Irish Runner 5 mile - My Experience

After running the Vienna marathon this year I took two months of running in May and June. Main focus of my training was on weightlifting and I also could not face running any more. Kind of had fallen out of love with it. Still I had booked myself in for the entire Dublin race series and on 27.06.2015 it was time for the Irish Runner 5 mile. Last year I finished in 32:42 and this year in 37:01.

 Stronglifts 5x5 vs. German Volume Training

This article will discuss the pros and cons of Stronlifts 5x5 and German Volume Training in detail inclusing my first hand experience and sources from the web to help you to decide which program is the better fit for you to hit the gym. Please leave comments about your own experiences to make the article even better.

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German Volume Training 4 week Review

I did German volume training for four weeks in May/june 2015. All in all it is great to gain muscle, practise high repetition stamina for crossfit and automate your form after mastering it. It did not provide the strength gains I hoped for but was challenging and fun. See details below.

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How to perform a deadlift for crossfit for beginners

The deadlift is usually the lift in which an individual can pull the highest load, as you can incorporate the most muscle groups of the three big lifts. Variations on the deadlift are the sumo deadlift, trap bar deadlift and the conventional deadlift. For this article we will focus on the conventional deadlift only. I strongly recommend to you to learn the other variations as well, once you get stronger, to add variety to your training. If you lack mobility the trap bar deadlift is usually the more controlled and easier lift to learn than the conventional deadlift, as the trap bar forces you more likely into a less taxing execution of the movement.

How to perform a bench press for crossfit for beginners

The bench press is one of the most commonly performed free weight movement’s in the gym. Even Hollywood incorporates it in a scene between Robin Williams and Matt Damon in the movie Good will hunting as a test of manliness. The major variations of the bench press are related to the width of the grip and whether it is performed in straight movement or with a pause on the chest. For this article we assume you wanted to perform a one rep repetition under maximum load or the maximum amount of repetitions at a lower load.

How to perform a back squat for crossfit for beginners

The squat is one of the core exercises in weightlifting and powerlifting. There are two variations of the squat, front squat and back squat. The back squat is the most commonly performed lift and relevant to the programs you will find out there so we will stick with it for this article to get you started the fastest. The squat can be divided in three phases, the setup, the squat and the phase where you put the bar back into rack. For all of the phases you should establish a routine which stays the same for each of your squats so that you can minimize thinking once you get to high load. Your squat should always be the same and practiced in that matter.

5 tips to get stronger faster

Here are five tips out of my one and a half years of lifting so far which will keep you on track to make more gains faster and become the stronger version of yourself you want to be. If you have any questions, reach out to me in the comments or via social media and I will come back to you. At the core of success are commitment, attention to detail and staying curious. 

My first recorded crossfit Annie

Annie is a great workout to challenge your stamina and work your core. Especially as a warm up it helps, once you have mastred the Double under. I am still after getting my performance under 10 minutes for this workout and I got pretty close lately by finishing in 11:21.

How your body gets stronger for crossfit and powerlifting

The most obvious outward indicator of strength are big muscles. While bigger and heavier people on average are more likely to lift heavy things than smaller ones you will also see small people performing astonishing feats of strength. This is due to an often overlooked fact of neural adaptations in the muscles and in the nervous system itself which make your muscle contract faster and harder and less likely to fail when performance is being called upon.

How to decide on your loading for lifting

Your loading will be highly depending on your goals. If you are going for the pumped up bodybuilder look you will usually go for higher repetition and higher amount of sets with 40% - 60% of your one rep maximum. If you go for strength gains without too much weight gain you will most likely opt for lower rep and set count with higher amount of weight. Generally I think keep challenging yourself, know your goals & limits for deciding on how much you actually want to put on the bar on a given day.