Mondays workout: 5/9/11

Awesome workout on Monday with Rich which I can still feel the effects of today. Feels great.

1) squats 2 working sets of death sets (20 reps) these were done to the absolute max with 1min rest between sets. WOW.

Superset the following:

2) close grip press ups 10 reps with a 5sec negative and explosive press x 3 sets (harder than they look)
reverse grip barbell rows 10 reps with a 5 sec negative x 3 sets (my lats feel great today)

3) supinated grip wide pull ups 3 sets of 8
Leg extensions 10 reps with 5sec negative x 3 sets

4) cool down and stretch

Again just stuck to the 3 supersets as well as the death sets to ensure focus on reps and go for quality over quantity. I feel great for it and highly recommend everything play around with their rep ranges and tempo of reps for great results.

Have an awesome day.

Yours in strength,

Matt Whitmore

7 Ways To Improve Your Deadlift Immediately

Hey Guys and Girls,

Here is a great video with 7 very simple solutions to improve your deadlift immediately. The list could easily be longer but I would say these are 7 very common problems that I experience with my clients or fellow gym members.

I view the deadlift as one of the most effective exercises you can do whatever your goals are. If you can master this then you're on to good things.

Many seem to believe that the deadlift places a lot of stress on your back and has a high injury risk. That's a load of rubbish as any exercise performed badly has a high risk of injury. If done correctly and effectively, this is a risk free exercise that will simply change the way you train and I'm sure this video will help you to do just that.

7 reasons why you're not getting the results you want from your deadlift.

1. Going too heavy too soon:
   It's a great feeling ripping a huge amount of weight from the floor in one explosive movement but dont get carried away. Take your time and perfect your tecnique before you start piling the weight on the bar.
   At the moment, I personally work on (example) the 5 sets of 5 reps system with 3 minutes rest between sets. I'm focusing on strength training for the time being. I do 3 progressively heavier warm up sets followed by 2 working sets. I then aim to perform 3 working sets on this poundage. Once I have done so, I increase the weight and again aim for 2 working sets with a view of increasing to 3 etc. I also throw in some 1 rep max lifts or 5 sets of 3 reps to keep my body guessing and hitting heavier poundages. By all means though taiolor the rep and set range to your goals.
   
   
2. Stance:
   This can be a crucial decider in the efficiency of your lift although it often is a matter of personal preference which is why it's important to play around with different stances and discover which works best for you. I persoanlly know some seriously strong dudes that have quite a narrow stance but I also know some guys who lift a crazy weight with what I would say was quite a wide stance, to each to their own. I personally prefer about shoulder width with my toes angled out very slightly.
   
   
3. Your bum is too high:
   Getting my butt down, personally added some serious weight to my lift. Although my back was straight, by keeping my hips so high I was not engaging my legs enough in the lift which meant my poundages were limited. It was fine when I was working to a higher rep range, say 8-10 reps but to lift big you need to get your arse down.
   
   
4. The bar is not close enough to your shins:
   The path of the bar on the deadlift should be as straight as possible and if you start with the bar too far from the shins you have immediately created problems for yourself. In order to maintain a smooth lift, the bar should be touching the shins at the bottom and almost graze the shins and the quads to the top of the movement. I often come away from a deadlift session with bloodied shins which is a sign of just how close I maintain the bar to my legs. You also compromise your lower back when the bar is too far from the shins, as you know this is never a good thing.
   
   
5. Not engaging the lats:
   When at the bottom of the lift, retract the shoulders by engaging the lats to ensure a solid start to the lift. Now I must say that when you start to move some seriously heavy weights, let's use ex world record holder Andy Bolton as an example, it becomes increasingly harder to maintain such a position. However if the muscle's intent is there and the other muscles in the lift are firing as they should it will not cause any problems. If you stay too relaxed in the upper back and lats, this can allow the weight of the bar to round your shoulders forward which often has a knock on effect and causes a curve in the spine.
   
   
6. You're not engaging your midsection:
   Believe me, doing crunches will never improve your deadlift however ensuring you engage your mid section is invaluable to your lift. When in the bottom position, before you show that bar who's boss, take a deep breath as deep as you can into your stomach, this will create the tension required in the midsection to support the spine and remove any softness from the lift. Your breathing alone could make a huge difference.
   
   
7. Too much slack in your arms:
   What I'm referring to here is those who start their lift with bent arms. This is an injury risk and will do nothing for your deadlift. Eliminate slack from the bar and the arms. If the bar can make that rattling sound when in your grip that means their is too much slack. Get rid of it and I assure you will instantly feel the lift so much more in all the right places.

The video goes in to greater detail on these points so please have a look and implement these tips today. I promise you will feel an immediate difference.



I have been performing the deadlift for years and I'm always looking for different techniques and teaching points. As much as I have discovered that different people have different techniques that suit them better, I believe as a rule of thumb the above changes will see nothing but improvement. I personally used to keep my hips way too high and this really prevented me from getting to a substantial weight as I simply was not using my legs enough. As soon as I got my arse down, I added 15kg to my lift straight away, this is no lie.

Now, I'm no deadlift expert and I'm certainly not lifting a super human poundage but I do have experience in this exercise and it's a movement I take very seriously and remain to seek improved techniques, program design and rep range structure in order to take it too the next level. I ensure I always feel it in the right places whether I'm smashing multiple sets of singles or going for 4 sets of 8 reps. Anyone who stands up after a lift clutching their lower back in pain (I'm sure you have all seen it) needs to asses their technique.

So remember this:

1. Step up to the bar with a shouder width stance, and toes angled out slightly with the bar touching your shins.
2. Drop the hips down to fully engage the legs and glutes.
3. Pack the shoulders back by engaging the lats.
   
4. Remove every once of slack out the bar and the arms
5. Take a huge breath in to the stomach to brace the midsection and support the spine.
6. Then rip that bar from the floor driving through your heels.
7. Reverse the movement and repeat.
   

I'm sure you can relate to some if not all of the above points and I hope it can add as much value to your training as it has mine.

Happy lifting,

Matt Whitmore

Today's workout: 2/9/11

Yet another awesome workout today with my training partner Rich. Even if my Deadlifts did not feel as good as previous weeks I didn't let it get to me although was hoping to beat my PB but there is always next week.

Here is how it went down:

1) warm up and mobility work

2) Deadlifts 3 warm up sets followed by 4 working sets of singles (1 rep max) with 3 mins rest between sets

The rest were performed as supersets.

3) front squats 4 working sets of 6 reps
Pull ups 5 reps with a 10 second negative on each (these were brutal and my lats felt huge, infact if jumped off a building I think I could of glided :- ) with 90secs rest

4) cable tricep extension 3 working sets of 12 reps with a 4 sec negative
Hammer curls with fat Gripz 3 working sets of 12 reps with a 4 sec negative with 60secs rest

5) cool down and stretch

Big well done to Rich for smashing his PB on his Deadlifts, awesome stuff.

Feeling good now and looking forward to 2 days of rest and recovery in preparation for another big session on Monday morning.

Bring it on.

BOSH.

Have a great day,

Matt

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.

Strength Workout: Friday 8th July

Superset the following for 5 sets of 5 reps, with 3 minutes rest between supersets.

2 progressively heavier warm up sets with 3 heavy working sets. Push those barriers. Once 3 working sets feels good, increase the weight and aim for 2 working sets. Once you have progressed to 3 working sets on this poundage repeat the process.

1. Bench Press using Fat Gripz
   Dumbell Rows using Fat Gripz
   
   
2. Bottom Position Squats (set the rack in the bottom position at parallel or just above and start your reps from a dead pause using no Momentum)
   Reverse grip barbell rows
   
   
3. Incline Dumbell Presses using Fat Gripz (set bench at about 30 degree angle)
   Stiff Leg Deadlifts

My journey towards unleashing my inner beast: Intro

This is an introduction to a new series - "My Journey Towards My Wild Physique Unleashed"

I'm sure some of you have seen CJ Swaby's recent blog posts discussing his training methods, dietary changes and mindset disciplines in his journey towards obtaining his wild physique. CJ is not only a good pal of mine, he was also a huge inspiration to me from the moment I met him at a kettlebell course 18 months ago. After reading his awesome blog entries I decided I wanted to share my training journey with you too.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting blogs explaining:

- How I discovered a passion for training from a very young age.
- How I remained disciplined and worked around barriers.
- The mistakes I made along the way.
- How changing my eating habits added kilos to the bar and my own lean mass.
- The key to restoration and recovery for awesome gains.
- And much much more

In my journey towards achieving my forever evolving goals I have tried, I have tested, I have failed and I have also succeeded, but most importantly of all I have learned from my mistakes.

My reason for sharing this journey with you is simply because I want to help you, inspire you and add some great value to your current training, diet regime and lifestyle. I want to share with you the mistakes I made and the fads I followed to prevent you making them yourself. It won't be rocket science, it won't be technical, it's just a South East Londoner's journey towards unleashing his inner beast :-)

Enjoy

Matt

Today's strength workout

Todays strength workout is based on 5 sets of 5 reps with 3 mins rest in-between (any less and you will see you poundages drop which is not the plan).

Aim for 2 progressivly heavier warm up sets and 3 to the max working sets and I mean TO THE MAX.

1) Bench press using Fat Gripz

2) Weighted pull ups using Fat Gripz

3) Deadlifts

4) Barbell curls using Fat Gripz

5) Dumbell farmers walks using Fat Gripz (25 meters)

6) 10 x 200m sprints on the rower with 1 min rest.

Once you hit 3 working sets on a weight, aim for 3 progressively heavier warm up sets and 2 working sets on a heavier poundage next time round.