Category: Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding: articles about building muscle (both size and strength) for a more powerful physique.

Deadlifting without Calluses

francodeadlifting

I’m a big fan of the deadlift.  It’s one of those foundational strength and mass builders that packs on muscle like few exercises can.  This exercise has a tendency to give me calluses on my  hands, and that used to be fine with me: I considered them a badge of honor in my younger days.

But my wife hates them, and this has changed my attitude considerably.  I started wearing training gloves (something I never did in my single days), but that didn’t seem to help very much.

That’s when I ran across this helpful tip: try gripping the bar in a slightly different way.  Grabbing it in the middle of your palm (like you are going to bench press) really doesn’t make much sense because it will pinch the skin as it pulls towards your knuckles.  Grab the bar lower in your hand (where it’s going to end up as you pull) and you’ll avoid calluses.  I tried this today and it works–I didn’t notice any reduction in grip strength and it drastically reduced the pinching/callusing.

The point of the deadlift is to build strength and muscle–not nasty, bleeding hands.  Check out the video below for a visual.

Stubborn Fat Solution Review Lyle McDonald

I  read Lyle McDonald’s Stubborn Fat Solution years ago.  Here’s my review (with some StubbornFatSolutionReviewupdated ordering information):

As some of my regular readers know, I’ve been a “fan” of Lyle’s for over a decade now (since I read The Ketogenic Diet back in the 90’s). I knew this would be a good read.

Summary:

Lyle explains the way fat functions–the way our body stores it and uses it. He then explains the issue of stubborn fat (usually the hips/thighs in women and “love handles” in men). There are specific issues which cause stubborn fat to be . . . well . . . stubborn (circulation, hormones, etc).

There is some surprising information here. Lyle noted, for example, that female fitness models used to tell him their upper bodies were getting leaner while their lower bodies seemed to be getting fatter. At first he dismissed this, but his research led him to believe there may be something to this claim.

Lyle proceeds to give a solution to the problem: a specific exercise/supplement protocol designed to first mobilize, then oxidize stubborn fat. What he says makes perfect sense, and he backs up his statements with research.

Now, let me explain something: this is not a book for those who have significant weight to lose (you may want to check out his Rapid Fat Loss Handbook/Guide to Flexible Dieting package if you have a lot to lose). It is a resource for those who are already fairly lean and need some help getting rid of the before-mentioned problem areas.  If that describes you then I think you’ll find The Stubborn Fat Solution to be the only thing short of plastic surgery that works.