Tag Archives: elliott hulse
Smith Machine (and Other Machines) Training – Good Idea?!
I’ll start this one off from a video by Elliott Hulse.
Cliffs
– Training with the smith machine builds the prime movers and can create an impressive physique.
– Stabilizing muscles aren’t trained adequately when using machines like the Smith Machine. This can lead to injuries.
– If you’re a bodybuilder, it might make sense to use machines a good bit. If you’re training for strength, athleticism, etc., it probably doesn’t make much sense.
– Balance out your body using various other exercises (this might include stretching and body weight exercises) to avoid injuries.
My Opinion
I agree with Elliott. I don’t think most people should train using the smith machine primarily, if they can avoid it. If they can’t avoid it, they should find a way to activate the stabilizing muscles with other means. The same goes for just about any machine you might find at a gym. I think they can be beneficial at times to use for assistance exercises, but your primary exercises should be done with free weights.
As always, I’m not a personal trainer or doctor. I just like to lift and educate myself about training. Do whatever you think is best!
Are You Old? Some Tips!
If you’re getting older and starting to feel the effects of aging, below are some quality tips from Elliott Hulse on the topic. They might help you continue training hard!
Supplement Recommendations from Fitness YouTubers
Today, I’m going to share some supplement recommendation videos with you from a few popular fitness / powerlifting / bodybuilding YouTubers. At the end of the article, I’ll tell you which supplements I take.
Note: Always do your own research, before you pound a bunch of supplements into your body. Examine.com is a pretty good web site to begin your research for most supplements.
Chelsea Lifts – Her channel
Ladies first. I think Chelsea is training for a powerlifting meet right now and there is some lifting included in the following video, but she starts it off by showing us her favorite supplements she currently takes. Wouldliftwith/10
Chelsea’s Supplement Stash: Citadel Fish Oil | Vitamin D (5,000 IU) | Optimum Nutrition Creatine | Primaforce Yohimbe HCI | Citadel Tier 1 Pre-Workout | GNC Pro Performance Beta-Alanine | Cellucor BCAA (Watermelon Flavor) | Spring Valley Iron | One A Day Women’s Active Metabolism Multivitamin (She recommends buying a better quality multivitamin, if you take one regularly.)
Elliott Hulse (strengthcamp) – His channel
While Elliott very rarely actually recommends supplements, he has mentioned what he uses in a few videos. I’m not going to embed his old recommendations video, in which he suggests you take ON whey, BSN creatine, Vitamin C and glutamine. It’s fairly outdated considering his recent recommendations of not taking any protein powder shakes. You can also tell how he feels about most supplements in his videos Honest Supplement Review #1 and #2 (graphic).
Below is a video where he discusses what he actually takes.
Supplement Stash: PaleoMeal from Designs for Health – Some flavors available: Chocolate | Natural Vanilla | Natural Berry | Strawberry … Elliott has also mentioned using a greens drink in past videos, but I’m too lazy to dig them up right now. I’m pretty sure he uses Living Fuel.
Jonnie Candito (CanditoTrainingHQ) – His channel
I haven’t seen Jonnie talk about supplements too much on his channel. Probably because he’s busy lifting heavy-ass weight.
He reviewed Jack3d Micro and he didn’t like the taste, but said it provided energy well. Below are his thoughts on whey protein.
Jonnie’s Supplement Stash: Jack3d Micro | Body Fortress Whey Protein | Creatine (Reference)
Chris Barnard (overtimeathletes) – His channel
Chris rarely does videos about supplements, just like his buddy Elliott Hulse. Below are a couple he did make. The first one is about creatine and the second one is about bulking in general.
Chris’ Supplement Stash: Creatine | Whey Protein Powder
Brandon Campbell – His channel
He did a top 3 video about supplements.
Brandon’s Supplement Stash: Creatine Monohydrate | Whey Protein | Caffeine
What I Take
This is just to wrap this article up. It’s a list of supplements I currently take.
My Supplement Stash: Creatine | Whey Protein (I only take it occasionally to top off protein requirements.) | Caffeine (I usually opt for coffee instead, but I do have some pure caffeine as well.) | Beta-Alanine (Only for certain training periods.) | Vitamin D (Only in the winter.) | Fish Oil | Magnesium
Strength Camp Challenge – Win $5,000
Elliott Hulse is holding a Strength Camp Challenge with six events:
Deadlift Medley, Medicine Ball Back Throw, Farmer’s Walk, Push Up / Pull Up Challenge, Prowler Push / Keg Carry Medley and a mystery event!
The location is Clearwater, Florida and the date and time are Saturday, March 1, 2014 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (EST)
1st place winner gets $5,000! 2nd place gets $1k and 3rd place gets $500.
Click here for more information on the event. 100 entries are going to be accepted. The cost is $65 to enter and there are no weight classes.
Accept Challenges
In the video below, Elliott Hulse answers a viewer’s question about replacing squats in a 5×5 program. I assume it’s something like Reg Park’s 5×5, StrongLifts 5×5, Madcow’s 5×5 or maybe even Texas Method, but that’s not really the issue being discussed in the video. I’ve added some cliffs and personal notes under the video. (And no, you cannot replace squats in these programs.)
Cliffs and Personal Notes:
If something is difficult and presents a challenge to you, do it. (Within reason of course. Don’t try to jump off a bridge because you’d like to be able to fly and expect to make it work.)
If your knees hurt from squatting, it’s likely a mobility, stability, muscle imbalance and/or strength imbalance issue. Figure out what’s causing the problem, fix it and continue to squat. A nice resource for fixing just about any lifting-related issue you might have (unless you require surgery or just have a disability that completely rules out some lifts) is Kelly Starrett’s ‘Supple Leopard‘ book.
Approach all difficult situations with this mindset of putting in your best effort to overcome obstacles and you will succeed in life as a whole.
The dedication and ability to effectively solve problems are two characteristics that can be honed in the gym. The newly acquired discipline and will to achieve a goal can easily carry over to other areas of your life.
Choosing a Workout Program
The video below from Elliott Hulse at strengthcamp is an opinion I share about choosing a workout routine.
Cliffs:
Blindly select a workout program that works for numerous people. (I listed some below.)
Follow it for a year.
Learn to make adjustments to the program over time that benefit you.
Enjoy continued progress without wasting your time looking for the magic program or some miraculous new discovery when it comes to lifting weights.
Hold yourself accountable.
Example: I have consistently followed 5/3/1 for over two years now and have steady progress in all my main lifts. I have made tweaks to the program to accommodate my goals and work hard in the gym. The changes I make are made gradually over time. I keep the things that I feel improve me and get rid of what doesn’t seem to be helping. What doesn’t change is the general approach to training. I still read a lot about training from various authors/lifters, but I don’t let it affect me to the point where I go program hopping every month or two. I utilize the information to make minor positive changes to my training when I see fit. I still utilize the fundamentals of 5/3/1 (with principles of Jim Wendler’s new book Beyond 5/3/1).
Some programs that I believe are very solid in their approach are listed below. You could literally blindly choose from one of these, if you wanted. Or you can spend the time to read through them all and then choose one. Whichever method you choose, pick one program and run it for at least one year like Elliott Hulse mentions in his video.
Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 – If you choose this one, I strongly advise also reading Beyond 5/3/1.
Jonnie Candito’s Training Program – You can download this one for free, but I would suggest leaving him a donation if you have the cash to spare. It’s a solid program that he’s making available to everyone.
The Cube Method by Brandon Lilly
The Juggernaut Method by Chad Wesley Smith
Westside for Skinny Bastards by Joe DeFranco – Free PDF. This one is great for athletes.
Work hard and you will be successful with any of these. Instead of wasting time trying to find the ‘best’ way to train, just work your ass off with the principles of a proven program. That’s just my opinion though.
Honest Supplement Review from Elliott Hulse
One of the reasons I really like Elliott Hulse’s YouTube channel strengthcamp is his no bullshit approach to both training and nutrition. In the video below, he goes through a supplement box he received from Jacked in a Box (you may also have heard of Jacked Pack).
Cliffs (with a dash of my opinion):
Most supplements are terrible and a waste of money, while there are some supplements that don’t suck.
The supplements Elliott Hulse actually takes are a greens drink from Living Fuel and PaleoMeal (I found it available in vanilla, chocolate, berry, strawberry banana, and strawberry flavors). I also saw that the same company that makes PaleoMeal makes a greens drink called PaleoGreens, which is a little cheaper than the Living Fuel one.
Judging by what he says in the video, coffee is his pre-workout. Mine is also coffee. If you’re too lazy or unable to make coffee, another alternative to get some caffeine would be caffeine pills. They’re way cheaper than most pre-workout supplements. Or maybe instant coffee will work for you?
Elliott thinks a well-balanced diet is most important and supplements should be used to supplement your diet. The only other supplements I remember him ever recommending have been basic ones like creatine and whey protein (I’m linking Optimum Nutrition’s whey because it’s fucking delicious). He’s also mentioned that he takes krill oil in a previous video.
I hope that helps some of you weed through the lies a lot of the supplement companies are telling you.
Hook Grip Video with Hilarious Comment
This morning, I was watching Elliott Hulse’s latest video about using the hook grip to deadlift with a more secure grip. I fully agree that the using a hook grip is a great way to improve your double overhand grip security (and in turn reduce the chance of tearing a bicep when using a mixed grip). The video is below and you can read more about hook gripping in my Deadlift 101 article.
And then I began scrolling through the comments underneath the video and found this gem, which of course I have to share with you.
Great laughs were had that day!
Video and Articles of the Week
Video of the Week
The Video of the Week is from Elliott Hulse over at strengthcamp. In this video, he describes a situation when you should back off a little bit with your training to allow your body to fully recover and grow. Pushing in the gym is definitely a good thing most of the time, but sometimes the benefits of backing off just a bit can be tremendous. The tricky part is figuring out when you need to back off and when you should be pushing your body to adapt its work capacity. A lot of the time improving recovery methods (i.e. with active recovery), eating more and/or sleeping more can benefit you enough to continue with your training. Other times, you might need to deload a bit to allow your body to get back to 100% and then push it again.
Some Great Articles to Read
The following are just a couple of articles I came across recently that might help you with your training. If you have the time, read them. If your time is limited, spend it at the gym.
Strong Mind: Haves and Bes by Bryan Mann – An article on why you need to stop complaining about things you can’t change. Start improving the things you can affect instead.
Bench Press Shoulder Rehab by Clint Darden – Two videos on things you can do to help with shoulder pain caused by bench pressing.
How Successful People Train – Video
This one is from Elliott Hulse at strengthcamp.
Cliffs: Stop being lazy and choose a primary goal. It has to be important to you or it’s a shitty goal. Have a smart plan to achieve your goal. Pursue your goal relentlessly and strive to reach it by any means necessary. Everything that doesn’t help get you to your goal is a distraction. Sleep less if you must.
Strength Camp Camo Tank Tops for Sale
I guess asking Elliott Hulse over and over again where you can buy one of his strengthcamp tank tops has paid off, because he’s finally selling them. You could get yourself an $8 camo tank top at Amazon and just write strengthcamp on it with some marker (okay, you’d probably need a printer to get it right), but it’s much more authentic if you get the tank top(s) from Elliott himself for $25 a pop. I heard they make you stronger instantly. Maybe it’s just a rumor though. Don’t forget you get a wristband too!
Elliott Hulse and Kali Muscle Workout
Here is a cool video of Elliott Hulse and Kali Muscle working out together at the strengthcamp gym.