Weight Lifting

Arrived in San Francisco

Doesn’t look like I will be able go to a gym but i found a few alternatives.

• Push Ups every other day, 4 sets till failure (2min break b/w sets)
• Bike on a daily basis.
• Sit up to faillure
• Box Jumps

Bike 20 miles to the Golden Gate Park today.

Hills are steep here.

Totals   Starting August 30,2012

Bike: 30 miles

Push Ups: 300

Sit ups: 60

Bruce’s Teachings

You can’t stress it enough and yet you see poor form in the gym everyday. The reason behind poor form is shear ignorance and laziness. “Oh I am not lifting that much heavy weight, I wont get hurt”. That along other really stupid mentalities builds bad habits. That’s all form is, a good habit. A habit that is hard to lose. Once developed it can distinguish you from the other half-ass lifters in the gym. 

That is the biggest lesson I have learned at Bruce’s gym. LIttle tweaks to my from would add pounds to my lifts, it was incredible! I am writing this post as a reminder to myself of the things i do poorly. 

Bench:

• Hold the bar tightly. Make sure your thumbs do not flail around. Grip the bar at the base of palm.
• Keep wrist straight!
• Set up for bench properly. Grab the bar, pull yourself through and set your shoulders.
• Keep feet planted and dont let your legs shake.
• Push the bar BACK on the way up right away.
• Look up and not at the bar.
• Hold bar at top for couple of seconds before racking. 

Squat:

• Knee’s out
• Look up
• Elbows in, not back
• Feet solid on floor throughout the whole motion

Deadlift:

• Look up
• Mixed grip, grab the bar and twist through for better grip. 
• Grab bar at base of palm, not near fingers
• Back straight, knees out, sit back, lift, drive hips through

Working out at Bruce’s

I have spent most of this term training at physical activity complex also know as PAC at University of Waterloo. Very poor form, but slowly lifting higher and higher.

Bruce’s gym is essentially a garage filled with everything you need. The massive pool of knowledge these guys possess is incredible. Knowledge which they share to help each get stronger. With a few tweaks here and there, I have broken all my maxes within a week and it didn’t stop there. I have been improving and getting stronger since!

Below is a table of I created to keep progress of my improvements while working out at Bruce’s gym. 

Unfortunately my internship in San Francisco will prevent me going to Bruce’s for four months, but my training will continue. I will use this blog to track my progress and discuss unique experiences at the gym.

Alexei