Look Strong vs. BE STRONG again

 

We left off on with the idea that training causes more changes than most of us are aware.

Dr. Siff and brainiacs like Gibbs, Hall, Rosenzweig, Diamond, and a host of elites from the halls of academe discovered that fitness training affects our motor, cardiovascular, AND nervous systems.

That is why you may hear strength athletes talk in terms of training their nerves.  It is possible to have an incredibly high strength to weight ratio by maximizing functional strength training.  




This also brought our scientists to the conclusion that anything you use in training (like belts, gloves, special shoes, or putting things under your heels to squat) changes neuromuscular patterns enough to make you virtually dependent on them.  At this point you should ask yourself if you think you would have the time or state of mind to put on your gloves and belt to lift something off of a loved one while in a frantic state.

This also means that all of the exercises that most people avoid due to lack of knowledge or fear also play into that mix.  These are the same exercises that best give you the ability to display functional strength effectively and safely.  You know what I’m talking about.  Exercises like squat and deadlift have always been condemned by popular fitness culture.  There are literally gyms that do not allow you to deadlift and some don’t even have squat racks.  I’m sorry folks, but if a gym doesn’t have a squat rack – and I don’t mean a Smith machine – then it isn’t a gym. 

So if we are “adaptive and self regulating” how come we just can’t use the principle of progressive overload to keep getting stronger indefinitely? 

And if we can’t, how do we go about getting stronger?

Understanding this is our quest so that we may attack the problem of how to train more effectively.