To go along with what I was saying yesterday about "training just for the sake of training" I think a lot of what is done in the gym is done for no reason other than to achieve a more ascetically pleasing body. For example, the jumper who goes to the gym and does ten sets of curls and then finishes with bench press on their off day. While upper body strength can be important in overall muscular balance doing curls until your arms are about to fall off is just going to add excess bulk, impede range of motion and add more fatigue to an already busy week. I think the perfect mindset to be in would be one where any thoughts of body image are completely eliminated and every piece of training is for the sake of becoming a better athlete in ones own sport. Of course this is nearly impossible to achieve because everybody has varying amounts of humility and places value in their body image.
I'm proud to say that I haven't done a biceps curl in over three years (although they may have there place in general prep to eccentrically stabilize the lower arm while sprinting), my issue is more to do with my weight. It makes since that the lighter you are the less force you have to apply to the ground to achieve lift but I have been thinking lately that maybe an extra 5-6 pounds doesn't make as big a difference as I used to think it did. I usually try to get my competition weight to about 157-159lb's but I often feel as thought to get there I'm sacrificing a lot of strength. Right now I weigh about 158lb's and my squat is down over 70lb's and my power clean is down about 40lb's. I think that I would have had a much more successful season if I competed at 165lb's but kept the strength. I guess everybody has their own ideal body weight and it's a matter of finding that perfect zone where relative strength is at it's highest.
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