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Weight Lifting Chain Workouts
Posted by: Ken O'Neill
Chains For Gains
Use of chains in training seems thus far limited to those following
the regimes of Louie Simmons and his Westside Barbell Club, or
his impact on strength training for football teams. As such, they
remain secret yet to be discovered in bodybuilding.
Admitting to being an addicted reader and experimenter, news of
Simmons' technique reached me months ago. A couple of
workout visits to Dave Goddin's Hyde Park Gym while
vacationing in Austin last summer gave me the opportunity to
work out with chains while squatting. I was sold.
How do you use chain? Eccentric resistance, basically the key to
early Nautilus machine design. An added boost for me is that
training with chain in pressing movements has profoundly healed
rotator cuff irritations. Using a power rack, you set the chain so
that it doesn't start coming off the ground adding resistance until
you're well past the mid range/sticking point of a movement,
adding resistance gradually through the lock out phase.
Powerlifters report rapid progress in breaking sticking points in
their lifts doing this. I recently purchased two three-foot chains
each weighing 25 pounds. I attach them to my bar with a steel ring
and a pair of hooks attached to a 5-foot length of ¼" chain. That
allows for fast changing of the length of chain for specific
movements (i.e., bench press, incline press, seated press). For
example, load your bar to 200 lbs for the bench press; by the
last quarter of the movement you'll be lifting 240-250 pounds
into peak contraction and lockout. Good for squats and rack
deadlifts, too. A basic starter kit involves two 25 pound chains
and two 12-13 pound chains. The lighter ones are better for delt
press and tricep extensions, but can be added with the heavier
ones as strength increases mount up. Simmons says his lifters
also gain another benefit: speed with heavier poundages. Some
folks reportedly experienced upward of 50 pound personal
record increases within 2 short months of chain work on the
squat and deadlift. This is what Nautilus claimed it could do.
With a home gym power rack you can suddenly make some
great gains.
Re: Weight Lifting Chain Workouts
Posted by: gforce jhartm14@fau.edu
Where did u purchase your weightlifting chains? been looking everywhere!
thanks.
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