Spek, I never tell the actual numbers on my lift poundages just as I never tell the actual dollars on my investments. I feel that some folks will think I'm bragging about my strength/wealth and others will think I'm too weak/poor to have a worthwhile opinion. It isn't the total that matters, it is the progress. Just like in money, it is the % positive return that matters, not how much you accumulate. After all, making a million bucks is a very positive thing for a working stiff who started with monthly savings out of his income, but it isn't that great for a trust fund baby who started with $20 million. <g> Bench pressing 300 pounds is a very big deal for a skinny guy with no-muscle genes with a busy work schedule and not so hot for a genetic freak who benched 280 the first time he tried weighlifting.
Anyway, exercize descriptions are a tough one. Pavel Tsatsouline gives great descriptions on how to perform lifts in "Power To The People," but he is a firm believer in limiting the various lifts in your program. So, he provides 8 different ways to do deadlifts, but never describes a power clean.
"The Weightlifting Encyclopedia" describes nearly every lift known to man, but the "how to" is based on what people do in the gym, not on any scientific analysis of what the lift does to your muscles.
"Target Bodybuilding" by Per A. Tesch, uses MRI to test how muscles respond to various ways of doing lifts. This book is outstanding and helps you decide which lifts do the most for the muscle groups. Unfortunately, Tesch only covers arm and leg exercises, so if you want a barn door back, you need to read elsewhere.
A combination of the Tesch book and Tsatsouline's "Power to the People" should answer all questions other than abs, where you have to them buy Tsatsouline's "Bulletproof Abs."
Wow, I think these guys are trying to sell more books. <g> |
