Has anybody tried to do the opposite of a Harrop Hamstring Curl? For the quads? I’m thinking if you could anchor your calves to a table and hang your upper body/thighs off, then extend back up with your quad power alone (no bend at the hips), it would be a killer exercise…
This is a great thread. It’s nice to see other people are interested in functional strength as well.
Another good way to build your grip and strengthen/thicken your upper body is by using a thick bar for upper body movements, ala Dinosaur Training. I’ve been doing thick bar curls/reverse curls, holds, bench presses, etc., with a 2" bar and find they work great. I made my own bar out of some pipe and really like using it.
Great to see ya’ll getting into functional work. Let me try to tackle some of these questions.
Manu-about Glute Hams, Louie Simmons and Dave Tate's are about the only that has impressed me over time. And I torture the hamstrings so that poor machine can get a lot of work. Although the best way to do is natural. Put a sandbag under your knees, restrict you feet from moving by either a training partner or shoving under a bench - lock the hips forward and allow you body to come down. This will hurt - you will really need to get evil for this. As your body collapses down, push itself up with your hands like a pushup. But just enough to keep the hams in play, try sets of 3 or 4 sets of 25
Rockclimber Joe - I nearly hijacked the local water delievery truck a few months ago when they tried a new version with a built in thick handle. I use them for everything. Take them to the ocean attach a thick rope, throw it in water and try to pull it in.
Tony & JayTMan - nutrition hmm, I will tell you the truth I will be getting home after nearly 12 weeks in Europe (with a few short breaks). I'm going to try the Biotest stuff and if I like it I will tell you-honest. I take buckets of L-Glutamine and BCAA's daily (40 & 25 grams daily). But lets be straight about this EAT. Simple rule, if it was once alive - eat it. Protein lots of it, good quality veggies (10-15 a day)and a truck load of water.
FFB-load 200-300 pounds to start, don't worry about more, then build over time. In eight weeks, we'll get you up to 45 minutes.
Cream - you want me to sell you a book? - I guess I could but if you have a question, the old coach is happy to answer. Hopefully, I can help through my experiences.
In faith,
Coach Davies
Coach Davies:
I found your post on side presses. I now have a very good idea on how to preform them. Just one question remains. Foot position. What is the starting stance? Does it change during the exercise? Thanks John.
In style…Keago. 
With the dumbell side presses, I perform with a moderately wide base. Comfort and being structurally strong is the key here. You are going to drive that weight with your entire torso and you need to have a very stable base. Does that help explain it better? Please let me know if that helps and when you try them.
In faith,
Coach Davies
JeffD, what eccentric loading is there in pushing a wheelbarrow, hurling stones, or the other “functional strength” exercises mentioned? None whatsoever. Certaintly nothing even remotely close to what you would get in a gym. I tell you what. The next person you train, have him do 100% concentric exercises. See how huge he gets. I already know because I’ve read the studies showing that concentric training is responsible for little or no muscle growth (yes, several studies actually found that concentric training produced zero muscle hypertrophy). That’s the real reason why Joe Construction looks like Bruce Willis instead of Vin Diesel.
dman, have you seen a gymnast in person? Their arms are only an inch or so bigger than the arms of people who don’t work out. And as I said before, in most gymnast routines you will find no eccentric motions at all. Given that eccentric exercises are 90% responsible for muscle hypertrophy, it’s not surprising why gymnasts (and construction workers, cart pushers, rock climbers, etc.) are so small.
There’s a reason bodybuilders train the way they do. After nearly 100 years of experimentation, they know what works and what doesn’t.
Thanx Coach Davies that is much appreciated. Now guys lets have a little more input from you! What sort of routine do you all follow as in split, exercise selection, sets reps, finishers, extra work etc.
Does anyone know if ironmind will ship abroad as i'm for a couple of pairs of those grippers probs 1 and 2 well mainly the no.1, lol.
Been doing towel pullups and they are really taxing on the grip, which i feel could have a nice carryover affect in the deadlift if the grip was the problem there.
As for diet i have been doing a moderately low carb diet as in 60g’s a day and have become considerably leaner these last few weeks. I have been taking lots of fish oil lately and my recovery is great but that could be coupled with the ZMA i don’t know and to tell the truth, don’t really care as long as its working. Apart from that all i take is a multivitamin and an antioxidant.
Loaded stretching is something else that i have been experimening with and i feel that has also helped as i am hardly ever sore after a workout now.
After doing heavy deads, squats or pressing movements try hanging from a chinup bar for a few mins as it really helps with any lower back tightness that you may have experienced.
One last thing before i go jmb’s drinking the gatorade during the workout also has helped greatly although i don’t have any glutamine but non the less it works well without it all i did was crush up a little vit c and add that to normal gatorade.
Happy training and productive workouts to yah all.
Mike, sorry but Gymnastics has a huge eccentric forces. Eccentrics are not the end all be all you are trying to make them out to be. You sound like those who say olympic lifting has no eccentric portion. Which by the way is been shown to be the exact opposite in biomechanical studies of the oly lifts. Also, no one is saying that weighttraining doesn’t fit in with functional strength training. Why does every movement have to produce the most mass possible anyways? Keep pumping away. I for one welcome more artciles on functional and strongman training.
Where can a guy like me (or a guy like anyone) procure a sandbag? Thanks.
“MB Eric: more bang for the hang since 1323.”
-Eric
MB Eric - any Home Depot will have them. If you want larger - go to back of the local grocery store and ask for one of the large burlap bags that potatoes are packed in.
In faith,
Coach Davies
Umm, what are these “huge eccentric forces” in gymnastics? Names of movements, please.
Right guys i need some stuff for grip work. so help me out would yah! I already do towel pullups, wrist extensions both ways, and wrist roller bother ways, and my deadlifts and wheelbarrow thing is helping to but i need more, if any of you have read the book that iron mind pushes for wrist strength if you could give me some of its recomendations that would be great!!
Coach Davies you said in one of your post that you will have me up to forty five mins with the wheelbarrow walking in eight weeks well i have six weeks left till i go back to school and i was wondering if we could do it in that time period i will work my ass off harder than i allready am if necessary, You say it and i’ll do it as iain king say bring the pain!!!lol well not goreing the flounder though, but you get my drift lol.
Coach Davies:
Okay I tried them, not with actual work sets, but just practicing form with a light weight. The wide base works well. However now that I have done them I have a few more questions. Namely should I bend my knees at all? Also should my torso be parallel to the floor at the end of the movement? In other words how far should I bend over? Hopefully this will be the last of the questions. Thanks John.
Keago
First of all in any tumbling your going to have huge eccentric force. Different “lowering” movements on the rings, parralel bars, the horse, balance beam. Some of these lowering movements are done on a single limb, slowly while attempting to look completely controlled. Back to tumbling. The landings (and even dismounts) create huge eccentric forces as the muscles fight to brake the downwards inertia. Enough examples Mike? I would suggest if you want an even more thorough explanation go to some of the coaching and biomechanics websites. later.
elite male gymnast have large arms. I have seen it on TV, and i know that tv adds 20lbs or whatever, but not just to your arm area. You are correct that some motions have little or no eccentric (most notably the static iron cross move). Again the reason of their limmitted hypertrophy, is A)they dont have an interest in gaining weight, as it decreases relative strenght B)they only use their bodyweight.
FFB-The 45 minute mark is developed using a fairly complex formulation of a large body of work. 30-35 minutes is more likely.
nkeago - It might be the manner in which you wrote it but you may be overthinking it. The wheelbarrow is done with a nasty spirit to it. I was misleading you with this, put some work boots on nice and tight, load some weight in there - can’t do it light - wrap your hands around the handles in the old fashion, meaning “crush the bar” and walk powerfully and don’t bend over.
In faith,
Coach Davies
Coach Davies- Thank you for your input on nutrition for functional strength. I certainly have not been eating enough veggies!I have another questions for you-
What kind of lifts do you focus on for the mixed martial artist? I’m assuming there’s a lot of back work involved, but which exercises do you typically use?
Thanks,
Tony
FFB-Here is a grip exercise for you:One-arm hangs from a chin bar for time.Try to hang on for 20-40 seconds with each arm.When you can hit 40 sec. grab a dumbell in the other arm for extra resistance.These are a killer on the grip.I am only 188 ibs, but I can hold a 45-ib dumbell in the other hand for 19 sec.Give them a try.Good for increasing grip for deads too.
Thanx for the input ballast it was much appreciated.