Now that I have finished my 28 Day Challenge, I have decided to undertake another fitness goal that is way outside my comfort zone.
All throughout my adolescent athletic career, lifting was one of the weakest of my many undertakings. I was never excited about lifting and only did it under pressure from my various coaches. Even when I did enter the weight room, it was never consistent and sporadic at best.
The main reason it never stuck was because at that point in time (1991-1994) lifting was done with the “muscle isolation” technique. A majority of exercises that were utilized focused on a single joint movement to isolate a specific muscle (think arm curls and leg curls). I think the theory behind it was that the more attention given to a specific muscle made it grow stronger, faster. Now, I am not a lifting expert, so it could have been partially true because some of my peers had great success with it.
The problem I had with it, was that it consumed a lot of time to work in this focus. It would require me to lift 4-5 times a week for nearly 2 hours each day (8-10 hours a week in the gym?). I really did not want to spend that much time in the gym so I opted not to. Well that led to me being uncomfortable in the gym even to this day.
A little over a year ago I ran into a great friend and a highly motivating person. His
name is Dickie White and he owns Ironworks Gym in Binghamton, NY. I met him when I began training Mixed Martial Arts at CNYMMA since they share the same facility.
Dickie is a highly educated individual in developing huge amounts of strength. Plus the beauty thing is he practices what he preaches, as he has dominated his first 3 amateur fights in MMA by ending the bouts all within the first round. He knows what he is talking about, not just because he read a book, but because he trains his own body, as well as the bodies of many very successful wrestlers from the junior high school level all the way up to the collegiate and U.S. Olympic and World team levels. He has also developed a few programs that can be purchased and used on your own if you cannot get a chance to train with him personally. One program in particular was developed with Tamden “The Barn Cat” McCrory who fought and dominated in UFC 96 and is currently staging a comeback. As a matter of fact I promote one of his products on the greatnessinsideout Resources Page. (Check it out!)
Now that we have Dickie’s background out of the way (which is quite extensive), I want to talk about the program he has developed for me. I am a pretty busy person who has limited time (I am a husband and the father of 3 children), and limited patience as well. I like things to move along quickly and really need to move along efficiently or I get impatient. The program Dickie developed consists of lifting 2 days a week, and each day has between 6-7 exercises that work out the ENTIRE body, and get this, it only takes an hour to complete! Talk about quick and effective, right up my ally! So how is this possible? How can you get a total body workout with only 2 hours of weekly gym time and be ready for a POWER LIFTING COMPETITION in only 14 weeks?
The answer is extremely simple. It’s called multi-joint exercises that utilize very heavy lifting. The old paradigm of muscle isolation and a lot of reps are over. Dickie explained to me that lifting something very heavy even just one time is the equivalent of lifting lighter stuff 3-5 times (even more efficient, awesome!). Weight is the key, more so than the quantity of repetitions. Of course the technique has to be correct as well so I don’t risk injury.
Some of the tools of the trade consist of sandbags, medicine balls, atlas stones, and even chains and giant rubber bands! Add to that the flipping of giant tractor tires and it is quickly apparent that this style is totally outside the realm of what most deem “normal” weight training. Some of the old fashioned exercises are still highly effective like bench presses, squats, and dead lifts and really are still the staple of this type of training.
I would like everyone to follow me over the next 14 weeks as I will be posting my
progress on here weekly (including pics). Also check out Dickie’s programs and buy them, or if you live near Binghamton, NY, schedule some time to talk with him (you can reach him here). Most of all, create a goal that is WAY outside your comfort zone, something that scares the hell out of you and then do it. Also read my article on the power of Habit Forming and you will thank me later.
Please comment on your comfort zone goal below or “Like” my Facebook page and tell the community what your going to accomplish this year and then DO IT!
Thanks,
Gerry
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