Month: March 2008

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m currently living in Salt Lake City, Utah training at the Utah Olympic Oval as a long-track speedskater. So imagine my surprise when I found out that Charlie Francis (along with Canadian strength coach Derek Hansen) were giving a seminar at a new training facility up in Layton, Utah (about 25 minutes north of where I live).

Now, I’ve been influenced heavily by Charlie, I read his book Speed Trap annually, always finding something new in it.  His Charlie Francis Training System is also excellent.  Given that I’m currently in a sport that has some sprint component, I couldn’t miss it. And given that my coach has essentially developed a system of training similar to Francis’ but applied to speed skating, I took him with me.

Friday: Day 1

The seminar started at 6pm Friday evening. Charlie and Derek introduced themselves and so did everyone in the room.… Keep Reading

After my article on Benching with the Pecs, I got a follow-up question on a forum about pec activation, someone had mentioned looking for tips before and come across the old Vince Gironda bench press to the neck. This type of bench is often used by bodybuilders to ‘isolate’ the pecs. It’s also a great way to ruin your shoulders forever.

In any case, I wanted to do a brief piece on the different ‘styles’ of bench pressing that are most commonly used; my lovely assistant Sarah (who is apparently also IronMan, don’t tell anybody) will be demonstrating once again.

As it stands, the three major types of benching (I’m ignoring the method of bounce it off your chest while your partner does a deadlift and screams “It’s all you” as a type here) are

• Bodybuilder (aka pectacular) bench pressing
• A generic power bench
• A geared powerlifting bench press (sort-of, I’ll explain this in Part 2)

Bodybuilder Style Bench Press

The bodybuilder style of bench pressing, as mentioned, is often used to ‘isolate’ the pecs more.… Keep Reading

Although I’m known more for nutrition and training, the psychology of good training is also a huge part of the picture and, thus, of interest to me.  Today, I want to talk about one of the major distinctions that is often made in the psychological approach that athletes take (usually to competition); that distinction is between being goal oriented and process oriented.

Goal vs. Process Oriented Athletes

Simplistically, goal oriented athletes see their results in competition as the be-all, end-all of their training endeavors. This is also true of training. If they don’t win, or set a PR, or perform exceptionally all the time, they will see themselves as a failure. So on competition day, they have to win, or set a personal best, or set a record, or all of those. In the gym, if they aren’t beating their previous bests every damn time they train, they feel like a total failure.… Keep Reading

There are a lot of problems people have in the gym but one of the more common is the complaint of “I can’t feel my pecs when I bench”. In the majority of cases, this is simply because the person was never taught to bench press and actually use their pecs.    But it’s actually quite easy to do.   So let me show you how I always got my trainees benching with the pecs.

The Bench Press for Chest

The bench press is often considered one of the main training movements that everyone must do.   It’s usually considered to be one of The Big Three movements along with squats and deadlifts (or rows).   And make no mistake, it is or at least can be a good movement.  It allows heavy weights to be used and, for some people, can be a good chest exercise.

Mind you, for others it’s a terrible choice of exercise. … Keep Reading