The Garage Gym Online

A little while ago, Mike T Nelson was gracious enough to stop by my blog and say hello.  His grand entrance reminded me that I had been meaning to do a top 10 posts article about his blog on the site, Extreme Human Performance.

I’ve done a couple of these top 10 / top 5 round-ups so far and they seem to be quite popular.  If you’ve missed them, here they are:

• Top 10 free strength and fitness websites
• Top 10 strength and fitness blogs
• Top 5 Adam T Glass articles
• Top 10 T-Nation corrective exercise articles
• Top 10 Articles: The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban

Enough with the history lesson already! Show me the articles! 

OK, OK, relax.  Here are my top 10 posts from Extreme Human Performance:

1. Z-Health Bone Rhythm explained: this brief entry is a clear explanation of how the Z-Health method can help your lifting.  I am by nature extremely sceptical of any method other than my own deduction so I enjoyed seeing inside this box, even if only briefly.  In short, the Z-Health Bone Rhythm method involves thinking about the levers you are using to lift weights.
2. Abdominal bracing or abdominal hollowing: this article explores the different approaches to using the abs to protect the spine while lifting.  Many old school lifters talk about drawing in the navel to touch the spine and most modern powerlifters talk about bracing, or pushing out the abs against their belts.
3. Metabolic inflexibility: if you’ve ever wondered about the science behind why lean people can get away with eating poorer quality food, here it all is.  And here is an update from 2009.
4. Get off the foam roller: I use my foam roller all the time and feel that improving my tissue quality has been one of the best things I have done for my mobility and general performance.  So I found this article very challenging.  One to keep coming back to, I think.
5. Sleep and the metabolic syndrome: I remember a while back that Dan John said he uses extra sleep to help him lose fat.  Here is some of the science behind why more sleep is good for your body composition goals.
6. Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand (SAID): this interpretation of the SAID principle and a programme specification for incorporating it into a personal training template is insightful and is something I will be looking to include more in my own training.
7. Nerve Flossing: if you wanted to know what it is and how it works, Mike explains here.
8. Mike Nelson on Superhuman Radio: this is great, as I get to mention two of my favourite internet resources in one link!  Seriously, though, there is a lot to be said for the visual aspect of performance as is discussed here.  When the Olympics were on, Mike did some posts (part one and part two) showing the eye positions of the athletes.
9. Cardiobots and Cardiobunnies: Mike responds to a provocative reader query about endurance training.
10. Tendonosis vs. Tendonitis: learn the difference and between mere inflammation and damaged connective tissue.  Further reading here.
11. Bonus number 11! (Sorry, Mike, I couldn’t resist it – dry British humour, you know) Adam Glass talks grip drills, what works and what doesn’t.  Unsurprisingly, I liked Adam’s essential list: plate curls, one-arm fat-bar deadlifts (à la Herman Goerner), hammer lifting and gripper work.  Note that this article is actually part of a series, so don’t miss the other great entries. 

I hope you enjoy these as much as I have.

For a list of my key articles by category, please check out this index.

Tags:   Extreme Human Performance · Mike T Nelson3 Comments