You can’t build muscle without strength. Any guy dancing around with pink dumbbells is evidence of this.
But, if you want to build more muscle, then you will need more strength. After all, muscles need tension (very hard contractions) to grow. Being stronger means lifting a heavier weights. Lifting a heavier weights translates into more tension. What happens when you have more tension?
You already know the answer to this one.
If you want to get much stronger in only 5 minutes flat, then keep reading.
“You can’t build muscle without strength” – Tweet This Quote
You may remember hearing me say that any guy who can bench press 315lbs, back squat 405lbs, and deadlift 495lbs will have very good amounts of muscle mass. To most guys, these numbers seem light years away. To the guys who know the trick that you are about to learn, these goals seem very attainable.
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of learning from the one and only, Chris Lopez at my home base gym, Bang Fitness. If you don’t know Chris, then here’s what you need to know: in the words of Dan Go, “he’s trouble”. Judging by my bloody hands from the end of this seminar, you may agree.
Chris is a Strongfirst Level 2 instructor. If you have no idea what this is, here’s a summary: Chris knows a ton about kettlebells, and he knows how to get you strong as hell in record time (read that again: strong as hell).
Freak Strength in 5 Minutes
So, what’s this little trick? What can you do in only 5 minutes that will make you much stronger? Chris calls it the “Root Position”.
During the seminar, we teamed up in groups of two. I was sharing a kettlebell with my buddy, Francis. One at a time, Chris instructed us to stand up straight and then contract our abs, quads, glutes, and lats as hard as possible, and at the same time.
At this point, our partner’s job was to give us “tough love”. Basically, “tough love” is our partner’s way of feeling our abs, quads, glutes, and lats, to make sure that they are all contracted. As you can imagine, there was a lot of (and possibly too much) ass slapping.
From this “root position”, any lift can be increased. For example, I kept tension in these muscles while squatting yesterday, and 245lbs felt like candy.
Super Strength Trouble Shooting
Some people may have trouble contracting certain muscle from the root position. Here are my simplest tips to firing your “root” muscles.
| Muscle | How to Fire |
| Abs | Brace like someone is going to punch you in the stomach. |
| Quads | While standing, pretend you are pushing the floor away by straightening your legs (don’t hyperextend). |
| Glutes | Pretend Bill Gates has given you his credit card and has told you to go on a shopping spree. Here’s the catch, the credit card is between your butt cheeks. Squeeze that credit card and don’t let anyone steal it. Bill will be mad. |
| Lats | Pretend your shoulders are ear poison. The closer your shoulders are to your ears, the more deadly. Forcefully pull your shoulders down away from your ears. |
Closing Out
If you want to build more muscle, you’ll need to get stronger. If you want to get stronger in 5 minutes flat, then learn the “root position”, and hold it while performing all your exercises. For an added bonus, squeeze the bar/dumbbell as hard as possible.
Here’s a photo of our group. I’m in the back between my brothers from two other mothers, Chris Lopez and Brian Kotoka.
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