On the pull, cable training - how they used to train by dave turton : SFUK

Many of you have been so kind as to ask about Strands/Expanders etc. More so from the 'Old Timer's' point of view and their use in wrestling/grappling.

(Damn the penny has just dropped.. 'Old Timer!!. That's how you all think of me

I am mortified and sulking now)

Anyway, having taken my medication, and left the Old Folks Home for an hour,

I thought rather than just submit a couple of short ones regarding each subject, I would put the two together and write about them both.

OK.. Expanders. Strands, Cables, call them what you will ... they are not as modern an idea as you may think.

Their actual origin (as far as my own research goes), are from the Sumerians of about 3,000 BC (No that's NOT before cables).

There are many records of their Archers using Bows to practise pulls. They would use Bows of increasingly stronger pulling power, as they became stronger themselves. Often they would tie two or even three Bows together, simply to increase the resistance in their training.

Practising the 'Archers Pull', wasn't the only exercise they did, which shows how much they understood physical training.

Interestingly enough, they would use BOTH HANDS to do the pulls. Now as an Archer, would always use the same hand to hold the Bow and the other to draw with, using both hands during training showed they were thinking beyond just improving the Archer's Pull.

In fact one inscription on an old Vase, mentioned that it was advised that ALL Warriors should practise the Bow for better performance.

So for Centuries, Archery practise, and the use of the Bow as a training aid was well recognised in most cultures. But there was a natural limit as to the diversity of exercises using just the Bow. We have to come well into the 1800's before other apparatus; using some form of expansion; was invented.

There has been an argument amongst Physical Culture Historians for many a year as to which came first.. Steel Springs or Rubber Cables. The more I do my research, the more I change my mind. In fact I don't think it matters that much really, as the period for both are about the same.. the early 1800's.

Now Rubber was brought here in Elizabethan days, by guys like Raleigh and Drake.. But it wasn't used much for it's ELASTIC properties as it's erasing properties. Rubber is called Rubber, because the Elizabethans used it, just like modern school kids.. to RUB out pencil mistakes.

The Incas had made crude rubber bouncy balls for centuries, but the Drake and Raleigh brigade didn't see much use in that quality...

The boom came in about 1850.. A company, set up using the name of the guy who brought Rubber to Britain (Walter Raleigh) made an exercise apparatus for the Medical Profession.

The Company was the "Raleigh Recovery Apparatus Company", and the product was called "The Ranaleigh Exerciser".

Unlike modern strands, this one was a loop, a bit like an Inner tube (remember that, it will crop up again later).. Patients just held the loop and did the exercises.

The beauty of this piece of Physio-Equipment was that patients could exercise whilst still in bed (I know a lot of MMA guys who like to exercise in bed!!!)

Anyway, this was the principle use of Rubber expanders for a year or so.

Eugene Sandow (real name Fredrick Mueller), is credited with inventing an expander devise, called it "Sandow's Developer".. This became the most popular 'Home Training' devise EVER sold up to that time, Sandow sold 1,000's of them.

Although he is given credit for inventing expanders, I have records, drawings, photos etc, of Trainers using similar devices long before Sandow was known.

Still he DID make them better and more popular, and also adapted them to be able to be fixed to doors, etc thus increasing the range of exercises possible...so fair play to him.

The 'Loop' idea was still prevelant at this time, you simply opened the handles and slipped the loops on.. Still a good way mind you.

With the progression of the use of Springs in Industry etc, Steel Spring Expanders came quickly on to the market in about 1845 (that's NOT quarter to seven).. This meant a slightly different way of getting the strands onto the handles, so 'clips' were used, actually more of just a hook. Then the type of 'spring clip' was invented, and is still more or less the same and still in use.

As Sandow, Albert Atilla, and Co were WRESTLERS as well as Music Hall Strong Men, they naturally found out the benefits of Strands for Wrestling training, as well as for remedial medical work.. And, as just about every known wrestler of that Era used strands regularly, this showed the faith they had in that form of apparatus.

If they hadn't got any results, they would have 'binned' the idea.. but they were STILL being used in the Wrestling Clubs I went in to in the 1970's.. So it can't have been a bad method.

Eventually, as in most things physical, some form of competition was devised.

Now as this isn't a concise history of strands etc, I will simply say, that there were TWO Organisations involved in the use of expanders in competition.

The I.S.S.A (who promoted Steel Spring Strands), and the B.S.P.A, (who were for the rubber ones).

There ended up about 60 different 'Pulls' as they became called. The rules became quite strict, and competition was based on bodyweight classes, and you could enter as many 'Pulls' as you wanted..They even devised adjustable handles so that the arm lengths of the pullers didn't cause any advantages etc.

Names like ...."One Arm Press" .. "One Arm Push" .. "Dislocation" .. "Anyhows" .. "Rectangular Fix" .. "Back Press" etc etc.

There was a lot of benefit to be obtained from these many 'Pulls', and 'Pullers' developed decent physiques. So much so that for a long time there were Body Building type competitions (usually by post sending in photos) for "Best Built Strandpuller", or similar titles.

Sandow became involved in remedial work for the British Army, especially on soldiers returning from the Boer War, and later the First World War.

The demand on expanders became greater than supply, and it is now we remember the 'inner tube' analogy.

To fill in this deficit in supply, Sandow started using Bicycle Inner Tubes to do the exercises with.They were very successful, and Sandow gained great Kudos from the Military because of this work.

Now the Music Hall was the entertainment of the day.. before Televison or even Cinema.. So naturally the 'Strong Men' of the stage started incorporating Expanders in their Acts... Giant Expanders were made, with handles capable of holding up to FIFTY Springs.. A couple of Strong Men had expanders made with just ONE massive spring, and of course these became known as "Challenge Springs". The audience was invited to try and pull them for a cash prize..

These super strong specialists rarely had to pay out the money.

One strong man (The Amazing Evans) went so far as to incorporate a Model "T" Ford car tyre Inner Tube. He could pull it no problem.. But VERY few managed it.

I actually acquired a car tyre inner tube in about 1968, and tried.. It took me a year's training before I could pull it fully, and I don't think it was a big as the Model "T" Ford one.. Definitely tough work.

Right up to the 1970's and early 80's, Stage Strong men still used Expanders as part of their routine. I remember "Tony Brutus", pulling one with 30 springs, and a man hanging on each handle as well, then he spun round and round like a carousel wheel.. A great strongman and a very funny act.. A real Comedian.

Others like "Big Bad Barry Anderson" of Leeds became ISSA World Champion Pullers, pulling enormous resistances.

You could get medals for "Clubs", such as the "300 Pound Club", the "400 pound Club" and so on.

This meant you had fully stretched an expander of that resistance.

Expanders are catagorised by hooking one end of the strand, so that the other end hangs down, and a weight of the required resistance is hung on the other end.

If the expander stretches the correct length, that then is it's PULL.

So a 20lb expander will have to able to slowly stretch to it's required length with 20lbs hanging on it.

This was how controlled competition could happen.. All poundages were strictly checked before and after each attempt.

Anyway, enough of all that, what about the use of Strands for the GRAPPLERS etc.. They are great!

Why did most of the old time wrestlers use strands over weights..... Well most, (in fact nearly ALL) I spoke to, used other wrestlers for great deal of their strength work.. Human resistance. But also preferred the expanders because of the 'Live Feel' of them.

Weights are 'dead'and can really only provide any form of gravity resistance. That is just ONE way, DOWN.. Now I know because of machines and pulleys etc, weights can be made to provide resistance in all directions, this wasn't so back in the 'glory days' of the top grapplers.

Another important aspect was the fact that unlike using weights, you can move around with the strands, and a lot of exercises did just that..

Jumping low into a "Lunge Split" whilst pulling the strands across the front of your chest, was a popular exercise. As was performing free squats whilst pulling the cables in different ways.

Even just walking around the gym whilst performing the pulls was popular. It is really only the exercises like one arm curls, and upright rows/high pulls, etc, where the cables have to be trapped under the feet, that couldn't be done whilst moving in some way.

The two main techniques used were "Fast Out Slow In" (sounds a bit kinky that!!), where you pulled the cables to extension with as much explosive power as possible, then took 3-4 times as long s-l-o-w-l-y returning the cables to relaxation. The other was to pull the cables to full extension, then perform very short range little pulls at the end of the extension.. Just an inch or two, for 3 or 4 Reps before returning the cables for the next Rep.. They called it 'Muscle Cramping' or 'muscle spinning'.

Unlike weights, the cables could be taken 'on tour' in a suitcase, to be used wherever the wrestlers happened to be.

A full body workout could be achieved using Free Squats, Press Ups, Sit Ups and Strands

The Reps performed were usually quite high, often 20 - 30. They would start with enough resistance so that, say about 10 or 12 reps were possible, and continue over the next few weeks, adding reps until 20 or 30 could be achieved, then another strand was added.

The strands were used on alternate days.. So you could get in 4 or so sessions a week. Because the 'strain' on the muscles was different, recovery rates were quicker.

The other main advantage with strands, is that the resistance is a constant increase throughout the exercise. This means of course that at the END of the pull, there is the greatest resistance on the muscles. This is sometime the opposite with weights.

Take the Bench Press and the Curl as two examples.. If you can bench, say 150 pounds for reps, you can certainly hold at 'lock-out' 200 pounds, so the 150 isn't working the supporting tendons and ligaments to their fullest. The same with the Curl, the 'sticking point' in the Curl is at the halfway stage. At the top of the Curl, there is little resistance on the biceps and brachialis muscles.

Not so with the strands, at the end of the pull, the resistance is at the greatest. Thus the work passed to the tendons, ligaments, and joints is all that much efficient and better for you.

Don't underestimate the usefullness of strands, the work may look easy, simply because the expanders themselves look like nothing.With a bit of hard training and common sense, you can get a superb upper body work-out with the strands.

As a starter, just to get some basic benefits from the strands, give the following routine a genuine good try for about 12 weeks.

Start off with a small number of strands until your muscles etc get used to the changing types of resistance.

Add an extra strand only when you have doubles the number of reps you start with, say 15 to 30.

Remember the following adage.. "Reps build strength .. Singles test it!"

1. Back press with free squats.

Hold the strands across the upper back, with your knuckles pointing backwards.

Looking slightly upwards, squat down as you expand the strands until your arms are at full extension.

As you come back up from the squat, slowly (don't snap) let the strands come back to their original position.

Repeat for 15 reps, and 2 - 5 sets, as you get better. Finishing with say 5 x 30, then add a strand.

2. Overhead Downward Pull.

Stand upright, with expanders above your head at arms length. Hold the expanders so that the handles lay on the backs of your hands, knuckles facing forwards.

Lean back slightly, as you pull the expanders wide open until they are on your upper chest.. Return under control and repeat as for ex No 1.

3. One Arm Push/Press

Hold the expanders across the back diagonally, say the right hand is at your right shoulder, the left hand on the outside of your left thigh.

Push the expander with your right hand until at arms length.. Repeat for the required number of reps, then instantly swap it to your left arm.

Reps, sets etc as previous.

4. High Pulls/Upright Rows.

Put one handle under say the right foot, then tip the toes into the floor, this way the strands can't slide off the foot and whack you in the mouth.

Hold the other handle with both hands, knuckles out. Lift the elbows High, so they are pointing UP, Pull the handle until it is at chin level. Lower and repeat, as previous.

5. Triceps Extensions

Hold the strands similar to the end of the one arm press. Lower the upper hand by bending the arm at the elbow, and NO movement from any other part of your body. Repeat using only the triceps muscle to move the strands.

6. One Arm Curls.

As in the High Pulls, put one handle under one foot, and simply curl the expander with the same hand as the foot you are using, but at the end of the curl, lean back a little, to increase the resistance.

That will do for now, if you want any specifics etc, just e.mail me

TheSDF@aol.com

Enjoy your training. ....... Dave Turton 7th Dan. Self Defence Federation