Introducing the new Physical Culture Book Club. As a subscriber on Legendary Strength you can join for free.
For the month of January we’ll be reading Thomas Inch on Strength.
If you start reading and have questions and comments please post them below. I’ll have the first discussion article up shortly.
Filed under Book Club by on Jan 2nd, 2012. Comment. 
Did you know that the more you study a sport (in our case weightlifting and exercise) the better you’ll be?
According to Dr. Judd Biasiotta in his book 2001 A Sports Odyssey:
“Research in the field of psychomotor development consistently revealed that the more information afforded an athlete about physiological, psychological and mechanical demands of the sport in which he engages, the more likely that he will excel.”
“The athletes that were given special intellectual training – lectures, demonstrations, and readings concerning the physical, psychological, and biomechanical demands of the sport – performed significantly better that the athletes who were not exposed to this type of special tutoring.”
So if you want to get stronger you should read more?
That’s part of it and one of the reasons I put together the new Physical Culture Book Club.
Of course, reading about lifting does not actually replace it. I’m not out to create an army of armchair lifters. The above reference presupposes actual practice.
But when you apply what you learn you’ll become stronger, if you’re smart about it.
Back many years ago I would read one book, or watch a DVD then switch my training program to reflect entirely what was in that program. Of course this would only last until I saw the “next big thing”. This is the WRONG way to do it.
These days I study just as much, but I take a different approach. Instead of looking at everything as “this is the holy grail” I operate from the “principle of the slight edge”.
If I can take one, just one technique from a book, then that makes it more than worth it to me.
What could one exercise you’ve never done, or had forgotten about, do for you, if that exercise is just what you need to bring up your weakness?
What if there’s a technique that you never learned before that can instantly add 10% to what you can do?
A single paragraph or even sentence in a 200 page book can change your training for the better
When you listen to the Oldtime Strongmen you’ll hear some contradictory advice. That’s fine. The world doesn’t end if two people don’t agree. But you take what works, add to what can be done better, and discard the rest.
The new book club is to do much more then just read the books, but discuss and bring out the best points. The more participation we get the better it will be.
Thomas Inch was strong. He also taught a lot of other people how to be strong. So we’re starting with his book aptly titled On Strength this month.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Don’t forget you can pick up the whole package of books for this year by clicking here.
Filed under Book Club, Oldtime Strongmen, Strength Training Concepts by on Jan 3rd, 2012. Comment.
Just finished putting up the new article on January’s Physical Culture Book Club selection.
This is for Thomas Inch On Strength.
Filed under Book Club by on Jan 12th, 2012. 1 Comment.
The Jefferson lift, also known as the Jefferson deadlift, Jefferson squat or straddle deadlift, is not a commonly seen exercise. In fact, I would put it as something that is forgotten or unknown by 99% of the population.
According to my research it was named after Strongman Charles Jefferson.
But since I’ve been introduced to it, I’ve absolutely loved it. Let me tell you why.
First off, let’s talk about how to do the Jefferson lift. It is like a conventional deadlift except you’ll step one foot over the bar so that you are straddling it.
At first glance, men are going to be scared of this lift as I‘ve heard it been referred to its nick-name the “nut-crusher”. Let me say that I’ve personally never had this particular problem. I suppose it does depend on several factors though including arm length, torso length, and how its hanging. For that reason it may not be appropriate for everyone. Anyway…
The great thing about the Jefferson lift is how you can find your own personal groove with it.
- You can hinge at the hips more to incorporate more back. (more like a regular deadlift)
- Squat down more, making it similar to a sumo deadlift, and use recruit more quad involvement. (more like a squat)
- Move the feet closer of further.
- Change your hand position closer or wider.
- Turn more to the side, or stay facing straight forwards.
- And of course you can switch what foot is facing forwards.
There’s a lot of variation here. If you’ve ever looked for something that is same but different this is a great one. If you do biofeedback training, this exercise alone is a testament to what can be done. And on that note its note surprising the results David Dellanave has gotten with it. Here he is lifting 605 lbs. in the Jefferson.
It has been instrumental for me in increasing my conventional deadlift up to 505. And now I’m working to go even further.
Here is one more important point. The Jefferson is similar to the trap bar deadlift in that the weight is centered under you, unlike in a conventional deadlift where the weight is slightly in front of you. For this reason alone I find the Jefferson lift is actually a safer variation for many people.
Of course there is some unique core work involved, which could be great for you, or not so much. After doing a set of heavy Jeffersons you’ll feel your rib cage on one side perhaps unlike ever before.
Go ahead and try this deadlift out if you never have.
Here’s your question for the day. If you’ve done the Jefferson deadlift before “what are your experiences of it?”
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. If you want to learn a whole bunch more similar “oldtimer” exercises I suggest you check out the Arthur Saxon Power Pack.
Filed under Barbells and Dumbbells, Bio Feedback, Lifting Technique, Oldtime Strongmen, Strength Training Concepts, Videos by on Jan 18th, 2012. 7 Comments.
I’ve put together a short survey for you to help direct this site in the coming year.
It should only take a few minutes tops to do and would greatly help me out.
Click here to take the survey. Survey is closed
Filed under Uncategorized by on Jan 20th, 2012. Comment.
Since studying Arthur Saxon I’ve been doing a number of the exercises he outlines in The Development of Physical Power and Text Book of Weight Lifting.
One of them is the bent press done Arthur Saxon style. Considering he put up more weight then anyone else in the bent press I think it’s a good idea to listen to him about this exercise.
Here is my newest personal record, a 135 lbs. bent press.
Watching the video I still see lots of room for improvement in my bent press technique. The hardest part by far is going from the arm resting on the side to a complete lockout. I could have gotten lower instead of just struggling to press it out a little bit. But hey, I was successful.
If you look closely you’ll see me firing an anchor before commencing with the lift. After using this tactic this lift actually felt easier then my previous reps with 125 lbs.
I have to say, having been doing this regularly, I understand why so many of the oldtime strongmen loved this lift. Go ahead and try it out yourself. Just start light and realize that this is a very technical lift. Of course using a kettlebell for it makes it easier to do.
If you want lots more details on the bent press and many other “oldtime” exercises I highly recommend you check out the Arthur Saxon Power Pack.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. I’m going to start training with the two hands anyhow as well. When I break 200 lbs. in total I’ll post a video of that too.
Filed under Barbells and Dumbbells, Feats of Strength, Oldtime Strongmen, Videos by on Jan 23rd, 2012. 18 Comments.
I recently got a hair mineral analysis test done. This was just one more in the line of testing of done on my health in the past year. You can read about my blood test and my omega test.
This test takes a small amount of your hair, which is then sent to a lab, then you get a report full of details on the many minerals in your body (and thus your hair). Hair is generally recognized as the best way to test minerals, as they’ll all be found in the hair and it shows the results over time, not just a snapshot of one day, like other tests might.
Here are my results:
Hair Mineral Analysis Test
Along with these two pages of charts the hair mineral analysis then included many pages describing the results and action steps you can take to correct the problems.
What immediately jumped out to me was the sky high Arsenic level I had. In the info they stated it would be good to test again and possibly in some other ways to see if the cause was external or a chronic internal problem. There were also suggestions on high arsenic foods (from pollution) that should be avoided.
Other issues were a little high on sodium levels. This can easily be dealt with by cutting back on salt. And let me say there is a big difference between chemically treated salt and a natural sea salt. But even the healthy salts can obviously be overdone.
Then we get to the ratios. From the report it states:
Continuing research indicates that metabolic dysfunction occur not necessarily as a result of a deficiency or excess of a particular mineral level, but more frequently from an abnormal balance (ratio) between the minerals.
I had a low Calcium/Potassium ratio. To fix this all I need to do is eat more calcium containing foods, cut back on potassium containing foods, supplement with a quality calcium (of which the vast majority of calcium in supplements are not), do some things to increase calcium absorption, or a combination of any and all of the above.
Along with the recommendations you’ll also find some possible symptoms you could have from the deficiency, excess, or abnormal ratio. Overall its quite complete and will give you lots to play with. Even if you don’t follow all the suggestions it will give you a number of things to test and try out.
So the bottomline is if you are serious about your health, getting testing is well worth it. A blood test is probably the best place to start, but I would put this as a close second. Add to the fact that its cheaper to have this one done, and you may want to get started here.
I got my hair mineral test done thru Mineralife. For less than $100 you can do the same, and then they have some of the best quality mineral supplements (ones that I personally use) that can aid in any corrections you need to make.
If you have any questions or comments write them below.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Health by on Jan 27th, 2012. 2 Comments.
