become more explosive

Simply add three to fives sets of three to five jumps at the beginning of one workout each week.

This will fire up your central nervous system, improve your squat and your overall athletic prowess.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Renegade Football Strength is Back

Jason Ferruggia — Thu, 19 May 2011 13:05:53 +0000

Hey guys, I just wanted to give everyone a quick heads up and let you know that Renegade Football Strength is back up for sale for the first time in over a year and it’s all brand new and fully updated with new info, new programs, etc. for 2011.

I’ve got not just one, not two, but THREE full 12 week summer training programs for beginners to advanced athletes/lifters. Rookie, Veteran and All Pro workouts are included along with In Season workouts, summer speed, agility and conditioning work and much more.

The time to be to training for football season is right now.

And Renegade Football Strength is on sale until this Saturday.

Coaches, trainers and athletes grab your copy today by clicking the link below:

==> Get Renegade Football Strength HERE

How to Build Muscle, Gain Strength & Become a Better Athlete » Strength & Conditioning

Rotating Exercises, Squats & Deads in the Same Week

Related Posts:

My #1 Most Bestest, Baddest Training Secret Ever!?

Related Posts:

23 Random Muscle & Strength Building Tips

Related Posts:

Big Blue Sale

Related Posts:

How to Box Squat Properly

Related Posts:

Are Trap Bar Deadlifts Safer Than Straight Bar Deadlifts?

Related Posts:

Arthur Saxon on Conditioning

Related Posts:

Merrell Trail Glove Review

Related Posts:

How to Become More Explosive

Related Posts:

Renegade Football Strength is Back

Related Posts: