Jefferson curls make me nervous

Interesting to note that Jefferson curls come from the world of powerlifting, where they have a rather more important function than they do here.

Think about standard form for a squat or Deadlift: you're supposed to keep a neutral spine position, perhaps erring on the side of hyper extension. While this is the safest way to build strength and avoid injury, what happens when you lose position? If you've only ever built strength isometrically in that one position, you're not going to be prepared to handle that kind of loading when you lose position.

So yes, done slowly and carefully, they will not only keep you healthy but will let you avoid injury as well.

Amir Giles said:

Personally I think there are too many 'just do what you're told' type posts. 

 

The original post questioning the material has elicited  many interesting responses and I learnt valuable things by reading them.  

 

The 'just do what Coach says and don't question the material' posts never lead to any interesting responses. At best you get more people doing the 'my teacher is better then your teacher' argument.  

 

Read Coach's book - it is quite clear that he arrived at his training method by questioning received wisdom, not by blindly following it.  

It seems he puts a lot of thought into choosing exercises and progressions, and there can be great benefit in knowing the thinking and principals behind those choices.

 

There is a big difference between questioning someone because you think what they are saying is stupid (the petulant teenager) and questioning someone because you believe they are intelligent and wise and are likely to have a really good answer that you want to know.

Ya, i agree. Blind obedience is dumb, Im really speaking about intelligent cooperation. I only responded in the first place because of Hansenator's last sentence. If you check again i only quoted that one thought, not the first part. By all means ask questions yes, but my good friend Hansenator made it sound like he was giving an ultimatum, in other words, convince me this exercise is safe or im not doing it. 

Am i wrong on my assumption Hansenator? What would have happened if no one gave you the answer that made you feel safe? I hope thats more clear than my first reaction, which as i look back was written in an aggressive way. Hans, no matter what, your still my homie. 

What i meant earlier about seeing a pattern in other post's about too many questions was vague. If you use intelligent cooperation, we don't really need everything over analyzed, since Coach has done all that for us. So thats where the cooperation part comes in, meaning, no matter what, ultimately you have to trust what the material and post's from Coach and other advanced students say. Or not, maybe im being dumb again

I thought your first post was fine RJS; being interested in learning the principles and reasonings behind the system is great, but allowing the lack of such knowledge to keep you from moving forwards (paralysis by analysis) is not.

Also, while Coach's book does suggest that he questioned some of the gymnastic training dogma he didn't simply sit around and contemplate it or not do the exercises or methods until the other gymnastic coaches could convince him that he should. Instead he actually tested the principles out and either tweaked, discarded, or adopted them as he found which ones actually worked and which didn't. That is essentially what every great innovator or successful coach/athlete does; get their hands dirty and actually test their theories to find out their validity.

So, if we are talking about "intelligent cooperation" as you put it, then that would mean doing the exercises and workout exactly as Coach has outlined it and then either adopting it completely, tweaking it if need be (for instance breaking down the progression jumps into smaller increments, changing weekly frequency/volume, etc...), or even discarding it if it just plain didn't produce results (which I highly doubt is going to happen, but who knows). Then maybe asking questions if you want to know the why's or just for personal knowledge.

That is not the same thing as hearing someone else say something contradictory and then just sitting on the sidelines and waiting till one side makes a more convincing intellectual case for their position.

Not saying that's exactly what Hansenator was doing, but I see lots of those types of threads mind sets on Internet forums, so it's easy to see how the original post could be construed in that fashion.

just to let you know... jefferson curls are so popular in weigthlifting, powerlifting and bodybuilding is good to say that all the major bodybuilders play with it and also powerlifters. the idea is build impressive strong flexion so that during extreme 1-2RM lifts they can lose a little bit of form but lift more. there is a often question made by beginner about the elite lifter performers: why sometime they lack on form and they do not break their spine? and why if i try with same technique i injuried myself? this is another proof of why JC must be an integrative part of your training in order to make your back stronger.

RJS said:

my good friend Hansenator made it sound like he was giving an ultimatum, in other words, convince me this exercise is safe or im not doing it. 

 

Am i wrong on my assumption Hansenator?

Well, I never meant it as an ultimatum. I was just looking for reassurance so I could practice the exercise without worrying. I feel better when I understand why something I'm doing won't injure me.