Hey look a brand new thread on ways to get stronger, faster.
Paul
Everyone has their own thing to make it happen, but as an aging Masters, I find the most important thing to getting stronger faster is maintaining the ability push the envelope often.
Translation: don't go "over the top" in such a way that you are broken down for days and can't recover quickly. :whiteflag: Push it to the point that you know you will be good to go the following day, or a couple of days with a planned day of recovery in between. :toohurt:
I just lifted my wine glass seventeen times with no trouble. Some you people take this game a little to serious. Mel your the "man"!!!!!!
17? Yeah, but it gets lighter with every lift.
Pul-lease! This from the guy who gave up and left the beer garden?!
When you weight addicts can do superman streamlines on a pilates ball, we'll talk.
Much of this stuff sounds positively wicked on the shoulders. Deadlifts fine, but overhead squats and standing shoulder presses? How about how to get stronger while not ripping your rotator cuff? I'll just remind you all that a certain WR holder is recovering from RC surgery after bench pressing himself to the OR ...
OK, that's it. After I finish swimming today I'm coming home to do my all out Leslie bench presses. In other words, I'm planning to do repeat lifts with about 50 pounds on a very short bar.
I've already got bad shoulders, so what's the difference. Besides, I've once done a 1000 fly in competition. Have you made 125 continuous yet?
Anyhow, Grace and I were in the beer garden drinking by noon and you didn't show up to start drinking until it was after my bed time....
If you're really serious about getting stronger... Perhaps this is the future of the LZR....
www.usatoday.com/.../2008-05-15-robotic-suit-iron-man_N.htm
Robotic suit could make soldiers into 'Iron Man'
May 15, 2008
By Mark Jewell, Associated Press
Rex Jameson bikes and swims regularly, and plays tennis and skis when time allows. But the 5-foot-11, 180-pound software engineer is lucky if he presses 200 pounds — that is, until he steps into an "exoskeleton" of aluminum and electronics that multiplies his strength and endurance as many as 20 times.
With the outfit's claw-like metal hand extensions, he gripped a weight set's bar at a recent demonstration and knocked off hundreds of repetitions. Once, he did 500.
"Everyone gets bored much more quickly than I get tired," Jameson said.
Jameson — who works for robotics firm Sarcos in Salt Lake City, which is under contract with the U.S. Army — is helping assess the 150-pound suit's viability for the soldiers of tomorrow. The suit works by sensing every movement the wearer makes and almost instantly amplifying it.
The Army believes soldiers may someday wear the suits in combat, but it's focusing for now on applications such as loading cargo or repairing heavy equipment. Sarcos is developing the technology under a two-year contract worth up to $10 million, and the Army plans initial field tests next year....
Does it make a huge difference whether you lift full body and core 2x a week versus shorter sessions 4x a week? I'm assuming the latter is preferable, but is it necessary? I just find it easier to hit the gym for longer sessions than many shorter sessions.
I don't think I have an original idea on this topic, other than to say that I need to do more lifting myself.
I've gotten some interesting suggestions from a local swimmer and habitual lifter. None of this is new, but they certainly applies to me:
-get a lifting program that is sustainable. My challenge is to make it fit into my already hectic week. Maybe I'll swim no more than 3-4 days a week, lift more often?
-have a long term plan that includes periodization that centers around a goal event. This would include 12+ weeks of lifting for strength (16-20 reps per exercise, 5 sets each), then 12+ weeks of "growth" (12 reps) then harder resistance, as few as 4-6 reps for power in the weeks leading up to the focus event.
-hit each body region hard once a week. That could be Upper/lower/core if there are 3 sessions, or mix in core for 2 sessions/week.
-don't worry about lots of different exercises unless you really love being in the gym and can devote a lot of time to it.
-change your program every 4-6 weeks to avoid going stale. You can vary the routine in a number of ways- exercises, resistance, sequence, etc.
These are generalities, I know, but I think the big picture is as important as deciding which lifts to do. Anyone have any comments on these basic principles?
I don't think I have an original idea on this topic, other than to say that I need to do more lifting myself.
I've gotten some interesting suggestions from a local swimmer and habitual lifter. None of this is new, but they certainly applies to me:
-get a lifting program that is sustainable. My challenge is to make it fit into my already hectic week. Maybe I'll swim no more than 3-4 days a week, lift more often?
-have a long term plan that includes periodization that centers around a goal event. This would include 12+ weeks of lifting for strength (16-20 reps per exercise, 5 sets each), then 12+ weeks of "growth" (12 reps) then harder resistance, as few as 4-6 reps for power in the weeks leading up to the focus event.
-hit each body region hard once a week. That could be Upper/lower/core if there are 3 sessions, or mix in core for 2 sessions/week.
-don't worry about lots of different exercises unless you really love being in the gym and can devote a lot of time to it.
-change your program every 4-6 weeks to avoid going stale. You can vary the routine in a number of ways- exercises, resistance, sequence, etc.
These are generalities, I know, but I think the big picture is as important as deciding which lifts to do. Anyone have any comments on these basic principles?
In general, this is good. You have to try different things out and see what is comfortable and effective. The stuff about reps and body parts however many times per week isn't really based on anything. For a beginner, full body workouts three times a week with one or two sets of 10-15 reps is a fine starting point, but I won't claim it's the only thing that works.
I lift twice a week and I seem to get better results than when I lifted 3X/wk.It is a balance between swimming and lifting as I don't have unlimited time.
I think everyone is missing the important point. Any advice has to apply to Mel getting stronger. :doh: I think Mel has to find the right foods to mask steroids in his urine. And then get bitten by a radioactive spider.
Not quite Mel. It's all about challenging YOUR body to grow stronger, not challenging someone else's.
