Tag Archives: strength training

Rules of the Weight Room

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The weight room is a pretty incredible place, a place that is filled with strength, determination, and PRs.

But it’s also often full of douchey people.

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Unfortunately, this is a fact of life. But maybe all of those douchey people don’t realize what they’re doing, maybe they don’t know any better. Maybe they just need a set of rules like we all had posted on the wall in our 3rd grade classrooms.

So here is my list, my seven rules of the weight room. And these rules are not meant to be broken. Even if you can bench press your girlfriend and her two best friends in pyramid formation.

1. Wash your clothing. Especially dry fit.  Workout clothes stink. Dry fit clothes stink even more. Even if you think you didn’t get sweaty, that dry-fit shirt you’re wearing absorbed some of the sweat that you think magically never appeared. And even if you think your own home-grown scent isn’t that bad, multiply it by 10 and that’s what other people smell. Add in the constant movement that causes your scent to waft, and often close quarters of a weight room, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for body-odor-smog. Air pollution at it’s most offensive.

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2. No Selfies. Ever. STOP STANDING IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR AND TAKING SELFIES WITH YOUR PHONE. Stop. Just stop. For the love of God, stop.

3. Stick to one rack at a time. I know you really think that you need to be super-setting your quarter squats with your bench press, bro, but if you work out in a gym that only has 3 power racks, and you’re taking up 2 of them for 45 minutes, that’s not really fair now is it? Unless you’re one of only a couple people lifting, don’t act like you’re entitled to hog everything just because your biceps are big. And if you absolutely must be using both racks, don’t give me a death stare when I ask to work in for sets on one of them.

LiftingRules14. Clean Up Your Mess.  After you’re done getting your pump on, don’t leave a loaded barbell for the next person to clean off. No, it’s not because I can’t lift the plates myself, it’s because I don’t like cleaning up after sweaty, smelly strangers. And on a related note, please, please, please: if you do see me clearing plates off a barbell, don’t rush over, push me out of the way, and do it for me. You think you’re being a gentleman, I think you’re being sexist. I can move the plates by myself, thank you very much. 

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5. No Gabbing With Your Bestie On The Phone. The weight room certainly doesn’t have to be silent, and conversations between gym goers happen frequently. But when I’m trying to bust out a set of dead lifts and you’ve just parked your ass on a bench, holding a set of 3 lb dumbbells that you aren’t even using because you’re too busy on your phone, you’re distracting me and taking me out of my groove. I don’t need to hear about how drunk you got last night or what time you’re going to go tanning lately. I don’t care. Please shut up.

6. If you sweat, wipe it up. There is nothing more gross than mysterious sweat droplets that have been left on a bench to fester. There is no shame in sweating, so if you are the perpetrator, leaving it behind and pretending you “didn’t do it” is just plain disgusting. You wouldn’t leave other bodily fluids laying around would you? Sweat is no different. And if you would leave other bodily fluids laying around, maybe you have no business being out in public anyway.

7. Don’t spread out like you’re in your living room. I’ve seen people come into the weight room, drop their sweatshirt on one bench, their keys and water bottle on another, and then set up in the squat rack.  For others who come in after you, seeing gear on a bench gives the impression that someone is using it. Be considerate, and keep your belongings with you, or leave them in the locker room.  Douche.

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You tell ‘em, Pauly. 

What is your biggest weight room rule? What is your biggest gym pet peeve?

Health/Lifting Goals for May

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Well it’s a few days into May… can you believe it? Personally, the first half of this year has absolutely flown by, but I am so glad it is finally warm here in Boston. The past few days I’ve been able to ride my bike to work with no jacket, and it has been glorious.

Since my life got so stressful over the past couple of months, I haven’t had any time to really focus on my training or even on taking good care of myself for that matter. So in order to set that straight, I’ve decided to set some goals for myself this month, just to get everything back on track. I don’t usually do monthly goals, but I have a little extra time on my hands this month as work is quieting down, so now is the time to really focus on me!

Lifting Goals:

  • Bench 110. My original goal for this month was going to be to bench 100 lb, but wouldn’t you know I hit that goal on April 30th! Nothing like beating a goal before you’ve already set it.  As I’m moving up in the weights and try to get to that 110 though, I’m going to have to find myself a spotter. Random gym guy, hello!
  • Get my squats comfortable again. I have had a lot of left hip pain while at the deepest part of my squat lately, and it left me only able to do sets of 3 at 135 on Monday. (My previous squat session I was able to comfortably hit sets of 4 at 145). I think it’s all just soft tissue related because I have really been slacking on foam rolling/soft tissue work lately. My foam roller will have to be my best friend now, and I’m committing to using it every day!
  • Work out the kinks in my deadlift. I love to deadlift, in fact it’s my favorite lift, but I find myself much more comfortable with a sumo deadlift vs. traditional. I’m not sure why that is, but clearly I’ve got some ish I’ve got to work out with my conventional stance, because I don’t think I’m pulling up to my potential in that lift.

Reading Goals

  • Read Wheat Belly, by William Davis MD. I haven’t had time to read anything for myself lately, but I keep hearing about Wheat Belly, and although I’m not paleo, I find myself intrigued. Honestly I’ve hesitated to read it because it seems like everyone who reads that book becomes crazily obsessed with it, but I’ve decided to bite the bullet and just do it. Hopefully I don’t become one of those people ;)  

Health Goals 

  • Take my supplements regularly. Just as I’ve slacked on foam rolling/mobility work over the past month or so, I’ve completely stopped taking the few supplements that I used to take regularly: Biotin, Vitamin D, and Fish Oil. I’ll do a blog post about why I take these if people are interested, but first I need to get my butt back in gear and remember to take them every day! 
  • Stick to a strict 16/8 Fast at least 3 days per week. Since my CBL fiasco, I’ve been eating around a very loose version of the 16/8 IF, although most of my fasts have ended up at 14 or 15 hours because of various reasons. If I can commit to keeping a strict fast at least a few days per week, I know I’ll feel better in the long run. The paleo portion of my health experiment is coming soon… maybe…

So that’s it for now! What about you? What are your goals for May? Are you interested in a post about why I take the supplements I do? Have you read Wheat Belly (and did it make you obsessive)?

4 Tips To Improve Your Pull Ups

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So, you want to do more pull ups huh? Or maybe you just want to be able to do ONE. I don’t blame you, because pull ups are badass.

Not only are they badass, but they are fully functional should you ever find yourself running from a rabid dog or say… a pack of zombies. If you can’t pull yourself up and over a wall or fence, those zombies dogs will get you every time.

Needless to say, not only are pull ups a great test of upper body strength, they’re also an excellent life skill. And although the ever popular kipping pull-ups from Cross Fit can be equally as functional in times of danger, what I’m talking about here are true, dead hang pull ups.

None of that “use your whole body for momentum” crap. (Sorry Cross-fitters)

I have had several readers send me questions on pull ups, and how I have been able to increase mine. The answer is really more simple than people think: Do More Pull-ups.

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“But how can I do more pull ups if I can’t even do one yet?” you might be asking. Last summer, I could do 2 unassisted chin ups and zero unassisted pull ups. Now I am up to 8 chin-ups and 3  conventional pull ups. The methods I used are listed below, and these are methods that can be helpful to anyone looking to increase their pull ups/chin ups. I’m still working on mine, and I still include these methods in my workouts, although I’ve had to take a slight hiatus lately because of my decreased grip. I’ll be back at it soon though, and hoping to get to 10 chin ups and 5 pull ups by the end of this summer!

Bands - Resistance/Assistance bands should be your best friend, especially if you can’t do at least one pull up on your own. You can buy a heavy duty band, hook it up to a pull up bar, and you’ve got everything you really need to begin your path to pull up domination.  How to use them: Loop the band around a pull up bar. Put either one knee, both knees, or your feet in the band and pull away. Make sure to keep your core engaged, control any excess swinging from the band, and lift yourself in a controlled motion bringing your chest toward the bar.  Variations: Holding your position at various points will help your body to build strength at various points in your lift. Try holding at your top position for 1-2 seconds before lowering, making sure to really engage the lats. When to include them: Bands can be used at any time! They are a valuable tool for those who can’t yet do a pull up, but they’re also a valuable tool for those who can already do pull ups, but want to work on increasing reps, or strengthening a weak point in their lift.

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Here’s me doing some assisted chin-ups last summer. I have one knee through the band, as that’s most comfortable for me. 

Negatives: Pull up negatives are devils in disguise. The idea of them sounds quite easy, but the execution is far from simple. To perform a pull up negative, jump up into your top  position, hold for a second, and then lower your self very slowly to the bottom dead-hang position. How to use them: When I say lower slowly, I’m talking anywhere from 4-8 seconds to lower all the way to your dead-hang position. The key is to keep your lats and upper back engaged without letting your shoulders creep up around your ears. This should be a very controlled motion, and when done correctly, should either leave you wimpering, nauseous, or curled up on the floor begging for mercy. When to include them: Negatives are great on their own or as a way to finish out a set. Try doing them on their own with 3 sets of 8 nice slow reps. Or you could do what I do, and finish out my sets to my goal rep range. For instance, it’s my goal to do sets of 8 neutral grip pull ups. When I’m at the gym, I’ll do as many unassisted neutral grip pull ups as I can, which at this point is 4. I’ll then finish out the set with 4 negatives, to end up at 8. The next set, I may only hit 3 full pull ups, so I’ll finish that set out with 5 negatives, and so on.

Repetition - If there is one thing that will help you be able to do more pull ups, it’s doing more pull ups. If you want to increase your reps, you have to be doing them more than once per week. If you’re doing 3 sets of 3 once per week, it’s going to be damn near impossible to add more reps without a little magic. If you’re mixing in high reps with the bands, sets with negatives, and just plain old hopping on the bar whenever you get a chance, you better believe you’ll increase your reps! I can’t stress this enough: more reps will lead to more reps. It’s really pretty simple.

Accessory Work- To be able to do more pull ups, not only do you need to up your reps, but you also need to get stronger in all of the right places.  Your Lattissimus Dorsi (or Lats, or bat wings) is the prime mover in a pull-up, along with a smaller muscle called the Teres Major. You get significant help from other muscles such as biceps, triceps, trapezius, pecs, and others throughout the movement as well, depending on your hand position.  Rowing motions will help to strengthen your back musculature, as well as the accessory muscles in your arms and will be the most beneficial. Including inverted rows, or “let me ups” in your programming  is a great way to get yourself used to lifting your own body weight.  These will also help you increase your grip strength on the barbell (which will transfer to the pull up bar).

inverted-rowInverted row. The more horizontal your body, the more challenging this exercise will be. 


Bonus Note: If you really want to increase or improve your pull ups, your first order of business needs to be buying a pull up bar. Having a bar in your house will allow you to work on your pull ups all the time, not just when you’re at the gym. Plus, when it’s staring you in the face day in and day out, it’s harder to ignore and avoid it! 

Now get out there and do some pull ups!  Do you have any other tips for increasing your reps on this badass lift?

A Change In Perspective

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I’ve noticed something lately.

I see so many people on Facebook complaining about having to drag themselves to the gym, having tricks to force themselves to “just make it there”, and commenting on how little motivation they have to get up and do anything. It seems strange to me, because I truly, honestly look forward to my gym time.

I’m not pretending that I’ve never lost motivation, or that I’ve never complained about going to work out, because I have. But not for a long, long time.

Not since I started working out in a way that I really love.

Back in the day, when I used to go to the gym, hop on the treadmill and run 3 miles, and then maybe go do some sort of nonsensical “ab routine”, I hated it. I would complain all the time. The treadmill? Absolute torture. And then I started running outside, and guess what? I kept on complaining. I hated every second of it.

Once I started lifting though, everything changed. And then a few years ago, when I started lifting heavy things, everything changed all over again. I was no longer going to the gym to drone on the elliptical or stare at a TV screen while pounding the belt on the treadmill. I was going to the gym with a purpose, with goals, with a routine that was making me happy and giving me results.

And I’m not saying that heavy lifting is the answer for all of those people out there who have little motivation to work out (although I wish that were the case). I’m just saying that at some point I had a shift in perspective, and started treating my workouts as stepping stones to bigger goals, instead of just ways to burn off that bread bowl from the day before. And maybe that is the answer.

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When I used to ride along on the elliptical or treadmill, there were no real goals and there was never really a sense of accomplishment, besides the one (yes, one) time I ran 7 miles. The most exciting thing for me would be watching the number on the calorie tracker go up as I went along. Never mind that those calorie trackers on the machines are far from accurate anyway. If your biggest concern while working out is how many calories you’ve burned while watching The View, what are the chances you’re actually making any progress?

So back to this change in perspective. When I first started lifting, I finally realized that there was a form of working out that I enjoyed and that could make me feel good. Running felt like torture. Lifting, although difficult, felt amazing. And by amazing, I mean equal parts challenging and agonizing — but in a way that feels like I’m accomplshing something great. While I realize, unfortunately, that lifting does not feel so amazing to everyone, doing something to get that feeling is what it’s all about, No?

And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most people that share those types of complaints are those who are spending countless hours on cardio machines. Maybe it’s unrelated, but of all of the lifters I know, they’re generally NOT complaining about having to work out.

It’s usually more of an “F Yeah! It’s Deadlift Day!” type of mentality.

Maybe everyone doesn’t need to dive head first into the weight room and set up camp in a squat rack, but there is something to be said about finding something that gives you that “F YEAH!!” feeling.

If you’ve been parking your ass on an elliptical for the past 2 years, have seen little progress, and have hated every second of it, what makes you think your perspective is going to change and that you’re all of a sudden going to love it? (Or that you’ll magically start to make any progress, but that’s a different story).

Of course you don’t have to change what you’re doing in the gym, but if your first thought of every day is something along the lines of “Ugh, I Have to go to the gym today. Gloomy mopey mopey dread“, than it seems silly not to. I swear there’s a saying about that sort of thing…

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Find something that you love. Something that makes you feel empowered, strong, capable, and purposeful. Find something that you can put your heart into, strive for goals, and be proud of your progress. It doesn’t have to be heavy lifting of course, although if improving your strength and physique are among your goals, that seems like kind of a no brainer to me.  It could be yoga, it could be training for a half (or full) marathon, it could be martial arts, or something else entirely. I guess my (rather long winded) point is this:

Stop complaining. If you hate working out, you’re not doing it right. Find something that makes your life better, through both happiness and health. Find something that can help you shift your perspective from “Ugh, I have to go do this today” to “I can’t wait to see what kind of progress I can make today!”

Is there a type of workout that makes you feel amazing? Do you usually complain about working out or do you look forward to it? 

Top 3 Reasons You Should Be Front Squatting

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OMG

I’m back!

I’ve been on a slight hiatus…

from life.

Seriously, I was attacked by some virus monster and have been totally out of commission since last Thursday, when I first felt the slightest scratch in my throat. That scratch turned into a full blown monster Thursday night, leaving me feeling like death until, well, about 12 hours ago.

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Now I’m on the upswing!

I haven’t stepped foot in the gym for 8 days now, which is really unfortunate because my lift last Wednesday was a total Beast. I finally hit 145 on my squats again for the first time since September, and it felt…dare I say it… fairly easy?!  I hadn’t felt that good on back squats in months, and I attribute it partially to resting more lately, but also adding in some serious reps on my front squats. As much as I used to hate them, the front squat can be an enormously helpful tool for improving your other compound lifts, most notably the back squat.

front squat

If you’re familiar with CrossFit, you’re definitely familiar with the front squat. 

I avoided them for a long time, mostly because if you’re not used to them, it’s awfully uncomfortable to have a heavy barbell situated on your clavicles/deltoids. And it gets even less comfortable as more and more weight is added to the bar. Although once I stopped being a huge baby and just sucked it up, I found that each time I did them, having the barbell in the front loaded position got much more comfortable. The body does adapt to repeated stresses, ya know.

So anyway, why are we talking about this? Because it’s an important lift, that’s why. And also because I don’t think I’m alone in avoiding them. So why might the front squat be a valuable lift to add into your training?

1. You will probably improve your back squat. If you’re like many people, you may lean forward a bit too much on your back squat. This is likely due to 2 things: tight hip flexors, as well an anterior abdominal wall that is weak as sh*t. If your core is not strong enough to hold you upright during your back squat, it’s going to hinder your form and limit your potential. Front squatting works your core like crazytown, which will increase your abdominal strength for future back squat sessions. Since I have started incorporating front squats into my program, my back squats have felt infinitely easier. Did I ever think of myself as having a “weak” core? HELL NO. I can plank for days. But apparently, that doesn’t count when you’ve got a barbell loaded with your bodyweight across your back.

2. You will improve your core strength. Ahem. Notice I said “will”, and not “can” or “maybe”. As noted above, the front squat is a beast when it comes to strengthening the core and anterior abdominal wall. I won’t get into spinal compression here, or the dangers of spinal flexion exercises like crunches. But just know that anti-flexion and anti-rotation exercises for the core are the bees knees. The front squat just happens to be king of all of those exercises, and then some. As I said above, I can plank for days. But the first time that I front squatted with an appreciable amount of weight? My abs were SORE. I’m talking serious DOMS. And I don’t think my abs have been sore since I first learned how to snowboard, which was years ago.

3. You can’t cheat. Cheating on the back squat is easy, and many people do it. Leaning too far forward is one of the main ways that people cheat, aside from going through about 30 degrees of knee flexion and calling it a day.  With the front squat, you can’t lean forward, or you’ll lose the bar. Really. And no one wants to be that guy.  While yes, you can cheat and only go through a tiny range of motion if you really want to,  I’ve actually found that my range of motion (and the ease of getting to proper depth) on my front squats is better than my back squats. Likely because of my core issues noted above.

Before we go I just want to make sure that everyone knows I am in no way bashing the back squat. It’s one of my absolute favorite lifts, and while is an extremely important lift, especially when training for absolute strength (and why else would you train), the front squat is an excellent accessory lift. It can be a little bit humbling, as you’ll never be able to lift as much with a front squat as you can with a back squat, but as far as I’m concerned, many of those who frequent the weight room could use a little humbling now and again.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the front squat, here is a video of Molly Galbraith (who is basically my weight room hero) crushing them for 210 x 3. Watch and learn, folks.

Of course, if you’ve never done this lift before, start with a weight that you know you can handle, and be sure to use proper form in order to avoid injury.

Do you use front squatting in your lifts? Or do you avoid them like the plague like I used to? Do you find that front squats improve your back squats? What’s a lift or exercise that you used to avoid but now you love it?