Muscle Ventures Podcasts

This video podcast (Quicktime ipod campatible, 31MB; Google streaming flash video) inaugurates Nancy Arnold's and my (Bud) workout diary series. We'll keep the series going as Nancy prepares for her next competition. This entry starts with a workout at Gold's Gym, Ann Arbor, at 8:00 AM, Sunday October 1 and ends  with a second workout at Gold's, Friday October 6 at 1:30 PM. Nancy seems to thrive at the early time. Personally, I prefer the afternoon.

We show clips across two max strength workouts. In these workouts, we are pushing 80–90% 1RM. In coming weeks, we will come up to over 1RM for eccentric weight training. One thing we are finding is that getting the body habituated to holding the loads and moving with them is key. It's also important to psych yourself up so you believe you can do the exercise.

The two workouts were five days apart, and we clearly made progress. I had to spot Nancy at 80% on the first workout, but in the second workout she needed less spotting at 90%.  The iso-lateral leg press was a bit different story as she needed help pushing off with that one. I did not need help pushing off in the leg press, but it required complete mental focus and a primal scream.

A little interview with Nancy finishes the clip. We agree that she has been making progress toward her muscle development goals. A major challenge will be thinning down during the muscle definition phase without losing too much muscle.

Additional Links

• This article discusses maximum strength training and its relation to absolute strength.
• Focus of the central nervous system is arguably the most important factor in increasing strength.