Q: I get an unusual kind of soreness and I don’t know how to avoid it. It’s happened for years, but now that I’m going heavier in all movements, it’s getting too painful to keep training on a regular schedule throughout the week. The day after doing legs, I have an incapacitating soreness in my forearms. How can I stop this? A: This is actually more common than you think, and it’s usually to do with how you hold your hands during work in a bar-related movement. Squats, but especially deadlifts, are the most problematic for this. You may also hold a ton of stress in your wrists and hands, anticipating increasing weight in your workouts. Using straps and incapacitating wrists and hands during exercise is also to blame for this. A couple of things can help, other than ...

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The debate as to whether or not weightlifters should use knee wraps when training legs is one that has raged for decades. Some people swear by them, and wear them every moment they’re in the gym training legs. Others believe they are dangerous, and should be avoided at all costs. When one steps back and considers that in many movements on leg day, we’re moving several hundred pounds, and in some cases, up and over a thousand pounds (on the leg press, for example), it seems odd that such a support system for the vulnerable knee joints wouldn’t be automatic. Let’s check out two schools of thought, and see who is right. Use your knee wraps! First off, there is a group of bodybuilders that believes knee wraps should be used constantly, at any time the knees are ...

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When I first started training back in 1985, the first thing I got was a pair of gloves. I soon found out how important they were the day I forgot them. The next thing was a belt. It was just a plain hand-me-down belt and it was stained with the sweat of another person. But I loved that thing because it meant I was serious about training. We all think we’re big time when we first start training. We have all the enthusiasm in the world, but don’t yet have the strength and development to back it up. That’s when training aids are so important. First off, the basics: Straps, Wrist wraps Belt Gloves That’s the bear minimum. But now, there are so many options for training aids in the gym, there’s no excuse not to have a bagful. First let’s talk about why it’s important ...

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