Slow-twitch

Weight Lifting Bench

The first kind is Type I fibers, or slow-twitch muscle fibers. These fibers have very strong aerobic ability for oxidation, they contract very slowly, and they are very useful in endurance activities. These muscle fibers are "hit", or engorged with nitrogen-rich blood, during higher rep training, specifically in sets of 12 to 20 reps. This type of training is often neglected by bodybuilders.

Fast-twitch

This group of muscle fibers is called Type II, and is considered to be of the fast-twitch variety. These fibers assist with short, heavy lift requiring short bursts of power. They are not effective in longer-term training, but are very useful in brief, high-intensity training like we see in bodybuilding or powerlifting. This is the training methodology that most trainers use in the gym.

If you currently train your body using only low- or high-rep schemes, it is very possible that you are neglecting a large number of muscle fibers in each muscle group. Powerlifters who always use rep schemes of 2 to 5 reps are completely ignoring slow-twitch fibers. Likewise, trainers who favor machines and higher rep schemes are neglecting their fast-twitch fibers, which are significantly more important in bodybuilding than slow-twitch fibers.

The lesson here is simple. You must vary your rep ranges in order to recruit the largest possible number of muscle fibers of both types when training. Any bodybuilder or powerlifter who doesn't vary rep ranges is significantly limiting his or her bodybuilding success by leaving millions of muscle fibers untrained during each workout. As stated, bodybuilding training typically involved more fast-twitch fibers. However, as you move closer and closer to your finite potential for muscle building, it suddenly becomes clear that training a large group of untrained fibers might just be a great idea!

Bench Press - This is a popular exercise chosen to build the chest, along with the anterior deltoid and triceps. Most teach taking the bar down until it lightly touches the chest. However, I believe this is unsafe because it exposes the anterior shoulder capsule to excessive load, in addition to compressing the soft tissue of the rotator cuff between the humerus and the acromion. Over time, with repeated bouts and heavy loads, the rotator cuff becomes inflamed.

Weight Lifting Bench

Individuals with any anterior shoulder laxity (loose joints) or history of subluxation/dislocation are also at increase risk for rotator cuff injury or labral (shoulder cartilage) damage. Furthermore, you also have the potential to rupture the pectoralis tendon with full range pressing during heavy loads. The safe answer is to lower the bar until the upper arm is parallel to the floor (elbow bent to 90 degrees). This prevents the shoulder joint from moving into the unsafe range. The same advice applies to push-ups.

Lat Pull Downs - This is a good exercise to strengthen the back, but when done behind the head it can cause problems. Like the bench press, pulling the bar down behind the head positions the humerus in such a way that the rotator cuff can be pinched. This may depend on other factors, including the shape of a person's acromion and degree of any present arthritis, but I still believe the risk outweighs any benefit. Not to mention that keeping the bar in front of the head still accomplishes the same movement for the target muscle, while eliminating the risk of shoulder injury. Remember not to sway during the movement, and position the body in a slightly reclined position, pulling the bar toward the sternum. Another unrelated reason not to do behind the neck pull downs is that it places undue stress on the cervical spine.

Military Press - This exercise when performed behind the neck with a bar, positions the shoulder in the aforementioned unfavorable position. Done repeatedly, the rotator cuff can become inflamed. Similar to behind the neck pull downs, you also expose your neck to unnecessary stress. It is safer to perform the exercise in front of the head or utilize dumbbells and work in the scapular plane. You must watch to avoid arching the low back and it is best to use a bench with back support to prevent this.

Dips/Upright Row - As before, the key mistake made with these exercises is allowing the shoulder to move beyond 90 degrees relative to a position parallel to the floor or perpendicular to the body. I always recommend stopping at 90 degrees to protect the shoulder capsule and the rotator cuff.

Dumbbell Lateral Raise - In my opinion, this exercise is often done incorrectly. The mistakes include lifting too much weight, keeping the arms straight, and raising the arms out away from the body in the plane of the body. The force on the rotator cuff reaches 90% of your body weight when the arms are raised to 90 degrees with the arms straight and in the plane of the body. That is a lot of force on four relatively small rotator cuff muscles. The target muscle is the lateral deltoid, but the rotator cuff is extremely active, and it functions to allow you to raise the arm by depressing the humerus so that it passes under the acromion during active elevation. When heavy loads are introduced in the wrong plane of motion, disaster usually occurs. I am fanatical about performing this exercise correctly.

The proper way to execute a lateral raise is to keep the elbows comfortably flexed (20-30 degrees) and raise the arm to no higher than parallel to the floor. The arm should be in the scapular plane of motion (approximately 30-45 degrees from being perpendicular to the body) and the weight should be relatively light. Once you feel you have to shrug or use momentum to raise the weight, you need to rest or lower the weight. In my opinion, this is one of the worst exercises for the shoulder if done incorrectly.

In summary, I want to emphasize that good intentions may spell bad results for the shoulder if proper form is lacking. The rotator cuff and shoulder joint is extremely vulnerable to heavy loads and repetitive bouts of exercise. Gradually, it may become inflamed and hinder or limit your workout altogether. Be sure to master form before increasing weight, and do not attempt to work through pain, as this often perpetuates the problem. Remember to assess risk and reward at all times, and rest assured that these modifications will not hinder your gains. Instead, they will prevent missed time in the gym and produce happier, healthier shoulders!

Raising your testosterone levels can happen if you eat the right kinds of foods. Studies have shown that the proteins in eggs and whey allow the adrenal glands to keep the levels of testosterone in the body steady. Eating fruits and vegetables can also have a positive effect on the levels of testosterone in your body. Because fat contains enzymes that convert testosterone to estrogen, having a lot of fat on your body increases your chances for developing low testosterone levels. Eating fruits and vegetables can help you lose fat and also develop a stronger immune system. Eating meat can also help you to raise your testosterone levels. In a research study, one group of participants ate a vegetarian diet while others ate a diet of meat. Those who ate the meat diet experienced an increase in their testosterone levels. The protein in nuts can also be very beneficial for raising your testosterone levels. Studies have shown that nuts, particularly peanuts, can raise testosterone levels better than other foods.

Weight Lifting Bench

Weight bearing exercises are also an excellent way to help increase the levels of testosterone in your body. Instead of training one or two of your small muscles, you should concentrate on training large muscle groups to get the maximum effect of these exercises on your testosterone levels. When you are doing these exercises, doing a heavy workload can also maximize the benefits of this type of exercise when it comes to increasing your testosterone levels. Instead of doing many repetitions with a low amount of weight, do five repetitions with a weight that is difficult for you to lift. Working large muscles groups by using a heavy workload has been shown to help with your efforts to increase testosterone levels in your body.

Several ways of increasing your testosterone levels are actually very common-sense approaches to health and wellness. One method of increasing your levels is to limit the amount of alcohol you consume. Consuming alcohol makes your body slow down its production of testosterone and other hormones because it is busy processing the alcohol to clear it out of your system. Another method of raising your levels is to get enough sleep at night. Scientific research shows that people who get a good night's sleep are able to maintain higher testosterone levels than those who are sleep-deprived. If your levels are low, try changing your sleeping habits to get a better night's sleep. Following all of these natural methods of increasing your testosterone can raise your levels and make you look and feel better.

The first thing you must know is that muscle building is a continuum and therefore by definition you are never "done". Hence where along the time line continuum are you, because that is the first variable that makes this a complex situation. The second variable is the related mass continuum. Muscle is a very metabolically active tissue. It takes a lot of work for your body to maintain it. Therefore the more muscle you have, the more it needs to be trained. The old "use it or lose it" philosophy. But you aren't trying to simply not LOSE it you are trying to ADD to it, which now becomes the third variable. So as you can see the answer to how often to train can become quite complex very quickly. But there are some general guidelines that can help most people become more efficient at muscle building.

Weight Lifting Bench

The first is, if you are a beginning lifter (depending on age this is someone lifting for less than 6 months, 20 something's and teenagers 3 months), train your whole body in each workout and try and do this every other day for 3 sessions then take two days in a row off.

Secondly, if you have a base of lifting (not a beginner as defined above), stop training your whole body in each workout. Instead divide your sessions into 4 groups, legs, back, chest and shoulders. Train each of these twice a week, doing two groups at a time. Now you are at 4 training sessions every 7 days instead of 3.

Thirdly, after plateauing, break arms out as a fifth group and train each group 3 times a week, doing 3 groups in each workout. This means each of your training sessions will be longer than before and there will be 5 workouts every 7 days. If this starts to sound like a lot of training, you are right. Remember, the more muscle you have the more it has to be trained to grow.

Obviously, regardless of your level never isolate the same body part on consecutive days. Don't work your chest two days in a row, for example. Fit abdominal work in as many days as you would like. For most people this is a body part that can't be over trained. For advanced lifters, abs becomes the sixth group and gets trained 3 times a week like any other muscle group.

Now you can see why professional bodybuilders have split sessions daily and train, basically every day. You can also see why "how often should I workout to build muscle" is a very complex question and really is unique to everyone.

Before you know it, a month has gone by. Two months. Six months. I'll get back to it sometime soon, you keep saying. You're finally ready - a year later.

Weight Lifting Bench

Don't worry. Life can get in the way of even the most dedicated bodybuilder's workouts. Be glad that you're ready to commit to consistent training again. For those of you who haven't attempted a small comeback before, here's good news.

Gaining muscle size seems to be easier the second time around - even if you starting from the same place. That's right. It appears that your muscles can reach their former size (their size when you stopped working out) in a much shorter time than it took to achieve that size that first time you trained.

If you're an experienced bodybuilder who has returned to square one more times than you wish to remember, you probably know exactly what I mean. In fact, even many scientists and coaches are convinced this phenomenon occurs - having witnessed first hand. No one has a clue how this happens. Why should you pack on muscle size quicker when 'retraining?' It just doesn't make sense.

With so many athletes and others observing this mystery of the iron game, some plausible explanation must exist. I'll describe some possible reasons why your muscle may appear to have a memory. While understanding that the following ideas might help you make a comeback, keep in mind that these are just good guesses - not dogma.

Mind Games

Certainly, we can't overlook the possibility that muscle memory doesn't really occur at all. In other words, it's completely possible that these changes have nothing to do with muscular adaptation. Then why do muscles seem to progress faster during a comeback? Well, it could all be in your head. Here's what I mean.

The first time you trained consistently, you were probably a bit hesitant with the weights. You weren't too sure how your muscles would respond and most importantly, you didn't have a good idea how much weight you could lift. So you were cautious when it came to big weight increases - at least until you felt you could handle the heavier weight safely.

When making a comeback, that initial fear is gone. You know you can handle heavier and heavier weights because you've done it before. You probably expect to attain your former strength soon, anyway. For these reasons, you are more likely to add weight to the bar at a faster rate - pushing yourself as never before. Of course, this progressive overload will lead to quicker gains in strength and size.

The Nerve of those Muscle Cells

Perhaps the most likely explanation of muscle memory involves the neurons (nerve cells) that stimulate your muscles. These neurons tell all the muscle fibers (muscle cells) they innervate to contract. But, depending on the amount of weight being lifted, only a small percentage of neurons innervating a particular muscle may be recruited to stimulate their fibers. More weight on the bar - more neurons involved and more fibers stimulated. Simple enough, right?

Here's something really interesting. Even during maximal voluntary contraction (attempting your max on any lift), you're still not recruiting all the muscle fibers in your working muscles. In fact, it is this discrepancy between the percentage of fibers we normally recruit and what we theoretically can recruit (100%) that may account for those rare, but documented feats of superhuman strength.

What has that got to do with muscle memory? Well, one way your muscles may adapt to the stresses of consistent training is to increase over the long run the total percentage of fibers recruited during maximal and near-maximal lifts. Here's the possible scenario:

The first time you trained, you recruited a certain percentage of muscle fibers during maximal lifts. As you trained more and more, this percentage increased. Then you stopped working out. When making a comeback, this ability to recruit a greater percentage of muscle fibers remains intact. Therefore, you're starting with a capacity to develop more force within a muscle (since more fibers can be activated). Compared to the first time you trained, you're one step ahead.

If you can develop more maximal force, then you can lift more weight - you're a bit stronger. Although you may think you're starting from the same place, this greater strength will enable you to progress faster, resulting in an ability to regain muscle size at a quicker pace.

The second way that neurons may be involved in muscle memory deals with skill development. When you start working out, your muscles interpret most of the lifts as new movements. So your neurons must develop the appropriate pattern of stimulation to get the weight up. Remember how shaky the bar was the first time you tried the bench press?

Fibers must be activated in just the right sequence to perform complex movements like the bench or the squat. And learning a new skill (just like trying to swing a golf club, etc.) may take quite a long time. The first time around, it may have taken you weeks to feel steady on the bench. Now those neural patterns have been developed and though they may be rusty, they can return very quickly after a layoff. What may be happening here is that after you stop working out you lose some of those neural patterns. When you work out again the neurological changes come faster. This accelerated restoration of neurological control will enable you to stimulate your muscles more efficiently, eventually causing the leveling off you reach in muscle strength and hypertrophy to be higher. You may be stronger and bigger when the neural patterning is done the second time around.

Muscular Adaptations

Another possible explanation of muscle memory concerns certain changes in your muscles that regular training may produce. Your muscles may adapt in two ways that could translate into faster gains during retraining. First, you may be able to increase the capillary bed surrounding muscle cells, creating a greater blood supply to the working muscle. If this happens, and many scientists believe it does, you would then be able to enhance the nutrient (glucose, branch-chain amino acids, etc.) availability to the muscle cell. Also, you might remove the waste products of repeated muscular work and energy production (lactic acid, heat hydrogen ions, etc.) at a faster rate. Since these waste products can limit performance, with the increased capillary bed, you would be in a position to train harder and longer.

Either or both of these situations would probably enable you to create a more effective muscular stimulus. This is the key in terms of muscle memory. These positive changes from an enhanced blood supply would be restored soon after a comeback since the capillary beds would quickly reopen. Thus you would have the advantage of a greater muscular stimulus from the start of retraining. This would lead to a greater adaptation - stronger and bigger muscles - and give the illusion of muscle memory.

Second, the enzymes that are involved in important bio-chemical reactions may be responsible for muscle memory. For example, we know that enzymes in reactions leading to the storage of glycogen (your energy source during anaerobic work) can be enhanced with training. It is plausible that enzymes involved in protein synthesis may increase in concentration and activity following repeated muscular stimuli and damage. It may actually be those enzymes that have a memory, quickly returning to their former increased concentrations and turning on these processes earlier. If this occurred, you'd be able to work out harder, possibly recover faster, and gained muscle mass more quickly than when you first trained.

Strength and Conditioning for Wrestling Rule 1- Focus on developing large muscle groups (legs, glutes, back, chest, shoulders) with multi-joint exercises.

Weight Lifting Bench

What I mean by this is don't use leg extensions, leg curls, and worse yet, the "butt blaster" machine as part of your strength and conditioning for wrestling program to strengthen your lower body. Instead do squats, front squats, hack or power squats, lunges, good mornings, and various deadlifts to add solid pounds of muscle and brute strength to your legs and back; two important areas to strengthen for wrestling. Not only is this a more efficient way to do things, it's also more functional. When wrestling, the body moves as a coordinated unit, not an isolated one; so doesn't it make sense to train it as one? When do you ever see a leg extension motion on the wrestling mat? You don't; but you do see a lot of squatting, lunging, and lifting similar to a deadlift, so if you aren't, make sure you apply this strength and conditioning for wrestling rule immediately!

Strength and Conditioning for Wrestling Rule 2- Train with reps below 5 for your core lifts (squat, bench, deadlift, chinup) to build unstoppable strength on the mat.

I know what you're thinking, and you're right, low reps are not going to put on a lot of muscle on your body. However, regardless of whether the goal of your strength and conditioning for wrestling plan is to increase strength or increase size, you should always train the core lifts heavy for low reps. There's nothing worse than looking like you're strong but you wrestle like a fish. If you're looking to increase muscle then increase your volume on your accessory lifts. Do 4-5 sets of 10-15 reps of 4-6 exercises to put more of an emphasis on gaining muscle and 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps of 3-4 exercises to put more of an emphasis on increasing strength.

Strength and Conditioning for Wrestling Rule 3- Condition like you compete.

When have you ever been involved in a match against a quality opponent where you've cruised at the same pace much like you would during a 3-5 mile jog? If it was against anyone but a fish, I'm going to guess never. There are parts of a match where you're going as hard as you can (battling for a takedown) and there are parts of a match where you're actively resting (going back to the center after going out of bounds). To condition as functionally as possible for this type of action you want to mimic the time spent going hard and "resting." How do you do this in a strength and conditioning for wrestling plan? Train in intervals. I like the Airdyne bike for conditioning wrestlers as it conditions the whole body. I have my wrestlers sprint for anywhere between 10 and 20 seconds and jog for anywhere between 10 and 40 seconds. Start with a 3:1 rest to work ratio and work down to a 1:1 over the course of a month before a major competition.

Strength and Conditioning for Wrestling Rule 4- Prioritize your training.

Sit down and honestly assess yourself from a physical standpoint before developing a strength and conditioning for wrestling program. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 on physical capabilities such as strength, power, conditioning, flexibility, agility, etc. and develop your program around that. What I mean by this is, if 1 is considered the worst on the scale you're using and you rate yourself a 9 for conditioning and a 5 for strength don't spend an hour 4 times a week doing various forms of cardio and only 45 minutes once a week strength training. Make sure to place a majority of your focus on developing one or two qualities during a 2 month period then sit down and re-assess yourself to see how you've increased/decreased in the different areas.

Alright, now that my top 4 strength and conditioning for wrestling rules have been laid out, let's get into a strength training for wrestling plan and then a conditioning for wrestling plan. Both are three day a week plans. The first 3 workouts were ones that I used to prepare a wrestler in-season to win his 2nd NYSPHSAA Championship and shortly thereafter, 3rd NHSCA Championship. This past year he went on to wrestle at the D1 level where he won a National Championship as a True Freshman. The second workout is one that I'm currently using to prepare a junior in high school for the Fila Cadet Freestyle World Championships. HIs main weakness has always been his conditioning and so we're focusing on that while looking to increase his power and maintain his strength.

Strength Training for Wrestling Plan

Day 1

Deadlift + Bands (5x3)

Safety Squat Bar Box Squat (4x3)

Superset- Front Squat (3x6) and Zercher Harness Rack Pulls (3x6)

Superset- Bulgarian Split Squat (3x8) and Glute Ham Raise (3x8)

Superset- Hanging Leg Raise (3x15) and Reverse Hyper (3x10)

Day 2

Incline Bench Press (4x5)

Weighted Chinup (4x5)

Superset- Dumbbell Floor Press (4x8) and Chest Supported Row (4x10)

Superset- Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press (3x10) and Dumbbell Upright Row (3x12)

Day 3

Superset- Zercher Squat (3x8) and Weighted Back Extension (3x8)

Superset- Cable Pulldown Abs (3x10) and Weighted Russian Twist (3x10)

Superset- Dumbbell Curl (3x6) and Cable Pressdown (3x8)

Conditioning for Wrestling Plan

Day 1

Superset- Medicine Ball Toss (6x4) and Band Twist (6x5)

Superset- Safety Squat Bar Box Squat (5x5) and Dumbbell Side Bend (4x10)

Superset- Dumbbell RDL (4x6) and Ab Wheel (4x12)

Superset- Dumbbell Lunge (3x8) and Glute Ham Raise (3x10)

Airdyne Bike- 8 sprints at:15 seconds with:30 seconds rest for the first 4 and:45 seconds rest for the second 4

Day 2

Superset- Plyometric Pushup (5x3) and Plyometric Chinup (5x3)

Superset- Reverse Band Bench Press (5x5) and Weighted Chinup (5x5)

Superset- Dumbbell Floor Press (4x8) and Fat Gripz Dumbbell Row (4x8)

Superset- Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press (3x8) and Hammer Curl (3x8)

Battling Ropes- 10 rounds of:10 seconds hard with:20 seconds rest

Day 3

Superset- Single Leg Horizontal Jump (5x4) and Lateral Bound (5x3)

Superset- Single Arm Dumbbell Snatch (6x3) and Hanging Leg Raise (4x12)

Superset- Log Clean (4x4) and Rope Pulldown (4x8)

Superset- Band Back Extension (3x12) and Weighted Decline SItup (3x12)

Kettlebell Clean- 6 sets of 12-15 each arm

A quick note on the conditioning work at the end of these lifts- I have my wrestler wear a heart rate monitor and we look to peak his heart rate out at about 185 about midway through each exercise and hit it consistently after each subsequent set. As the competition gets closer the strength/power work will decrease and the conditioning will increase based on feedback he gives me on how he's performing on the mat and how his weight is.

For more programs, wrestler-specific exercises, and top strength training mistakes made by wrestlers visit my blog below and sign up for the newsletter.

Exercise for Wrestling 1- Box Squat

Weight Lifting Bench

The squat is by far the mother of all exercises. Although it sometimes gets negative publicity, but when this exercise is performed correctly you are able to use about 70% of the total muscle in your body. The squat will build legs stronger than you could ever imagine and help you battle successfully through almost every wrestling situation known to man. I have all of my wrestlers squat and the majority of their squats are done on a box. It's a fantastic exercise for wrestling so if you aren't doing them, start now!

Exercise for Wrestling 2- Deadlift

The deadlift is arguably the best exercise to increase your hip and low back strength; muscles that will help in nearly every position in wrestling. There are two variations that I have my wrestlers perform: conventional and sumo. The conventional deadlift will build an iron back while the sumo is used more for strengthening a pair of championship winning hips.

Exercise for Wrestling 3- Weighted Chinup

If the squat is the mother of all lower body exercises, the chinup is definitely its upper body counterpart, especially when it concerns exercises for wrestling. It goes without objection that wrestling is a sport of pulling, yet, the common exercise that measures strength still seems to be the bench press. Tighter clinches, a higher percentage of shots finished, a more dominant hand fight, and unyielding pressure on top are just some of the functions of your pulling strength. Increasing your weighted chinup will undoubtedly increase your chances of dominating on the wrestling mat.

Before he won his D1 National Championship for Harvard, I wrote programs for and worked with J.P. O'Connor during his high school days. He could do three strict chinups with 125 pounds attached to his waist. Now, although there is no denying his abilities as a wrestler; how many people do you think could effectively sprawl against his pulling strength? There may be a few, but combine his pulling strength with his other wrestling skills and takedowns are inevitable.

Exercise for Wrestling 4- Bench Press

The bench press is undoubtedly the most popular of all exercises, be it for wrestling or just general strength training. If somebody finds out you exercise or lift weights their first question is almost always, "How much do you bench?" Bench pressing is a great way to build upper body strength. Although it is not the most functional exercise for wrestling, it is still an important component when looking to increase total body strength for the sport and maintain muscle balance.

Here's a basic 3-day a week program that is focused around increasing the 4 exercises above, which will ultimately improve your wrestling performance.

Day 1

Superset 1- Box Squat (5x3) and Kettlebell Windmill (4x10)

Superset 2- Deadlift (4x5) and Weighted Decline Situp (4x10)

Superset 3- Walking Lunge (4x6) and Glute Ham Raise (4x8)

Day 2

Superset 1- Bench Press (5x5) and Weighted Chinup (5x5)

Superset 2- Dumbbell Floor Press (4x8) and Rope Cable Row (4x8)

Superset 3- Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press (4x8) and Band Face Pull (4x15)

Day 3

Superset 1- Split Squat (4x8) and Weighted Back Extension (4x10)

Superset 2- Dips (4x10) and Bodyweight Rows with hold at top (4x10)

Triset 3- Hammer Curl (3x8) and Lying Dumbbell Extension (3x10) and Ab Wheel (3x12)

All 4 of these exercises are fully detailed with accompanying pictures as part of the Top 10 Exercises for Wrestling E-course which is available at my blog.

Before you learn how to properly perform a bench press, note that normal bodybuilding variant that you may have used is not the correct technique in powerlifting. First of all, powerlifting is a strength sport, it is not a sport where the goal is to isolate or build muscles, as in the case of benching, chest and shoulders. Therefore, a lot of other muscle groups, like back and abdominal, are used to assist the regular groups which perform in the bench press.

Weight Lifting Bench

Start off by lying down on the bench with the back fully arched forming a bridge. The higher this bridge is the better. Squeeze your shoulder blades against each other very tight. What this will do is shorten the path that bar has to travel on its way down during descent and up during ascent. The shorter the path the less strength you will need to use and more weight can you lift. Don't forget that in powerlifting it all revolves around inches, where the more inches you are able to "steal" the easier you will defeat your opponents. Grab the bar as wide as you can. Widest allowed grip is 81cm. Set your feet back behind you as far as you can but still maintaining the entire sole glued to the ground.

After you are settled in your position, the spotter should unrack the bar for you. Once you stabilize the weight start by lowering the barbell down in a very controlled fashion. This is an important part and the difference between bodybuilding and a powerlifting bench. To lower the weight, tuck the elbows in towards the torso. This will recruit the muscles of the back, both middle and upper, to aid you additionally. Notice that forearms are not perpendicular to the floor and do not form the letter T with your body. This tucking of the elbows is a crucial component of a big bench press. The final point where the bar will meet the body should be somewhere between the sternum and the abdomen. This is unusually low and it requires a lot of practice to avoid shoulder injury.

Once the bar settles on your pecs wait a second before you drive it up along the same trajectory you used to lower it down. This is very important because it lessens the path that weight needs to travel. The lift will be over when your elbows achieve position that they were in at the start of the lift. Only after you rack the bar the bench press would be over and your powerlift fully acknowledged.

Technique is of the utmost importance in powerlifting, because this sport is very much susceptible to injuries if you don't know what exactly you are doing. So, as a basic advice, start light, learn proper bench press form and be patient. In a few years you will master this technique fully.

It seems to me that more you educate yourself, the clearer the big picture becomes.  If your goal is simply to stay healthy and to maintain a sense of well being, then doing a little bit everyday can work wonders.  If your goal is to become a top-level athlete, then your needs will require much more work and thought. 

Weight Lifting Bench

To get you started, I'll define a couple terms that are necessary to know should you decide to start any kind of resistance workout.  The term "Reps" is just an abbreviation for the word "Repetitions".  Repetitions refer to each complete movement of the exercise.  For example, if your exercise is the push up, then down and up is equal to one repetition. 

The term "Set" refers to the total number of repetitions performed before exhaustion or completion.  If you can only do 10 push-ups before you become exhausted, then there would be 10 repetitions in that set. 

Note that it is not necessary to perform every exercise to exhaustion to attain results.  The "no pain, no gain" theory can be very misleading.  Your workouts should be somewhat challenging for you, but should not be "painful".  "No Burn, no Gain" would be a more accurate statement but it doesn't have that nice ring to it.

For beginners, the word to remember is "progression".  Muscles and tendons need time to adapt to exercise and weight lifting.  Start with a low number of reps/sets and gradually increase the amount and intensity of your exercises.

A great training approach for beginners is the circuit workout.  A circuit workout refers to performing a group of different exercises in succession with little rest time in between exercises.  Each different "set" should be multi joint exercise targeting a different area of the body to ensure a full body type of workout. 

The weight used in circuit session should be light so you will be able to avoid complete fatigue and complete the workout.  The main idea is to establish your foundation in fitness by targeting as many muscle groups as possible.  When the time comes to increase your training volume (total amount of reps/sets/intensity), your muscles will be better prepared for intensity and more resistant to injury.

Here is a sample workout that would be beneficial and safe for beginners:

Squats-  12-15 reps / 2 sets
Bench press- 12-15 reps/ 2 sets  (this will just be the 45 lb. barbell for some beginners)
Lunges- 12-15 reps (each leg)/ 2 sets
Lat pull downs- 12-15 reps/ 2 sets

**Complete all four exercises in succession two times.  Remember to use light weight!

GYM BAG CHECKLIST

Weight Lifting Bench

If your gym has lockers, bring a lock. It can require a key, be a combination lock, or some other lock. Even if you train at a gym without lockers (like Metroflex), keep one in your bag just in case you have to train somewhere else which does not have a de facto "Code Of Honor" among its members!
If possible, have a gym bag which has a separate compartment for your wallet (money clip), keys, cell phone, etc. It happens all the time, but when a guy is in a hurry after lifting - and his keys fall to the bottom of his gym bag - it seems that all of his dirty clothes get thrown over other people's items in the locker room in his haste. And if you are serious about training, be sure to leave the cell phone in your bag when lifting. Have some courtesy!
A spare towel. If you lift at a gym that offers paper towels to wipe up after you are done on a bench or seat, you can use those; but bring a towel just in case. Even if your gym has paper towels, you can use your towel to dry your hands since most commercial gyms forbid the use of chalk (Metroflex Gym members are laughing already). Just remember to wash the towel every once in a while!
Powerlifting gear (if you use it). This includes:- Chalk in a container with a lid - Knee/wrist wraps - Squat suit and/or squat briefs - Bench shirt

- Baby powder to help get into your suits

§ ** SPECIAL NOTE: Do not use baby powder anywhere near the gym floor, especially a squat/deadlift platform. People can slip and get seriously injured if you are careless & forget to sweep up any powder which fell to the ground. Have your friends help you into your suits in the locker room or anywhere away from the gym floor if possible.

- Other powerlifting accessories

Any special weight training devices you use. These could include:- Lifting straps - Lifting hooks - Barbell attachments such as the "Manta Ray", magnetic plates in "fractional amounts" (e.g. less than 2-1/2 pounds), etc.
Assuming you are following proper nutrition, be sure to bring your post-workout shake/powder in a shaker cup unless you have an alternative you use. Also be sure to have any supplementation (e.g. glutamine or creatine) you may use with you. This is so that you can have your post-workout nutrition available to consume as quickly as you can after you finish lifting
** Of course, the standard medical disclaimers apply here! If your doctor or other qualified professional health provider says that you cannot have a post-workout shake immediately after training then, of course, his/her recommendations take priority.

Log book/Training Journal and a pen. This is self-explanatory, unless you can remember your weights and record them later at home or at the office.
Weight lifting belt. If you use a belt, be sure to include it in your gym bag the night before.
Any other items you use regularly should be in your gym bag before you go to the gym.One final note on basic gym courtesy: if you are training and see that someone obviously left some personal equipment behind by accident (lifting belt, gloves, etc.), have the etiquette to turn them into the front desk before you leave. This little gesture goes a long way, doesn't cost you anything, and raises your value as someone who can be trusted. Besides, if you left behind a lifting belt by accident wouldn't you want someone to give it to the front desk?!? Make someone else's day and do the same! For more information on how to reach all of your weight training-related goals, regardless of your age or previous athletic background, we invite you to visit http://www.MetroflexGymTraining.com. Here you will find the training methods & advice given at Metroflex Gym, home of multiple Mr. Olympia competitors (including multi-time champion Ronnie Coleman) and athletes from all sports. Get the down-to-Earth information which has worked for the last 20 years… and what will still work 20 years from now! Whether you want to drop your body fat percentage, add muscle, improve your skills to get noticed by pro scouts, or simply want more energy to play with your kids (or grandkids!) come visit us today! Copyright 2007 Bullpen Marketing LLC. All rights reserved.