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Posts Tagged ‘leg workout’

The Power in Powerlifting – Leg Workout

November 30th, 2009

Before going deeper into why leg workout is a crucial thing in powerlifting, let me just honor the name of this web site by stating that there would be no good powerlifting workout if there wasn’t a squat rack or a power rack. You perform squat and all its variations on the rack, partial deadlifts and rack pull (lockouts). Even the floor bench press benefits from it. I guess that talk about the importance of leg workout in powerlifting fits really well here.

Importance of Leg Power

In order to squat heavy you need to have the leg power! Besides hips legs are the most crucial component of a big squat. But besides quadriceps (thighs), biceps femoris (hamstrings) and soleus (calves) there are other legs muscles that not only work to support these main strength producers but also to develop stability of your posture during the exercise. You have probably seen some big guys putting the weight on their back that they can’t handle just to exercise those deep hidden stabilizer muscles.

Depending on which technique you use for performing the deadlift (conventional or sumo), will define the level of recruitment of the leg muscles. Hamstrings are heavily used during a conventional deadlift, so having a strong posterior leg base is really important. In case your lower back is not one of your strong parts and you engage sumo deadlifting technique, your legs will be recruited much like during the squat.

Although legs don’t help you directly in the bench press, developing lower body strength will ultimately help you achieve more stable posture during any exercise and sport, including bench press.

Training Routines

There are many approaches to powerlifting training and you don’t have to know them all and right away, but you also don’t want to get into powerlifting without the basic knowledge of exercise techniques either. First learn the proper technique, at least for three basic powerlifting exercises and then try out the heavy weights.

I will not explain in detail how should a certain training plan look like, at last not for now, but what I will do is pinpoint some important rules.

Train Heavy! There is no reason why you shouldn’t go heavy. This is what breaks plateau, push the limits and set PRs. Training strong includes 1-5 repetitions per set. Number of sets should float anywhere between 5 and 10. Start with 5 reps per set and work your way down to a 1 rep sets. Note: Don’t max on every workout. Third or fourth training should be done using 85%-90% of your maximum single lifts.
Rest Long! After squat, bench press and deadlift workouts schedule a day of rest. If you don’t do it, you’re not doing it right. Strength is a cumulative category and it requires time to be built, so learn how to be patient!
Eat Plenty but Clean! There are two kinds of powerlifters: big heavy absolute category guys and all others. Both categories must be aware of what they eat. This includes a lot of protein for the muscles and carbohydrates to fuel the training. Although guys from absolute categories must obey this rule in difference to all other lifters they don’t have to watch out how much they eat. Absolute category is anywhere above 125kg, which means that they can balloon over 500 pounds and nobody would care because it’s legal on the competition.

If you are considering getting some workout equipment for powerlifting at home be sure to read some tips on buying a power rack and related leg workout equipment.

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Category:Training

Tags:bench press deadlift leg workout nutrition power rack powerlifting powerlifting training squat Squat Rack

Smith Machine – Squats Workout Alternative

August 17th, 2009

I’m sure you already know everything there is to know about smith machines. But since you are reading this article you obviously need some information about them. That is why I will try to cover as much related topics as possible, including exercises that you can perform on them as well as reviews on some manufacturers. If you made it through this much of my rambling than please bare with me for a second more while I explain some basics, because we have a lot of newbies reading this.

The smith machine is a piece of equipment that is used in sport training purposes. It consists of a rack with barbell fixed on steel runners that can be moved only vertically. Construction is usually stabilized by counterbalanced piece at the bottom. Runners have pins on which you can hook the bar during the exercise. Safety pegs are often included at the bottom to prevent the barbell dropping on the floor and causing a serious injury. Pegs remove the need for spotters and increase the safety factor.

There are numerous benefits for beginners in sport of using the smith machine. Even the professional athletes can use it to improve form and technique of their special activities. There is a vast range of movements that you can perform on it. To name a few: shoulder press, shrugs, bench press, squats which are an excellent bonus to your leg workout routine.

The Philosophy of It

The smith machine squats are performed differently than using a standard squat rack or some of the squat stands. There is always a big hype amongst experts on whether to perform this squat because it takes the legs and thus the body through an unnatural range of motion, which may cause injuries. But, its fixed trajectory can be beneficial for beginners in a few ways. Since squat is a complex exercise and mastering the proper technique is hard, machine forces the untrained body to develop the feel for proper free weight squatting performance. Using this machine can also allow unstable lifters to lift more weight, which was confirmed by researchers at Drake University, Iowa. This leads to greater overloading of muscles and thus greater growth and power.

Downturn of the predetermined barbell path is that you don’t need to stabilize the weight, which results in poor development of stabilization skills. Therefore, lifting ability on it does not translate into free weight lifting ability. Given that stabilization skills are very important to develop, I recommend that you don’t use this movement as one of the main leg exercises in your routine, but only as a supplement to your leg exercise plan.

Manufacturers and Pricing

Now, let’s talk a little about manufacturers. You’ll have to excuse me, but I always hated those smith machine home gym – all in one combos where you have various functions stuffed together. I like my smiths served simple, and that’s the only way I roll. There is no harm in buying an expensive, for example, Marcy smith machine, Body Solid smith machine or a Weider smith machine, but my point is that for quality leg workout you don’t need all that hype.

Regarding the price, from my experience you don’t need to go over $250 for a new one. Everything above that is too much. Make sure that at least 225 lbs (100 kg) of weight comes with it. Other interesting option is to buy a used smith machine, in which case you can save money. 90% of the times used one may be a much better solution and a much cheaper one.

One more thing, when buying a smith machine make sure the construction is fairly stable. You don’t want to find this out later while squatting, believe me. You can check this by leaning on the machine from all sides. Good counterbalanced heavy duty smith machines should be pretty hard to move. Also, distance between lockout pins should be no more than 2 inches (5 cm). This ensures good movement efficiency. The rest of the details are less important so you don’t need to worry about them too much.

In a nutshell, that’s it. If you have some additional question don’t worry, I’ll be adding detailed reviews of some commercial apparatus soon. You are welcome anytime to drop a question.

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