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

Program for Gaining Muscle Mass

Gain Muscle Mass?

Ok, stupid question! If you're here then it's a good chance that you want to gain muscle mass. Whether it's for sport or just to look good at the beach this summer this muscle mass program should work wonders for you! If you don't wanna work hard then you can piss off and work hard at cycling or doing some painting or such like non muscle building activities.

Firstly, this program is not for muscle sculpting, shaping or anything like that. Forget concentration curls, tricep kickbacks, pecdecs and crunches. This program revolves around the powerlifting exercises, squat, deadlift and bench press, with some extra work to keep your arms coming along nicely.

Basically, compound movements for muscle gain!

Weeks 1-3

Training 2 days per week

1st workout

Squat - work upto a top set of 8 reps (3 back off sets of 10 reps @ 90% of top set)
Bench Press - as above
Deadlift - as above except back off sets - replace deads for stiff leg deadlift
High Pull - 3 sets 8 reps (as fast and heavy as possible)
Bicep Curls/Triceps Press 10 min of Escalating Density Training protocol

2nd workout - As above 3-4 days later

Weeks 4-6

Same as above with top set of 6 reps (back off sets of 8 reps)

Week 7-9

Same as weeks 1-3 with 4 reps (back of sets of 6 reps)

If you get to week 9 and want to go for another cycle then you can go for 2 reps as your top set with back off sets of 4 reps and build some real strength

\don't be fooled by it's simplicity and the fact that this program is only 2 days per week. You'll need the space between workouts to recover.

Enjoy

Charles Poliquin Training Resource

Charles Poliquin Resource

I've keenly followed Charles Poliquin ever since I read about German Volume training via Muscle Media Magazine in the 90's

If you've never heard of them you've probably had your head up your arse for a very long time.

Check out the links below.

One of my personal favourites is Charles Poliquin's Neural Drive Article, a superb article about building explosive power for sport.

Another great back to basics is the lost art of overhead pressing article which also includes a 12 week Pressing Program

1.) Rest Pause

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=929563



2.) The Lost Art of Overhead Pressing

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=922014



3.) Get Strong Get Big

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=888795




4.) Explosive Neural Drive

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=849528



5.) Quads and Hams

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=799069



6.) Reduce Carbs, Go Green

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=782569



7.) 15 Pounds per Inch


http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=774995



8.) Hamstrings Times Two

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=773872



9.) Lactic Acid Training For Fat Loss

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=724381



10.) Advanced German Volume Training

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=658759




11.) Manipulating Reps for Gains in Size and Strength

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=620430



12.) Arm Yourself

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=595161



13.) The Five Elements

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=584534



14.) Question of Strength


http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459736



15.) Poetry in Motion

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459740



16.) Back to Basics

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459572



17.) The Truth about Bodybuilding Arm Measurements

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459760




18.) The Top Seven Upperback Exercises

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459477



19.) Preparing for the Ultimate Workout

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=460039



20.) The Top 10 Triceps Exercises

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459550



21.) The 1-6 Principle


http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459575



22.) Achieving Structural Balance

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459454



23.) Can't Add Size to your Biceps ?

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459521



24.) The One Day Arm Cure

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459954




25.) Variations on a Theme

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459940



26.) The Nausea Workout

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459210



27.) The Swiss Ball Arm Workout

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459255



28.) The Five Percent Solution


http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459936



29.) Training With Maximal Weights

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459298

Side of a House Diet

Ronnie Coleman Talks Dieting

How to diet yourself down to look like the side of a house



Chicken, steak, chicken, steak, chicken, steak, wear your belt more chicken more steak, train, sit, cheat meal, repeat...

Bodybuilding Routines

Deadlift Sticking Point

Deadlift Sticking Point - Have you got one?

Chances are you have, this post is about breaking through that sticking point and getting on track with strong pulling!

A deadlift sticking point is where the bar stops on a MAX DEADLIFT. No matter what, you do you can't get past it unless someone is holding a gun to your head (which is highly unlikely to happen - isn't it?)

Your deadlift sticking point is without a doubt because the bar has slowed down. You need to overcome this by training speed. Now if you thought Westside Barbell was a load of shit and you need to train slowly then think again. 10-12 sets of 2 reps 1min rest with 50-60% of your max deadlift lifted as fast as possible is needed to get your speed on the up. Do this once a week.

Secondly, direct attention needs to be paid towards your actual sticking point by use of rack work.

Place your bar on the rack where you start to lose speed not where the bar stops

Step in very close to the bar and pull as you would with a normal lift - what you will find is that you will probably need to use much lower weights to get the bar moving (dont stand away from the bar and hitch the bar up your thighs (you can literally do hundreds more pounds with this method). Rack pulls are pretty harsh on the lower back so be warned.

Thirdly, box pulls are a super deadlift exercise. Also, a very tough movement - the box pull should be used with great caution as you will be moving into new territories with your Range Of Movement (ROM)

This one is pretty simple - following all the rules of safe deadlfting - stand on a box about 5 inches off the ground to increase the ROM of the deadlift. Reps and sets are upto you, I would recommend starting light wth about 8 reps and finding your place with this one before going overboard with big weights.

In addition to the above exercises for getting past your deadlift sticking point I would also advise use of the following exercises to assist your training.

Kettlebell swings or weight swings for added hip strength and lower back conditioning.
Heavy shrugs for 15-20 reps
Box jumps to assist your speed work

Check out this great resource for foam roller work to assist hip mobility

Finally don't forget that your hips are a very complex muscular structure and require much stretching and rest as they get seriously tight from deadlifting.

And finally don't give up smashing through your plateau's it requires serious hard work and perseverance

Bodybuilding Routines

Tuna Shakes for Bodybuilding

Tuna Shakes for Bodybuilding

Do you need protein shakes made from protein powder?

Good question, one that I cannot answer. However one thing is for sure you need plenty of protein in your diet to ensure a positive nitrogen balance to allow new tissue to be synthesized. Without lots of protein in your diet your chances of building muscle are fucked!

A great way to get extra protein without eating shed loads of meat and spending a fortune on protein powders is the good old Tuna Shake

Sadistic and hardcore? Not really, with plenty of veg juice and a hint of chilli you're onto a winner! Give this one a try as a starter to ease your way into the world of tuna shakes and then head over to deepsquatter.com to try out some more wonderful tuna shakes recipes.

1 can tuna in water,drained
1 13oz can of V-8 juice
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (optional)
2 tbsp lemon juice
a dash of chili pepper sauce

Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough

tuna shakes are for real men