Training Tips

Bodyweight assistance work
This is another thing I've done quite a bit of. I always start my workouts with a big exercise (squat, clean, deadlift, press, bench) and very often follow it up with simple bodyweight exercises such as dips, chins/pull-ups, pushups, glute-ham raises, back raises, various ab exercises, and one leg squatting.

This allows me to get some extra work in but not load my spine or my body too much. So if you're feeling excessively sore or your joints are hurting, this might be a good option.

Pasted from <http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article_issue/issue_633#blood-chalk-vol-6>

I have no problem with someone saying that they only want to get bigger. That's fine. The mistake is doing what competitive bodybuilders do before a show to get bigger, rather than what these guys did for years and years to get to the size that they are. Big movements, big weights, low reps.

Pasted from <http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article_issue/issue_626#sucker-punch-dan-john>

The How To 
The problem with the lat pull-down is that you have to concentrate very hard to get the lat to work from the start.To do it, set up on the lat pull-down with a third of the weight you normally use. (If you're a 170-pound puller, you should start with roughly 60 pounds.) Grab the bar and let yourself dead hang while seated. Focus on squeezing your upper lat (it's in the armpit when your arms are overhead) before you do anything else.

Once you've squeezed the upper lat, pull your shoulders all the way down (without bending your elbow) and begin to pull the bar down using your lats. Go slow and do it smoothly. Make sure your forearm angle stays in line with the cable as the bar passes your chin, and pull the bar down to your collarbone.
The first few sets will be the worst, but by the fifth or sixth set you should really start to feel yourself pulling through the lat. I like doing eight reps since it's enough to get several cracks at the motion, but not so much that you're fatigued before you get to the next set.

A Few Specific Tips
• Be sure to use a weight light enough that your lat can work, but heavy enough that you feelit working. If you use a weight that's too light, your body will have a very hard time recruiting more muscle mass than it needs. If you go too heavy, you'll just engage all the wrong muscles.
• Remember that when your arms are overhead the upper lat will be in your armpit. (The lat basically wraps around to the front side of the body.) You want to focus on pulling from your armpit at the beginning of the movement to activate the upper lats.

Pasted from <http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article_issue/issue_626#pull-up-strength> 


Strength Training
More and more it's becoming clear that strength training is good for a lot of things: bone density, practical application, insulin sensitivity, ego. It's also apparent that you don't have to do 37 different exercises per body part. Most of the available info stresses intensity, form, and simplicity usually with rep ranges in the 3 - 5 range (for basic strength).  Many argue you can get stronger doing sets of 20 as well, but you have to factor in experience, tolerance, age, nutrition, etc. to define an effective program (one size does not fit all).  

If basic  lifts like squat and deadlift are not a fundamental part of your workout program where you want to build size and strength, you have lost the plot.