What do you focus on in the weight room?

Since the history of the athletes lifting, there has been that infamous question everyone wants to know….How much do you squat? While this may be an important lift in the weight room, maybe we should reconsider our focus. Most of the time we look to what the front side of our body can do and judge how strong we are. More and more as an athlete I am learning that it is about what you can do with the backside of the body.The New Cool Muscles to Develop:

1. Chest >>> Lats 2. Biceps >>> Triceps 3. Quads >>> Hamstrings 4. Abs >>> Glutes

This is not to say that the muscles to the left are not important or that they don’t need to work. It’s just that the muscles in the back of the body that we can’t see as much often are forgotten. They are the true heroes of sport. It is those muscles that tend to pack the most punch.

Ironically enough, the muscles in the backside of the body tend to make the muscles in the front able to be that much stronger. To have a stronger bench many times you need to have stronger lats. With the arm for example, the triceps take up 3/5 of your arm yet many people spend more time worrying about the biceps that only take up 2/5 of your arm. If I ever programme biceps curls, it's as dessert after you've done the meat and bones of your workout!

It comes down to a change of mindset. The new “cool muscles” are the ones that will keep you healthy all season. When the backside of the body is strong there are always less injuries in sports. I have personally always believed that the key to having a great season is staying healthy and that is the point of this article. Next week I'll give you a sample programme to get you started.

Commit 100% everytime!