Good To Great

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I don't care if you are a CEO of a Fortune 500, the leader of a start-up, middle management, or have little to no role in business whatsoever, Jim Collins' Good To Great is worth your time to read.

Why?

The principles described in this book go far beyond the business world. If you have any desire to create greatness in any area of your life, this book can be a valuable resource. If it is something as seemingly far removed from business as creating a great sports team or even being a great parent/creating a great family, the basic principles in this book can help guide you.

What is Good To Great?

In a nutshell, Collins took a team of people and researched the question, "What allowed companies that were getting good results to all of a sudden get great results?". Essentially, they were looking for things that specific companies had in common during the time when they made the jump from good to great, as measured by how well each company's stock did compared to the rest of the market.*

What they found were essentially seven principles that all of the Good-to-Great companies followed and then related it all back to Collins' earlier work, Built To Last.

These are the principles that set companies like Walgreens and Wells Fargo apart from their competitors, that allowed them to go from getting mediocre results to getting extraordinary results. And these principles have application to almost any field imaginable.

In what area of your life do you want to make an impact? In what area to you want to be great?

Create Greatness.

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*For more details on the actual mechanics of the study, please read the book. I was far more interested in the takeaway messages and principles for the use of this post as well as my own life so I tended to skim over most of the information on the study itself.

"Supertraining" and Machines: Part 2

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In Part 1 I discussed the issues I saw with the FR machines section in section 4.2.7 of Supertraining, specifically the gross misunderstanding of motion and forces.  Now I'd like to dive into my thoughts on what Verkhoshansky and Siff called the Non-Functional Resistance (NFR) machines.

I suppose if I am going to pick a place to start dissecting this section, I might as well start at the beginning.  Sentence #1 reads, "...in general (NFR machines) are unable to provide the same degree of multi-dimensional, full range, neuromuscular and musculoskeletal training as free weights and 'functional' machines."* (Verkhoshansky, 238).

Critiquing this half sentence will be an entire post itself.

Okay so let's start with "multi-dimensional".  I'm going to make the reasonable guess that what they mean by this is the fixed path of motion of machines does not allow for motion outside of that design, unlike FR machines (cables) and free weights.  Two thoughts with this:

1. They haven't been introduced to the Cybex Eagle press, as demoed here by my friend Ben:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/Y8W6Yje4eSg

Image courtesy of fitbie.msn.com

2. They don't understand the concept of virtual restraint.  Virtual restraint can come into play in a lot of different exercises, such as squats, but it's relevance to this point is when performing pulling exercises with heavier loads using a cable** or "free" weights.  When the load becomes heavy enough using either tool**, there will be one and only one path along which you can move that weight in the manner you are trying to--the path that optimizes the moment arms to every joint so you can perform the desire motions.

Test this out by performing a single arm dumbbell row.  First, using a lighter weight, try to pull the dumbbell so your hand ends up by your shoulder.  Next, try to pull the dumbbell so your hand ends up back by your hip.  If the weight is light enough, this should be a reasonable task.  Now try the same thing with a dumbbell that is highly challenging for you to row. (**Don't actually do this if you aren't prepared to.**).

Were you able to move that dumbbell as freely as you could the lighter one?  Doubtful.  When the load becomes great enough, that dumbbell will become just as restrained to a single path of motion as any machine--and even more restrained than those with the Cybex dual axis technology! Ha, but seriously.

Alright, on to "full range" now.  I think maybe the easiest way to answer this is just, "No", but I suppose I should expand.

Full range:  Are they talking of a joint or are they talking of a muscle?  Regardless, it seems like they are presenting an argument more for a "full range" challenge than "full range" motion.

Here's a beautiful thing about well made strength machines--they offer a varying magnitude of challenge as you move throughout it's designed path of motion, the likes of which (if it is a quality machine) will provide a greater challenge in the parts of the motion where you are able to generate more tension and less of a challenge in parts of the range where you are able to generate less tension.  This allows for a much greater range of motion that can be appropriately challenged instead of feeling like it is almost unbearably difficult at one point in the range and then a complete cake walk throughout the rest of the range.

While free weights and cables allow for this change in challenge, too, unless you understand how to set the exercise up to provide the challenge that you want, rarely will you find that either of these tools is appropriate for challenging a larger range of motion.

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Take the barbell back squat, for example.  This loaded movement (as if there were only one way to perform it) is most difficult in only one spot and how much load you can challenge yourself with is completely dependent on your ability to handle it at that one spot.  Moreover, as you move ascend up from that one spot and are able to handle more load, the challenge becomes less.  While you can add bands to increase tension as you ascend out of the bottom of your squat, understand that 1000 lbs times a zero moment to the joints controlled by the tissues you are trying to challenge equates to no challenge to those tissues.  So even with bands you still have to understand how to create the challenge you are looking for in order for them to be as effective as they can be in terms of altering the challenge throughout the range.

Okay, finally on the last bit--"neuromuscular and musculoskeletal training".  To me it seems as if they are saying that your muscles, skeletal structure, and nervous system won't reap as much benefit from using NFR machines as they will from using FR machines and free weights.

Look, if you develop quads that can generate more tension from performing knee extension on a machine, then you have stronger quads.  And those quads and that strength, you can use it wherever you want.  You don't magically lose that strength because you stand up out of the knee extension machine and move on to squats, for example.  It's not about the tool that you used to develop the strength.  Whatever adaptations you create using any tool you get to use when using other tools.

As discussed above, in terms of appropriately challenging tissue throughout a larger range of motion machines will often reign superior over free weights and cables.  So then the question becomes are you trying to create an adaptation where you are stronger throughout a larger range of motion or only at very specific points in that range?

Stronger muscles means more force that can be applied into bone, which leads to stronger bones.  And as far as the nervous system is concerned, I'm not really sure what they mean by this.  Are they saying your brain won't be able to figure out how to use stronger muscles to produce motion?  I don't think that will be the case.  Or are they talking about explosive movements and speed work?  Why can't you do speed presses on a chest press or do speed work on a leg press or knee extension?  At least with those tools there will be a greater opportunity for a greater challenge to be presented to the tissue.

So there you have my thoughts on that one half-sentence.  Up next, critiquing the rest of the NFR section.

What kind of adaptations opportunities do you think are provided by free weights and cables that aren't provided by machines?

Your body.  Your training.

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*Verkhoshanski, Yuri; Siff, Mel.  Supertraining, Sixth Edition–Expanded Version.  2009.  p. 237-240.

**The virtual restraint imposed by trying to pull a heavy load attached to a cable will be more conic in nature than the virtual restraint imposed when trying to pull a heavy dumbbell.  In other words, when performing a heavy cable row, there were be fewer and fewer options for motion available as you pull your hand towards yourself.

'Tis The (Flip Flop) Season

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Whether you consider post-Memorial Day to mark the start of summer or hold off until it officially turns in late June, almost one thing is for certain: flip-flop season is in full swing. And while this lightweight form of footwear can have you feeling footloose and fancy free, what repercussions are potentially on the horizon by sporting the open-backed staple of summer?


First, let's talk about what is supposed to happen to your foot when you walk. In a very elementary sense, when you rock forward over your foot that is planted to the ground your toes are supposed to be allowed to stay flat to the ground (extend) while the longer bones of your foot (metatarsals) will point down (plantarflex) as your heal lifts off the ground.

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However, when you wear an open-backed shoe such as flip-flops, your toes have to claw or grab at the shoe in order for it to stay on your foot. Unfortunately, this is often happening when your toes are supposed to be straight.

Because your toes are flexed when they are supposed to be extended, your metatarsals are unable to plantarflex, which disrupts the ability of your foot to become a rigid lever, further disrupting your ability to efficiently roll forward through gait.

These altered foot mechanics have far too many potential consequences to list, but in general I think it would be fair to say that by altering the mechanics of the joints of the foot during gait, the forces being imposed across these structures are not ideal for the long term well-being of these structures, the degradation of which may lead to different types of bone growths as well as other orthopedic issues as your body tries to compensate for the stresses being placed upon it.

So, is this post trying to get you to throw out all of your beloved flip flops and other open-backed shoes?  Not exactly.  But it is trying to educate you on the potential consequences of regularly wearing the season's most common form of footwear.

And if you feel the need to consistently wear your flops, at the very least do yourself the favor of trying to ensure that your feet are as well-supported by your muscles as they can be by setting up a tune-up with your local Muscle Activation Techniques™ specialist.

While having all of your foot and lower leg muscles working optimally won't necessarily alter the need to grab on to your flops with your toes every step, it will help to make sure those issue aren't compounded by giving your foot the best chance possible to work as ideally as it can once you remove the open-backed shoe.

Are your feet (and ankles and knees and hips and spine) ready to rock your flops all summer?

Interested in finding out more?  Check out the Muscle Activation Techniques™ page!

Interested in setting up an assessment or discussing this subject further?  Leave a comment below or e-mail Charlie at charlie@selfmadefitness.com!

Your body.  Your training.

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Think and Grow Rich

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Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich is one of the most highly-acclaimed wealth mastery books ever written.  Anthony Robbins says attaining financial freedom is 20% mechanics, 80% psychology.  Think and Grow Rich addresses the latter.

How do you think and feel about wealth?

How do you think and feel about money?

What are your biggest financial fears?

Think and Grow Rich addresses these questions and more, identifying what may be your biggest limitations in increasing your net worth and guiding you through reasonable and proactive solutions.

My biggest worry when I first got this book was it was going to be about more or less making money appear with your mind.  While one could make an argument that this is true, to me what it was really about was addressing how you as an individual feel about money and wealth.  Money can be a very sensitive subject for a lot of people and this book tries to ease that sensitivity.

I have stated before that I am a big believer in the power of thoughts, mindset, and energy, so if this kind of stuff vibes with you as well then this book is a must-read.  Additionally, if you feel like all you do is work really hard but haven't been able to increase your income you should check this book out.

Be great.

Enjoy this review?  Get a copy of Think and Grow Rich in the Self Made® Book Store!

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"Supertraining" and Machines: Part 1

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I was skimming through my copy of Supertraining by Yuri Verkhoshansky and Mel Siff this morning and thought it would be be interesting to check out their take on using machines and strength training.  Despite the respect this book has garnered from the strength and conditioning world, there were some MAJOR errors in the understanding of the application and effects of strength training machines.

Just a quick side note before I dive in:  I am going to try to keep this post short(er), so I'm not going to hit all of the points from this section of the text (4.2.7, 6th edition-expanded version) today, but I plan on expanding on this post in future posts.

So the authors started by classifying strength training machines as either 1) Functional Resistance (FR) Machines or 2) Non-functional Resistance (NFR) Machines (Verkhoshansky, 237).  The difference between the two was stated as "FR machines offer resistance in sport specific patterns" whereas "NFR machines offer general resistance in non-sport specific patterns"* (Verkhoshansky, 237).  The argument that was made over the next few pages is that using FR is a superior means by which to train athletes in order to prepare them for competition.

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An example of FR was said to be a cable and pulley system (excluding traditional lat pull-down machines) as compared to examples of NFRs which were said to be seated knee extensions, biceps curl machines, and leg presses.

The entire point of the section was to answer the question, "Which classification of machine would better-prepare athletes to perform the movements of their sport?".  The overarching conclusion was stated as, "The important limitation of many strength training machines is that they are designed to train muscles, not movement.  Because of this, they are not the most important training tool for athletes."* (Verkhoshansky, 237).

I looked at this statement and my first thought was, "Muscles perform movements, so by improving the way muscles perform are you not giving yourself the best opportunity to improve movements?"

In an interesting twist at the end of the first section, the authors write, "In using any machine, however, it is vital to note that simulation of any sporting movement against heavy loads can alter the force-time characteristics of the action significantly and disrupt the neuromuscular programmes responsible for movement."* (Verkhoshansky, 238).

To me this is implying that the use of FR machines is not to actually get stronger, but to practice motions specific to an athlete's sport.  The kicker with this is that anyone who can see and understand forces will realize that there are very few sport-specific motions (if any) that would actually allow for a single cable and pulley to be added to them (such as the high-low cable given as the example on page 237) and only have a change in the amount of force that has to be overcome in order to perform the motion.  More times than not you will be dealing with a different direction of force, as well, which will alter which muscles are used to perform the motion.  (**An easy example of this is the chest press vs. the row.  Both can be performed as the same motion, but because the direction of the resistance force is different, different muscles are employed to perform the motion.)

This seems to directly contradict the very last sentence in this sections, which reads, "...functionality is not the automatic consequence of a specific exercise, but of the functional objectives associated with using any exercise, irrespective of its similarity to any sports action and integrating it effectively into the long-term conditioning programme."* (Verkhoshansky, 238).

My takeaway from this is that the authors are saying it is not about the motion being performed but rather about the adaptation attained through exercising and how well that adaptation transfers to the improvement of the performance of the athlete.  This, as I stated above, is contradictory to their previous statement where they wrote the goal was to improve sporting motions through adding resistance even though it is likely the added resistance would alter which muscles are performing the motion and therefore the potential adaptation gleaned from the exercise would be different than what was intended.

Okay so that's a brief overview of the first part of this section on machines and the objective of them writing this section altogether.  Up next:  their fatal misinterpretation of the use of "NFR Machines".

Are you seeing forces or are you caught up in the motions?

Your body.  Your training.

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*Verkhoshanski, Yuri; Siff, Mel.  Supertraining, Sixth Edition--Expanded Version.  2009.  p. 237-240.

Your "Check Engine" Light

As much as I try to tell people, "Muscle Activation Techniques™ is about getting muscles to contract better, not relieving your pain," a large percentage of my clients initially come to see me because they are experiencing some type of pain or discomfort.  Inevitably questions arise when they tell me they are experiencing discomfort in one area of their body and I begin assessing another area.  Then when I begin explaining any limitations or asymmetries I may see they get a case of the "Yabuts".

"Yabut my pain is in my shoulder."

"Yabut it's my other knee that's killing me."

"Yabut I have a lot of discomfort in my low back."

More times than not, this leads to a discussion about pain, cars, and their check engine light.

Pain is often analogous to your check engine light illuminating on the dashboard of your car.  When it comes on, what do you do?  Do you immediately pull the car over, grab the random tool set out of the trunk, and beat the dashboard in with the hammer until the light no longer lights up?  That would get rid of the bright light, right?

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Of course not!  First, that light is merely an indicator that something is going on.  Second, there are numerous reasons why it could be on, none of which include the dashboard being in need of a random, violent beating.

So what do you do?  You take your car into the mechanic and let them assess and figure out what's going on.

That's what MAT™ allows its practitioners to do--assess your neuromuscular system and try to figure out if the "check engine" light of your body (pain) can be dimmed or shut off by improving the way your muscles contract.

Does MAT™ get rid of the pain every time?  Nope.  Does it have the potential to?  Maybe.  Is that the main goal of MAT™?  Nope.

Your "check engine" light might be illuminated for many reasons, one of which is inefficient contractile abilities of your muscles.  Which muscles need the most attention may not have any relation to where the light is shining brightest.  Remember, the "check engine" light is just an indication of an issue and is not necessarily specific to issue that needs attention.  Muscle Activation Techniques™ is a modality that can assess and improve how your muscles contract, potentially dimming that "check engine" light or shutting it off all together.

Is the "check engine" light of your body shining?  Contact your local MAT™ specialist for a tune up!

Interested in finding out more?  Check out the Muscle Activation Techniques™ page!

Interested in setting up an assessment or discussing this subject further?  Leave a comment below or e-mail Charlie at charlie@selfmadefitness.com!

Your body.  Your training.

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10 Seeds of Greatness

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I am a firm believer that what we think and what we feel every day is what we manifest for ourselves and what we perceive to be our reality.  In order to be great, you must think great things, and that can only be done if you are feeling great emotions.  These emotions are the seeds of your greatness, and according to Anthony Robbins, there are ten of them:

1. Love and Warmth
2. Appreciation and Gratitude
3. Curiosity
4. Excitement and Passion
5. Determination
6. Flexibility
7. Confidence
8. Cheerfulness
9. Health
10. Sense of Contribution

Every time you are presented with a situation you have a choice as to how you want to react to it.  What if your reactions are not without consequence?  What if every time you felt or thought negatively about something it limited your ability to achieve whatever it is you want?  Would that change how you respond to things you don't necessarily like or situations that you are skeptical of?

What if by looking for ways to express the ten emotions listed above you were feeding the greatness within you?

Be great.

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My Intermittent Fasting Experience

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Let me start by saying I am not well versed in the science of intermittent fasting (IF).  There are plenty of people out there who can give you a lot more information in regards to what is supposed to happen when you fast, so I would ask that you direct those kinds of questions elsewhere.  What I do know about, though, is how my body has responded to condensing the amount of time I eat every day from about 17 hours to right around 8 hours, effectively having a 16-hour window every day where I "fast".

I've been following this IF regimen for just under two weeks now.  Not a huge amount of time for sure, but nevertheless I have already noticed some pretty drastic changes, particularly in the stability of my blood glucose levels.  For years my blood glucose levels were usually maintained between 140-160 throughout the day.  If I got below 100 I would start feeling like I was dropping into hypoglycemia.  This was contrary to the standard recommendations that stated my blood glucose level should be between 80-120.

After about 5 days of IF I noticed my average blood glucose levels had dropped throughout the day and I was right within the recommended 80-120 range throughout most of the day.  The other thing I noticed was that I could keep my blood glucose levels in the 80's and 90's not feel like I was going to drop lower, which is always a concern I have had.

Because of these lower blood glucose readings I am taking less insulin throughout the day due to both fewer blood glucose spikes requiring additional insulin and a lowering of the basal level of insulin I receive consistently throughout the day.

As far as my weight goes, the first three days I was following the IF process I went from 238 lbs to 231 lbs.  Now, for someone like me who has traditionally had a difficult time putting on weight, this was not pleasing to see.  But once I figured out how to effectively eat more in that 8-hour window I have put back on four pounds.

So up until now my eating schedule has been trying to start at 12 noon every day and concluding around 8 PM.  There is usually an hour or two kind of mid-morning where I get really hungry, but otherwise I feel fine.  I have also noticed that, despite feeling completely depleted the first time I tried to train while fasted, exercising usually helps take the edge off, as does tea and water.

The idea of IF had been proposed to me before, but I wasn't really sure what to make of it.  In Engineering The Alpha the authors talk a bit about IF and they brought up some interesting points as far as increasing growth hormone and improving insulin sensitivity.  I'm not sure if insulin sensitivity can be improved in a Type-1 diabetic, but I figure it is worth a shot so I decided to try it out.

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I'll post updates on my IF experience every few weeks to this blog so be on the lookout if you want to follow along.  Additionally, if you want to try out IF for yourself, check out Engineering The Alpha as well as the multitude of other resources online.

Your body.  Your training.

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Engineering The Alpha

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"All men were meant to be heroes of their own tale."

--Engineering The Alpha

This past Friday I was sitting at dinner enjoying a double double-double (two pounds of ground beef plus cheese and bacon) when I saw a commercial come on for an FDA-approved testosterone boosting gel that was applied like a deodorant.  The ad wasn't trying to appeal to bodybuilders or guys who wanted to improve their rec league performance.  It was targeting middle-aged men who quite simply want to feel like men again.  This commercial is not the first of its kind that I've seen.  In recent years there have been more and more ads popping up asking the question, "Is it low T?".  That's where Engineering The Alpha comes in. 

Engineering The Alpha by Adam Bornstein and John Romaniello is specifically targeted towards men who want to optimize their hormones, including increasing testosterone, growth hormone, and insulin sensitivity.  Bornstein and Romaniello head the fitness division of Schwarzenegger.com and have helped hundreds of personal training clients achieve better physiques and better lives through diet and exercise regimens specifically designed to improve certain hormone levels.  After years of trial and error, Engineering The Alpha contains the workout advice and nutrition plans that they have found to yield the best results.

In addition to the diet and exercise advice, Engineering The Alpha gets into the psychology of boosting testosterone and what it means to be a man from a basic, primal perspective, in particular discussing the idea of the monomyth as proposed by Joseph Campbell.  Essentially, what the monomyth says is that all great stories of good versus evil follow the same plot line with only the characters and location of the story being changed.  This general story is what Campbell called the Hero's Journey, which he describes in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces.  The purpose behind Engineering The Alpha is to show all men that they too can live their own Hero's Journey.

Engineering The Alpha is not about becoming the top dog of your group of buddies or the people you know, it is about becoming the best version of yourself, the alpha version of you.

An easy read, I enjoyed the ideas proposed within the book.  Bornstein and Romaniello discuss intermittent fasting (IF) and the importance of sleep as they play to optimizing male hormones and I have found the former concept very interesting.  Currently, I am performing some IF trial and error on myself as well as going through the training program (with appropriate modifications) found in the book.

Engineering The Alpha is not about building huge muscles or becoming a testosterone-infused jerk.  It's about presenting basic diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes that can be made to have the greatest opportunity of optimizing specific hormones in order to become the best version of yourself.

Your body.  Your training.

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My Powerlifting Deception

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 All of my weight training used to follow a powerlifting type model.  Heavy squats, bench, deadlifts, and overhead press.  In order to increase the weights I was using for each lift I used to spend a fair amount of time studying the respective technique of each lift and try to figure out different tips and tricks to make heavier weights seem easier to lift.



Now this was done in part from a safety perspective, meaning I was trying to learn how to handle these relatively heavy weights while putting myself at the lowest risk of injury.  But figuring out these tips and tricks was also done so I could lift the weights more efficiently.

I would try to "pull the bar apart in my hands" when pressing, altering the respective moment arm to the shoulder and elbow.  I would throw my body weight back while deadlifting--a tip I picked up after watching countless YouTube videos of some of the best powerlifters in the world--effectively attempting to use the inertia of the mass of my body to help lift the bar.  I would place the bar at a very specific position on my back every time I squatted in order to maximize the amount of weight I could add on top of my torso and still sit down and stand up.

The ironic thing about all of this is that I was not training to be a powerlifter.  Powerlifting was not my sport, basketball was, and I was lifting to get stronger and stay healthy.  I liked seeing a lot of weight on the bar and watching as that amount increased.  But the veil of deception that I was under for the longest time is that the more weight I would put on the bar meant I was automatically challenging my tissue more.  More challenge to the tissue meant more strength meant more weight on the bar.  At least that's how I had it in my head.

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Here's the funny thing, though:  I'm not sure how much of that weight was actually challenging my muscles in the way I wanted them to be challenged.  In fact, all of the tips and tricks I learned and applied were done in order to challenge specific tissue less to make the weight seem easier to lift.  For example, trying to pull my hands apart on the bar when I bench pressed created less mechanical challenge to my chest and more to my elbow extensors.  But why was I bench pressing?  To move more weight or to build a bigger, stronger chest?

Trying to rip the bar off of the ground and fling by body backwards when deadlifting certainly helped me pull 500, but how much stronger could I have gotten if I actually tried to lift and control the weight and the motion at every point along the way instead of trying so hard to fling the bar up that the inertial effects of the movement of that mass propelled the bar through part of the range?
And I definitely found the best bar placement spot on my back to create the most optimal moment arms to my knees, hips, etc when I squatted, but what kind of challenge was actually being presented to the muscles that controlled those joints?  Furthermore, how much was I challenging myself when I would stand up so fast that you could see the bar elevating off of my back by the time I was at the top of my rep?

There isn't anything inherently wrong with powerlifting or training to increase the amount of weight you can move, but what I have come to realize is if your goal is to improve the amount of tension (force) your muscles can generate, all of the tips and tricks to make lifting the weight more efficient by actually challenging the tissue less might need to go out the window.  You still want to set yourself in a specific manner to try to limit injury, but if the goal is truly to challenge tissue, then you need to create a different relationship of your joints to the forces of the imposed challenge, in which the pursuit of finding the most efficient way to lift the weight needs to be strongly reconsidered.

What is the goal of the challenge you have created for yourself?  Is it to move a mass with a bigger number on it or to challenge tissue to a greater degree?

Your body.  Your training.

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Three Reasons for MAT™ for the Overweight Individual

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Three reasons why you should consider checking out Muscle Activation Techniques™:

1. You are concerned about the health of your joints.
2. You want to start exercising but find it to be uncomfortable when you do.
3. You are not interested in starting regular activity but still want to do something to improve your health.

Do any of these sound like something you want?

Interested in finding out more?  Check out the Muscle Activation Techniques™ page!

Interested in setting up an assessment or discussing this subject further?  E-mail Charlie at charlie@selfmadefitness.com!

Your body.  Your training.

Like this post?  Drop a comment below and “Like” Self Made® on Facebook!

Want to use this article in your blog, newsletter, or other platform?  You may, but be sure to include all of the biographical info found in the yellow box below!