New Sheriff in Town!

For a while, at least!

Heh, just thought I’d introduce myself. I’m Frank Falkenberg, known by many as Frankie Fitness, and I’ve just taken over this site for the time being, due to the real owner struggling with some issues in his life that have gotten in the way of blogging (and a lot of other things as well, unfortunately). We’ll hopefuly have him back here in the not too distant future, but in the meantime you will have to do with me, and possibly a few guest contributors as well.

Here’s a few bits and bobs about yours truly:

- At the moment I’m almost a full time fitness professional, spending the better part of most days working with clients, but I also do a couple of other things, both because I enjoy them and because they help me make more money. I’ll probably tell you more about those other things soon – as I do think they do relate to what this site is about.

- I’ve been a fitness fanatic for well over twenty years – I started reading books on bodybuilding, health and fitness when I was thirteen, and I’m now in my late thirties. I love this stuff more than I can put in words, and I wish everyone would live the fitness lifestyle. It certainly has a lot more to offer than just getting fit, health good looking.

- I’m a life long martial arts and combat sports devotee, having been involved with a myriad of different fighting systems ranging from Jeet Kune Do and Ninjutsu to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, MMA, Shootfighting and boxing. I did fairly well as an amateur boxer once upon a time, but that seems a life time away now.

- In my spare time I enjoy making music, reading books, hanging out with friends and traveling – I’ve traveled to most of the world’s continents and spent a few years overall overseas.

- While I haven’t contributed any articles of my own here as of yet, I have contributed for a while as something of an editor on the sideline, sharing my views on topics, wordings and anything else I’ve found relevant. I look forward to taking a more active role here.

I’m on Twitter too as Frankie Fitness – hit me up and I’ll be more than happy to follow you back.

I’ll be starting the actual blogging here in a week or two. Hope to see you back then!

 

Massage Work on Top Level Professional Bodybuilders

One of the perks that often come with being a top level athlete is the regular massages you get. Massages aren’t just great for relaxation and recovery, but are also used to help treat and prevent injuries caused by intense exercise. A good massage can be painful at times, but the end results are usually very favourable – and most of the pain is the kind of pain that in a way feels good even though it hurts – I know people are addicted to that stuff (most hard training gym rats should know what I’m talking about here).

While I’m personally not a professional athlete I do go for a professional massage on a fairly regular basis, and if I’m in place like Thailand – where you can get a decent two hour massage for $15 – I sometimes take a massage almost every day. There’s no doubt in my mind that I benefit from the stuff both mentally and physically.

Here’s a video demonstrating how massage therapist Von Jackson works on four time Mr Olympia Jay Cutler and what goes into working on someone with the almost absurd amount of musclemass that Jay carries around. Worth watching:

Professionals working on Ron Coleman at the Arlington Good Health clinic:

Forced Reps Should Be a Way to Make a Set Harder – Not Easier!

Here’s one of the silly things most of us are forced to bear witness to in the gym on an all to regular basis: Some kid (or adult beginner) lies down to do a set of bench presses. His training partner stands over him, ready to help him squeeze out a few more extra reps by pulling lightly at the bar when the trainee can’t performa another repetition unassisted. That is, after all, what the spotter should be there for: to extend the set beyond it’s normal range of repetitions, and make the set harder than the trainee could possibly do on his own. However, what tends to happen instead is this: The trainee performs a few reps, and then – before any sign that the trainee is actually reaching momentary muscular failure - the idiot spotter starts pulling at the bar. The result, of course, is that the spotter gets some unscheduled trapezius work done, while ruining the bench pressers set. The bench presser never had to perform even one really hard rep on his own. Bummer. It happens in gyms across the globe every single day.

How to Actually Perform a Set of Forced Reps Properly

A properly performed set of forced reps can be a great way to extend a set and make an exercise harder. It is performed like this: The bench presser performs eight reps. By himself. By the time his arms finally straighten out on that last rep, it should be abundantly clear that he is struggling, and that the likelihood of another unassisted rep is close to slim and none. And when he lowers the bar on for the ninth rep, he is unable to get it all the way back up again. This is where the spotter steps in. Not before. The spotter starts giving his friend just enough help to squeeze out another two to five repetitions, and they rack the bar.

The trainee has just completed an extremely intense set of bench presses. So intense, in fact, that it would be silly to attempt it too often. However, had the spotter stepped in too early and started pulling at the bar while the trainee was still able to finish reps on his won, the use of the forced reps technique would have had the opposite effect of what was intended: It would have been an easier set to perform than a normal, straight set of just 8 reps.

Don’t Ruin Things for Your Training Partner

So attention, spotters out there: Let your training partner do as many reps as he can before you start messing with his set. If you start pulling at the bar when he is still able to complete the rep on his own you are standing in the way of the results he’s after. Don’t give help where help is not needed.

Just to be clear, we’re just talking forced reps here. The same rules don’t apply if, say, one is doing a set of negatives. And we’re not just talking about about forced reps when bench pressing, of course. The bench press is just a good example, because of the fact certain individuals get up to so much silly stuff when benching; the misuse of forced reps is just one thing. Stuff like using the suicide grip and using two spotters, with one on each side of the bar (doing so may on occasion actually be a necessity, but it can create serious balancing problems) is potentially dangerous, and thus even sillier. While misusing a technique like forced reps can lead to lackluster results, it obviously doesn’t hold a candle to what injuring yourself seriously can do.