You called it
http://magazine.stack.com/TheIssue/Article/6717/In_the_Weight_Room_With_Usain_Bolt.aspx
If Usain has just done a track workout, then right away gone into the weights room - no need for many endless sets of warm ups - he is already warm.
I tell ya - i wish my shoulders looked like his just doing bench presses! make that machine press - his shoulders are huge on him
3x10, don’t complete the movement. works for me
Bolt is hoping people copy this workout so he can stay on top of the world
The training session contradicts a previous website article on Usain’s training. On another website, it said he employed lunges with heavy dumbells, and “frog jumps” and “leap frogs”.
It has been said that his breakfast is:
Fried green bananas
Yam
Dumplings (meat with onions and other ingrediants.)
Perhaps the reason for using machines is because, being so tall, his coach doesn’t want the tall body contorting itself with deep barbell back squats, (which for very long legged person) could end up being “good mornings” lift, instead of squats.
In the machine however, he can change the technique.
Machines obviously don’t build more strength than barbells, but you recover quicker from machine work, because there is less stabilization involed. (neural and central neural recovery). This has been covered before in scientific research papers.
Darren Campbell also used the machine bench press, just less risky and less time consuming than setting up a barbell bench press. (Remember, Asafa Powell damaging his pecs with barbell bench press?).
There is a counter argument to heavy barbell work though… If some ones beating themselves up with barbells they might not have as much energy left for the more important track work. Remember, the mentality of most is to really push it on each gym training set. (Charlie used barbells, but it was often way below max anything, and there were usually reps to spare at the end of each set, so they rarely overtrained with weights.) A lot of athletes don’t have the patiance for this aproach and believe they have to go gung-ho, every time they step in the gym. They may be aware of the science, but still have the subconscious mentality of “no-pain, no gain”.
Putting such athletes on the comfortable machines might not be such a silly idea. In a machine, you can push it with the reps, but still not fry your neural system.
The above fact has been proven by simple tests, when weight trainers who have fatigued themselves with the barbell, are still able to push out a number of reps on the machine (with same weight) with no rest between the two sets. (not a training recomendation, merely a known experiment which proves the point.)
for 10 years + I have been using the smith machine (machine bench press) and cables, no freeweights the athletes have never had an injury.
i find i can push out either 2 more reps on a quality machine bench or about 2.5kg more in weight than a normal bench.
Indeed. And then there is the design of the machine… In the photos of Usain Bolt, he is using a version of the “Hammer press” benching machine. Where you sit up and press horizontally. I find I can press significantly more weight here than a barbell, even though it doesn’t necesarily mean I am using higher c.n.s intensity.
But in a classic vertical smith machine, most could probably bench significantly more than with a barbell.
The fact that you can ‘only’ push 2.5 kilos more in machine (most could push about 10 kilos more), suggests to me that you probably have very good stabilization and adaptation to the barbell bench press.
I do - i know where they all are, and how to treat them to be useful - if they are tight, i struggle to lift anything… so find something else to do. Then go and Foam roll using a foam ball.
The trick with weight training, is to know when to stop using something, and replace it with another. Push ups, bench with bar, bench with hammer strength, heavy bag boxing - All fairly similiar in nature depending on how u do each and what u want to achieve.
What if u plan on doing Bench’s Only as a pressing exercise, you go to the gym, its MeatHead hr (or 2) and no matter what, you cannot use the barbell bench, the hammer bench is being used to read TXT msg’s…
These days in gyms, you need to be versatile. Or own ya own
From a couple of sessions I had with a 30 year old female and teenagers.
Track session before weights, no high CNS stuff.
A young disabled girl won a world medal for CP 100m not long after lower level program. She was found training in a Gym, ha
Is it worth a laugh or maybe a reply.
Thursday, 27 July 2006 Glendale 3x10 extreme pottysquat-smiths-40lb/legpress-60kg/ benchpress-smiths-30,20,25kg /pressbehindneck-smiths-20kg/dips/latpulldown3brick /chinups
Monday, 31 July 2006 R/T 3x10 extreme Pottysquat-smiths-50lb/legextension-5b/ benchpress-smiths-20lb /pressbehindneck-smiths-bar/dips/latpulldown6b /chinups
Thursday, 3 August 2006 Glendale 3x10 extreme pottysquat-smiths-20kglb/singlelegpress-70kg/ benchpress-smiths-25kg /pressbehindneck-smiths-20kg/dips/latpulldown3b /chinups
Monday, 7 August 2006 R/T 3x10 extreme pottysquat-single-smiths-20lb/leg ext-6b/bench-35lb/press/20lb/latpull-6b/chinup
Thursday, 17 August 2006 Glendale 3x10 extreme pottysquats-2x301x50/legpress-50kg/ bench-35kg/ dip/ latpulldown-4b/chinup
Monday, 21 August 2006 R/T 3x10 extreme calfraise-155/singlepottysquat-1x20lb,2x50lb/ legext-8b/ bench-1x40,2x60lb/ dips/latpull-8b
Thursday, 24 August 2006 Glendale 3x10 extreme calfraise-20/pottysquat-75lb/ legext-9b/ bench-1x40kg,2x30kg/ dips/latpull-4b
Monday, 28 August 2006 R/T 3x10 extreme calfraise-155/pottysquat-50lb/ legext-8b/ bench-60lb/ press-1x40,2x30lb/dips/latpull-9b
Bodybuilding, isolate the muscles and follow the bloodflow. You are building speed strength to last for ten seconds, an old bodybuilder was helping me here. The 30 year old would have won a bodybuilding comp.
That"s what I was told.
Why do you post such incessant nonsense?
There are so many factual errors in what you just said above… it would take a book to go into detail.
you cannot make a comparison between the two.
I don’t know why a quote ‘so true’, humors me, but it does.
I got my own gym at home. I can do what I want, experiment how I want, and take as much time as I please 
Here we go again fogelson. You really have it in for me don’t you. Have you still not got over that very mild argument we had in another thread several weaks ago? Are you the same person that gave me a negative reputation point for it? Yes, I think you are. Because even now, you are obviously still holding a grudge, that you need to come out and say such things.
Every statemnet I have made can be backed up. The fact is I have read a journal published on a major science website. It showed smith machine squats did not cause as much nervous sytem fatigue as barbell squats.
Now, is your point that there is no such thing as neural fatigue? If that is your point, then you really are one of those overly pedantic dicks that miss the boat entirely (and I’m getting annoyed with you -yes).
I suppose you’re going to lecture me about the nervous system not having substrates or something and that it doesn’t have the fatigue that we associate with muscles.
Well, when the nervous system becomes ‘depressed’ as a way to conserve energy in the future (for several days), a better phrasing than fatigue, would be central nervous system ‘lathargy’, where it atleast acts fatigued. (which if you think about it, is as good as fatigued.) Or I could use the phrase neural depression, but you would probably criticise that aswell.
What’s your f%$cking problem fogelson? That you have to call it nonsense?
If you think you can bully me from thread to thread, you are seriously mistaken.
Edited. Post was moving too far away from original point of thread, because of argument.
Banging out more reps on a machine after barbell fatigue is a no brainer, you can lift more on the machine it self.
So go from the barbell to a lighter weight and you’ve got the same result.
Does more muscle recruitment=greater CNS stress? If so again no brainer between the machine and barbell.
But attributing the CNS stress is relative. Would the machine result in the same magnitude of CNS stress(CNS energy to # of recruitment) ? Would the extra overall CNS stress from barbell to machine weights really affect sprinting that much? Is your goal in the weight room to do as little CNS stress as possible?
I put question marks because I don’t know the answer.
Goose, first off, I cannot even give you negative rep points. If you didn’t realize, you cannot give people negative rep points multiple times. Apparently, people just think that you are saying things that are nonsensical. ‘What you think’ involved saying that I was/am a cunt and nothing more. Glad to hear that is what you think.
Onto why your points are stupid:
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As Syrus pointed out, you can lift more on the machine, so of course you will be able to do more reps. There are different leverages and the bar does not weigh the same, so there will need to be adjustments. You either don’t understand this or don’t acknowledge it.
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The reason why there is less soreness and perceived “CNS stress” for some people is because they do not control the eccentric portion of the lift when using these machines. Again, it is the nature of the person using it, not the machine itself. If someone adjusted things, then there would most definitely be equivalent CNS stress once you adjusted the relative loads, TUT, etc. People can do more reps because of the easier leverages and reduced stress from being able to do minimal eccentric action (often bouncing the weights).
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You have no research studies to indicate that CNS fatigue is the limiting factor from weight training. Most sprinters (in a worldwide sense) in fact are quite lazy in the weight room, despite having great abilities. One needs to look no further than guys who can barely BP more than their bodyweight, if that, to see these guys are not pushing their maximal abilities. We arrive back to the point that any reduced stress from using machines is because people who tend to use machines also tend to not go particularly hard. So you have people that are likely not lifting properly, on machines that give improved leverages for pushing more weight, and giving half-assed efforts. The stabilization bullshit is just that because someone that is stronger on barbell lifts will be stronger on the machine every time. You don’t magically not use your ‘stabilizers’. Most of it just comes from people not controlling the eccentric on the machine and bouncing the weight, which is much more difficult to do with free weights.
Also, Asafa hurt his pec on a supramaximal eccentric bench press (negative). That is hardly relevant to someone doing non-retarded lifting in the weightroom and using much more conservative means, regardless of the lift used.
The goal is not about having as low a c.n.s stress as possible. The goals are different for different athletes. For some one it could be hypertrophy, for some oe else, it could be prehabilitation, for another; rehabilitation, for another it could be strengthening a structural weakness, for another it could be staying out of the pouring rain and getting in some training, for another it could be maximizing c.n.s stress because a niggling injury made them want to avoid the track that day. For another person it could be increasing the over-all work capacity, because they are finding a lot of volume on the track to be risky, for some one else, it could be a tonic to the nervous system which may help their next track session. For another person, it could be exitation for the nervous sytem before they step on to the track after weight session (Marion Jones, also H.S.I sprint club, and Linford Christie). For some one else, it may merely be just a way for them to monitor their strength during a maintanance phase.
There are so many variables. The one thing I can say about weight training is that it is very easy to measure exactly where you are (with the weights) as it is a very measurable tagent - for obvious reasons. You have to decide how to manipulate it, because you have to decide what you need weight training for, and the best way to achieve that. There are many different ways of achieving strength. You don’t have to go all out in the gym to get progression. Pavel Tsatsouline and many other strength coaches emphasize this often. They talk about monitering the bar speed, or atleast being mindfull of it if you don’t have tecnology.
Others, such as Charles Poliquin, prefer that you try to improve each session, (and he recomends changing the exercises now and again, and having less frequant sessions of each area of the body. Like each bodypart trained once every 5 days.) But he is more in to hypertrophy side of weight training for off-season field athletes. Hockey/football.
Thre are many variables so you have to personalize your program, but without over emphazising the weights part of the program. Usain Bolt himself, amongst countless hundreds of other examples, does not over emphasize the weights part of the training. A simple program should be fine, where now and again you can miss the weights session if you really need to. Michael Johnson would do the weights times three days a weak, and some times on alternate days, but sometimes, three days in a row, so long as three sessions were done. (so you see, that is yet another way of personalizing your weights program.) Other people might not feel the need for three whole bopy sessions every weak.