Line of Movement – Determining hip or quad dominant

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Description

King, I., 20??, Heavy Metal #7, t-mag.com

King, I., 2003, Ask the Master

Any lower body exercise where the trunk remains at or above 45 degrees of flexion I loosely call a quad dominant exercise e.g. Squat.  Any leg exercise where the trunk is flexed greater than 45 degrees I loosely call a hip dominant exercise.

Cosgrove, A., 2003, Martial Arts

A. Use this simple rule of thumb: if your torso is bent forward more than 45 degrees, consider the exercise to be hip-dominant.  Remember, that means that the muscles of your hips – your glutes and hamstrings – are more involved than those of your quadriceps.  So you’re not isolating muscle groups, you’re just focusing more on one set than the other.  If your torso is vertical or bent forward less than 45 degrees, think of the move as knee  - or quadriceps – dominant.

 Back off sets

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King, I., 2003, Ask the Master (book)

Back off sets.

 

What is a "back off set" and when should it be used?

 

The ‘back off’ set is the term I use to describe the last set of an exercises that is significantly higher rep than the main work sets. For example, in

 

1x6

1x1

1x6

1x1

1x10-20

Shugart, C., 2001, The Ian King Cheat Sheets – Part 2, Fri Aug 31 2001, T-mag.com

Back-off Sets

...This is one of those cool neurological tricks Ian is famous for. Basically, when you come back to a light weight in the back-off set after lifting heavy, you can do more reps at a given weight than you would have if you’d done them as your first set. Plus, you can do them with a greater degree of acceleration in the concentric (lifting) phase. Pretty cool, eh?

Ian recommends that you use back-off sets after heavy sets of six reps or less. He also notes that the greater the contrast between the high load set and the back-off set, the better the effect. For example, going from a negative-only set to a back-off set works extremely well. Ian warns not to use this technique on every set in the workout, though, as it’s very draining and eats into your energy reserves more than a normal set.

Cosgrove, A., 2004, MF Bag of Tricks, Men’s Fitness

4. Back-Off Sets

How to do it:

After performing 2-4 sets with your six-rep max, perform a higher-repetition set with lighter weights, known as a back-offset. Drop the weight by 40% and do as many reps as possible, performing them as quickly as you can. For example, say your first and second sets were six reps with 100 pounds. Do set No. 3 with 60 pounds for as many reps as possible. (You'll be able to complete more repetitions than you'd usually get with 60 pounds.)

Why it works: The nerves that stimulate your muscles are already "excited" from your heavy sets, so they're psyched up to do more work than usual. Doing the back-off set forces your muscles to work harder than normal, sparking muscle growth.

Prioritization

Source

Description

King, I., 2003, Ask the Master (book)

Before I get into it and get esoteric, let me ask you this – do you ever do your forearms first in the workout?  If not, get started.  I don’t care what sequencing rules or paradigms you have adopted or been exposed to – if it is your weak link or number one priority – do it first (and yes this does include the abdominals, shock horror!)

Cosgrove, A., 2005, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Program Design, T-mag.com, Sep 26 2005

For an athlete, core strength is where it's at. Most coaches working with athletes would like more core strength. It's that important. And if it's that important, why would we ever do it anywhere but first? If it's a priority, then prioritize it!

Methods of Prioritization

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Description

King, I., 2003, Ask the Master (book)

You see, in essence all programs have an imbalance or a prioritization. This comes from the sequence of exercises within the workout and week, the allocation of volume, the relative use of intensity, the comparative selection of exercise categories and so on.  So whatever program you are doing at any given time, it will give you a muscle imbalance.  

Cosgrove, A., 2005, Program Design Bible

Programs can be prioritized by volume of movement (number of sets and reps), sequence of movement (in the workout, in the week and in the program), and loading of movement (amount of weight involved). 

Abdominals - Done First in the Workout

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Description

King, I., 2003, Ask the Master (book)

One key thing I do (and perhaps a little different to what you may be used to!) is I spend a substantial amount of program time doing abdominals at the START OF THE WORKOUT.  Yes, that’s right, before any other exercises.

Cosgrove, A., 2006, 7 Keys to Athletic Success

Yep, I do core training first.

Abdominals - If they are a priority – do them first

Source

Description

King, I., 2003, Ask the Master (book)

Before I get into it and get esoteric, let me ask you this – do you ever do your forearms first in the workout?  If not, get started.  I don’t care what sequencing rules or paradigms you have adopted or been exposed to – if it is your weak link or number one priority – do it first (and yes this does include the abdominals, shock horror!)

Cosgrove, A., 2006, 7 Keys to Athletic Success, t-nation.com

3. Core / Pillar Training (cont)

For an athlete, core strength is where it's at. Most coaches working with athletes would like more core strength. It's that important. And if it's that important, why would we ever do it anywhere but first? If it's a priority, then prioritize it!

Abdominals – Squatting after abdominal exercises

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Description

King, I., 2003, Ask the Master (book)

…  I know what you are going to say – how many times have I heard it?  Your granddaddy told your daddy and he told you – doing abs first will cause fatigue in the support muscles, which is evil blah blah blah.  Before you reel out the rhetoric give it a go.  Absolutely bash your abdominals and then squat – then come to your own conclusions. 

Abs first in the workout?

Q. There seems to be an accepted “rule” that says not to train the abs first in the workout. You’ve said to train abs first if they’re your weak link. So, what’s the deal? Will hitting abs first in your workout make you less stable for squatting or other exercises?

A. …..Now for the big one – that fatigued abs make your less stable in squatting!  Again let me ask - what is the role of the abdominal during squatting.  Let’s see….the distance between the sternum and the hip is shortening due to trunk flexion….so maybe the abdominals are contracting concentrically….or maybe they are not….maybe this trunk flexion is being controlled by the back extensor, gluteals and hamstrings… interesting.

Now what about the lifting phase….the distance between the sternum and the hip is lengthening….maybe the abdominals are contracting eccentrically to contribute….or maybe they are not….maybe the back extensor, gluteals and hamstrings and contracting concentrically to cause the back extension… interesting.

Maybe in the squat the abdominals are doing really very little! 

Cosgrove, A., 2005, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Program Design, T-mag.com

…The logic that you train abs last because it tires them out never made any sense. Even in squatting. The abs don't work concentrically coming out of a squat, so I'm really not concerned if my athletes did a pillar bridge for 60 seconds or two sets of reverse crunches.

Unilateral vs bilateral

Source

Description

King, I., 2003, Ask the Master (book)

Bilateral vs. Unilateral Training.

The reality is a large percentage of strength trainee’s probably shouldn’t be doing bilateral (e.g. barbell) work until they resolve bilateral imbalances.

Cosgrove, A., 2006, 10 things I’ve learnt

20. Most athletes and people in general need to focus more on unilateral (single leg) lower body work than bilateral (both legs) lower body work.

Abdominals - If they are a priority – do them first

Source

Description

King, I., 2003, Ask the Master (book)

Before I get into it and get esoteric, let me ask you this – do you ever do your forearms first in the workout?  If not, get started.  I don’t care what sequencing rules or paradigms you have adopted or been exposed to – if it is your weak link or number one priority – do it first (and yes this does include the abdominals, shock horror!)

Cosgrove, A., and Cosgrove, R., 2009, Program Design Bible

For an athlete, core strength is where it's at. Most coaches working with athletes would like more core strength. It's that important. And if it's that important, why would we ever do it anywhere but first? If it's a priority, then prioritize it!

Abdominals – Squatting after abdominal exercises

Source

Description

King, I., 2003, Ask the Master (book)

…  I know what you are going to say – how many times have I heard it?  Your granddaddy told your daddy and he told you – doing abs first will cause fatigue in the support muscles, which is evil blah blah blah.  Before you reel out the rhetoric give it a go.  Absolutely bash your abdominals and then squat – then come to your own conclusions. 

Abs first in the workout?

Q. There seems to be an accepted “rule” that says not to train the abs first in the workout. You’ve said to train abs first if they’re your weak link. So, what’s the deal? Will hitting abs first in your workout make you less stable for squatting or other exercises?

A. …..Now for the big one – that fatigued abs make your less stable in squatting!  Again let me ask - what is the role of the abdominal during squatting.  Let’s see….the distance between the sternum and the hip is shortening due to trunk flexion….so maybe the abdominals are contracting concentrically….or maybe they are not….maybe this trunk flexion is being controlled by the back extensor, gluteals and hamstrings… interesting.

Now what about the lifting phase….the distance between the sternum and the hip is lengthening….maybe the abdominals are contracting eccentrically to contribute….or maybe they are not….maybe the back extensor, gluteals and hamstrings and contracting concentrically to cause the back extension… interesting.

Maybe in the squat the abdominals are doing really very little! 

Cosgrove, A., and Cosgrove, R., 2009, Program design bible

The logic that you train abs last because it tires them out never made any sense. Even in squatting. The abs don't work concentrically coming out of a squat, so I'm really not concerned if my athletes did a pillar bridge for 60 seconds or two sets of reverse crunches.

Methods of Prioritization

Source

Description

King, I., 2003, Ask the Master (book)

Designing a prioritization program is a real art ....This come from the sequence of exercises within the workout and week, the allocation of volume, the relative use of intensity, the comparative selection of exercise categories and so on.   

Cosgrove, A., and Cosgrove, R., 2009, Program Design Bible

Programs can be prioritized by volume of movement (number of sets and reps), sequence of movement (in the workout, in the week and in the program), and loading of movement (amount of weight involved).