Article recommendations week #2 2018

Catalystathletics asked Are You a Contributor or a Consumer? a philosophical question geared towards coaches and athletes, whether they see themselves5 Benefits of Hanging Knee Raises as a contributor or consumer.

Bodybuilding.com listed

• 8 Motivational Podcasts To Fire Up Your Fitness In 2018 I definitely do like some of them.
• 5 tips to maximize your chest gainz, when using the Bench Press in the article The Bodybuilder’s Guide To A Better Bench Press Also, check out the video tutorial

ABC15 explained How to eat, sleep and train like an Olympic gold medalist looking at a typical day in alpine skier Lindsey Vonn’s life.

Complementary Training shared Strength Training: Planning the Training Block – Part 2 an in-depth outline of different rep-set-and-loading schemes. Also, check out part 1, both parts are filled with value!

Tony Gentilcore explained How The Matrix Can Make You A Better Coach emphasizing, that sometimes you just need to change your perspective.

Juggernaut Training Systems discussed Bench Press technique

• Part 1 – Foot Placement & Pressure, the importance of correct foot position and pressure, this is where the lifts are made or lost. Check it out

• Part 2 – Upper Back Positioning, dominating scapular retraction and scapula depression for a big Bench and the appropriate exercises to train scapular retraction and scapula depression, and how to get into the right position on the bench. Check it out

The Bar Bend

• followed up on the article’s from the previous week Hanging Knee Raises – Muscles Worked, Exercise Demo, and Benefits and 5 Benefits of Hanging Knee Raises with 8 Hanging Knee Raise Alternatives including regressions and progressions.
• listed 5 Strength Athletes Who Hit 50+ Reps On the 225 lb Max Bench Test awesome feats of strength.
• published an interview with Jim Schmitz Talks Modern Weightlifting, Competition, and His All-Time Favorite Lifters an Olympic Weightlifter and Olympic Weightlifting coach sharing his experiences of over 5 decades in Olympic Weightlifting

Eric Cressey outlined some of his Performance Programming Principles: Installment 2 Eric always has some interesting stuff to share.

Speed Endurance shared an interesting approach to losing weight in the article How to Lose Weight with the 4S Approach

Elite FTS discussed Advice For New Lifters Competing, very simple to follow advice, simplicity and technical development is key. Check it out

T-Nation shared a

• Tip: Go Heavy to Retain Muscle why you should train heavy, and busting the myth, that high reps are good for cutting.
• Tip: Drop Sets – Effective for Growth or Not? looking at 6 selected studies on Drop Sets and muscular growth

Cosmopolitan explained How to lose weight by lifting weights very clear, simple and good advice. Also, check out my article Only 3 Things You Need To Know about Strength Training and Weight Loss that explains detailed how to leverage strength training and how to lose weight.

Shredded By Science explained

• Microcycle Volume | Microcycle Training Example how to plan your micro-cycle for maximum success, and guess what, it’s not training full-out all the time. Check it out

• Macro, Meso and Micro Cycles an overview of Periodisation and how to align microcycles, mesocycles and macrocycles. Check it out

Youth Strength Training Articles

Elite Track outlined Weighted Pulls for Young and Adolescent Throwers: Consideration for strength training in long-term athletic development (LTAD) by Antonio Squillante the value of weighted pulling movements of the Olympic Lifts, such as Snatch Pulls and Clean Pulls for athletes in the pubertal stage.

Juggernaut Training Systems discussed Youth Training Considerations, busting some myths about youth strength training and practical application for appropriate youth strength training. Check it out

Nutrition Articles

Picture Fit discussed Artificial Sweeteners – Safe or Dangerous? looking at what the science says about the most common artificial sweeteners and what are safe doses. Check it out

Power Training Articles

Runners World answered What Is Contrast Training—and Can It Make You a Faster Runner? combining a heavy resistance exercise with a lighter plyometric drill, to elicit PAP (post-activation potentiation). The article does a good job at outlining how to pair exercises based on kinematic similarities, however, it does not explain, that athletes need to have a certain strength level to show a PAP response. Which you won’t get from an 8 kg Dumbbell Goblet Squat.

Speed Training Articles

Stack listed 6 Upper-Body Exercises to Help Make You Faster an outline of some upper body drills to support your speed development.

American Football International listed The 10 Best Speed Exercises for Athletes I like the exercise selection, but as in the previous posts from American Football International, very heavily focussed on exercises at the strength side of the force-velocity continuum.

Speed Endurance listed 4 Top Strength Training Type Workouts for Increased Speed how to combine maximum strength, explosive strength, and Plyometrics to develop speed.

Olympic Lifting Articles 

Catalystathletics shared Ask Greg: Learning to Actively Pull Under the Bar learning to actively get under the bar during the catch phase of the Olympic Lifts can be a game-changer. Check out Greg’s advice.

Squat Articles 

The Bar Bend shared Pistol Squat Ultimate Guide: Muscles Worked, Benefits, Exercise Demos, and More what Pistol Squats are, how to execute them, muscular activation and unique benefits of the Pistol Squat.

Silent Mike discussed Best Squat Variation outlining the best Squat variation, which is based on the athlete’s needs. Check it out

Deadlift Articles 

Elite FTS discussed the lockout position in the Deadlift in the article Finish Your Deadlift Upright

Absolute LOWLIGHT of the Week

BMX rider and Silver-Medallist at the Rio Olympic Games Jelle van Gorkom had a serious accident. My thoughts and best wishes are with Jelle and his family.