So You Think You Can Olympic Lift

Are you guilty of any of the following Olympic lifting mistakes?

Setting up with the bar too far away from your shins

Pulling too early with your arms

Reversing curling the bar

Catching in the "spread eagle" postion

Taking sets beyond form failure

Olympic lifts are the ultimate expression of explosive strength and power. They are also the most technical exercises out there, requiring years of daily practice to master. At the typical meathead gym, most guys and gals steer clear of them. Of the select few individuals who do see their merits, most of them perform the lifts carelessly and sloppily. Here, I detail the five most common mistakes.

CrossFit: Not the First of its Kind

CrossFit gets a lot of hate for its high volume framework. The truth is, though, that CrossFit was neither the first nor even the latest training system to champion oodles of sets and reps. Thanks to the race-the-clock component, though, it is the most brutal.

While I don't recommend anyone go do 1000 burpees for time, high volume training -- within reason -- can be a great way to break out of the 3-sets-of-10-reps funk. Whether you're looking to gain strength or improve your conditioning, there's a type of high volume training for you.

How you might feel after your first high volume training session.
Photo courtesy: http://crossfitrc.com/?p=2385

Condense Your Workouts by Clustering

Back in the stone ages of resistance training (and still to this day in some people's programming), you'd walk into the gym, load up the barbell, and do 3 sets of squats. Then you'd head over to the bench press and do another 3 sets there. After that, you'd mosey on over to the pull-up bar and do your sets. Then reverse crunches. You get the idea.

There's nothing wrong with this method of training -– as long as you don't mind spending two hours per day in the gym, that is. But if you could do the exact same amount of work in three-fourths the time, wouldn't you?

Photo courtesy: http://www.amazon.com/Honey-Clusters-16-25-Ounce-Boxes-Pack/dp/B003VZBGIG

The Top 8

I recently conducted a poll of fitness experts (read: I asked my trainer friends on Facebook) to determine the 8 best exercises. I phrased the question in this way: If you could do only 8 exercises, what would they be?

Photo courtesy: http://oscarmini.com/2012/11/top-8-tech-related-blogs-in-nigeria.htm

Polling is now complete, and the results are in. The composite list goes like this...

Down and Dirty With Pull-ups and Periodization

When it comes to pull-ups, which is better: 5 unassisted or 12 assisted?