There’s a good reason rock climbers use chalk: improved grip.
- Chalk improves grip
Of course, chalk isn’t just good for climbers. Lifting heavy requires substantial grip tenacity. Especially in the summer, with humidity high.
I’ve been working my my grip strength for many months now, usually once a week doing plate pinches, towel hangs, etc. at the end of a workout.
But I had never tried chalk.
(That is, aside from 20 yrs ago and a friend sneaked some chalk into the university gym. That was back when I thought a good routine had “arms days” and no, using chalk to better grip the handles on the leg extension machine is not what I am talking about today!)
Most commercial/franchised gyms don’t allow chalk, and even though I workout in my home gym, I never thought it was necessary. For deadlifts, the hardest grip lift that I regularly do, I simply moved the mixed grip (one hand pronated, the other supinated).
But I recently bought a chalk ball – it’s like a sock stuffed with chalk and that really reduces the mess.
Holy cow – what a major improvement.
Seriously, I am now deadlifting with a standard grip (both hands supinated) weights that I previously could only do with a mixed grip. Just by using chalk. (Of course, a max deadlift requires more than a strong grip, so it’s not like I added 100 pounds to the dead overnight.)
And for power-movements (e.g. cleans, high pulls, etc.) the chalk is like a miracle.
Then there are lifts where you grip the bar where there is no knurling – like a sumo-stance rack pull. These are nearly impossible without chalk. I did add about 50 pounds overnight to that lift just by using chalk.
I can say without hesitation, now that I’ve gotten more experience, that chalk is far superior to using wrist straps (see my cautious recommendations on straps here).
How To Add Chalk To Your Lifting
Here are 5 Guidelines for adding chalk: Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been a while since I’ve thrown open the floor and done a good Q&A session. Some of you long time subscribers might remember that we sometimes did these via podcast/mp3 but let’s keep this simple. In the comments section below, ask me ANY fitness related question. Completely open. I will then do two things:
a) I will answer every single one personally (or, if it is an area I don’t know about, I will get the answer from one of my expert colleagues)
b) For the 3 best questions (my opinion), I will give those people a FREE copy of one of my ebooks or lifting routines
So, ask away! I’m guessing I’ll post the answers in about a week or so, depending on volume. I want at least 25 questions ok? Read the rest of this entry »
Join the forum discussion on this article, or comment below.
Ok, I admit, when Mike Geary sent me this article I thought it was a bit gimmicky. But when you read the recipe, you realize this isn’t just hype.
Check it out here:
Enjoy!
p.s. post comments as to how you like it/dislike it
Tags: geary
Cameron’s Spartan Experience…
Cameron did the Spartan in The Carolina’s the weekend of June 25th. Here is his first-hand account…
The race was intended to be approx. 8 miles with 15 obstacles. The fastest times were intended to be around 80 minutes. It ended up being (after adding the turns) Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: spartan
- Subcutaneous Fat vs. Visceral Fat
It’s almost too cliche to have fitness sites talking about abs and stomach fat as summer approaches, but then again, that’s important to most readers this time of year.
Have you heard of the difference between visceral fat and subcutaneous fat? Mike Geary has a Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: fat
I did a quick write-up for my team mates to jump-start our Spartan training. See previous post on the Spartan Race for context.
This is far from complete, and is just some basic principles. As I’ve mentioned, each of our 5-person team is coming with completely different strengths and weaknesses so this is just to get us all on the same baseline. What I personally am doing is slightly different. I’ll share that at the end.
General Principles
- work up each week (longer or more intense, etc.); each week should be harder than the previous [we had 8 weeks at the time I wrote this]
- use varied training methods
- keep an eye on recovery: you don’t want to be so sore that you miss workouts but you don’t want to undertrain either
- deload (reduce training 4-5 days before the event)
- stretch daily; this is important for recovery; my advice is mostly active stretching, but static stretching is fine too as long as it is AFTER exercise; foam rolling is amazing
- eat smart (don’t try to diet during this, but don’t eat junk; eat lots of good, real food to help your body recover)
- sleep well for recovery
Types of Training We’ll Cover
- endurance running (long distance)
- core training (stability, strength, endurance)
- load training (carrying)
- strength training
My Recommendations For the First 2 Weeks
These are the things I think should be a minimum.
1) TRI once a week. [For you WFN readers, I don't have time to explain the game of TRI but think of it as Rugby with 3 teams.] If we miss a week, you need to spend at least 30 minutes doing similar training (sprinting with change of direction, add in throwing).
2) 2 runs a week. One shorter one longer. Goal will be to get your longer runs up to 8 to 10 miles by early July. Depending on your current capacity, this could be a big leap so let’s talk if you can’t already do at least 4 mile runs. Try to do a lot of your running on trails.
For your shorter run, I suggest the type of training you see in the spartanraceblog. Something like this: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: spartan
- Spartan Race Training
Some of you may have seen some recent discussion over at the forum on The Spartan:
http://worldfitnessnetwork.com/forum/goals-and-motivation/spartan-race/
This is one of those intense “races with obstacles”. Cameron is doing one this month in SC and I’m doing one in August in VT. The obstacles might be any Read the rest of this entry »
Join the forum discussion on this article, or comment below.Tags: spartan
I could hardly believe what I was reading.
I sat in absolute bewilderment as I read an article in a recent muscle magazine. It explained in detail why you should lift your hips as high as possible off the bench (called bridging) when you bench press.
Was the author seriously recommending this type of thing to people who are trying to improve their workouts? I could hardly believe that any widely distributed magazine would publish this sort of “advice”.
Of course, I don’t think that the muscle magazines are very good reading for most people out there. They focus on what the pros are doing for their workouts instead of telling the readers what will help them the most. I’ll drop by once a month or so and read them just to see what’s out there (and only because I blog about this).
But there it was, right in the magazine. The author was praising the advantages of arching your back as high as possible and shooting your hips into the air on the bench press.
His argument was that arching your back and lifting the hips gives you more power for your bench. More power lets you lift heavier weights, and lifting heavier weights means you’re building strength and muscle.
So how could that be wrong? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: bench press, chest, pecs, tips, Training Tips, workout
