my body care

Do you need to make your Bench Press
Explosive?

Use the exercise - push-ups.

In a lot of sports, athletes may require fast
explosive bursts of movement. For example –

When a sprinter runs, he doesn’t just run. Instead,
he powers up and tries to explode to the finish line
as quickly as is humanly possible. Another
example is –

When a boxer throws punches, he just doesn’t
extend his arm and hit his opponent. Instead, he
puts all his weight, power and speed into his
punches with such fierce explosive strength so as
to achieve the maximum effect that he can deliver.

If you are into any sport that requires explosive
power and speed, then you may need to add in the
required speed and power training.

Ever notice that when performing a bench press,
you sometimes come to a point when you find it
extremely difficult to push the weight back up?

This is usually at the point where you have lowered
the bar and, as you begin to push upwards, it just
doesn’t go. Or at least there is a ling pause at that
point.

With explosive speed training you can push out of
that situation more quickly.

How do I achieve this type of power?

Using the ecercise Push-ups.

There are a number of ways to perform the push-
ups exercise. But I’ll go through the basic and
perhaps more explosive exericse. Push-up are
easy enough to do. What’s not so easy though is
doing them without cheating.

When performing the exercise push-ups will not
only build explosive speed, they will also improve
your bench press. So, here’s how I suggest you go
about this routine –

1. Warm up well before performing this exercise-
push-ups routine, as it will then be more effective.

2. Keep your hands just a bit wider then shoulder
width, in order to gain maximum effect from the
exercise-push-ups routine.

3. Keep your elbows tucked in by your sides at
about a 45 degree angle from your torso. If your
arms them come out to the sides this will take
away the emphasis on the chest and place it in the
arms instead.

4. Aim to build up to 8 reps of explosive exercise-
push-ups at first.

5. Then build into three sets of 8. If you feel you can
do more, that’s ok. But what I suggest is:

Continue doing this exercise. But, challenge
yourself a little. You can do this by introducing the
clap hands push ups.

This is where you do exactly as above, but you
push up so fast, that you can clap your hands and
come back down to the push-up position again.
That’s one rep. And that’s explosive speed.

Work this up to 3 sets of 8 reps. And do this maybe
2 - 3 times a week, depending on time available.

In conclusion, if you need explosive speed then the
exercise - Push-ups are ideal. Start with the basic
push-up and work up to 3 sets of 8 reps. Then
challenge yourself more by adding in the clap
hands part when you push up as hard and fast as
you can. Again aim to build this up to 3 sets of 8
reps.

Tony Farrell makes it easier for you to achieve your muscle and fitness goals. Learn the essential 3 keys to paving the way to your goals. Get your free mini-course now. http://www.think-and-grow-muscle-and-fitness.com

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I recently interviewed friend and Marathon runner David Thomas about his Melbourne Marathon experience.

Tattoo covered David is a virtual unknown in the running world but he has on several occasions surprised competitors and officials by placing in major fun runs and most recently, fuelled by just two pieces of toast, came fourth in the Melbourne marathon. The mysterious runner has been generating comments on the Australian cool running forum like, “I was wondering about that David Thomas guy too! I could not find any info about him on the net. I saw him at the start and finish and thought he looked like he belonged in a rock band rather than a marathon. He finished 4th and did not really look like he was wearing the proper running gear. No racing flats, proper running singlets etc. Aged 20-24 it was a great run.”-Dash and “He came to Hobart and won a local fun run in April this year and no one knew who he was. Apparently the organisers thought he might have jumped in at the end so they viewed the footage from the start and saw he was there. That is all I know but it was an awesome effort for what I am guessing was his debut marathon.” Shawble

David’s time of 2 hours 32 minutes for a marathon while not a world beating time is very reasonable for a 22 year who coaches himself. Dash was right he would look more comfortable in a heavy metal rock band or snow boarding the slopes of Whistler than pounding the pavement in a marathon. But David is really a mega switched on runner who is now looking to improve his 10 kilometre times before attempting another marathon.

A number of interesting points surfaced in our interview, one being that David ran the whole race fuelled by only two pieces of toast. This is what he had to say when I asked “So you actually ran the whole marathon on a couple of bits of toast?” “Yeah but you eat a lot the day before. You don’t need to eat on the day because you will get the runner’s trots. If you eat too much in the morning or even the night before, so I eat a massive breakfast the day before and a pretty big lunch and then just snack and sip on water throughout until the race.” David eats this way before all his long runs and always races the same way he trains. He trains for his long runs on two pieces of toast, so he races long distances on two pieces of toast. This is great advice for all runners preparing for a race. Set up a routine and adjust it gradually in the lead up to a race. Make sure it fulfils your needs for sleep, sustenance, water etc and then settle into the routine for the last 3-4 weeks prior to the race. It will give you confidence that your preparation is sound and your needs have been met prior to the event. More from David later once I have edited and transcribed the interview.

William Mann is a keen and passionate runner. Well aware of how difficult it can be to fit everything you need into a day. By approaching running as a purely enjoyable activity he has shown how it is possible for you to run for life. Learning to listen to you body and respect its needs is the key to lifelong running. His book Run Forever shows just what that means in practice. An easy step-by-step guide to get you running or keep you running fit.

See for yourself at http://www-stayfit.com/running/rslwm.html

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Does it seem from time to time that when you go to the gym and do your workout routine, it just takes too long? Maybe you’ve been noticing that you seem to be spending 20 to 30 minutes longer than you would like to. Well, what you need are some little things you can do that will not only shorten your time in the gym, but will still give you a good workout.

For openers, you can split body parts. Working the legs and arms one day, then working the chest and back one day, then working the shoulders and abdominals the next day is a good, effective way to shorten your exercise time and still give each muscle group a good, solid workout.

Another thing you can do is keep it down to one set. It is usually not recommended to do only one set during exercise despite claims made by other experts that one set can be as beneficial as 2 to 4 sets. But one set, as long as it is one good set, is better than doing nothing at all if time is the issue.

You can also do a circuit style workout with your weight training. All you do here is complete one set of one exercise, then move right along to the next exercise non stop until you’ve finished each exercise in your routine. Once done, you take a 1 to 1

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