Delt Destroyer
Each week at my facility I put up a “Challenge of the Week” on the board and this week, it’s the “Delt Destroyer”.
At the end of a clients workout (and if they are capable of performing these movements) we go through a series of 2 delt movements which are the lateral raise and front raise. The challenge is this: take a lighter than normal resistance and perform (in perfect form, of course,) 5 lateral raises, immediately do 5 front raises, back to 5 lateral raises then to 5 front raises. Continue this for a minimum of 3 rounds (1 round is 5 laterals and 5 front raises). If you can get 5 rounds then the weight was too light, conversely, 2 rounds and the weight was too heavy.
Good luck and let me know what you think.
Today’s Workout 5-29-2012
During the warmer month’s I tend to focus on being outside more often and therefore, do more activities if I have the time. I immensely enjoy very early morning jogs on the beach (I run in the soft sand to make it harder and less compressive on my joints) and catch the sunrise as often as possible. I also like to ride my bike and perform regular runs as well. Mind you, these efforts are not of any significant magnitude as I am far from being a long distance anything. The idea of riding 20 miles on my bike or running 5 miles is not gonna happen for me and I understand that and I’m perfectly fine with that…I do it more for the enjoyment of the activity.
My summer strength workouts after today will become a matter of convenience – meaning if I can catch a beach run before or in between clients, I’m opting for that over grabbing a strength session indoors. Keep in mind, I DO NOT abandon my strength training, I merely find other ways of invoking it into my fitness program and yes, I will grab a session here at my studio to cover all my bases. Sprints on the soft sand for instance can light up your thighs and hips as well as your midsection. Chins on the monkey bars and a variety of pushups on the jetty, playing around with some rocks and some other bodyweight movements and you get a well-rounded workout.
Anyway, here was today’s workout:
Pendulum Shoulder Press 1 warm up set (50% of what I was to use for my work set) 1×15
Assisted Chins 1×15
Machine Pullover 1×10
Alternate Dumbbell Hammer Curls 1×20 each arm
Bodyweight Dips 1xmax
Nautilus Hip Adduction 1×12
Nautilus Hip Abduction 1×12
Machine Pullover (with more weight than previous set) 1×8
Alternate Dumbbell Curl 1×15 each arm
Bodyweight Dips 1xmax
Crunch 1xmax
Captains of Crush 1×15
Randy Roach Interview on High Intensity Nation
Author, bodybuilding enthusiast, historian, nutrition expert and all-around-good-guy, Randy Roach does an interview with High Intensity Nation’s, Dave Durell.
Anatomy & Function
As important as it is to perform exercises that engage your entire musculature, it is also essential to understand “which muscles are which” and what exercises work those muscles. For instance, when performing a chest press, the main muscles being used are the pectorals (chest), the anterior deltoid (front part of the shoulder) and the triceps. When you do pulling movements such as a chin up, you utilize your upper back (latissimus dorsi, along with smaller muscles of the upper back), biceps and forearms.
Having a general understanding of your anatomy, the muscles that are used during an exercise and how the muscles work will only add to your overall performance during your workout.
Chest: Properly known as the pectorals but better known as the chest or “pecs” is comprised of two muscles, the primary being the pectoralis major and the other being the pectoralis minor. The main function of the “pecs” is to pull the upper arm across the body.
Shoulders: The shoulder or “delts” are made up of three separate heads. The anterior delt which is positioned in the front of the shoulder and raises the arm forward; the middle delt or lateral head raises the arm sideways and the rear or posterior delt draws the arm backward.
Upper Back: The lattisimus dorsi or “lats” encompass most of the upper back. The back is also made up of additional muscles such as teres major & minor and rhomboids, all enabling you to pull your arm down and back.
Hips: The hips are comprised of the gluteals (glutes or “butt”), adductors and iliopsoas muscles. The glutes are the strongest muscle in the body and their main function is in hip extension. Basically they drive the upper leg backward. The adductors (which are located in the inner thigh) are used when you pull your legs together. Hint to remember: You are ADDing your legs together when you adduct. The iliopsoas muscles are located on the front of the hip and enable you to pull your knees to your chest.
Upper Legs: The two main muscles of the upper leg are the quadriceps (quads) and the hamstrings. The quads (Quad meaning four) is made up of four separate muscles which are located on the front portion of your leg and collectively allow you to extend your leg out in front of you. The hamstrings (sometimes referred to as the “hammies”) are located on the back portion of your leg and enable you to flex your knee toward s your butt.
Upper Arms: The two main muscles of the upper arm are the biceps and the triceps. The biceps (or “bi’s”), which are made up of two separate heads, are on the front portion of your arm and allow you to bend your arm towards the shoulder. The triceps (or “tri’s) are located on the rear portion of the upper arm and are made up of three heads or muscles. They allow you to extend your arm or straighten your arms.
Lower Arms: Who can forget the old favorite Popeye and his huge forearms? The forearms are made up of several muscles but basically the anterior group (the muscles on the front of the forearm) causes wrist flexion allowing you to bend your wrist. Wrist extension allows you to straighten your wrist.
Abdominals: Universally known as the “abs”, they are made up of three muscles. The rectus abdominis, obliques and the transverses abdominis. The main function of the rectus abdominus is to pull the torso towards the lower body, i.e. a crunching movement. The obliques, which are located on the side of the abs, better known to most as the “love handles” allow for lateral flexion and rotation. The transverses abs are used to constrict the abdominal area as in controlled breathing.
Lower Back: The erector spinae is the main muscle in the lower back. The “erectors” permit you to extend your torso, basically straighten yourself up from a bent over position. The erectors are a muscle that need to be trained to maintain proper back health.
Neck: There are four major muscles in the neck, allowing you to move laterally as well as backward and forward. The trapezius or “traps” are located at the base of the neck and are responsible for allowing your shoulders to raise up and down in an “I don’t know” fashion.
A Different Kind of Plank Hold
My buddy, Randy Roach, author of Muscle, Smoke and Mirrors I & II was telling me about a particulary difficult plank hold he has been working on. This plank hold that Roachdude is working on is certainly different than the traditional plank hold often used for abdominal training. In Randy’s version, he is suspending himself from an overhead chinning apparatus with his body perfectly straight. His next goal is to chin himself (more accurately put, this horizontal position would be akin to a row – extremely difficult none the less). In the picture below Randy has brought his body up to a perfect parallel position to the floor. Looking carefully at the photo you will see that Randy’s feet are not resting on the bar in the photo and that he is maintaining this posture with phenomenal strength and muscle control. Talk about an intense ab workout!
Today’s Workout 5-24-2012
It’s no secret amongst those who know me that I loathe stationary cardiovascular exercise. I tend to rely on my strength training sessions to stimulate my cardiovascular system (and trust me, it does) and I use the great outdoors to recreate via my bike, a jog or sprints on the beach. Unfortunately, weather has been a bit crummy so outdoor activities are off the table for the moment so when getting outside to recreate is prohibited, I often strength train more often. As mentioned, my training protocol gets me breathing heavy so I opt for a three-times-per-week strength program when additional activities are not being performed.
As usual, I performed one set per each exercise, focusing intently on my form the entire set. The repetitions completed were arbitrary, but goals were in mind at the beginning of each exercise and I terminated the set when I know longer could get another repetition in good form. With that said, I chose to do the following workout today.
Hammer Strength Pulldown 1×30
Hammer Strength Dip 1×27
Standing Barbell Curl 1×26
Hammer Strength Deadlift 1×35 (no straps)
Toe Press on Nautilus Leg Press 1×22
Wrist Flexion 1×24
Oblique Ab Crunch 1×15 per side
At first blush this workout may look quite compact – and it is – but over the course of subsequent workouts, the use of variety and planning, a well-rounded program can be established that will cover major muscle groups along with joint functions to help a person lead a healthy and functional life.
My Man Charles’ Baked Vidalia Onion
(Can also use a grill at medium heat)
4 Vidalia Onions
1/2 plus 1 Tblspoon Olive Oil
1 1/2 Tsps Dijon Mustard
2 Tblsps Balsalmic Vinegar
salt and pepper to taste.
Place each Onion on a 6×6 square of aluminum foil and cut a deep “X” on the top, cutting halfway through onion.
Drizzle olive oil on each and wrap in foil.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Spoon mixture of other ingredients on each onion, and serve.
Today’s Workout 5-22-2012
My training takes on new life on a constant basis – in part because of my personality and the fact that I’ve been training consistently now for over 36 years – plus I have come to realize after countless hours of pain-stacking thought and research that I already know what I need to do and I simply should let nature take its course.
As I list today’s workout below, many will wonder why I did what I did while others may not give a rats bottom or understand my purpose. Most often my workouts are predicated on my mental and physical energy as well as my schedule, past and upcoming activities and what baggage I may be carrying around in my head that I need to dump. All these factors (and more) are part of what happens on any particular day. I have no set schedule – due to the factors I just mentioned – and kind of “go with the flow” when I can. As a side not, I tend to treat my clients in a similar manner as their “personal factors” are a strong consideration for their training schedule as well.
Something to consider: I am a firm believer in that a great workout can be had in under 10 minutes and anyone working hard would probably not be able to or need to exceed 60 minutes so if you have 10-60 minutes on any given day, you can do yourself a world of good by grabbing a workout. Again, my schedule, energy, enthusiasm, etc. play a big part in when, where and how I train. Today I had some extra time and got a decent nights sleep last night so I took in a strength workout.
Recently I’ve been experimenting and researching to the Nth degree what repetition and time under load (TUL) will stimulate the most muscle fiber, in particular, the type II fast twitch fibers. The FT fibers are the one’s that build muscle and prevent sarcopenia (more on sarcopenia in a later installment) and after several hours of research, I have come to my own conclusions and therefore train the way I do. So, on to today’s workout:
Each repetition is done in a controlled manner. I initiate the movement under control (no momentum), pause in the contracted position and lower in a controlled manner. The key is not to have any rest anywhere throughout the movement – NO REST AT ALL – which makes the set very intense. This stimulates many systems and will leave you breathing quite heavy when performed correctly. If I venture a guess, I’d say each set took 90-120 seconds to complete. Each set was done until I couldn’t perform another rep in good form and without resting. The reps were not predetermined, they were goals.
Barbell curl 1×30 (1 set of 30 reps)
Hammer Strength Pulldown 1×17
Dumbbell Shrug 1×20
Hammer Strength Dip 1×25
Nautilus Leverage Leg Press 1×35-5-5-5 (wanted to get a total of 50 so I rested 15-20 seconds between sets until I got all 50)
Wrist Extension 1×25
Leveraging 1×20
Ab Crunch 1×30
I finished up with Indian Club work for shoulder mobility.
Why Set Goals?
Goal setting is very important in making progress in your health and fitness. Aimlessly going to the gym and going through the motions is not a foundation for making progress. You must “Train With a Purpose”. When you are not purposeful, your enthusiasm starts to wane, improvement is little if any and you end up quitting…no big surprise there. Not having goals is the equivalent to getting in the car and driving…but not having a destination or a plan. Now sometimes that can be good and even exciting, but not on a constant basis. Think about this: How can you formulate a plan without a goal? You can’t, really. Goals create motivation.
Goals create focus. Goals keep you in check. So the key is to evaluate your current situation and make a realistic long-term goal with short-term goals as stepping-stones to your ultimate achievement.
So where do you start? Again, evaluate your current health and fitness situation and establish aworthwhile goal that isn’t easily attainable but yet not ridiculously out of reach. It would serve very little purpose other than setting yourself up for failure to ask the impossible of yourself; conversely, setting goals to low leaves you in the same sinking boat of making little if any improvement.
So how does one go about setting a goal for their exercise program? Well, for some, it can be something as basic as setting goals to actually work out a specific number of times a week/month. For others, it can be completing a certain amount of pushups, reducing their 1-mile run time by 30 seconds or achieve a specific body fat percentage. The key is to create something challenging for yourself and stay motivated and “go after it” because just sitting around isn’t going to do much for you.
A Note To Parents
Being a parent myself, I can certainly appreciate that your child has academic rigors as well as co-curricular and athletic commitments that take up most of theirs and your time. In understanding that, as well as the fact that you support your child’s endeavors, it needs to be made clear that an important aspect of their success should not be overlooked. This particular piece of the puzzle that I am referring to is their strength and conditioning program. It is unfortunate, but too many young athletes don’t prioritize strength training in their overall plan in becoming a better athlete. Strength training is vital to their success by helping reduce the chances of becoming injured (which could be just for a game, the season or for a lifetime) and making them more physically and mentally tough enough to compete with those of the same skill level.
It’s very important that a young athlete follows a simple and effective training approach that its main focus is on safe and productive exercises that will elicit the best possible results in an efficient manner. The keys to making a program successful are compliance, consistency and above all, hard work. These, along with good nutrition and proper recovery are the backbone of a productive exercise program. If these criteria are met, there is a very good chance your child will promote gains in muscular strength, improve their cardiovascular/cardiorespiratory fitness and enhance flexibility as long the parameters are met.
Remember, a stronger athlete is a better athlete!
