I was catching up on some of the posts, specifically the Dick Brunner, er…DB Hammer posts, and wondering something. Why are so many guys worried about “stretch-range isometrics”, “PIM’s”, DUR-AN1, AREG, and all of the other stuff, when their most immediate problem is that they’re weak?
Every post starts out the same:
“I’ve been reading DB Hammer’s book, and want to get my bench up at least to 280 in the next few weeks with it, and…”
Unless you’re 14 or in the 125 pound weight class, your problem isn’t a lack of novel weight training advice, it’s that you’re WEAK!!! Damn, maybe because people hate to hear that kinda basic advice, but unless you’re squatting 2x your bodyweight already, quit worrying about performing “10 second eccentric holds with 3 pauses on the way down”, and get back to some hard-ass lifting!
No disrespect meant Nate but you’ve got to be a little more forgiving. These guys are just trying to find their way. I’m sure you weren’t always strong?
It takes time when you start out weak, so some people just want to find the most time efficient way. I do agree that hard work should come first and K.I.S.S.
The DB collective can be ridiculous sometimes, but I guess they felt that was the best way to grab attention. And they have. AREG is really just concentrated loading and focusing on weakpoints, but explained in an overcomplicated way. Charlie had his sprinters running to a drop-off, but it was by ear…
That’s exactly what I’m thinking, Delldell. There is a flood of information out there, and too many of us spend so much time focusing on the little things and not enough on the bigger picture. I’ve read DB’s book several times, and the more I do, it really is nothing outrageous, except for perhaps using a fixed percent for drop-off. The AREG stuff is helpful, but much of the other stuff is not new. I’ll stop there, since I know this has been beaten to death. But honestly, does anyone think that there is a guy out there benching 275kg for 12 sets of 6 reps (page 38 in DB’s book) from this? Where is he??
I’m certainly no future strongman myself, but I’ve really think that setting a long-term, carefully thought out plan will work wonders for someone getting started. I’m sure plenty of us on this board are familiar with the Russian texts available from EFS and Dynamic Systems, but how many have really taken the time to read them carefully and fully digest what is being written about? Probably not many, since these texts are just page after page of words, and we all like the photos and “sample workouts” that we can get elsewhere. Plus, the translation in places is a bit funky. But this should be required reading for anyone looking to get stronger.
Then maybe when you need to “add some spice” you can worry about DUR-An1 and MAG-An1 and pinnacle vs. prime, etc…
I agree with what you are saying. People look for the holy grail of strength gain without putting blood sweat and tears into it.
There are guys with a training age of 1 or 2 years following programs designed for very advanced lifters that have plateau’d. It’s ridiculous.
I by no means consider myself strong (I can deadlift 2X BW which is nothing special) but I know that if I want to get stronger I have to get in the gym and work hard and smart.
Big complex movements (deads, squats, standing shoulder press, bench press) good periodization, nutrition and recovery.
Are you talking about that Sportivny stuff? Which ones did you like?
I bet they wouldn’t be much easier to understand than DB’s old stuff. Haven’t looked in awhile, but I remember finding much practical info in the SSR is like a needle in a haystack. Got to go check again some time…
meh Areg = Autoregulation, nothing more, nothing less
I dunno I find training this way a lot harder than when I was training normally. I’m sure busting ass a lot more. I don’t recall the last time I did more than 5 sets of heavy triples, with each set half a rep from failure in any lift. Yet I’m doing this on a regular basis with Areg, after working up to a daily max. Or training for 2+ hours on fatigue days, just grinding out set after set.
This was something that wasn’t possible when I was training in a traditional sense.
If you have trained on Areg on any amount of time, you would have known all these things yourself
I find it stupid that people don’t think any of these methods are valid until your strong, hell when your strong why would you need to get stronger?!
It’s on the journey there, where you’d want to try all these things out.
See, most people training in their teenage years, don’t need to worry much about anything, just eat, train and sleep. And you gain without thinking. The first 3 years will be so easy, and the hormones are flowing, its like your on hard drugs.
Funny that all these strength coaches who get good results happen to be training teenagers mostly?
Once your past 21 years old, things change a lot, let alone when your in your 30s. Then the real proof in the training methods comes out.
If you can make an drug free geneticly average person in his 30s, who works fulltime, with at least 4 years of training under his belt make decent gains consistently then its a good thing for sure…
And you realise that a lot of these methods are used to cure the evils of regular strength training with regards to screwing up your motor patterns for sporting attributes and movements?
Off course people who are gym rats, bodybuilders and powerlifters etc don’t need to worry about such things :rolleyes:
And people wonder why they pull their hamstrings when they run…
I have done some stuff with DB and yes many people do need to work harder my best bench is only 345 and squat is 545 so i need to get stronger (I compete in 165 or 181 sometimes i drop) But, I think DB has some good stuff and our job is to figure out where his info fits into what we do. After reading DB and Christian it made me think more about ISO’s. I had more of my athletes do iso’s this year for different reasons then why DB does them but he made me think more. Think about Mel Siff I do not understand most of what he said but I tried and need to keep trying. Screw it I am going to read supertraining again.
As for the powercage Chris. From what I can tell, when I leave my gym and go to the club for cardio and watch the personal trainers, I think it’s for holding the bar when doing shrugs and curls.
Many of those who do a “good” program become impatient and end up not seeing the program through to get the results they are seeking. Sometimes, of course, their expectations are very unrealistic to begin with. Many of these people hop around from program to system, etc. looking for the answer and hope to stumble across some shortcut where in fact if they would just train intelligently and consistently they would eventually achieve good numbers. What must be the thinking?- “I bench 135 now, and now, after an entire 6 weeks of training I bench only 155, this program does not work and has failed me-no world record.” There are certainly a number of programs and systems out there that will elicit results(along with a bunch of garbage) and if some people will use them and adjust them over time they can see results. I am using a system currently(very similar to Charlie’s progressions) that most here would consider very vanilla and boring(not autoreg or pendulum-not disputing that this will work also) but after 20 years of lifting, I am still achieving good results.
I think it’s in most trainers nature to want to find the best, most efficient workout. A lot of it’s impatience/lack of knowledge, but it also shows the desire to get better. I love to experiment with new ideas. However most people go overboard and overhaul their whole training regimen based on what the newest guru says.
I agree. What many don’t have is a base of solid understanding of training. And you can’t implement part of another coaches work into your own program if you don’t have that base.
James Smith, site looks good. Ditch the Dark Side schtich. Too Davies-like.
You’re a knowledgable fella. Should be more like “Follow me to the Light!”
Only the uneducated, magazine society live in the Dark.
I hit on this a little in Emotion and Passion in Training a while back.
Too much thinking when training. If you don’t have a coach/trainer and you have to stop and think when to perform certain movements or pauses during a rep or did I use the red band last week or was it the green one or was that pin set at the fifth hole or was it the sixth hole, was it an eight inch box or was it the 10 inch box.
Attack the weights and fight gravity with all you have.
If your a beginner trying to find your way forget DB!!! Read dinosaur training and then read it again, if your not amped to go to the gym and lift your ass off you dont belong there. It’s what started me on this strange strength and conditioning journey!!!
The Darkside reference has nothing to do with Davies, but rather the concurrent/conjugate approach that Westside affiliates such as Myslinski and Morris have been proliferating.
