Training

  Understand Knee Wraps and Knee Sleeves How to determine the best support tool for your knees   So, what’s the deal with knee wraps and knee sleeves? Do they make you stronger, prevent injuries, or just look really cool? Here are a few answers. Knee wraps are flexible elastic bandages. Competitive powerlifters prefer knee […]

The Strength Sensei on Ab Training   The basics of developing a strong and powerful-looking core   For many years, strength coaches and the general fitness community were obsessed with “core” training. Every commercial gym had to feature ab crunch machines and Swiss balls, and many offered special classes to target the muscles that flex,

Understand the Two Types of Warm-Ups   Charles R. Poliquin believed that a warm-up for an Iron Game athlete consisted of chalking their hands. Not really, but pretty close. There are essentially two types of warm-ups, general and specific. A general warm-up increases the functional ability of an athlete, such as by increasing body temperature.

Use the Leg Press Wisely   To be clear, Charles R. Poliquin preferred squats over leg presses. But he insisted that if you’re going to perform leg presses, you better do them right. One of the Strength Sensei’s concerns about the leg press was that because the back is supported during the leg press, it

The Strength Sensei on Vertical Jump Training What to do in the weightroom to leap higher   Jumping ability is a basic athletic skill most athletes want to improve, and Charles R. Poliquin became particularly adept at helping athletes do just that. Consider the popular quote by Karl Pearson that came to be known as

Motivate Yourself with Social Media   Just about everyone (well, except maybe Trump?) has a social media account, and you can use it to motivate yourself to train harder to become even better. Charles R. Poliquin was a big believer in taking before-and-after photos to measure your progress and motivate you (and, if you’re a

The Strength Sensei on Chest Training   Approaching pec training from the right angles   Ask any bodybuilder how to train the upper chest, and the most common answer is WWAD, which translates into “What Would Arnold Do?” This would, of course, lead to consulting Arnold’s classic textbook, The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. “I

Grow Your Biceps with Twenty-Ones   If you were to ask Charles R. Poliquin what his favorite biceps exercises were, the answer would probably have been, “All of them!” The Strength Sensei was a big believer in variety to stimulate growth, so his toolbox of exercises was quite extensive. Often, he went beyond doing an

Stretch Between Sets   Charles R. Poliquin was not one to waste time during training, preferring to alternate use supersets, tri-sets, and giants sets to cut the rest time to a minimum. When you’re not using these rapid-paced training methods, consider stretching between sets. Those who plan to stretch usually do so at the end