BFS Magazine

Why BFS considers this lift a must for serious athletes

By Kim Goss

For many years this BFS core exercise has been attacked by those who thought it had little value for an athlete, by those who thought it was dangerous and by those who thought it was too difficult to teach. They were wrong, and the survival of the exercise has benefited those who want to run faster, jump higher and be overall more powerful.

After 45 years in the business, we know what to look for. We’ll start by helping you identify your specific needs. Then we’ll show you how to decide on a bar that has the proper combination of price, strength and function.

Beware of False Advertising

Tom Lincir, president of Ivanko Barbell Company, warns, “Some manufacturers throw around impressive-sounding measurements of a bar’s strength that are either irrelevant or misleading. Ratings like “1,000-pound test” or “2,000-pound test” may sound impressive because the numbers are big. However, there is no such thing as “1,000-pound test”-it is all a fantasy created in an attempt to satisfy buyers.

One of the greatest marketing ideas in the fitness industry was the invention of the term “energy drink.” The word “energy” sounds much more positive than “sugary sweet,” the primary characteristic of those liquid formulas, which often cost several dollars and often have exactly the same content as soft drinks (with perhaps a bit more caffeine). Let’s take a closer look at the problematic ingredients of most energy drinks, and some healthy alternatives.

Jersey Shore High is a Class AAA school in North Central Pennsylvania. In 2012 the team was 0-10, and the season could not have been considered a rebuilding year, as the Bulldogs had only won a total of five games in the past five years and had not won a district title since 1997. However, Gravish believed his team had a shot at the district title because his team had many athletes returning from the previous team, possessed a good worth ethic, and were motivated by the fact that no one. except for the Bulldog coaching staff.

Coach Gravish, says that one aspect of the BFS program that he particularly likes is that it instills accountability among the players and helps them set performance goals every time they step foot in the weightroom. Jackson especially likes the BFS focus on striving to set personal records with every workout, as well as the fact that BFS is not a “football specific” workout but one that works for all types of athletes.

The BFS Solution

Rather than circuit training, athletes should perform all the sets of a core exercise before moving onto another exercise. This is technically referred to as “station training.” The key to getting athletes through all their exercises efficiently and safely is to develop a rotation system. Let’s go through two examples of athletes performing the squat, one station involving four athletes and another station involving five...

Practical guidelines on what to eat for peak performance

During the weekday, parents have considerable control over what their kids eat for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, there are three options: eat at school, brown bag it, or – and this is the worst decision – hold out for dinner. Let’s talk about it.

Although tightening school budgets make it a challenge, most schools take considerable effort, and expense, to serve hot meals for lunch. Some schools, however, simply do not have the resources, and compromises must be made.

The United States has not had an Olympic champion in men’s weightlifting since 1960, when Charles Vinci won gold in the 123-pound bodyweight class. In Toyoko, our medal drought may end when Clarence “CJ” Cummings steps on the platform.

Going into the Olympics, CJ Cummings is currently ranked fifth in the world, only 8 pounds off of the #2 ranking. On July 29^th, CJ will be showing America’s best at the Tokyo International Forum – be sure to tune in!

Many coaches and athletes know BFS because of our highest quality strength and conditioning equipment, and having the right tools to prepare athletes for competition is an essential aspect of athletic fitness. However, the heart of BFS is our clinics, seminars, and certifications, because having the right tools for a job is worthless if you don’t know how to use them.

Since our company was founded in 1976, BFS has been teaching BFS clinics to help athletes learn how to train effectively and efficiently.

The bench press is a BFS core lift that is unparalleled for developing strength in the triceps, chest, and shoulders. It has become such an important part of any athlete’s training that the most common question asked to those who lift weights is, “How much can you bench?” The right tools can accelerate your gains on this valuable lift!

Lifting Bands provide the most resistance at the end range of the lift, such that the athlete can apply more force during this portion of the lift. 

We begin junior high and high school athletes with lunges without any weight. We want to get the correct movement down. As in all lifts, the technique is vitally important with lunges. Start with a narrow stance and step out – the challenge is to see if the athlete can come back to the starting position smoothly without any false steps.

Power balance is important in football, basketball, volleyball, baseball, soccer, wrestling, and the following events in track: hurdles, high jump, long jump, pole vault, discus, shot put, javelin, and the hammer throw. Whenever an athlete needs to change direction explosively and transfer quickly from one leg to the other, power balance is required. Lunges are fantastic for that purpose.

One of the earliest references we could find about functional training was from the early 90s by Mel Siff and Yuri Verkhoshansky in their classic exercise science textbook, Supertraining. These respected sports scientist said there are two types of strength training, “structural resistance training” and “functional resistance training.” They said the primary goal of structural resistance training is to increase muscle mass – so, bodybuilding.

Functional resistance training, in contrast, refers to activities that will enhance your ability to perform daily tasks or sports. More specifically, Siff and Verkhoshansky said functional resistance training improves the following physical qualities: