[QUOTE=eomonroe00;930913]
i have nothing against getting strong, my beef is with conventional weightlifting, in gyms, using isolated movements, like the bench press . . . [/quote]
calling the bench press an isolation movement is really a stretch, but you’re also completely ignoring squats, deads, overhead presses, chins, dips, rows, etc. all of these lifts are compound movements designed for functional strength. there is certainly a difference between real world strength and gym strength, but these movements provide a tremendous amount of carry over and application.
how safe is the bench press on the wrists and joints?
very safe on the wrists. the bar should lay across the palm of your hand and be supported by your forearms at 90 degree angles. the wrist will be compressed, but there should be no extension strain what so ever. shoulders are normally the problem, and the risk can be reduced significantly by keeping the shoulders back and the back arched. of course one could still experience problems after long term use and abuse, but there are risks one accepts in any sport.
How many people do you know with weighlifting injuries? especially guys in there 40’s?, i know a lot.
very few, and i bet i know more lifters than you. in fact i just watched a guy in his 60s bench over 4 plates at the same meet.
I believe if your strengthing your chest to deliver power you must also strengthen the wrist, the point at which all that power is released. I have never seen one person dong wrist or grip strength in gym settings,
grip strength is developed as much as it needs to be for the sport of powerlifting through deadlifts. lifters are not known for notoriously strong grips, and its because it’s not required above whats needed for deadlifting. that said, the powerlifters i know who actually do focus on grip work excel at it.
(regarding bodybuilders being athletic and powerful) . ..
They might look it but i dont beleive they can deliver on all that power they have, because of the way they have trained in isolation, the pec or bicep muscle has no way to send its power through the bodies chain of joints and connective tissue and most power is lost in transit.
you can believe what you want, but the fact remains that many natural bodybuilders are very athletic and very powerful. isolation exercises are only part of a bodybuilding regimen. most bodybuilders also do compound movements as they are the greatest overall mass builders. they just normally use higher reps than powerlifters. this holds true for many of the juicers as well, though there does come a point when so much mass makes things more difficult.
My belief is you must train the body as a whole(not so much total number of muscle fibers used), like lifting a heavy object from the ground to overhead,
olympic lifts are awesome.
walking while bear hugging a heavy object,. .. pushing a truck in neutral
strong man training is awesome.
so is powerlifting and bodybuilding. olympic lifts might serve the martial artist better by developing more explosive strength (though those who use west side principles would argue their powerlifters are also developing explosive power and speed as they focus on insuring their powerlifters can consistently jump higher as they get stronger). i would even agree that strong man training has more real world carry over than run of the mill gym strength. however, this doesn’t mean that a martial artist who happens to like either powerlifting or bodybuilding, is wasting his time. getting strong can only help the martial artist no matter what the means, and someone’s time is going to be better spent doing something he enjoys as a means of cross training.
