Think Before You Lift

Recently I rode my motorcycle through a small coastal town and stopped for a bite at a small fish ‘n’ chips restaurant along the way.  It was owned and operated by monks from the local monastery to raise money.  While I was waiting for my order, I asked the monk in charge, with a witty grin on my face, “are you the fish friar”?   Without missing a beat, and not to be outdone by my wisecrack, he simply responded, “No sir, I am the chip monk”.  The simplicity and source of the punchline above makes me think of 14th-century Franciscan friar, William of Ockham.  This English logician was attributed with coming up with the theory that the simplest explanation or strategy to solve a given problem tends to be the best one.  I believe his words were something along the lines of “When you hear hoof-beats, think horses, not zebras”.  This principle became to be known as Ockham’s Razor.  Now I am sure you can tell by the joke above, I’m a simple man with a simple sense of humor.  And my cook

You’re busy, which is why you are reading this post, so I’ll keep it short and sweet.  I’m just going to cut to the chase on this one and get right down to the brass tacks.  When it comes to general strength training, there are only a few key movements you need to perform.  The idea is to strengthen the major muscle groups using compound movements.  By focusing on the following basic, compound movements, you will get the most bang for your buck and the highest return on your time investment at the gym.   Compound Movements: 1. Any type of squat (Low bar, High Bar, Front Squat, Leg Press, Hack Squat, Split Squats, Box Squats, etc.) 2. Any type of deadlift (Conventional, Sumo, RDL, Deficit, Rack Pull, etc.) 3. Vertical Press (anything where you are pressing overhead) 4. Chest Press (Bench, Incline, Pushup, etc) 5. Vertical Pull – (Any exercise where you are pulling from overhead; pull ups, lat pulldown, etc) 6. Row – (Any exercise where you are pulling from a horizon