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Strength does not equal size.

 

Lifting weights is often solely associated with huge bodybuilders. Certainly bodybuilders do include weight training to create their otherworldly physiques, however the differences between bodybuilding and strength training are worlds apart. Women often shy away from weight lifting over concerns that they will develop huge biceps and I've heard men citing the reason they don't lift is because 'they don't want to get too big.' It's not the lifting, it's how you lift. Strength training teaches the body how to fire itself up, to get all its muscles working together, as one, for maximum performance. The nervous system learns and stimulates neural pathways, leading to greater expressions of strength, without huge muscle growth. Dr Roger M. Enoka summarizes in his study 'Muscle Strength and Its Development' "... it is possible to increase strength without any change in muscle size. This dissociation underscores the notion that strength is not solely a property of muscle but rather it is a property of the motor system. The nervous system seems to be of paramount importance for the expression and development of strength. Indeed, it is probable that increases in strength can be achieved without morphological changes in muscle but not without neural adaptations.'

 

 

Prowler Addiction.

 

Prowler is one of the best on the best conditoning tools for fat loss, power and cardio. training on the prowler can be done within 10 minutes and give you more bang for buck than spending all day on a running machine. This tool is not just great for proffesional athletes, but for anyone who wishes to lose stubborn fat, become super fit without spending hours in the gym. You also do not need to spend weeks learning how to use it. Here we have mondo moving more than double bodyweight at a good speed.

Old School

 

The Farnese Hercules statue, recovered in 1546, is a Roman copy of an original by Lysippos and was made in the fourth century B.C. by a dude named Glykon, which is an epic name. 1700 years ago, old Glykon didn't have photoshop. He didn't subscribe to Men's health, and probably hadn't even seen Pumping Iron. Some massive Roman dude must have posed for the sculptor. The statue was built for the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, which had been like the Virgin Active of ancient Rome since 212AD. The old Romans went there to bathe and for Physical Exercise. I imagine the dude who posed for the statue probably trained there. But the weights room would have looked a lot less Virgin and a lot more Elite Gym. The Romans totally ripped off the Greek Athletic System. The Greeks wrote the first weight training programs. They used stones, then later hung bells off a bar to add resistance (barbell) They took the clapper out to silence the bell (dumbbell) There were some serious Greek lifters back in the day. A 144Kg red sandstone block was found in Olympiain the early 6th century B.C with the inscription “Bybon son of Phola, has lifted me over his head with one hand.” The stone had a carved out handle. You wouldn't want old Bybon knocking on your door at 4 in the morning! These dudes got strong without protein powder, creatine or smith machines. They didn't shop at Tesco. They did understand the importance of training hard and enjoying the results, 2500 years ago.

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