Athletic Club East

DEADLIFT
The properly-performed deadlift is, in some ways, the most useful lift for everyday life, since generally if you encounter something heavy you'll have to lift it off the floor and stand up with it. It won't be a convenient barbell shape but if you can lift a big weight on a barbell you c...

Water is necessary to life. People have survived weeks and even months without food, but perish without water in a few days. It aids digestion and many other functions of the body.

The recommendation for water consumption for men is 2.6 and women 2.1lt a day; it’s proportional to bodyweight. How...

HOW TO ACTIVATE YOUR MUSCLES

Train movements, and the muscles will follow.

People like to speak of “muscle activation”. Physiotherapists make entire careers from diagnosing people with particular “sleepy” muscles and coming up with exercises to wake them up. Personal trainers with aspirations t...

FIRST, STRENGTH

The basic physical qualities are strength, endurance and mobility. Ideally we train all three, but this leads to long workouts. Could it be that if we train one it’ll help the others?

If we go for a walk or run, we improve endurance, but this does nothing to make us stronger or ...

“I DON’T WANT TO GET TOO BIG.”

Maybe you should get bigger. Be awesome, not humble. Be strong, not weak. Be loud, not silent. Be more, not less.

A friend of mine works in HR, and she tells me that one of the reasons women in professional jobs earn less than men is because they ask for less. If ...

HABITS ADD UP

The effect on your health of any particular cigarette you smoke, the chances of it being the one which kills you is very, very small. Almost zero. But the accumulation of each cigarette on top of the other over many years means a much bigger effect. Nobody is better off because the...

The clean, the press, the front squat and the snatch-grip deadlift make up the Athletic version of the ACE programme. They are suitable for a healthy young person with a background in physical training. We use other variations for older people and beginners.

After four months and 35 workouts, Peter pulls 60kg at 77 years old.

You're probably younger than that. What could you achieve in a few months?

Joemz working on his 195kg rack pulls. Rack pulls are an excellent variation for the newer lifter with a history of lower back troubles, as the reduced range of motion makes it easier to keep the back tight and strong. They also assist more experienced lifters with their other lifts.

To learn w...