An awesome workout yesterday even if there are still certain things I can't do due to a rotator cuff injury on my right shoulder but working around and doing things I have not done for years such as curls and tricep extensions.
I went for supersets of 4 x 8-10 reps with 45secs rest between supersets.
1) Trigger point therapy, mobility, rotator cuff movements.
2) Single arm bottoms up kettlebell press (surprisingly this feels great on my shoulder, the extra grip activation allows for some great stability
throughout arm and shouler). 10reps@20kg
Deadlifts 10reps@170kg
3) Stiff leg Deadlifts 10@140kg
Weighted leg lowers 10@6kg
4) Face pulls with a 3sec negative. 10@50kg
Cable tricep extensions with a 3 sec negative 10@35kg
5) rear cable raises (awesome for my shoulder) with a 3 sec negative 10@5kg (I know little weights but the burn was insane)
Skull crushers with a 3 sec negative 10@50kg
As you can see this is a very different workout plan compared to my usual stuff but hey, you gotta listen to your body and change things up now and again. As I can't do a lot of the bigger lifts such as cleans, jerks and back squats which are high intensity moves I have made up for this with very brief rest periods between supersets, it's tough but gives the workout the intensity I prefer. Body split type training is not really my thing but doing it this way feels pretty dam good.
If you are unsure what some of these exercises may look like please get in touch and I will be happy to help.
Be sure to check out our brand new website www.fitterlondon.co.uk for some great blog posts, articles, training ideas and recipes. Be great to know what you think.
Happy training,
Matt
Showing posts with label deadlift. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deadlift. Show all posts
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
The power of Deadlifts, squats and pull ups
6 weeks ago I managed to injure my right shoulder, I'm not quite sure how but it was pretty damn painful and was a real show stopper. Kettlebells presses, snatches, bench press and press ups were out the window. I was gutted but anyone who trains knows that injuries will happen from time to time and it was just something I had to work around, as frustrating as that is.
My training focus over the last 10 weeks has been on strength. I simply want to get as strong as possible and after reading 'Dinosaur Training' by Brooks Kubik I was ready to go. I set myself some targets and followed Brooks guidelines and the results were coming in.
However......
I literally woke up one morning feeling as awesome as ever :-) I went off to work and attempted to demonstrate a press up to a client. There it was, a shooting pain deep in my rear delt that I felt at the bottom position of the press up. Once I finished with my client I had a little play around to work out what it could be. I physically could not press a thing and shoulder rotation movements were very uncomfortable.
I threw a huge wobbly as, just like most, getting injured is never great news especially when I felt so focused with my training and was getting stronger each week. But after Keris told me to man up and look at ways of making it better rather than just getting annoyed, I did exactly that.
I still had my Deadlifts, squats, pull ups, rows, curls to do and rotational movements for my abs so not all was lost but I did deeply miss shoulder pressing. Never been that bothered about benching but I love pressing heavy weights overhead, I always have.
Here is an example strength routine and shoulder rehab program I have been doing:
Trigger point therapy, Indian clubs and mobility drills
So 6 weeks down the line and the shoulder is feeling good, even though I have not so much as done a press up in that time. I suppose the fact that my Deadlifts and squats were going so well it distracted me from the absence of pressing movements.
Last week I decided to have a little go at some single arm kettlebell shoulder presses, which I love. To my surprise, I lifted the same weight for 5 reps that I did 6 weeks ago and I even had more in the tank. Unfortunately it's the heaviest kettlebell I have (40kg) before making the jump to my 64kg kettlebell and I'm not quite there yet for shoulder presses :-)
I honestly could not believe it but I 100% put it down to the big movements that are deadlifts, squats and pull ups. I may not have done any pressing at all but did not lose a single bit of pressing strength, infact I felt stronger. This was awesome news and I was buzzing. The truth is I was expecting to have to drop poundage as it had been 6 weeks, I never expected to feel so powerful.
If deadlfts, squats and pull ups are not part of your routine then you are simply missing out on some of the greatest gains in your training regime.
They are at the moment the bread and butter of my regime and I have gained 2kg in muscle mass, I'm stronger than ever before and I feel great. Whatever your goals are these movements will work wonders for you.
It's not about just going through the motions, these compound movements require focus and attention to detail. Once you have mastered them and start adding some serious weight to the bar, smashing PBs and not a single sign of injury, you feel on top of the world, unstoppable and you have an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment.
Learn the movements, get them in your routine and experience some serious results.
Train smart, eat well and sleep peacfully,
Matt Whitmore
My training focus over the last 10 weeks has been on strength. I simply want to get as strong as possible and after reading 'Dinosaur Training' by Brooks Kubik I was ready to go. I set myself some targets and followed Brooks guidelines and the results were coming in.
However......
I literally woke up one morning feeling as awesome as ever :-) I went off to work and attempted to demonstrate a press up to a client. There it was, a shooting pain deep in my rear delt that I felt at the bottom position of the press up. Once I finished with my client I had a little play around to work out what it could be. I physically could not press a thing and shoulder rotation movements were very uncomfortable.
I threw a huge wobbly as, just like most, getting injured is never great news especially when I felt so focused with my training and was getting stronger each week. But after Keris told me to man up and look at ways of making it better rather than just getting annoyed, I did exactly that.
I still had my Deadlifts, squats, pull ups, rows, curls to do and rotational movements for my abs so not all was lost but I did deeply miss shoulder pressing. Never been that bothered about benching but I love pressing heavy weights overhead, I always have.
Here is an example strength routine and shoulder rehab program I have been doing:
Trigger point therapy, Indian clubs and mobility drills
- Deadlifts 5x5
- Bottom position squats/weighted wide pull ups 5x5
- Reverse cable wood chops 5x10 each side
Cable face pulls 5x15 - Mobility and stretch.
So 6 weeks down the line and the shoulder is feeling good, even though I have not so much as done a press up in that time. I suppose the fact that my Deadlifts and squats were going so well it distracted me from the absence of pressing movements.
Last week I decided to have a little go at some single arm kettlebell shoulder presses, which I love. To my surprise, I lifted the same weight for 5 reps that I did 6 weeks ago and I even had more in the tank. Unfortunately it's the heaviest kettlebell I have (40kg) before making the jump to my 64kg kettlebell and I'm not quite there yet for shoulder presses :-)
I honestly could not believe it but I 100% put it down to the big movements that are deadlifts, squats and pull ups. I may not have done any pressing at all but did not lose a single bit of pressing strength, infact I felt stronger. This was awesome news and I was buzzing. The truth is I was expecting to have to drop poundage as it had been 6 weeks, I never expected to feel so powerful.
If deadlfts, squats and pull ups are not part of your routine then you are simply missing out on some of the greatest gains in your training regime.
They are at the moment the bread and butter of my regime and I have gained 2kg in muscle mass, I'm stronger than ever before and I feel great. Whatever your goals are these movements will work wonders for you.
It's not about just going through the motions, these compound movements require focus and attention to detail. Once you have mastered them and start adding some serious weight to the bar, smashing PBs and not a single sign of injury, you feel on top of the world, unstoppable and you have an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment.
Learn the movements, get them in your routine and experience some serious results.
Train smart, eat well and sleep peacfully,
Matt Whitmore
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Two-Finger Single Arm Kettlebell Swing (Grip Strength Development Series: Part 6)
Hey Guys and Gals,
So last time round I hit you with a bit of 2 bells in one hand action and this week I want to stick with using kettlebells to advance you in your journey towards superior grip strength. I introduce - The 2 finger single arm kettlebell swing.
You may remember the 2 finger barbell deadlift I shared with you a couple of weeks back. As mentioned, training your fingers individually is a great way to improve your grip strength. The great thing with using the 2 finger grip on the swing is that it's incredibly demanding keeping a hold of an object that you are explosively swinging away from the body. This is why it is very important to start light to condition yourself properly and only progress when it feels comfortable to do so.
Whatever you do, DON'T take 1,2 or 3 finger grip work lightly as it's incredibly demanding on the fingers, ligaments and tendons but when done properly they are absolutely awesome grip building exercises.
As always mess around with the rep ranges depending on your goals. I like to go nice and heavy (as usual) on these with a 5-10 rep range but feel free to increase the rep range for more grip endurance.
Also, works great with double bell work (a kettlebell in each hand), inside the leg swings or Mike Mahler style outside the leg swings.
Give it a try and as always let me know what you think.
Have a great day,
Matt
So last time round I hit you with a bit of 2 bells in one hand action and this week I want to stick with using kettlebells to advance you in your journey towards superior grip strength. I introduce - The 2 finger single arm kettlebell swing.
You may remember the 2 finger barbell deadlift I shared with you a couple of weeks back. As mentioned, training your fingers individually is a great way to improve your grip strength. The great thing with using the 2 finger grip on the swing is that it's incredibly demanding keeping a hold of an object that you are explosively swinging away from the body. This is why it is very important to start light to condition yourself properly and only progress when it feels comfortable to do so.
Whatever you do, DON'T take 1,2 or 3 finger grip work lightly as it's incredibly demanding on the fingers, ligaments and tendons but when done properly they are absolutely awesome grip building exercises.
As always mess around with the rep ranges depending on your goals. I like to go nice and heavy (as usual) on these with a 5-10 rep range but feel free to increase the rep range for more grip endurance.
Also, works great with double bell work (a kettlebell in each hand), inside the leg swings or Mike Mahler style outside the leg swings.
Give it a try and as always let me know what you think.
Have a great day,
Matt
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Todays workout: 19/7/11
Today's strength session consisted of only 3 exercises as i was pushed for time and spent 30 mins on solid mobility work, which felt great.
My mobility work consisted of:
10 mins Trigger point therapy on the grid.
10 mins on various Indian club movements.
10 mins various movements (will post a basic yet effective mobility video soon)
Today's workout was based on 3 working sets of 3 reps with 2 progressively heavier warm up sets of 5 reps.3 minarets between sets.
1) Deadlift
Superset the following then rest 3 mins between supersets.
2) Bottom position squats
Weighted pull ups
Although I only done 3 movements, I had an awesome mobility session and pushed my sets to the extreme on my 3 working sets for each. I feel great and even better........I got a personal best on my 3 rep deadlift. I'm thinking some singles next week to achieve a new 1 rep max :-) BOSH
Getting set for my sprints in the rower and a run tomorrow. Then a good old rest on Thursday.
Train smart, eat well and sleep peacefully,
Matt
My mobility work consisted of:
10 mins Trigger point therapy on the grid.
10 mins on various Indian club movements.
10 mins various movements (will post a basic yet effective mobility video soon)
Today's workout was based on 3 working sets of 3 reps with 2 progressively heavier warm up sets of 5 reps.3 minarets between sets.
1) Deadlift
Superset the following then rest 3 mins between supersets.
2) Bottom position squats
Weighted pull ups
Although I only done 3 movements, I had an awesome mobility session and pushed my sets to the extreme on my 3 working sets for each. I feel great and even better........I got a personal best on my 3 rep deadlift. I'm thinking some singles next week to achieve a new 1 rep max :-) BOSH
Getting set for my sprints in the rower and a run tomorrow. Then a good old rest on Thursday.
Train smart, eat well and sleep peacefully,
Matt
Monday, 11 July 2011
Thick Grip Deadlift Hold
Hey guys,
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy my second instalment of my grip development series. Today we will be looking at the thick grip deadlift hold.
As you will see in the video I am using Fat Gripz which you can purchase on eBay or amazon. I don't have a thick bar but if you do please use it.
Taking an overhand grip (palms facing towards you), deadlift the bar up and simply hold on for dear life.
Do not lean back allowing the bar to rest on the quads, this makes it easier. Squeeze your glutes, pack the shoulders back and crush that bar.
Select a weight that allows you to perform 3 sets of 1min holds. Once this feels comfortable, increase the weight and aim for 2 sets progressing to 3 and repeat that cycle.
Using the thick bar or fat Gripz will really test your grip, much more so than a standard bar. Your fingers, hands, ligaments and tendons will see great improvements if you perform this exercise at least nice a week at the end of your workout.
Give it a try and let me know how you get on.
P.s make sure you always have both hands in an overhand grip, having a cross grip makes it too easy and will not test the grip enough.
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy my second instalment of my grip development series. Today we will be looking at the thick grip deadlift hold.
As you will see in the video I am using Fat Gripz which you can purchase on eBay or amazon. I don't have a thick bar but if you do please use it.
Taking an overhand grip (palms facing towards you), deadlift the bar up and simply hold on for dear life.
Do not lean back allowing the bar to rest on the quads, this makes it easier. Squeeze your glutes, pack the shoulders back and crush that bar.
Select a weight that allows you to perform 3 sets of 1min holds. Once this feels comfortable, increase the weight and aim for 2 sets progressing to 3 and repeat that cycle.
Using the thick bar or fat Gripz will really test your grip, much more so than a standard bar. Your fingers, hands, ligaments and tendons will see great improvements if you perform this exercise at least nice a week at the end of your workout.
Give it a try and let me know how you get on.
P.s make sure you always have both hands in an overhand grip, having a cross grip makes it too easy and will not test the grip enough.
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