Thanks for the comment!

I’ve got 5 kids and have gone through the 18 month car thing 4 times already. True that spine flexion, lateral flexion and rotation are facts of everyday life, but I don’t thing people should go out of their way to train like that … even if it’s preparation for the real world.

I’ve also gone through colic, sleep deprivation (you should check out the later posts or my Facebook Page), colds, fevers, pancreatitis x 5 and still squat and deadlift. I only train those movements once per week and ensure that I get enough rest in between. I’ll be squatting and deadlifting ’til I die.

I’m down with your workout. I know what farmer’s walks are, but what’s a “waiter’s walk”?

Chris

#9….. don’t be on it. Wait until your kid is 18 months, and you have to contort yourself to get him in and out of the car seat. Or out from under a coffee table.
Real world lifting… do like Fireman Tom…. squeeze the hell out of your glutes, take a deep breath and brace, and go for it. The only place people heavy weights with proper form is in the gym, unfortunately, and that’s if they know what they are doing.

You love your squats and deadlifts now. Good. But when you have a year of less sleep, with colds, colic, and good ole TEETHING, you’ll appreciate the following functional workout:

Take a heavy DB or KB and do Suitcase carrys….. one arm at a time

DB or KB clean and presses, lots of transfer with those as with the above.

Pullups are good for everything. Mix your grips=healthy shoulders.

Your ‘finisher’ can be heavy waiter walks. Your shoulders will take a pounding with kids, this will, along with the above lifts, fix it.

Like I said, if you can do your heavy squats and deads, great. I’m 49 with a 2 1/2 year old, and the above works better for me.

I’m not denying that the bench press is a great upper body muscle builder and strength exercise. From experience though, after years of bench pressing and playing volleyball, my shoulder (and the shoulders of many) has/have had it with the bench. Truth be told, when I’m in the gym and watching people bench, 3 out of 4 are doing it wrong and really setting themselves up for injury (either immediately or later on if they continue with poor form). Not only that, but I think too much emphasis is put on the bench press. It doesn’t really have that much carryover into everyday life (unless of course you’re a powerlifter or an American football lineman).

Remember, when I’m talking about training, I’m coming from a performance standpoint, not from a bodybuilding standpoint. That said, doing a push-up (either with a weighted vest on or just with your bodyweight) is a good enough exercise for me and my clients. I find that the general population already has tight and over developed pecs, rounded shoulders and horrible posture. The bench press doesn’t help with these issues at all which is my I’m not a big fan of it.

As far as doing a bench press on a fitness ball is concerned, I think that’s fine. But if it’s safe for me to bench, I’d much rather pack on the weight and push as much as I can and save the quad and ab work for when I do squats. I think results would come faster that way.

-Chris

p.s. Want to hear about a horrible bench pressing experience? read this post by my friend Jason Ferruggia – who is also one of the BEST strength coaches and authorities on muscle building in the world. if he doesn’t bench, then why the heck do i have to? http://jasonferruggia.com/just-another-victim/

Chris