Stretching, foam rolling and mobility drills may be a pain in the butt as you prepare for a workout, but not a massage gun. A minute or two with this thing and you’ll do heavy deficit deadlifts without any deficit in performance! You can make your own homemade percussive massage tool if you like, but…
Many personal trainers recommend foam rolling the entire body prior to a workout. That’s unnecessary and can be counterproductive. Always adjust muscle tone accordingly – find the tight tissue and release it, and vice versa (see Foam Rolling and Pain for more details). Generally, rolling two areas for most people will suffice. The upper back…
Today was the last day of a triple split routine that I’ve been on for the past month. It was a taper workout that targeted the chest, back, and shoulders. I’ll show you what I did, but I want you to pay particular attention to the warm-up. The workout was divided into three pairs of…
Here is a sample clip from the Warm-Up To Strength Training DVD. Plyometrics can be useful prior to weight training if incorporated properly.
Here are three ways that you can trick your nervous system for more strength: 1. An advanced warm-up strategy involves the process of postactivation potentiation. By gradually ramping up your low rep warm-up sets beyond your working weight, it will increase strength for your work sets. There are different ways to really tap into high-threshold…
Research can provide golden information to health & fitness professionals. If you’re a personal trainer, here are some recent findings to help you get ahead of the pack: Short Specific Warm-Ups “It was concluded that a short warm-up is as effective as a long warm-up for intermediate performance. Therefore, athletes can choose for themselves if…
Foam rolling, a popular form of self-myofascial release, is often touted for its potential benefits—one of which is reducing pain during workouts. The irony, of course, is that foam rolling itself can be quite painful, especially when you’re just starting out. Pain Tolerance and Foam Rolling Pain tolerance plays a role in how you approach…
As I discussed in my Warm-Up to Strength Training DVD, incorporating plyometrics before weight training can significantly enhance performance—if done correctly. Many top strength coaches swear by this method, and the science backs it up. A study published in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance found that performing explosive-force movements immediately before a…
In life we take many things for granted. People are told to go on a low fat diet and do some aerobic training, and yet they still gain body fat. Your blood work shows slightly altered cholesterol and thyroid levels and right away you’re told to go on medication. The trainer at your local gym…