over the top performance

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m

7 Crank up the burnor even more power41w w w . m e n s h e a l t h . c o m

POWERREPORt7

The Worlds GreaTesT WorkouTand catch the weight on your shoulders

or above your head.

In my experience, 95% of the ben-

ets of Olympic lifts come from the pull

phase, which is the simplest part of

the movement, says Alwyn Cosgrove,

C.S.C.S., a certied USA Weightlifting

coach in Santa Clarita, California. And

almost all of the technical difculties

occur during the catch phase. Thats

why Cosgrove has eliminated the catch

portion of the movement from nearly all

of his programs, and why you can forget

about it too.

To enable lifters at any level to ben-et from these exercises, Cosgrove has

broken down the Olympic lifts into their

four most effective movements. Incor-

porate them into your workout, and

youll build muscle and strength, burn

fat, and boost sports performance faster

than ever before.

Twice a week, insert the two rou-

tines on pp. 4243 into your workout,

performing them before you do any

other exercises. Alternate between

Routine 1 and Routine 2 so that you do

only two of the modied Olympic lifts

each session. A couple of pointers: The

high pull and the jump shrug are speed

exercises, so use a weight that requires

a strong effort to lift it quickly but isnt

so heavy that you cant control the bar.

For the front squat and the push press,

use the heaviest weight that allows you

to do all the prescribed reps.

Olympic lifters who arent heavyweights

are among the leanestand theyre

certainly the strongestathletes in the

world. One study found that Olympic

weight lifters burned almost as many

calories per day as marathoners did.

Granted, these men are moving more

than 175,000 pounds in a typical train-

ing week, but they also eat 6,000 to

8,000 calories a day.

So what is it about the Olympic lifts

that works such magic on the human

body? Most simply, they engage nearly

all of your muscles to move weights far-

ther and faster than conventional ex-ercises do. Each repetition takes only a

second or two from start to nish, which

allows you to target your fast-twitch

muscle bers. These are the muscles

with the greatest potential for size and

strengthand the ones typically ignored

in most mens weight workouts.

At this point, you might be wonder-

ing why, if these Olympic lifts are so

great, you seldom see them practiced in

gyms. The main reason is that theyre

technically difcult to perform. But

theres also a shortcut to experiencing

the Olympic advantage. The Olympic

lifts consist of two distinct parts: the

pull phase and the catch phase. Dur-

ing the pull, you explode upward, yank-

ing the barbell off the oor and in front

of your thighs, as if you were trying to

jump out of the gym. In the catch, you

quickly move your body under the bar


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42 1 0 P OWER REPORTS

P O W E R R E P O R T 7

43w w w . m e n s h e a l t h . c o m

O V E R - t H E -t O P P E R F O R M A N C E

double Your benchJoe Mazza, a full-time New Jersey cop,

ranks, pound for pound, as Americas

best practitioner of the bench press. You

havent heard of him because while big

money ows into bass shing and poker,

his sport remains beyond the fringe, with

lightweights like him receiving even

less publicity than heavyweights. That

doesnt make his stats any less amaz-

ing though. Weighing just 165 pounds,

he has benched more than 400 pounds

raw and has managed 625 poundsfor

4 repswhen encased in one of the strait-

jacket-like lifting shirts all world-class

benchers use for meets. My ultimate goal

is to bench 700, says Mazza, whos been

competing since 2001.

Weve gured out a way to take these

principles and recast them in ways you

can use at the gym tonight. In 2 months,

you may not be benching three or four

HigH Pull

hld ll js l y s, i

sld-id, d gi [A]. wi y

c d y s sig, ll

d s s s y c y sig y

is d d xlsily sdig . as

sss y igs, ci ig

d y s, d ll s

ig s ssil y dig y ls d

isig y s [B]. r

sig sii, d 3 ss

3 5 s, sig 90 scds c s.

Front Squat

G i d gi s js

yd sld-id, d ld i

s y slds. ris y s s y lll , d

l ll c s is sig y

fgs, y ls. Sd i y

sld-id d y c sig

[A]. wi cgig sii y

s, l y dy il y igs

ls lll [B]. t s c

sig sii. D 3 ss 6

8 s, sig 90 scds c s.

PuSH PreSS

G ll i sld-id, -

d gi. Sd ldig ll

sld ll, y sld-id

. Di y s sligly [A], d s

i y lgs s y ss

y d [B]. t l sig sii. D 3 ss 8 s, sig

90 scds c s.

A B

A B

BA

A

B

Routine1

Routine2

SnatcH-griP JumP SHrug

hld js l y s, i

d gi s ic sld-id

[A]. kig y c d y s

sig, silsly s y is

d, sg y slds, d j

sig [B]. Ld lls y ,

d . D 3 ss 3 5 s, sig

90 scds c s.

times your body weight, like Mazza

does, but youll be benching twice

what you do now.

tHe SHirt

When you start benching two to three

times your body weight, theres an

incredible amount of force trying to

pull your shoulders apart, and a lift-

ing shirt protects the delicate archi-

tecture of the joints. I can train with

my shirt and not have any problems,

says Mazza.

No need for you to wear one like

competitors do. You can duplicate the

shirts protective effect by strengthen-

ing your back, which Mazza does with

heavy lat pulldowns and other back

moves. (See The Raise-the-Roof Work-

out on p. 45.) Your back doesnt push

the weight, but it gives your shoulders


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a more stable base, says Sean Waxman,

C.S.C.S., a former national-level Olym-

pic lifter and owner of Pure Strength

in southern California. Also, form is

key: Pull your upper arms close to your

torso when you bench, instead of aring

them out to the sides. This allows your

latissimus dorsi (a.k.a. lats)your larg-

est back muscleto help stabilize your

shoulders, providing you with a better

foundation from which to press. For a

visual cue, your upper arms should

create roughly a 45-degree angle with

your torso when the weight is lowered to

your chest.

tHe BandS

Try lifting with a pair of Jump Stretch

Mini Bands, which can be picked up at

elitefts.com. Attach one to each end of

the barbell, then to the base of a power

rack (or to heavy dumbbells anchored

on the oor), and then double them up

again on the bar. Theyll provide an

extra 70 to 90 pounds of resistance at

the top of your bench.




If thats not feasible, mimic the

effect of bands through a technique

called compensatory acceleration train-

ing. Bring the bar down slowly, but

then rapidly accelerate it through the

full range of motion, says Waxman.

tHe BoardS

Bench pressers place wooden boards,

ranging from 1 inch to 5 inches high,

on their chests to reduce their range of

motion and focus on the lockout por-

tion of the lift. Reducing the range of

motion also allows you to train hard for

the bench press, with minimal strain on

your shoulders.

If you dont want to carry around

different-size boards in your gym bag

to vary your range of motion, try bench-

ing in a power rack and gradually

lowering the stops to achieve the same

progressive effect. If youre really in a

pinch, rolled-up towels can substitute

for either. Adding lying triceps exten-

sions to this workout will further de-

velop your lockout.

The raise-The-roof WorkouTFollow this routine for 2 months, during which you can continue training your

biceps, abs, and other muscle groups. As you become stronger, go heavier, so that

the weights fully challenge your muscles in the rep ranges given. One nal note:

Always use a spotter, even if you dont think you need one.

monday: HeAvy BencH DAy

BarBell BencH PreSS

Li c, d g ll i -

d gi, i y ds sligly

sld-id . pll y sld lds

d d gic ls siliz y

slds c [A]. Slly

l ig y cs, ig y

ls cd cls y dy [B].

Isd js sig sig ,

s i c sligly d c. t

lls ig id d y,

sys mi mill, ci li.

tHe drill

1. a y , s c

45-dg icli 3 ss 4 5 s.

(S sig is ig y c

g, d d s dd.)

rs 2 3 is ss.

2. D 2 ss 6 s s icli. rs

2 3 is ss.

3. S c , d s

sqc.

4.S c dcli, d d 3 ss 6s. rs 2 3 is ss.

MenintigItsmorethanjustasuperherolook.Compressiontightsapplypressureto

majormuscles,meaningmoreecientrunningandastertimes,French

scientistssay.TwelvetrainedrunnersattheUniversityoMontpelliersmotor-

eciencyand-deciencylaboratoryran9milesinthreetypesogear:waist-to-

anklecompressiontights,standardshorts,orconventionalelastictights.The

compressiontightswithbandsosturdierabriclimitingmovementtrimmed

runnersoxygenusebyathird,resultsshowed.Accordingtostudyauthor

StphanePerrey,Ph.D.,amarathonerwhonormallyclocksinat3hours,30

minutes,couldshaveabout6minutes.Anotheradvantage:Thetightsimproved

runningtechniquethroughgreaterkneeunctionandbalance.

thuRsday:close-Grip BencH DAy

lying tricePS extenSion

Li y c,

ldig s

lg y. bd

y ls l

y -

d [A]. pss i c

sig

sii [B].

tHe drill

D 3 4 ss

6 10 s.

5. iis i d clld sig, i

ic y s ig s ics

i-ic ld y scls. D 2

ss, 8 10 s ic, cl csss,

i ic y ig dls sig

cl scs g i y cs.rs 1 is ss.

A

B

A

B


4/4





satuRday:HeAvy BAck DAy

dumBBell Pullover

Li c i y , d

ld dll y cs i ds [A].

kig y s sig, l dll

il y s i li i y dy [ B]. r

sig sii.

tHe drill

D 3 4 ss 6 10 s.

lat Pulldown

Si c, d g dl s

y s lly xdd d

y s is sig [A]. pll dl

sig d y cs [B].

r sig sii.

BarBell SHrug

Sd ldig ll s lg i

sld-id gi [A]. wi sig

y s, is y slds s ig s

y c [B]. r sig sii.

cloSe-griP BencH PreSS

Li c i c, d g ll i

d gi, i y ds sligly lss

sld-id [A]. t ss sld s 5

ics cs ll. uc , d l

i ss, slly d i cl [B]. pss

c s qicly s ssil. (I y ccss

ds, c s ds ll, d

ss l c. I y d, s

isd ss c.)

tHe drill

1 . rgdlss s, s sig

ig s sligly i yd lly

l li scid g. ( xl,

i y slly d cls-gi c sss i

135 ds, dd x 10 c sid .)

2. uc , l i il i cs

sig i.

3. pss , d scid

s.

4. Cl 3 ss 4 5 s, d

3 ss 6 s, sig 2 3 is

ss.

5. a l, l i y d

ss c y 1 ic, s ig cs

d cls y cs. ncl s .

6. Ci ig lcs

lig ss y

il cs ll y

d y cs.

FioPLoweryourgolscoreintheweightroom.Gainingstrengthcanmakeyou

amoreaccurateputter,reportresearchersattheU.S.AirForceAcademy.

Thestudy,publishedintheJournal of Strength and Conditioning

Research,conrmspreviousndingsthatmenwhoweight-trainlaunch

theballartherothetee.Buttheresearchersalsooundthatmen

had30%bettercontrolontheputtinggreenateran11-weekworkout

regimen.Thegolersperormedamixoclassicresistance-training

exercisesoralltheirmajormusclegroupsandrotationalmedicine-

ballmovesortheircore.Forinstance,theydidmedicine-ballrotations,

medicine-ballthrows,Russiantwists,androntbridges.Improvingyour

strength,endurance,andfexibilitymayhelpyourgolswingstaymore

consistentoverthecourseo18holes,theresearcherssuggest.

tHe drill

D 3

4 ss

6 10 s.

tHe drill

D 3

4 ss

6 10 s.

A

B

B

B

B

A

A

A

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