5/7/2017 0 Comments 1 Armed Weight Lifters DietMuscle and Six Months of Rest Between Workouts? Over the decades of doing what I do I’ve come into contact with many thousands of people. Some of them stay in regular contact from year to year and let me know how their training is going. Archives and past articles from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com. For the past several years I have noticed that after eating food (which ranges from just a cup of milk to a full meal) that my heart rate and blood pressure increases. Hi johnny, i totally agree with you i dont believe in weight training for boxing but mike tyson used to do a lot of shoulder shrugs as it supported his neck and also. 1.Don't neglect your legs! Yes they may be covered for the majority of the year, but that doesn't mean that they should be left out of your exercise routine. The Stronglifts 5x5 routine by Mehdi is a simple & effective method to gain strength. Learn more in this Stronglifts 5x5 review. Ive been changing my diet for the last year; raw foods, growing my own, local organic, and its been a challenge with ups and downs. I think we are addicts to a bad. There are so many great stories out there. Mark Winchester is a longtime customer who has been in the weightlifting game a long time and is, among other things, a perceptive observer of the craziness that occurs in the world of pro bodybuilding and in gyms everywhere. There a recovery spectrum of training frequency for every human. It stretches from the first day after a workout that he could return to the gym and be stronger, to the last day he could wait before he would be weaker. Mark pays close attention to how soon he can return to the gym. Over the years, he’s discovered it is months, not days or weeks, before he is fully recovered and can make new gains. Gains like 3. 5 lbs of lean body mass using Power Factor workouts of just two exercises. I asked Mark a few questions about his training and here are his answers. When did you first try a Power Factor workout and what exercises were included in your workout? I had read about PFT as far back as 2. It made no sense to me to limit the movement of the bar a few inches as everything I had read up that point had instructed you must use a full- range of movement. I had reached a point in my training where I was severely overtrained and my knees were sounding like sandpaper. I had eroded the connective tissue so much it was wearing away from my deep butt- to- the- floor squats. The first exercise I tried was at that time my favorite, the squat. Over the years, how have you adapted your Power Factor workouts and why? One of the most important aspects of PFT is the recognition that recovery from intense exercise takes much, much longer than commonly assumed. In the book the microscopic examination of marathon runners quadriceps made a lot of sense to me. The higher the intensity, the longer complete recovery takes, and utilizing training systems such as PFT or the even more intense SCT requires a much longer recovery period than conventional training. Performing front squats with a clean grip is frustratingly painful for many lifters, myself included. It feels like the muscles and connective tissues in the hands. It also is much more productive. I continue to be totally amazed as to just how long complete recovery can take in some individuals with a low tolerance for intense training. The people usually have very sensitive (i. It seems to follow a bell curve system of distribution with people with low tolerance and people with high tolerance on the outer edges of the bell. I’d estimate these people (both groups) account for as much as 2. Can you tell us some of your statistics?: – Age? KERA Radio: Friday, 12-1pm Phone: 1-800-933-5372Fat loss from PF training? After age 4. 0 diet doesn’t seem to play as big a part in fat gain. I suspect it might have more to do with insulin resistance.– Muscle gain from PF training? What does your workout consist of these days and how often do you do it? My workout consists of only two exercises. The Deadlift & the Bench Press. Both done using no more than 2 inches. In my opinion, the Deadlift will provide all the gains anyone needs. This was discovered with the “Healthlift’ over 1. Last workout I used 5. Deadlift and 4. 25lbs in Bench Press. I do both exercises for two sets for less than : 4. My last recovery period was an unbelievable SIX months and I’m seriously questioning if that was enough. I’m going to try seven months this current recovery period. My last workout was Sept, 2 & I won’t lift again until probably next March if not April. As ridiculous as this sounds the dramatic gains I get are worth the rest. For example, last October I was 2. I am now, as I earlier stated, 2. I logged two, yes TWO productive workouts in that time. Have you stopped trying to explain yourself to other people in the gym, or do you still try to educate them? I always try to explain Power Factor training and logical training to people. My own physician thinks I use steroids. After a testosterone lab test she doesn’t think it anymore. My physician honestly questions my sanity when I tell her I exercise for less than two minutes total training time no more than two times per freakin’ year. She says, “I’m a medical professional with seven years of training, and there is no way that can be true“. I know you’re a big fan of Arthur Jones and his work? Do you have a favorite story or quotation from Jones? I have two articles written by Arthur Jones that I live by. Here they are: #1 > “From my study of animals I became aware of the fact that very little in the way of exercise is required for building enormous levels of strength and muscular size. How do you like the muscular size of a gorilla? Yet, both gorillas and lions actually perform almost no exercise or hard physical activity. But, when they do work, they work very hard . If it works for a lion or a gorilla, why shouldn’t it work equally well for a man. Well, in fact, it does work well for a man. An adult male lion can get over a ten- foot- high fence with a 5. At a bodyweight of more than 5. A wrist that measures more than eight inches on a man is huge, and nine inches is unbelievably large, yet my gorilla had wrists that measured more than thirteen inches, larger than most bodybuilders’ forearms at the largest place. His neck was over forty inches in size. I strongly suspect that if you exercise a lion or a gorilla as much as many bodybuilders train that you would probably kill them, and it is certainly obvious that they do not “need” that much exercise. Neither do you; and even if you can “stand” it, it does not follow that you “need” it. Go to the gym, perform your workout properly, then get away from the gym and forget it until time for your next workout; talking about exercise, reading about exercise, literally “living” exercise will do nothing in the way of improving your results. Before you try anything else in the way of attempting to improve your results from exercise, try doing “less” exercise; not more, less. If and when that simple point worms itself into your brain, then I have probably taught you the most important thing that you will ever learn about exercise.”#2 > “Insofar as I can determine, there is no known drug that will improve the performance, or increase the muscular mass, of a healthy individual. Furthermore, I would like to go record at this point by stating. I think that such a result from any chemical is impossible.’I am fully aware that some drugs can improve the condition of a weakened individual, in cases of sickness or accident. If any chemical is added for the purpose of upsetting this balance, the result can only be counterproductive. In effect, there is no such thing as a “super chemical balance”. This has been proven repeatedly in literally thousands of tests conducted with animal subjects, and no slightest evidence exists in support of an opposite result with either animal or human subjects. Certain hormones will help add muscular mass to a steer, or a gelding. When an animal has been castrated, removing the testicles produces an abnormal situation where normal growth is impossible, giving such an animal the hormone drugs merely tends to restore a normal situation, a situation that would have existed naturally if the animal had not been castrated. In such cases you are merely removing something and then trying to replace it in another manner; first creating a subnormal condition and then trying to restore normal health. Yet the widespread bias in favor of such so called “growth drugs” borders on hysteria. Even suggesting that the use of these drugs is anything less than necessary automatically labels you a fool in some circles. And there is certainly no doubt that a lot of people are being fooled on this subject; but you can NOT fool your endocrine system, and when you add an un- required chemical for the purpose of disturbing a normal balance, you are NOT improving the situation. Pointing to recent strength records as proof of the value of such drugs actually proves nothing. The fact remains that the single strongest human recorded in history established his records long before the drugs were ever used. Paul Anderson established records prior to 1. Bob Peoples established a deadlift record thirty years ago, lifting nearly 8. So you can improve a sick individual in some cases, but you can NOT turn a normal individual into a superman by chemical means. Such a result is impossible, and ridiculous on the face of it.”I want to take this time to thank you, Pete Sisco, for developing and selflessly marketing THE most effective training system PFT/SCT in history. Its totally changed my life & what I know about productive bodybuilding. Thanks for the kind words, Mark. And for empirically demonstrating that recovery can sometimes be measured in months, rather than days. These are the things that can be discovered if we simply use arithmetic to measure our workouts instead of using . Every science depends on accurate measurements. You can try our most effective ever Power Factor workout by getting this inexpensive e- booklet. If you want my help analyzing your data and calculating your optimum new goals and personal recovery intervals, become a member of the Engineered Strength Gym. If it’s closed when you read this you can send me an e- mail and get on the list for first notification.) 6. What delivers the highest intensity? Why Lifting Weights Won’t Increase Punching Power. There’s a popular misconception that lifting HEAVY weights guarantees. Every month I see endless emails, forums, and websites full of fighters trying to rationalize the benefits of weights for fighting. Not surprisingly, many are written by guys with limited fighting experience. Weight training CAN build powerful muscles but won’t guarantee you powerful punches. I’ll give you 5 reasons why. In middle school, I lifted weights to impress the girls (it didn’t work, by the way). In high school, I followed an explosive weight training routine in track & field to increase my sprinting power. After track & field, I spent 5 years in powerlifting developing my strength and power through intense weight training. It was during my powerlifting phase that I discovered boxing. I TOO, thought my powerlifting background would give me an advantage in boxing. If lifting weights made me a more powerful lifter, shouldn’t it make me a more powerful puncher as well? I heard about old school boxers staying away from weights but I refused to give up my self- proclaimed “advantage”. When comparing myself to other beginners, I could see that I was stronger than all of them. My boxing trainer and all the pro boxers in the gym told me to stop lifting weights. They all challenged my theories stressing that weights would make me slow and stiff, and get tired faster. They told me the back- in- the- days boxing champions never lifted weights. Yet still, I resisted. I couldn’t understand how a power exercise could ever be dentrimental to a power- sport! The turning point came when I started losing sparring matches against faster, skinnier guys. They carried a slender build but hit so much harder than me! I kept thinking their technique was better or that maybe I hadn’t been boxing long enough. I finally got sick of losing and decided to obey my trainer’s every word. I stopped lifting weights among other things and within weeks, I was punching faster and harder. What shocked me was that I wasn’t only punching harder, my boxing skill had also improved. Looking back, I can see clearly that lifting weights really held me back. It makes a lot of sense when you understand punching technique. Why Lifting Weights Won’t Increase Punching Power. REASON #1 – Punching is a snapping motion, NOT a pushing motion. Lifting weights is a PUSHING MOTION. You exert as much force as possible, as consistently as possible, to lift the heaviest weight you can. During a pushing motion, the object is moved by you first establishing contact and exerting force over a relatively extended period of time. The natural progression of lifting weights is to lift heavier. Of course, everyone tries to lift fast but once they’re able to lift something, the next step is to lift HEAVIER. Speed is not the focus, strength is. Unfortunately many beginner fighters falsely believe punching to be the same pushing motion. These beginners think the goal of punching is to push their fist with as much force as possible to penetrate their opponent as hard as possible. Examples of sports with PUSHING motions (all of these also have snapping motions): sprintinggymnasticsfootballwrestlingweightlifting. Punching is a SNAPPING MOTION. A snapping motion is to exert as much force as possible in the least amount of time. With a snapping motion, you accelerate your hand towards the object and then use the IMPACT of that acceleration to exert force. Suppose you want to punch fast. The goal would be to explode on your opponent with the fastest punch possible and make contact with your opponent with the shortest amount of time. A punch is not a push, it’s a quick explosion, an accelerated force that reaches maximum power upon contact. When lifting weights, you can take a few seconds to exert your strength. When punching an opponent, you don’t have this luxury of time–he has to feel your power right when you touch him. Your fist must SNAP upon impact and return quickly so you can throw other punches or go back on defense. The speed requirement of punching increases the explosive damage your opponent feels. Lifting weights has far less emphasis on speed, which costs you EXPLOSIVE power. Examples of sports with SNAPPING motions: tennisbaseball (hitting, not throwing)golfvolleyball. BOXING! Pushing vs Snapping. The main difference between a pushing motion and a snapping motion is the amount of contact time made and the consistency of energy committed. Compare the bodies of these different types of athletes. If weightlifting improved snapping movements, wouldn’t professional volleyball players be lifting weights so they could spike the ball harder? If weightlifters had punching advantages, they would all be strong punchers, right? Pushing definitely allows you to move heavier objects because you have more time to apply force. Snapping allows you to apply more explosive force (damage) because you have the freedom to accelerate. You could say that pushing is like throwing a baseball, whereas snapping is like spiking a volleyball. Both are powerful movements but punching is definitely more like snapping than pushing. REASON #2 – Powerful Punches Require Relaxation, NOT Strong Muscles. Many fighters don’t know how to punch. Without the proper technique, all you can do is use your strength and power. This is why lifting weights actually helped me punch harder as a beginner. But the difference was only marginal, I was maybe 2. Learning proper technique maybe tripled my power. So how DO you punch? I won’t go into specifics right now but here are some simple concepts: Punching power (damage caused) = acceleration (hand speed) x force (muscle strength & body weight)You punch harder by using committing more speed and more force. How do you increase power WITHOUT using more energy? Now here’s the trick to punching RIDICULOUSLY HARD. There are 2 ways to accelerate more force into your opponent. One common way is to spend more energy. It’s logical, it works, but is it effective? Using more energy increases your punching power but it doesn’t increase the explosion effect. It feels like a harder push and it doesn’t give your punches that *BANG!* effect. The OTHER way (the only way) to generate explosive force, is to DECREASE the “weight” so that your punch travels faster. Then you add the weight at the very end of the punch when it lands! So what is “the weight” and how do you decrease it? The weight in this case is the TENSION in your body! The more tense and the heavier your body is, the heavier your punching weight becomes. You decrease this weight by RELAXING YOUR BODY as you punch, allowing your punching weight to accelerate freely towards your opponent. Right before your punch lands is when your foot finishes the pivot, your hip rotates, and the shoulders turn over to form the punch. In this final moment, you need only a short compact contraction to SNAP your entire body (like a rubberband) into one unified explosive punch. The better you are at relaxing your body, the more powerful you will be! Relax to aid the snap. The relaxing motion is a critical aspect of punching power. Relax the body by letting go of your muscles. This relaxing motion, this “release” of your body allows your punch to accelerate faster creating a far more devastating explosion when you finally add weight. If you think about it: the punching motion is relaxing your fist as much as possible towards your opponent, leaving only the final moment of impact for your muscle contraction. Learn how to exert force through relaxation and you will have mastered 9. Now of course, relaxing your body doesn’t mean letting your body flop all over the place. Use proper punching form to relax your body INTO the motion of the punch. Then contract all your muscles simultaneously at the very end to finally add weight to the punch. Mastering this split- second timing of punching with your entire body all at once, is what makes the punch incredibly powerful. If you’re so use to exerting force over a period of several seconds, how will you be able to exert maximum force in only a split second? The simple answer is that you can’t (or you won’t be as good at it). Proper punching requires snapping movement (exerting maximum force in the shortest time possible). Unfortunately, most fighters are only taught the proper punching form, which is easy to teach because you can see it. Technique on the other hand, has to be felt and has to be taught. It’s a special skill requiring a combination of timing and visualization. Now you understand why an old skillful boxer can still punch harder than a young athletic kid. It’s because he’s mastered the timing of relaxing his body and then contracting his muscles in the right moment to deliver the explosive power. Beginner punchers increase power through effort. Skilled punchers increase power through relaxation. REASON #3 – Lifting Weights Can Decrease Your Muscle Relaxation Capacity. This is where the old school arguments against weights come in. I’m sure you’ve heard them all before. Lifting weights: makes you slowmakes you stiffmakes you tire out faster. Is it true? Well, let’s think about the extremes. Suppose I was to compare two guys– one being a weightlifter and the other being a dancer. How might their bodies look differently? How might their bodies move differently? Which body do you think would better mimic the movements of a boxer? In my case the old school arguments were true. Powerlifting limited my speed and endurance, while making me “stiff”. I didn’t feel disadvantaged against other beginners but against experienced fighters, they were all MUCH faster and punched harder with more endurance. They didn’t use any weights and begged me to do the same. Suppose you don’t care about being slower or having less endurance. You should still consider the chances that lifting weights might HAMPER your relaxation capacity and thus your power punching ability. Even a slight decrease in speed can make the difference between a landed punch and a missed punch. Ask John Brzenk - World Armwrestling Champion. Ask John Brzenk. Page Two. John is considered by many to be the best armwrestler. I wrote recently about the Main Event. Tournament that you attended. In the video I noticed that several competitors used a. It seems to be a hard position to. Dropped. wrist meaning their pulling back with their lat and back using there finger and hand strength to control and rolling sideways with. This is a common and a very effective type of top roll. This requires a lot of biceps strength. This move, with fingers high, give. When people do this to me, I. Dallas from California. JOHN I pulled with you. Petaluma I'm the guy that supposedly jumped at the start ,and we re- started to have you. My question to you is I am extremely strong If I could get a chance to apply it. John I admire your will and heart and I want only one thing in Life and that is to. I never. competed and I managed to place 2nd In the heavy weights.. I now need technique and. Do you now of some help in my area .. Perhaps YOU could personally give some. BODY BUILDING HAD ARNOLD AND ARM WRESTLING HAS JOHN.. I WILL BE A. NAME TO REMEMBER AND I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME Alper from. Turkey(the following answer is without a question as I lost a hard drive. John's competition in the super match the day after he won the Gold Bear. Moscow last April)The tape is as I. Alper. I believe after watching it I did everything I could. Alan and the matches were good considering the pump I had. The frustrating. match and the one I have a hard time watching is my match against Erekle. I failed to move. I care to pull. especially when there is a 3. I hope to. perform a little better the next time we meet. As far as your wrist problem, there are two. First by keeping your knuckles high. This move works great in the strap. This move requires superior hand strength with great side. The first type, the. I. suspect your wrist my not be the problem You maybe trying to pull naturally with your. Try working on. those hammer curls. This move requires different muscles than the ones normally developed. Doug from Idaho. John, first I would like to. It means a lot to have access to someone of. I wanted to clarify the question about wrist position that I. Asked previously. From your response I assume that you interpreted my term of 'Dropped. Wrist' to refer to the topping technique that you covered in an earlier question (Si. Riu. S. from Malta). By 'Dropped Wrist' I meant that the competitors hand is in a position such. In this position the fingers can. One of the competitors that uses this position. Jacob Abbott; another is the winner of your class left handed in the first Main Event. Thank you for your time. You. very welcome Doug. I’m sorry about the misunderstanding. Dropped wrist. or sometimes referred as a flopped wrist is normally a disadvantage. And unless you absolutely have to I would avoid. Although I have been beat in the past with my opponents wrist bent back. The person that has the wrist advantage has the leverage advantage, the key is not. You should be able to accomplish this. I see so many armwrestlers hanging out in a top roll. If you can predict this move off the start by your opponent I. Bow your wrist but do not rotate your hand let his flopped wrist. Question from Russia. Hello, John. You. What can you say about Russian. Alan Karaev? I. participated in the first Gold Bear tournament in 1. Russia has come along way, as I new it would. Armwrestling takes years to develop even. As for your friend Alan Karaev he. I have seen. He is built for. I’m sure if he decides to stay with it people will be hearing his. He is big ,strong, quick ,and young. And as good as he is right now. I know it is hard to be motivated sometimes. How do you keep focused? Armwrestling has been a part of my life. I have been able to build . I’ve reached a point in armwrestling. I’m trying to maintain the strength that I have and to stay healthy. As you now. Aaron because of The incredible stress put on your arm during practice training does not. I will pull once a week and sometimes now once every 2 weeks. I can. stay motivated to pull as hard and work as many styles as I can. Even with nothing big on. I guess its still fun for me, I enjoy getting together with my brother Bill. Utah for our once a week pulling secession. I see you pulling in 1. LB class. do you find you lose much strength or is there much effect at all to do this for you. I feel the difference when I lose weight I feel stronger. I’m not sure I’m in better shape though. I have more energy. No its not hard for me to weight 2. Doug from Alaska. First off I wanted to. Tina and son Ryan berry at Petaluma. Your welcome and thank. As I told you in person in my opinion. USA. guys against each other before the finals. Maybe I will. skip Russia next year? And try and meet up with Alan at my first WAF Worlds in Japan. Or. hopefully maybe even sooner? Dallas from. California. JOHN I pulled with you in Petaluma I'm the. My question. to you is I am extremely strong If I could get a chance to apply it. Should I already. John I admire. your will and heart and I want only one thing in Life and that is to get a chance to pull. I never competed and I managed. In the heavy weights.. I now need technique and training.. Do you now of some. Perhaps YOU could personally give some pulls and techniques? BODY. BUILDING HAD ARNOLD AND ARM WRESTLING HAS JOHN.. I WILL BE A NAME TO REMEMBER AND I. APPRECIATE YOUR TIME . I believe that there are many armwrestlers out there that feel as you. Strength is measured so many different ways and in armwrestling if you can’t. I also believe that with armwrestling. Every thing has to work together. You are. only as good as your weakest link. This, among other things, is what separates us from. Sounds like you have just started armwrestling. There are. lots of people with the potential to be great but have given up, or lost hope because they. Armwrestling is a long and. I’m sure there is a group near by that pulls. If not build a table and start your own group. You don’t need a. Look forward to pulling with you again in the future. Todd from California. John, I am 3. 2 and used to compete in amateur meets until. I had an experience that has negatively affected my motivation to. I had 2 matches in a row in which my competitor's arms' broke at the elbow. None- the- less, I feel bad. I'd like to get back into armwrestling and with minimal risk to my arms. Have. you had any similar experiences and/or can you offer any ideas as to how this might have. I can avoid it happening to myself? Also, would you share the routine you. Olympic sport? I’m sorry Todd I have never. I however have broken my own arm. I would have to. agree with the referee's analysis that it's not your fault. Armwrestlers brake their own. The most dangerous time for an armwrestlers is within the first couple of years. Especially if they are well built and have the strength to overload their. Armwrestling is very unnatural and puts a very unusual torque on the upper arm and. I believe the repeated stress of armwrestling does eventually strengthen the bones. I very seldom if ever hear of. Armwrestling is a. Hand Gripper I have one in my car and once a day normally on my way to work I. I can until I can’t hold the steering wheel. And its one of. the wimpy kind and I normally try to get 2. I can. I have been. Olympic sport for about just as long. I have absolutely no idea. I would love. to see it, as I think any armwrestler would. My involvement with armwrestling has been. Maybe someday this will change. Ross from California. I just wanted to pick your brain a. A couple years ago Virgil Arciero showed me a few exercises that he did with a. Have you ever done any of this type of training? Also, Clay Rosencrans was. What is your opinion on that? Also. you known to have a good set of lats, do you do any pull- ups? Lastly, you mention what you. The other questions, what have you done in the. Although I haven’t done any pulling against these. I realized as I got older it took away from my recuperation time. No, I don’t currently do pull ups, but I do have a couple of. I do for my back and lats. It's a rowing type motion machine. I have no, or. never have had, an unusual exercise that I believed was the key to being a successful. What I do now is what I have done my whole life. Which is very intense armwrestling, with an occasional single set work out in- between. In my opinion there is no better stimulation than full blown, tendon wrenching. Workout hard on the table. Remember to work. I took third that year. Eric W. While pulling with Bill I went inside. I heard everything go and my arm hasn't been the same since heck I. I mean everything I do it. Grinding in the inner part of the elbow? Depending how long its been and much it bothers. I would definitely get a professional opinion. It may be nothing more than. Joe from AOLJohn this is probably a touchy. I will understand If you would rather not answer it. It concerns the AAA and. United States Armsports thing. I have not been in the sport for all that long and have. As far as I have seen every time I have a. I write both organizations and only United States Armsports answers. I have been a member of the AAA for about 3 years and probably will always pay my dues. I personally. know Dave Devoto, and I can understand why your questions would be answered personally by. As far as the AAA I’m not sure who you are writing to when you have a question. I am a competitor and although I have an interest in seeing the sport move. I have not been involved in any talks between any of the representatives from here. I do know the sport hasn’t been moving forward like it should. I wish I understood all that is. I don’t. I do know there are people out there that do, and they should be allowed to. I personally do not. United States are, or the World. As long as they. put the armwrestlers first and do what is best for all that wish to participate. As far as. your AAA dues are concerned if you believe that money is being well spent on improving the.
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