Shadowing Practice: Functional Strength: The Only 5 Exercises You Really Need - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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When people talk about functional strength training and then they start standing on a ball and juggle oranges,
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When people talk about functional strength training and then they start standing on a ball and juggle oranges,
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it doesn't make a lot of sense to me because that doesn't look like my life.
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But if you have to get a heavy bag of groceries or something,
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you've got a deadlift.
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You need to find several exercises that have a reputation for building strength that reaches beyond the ability to do this exercise.
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There's no correlation between the number of exercises and the platform results.
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So find several exercises that you enjoy,
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that don't hurt you, and there is absolutely no reason for you to change these exercises.
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Just enjoy them for years.
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I'm obviously very partial towards kettlebells,
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but one of the great many benefits of kettlebell training,
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it allows you to train power and power endurance in an extremely safe manner.
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And what's also very unique about it,
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you don't have to use a lot of weight.
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The big issue is you have to hip hinge,
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not lift the kettlebell with your back or with your arms.
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So some years back, me and several other of our colleagues,
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instructors, we started doing swings.
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So we were using just a 53 pound belt.
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The most experienced guys, we were able to generate over 10 Gs of acceleration.
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So basically we made that 50 pound belt weigh 500 pounds.
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So you can apply tremendous amount of load.
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Of course, you don't start with that.
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It's not how you start your swings.
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And you can develop power endurance.
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So you can do a whole lot of different,
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many different sets, many sets.
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In the kettlebell world, we refer to what the hell effect.
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What the hell effect is when you're getting an adaptation that's not a beginner's gain,
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but it's an adaptation that's totally unexpected.
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There's some collateral benefit, how suddenly you're able to do something.
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The improvements in fat loss, improvements in resilience.
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But like, why would anybody want to do power training who's not a power athlete?
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For the reasons of longevity,
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how important it is to have high levels of power.
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And the kettlebell swing is one of the ways to develop it.
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So some of the tactical teams that I worked with in the U.S here,
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when they added either swings or snatches to their training,
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with the kettlebell, plus one-legged kettlebell deadlifts as well,
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they stop tearing their hamstrings.
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So you have this amazing way to do eccentric loading for the hamstring,
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but it's very safe and just really prepares you.
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One of my friends is still playing baseball in the 60s.
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He says, thank you for the kettlebells.
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He went through the course 20 years ago and he's still doing that.
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He's retired, but he's still doing that.
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So that's a great benefit.
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If we are looking at the barbell,
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I would start out with the narrow sumo deadlift.
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Your stance is just wide enough to let your arms through.
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Your arms stay parallel to each other.
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So you You just find a very comfortable stance for yourself.
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And when people talk about functional strength training,
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and then they start standing on a ball and juggle oranges,
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it doesn't make a lot of sense to me because that doesn't look like my life or yours probably, right?
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But if you have to get a heavy bag of groceries or something,
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you got a deadlift.
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It's extremely important to learn how to hip hinge,
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how important it is for your back health and for your longevity.
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So you learn to do that.
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Then whether you decide to pursue the deadlift or not,
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a fantastic exercise for everybody is the Zurcher squat.
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The Zurcher squat is very easy, very simple.
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In the Zurcher squat, you hold the bar like this in the crux of your elbows.
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So it's resting right here.
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The advantage of the Zurcher squat over,
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let's say, the back squat or the front squat is even if you have messed up shoulders,
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wrists, elbows, you still can do that.
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And you have tremendous reflexive stabilization of your midsection.
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It's just very, very powerful.
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So you acquire that skill of getting tight.
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You don't want to, you know, bruise yourself.
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You want to be comfortable.
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You want to do it right.
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But it's not, doesn't take a lot of skill to do that.
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If we're sticking with the example of the barbell,
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you find some pressing exercise.
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The bench press has gotten bad reputation.
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If you look at athletes,
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they are making a great use of the bench press.
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It's a relatively simple exercise.
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And unlike other pressing exercises,
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it allows you to make strength gains with a very low volume of training.
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So you can do several sets of five once a week in the bench press and keep getting stronger.
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The beautiful thing about the barbell is,
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first of all, the satisfaction of lifting really heavy stuff.
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Some people find it extremely satisfying.
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If you don't, maybe it's not for you,
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but if you do, it's incredible.
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Then the ability to adjust the weights in small increments.
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So you can prescribe 87.5% one rep max and you can do that.
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The other great benefit of the barbell is some of the
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lifts allow you to make great gains in strength with a very low volume.
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It's possible to do three sets of five once a week in the squat and get very strong.
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Try to do that with pistols.
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It's just not going to happen.
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Grip strength is extremely important.
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Pretty much by gripping tighter,
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you are instantly increasing your strength in anything
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that you do take some pedestrian exercise like curls
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and do as many strict traps as you possibly can do what you normally do them
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and then start just crushing that bar or that dumbbell or whatever that you're curling.
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You will immediately be able to knock out several more reps.
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So that makes you so much stronger.
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And again, the value of a strong wrist and grip is obviously very important.
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For whatever reason, obviously it correlates with longevity.
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We don't know why.
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Correlation is not causation so we don't know whether getting a stronger grip is going to make us live longer,
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but statistically it's worth a try, right?
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So one can either find exercises that train the grip in the context of developing something else or train the grip directly.
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So either way is great.
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So the first examples would be climbing the rope or doing pull-ups and weighted pull-ups on a rope.
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That's a great way to train, obviously.
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So what you do, the way you program it is,
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let's say once a week you climb the rope and a couple of days a week you do pull-ups.
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That's a good way to go about it.
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And you don't need to do anything else.
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And another example would be some exercises like the kettlebell snatch.
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When you start snatching a heavy kettlebell and you drop it from overhead,
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that eccentric loading is very, very powerful.
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And that develops grip very, very well.
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We'll also warn you that hanging on the bar and doing farmer's carries,
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beneficial as they are for many reasons,
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carrying two heavy objects, it's going to really pound your spine.
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But on the other hand,
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asymmetrical carry, it appears to be very beneficial.
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Then there's another interesting example.
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Dr. Mike Prevost, who used to work with the U.S.
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Marine Corps and Navy, he developed this very interesting protocol and a test called the kettlebell mile,
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where you take a kettlebell that's approximately 30% of your body weight.
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He has good reasons why it has to be that way.
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And you pretty much run with this kettlebell and you switch hands as much as often as you want.
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And it's a fantastic way to improve your running posture,
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to develop very stabilizing muscles and to improve your ability to rock.
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But it doesn't beat you up as much as rocking does.
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You know, rocking, carrying heavy weight,
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that's, it's rough on the body.
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It's a fantastic way to train your endurance an additional way.
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But it's also not something you jump into immediately.
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And also what's very cool is because you get to switch hands very often,
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you are not destroying your QL and other stabilizers that are contracting isometrically.
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If your muscle contracts briefly and then relaxes,
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contracts, relaxes, and the contraction cycles are really short,
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you're able to avoid glycolysis.
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You're able to keep that muscle working aerobically for a long time and not beat yourself down.
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Start by walking with a kettlebell,
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switch hands off, and then eventually build up to running and obviously build up gradually.
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Held like a suitcase?
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Yes, only, only like a suitcase case.
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So those are just a couple examples.
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There are many other examples.
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You can do snatch grip deadlifts.
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The list is very, very long.
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We can address the same thing in the same way with kettle bells.
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You can look in the bodyweight exercises,
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but you need to find several exercises that have a reputation for building strength
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that reaches beyond the ability to do this exercise.
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If you just do curls,
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you're going to get better at curls,
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but not at much else.
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Doing something like extension is not going to carry over to the squat.
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It's just not.
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The coordination is so radically different.
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So you find several exercises that you enjoy that don't hurt you,
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that you have the equipment available,
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that you got the proper coaching for,
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and you pretty much stick with them.
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And there's absolutely no reason for you to change these exercises.
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It's possible to change them on the margins,
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you know, from wide grip bench press to narrow grip bench press,
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squats with the paws, and so on and so forth,
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but you don't really have to do a great variety of things.
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There's no correlation between the number of exercises and the platform results.
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So find this limited, just limited battery of exercises that you can do well,
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you can do pain free and just enjoy them for years.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will practice your English speaking skills by focusing on vocabulary and phrases related to functional strength training exercises. As you listen to the insights on effective exercises, you will engage in shadowspeak, where you mimic the speaker's tone, pace, and intonation. This practice not only helps in improving pronunciation but also enhances your overall fluency in the English language. By the end of this lesson, you will become more confident in discussing fitness topics while expanding your vocabulary related to strength training.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Functional strength: Strength that is useful for everyday tasks.
- Kettlebell: A weight used for strength training that resembles a ball with a handle.
- Hip hinge: A movement pattern that involves bending at the hips while keeping a straight back.
- Power endurance: The ability to sustain power output over time.
- Resilience: The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties or training.
- Eccentric loading: A strengthening technique where muscles lengthen under tension.
- Adaptation: A change that improves performance in response to training.
- Hamstring: A group of muscles located at the back of the thigh.
Practice Tips
For effective practice, consider using a shadowing app that allows you to replay the video at different speeds. Start by listening to the transcript at normal speed, focusing on the speaker's rhythm and intonation. Then, gradually decrease the speed to better understand the nuances of the language. As you shadow the speaker, pay attention to emphasizing key vocabulary and repeating phrases exactly as you hear them. This method will not only enhance your English speaking practice but will also help you internalize fitness-related terminology.
It's also beneficial to record yourself while you practice shadowspeak. Listening to your recordings allows you to identify areas for improvement, such as pronunciation and pacing. Make the most of your practice sessions by being consistent and incorporating new vocabulary into your daily conversations. By doing so, you'll become more comfortable discussing topics about functional strength training and other related subjects.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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