Powerlifting / Oly / Strong(wo)man / bodybuilding whatever?
Couldn't see a thread for it but surely someone on here lifts beside me?
Couldn't see a thread for it but surely someone on here lifts beside me?
I used to play front row at school (a looooong time ago!), great position
I lift! But my numbers are nothing to crow about, haha, so I won't even hint at them. I started out with Starting Strength, which is good fun, and then moved over to Ice Cream Fitness for a bit more variety. Strong Curves is good too for more glute-focused work, but I found the tone of the book kind of irritating and didn't stick with it long after reading.
I'm messing around with adding in more accessories at the moment because my sports therapist asked me to lay off lower-leg lifts for a bit. And I'm still trying to build up my overhead press/overhead bench press, because my upper body strength is severely lacking.
Thanks Pete, glad to hear the military press is a bit pants -- I'd been avoiding the military press in favor of the trusty overhead press, which I'm also rubbish at, but at least it's familiar.
I actually really enjoy the shrugs! They've got a nice limited motion to them so good to take care of in between sets of more challenging stuff, and I really feel it across the trapezius afterwards.
I'm not sure how useful the motion is overall (honestly, I doubt it does much to build other lifts) but I have a lot of back/shoulder tension due to the desk job and it feels damn good! I also love dead hangs for the same reason. Hanging off the power rack and letting all those neck and shoulder muscles stretch out feels godly after a long day in the office.
A true military is performed the same way it was done in Olympic competitions, until it was dropped because of poor form. The bar starts while resting up the upper chest/clavicles, with the heels 6" apart.Good plan - an actual "military press" should be done standing anyway, which is what made that catch my eye. But yeah, stick with Riptoe's method.
While I'm not anti shrug, unless the trainee is rolling the shoulders, personally, I've never gotten much out of them. My lifting partner does them occasionally, but then his elbows are bomb-proof, allowing him to do heavy upright rows, which hurt me. I've shrugged in the 800-900lb range and still feel like a good heavy deadlift provides a better result. But everyone's body is different, allowing different results for different trainees.Fair enough, they certainly won't do you any harm so if you like them keep on with it (you do them straight up and down, right? Rolling them isn't a great idea.). Later down the line they're good for increasing deadlift lockout strength, so not a wasted movement just a bit of an advanced one.