One of the things that we are constantly working to address with our baseball guys is the loss of range-of-motion following an extended period of throwing (i.e., a pitching appearance). There's some good research out there showing that the marked eccentric stress on the elbow flexors (biceps, etc) and glenohumeral external rotators (posterior rotator cuff) can lead to an acute (and potentially chronic) loss of elbow extension and humeral internal rotation range-of-motion. Pitching with a loss of ROM over the course of a competitive season is a recipe for disaster - both in terms of velocity reductions and risk of injury.
Interestingly, previous researchhas shown that post-exercise ROM is reduced more with eccentric muscle actions than concentric muscle actions. Since virtually every resistance training sessions comprise some form of eccentric exercise, post-training stretching for the involved musculature is really valuable. And, if you're doing a lot of eccentrics in that training sessions, it's even more important.
A lot of athletes get bored really quickly with static stretching, so one thing I've done a bit (especially with kids who really need to work on their mobility) is to simply repeat ourdynamic flexibility warm-ups - but integrate a bit longer of a hold on each rep.
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Q: What BASIC methodology did you use to get your deadlift up over 600? Did you deadlift heavy, do similar exercises like pulls from different heights, or use different exercises like good mornings and rows?
A: I have used a lot of different ones - and things changed as I got stronger and stronger.
Early on, like everyone, my deadlift went up no matter what I did. I actually laugh at some of the silly stuff that I used to get my pull up to the 300-350 range. I was training six days a week, doing sets of 20, 5x5 workouts, lots of leg curls, you name it. Not the brightest stuff in the world, but when you’re untrained, it all works.
Pushing things to 400 took a lot more dedicated work in lower rep ranges (3-5) – and without a bunch of goofy accessory work. This got me to a 430-ish deadlift by the time I got to graduate school in the fall of 2003.
In that first year of grad school, I played around with a ton of stuff – everything from clusters to wave-loading (which I don’t think did anything) to straight sets, to 8x3 type-stuff. I hit 484 in the gym around March of 2004, and in my first meet (June 2004), I pulled 510 on a fourth attempt at a body weight of 163. So, I guess you could say that in my first dedicated nine months of powerlifting, I put about 80 pounds on my deadlift. I flat-out blew the “conventional” strength-training induced gains from previous years out of the water at a time when progress was supposed to be slowing.
It was about this time that my buddy Steve turned me on more to the Westside school of thought – and I also made some great friends at the meets I did. The summer of 2004 – when I was on campus in Storrs just working with athletes, reading a ton, and training – was a great summer for information exchange and trial and error. Over the 2004-05 school year, I really started hitting max effort days and dynamic effort days. In July of 2005, I pulled 567.5 at a body weight of 161. So, there’s another 57.5 pounds in a year.
After graduate school, I started training at South Side Gym in Stratford, CT alongside some great lifters. Every session was a mix of crazy efforts and information exchange in an awesome environment. It’s when I really started pulling more frequently: twice a week, in most case. It was without a doubt the best training year of my life, and I detailed some of the training ideas I implemented in an article called Frequent Pulling for Faster Progress. Speed deadlifts made a huge difference for me not only because my bar speed off the floor increased, but also because they allowed me to practice technique without always pulling heavy and, in the process, breaking down. By the time I left South Side at the end of July 2006 (moved to Boston), I had hit a 628 deadlift. Now, I’ve pulled 650 (although it isn’t really the main focus anymore).
I really never did much good morning work until I was already pulling mid-to-high 400s. For me, the good morning wasn’t nearly as effective as deadlifting or squatting; I guess specificity holds true again, as I got really good at good mornings. That said, it likely has to do with my body type, as I’m a long-limbed, short-torso guy who already is very strong in the lower back relative to the legs. Guys who have more squat/bench-friendly builds (short limbs, long torsos) generally respond really well to good mornings.
I am a huge believer that lots of rows not only kept my shoulder healthy, but helped my deadlift along. Chest-supported rows seemed to have the best carryover, in my experience.
Yes, I have done my fair share of rack pulls. I don't think that they directly help the deadlift as much as people seem to think, but they are a fantastic way to make lifters comfortable with heavy weights. Here's a photo from back in 2005 of a 705x5 rack pull from just above the knees. It's certainly not for the beginners in the crowd, but pushing the envelope is necessary sometimes for getting to the next level. I wouldn't recommend this for the overwhelming majority of lifters and weekend warriors - so don't be stupid and try it at home.
They're also great for building up the upper back - particularly when performed with a snatch grip.
A lot of these experiences shaped the way that I wrote up the program in my new book, Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better. Effectively, I touch a bit on everything that took me from 350 to 650 over the course of the four phases in the program.
Hey Gang,
Last Friday, I was a guest on Pete Williams' "Fitness Buff Show." You can listen to the interview HERE.
We went into quite a bit of detail on the rhyme and reasons for my new Maximum Strength program.
Eric Cressey is a go-getter par excellence and his book Maximum Strength falls nothing short of the standard he has set for the industry. Throughout the text, Cressey details all of the necessary ingredients to getting stronger, improving mobility, enhancing stability, optimizing muscle balance, and improving body composition. He has been there and done it, and gives us his vast knowledge in both a motivational and enjoyable tone. I found myself enthusiastically turning page after page. If one is looking for a big bang for their buck - and getting the most out of their training time and effort - Cressey's Maximum Strength is the source!
Josh Renkens, DC, CSCS
Nashville, TN
For more information, check out Maximum Strength.
Hey Gang,
No transitional material this week; I'm a little scatterbrained.
1. Jeremy Frisch and company are running a great event for charity in Acton, MA on June 21. For more information, head HERE. Even if you can't make it, these charities could really use a donation.
2. Maximum Strength isn't just for men!
"Maximum Strength is the book where brain meets brawn in an all-inclusive guide to getting strong and in shape. Eric manages to take the sissy out of salad and add the steak. It's a must have for busy lifters who need to make the most of their time while still getting optimum results."
-Juliet Deane CSCS, RKC, USAW
Check it out for yourself HERE.
3. Assess, don't assume. Still, if you're in the strength and conditioning field and dealing with teams, it's important to understand trends in the sports with which you work so that you can program to avoid the most common injuries.
4. On a related note, yesterday, in the time it took me to write an email, we had a kid come in with a cast up to his upper arm for a wrist injury from diving, and another guy tell me that he's having hip surgery in July for a chronic problem. This just goes to show you that if you work with athletes - no matter how young - you need to understand injuries.
5. I'm heading to my first optometrist appointment in WAY too long this morning - and I'm kind of hoping that they find something wrong with me to justify me wearing an eye patch. At the very least, it'll scare some of our athletes into lifting heavy stuff. I'm working on my pirate accent right now.
6. Stretching the anterior capsule in baseball players is just a bad idea.
7. There are a lot of blog readers who might not realize that I also have a newsletter that goes into far more depth on various topics each week. If you aren't already subscribed, don't miss out! You can sign up with the subscription set-up to the right of this screen.
8. Cadaver grafts for ACL reconstructions seem to work well if you're older and have no aspirations of really doing anything too athletic - especially change-of-direction and jumping. If you're younger, though, the chance of re-rupture is a lot higher, in my experience. The patellar tendon graft is pretty nice simply because the limitations of the graft site work hand-in-hand with the limitations of the ACL from a rehabilitations standpoint.
9. Great win for the Celtics last night. Waaahooooo.
10. If you want to look at the hip and knee in a non-traditional, outside-the-box way, I highly recommend Gray Cook and Brett Jones' Secrets of the Hip and Knee DVD. It's fantastic.
Have a great weekend!
Hey Gang,
Just a heads-up on a free interview with me that you can download at Superhuman Radio. It's episode #168 - and we discussed Maximum Strength in detail.
Enjoy!
Great news for the female readers of my blog - especially those in New England:
Cassandra Forsythe and I will be presenting on the afternoon of Sunday, June 29 on the topic of nutrition and exercise for women. Cass and I will cover a lot of new research as well as easy practical applications of this information. For more information on the seminar, you can download the registration brochure at the following link:
21st Century Nutrition and Exercise for Women
Spaces are limited, so don't delay. Hope to see you there!
Q: I recently purchased your e-book, The Art of the Deload, and really enjoyed it. You did a great job of outlining several different methods that I plan on using in the months to come. I did have one follow-up question on the "Exercise Reduction Week" deloading approach. You talked about making some modifications to go from four days per week to three days per week during the deloading period. Are there certain people for whom this work would better than others?
A: Great question - and the answer is ABSOLUTELY!
I like the frequency reduction deloading strategy for athletes in particular. Many of them already have a lot of training going on with lifting, conditioning, movement training, tactical work, and sport practice. Simply dropping volume of these sessions doesn't really "deload" their hectic schedules. Many of them would rather go to 2-3 full sessions per week than they would keep the four and do less volume in each appearance.
However, for the ordinary weekend warrior for whom lifting is the only form of exercise he gets, I think the frequency is valuable. It favorably affects the endocrine, cardiovascular, and immune systems. Additionally, each time that lifter goes to the gym, it's a chance to do some mobility, activation, and foam roller work that can help to keep him healthy long-term.
So, to recap, if you're a busy athlete, you can reduce your frequency. If you're lifting as your only form of exercise, keep the frequency up.
Learn more about The Art of the Deload.
