26 OCT: Say what you will

We've all seen it. The constant pendulum shift in the strength training / fitness industry. Whole body training was the only way to train for ever, and then split routines became popular in the late 60s, and became so over-done by the 80s that people would have an AM traps workout and a PM delt workout as "Day 1". Now whole body training is back en vogue and the experts scoff at anyone who dares to do even a basic push/pull split.

Well, there is another trend that I have taken part in, and I have to say, old school wisdom wins, hands down!

I haven't given much effort to direct arm training. If I do dips, and any variety of horizontal or vertical pressing, my triceps grow. And they grow well. But I can do chin ups, bent rows, pull-ups, 1-arm rows or any other pulling movement till my arms fall off, and my back gets wider and thicker, but my biceps won't change.

My biceps HAVEN'T changed with compound pulling movements. I thought direct bicep work was for male figure "athletes". Let's face it, the only difference between a bodybuilder and a figure athlete is the bikini top.

But my lagging biceps are proving to be a weak link in my pulling efforts. Sure, it'll be nice to get additional size in my arms, but have more strength (anaerobic) endurance will make me at better athlete at most anything. Climbing, Judo, CrossFit, grappling, quasi-strong man training.

So I trained my biceps with a setup that is pretty basic for any bodybuilder. And guess what. My strength endurance was atrocious!!! I can tell that this high volume approach is just what my biceps need to get up to par with the rest of me.

I'm not going to go on any goofy aesthetics-first "Guns" program, but I will continue to work abs and arms as a separate day, and alternate between heavy bilateral work, and high volume unilateral work. I'm striking a nice balance between form and function. And ultimately, it'll all lead to better performance.

Today's workout.
  1. step mill: 7 mins @ level 6 (GREAT calf warm-up! Gotta do this on deadlift and squat days)
  2. wood chopper: 100 x 10ea; 110 x 10, 10 ea
  3. Russian twist: 15 x 5, 6, 8 each side. MAN! My rotational strength needs more work.
  4. slant board sit-up: 15, 15. (Not going to waste my time with these again. It works hip flexors and that's it)
  5. Alternating dumbbell curls: 25s x 12; 30s x 9, 9, 7
  6. Incline dumbbell curls: 20s x 5, 5, 8; 15s x 10, 8
  7. Nautilus curl: 60 x 7; 50 x 14, 19; 6 x 16. (Took me a couple of sets to figure out the best body position on this machine. I'm not a fan of machines, but I have to admit. it was cool training on a machine with so much history and mystique. Also, it is quite good at isolating the biceps and allowing you to fry them without assistance from momentum or cheat-reps.)

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