GymBuddiez – Helpful Fitness Tips, Tools and Buddies in your AreaFind a local gym buddy

From Bodybuilding.com

By MuscleTech

Bench Press Tips From The World’s Strongest Bodybuilder, Johnnie Jackson

When you talk about working out, it’s the first thing people ask. “How much ya bench?” And with your answer comes defeat, or triumph. The fact of the matter is that big poundage means big respect. That’s the power of a big bench press.

For decades men have entered the gym to work their way up to finally being able to say that they benched 300 or 400 pounds! This feature article was created with those big benches in mind. And in order to give you the information that can get you there, Team MuscleTech^TM went straight to the World’s Strongest Bodybuilder – Johnnie Jackson.

Click To Enlarge.
World’s Strongest Bodybuilder – Johnnie Jackson.

Johnnie is not only rising in the ranks of the IFBB, but he also continues to compete in powerlifting meets during his off-season. There are very few other bodybuilders who do this. As Johnnie’s mass will attest, his success and out-of-this-world strength creates a solid base for Johnnie to build upon as he continues to add more freaky size onto his massive frame.

Johnnie’s training will switch dramatically when he is getting ready for a bodybuilding show. But when he’s not training to step on stage, he’s training for a powerlifting meet. All it takes is a few minutes of watching Johnnie train to realize that he lifts heavy!

With every set, Johnnie keeps loading on more and more weight until he can’t lift anymore. By obliterating his muscles with heavier weights, Johnnie’s strength shoots through the roof. And as anyone knows, more strength equals more weight. And more weight equals bigger skin-stretching muscle mass!

In order to push your muscles to the limit, Johnnie has provided some key tips that everyone should incorporate into their chest routines. These tips from Johnnie are what help him maximize his bench press strength and jack his muscle size through the roof! Johnnie has also provided a sample lifting plan that he follows so that you can train just like the World’s Strongest Bodybuilder.

Johnnie’s Tips For Benching 565 Lbs.

Johnnie is living proof that with enough determination and dedication, no goal is unattainable. He’s revealed some of his best tips to help get you the big bench that you’ve always wanted!

Tip #1: Feet Placement:

When you’re setting up for your bench press, start by planting your feet solidly on the floor. Focus on the placement of your feet so that your heels are in line with your hips. One tendency is for people to go up on their toes, but you must force your heels to be flat on the floor.

This will allow you to generate maximum strength by summoning extra pushing force from your legs, through your core and into your chest. This is what Johnnie refers to as the “kinetic chain.” By focusing on generating force throughout your entire body, you will be able to lift more weight than you would be able to by focusing solely on using your chest.

Click To Enlarge.
Start By Planting Your Feet Solidly On The Floor.
Watch The Above Video To Learn More.

Once your feet are set, lie back and grasp the bar with an overhand grip. Johnnie recommends a grip that is shoulder width or wider. If you bring your hands too close together you’re going to activate more triceps in the lift than you want.

Now that you’re set, Johnnie recommends keeping a slight arch in the lower back. This will force an even deeper stretch in your chest when you reach the bottom of the movement for maximum muscle fiber activation.

Click To Enlarge.
Johnnie Jackson At The 2008 Iron Man Pro.
View More Pics Of Johnnie Jackson Here.

Tip #2: Push Slightly Backwards:

If you watch any of the pros lift you’ll notice that they all perform bench presses the way that Johnnie recommends. After you have lowered the bar to your chest, begin lifting the weight as you normally would. The only difference is that instead of pushing straight up, you push slightly backwards.

Click To Enlarge.
Instead Of Pushing Straight Up, You Push Slightly Backwards.
Watch The Above Video To Learn More.

This will help you use more muscles in your chest and will actually allow you to lift heavier weights. When lifting the weights, you want to push up as if you are going to rack the bar. When you reach the top of the movement, the bar should be in line with your upper chest. When you’re at the bottom of a bench press, the bar should be in line with your lower chest.

Click To Enlarge.
Johnnie Jackson At The 2008 Arnold Classic.
View More Pics Of Johnnie Jackson Here.

Tip #3: Floor Press:

One unorthodox movement that is often overlooked by bodybuilders is the old-school floor press. Johnnie built the foundation of his big bench with floor presses. This method allows you to lift a lot of weight and it works on the hardest part of the bench press movement.

To do this movement you’ll need a spotter to assist with getting the bar off of the bench and into your hands. Set the bar up on a bench and lie down on the floor in front of the bench. Have your spotter hand you the weight and grip the bar with your hands slightly closer than shoulder width.

When you lower the weight you’ll find that your elbows will touch the floor. Pause for a one-thousand count and then explosively force the weight up to the starting position.

Click To Enlarge.
The Old-School Floor Press.
Watch The Above Video To Learn More.

This movement is perfect for working on the part of the bench press where most people require more power. This is also known as the “sticking point” where you feel like you have nothing left to push with. By throwing the floor press into your training program you can target a specific weak point and then pound it into submission!

Click To Enlarge.
Johnnie Jackson At The 2008 Europa Super Show.
View More Pics Of Johnnie Jackson Here.

Tip #4: Pre-Workout Supplements:

Prior to working out it is critical to take in pre-workout supplements. Johnnie never trains without first getting a pre-workout shake that contains muscle-building and pump-inducing ingredients like creatine and arginine. His shake also will contain some caffeine to add an extra kick to his workout.

And, as any bodybuilder knows, ammonia is a negative by-product of working out. Johnnie incorporates supplements that aid in removal of ammonia from the body in his pre-workout stack. This dramatically increases his strength so that he can pull off huge bench presses like his personal best lift of a jaw-dropping 565 pounds!

Tip #5: Post-Workout Supplements:

After your workouts it is absolutely critical to ingest fast-absorbing carbs – dextrose being the best – and follow this up with a huge dose of anabolic amino acids.

Your recovery depends on proper post-workout supplementation to make sure your body can pack on pounds of new muscle so that every workout you can train to be bigger and stronger!

Johnnie never leaves for the gym without his post-workout stack so that he can take his first serving immediately after his workout ends. This capitalizes on the body’s natural anabolic window for muscle growth faster than you’ve ever seen before!

Johnnie’s 10-Ton Chest Assault!

Now that Johnnie has given you his tips for super-human strength, it’s time to put a plan into action to blow your chest development into a whole new realm!

Johnnie is constantly bombarding his chest with massive weights and over the course of just one workout he will lift over 10 tons by the time he drops the last piece of iron. See the detailed chart below for Johnnie’s 10-Ton Chest Assault to shock your chest with new muscle growth!

Johnnie Jackson’s 10-Ton Chest Assault:

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Johnnie Jackson’s 10-Ton Chest Assault.

Click To Enlarge.
Johnnie Jackson Performing Incline Dumbell Press.

Putting It All Together

To get freaky muscle mass like the pros, you need to push as much weight as possible! Take it from the World’s Strongest Bodybuilder; Johnnie didn’t get to where he is today by lifting the same weights and not pushing himself to extreme failure. The only way to grow and pack on as much muscle as humanly possible is to push your body to its limits each and every time you set foot in the gym.

As Johnnie’s hardcore workout illustrates, he uses a progressive loading of weights and maintains a consistent rep range. Since Johnnie is a genetic freak, his body can withstand the massive weights he lifts at each workout.

Click To Enlarge.
Johnnie Didn’t Get To Where He Is Today
By Not Pushing Himself To Extreme Failure.

You should tailor the weights to be suitable for your own program so that you can safely and effectively reach the desired reps on each set. If you try lifting too heavy then you’re bound to get seriously injured, which will keep you out of the gym. So match your weights to the program accordingly and prepare to see yourself setting new records for your max bench press in no time!

From YogaJournal.com

By keeping both sides of your body long and even in Triangle Pose, you’ll strengthen your core and feel the freedom of a deep twist.

By Julie Gudmestad

Of all the standing poses, Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) is the one I’ve spent the most time working on over the years, both in my own home practice and in the classes I teach. I think of it as a foundational pose—Triangle teaches you many things that you can apply to other poses. By keeping your legs, torso, and head in one plane, you improve your body’s awareness of how it moves through space. And you learn how to use the legs and feet to establish a strong foundation, which is imperative in all the standing poses. Triangle also helps strengthen your legs, hips, and core muscles—specifically the quadratus lumborum, transversus abdominis, and obliques—which support the spine and pelvis. When your core muscles are strong and supple, they help protect against back strain and more serious back injuries. No wonder, then, that Triangle is such a great staple, even if you’ve been practicing yoga for many years.

This column will focus on one of Triangle’s unique lessons: keeping the two sides of your torso long and even, which will heighten your awareness of the sides of your body and strengthen the muscles there. You should keep the sides of your body long and even in all standing poses, but especially in the sideways standing poses like Trikonasana, Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose), Parsvakonasana (Side Angle Pose), and the revolved versions of each. When you work this way, the muscles of your abdomen and side body will have to engage and lift against the pull of gravity. Some styles of yoga allow sidebending in these poses, in which the top ribs and waist become long and bow upward in an arc while the bottom side shortens, but it’s best to practice the “even length” style if you want to gain strength.

To feel how Triangle works your core, try practicing it next to a shelf or ledge about three feet high. Stand with your right foot about two feet from the ledge and pointing toward it. Reach both arms out into a T shape. As you begin to move into the pose, reach your right arm out fully toward the ledge, lengthening the right side of your ribs and waist away from your right hip. Rest your hand on the ledge for a few breaths while you absorb the feeling of a long right waist. From there, move your right hand down to your shin, ankle, a block, or a chair seat. Be sure that your hand isn’t too low, or your right waist will sidebend. Work with a mirror (or helper) to confirm that your right waist is long, and you’ll see that the left ribs and waist also form a flat line from hip to armpit, instead of bowing upward.

To really work your side-body muscles in Triangle, don’t put any weight on the bottom hand. Just point down toward the floor with your right arm, hand, and fingers. As you lengthen your right ribs away from the hip, the left side muscles will have to work hard. You’ll also avoid scrunching your right shoulder up into your neck, which happens when you lean on your hand. Eventually, the right hand should be lightly supported by your leg, a block, or the floor, with a sense that you’re reaching down through the right arm as much as you’re reaching up through the left arm.

Muscular 411

Which muscles work to make all of this happen? The core muscles that keep your left side flat and your right side long are the muscles that lie between the pelvis and rib cage on the left side. One of them is the quadratus lumborum (QL), which originates along the back rim of the pelvis and inserts into the bottom rib directly above its origin and into the adjacent transverse processes (the bony projections that stick out of the sides of each lumbar vertebra). When it contracts, the QL pulls the left ribs and pelvis toward each other. So, if you’re in Trikonasana on the right side and you contract the left QL, it will pull your left ribs toward the left side of your pelvis, making your left waist and ribs flatten instead of rounding up. When the top side of your torso flattens, the bottom side will have space to lengthen. The left QL will then contract isometrically (meaning that the muscle works but doesn’t change length) to hold the position.

The internal and external obliques, which form a girdle-like cross on the front of the abdomen, assist the QL in keeping the side body long in Trikonasana. The external obliques originate on the front lower ribs and insert at several points, including into heavy connective tissue in the center of the abdomen. However, the muscle fibers run diagonally toward the opposite front pelvis. The internal obliques originate on the front pelvis and nearby ligaments, then run diagonally up toward the opposite lower ribs. Each of the four oblique muscles is fan-shaped, and some of the fibers on each side of the abdomen run nearly vertically between the ribs and pelvis. These vertical fibers of the obliques assist the QL in pulling the ribs and pelvis toward each other.

The obliques serve another important role in Trikonasana and other sideways standing poses. When you tip sideways, the combination of gravity and tight hips can turn your front body toward the floor. But because the obliques form the diagonal cross on the abdomen, they have good leverage to rotate the torso against the pull of gravity. For example, when you do Trikonasana to the right, you’ll need to contract the right external and left internal obliques. Together they’ll turn your torso to the left, which is what you need to keep your navel and breastbone facing the wall in front of you instead of toward the floor. If you tend to hyperextend your lower back, use the obliques to provide one more important action for you: When engaged, they help support your internal organs and move them toward your lumbar spine with the help of the transversus abdominis (the deepest layer of abdominal muscles). This action in turn helps lengthen the lower back so that it won’t hyperextend, or overarch.

Lengthen to Twist

Trikonasana also teaches an important kinesthetic lesson that applies to any twisting pose: The spine will twist much more freely when it’s uncompressed and in its normal curves. For example, if you’re in a seated twist, your spine will rotate much more freely if you sit tall than if you slump, which compresses the front body. Likewise, if one hip is higher than the other, the spine will bend sideways, compressing one side. In Trikonasana, you’ll learn how freeing it feels to coordinate twisting the spine and torso while keeping your side waists long and even.

Put it Together

To put all the pieces together, stand on your mat with your feet wide, at least three and a half to four feet apart. Placing your feet too close will limit the pelvis’s capacity to tip to the right, and you’ll end up sidebending. Turn your right foot out and your left foot in. Keep your legs strong and knees straight as you tip the pelvis to the right and lengthen the right ribs away from the right thigh and place your right hand down. If you start to shorten your right side, stop and place your hand on a block. Remember, when your spine is long on both sides, with no sidebending, it can twist more deeply. Your obliques will be working as you turn your waist, lower ribs, and chest away from the floor. Once your torso is turned, rotate your neck and turn your head toward the ceiling. When your torso faces the wall in front of you instead of the floor, you’ll be able to look up at your hand with less strain on your neck.

Trikonasana is excellent for working the QL and the obliques, because it asks them to stabilize the torso and support the internal organs and lower back. As a result, you’ll deeply rotate the torso and spine. The strengthened muscles will help support and stabilize your spine and pelvis, including your sacroiliac joints; otherwise, the bending, reaching, and lifting you do in your day-to-day activities could cause strain in these areas. When your torso is long and strong, you’ll be able to go about your daily business with less risk of injury to your back.

From yogajournal.com

Step by Step

Come onto the floor on your hands and knees. Set your knees directly below your hips and your forearms on the floor with your shoulders directly above your wrists. Firmly press your palms together and your forearms into the floor.

Curl your toes under, then exhale and lift your knees away from the floor. At first keep the knees slightly bent and the heels lifted away from the floor. Lengthen your tailbone away from the back of your pelvis and press it lightly toward the pubis. Against this resistance, lift the sitting bones toward the ceiling, and from your inner ankles draw the inner legs up into the groins.

Continue to press the forearms actively into the floor. Firm your shoulder blades against your back, then widen them away from the spine and draw them toward the tailbone. Hold your head between the upper arms; don’t let it hang or press heavily against the floor.

You can straighten your knees if you like, but if your upper back rounds it’s best to keep them bent. Continue to lengthen your tailbone away from the pelvis and lift the top of your sternum away from the floor.

Stay between 30 seconds to one minute. Then release your knees to the floor with an exhale.