The emergence of modern fitness has sprouted countless new gym-goers, slaving away religiously at their squats and pulls. While I'm a fan, I find that many modes of exercise, like Crossfit or body building, tend to inherently favor the legs over the back (and hips). This sets corresponding athletes up for strength discrepancies that over time become a problem - regarding both performance and injury. In this article I'll share my thoughts on the matter, and provide some ideas on how to address lower back weakness.
Whatever your goal is in the gym, eventually it revolves around increasing your output. Be it becoming stronger, leaner, or more enduring; doing more work is what will get you there. I therefore teach all my clients the importance of breaking their personal records (PRs). More weight, more reps, maybe less rest - and on all intensity levels. While this premise is rather simple, I find that many struggle with deciding on the right increments when it comes to breaking their records - often overestimating themselves and ending up with poor technique and a high risk of injury. 'Never skip a PR', is therefore a maxim that I like to abide by.
In my first years in the gym, I was a notoriously bad bench presser. Tried and proven strength routines were usually hit or miss, while more refined programs brought along mixed results at best. It wasn't until I got familiar with the concept of 'sticking points' within the movement, and learned to link those to particular weak muscle groups, that I managed to consistently improve my presses. In this article I will explain the concept of sticking points, and subsequently provide you with some guidelines as to what (bench) pressing variations are most likely to suit your needs.
In the first instalment I talked about protein and some of its magical properties. In regards to muscle building it plays important roles like being an ‘on’ switch in the muscle building process, as well as being one of the main building blocks. It’s not ALL about protein, though. Today I'm going to talk a bit about another nutritional aspect that we can and sometimes need to think about. Let’s talk about calories.
After inquiring on my social media about topics I should cover on this blog, one popped up multiple times. Training with a burnout. I have to be honest and say that I initially wasn't really feeling it, because after wrestling with my own (mental) health throughout my late twenties, sharing it was usually a way of releasing pain. Catharsis. But I think I have made my peace, and most of the dust has settled. So, let's delve into it.
If you’re reading this, you've probably been doing a form of deadlifts for a while, and are aware of its superior capabilities to strengthen the back, hips and legs. However, a question that often pops up is: should you apply a narrow or wide foot position? While some discard the difference between the two as just being a matter of range of motion, I'll explain that much more is at play. Because not only will applying either variation bring forth different training effects; finding the right match for your body type will gravely impact your ability to lift.
Walk into any modern gym, and you'll stumble over people lying on the floor while rolling on balls and tubes, or find them hanging in bands in all kinds of adventurous positions. All in the name of 'movement prep'. Of course, if your goal is to be able to fold yourself in a suitcase, mobility training is paramount, but how necessary are these drills if you are just looking to stay healthy and train hard? In this week's article, I will share my opinion on mobility training as an addition to strength training.
We are all looking for ways to get better results in the gym. It's probably why you’re reading this blog. While you may have chosen the best exercises, set your sets and reps just right, and optimized your protein intake, one essential ingredient might still be missing: goal setting. Unmissable if you want to get bigger, stronger and faster.
A question that I often receive from both clients and students is: should you train the whole body each session, or is it better to split it up and dedicate each day to a different muscle group? Because both seem to produce impressive athletes. In this article I will shed some light on both training methods, which will hopefully assist you into making a proper choice for yourself.
Whenever I read about training, I often find that much is said about sets, reps, and the type of exercises, but very little is written about the order in which these exercises are best executed. Most trainees will instinctively do the most challenging things first, because of the of the obvious factor of energy and motivation being highest early on in a training session. But as I will explain in this article, there are more factors at play, and taking them into account will have a serious impact on your training. Let's have a look at proper exercise sequencing.
One of the main pursuits in the house of iron is amassing impressive slabs of meat that would make a butcher nod in approval. Or y’know, gain enough muscle to look like you lift. Of course it also improves your health, self confidence and makes you stronger and that’s pretty neat too. While training is the main driver for building muscle, nutrition plays a key role by providing energy and building blocks to train, build and recover. So what do you need to eat to pack on some hard muscle?
A question that seems to be on many gym rats' minds is: should I wear a belt when training? And rightfully so, considering that it's probably the most commonly seen piece of gym gear. Most are aware of the fact that wearing a weightlifting belt will allow for more weight to be lifted, but it's not very clear what its long term implications are. Both performance and injury wise. In this article I'll explain the concept of belt wearing, and share my thoughts on how to best use it.
A few years ago I was doing tons of squats and deadlifts, but neither of them were really going anywhere. My hamstrings were suspect for being weak, but even doing all kinds of deadlifting variations that supposedly accentuated them didn't really seem to help. It wasn't until I got serious about the Glute Ham Raise (GHR), a less popular hamstring exercise, that I started progressing again. Recently I have been having great results with some of my clients performing lots of GHR's as well, so it was time to put pen to paper. Figuratively speaking.
After my recent article on the safety squat bar (see suggestions below) it was apparent that only few were aware of its merits. This was as I suspected, so I hope that by now more of you have started to take this valuable tool up in your gym repertoire. Since there are a few more specialty bars lying around in dusty corners of many gyms, I figured I'd write something on all of them. So, here we go: the next chapter in my barbell crusade. While last specialty bar article focused on a lower body tool, today I will discuss one for the upper body: the swiss barbell.
Two years ago I decided it was time for a new challenge, so I picked up a running habit. This was something I had been meaning to do for some time, but which I had always put off out of fear for losing my hard-earned strength. Because everyone knows cardio and strength don't go together, right? Long story short: after running bi-weekly for almost a year, I could still deadlift my old PR. Hm. Interesting. Like many strength and muscle building enthusiasts, I had always treated endurance training like the devil. But how justified is this reputation?