Indirect Muscle Training: Biceps

If you read my last post about my current training split, you may have noticed an absence of bicep exercises.  That was done purposefully:  I don't train my biceps...directly.

Bicep History

The bicep, aka the "pretty" muscle.

Those who know me know I've been lifting for many many moons, but I don't think you realize just how many of them moons there are.  I actually started lifting in 6th grade.  I was what, 11?  12?  Something like that.  I'm 25 now, so you do the math.  Unfortunately, not all of those years have consisted of quality training.  Back in the day I did a lot of bicep work and my biceps grew considerably as a result.  I distinctly remember noticing the size of my arms growing exponentially...I remember liking it at first, then hating it later because those other heffas I went to middle school with started making fun of me.  And I remember I stopped lifting for like a year because of it.

As you can see, that break didn't last long.

Fast forward 7 yrs and I'm in college.  This was back during my full body days, so I was basically curling everyday.  Luckily I wasn't lifting heavy, so there was no real threat to tearing anything.  Equally as lucky was the fact that I had learned the value of the triceps, so I was starting to put equal effort into the back of my arms as I was the front.

Then fast forward another 4 yrs and I'm a grad student doing a HIIT program that directly involves copious amounts of curls every 2-3 times a week.  Obvi as a result of all of the stimulation, my biceps grew to their present size.

Present Day

2013 Women's Physique winner Dana Bailey.
She just looks like normal a  gym chick in real life when
she's not shredded for competition.

Here's the issue with being female and lifting weights:  there's a very thin line between being "toned" and being "dude-ish", at least in my opinion.  You can be sculpted without looking like you're working towards a Ms. Olympia competition.  I've mentioned this earlier, but I'm more of a fan of physique and fitness type bodies than the female bodybuilding ones.  I think huge muscles are best left for dudes, since there's a reason God gave them the bio mechanics necessary for massive muscle development in the first place.  Women can and should have good muscle tone, but there's a huge difference between being a gym hottie and being suspected of being hopped up on roids.

With that being said, I started to get a little worried about myself.

I started to feel like my arms were growing faster than other aspects of my body, i.e.) forearms.  I've always been self-conscious of the forearm:upper arm ratio, so when I noticed one was significantly larger than the other, I got nervous.  Forearms are notoriously difficult to grow, especially on women, so I had a lot of ground to cover to get them to the point where I felt balanced.  Since the only way to get rid of the muscle I had amassed in that area would be to lose a dangerous amount of weight, I decided to do some research on what would happen if I stopped directly training them.

The verdict:  nothing.

Indirect Training

Last year I started really focusing on my back, which I felt was noticeably lacking.  Upon further research of back exercises I discovered that bicep stimulation is a by-product of back training, aka pulling exercises.  Have you ever tried to pull something towards you without using your biceps?  Good luck with that.  I found that I was getting a really good pump in my biceps from all the pull-ups I was doing, and I wasn't even doing that many.  I decided this was actually more than enough stimulus for proper training, and there was no need to do direct training of the biceps.  Thus, began my anti-curl life.  I might do a curl every now & then if the weight is in my hand when the Spirit moves me, but curls aren't specifically part of my training.

I'm still training my triceps so they can be more defined, but I'm really not going for size with them.  As a result, I do primarily volume training...4x12 or something in that range.  Every woman wants toned arms; no one wants that upper arm jiggly-ness that tends to happen after oh, say 40? (get outcha feelings).  Tricep work will clear that right up.

When I happened upon this video the other day I was pleasantly surprised to discover that 1)  I wasn't the only one that stopped training their biceps to focus on other areas and  2)  that professional bodybuilders also do it.  For starters, the guy in the video really needed to cut back on his bicep work, in my opinion of course.  If you look at his other videos you can see his biceps are weirdly peaky, which is a combination of them just being weirdly shaped and the rest of his arm being tragically small.  You see he mentions working on his forearms...that's because people kept commenting on them in relation to his biceps.  Apparently he had some wrist issues in the past that prevented him from adequately training his forearms.  I'll buy it.  But aside from that, I surprised to hear about Ronnie Coleman and Phil Heath, both of whom have years of experience in training and sizable arms.  Clearly there's no harm, no foul, and no loss in not training the biceps directly.  I'm sure they change strategies when they start prepping for the Olympia contest, but if they can skimp on the training in the off season and still be OK, I stand by my earlier statements.

Does Indirect Training Work for Other Muscles?

Sure it does.

• Hamstrings in the squat, since it's primarily a glute and quad exercise
• Triceps in the shoulder press and push-ups, which is why I do so many variations.  Narrow grip push-ups work wonders for the triceps
• Biceps in lat pull downs and any type of rowing exercise
• Glutes and lower back in the stiff leg deadlifts

These are just a few examples, but there are lots of others.  I train chest and triceps because you can't do any pushing exercises without using the triceps, so I figured I'd gon' and fully train 'em on that day since they're already in the working mood.  Exercises that work multiple muscles simultaneously such as the ones ones listed above and below are called "compound exercises".

Examples include:

• Cleans (all of the variations)
• Deadlifts
• Squats
• Front squats
• Pull-ups
• Bench press

The deadlift literally works the entire body.

Those are really the best ones to do because it's always better to train the body in the way it functions:  with many muscles working together at the same damn time.  As a result, they also burn the most calories.  I would recommend implementing at least one of these in your training schedule, regardless of how you divvy up everything.  

*SN*  If you're a beginner, I highly recommend getting with a trainer or someone who knows what they're doing to teach you proper technique in these lifts because they're a little complex at first.  With the exception of the pull-ups and bench press, you could injure your back and/or knees if you do any of them incorrectly.  Like I said in my last post, don't let that be you, America.

Conclusion

I haven't been directly training my biceps for like 3-4 months now, but I might reassess my progress in another 4 weeks or so.  If I decide to add curls back into the routine it'll be a few sets...maybe one or two on Chest & Triceps day, and it'll probably be almost exclusively volume training.  But we'll have to see what the Spirit says. 

Why I No Longer Do Full Body Workouts

I happened upon this video while enjoying my post-workout meal, and the first thing I thought of was, "Y U NO post this when I was back in college!?!"  Could have saved me sooo much time, man.  So much time...

Not too long ago in my yester-year I was one of those "intermediate/advanced"(??) people who did full body workouts 5 days a week.  As you can imagine, this was hella time consuming, with most of the workouts lasting in the 2 hr range.  I'd spend about an hour or so doing cardio and the other hour in the weight room.  My friends judged me, and rightfully so.  In retrospect I judge myself, but hindsight is always 20/20, ain't it.  I trained the whole body everyday because I thought if I left a part out I'd be neglecting it and it wouldn't develop  properly...or something like that.  I also just really liked being in the gym, so that whole 2 hr thing didn't really bother me.  The program "worked" in that it kept that college weight off me of (for the most part anyway), but it failed in giving me the physique I wanted.  Personally speaking, I think I look better now than I did back in those days, and heavens knows my cardio game has gone up all the notches.  An hour of stagnant cardio may help burn calories, but it ain't gonna help you run that 1.5 miles in under 15.

The Dangers of Full Body

See all them lines pointing to things?
That's all the stuff that can R.I.P. in the knee joint,
and sometimes multiple things can go at the same damn time....

#1  The biggest reason they're not a good idea is time.  This video is a follow up the guy did that outlines all the exercises you'd need to do to adequately hit the every major muscle group in the body.  Of course you could skip many of the ones he mentioned, but even if you did, you'd still be left with quite a few exercises.  Even if you reduced the number of sets you did to only 2, you'd still be looking at about 2 hrs just to do weights.  Can you really sustain your physical and mental strength for that amount of time?  Prolly not.  Your motivation would start slipping, and you'd start getting sloppy and ineffective.  In essence, the latter half of your workout would be a complete waste of time.

If, by some chance, you have manage to still have adequate energy by the end of your workout, it you weren't working hard enough.  I've read articles and heard people say 40 min for a workout is sufficient.  That's a little low for me even without cardio since I usually aim for around an hour, but it's still very doable if you structure everything properly.  I feel like unless you're a professional bodybuilder, powerlifter, or are potentially doing some rehab work, there's really no reason for you to be pushing the 2 hr mark in a workout.  And this is coming from someone who used to do it.

#2  The next reason full body workouts aren't good for you at that level is if you're doing your workouts correctly, you'll need to give the muscle time to rest and recover.  Unfortunately, I learned this lil' piece of info too late in life, but 'tis much better to be late than never show up for the paaarty.  At one point last year I was squatting heavily several times a week.  I was doing about 85-90% of my one rep max every Monday-Wednesday-Friday, and deadlifting to that same percentage once every 7 days.  I'm not exactly a spring chicken anymore, so you can imagine what essential joint K.O.'ed on me back in November.  Complete devastation.

Anywhos, a quality workout will tear the fibers.  With proper nutrition and rest, these will repair themselves and the muscle will grow.  However, continuously straining joints/muscles in their weakened state will result in overuse injuries that include but are not limited to:

• Swelling of the joints
• Cartilage damage
• Severe muscle tears
• Ligament damage

*SN* Have you seen what a pectoral muscle tear looks like?!?!  Absolutely mortifying.

MORTIFYING.

All of these things can and should be avoided at all costs.  The body part I have specifically in mind:  knees.   Don't let this be you, America.  I've heard fitness people say the heavier the weights, the more rest you need for the muscle.  Judging from what I've personally seen, this is true, for heavy squats + overtraining = patella ligament disaster.

Current Workout Split

I've split my workout several times over the past few years.  At one point it was "upper body" and "lower body".  That wasn't too bad, but I later discovered there are many parts of the "upper body" that needed individual attention that I just didn't have time to devote to all in one day.  Again, the body part I have specifically in mind:  the back.  Admittedly, I neglected it over the years and now I have what appears to be a slight medial rotation of the shoulders.  How do you fix this:  more pulling exercises, less pushing exercises.  Thus, "back day" was born.

I've had this workout split for about 2 months now and I'm seeing pretty good results.  I had an injury that took me out the lower body game for too many moons, so I lost a bit of ground in the gainz department there.  I cleaned up my diet, and by "cleaned up" I mean actively trying to get the recommended amount of protein in per day (grams of protein = lbs of body weight).  I haven't been doing any intermittent fasting because I'm saving that for when I get closer to boot camp.  That'll help me trim the last few pounds.  My muscle definition has increased tremendously.  In fact, my arms have grown an inch over that time period (13").  Might not seem like a lot to you, but that's quite a bit for a 5'0" female.

Monday - Legs

• Stiff leg deadlifts
• Jefferson squats
• Front squats*
• Back squats*
• Calf raises

*One week I do front squats, the next I do back squats.  Keeps things interesting.

Tuesday - Back & Abs

• Dumbbell rows
• Overhand bent over rows*
• Underhand bent over rows*
• Pull-ups**
• T-bar rows
• Ab stuff

*Alternate weeks with these too for the same reason listed above.

**I stopped doing these so frequently do some elbow issues I was having some elbow issues.

Wednesday - Shoulders & Forearms

• Overhead press*
• Shoulder press
• W-Raises
• Lateral raises
• Reverse flyes
• Palms down wrist curls
• Palms up wrist curls

*Overhead press is done with the barbell, so I only do it if I'm not being lazy.  Now I have a dumbbell and do shoulder presses because it's faster (don't have to bust out the rack).

Thursday - Chest & Triceps

• Standard push-ups
• Wide grip push-ups
• Narrow grip push-ups
• Dive bombers
• Butterflies
• One arm tricep extensions
• Tricep pushdowns

Friday - Cardio

Because women usually ride bikes
in dresses and heels.

The cardio I do varies from day-to-day...could be anything from jumping rope for 30 min to running several miles.  Last Friday I went swimming.  When the weather permits, I prefer bike riding.  Mixing up the cardio helps keep things fresh.  Back in my public gym days I used to get bored with the cardio, which effected my intensity.  I've also been experimenting with the placement of the cardio...before or after lifting.  I've read a couple articles that say it's beneficial to do cardio after lifting, so I've been doing that for the past few weeks.  Outcome:  I like post weights cardio better because my body is already nice 'n' warm and I can hop right into it with a good level intensity.  It also allows me to have more energy to devote towards my gainz now that I'm starting fresh.  I like.

Saturday - Rest*

*I deadlift every other Saturday

Sunday - Rest

Conclusions

If you're in a hurry and tryna get quick workout in, I recommend a fully body number.  But if you're a serious lifter going for a standard workout routine, I'd probably stay away from it...unless you have 365 hours to spend in the gym or if you're a some sort of Wolverine-exoskeleton-having mofo who has injury-resistant joints.

Real talk, I wish somebody would have told me about this earlier in life.  I blame you, America - tryna keep a sista out of the fitness loop.  I could have saved so much time and injury energy by spacing everything, and my gainz probably would have been 10x what they are now.   Even though my injury issues set me back quite a bit, and I'm a little behind where I had originally planned to be by this time of year, I still hit that PR on the squat last week and my front squatting has improved exponentially.  In other words, I'm quite pleased with my progress.  The human body is a physiological masterpiece, but like anything, too much of a good thing will still kill that ish.  Keep that in mind, America.

Aesthetics vs. Strength

I happened upon this video earlier today and it got me thinking...

For starters, I totally agree with everything he said. You should care about something because it's important to you, not because someone told you to do it.  In the fitness industry, there's always this "Us vs. Them" foolery:  powerlifting vs. bodybuilding.  Although to the naked eye you wouldn't be able to tell the difference...both spend entirely too much time in the gym to non-gym goers...there are some fundamental differences between the two.

Powerlifting

Team Lilliebridge, aka the first family of powerlifting:
From left to right:  Ernie Jr., Ernie Sr., & Eric

Powerlifters (such as myself) are all about strength, in all it's forms:  neuro-muscular and mental.  The basis of powerlifting is to be the strongest version of yourself.  Our workouts are designed to test, challenge, and strengthen the central nervous system through 3 central lifts:  bench press, squat, and deadlift.  Hence the reason I talk about squatting all the time.  Everything else is essentially classified as "accessory" lifts, designed to build the muscles necessary to complete the aforementioned 3 central lifts.

Physically speaking, a powerlifter won't be as muscularly lumpy as a bodybuilder, but they can probably lift as much weight if not more than them, since strength isn't always determined by lumpiness.  In other words, you don't have to have 22" biceps to be able to bench press 300 lbs.  As you can see, the fella in the video is actually quite small (you can see the rest of his body in his other videos).  He's a small dude...less than 200 lbs (probably 165?), but he squats 500 lbs. And benches almost 300 lbs.

Instead of running around in tiny little speedos, powerlifters where adult onsies.  Frankly, IDK which one is worse; they both show entirely too much man junk for anyone's comfort level.  And instead of having shows they have "meets".  You go in there, you lift heavy ish, then you leave.  And the best part is, you get to be fully dressed.  You ain't oiled and lumpy; you're clothed and chalky.  Because it's not as popular as bodybuilding, there tends to not be as much prize money and notoriety involved.  To become a "pro" you have to get endorsed by someone, which means theoretically you could lift for years and never be considered a "pro".  Becoming elite is a little different in the bodybuilding world.

Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is like the "face of fitness".  All the girlies think if they lift weights they're going to end up looking like a bodybuilder.  Matter of fact, men think that too.  Both are wrong, for the most part.

Bodybuilders are strictly focused on physique; the more muscles the better.  They're typically strong because having large muscles makes you stronger, but strength only becomes a focus in case of muscle development.

Paul Dillet.  How bout these arms are 27"
and this pic is NOT photoshopped...

For a bodybuilder, the body is eeeverything.  You're literally sculpting your body.  Because of this, diet is also eeeverything.  They have seasons:  "in-season" is when they look best because it's when contests take place.  "Off season" is when they bulk, meaning they gain a bunch of weight so they can "cut" later and get shredded.  Essentially bodybuilding is 80% diet 20% workout, which makes sense because you are what you eat.  If you eat crap, you'll look like crap.  If you eat healthy, you'll look good 'n' healthy.

To become a "pro" you have to place either 1st or 2nd in the major contests of the season.  Mr. Olympia is the major event in bodybuilding.  The winner wins $250,000 and all he has to do is oil up, severely dehydrate, diet like crazy, and parade around in front of hundreds of thousands of people while wearing nothing but a speedo and a smile.  Seems legit.

Why I Like Powerlifting

I have A LOT of respect for bodybuilders.  A lot.  That's A LOT of hard work and dedication to sculpt your body into a something that looks like it belongs in an anatomy book.  But it's also craaazy expensive and complicated to do so.

• Coins:  You need $18247675/mo. for supplements and just as much for food because of the quantity and quality you have to eat.  None of that cheap Wal-Mart meat; gotta get that expensive ish.  Good luck having coins for bills and non fitness stuff afterwards.
• Supplements:   Craaazy expensive and dangerous.  On top of that, finding the right concoction of supplements to give you the results you want is HARD and dangerous.  That stuff has a lot of side effects, some of them life threatening.  Some of them you won't even see until years after you've stopped taking them, i.e. steroids.  It's so rare to see a bodybuilder over 60 because they usually game over well before that from heart problems stemming from years of steroid use.  One guy died just before Thanksgiving 2013 from a heart attack.  He was only 44 yrs old.
• Motivation:  I lack the motivation and dedication to restrict my diet to bodybuilding levels.   I likes to EAT.  Granted, I don't eat fast food often, but I will throw down if the occasion calls for it.  I also can't count calories/macro-nutrients.  That's a lot of work to keep track of carbs and proteins and whatnot.  Just keep your calories down, eat balanced meals, and you'll be fine.  On top of that, the way my coins is set up...well, let's just say I wouldn't be able to financially sustain that lifestyle for too long.
• Strength:  I like being a strong mo fo.  It's part of my napoleon complex.  I'm more concerned with being strong than being pretty.  I'd much rather be the strongest girl in the room than being the most aesthetically pleasing.
• Functionality:  300 lbs. is 300 lbs., regardless of whether it's muscle or fat.  In both cases, that's a lot of body to move around.  After a certain point, bodybuilders lose their ability to perform certain movements.  Touching your back becomes impossible after your lats and shoulders get to be a certain size.  The 44 yr old guy I mentioned earlier...he was so big that he couldn't even wipe his own butt.  He had to bring his wife with him everywhere and she had to do it for him.  I ain't going out like that.
• Aesthetics:  I don't find female bodybuilding the least bit attractive.  I don't think women were designed to be big 'n' lumpy like that.  I think the additional/new hormones do a number on our bodies biologically.  Physique models look nice though.  But again, that's too much work to look that way.

Which is Better for You?

That depends who you are and what you want to achieve.  If you're an athlete, powerlifting is probably going to be better for you because overall strength is central to every sport.  But if you're overweight and want to slim down, you might want to take the bodybuilding approach to slimming down.  Of course you don't need to take all of the supplements and whatnot, but when it comes to designing your training, you probably want to go the high volume route.  But all this is just a suggestion.  You should whichever makes you happy.  There really shouldn't be this "us vs. them" mentality, but it is what it is.

Pulling Up in the Marines

...unless it's pull ups.

It was recently brought to my attention that the Marine Corps tried to institute a 3 pull up requirement for women in boot camp...a feat which failed miserably because more than half of the women currently in boot camp failed to meet the requirement.  As a result, they're moving the implementation date back some...I'm not sure what more time will do since the reasons behind women not being able to complete the requirement have nothing to do with the Marine Corps.  In my opinion, they should either scrap it or enforce it; no stalling for time as that will solve nothing.

Unless of course you're trying to figure out to work this PR nightmare.  Somebody phone Olivia Pope...the Marine Corps has a scandal.

My Humblest Opinions

In my humblest opinion as both someone who's yet to attend boot camp and someone who's been training for boot camp since before even talking to a recruiter, you need to come physically prepared for boot camp.  Recruiters tell you all of the requirements for it and even give you a guide on how to properly train.  And heavens knows there are 91246234 YouTube videos on it and equally as many websites for guidelines for training.  The difficulty of boot camp should be one of the factors in decided which branch, if any, you choose to join.  I can't speak for other branches, but the Navy gives you on average 6-9 months between the time you complete MEPS and the time you report to boot camp.  6-9 months to get yourself physically and mentally trained.  That's plenty of time to improve your run, push ups, pull ups, curl ups, and whatever other ups your branch requires of you.  If you can't swim, you got 6-9 months to get lessons.  I learned how to swim in 2, after taking lessons once a week for 8 weeks.  If you take your training seriously and actually put forth some effort to improving, you'll be fine.  You run into issues like the Marines have when you don't properly prepare yourself.

First thing that came to mind:  dirt in my natural hair.  *le sigh*

Everyone knows boot camp is physically demanding for every branch.  You know this before you sign up.  Why would you sign up if you're not in good shape?!  In addition to having to memorize 129461 different things, your body is gonna be R.I.P. after the first PT session if you're out of shape.  In other words you're setting yourself up for failure.  In a time when some branches already have too many people, that's a sure fire way to get yourself kicked out.

*SN*  I once read somewhere, "Soldiers in the Army don't go to 'boot camp' they go to Basic Training.  The Marines and Navy go to boot camp.  Air Force goes to 'day camp'".  I'm TOO weak!

What makes me even more frustrated about this situation with the Marines is that women are given a choice:

a)  minimum of 3 pull ups
b)  dead hang for 70 sec

Trust me when I say I understand if you can't do 3 pull ups, but keep trusting me when I say you need to be able to at least hang for 70 sec. - basically you need to be able to carry your own body weight.  In this instance, you have options.  Train for one of them.  If it were me, I'd opt for option B...it's actually easier in my opinion.

Physical Reasons for Pull-Ups

Dead hangs or almost pull up?

According to the Marines, they instated the pull up requirement because they simulate the muscular strength required to perform common military tasks.  Seems legit.  Upper body strength is essential for climbing and carrying heavy things, so it makes sense that testing that strength in boot camp would be a requirement, especially in the Marine Corps.  Therefore it makes me nervous that nearly half of the new female recruits to the Marines lack this crucial ability.

From a weight lifting standpoint, an inability to do pull ups can be a result of host of different things:

• Muscular imbalances in the shoulders
• Weak lats and/or pecs and/or shoulders
• Lack of flexibility in the shoulder joints/ligaments and other things of that nature
• Body is too heavy*

*That's right.  Sometimes your body is too heavy for your muscles to pull.  While that's not a valid excuse, it can hinder your ability to do them.  I'll get into that later.

Muscular imbalances are things you can fix before reporting to boot camp.  Simple weight training and practice can correct these.  We'll get into that later too.

Sources are saying the requirement was instated to prep women for jobs we were previously not allowed to hold.  How fantastic does that look for us, ladies.  It's not bad enough some men don't think women should be in the military at all, let alone in infantry and combat jobs, but we can't even meet the physical demands for the job we keep claiming we should be given.  Y'all just took us back 50 years *le sigh*  Thanks to y'all it'll be desk jobs and nurses for the next 50.  Apparently there were 2 women a year ago that applied for infantry jobs in the Marines.  They were accepted but failed the training.

In one of the articles I read someone is quoted to have said,

"Awarding gender-normed scores so that women can succeed lowers standards for all. Women will suffer more injuries and resentment they do not deserve, and men will be less prepared for the demands of direct ground combat."

Offensive lies.  And I don't think standards are being lowered anywhere...men have their requirement which as always is harder than that of their female counterparts, that way we won't hurt their little egos by outdoing them.  Fellas, y'all know how y'all get when a lady is better and stronger and smarter and better at life than you...

Socio-Political Reasons

Coinciding with this sudden desire to give women a shot at glory is the belief that the shift is actually a by-product of Uncle Sam's push for universal equality.  I'll buy it.  I'm more inclined to believe the military would rather spend it's coin in places other than updates facilities to house both genders.  But maybe I'm wrong.  Maybe they're as progressive as the White House makes them.

The moderate Republican in me questions whether or not we would be seeing this shift if Mittens / any other rich white man had won.  First the gays, now the girls.  Usually it's the other way around, but since in today's society sneezing in the direction of a gay person without saying "excuse me" could potentially get you labeled as a close-minded homophob, it makes sense we'd be second in line for our 40 acres & a mule.

But all jokes aside, these are good changes Uncle Sam is implementing, which is why it's important ladies get this pull up thing under control.  The gays assimilated into their new roles (of being f'n left alone), but when it's our turn for glory there's all these problems?!  Ladies, getcha life.

Training

I'm gonna be honest with you, pull ups are hard for me.  I'd still the Marine minimum standard, but just barely.  Luckily they allow you to do chin ups (palms facing you) or standard pull ups (palms facing away from you)...I'm much more successful at the first one.  I think one of my issues is my body is simply to heavy.  When I first started getting for reals for reals serious about pull up training, the first thing I did was drop a few lbs.  I'm 100% sure I've made my body much bigger than God intended to it to be (sorry God!), so I was understanding of the fact that my little arms and shoulders weren't equipped to fight gravity with all this weight attached.

While I'm in the honest mood, want to know a secret?

For a time I considered joining the Marines.  This was some time ago, and by sometime I mean my college days.  If you read my earlier post about why I joined the Navy, you'll understand why I opted against that plan.  I started training specifically for the pull ups and the dead hang by...well, dead hanging.  At the time I couldn't even do half a pull up.  Just looking at the bar made my body weak all over.  I started by attempting to hang for 30 sec...but I think I was only able to make it to like 20 sec.  Eventually I made my way up to 30 sec...then 60.  Here's what helped:

• Static holds - started with 80 lbs then eventually worked up to 135 lbs.  I could probably do more, but the idea is to hold it for as long as possible.  So, 135 for 60 sec.  I do these for both thoracic extension (for improved deadlift and posture) and for grip
• Deadlifts - No need to go super heavy on these unless you're a lover of all things heavy like me
• Squeezing dumbbells and barbells very hard
• Flexor and extensor exercises like wrist curls

Fast forward a few years...

I upgraded to actual pull up attempts.  It was 365 degrees beyond pitiful.  I think I got my chin 2/3 of the way to the bar before it was game over.  I decided to do some research on how to make improvements and talked to a real life powerlifter about how to improve.  He suggested, as did the research, static holds in the up position, meaning, pulling up as far as possible and holding it there for (insert your desired amount of time here), usually as long as possible.  Once I was finally able to get up to the bar I did holds for 15 sec...then 30.  Now I do as many pull up / chin ups as possible then static hold on the last one.  I also do slow descents.  That's when you go down as slow as possible.  I do a couple sets of 5-8 of those after the holds.

From a weight lifting standpoint, I realized that I was probably a lacking in the shoulder / lat region so I stepped up my reps and variety in that area.  Back now gets a whole day in an attempt to undo / balance the years unbalanced training with the chest and shoulders.  The three things I started doing more of:

1. Lat pull downs
2. Bent over rows
3. Military press

When lats go terribly wrong...

Back strength is essential for the deadlift, but it also plays a huge role in the pull up.  The lats are the biggest muscle in the back, so they need special TLC.  Bent over rows aid in getting your body used to pulling heavy ish while also working the lats, shoulders, and back in general.  Basically every body builder does some form of these, whether it's overhand or underhand.  I do both.  Military press are great for the shoulders and again, prep the body for pushing and pulling heavy ish.  Also, military press = shoulder press.  IDK why it has two names...maybe because one is done with a barbell (military) and the other with dumbbells?  But it's the same movement.  People are silly, don't let the name fool you; one isn't more military based than the other.

Navy-style curl ups

You're bound to improve if you do all of these exercises, but the best way to improve on something is practice, practice, practice.  If you only need to do 3 to pass, aim for a quality 7.  Trust me, I know the struggles with some of these numbers.  I have 2 min to do at around 50 curl ups.  The issue isn't so much the number as it is the form...they do them cross-arm numbers, and anything that breaks form doesn't count.  Adjusting to the new form is proving to be tricksier than I thought.  And if you think it's easy, try it yourself:  see how many you can do in 2 min while imagining all your hopes & dreams fading away as the clock ticks down and you're nowhere near 50.

Of course all of these exercises are done at Hillary's House of Muscle.  In fact, I did some pull ups, chin ups, and rows the other day.  In light of these recent developments in the Marines I've decided to do pull ups / chin ups in some for 5 days a week.  I'm determined to get to 10 quality ones by my birthday in February.

Conclusions

These issues the Marines are facing actually start in grade school where girlies aren't being forced to do pull ups with the boys.  We're trained to be weaker from the jump, so it's not really surprising that we're a step behind as adults.  Is it true that men are biologically designed to be physically stronger than women?  Yes.  But that has nothing to do with a woman's ability to use her own arms to pull her chin up over a bar.  I think as a people we should hold girlies to the same physical standards as lil' boys in terms of activities & exercises, meaning the reps are the only things that should change.  No more cutting off corners for us.  Like I always say, equal pay for equal work.