Q. Glenn, I’ve have given up the smokes six months ago now and being a female and getting older I am putting on weight as a combination of metabolic slow down and non smoking. I have my own universal gym and most all other equipment, including free weights, steps, ex bike, leg and arm weights etc, but I've let my workouts slip. What weight should I be using in your sessions and what is dumbbell hammer curls? I don’t have a bench so the incline bench work can be done what other way? Thanks for your time. Looking forward to match fitness... (Victoria Nelson)
A. Victoria,
Congratulations on giving up smoking, you are obviously mentally strong. All you have to do is take this mental strength and carry it into your workouts. The quickest way to get your metabolism up and running again is through exercise and weight training. Lean muscle mass has the ability to burn fat. The amount of weight you are lifting should be that which matches the repetition range in the program. Ie. At the moment the program is in the 8 repetition range, so if you lift a weight that you can only do 7 repetition then it is too heavy, but on the other hand if you can lift the weight for 12 repetitions it is probably too light.
Dumbbell hammer curls are an arm exercise, which is done the following way:
1. Grab a dumbbell and stand or sit with the dumbbell by your side and your palms facing inwards to each other.
2. Inhale and curl the dumbbell to your shoulders either simultaneously or alternately, but don’t rotate the wrist. Keep the palms facing into each other over the whole movement – ie. like holding a hammer and hammering in a nail to wood.
3. Exhale as you bring the weight back to your side.
Victoria you can do all the flat bench exercise on the floor but if you can’t incline or decline bench just flatten out your ironing board and stack up one end with telephone books to get your desired angle. I hope all goes well. Train hard – Glenn Turner.
Q. G'Day Glenn my name is Brett, I am currently 15 years old and was wondering if doing weights three times a week at my age will stunt my growth. (Brett Thomas)
A. Brett,
This little piece of miss information about weights stunting your growth came from the concern of doctors that your growth plate in your bones can stay open up to the age of 20 years in males. These can be deformed or damaged if athletes lift very heavy weights with poor techniques and no supervision. If you stick to a circuit type workout, light weigh with 15-30 repetitions or just body weight exercises under supervision, then you will have no problems doing weights three time per week. If you want to practice any technique for any exercises just use a broom stick. I have given some circuit programs in the first two weeks that would suit your style of training. Go for it and work safely.
Q. Hey Glen.
I've been looking at your training program and wondering why you haven’t mentioned anything about progression. When and how do you increase your weight and rep range? The first, second or third set. I thought that this was the reason you do resistance work, (to become stronger) (Andrew Mitchell)
A. Andrew,
Good question. Resistance work is not only done to improve strength but it can also be used to improve power, weight loss, muscle size or rehabilitation from injury. With this in mind, there has been no progression mentioned this far as we are in a hypertrophy phase (muscle growth), where volume (repetitions) is more critical than intensity (weight lifted), though intensity still plays a part.
Q. Hi Glenn,
I'm taking a real interest in your strength training methods. I'm 41yrs young and I've been strength training for about 20 yrs and I am a Bombers fan. When I first set out training I followed the so called muscle mag type routines multiple sets, hours in the gym working on isolated movements. I'm just wondering whether you are familiar with HIT [high intensity training] pioneered by Arthur Jones in the mid 70's? For the last 10 years I’ve trained this way injury free and still growing my experience tells me it's the only way to strength train if you want to grow safely for a long period of time using compound movements 1 set to failure using continual double progression for 30-40 minutes only twice a week. Many strength coaches in American rules football use this training method and have very low rates of injury compared to other clubs that don't train the same way. I’m sorry for the length of this letter but I am fanatical about this method of training can't understand why AFL clubs don't train this way. (Andrew Mitchell)
A. Andrew,
I am most humble that you take such a keen interest in my program and even more delighted that a thought provoking person like yourself is a Bombers fan. Yes I have heard of HIT training and used to get a small booklet dealing specificially with this style of training sent over from America when I was coaching in Adelaide in 1996. You are very fortunate to have found weight training that suits you to the ground. Most people spend a lifetime searching for a program that suits their specific needs. I can see why some American football teams use this form of training as this suits the demands of their sport. Unfortunately, Aussie rules is a whole lot different, so the requirements are different in that we also need, maximum strength, power, explosive strength, starting strength, isometric strength and reactive power to name just a few areas that we work on. I think HIT training has a place but so does many other programs that I draw on to make individual programs for each of our players to strengthen areas in their game to makethem better players.
I have had no injuries from the gym this year and very little from the gym over my career in the last 10 years. Is this because of the program? I don’t think so. Most weight programs are pretty sound, it is the people driving the program or poor technique that causes most injuries. As for other AFL clubs, I don’t know or care for how they train. Keep training hard and go the Bombers. Glenn Turner.
