| Weightlifting Secrets… By Kevin Parker |
|
Back to The Edge |
|
I’m not sure the following is as much a secret as it is methods I’ve learned over the last 23 years. You may have read or come upon many of these things in your own training. So let’s throw some things against the wall and see what sticks, shall we? 1). If you have stubborn calves, do most of your cardio carrying your own bodyweight. In 1998, as I was preparing to compete while living in Pennsylvania, I had a lot of weight to lose to make a good showing in a short amount of time. I wanted my cardio to be intense & I lived on a side of town next to some hills (Texas translation-mountains, haha!). I decided to intensify my cardio considerably by carrying my bodyweight walking & walking up & down hills. The walking plus the hills really jump started my calf growth & put at least another inch on my calves in a very short period of time! A sidenote here; all cardio where you carry, support & balance your bodyweight is more effective than a stationary bike or other cardio that lets you rest your bodyweight while performing it. Keep that in mind if you have a lot of bodyfat to lose. 2). To avoid injury & maximize your leverage/strength, use the “Power Position”. The power position is a key to prevent injury. It looks like this: if you’re standing, your chest is out, your back is arched, your lower back is in & arched, your butt is out & your legs are straight but knees are unlocked. You hold your body in this position for maximum leverage. But this position can & should be adhered to for other lifts that include sitting or bending as well. The keys here are that the back is flat & arched inward with your chest & butt out. One key to keeping your back flat & arched (as opposed to rounding it) is to keep your head up & looking above eye level. It has been my experience that if you stay in that form, when you achieve muscular failure, you will do so safely & w/o injury! In the bench press, for instance, it also maximizes your leverage as it makes the distance that the bar travels from chest to lockout shorter because your chest is arched outward making a shorter distance between your chest & lockout. 3). Try not to lock your joints out entirely when lifting. Hand in hand with the above tip, don’t lock out your joints completely as it transfers the weight & stress from your muscles to your joints. In the locked position, your joints are bearing the entire weight you’re lifting and the muscles actually get a chance to rest. Rest between sets, not during them. You’ll get more from your workouts & your joints will thank you, especially the longer you lift! 4). Cardiovascular endurance will aid your weightlifting & muscle gaining efforts. So many people (especially men) believe that cardio training hinders their ability to gain muscle mass. They are worried that every ounce of hard-earned muscle will be lost the moment their heart rate raises above 125% of their resting heart rate! However, it has been my firsthand experience that as cardiovascular endurance increases (coupled with a sound diet plan) weights & weightlifting training benefits. Weights actually go up, performance/recovery within the workout get better & you will lose unnecessary, useless bodyfat making your body more efficient. Certainly lifts where you have to lift your entire bodyweight such as chin-ups, bodyweight tricep dips & even leg exercises done standing will benefit. The other benefit is that cardio will increase your muscle gaining efforts by aiding your recuperation process. The metabolism runs faster thereby lessening recovery time & making the body a more efficent fat burning machine. A body that is denser in muscle fiber burns more fat for energy at rest than a body that is higher in bodyfat. These are but a few tips to consider for your training. Every so often, we’ll discuss more. May God bless your lifting & physical fitness efforts as well as your life! Your brother in Christ, Kevin Parker http://home.hot.rr.com/kevinparkers http://360.yahoo.com/dfbb_15909 http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/drugfreebodybuilding/ These newsletters are not intended to supersede medical advice. Please have a physical from a doctor before embarking on a workout program! |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|