What’s the Best Piece Of Equipment To Get In Shape? https://t.co/XTPkU1opFY

What’s the Best Piece Of Equipment To Get In Shape? https://t.co/XTPkU1opFY

— Home Gym Addict (@homegymaddict) August 30, 2017

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August 30, 2017 at 06:11PM

What’s the Best Piece Of Equipment To Get In Shape?

The One Tool You Must Ha​ve To Get In Shape

With spring officially here, I’ve decided to change my training focus and get in shape.  We just came off a diet and losing 10 lbs and I needed a fresh outlook on things.  I decided to get back to my roots and train for me.  What exactly does that mean? My goals are now oriented on things that I think are cool and am invested in working hard to achieve.  One of the things that has been in the back of my mind as of late was the idea that in pursuit of strength, I had been becoming less and less athletic.  I was sacrificing strength goals for quality of health and we dealt with that a bit when we decided to diet.  The next thing that I realized was that I didn’t really care how I looked if I could increase my performance of what I consider to be the best tool for conditioning out there: The Prowler

​For those of you that are not familiar, the prowler is a metal sled that allows additional weight to be added to each of the black “horns”.  It is extremely adaptable to the user and ensures that everyone that has the pleasure of touching it can puke their face off in 10-15 minutes of sprinting.  In short, it works for everyone.

With the weather finally breaking, I decided it was time to drag this thing out of the basement and push it until nausea ensued.  I set some goals to work towards and got to work.  The nice thing about using the prowler is that you have the opportunity to out-train your diet(read:eat what you want and still stay in shape).

I’ll be using the prowler for the next few months….aiming for 3x a week and training 2x a week as a way to help recovery.

The driveway is roughly 30yds long so each push/sprint is 30yds (one direction) and that is PLENTY.

Here are some general recommendations to START training with the prowler:

Women: 50lbs (additional weight) x10

Men: 90lbs (additional weight) x10

What I like about the Prowler

I’ve said this before, but the prowler is probably the most versatile piece of equipment that you can add to your home gym equipment  (aside from a power rack).  You can use the prowler as a conditioning tool (lighter weight, shorter rests) or as a tool to build strength (load up with weight and get it from point A to point B).  You can push it from high handles, low handles, drag or pull the sled to work various body parts.

If I had to choose three exercises/movements to use to train with, the prowler would definitely be one of the movements and here is why….

Prowler Benefits

• Reduces soreness (no negative phase compared to sprinting)
• No technique needed (just PUSH)
• Total body workout
• No spinal loading (great for rehab or strengthening the body after injury)
• Builds GPP/work capacity

If you are looking to get in shape as fast as possible then this is one piece of equipment that you NEED to add to your training arsenal…

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How to Pull A State Record: A Road Map For Women and Deadlifting https://t.co/7US8mKQF8u

How to Pull A State Record: A Road Map For Women and Deadlifting https://t.co/7US8mKQF8u

— Home Gym Addict (@homegymaddict) August 30, 2017

from Twitter https://twitter.com/homegymaddict

August 30, 2017 at 05:41PM

How to Pull A State Record: A Road Map For Women and Deadlifting

I hate to lose, I really do.  A few months ago Jillian and I set a small challenge with our deadlift to see who could reach either three plates (315) or six plates (585) first.  I got smoked in that challenge as Jillian ended up above and beyond the three plate goal while I am still working towards 585.  We talked in depth about how we raised her squat by 40lbs in a short period of time with the aid of the PUSH band so I figured the next logical step is to talk about her deadlift and the methods that we used to increase her strength in that respective lift.

The Road from 285 to 320

I consider Jillian’s pull to be her best lift at the moment.  To be honest, I actually think she is going to end up a better squatter but for the moment we will call the deadlift her “pet,” lift.  A little background on this…. Jillian first started to train with me about 1.5yrs ago with no squat or bench experience.  She was training at a commercial gym with what I would consider less than adequate coaching and even worse programming.  There was a positive to that experience however, the programming gave her a great work capacity and strengthened a lot of the muscles associated with deadlifting (kb swings, glute bridges and numerous other things).  The first time we deadlifted together she either pulled 185 or 200lbs with less than ideal form.  From there she hit all the usual milestones (225, 250, 275) and then most recently in her meet pulled 285lbs and gave 300lbs a hell of a try.

Down and Dirty in the Dungeon

Once we set up our home gym  and deadlift platform  it was time to get to work.  I couldn’t wait for her to hit 300lbs in the basement because I think that’s a pretty badass thing to do when no one is around.  Her deadlift training is based around three types of workouts

• Speed day (usually between 70-85%)
• Heavy triples
• Heavy singles

I’d like to say that we were able to take the same analytical approach to the deadlift that we did with the squat and bar speed but the truth is that we just weren’t able to generate consistent data with the PUSH band.  If you have a PUSH band and can get the data without missed reps etc.. then please contact me and let me know what you do.

The rotation that we used is very similar to a heavy/medium/light day but the speed work is a bit heavier than normal speed work.

Speed Day

There isn’t really a hard and fast rule to the percentage of the speed day.  When in doubt, go lighter than you think is the advice I would give anyone and everyone.  This day is not about lifting heavy things, it’s about practicing form and finding the groove.  There are some days when you start to pull and it just feels awful, I truly believe that the speed day makes those days a bit more infrequent and leads to better pulling.  We do the speed day with a set x rep scheme of 5×3.  Sometimes the weight is the same, sometimes we increase it.  It all depends on feel and how things look after we review on video.

Heavy Triples

This day would probably be most like a medium day if you are a fan of the light/medium/heavy type of workouts and programming.  Jillian probably did this workout the least amount of times but I like it for a few reasons.  The first reason is that when doing a heavy triple you are most likely going to get out of position on either the 2nd or 3rd rep.  You need to think while pulling and still complete the rep.  Sometimes the deadlift is more about not panicking when things don’t go completely right and correcting.  The heavy triple also serves as a rep max indicator for what to pull on heavy single day.

Heavy Singles

This is basically “PR” day and usually resulted in Jillian getting more weight than she ever had in her hands before and completing the rep.  The one goal that we usually had with this day was to not miss and hopefully leave a bit in the tank.  We gauged progress with the singles on either a “PR” or if something that was hit before had a faster bar speed.  We couldn’t actually track the bar speed (see above) but we had the ability to compare with videos.  On the days when it just wasn’t there we shut it down early and just chalked it up to not being quite ready for a new PR.  We found that you can’t really force a deadlift, you can but the risks far outweigh the rewards.  It was much better to hit records with decent speed then grinding a slow rep.

How to Progress

We followed a simple linear progression by adding weight when things felt easy.  The key to the heavy triples and singles is to start slow and give yourself room to grow.  I would even advise that if you were to follow this plan that your first heavy triple is something well under what your best heavy triple is rather than an all out effort your first time.  This way you can slowly acclimate to the increases in strength and hit something bigger in 3-4 workouts.  When Jillian hit a new PR in a single we took a look at bar speed on the speed days and made adjustments when necessary.  It really helps to have someone with you these days to judge how things look.  The days that were stressful and life got in the way will definitely have an influence on how you pull.  If you are angry and feel good then you can push it a bit.  However, if you are angry and everything is slow, back off and put some work in.

One of the things that we have become more and more accepting of is the fact that not every day needs to be a PR record smashing type of day.  In fact, more often then not the training sessions should either be the speed or heavy triple workouts vs heavy singles.  This is the same idea that people write about when they talk about building strength vs. displaying strength.  We spent way more sessions with speed and volume than we did with heavy singles.

Accessory work to build the deadlift

I think that once we dialed in the accessory work for Jillian things really started to take off.  Just like the squat, it seemed like almost every other week she was pulling a new 5lb PR.  We rotated the accessory work depending on the day, the heavy single day was the only day that wasn’t consistent.  If she hit a PR then we usually shut it down for the day, if she didn’t then there was still work that needed to be done.  The heavy triple day accessory work was 3 x 3 deficit pulls off one plate.  This helped speed off the floor and the weight was kept light enough to practice with speed.  The volume day didn’t have another movement after as enough work had been put in with the 5 working sets.

After each deadlift session was over the next movement was stiff legged deadlifts off a 2 inch deficit (2 plates).  These were done for higher reps (8-10) and for multiple sets (2-3).  If there was any time left after the stiff legged pulls then abs were done and some bent over rows.  That was about it.  We tried to keep the deadlift sessions short and sweet.  Deadlifting is taxing enough and since she was making progress there really wasn’t any reason to add anything else in.  If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

Meet Peaking and A New State Record

This training ultimately culminated in a new NYS record pull in the RPS federation.  We followed a slightly heavier approach to peaking that was based off heavy ascending triples followed by heavy deficit pulls from a plate and then stiff legged deadlifts.  The programming was a basic taper, four heavy workouts with a decrease in volume as they progressed.  One of the keys to Jillian’s success was what I believe to be a realistic meet goal.  Instead of programming too high (which we have done in the past) we settled on a 5lb PR attempt for her third.  She definitely left a bit on the platform and smoked her third for what would be an all time PR for her, in a meet under stressful conditions and at the end of a long day.  

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Titan HD Power Rack Review https://t.co/x3dztRqyQy

Titan HD Power Rack Review https://t.co/x3dztRqyQy

— Home Gym Addict (@homegymaddict) August 30, 2017

from Twitter https://twitter.com/homegymaddict

August 30, 2017 at 05:06PM

Titan HD Power Rack Review

I continuously search for new home gym equipment and new pieces of equipment that could benefit pursuit to strength training at home.  As you know, we have our own rack solution that we discussed in our best power rack for home guide and we were severely limited to choices for a squat and bench solution that would work in a low ceiling gym.  Because of this, I overlooked numerous other racks such as the Titan HD Power Rack for the simple fact that it wouldn’t fit in the basement.  The more I look at this rack though, the more I realize that it is a GREAT DEAL for the money.

Check Price On Amazon

A Review of the Titan HD Power Rack

The price of this cage fluctuates quite a bit, I’ve seen it as low as 409.00 with FREE SHIPPING on amazon.  At this price, it might just be one of the best squat racks for home that you can get.  The free shipping aspect is certainly a plus with any piece of gym equipment, normally you get killed on shipping charges due to the weight of each piece.  This rack alone weighs 230lbs so if you are ready to pull the trigger then I would watch amazon closely and snatch up the free shipping deal when it presents itself.

Pros:

​Titan has done a good job taking into account all the accessories that one wants when looking for a squat and bench power rack for their home gym.

The rack comes standard with a westside hole pattern which, in my opinion should be how every power rack is made.  If you are going to be both squatting and benching within the rack then you need the westside hole pattern (1″ spacing throughout the bench zone).  This also might be the only rack available on amazon with a westside hole pattern, something to consider.  Your other options are to go with a rogue rack and you definitely aren’t going to find one in the $400 - $500.00 price range.

Along with the westside hole pattern, the Titan HD features safety pins, plate storage, and a chin up bar.  All of these options become incredibly convenient once you have them, especially the plate storage.  For those of you that train with accommodating resistance  you will also see band pegs at the bottom of the picture.  Another great feature that is stock with this product and pretty much an add-on for another other rack.

Cons: 

​The only con that I can think of with this home squat rack is that there are a few complaints about the J-Cups and bar wear.  I really don’t know what people expect when they train, apparently that all their equipment remains pristine and unscathed.  That’s just not the nature of strength training.  With that being said, there are some complaints about the J-Cups that I felt should be brought up.  Possible solutions? Order new J Cups or stop caring if your bar gets scratched. I certainly wouldn’t let the J-Cups be the limiting factor in this buying decision.

Final Thoughts

This might actually be the best power rack available on Amazon or even online for it’s price.  If you read about my criteria for what I wanted in a power rack  then you will see that this has everything and more.  If height wasn’t an issue in my basement then I would most definitely be grabbing up this as the corner stone for a home gym.

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Easy Ways To Lose Weight https://t.co/dOTkKuqOPb

Easy Ways To Lose Weight https://t.co/dOTkKuqOPb

— Home Gym Addict (@homegymaddict) August 29, 2017

from Twitter https://twitter.com/homegymaddict

August 29, 2017 at 05:16PM