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This blog category is a general category. Many of these posts will also be found under more specific categories.
Want to Increase Strength without Adding Muscle?
by EricT 29 Jan 2012 20:14
Why? I've always wondered about this? Are you such an Adonis but at the same time so weak that you need to work your butt off so that you can become as strong as you look? Even pro bodybuilders are pretty darn strong compared to the average Joe. But let's just stick with the average Joe, not the pro. Let me ask again, why would you want to get strong without adding any muscle?
I wonder this because at least once a month I see a new article explaining how to do this. Why is this concept so popular? Is it because:
Comments: 3
What Is Force?
by EricT 27 Jan 2012 22:05
Training for maximal strength is essentially training to exert maximum muscular force. So what is force? The easiest way to think of a force is as a simple push or pull. When you push or pull on a barbell or other implement you are exerting a force. The pull of the Earth's gravity on an object is a force. Friction is a force. To be more precise, then, a force is something that causes or tends to cause a change in the motion or the shape of an object.
Comments: 0
Quantitative Measurements and Quality Evaluations: The Difference Between Numbers and Performance
by EricT 06 Jul 2011 23:16
My post on rest periods for strength training makes fun of that old bodybuilding forum question "what's your stats?" You know the one when you ask any question and you always get the same response asking you your weight and how much you can squat, deadlift, and bench press. The idea is that the respondent is doing some quick and dirty calculations based on your "stats" and this will lead them to the correct answer to your particular question. In reality they don't know what the hell they are doing and are just trying to sound like they are about to give you 'individualized' answers.
Comments: 3
It's All About Time: Ideas for Manipulating Rest Periods in Strength Training for Force Potential (not Bodybuilding)
by EricT 20 May 2011 22:17
Most people know two things about interset rest periods for strength training: you can rest shorter or you can rest longer. If you rest shorter you are training for endurance and if you rest longer you are training for strength.
That is a fairly simplistic way of viewing it and yet that is just about the level of sophistication that most trainees bring to thinking about rest periods. But wait! It makes sense on some level. To keep things simple, for our purposes we can define strength and endurance in the following way:
Comments: 2
What Muscle Should I Feel Working When I Do Deadlifts and Why Do I Feel It Mostly in My Back?
by EricT 20 Apr 2011 19:46
One of the most common questions out there is what muscle group one should predominantly feel working during the deadlift. Also related to this is where one should expect to get DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) after they deadlift.
The question occurs because many trainees have been told, rightly, that the deadlift is not a "back exercise" but a hip dominant exercise that utilizes the entire posterior chain. So, when trainees feel that most of the work seems to be centered in the lower back they become concerned that they are not performing the lift correctly.
Comments: 8
Programs and Methods Versus Principles: Wave Loading and Interval Training
by EricT 08 Aug 2010 20:46
When is a program a program and when is it programming methodology? Easy. A program is a program when you are doing it exactly as it has been written or planned. And it is "programming methodology" when somebody spins it into one. Alway realize that the underlying principles that drive a "program" are more important than the program itself.
The question to ask about "principles" versus programs is which came first. We can use our experience with training to make many observations. While making those observations we may be using programs, or "routines". We can then take these observations and derive philosophies and principles. If the observations are sound and the conclusions we make from them are sound they will apply regardless of the programming methodology. In other words they will have a good chance of being generally true rather than just true if we use a particular way of programming.
Comments: 12
A Bit About Specificity and Transfer Of Training Effect
by EricT 03 May 2010 14:48
Specificity has become one of those buzz-words that, as I'm always complaining about, people give 'lip service' to without any real understanding of the concept.
Comments: 4
Defining Stress as Stress and Rest Between Sets
by EricT 03 May 2010 13:40
Semantics. That's what I'm thinking about. Language can be so subtle it's downright frustrating. So frustrating in fact that there comes a point where we just don't want to be bothered by it's nuances. We want broad, sweeping definitions. Hence, the origin of such phrases as "that's just semantics", or "you're arguing semantics".
Comments: 0
A Strength Training Fallacy: The False Compromise
by EricT 30 Mar 2010 19:52
Did your mom ever tell you that when you have a disagreement with a friend you have to learn to compromise? Not to disrespect your mom but the idea that we always must reach a compromise is nonsense and is a common fallacy of thought.
Comments: 3
BASIC Progression and Bulgarian Split Squats
by EricT 06 Sep 2009 17:53
I am always bringing up, obsessively you might say, how there are many different ways to progress in strength training. And, in fact, how many different things we do and achieve represent progression that we don't even recognize.
Comments: 1
Clean Style Deadlift versus Powerlifting Deadlift
by EricT 06 Sep 2009 04:16
What is the difference between a clean style and powerlifting style deadlift?
There is no such distinction. There never was. I am sure that many powerlifters think that they have a style of deadlifting that should be called a "powerlifting style deadlift" but the deadlift is not a derivative of the clean and jerk and there is no style that distinguishes such.
Comments: 0
Ninety Second Rest Periods For Strength? Are You Kidding Me?
by EricT 25 Aug 2009 04:06
Ok, you are at your favorite forum or you are talking to one of the trainers in the gym and you want to know about rest periods.
"How long should I rest between sets?" you ask.
Here is the typical first response you will get from the forum:
"What's your stats?"
Comments: 3
Its A War Not A Battle
by EricT 11 Jul 2009 19:14
I really like a good analogy. And I consider myself pretty good with them. I've noticed that some people are masters of good analogies. And others…not so great.
The trick with an analogy is you have to argue with yourself. When you come up with an analogy to illustrate something you need to try to tear it down. Come up with situations where the analogy doesn't hold. The easier this is to do and more situations you think of…the worse the analogy.
Comments: 1
Strength: Simple But Difficult?
by EricT 05 Jul 2009 22:32
QUALIFIED.
That is a very important word. A reason I avoid using terse, oversimplified statements, which I refer to as aphorisms, is because for them to be useful they usually need to be qualified. That is, a set of conditions and explanation have to be put in place so that they fit a general audience. So that they are not taken too far.
Comments: 2
Misconceptions Abound: Strength, Fatloss, Skills, and Progression
by EricT 04 Jul 2009 21:25
This page is a blog page. That means that I am not going to provide a bunch of scholarly references at the end. I am not going to do a week of research to prepare. I might have done a little cross checking but these pages are meant to be informal reactions, opinions..me drawing on my experience, etc. And HOPEFULLY, to stimulate discussion of ANY kind.
Comments: 12
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