Impact Resistance

by Atomic Athletic on Monday, June 27, 2011 at 4:33pm

Ever take an impact?  I am talking about mean serious impacts: a serious punch, a wrestling or judo throw, a hard tackle, or even a car accident.

The number one key for impact resistance is dealing with potential concussions.  There are definite strength training exercises which will help you take an impact.   Fortunately, the best exercises for cushioning an impact blow also help the neck and spine.  Instead of wasting crucial gym time, these exercises should improve your explosive lifts and will add very little to your training volume.  Like any real traditional strength training exercise, they will just help to make your routine more efficient.

3 Rules for Neck Training

1.) The first rule is to add one neck exercise to every workout.

This is the exercise that is neck specific.  If you are following my Traditional Training Legendary Strength routine, this would be a secondary (or accessory) exercise.  Some would call these bodybuilding or even prehab/rehab exercises.  They would include the use of head harnesses and various types of manual resistance.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=BSMA307V

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=BK90

2.) The second rule is to add a complex exercise that includes the neck. 

The obvious example here would be something like the Power Clean.  You can't do a proper power clean without incorporating the neck.  When you really get into this concept, you will find yourself modifying your training to include several complex exercises that include the neck.  

3.) The third Rule is to work every angle of your mid section at some point during each week.

I can't stand the term “core” training, but it is essential.  I am a huge fan of medicine balls and bag work.  By bag work, I mean some sort of fight type training.  There are a lot of different types of “heavy bags” out today, as with everything else, some are better than others.  I believe that everyone should learn to throw at least one good punch.  After all, you never know when that skill might come in handy.  Additionally, properly thrown punches will work your mid-section in a highly functional way.  The same goes for medicine balls.  Hit the link below to see more on medicine balls, we will be adding more this week.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/category.aspx?categoryID=768

Over the next few weeks, you will see that I flesh this concept out in greater detail.  Pay attention and start your work now!

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe

Schemansky's Shredded Sweats

by Atomic Athletic on Friday, June 17, 2011 at 2:42pm

Huge plates of calamari were being passed around.  The beer was only being served in the double sized tall glasses.  At any other table the tales being told would have also been tall, but lies weren't necessary last night.  This was another Norbert Schemansky birthday party at Doc's Sports Retreat and the guest of honor did lifting that is still considered larger than life.

Everybody looked great.  Nobody was in as good a shape as they once were, but the mental faculties were all there.  Norb told some great one liners and everybody had fun.

TRAINING TIP

The training tip comes from Norb himself.  “Keep your pulls close.”

I brought an old Iron Man Lifting News from 1964, with Norb on the cover doing an easy 420 squat clean.  Well, that June issue covered the Senior Nationals, where Norb won Best Lifter, again.  There is an awesome photo on page 9 with Tommy Suggs, Sid Henry and Norb, standing before the contest.  They had clearly been warming up, as there was plenty of chalk on their sweats. 

It was the sweats that are the key.  All of the old Detroit lifters would have to sew blue jean patches on their quads, because the Olympic bar knurling would just shred them there.  When I commented, Norb said, “Yep.  We pulled it close.” 

Art Tessier replied, “I hand sewed a lot of sweats and old seat belts for pulling straps.  A lot of guys used cotton (belts), but we used seat belt material.  It lasted.”

I remember when I first started lifting in Suchyta's basement and all the guys had these sweats with big blue jean patches on their quads.  I thought it was weird at first, but I learned.  When you lift today, make sure to do pulls, keep it close, and wear out those sweats.

Check out Norb's Signed Book Mr. Weightlifting 

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=BK081

And the Atomic Athletic Power Clean Clinic DVD

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=VID103

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe

The Goal is Versatility

by Atomic Athletic on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 2:20pm

Distractions happen.  If you want to get strong, then you need to turn distractions on their head.  The very best way I know to do that is to turn that goal which you want to accomplish into the distraction.

Experiment with starting off small.  Maybe you have been skipping out on your grip work.  Put in a home gym.  More than that, because you love training outside, make your back yard into a gym.  I have a tree next to our drive way.  I hung a 1 inch diameter manila rope in it.  It has been there for almost four years and it is just starting to show some wear.  While it is too low to climb, it has seen a lot of L-Seat rope pull-ups.  I will easily do a set 4-5 times a week, just as I am passing by.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=ROPE09S

I also have a 25 Pound Stone Padlock that sits under a big tree-like bush.  Several times a week I will do several sets of random exercises with that stone padlock.  It also sits outside year round.  Heck, it's granite.  Except for having to hose off the occasional bird poop, it looks just as good as the day I got it.

Several customers have made a full size, permanent, Olympic weightlifting platform in their back yards.  The variations on platform construction run the entire gamut, from hard packed dirt with a log for a bench, to concrete pads with drainage and removable rubber inserts.  Of course, the outdoor power rack concept has seen as many unique variations as there are unique individuals to make them. 

Personally, I put most of my “home gym” ideas into action at the Atomic Athletic Warehouse Gym.  We train inside and outside at Atomic Athletic.  Jogging the six blocks to get there is hardly even a warm-up, but not a unique idea.  I know of several Olympic lifters who have done very well by renting a neighbor's unused garage or essentially abandoned warehouse spaces.  If you are concerned about not having heat in the winter, buck up little camper!  Stan Stanczyk won Olympic gold and did years of training in an unheated warehouse in Detroit, not to mention the training he did on the road during WWII.

The key to starting your home gym, indoors or out, is to start off small and with versatile equipment. If you think you need a machine, try to think of a way around it.  Instead of a leg curl machine, try out iron boots.  Adjustable barbells & dumbbells, ropes, basic benches, chin-up bars and dip stations are all a good way to start.  Don't be afraid of standard size plates.  While the cast iron may cost the same, the equipment that goes with them is certainly cheaper and more versatile.  Of course, if are getting into Olympic lifting, it makes a lot of sense to get some of the nearly indestructible solid rubber bumper plates.

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe

Outdoor Attitude

by Atomic Athletic on Monday, June 13, 2011 at 4:23pm

Trends in training are a funny thing.  I really don't understand this one.  Every year I see a dip in barbell related sales for summer.

I also see an increase in sales of stone balls, farmers walk units, pulling harnesses and several other items that are typically related to strongman contests.  That trend can be attributed to good weather, the up-tick in the strongman and highland games circuits and corresponding increases in outdoor training.  Sure, that makes sense. 

Do people quit lifting barbells in the summer?  If that is the case then there must be a lot of really messed up training programs.  I can't think of a more used and useful item in the Atomic Athletic Warehouse Gym.  Barbells and their related items, like: bumper plates, powerlifting plates, and collars; get used every day.  In fact, because the weather is nice, we will take certain pieces outside to lift. 

Muscle Beach was right on the mark.  Lifting outside is a fantastic way to train.  The sun is absolutely necessary for the production of Vitamin D and the sun's absence is the reason for S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder).  I'm not saying that you should cook your skin until it resembles the dark leather of our pulling harnesses, but add a little of it into your routine.   

The creation of an outdoor exercise area or outdoor home gym is not just for the lucky people who have houses in Southern California.  I have many friends and customers with outdoor training areas in Michigan, Ohio, New York, Main and many other states.  Just last week, I was at Mustafa D.'s house checking out his outdoor training area.  Every year it gets better.  His farmers walk path has gone from trampled grass to a multi-surface track that includes: brick, crushed stone and manicured lawn with a small hill/ditch to walk up and down. 

 He has even incorporated his granite Atomic Balls and their lifting area into the landscaping.  Yes, he even has a barbell lifting area on the back porch.  It is simply awesome.

The potential for outdoor training is nearly endless.  Put some thought into it, but most of all, start doing it.  You won't regret it.  The ideas will come to you as you develop your outdoor routine.

Stone Balls:

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/category.aspx?categoryID=209

Harness & Pulling Gear:

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/search.aspx?keyword=harness&page=1

Farmers Walks:

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=SUT002

Live Strong, 

Roger LaPointe

Advanced Grip Pull Exercise

by Atomic Athletic on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 2:01pm

Blown up your forearms yet?

Well, if you really did yesterday's exercises, then you should know how to really engage those forearm muscles.  One customer, who does action movies, immediately bought that smaller club set for his gyms.  Obviously, he did not experiment with actual clubs, but I got the impression that the empty dumbbell bar method was enough to convince him.  You know who you are.

WISHING WELL PULLS

Don't let the cute name fool ya.  “Good Mornings” also sound easy.

All you need for this exercise is some Olympic plates and a heavy thick rope.  I use one of our rack ropes that is custom cut to about 15 foot long. (Yes, I will cut ropes to any length.  You just have to call the order in.)  It will also help if you have some sort of high platform to use.  One customer uses his fire escape.  I stand on some giant concrete things made by one of the other tenants of this industrial complex.

Basically, you put your rope through the Olympic plate and tie it off, my eye splice makes that fool proof.  Stand on your platform.  Now you hand over hand pull up the weights.  I make sure to stand in a ¼ to ½ squat position to do it.  Raise it up.  Lower it back down.  Repeat. 

Concentrate on all the different muscles of the forearms.  I start with the ones we focused on yesterday, because they are so hard to get.  Then I do the easy ones.  I believe in the Frightening Forearms DVD I go up to 55 or 60 pounds and I think that was a 1 ¼ inch diameter rope.  I shot that DVD in a single day and tried to show a lot of variations of each exercise, so I didn't go up as high as if it were an actual workout.  We have also varied the size and type of the rope we use.  There are endless variations possible for this exercise.  Remember, two inch rope won't go through an Olympic plate hole, so you will have to use something like a loading pin.  We have also attached a lighter rope or chain, just to put the plates on with really thick rope.

Rack Rope Link:

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=ROPE09S

We can do custom ropes in any length or thickness, style or size. Give us a call! (419) 352-5100

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe

Greater Grip Pull

by Atomic Athletic on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 2:08pm

Basically, it goes like this: when you focus on one muscle, or group of muscles, then you need to also work the opposing muscle, or group of muscles.  For example, if you work your biceps, then you also need to work your triceps.  At Atomic Athletic, we are big on leg work.  When we do front squats or hack squats, we then do stiff leg deadlifts or good mornings.Have you ever heard of working the antagonistic muscle group?  Sure you have.

As you can see with the leg training, if you are doing “full body” type exercises it becomes more difficult to determine what the antagonistic muscle group is.  In fact, unlike the training systems of 15 years ago, many of today's “cutting edge” training systems totally ignore the concept.  At Atomic Athletic they are called Accessory Exercises.  I learned the concept from one of the strongest bodybuilders of the late 60s and early 70s, Bill St. John.  Despite his Mr. America contest write-ups, Strength & Health magazine actually did more articles on his feats of strength than they did on any other subject.

GREATER GRIP PULL

The heaviest deadlifts, clean pulls and snatch pulls all have one requirement in common: grip strength. 

Even at 88 years old Norbert Schemansky has really impressive forearms.  He hasn't done any real lifting for almost 40 years, but you can see what he built and it is very unusual.  His forearms look like four giant tendons.  Trust me.  They are not a bodybuilder's forearms.  He still has certain overdeveloped forearm muscles, most obviously the extensor digitorum and extensor carpi radialis longus. 

Several years ago I hypothesized that if I worked those muscles at least enough for a warm-up, every time I did a pull movement (basically every workout), my Olympic lifts would go up, without having to change anything else in my routine.  I was absolutely correct.  Since that time, I have found several really great exercises for doing just that.

A great deal on clubs:

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=IC121BKC

THE FIRST EXERCISE

The first exercise will teach you the movement.  I do it with either light Indian clubs or my lightest stone padlocks.  If you don't have either one, try it with an unloaded dumbbell bar held from one end.  The exercise: Lock your elbow down by your side with your implement gripped in your hand, weight pointed down. Slowly start rotating your wrist in full large circles in order to focus on the two muscles I just mentioned. You will feel those muscles begin to work, you can then change the rotation direction. Do this until your wrist feels nice and limber and your forearm has a good pump. Next move on to slow full extension and contraction wrist curls using your implement. The wrist curl  with maximum flexion at the end of the movement is a great way to build grip strength.  An advanced form of this is done with a Sumtola (Hindu Barbell) or a heavier Stone Padlock.

Norb didn't start doing grip work until after he had two Olympic medals.  His grip work was a much heavier variation on what I mention above.  Norb once told me that if he had it to do all over again, he would add in some of the “Indian stuff”, which he clarified as yoga for stretching, “but like the strong guys over there do it.”

For more exercises, get the “Frightening Forearms & Grip” DVD.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=VID111

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe

Grabbing and Seizing

by Atomic Athletic on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 2:21pm

Explosive grip strength is one of those intense desires for many athletes.  Football players, rugby players, wrestlers, and most martial artists desire the most explosive and strong gripping ability.  Yet, how does one train the hand for explosive grip?

Old discussions of Olympic weightlifting used to include the “dive style” of snatching and cleaning a weight.  This method relied on the white muscle fibers, the explosive ones, to maximize gripping ability.  It is an interesting and largely lost technique today.  This is probably a good thing.  While the descriptions of it seem to indicate great grip strength concepts and training methods, I don't think it would be good for the spine.

Now, turn to the world of martial arts.  In China and Okinawa, we see use of the Stone Padlock.  One of the training techniques involves tossing and catching.  While the stone padlock is an awesome tool for working your explosive grabbing and seizing type of grip strength, I have also been working with various barbell plates.  While limited in scope, compared to the padlocks, they do offer some great and interesting explosive grip training.  I first saw mention of the training technique in an old Iron Man magazine from the early 1970s.

If you are looking for a simple, yet highly effective way to train your grip, dexterity, and coordination look no further than your weight tree. Barbell plates can be used for more than just loading the bar for creative individuals. I'm talking about Plate Flipping, Tossing & Catching.

TIPS FOR PLATE FLIPPING, TOSSING & CATCHING

1.Use a variety of plates.  I have played around with: Iron Grip plates, York Standard size plates (both contoured and flat pancake style), wide lip and narrow (sometimes called “slim line”) iron Olympic plates, a variety of bumper plates. Using these different sizes and styles will keep your dexterity and coordination sharp.

2.In the case of iron plates, practice outside in a grassy or sandy area.  If you are pushing yourself, you will drop them. As you go up in plate weight and size your explosive grip strength will increase.

3.Put aside hubris.  If you want to save your knuckles, bumper plates are your friend.  My favorite bumper to train with right now is a 25 pound solid rubber disk.  The larger size diameter and grip surface seem to have the additional benefit of working the hands somewhat like a thick bar.  Here is a picture of exactly what I am referring to: http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=BPB25LB

Enjoy your new grip training techniques.

Also be sure to check out our Frightning Forearms & Grip DVD.

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=VID111

Live strong,

Roger LaPointe