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Fad or Fact?
By Josh Henkin
It is catching on like wild fire, the industry is ready to begin its revolution! Yes, people again are actually giving value to strength. Coaches and trainers are finding out the great marketing schemes of equipment companies and self-appointed “gurus” are not producing the results they promise. Standing on woopie cushions, half balls, anperforming drills with five pound dumbbells are surprisingly not giving people the end result they so desire, REAL WORLD STRENGTH!!
Now, coaches and trainers are experimenting with methods that are centuries old. We are actually reverting to methods that have been used for not only decades, but centuries. Why? Because simply these methods work, they worked during a time where financial gain was not the goal of creating better training methods. Legendary strength expert, Dr. Ken Leistner, made a great statement about the value of classic training methods, “In my training and that which I have my pro and collegiate football players do, it is interesting and revealing that for the most part, the exercises we use are the same as those that I did almost forty five years ago.” This is not out of ignorance rather a deeper understanding of what actually works versus a theory that never pans out in reality.
Some coaches will argue that we have progressed past these “old outdated” ideas. The question is, have we really? We possess better technology today yet we are far behind the strength accomplishments of many of the great strongmen of old. How many of today’s lifters can clean and press a 300 pound sandbag over their head like Arthur Saxon, how many lifters could place overhead 270 pounds with one hand like the great George Hackenschmidt, or get 500 pounds from the ground to their back to squat like Milo Steinborn? Many of today’s lifters can’t squat without fancy machinery to lift from.
Others think deadlifting hurts your back, and even more have never lifted bodyweight overhead. It doesn’t appear that we have “progressed” past these methods. What are some of these methods that I speak so highly about? They consist of focusing on natural human movements with various styles and implements. Becoming proficient at these lifts and techniques will have a high carry over to sport and every day living. World reknown track and field coach, Dan John, has a philosophy that is hard to argue. Coach John believes that the body is one piece, there are three types of strength; picking weight off the ground, putting weight overhead, and carrying weight, and all training is complementary. It is possible to add in squatting strength as well. You will notice there is no mention of biceps curls, transverse plane drills, or “core” training. Why? If you train in this manner you will develop greater levels of strength than you could ever imagine.
Sure, this sounds good, but isn’t this another fad? Can squatting, lifting sandbags, and pulling sleds lead to the gains that I speak about? More so than you could ever imagine! In the remainder of the article we will look at why and how these methods are so effective.
Be As Strong As You Look
One of the biggest complaints about bodybuilders is that they never are as strong as they look. Sure, they are much stronger than even the common gym rat, but these behemoths could never stand up to the giants in other iron sports. However, what drives many people to train is to improve the cosmetic appeal.
Many of the classic strongmen of the early 1900’s possessed bodies most of today’s gym rats would give their right arm to have. They were not the pharmacy freaks we see in most muscle magazines, rather lean, muscular, and very dense. The last part is often the most overlooked. Lifters that employ strongman and classic forms of training often build very thick muscular builds because of an increase in sacromere hypertrophy as well as increase development of the tendons (an often overlooked aspect of today’s training methods). This is much different from many bodybuilding techniques that cause an increase in sacroplasmic hypertrophy which is mostly fluid increases while sarcomere hypertrophy is structural changes to the muscle that leads to both bigger and stronger muscles.
Increased tendon strength use to be one of the top priorities of great strongmen. Such a great focus was placed on tendon strength because it was understood that the tendons are what set the foundation for great strength levels. This was known without all the great science we have today that is just validating such theories. In the late Dr. Mel Siff’s famous text, Supertraning, Dr. Siff states that it is often failure of the tendons rather than muscles that are responsible for what appears to be muscle fatigue. I guess we aren’t as ahead of our time as we thought!
True Functionality
Of all the current buzz words available, there may be none bigger right now than “functional training”. This concept originated as a rebellion against an industry that had become machine dominated. However, as with many great ideas, it has turned into a cult with many trainers around the world. The purpose of functional training was to develop strength that would decrease incidences of injury and improve one’s ability to perform in sport and every day life.
Unfortunately, the application of this concept has been severely misguided. We now see circus tricks being performed in the gym. Trainers are having clients perform lifts with almost no weight because they are trying to balance on one leg, stand on objects that squish and roll, and other various “balancing” acts. These same trainers forget one of the most basic rules of training, progressive overload. Sorry, I don’t care if you are trying to train stability, balance, strength, or speed you must cause the body to change by adding a stimulus that will force change. Most of these drills do little else than scare people to death and force the application of minimal loads.
Odd lifts and classic forms of training are far more functional ways to train. They improve stability because the body is challenged in various angles, positions, and is trained to perform as an integrated unit. Balance improves because strength is absolutely related to balance. Not only is strength crucial but these forms of training work important aspects of motor learning such as feedback and feedforward systems. Feedback systems can be thought of as having the ability to adjust to the movement while feedforward is a preprogrammed movement skill often found in fast and explosive movement patterns. So, squatting, pressing, rowing, deadlifting all involve aspects of feedforward while cleans, snatchs, jerks, throws, etc. work the feedforward systems something that is often neglected by functional training gurus.
Training this style will also improve grip and core strength greater than most recommended functional training techniques. Grip strength is never talked about in functional training circle yet, it is one of the most crucial aspects of total strength development. It is necessary for many sports as well as one’s ability to improve their daily living. The “core” is often misunderstood as solely the abdominal area. However, it would be far more accurate to add in the hips and low back which also have a major influence over pelvis and spinal stability. So, how does this form of training apply?
One arm barbell, dumbbell, and kettlebell lifts challenge one’s hand strength and ability to stabilize the core against an unbalanced load. Shouldering, holding weight overhead, and lifting odd objects allows one to learn how to use the core during very dynamic movements that will closely resemble those in sport and daily living. Carrying and dragging weight not only trains endurance, but tendon strength of the back and grip and core strength-endurance. Lifters that employ these methods usually find not only do they get a stronger midsection and grip, but they have great strength when it comes to new movements.
The Moral of The Story
1. Focus on four basic movements: pulling weight from the floor, pressing weight overhead, squatting, and carrying/dragging weight.
2. Use various implements and positions of load with these fundamental movement patterns. Such ideas would include kegs, sandbags, kettlebells, one-arm barbell lifts, zerchers, etc.
3. Don’t train for hours at a time, select three to five exercises per training session. The duration should be approximately 45 minutes to one hour.
4. Change the focus of the training sessions rather frequently allowing for adaptation without stagnation.
5. Don’t train to failure, rather work with loads that are challenging but allow for an additional repetition to in reserve. |
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