Brute Strength Gym

BRUTE RANTS

I have been involved with strength training and science for most of my life. I’ve watched lifting go from a basement activity to a billion dollar industry. After being disgusted long enough I finally put my money where my mouth is (and was). I built and own arguably one of the finest pure strength training facilities in the country! I didn’t do it on my own and I owe more then I can say to my wife, managers, staff, and members who share my dream.

Through the years I have noticed an incredible number of fads, myths, and lifting legends that have become “law” based not on science but on simply being repeated enough to become “true.” I intend to use this space to challenge these myths and maybe start some of my own.

This is my forum and I am allowed to say what I want. You don’t have to agree or even like it. I won’t even guarantee my “Brute” team agrees with me. That’s what makes life great. Don’t bother arguing with me, However. It is like teaching a pig to sing. It wastes your time and it angers the pig. Oink, Oink. D.R.P.

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Is Deficit Deadlifting Causing A Deficit In You Totals ?

By DRP

I noticed a few years back, some strength athletes had started to do something they called “deficit” dead

lifting. Or Dead lifting from a block. When I asked, “what’s that about?” the answer was always the same.

"I want to get more explosion from the floor.”

While I understand the thought process in this. I disagree that the conclusion is correct. To my understanding, the thought process goes something like this: If my body is accustomed to pulling from point A (the floor) to point B (full extension) then I will get even more powerful from point A to B if, during my training, I actually pull from a point lower then point A. The lifter then raises himself up on “blocks” to exaggerate the starting point of his/her deadlift. Since the lifters body is used to pulling from a point lower then the starting point, theoretically, his/her deadlift should fly off the ground during their conventional deadlift.

In reality that is not how the body works. Skeletal muscle is capable of only contracting in one direction. While deficit deadlifting may make one stronger in a broader range of motion (Which may benefit certain sports), it is very questionable if that translates into a stronger pull in the shorter range that is required in the actual conventional deadlift. In fact, it may actually hurt you. It is my suggestion that just the opposite may occur: Lets say one’s body is accustomed to pulling 30 to 36 cm from floor to full extension. They then start training off a 10 to 15 cm block, almost 50% further distance. Soon their receptors become accustomed to firing maximally from a hyper-flexed position. When the lifter then prepares to lift from his/her regular stance the body feels it is not in that same hyperextended postion and doesn’t fire as powerfully as it would have.

Many Soviet studies about flexibility have shown that an athlete should only be flexible enough to perform the required movement. Anything more then this actually hinders the movement by decreasing the “stretch reflex.” This is a protective mechanism that stops the muscle from contracting in the case of a sudden jerk. While I know Power lifters would NEVER jerk a deadlift ; ) If it were to happen, this protective reflex is deadened, which could result in a muscle strain or worse: a complete tear from its anchor.

So what do I do if I need more explosion from the floor?

I would recommend moving the blocks to the weights, instead of under your feet: starting with the bar below the knees and overloading that portion of the movement. Then, over time, lower the height of the blocks until the, once overloaded bar, is exploding off the floor. This is very similar to what many people do with, “boards and benching.” Overload the lockout and then slowly decrease the number of boards until the same weight is exploding off the chest. Very few people recommend using a cambered bar for the bench to increase the explosion from ones chest. That would be a receipt for disaster and shoulder injury! Yet that is exactly what you are doing when you do deficit pulls.

One could also do rack pulls, which work great in a pinch. The problem with the rack is that the stress (bend) on the bar is different then it would be from a pull to that same height from the floor. So it may not translate as closely as a pull from blocks.

You want to work directly on your explosiveness? Consider Clean grip pulls. You cannot get any more explosive then the Olympic lifters! They actually move over double their body weight off the ground high enough to get it to shoulder level. You don’t have to fully clean the bar. Just load and explode. Better use bumper plates or your gym owner will hate you.

Finally, I know you are going to say, “but my favorite lifters are doing it.” That may be true. But is there any scientific data that shows it is helping their lifts? No. The question isn’t whether great lifters are doing them. The questions are: 1. Is it really helping them? (probably not!). 2. Is it putting them at greater risk for injury? (probably YES). 3. Is there something that they could do that would work as well (probably better) but not put them at as much risk?(absolutely!)

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The Emporers New Diet

Why Modern Cavemen (and Women) Are Idiots.

Now that I have your attention; let me start by saying that if one chooses to eat in the “paleo” fashion, they will be very healthy, and I actually think it is a fine nutrition plan. Having said that, the reason it is a fine nutrition plan has nothing to do with the reasons the author and advocates suggest. Nor did caveman even eat as the author suggests that you eat. If you really want to eat like a caveman or woman; you would eat bugs, grubs, only seasonal greens and fruit, and the occasional road kill you find (caveman would occasionally get carrion left over from the predators of the day) get fat in spring and summer and starve in late fall and winter.

The reason it is a healthy way to eat? Simple: it is a low calorie diet consisting of nutrient dense, calorie sparse “REAL” food. As much as the followers of this “religion” would like us to believe they are doing something “new.” They are simply finding a “new” old way of eating to decrease calories while suggesting exercise, which will increase calories burned. So as much as you Paleo-tians hate to admit it. It comes down to simple: “Calories in – Calorie out” formula. I don’t mind individuals following an ideology, but they should follow it for the correct, scientific reasons. Not some fanciful, fairy tale caveman story that makes others rich at your expense.

Go a head start screaming about wheat allergies, glutin and blah, blah, blah. If you have a TRUE wheat allergy.? You shouldn’t eat wheat. Wow, that was a tough one. If you are allergic to penicillin you should take that either. Should I continue? Only about 1% of the population actually has this problem. Only around 10% of people paying huge sums for “Glutin Free” food actually have celiac disease. The rest have just drunk the “paleo” Kool-Aid and are wasting their money.

Sure certain grains have a “defensive poison” or phytates, but just as the “Honey Badger” can take the bite of the poisonous cobra and keep kick’n (and eating the cobra) so can the human being eat grains and take care of the resulting inflammation. Life is inflammation, get used to it or stay in bed. If I am going to talk about poison, lets talk about alcohol. Holy shit! Alcohol is LITERALLY POISON! It kills cells and causes an immense “inflammatory” response. Yet the author actually recommends a margarita recipe. UGH!?!?! Throughout history the human animal has shown incredible ability to adapt to ANY whole food diet. With the exception of the processed, “western” diet. That one is what is killing us. Not wheat and grains.

INSULIN!!! You Scream. Insulin does exactly what it is meant to do. It brings the body back to homeostasis. If one abuses this system for long enough problems occur: Obesity, diabetes, etc… The problem isn’t grains, however. The problem is over eating processed, calorie/sugar/carb dense foods. Although if one ate 8000 cal/day of “paleo” food I am sure they would have the exact same problems as any other obese person.

“But I feel so good on it.” “It makes me lose weight.” That is great! Congratulations. Don’t try to suggest a eating program that works for you will work for everyone. I know tons of healthy happy vegans, vegetarians, pescatarians, whatever-tarians that are doing very well on their own, thank you.

I could go on and on. In fact I could fill a book on why the “Paleo Diet” is pseudo science. I won’t. I have said my piece. If you choose this diet please do so for the simple reason that it is a healthy choice. Which, if followed, will allow you to eat large quantities of low calorie/high nutrition food while avoiding processed calorie dense/nutrition sparse food.

If you enjoy good healthy meals of rich green veggies, fruits, nuts and meat. You may be eating “paleo” but you are just being intelligent in your food choices. If you argue with your friends (or on message boards) “what is paleo” or if you find yourself shopping for “paleo” cookies and other processed “caveman foods” online; you have crossed the line and really need to get a life. Remember the people that brought you “paleo” are the same ones that brought you Blood Type Diet, Low Fat Diet, High Fat Diet, Low Carb Diet, Zone Diet, Hollywood Diet, and… every other diet and exercise fad out there, and they just want your money.

Are you really that anxious to give it to them?