Category: Training

I don’t usually write stuff like this but every once in a while it’s time for something a bit lighter than my more technical fare.  Today I’m going to tell you an important aspect of weight training.  Today I’m going to tell you how to keep the power inside the bar.

Getting Started in the Weights Game

The year was 1985 or so and I had begged my mom for a membership to the local Nautilus gym in town.  That Christmas I got it.  This was in the heyday of Nautilus (and step aerobics on concrete floors I might add), they had all the original machines that you could work through circuit style.

But as gyms of that type were wont to do, it also had a small free weight area.  This was pretty ancient stuff, the old style bench presses where the uprights were way too close together and made it really easy to tip the bar over if you didn’t put it back just right. … Keep Reading

Following up on a previous article on Cable Row Technique and today I want to examine the “other” major back movement and look at lat pulldown technique.   As with previous technique articles, I’ll examine what muscles are trained, proper form and look at some variations on the movement.

Note: the form issues I’m going to address go for chins or pullups as well.  The only difference is that instead of pulling the bar down to your body, you pull your body up to the bar.  But the technique is otherwise identical. As well, I’m going to use the term pulldown generally throughout this article, just keep in mind that it refers to all of the different variants as well as chins/pullups.

Muscles Trained in the Lat Pulldown

As the name itself suggests, the lat pulldown has as its primary target the latissimus dorsi.  This is the large fan shaped muscle that takes up an exceedingly large portion of the back. … Keep Reading

Today I want to talk about becoming an expert.  I mean, how hard can it be?  Towards this goal, I want to quote something from Dan John’s book Never Let Go from a story he told about a wrestling coach named Dan Gable.  Basically Gable’s philosophy was this:

If it’s important, do it every day; if it’s not important, don’t do it at all. – Dan Gable

And while he was discussing this quote in a slightly different context (how he programs training for different movement patterns), it gave me the idea for today’s article which is about learning skills and becoming “expert” at something.  Of course, I’ll be focusing on training applications in this article but, as it turns out, the ideas are general enough to apply to a lot of different areas.

What Defines an Expert?

It may surprise some readers to realize that there is actually quite a bit of research into the topic of developing expertise. … Keep Reading

When people are trying to lose fat or change their body composition, they often ask how they should weight train while dieting.   Should they continue lifting heavy or switch it up to lighter weights and higher repetitions as is so often recommended by pro bodybuilders?   Or is some other approach better.

In this article, I want to look first at the primary goal of dieting along with the two primarily “types” of weight training that might be done on a diet.  Finally I’ll give specific recommendations for how to optimally weight train while dieting and show some sequencing examples.

The Goal of Dieting

So what is the goal of dieting? For some people it’s simply to see their weight on the scale go down, to see the numbers drop.  But while the scale has its uses (and always will), this isn’t or rather shouldn’t be the actual goal of dieting. … Keep Reading

When I heard from a friend that Dan John had a new book coming out, I went and placed my order right away.  Unfortunately, that backfired as Laree Draper (wife of Golden era Bodybuilder Dave Draper) had already intended to send me a copy as part of being on the insider list.  I couldn’t have been more excited.  This is a review of that book.

For those who don’t know of Dan John, well it’s your loss.  Truly a more friendly, knowledgable and helpful individual in the field of strength training may not exist.  Dan is located here in Salt Lake City where I pursued ice speed skating and while I’ve only had a chance to hang out with him sporadically, it’s always worth the time.

You see, Dan John has been in the lifting weights since about the history of recorded time.   He’s seen it all, done it all, and tried it all. … Keep Reading