Saturday, January 19, 2008

training and a revelation

DL today, started with a few easier warm up set and a few swings.
80% day , 205# x 2 reps x 6 sets , 2 min rest

Bending - 2 - 3/16 x 5" , these are feeling really good, can complete all but the chest crush in one sweep.

A variety of leveraging and casts with the crush grip lever bar
Pinch- around the worlds with a 20kg composition plate , this is probably 3.5 " wide,
- 1st time - 360 degrees
- 2nd time - 180 degrees
- 3rd - maybe 100 degrees

I had a revelation while deadlifting today. This is something I've known for a while, probably from school and also possibly in PTTP. It occurred to me how heavy the weight felt at 80% but was still doable without straining. I then realized that our muscles and joint receptors have a built-in safety mechanism that keeps the muscles from over-firing and ripping the tendon off the bone. This mechanism can be over ridden, ex. the little old lady who lifts the car off her kid. I think as weights reach our max there is a tendency for the brain to down regulate the muscle to prevent injury. As we train with heavier weights we are also training this mechanism to realize that we can do this safely and allow us to pull more and more weight. In addition to training the nervous system ( joint receptors) you are also strengthening tendons to prevent tearing if done in a progressive fashion. So yet another reason to train with heavy weights.

2 comments:

Adam said...

Great work! How are you liking the crush grip lever bar?

I am posting some new exercises with it this week, a few you will like.

P. J. said...

The crush grip lever bar rock. Excellent tool. Thanks for sharing and keep the good ideas coming. Looking forward to the card tearing training tools.