Defining Progressive Overload, The Heart of Strength Training

Gro Marit Istad-Krsitiansen trained periodization for strength with Fred for over 5 years.

Progressive overload is the cornerstone of strength training, but so few lifters or strength coaches approach it the right way or even understand it. Here’s another look at a smart way to get big and strong or stronger and faster in sports.

Joe Rogan Loves the AB MAT

Joe Rogan spoke on his show about the ab mat this week. This is the coolest thing we have seen. Since he didn’t get the whole story I figured I’d give you some info and other videos here. Here’s even more material….see videos…Enjoy

Some more information for those who love it.

How the AB Mat works

Adding weight like any other Muscle

220 lb situp with ab mat.

Newest You Tube Channel, Muscle Coach

Many People are still subscribing to my old You Tube page. This is the newest one.

(Click here)

Here is the link for my new You tube page. I took all the music out of the old ones and re-edited many of the new ones. This page is still active because many of the article I have written are linked here. The same videos are on the new page, plus many more..If you find an article and there is no link. Just let me know and I will fix it. fred@fredkoch.com

EMG Testing does it tell all?

With EMG testing can you tell exact muscles and ranges of motion?

By Fred Koch, P-SCE

Lately the media in the fitness and sports industry seems to have become a “What is the Research” based system.  Well, I am one of these guys maybe it’s from my police background that says. “So you are telling me that all that has been said in fitness and sports has been discovered?” So, in line with that it also says all the research that has been done is legimate scientific research. If you think the same way I do my answer is NO WAY.

1.  To even ask the question “what does the research say?” is based on the 1^st premise there is nothing new.
2. In the fitness and sports industry you are telling me the research is all “real research”. Well anyone into research can give you a hundred reason that is wrong, when they stop laughing about the statement about fitness and sports research.

Thomas Edison read The theory of Relativiy, by Albert Einstein

One of the most profound things I ever had the opportunity to read was at the Thomas Edison Museum in N.J. On display was a layout of his remarks when reading Einstein’s theory of relativity, where he said in his words that someone as brilliant as Einstein could write in a way that the average person can understand not all the big fancy words that no average person can understand. This has guided me in my writings on strength training. Maybe it can help you. Attached is a link to those pages that a friend, HB, was nice enough to have the museum take out of the display, make a copy and she had it framed for me. These are the little things that drive us to keep our values in site.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xwyx1rv8vh79hnc/Thomas%20Edison%20Museum0001.pdf?dl=0

95% of all trainers don’t know correct exercise form leading to total failure of strength progams before they even start.

Update: Obviously this article has been posted before. In 2019  I see more and more videos and articles continue to teach what has been taught before with no thought of how muscle work and mistakes that are made. I post this again as a way to show people what is to come .

“With some many videos and diagrams available on the market today how do we as bodybuilders  and sports trainers really know what is right”?

And I say that trying to give some a little credit. How do you know truth about exercise form. Or better yet what is bullshit? Hopefully after reading this article you may get some idea of  just how much misinformation if out there an how better to learn the truth.

One of the things I got involved in years ago when I was writing For Ironman Magazine under the column of Muscle Coach was using drawings to illustrate the correct form to do exercises. My teacher at the time Robert K. Blom RPT always drummed into my head as many teachers do was the importance of understanding the muscle you want to work and getting the form right from the beginning. Now of course you have heard this before. Now you have to remember this was long before the internet and especially You Tube where you could upload videos of the form you use.

Proper Leg Press Technique

Such a great video,but is it complete. shall we take a look.

Why: With feet properly placed. The force goes through the hips, not the knees, as in a squat.

 

It is always amazing to me the things I end up writing on in 2019. This time it is the good old Leg Press. You would think by now there would be a hundred articles on it and how to use it. Well, as you will see this just isn’t true. Thus, I would like to offer up some information for you.

The first misconception I need to clear up is the expectation we all have that equipment companies in this day and age would be the leaders in designing the equipment so that it worked the best possible way for the targeted muscles. Well, guess what? They don’t as you will soon come to see.

Big Chest – An advanced opinion

I watch the videos of Muscle and Motion all the time. As I have said before they are the best in animation in training I have ever seen. BUT, do the know that many of their materal may be old…as I would say. Here is a great video on “chest” BUT when you start doing upper and ower chest with a bar you reduce the range of motion and the arms tire out first.  So I developed my version of cables that I feel just work upper and lower directly. You decide.

 

Muscle Coach version

Let me know what you think. fred@fredkoch.com

THE IRONMAN MAGAZINE TRAINING SYSTEM. Part V The Search and Leaders of a Revolution. Part V

THE IRONMAN MAGAZINE TRAINING SYSTEM. Part IV The Search and Leaders of a Revolution. Part IV

Any of you that are actually taking the time to read these are seeing a part of history that few in todays training world are aware of. To see the material here is still relevant and sometimes a  head of the times still is my goal.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them or contact me at fred@fredkoch.com. 

NO…. Ab Muscles

No Ab Muscles

I just had to have a quick post here. What anyone that really looks closely can see in this latest group of professional Bodybuilders is they really don’t have really strong developed ab muscles. LOOK. Sure they come out from dieting ,but none have this rock hard muscle structure you see on other muscles. WHY….They don’t train the abs like any other bodypart.  Maybe for years they had no tools to allow the abs to work. Since the Ab Mat allowed full movement of the spine things are changing.

Show me one Guy who trains heavy like my man in the video and I’ll show you real abs. Good luck, I’m off for Christmas.

The abs just are not “rocks”

 

Fred Koch, fred@fredkoch.com

THE IRONMAN MAGAZINE TRAINING SYSTEM. Release of the “Do It Yourself System” (Updated Formula)

The benefit of having all the issues of my articles in Ironman is I can jump around when I find something I think that is really interesting. When I started to release the articles on Periodization I was sure the information was still relevent and see it still is. The big breakthrough after the articles was in December 1992 we released a do it yourself version of the Ironman Training System. We called it the “THE IRONMAN TRAINING  System Success Guide For the American Bodybuilder”.  This book explained all you needed to know to design your own programs and to do the calculations for every set and rep for each of the workouts in the phases.

I have made numerous changes in designing programs since I first started.  Most important are the changes in the formulas for the workout sets and reps. Since I have  plenty of people to experiment on as a gym owner I can continue to improve the system. This appendix is included with the orginal. To order a PDF copy check out the end of the this post.