AmpedTraining.com :: Strength, Muscle, Fat Loss, and Logic

Squatting still hasn’t killed me.

Matt — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:00:37 +0000

For those of you that were concerned, no, I’m not dead. I haven’t even hurt myself again, wonder of wonders. I know, I’m surprised too – for a guy who couldn’t look at a barbell without something tearing, lifting more often was the last thing that I thought would be helpful. It turns out that [...]

Recovery Strategies

Matt — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:13:32 +0000

I’ve been getting some questions about recovery methods and strategies, given how I’ve been training recently. I figured that would make a good update for this week. Recovery methods can be broadly grouped into three categories: organizational, manual/external, and chemical. That’s not the precise naming scheme but that’s how I remember it. This reflects your [...]

I’m addicted to daily squatting.

Matt — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 22:10:00 +0000

I had totally planned to cut my Bulgarian/frequent-lifting experiment this week, after eight full weeks. I had no real reason other than to break up the monotony. I’m not hurt; I actually feel better than I have in years as far as joints and connective tissues. I don’t feel burned out, not even close. In [...]

Raw Lifting and Linear Periodization

Matt — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:10:39 +0000

I’ve had to do a lot of thinking over the past couple of years as far as deciding what I want to do with myself as far as training and goals. I dabbled with powerlifting for years, but it wasn’t ever satisfying to me as a competitive sport. I like hitting big weights, and I [...]

Observations on Bulgarian-inspired strength training

Matt — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:14:49 +0000

As I’ve alluded to in the past few posts and many of my Twitter updates, I’ve been experimenting with high-frequency training in a half-hearted manner for the last few months and with more commitment over the last six weeks. I’ve amassed a number of general observations and nuggets of practical wisdom that I want to [...]

Hypothesis: Inflammation is the main reason you can’t train daily.

Matt — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:07:48 +0000

Inflammation is thought to be a proximate cause of overtraining. Inflammation is associated with feelings of perceived stress & fatigue, immune system depression, and disturbed mood & sleep. Inflammation signals central fatigue. Inflammation is strongly associated with the metabolic syndrome, which can do nasty things to nutrient partitioning. Did I mention that inflammation makes you [...]

[Research Review] Autoregulatory Training vs. Linear Periodization

Matt — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:15:35 +0000

I know I’ve been slack on the blogging lately, but I really have had a few interesting things going on training wise, both theory and application side of things. There’s goodies on the way. For now, since this segues into the concept, I want to have a look at this paper which I got a [...]

Getting Ahead of Yourself

Matt — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 09:57:11 +0000

When I first started lifting years ago, I was convinced of a few things, things I knew as truths. I knew that chicks were into big muscles. I knew that you need a huge bench press, because that was the only thing people ever asked about. I knew that training hard, like I knew all [...]

Is the high-bar squat underrated?

Matt — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:30:48 +0000

These days it seems all the rage to squat “low bar”, which also implies a wide stance (slightly to significantly wider than the shoulders) and more focus on the hips & posterior chain as opposed to the quads. There’s an argument to be made for this, of course, in that it’s probably going to be [...]

CNS vs. Peripheral Fatigue

Matt — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:51:05 +0000

The title is a topic that’s come up a lot over the years, and it’s been on my mind lately. I’ve written about this quite a bit in the past, on forums and in some detail in Maximum Muscle, but I think this is something that could use some elaboration for my blog audience and [...]