A
few weekends ago I had the pleasure of visiting the OLF Training Center
in London for a day suspension training on the AST Course (Advanced
Strap Training.)
First
thing I should say is that if you haven’t made it down to the OLF
Training Center, do it soon. The OLF team have transformed an old
warehouse into an incredible arena for physical development with just
about every toy you can imagine including:
Kettlebells
Olympic Lifting Platforms
Bars and Plates
Free-weights – Dumbbells, barbells etc
Indian Clubs
Club Bells
Power Rack, Bench Press, Benches and Cables
Bulgarian Bags
Gladiator Walls
High Intensity Speed Training Equipment
Power Bags
Battling ropes
Boxing Bags, Heavy, Thai, Combination bags
Suspension Training
Gymnastic Rings
Ropes
MMA Cage
By a country mile the most impressive training centre/gym I have been to. Nice work guys!
The
course itself lived up to the impressive surroundings, excellently
delivered by instructor Tommy Matthews. We spent the first part of the
day discussing the history of suspension training (it is not a new
phenomenon like many would believe) and its applications. Which amongst
others included:
Assessing posture whist moving
Fundamental movement patterns
Joint balance and range of motion
Strength and conditioning
Movement through myofascial lines
This
latter point was something that I found particularly interesting. I
have long been a fan of Thomas W. Myers excellent book Anatomy Trains which
talks about the distinct interconnected lines of fascia, connective
tissue and muscle which run the length and breadth of your body but I
had never thought of using the suspension trainer to so effectively
mobilise them. Really useful stuff, particularly for those of you who
suffer from tightness and restricted movement.
Before
long we headed out onto the gym floor and began the practical element
of the day. We kicked things off with the aforementioned myofascial line
mobilisation including moves to get the superficial front line, back
line, lateral line, front arm line and spiral line fired up and moving effectively.
After some more movement prep work we moved into the strength exercises
split into the fundamental movement categories (lower body, push, pull
and trunk.)
I
have been training with suspension trainers for quite some time but
this was still a really good refresher on how great a training tool they
are. One of the reasons I rate them so highly is their versatility. A
suspension trainer allows you to regress exercises to a level whereby a
complete novice can train safely and effectively, then at the other end
of the spectrum you can manipulate the leverage and balance points of
certain movements to challenge even the most hardened of athletes.
Think you can’t do a pull up? You can with a suspension trainer.
Think you can’t do a full motion squat? You can with a suspension trainer.
Think push ups are too easy? Try suspension push ups or dips.
You get the idea. They are also lightweight and portable meaning you can train wherever you can find a good place to attach your straps to. Perfect fit for gymless training!
As
the afternoon progressed there was no let up in the training, we
covered all sorts of progressions for each movement category before
finishing with the AST challenge and sample workout routines. My muscles
were certainly thankful when the last rep was finally completed.
Overall,
this was another excellent course by the OLF Team and one that I would
have no problem recommending to any trainer out there looking to
diversify their skill set. The stuff you learn on the course has
applications that reach much further than suspension training alone.
Thanks again to Tommy Matthews and all the other course attendees for providing a great days training!
To
learn more about the Optimal Life Fitness team and the courses they
offer or to find about how you can train at the OLF Training Center
click on the image below.
PS
- If you are new to suspension training and want to check out some
sample exercises check out the exercise library on this website which
includes a section of suspension training exercises.
Just a quick heads up to let you know about a new suspension trainer that I am sure you will hear more and more about over the coming months........the war machine!! Described by some as "suspension training on steroids" the War Machine promises to take suspension/bodyweight training to a whole new level.
The following paragraph is pulled from the Crosscore-USA website (the War Machine creators)
"Eight years of development in the pursuit of a higher level of training
for the military, elite athletes and trainers, the War Machine is now
available to the public. The discovery and implementation of rotational
movement that the War Machine creates is a true breakthrough in
bodyweight training and provides the user with versatility never seen
before in the fitness industry"
I am off to check it out for myself this weekend at a workshop hosted by Jonathan Lewis at Balance Physio. Will be sure to get back to you with my thoughts on the new bit of kit. For now you can check out this video I dug up on youtube. Enjoy.
Here is a quick Metabolic Workout for you to try which targets the whole body and
requires nothing more than a TRX Suspension Training System and your own
bodyweight.
Metabolic Circuits are a fantastic way to boost your metabolism, burn fat
and enhance your strength endurance, a vital attribute for many athletic
endeavours and general well being. Despite its benefits, strength endurance is
a much-neglected factor in many training programs (this might have something to
do with the fact that it requires strong mental determination to complete
strength endurance workouts, as you must fight against growing levels of lactic
acid and fatigue in the muscles!!)
Don’t be put off by the demanding nature of Metabolic Circuits, train hard
and reap the rewards;
10 x Suspension Lunges (each leg)
10 x Suspension Press Ups
10 x Squats
10 x Bodyweight Rows
Perform each exercise back to back with no rest until
you have completed 1 circuit (50 repetitions). Take a short rest (30-60secs)
then repeat a further 5 x for a total of 300 repetitions.
Enjoy
If you have any question/comments regarding this post it would be great to hear from you. Please get in touch using the "comments" link below and I shall aim to get back to you ASAP Alistair Ramsay
BSc Applied Sports Science Personal Trainer London
Whilst many people are able to perform
numerous bodyweight push ups, far fewer are able to perform a single
pull up or chin up let alone multiple repetitions. The purpose of this
article is to outline some strategies that you can use to improve your
strength in this fundamental movement pattern.
Bodyweight Rows
This should be your first port of call if you can’t perform a single
regular pull up. Using a smith machine (about the only time I recommend
using these death traps!!), or squat rack adjust the bar till it is
around stomach level. Alternatively if you own a Jungle Gym (or alternative) you can use these as well by adjusting
the length of the straps till the cradles are stomach level. Now with
your feet on the floor out in front of you hang below the bar (bar
should be vertically over your chest). Pull your chest up to the bar
keeping your feet on the floor. This regression of the regular pull up
allows your feet to support some of your bodyweight making the pulling
movement easier. To make the movement easier adjust the bar so it is
slightly higher and your body is slightly more vertical in the starting
position (this transfers more of your bodies weight to your feet). To
make it harder, just do the opposite. Lower the bar so that your body
is in a more horizontal position when you start the movement. This
transfers less weight to your feet so your upper body pulling muscles
must work harder to perform the movement. Bodyweight Rows are a great
starting point to your road to performing multiple pull ups but once
proficient you will need to move onto the following variations.
Assisted Pull Ups
Most gyms have an assisted pull up machine which you can use to perform
regular pull ups with the assistance of a weight stack which you can
adjust depending on how much assistance you require. If you train at
home however the likelihood is you don’t have access to such a machine.
Not a problem. To help my clients perform pull ups I use a TRX Suspension Training System and high tension resistance bands from Iron
Woody. I loop a resistance band through the TRX cradles and have my
clients place their feet into the resistance bands. The bands provide
assistance as they then perform the pull ups. This method is easily
adjustable as the client gets stronger, you simply switch bands to one
with less tension.
Negatives
Still can’t perform an unassisted pull ups? Using this method you won’t
need to perform the upwards phase of the movement which most people
struggle on. Instead you will ‘cheat’ and jump up till your chin is
slightly above the bar or other kit you are using for your pull ups.
Now your aim is to lower yourself as slowly as possible back to the
bottom of the movement. From there jump back up to the top of the
movement and repeat. This type of training uses an ‘eccentric’ muscle
contraction (muscle lengthening under tension). Eccentric Training
allows you to produce maximal force and is a fantastic way to develop
strength. Perform negatives for a couple of weeks and soon you will be
able to perform the upward (concentric/muscle shortening) of the pull
up movement as well.
Ladders
Ok, so now you can perform a pull up. This is a great start. Your next
step is to start performing multiple repetitions. Last summer a good
friend of mine was preparing to join the marines. He was absolutely
smashing the required running times, was comfortable on the press up
tests but simply could not increase his pull up numbers to the required
level he would need during his physical testing. I suggested he adopt a
strength training system, which I first read about in ‘Enter the
Kettlebell’ by Pavel Tsatsouline. The concept is called ‘Ladders’ and
it allows you to perform many reps of a heavy weight (in this case your
body) thus meeting the two requirements of effective strength training;
High volume (many reps)
High intensity (heavy weight)
So how does it work?
You begin by performing a single pull up, take a short rest (5-10secs)
then perform two pull ups, again take a short rest, perform three pull
ups. Continue in this fashion until you hit five reps. That is one
ladder completed, in a short space of time you have done 15
repetitions!! Take a longer rest and then start a new ladder. You can
repeat the number of ladders you perform anywhere from 1-5 times
depending on how intense a session you are going for. After a several
weeks of using this training system my friend was able to comfortably
hit the required number of reps required for his Marine Physical
Tests.
For the stronger people out there who can already comfortably perform
multiple pull ups its time to crank up the intensity. Here are some
ideas of how to take your pulling power to the next level it a step further. Check out all
the following progressions and try incorporating some into your
training to make sure that your pulling strength does not ever plateau off.
Alter your hand position
The first thing you can do is change the position of your hands on the bar and perform narrow and wide grip pull ups.
By moving your hands really close together or really wide apart you
create a less efficient angle for your muscles to work from. As such
the difficulty of the movement increases. It’s a similar to concept to
doing a close grip push up, it’s a lot harder than a regular push up.
Training your muscles from different angles is also good as you cannot
predict what challenges the ‘real world’ will throw at you, being able
to perform pull ups from multiple hand positions covers you against all
eventualities.
Change the movement
Ok so now you can perform pull ups from a whole host of different hand
positions, its time to change the actual movement pattern itself. You
can begin by performing Side to Side Pull Ups.
In this version you start with a slightly wider than normal grip and
pull yourself up towards one of your hands. You should focus on using
the arm of the hand you are pulling towards to do the bulk of the work.
Lower yourself down and then pull yourself up towards the other hand.
The Circle Pull Up is a further variation of the Side to
Side Pull Up. Here you will again pull yourself up towards either your
left or right hand. Then keeping your chin above the bar/rings you will
transfer your body/weight over to the other hand before lowering
yourself down again to complete the circle. Either continue in the same
direction or you can reverse the direction and perform the next Circle
Pull Up going in the opposite direction. Circle Pull Ups keep your
muscles under tension for a longer period of time then a regular Side
to Side Pull Up thus increasing the intensity.
L-Pull Ups are another challenging variation which work your
core muscles to the max. Perform a regular pull up with your legs held
straight out in front of you. You will have to be very strong in your
core section to perform these correctly. Also be aware that your hip
flexors are not pulling excessively on your lower back when you perform
this exercise!! Create a grip challenge
You can increase the intensity of your pull ups by creating a more
challenging grip. Again this transfers brilliantly to the ‘real world’
where you could be presented with any number of gripping problems. The
best and easiest way I have found to add a grip challenge is by using a
rolled up towel wrapped over your pull up bar
or through the cradles in your suspension training system. Now grip
onto the two lengths of rolled up towel and perform your pull ups. Feel
the blast on your forearms and grip!!
Another great way to blast the forearms is to wrap your towel around the bar,
to create a ‘thick’ bar from which to perform pull ups. This is another
great variation for really boosting your grip strength.
Add resistance
Like any resistance exercise, one of the best and most obvious ways to
increase your pull up strength is by increasing the weight you have to
pull. Plenty of options here;
Weighted Vest
Weight Belt
Kettlebell – hook onto it with your feet, or attach to weight belt
Dumbell – hold onto DB with your feet
Personally I have found an adjustable
weighted vest works best. Where a good vest fits seamlessly and
comfortably onto your torso the other methods are either uncomfortable
or awkward. Start with just a few kilo’s of additional resistance. You
will be surprised at what a difference this can make. Keep adding more
kg’s as your strength improves. Soon you will be one strong dude.
The Ultimate Tests
Alright, now we are at the pinnacle of pull up strength. Please don’t
attempt any of these exercises until you are more than competent with
all the above exercises and are able to perform a pull up with
substantially more than just your own bodyweight.
Explosive Pull Ups
In this variation you must pull yourself up with
such force and acceleration that you actually take off and carry on beyond the
bar, let go of the bar after applying the initial explosion of force then catch
the bar on the way back down. This is tough!
One Arm Pull Ups
If you can perform an unassisted one arm pull up
I salute you. You have joined an elite club of very few members. To perform
this variation you will need to work hard for many months. Work on the Side to
Side Pull Ups, work with additional weight, work side to side pull ups with
additional weight. In addition you can throw in negative and static hold one
arm pull ups.
I look forward to hearing from you when you complete your first arm pull up.
If you have any question/comments regarding this post it would be great to hear from you. Please get in touch using the "comments" link below and I shall aim to get back to you ASAP Alistair Ramsay
BSc Applied Sports Science Personal Trainer London
