KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

You don’t have to dig too deep into the internet before you will come across researchers and bro science experts alike referencing a supposed sweet spot called the “anabolic window”.

A large percentage of humans have lower back pain due to a number of different reasons. Most look to get the back fixed or stretch out the hip flexors to help loosen up the lower back and relieve pain.

Well guess what? You're doing it all wrong. See, our body is full of systems that keeps us in-sync. When one system is weak and not used much, the other systems have to work harder to create compensation, which leads to the pain you feel as a result of that.

Getting that grip strength down, pushing your heart rate through the roof, and building some nasty traps are some of the major benefits to doing heavy farmers carry. But many of us are limited to our heaviest set of dumbells or kettlebells to run this movement. I personally got tired of stacking 2 or 3 kettlebells in each hand to get to a heavy farmers carry, so I decided to do something about it. I browsed the internet in search of a set of farmers carry handles to stack plates on, but have trouble paying $180 or more for a decent set. So I went ahead and designed my own set for less than $100. Here is what you will need to do the same.

Americans vision of strength and fitness shifted in the late 1970s. When guys like ArnoldSchwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno began appearing in films and on television, what we thought about strength training became about one thing: size.

The nascent world of health and fitness soon shifted focus, with sheer mass -- as opposed to all-around health and fitness -- being the arbiter of men’s health. Magazines likeMuscle and Fitness, Shape UpandStrength & Health began pushing pictures of guys built like comic book heroes, their oiled muscles rippling off the page, and the supplement industry suddenly exploded with men looking for mass.

The public safety and military worlds soon fell right in line. Cops worked toward having a “physical presence,” firemen wanted to impress the soccer moms at the grocery store, and military guys wanted to look like the G.I. Joe cartoons they grew up watching.

This trend continued on through the 1980s, with the ubiquity of shredded Gold’s Gym shirts and the legendary Muscle Beach acting as the benchmark for what was and what wasn’t defined as “fitness.” We watched American Gladiators and ate our Wheaties in hopes that we too might curl those massive, octagonical dumbbells, our crewcuts and biceps glistening in the sun.

It wasn’t until the mid-to-late 90s that we began to see a shift in our values and focuses, a shift that continues to manifest today in the idea that fitness and strength doesn’t necessarily mean being the biggest and most physically imposing.

And while mass and size are fine if aesthetics are your main goal, or if you’re a naturally large human, science would argue that you don’t need size to see massive gains in strength.

[nutrition-ad]