Brotz,
Yes, the knee is coming along quite well now. Thanks for asking!
To answer your question, yes, I believe most trainees should ALWAYS put an emphasis on scapular retraction/depression work. All the other “major” upper body movements (chins, benches, OH pressing) seem to counteract these movements to some extent, so to keep things balanced you need to constantly address it.
To be honest, I’m not too interested in trying to quantifying every aspect of training. The easiest way to do it is to make sure that everytime you do a bench, you do a row. When you do a chin-up, do a row, etc. As well, don’t forget the other half of the equation which is stretching/massaging the internal rotators as well. If you want a different movement, try the “Rack pull w/scap retraction” that EC and I outlined in our NNM series. You’ll get to a point with your exercises where you need something more intense (aka more weight), and this is a great exercise to use. Good luck!
Stay strong
MR
[quote]brotzfrog10 wrote:
hi there mike hope your coming along well. Do you believe its necessary at all times to prioritze scapula retraction work. Vertical pulling and pushing and horizontal pushing all cause some degree of internal rotation and scapula pronation. should horizontal pulling equal out these three movement patterns in terms of volume. Currently I am doing three total body routines a week and trying to equal out the numbers is a little difficult without completely leaving out a movement.
I know you could just do 5 sets of 8 for rowing along with 5 sets of 5 or 3 for horizontal pulling but wouldnt this kind of work essential work different muscle fibers in the chest and back.
a second question would be how would you determine quanitatively the difference between doing 8 sets of 3 with a 5rm max of a given exercise or doing 3 sets of 8 with a 10rm. obviously one is higher in intensity and equal in volume so that exercise would be more intense, but is there any way to determine by how much. this same question would apply to different exercises that work the same muscle group. deadlifts or good mornings should be harder on the posterior chain then pull throughs even though all three are compound movements, but is there a way to predict how much more so.[/quote]
[quote]Mike Robertson wrote:
So you’re 170 pounds and you’re looking to lose body fat? Am I correct?
I don’t think the 400 kcal difference is too much at this point. I would make sure that you’re getting in adequate kcals post-training, though.
Stay strong
MR
retailboy wrote:
Mike,
I’m 18 5’7" 170lbs 10%bf. On workout days I do 50 minutes of 75% compound and 25% isolated lifts. I do fullbody split routine that is 4 days a week. I do a very brisk one mile walk on non-workout mournings. I am a college student(4 days a week) so I walk fast paced w/ a 25lb pack on for about 40 min overall usually but then sit and do school work for the rest of the day. A calculator said my raw BMR was 1862.6. Hope that helps.
Thanks!
RetailBoy
[/quote]
More like a slow bulk, my goal is not a powerlifter body but more of an aesthetic look(my current bf is 12 :). I don’t do good with carbs (that i’ve seen) so I’m keeping them low but i’m getting adequate post-training nutrients (70g simple carbs 40g prot, then an hour after workout consume 30g carbs in veggies) the rest of my carbs the rest of the day are veggies (same for my non-workoutday except for breakfast: oatmeal). Right now I’m mainly trying to figure out how my body reacts to certain calories and macros. If your skepticle about my diet i’ll be more than willing to post, or if you think i need some help :).
Thanks!
RetailBoy
[quote]retailboy wrote:
Mike Robertson wrote:
So you’re 170 pounds and you’re looking to lose body fat? Am I correct?
I don’t think the 400 kcal difference is too much at this point. I would make sure that you’re getting in adequate kcals post-training, though.
Stay strong
MR
retailboy wrote:
Mike,
I’m 18 5’7" 170lbs 10%bf. On workout days I do 50 minutes of 75% compound and 25% isolated lifts. I do fullbody split routine that is 4 days a week. I do a very brisk one mile walk on non-workout mournings. I am a college student(4 days a week) so I walk fast paced w/ a 25lb pack on for about 40 min overall usually but then sit and do school work for the rest of the day. A calculator said my raw BMR was 1862.6. Hope that helps.
Thanks!
RetailBoy
More like a slow bulk, my goal is not a powerlifter body but more of an aesthetic look(my current bf is 12 :). I don’t do good with carbs (that i’ve seen) so I’m keeping them low but i’m getting adequate post-training nutrients (70g simple carbs 40g prot, then an hour after workout consume 30g carbs w/ a chicken breast in veggies then hour after that an 46g prot and apple) the rest of my carbs the rest of the day are veggies (same for my non-workoutday except for breakfast: oatmeal). Right now I’m mainly trying to figure out how my body reacts to certain calories and macros. If your skepticle about my diet i’ll be more than willing to post, or if you think i need some help :).
Thanks!
RetailBoy
[/quote]
Retail -
I wasn’t skeptical, just wasn’t sure of what you were doing. Are you putting on weight with the current set-up you are using? I can imagine it would be slow, but wasn’t sure.
Stay strong
MR
At the current caloric intakes I just starting keeping track yesterday. And will see how I do after 2 weeks. I did a huge bulk in the past w/ 350 carbs with brown rice and all, 3100 cals w/o days 2800 non w/o days (what jb said in most bulking articles) and gained a lot of fat in the 4 weeks I was on it. Sure I gained a lot of strength and some mass, but didn’t fit my goals at all. So I went on a quick cut and now am trying a slower approach and hopfully it will get me closer to my asthetic look I’m going for. I will let you know in 2 weeks how I ended up and tell you how I plan to adjust. I’m also taking a some of compund movements out of my lifting routine and focusing more on upperbody cause I’ve been mainly working legs for past couple months, as a result I won’t burn as many calories.
Thanks!
RetailBoy
All right all, I’m out for the night. See you Thursday!
Stay strong
MR
I’m on from 7-9 EST tonight, but feel free to leave questions here and I’ll get to them when I’m on!
Stay strong
MR
Just a little FYI for those in the Indianapolis area: It looks as though we’ll be holding the USA Powerlifting Indiana State Meet here on December 10th of this year. The meet will be held at University High School in Carmel.
I get questions pretty frequently about stuff that’s going on in the strength-world, so hopefully we’ll get some of the T-Nation there to represent us!
Stay strong
MR
It’s just been brought to my attention that the Lonman, aka Lonnie Lowery, is giving away a FREE audio CD + DVD (seminar) disc pack tonight!
Now before you guys blow up my thread with questions as to how you can get hooked up, this is all you have to do: Anyone who posts something intelligent in his PRIME TIME thread goes into the 8:45 PM drawing. Check it out and show the Lonman some love!
Stay strong
MR
Mike,
Can you email me a flyer when you have one ready? I have some new guys who are powerlifters who may want to compete.
Lesa
I sure will Lesa!
Stay strong
MR
[quote]Firefighter147 wrote:
Mike,
Can you email me a flyer when you have one ready? I have some new guys who are powerlifters who may want to compete.
Lesa[/quote]
Mikay! I’m looking forward to your IN-vasion of SWIS in a month!
I have a question about the applicability of powerlifting lifts for strength and conditioning. Actually, I think I just asked the question without really asking it (ie how applicable can they be?).
I love seeing a BIG bench, but can’t imagine that the 4 inch range of motion would mean anything in an athletic setting.
Thoughts from the expert?
I think a lot of things about powerlifting carry over well to a strength and conditioning setting. For example, both should put a huge premium on proper technique. I know that being a powerlifter I’m extremely confident that I can teach any kid to squat, bench and deadlift properly. As well, I think it’s good that kids learn to squat deep as early as possible.
However, at the same time, I don’t train my kids like typical powerlifters. Getting stronger on the core lifts will typically improve their athletic ability, but I’m not going to pump-up their weight room numbers and egos by using a 4" bench stroke or doing quarter squats. As well, I make sure to put in a ton of assistance and prehab work to boot. Prehab work for a basketball player is a lot different than prehab work for a powerlifter, so that will change as well.
If I had to sum it up, I would say to use the great things from powerlifting (the movements, proper technique, and a logical progression of heavier weights) while adding in lifts that complement the basics. Great question!
Stay strong
MR
[quote]David Barr wrote:
Mikay! I’m looking forward to your IN-vasion of SWIS in a month!
I have a question about the applicability of powerlifting lifts for strength and conditioning. Actually, I think I just asked the question without really asking it (ie how applicable can they be?).
I love seeing a BIG bench, but can’t imagine that the 4 inch range of motion would mean anything in an athletic setting.
Thoughts from the expert?[/quote]
Quick followup based on your (kick ass) answer; how do you feel about “core” training for kids? Not bench/squats, but the core of the body.
Hugely undervalued.
With every client/athlete I work with, I’m going to hit their core (EC loves that term) muscles pretty much daily. Not to mention the fact that most PE classes don’t have the kids do shit anymore, and you have a real issue when kids get into sports or just playing games of any type. I outlined several ways of breaking things up in my “21st Century Core Training” article, but have since changed things up just a little bit in my own training.
For instance, I’ve been lucky to get in the gym 2-3 days per week for a number of reasons. However, I think the cut-back in training sessions has improved the QUALITY immensely. I feel great each time I go in and all my lifts are climbing (albeit the low body stuff is still sub-par d/t the surgery). Anyway, I don’t want to just hit one ab movement per day, I want to hit a ton. So in one day I might do a set of pillar bridges, 2 sets of windmills, 2 sets of back extensions, and maybe 2 sets of pulldown abs and call it a day. Not only is the variety good, but I also view it like this: If I’m trying to squat or pull a couple hundred pounds, my body isn’t thinking: “Ok, now use the QL to stabilize laterally!” It’s just going to use whatever muscles in whatever manner works best! So I’m basically pounding my core in every movement/plane possible to get it stronger.
Side Note: NEVER underestimate the power of heavy squatting, pulling and overhead pressing on core development. When I first started squatting heavy again post-surgery (well, semi-heavy anyway) my abs/obliques/QL’s were sore for 5 DAYS STRAIGHT! I had been training my core hard throughout, but the lack of these movements was a real eye-opener when I got back into them.
Long answer (and a little off-topic) but I hope it helps!
Stay strong
MR
[quote]David Barr wrote:
Quick followup based on your (kick ass) answer; how do you feel about “core” training for kids? Not bench/squats, but the core of the body.[/quote]
I’m out; see you all next week!
Stay strong
MR