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« Articles
One Movement You Must Do!I am very fortunate that I get to observe hundreds of exercise routines everyday. There seems to be a lot of monotony out there, especially in the health club setting. Not knowing how to create a progressive and result driven routine has to be a most frustrating circumstance for the frequent club-goers. Just the fact that 'frequent' is considered in this context tells me one or two things. First, little recovery begets little results, and, second, lack of intensity (you know the old adage “you reap what you sow”) robs you of the final result you’re looking for. Getting a little intense, and taking the extra couple of days to reap the rewards of your efforts would be the way to go. But, most people do not understand this concept which is very unfortunate for them. And this vast misunderstanding is a major pet peeve of mine for which I will soon jump on the old soap box and rip it up a bit. But, for today allow let me to make my point and say that your exercise program must include one movement over any other, no matter what and no matter when. YOUR EXERCISE ROUTINE IS DEAD AND BURIED if it does not include the dead lift! WHY, you may ask? Well, let me state my case for this bold statement. The dead lift is, in my estimation, the quintessential posterior chain igniter OF ALL TIME! And all the BIG hitters in the kinetic chain get to ‘throw it down’ in one fell swoop:lats, spinal erectors, glutes, hams, quads, as well as the soleus, anterior tib.,…And the next day or two later let me know how the delts, traps, forearms and obliques feel. Go intense enough (I am talking LOAD here) and you will understand completely. So, for assuming at least that you would enjoy a little hypertrophy and a metabolic jolt, why would you not consider the dead lift? You wouldn’t, right? Right! Even over the SQUAT you say? Damn right. The squat has an inherent flaw in that you have about a 5 inch long, 1 and1/2 diameter portion of an Olympic bar loading @ C-7. Compressing load, maybe shearing load, probably, and YOUR mechanics play a major role here. So understand that your anatomy is crucial to the success or failure of the exercise, i.e., long torso- short legs results in a compressive load on spine which is GOOD, but, a relatively short torso-long legs results in a shearing load on spine which is BAD. BAD translation @ C-7 and BAD translation @ L-5,S-1. I’ve seen X-RAYS for the latter, NOT PRETTY! Add the fact that your grip with the dead lift (remember Popeye) will be challenged far more than any sissy wrist curl could ever muster up and your rotator cuff has to kick in and DO IT’S DESIGNED DUTY which makes my case even greater. Can you say 86 to a few crappy and puny movements (wrist curls and useless shoulder rotation via tubing) and hello to some efficiency? I’ll say this just one mo’ time- DEAD LIFT, EVERYONE! Amen. - MJ |
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