This week is TEST WEEK at Platform Strength, and one move we're testing today is the Turkish get up. Watch this video to hear Em explain it and show us how it's done!

What does the word “functional” even mean? Is all strength training functional?All good questions. It could be said that yes, any movements that apply to daily life are considered “functional,” so pretty much the majority of strength training exercises.

Here are the top 5 functional movement patterns: squat, hinge, push, pull, and carry.

By Megan Flanagan

Tempo training is one of the best strategies for your exercise regimen. Increasing your time under tension will help to elevate your abilities, make you stronger, and teach you how to better control the weight on the bar. The basic premise of tempo training is moving with intention, slowly and under control. Repetition tempo refers to the speed with which each rep is performed. You are essentially breaking down the movement into its fundamentals: the eccentric (muscle lengthening), concentric (muscle shortening), and isometric portions, which is the top and bottom portion of your lift and any pauses you might add to help overcome sticking points in that particular move. Manipulating the tempo variable can help you to achieve specific training objectives, such as increased endurance, hypertrophy, strength, and/or power.

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Happy Lifting,
Jennifer Knutson

Em and Coach Gary explain why we love this move and how to get more gainz out of your deadlift!

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April is showing us this row variation is in our FLAGSHIP program on Mondays this cycle!

Coach Wade explains this bench press variation that we use in our FLAGSHIP program.

April is showing us how to get even more bang for your buck with this variation of a good morning that emphasizes one leg at a time!

Accommodating resistance (AR) is utilized by adding bands or chains to your main barbell movement, which increases the resistance of the load throughout the range of motion. By incorporating AR, you can actually increase the amount of time the bar acceleration occurs, as the bands or chains increase in tension as lifted. This means that as you accelerate the bar to lockout, the tension will prolong the acceleration phase. As that tension grows, it will allow for greater average velocities to be achieved and therefore greater average power output. During a normal barbell movement, you would accelerate the bar from the bottom to the top. As you reach the top, the barbell will naturally decelerate, but AR requires that you continue accelerating to finish and lock out the move, thus helping you to develop and build more power.

As it teaches you to tap into your maximal force production, it helps you to address any sticking points you might have during your barbell movement and even break through plateaus. It is a great tool for power development, especially speed-strength and strength-speed as it calls for more muscle activation. Accommodating resistance also benefits technique development as it requires more control. This will help to ingrain proper form and teach you to stay tight throughout the entire movement.

Additionally, AR can be used for your supplemental movements or added to various dumbbell or bodyweight movements as it adds extra resistance and calls for increased muscle recruitment/activation. Our muscles experience the greatest amount of tension where the resistance curve is at its peak in the concentric point of a movement. Given that tension is the catalyst for muscle growth, the added tension of AR will place our muscles under more tension, which will provide stimulus for them to adapt and grow.

Big love,
Jennifer Knutson

Want to improve your chest pressing mechanics and learn how to generate more power in your lift? Add a mini band looped at your wrist during dumbbell presses to utilize an eccentric induced co-contraction. This will help you to achieve maximal reciprocal inhibition during the concentric or lifting phase of presses.

Reciprocal inhibition is the process by which, when one muscle contracts, the opposing muscle relaxes to accommodate its movement. During a chest press, while the chest muscles contract to move the weight, the back muscles relax for greater mobility. In doing this variation, however, you will be activating your upper back and lats to produce a maximal co-contraction of agonist (prime movers) and antagonist (muscles that perform the opposite action of the prime mover) muscle groups during the eccentric or lowering phase.

This pulling the weight or rowing it into position via the upper back and lats helps elongate the pectoral fibers and opens the chest. It promotes optimal reciprocal inhibition during the concentric or lifting phase when those antagonists (upper back and lats) release and allow the agonists (chest, shoulders, and triceps) to contract.

This slingshot type effect will teach you the mechanics necessary to produce the highest levels of power output, force, and torque during the press. This variation also helps to teach the optimal elbow positioning. Once you have a handle on the sensations of back muscle engagement during pressing, you will see a carryover into your bench press as well.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

By Jennifer Knutson

Wade explains this move which you can find in our Platform PRO program!