What is up?
Anything on our collective minds?
Yes, Danny, I have a question: what is the best way to peak my bicep?
[quote]Danny John wrote:
What is up?
Anything on our collective minds?[/quote]
That is an excellent question. I prefer finding parents with biceps peaks, but you might also consider lifting weights.
Things are a little slow tonight.
[quote]Danny John wrote:
Yes, Danny, I have a question: what is the best way to peak my bicep?
Danny John wrote:
What is up?
Anything on our collective minds?
[/quote]
No big questions, just wanted to let you know I rec’d my copy of Carried Away. I’ve admired your work for a long time. Great video of you throwing the discus in the extras. Is that clip from around the same time as the BFS videos were done?
Dan,
Just wanted to get your two cents on including single leg work in ones training, I’m all ears.
-Greg
Coach John ?
Things are slow because you said everything that needs to be said: lift heavy, have fun, work hard.
Well, I feel I have some things that need to be said to you. First off, thank you for recommending me to go low/no-carb for fat loss. This is an unrealistically easy diet… and I am not losing strength like I did when I ?dieted? and went from 245 to 205 in two months. Maybe I will be ?cut? sometime soon… lifelong dream for a fat boy (The only thing wrong with your advice was to take a walk with my wife… I am 20… maybe I am not supposed to post in the 35 and older forum). Well, there are a few problems; you told me to take it easy while lifting, and to WORK ARMS. Coach, while lifting for wrestling/field/football/martial arts, I never felt secure enough in my masculinity to lift arms. Hell, benching and other upper-body stuff I never felt that comfortable doing… much rather would squat, clean, dead, good morning… and six years of lifting like that left me with pretty good numbers in those lifts… but with horrible bench, chins and other upper body numbers. So, I know how to train bench and stuff, but how do you train arms? I seriously do not know what curls are best, or how to do them properly… I do heavy lockouts for my tri?s, anything else I should do? I am guessing a situation like mine is uncommon?
I read your brother?s article in the last newsletter… if I knew that he went to those all-comers meets down at Los Gatos… I would have gone. My friends run there, but I didn?t feel good enough to throw… I should have sacked up. I would really have loved to meet your brother, and tell him to tell you that you are a badass. I just have bad memories of that field, I lost 37-7 in high school there. Damn rich kids.
Also, with the BS fighting and pissing contests among strength coaches, thank you for ever-level head. Maybe it is because this is your second job, or maybe because you are older enough to know better… whichever it is, thank you for just telling the truth and helping others.
Yea…maybe a year or so after…but right about the same time. I had some serious Cowabunga…
[quote]scott67 wrote:
No big questions, just wanted to let you know I rec’d my copy of Carried Away. I’ve admired your work for a long time. Great video of you throwing the discus in the extras. Is that clip from around the same time as the BFS videos were done? [/quote]
Coach,
I have ordered some farmers bars.
I am really excited about them.
But … I don’t know how to farm.
Any pointers?
Thanks,
Bastard
It is one of those questions that I hate to answer this way…but, really, they either work for you or they don’t. I have done the High Box Step Ups and the Bulgarian Split Squats to death and found zip/zero/nada improvements in what I want to do. Yet, I hang with people who turned their careers around with the single leg stuff.
I’m not sure why, but I have an idea that some people…former skinny people…seem to need the heavy two leg stuff. Others, the mesomorphs, can benefit from the one legged stuff.
That is my little theory I guess…if you come from tiny…you must train big to be big. If you come from the other end…mesos and maybe the FFGs that we have here (that’s what I think they call themselves…former fat guys), the one legged stuff seems to blend stuff back together.
This ain’t science…but I have noted it over and over through the years. My observations may be too small and too random, but it is something that has “clicked” in my coaching.
[quote]novamcglone wrote:
Dan,
Just wanted to get your two cents on including single leg work in ones training, I’m all ears.
-Greg[/quote]
When you do overhead squats, are you snatching the bar overhead or pressing it overhead and then “widening” your grip?
On a personal note, I made 185 for 3 on OHS yesterday but only after 3 really ugly attempts to snatch it overhead. 175 popped overhead real easy but 185 was very ugly and a little scary. Next time I won’t fear 185. I had shoulder surgery last November and was still experiencing pain until I started doing OHS and strict standing military pressing. Thanks for the suggestion to just get the weight overhead.
p.s. My 13 year old daughter loved you “From Dad to Grad” article.
Thank you for the high praise. Actually, I am thinking that my years in ministry…in several forms…has really been helpful, too. “We are all messed up sometimes” is a good mantra…or a bad singing of Dean Martin’s “Everybody loves somebody sometime.”
So, I appreciate what you said and I will strive to keep that levelheadedness.
I’m not that old.
Here you go:
Once/Twice a week:
Machine Curls: 3 sets of 8 with one minute rest…followed by Machine Triceps Extensions: same.
That’s it.
No machines?
Barbell Curls: 3 x 8
Military Press (full reps): 3 x 8
Don’t get cute…just do 'em and walk out. For fat loss, you are just trying to keep on keeping on…not burn the candle at both ends with a blowtorch in the middle, too.
Trust me. Little and often over the long haul…
[quote]The Gazelle wrote:
Coach John ?
Things are slow because you said everything that needs to be said: lift heavy, have fun, work hard.
Well, I feel I have some things that need to be said to you. First off, thank you for recommending me to go low/no-carb for fat loss. This is an unrealistically easy diet… and I am not losing strength like I did when I ?dieted? and went from 245 to 205 in two months. Maybe I will be ?cut? sometime soon… lifelong dream for a fat boy (The only thing wrong with your advice was to take a walk with my wife… I am 20… maybe I am not supposed to post in the 35 and older forum). Well, there are a few problems; you told me to take it easy while lifting, and to WORK ARMS. Coach, while lifting for wrestling/field/football/martial arts, I never felt secure enough in my masculinity to lift arms. Hell, benching and other upper-body stuff I never felt that comfortable doing… much rather would squat, clean, dead, good morning… and six years of lifting like that left me with pretty good numbers in those lifts… but with horrible bench, chins and other upper body numbers. So, I know how to train bench and stuff, but how do you train arms? I seriously do not know what curls are best, or how to do them properly… I do heavy lockouts for my tri?s, anything else I should do? I am guessing a situation like mine is uncommon?
I read your brother?s article in the last newsletter… if I knew that he went to those all-comers meets down at Los Gatos… I would have gone. My friends run there, but I didn?t feel good enough to throw… I should have sacked up. I would really have loved to meet your brother, and tell him to tell you that you are a badass. I just have bad memories of that field, I lost 37-7 in high school there. Damn rich kids.
Also, with the BS fighting and pissing contests among strength coaches, thank you for ever-level head. Maybe it is because this is your second job, or maybe because you are older enough to know better… whichever it is, thank you for just telling the truth and helping others.
[/quote]
Farmer Bars are tough. You ask the waitress for “rye” and they toss you a bunch of straw. All the jokes are corny.
I could go on…
[quote]Bastard Guy wrote:
Coach,
I have ordered some farmers bars.
I am really excited about them.
But … I don’t know how to farm.
Any pointers?
Thanks,
Bastard
[/quote]
Sully, I do both. Like at Dennison University, I will snatch the weight up and squat. At home, I often use racks and pop it up in a wide grip Jerk behind the neck. I guess…really…I do whatever I have with what I have. One thing: don’t do max’s on those big racks with the step downs. You miss and you lose your f—ing hand…NOW
[quote]sully’s wrote:
When you do overhead squats, are you snatching the bar overhead or pressing it overhead and then “widening” your grip?
On a personal note, I made 185 for 3 on OHS yesterday but only after 3 really ugly attempts to snatch it overhead. 175 popped overhead real easy but 185 was very ugly and a little scary. Next time I won’t fear 185. I had shoulder surgery last November and was still experiencing pain until I started doing OHS and strict standing military pressing. Thanks for the suggestion to just get the weight overhead.
p.s. My 13 year old daughter loved you “From Dad to Grad” article.[/quote]
Gazelle,
Come on down and throw. I have absolutely no shame. Never worry about how you are going to do. We have a lot of fun at Los Gatos and you can get all the free coaching you can stand. We start up again in January. Check back in when we get closer and I’ll have the dates.
Dan- what movement in your opinion is best for getting big shoulders?
Hi Dan,
Yet another OH squat question for you…I’m in my second week of incorporating OH squats for the first time in my lifting career. I’m starting light, basically 3x10-12. I noticed numbness in my left arm for a couple of minutes after doing them last Monday, originating somewhere in my shoulder and ending up primarily in my thumb. No pain, and following them up with bent-over, pronated-grip BB rows I didn’t notice any decrease in strength with that lift. Today I felt numbness in both arms, though less significantly than the numbness in the left arm last week. I have no history of shoulder problems, or really any physical injury of any kind. Is this a common thing? How could I go about fixing it? Do I just need some more shoulder flexibility? Thanks, and I always enjoy your contributions to T-Nation.
Hey,
Since things are a little slow tonight, I was hoping I could pick your brain a bit.
I recently attended my first Highland Games competition held at the Cortland Celtic Festival in Cortland, NY. The event was put together by Will Baron of Syracuse and the host/judge was Steve Pulcinella, powerlifter, former world’s strongest man competitot and highland games champion. This was a blast but it was a professional only event. After witnessing these events first hand, I really want to try them.
I want to ask you how one gets started in these type of events. I know, I know do them first and then talk to you right? Okay, but where do I go to “do” them. How do beginners learn the highland games? What kind of resources are available?
I’m not sure I just want to jump into this type of training right now, though. You may remember from a previous PT I mentioned that I am currently training to (hopefully) play semi-pro football next season. I’m not sure trying to get ready for football, learning position skills and learning highland games events would be possible to do at once.
Although, I’m sure there would be some carryover benefits. Maybe I could incorporate highland type events into my training as GPP. (I liked your AIT article by the way)
Either way, I am definately going to try this stuff some time as it was just way too cool not to. I was hoping to get some insights from the master. Thanks.
In faith,
WS
[quote]Danny John wrote:
One thing: don’t do max’s on those big racks with the step downs. You miss and you lose your f—ing hand…NOW[/quote]
I’m in the rack and jerk it up from behind the neck with bigger weights for sets of 3-5. I began taking the safety pins out of the rack when I ordered the farmers bars and thus knew I’d be needing my farming hand. I snatch it up if it’s lighter.
Bastard
Hi Dan,
I’ve just got a couple of questions below:
-
Is there an equivalent technique drill to the one used for the snatch (i.e. power snatch/OHS/hang snatch/full snatch) for the clean?
-
In your last article you spoke about doing triathalons for something different to do compared to normal training. If I was to have a go at a few triathalons (sprint distance) in the coming summer months, what sort of training program would you recommend during that time, just a few O-lifts during the week to avoid overtraining?
BTW, I’ve been working hard on my overhead squats the last month and they are starting to improve rapidly. On the weekend I did 5x3 at 60kg (BW = 95kg) and felt like I could do a bit more, but I am taking it slowly to ensure that I have good technique before increasing the load. I aim to do bodyweight OHS for reps at the end of the year.
Cheers,
Ben
There is one. Only one. Bow down to it.
Military Press.
Don’t talk. Do.
Trust the Dan.
[quote]bikemike wrote:
Dan- what movement in your opinion is best for getting big shoulders?[/quote]