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The Two Types of Lifters

Some Ideas for Training and Program Design Based on the Type of Lifter That You Are      The famous fantasy and science fiction author George R.R. Martin once said that he believed there are, basically, two kinds of writers in the world.  There are the architects.  And there are the gardeners.  Architects plan every point of their novel, memoir, essay, or article down to the finest details.  Like an architect building a house, they have a blueprint and know the layout of every room along with the wiring, piping, and whatnot of the building.  Gardeners plant a seed and then watch to see what grows.  They know to plant certain seeds—you don’t plant sunflower seeds if you’re attempting to grow tomatoes—but exactly what the shape of the plant will be, what the branches and flowers look like, is up to nature.  Of course, as Martin explained, rarely is anyone a pure type—an architect might have to change plans because the building i...
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More High-Set, Low-Rep Workout Variations

Build Even More Size, Strength, and Power with Multiple Sets of Low Reps      Of all the training articles that I have written the last couple months, the most popular article by far is my recent High-Set, Low-Rep Workout Variations for Size and Strength that I posted on July 11th.  In it, I covered (primarily) different variations using workouts of 8 to 10 sets of 3 to 5 reps.  I won’t go back over the training in that article, so if you haven’t read it, and you think it might b e a training method that you’re interested in, then check it out.  In this article, I’m going to go over some additional workout ideas, including some advanced ones for lifters who have already spent a few training cycles using the methods discussed in the prior post.  Based on the interest in the previous article, I figured more lifters would want to know about some additional training ideas. Rep Ladders      With rep ladders , you use th...

The Ki of the Stomach

Cultivating Internal Energy in the Hara for Budo Training      The other day, I was having a conversation with a dear friend of mine—I won’t get into the details, as they are beside the point for the sake of what I want to discuss here—when he said something that I just couldn’t get out of my head.  He said that sometimes, when making a decision, you just have to “trust your gut.”  It’s a common idiom that you may have heard as advice throughout your life.      My friend has no experience, and certainly no interest, in my lifelong passion for the traditional Japanese martial ways.  Like most of my family members, and the friends I have who I didn’t meet through martial arts training, he probably looks upon my passion for the Budo—and physical training in general—as nothing more than a curiosity and perhaps an odd peculiarity of my personality.  What he doesn’t know is that in traditional Budo one’s “gut instinct” can...

The Fighter’s Physique

Real Strength and Power Training for Fighters and Martial Artists How a Fighter Should Train and How to Train to Look Like a Fighter      What follows is the longest article that (I think) I have ever written.  It’s also been a long time coming, as I have planned on writing it for over a year.  I suppose I knew it would be quite an endeavor, as I wanted to include everything I could think about that would help the fighter in his training.  Despite the fact that it took me so long to write, I hope the final result is well-worth the wait.  If you’re a fighter or martial artist who needs to improve your strength, speed, and power, not to mention dominate in your particular art or style, then this is THE article for you.      Years ago, in the pages of Ironman magazine, I wrote an article on the “myths” of strength and power training.  In that article, I wrote—paraphrasing Louie Simmons, the founder and head stren...