A good indication is that I often start hyperventilating after just 2 reps or so and so can keep my body in "panic mode" much longer.
I also found out that screaming preverbally helps mobilize strength reserves at the point of failure. Like this:


A good indication is that I often start hyperventilating after just 2 reps or so and so can keep my body in "panic mode" much longer.


We've been doing it for 2 months kind of irregularly (every 1-2 weeks), 6 sessions so far. /.../
Now, my problem is that I can't get to exhaustion with the dead lift exercise - my back starts hurting as hell. I really tried hard keeping a good posture and so on, tried different things etc., but I can't get it to work.
The squats don't work either - if I don't use a heavy weight, I can't get to exhaustion, but if I use one, it's just too dangerous and I can't get to exhaustion because I'm terrified of getting hurt.
Does anyone else use free weights and has some advice, perhaps alternative ways of doing dead lift and squats? Perhaps using dumbbells instead of a barbell might help?
It occurred to me last night that maybe strong elastic exercise bands could also be employed for such as the rowing exercise and even the leg press. Just hook the band(s) around something for pulling, and lie on your back and hook them around your feet in the air for leg press effect. If the bands are strong enough, it can do the job.
 ) sit-ups, squat-thrusts (bring knees far up under as you can to chest), leg-raises (don't let feet touch ground), and finally... a damned good thumping on a heavy-duty punch-bag... Make sure bag heavy and dense - you don't want the bag flaying about after every little jab - and its good to get used to forcibly 'digging in': Face punch-bag straight-on in "sitting-stance" (in Taekwondo) - not one-leg-forward-other-leg-back like the boxing stances.
) sit-ups, squat-thrusts (bring knees far up under as you can to chest), leg-raises (don't let feet touch ground), and finally... a damned good thumping on a heavy-duty punch-bag... Make sure bag heavy and dense - you don't want the bag flaying about after every little jab - and its good to get used to forcibly 'digging in': Face punch-bag straight-on in "sitting-stance" (in Taekwondo) - not one-leg-forward-other-leg-back like the boxing stances.  (they will subside with time) With each blow, bring your arms right back behind shoulders and follow-thru into the centre of bag - not just impacting the surface! Start with 25 sets of jabs on each arm, its awkward at first in sitting-stance but gets you learning to find hidden power within body strength combined with channeling body-force of gravity without lunging about. After jabs do left-right-cross sets 25, then quads 25 untill lungs are on fire and arms like lead!.. ALWAYS in sitting stance straight head-on... You will feel the core getting nice and tight evenly the legs, shoulders, back, buttocks and most importantly the waist... Look after the waist and the rest tend to follow suit.
 (they will subside with time) With each blow, bring your arms right back behind shoulders and follow-thru into the centre of bag - not just impacting the surface! Start with 25 sets of jabs on each arm, its awkward at first in sitting-stance but gets you learning to find hidden power within body strength combined with channeling body-force of gravity without lunging about. After jabs do left-right-cross sets 25, then quads 25 untill lungs are on fire and arms like lead!.. ALWAYS in sitting stance straight head-on... You will feel the core getting nice and tight evenly the legs, shoulders, back, buttocks and most importantly the waist... Look after the waist and the rest tend to follow suit. It occurred to me last night that maybe strong elastic exercise bands could also be employed for such as the rowing exercise and even the leg press. Just hook the band(s) around something for pulling, and lie on your back and hook them around your feet in the air for leg press effect. If the bands are strong enough, it can do the job.
I just thought of the same thing. I think it is possible to most of the excercises with resistance bands. Maybe it is safer than free weights when the muscles are nearing failure? Also the leg press can maybe be done as a more strenous squat with bands?
 and I think I will adopt that. Reading the book now and should be ready to give a go to this kind of training pretty soon.
 and I think I will adopt that. Reading the book now and should be ready to give a go to this kind of training pretty soon.It occurred to me last night that maybe strong elastic exercise bands could also be employed for such as the rowing exercise and even the leg press. Just hook the band(s) around something for pulling, and lie on your back and hook them around your feet in the air for leg press effect. If the bands are strong enough, it can do the job.
Well, I'm not so sure about this - I tried using rubber bands for rowing-type exercises in the past, but it didn't really work for me. I just couldn't get to exhaustion, and it didn't feel right. Perhaps the rubber thingy wasn't strong enough or maybe I did something wrong though.
But according to BBS, the key is to slowly, gradually exhaust the muscles to the max. This means that optimally, the weight/strain changes along the "strength curve" of the particular muscle group you are training. So for example when bench pressing, you typically have not that much strength at the beginning of the exercise, then you reach full strength, and then it gets more difficult again - just how the muscles work.
That's why the authors recommend special machines that can "follow along" these natural strength curves, which helps exhausting each muscle group even better than would be possible using a fixed weight/"flat curve". But normal machines (fixed weight) and free weights still give good results with this technique, especially if you have a partner who helps you complete the last 1-2 repetitions, which mimics the effect of a special machine.
Considering this, I'm not sure the rubber thingies can do the trick - because they progressively increase the load, i.e. at the beginning of the movement, there is hardly any resistance, and only at the very end does it get really heavy. So you don't get muscle exhaustion during the full (slow) movement, OSIT?
Maybe if the specific strength curves of certain muscle groups are approximately increasing in a linear way, a strong rubber band would fit, don't know. Maybe others have more experience with this.
Never ever use weights... Its cheating! <snipped>
Never. Use. Weights.

Well, the exercise bands was just an idea for those who don't have the equipment or would find it hard to get. Perhaps they would work for someone who is in a weak condition to start with? For you strong guys, I know they would be a waste of time!!!! Geeze, when I see the pile of weights the guys here lift, I'm pretty sure that no stretchy band is gonna replace that!!!
 I think it could be an option for certain cases. I've done a lot of strength training over the years. When I lived in Dickson my family had a Bowflex. That was the only option I had for strength training. Basically the same principle. It worked okay, better than nothing.
 I think it could be an option for certain cases. I've done a lot of strength training over the years. When I lived in Dickson my family had a Bowflex. That was the only option I had for strength training. Basically the same principle. It worked okay, better than nothing. Point taken. Yes, it was premature of me.Please read the book that this thread is discussing before you chime in with uninformed claims and opinions.
 
	 
 
		 
 
		 
 
		