The Curse of Repetition

Today on the blog, the following comment was made-

incorrectmap24 March 2013 00:19

Interesting read even for a woman, however I hate, hate to read in your article that "this chick can chin".

You even had that article about that poor raped woman in India, and you mentioned that there's no respect for women in India, and then you write this.

You could start to show some more respect for women (especially the ones who can chin, they deserve some kind of respect, yes?) by not calling them chicks. Other than that, thanks, I'll oass it on to some friends, and also thank you for the entry on briges.

To which I replied-
I am sorry about the tagline if it offended you. It never really occurred as offensive to me, and believe me I have every respect for a woman who is strong. The intention behind the photo and the tag was to demonstrate that woman are not disadvantaged in upper body strength feats, unlike many people believe. In any case I have removed the caption and I apologize. Before you make judgments about my respect for women though you should realize that you don't really know me to make that call, or at least try to understand why I may have written something before coming to conclusions, or you could simply ask me to explain politely. 
In a separate note, I hope the last two posts have helped you, I have not yet finished editing them and I still need to complete this one. 
Good luck with your training. :-)

And

Also I just realized that your primary objection was the use of the term chic. This is more of a cultural/semiotic issue as in India, the term chick is not considered an objectification, in fact it is considered empowering as is suggests an affinity with western slang, which is considered a symbol of a progressive outlook here. I actually had to read up on the meaning and implication of the term chic before I was able to write out this reply. The term is pretty freely used here in a very positive way. There are some very crude Hindi terms which have the same implications as what you are thinking, and as I read up on, I can understand why you would be offended. 
I am really sorry about it and I hope it won't effect your reading/following of the blog. I hope you will enjoy future posts.

Now after I wrote those replies, I tried to step back and look at it a little objectively.

First of all, she was actually very polite, I was just being rash.

Secondly I tried to defend way too much.

In any case, this little conversation got me thinking about the devaluing power of repetition. I spoke to my girlfriend about this and she pointed out to me that no one even in New Delhi said Chic was not objectification. I, however, spent a lot of my maturing years in a variety of places, among which the place that had the strongest influence on my development as a teenager was the North East of India.

If you have never been there or don't know about it, its an amazing place with amazing subcultures. In less than 250KMs there are over 150 tribal and regional languages and only god knows how many ethnicities. However, it has always been kind of distant from the rest of India. In any case, the North East is one of the few places in the country where I found a lot of egalitarianism as far as gender is concerned. There have been a few unfortunate incidents in the recent past, but atleast when I was there, and in the places I lived in, it was pretty good. 

In any case, I learnt a lot of my "casual" English in the North East, and along with other terms, learnt the term chic, which I have a distinct memory of being a female equivalent of "Dude". I then came to Delhi and the lingo stuck.

I now realize that we were never really told it was NOT an objectification, and if you really look into the term, its objectivity is obvious. What I find real strange is that the word, when used by me or my friends, does not seem to have any weight. In fact, we barely think anything about it. And its not just "Chick", its terms like "Shit", "Fuck" and for some weird reason among Indian basketball players "Mother Fucker". The last one is incredibly offensive to people everywhere and WE KNOW THAT. Yet when they say it, it seems weightless.

If you really think about it, its because of the devaluing effect repetition has. Remember the first time you learnt to swear? It seemed so "expressive", so aggressive. Yet within 2 months you wore the words out and now don't even feel offended when someone says anything to you, or worse don't think anyone else would get offended either.

The point is, the more you use something, anything, the more it loses its value. Cars, money, words- all of them. And at some point, you have just gotten so used to using words like "The Fuck" in sentences that you just don't remember what the big deal was, and when you say it, you don't really realize what it means, even though you do know. Its like how a messed up couple going through an inevitable breakup will repeatedly tell each other they love each other, because the word no longer has any weight. And the more they say it, the less they love each other.

At some point I guess repetition makes us forget what "Chic" means, or what goes into a lot of things.

So what lessons can we, as physical culturists , derive from the above?

Repetition makes us forget the meaning of each movement as well. You do enough chin ups, you will do them without thinking about the movement, or the muscles. That is when gains stop. Remember the first time you did squats and your thighs burnt for days? Remember how you realized that the hamstrings and the glutes are separate muscles, and how you need to clench the glutes to fire the lower back. How you need to feel the movement of the joints and the contraction of the muscles to get it right.

Do you also remember last week? You were squatting while watching milk advertisements on T.V (I don't know what you watch). And you were wondering why your gains stopped. You no longer focus on the movement because its old, you are tired of it. You don't see the weight (Excuse the pun) of the movement. With your lopsided focus and lack of attention, it has lost its value.

Many great coaches say that you must focus as hard as you do for a PR, when you warm up. That is not to say you push yourself to the wall by emotionally charging yourself up, but you must focus on the movement, as if it was heavy and you doing it wrong matters.

Unfortunately for us, the repetition is necessary to gain. But the intensity and the weight are necessary as well. The only way to avoid the bugbear of training, that eventual staleness, is to apply concentration, to give your exercises weight and meaning. And if you just can't do it, drop the exercise for a few weeks. When you come back, it will be like doing it from the start, except you will be a lot stronger, and this time around, you are going to make concentration a Habit.

So I want to thank you  incorrectmap, for teaching me two valuable lessons. Concentrate or layoff and be careful with your words. 

Grip Work!

Like the last post, this is something I have been wanting to write for a long time. Before we get down to details, I would like to first of all, justify my authority to talk about grip strength.

In India, unlike many other countries, sections of society are required to do daily manual tasks by hand. Agricultural workers, and masons work with no equipment other than shovels and sledgehammers. As a result the worker population posses incredible grip and hand strength. And I have held my own against the best of them. Among them, strength is judged by who can lift cement bags (they are of fairly universal weight) with the greatest ease. These bags are lifted to the shoulder and are incredibly awkward to grip, as the slippery surface (and the powdered cement) are very hard to hold onto. If you are a fan of sandbag lifting, you will love cement bags. They are twice as hard to lift, and being hard as rock, if they fall on your foot, you are gonna have to amputate it.

Hardcore Lifting

The normal technique for lifting the bags is what can only be described as a continental clean. The bag (which is as stiff as a rock) is rocked on one end into a standing position. Then the worker squats down next to it and rocks the weight onto his shoulders. He then squats out of the hole and is in the standing position.

The second technique is were two guys place the weight on a third guy, who then carries it all the way.

Lifting the Bag

Placing the Bag

Real men however, lift the shit off the ground like a dead-lift and then carry it in a bear hug or a clench.

Kid is Strong

A real man

The strongest however, simply lift it all the from the ground to the shoulders in one swift power clean. They then place it on their backs to carry.

Observe how just his fingers hold on to  the bag. Wish your fingers were
that tough?

I am proud to say I have cleaned that bag to my shoulder in one swift motion, on 3 separate instances. And I made some good friends each time.

I have also performed a one arm deadlift with double my bodyweight, and can perform 3 underhand chin ups using just my index fingers on each hand.

So why have I told you that elaborate tale? Because the workers are onto something.

Don't get me wrong. Living like a manual laborer will not give you a great physique or great strength. There is simply too much strain and no progressive overload and very little recovery. But as far as grip development is concerned, it is bang on! You ever shook hands with a rural guy and got a funny feeling that he could rip your head off with just his index finger and thumb?

The point is that traditional forearm exercises like wrist curls are totally useless for development of real and raw hand strength. From the story of manual laborers we can deduce the rules of grip development-

1. You have to lift a variety of objects and perform a variety of movements with them that involve the wrist. Think of using a sledge hammer, throwing an object, picking a sandbag etc. . . The primary job of the wrist is to control big movements. 
2. You have to hold on to things that you need to squeeze to prevent them from falling i.e intense isometric contraction of the fingers. This is critical, as it must be understood that the primary job of the fingers is to hold onto stuff. 
3. The forearms need a lot of volume, frequency AND weight to respond. They are a heavy duty muscle group, capable of insane power. Also they don't have a significant endocrinic effect, so they can and should be trained frequently.

From our own training wisdom, we can deduce 2 more principles-
1. Progressive overload.
2. Train the antagonists- the finger extensors in this case.

I am going to write down the basic training program and then explain my reasoning-
1. No more straps or grip supports of any kind in ALL your exercises. You will only use a standard thumbs around grip. No hooking the thumb. If you don't already do this, do this for 3-4 months at least before embarking upon the grip development program.
2. All bars are to be thickened by wrapping a towel around the barbell. You could also get one of those fat bar things, which you can clip on to the bar to increase the thickness. If you have a home gym, you could just buy a 2 inch thick barbell. You will do this for at least 2 months or as long as it takes for you to get back to using your usual weights.

For most guys, just doing the first 2 are enough to get their forearms looking like Popeye's. For the rest of you ambitious terminators-
3. You will progressively train the towel chin up progression. (Appendix A)
4. You will progressively train the fingertip push up progression. (Appendix B)
5. You will work on the close overhand chin up or the false grip chin up, depending on which is more comfortable on your wrists, and which helps you feel your wrist extensors (muscles on the top of the forearm) more. (Appendix C)
6. You will perform the opening hand exercise whenever you can. (Appendix D)

The reasoning behind the first 2 should be obvious to everybody. The simple act of removing grip support forces your fingers to hold on to the weight and your wrists to control it. Provided your routine is balanced and you try to progressively increase weight, you have a great forearm training program already. This accomplishes the same effects as manual labor, without adding any extra exercises. Once your grip has adapted to training this way, you can make it harder for the wrist to stabilize the weights and for the fingers to hold onto them, by making the leverage harder on the wrists and finger joints i.e by thickening the bar, thereby ensuring that the fingers have to be more open and the bar's center of gravity a little higher up the palm. Also the finger and wrist flexors need to contract in a more stretched condition. Also, if your routine is balanced, with things like cleans, snatches, rows, reverse curls etc. . . you will end up working the wrist extensors hard as well.

For most guys, this itself is enough to develop their grip. If this is you, great.

For the others, towel chin ups are the ultimate wrist and finger flexor exercise and they also exercise the thumbs. This exercise is really easy to make progressive as well, and therefore is the best progressive training tool available to us. Why did I chose this and not the deadlift? Adding an entire deadlift program just to strengthen your grip is too much stress and this exercise achieves more- Thumb power, wrist flexon and the strength required to control a weight with changing leverages, which is what happens when you go through the chin up motion. Like the squat, it is the biggest bang for your buck exercise in grip training. It is the bread and butter of your program.

Fingertip push ups work the finger extensors and also the finger flexors in the extended position. They are needed to balance your development, but do not need to be trained hard.

Both close grip overhand chin ups and false grip chin ups work the wrist extensors in the most natural way possible. You must judge which variation is suitable for you, as in my experience, most people can perform only one of these without pain, but everyone can perform at least one. They must be worked hard and for reps, not too progressively, as you are trying to build strength endurance, as this is the factor that prevents injuries and strength inhibition (of the antagonists).

The opening hand exercise works the finger extensors and is a vital exercise overlooked in most training programs. Being an isometric contraction, you must try to extend the length of the contraction over time. Also try to increase the contraction. This exercise prevents strength inhibition due to over worked finger flexors and weak extensors. It is critical for injury prevention and continuous improvement.

Perform all these exercises (other than opening hand- see Appendix D) in one workout 3 times a week, as a part of your regular workouts, or in separate sessions. Perform towel chins and finger tip push ups first. Do 1 set each of an easy variation as warm up. Then do 3 sets of the main (presumably the hardest one you can handle) technique of towel chin ups, then finish off with 2 sets of the main fingertip push up technique you are working on. Then do 2 sets of close or false grip chin ups, in each set trying to reach close to grip failure.

These workouts will not push your grip endurance much or your lactic acid tolerance capacity. Some of you will scoff and say you don't need it. Well, grip endurance is an essential athletic attribute and is an important part of what makes the forearm unique. However, for those of you who scoffed and those of you who did not, this attribute will be well taken care of by your regular workouts, as you are already doing them raw with an extra thick bar. Those workouts will challenge your forearm's endurance and lactic acid tolerance in a variety of movements. The special grip workouts will train the forearm's max strength. Ultimately you will be able to provide all the variety and spectrum of training successful hand strength training demands.

Also, you won't need to cycle your grip training too much as it does not have the same endocrinal demands normal training does. So its hard to burn out. Keep your forearm training fairly linear and just avoid over training and burn outs in everything else. I have already covered this is a lot of detail in many previous posts.

Now go over the Appendixes and understand the exercises. Then come back after a couple of years with the finger strength to rip a phone book in half.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix A
The Towel Chin Progression

Performing Chin ups from a towel has a lot of benefits. The fact that the base is vertical challenges thumb, finger, wrist and palm power. A towel is slick, and needs you to press really hard to maintain your hold. Plus the vertical position makes the leverage harder for the forearm muscles. During the motion of a chin up, your wrists and fingers go through considerable movement and leverages, challenging your grip and wrist strength in ways similar to sandbag and rock lifting. The advantage of doing this is that it requires no additional equipment and does not stress the endocrine system that much, allowing you to train frequently or in separate sessions, as the recovery demands are not much.
Perform each variation in good chin up form (see my post on Pull Ups). Start working on the next technique, once you can get 12 chin ups in the current technique. Start with sets of 4 and work all the way up to 12.
Never work to failure on this movement. It is a strength movement and treat it as such. Keep the reps below 12-13 per set and the intensity high. For most other muscle groups, 1-8 is strength, for the forearms, it from about 4-12.
Movement 1-
Standard Towel Chin Up
Self Explanatory. Use a normal towel, put it over a pull up bar. Grab onto each side and keep your hands even. Start chinning. You will soon realize you can't do these too fast or you will fall. Use good chin up form.

Jim from Beastskills showing us how its done

2. Double Towel Chin-
Again self explanatory, hang two towels and start chinning. The towels are thicker (it was one towel each hand, now its one doubled over towel each hand) and a bit off center, so its a good 30-40% harder.

3. Uneven Double Towel Chin-
Hang one towel on the bar and grab both ends with one hand and then both sides about 2 inches above it with the other. The thickness of the grip is the same as the last technique, but the higher hand has to carry more weight. Make sure you chin until your collar bone touches the higher palm, not the lower one. If your chinning is weak, this will kick it up a notch.
Repeat on both sides.

She is heading for her lower hand. Don't do that. 

4. Ultra Uneven Towel Chin Ups-
You have to be a strong manic to do these. Most of the weight has to go through one arm. This movement is equal to chinning with 60-70% of your bodyweight attached. If your lats can't handle it, place two fingers of the supporting hand on the bar instead. This will allow you to complete the movement, but the working arm will have to do all the gripping. If you do this, ensure that your working hand does most of the work.

5. One arm Towel Chin Up-
If you cant perform one arm chin ups, perform assisted chin ups, but with the assisting hand holding the forearm of the working hand, about 2 inches below the wrist. This is just like uneven chin ups 1.0 described in my one arm chin up article. The grip development benefits of this movement is similar to the one arm towel chin.

The ultimate grip movement

This can be made harder by doubling over the towel. You could also add towels.

By the time you get to this stage, your forearms will be capable of doing just about anything.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Appendix B
Fingertip Push ups

This exercise works your finger extensors in the stretched position. Also, your wrist flexor needs to stabilize the weight. Its a important variation as it trains the hands in the fingers open position.
Couple of pointers on form, the fingers must be spread wide and must be straight. Only the first "knukle" of each finger should be on the ground. Perform all reps slowly.
The progression is simple and identical to the push up progression. Simply work your way up the Push Up progression (See the post on push ups)- on your fingertips. Start with fingertip kneeling push ups, then Full push ups, then uneven, than typewriter, than lever and finally the ordinary one arm fingertip pushup. There is no real point working upto the one arm fingertip regulation push up, as in terms of finger training, the ordinary one arm push up is as productive. Don't reduce fingers, as you need to train all fingers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Appendix C
Close Grip Overhand Chin Up/ False Grip Chin Up

Both these chin up variations work the forearm extensors hard. Use whichever movement feels more comfortable to you. I have attached a picture of the false grip, to show what it means. Basically it is assuming a grip that requires you to keep the palms facing the ground at all times. It is also a good exercise to master for muscle ups. In false grip chin ups, don't go into a deadhang as this will irritate your wrists.  Go as low as you feel comfortable. In the close grip chin up, you will find it uncomfortable to reach the top as it hurts the elbows. Most guys, in order to prevent this kind of lean back like a sternum chin up and the base of the thumbs hits their collar bones. However this movement takes away from the exercise's value as a wrist builder. Instead, as you go up raise your legs in front of you as if performing a hanging leg raise. This will allow you to ascend in a  more or less vertical line.
Both exercises must be worked for repetitions as injuries are prevented by strength endurance of muscles. As the purpose of this exercise is to prevent problems and muscle inhibition, working for reps is a better idea.

He is leaning slightly back to get the base of his
thumbs to hit his collar. Do not do this

Basically what you are looking for. See how vertical his torso is.
You don't need to do this L sit lower-abdomen pull up either,
just raise your legs up a bit and make the back of your
palms touch your collar bones. And that is Hannibal for King.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix D
The Opening Hand Exercise

This exercise is a vital but often overlooked exercise in the realm of grip development. It works the finger extensors in the bent fingers position. Simply make a claw with your right hand. Your Fingers should be bent 90 degrees and the lower part of your fingers should be in line with the hand i.e there should only be a 90 degree bend in the middle of the fingers, no bend at the knuckles. Don't hyperextend the knuckles either, just keep it at a natural angle. The thumb should be in line with the rest of the hand, not splayed out like an ordinary claw. There should also be some bend in the knuckle in the middle of the thumb. Keep your hand relaxed.
Now take your left hand and wrap it around your right hand, without changing the position of the right hand's fingers. It should be such that the base of the left thumb and fingers is touching the back of the tips of the thumb and fingers of the right hand.
Now simply try to open the fingers of the right hand against the resistance of the left hand. You won't be able to, as the left palm can't move away. This will cause an intense isometric contraction in the finger extensors of the right hand. Maintain this contraction for atleast 30 seconds. Repeat on the other hand and do totally 3 sets per hand.
Initially shoot for time, until you reach about a min long contraction. Then try to increase the intensity. This exercise can be performed anywhere and everywhere and should be performed separately so that you can focus. You won't need any warm up more than writing with a pen.
Perform this exercise 3 times a week.

The Ultimate Exercise- The bridge

I know squat fanatics will kill me for saying this, but the ultimate exercise for overall health and fitness is not the barbell back squat. There are way too many issues with it health wise. The ultimate builder of power and fitness in my opinion is the bridge. By the way, I have done a lot of squatting and am pretty good at it, so relax before you think I am just saying it cause my squat sucks.

All right, why do I think the bridge is the ultimate exercise-

1. It strengthens the spine in a manner which no other exercise can. This is because of the range of motion involved. During a traditional back squat or a deadlift, the primary function of the spine is to not collapse and round. Yes, the spine does get stronger, but it never goes through any real range of motion, because of which the transfer of strength built by squatting to sports is limited, because in actual movement,  the spine has to move through a large ROM. Also, the spine is designed to be flexible and needs to be strong in every part of that ROM. That is why a movement which takes the spine from reasonable flexon to full extension is indispensable.

However, round back lifting and other methods of training the spine through a ROM are very dangerous due to the presence of an external weight. Also, they do not have full extension.

The floor bridge done properly, takes the spine through the full ROM, with full contraction of the spinal muscles at the top of the movement. It does so in a safe fashion. Even though the weight is limited, due to the extended range of motion, and the full contraction and the traction of the anterior chain, the strength benefits are enormous. Also the bridge is fairly easy to make harder, but we will get into that later.

The second spinal strength benefit of the bridge is that it strengthens the entire spine, not just the lower back, but the dorsal, lumbar and cervical spine. This is critical, as all other spinal exercises tend to zero in on one area. But in the case of the bridge, once you are over the initial phase, your entire spine is equally exercised.

I am not saying that barbell back squats are bad, or you should stop dead-lifting  What I am saying is, from a spinal standpoint, they are not enough.

The bridge also has both the qualities required to develop tendon and ligament strength- full extension and full contraction. Thus, it strengthens the tendons as well as muscles.

2. It strengthens the hip muscles- the glutes and the hamstrings. It is not the ultimate exercise for the hamstrings, but it does fill the gap that is left by squats- full hamstring contraction. If you are squatting and bridging, your hamstrings are covered. In addition, it is a little known fact that the knee flexion function of the hamstrings is also exercised in the bridge, as in the top position the knee flexors (hamstrings) have to contract to prevent the body from straightening out and the bridge collapsing. This is pretty much the ROM in which the hamstring carry out their day to day knee flexion. Therefore, it is quite functional.

The bridge is a great glute strengthener  as it fills the gap left by squats and trains hip hyper extension, which is one of the main functions of the glutes. This builds your running power, as running requires hip hyper extension.

3. It strengthens the postural muscles of the body. The muscles between the shoulder blades, the external rotators, the glutes, all these need to be strong to prevent conditions like lardosis, kyphosis and the hollowed chest look. The bridge strengthens all those muscles, and stretches out their antagonists- the hip flexors, the pecs, the lats. It is the ultimate postural exercise.

4. It builds great active flexibility. This is self evident, but to elaborate, it is the best active flexibility drill for both the hip flexors, the spine and the pecs and lats. And almost everyone today needs added flexibility in those muscles. It builds shoulder mobility as well.

5. It decompresses and realigns the vertebra. Even if the exercise did just all of the above, it would be great, but it does all of it without any spinal compression- the normal effect of weight training. Infact, due to full spinal extension, it decompresses the spine, allowing sinoval fluid to flow between the vertebra, healing the vertebra and preventing problems like hernias, slipped discs and lumbago. Also, as this decompression happens while the spinal muscles are fully contracted, the vertebra are realigned. In effect, bridging restores the vigor and youth of the spine.

6. It facilitates rib-cage expansion. It increases the flexibility of the rib-cage.

Even if I have not convinced you that the bridge is the ultimate exercise, you will at least agree that it is one hell of an exercise and should definitely be a part of your routine. Between squats and bridges, you have the whole package covered.

Alright, now to the exercise.

Start with the basics and build up to the hardest variation. It should take you not less than 3 years. The ultimate bridging movement is the one legged full bridge off the floor on a slippery surface.

Before we get started, let us understand the factors that make bridging easier or harder.
Factor 1- Degree of Contraction and Degree of Extension. Reduce either one of these, and you can make of movement easier. On the flip side, increase any one of them, and you make it harder.

Factor 2- ROM. Independent of the previous factor, more ROM, the greater the difficulty.

Factor 3- Leverage. The higher your back is than your feet (say you are bridging on a slope), the easier it is.

Factor 4- Friction of the surface. Greater the friction, easier the movement, as you will have to contract your spine less forcefully in order to maintain and get into the position.

Factor 5- The old classic, the number of limbs used. Lesser the limbs, harder the movement.

All right, before you practice full bridging from the floor, practice the following basics first.

1. Hip Thrusts-
Lie supine on the ground. Your knees should be tucked in with your heels flat, with your feet shoulder width, toes pointing outwards. Keep your hands on your stomach were they cant assist you. Clench your glutes to raise your hips until your body forms a straight line. Think of moving your hips not arching your spine. Hold this position for a seconds, before going back to the start position. Repeat as desired.

Master for 3 sets of 50 before you consider yourself done with this movement.









2. Dynamic Reverse Plank.
This will have to be done on a slippery surface. Sit in an L shape on the ground. Your palms should be by your hips on the ground, pointing towards your toes. Your feet should be together. No press your hips off the floor with your arms, but keep your feet on the floor. Press backwards by extending your shoulders. Think of contracting your posterior deltoids. This will teach you to contract your shoulder blades.
By contracting your shoulder blades, your feet will slide forward. Keep your legs straight. As you start moving forward, contract your glutes and move your hips up and forward, until your body is straight. Hold this position for a second, before actively pulling yourself back to the start position.

Initially if you find you are unable to do this movement, learn it off a raised object, like a bench or a bed. Your feet will be on the floor, your hips on the object. Perform the same motion.

Master for 2 sets of 40.

The previous two movements build basic strength in the bridging muscles and will prepare you for the harder steps to come. Also, both these movements leave out the full contraction portion of bridges, focusing on the stretched position instead. This, with the lowered leverage, makes these movements easier.

Now that you have built the basic strength required to bridge, and have ingrained the correct patterns, we can start with our first real bridging variation.

1. Stool Bridges-
When at this level, always finish off your workouts with one set of dynamic reverse planks.
Place your shoulders on a bench a little lower than your knee. Your feet should be n the same position as for hip thrusts. Place your palms in line with your shoulders on the bench with your fingers pointing downwards. Your hips should be only slightly lower than your shoulders. Clench your glutes and move your hips upwards until your body forms a nice tight arch at the top. The ROM is not too high, your head should clear the bench. Hold the top position for a second, fully contracting your bridging muscles and your glutes. Lower yourself back to the start position and repeat.
This step teaches full contraction and builds the basic flexibility required for bridging. It also increases shoulder mobility and decompresses and aligns the spine. It is a very important step and must be thoroughly mastered before moving on to the next step. With time, you will raise your hips much higher, as your spinal muscles strengthen.

Master for 2 sets of 20.











Beyond this point, all bridges will be performed with moderate repetitions (8-15) for 3-5 sets.
You may also opt for a 5x5 or 3x8 system.

2. Head Bridges-
Get into hip thrust position, with your palms by your head as in the previous step. Clench your glutes and raise your hips upwards, until you forma nice tight arch. Your limbs must be fully extended and your hips must be the highest point of your body. Arch your cervical spine as well. Hold the top position for a second, and then lower your shoulder, which maintaining this arch, by bending your arms and shoulders, until the crown on your head touches the ground. Hold this for a second, before pressing back up.
This movement is easier than the full bridge because of the reduced ROM, but it build the shoulder mobility and strength required for full brides. Once again, these must be finished of with Dynamic Reverse planks.

Master for 3 sets of 12










3. Full Bridge-
This is the same as the last technique, except you will lower yourself all the way down to the start position and press back up. Spend a lot of time on this movement, at least 6 months before moving to the next movement. It is essential to ingrain the movement and allow it to take its full effect on your muscles and joints. Also, you can drop dynamic reverse planks now.

Master for 3 sets of 12.









4. Extended Bridge-
This is identical to the last variation, except that you will keep the feet higher than the palms, either by bridging off a slope, or using a box or stool. Your feet should be no more than 5 inches higher.
Master for 3 sets of 12.

5. Slippery Bridge-
This is identical to full bridges, except you will perform them on a reasonably slippy surface, like tiled floor. The contract required to bridge on this surface is very high.
Master for 3 sets of 12.

6. One Legged Hip Thrust-
These must be performed along with slippery bridges as a preparation for the next stage. Same as hip thrusts, except one leg is held straight in line with the body.
Master for 2 sets of 20.

7. One Legged Stool Bridge-
Perform a set of slippery bridges to finish this movement. It is the same as the normal stool bridge, except one leg will be off the ground. This requires a huge contraction of the lumbar muscles and glutes.
Master for 3 sets of 5.

8. One Legged head Bridge-
Perform a set of slippery bridges to finish this movement. It is the same as the normal head bridge, except one leg will be off the ground.
Master for 3 sets of 5.

9. The Half One Legged Bridge-
Same as the full bridge, except you will have only one leg on the ground and you will not go all the way down, just halfway down, which is deeper than head bridges. Ask a partner to tell you when to stop, until you get a feeling of how low you need to go.
Perform a set of slippery bridges to finish this movement.
Master for 3 sets of 5.

10. The One Legged Bridge-
Same as full bridges, except you have one foot off the ground.

There you have it, the bridge progression. Work bridges about twice a week and just stay consistent. Unlike a lot of other movements, bridges don't require a great amount of cycling. And have fun, they look really cool.

The feeling of Power

One of the cornerstones of successful training is confidence and an optimistic attitude. Only the people who have felt that feeling can understand its value. You feel unstoppable and ready to take on the next challenge. You wait eagerly to train, and programs that would not work before will have magical effects.

The thing is, success breeds success. once you taste it, you want more and there is no doubt left in your mind that you will succeed. Therefore, it is important to get the feeling of power. It is the feeling when you feel stronger than everyone else.

For me, this feeling came from the one arm push up. The first time I finally tried it, I managed 5. I felt unstoppable, and whenever I fell my training momentum decrease or my enthusiasm wane, I knock out a set and feel almighty again.

The thing is, everybody needs a safe zone, a feat they can fall back on incase they get beaten down, something that makes you convinced of the inevitability of improvement.

I am the last person to promote an unbalanced routine, but I think it is worth, in the short-run, chasing something that will give you a feeling a power. Once you get it, it will always be there to help you get to your long term goals. For example, my long term objective is to get the one arm chin up for 5-6 reps. Getting the one arm push up has propelled my chin up performance. In my last workout I performed 120 chin ups (medium overhand), in 5 sets. 3 months back I could not imagine doing this. The one arm chin up drove me ahead like a monster.

Pick a strong point, mater it and move on to a more balanced routine. It will be worth it.  

Energy and Vitality

Today I want to write about something which is becoming increasingly important. As the standards of professional sportsmen and athletes are rising, some of the basic qualities of full body power are being ignored.

Today, I was walking up 4 flights of stairs to my office. At the 3rd flight I saw the powerlifter from the floor above, taking a breather. He looked completely exhausted by the effort of climbing stairs. He was breathless and you could see his face flushed. I know the guy can squat 3 times his bodyweight.

I have also seen several basketball players fracture their ankles or blow a tendon, from a lay up. I have seen bodybuilders get pec tears.

The point is that all these guys are missing a crucial factor of strength and fitness that has been almost completely lost today. Its called work capacity- it consists of energy and vitality. You know you have great work capacity when every tendon in your body feels like iron, when you can take a tremendous beating and bounce back in 24 hours smiling, and you make near max efforts without passing out. Its the kind of strength army men and manual laborers have.

The key to muscle and tendon strength and cardiovascular stamina lies in the vitality of your body. It is the energy you muscles can store, how fast your energy can be replenished, how fast your body can heal, how far your body can push itself, how much beating your body can take and how much strength endurance you have.

When you have great vitality, your muscles and tendons heal fast and get really strong. You have perpetual energy and heal like lightning.

So what are the factors that contribute to vitality?
1. Glycogen Reserves
2. Insulin Sensitivity
3. Cardiovascular Strength
4. Stroke Volume
5. (Low) Blood and Body Toxicity
6. Low body fat levels
7. Strong Tendons and Ligaments
8. Powerful Muscles
9. High Lung Capacity
10. Full Relaxation

This can be built by a very simple twofold approach-
1. Hard Strength based FULL Body workouts, done frequently.
2. Periodic fasting

The workouts must be done 2-3 times a week. They must consist of Strength exercises done for low reps and medium sets, done one after the other. For every movement there should be one set of high repetitions done with a full range of motion (with a pause in the stretched position) and a few sets of above 80% weight. Keep the total number of exercise minimum, but keep it BALANCED.

Full Body workouts build a combination of strength, tendon strength and endurance that cannot be built any other way. They push you to the end of your will and stamina, yet do it in such a way that your recovery is not compromised. In fact they build recovery and strength.

Periodic fasting (Once or Twice a week) cleanses your body and develops insulin sensitivity. It also improves protein uptake and allows the digestion to recover. It also builds the healing capacity of the body and restores hormonal balance. Just drink water and eat fresh fruits and vegetables on these days.

This quality of vitality is also assisted by full relaxation of the body. Whenever you can, relax. It builds an awareness of energy with cannot be built by just working out. This is exactly what is called CHI. Relaxation builds an awareness of energy that SHOULD be natural. This awareness helps your training by auto regulating your effort. Your body lies (Soreness etc. . . are bad indicators of how much you are capable of), but your instincts do not. Learn to relax and you will be able to tell how much real vitality you have to put into the workout. This way you will know when to back off and when to push harder.

The Best Home Gym

This is something I am really passionate about. I feel that way too many people spend enormous sums of money to join gyms and then are thoroughly confused due to the excess availability of equipment.

What do you really need that you can get at a gym and can't get home? Training partners. But we all know the average quality of training partners in the modern gym. Honestly, if you can find just one motivated guy to workout with, you have everything you need. And gyms are the worst places to find them. Its not that hard, try to find sportsmen, bodybuilders and power-lifters. These guys are all pretty driven and have a solid work ethic.

So what do you really need other than a good training partner?

I have 3 home gyms listed below. Home gym 1 is the best option. All are cheap, specially when split among 2 or more guys.

Home Gym 1-
This gym assumes you have space- either a basement or a backyard.
1. Pull Up bar with overhead clearance- (If you Build One it should cost you less than 300 Rs)
This is an indispensable piece of equipment. It can be used for pull ups, bodyweight rows, leg raises, muscle ups etc. . . Every exercise you can come up with on the bar is excellent.

2. Gymnastic Rings- (You can make them out of cloth, should not cost you more than 200 Rs.)
These can be suspended from the pull up bar and can give you a range of movements that will build unreal power. Ring pushups, ring flys, bodyweight rows, decline rows, back levers, front levers, iron cross, ring muscle ups the list is endless.

3. Barbell (Olympic) with over 200kg weights- (A decent set bought from a good Indian Manufacturer will cost you about 3000Rs- Do not buy a bar and weights separately, that will cost you up till 10,000Rs)
Olympic barbells are better for home gyms as they are more versatile. They can be used for squats, front squats, overhead presses, clean and jerks, snatches, deadlifts, rows, curls and so much more.

4. Rubber Mat (If You are indoors)-
All Your Lifting Should be performed on this mat as otherwise you might break the floor. If you are building a gym outdoors, this will not be an issue.

5. Squat Rack (BUILD ONE)
Because if you buy a rack, you will use it to set up for presses and deadlifts and later, curls. Its better to have something you can just do squats with. The only other use of a rack are partial deadlifts, which can be achieved by using the mats or by placing the bar on the enormous plates you have. You can also use tires.
If you have great self discipline and cash go ahead and buy one. But it will cost you a lot in India. Its a whole lot cheaper to build a rack.

There is a simple way to build a rack. Purchase 2 steel ladders. If you are doing this outside, simply prop the ladders against your back wall, such that the distance between them is about the same as that which would be between the plates. The angle should not be too steep. About 45 degrees is right. Now hammer two tent pegs at the base of each ladder, so that the ladder cannot slide downwards. Also, the base of the ladders should be hammered into the ground. If you are doing this indoors, use cement.

Then cement the top to the wall. Now at the step of the ladder where you will place the bar, hammer the upper rung of that rung such that it bends upwards. It will create space for the plates to neatly fall in and set them in place. Your home built rack is ready! This whole set up will cost you less than 1000 Rs in India.

Simply place the barbell with one plate there. Then load em' up! You can also use this set up for bench presses. Just bend the rung of a lower step and place the bench between the ladders.

6. Ordinary Bench-
You do not need a proper bench, as you have your rack. You can bench press off this, just pad the surface with a towel. Such a bench will cost you 500 Rs.

7. Skipping Rope

8. P.T Shoes

This entire set up will cost you less than 7000 Rs MAX.

Home Gym 2-
This set up assumes you have cash but no space.

2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, are the same. You will buy a squat rack, and a door way pull up bar. The Squat rack will be one of those economical on space racks, which are just two pillars with pins, with a solid base. It will cost you a bit.

Home Gym 3-
You have neither money nor space.

1. Build a pull up bar using rope and a pipe.
2. A Towel
3. A Basketball
4. Skipping Rope
5. Slippers
6. Cloth rings you made from an old T Shirt.
7. A Ham Glute Raise machine made from a pipe, rope and bubble wrap. Wrap the pipe till its really thick. Tie it to the end of your bed such that there is space just enough for your foot between the padded pipe and the mattress. You should be able to wedge you foot in really well. Before you say its impossible to do this, I use this set up myself. I will take a photo of it and upload it.

You will focus on the basics of calisthenics-
1. Pull Ups
2. Bridges
3. Rows
4. Push Ups
5. Handstand Push Ups
6. Pistol Squats
7. Hanging Leg Raises
8. Ham Glute Raises.

All the items required for this set up can be found in the junkyard.

Now you have no excuses.