Uploaded on 17 Jul 2013
Demonstration of the proper performance of the pulling exercises for the Project: Kratos bodyweight high intensity training program
Thursday, 12 September 2013
DIY Suspension Trainer | High Intensity Training by Drew Baye
DIY Suspension Trainer | High Intensity Training by Drew Baye
You will need a tape measure and a sharpie to mark the cuts on the PVC and grips and mark lengths on the webbing so you can adjust both straps to equal lengths.
…then back around through the buckle to secure it.
After you do this for both straps, measure off equal lengths from the ends of the webbing and mark them with the sharpie. If you plan to use the straps at different lengths for different exercises, measure and make marks at those lengths for quick reference when making adjustments.
Put the spring clips on if you plan to use them, and you’re set.
Many public parks have swing sets with eye bolts or similar mounting hardware for the swings which works well for clipping the straps to. Use them between the swings if the spacing is not too wide (more than a little outside shoulder width).
If you work out at home or outdoors or travel frequently I recommend making yourself a suspension trainer; a pair of handles or loops on ropes or webbing which can be used to perform a variety of bodyweight exercises like chin ups, rows, and inverted curls when there are no bars or suitable handholds to hang from. They’re lightweight and take up little space in your suitcase, back pack, or car trunk, and they can be quickly and securely anchored between a door and door frame, looped over a bar or an exposed beam or joist, or clipped to an eye bolt securely fastened to a load bearing structure. They can also be looped under the feet or anchored to the ground or a post and used for a variety of isometric exercises or to assist with balance during exercises like bodyweight squats.
A variety of commercial suspension trainers are available, but most are ridiculously overpriced considering how inexpensive the materials are and how easy they are to construct. The popular TRX home suspension training kit costs $200 and many competing brands cost over $100, but you can easily build your own in a few minutes for around $20 using common materials available at any home improvement store and a few basic tools.
The design I describe here cost me less than twenty dollars and only took a few minutes to make.
This could mean a savings of several hundreds of dollars for a gym or personal training studio planning to install multiple suspension training stations if they make them themselves.
Materials
Suspension trainers are typically made with nylon webbing, plastic buckles, and foam covered PVC handles. You can buy a pair of tie down straps made of strong webbing with plastic buckles at home improvement stores for around seven or eight dollars, and a two foot length of three quarters or one inch schedule 40 PVC will cost you a little over a dollar.
If you plan to hang them from a chinning bar or power rack frame one pair of eight foot straps is enough. If you plan to hang them from an overhead beam or anchor them to the top of a door frame you will need to buy another pair of straps for extra length.
Spring clips can be used to prevent the straps from slipping when anchored between a door and the top of a door frame (use them with the clips on the side of the door facing the outside of the frame) or to clip them to eye bolts you can fasten to a beam or joist or to allow you to quickly clip them to a bar.
The webbing I bought was rated to hold up to two hundred pounds and the spring clips were rated for double that, so the pair of straps can handle well over my body weight. Always check the strength before buying anything you plan to hang from or support your body weight on, and err on the strong side with both materials and design.
If you can’t find straps like these at your local home improvement store you can get both heavy duty webbing and plastic hardware at Strap Works very inexpensively (one inch webbing with a breaking strength of over three thousand pounds is only $0.45 per foot)
I bought one inch schedule 40 PVC, which has an outer diameter of around one and a quarter inch. If you plan to put cushioned grips on yours buy the three quarter inch PVC, which has an outer diameter of a little over an inch because the cushioned grip will add around another quarter inch to the diameter. For a cushioned grip, buy a 1×12 padded grip from an exercise equipment parts supplier like Full Circle Padding, cut off the end, and cut it into two six inch pieces to cover the handles.
The set I made included a single pair of straps ($6.97), a two foot section of one inch, schedule 40 PVC ($1.80) and two half inch spring clips ($4.64 each) for a total cost of $18.71, which is a savings of over $180 compared to the TRX.
If you don’t need the spring clips the total cost is only $9.43. If you get an extra pair of straps for more length and a twelve inch padded grip from Full Circle Padding ($5.75 plus shipping) would bring the total up to the mid thirties, which is still a very reasonable price.
Tools
All you need is something to cut the PVC and some sandpaper to smooth the edges and rough up the surface to improve grip if you aren’t going to add padded grips. If you are adding padded grips you’ll also need a scissors to cut them with.
I used a hacksaw and a miter box to keep the cuts reasonably straight. If you don’t have a saw or pipe cutter and don’t want to buy one you should be able to find someone at your home improvement store to cut the handles for you.
You will need a tape measure and a sharpie to mark the cuts on the PVC and grips and mark lengths on the webbing so you can adjust both straps to equal lengths.
Construction
Measure and mark off two six inch lengths on your PVC. If you are adding a padded grip cut the end off and mark off two equal lengths (the halfway point if you purchased a twelve inch grip). Double check before cutting.
Cut the PVC handles.
Sand the outside and inside edges of the ends of the handles and rough up the outside to improve the grip if you don’t plan to put padded grips on them. If you are putting padded grips on the handles spraying them with hairspray first will help keep the grips in place.
You could simply thread the tie downs through your handles, fasten the buckles, and put the spring clips on, but I think using the buckle to create separate loops for the handles and the rest of the strap looks better than using one big loop and it keeps the handles in one place.
Thread the end of the webbing through the handle then through the middle of the buckle frame…
…then back around through the buckle to secure it.
After you do this for both straps, measure off equal lengths from the ends of the webbing and mark them with the sharpie. If you plan to use the straps at different lengths for different exercises, measure and make marks at those lengths for quick reference when making adjustments.
Put the spring clips on if you plan to use them, and you’re set.
While there are other ways to construct these, this is one of the quickest and requires no sewing or additional hardware.
If you have a machine or a heavy duty stitching awl and don’t mind sewing, cut the end with the buckle off one of the straps and thread each end through a handle and sew it into a loop using strong thread, which you can also get at Strap Works. In the example I mocked up with duct tape pictured below I measured off twenty four inches for each loop, and duct taped about the last three inches of the loop together.
Then fold the strap in half creating a loop with the fold, and sew the strap together from about three inches to about six inches from the fold, creating a loop. Thread the other strap through the loop and fasten the buckle. Mark off regular increments on the strap with the sharpie for repeatable positioning if you want. Add a spring clip and you’re all set.
Use
To anchor them to a door frame hang the straps over the top of the door with the clips on the outside of the door frame (the side the door opens towards) as pictured above. If possible, use a door that opens into a room with nobody in it so you don’t have to worry about someone opening the door while you are using them. If not, notify everyone there not to open the door without knocking or place a conspicuous sign on the door alerting people not to open it.
If you plan to use them outdoors you can either clip the ends together and hang them over a high post or strong tree branch, or wrap the strap over a chinning bar, monkey bar, pipe, or beam and fasten the spring clip as pictured below. Make sure the structure will support your weight and doesn’t have any sharp edges which may cut into or damage the straps.
Many public parks have swing sets with eye bolts or similar mounting hardware for the swings which works well for clipping the straps to. Use them between the swings if the spacing is not too wide (more than a little outside shoulder width).
Like barbells, and dumbbells, there are a few really good exercises you can do with suspension trainers, and an almost infinite variety of relatively ineffective and/or dangerous ones (including most of the exercises recommended in the courses and DVD’s sold with commercial suspension trainers). Suspension trainers work best for exercises requiring you to hang most or all of your body weight from your arms like chin ups, pull ups, and inverted rows and curls, and should be used for these when a fixed bar or handles at the appropriate height is not available.
They also work well for exercises like chest flyes (horizontal shoulder adduction), rear delt flyes (horizontal shoulder abduction) and overhead triceps extensions if they are performed with the body positioned more diagonally than horizontally and with wide foot spacing for stability.
Suspension trainers work very poorly for exercises requiring your arms to support most of your body weight like push ups and dips because the additional effort required to maintain balance and correct body positioning reduces your ability to focus on intensely contracting the target muscles.
Contrary to the misinformed claims of so-called “functional training” proponents, this instability and additional balance challenge does not make exercise more effective for strengthening the muscles of the trunk or “core” or translate to improved balance in other movements.
If your goal is to maximize general improvements in muscular strength and size and overall functional ability you should perform push ups, dips, and similar exercises on a stable surface or bars, not on a suspension trainer.
Suspension trainers should not be looped around the feet or ankles to support the legs for similar reasons. Exercises requiring the feet to be supported in an elevated position should be performed using a stable platform or bar, like the roller pad on the UXS bodyweight multi-exercise station.
However, suspension trainers can be looped under the feet to anchor them for use during isometric exercises for the upper body like compound rows (pictured below), arm curls, and lateral raises, using timed static contraction protocol. These are discussed in detail in the Project: Kratos bodyweight high intensity training program handbook.
If you’ve been considering buying a suspension trainer for your home workouts or your personal training studio or gym, give this a try before you spend way more than you need to overpriced commercial suspension trainer. If you follow the instructions here you will get something that is just as strong and works just as well for a small fraction of the price.
7 Ways to Fix Your Shoulders - Strength Training Workouts
7 Ways to Fix Your Shoulders - How to Build Muscle | Strength Training Workouts | Mass Gain Diet | How to Build Muscle | Strength Training Workouts | Mass Gain Diet
34 Comments
After I completed the Triple Threat Muscle program and made great gains, I decided that I was back closer to an advanced level and needed to change my training back to what I used to do pre-surgery.
The only difference was that there would have to be major modifications due to the shoulder injury.
So what have been the biggest changes that have made all the difference as of late?
1) I always do a general warm up lasting at least 10 minutes. This consists of various mobility drills and isometric holds for injury prone areas. Years ago I might have walked into the gym in a rush and skipped my warm up entirely. Now I would never dream of it.
2) I do more specific shoulder warm ups. After my general warm up, on an upper body day, I do specific shoulder warm ups. These consist of YTWL’s or something similar. Instead of that sequence I may just do bent over Y-raises, lateral raises, bent over rear delt raises, standing front raises, standing external rotations, all in a row for ten reps each with a pair of fives. After that I will always do two sets of external rotations lying on my side for 12-20 reps. Another great one is to take a medicine ball and place it against the wall. With your hand pressed against it you do the alphabet. I got this one from my friend, Keith Scott and it works like a charm.
3) Shoulder dislocations with a broomstick. These are part of number 2 but are so important that they need an individual mention. Nothing has helped my shoulder more than these. I do 25 reps before every workout and 25-50 reps another couple days per week even when I’m not training. I can’t recommend this drill highly enough. I only wish I had known about it years ago.
4) I do higher reps on my warm up sets. In the past when I was ready to start my work sets I would minimize the reps on warm up sets only because I couldn’t wait to get to the heavy sets. I just wanted to get my warm ups over as fast as humanly possible and load the bar up with heavy weight.
5) I don’t go below eight reps on upper body exercises. And most of my sets fall in the range of 10-12. I will actually only go down to eight reps only after an adequate warm up and maybe a few work sets at a higher rep range. Now, this isn’t to say I will never go below eight reps because I’m sure eventually I will. But right now I have no intentions of doing so. It’s just not worth it.
Having said that, what I do is not necessarily what you should do. Hardgainers who try to train solely in the range of 10-12 reps will remain skinny and weak forever. This rep range is better suited for advanced, stronger lifters.
6) I stay far away from failure. I have always recommended this and have practiced what I preached for the most part. But in all honesty, I would let myself get a little out of control in the heat of battle. I rarely ever miss a weight in training but in the past I have come too close too many times. I never, ever allow this anymore. All of reps are piston like, smooth and fast, with control and picture perfect technique, and I never come near failure.
7) I use a limited range of motion. I know, I know you are always supposed to use a full range of motion on every exercise you do.
Except for the fact that it’s unnatural and dangerous I guess that old rehashed advice makes some kind of sense.
Do me a favor. Hold your hands up in position to do a barbell military press. Now draw an invisible line connecting your two hands. I’ll bet the invisible bar is not sitting on your upper chest. If it is chances are you’re incredibly skinny. Which isn’t a bad thing if you’re a beginner. I’m just making a point here.
For most of us the invisible bar will a couple inches above your chest. If you hold a broomstick in this position, without intentionally trying to bring the bar to your chest, it will probably be around chin level, and that’s where you should be pressing from.
Why?
Because it’s natural. Bringing it down to your chest would place a lot of undue stress on your shoulders.
Now if you want to count a strict press and compete against someone or whatnot you would technically have to touch your chest. But since there aren’t too many military press contests around I would opt for the safer range and keep the bar somewhere around chin level in the bottom position.
Dead hang chin ups and full extension barbell curls have the same type of destructive effect on the joints. This discussion in itself requires a full article but for now we’ll leave it at that…
No extreme, unnatural ranges of motion.
One final point I would like to make is that I always start my workouts with long sleeves or a hooded sweatshirt unless it’s a minimum of 80 degrees in the gym (and preferably closer to 90). I don’t peel a layer off until near the end, when all the heavy lifting is done. If it’s in the 60’s or 70’s in the gym I stay bundled up throughout. This is nothing new as I’ve always done that. But I thought I’d mention it because it’s a great way to stay healthy. Sometimes people are scared of sweating and want to open the door or turn on the fan or complain about the heat. Little do they know it’s actually helping them stay injury free.
--------------------------------------------
INTRO
--------------------------------------------
Before surgery I was sitting at about 227 pounds. After several months of being incapacitated and eating like a normal human I was down to 179! Like I’ve always said, my hardgainer genetics are freakishly bad. Hell, my wrists don’t even measure seven inches around.
Anyway, the comeback has been long and frustrating. Because I have the undying urge to go heavy whenever I get near iron and the fact that rational thought processes go out the window after I start warming up, I have reinjured my shoulder a couple times throughout the rehab process. Needless to set these setbacks have been incredibly stressful and annoying to deal with.
While training together at CJ Murphy’s gym in Boston once, my friend Dave Tate commented, “You think Jay’s a smart guy until you see some of the stupid shit he does when he’s training.”
And he was 100% right. I do stupid shit. Often and with reckless abandon. It’s my greatest downfall in life. Has been for as long as I can remember. Whether it be flipping dirt bikes, jumping off cliffs or trying to do heavy cleans with an injured shoulder, I just lose control of my rational thought processes when the adrenaline kicks in.
Anyway, the purpose of today’s update is to let you know that after 20 plus years of training I seem to have finally smartened up and have been a bit wiser with my decision making in the gym as of late. As a result my shoulder is feeling a lot better and I’m regaining size and strength pretty quickly.
I’m now back up around 220. It’s a little smaller and softer 220 than how I used to look at this weight but I’ll take it for now. At the rate I’m going I’ll be gaining a lot more size back over the next few weeks and months and I can lean down when I decide the time is right.
---------
Please leave your questions and comments below and let me know if you found this post helpful.
PS. If you’re really beat up you might want to get a hold of Keith Scott’s Unbreakable.
34 Comments
"Dead hang chin ups and full extension barbell curls have the same type of destructive effect on the joints. This discussion in itself requires a full article but for now we’ll leave it at that…"As you may know by now I suffered a torn rotator cuff and labrum that required surgery. The injury was a long time in the making and the destruction of my shoulder began many years ago when I was doing stupid things like isometronic training in the power rack and other high risk, low reward methods.
After I completed the Triple Threat Muscle program and made great gains, I decided that I was back closer to an advanced level and needed to change my training back to what I used to do pre-surgery.
The only difference was that there would have to be major modifications due to the shoulder injury.
So what have been the biggest changes that have made all the difference as of late?
1) I always do a general warm up lasting at least 10 minutes. This consists of various mobility drills and isometric holds for injury prone areas. Years ago I might have walked into the gym in a rush and skipped my warm up entirely. Now I would never dream of it.
2) I do more specific shoulder warm ups. After my general warm up, on an upper body day, I do specific shoulder warm ups. These consist of YTWL’s or something similar. Instead of that sequence I may just do bent over Y-raises, lateral raises, bent over rear delt raises, standing front raises, standing external rotations, all in a row for ten reps each with a pair of fives. After that I will always do two sets of external rotations lying on my side for 12-20 reps. Another great one is to take a medicine ball and place it against the wall. With your hand pressed against it you do the alphabet. I got this one from my friend, Keith Scott and it works like a charm.
3) Shoulder dislocations with a broomstick. These are part of number 2 but are so important that they need an individual mention. Nothing has helped my shoulder more than these. I do 25 reps before every workout and 25-50 reps another couple days per week even when I’m not training. I can’t recommend this drill highly enough. I only wish I had known about it years ago.
4) I do higher reps on my warm up sets. In the past when I was ready to start my work sets I would minimize the reps on warm up sets only because I couldn’t wait to get to the heavy sets. I just wanted to get my warm ups over as fast as humanly possible and load the bar up with heavy weight.
Big mistake.
Let’s say I was going to pull 455 for 10. My warm up sets would look like this:
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 1-3
405 x 1
455 x 10- work set
In retrospect that just seems silly to me now. There’s no way you’re adequately warmed up doing that.
Last night I did barbell military presses. I know I probably shouldn’t even be pressing a bar at this point in my life but I love it and need it. It’s an addiction. My warm ups went like this:
45 x 20
75 x 10
95 x 10
115 x 10
135 x 12- work set
Here’s a video of that last set:
The difference this made was immeasurable. I can’t even begin to tell you how much better I felt doing this than I would have had I done my old style warm up where I got zero pump or blood flow and felt the sets more in my joints than I did in the belly of the muscle.
Does this limit the amount of weight I can do on my heaviest work sets? Maybe a bit. But I don’t think the extra few pounds is worth the risk of injury. The body will adapt.
5) I don’t go below eight reps on upper body exercises. And most of my sets fall in the range of 10-12. I will actually only go down to eight reps only after an adequate warm up and maybe a few work sets at a higher rep range. Now, this isn’t to say I will never go below eight reps because I’m sure eventually I will. But right now I have no intentions of doing so. It’s just not worth it.
Having said that, what I do is not necessarily what you should do. Hardgainers who try to train solely in the range of 10-12 reps will remain skinny and weak forever. This rep range is better suited for advanced, stronger lifters.
6) I stay far away from failure. I have always recommended this and have practiced what I preached for the most part. But in all honesty, I would let myself get a little out of control in the heat of battle. I rarely ever miss a weight in training but in the past I have come too close too many times. I never, ever allow this anymore. All of reps are piston like, smooth and fast, with control and picture perfect technique, and I never come near failure.
7) I use a limited range of motion. I know, I know you are always supposed to use a full range of motion on every exercise you do.
Except for the fact that it’s unnatural and dangerous I guess that old rehashed advice makes some kind of sense.
Do me a favor. Hold your hands up in position to do a barbell military press. Now draw an invisible line connecting your two hands. I’ll bet the invisible bar is not sitting on your upper chest. If it is chances are you’re incredibly skinny. Which isn’t a bad thing if you’re a beginner. I’m just making a point here.
For most of us the invisible bar will a couple inches above your chest. If you hold a broomstick in this position, without intentionally trying to bring the bar to your chest, it will probably be around chin level, and that’s where you should be pressing from.
Why?
Because it’s natural. Bringing it down to your chest would place a lot of undue stress on your shoulders.
Now if you want to count a strict press and compete against someone or whatnot you would technically have to touch your chest. But since there aren’t too many military press contests around I would opt for the safer range and keep the bar somewhere around chin level in the bottom position.
Dead hang chin ups and full extension barbell curls have the same type of destructive effect on the joints. This discussion in itself requires a full article but for now we’ll leave it at that…
No extreme, unnatural ranges of motion.
One final point I would like to make is that I always start my workouts with long sleeves or a hooded sweatshirt unless it’s a minimum of 80 degrees in the gym (and preferably closer to 90). I don’t peel a layer off until near the end, when all the heavy lifting is done. If it’s in the 60’s or 70’s in the gym I stay bundled up throughout. This is nothing new as I’ve always done that. But I thought I’d mention it because it’s a great way to stay healthy. Sometimes people are scared of sweating and want to open the door or turn on the fan or complain about the heat. Little do they know it’s actually helping them stay injury free.
--------------------------------------------
INTRO
--------------------------------------------
Before surgery I was sitting at about 227 pounds. After several months of being incapacitated and eating like a normal human I was down to 179! Like I’ve always said, my hardgainer genetics are freakishly bad. Hell, my wrists don’t even measure seven inches around.
Anyway, the comeback has been long and frustrating. Because I have the undying urge to go heavy whenever I get near iron and the fact that rational thought processes go out the window after I start warming up, I have reinjured my shoulder a couple times throughout the rehab process. Needless to set these setbacks have been incredibly stressful and annoying to deal with.
While training together at CJ Murphy’s gym in Boston once, my friend Dave Tate commented, “You think Jay’s a smart guy until you see some of the stupid shit he does when he’s training.”
And he was 100% right. I do stupid shit. Often and with reckless abandon. It’s my greatest downfall in life. Has been for as long as I can remember. Whether it be flipping dirt bikes, jumping off cliffs or trying to do heavy cleans with an injured shoulder, I just lose control of my rational thought processes when the adrenaline kicks in.
Anyway, the purpose of today’s update is to let you know that after 20 plus years of training I seem to have finally smartened up and have been a bit wiser with my decision making in the gym as of late. As a result my shoulder is feeling a lot better and I’m regaining size and strength pretty quickly.
I’m now back up around 220. It’s a little smaller and softer 220 than how I used to look at this weight but I’ll take it for now. At the rate I’m going I’ll be gaining a lot more size back over the next few weeks and months and I can lean down when I decide the time is right.
---------
Please leave your questions and comments below and let me know if you found this post helpful.
PS. If you’re really beat up you might want to get a hold of Keith Scott’s Unbreakable.
Shoulder Mobility - Shoulder "Dislocations" with a Broom Stick - YouTube
Shoulder Dislocations are a powerful exercise to boost your shoulder flexibility for the Squat and Bench Press, and to fix your hunchback posture.
First, don't be concerned - you won't actually dislocate your shoulders here. Shoulder dislocations are perfectly safe if you do them correctly, even if you had a dislocated shoulder before. Just don't rush it and be persistent. This exercise will be challenging initially, but you'll quickly improve if you're consistent at it.
You'll need a broomstick for shoulder dislocations although I recommend you get a mini-band as I'll explain below. Video of me doing Shoulder Dislocations:
How to do Shoulder Dislocations Correctly. NEVER use the barbell for shoulder dislocations - it's too heavy, you could injure yourself. Just grab the broomstick wide, reach over until you hit your back/hips, and then come back. Repeat for 3 sets of 10 reps as warm-up for your Squats/Bench/Press. Quick technique tips:
First, don't be concerned - you won't actually dislocate your shoulders here. Shoulder dislocations are perfectly safe if you do them correctly, even if you had a dislocated shoulder before. Just don't rush it and be persistent. This exercise will be challenging initially, but you'll quickly improve if you're consistent at it.
You'll need a broomstick for shoulder dislocations although I recommend you get a mini-band as I'll explain below. Video of me doing Shoulder Dislocations:
How to do Shoulder Dislocations Correctly. NEVER use the barbell for shoulder dislocations - it's too heavy, you could injure yourself. Just grab the broomstick wide, reach over until you hit your back/hips, and then come back. Repeat for 3 sets of 10 reps as warm-up for your Squats/Bench/Press. Quick technique tips:
- Start Wide. If you can't do shoulder dislocations without your elbows bending or your hands leaving the stick then your grip is too narrow for your current flexibility level. Grip the stick wider, as wide as possible.
- Use a Resistance Band. Iron woody Bands makes shoulder dislocations a lot easier if you lack flexibility because the band stretches as you reach overhead. Get a mini-band if you struggle with the broomstick.
- Be Persistent. You will obviously not eliminate bad posture caused by years of computer games or too much sitting overnight. But your posture and flexibility will quickly improve if you're persistent. So be patient.
- Doorway pec stretches – stretch your pecs
- Thoracic Extension on roller – eliminates hunchback posture
Sunday, 8 September 2013
The truth about those 'before' and 'after' photos
The truth about those 'before' and 'after' photos
In order to prove his point, he did his own "before" and "after" shots, taken within an hour of each other.
He let it all hang out in the first shot. "I then shaved my head, face and chest and prepared for the after shot, which was about an hour after I took the before shot. I did a few push-ups and chin-ups, tweaked my bedroom lighting, sucked in, tightened my abs and BOOM! We got our after shot."
The results, which you can see above, are astounding.
In order to prove his point, he did his own "before" and "after" shots, taken within an hour of each other.
He let it all hang out in the first shot. "I then shaved my head, face and chest and prepared for the after shot, which was about an hour after I took the before shot. I did a few push-ups and chin-ups, tweaked my bedroom lighting, sucked in, tightened my abs and BOOM! We got our after shot."
The results, which you can see above, are astounding.
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