The Outside View
“Olympic lifting is very technical and to be good requires a lot of practice,” says powerlifter Tom Hamilton (see p68). “If you get bored easily, it isn’t for you. The benefits are clear though – it builds strong, powerful physiques, requires a good level of flexibility, gives you clear targets to work on and can be fun.”
Olympic weightlifting
It’s a sport in itself, but you don’t need a singlet or gold-medal aspirations to benefit from increased power, mobility and speed
What is it?
Training and competing in the two Olympic lifts: the snatch (where the bar goes from the floor to overhead in one move) and the clean and jerk (where you “clean” the bar to your shoulders, then push-press it overhead and drop underneath it). Competitive lifters get three attempts at each to post a combined total for both.
What’s it best for?
“Although I compete, I first learned the lifts for developing power for other sports,” says strength and conditioning coach Alex Adams. “It’s essentially jumping with weights, so it improves not only strength but speed and rate of force development.”
What are its limitations?
It’s not exactly entry-level. “To do the full lifts safely requires very good mobility, flexibility and balance,” says Adams. “This shouldn’t put people off – practising the positions is a great way to improve knee and hip flexibility.” But forget the cardio until you’re experienced. “Fatigue reduces rep quality, so Oly lifts aren’t great for metabolic work until you’ve learned your technical limits.”
Instant expertise
Learn the hook grip
Tuck your thumb under your first two fingers. It hurts but it works. “It secures the bar much better and leads to higher loads lifted in the long term,” says Adams. “Anyone who lifts should use it.” It’ll also help you improve your deadlift.
Know your power hangs
“The terminology is fairly simple: power variations are lifts caught in a half squat or higher,” says Adams. “Cleans and snatches can be done from the ‘hang’, meaning that you don’t start from the floor – but you could start anywhere from knee to mid-thigh, depending on what you’re working on.”
Don’t say “squat clean”
“That’s a CrossFit thing,” says Adams. “In reality, every full squat or clean should be caught at full squat depth – otherwise it’s an indication that you could be lifting more.”
You’ve made it when…
You can clean and jerk your own bodyweight. “That’s my initial benchmark, but you’re doing well if you can then progress to snatching bodyweight,” says Adams. Want to compete? Standards are high: to qualify for a English national competition you’d need to total 239kg as an 85kg lifter.
Build power
“Most sessions will begin with snatch or a snatch variant,” says Adams. “It takes the most speed to execute so it comes when you’re freshest. I usually do both lifts on the same day but vary the exact exercise to limit the crossover and fatigue. Most sessions will have a heavy squat or pull but rarely both. Assistance work like pressing, rowing and back and abs comes last.”
1 Snatch pullSets 5 Reps 2
It’s easier than the full snatch, but still a great power generator. Set up with the bar on the floor and your hands fairly wide. Drive up, and bump the bar off your hips as you shrug it slightly upwards. Drop, reset and go again.
2 High hang clean Sets 4 Reps 2
Start with the bar in your hands, with a shoulder-width grip. Bend your knees slightly, then do a small jump as you explosively bring the bar to your shoulders.
3 Front squatSets 4 Reps 3
Take the bar out of a rack with it resting across the front of your shoulders, supporting it slightly with your fingertips. Squat down with your weight on your heels, and drive back up.
4 Bent-over rowSets 3 Reps 8
Bend forward at the hips, and pull the barbell to your sternum. Pause, then lower.
5 Hanging leg raiseSets 3 Reps 10
Hang from a bar with your legs straight. Bring them until they’re at 90° from your torso, pause and lower.
CrossFit
Functional movements, ultra-high intensity… and injuries? Not if you do it right
What is it?
A fitness company, exercise style and competitive sport, incorporating elements from high-intensity interval training, Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, calisthenics and strongman. Strict CrossFitters might follow the crossfit.com “mainsite” workouts of the day (also known as WODs), following a three-days-on, one-day-off format, but most CrossFit gyms will run their own programming, incorporating strength and skill work.
What’s it good for?
“Developing an all-round base of fitness that includes metabolic conditioning and strength and skill and mobility,” says CrossFit London coach Andrew Stemler. “I think there’s a lot of truth in the idea that we fail at the edges of our competence – so the further we can push those edges out the better. If two runners who have done the same endurance regime line up on the starting line, the one who can do snatches or handstands or pull-ups seems to have an edge over the one who can’t.”
What are its limitations?
“As a fitness regime – if you do it twice a week for fun – it can suffer from a lack of specialism,” says Stemler. “If you’re practising snatches, handstands, pull-ups, rowing, running and deadlifting, the gains won’t be as great in any one area than if you specialise – but, of course, if you specialise, you neglect another area.”
Instant expertise
Know your WODs
The best-known workouts are named after girls – Elizabeth, Diane and Cindy are some of the best-known – or deceased soldiers, known as “The Hero Workouts”. The latter are usually vicious, and a solid time on Murph – 100 pull-ups, 200 press-ups and 300 squats, bookended by one-mile runs – is essential.
Do the penguin
If you can’t do a double-under – the skipping trick where you twirl the rope twice per jump – you’ll get nowhere in CrossFit competition. Master it fast with the penguin hop: jump in the air, slap your hands to your thighs twice before you land, and repeat at speed. You’ll get calf work and co-ordination.
Talk EMOMs
Newbies do the mainsite WODs, but all the cool CrossFitters use “every minute on the minute” (EMOM) training to pack in work without compromising form. Pick two or three moves, set a clock going, and do your reps at the top of the minute. The quicker you move, the more you get to recover. Try it with front squats and dips.
You’ve made it when…
The “kipping” pull-up and the ring muscle-up are the first things to master: both take skill and co-ordination. “After that, the aim is to do a classic WOD such as Fran – 21, 15 and nine reps each of pull-ups and thrusters (a front squat into a press) with 42kg – in a reasonable time,” says Stemler. Aim for under ten minutes.
Get go-anywhere conditioning
The WOD Kalsu, named after ex-NFL player Bob Kalsu, who died in the Vietnam war, is CrossFit’s most deceptively brutal workout. Hardcore CrossFitters do it with a 60kg barbell, but you should start light. Start with five burpees and continue (for the rest of the minute) doing thrusters. On the next minute start over again with five burpees and keep going until you’ve done, yes, 100 thrusters. Rest, and cry.
1 Burpee
Drop into a press-up position and let your chest hit the floor, then hop back to your feet, jump and clap your hands over your head.
2 Thruster
Holding dumbbells at your shoulders, squat and then stand up, using the momentum to help drive the dumbbells overhead.
The Outside View
All that intensity doesn’t come without issues. “The problem I have with CrossFit’s gymnastic elements is that the sole focus seems to be on the volume of repetition with little regard for control, body alignment or required strength,” says calisthenics specialist Darren Onyejekwe (see p64). “Kipping pull-ups and muscle-ups, handstand walking with massively extended spines and wall-assisted handstand press-ups where the legs are thrown up into the air to generate momentum to make the movement easier… Once you combine these movements with fatigue and a competitive environment it’s a recipe for disaster.” The lesson? Build up to them properly.
The Outside View
“I’ve got a huge amount of time for calisthenics,” says physique coach Jonny Jacobs (see p66). “If you need proof of how calisthenics can change your body composition for the better, just look at male gymnasts. These guys are solid muscle from head to toe, mobile and flexible with low body fat.”
Calisthenics
Build functional strength with no kit – in the gym or in the great outdoors
What is it?
Technically, it’s almost any form of bodyweight training – but recently it’s come to mean the ultra-modern “sport” of urban calisthenics or street workout, consisting of moves done on pull-up bars or playground equipment, focusing on advanced variations that include bar spins and muscle-ups.
What’s it good for?
“Calisthenics is a great training method to build lean muscle mass, gain strength and master control of your own body,” says Darren Onyejekwe, a calisthenics specialist otherwise known as Bodyweight D. The last part is one of the most important: by learning to build tension throughout your body, you’ll be in better control when it’s time to lift. And, of course, it’s great Instagram-fodder.
What are its limitations?
“If you’re trying to pack on loads of muscle mass, calisthenics isn’t the most efficient option,” says Onyejekwe. “Combined with a sensible diet, it’ll create a lean, defined body, like a gymnast’s.” Without added weight, you’ll also have to think creatively to train your legs. Pistol squats are an option, but they take mobility and balance.
Instant expertise
Know your scapula
“Your shoulder blades can sit in four positions: protraction, retraction, elevation and depression,” says Onyejekwe. “Even people who can do the advanced skills often don’t have a clue which position they’re using.” The scapula pull-up will help with retraction and depression: hang from a bar, and keep your elbows straight back as you pull your shoulder blades together, aiming to get your shoulders away from your ears.
Unleash L
Make the L-sit your new favourite abs move. “This static position should be one of the first skills you learn,” says Onyejekwe. “But most people will need to work on their core strength and hip flexors.” If you can’t do the full thing – hands on the floor, legs out – start between two chairs, holding your thighs horizontal with knees bent. Do 60 seconds of this in as few sets as possible, twice a week.
Fly the flag
The human flag is the side-on move you’ve seen in endless Instagram pictures. “It’s a ‘semi-opposed’ skill, meaning that it requires you to push with one arm and pull with the other,” says Onyejekwe.
You’ve made it when…
“Calisthenics is all about the quality of movement over the quantity,” says Onyejekwe. “A lot of people are attracted to it by the highlight-reel moves, but I’d say make sure you can perform clean, full-range reps of press-ups, dips, pull ups, squats and hanging knee raises. I respect anyone who’s striving for clean movements and is in full control throughout the entire range of movement.”
Build bodyweight strength
“This workout is focused on strength, so the reps are kept low and there’s a decent amount of rest between sets,” says Onyejekwe. “Focus on quality movement.” Do it twice a week, supersetting the moves marked A and B, resting for as long as you need to get through the reps.
1 L-sit hold
Sets 3 Time 20-30sec Rest 1-3min
Do it on bars, or the edge of a sofa/chair. If you can’t manage the full version, tuck your legs.
2A Pull-up
Sets 5 Reps 5
Aim to pull your elbows behind you, and touch your collarbone to the bar on each rep.
2B Dip
Sets
5 Reps5
Rest 1-3min
Lower until your upper arms are parallel to the floor, pause, and push back up.
3A Press-up
Sets 5 Reps 10
Keep your hands under your shoulders, tuck your elbows to your sides, and touch your chest to the floor on each rep.
3B Inverted row
Sets
5 Reps 10 Rest1-3min
Lie under a bar/Smith machine with your feet flat and body straight. Pull up until your chest touches the bar, pause and lower.
4 Hollow body hold
Sets 5
Time 60sec Rest 1-2min
Lie on the floor, then bring your hands above your head, arms straight, and feet off the floor. Hold it.
5 Superman hold
Sets 5
Time 60sec Rest 1-2min From the hollow hold, roll onto your front and do the reverse, Man of Steel-style. It’ll build near-bulletproof abs.
6A Bodyweight squatSets 5 Reps 20
With your feet shoulder-width apart, squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor, pause, and stand up.
6B Half bridge
Sets
5 Reps 12 Rest1-2min
Lie on the floor with your feet close to your glutes. Drive your hips up in the air, pause and lower.
Physique training
Just want to look good? No problem – but “chest and triceps Monday” is so three decades ago, bro
What is it?
Assuming you aren’t planning to step onstage and bust out a double-biceps spread, physique training is simply training with aesthetics, not performance, at the forefront of your mind. It uses drop sets, forced reps and other techniques to cause maximum muscular damage in the pursuit of gains. You can also use it in tandem with other training to hit your weak spots and bust through plateaus.
What’s it best for?
“In essence training to improve body composition is about increasing lean muscle while reducing body fat,” says coach (and PhD in male body image) Jonny Jacobs. “For optimal results, combine strength training with anaerobic conditioning.”
What are its limitations?
Training to failure – or for tempo – isn’t always transferable to sporting disciplines, so if you’re looking for success on the five-a-side pitch or for a 5K PB, you’d be better of focusing elsewhere.
Instant expertise
Know your hypertrophy
There are two kinds: sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar. In sarcoplasmic, the volume of muscle cell fluid sarcoplasm increases – making your muscles bigger, but not necessarily stronger. Myofibrils, on the other hand, are what contract and generate power, and increasing their density will help you do it better. To build the latter, make your lifts explosive.
Invest in RMR
“Your resting metabolic rate dictates how much energy you’ll burn when you’re not in the gym,” says Jacobs. “Build more lean muscle, and it’ll improve.” Translation: by lifting weights, you’ll transform your body into a 24-hour fat-furnace.
Get on HIIT
“It wasn’t invented by Instagrammers,” Jacobs says of the increasingly popular interval training method. “It’s what we used to call a finisher.” What most people are missing is the high intensity part. For best results, use it twice a week at most – and leave it all on the floor.
You’ve made it when…
You see your body fat percentage start to drop. As a general rule, you’ll be able to see the outline of your abs at 10-12%; less means shredded. “Single-digit body fat is incredibly impressive and for most people takes a lot of dedication,” says Jacobs. “Very few people can maintain it, and it’s more about food than what you’re lifting.”
Put on size
“Three sets of eight to 12 reps is old-school for a reason – it works,” says Jacobs. “For any physique programme, aim to do large compound lifts first, then add in accessory exercises such as biceps curls, lateral raises or triceps push-downs. To improve body composition keep rest periods to around 60 seconds.” Here’s a classic chest-builder.
1 Bench pressSets 4 Reps 12
Keep the reps to a 4010 tempo: lower for four seconds, and press up for one.
2 Incline dumbbell press
Sets 3 Reps 10
This time, you’re going to hit a 3111 tempo. Pause at the bottom and top of the move, giving your pecs a chance to stretch.
3A Incline dip
Sets 3 Reps 10
Lean forward as you perform the dip – it’ll target your chest more.
3B Dumbbell flyeSets 3 Reps 10
Do this move with slightly bent arms, and pause at the bottom of each rep to feel the stretch across your chest.
The Outside View
“Bodybuilding can be great fun, but old-school training like having an ‘arms only’ day where you do a ton of volume just doesn’t make sense to me and isn’t necessary,” says powerlifter Tom Hamilton (see p68). “My view is that there should be an element of powerlifting within your training programme whereby you have some objective progress, monitoring lifts instead of just basing your opinion on if your training is working by what you see in the mirror – which is very subjective.”
Photography Glen Burrows Model Tom Eastham
The Outside View
It’s a pretty niche sport – and rife with infighting – but fun. “Powerlifting seems fairly misunderstood but can be a great entry into weight training generally,” says Olympic lifting coach Alex Adams (see p60). “As long as powerlifting programmes have enough variety they don’t do you any harm. Problems arise when you become too specialist and only do the competitive lifts.”
Powerlifting
Getting strong in the Big Three lifts isn’t just for huge guys – weight category competitions mean anyone can impress
What is it?
Technically, it actually means competing in the Big Three lifts (bench, deadlift and squat) – it isn’t considered good form to call yourself a powerlifter if you just train in them. The sport comes in “raw” (just T-shirt and shorts) and “equipped” varieties, the latter allowing knee and elbow wrapping, alongside spring-loaded suits that provide a hefty degree of assistance.
What is it best for?
Raw strength. “While it can have some carryover to building muscle, powerlifting’s main focus is one-rep strength in the big three,” says powerlifter and coach Tom Hamilton. That means lots of low-rep training, watching your figure (it’s a weight-categoryobsessed sport) – and, of course, focusing on the finer technical points of the big lifts.
What are its limitations?
“Its strength may also be its weakness,” says Hamilton. “A heavy focus on maximal strength and particular lifts during a programme may cause overuse injuries – and, of course, there’s the danger of neglecting qualities like conditioning or mobility.”
Instant expertise
Go sumo
Most comps allow either regular or sumo-style deadlifting – you should experiment with both. For the latter, keep your feet double shoulder-width apart and your hands inside your knees – it’s an ideal option for a tall man.
Mention Westside
Westside Barbell, founded by Louis Simmons, turns out the strongest lifters ever, thanks to an ultra-competitive atmosphere and Simmons’s combining of speed-lifting “dynamic” days with all-out max effort sessions. Also worth noting: they rarely do the Big Three outside competition, building strength with endless variations like the box squat and close-grip bench press.
Know your programmes
At some point, somebody’s going to ask you what you’re “running”. Lifter and coach Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 is the safe option, but for extra points mention the Cube (a popular new method based on Simmons’s ideas), Coan-Phillipi (a deadlift programme used by the man regarded as the best lifter ever, Ed Coan) or Smolov (four times a week squat plan – for maniacs only).
You’ve made it when…
It’s not as simple as dividing your total by your bodyweight: limb length, muscle size and overall stress make a difference – put your numbers into wilkscalculator.com for a readout powerlifters will respect. “To be a competitive high-level powerlifter you’d need to aim for a Wilks of 400-plus,” says Hamilton. “If you have no desire to compete but enjoy the three powerlifts, a 300-plus Wilks would make you one of the stronger guys in your gym.”
Get triple-threat strength
“One way to train is a daily undulating periodisation, or DUP, approach,” says Hamilton. “This means you use a variety of reps and sets throughout the week for the same movement, allowing you to spread the volume over the course of the week.” So you might go heavy on one day, do light reps for speed on another, and have a moderate high-rep day on the third. Here’s a typical workout.
1 Squat
Sets 4 Reps 3
“Do your first set off your rate of perceived exertion, or RPE,” says Hamilton. “They should feel like a 9, or very, very hard – but how heavy that is will vary from week to week. Do your other sets at 85% of your max.”
2 Bench press
Sets 3 Reps 6
Do these at 75% of your max. In powerlifting, it’s all about the set-up: keep your grip wide enough that your forearms are vertical under the bar, and press into the floor with your feet to help the lift.
3 Pull-up
Sets 3 Reps 6
These should be hard but doable. Add a weight vest if you need to.
4 Dip
Sets 3 Reps 10
Add a weight belt, a dumbbell between your ankle or – if your gym’s really cool – chains around your neck.