Mirror Training

, ,olympic lifts,power clean,pushing muscles,back muscles"; // -->Will E Riggs PlatinumAuthor|  74 Articles

Joined: September 22, 2009Was this article helpful?001ByWill E Riggs

I think everyone involved today in bodybuilding, powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, and sports specific training today all started out the exact same way - . When you started to lift weights, it was most likely to impress someone else and you were wanting to look better. Today, even at ten years later, these muscular imbalances can still be a detrimental factor to your training and your goals.

I remember the first time I tried to teach someone the Olympic lifts. The guy came into the gym and wanting to focus on a higher vertical leap. I put 100lbs of bumper plates on the bar and asked him to power clean it. This was all after we had spent several hours practicing the jump and pull with a broomstick. His form was all wrong and that moment is when I realized something - a lot of people can't perform the Olympic lifts because they are weak in too many areas.

This guy had started out just like the rest of us: focusing on bench presses and barbell curls. He wanted to get a big chest and big biceps and spent 2-3 years doing nothing but benching and curling. The guy that completely overdeveloped his internal rotators and scapula protractors, and his back and posterior chain muscles were weak as hell.

I figured at this point, we needed to fix those years worth of imbalances before he would be able to have proper form with the Olympic lifts. The power clean is an explosive movement; it is ballistic and pulled from the ground recruiting sufficient motor units from the posterior chain muscles. The power clean is one of the most useful exercises for speed strength, agility and functional activity. Most people who cannot perform Olympic lifts, cannot perform them because they are too weak in their hamstrings, glutes and erector spinae.

I told this kid at this point to look in the mirror and he did. I said "every muscle that you cannot see right now, we are going to hit harder than an angry Mike Tyson". I set the guy up with a routine involving high frequency training of the "non mirror" muscles and the "mirror muscles" we only trained one day per week. The routine looked something like this.

Non-mirror day
Squat
Bent over row
Pullup
Stiff-leg deadlift
Dips

Mirror Day
Front Squat
Bench Press
OH Press
Incline Bench Press
Bicep Curls

Non-mirror day
Hang Cleans
Deadlift
Bent over row
Pullup
Dips

As you can tell from this outlined program - his upper back muscles, triceps and legs were worked much harder than his biceps and pushing muscles. As we continued this workout, he noticed not only was his lower body lifts dramatically improving, but so was his pushing exercises.

I remember it like it was yesterday, his bench press when we walked into the gym that day was tested at 175lbs 1RM. We spent nine weeks on this program, and his bench had improved to 235lbs in that short period of time. He asked "how come I spent two years lifting and could only get 175? Then when we train opposite muscles my bench goes up?" I asked him with a simple answer "because you got stronger".

Getting stronger is not about exercising one particular focused exercise and none others. When you progress on one lift, you will progress on another. This guy trained his scapula retractors and external rotators and improved his shoulder health; he also trained his lower body and increased his core strength, nervous system activity, and overall systemic conditioning. His core strength and confidence alone enhanced with the additional compound movements could have attributed to this success.

When you train the lower body, the upper body improves. When you train the back muscles, the pushing muscles improve. Your body is a unit and strength is determined by the body as a whole instead of the body as a muscle group. While you are performing "chest", I am performing a total body workout, increasing my ability to perform efficiently in all of the basic compound lifts.

After about four more months of this particular style training, the guys deadlift had went from a previous 250lbs to 325lbs. His squat went from 225lbs to 275lbs and his overhead press went from 105lbs to 140lbs. By the sixth month, he was able to perform power cleans like you had never seen.

Those "hidden muscles" that you don't see in the mirror is the bread and butter to your success as an athlete and overall strength competitor.

Will "MVP" Riggs

Personal Trainer- ACE, NASM, AFPA; Nutrition Consultant- AFPA

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Health and Fitness: Build-Muscle
Will E Riggs

Email Address:SubscribeBuild Muscle Article FeedFind More ArticlesSearchSimilar ArticlesThe Heavyweight Lifting Match: Romanian Versus Stiff-Legged DeadliftsCore Issues - Dispelling Myths and Misconceptions of Abdominal TrainingRecent ArticlesA Simple Way To Get Strong And Lean4 Important Workout FoodsReal Life Advice To Gain Weight For The SkinnyThe Very Best Back Widening Exercises7 Tips To Six Pack SuccessThe Most Visually Transforming Body PartsMuscle Building: What's Your Training Split?Top 6 Questions Surrounding the Navy SEAL Training ProgramWeight Gain Foods That Will Lead To Explosive Muscle GainsHow to Build Muscle Fast for Skinny Guys: Methods That Are Tried and TestedSubmitted On March 14, 2012. Viewed 9 times. Word count: 758.

MLA Style Citation:
E Riggs, Will".".14 Mar. 2012EzineArticles.com.17 Mar. 2012 .APA Style Citation:
E Riggs, W. (2012, March 14). . Retrieved March 17, 2012, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Mirror-­Training&id=6939237Chicago Style Citation:
E Riggs, Will "." EzineArticles.com. http://ezinearticles.com/?Mirror-­Training&id=6939237EzineArticles.com© 2012 EzineArticles.com
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