Category: Bodybuilding

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Deadlift – How To

Okay, I am far from an expert on how to do deadlifts. I started lifting in my mid twenties and continued bodybuilding into my thirties. Strange as it may sound, I never performed a deadlift until about 5 months ago. All the gyms I belonged to over the years(I will do a separate post about them), did not have people doing deadlifts. I had a workout partner for quite a few years and we thought we were doing all the right exercises: bench, squats, lat pull downs, etc. Everything except the deadlift!

The Gold’s Gym I belong to now has two platforms specifically for deadlifting and Olympic exercises. So I watched and learned. Then I scoured Youtube for instruction there. I guess I did not want to hire a personal trainer. I started deadlifting with 95lbs for 10 reps, I felt like a kid in a candy store, it was great trying a totally new exercise. I really felt my hamstrings for a couple of days. Deadlifts will help my squat I am sure. A month later 135 for 10 reps, eventually getting to 215 for two reps. I really wanted to take it slow, no injuries!

Now I want to take this to the next level, adding weight to my lifts, and have finally found a couple of videos that will get me there – without injuries.

The first is by Alan Thrall, one of my favorite guys making training videos, love the humor!:

  1. Line up 1″ away from the barbell
  2. Bend over and place hands on the barbell – do not move the barbell
  3. Bring your shins up to the barbell(this will put your hips in the correct position)
  4. Squeeze your chest out, drive your knees out against your elbows

The second is from another favorite, Joe DeFranco:

  1. Perform a hiphinge
  2. make like you have a double chin
  3. Take the slack out of the bar (use 134lbs of tension with 135, wait until you hear the click
  4. Force knees out into arms
  5. Do not over-arch your back – stay strait at top
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Pumping Iron Better for Heart Health Than Aerobic Activities

I have always suspected that bodybuilding will strengthen one’s heart.  After all the heart is a muscle right?  Why wouldn’t strength training make your heart stronger?  I remember reading that the amount of blood pumped by the heart during a set of heavy squats is equal to the bloodflow of someone running two miles, or something like that.  For quite a few years I was a runner, not lifting and just running.  Not a long distance runner, my long runs were only 6 miles long and most were about 3 miles.  I never thought that was better than lifting, incidentally, I no longer run, having resumed weightlifting consistently now for the last 5 months and loving it!  Anyways, it seems  to make sense according to this really interesting research presented Nov. 16 at the ACC Latin America Conference 2018 in Lima, Peru.
-Ron

 

ACC News Story:

While all physical activity is beneficial, static activities such as strength training may be more strongly associated with reducing cardiovascular disease risks than dynamic activities like walking and biking, according to research presented Nov. 16 at the ACC Latin America Conference 2018 in Lima, Peru.

Researchers analyzed cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, overweight, diabetes and high cholesterol, as a function of self-reported static and/or dynamic activity in 4,086 American adults using data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The researchers adjusted for age, ethnicity, gender and smoking and stratified by age: 21 to 44 years old or over 45 years old.

In total, 36 percent of younger and 25 percent of older adults engaged in static activity, and 28 percent of younger and 21 percent of older adults engaged in dynamic activity. Researchers found engaging in either type of activity was associated with 30 to 70 percent lower rates of cardiovascular disease risk factors, but associations were strongest for static activity and in youth.

“Both strength training and aerobic activity appeared to be heart healthy, even in small amounts, at the population level,” said Maia P. Smith, PhD, MS, statistical epidemiologist and assistant professor in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at St. George’s University in St. George’s, Grenada. “Clinicians should counsel patients to exercise regardless – both activity types were beneficial. However, static activity appeared more beneficial than dynamic, and patients who did both types of physical activity fared better than patients who simply increased the level of one type of activity.”

Results also showed that both static and dynamic activity were almost as popular in older people as younger. “The important thing is to make sure they are engaging in physical activity,” she adds.

Smith said that moving forward, future research and data collection should use definitions of physical activity that separate static from dynamic activity to further investigate independent effects.