P.S.A. time.
Throughout this blog I make a point to update everyone on my progress by citing numbers: X pounds lifted, Y reps completed, etc. However, I do so—not as a show of bravado—but to report my development in The Thor Challenge.
Most of the figures listed are personal records, NOT the weight/reps or sets I train with on a daily basis. I mention this because, like me only six months prior, beginners often believe the sport boils down to one thing:
Throughout this blog I make a point to update everyone on my progress by citing numbers: X pounds lifted, Y reps completed, etc. However, I do so—not as a show of bravado—but to report my development in The Thor Challenge.
Most of the figures listed are personal records, NOT the weight/reps or sets I train with on a daily basis. I mention this because, like me only six months prior, beginners often believe the sport boils down to one thing:
"How much you bench, bro?" which is weightlifting code for “Are you stronger than me?”
Anyone who approaches weight training this way is confusing bodybuilding with weightlifting, a.k.a. strength training. In bodybuilding, it doesn’t matter how much you can lift; what matters is how you lift. The difference is what gets novices in trouble.
A bodybuilder’s primary concern is developing muscle tone and size, not the amount of weight a person can get off the ground. The weightlifter’s agenda is the exact opposite. This is the reason the two look very, very different.
A bodybuilder’s primary concern is developing muscle tone and size, not the amount of weight a person can get off the ground. The weightlifter’s agenda is the exact opposite. This is the reason the two look very, very different.
Rookie mistakes in bodybuilding almost always begin and end with an athlete equating muscularity with strength.
The psychology is simple: “The big guy is benching a lot of weight. I want to be big, so I have to bench a lot of weight.”
This is true. However, the Olympian is hefting serious poundage because he (or she) is big, not vice versa. A bodybuilder's bulk is not the result of lifting a massive amount of weight. It's the product of repeated, intense muscle contraction. This is achieved by pumping iron the right way, which is known as proper form.
The psychology is simple: “The big guy is benching a lot of weight. I want to be big, so I have to bench a lot of weight.”
This is true. However, the Olympian is hefting serious poundage because he (or she) is big, not vice versa. A bodybuilder's bulk is not the result of lifting a massive amount of weight. It's the product of repeated, intense muscle contraction. This is achieved by pumping iron the right way, which is known as proper form.
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Kai Greene talks about the importance of form (1:10 - 4:40) . . . | . . . and why ego lifting is counterproductive (14:50 - 17:15) |
For example, you may be able to curl 75 lbs., but if you can't do so without leaning backwards—thereby letting gravity take up the slack—you aren't getting the bicep development you could if you were to rep 50 lbs. correctly. Beginning bodybuilders often learn the hard way that “ego lifting”—lifting a heavy weight to impress themselves or others—is the frustratingly long road to muscle development and the fast track to injury. |
If a weight is too heavy, you’ll “cheat”—meaning you’ll split the workload between more than the intended muscle group(s) you are trying to target, thereby slowing your growth—or you’ll break form. When you break form, you risk injury.
Take my word for it, the person who is training the right way will have faster muscle gains because the individual won't have to take time off to recover from a herniated disc, pulled hamstring, or tennis elbow.
At the end of the day, all a bodybuilder has to remember is proof is in the pudding: An impressive bicep is an impressive bicep. You earned the muscle. It doesn’t matter if you got big guns using a 50 or 75 lb. weight.
Lift heavy, but lift safe, and the only way to do this is by maintaining form. The general rule of thumb is to work at a weight which is 70 percent of your 1RM, or one repetition maximum, i.e., the max amount you can do once and only once using proper form. (Just because you managed to get 250 lbs. up and down on the bench doesn't mean that's your 1RM; it's your 1RM only if you do so without the bar dipping down on your weak side.)
At the end of the day, all a bodybuilder has to remember is proof is in the pudding: An impressive bicep is an impressive bicep. You earned the muscle. It doesn’t matter if you got big guns using a 50 or 75 lb. weight.
Lift heavy, but lift safe, and the only way to do this is by maintaining form. The general rule of thumb is to work at a weight which is 70 percent of your 1RM, or one repetition maximum, i.e., the max amount you can do once and only once using proper form. (Just because you managed to get 250 lbs. up and down on the bench doesn't mean that's your 1RM; it's your 1RM only if you do so without the bar dipping down on your weak side.)
For you beginners out there, the go-to book on form for deceivingly complex, injury-inviting compound exercises such as squats, bench press, and deadlifts is Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength.
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#ThorChallenge #BeYourOwnSuperhero #Bodybuilding #Weightlifting #StengthTraining #Bodybuilder #Weightlifter #MuscleContraction #Form #1RM #OneRepetitionMaximum #EgoLifting #BicepCurl #Injury #MarkRippetoe #StartingStrength #PushUps #EarthDowns #KaiGreene
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