Article recommendations week #38 2016

We have searched the web for the most valuable and interesting articles of week #38 2016

Strength Training Articles

Breakingmuscle published 4 articles

The Art of Making Excuses an interesting article, how the brain plays tricks on you and how you can hack it.
Simplify Your Approach to Amplify Your Results reminds me on the Da Vinci “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
What’s the Point? Check In With Your Goals a great article emphasizing to start with the end in mind and having a purpose
Why We Know But Don’t Do interesting article on how to hack willpower and establish habits and good application of the habit-forming from Nir Eyal to sports and training

Bodybuilding.com explained Why Full-Body Workouts Make You Stronger

The Complete 2016 Off-Season Rugby Training Manual a really great overview of a full Strength & Conditioning program
Reasons Why You’re Weak — Inefficient Technique, Outcome-Focused, Micro-Managing, Online, and Over-Thinking great advice aimed mainly at powerlifters, but can as well apply to everyone who is seriously training
WATCH: Personal Training vs. Online Coaching an interesting discussion on the pro’s and con’s of one-on-one coaching vs online coaching, have a look at the video below

Dr. John Rusin explained How To Use Band Training To Build Resilient Muscle & Prevent Injuries providing solid reasoning, why and when to implement bands.

Freeletics has some really good and applicable tips / hacks how to get a better sleep in their article 7 Live Hacks For The Perfect Night’s Sleep

The Strength Sensei offered Five Tips to Increase Strength in the Powerlifts really good quick and straightforward tips.

Bach Performance shared interesting viewpoints on Lifting Speed:The Biggest Mistakes In Training

The Advanced Human Performance followed up with the second part on Eccentric Isometrics The Ultimate Way to Strength Train – Part 2 – another detailed piece expanding on the benefits of this type of strength training and also providing examples of the practical application.

Robertson Training Systems showed a great and simple way to rack 2 KB’s in RTS Coaching: Lazy Way To Rack 2-KB’s I like the simplicity of it and honestly speaking, I never really understood why in KB certifications or courses you need to spend an hour on learning how to hold a kettlebell and bring it up. Have a look at the simple way to do it here

Fitness and Power looked at How Much Protein You Need After the Workout and also providing the differences for split-routines vs full-body routines.

Science For Sport shared an infographic from YLM Sports Science on How Exercise Makes You More Resilient To Mental Fatigue

Stack shared 2 great training articles

4 Strategies for Individualizing Workouts in Group Settings offering some really great strategies, everyone who has worked with bigger groups knows how challenging it can be.
Why You Should Build Strength During Your Sports Season offering advice why you should train during your sports season – a bit of a no-brainer for me – but I also know there are different beliefs out there.

Juggernaut Training Systems shared a great video Mobility Myths with Dr. Quinn Henoch : Foam Rolling offering advice and reasoning what foam rolling can do for you and what not. It can definitely not do all the things that have been promised the last years, but have a look Doc Hennoch explains it well

Juggernaut Training Systems also shared RP Templates Critique: Dr. Mike Israetel a great nuanced discussion how their own training templates can help, who they can serve and also explaining who they cannot serve. I like the the way Doc Israetel puts things in perspective!

Actually, this should have been the highlight of the week, but hey “Who can possibly compete with Pyrros Dimas?”

Youth Strength Training Articles

Breakingmuscle followed up on last week’s post on youth strength training with an article on Traditional vs. Undulating Periodization in Youth Athletes confirming what earlier investigations have found out that the periodization model for youth athletes is less of importance as opposed to a well-runded and structured program approach.

Plyometric Training Articles

The Elite Performance Institute published Plyometric Training & Stretch Shortening Cycle (SSC) a great article covering the physiology, underlying principles, testing & monitoring of plyometric training and the practical application.

Fitness Pain-free wrote a good article on how to implement plyometric training and the benefits of implementing plyometric training Why Your Training Program Should Include Plyometrics And Jumping

Lachlan Wilmot tweeted on Box Jump Training and showcasing in a very clear way the common fallacy of a higher box doesn’t always mean the athlete jumps higher. Thanks, Lachlan.

Jump training needs to improve COM displacement, not hip mobility, a higher box doesn’t mean your jumping higher! pic.twitter.com/hEcKWcfjLZ

— Lachlan Wilmot (@lachlan_wilmot) September 23, 2016

Stack shared 3 articles

Essential Med Ball Exercises That Build Power showcasing a few useful exercises to improve Power
3 Med Ball Throws for Acceleration and Quickness some more useful med ball variations to improve acceleration and quickness
Try This Jumping Technique That Actually Protects Your Knees From Injury really good article on the importance of landing, we use landing and learning to absorb the stretch loading all the time as the first phase of our plyometric training program
Boost Your Vertical Jump With These Strength Exercises an approach focused on becoming stronger in order to increase your vertical jump.

The article Boost Your Vertical Jump With These Strength Exercises ties in with the theme I covered this week on how to increase the vertical in the article How Plyometrics Increase Your Vertical

Back Squat and Front Squat Articles

Bodybuilding.com states The One Lift Every Woman Should Do is a squat variation of some sort, whether it’s a Kettlebell Goblet Squat or a full Back Squat. They also recommended useful squat progressions for athletes that start out with learning the squat.

Men’s Health show How Working One Leg At a Time Builds More Muscle another good article emphasizing the incorporation of single-legged exercises, something we also emphasize strongly and had very good results so far. Have a look at some of their proposed exercises in the video below. As I mentioned in last week’s review I would probably opt for a stronger loading approach as Men’s Health.

Fitness and Power gave 4 Reasons why Squats are Better than Leg Presses and giving some really good rationale for their claim.

T-Nation shared a simple and effective ankle mobility test, that we also use all the time in their article Tip: Fix Your Ankle Mobility, Fix Your Squat

The Strength Sensei Charles Poliquin offered The Simple Grip Trick That Can Make You Squat More I do like the advice of squeezing the bar, which can help improve stability during the ascend. Whether it recruits more muscle fibers I am not sure, but have a look at the video.

Deadlift Articles

Fitness and Power outlined 10 Deadlift Mistakes That Make You Look Like a Newbie which entails all major key points as well as to avoid them.

The Barbell Physio showed 5 Ways to Increase Strength Off The Floor some good tips and appropriate exercise selection for those whose sticking point in the deadlift is right off the floor. Which is essentially the majority of people.

Power Clean, Power Snatch and Olympic Lifting Articles

Catalystathletics seems to be a mainstay on this weekly article recommendation. This week Catalystathletics shared Ask Greg: Slow Learning & Slow Lifting a great article with some really valuable points, that align with my observations over the last years, such as “Not everyone will be a good lifter, whatever you do…” or “‘People tend to invest not enough time in technique training, because it’s boring, but on the flipside don’t make the necessary improvements.” Worth reading.