Muscle Logic by Charles Staley

Author:Charles Staley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rodale
Published: 2005-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

WEEK 1

Monday: Perform session 1

Wednesday: Perform session 2

Friday: Perform session 1

WEEK 2

Monday: Perform session 2

Wednesday: Perform session 1

Friday: Perform session 2

WHAT IS GOOD FORM?

I define “good form” a bit differently than most. Good form to me means maintaining pain-free optimal body alignment and range of motion on every repetition.

GENERAL FORM GUIDELINES FOR ALL WEIGHT-TRAINING EXERCISES

The following recommendations should be monitored for all weight-training exercises. It’s important to be proactive when it comes to exercise technique. Don’t just assume that you’re doing it correctly—actively look for possible errors until your technique has become optimized and stable. Mirrors, video recording, and qualified training partners and coaches are all great forms of feedback.

PAIN IS TO BE AVOIDED, NOT SOUGHT. We’re all different, with unique postural and orthopedic histories. If you’re doing a particular exercise and it causes pain, stop. Even if you’ve got the best coaches looking at you, and every weight-training book ever written says that your form is perfect, it isn’t. Pain means that whatever you’re doing is causing harm to your body. Remember that some people cannot safely perform particular movement patterns, because of injuries or other factors. I, for example, cannot perform a “perfect” deep squat (even though I understand how to perform one), because I’ve had serious knee surgeries that have left me with range-of-motion restrictions caused by scar tissue buildup. I’ve learned to modify my squats (primarily by reducing the range of motion) in such a way that I can perform them safely. If an exercise causes pain, discontinue that exercise and seek competent instruction (see the Resources section in this book to find qualified instruction in your area). If the pain persists, seek qualified medical attention to determine the cause of the pain.

ALWAYS LIFT WITH THE WHOLE BODY. During any exercise, keep the noninvolved muscles tight and bolted down —which means that even during so-called isolation exercises, such as barbell curls, every muscle in your body should be participating through static or isometric contraction. It’s truly the opposite of isolation. Russian kettlebell expert Pavel Tsatsouline suggested the following experiment while teaching at one of my annual boot camps. Reach out and shake your partner’s hand as tightly as possible (make sure he can handle it first!); then disengage. Next, tighten up your abs and glutes as hard as you can, and repeat the handshake. Your partner will notice that your grip strength has suddenly skyrocketed! The tension created in your abs and glutes serves to increase tension in all your other muscles as well. This is called “hyperirradiation.”

CONSISTENT PERFORMANCE IS KEY. Every rep should look exactly the same, except for speed. It’s okay to slow down during a set—as fatigue accumulates, that’ll be a given. It’s not okay if your 1st rep looks like a squat and your 10th rep looks like a curtsy! Envision yourself as a machine: The 1st rep looks just like every other rep, with no variation at all, other than the inevitable slowing down as fatigue sets in.

ENSURE AND MAINTAIN LEFT-RIGHT SYMMETRY.

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