Unorthodox training techniques

[mjd4040]

lately i have been hearing about people using unorthodox training techniques that are supposed to really be affective. I have heard from especially people that are like wrestlers or something about using barrles and buckets full of roofing tar. they would carry haevy odd shaped items lond distances or would lift awkward heavy objects like barrels full of stuff. They would do all of this instead of weight training and they would be in phenominal shape. Has anybody elese heard of training like this helping or do you have some similar unorthodox training stufff that you do that seems to be effective?

[.V.]

Sure, search this site for luke w's oddlifting/strongman journal. Also check out the videos in the PL section from him and Dan C.

Interesting stuff.

[Blaze]

It all makes sense really. Don't look at is as "oddlifting" simply because its different from what everyone else, on average out there, is doing. The principles apply. You lift heavy stuff, you get stronger. Just because it's not iron loaded on a bar perfectly, doesnt mean it isnt gonna help you gain muscle. If anything it actually gives you strength more functional for real life.

[AndrewH]

there are some out there that I have tried and have some great results. So some are and even more effective than the "normal lifting routines" I'll give some examples:

Underhand BenchPress: KILLER tricep work out..can do this incline, decline, and flat

Alternating DB Bech: also pretty good, a whole new feel for the pecs.. Just alternate your hands so that Left goes up and R stays down, and vice versa



..There are a BUNCH more, this thread can help you look at some examples:
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do...ydra?id=974804

Underhand BP has also been shown to recuit the upper pecs by 27% more than flat bench. So if you don't have access to an incline bench you do have an alternative if your upper pecs need more work.

[Maxgain]

Originally Posted by IronMan

Underhand BP has also been shown to recuit the upper pecs by 27% more than flat bench. So if you don't have access to an incline bench you do have an alternative if your upper pecs need more work.

Do you have info on this recruitment Id be interested in reading it I never bought into recruiting more of the upper fibres over lower to me they were always a unit acting as a whole

Try this link
It will give you the journal it was published in. You will need to access it for the entire article.

Originally Posted by Maxgain

I never bought into recruiting more of the upper fibres over lower to me they were always a unit acting as a whole

Curls vs Reverse Grip Curls. Two movements that work on the same plane of travel, yet they hit the arms differently. Can't see why other exercises with various hand spacing won't do that too.

That is not meant to suggest that one can completely isolate a muscle or muscle group. But targeting areas for more activation does appear to be a reasonable goal.

[Maxgain]

well the arms(bis) have the two different muscles that can be hit while in the chest you do have the pec minor but compared to pec major it is very small I feel i either work the muscle or not I am not going to only hit the top part of the one muscle it will all work as a unit

[luke.w]

Originally Posted by mjd4040

lately i have been hearing about people using unorthodox training techniques that are supposed to really be affective. I have heard from especially people that are like wrestlers or something about using barrles and buckets full of roofing tar. they would carry haevy odd shaped items lond distances or would lift awkward heavy objects like barrels full of stuff. They would do all of this instead of weight training and they would be in phenominal shape. Has anybody elese heard of training like this helping or do you have some similar unorthodox training stufff that you do that seems to be effective?

I just realized it was this time (feb-march) 3years ago that I began this type of training, I believe my first session was after Dan read "dinasour training" and went out and purchased materials and made our first sandbags, I can remeber lifting off the ground and bearhugging a 150lber (it was murder), I remeber feeling muscles being worked that I never knew I had, I remeber my biceps where fried, my legs my lungs, before then all I did was barbell workouts, I believe my dead was 320 for a few reps and my squatting well I won't even count that, probailly couldn't even squat 225 with a strong form.

It was that day that I started adding "farmers walks" and rigging up most of the stuff you'd see on strongman, after 2-3years of that training it feels great to go back to the barbell and experiance how I've improved squatting form and practicing some new stuff with the barbell. (it took 5years to get my squatting down right, I think I finally got it, (I owe most of it to unorthodox training methods) now I just got to get heavier, I still got a long journey.