Terry Hollands 155kg Block Press

Terry Hollands155kg Block Press

With block pressing being a key part of World's Strongest Man 2010 and no doubt a part of the future here's the UK's Terry Hollands getting the better of a 155kg block.

Nice work



Odd Object Lifting is always a winner for Strongman Training and weekend warriors a like.

CoC 3 Sam Solomi 120kgx4 dumbell rows

Awesome display of back strength and grip power from Sam Solomi, with 120kg Dumbbell Rows

Get Strong Fast

Get Strong Fast!

Sounds good, probably too good to be true?

There are certain movements that will help you get stronger faster than others and also stronger in different ways than what you may have done before.

Some movements can be added to your training sessions to make major changes and some can be added as a finisher to ensure you cover all the bases.

The following exercises have been in part been inspired by Dave Tate's 40 Movements series at T-Nation (Dave Tate's Toolbox)

My Top 5 from this series are:

Band through the belt - Basically amount to torturing yourself through a squat/deadlift session by attaching a band through your weight training belt and attaching it to your feet. Be sure not to cause any long lasting back ache with this baby. Also, you can use this through a bench or plyometrics session

Band Tricep Pushdowns - this is another Westside favourite. Simply attach 2 bands of equal tension to a pull up bar and grasp in each hand. Perform a tricep pushdown, aim for 100 reps at end of each session in as many sets as it takes. This one made a real difference to my pressing power after a month of practice. Make sure you don't go too hard on this exercise as it's meant to flush your arms out and give you a pump. NOT destroy your arms so you go backwards.

Zercher Squats - The Zercher squat is a very underrated exercise. One of the best I've used for gaining real strength. It's the only exercise I've ever done that hit the upper quads (may be not possible but certainly feels like it). If you don't know what a zercher squat is then simply deadlift the barbell onto your knees, hook your arms under the bar (using the crooks of your elbows)and stand up. I've also found the zercher a fantastic tool for assisting in atlas stone lifting.

The Zercher Squat



Pull Through - Next is the pull through. Best done using a low pulley row machine or something similar. Stand away from the machine and using double overhand pull the cable between your legs in a rapid movement. As I don't have one, I have used several jump stretch bands attached together and tied to something solid. Alternatively, a kettlebell swing is a similar movement with a little less range of movement.

Chain Suspended Push ups - and finally my favourite of all. Attach some chains with handles to a pull up bar and perform suspended push ups. This really trains over all trunk stability. Also, can be used to perform straight arm movements to hit the trunk even more.

Check out all these and more Dave Tate articles at T-Nation

How to Deadlift Properly

Great instructional video from Smitty of the Diesel Crew about How to Deadlift Properly without wrecking your back.



Check out how to break through your deadlift sticking point

Grip and Rip DVD Offer

Grip and Rip half price

If you're into grip training you'll know Adam T Glass is one of the leaders of this up and coming sport

You will also be pleased to know Adam has put up his highly acclaimed Grip N Rip DVD set on offer at half price for the next 24 hrs

The DVD set covers all aspects of training and perpetual improvement

Don't waste anytime to claim your copy

Check it out at Grip and Rip

The Bear Complex for Strength and Fitness

The Bear Complex is a real test of mental and physical fitness and can also be used to build strength.

What is The Bear?

Simply clean a barbell to your chest, front squat it, push press the bar overhead, lower to shoulders behind the neck, back squat it, push press again and lower to chest, lower the bar back to the floor and that's 1 rep. Repeat until you're spent.

Tougher than tabata training?

Possibly!

Can anyone do a 100kg for ten Bear reps?

That would be pretty beast like.

Check out this video for a demo of The Bear complex

Connective Tissue Training and Development

Never over look connective tissue development. It is a real weak spot for steroid users and most other athletes/people who traine etc who develop there muscular system faster than their connective tissue, resulting in bicep tears etc.

It's the simple short answer to 'how come a skinny, wiry guy can beat a meat head at lifting'


'I am of the opinion that joints need to be trained in a like manner to how
we train our muscular system, but with recovery and adaptive periods that
reflect their specific recovery periods.'

Bones, and connective tissue have low to no blood supply and their growth,
and recovery are slower than the muscle tissues.

So the task is to find the correct loading to the cycles of compression and
decompression (and other stress types) that will produce a conditioning
effect to those tissues without "overtraining". It is as simple as training
the musculature, but also complex, due to the fact that you are dealing with
two critical variables:

1)Present Condition and the level of load that will be required to produce
positive adaptation

2)Age and the amount of recovery required between loading bouts.

Obviously this is significantly different than training the muscles even
though we use essentially the SAME exercise actions.

As well we generally have 3 main tissues to be aware of:

1)Bones which need general heavy load stresses to gain or retain
mineralization

2)Ligaments which require regular stresses to reduce age related stiffness

3) Cartilages which require appropriate cyclic compression and decompression
to facilitate synovium saturations and hydrations

Certain sports that take a toll on joints and connective tissues, so it might be wise to keep these elements in
mind.

Ensure you take training connective tissue as seriously as muscular training to ensure less injury.

Good examples of strengthening connective tissue through bodybuilding and weight training is the use of isometric and static movements, such as isometric bench press, partial squats (to name a few) using heavy loads and low reps. Also to be considered are plyometrics. As with all forms of training these things need to be developed slowly and sensibly. Don't just go out to try and develop your tendons work new movements in gradually and increase the load over time.

Check out this article on tendon development from PPONLINE