The concept of progressive overload, as it applies to resistance training, is essential to any results that one may desire to achieve. The standard form of progression is to add more weight to each exercise as strength and fitness levels increase. However, there is another way of following the principles of progressive overload that can be learned from Sir Isaac Newton.
Acceleration at its best
Trying to remember everything learned in high school physics class may be difficult for most, but hopefully Sir Isaac Newton and his three laws of motion sound familiar. The concept of progressive overload primarily addresses the need for a muscle to progressively generate more force. As stated above most people add weight to an exercise to generate more force. But if one were to look at Sir Isaac Newton's second law of motion it would be apparent that there is another way to increase force. Newton's second law of motion states that Force =Mass x Acceleration. Increasing the weight in an exercise covers the mass part of the equation. Most people fail to ever consider the acceleration aspect of resistance training. Unfortunately, this can greatly reduce the results that can be attained.
Training the grip can have tremendous impacts on overall upper body strength. It will even improve pulling strength in lower body movements like the deadlift or snatch. While most individuals in a gym setting avoid training the grip, and in some cases compensate for a weak grip with wrist straps, I advocate strengthening the grip through various methods.
One method that can be utilized to strengthen the grip is thick bar training. Charles Poliquin, a world authority on fitness, has an article addressing some of the ideas of using a thick bar for maximizing results. While the concepts and potential benefits of thick bar training are great, the ability to incorporate them into the average person’s workout can be very difficult.
The individual who has their own gym or workout area is stuck spending hundreds of dollars to get a good, thick barbell as well as dumbbells. Those in the typical corporate gym setting usually do not have any options. One solution is to purchase a set of grips that go over the bar that increase the diameter of the bar. I am aware of one product available and am a big fan of it, however it still may be more money than some people care to spend.
With that in mind, I will show how to make various apparatuses for thick bar training for less than $10. A quick trip to the local hardware store and a little handy man work will create many new grip training possibilities.
During recent talks in Bellaria Italy, a theme developed which reflects what I consider to be a problem in the way that most people think about resistance training. In particular, during one roundtable discussion on EDT training, I fielded numerous questions about the so-called “correct” number of sets, reps, rest duration, etc., etc., for EDT workouts.
Finally, I saw the underlying problem behind the various questions I was fielding: the attendees were focusing too much on the means of optimal weight training and not enough on the ends. As I thought about it, virtually ALL resistance training systems and philosophies focus on means, often to the total exclusion of the ends.
Case in point: HIT training. HIT (which stands for "High Intensity Training") revolves around the performance of only one (or sometimes two), all-out sets to failure, as opposed to the more conventional methodology of several sets per exercise. Thus, the defining feature of HIT is the use of an unusual set of means.
Another example of a popular training system that focuses on means is Power Factor Training. This system advocates the use of restricted range of motion (for example, performing leg presses over the last 6 inches of extension only) in order to allow for the use of heavier loads. Again, the salient feature of this system is the means rather than the ends.
This is an article about smart weight training…a system of organizing weights, sets, reps, and rest periods in such a way that you'll get maximum caloric burn and fat loss for minimum time and effort. The system works and has a documented history of very happy victi…er, I mean, clients.
Escalating Density Training (EDT for short) is also iconoclastic by its very nature…in designing the system, I've broken nearly every known rule of exercise and weight training. I suppose that's a reflection of EDT's architect- namely, me.
Ever since childhood, I've lived by a simple code: if you want to be successful, do the opposite of what everyone else does (This simple premise isn't accurate across the board by the way…actually it only works about 98 percent of the time. Oh well…)
Up until this very moment however, chances are that you've never even heard of Escalating Density Training, or "EDT" for short. That's because, for various reasons, I've never tried to promote it to women in any type of orchestrated way. Why? Well, it's mostly because I'm a ….well, a guy. And my thinking has been that women listen to other women a lot more than they'll listen to a guy. And who can blame you? After all, us guys are a brutish lot.
In fact, my wife still can't understand why there's nothing but a toothbrush in my medicine cabinet (OK, I gotta ask- what is it with all these products you girls use? Between my wife and daughter, our house is like a cross between a Bed Bath & Beyond and the pharmacy section of Albertsons!)
But I digress. Over the past several months, I've become increasingly aware that EDT may in fact be the world's most perfect form of training for females- especially females looking to tighten up in a serious way.
I'll make just one more observation before acquainting you with my life's work:
You're gonna really like EDT. Promise.
Imagine a training system where each workout has a time-limit and a concise objective. A system where each workout is a competition with yourself, a game that fires up your competitive juices (even if you didn't know you had any!) A system that produces measurable improvements every time you go to the gym. A system that finds and exploits the "sweet spot" between cardio and weight training.
With it's roots in time-management principles, EDT's simplicity is disarming: there are no pre-determined number of reps, sets, or rest periods. Instead, your goal is to amass as many total repetitions as possible in each 15-minute "PR Zone" ("PR" standing for "personal record."). If I've got your attention, please continue with me as I explain the nuts and bolts of the EDT system. I'll also provide an introductory program that drops bodyfat so rapidly, it'll make your plastic surgeon nervous!
The concept of creating health and wellness, which is integral in leading an inspired life, has a few general fitness components. These involve the major three categories of resistance training, cardiovascular training, and recovery modalities. Each has its own benefits and in this article I want to specifically address the benefits of resistance training.
The concept of progressive resistance training, or weight lifting in layman’s terms, has been around at least since the 6th BC in Greece with the famous story of Milo. Throughout history resistance training has had different approaches, from the kind of weight used to different programing variables, but it has been around in one form or another for centuries.
With that being the case there must be some reason for the longevity of resistance training. In my opinion, done properly resistance training has more benefits than any other form of exercise. Every life can and will be enhanced by some form of resistance training.
