More on the Virtues of Neck Work
The BS Behind Blood Type Training
by Joe Giandonato, MS, CSCS
Buzzing recently in mainstream media is the questionable theory that you should engage in physical activities dictated your blood type. According to the reports, people with type O blood are best suited for intense training, while people with type A blood would be better served by indoctrinating a metaphysical approach to wellness, drawing from Yogic and tai chi ideologies. People with type B blood, according to the reports, benefit from having more structure in their fitness pursuits in comparison to other types, while people with type AB blood need a balance between what people with type A and type B require. WTF? Hash-tag pseudoscience.
If my memory serves me correctly and we’re talking about a biology class I took at a community college nearly a decade ago, blood irrespective of type, contains four primary constituents: plasma, platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells.
Plasma is composed of water, electrolytes, and circulating glucose, fat, and protein.
Plateletes are bodies comprised largely of blood cell fragments which help heal wounds.
Red Blood Cells, commonly known as RBCs, contain the protein hemoglobin, which transports oxygenated blood to working muscles.
White Blood Cells contain antibodies which help our bodies combat infections triggered by viruses, bacteria, and foreign bodies.
There are four main blood types, as introduced above: O, A, B, and AB, with each carrying a positive or negative, signifying the presence or absence of Rh, or Rhesus antigen, a type of protein. Each blood type is determined by heredity and not all can be combined as some are not compatible with one another.
Okay, now that we have a cursory understanding of blood and blood types, I should mention that I found nothing outside of media reports that support the appropriateness and application of specific exercise modalities for people with certain blood types. Before the uniformed masses buy into all of the hoopla, they need to realize that many variables, not just blood type, are at play. At the moment, I’d place the importance of one’s blood type higher a more important factor that one’s astrological sign as a factor in exercise prescription and programming, but lower than medical, injury, and exercise history.
Strong Man=Strong Back
http://asp.elitefts.net/qa/
Training Time Nutritional Strategies to Pack on Muscle
Joe Giandonato explains implementation of Training Time Nutritional Strategies to Pack on Muscle
http://joshstrength.com/uploads/Training_Time_Nutritional_Strategies_to_Pack_on_Muscle.pdf
Congrats to David Lemmel
I want to congratulate my clients, David Lemmel, for setting some huge PRs this weekend. David has put on 330 pounds on his total since we started working together in January 2012. David has a family and is a Medical Doctor but still gets the job done. The key to David’s recent increases, besides focus on bar speed with Compensatory Acceleration Training (CAT), has been attacking the glutes, hamstrings and upper back and bringing the up to snuff. David is one step closer to his goal of qualifying for raw unity!
In his own words: Things went well this past weekend. I squatted 528, benched 413, and deadlifted 560 for a 1501 total, 100lb increase from last meet (6 months ago). I won my weight class (by 5 lbs) - there were several pretty good 275-pounders. Anyways, thanks for all the help - I'd been stuck at the same total, even moving backwards a little - I think my maxes were 400, 350, and 420 or so in January of 2012 when we started working together (so a total of 1170) - I've now had an increase in my total of 330lb in one and a half years. - Thanks again – Thank you, David, for great mental toughness and a great work ethic! Here is David’s 413 Raw Bench Press PR
If you couldn't find any weights in your Arlington or Mansfield gym....
Build the biggest “Hood” in the “Hood”
Behind bars the upper chest is referred to as the hood. Let’s take a look at an exercise that can help you build the biggest “hood in the hood!”
For decades, the incline press has been the go to exercise to build the hood (clavicular pectoralis). Incline presses increase the muscular activity of the “hood” by about 5 % when contrasted with flat benches. Activity in the front delts increases by about 80% percent.
A recent Canadian study showed that the reverse grip bench press activated 30% more upper pecs than the traditional pronated/overhand grip flat bench press, making this movement a valuable component of your “hood” building repertoire.
Muscle and Fitness Editor, Jim Stoppani , PhD, explains, “The reverse grip helps keep your elbows in and your upper arms parallel to your torso. Moving your arms in this manner increases the use of upper pec muscle fibers.”
Everything is bigger in Texas! Not surprisingly, two of the largest “hoods” I have ever personally seen hailed from the Lone Star State, 1990s powerlifting/bench press champions and record holders Anthony Clark and Jim Voronin. Both set records with a reverse grip style bench press.
Here is a cluster routine to maximize “hood” Development with the reverse grip bench Press
- Week 1 do 60 % of your “regular” bench press max for 3 reps rest 25 seconds, repeat this for 5 minute, last set do as many reps as possible, stopping one shy of failure.
- Week 1 do 60 % of your “regular” bench press max for 4 reps rest 25 seconds, repeat this for 5 minute, last set do as many reps as possible, stopping one shy of failure.
- Week 1 do 60 % of your “regular” bench press max for 5 reps rest 25 seconds, repeat this for 5 minute, last set do as many reps as possible, stopping one shy of failure.
