Strong(her) Squat Progressions for the Novice Female Lifter / Elite FTS

Strong(her) Squat Progressions for the Novice Female Lifter / Elite FTS

In Touch Bookstore - In All Things Give Thanks: 90 Days of Gratitude Journal

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Assess your weaknesses: Strength Test # 1

Why Test Yourself?

Use these tests to find out more about your strength, athleticism, and overall muscle function. If you're able to pass a majority of these "checks and balances" with no problems, your chances of injury are slim, not to mention the fact that you're as strong as an ox.

Test 1 – RDL Posture

The Romanian Deadlift Test of Spinal Positioning will tell you if your posture is out of whack. Maintaining your posture during heavy lifting is the most important factor when it comes to strength training technique. Once spinal alignment is lost, everything else immediately deteriorates.

Without proper posture, your chance for injury increases, force production is compromised, and stimulation to the appropriate muscles is negated. It also limits your ability to set your shoulders and hips in their proper position, making it impossible to perform any movement correctly and safely.

Instructions

Thoroughly warm up with progressive ramping. Load the bar with roughly 75-80% of your 1RM deadlift. Perform a few perfect RDL's while keeping a neutral spine throughout. See if you can pause near the bottom and keep your spine neutral.

Your Score

If you're unable to pause near the bottom (just before touching the floor) and keep your spine locked in, then you have no business using whatever weight you currently use on deadlifts. In fact, you probably lack the ability to set your spine and scapula on most heavy lifts, particularly axial loaded movements.

If this describes your situation, strengthen your entire back with plenty of rows, pull-ups, and RDLs with manageable loads. Work on hip mobility and build strength throughout the entire posterior chain. Most importantly, reinforce perfect posture and scapula positioning on all of your movements. You may even want to video yourself to assess posture. It'll be readily apparent when spinal positioning begins to degrade.

From: "T-nation website" titled: "12 strength tests you must master" by Joel Seedman

Assess your weaknesses: Strength Test # 12

Test 12 – No-Prep

Having the ability to quickly summon your nervous system and perform a relatively heavy deadlift, squat, or press without significant preparation is not only a great way to expose areas of inflammation or weakness, but it shows movement competency that any well-trained athlete should be capable of.

Instructions

Perform any lift any time, even under semi-cold conditions using 80-90% of your 1RM.

Your Score

Unable to do it? If half of your training time is devoted to warming up your joints and blunting the pain and inflammation associated with dysfunctional movement, chances are your lifting technique needs a serious overhaul.

From: "T-Nation" website article ( 9/15/15 ): "12 Strength Tests that you must master"
                  Written by Joel Steadman

BREAKTHROUGH RESEARCH ON OPTINOS

The second powerful ingredient — optiNOs — was tested in a double-blind placebo controlled study. Results: there was enhanced muscle endurance -- participants were able to push out four times more reps on the leg extension.

STACK IT UP

The studies have been done on each supp, but are the supps just as effective when they're taken together? Once again, the University of Tampa completed the study over 12 weeks where trained athletes took the key ingredients in Clear Muscle (BetaTOR) and Plasma Muscle (Peak ATP). An intense training program was designed by Dr. Jacob Wilson. The results were staggering -- particpants gained 18.7 pounds of lean muscle within the 12 weeks. That's almost 1.6 pounds of muscle each week. They also got significantly stronger, adding almost 212 pounds to their best bench, deadlift, and squat total.

This article is sponsored by MuscleTech. For more on MuscleTech, visit www.muscletech.com.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

- See more at: http://www.flexonline.com/nutrition/supplements/ultimate-musclebuilding-stack?page=4#sthash.NrQLjxLN.dpuf

Train these neglected muscle groups

It’s often the little things that separate the best from the rest, and if you’re an undersized hardgainer, you can’t afford to neglect anything. In this article, we address five muscles you probably haven’t been working directly and explain why and how you should.

BRACHIALIS 

This muscle runs underneath the biceps and is visible on the outside of each upper arm. It works with the biceps as a flexor of the elbow joint, but, unlike the biceps, does not have a role in supinating the forearm — as occurs in the outward rotation during supinating dumbbell curls.

WHY BOTHER? The brachialis adds width to your arms, and when the bi’s are flexed, a well-developed brach bulges out as an impressive knot on the outside between the biceps and triceps, supplying greater density, depth and details. We probably don’t have to sell you on growing a crucial “gun part,” but since you’re already hitting brachialis when you work bi’s, do you need to do more? Yes, because in palms-up or supinating curls, the biceps are doing the brunt of the work. To maximize brachialis development, do one type of curl that focuses on this muscle in each biceps session.

TRAINING To target the brachialis, curl a weight with either a palms-down grip or a thumbs-up grip. For the former, do barbell reverse curls with a medium grip, either standing or on a preacher bench. For the latter, do hammer curls with two dumbbells, simultaneously or alternating. Three or four sets of 10 to 12 reps should sting the brach, and because both of these exercises work the forearms (especially the brachioradialis) more than palms-up curls, you may want to do them at the end of your biceps routine and just before wrist curls and reverse wrist curls. (You are doing reverse wrist curls, right? Keep reading.)

Watch the 2015 Olympia LIVE – September 18 & 19 on FLEXOnline.com. Get in on the action!

SERRATUS ANTERIOR 

The serratus anterior lies atop the outer sides of the highest eight ribs and connects to the upper, inner area of the scapula. The fingerlike ridges are visible just below the outer edges of the pectorals. The main function of the serratus anterior is to pull the scapula forward, as at the top of a bench press, if you let your shoulders come off the bench to raise the barbell higher than is customary. This muscle also works to stabilize the scapula and assists in rotating it upward.

WHY BOTHER? Visually, the serratus anterior muscles set off the pecs and abs and tie the front to the back. At lean bodyweights, development of this part gives a physique that “finished” look. OK, that’s snazzy and all, but as with brachialis, you may assume you’re already stimulating the serratus anterior — in this case, via pullovers and pulldowns. In fact, those exercises don’t do much more for the serratus anterior than give the part a good stretch, because, contrary to accepted belief, the motion of pulling your arms from overhead toward your waist is not a direct function of the serratus anterior.

TRAINING  Hold your arms straight out in front of you. Now, reach even farther, feeling your scapulas rounding. This is the primary function of your serratus anterior muscles. To duplicate this, do some chest presses with the same exaggerated range of motion. Don’t do this on your maximum sets, but instead incorporate it into your warm-up sets and, as you grow stronger, the lighter sets of a pyramid. You can also do pushups with the same scapula-rounding contractions and barbell front raises while maintaining this posture.

STERNOCLEIDOMASTOID

These two muscles run from just below and behind the ears (connecting to the base of the skull) to the top of the breastbone and collarbone at the base of the throat. Along with smaller neck muscles, the sternocleidomastoids act to tilt the head to the sides and, along with smaller neck muscles, allow the head to rotate and tilt forward.

WHY BOTHER?  If you don’t require neck strength for wrestling or football, you may not need to train these muscles. Some bodybuilders find that their necks expand from isometric strain during exercises like deadlifts and shrugs (not to 

mention the girth added by trapezius growth). Others, such as pros Chris Cormier and Hide Yamagishi, have done heavy neck training to muscle-up this area. How big you want a specific bodypart to be is your choice, but remember that your neck is usually the most visible indicator of strength — and it’s on display even when you’re fully clothed. Don’t be a pencilneck. A lot of hardgainers reading this could benefit from the sort of “headstand” that can never be compared to a writing utensil.

TRAINING  Some well-equipped gyms have neck machines, but if you don’t have access to one, lie face-up on a bench with your head off the end, put a folded towel on your face and hold a weight plate to the towel. Then let your head drop down as far as possible and lift it back up as far as possible. Repeat this while lying on your right and left sides and while lying face-down; the latter works the muscles at the rear of your neck. Do two or three giant sets of this four-direction rotation, “necking” in each direction for 12 to 20 reps.

- See more at: http://www.flexonline.com/training/dont-ignore-these-five-often-neglected-muscles#sthash.cqwPlltA.dpuf

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Freedom in the New Testament

Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Freedom in the New Testament Dr. Art Lindsley | Aug 11, 2015   Part 3 in a series on The Biblical View of Freedom The predominant note of the New Testament is not political freedom but freedom in Christ from bondage to sin, the Law, Satan, the old man, and death. It is not that political freedom or freedom from slavery was unimportant, but that there was an even deeper bondage that had to be overcome first of all. With the Greeks, the problem was with the mind, but in the New Testament, the problem was the bondage of the will. The problem is that even if you were politically free, you could still be in bondage. Human will is not at this present time neutral, but it is captivated by sin. Humans by nature “love the darkness” and “hate the light” (John 3: 19:20). The Truth Shall Make You Free Jesus speaks about this freedom in the classic verses in John 8:31-32: Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you abide in my words, then you are truly disciples of mine, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.’ The scribes and Pharisees immediately respond to this statement of Jesus by arguing that they are Abraham’s offspring and have never been slaves, so how can Jesus say that “You shall become free?” Jesus responds that anyone who sins becomes a slave of sin, but “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Jesus’ death and resurrection graciously applied to our lives liberate us from bondage to sin so that we can live a redirected life. Calvin points out that although we have freedom, it may not be perfect: Freedom has its degrees according to the measure of their faith; and therefore Paul, though clearly made free, still groans and longs after perfect freedom (Romans 7:24). It is the truth that will make us free. We are, in our natural sinful state, captive to lies. We don’t see reality as it is. We deny what we know deep down is true, “exchanging the truth of God for a lie” (Romans 1:25). We live in a state of unreality. If truth is that which corresponds to reality, then throwing off lies and deception frees us to see reality for what it is. We see our own slavery to sin and can receive forgiveness and new power to live in accordance with reality. We can be what we were created to be. Truth leads to freedom. We are historical beings that have a past, present, and future. We don’t reinvent ourselves at each moment, but are influenced by past patterns and choices. We are according to the old self (sinful nature) directed away from God, saying, in effect, “My will be done.” In Christ, we are freed from this bondage in order to say “Thy will be done.” We are headed down a road away from God and have been turned around 180 degrees by God’s grace so that we are now pursuing our Lord rather than running away from him. We were serving sin, but now we are serving Christ. Created to Function in a Designated Fashion But how can service or being a servant be freedom? Because we are made in a particular way, for a purpose, and to function in a designated fashion. One analogy sometimes used is a train. If a train stays on the tracks, it can function well transporting people and goods from one place to another. If the train goes off the tracks, it leads to pain (and death) for people and a destruction of its cargo. The train needs the tracks to function well as a train. There are limits to where that train can go and the path it needs to follow. To use another analogy, consider a car. All cars come with manufacturers’ recommendations for maximum efficiency. You need to change the oil or the spark plugs at regular intervals. For most cars, you don’t put diesel fuel in the gas tank because it causes real problems. Similarly, you don’t put water or sugar in the gas tank because it will make the car run poorly or stop it altogether. Just as with the train and the car, there are certain laws, rules, and norms that need to be followed in order to flourish as a human being. We need to follow the Creator’s instructions for recommended use as given in the Bible. God’s laws or Jesus’s commands are not arbitrary but show us the way to joy. This way to joy must involve saying “no” to certain actions or patterns of life that will get us off track. God’s character, his revelation in the Bible, and our own nature correspond to each other. We are to be holy because God is holy (I Peter 1:16). To act in an unholy fashion is to violate God our Creator, his word, and our own being. There are direct consequences to us for violating God’s specifications for how to live. There is a structure to reality rooted in God’s nature, his creation, and our own being. We can choose to live autonomously, attempting to be “free from” any restriction, but we will never experience true freedom by following that path. True freedom is living in the way we were created to live. The Apostle Paul expands the implications of this freedom more fully. See especially Romans 6:18f where we are said to be “freed from sin” so that we can be “slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18). Later, he writes that we are “freed from sin” to be “enslaved to God” (Rom. 6:22). Being “enslaved to God” leads to “eternal life” (vs. 22 and 23) and a fullness of life in the present time. Freed from Sin, Freed from Death We are not only freed from sin but also freed from death. Christ has now freed us from the power of death. Note that, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? …but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 15:54-57). We may fear dying but need not fear death itself. We are also freed from the Law (Romans 7:3-6). It is not that the Law is bad. In fact, it is said to be “holy and righteous and good” (Romans 7:12). The Law is even said to be “spiritual” (Romans 7:14). What are we, then, “freed from”? We are freed from trying to earn our salvation, from duty as a wearisome practice, from the condemnation in our own nature, from having disobeyed the Law. We are not “under the Law but under grace” in that sense (Romans 6:14). But it is not a contradiction of this when Jesus says, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” We are now freed from the condemnation and external adherence to the Law in order to now serve out of hearts full of grace, out of desire (not merely duty) and joyous obedience. We are now called to freedom. Paul writes in Galatians that, “it was for freedom that Christ set us free” (Gal. 5:1) and “you were called to freedom” (Gal. 5:13). We now experience the glorious liberty of being children of God (Romans 8:21). We have the Spirit and “where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty” (II Corinthians 3:17). We are free but nevertheless subject to the “law of liberty” (James 1:25; and again in James 2:12, the “law of liberty”). Peter Davids says of James’s phrase, He feels perfectly comfortable with enjoying grace within the structure of ethical rules.  Similarly, Alec Motyer maintains, When we come into bondage to the Word of God we come into freedom, because the Word liberates us from the lustful pull of our own nature, and brings us on via the pathway of hard obedience, into new realms of living for God. It is the Law of Liberty. Law and liberty are not contradictory. Just as a train needs tracks in order to experience “trainness,” and a car needs manufacturers’ specifications to continue in its “carness,” so humans need to follow the Creator’s manual of guidelines to experience “humanness.” Leave your comments here.      Recent Posts Meet Edith Stein, a Saint with a Lot of Wisdom concerning Women and Work Advancing God’s Kingdom with Surfboards and Wheelchairs Newly Published Essays, Memoirs Give Insight into C.S. Lewis and His Circle Don’t Divide Your Christian Principles from Your Practical Decision Making Freedom in the Old Testament      Copyright © 2015 Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website or at an event. Our mailing address is: Institute for Faith, Work & Economics 8400 Westpark Drive Suite 100 McLean, VA  22102 Add us to your address book change the type of emails you receive or unsubscribe immediately

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Belly fat dissolves away with just one tbsp of this food

I recently discovered a new superfood that can burn up to 11 pounds of fat ...

 ...WITHOUT making any changes to the foods you love or anything else you do!

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And you only need one spoonful of this white food on your breakfast to:

• Conquer mid-day and late-night cravings
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Check out the new video I made about how to use this food here:

Lose fat with this new superfood << Click Here

To your success,

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Improve vertical jump rapidly

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Strength training considerations - Basics & Beyond part one

Strength Training Considerations - Basics & Beyond Part One

What do you hope to achieve with a strength training program? What are your goals? What sport are you preparing for? A tennis player should have a different program than a football player. Conversely within a sport like football a quarterback should have a different program than a lineman. What kind of resistance do you have to overcome? Is added muscle mass needed for armor and protection? Or do you just need to overcome bodyweight and gravity? These are all important considerations. One program is not suitable for all sports and all athletes. A sound strength training program should be based on principles. How the principles are applied gives detail to specific programs. It is important to understand how programs differ based on the objectives. It is possible for the exercises to potentially be the same, but manipulation of sets/reps and rest and load can significantly change the training effect.

As a step toward designing the optimum program ask the following questions:

What are strength requirements of the sport?

What muscle groups are used in the sport?

What are the movement requirements?

What is direction of the application of force?

What is the range of movement?

What are the common injuries in the sport?

Once you have answered those questions then consider the qualities of the individual athlete. Carefully consider growth and development factors. Has the athlete gone through puberty? Biological and chronological age are often quite different. Is the athlete an early or a late developer? Cognitive and emotional development should also be considered, as they are quite important in the ability to learn exercises and routines as well as accept coaching. Also consider genetic endowment that does not demand a DNA test, just look at the rest of the family. This will help the athlete be realistic in their goals.

There is no doubt that the pre-pubescent athlete can weight train. Research and practical experience has shown no ill effects from weight training, however my bias is to avoid any heavy loading of the spine until after puberty. To avoid this I limit the amount of overhead work that the young athlete does and put the emphasis on body weight exercises. This will serve as excellent preparation to safely more forward on the strength continuum after puberty. It is important not to lose sight of the big picture. There must be some thought and consideration given to the athletic lifespan progression. As the athlete matures and increases in training age the amount of work done with external load will gradually increase.

Gender is an important consideration in the timing of beginning a strength training program. Despite certain societal myths that still prevail strength training may be more important for the female athlete than the male. The female athlete has a lesser percentage of their total body mass as muscle. The female matures earlier than the male athlete therefore it is important to begin strength training earlier. It is imperative that the female athletes begin strength training earlier and continue strength training throughout the training year and the career. It has been my observation (not supported by research) that the female athlete who begins a sound well rounded strength training program before puberty tends to be leaner after puberty.

From a coaching and teaching perspective it is important to take into consideration the ability to manage the program. Can you teach the exercises and supervise them properly to insure safety as well as proper training. Consider the “weight room without walls” concept where strength training is integrated within the confines of the actual practice session in the same venue as the practice. This is accomplished using the natural environment, bodyweight exercises, dumbbells, medicine balls and stretch cord. This may seem like a compromise, but can very effective in sports that do not require external resistance like soccer, tennis and swimming.

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