If you talk to me about your training routine at the gym, more than likely I’m blogging it. So here’s another one. A person at the gym was asking me how often I lift arms (incorporate arm specific exercises into my routine – bicep curl and tricep press). I told him that less than 2-3% of my lifting routine comprises of arm isolation exercises. He thought I was crazy – Probably because he references all those body building magazines which tell you to do biceps and triceps a couple times a week. I told him that I do so much functional training that every part of my body is pushed to the limit by the end of the week. Every time I do a pulling movement (pull up variations or rowing variations) I work my biceps. Also, every time I do pressing movements (overhead pressing like shoulder press variations or horizontal pressing such as chest press variations) I exhaust my triceps. Rarely at the end of a workout I will add in a bicep or tricep isolation exercise. I believe in training movements and not specific muscles, so arm isolation exercises do not fit into my routine very often.
Coincidently the next day after speaking with this individual, I noticed my biceps were really sore. This is what I did the day before to make them sore:
· 1 Arm TRX Rows & Barbell Hang Snatch (Superset)
· Chin Ups & Jump Rope Variations (Superset)
· TRX Y’s (high and low) & Plate Chops (Superset)
Many traditional lifters may label this as a “Back” day. However, I call it a pulling day and always include functional movements on my pulling days. Notice how there was not one bicep curl in my program on that day, yet my biceps were fried the next day. In fact, my workout was a great metabolic workout (conditioning workout) at the same time. Now see how high your heart rate will get doing a bicep workout – nothing compared to functional movements.
Train Hard-Train Smart,
www.asap-pt.com
When you take a look at the hamstring muscles it easy see that muscles work on all 3 planes motion. The three planes of motion are sagital (forward/backward), frontal (side to side), and transverse (rotational). You can clearly see how the hamstring raps around the leg inserting into the tibia and fibula. The hamstrings are not just muscles that work to flex the knee in the sagital plane, as most individuals believe (including trainers, PTs, and strength coaches). Instead, they work to control the lower half of the body during movements in all three planes of motion. They play a huge role in decelerating the body when moving and changing direction – which takes place in all planes of motion. Also, the hamstrings work to help assist the glutes during hip extension.
Quality water to drink!
