Learn More on My Following YouTube Video:
I used this program to lift a weight for sets and reps I haven’t lifted since way back in 1996/7 before I accumulated all my injuries from training too hard.
Here’s a Special Report I wrote about how to do that as fast as possible while gaining strength in the process.
If you want a different “diet free” approach, this will help you out.
(If you enjoy the Clean + Press, ‘THE GIANT X2’ uses the Double C+P, Double PUSH Press, and the SEE-SAW Press - several opposites there for you.)
Here are 3 Methods I’ve personally used along with my private clients over the last 15 or so years to help us get stronger when the “normal answers” no longer work:
[1] Fix your injuries, get out of pain, regain your mobility
Being in pain sucks.
Not working out cause you’re in pain sucks more.
I know.
I’ve been there, gotten the t-shirt, even mowed the lawn in it.
But pushing through pain only makes the pain worse.
It continues to damage the affected areas, and what most people don’t know, is that the brain will shut off, or at very least, decrease the neural drive (a.k.a. “Nerve Force”) to the affected area.
This makes those muscles weaker, and reinforces old movement compensations, and creates new ones.
And the harder you push into and through pain, the more your body will rebel until you’ve painted yourself into the proverbial corner, like I did, back in ‘06, when the only 2 exercises I could do that didn’t cause pain were the single KB Clean + Press and Chin Ups.
Plus, you’ll increase both local and systemic inflammation, and which -
[X] Jacks up your cortisol levels, which then in turn chews up muscle and lays down new body fat
[X] Jacks up your arousal/anxiety levels, which increases chronic stress levels, which can lead to [more] sleep problems, which will also increase your cortisol levels, and so on…
[X] Drives up all the negative blood markers and starts to rob you of your health, increasing your risk for Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, and everyone’s favorite - the Big C - Cancer
Sound melodramatic?
It’s not.
Research is clear on the link between chronic stress, chronic inflammation, cancer, and coronary heart disease (CHD).
While working out is great, working out and pushing through pain will work against you in the long run.
Same thing with trying to force your body into ranges of motion it doesn’t have.
The end result is injury.
So spend however long it takes to “fix yourself” and then work around your “issues.”
[2] Get Rid of Excess (& Unnecessary) Body Fat
I was just talking to a client about this yesterday.
There’s such a stigma around failing to get rid of body fat.
We end up condemning ourselves and live in guilt and shame.
Let’s just stop doing that, and see this as a process, and acknowledge that since the last process you used didn’t work for you, it might’ve been the wrong process, shall we?
But excess body fat decreases our anabolic hormone production - Testosterone (T), Growth Hormone (GH), and IGF-1.
And that means we lose muscle and strength, age faster, and die sooner than we should.
The truth is though, for the EXACT SAME REASON - excess body fat also MAKES IT HARDER to get stronger.
So, for some folks, the “fastest” way to get stronger is to prioritize getting rid of body fat, so your T, GH, and IGF-1 work the way they’re supposed to and you end up leaner and stronger, with less effort.
You can use the regular approach, or the fast / rapid approach.
If you’re like most Westerners/Americans, you’ll probably want the “fast” approach.
(I used this approach for a month back in April 2012 after I spent that 18 months fixing most of my issues. I dumped about 10 pounds I didn’t really know I had and all my KB lifts went up during that time period.)
[3] Do The Opposite (Or Close To It)
Assuming you’re healthy and you’re good with how much body fat you have, take a look at your training journal, then do the opposite of what you’ve been doing.
For example:
[+] If you’ve been lower reps, move to a higher rep range
[+] If you’ve been using higher reps, move to a lower rep range
[+] If you’ve been taking long rests, use shorter rests, and vice versa
[+] If you’ve been lifting slower, lift faster - more explosively
[+] If you’ve been using single KBs, challenge yourself to learn the doubles and use them
[+] If you’ve been using double KBs, challenge your “stabilization strength” and shore up any asymmetries you may have by running a cycle of single KB work
[+] Move from higher frequency low volume training to lower frequency higher volume training, and vice versa And so on.