Persistence and Tenacity

An Isometric/Flexing Trick For Strength Gains:

The fastest way to improve using isometrics is overcoming isometrics using 2 pairs of pins in a rack, and multiple positions.

What though if you want more frequency? What if you want this frequency, and contrary to your wishes do not have a power rack at home?

In comes flexing.

I’ve now tested this theory for a month or 6 weeks. I’m confident that it works.

I personally do this at night in front of the bathroom mirror.

I’ve been using this idea for the clean and jerk, more so for the jerk, but the bit of variance I do hits both.

Just like you would with pin isometrics get into as specific positions as possible and flex the hell out of many muscles as possible.

The Protocol:

Most sets I do body fully rigid and erect simulating the completed jerk.

Since doing this my overhead stability has gone from good to even better. I taught myself to use my lats as a shelf overhead, and the weights I’m jerking feel so light now that I don’t even feel my abs firing. Quads, lats, shoulders, and triceps yes, but abs no. Supporting weight overhead has become that easy, that the most important stabilizer doesn’t even need to fire.

Some sets I do with my feet shot out to the sides more (how the jerk looks for me using my high starfished squat jerk form) this position of legs bent 45° slightly starfished out simulates both my catch of a clean (with my “bad” form) in leg position, and again part of my jerk. I’m still flexing the hell out of my entire body.

Some sets are standing rigid flexing with arms at the bottom or mid positions, but I generally just do the above two.

The beauty of this?

You can train any lift hard anywhere with no equipment. It carries over impressively, and gets you quite efficient at firing the proper muscles.

Give it a shot.

-J

Similar But Slightly Different Vid:

Required Reading :

• Psycho Factor
• Mentally Jacked

The above Kelly Baggett articles make an interesting point:

Often the explosive people physically will be explosive personality wise as well, short fuses, etc.

It was guessing that there’s correlation and that one could see cross over should they modify one side or the other.

I know there’s far more to it than this, such as genetics and the contrary point of half asleep disinterested weightlifters cleaning monster weights, but I know this;

At times when I want nothing more than to palm smash jaws, snap necks, pull triggers, and bend bitches over, that my power clean ability is better than normal.

Grab, rip, drop, repeat. At the end of sets ramming it overhead for easy jerks.

Over the years no weight room efforts have been affected by and affected aggression in me like heavy power cleans.

The first time I cleaned 225 (after years stuck at 205) I saw red, screamed motherfucker at likely full volume (I can get loud), forgot to jerk it, and after the bar was on the floor I stood head touching the wall face first, fists clenched, fuming.

I was told by a friend after the fact that I had likely made the nearby MILFy blonde piss herself, and that one of the trainer girls in the next room ran over to check thinking that a severe injury had occurred.

I imagine a successful backflip would cause the same kind of reaction, being that it’s something that I’ve yet to do and is similarly badass. I’ve come quite close to landing one at 17, but have never done it. (At 6′ 235 after a track meet on a dare standing on the high jump mat I made the rotation but landed on my knees)

I’m liking explosive and power training lately. Get the clean from comfortable 255 and max 275 to 315 comfortable and an even higher max, then start getting backflips and vertical/dunking.

Outside of sprints I was not very explosive growing up, that’s changing and it feels great.

I’m finally beginning to horsepower my way through “bad” clean and jumping mechanics.

However it’s not hard for me to convert power into power endurance and that’s what I want big time for fighting.

The training shift is happening.

-J

When should you take time off from the gym?

Simple really:

When your body and mind absolutely demand it and you’ve been training hard with no breaks for a while.

To fit this criteria I’m talking months on with no days off, a mental feeling of “nah, fuck it”, and your body alternating between two modes…

Feed me and give me sleep.

You still do a minimal amount of PT daily. This is only referring to weights.

The Soviets trained 12 weeks on, one week off, I’m not saying I trained that hard, but a few days off sounds great right now. Then it’s back to frequent benching and to approach squatting every day from a slightly different angle.

-J

This is one of those things that puts me at odds with gym culture at large:

You should damn near always have the ability to max out and still get near your 1rm.

You should at all times be good for 90%+ of your 1rm.

This should be an ability you have to hit cold, no warmups, even straight off the street, even while needing to take a shit. (I’m not kidding on that, performance should be available at ALL times.)

You should be able to hit a full body volume workout and still hit near your maxes.

Ditto to during a two a day, which often finds me stronger in the later session.

After a shift of labor? Yep, then too.

Whatever circumstance you should be able to tie or come near tieing your maxes.

It’s the principle of being able to perform at all times.

Common knowledge is “lift on a routine schedule, try to go at the same time of day”. I disagree. Get up in the middle of the night and PT. When your buddy calls you up going “deadlift day?” Tell him to swing by, you’re down, even though you’d been up for over 24 hours.

You know in human history someone was able to perform well under far less ideal circumstances, our age is far too pampered getting it’s exercise in air conditioned building and whining about lacks of sleep,food, “overtraining”, and “injuries”.

Plant your feet against human softness, an easy place to start is by regaining your ability to perform physically at any and all times.

Get it,

-J

Lifting for me is more than a hobby. I love doing it, I view it as fun, and generally want to do more of it.

The best way to get good at something is to do it every day.

After saying fuck programming at 17 I’ve felt that way with lifting.

Low frequency is generally less useful and I always found dedicating a specific day to one bodypart particularly arms and shoulders to be stupid.

My mentality and personality naturally drifted towards full body and high frequency.

You can see it in my doing of PT daily.

You can see it in all the streaks I’ve held hitting the same lift daily for months in a row Bulgarian style.

Shit, I’m better at getting to the gym consistently than in taking days off.
If I don’t make it to the gym, I’ve definitely done PT at home, and more often than not also lifted in the back yard.

I have not wanted to be around people at all lately making finding a gym hour difficult, yet low and behold come late night what looked like an off day has me driving to the gym to do something.

When (rare but occasionally) that I don’t lift full body I feel like I’m cheating and generally end up doing something’s quick to make it full body. Last night I did some broad jumps just because the session had been bench and upper assistance only.

Realize however that I thought I was taking yesterday off.

Really I just don’t take off days well.

I’ll get antsy and go get some more volume in some capacity anyway. Be it gym based, yard lifting, or PT.

It’s why I have good work capacity.

Now the question is am I lifting tonight or what?

-J

Often and for no apparent reason certain body parts will seem primed for strength.

When this is the case I like to run with it. Not being able to do so is reason number 1178 that I have against rigid programming.

~315 to 405+ on bench is itching to happen.

Heavy reps have power. Rep PRs are close to being broken, and my close grip has surpassed my wide grip again (just like it has been over the years, I think it’s the jerks this time).

I take the gains I can get. I’m enjoying training upper back and lats (the shelf/base), my pushing muscles are primed for power, and I’ve realized my back squat probably needs a lot of support/build the system work (good mornings, front squats, deadlifts and variations).

So power for upper body, bodybuilding for lower, and some pulling power.

It’s what my body is primed for. I’m going with it.

#trainyourway (an experiment : will hashtags help with views?)

-J