Tips of the week Achieve gains with active regeneration
Sometimes the simplest methods can produce the best results. The problem most people have with the concept of active recovery is not the theory, but rather the execution. If you consider yourself hardcore, then it's damn hard to flip those switches when every muscle fiber is telling you to do another high-intensity training session.
If your recovery training session started as a walk on the treadmill and turned into an interval sprint training session at a speed of 20 km/h and a 4% incline, then you know what I'm talking about here. More is always better, right? Well, not when it comes to tissue and nervous system regeneration.
Stimulate your regeneration: Go for a walk
You think walking is too low a level of exercise to have any physical or orthopedic benefits. Scientific research from Dr. Stu McGill's lab says otherwise. Walking is not only one of the most fundamental movement patterns known to man, but it can also stimulate recovery and be a protective mechanism against future injury to the spine, backbone, hip and other regions of the body.
Active muscle pump
An active muscle pump occurs when the muscles of the lower body contract again and again in an antagonistic and agonistic manner. This puts pressure on the vascular system and supports lymphatic drainage, which is an effective regeneration mechanism. Basically, walking removes systemic waste products and water retention.
A non-compensatory gait pattern can also improve joint and spinal positioning, as well as the tone and position of the muscles of the shoulders, core and hips. Walking is the perfect form of regeneration in every respect. There's nothing sexy about this type of exercise, but if you want to recover and perform optimally, you should start by walking.
Tip: Use this simple trick to boil eggs
An easy way to always have an excellent source of protein on hand. Check out this kitchen hack.
By Chris Shugart
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-use-this-simple-trick-to-cook-eggs
Hard-boiled eggs are a convenient source of easily portable protein and testosterone level-supporting saturated fat. (Yes, free testosterone levels are higher in those who include saturated fat in their diet). The problem is that most people can't even manage to cook an egg properly.
If your hard-boiled eggs have a gray-green skin around the yolk, then you've overcooked them. It's okay to eat these eggs, but iron sulfide doesn't taste or smell so great. Here's a simple solution.
Baked eggs
- Preheat the oven to 165 degrees.
- Place a dozen eggs on a muffin pan.
- Bake the eggs for 30 minutes.
- After baking, place the eggs in a bowl of ice water. This will stop the ongoing cooking process. No more green egg yolks or sulfur-flavored bloat.
Tip: Embrace the emptiness
Do you feel like the weight of the whole world is on your shoulders? Then push it away. Exercise is therapy
By Dave Tate
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-embrace-the-void
As a teenager, the gym was the place I could escape to when I felt worthless or like a failure. I was in control and could decide if I was successful. It was my place to develop and grow - both mentally and physically. Much like other teenagers who find themselves in similar situations, I built walls around myself and closed myself off. My walls were made of forged iron and steel.
It was always something I was good at. And as I grew and got bigger and stronger, the abuse ended very quickly. I went from being the kid you pushed around to the kid you better not mess with. And I still see training in the same way today. The reason for this - and the stronger among you readers will know this - is that something happens during these very intense sentences.
It doesn't matter if it's a set where you set a personal best, if it's a set with maximum effort or if it's a set with a high repetition count, as long as you know that this set is going to be challenging. You know you have to find a way to give it your all, focus and see what you're made of. Because once the bar is loaded and the execution of your set is approaching, you find that place that I can't really explain. From the moment you approach the pole to the moment the set is over, there is nothing there.
- The argument you had with your girlfriend today? Gone.
- Your exams? Gone.
- Your problems at work? Gone.
- Your bills? Gone.
- That asshole on the other side of the training area? Gone.
- The pain? Gone.
The mental pain is now replaced by physical pain, but this is the pain you crave, because the burden you've been carrying around your whole life is now resting on your back - and you have the power to destroy it.
I call this "nothingness" the emptiness, but it's not really nothing - it's everything. When I look back on the last 30 years of my training, training has always been my therapy. This is the reason I do what I do - both the positive stuff and the crazy stuff. This is the reason I am so passionate about sharing what I know.
The void is the only time I feel truly free - free from all the junk that other people and life throw at me. It's all gone. It's just me and the weight. And this is where I find my peace. Exercise is my therapy. It has changed my life.
Maybe it will change your life too.
Tip: Hang the additional weight backwards during pull-ups
The way most exercisers use additional weights leads to poor movement mechanics and even back pain. Here's a simple solution to this problem.
By Kyle Arsenault
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-for-pull-ups-hang-weight-in-the-back
Pull-ups are hard to beat when it comes to building a more muscular and stronger upper body. The only problem with this basic exercise performed vertically? Well, you'll get good at this exercise fast. You get stronger, neuromuscularly more efficient or you lose fat. And then you're only training for muscular endurance and no longer for strength.
What can you do about this? Use additional weights. The most common method is to attach a few weight plates to a weightlifting belt and let them hang down in front of your body. However, there is a problem here.
The problem: A weightlifting belt with the weight in front of the body
If you have a weightlifting belt loaded with additional weight that hangs in front of your body between your legs, the gravitational forces of the weight exert a forward and downward pulling force on the pelvis. This causes the pelvis to tilt, putting excessive force on the lumbar spine.
Apart from the potential for injury or pain, this excessive tilting throws the upper body mechanics out of balance due to the weight hanging in front of the body. To prevent this, you could make an intense effort to prevent the pelvis from tilting. Unfortunately, however, the extra energy required to do this and the extra focus on keeping the pelvis straight would compromise the strength you can use for the actual pulling movement. With the aim of pulling more weight, this would therefore be counterproductive.
The solution: a weightlifting belt with the weight behind the body
A better way to use an additional weight for pull-ups is to place this weight behind the body. Instead of letting the weight hang down in front of your body, simply turn the belt 180 degrees backwards so that the weight hangs down behind your body.
By shifting the weight backwards, your pelvis is passively pulled into a more neutral position. This not only provides better alignment of the muscle chain involved in this exercise, but also reduces the energy required to hold yourself in this position. Now you can focus on performing the pulling movement instead of holding yourself out of the unwanted position.
Tip: Build bigger triceps with push-ups
Regular tricep push-ups are good, but this variation will make push-ups much more effective.
By Chad Waterbury
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-build-bigger-triceps-with-push-ups
Push-ups with hands placed close together are an excellent triceps exercise, but the exercise has some drawbacks. Most exercisers can perform 20 or more repetitions, which means the weight is insufficient for maximum hypertrophy. The range of motion is also shorter than it could be. Lastly, the exercise is too stable, so the triceps don't have to work as hard as they would with a slightly more unstable exercise.
The solution
The solution to these three problems is to elevate the feet using a Swiss ball or other training ball.
- This shifts more of your weight forward so that your triceps have to move a greater percentage of your body weight
- By elevating your feet, you have to work through a greater range of motion.
- The instability generated by the feet placed on the ball is great for overloading the triceps and core. Tricep push-ups performed correctly in this way are harder than they look.
Tricep push-up technique
- Start in a regular push-up position and place your shins on a large exercise ball. Next, move your hands close together so that your thumbs and index fingers form a triangle.
- Tighten your abdominal muscles and lower your body until your chest touches your thumbs. Then push your body back up and push your shoulder blades apart at the highest point of the movement to activate your serratus muscles.
Keep the speed relatively slow at the beginning. If you try to move too fast, the ball will probably roll sideways. Once you have developed a feel for the exercise, you can concentrate on pushing yourself away from the floor with maximum acceleration.
Tip: Perform the warm-up for lazy exercisers
Two minutes, two quick warm-up drills. The quick warm-up for lazy (or busy) exercisers
Chris Shugart
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-the-lazy-lifter-warm-up
Some days your workout just never feels 'right'. Something in your body is off track and no exercise seems to flow. You're stiff, pinching and everything feels wrong somehow.
The problem? It most likely has something to do with your warm-up - or lack of warm-up. You'll find countless advanced warm-up routines on this site and many others on the internet, but a lot of exercisers simply aren't willing to go through half an hour of warm-up drills - at least not when they're pressed for time. Here's the solution.
The warm-up for lazy (or busy) exercisers
This quick warm-up takes about two minutes and seems to take care of most of the stiffness issues that exercisers usually have. Yes, you may need more than this depending on your issues and your training session of the day, but if you're pressed for time or just want to get to the iron quickly, then you should at least do this short warm-up. You'll feel the difference almost immediately.
1 - Perform a deep squat with your own body weight
Get into the bottom squat position using only your own body weight and hold it for 30 seconds. As this movement is performed without any additional weight, you can relax at the lowest point of the movement and let your spine sink into the stretch. Towards the end of the 30 seconds, you will also start to feel a nice relaxation in your lower back.
The deep squat will help you maintain your hip flexion mobility - the ability to go all the way down in squats - throughout your life. If you use this ability, you will keep it - if you don't, you will lose it.
2 - Hang from a bar
Legendary bodybuilder Lee Labrada started every training session by hanging from a bar. He was onto something.
Simply hang from a pull-up bar and relax. Then lift your knees and hold them up for a while. After the initial stretch, swing back and forth slightly and rotate your lower body. Experiment with a wider and tighter grip. Then release the bar with one hand and use your toes to change your position. Find the right points for the latissimus and pecs. Aim for 60 seconds on the bar.
Dr. Ken Kinakin noted, "When you do squats, deadlifts or similar exercises, your spine is compressed and the facet joints in your lower back are also compressed. If too much load rests on these joints, this will neurologically deactivate the muscle system. The joint has receptors that turn off the muscles to prevent you from hurting yourself."
He added that lifting the knees while hanging from the bar leads to the best results.
3 - Repeat the squat with your own body weight
You'll notice that this time you come further down.
Perform this quick combo before every training session. A warm-up like this will feel great even on non-training days.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-make-gains-with-active-recovery
From Dr. John Rusin