“I launched a Friday Family Fun Night initiative here where every other friday 5-10 dads get together at a gym with their kids and we all just play hard in a free unstructured setting. Dodgeball, tag, nerf battles, tug of war, whatever comes up. It’s glorious.“
-Great way to get kids and parents playing from Don.
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
The recent rise (and arguably unnecessary obsession) with “functional training” has seen the renegade row become a staple in CrossFit, fitness boot camps, and bodyweight workouts across the world.
It’s likely that many gym-goers or home-gym lifters have done this ground-based exercise at least a few times before — holding a straight-arm plank while performing alternating dumbbell rows — to build conditioning and head-to-toe strength and stability.
Credit: Dragon Images / Shutterstock
If you’re going to do the renegade row, it’s time to make sure you’re performing it properly. Here’s how and when to include it in your workout routine, plus a few effective variations to take this popular movement up a notch.
The renegade row is a type of combination exercise — performing a static plank while simultaneously performing a rowing motion. So before you try the renegade row, you should have some basic experience performing both of those exercises separately. Then grab two dumbbells or kettlebells and get ready to work.
Step 1 — Set Your Hands and Feet
Credit: MDV Edwards / Shutterstock
Get on the ground with a dumbbell in each hand, placed just inside shoulder-width. Set your feet slightly wider than hip-width and straighten your legs. Make sure you can really push into the ground with your feet, which will help you successfully create tension in your whole body. Don’t let your hips sag down or arch high. Hold a straight line from your ankles to your neck. This stable plank position is the “base” for each repetition of the exercise.
Form tip: Placing your hands directly under shoulders would be great technique for a standard plank, but remember this is not just a plank. Having your hands a bit closer is going to help your stability by reducing the weight transfer from side to side as you switch arms during each repetition. This will make it much easier to create tension in your plank while keeping your hips nearly level.
Step 2 – Press and Pull
Credit: MDV Edwards / Shutterstock
Squeeze both dumbbells extra-hard and actively push one arm toward the ground without bending it. This will create more stability through your upper body. (1) As you drive that arm down, lift the opposite elbow up and back, moving the weight toward your front pocket in an arching motion, not in a straight line to the ceiling. Maintain total-body tension and fight the weight pulling you off-balance.
When the dumbbell is near your torso, return it back to the floor slowly. The exercise is about control and consistency, not rushing through reps as quickly as possible. Drive your second arm toward the ground and row the first dumbbell. Repeat the movement, alternating sides with each repetition.
Form tip: As you row your elbow up and back, it’s going to be tempting to lift that same side hip and shoulder because rotating your body might assist you with the lift. Instead, move toward the challenge, literally. If you are rowing on the right side, your body will naturally want to lift your right hip. Instead, as you pull your elbow up, actively push your right hip down to resist the twist and keep your hips level. This will also help you to stay more braced through your midsection and recruit more abdominal muscles.
Renegade Row Mistakes to Avoid
The exercise involves head-to-toe coordination and stability, so there are some common mistake that can occur with such a big movement. Here are some issues to watch out for.
Keeping Your Feet Too Close
When your feet are set too narrow, it will be nearly impossible to do anything other than simply shift your weight from side to side as you move through the rep. It’s extremely difficult to maintain a plank position because close feet create a very small base of support, so you end up just doing a row in a really inefficient position.
Credit: SOK Studio / Shutterstock
Keeping your feet set slightly wider than your hands will put you in a powerful stance to perform the movement without sacrificing stability. If your feet are too close, you’ll be off-balance from the start and unable to generate enough force to efficiently lift the dumbbell.
Avoid it: When you get into the starting position, make sure your feet are more than hip-width apart to provide a wide enough point of contact for stability. When you row, you shouldn’t be at risk of tipping to one side or the other.
Twisting Your Body
Rotating your body to get the weight moving means you’re using momentum to help pull the dumbbell off the floor instead of using your back muscles. When this happens, you end up with a very poor row and a very poor plank. That’s a lose-lose situation.
Credit: Anel Alijagic / Shutterstock
When you shift your body to one side, you drastically reduce the need to stabilize your core, which takes away from the entire point of the exercise. You might end up doing extra reps, but each rep is less effective at building strength and conditioning.
Avoid it: Try to focus on body awareness and feel your shoulders and hips staying nearly level throughout the entire exercise, as you lift and lower the weights. Fighting to keep your body in position is what’s going to deliver the results you’re after.
Tapping the Weight to Your Chest
When you’re performing the renegade row, focus on the movement of your elbow instead of what’s happening with the dumbbell itself. If your elbow starts and finishes in the right place, the dumbbell will follow.
Credit: Maridav / Shutterstock
When the load gets too heavy or when you focus on “bringing the dumbbell to your ribs,” you lose range of motion because the focus shifts away from the most effective technique.
Avoid it: Pay attention to each individual repetition and perform it properly, without regard to the specific weight you’re moving. Go step by step and follow the technique tips, and avoid any instinct to make the dumbbell a key player in the movement.
How to Progress the Renegade Row
Deciding how and when to progress this movement can be difficult and there need to be some special considerations because it is a combination we are not just progressing one movement.
Technique Over Weight or Volume
The renegade row isn’t well-suited for handling heavy weights, training with extreme intensities (muscle failure), or using high volume (many sets and reps). Instead, performing the exercise with greater competency and crisp form is the real key to long-term success and results.
Gradually adding even one or two reps per set, or one or two sets, each workout would give you a great opportunity to perform some very effective, high-quality work.
Plank Shoulder Tap
One modification to the renegade row is to swap the dumbbell row for an unweighted shoulder tap, reaching one arm across your body to lightly tough the shoulder of your base arm.
This bodyweight-only exercise trains similar total-body stability and strength by teaching you how to stay tight in a plank position while alternating between single-hand support. You’ll also build core strength to keep your body level and avoid twisting as you move.
Unilateral Renegade Row
Another effective modification the renegade row would be to do all reps unilaterally (with one arm) before switching arms. This creates more localized fatigue in the muscles on the specific side you’re working.
While the unilateral renegade row emphasizes the back muscles and core stability, it can be slightly less challenging rotationally because your body isn’t repeatedly adjusting from between alternating sides.
Benefits of the Renegade Row
The renegade row is not a great exercise choice for improving absolute strength because you can’t move heavy weights. It’s also not ideal for hypertrophy (muscle-building) because it doesn’t focus a specific body part with the time under tension needed to stimulate growth. (2) However, it can be an incredibly useful exercise to address often overlooked aspects of many training plans.
Core Control
The renegade row is a complete core exercise that can build strength and stability, while also improving your ability to move your upper body limbs around the rib cage. This carries over to athletic performance and big lifts.
A stronger core may help reduce the risk of back injuries and can boost performance, especially in sports where running and change of direction are involved. (3) Training your body to maintain trunk stability while manipulating your arms can be a big factor in avoiding “strength leaks,” which can reduce power output.
Strength-Endurance (aka Conditioning)
To perform the renegade row competently, you need to take your time with a relatively moderate to light load and moderate to higher repetitions because the exercise isn’t conducive to very heavy weights or very low reps.
The duration of each set creates a stimulus that is more endurance-based, which contributes to muscle-specific endurance in the recruited body parts (especially the back, shoulders, arms, and abs). The total-body exercise also contributed to overall cardiovascular endurance — after your first set of 15 or more reps, you’ll notice what kind of cardio shape you’re really in.
Muscles Worked by the Renegade Row
The combination of the plank position and single-arm row will recruit a large number of muscle groups across the body, even though the renegade row is sometimes considered either an ab exercise or a back exercise.
Internal Obliques
These deep core muscles are responsible for controlling your pelvis and creating posterior tilt, along with the hamstrings. The internal obliques help you to create and maintain tension with the other core muscles, like the transverse abdominals and the rectus abdominis. They also work significantly to resist rotation when you raise the dumbbell on either side during the renegade row.
Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
These muscles work together during the exercise, as they are recruited in an isometric action (without any significant range of motion) as you push into the ground and keep the arms fully extended. The chest, shoulders, and triceps of your base arm fire as you row the opposite side, although the rear portion of the shoulder on the working side also assists to lift the weight.
Lats, Rhomboids, and Trapezius
This series of separate back muscles work together to put the row in “renegade row.” They are recruited during the concentric (lifting) action and they control the weight back to the ground during the eccentric (lowering) phase.
Depending on your arm length and range of motion, not all of the muscles may achieve the type of full stretch and peak contraction that contribute to major muscle growth.
How to Program the Renegade Row
The renegade row is often performed either as a standalone exercise or as part of a complex with other bodyweight or basic dumbbell exercises. It is essentially a core exercise, and fits well at either the beginning of a workout (similar to a full-body warm-up to improve movement quality) or at the end of a workout as a high intensity core finisher.
Light to Moderate Weight, Moderate to High Repetition
To maintain an emphasis on strict technique, stick with a weight that’s challenging for no fewer than 8-10 reps — if you go much heavier than that, you’re likely to compromise form to move the weight. Generally, training the renegade row with two or three sets of 12 to 20 reps can deliver a major stimulus for conditioning and muscular stimulation.
Movement Quality
One unique way to incorporate the renegade row at the start of your workout is with a quick circuit, pairing the exercise with two or three core-focused bodyweight movements. Perform three to five sets of the entire sequence, with no rest between each exercise and 30 to 60 seconds rest between each circuit.
Renegade Row — 10 reps
Deadbug — 10 reps
Side Plank — 30 seconds per side
Medicine Ball Throw — 10 reps
Core Finisher
You can also end your training session with a finisher that features the renegade row and emphasizes the abs. Repeat the series for as many rounds as possible within five minutes.
The renegade row can be pretty complete on its own, but there are a few variations that can take it even further. By adding the right movements to the basic renegade row, you can get more muscle recruitment and a bigger overall training stimulus.
Renegade Row Push-Up
One of the most challenging renegade row variations involves adding a push-up between each row. Special consideration needs to be taken here because now you need to be highly competent at three different exercises (the plank, dumbbell row, and push-up), so it’s definitely not a beginners-level movement.
This variation works very well as part of a circuit with two or three other exercises, such as mountain climbers and the dumbbell deadlift, where the renegade row could be performed with lower reps but repeated for more total sets.
Renegade Row Burpee
The burpee itself has a strong “love it or hate it” reputation with many lifters, but it can flow smoothly at the end of a renegade row because the plank also the bottom position of a burpee.
Transitioning from the renegade row to the burpee can either be done with a quick and seamless transition, for a high intensity conditioning effect, or you can briefly pause in the plank position after the second row before jumping your feet in. This can help prevent form breakdown.
FAQs
Can you build strength with the renegade row?
Yes, you can build a degree of strength, but it’s technically relative strength rather than absolute strength. Meaning, it will get you generally stronger overall, but not necessarily closer to doing barbell rows with 300 pounds. Similar to doing air squats compared to barbell squats, you will see some improvements in strength and work capacity (conditioning), but those improvements will be relative to the load and intensity you can use during the exercise. With the renegade row, load and intensity are limiting factors — you can’t train with heavy weights and you can’t safely reach muscular failure. Regardless, you can definitely include the exercise in your routine and benefit from improved relative strength, but if getting super-strong is a priority, focus on improving absolute strength with heavy weights and low reps with exercises deadlifts, rows, and pull-ups.
My hands hurt while resting on the dumbbells. What can I do?
This is actually very common. The simplest solution is to place your hands on the floor, with the dumbbells just inside your wrists. Then, only pick the dumbbell up when performing the rowing portion of the rep. Each repetition will take slightly longer and you might not be able to do as many reps, but it will still be an effective core exercise.
Be a Renegade
The renegade row is definitely not for beginning lifters because there are so many moving parts. Once you’re mastered form on the component exercises like the plank, dumbbell row, and even push-ups, then you’re ready to add this full-body exercise to your program and start building rock-solid stability and off-the-charts conditioning.
References
Gontijo, L. B., Pereira, P. D., Neves, C. D., Santos, A. P., Machado, D.deC., & Bastos, V. H. (2012). Evaluation of strength and irradiated movement pattern resulting from trunk motions of the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. Rehabilitation research and practice, 2012, 281937. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/281937
Burd, N. A., Andrews, R. J., West, D. W., Little, J. P., Cochran, A. J., Hector, A. J., Cashaback, J. G., Gibala, M. J., Potvin, J. R., Baker, S. K., & Phillips, S. M. (2012). Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. The Journal of physiology, 590(2), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200
McGill, Stuart PhD. Core Training: Evidence Translating to Better Performance and Injury Prevention. Strength and Conditioning Journal 32(3):p 33-46, June 2010. | DOI: 10.1519/SSC.0b013e3181df4521
There’s nothing more comforting than the rich tomato flavor of a classic Italian dish. However, those regularly practicing a keto lifestyle or starting a Keto Reset Diet may wonder if homestyle Italian cuisine is out of reach. This delicious keto chicken parmesan recipe proves that you don’t have to leave your comfort food favorites behind while traveling the keto path.
Our recipe substitutes Primal Kitchen Roasted Garlic Marinara for the laborious, day-long sauce that typically accompanies traditional chicken parmigiana, making for a quick and easy weeknight meal. We prefer cooking our chicken parmesan in a cast-iron pan for flavor and the hemoglobin iron boost, but you can use any oven-safe pan. Serve alone, with pan-roasted vegetables, or atop keto-friendly noodles.
How to make keto chicken parmesan
First, use a food processor or blender to pulverize the pork rinds into a coarse flour. Mix the pork rind powder in a bowl or dish with the almond flour, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Whisk your eggs in another bowl or dish. Dredge each cutlet one at a time in the egg mixture, allow the excess egg to drip off, then dredge the cutlet on both sides in the flour mixture. Set each cutlet aside and repeat with the rest of them.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat the olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet on your stovetop over medium-high heat. Once hot, place the cutlets in the pan and sear for 4-5 minutes on each side. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to sear the chicken in batches. Don’t crowd the pan or else you won’t get a nice crust on the chicken. After you have seared the chicken, place all of the cutlets in the pan. Place the pan in the oven until the internal temperature of the thickest cutlet reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour the roasted garlic marinara sauce on top of each cutlet and place the pan back into the oven for 3-5 minutes.
Take the pan out of the oven and sprinkle the chicken with the cheese. Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Place the skillet back into the oven until the cheese is melted and browned. You can also use the broil function of your oven. Remove from the oven and top with black pepper and oregano and basil.
Serve with your favorite veggie side. We like simple roasted or steamed broccoli, sauteed zucchini, kale or spinach, or spaghetti squash.
There’s nothing more comforting than the rich tomato flavor of a classic Italian dish. However, those regularly practicing a keto lifestyle or starting a Keto Reset Diet may wonder if homestyle Italian cuisine is out of reach. This delicious keto chicken parmesan recipe proves that you don’t have to leave your comfort food favorites behind while traveling the keto path.
Ingredients
2 pounds chicken breast, pounded into ½” thick cutlets
1–2.5 ounce bag baked pork rinds (we used EPIC brand)
Use a food processor or blender to pulverize the pork rinds into a coarse flour. Mix the pork rind powder in a bowl or dish with the almond flour, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper.
Whisk your eggs in another bowl or dish.
Dredge each cutlet one at a time in the egg mixture, allow the excess egg to drip off, then dredge the cutlet on both sides in the flour mixture. Set each cutlet aside and repeat with the rest of them.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat the olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet on your stovetop over medium-high heat. Once hot, place the cutlets in the pan and sear for 4-5 minutes on each side. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to sear the chicken in batches. Don’t crowd the pan or else you won’t get a nice crust on the chicken.
After you have seared the chicken, place all of the cutlets in the pan. Place the pan in the oven until the internal temperature of the thickest cutlet reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour the roasted garlic marinara sauce on top of each cutlet and place the pan back into the oven for 3-5 minutes.
Take the pan out of the oven and sprinkle the chicken with the cheese. Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Place the skillet back into the oven until the cheese is melted and browned. You can also use the broil function of your oven. Remove from the oven and top with black pepper and oregano and basil.
Notes
Serve this dish with your favorite veggie side. We like simple roasted or steamed broccoli, sauteed zucchini, kale or spinach, or spaghetti squash.
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Strongman athlete Martins Licis has several accolades to his credit. The 2019 World’s Strongest Man is also the 2021 Rogue Invitational winner and the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic champion. Licis is always testing his strength in different ways, and his recent trip to Gold’s Gym Venice in California included putting his grip to the test against the world famous Golden Dumbbells.
As seen at the 8:56 mark in the Youtube video posted on Licis’ channel, he managed to perform a single-arm row with one of the 150-kilogram (330-pound) dumbbells for a quick first rep, followed by two more reps after a very brief pause to re-grip the weight. Watching from behind was Licis’ mentor and renowned grip strength legend Odd Haugen. After an unspecified rest period, Licis then did a second set, getting five reps. Both sets were performed with only chalk on his hands and without the aid of a lifting strap.
Licis and his business partner, Romark Weiss, originally went to the iconic bodybuilding gym with a challenge of having members attempt to lift the legendary Thomas Inch Dumbbell to a standing position using only one hand. The legendary Inch Dumbbell weighs 77 kilograms (170 pounds) and has a handle nearly two and a half inches thick. Licis offered $100 to any person that could complete the challenging lift, and two men managed to perform that feat.
There is no official list of people that have lifted with the Golden Dumbbells, but among those that have done so on camera include 2022 Arnold Classic UK bodybuilding champion Andrew Jacked and social media personality Jake Johns (a.k.a. Big Boy), who performed a single-arm row for 10 reps with the dumbbell. However, they used straps while Licis did not.
Licis is coming off a busy 2022 season that saw him win the Arnold Strongman Classic in Columbus, OH in March, followed by a second-place finish to Tom Stoltman at the 2022 World’s Strongest Man contest in Sacramento, CA. Licis then took fourth place at the 2022 Rogue Invitational strongman contest in Texas. The champion at that event was Oleksii Novikov.
Licis’ 2023 plans are still to be determined. He had previously said that he would like to pursue challenging world records, and he is unsure if he will enter any major contests. His most recent contest appearance was a short notice entry in November 2022 to replace Robert Oberst as the captain of Team USA against Team UK at the 2022 Giants Live World’s Strongest Nation contest. Team UK, captained by 2017 World’s Strongest Man Eddie Hall, won that competition.
Ask almost anyone what it takes to lose a few pounds, and they’ll inevitably tell you, “Just exercise and eat right!” Then they’ll probably go on to say, “As long as you burn more calories than you consume, you’re golden,” or, “Get off your butt and just hit the gym!” Turns out, there are in […]
My kids are all grown up now, but from talking to friends and colleagues with younger kids, it’s become clear that youth sports has become too serious. Kids compete too much and too early. They overspecialize in sports at too young an age, then get burnt out and stop loving the sport altogether. They spend too much time doing the same thing with the same movement patterns. It monopolizes any free time the kids (and rest of family) have. And, perhaps most importantly, parents are too wrapped up in it all.
But it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Kids love to play sports and need to move their bodies.
The foundation of all human movement is play—engaging in a broad spectrum of spontaneous moments, reacting to novel situations as they arise, associating movement with intrinsic reward and joy and pleasure. The problem is that the classic childhood culture of free play, which is how children have historically (and pre-historically) developed their ability to move through physical space and engage with the physical world, is disappearing from neighborhoods. Oftentimes the only chance a kid gets to move is by joining a competitive youth sports team.
So how can you make it work without getting out of hand? How can kids engage in youth sports without burning out, getting injured all the time, and hating what used to be enjoyable?
Keep it fun.
They’re “playing” sports, remember? Playing. Playing is fun. It’s joyful. If you’re enrolling your kid in a legit youth sport recreation league, make sure the emphasis is on fun. That may mean calling the coach and talking about their philosophy and their goals for the kids.
Don’t criticize them on the ride home. Don’t badger them about missing a play or shot. If they start dreading going to practice, if they start making up excuses as to why they can’t go today, then listen. Pull back. Take it easy on them. Let them play sports. If you ruin sports, you might just ruin the idea of play altogether.
Delay competition as long as you can.
A tale as old as time is the kid who starts a sport—maybe it’s wrestling—at age 5, has a knack for it, loves it, and starts competing before long. He wins a few tournaments, does well, wins more than he loses, but then by age 10 or 11, he’s lost interest. The sport he loved to play became a chore, a job, a source of stress and pressure. 10, 11, 12 year olds aren’t meant to deal with that kind of stress associated with a sport they’re supposed to love.
Meanwhile, the kids who get into a specific sport at age 12 after having spent their younger years playing and trying a bunch of new sports all the time excel, go on to compete at a higher level. There are exceptions, of course, but I’ve seen this happen over and over again.
Let them decide to compete.
The desire to compete has to emerge from within. The human child is a complex being still in the flower of development. To grab them in the middle of development and throw them into a sport and say “Ok, now go compete at a high level” is to interrupt what could be a delicate process of growth. Humans are naturally competitive, but this competitiveness comes out at different time for different kids. Rushing it along might “spoil the batch,” if that makes sense. Like cooking, you have to honor the recipe.
Now, if they want to compete but balk as the moment arrives, you should push them. Nudge them into it. That’s just the pre-game jitters. As long as they made the initial decision, you can help them stick to it.
Don’t be the coach (unless you’re the actual coach).
Oftentimes a parent will be the coach for the youth sports team. If that’s you, be the coach. Definitely be the coach. It’s your formal role. But don’t be the parent screaming from the sidelines. Don’t be the dad at practice calling out tips and adjustments to your kid, going above and around the coach. Don’t mix the worlds.
Consider a “movement” discipline instead of a sport.
When kids are young and looking for a physical activity, consider a non-traditional alternative to classic sports.
A gymnastics and tumbling class down at the local recreation center.
A parkour or ninja-training course at the local movement gym.
Jiu jitsu, wrestling, or some other grappling martial art where kids will be rolling around, exploring dozens of different joint articulations, and “roughhousing” in a safe and controlled manner.
Swimming is a legit sport, but a season or two of swimming can set them up for life with strong skills. No need to get competitive with it.
This will give them the ability to move well, express their physical potential through time and space, make friends, build their stamina and endurance, and set them up well for any traditional sports they want to try in the future.
Play with balls.
Keep a bunch of balls around the house and play with them with your kids.
Playing catch. Start with easy predictable throws and then progress to making them react to unpredictable throws. Dribbling with your feet and hands. Dribbling unconventional things, like tennis balls. The carryover to a basketball or soccer ball is huge and makes it much easier. Playing dodgeball. The classic schoolyard game, now banished or severely neutered in most schools, taught millions to dodge, contort their bodies, catch, and throw with great power and accuracy.
Just carrying a ball around, getting comfortable with it. Tossing it up and catching it while you walk. Tossing it while you watch TV. Idle play, so that it becomes part of you.
Give them their space.
Unless you’re dealing with truly young kids who still need their parents from moment to moment, I’d recommend that you drop your kid off at practice and go find something else to do for an hour. If you’re going to watch, do it from afar where they can’t really see you. Don’t be front and center at practice. What you’ll find is that if you’re right there on the sidelines kids will constantly look to you for approval. They’ll scan your face for disappointment, or happiness. You don’t want that. You want your kids fully immersed in the game, doing it for themselves—not for you.
Let the field or wrestling room or track or court be their space that they learn to own. Consider it a little taste of separation.
Anything works as long as they’re moving.
Variety is the spice of movement. There are hundreds of sports, physical activities, and skills
A sport isn’t even necessary. There’s:
Dance
Archery
Martial arts
Hunting
Boxing
Parkour
Gymnastics
Fencing
Horse stuff
Rock climbing/bouldering
To name just a few.
Choose recreation leagues over travel leagues.
At least when they are on the younger side, a more casual rec league makes more sense for most kids than a serious year-round travel league. It doesn’t take all your time. It’s not year round, so your kids can try different sports throughout the year. It’s not as expensive—you’re not renting hotels and spending money on planes and gas. It’s not as competitive and serious, which can force your kid into bad patterns—both movement and psychological.
You can always move up to the travel league if your kid expresses interest and has the chops for it. But choose rec leagues whenever possible, because it’s hard, if not impossible, to go back once you commit to travel.
Play multiple sports.
The number one issue with the. I grew up playing every sport outside with my friends, roaming the neighborhood for pickup games, and simply getting into trouble everywhere I went. This made me the man and athlete I am today. I can play any number of sports and can still move well in part because I grew up playing everything. If that idyllic childhood experience is no longer available to your kids, you can at least help them get the same results by letting them play multiple sports, rather than focus on one. This also spreads the “movement load” to various tissues that might otherwise get overloaded and injured from repetitive motions.
When they get older, they can specialize all they want, but the best foundation for an athlete is playing everything.
Always be trying.
They can try anything and they can quit if they don’t like a particular sport or physical activity—but they have to pick another. They must always be trying.
Ask yourself “Who’s it for?”
Are you pushing your kid into sports for their benefit, or yours?
Now, there’s an argument that they might not know the benefits of the sport. Sports can have a multitude of long term benefits down the road: the friends you make, the skills and athleticism you develop, the camaraderie, the pressure you have to withstand, how you learn to temper the joy of victory and bitterness of defeat. These are all real considerations that your average 7 year old with an average time horizon isn’t factoring into their decision to play or not.
However, those benefits are more likely to emerge if the kid truly enjoys the sport. Pushing him or her into it against their will makes it less likely they’ll glean those positive lessons down the line and more likely they’ll resist them.
These are the things to keep in mind when making your child’s youth sports league experience optimal, ideal, and most importantly fun.
Take care, everyone. I’d love to hear your thoughts on youth sports.
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Shane Hunt is only in his mid-20s, which makes the potential for the start of a fruitful and fulfilling strength sports career as a powerlifter seem all the more likely. His latest milestone, performed in front of an onlooking crowd in Las Vegas, NV, is a sizable step forward for his powerlifting promise.
On Dec. 16-17, 2022, during the 2022 Olympia Expo, Hunt performed a 317.5-kilogram (700-pound) deadlift for 11 reps. While he took brief pauses toward the end of the set, the athlete largely powers through the set to the acclaim of spectators watching him on his lifting platform. Hunt accomplished his display of deadlift strength-endurance without shoes, while utilizing a lifting belt and lifting straps. It is unclear what his body weight was at the time of the lift. The Expo — as facilitated by the Olympia organizing body — acts as an ancillary showcase of power and fitness for strength sports athletes, like Hunt, who aren’t participating in the main Olympia bodybuilding competition.
Hunt has partly risen to prominence for his deadlift prowess. The recent 120-kilogram-plus athlete currently possesses the second-heaviest raw deadlift of all time in that weight class with a pull of 425 kilograms (936.9 pounds) from the 2022 United States Powerlifting Association (USPA) Pro Raw Championships. In the 120-kilogram-plus category, only all-time raw World Record holder Danny Grigsby has a heavier pull in the (487.5 kilograms/1,074.7 pounds) at the 2022 World Raw Powerlifting Federation (WRPF) American Pro.
As a tease of his potential, during an early September 2022 training session, Hunt deadlifted 435 kilograms (959 pounds), or 10 kilograms (22.1 pounds) more than his all-time raw competition best which would occur roughly three weeks later.
On a purely competitive basis, Hunt’s record thus far is mostly sterling.
The athlete can boast 10 victories out of 14 contests since his debut in February 2013. Overall, Hunt can likely count on his work within the WRPF’s jurisdiction as his bellwether. The athlete made his WRPF debut with a win at the 2019 Hybrid Summer Slam. He followed that display with another two victories in the 2021 WRPF Hybrid Showdown III and a rousing finish at the 2022 WRPF Ghost Clash. At the time of this article’s publication, Hunt has won three of four WRPF competitions.
Moving forward, with the holiday season currently in full swing, it might be hard to ascertain what Hunt’s future plans will be. Chances are, he’ll be dropping jaws and opening eyes whenever he’s seen in the gym or on a platform again.
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
With seven Mr. Olympia titles to his name (1970-1975, 1980), few understand what it takes to stand on top of bodybuilding’s tallest mountain quite like Arnold Schwarzenegger. While the 75-year-old is up to other matters outside of maintaining a finely-tuned physique these days, the man once nicknamed “The Austrian Oak” still assuredly keeps an eye on the sport that helped make him a household name.
In the aftermath of the 2022 Mr. Olympia, Schwarzenegger took part in a YouTube interview with Nick’s Strength and Power, where the legend shared some of his thoughts on the contest and the current state of the sport. Among the more notable tidbits was Schwarzenegger putting the Men’s Open division in the crosshairs, which he believes has lost sight of what professional bodybuilding should be all about.
One of Schwarzenegger’s primary critiques about the Men’s Open division is that it’s pushed bodybuilding in the wrong direction. He compared the current flagship division of the Olympia back to his heyday in the late 20th century and noted that victory used to be centered around shredded physiques and refined body proportions.
To the legend, size shouldn’t mean everything.
“I think it is crazy, in a way, to have a Classic Physique category. Simply because that should be the Mr. Olympia. Because, what is it that we’re celebrating?” Schwarzenegger said. “… In classic days, we looked for proportion, and now we don’t give an [expletive] about it anymore? Is that what we’re saying?”
Part of Schwarzenegger’s rationale is that he believes the current Classic Physique division captures the true spirit of bodybuilding. By contrast, he didn’t seem to appreciate the general aim of the competitors in the modern Men’s Open category.
“I think it’s odd they had to literally create a Classic Physique competition to give to the person who has the best quality body, the most well-balanced body, a trophy because he couldn’t compete where the monsters were competing,” Schwarzenegger said. “That’s actually wrong. Like I’ve said, bigger is not always better.”
Not by coincidence, Schwarzenegger is a big fan of reigning four-time Classic Physique champion (2019-2022) Chris Bumstead, as he appears to believe he emulates the ideal physique.
“I always feel like the insiders have their own favorites, and then there are the viewers, the spectators, the fans … and he’s [Bumstead] the most popular if you think about that,” Schwarzenegger said. “He’s the most popular bodybuilder right now. What does that say? That says that everyone out there says, ‘That’s the kind of body I want’.“
In looking ahead to the March 2023 Arnold Classic, Schwarzenegger maintained he’d like to see Bumstead make his first competitive appearance at the contest because he thinks the superstar would put on a show.
“I think he [Bumstead] could win [at the Arnold Classic]. There are no two ways about that,” Schwarzenegger said. “I told that to Chris. Chris, as you know, is a big fan of the Arnold Classic. He comes there, and he’s very, very kind to all the fans. He does autographs and all this stuff. I hope that he competes because I think he has a great chance of winning that.”
Ever a steward of the sport, Schwarzenegger seems concerned about where bodybuilding is heading in the future. Perhaps, down the line, his wishes to see the Classic Physique division highlighted front and center could be fulfilled. At the very least, his desire to see Bumstead continue to excel, maybe even at the 2023 Arnold Classic, might have a strong chance of shining through.
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
Victoria Long is the 2022 America’s Strongest Woman (ASW) champion, and Bobby Thompson is the 2022 America’s Strongest Man (ASM) victor. The two simultaneous contests took place on the weekend of Dec. 16-17, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV — ironically at the same time as bodybuilding’s flagship competition, the 2022 Mr. Olympia.
Long swept all five events in the 2022 ASW to capture her fourth straight contest win and second ASW title, having won the inaugural competition in 2021. In this year’s edition, she toppled reigning World’s Strongest Woman (WSW) champion Olga Liashchuk (second place) and Inez Carrasquillo (third). Meanwhile, Thompson garnered his 2022 ASM win and first since the 2022 Beerstone in March on the strength of quality overhead pressing. The athlete successfully overcame Tyler Cotton (second) and Trey Mitchell (third).
Here are the final standings for the 2022 ASW and the 2022 ASM:
Both the 2022 ASW and 2022 ASM featured five events (albeit with different weights): the Max Log Lift, the Deadlift Medley, the Carry Medley, the Power Stairs, and the Max Sandbag Load.
2022 America’s Strongest Woman Event Results
Here’s a respective overview of the 2022 ASW results event by event:
Max Log Lift
Victoria Long — 136 kilograms (299.8 pounds)
Inez Carrasquillo — 132 kilograms (291 pounds)
Olga Liashchuk — 122 kilograms (268.9 pounds) | Tied for third
Sumer Johnson — 122 kilograms (268.9 pounds) | Tied for third
Gabi Dixson — 109 kilograms (240.3 pounds)
Deadlift Medley
The Deadlift Medley was organized with 181, 227, and 272 kilograms (399, 500, and 599.6 pounds) on a trap bar for reps.
Victoria Long — 15 reps
Gabi Dixson — 12 reps
Olga Liashchuk — Nine reps
Sumer Johnson — Seven reps
Inez Carrasquillo — Two reps
Carry Medley
The Carry Medley featured a 120-kilogram (264.5-pound) sack, a 118-kilogram (260.1-pound) farmer’s carry, and a 136-kilogram (299.8-pound) duck walk.
Victoria Long — 38.13 seconds
Olga Liashchuk — 49.98 seconds
Sumer Johnson — 29.69 meters
Inez Carrasquillo — 28.38 meters
Gabi Dixson — 21.34 meters
Power Stairs
The Power Stairs tasked the competitors with carrying three implements weighing 136, 147, and 159 kilograms (299.8, 324, and 350.5 pounds) up four steps each.
Victoria Long — 28.04 seconds
Olga Liashchuk — 32.06 seconds
Inez Carrasquillo — 35.98 seconds
Gabi Dixson — 55.13 seconds
Sumer Johnson — 10 steps
Max Sandbag Load
Victoria Long — 160 kilograms (352.7 pounds)
Olga Liashchuk — 150 kilograms (330.7 pounds) | Tied for second
Inez Carrasquillo — 150 kilograms (330.7 pounds) | Tied for second
To close the 2022 strongperson competitive year, Long and Thompson have added these respective ASW and ASM titles to their extended resumes. By the time 2022 rolls around, they may well parlay this momentum into their next contests.
Featured image: @strongmancorporation on Instagram
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
In powerlifting’s current constellation of strength superstars, it’s hard to get much of any bigger than Russel Orhii. The former two-time International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World champion (2019, 2021) is known for the extraordinary once he gets a loaded barbell of any kind within his well-callused hands. His latest flourish of power on a platform might be his likely best yet.
On Dec. 17, 2022, during the 2022 USA Powerlifting (USAPL) Korea Winter Showdown, Orhii put on a virtuoso performance when he captured a raw total of 885.2 kilograms (1,951.1 pounds). According to a caption from Orhii’s post about the sanctioned powerlifting meet, that total from Seoul, South Korea, is an all-time competition personal record (PR). Notably, the athlete moved up to the 90-kilogram weight class for the first time in his career during the contest and still flourished in his eventual first-place result while notching the highest total for any 90-kilogram powerlifter during the 2022 competitive year.
Here’s an overview of Orhii’s top stats at the 2022 USAPL Korea Winter Showdown, where he also attained respective PRs on the bench press (340 kilograms/749.5 pounds) and deadlift (350 kilograms/771.6 pounds) and matched his all-time best back squat of 195 kilograms (429.9 pounds).
The athlete wore a lifting belt and knee sleeves for his squat, just wrist wraps for his bench press, and completed his best deadlift utilizing only a belt.
Russell Orhii (90KG) | 2022 USAPL Korea Winter Showdown Top Stats
Squat — 195 kilograms (429.9 pounds) | Matches All-Time Raw Competition Best
Bench Press — 340 kilograms (749.5 pounds) | All-Time Raw Competition Best
Deadlift — 350 kilograms (771.6 pounds) | All-Time Raw Competition Best
Total — 885.2 kilograms (1,951.6 pounds) | All-Time Raw Competition Best
In his Instagram post, Orhii reflected on the performance and made it seem all too casual as he likely temporarily hangs up his lifting belt for the holiday season. When he returns sometime in 2023, this instance probably won’t be the last we see of Orhii shining under a bright spotlight.
“I decided to compete at 90 kilograms so I could enjoy the full Korean experience, which in turn led to me putting together a pretty good performance,” Orhii wrote. ” … The love and hospitality here in Korea have been absolutely insane. I’m truly grounded to see the outreach powerlifting has across the world, and I’m thankful to be able to inspire others to pick up the sport. This was such an amazing and unique experience that I’ll never forget. Thank you.”
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