A Quote by Brandon Spikes

If your legs are strong it definitely gives you an advantage coming down hill. As far as specific workouts go, I get a kick out of sled pulls and driving the sled. I put a couple of 45 pound weights on it and just go until I can't feel my VMO muscles (Vastus Medialis Oblique.) That's the muscle right next to your knee, on the inside.
If you've seen 'Cool Runnings,' it looks pretty easy. You're just riding in a sled, right? Not exactly. Bobsled actually involves a series of complex movements that aren't like those in any other sport. You put your body into a really awkward position to push a 400-pound sled downhill on ice.
The truth I've discovered is that you don't have to lift enormous weights to grow muscle. By using stricter form, slower negatives, and stretching between sets you can get an incredible pump in all your workouts. Numbers are an abstraction, especially to muscles. Your body doesn't know the absolute weight of what you lift, it only recognizes how heavy it feels. The secret is to make lighter weights feel heavier.
I think the biggest thing to being an elite-level bobsledder is grit. You have to really want it. It's a very blue-collar sport. We do a lot of the work ourselves; we sand the runners, we wash the sled, we help maintain the sled. Obviously, we have a sled mechanic that travels with us, but a lot of the work we do ourselves.
I'm a really good driver. I've been driving since I was very small, and I do like driving fast. I remember the first time my dad taught me that when you go into a corner you change down then put your foot right down on the way out. I'm very competitive about driving.
Don't stop. Keep right on going. Hitch up your trailer and go to Canada or down to Old Mexico. Head for Europe if you can afford it, or go to Mardi Gras. Go someplace you've heard about, where you can fish or hunt or collect rocks or just look up at the sky. Find out what's at the end of some country road. Go see what's over the next hill, and the one after that, and the one after that.
To push behind the dog sled and run in front of the dog sled. That was always an interesting job.
I do 45 minutes a day of stretching and abdominals and I lift light weights of half a kilo. Otherwise, if you strain your muscles, then you have to be quiet and stay without any exercise for a long time. I do heavier weights gradually. I'm going to become Superwoman with oil on my muscles!
For West is where we all plan to go some day. It is where you go when the land gives out and the old-field pines encroach. It is where you go when you get the letter saying: Flee, all is discovered. It is where you go when you look down at the blade in your hand and the blood on it. It is where you go when you are told that you are a bubble on the tide of empire. It is where you go when you hear that thar's gold in them-thar hills. It is where you go to grow up with the country. It is where you go to spend your old age. Or it is just where you go.
I can bulk up very fast. I can lift heavy weights because, like most people, I started off with heavy workouts. That's stayed in my muscle memory. I feel horrible when I feel my jeans are getting tight. Workouts peace me out.
In basketball, the legs are the most important part of your body. A lot of people think it's the upper body because you shoot with your arms, but your legs are always carrying you, so if you don't lift leg weights, your muscles will be easily fatigued.
You're wondering what a bale of hay has to do with success. Well, there's a trick to loading hay. You have to use your knee. What you do is, you put your right knee behind it and half kick it up in the air. That way you get some lift on it. ... My point is, there are certain ways to make a hard job easier.
Once you put that muscle on, it's hard to go back down. Most guys, when they put that muscle on, they just stay big. To go back down while at the same time trying to maintain that punching power, it's very tough.
If you want to really get in shape and get strong, there's these things called 'sleds.' You take a weighted sled, and you just push it across the floor, and then you drag it back. And, basically, if you do that for 20 minutes a day, you'll look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. If you put enough weight on it, it's the hardest thing in the world.
Motivating yourself, I think having big strong legs, that's pretty cool. Having a big VMOs [the teardrop-shaped muscle above your knee] is always nice. But, the thing is, when you see guys who are clearly gym junkies who only do bicep curls all day every day, and you see them walking down the street ...'Mate, what about the legs?'.
Training-wise, I don't get too specific. I don't put a schedule together and tell myself I have to stick to this. I run on feel, so every day I go running, I don't know how far I'm going to go. If I feel great, I'll go further and if I don't, I'll back off the throttle.
I love driving the sled more than anything.
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