CFJ Starr PyramidStrength, Sport, Crossfit
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THE
JOURNAL
Building the Base of the Strength Pyramid
Many people take the wrong approach to strength training. Bill Starr says the simple,
focused approach is the best way to build strength quickly.
By Bill Starr
March 2010
When constructing any sort of structure, from a simple shed for the back yard to a stadium that will seat 100,000
people, you need to create a solid foundation first. If this isn’t done properly, the structure will not be substantial,
nor will it last for very long.
1
of
9
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Strength Pyramid ...
(continued)
This same idea applies to the process of developing a
strong body. Time and energy must be spent estab-
lishing a firm base. I like to think the pyramids of Egypt
were built in this manner: they could only go as high as
the foundation would support. The same goes for the
human body.
In the Beginning, Less Is More
While most of those who embark on a mission to make
their bodies functionally stronger understand the logic
behind this idea, very few put together a program that
will satisfy it, mostly because the real reason they
started lifting weights was to obtain bigger arms and
chests. So, from the onset, their focus is on their upper
bodies and not the entire structure.
Another mistake many coaches and beginners make in
this regard is that they include far too many exercises
in the routines. The rationale is that every muscle group
needs to be given direct attention in order for it to get
bigger and stronger. There’s nothing wrong with any
of the exercises. They’re all beneficial—just not at the
beginning. The problem with this type of program for
someone in the formative stage is that the available
energy has to be spread around so much that very little
can be put into the more important exercises. As a
result, little overall progress is made.
Then there are those who start off using a sensible
program containing only a few basic exercises. They
become impatient and begin adding in more and
more movements—typically for the arms and chest—
before their foundations are solid. They might see an
advanced strength athlete doing several exercises not
on their programs, and because they want to be like
that advanced athlete, they start doing them as well. It
doesn’t work. That advanced athlete has spent several
years building his foundation. The beginner has not.
Plyometric/agility movements can fit into a strength program,
but Bill Starr recommends they be done on days
when no weights are lifted.
Building a solid foundation is
actually a simple process, but
that point is usually missed
because many coaches
and athletes try to make
it quite complicated.
Or beginners read an article in a muscle mag that points
out how useful bent-over rows are for the middle back.
They want a strong middle back too, so they add that
exercise to their ever-growing list. A couple of weeks
later, they decide they need to do high-pulls, and so on
and on until the scheduled workouts look like a weekly
shopping list.
2
of
9
Copyright © 2010 CrossFit, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CrossFit is a registered trademark ‰ of CrossFit, Inc.
Subscription info at
Feedback to
Visit
Strength Pyramid ...
(continued)
This approach has two drawbacks in terms of making
progress. First, those exercises done at the end of the
workouts are done with fatigued muscles and attach-
ments and are therefore not productive. Secondly,
going through a large number of exercises makes the
workouts much too long. It becomes harder and harder
to recover from these lengthy sessions, and training on
tired muscles soon leads to small dings and sore areas
that stay that way for days while the numbers on all the
movements steadily decline.
The Core Lifts
I’ll start with the basics. Keep the number of exercises in
a beginning program to just three. There should be one
for each of the three major muscle groups of the body:
shoulder girdle or upper body, back, and hips and legs.
Each of these will receive equal attention because one of
the main principles in building a solid base is the various
groups have to be in balance with one another, strength-
wise. Naturally, one area will make faster progress than
the other two, but care must be taken so as not to allow
that stronger area to race too far ahead of the rest.
When this happens, problems result and gains come to
a standstill.
Building a solid foundation is actually a simple process,
but that point is usually missed because many
coaches and athletes try to make it quite complicated.
Complicated has to bring better results than simple,
right? It’s just the opposite, and that is confusing to
many people who are engaged in teaching or trying to
improve their functional strength.
Most who embark on a strength routine that I set up
make faster progress on their hips and legs than any
other body part. This makes sense. These are the largest
groups in the body and they respond very readily to the
Advanced strength athletes can move to a front squat as their primary lower-body movement, but Bill Starr
recommends everyone start off with the back squat.
3
of
9
Copyright © 2010 CrossFit, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CrossFit is a registered trademark ‰ of CrossFit, Inc.
Subscription info at
Feedback to
Visit
Strength Pyramid ...
(continued)
resistance training. It’s also only normal for a young
athlete to work the hardest on any exercise he excels at,
so he always squats first, and the movement continues
to improve. In the meantime, his back strength is not
keeping pace although he is making some gains in that
area. But if nothing is done to rectify the disparity, his
disproportionally weak back will start affecting his squat.
How? If any of the various parts of the back—lower,
middle or upper—are relatively weak in comparison
with the hips and legs, they will not allow the athlete
to maintain the proper mechanics during a maximum-
effort squat.
For the hips and legs, no other exercise can compare to
the back squat. I’m talking about the formative stages of
training at this point. Once an athlete becomes advanced,
the front squat is perhaps even more productive, but in
the beginning the back squat is the way to go. For the
back, I like the power clean for several reasons. It works
all parts of the back equally and does so in a dynamic
fashion. The explosive movement forces the muscles
and attachments to work in an entirely different manner
than more static exercises. In addition, and most impor-
tantly to athletes, the power clean requires that the lifter
employ a number of attributes, such as coordination,
timing, quickness and balance, in order to do it properly
and with a decent amount of weight. As he becomes
more proficient in performing the movement, those skills
improve as he gains strength and are then utilized in
other sports endeavors. It’s a two-for-one deal. While an
athlete gets stronger, he also improves his athleticism—
can’t beat that.
Keep the number of exercises
in a beginning program to just
three. There should be one
for each of the three major
muscle groups of the body:
shoulder girdle or upper body,
back, and hips and legs.
The same thing holds true for someone who is enamored
with the bench press. He gives that exercise priority at
every session and adds in several auxiliary movements
that he believes will help him move more weight. Then,
as an afterthought, he goes through the motions on the
exercises for his legs and back. It needs to be under-
stood that there must be a balance of strength between
the muscles of the upper back and those of the frontal
deltoids and chest. Whenever those frontal muscles
become a great deal stronger than those that help
stabilize the rear part of the shoulder—i.e., the traps
and rear deltoids—the shoulder joints will begin to slope
slightly forward, causing pain in the shoulders.
There are so many exercises for the different groups
that selection often becomes a headache. Not everyone
agrees with the ones I prefer, which is fine. Many different
exercises suffice as long as they meet the necessary
criterion of being a primary movement that is aimed at
one of the larger muscle groups.
Power cleans are great for building strength but have an added
benefit: they improve speed, agility, coordination, balance and
a host of other attributes required by the athlete.
4
of
9
Copyright © 2010 CrossFit, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CrossFit is a registered trademark ‰ of CrossFit, Inc.
Subscription info at
Feedback to
Visit
Strength Pyramid ...
(continued)
Proficiency with power cleans quickly translates to proficiency with other pulls.
Master the power clean, then move on to full cleans and snatches.
Another reason why I start my athletes on power cleans,
both male and female, is that once they have learned the
form on that exercise, they can pick up the technique
on many other pulling movements rather easily. Power
snatches, clean and snatch high pulls, shrugs, deadlifts,
and even full cleans and full snatches are others that
benefit from proficiency with cleans.
So now, if there is an incline available, I make that my
primary upper-body movement for any beginning
athlete. And while I do like the overhead press, the
incline is still the better exercise for those just starting
out on a strength program because more weight can be
handled on that exercise. I’ve also had a small number of
athletes who were unable to do flat or incline benches
or even overhead presses. This was usually due to some
medical condition and would change once that problem
improved. I had them do weighted dips as their primary
upper-body exercise if they could do them, and they all
could.
The exercise I select for the shoulder girdle depends
on what sport, or sports, the athlete is participating in.
For football players, I use the flat bench. It converts to
blocking and tackling, and because every high school
and collegiate strength program uses and tests for the
flat bench, it might as well be done. However, if I could,
I would make the incline bench press the standard for
those playing football. It develops the shoulder muscles
better than the flat bench and is much less stressful to
the shoulder joints and elbows because it has to be done
in a strict manner. Rebounding the bar and bridging,
which are common in the flat version, do not work on
the incline because the bar will jump too far out front
and cause the attempt to be a failure.
The bottom line is get strong
and all the others aspects
of training will fall nicely
in place. Try and combine
everything at the same
time and very little
improvement is shown.
As I’ve mentioned previously, the reason Tommy Suggs
and I chose the flat bench to be our primary shoulder-
girdle exercise for The Big Three (
is not because we thought it was
superior to the incline but rather because there just
weren’t any incline benches available in the late ’60s.
Well, of course some could be found in health clubs and
heavy training gyms, but none at all in junior and senior
high schools and colleges, which were the places where
our target groups worked out.
5
of
9
Copyright © 2010 CrossFit, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CrossFit is a registered trademark ‰ of CrossFit, Inc.
Subscription info at
Feedback to
Visit
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl lemansa.htw.pl
THE
JOURNAL
Building the Base of the Strength Pyramid
Many people take the wrong approach to strength training. Bill Starr says the simple,
focused approach is the best way to build strength quickly.
By Bill Starr
March 2010
When constructing any sort of structure, from a simple shed for the back yard to a stadium that will seat 100,000
people, you need to create a solid foundation first. If this isn’t done properly, the structure will not be substantial,
nor will it last for very long.
1
of
9
Copyright © 2010 CrossFit, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CrossFit is a registered trademark ‰ of CrossFit, Inc.
Subscription info at
Feedback to
Visit
Strength Pyramid ...
(continued)
This same idea applies to the process of developing a
strong body. Time and energy must be spent estab-
lishing a firm base. I like to think the pyramids of Egypt
were built in this manner: they could only go as high as
the foundation would support. The same goes for the
human body.
In the Beginning, Less Is More
While most of those who embark on a mission to make
their bodies functionally stronger understand the logic
behind this idea, very few put together a program that
will satisfy it, mostly because the real reason they
started lifting weights was to obtain bigger arms and
chests. So, from the onset, their focus is on their upper
bodies and not the entire structure.
Another mistake many coaches and beginners make in
this regard is that they include far too many exercises
in the routines. The rationale is that every muscle group
needs to be given direct attention in order for it to get
bigger and stronger. There’s nothing wrong with any
of the exercises. They’re all beneficial—just not at the
beginning. The problem with this type of program for
someone in the formative stage is that the available
energy has to be spread around so much that very little
can be put into the more important exercises. As a
result, little overall progress is made.
Then there are those who start off using a sensible
program containing only a few basic exercises. They
become impatient and begin adding in more and
more movements—typically for the arms and chest—
before their foundations are solid. They might see an
advanced strength athlete doing several exercises not
on their programs, and because they want to be like
that advanced athlete, they start doing them as well. It
doesn’t work. That advanced athlete has spent several
years building his foundation. The beginner has not.
Plyometric/agility movements can fit into a strength program,
but Bill Starr recommends they be done on days
when no weights are lifted.
Building a solid foundation is
actually a simple process, but
that point is usually missed
because many coaches
and athletes try to make
it quite complicated.
Or beginners read an article in a muscle mag that points
out how useful bent-over rows are for the middle back.
They want a strong middle back too, so they add that
exercise to their ever-growing list. A couple of weeks
later, they decide they need to do high-pulls, and so on
and on until the scheduled workouts look like a weekly
shopping list.
2
of
9
Copyright © 2010 CrossFit, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CrossFit is a registered trademark ‰ of CrossFit, Inc.
Subscription info at
Feedback to
Visit
Strength Pyramid ...
(continued)
This approach has two drawbacks in terms of making
progress. First, those exercises done at the end of the
workouts are done with fatigued muscles and attach-
ments and are therefore not productive. Secondly,
going through a large number of exercises makes the
workouts much too long. It becomes harder and harder
to recover from these lengthy sessions, and training on
tired muscles soon leads to small dings and sore areas
that stay that way for days while the numbers on all the
movements steadily decline.
The Core Lifts
I’ll start with the basics. Keep the number of exercises in
a beginning program to just three. There should be one
for each of the three major muscle groups of the body:
shoulder girdle or upper body, back, and hips and legs.
Each of these will receive equal attention because one of
the main principles in building a solid base is the various
groups have to be in balance with one another, strength-
wise. Naturally, one area will make faster progress than
the other two, but care must be taken so as not to allow
that stronger area to race too far ahead of the rest.
When this happens, problems result and gains come to
a standstill.
Building a solid foundation is actually a simple process,
but that point is usually missed because many
coaches and athletes try to make it quite complicated.
Complicated has to bring better results than simple,
right? It’s just the opposite, and that is confusing to
many people who are engaged in teaching or trying to
improve their functional strength.
Most who embark on a strength routine that I set up
make faster progress on their hips and legs than any
other body part. This makes sense. These are the largest
groups in the body and they respond very readily to the
Advanced strength athletes can move to a front squat as their primary lower-body movement, but Bill Starr
recommends everyone start off with the back squat.
3
of
9
Copyright © 2010 CrossFit, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CrossFit is a registered trademark ‰ of CrossFit, Inc.
Subscription info at
Feedback to
Visit
Strength Pyramid ...
(continued)
resistance training. It’s also only normal for a young
athlete to work the hardest on any exercise he excels at,
so he always squats first, and the movement continues
to improve. In the meantime, his back strength is not
keeping pace although he is making some gains in that
area. But if nothing is done to rectify the disparity, his
disproportionally weak back will start affecting his squat.
How? If any of the various parts of the back—lower,
middle or upper—are relatively weak in comparison
with the hips and legs, they will not allow the athlete
to maintain the proper mechanics during a maximum-
effort squat.
For the hips and legs, no other exercise can compare to
the back squat. I’m talking about the formative stages of
training at this point. Once an athlete becomes advanced,
the front squat is perhaps even more productive, but in
the beginning the back squat is the way to go. For the
back, I like the power clean for several reasons. It works
all parts of the back equally and does so in a dynamic
fashion. The explosive movement forces the muscles
and attachments to work in an entirely different manner
than more static exercises. In addition, and most impor-
tantly to athletes, the power clean requires that the lifter
employ a number of attributes, such as coordination,
timing, quickness and balance, in order to do it properly
and with a decent amount of weight. As he becomes
more proficient in performing the movement, those skills
improve as he gains strength and are then utilized in
other sports endeavors. It’s a two-for-one deal. While an
athlete gets stronger, he also improves his athleticism—
can’t beat that.
Keep the number of exercises
in a beginning program to just
three. There should be one
for each of the three major
muscle groups of the body:
shoulder girdle or upper body,
back, and hips and legs.
The same thing holds true for someone who is enamored
with the bench press. He gives that exercise priority at
every session and adds in several auxiliary movements
that he believes will help him move more weight. Then,
as an afterthought, he goes through the motions on the
exercises for his legs and back. It needs to be under-
stood that there must be a balance of strength between
the muscles of the upper back and those of the frontal
deltoids and chest. Whenever those frontal muscles
become a great deal stronger than those that help
stabilize the rear part of the shoulder—i.e., the traps
and rear deltoids—the shoulder joints will begin to slope
slightly forward, causing pain in the shoulders.
There are so many exercises for the different groups
that selection often becomes a headache. Not everyone
agrees with the ones I prefer, which is fine. Many different
exercises suffice as long as they meet the necessary
criterion of being a primary movement that is aimed at
one of the larger muscle groups.
Power cleans are great for building strength but have an added
benefit: they improve speed, agility, coordination, balance and
a host of other attributes required by the athlete.
4
of
9
Copyright © 2010 CrossFit, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CrossFit is a registered trademark ‰ of CrossFit, Inc.
Subscription info at
Feedback to
Visit
Strength Pyramid ...
(continued)
Proficiency with power cleans quickly translates to proficiency with other pulls.
Master the power clean, then move on to full cleans and snatches.
Another reason why I start my athletes on power cleans,
both male and female, is that once they have learned the
form on that exercise, they can pick up the technique
on many other pulling movements rather easily. Power
snatches, clean and snatch high pulls, shrugs, deadlifts,
and even full cleans and full snatches are others that
benefit from proficiency with cleans.
So now, if there is an incline available, I make that my
primary upper-body movement for any beginning
athlete. And while I do like the overhead press, the
incline is still the better exercise for those just starting
out on a strength program because more weight can be
handled on that exercise. I’ve also had a small number of
athletes who were unable to do flat or incline benches
or even overhead presses. This was usually due to some
medical condition and would change once that problem
improved. I had them do weighted dips as their primary
upper-body exercise if they could do them, and they all
could.
The exercise I select for the shoulder girdle depends
on what sport, or sports, the athlete is participating in.
For football players, I use the flat bench. It converts to
blocking and tackling, and because every high school
and collegiate strength program uses and tests for the
flat bench, it might as well be done. However, if I could,
I would make the incline bench press the standard for
those playing football. It develops the shoulder muscles
better than the flat bench and is much less stressful to
the shoulder joints and elbows because it has to be done
in a strict manner. Rebounding the bar and bridging,
which are common in the flat version, do not work on
the incline because the bar will jump too far out front
and cause the attempt to be a failure.
The bottom line is get strong
and all the others aspects
of training will fall nicely
in place. Try and combine
everything at the same
time and very little
improvement is shown.
As I’ve mentioned previously, the reason Tommy Suggs
and I chose the flat bench to be our primary shoulder-
girdle exercise for The Big Three (
is not because we thought it was
superior to the incline but rather because there just
weren’t any incline benches available in the late ’60s.
Well, of course some could be found in health clubs and
heavy training gyms, but none at all in junior and senior
high schools and colleges, which were the places where
our target groups worked out.
5
of
9
Copyright © 2010 CrossFit, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CrossFit is a registered trademark ‰ of CrossFit, Inc.
Subscription info at
Feedback to
Visit
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]