Chris Knott
STRENGTH & BODY COMPOSITION
Nobody ever sets out to be average. I believe that anyone is capable of anything if they apply themselves and my mission is to guide people in how to do this. Now the motivational BS is out the way I can give you a little insight to my story and how my ethos developed.
Being superhuman has always fascinated me. I idolised superman as a young child and grew up watching World’s Strongest Man admiring the incredible feats of strength. After starting working in a commercial facility, I slowly started to become obsessed with human performance. I consumed as much info from blogs, articles, videos as possible and started to build a backlog of training knowledge to put in to action. There’s not many training methods, dietary strategies and supplement protocols I haven’t tried.
As I’ve progressed this catalogue of information has been funnelled down to two main passions that I’m solely intent on pursuing; strength training and cognition. To me, there is nothing greater than seeing what your body is capable of and there is nothing more impressive than picking up something incredibly heavy and putting it back down again. This, in tandem with fully utilising the power of our incredibly brains, equates to the main constituents you need to be superhuman.
My objective is to provide content in the form of articles, podcasts, vlogs and programmes to ensure everyone of interest has all the tools necessary to build the best version of themselves. All my methods are anecdotally and scientifically backed, focused on strength, hypertrophy, injury prevention and maximising intelligence.
Mindful Movement: Silent Assassins
Are you doing everything in your power to stay healthy? Do you eat nutritious whole foods and get a solid 8 hours of sleep? What about meditating and looking after your head space? We’re all familiar with the benefits of such positive habits, but what if I told you there was a pesky silent assassin that puts all of this in vain.
Pelvic Power – An introduction to your second diaphragm
As soon as I say Pelvic floor, what do you think about? Pregnancy? Babies? Kegel squeezes? It’ll more than likely bare those types of connotations and be a far cry from lifting heavy weights or being able to roundhouse kick someone in the head.
Common Training Issues: SI Joint Pain
Ever done a set of heavy squats or deadlifts only to have your SI joint flare up? Do you find yourself rolling your legs side to side trying to alleviate the pain? How about waking up after a terrible night’s sleep due to an on-going irritation in your lower back? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Superhuman Recovery Strategies
“Everyone wants to be a beast, until it comes to doing what beast’s do” – Eric Thomas. You may have heard this quote before on a motivational montage that you listen to before training. I used to. I did it so for years and always said to myself that I’ll train as hard as humanly possible no matter what the situation.
The Limitless Brain – Part 2: How to achieve it
This article will continue to investigate the notion of heightened brain activity and outline ways in which you can boost your own focus, mood and productivity levels.
Matering The Compounds Part 5: The Squat
In the final instalment of the mastering the compound lifts, I will be dissecting the most technically demanding of all lifts; the squat.
Mastering The Compounds Part 4: The Pull Up
Although it could be argued that the deadlift is the ultimate back builder, I would definitely have to say the pull up is on a par for developing strength, hypertrophy and shoulder health. Show me a guy who can do multiple sets of 10 plus reps on pull ups and you’ll also show me a guy with a wide, thick, muscular back.
Mastering The Compounds Part 3: The Overhead Press
When it comes to deciphering which man/woman possesses the most brute force and power, nothing will give a better indication than how much you can pick up off the floor and how much you can press above your head.
Mastering The Compounds Part 2: The Bench Press
If you want to add size and strength, you need to be in an environment where you can safely add load. No exercise can place quite as many pounds through the upper body as the bench press. This has made it the “go-to” exercise for trainees all around the world when it comes to building the chest, shoulders, arms and back.
Mastering The Compounds Part 1: The Deadlift
There’s no other way to pack on strength and size than through mastering the compound lifts. By honing your skills when it comes to lifting and being patient and consistent with your recovery and nutrition, you’ll have a potent combination for physical development.
The Bullet Proof Body Part 4: Grip
The bullet proof body would not be complete without talking about one of the most overlooked aspects of raw strength; grip training. Having a vice like grip not only increases your capacity for strength, it’s a vital part of being injury free as well. This article will follow suit as the rest of the series.
The Bullet Proof Body Part 3: Shoulders
The bench press is like the male right of passage in the gym. If you can bench a lot, it’s like it cements your alpha status. Everyone wants a big bench and big chest. Now what if I told you your bench press doesn’t actually have as much to do with your chest and triceps as you think.
The Bullet Proof Body Part 2: Lower Back
This article will follow the same suit as the last. First, I’ll be discussing a little bit about biomechanics and common reasons for lower back pain, then I’ll be giving my top 3 tips for correcting issues and building pain free foundations.
The Bullet Proof Body Part 1: Foot & Ankle
Many people assume that it’s the people who train the hardest that achieve insurmountable amounts of size and strength. This isn’t actually the case. Training hard is important but the person who can train injury free will always make more linear progression. Looking after and “pre-habing” your body is an essential part of training.
Injury Proofing: Small Muscles, Big Difference
Squats, Benching and Deadlifts get all the attention. They’re seen as the sexy movements that build the most muscle. When you think of strengthening your body, these are probably the first lot of exercises that come to mind.
Excitement Vs Consistency: When you should and shouldn’t change your training programme
Crossfit, bodybuilding, olympic weightlifting, strongman, powerlifting, HIIT training, conditioning, calisthenics, MMA, boxing, yoga, hot yoga, naked yoga… (all read in a brash american car retailer voice blurting out deals during a closing down sale). We are inundated with a smorgasbord of training modes, all being sold to us with the elixir of getting us jacked or shredded.
Periodisation Fundamentals
Strength training is an art form. It’s a beautiful combination of problem solving, mathematical equations, brute power and patience. Getting stronger is not simply a case of lift more each week and try harder, you must follow certain principles that allow for long term adaptations.
Strength Training Foundations
“Strength is the mother of all qualities”. This is a quote that I heard early on in my career which resonated with me quite a lot. From a young age, strength has always fascinated me. Whether it was watching Superman pick up cars or colossal men move atlas stones on World’s Strongest Man, I knew that the pursuit of a strong, powerful physique was something I wanted to dedicate my life to.
Keys To The Limitless Brain – Part 1: What can we achieve?
What are our brains actually capable of? It’s an interesting question isn’t it. Hollywood has often highlighted the super powers of enhanced brain function, tantalising us with fantasies of unlimited potential. It makes for a great movie plot but looking a bit closer, is total optimisation actually possible? And if so, how?
Hypertrophy Training Foundations
Building muscle is not an easy feat. Many presume you just go to the gym, lift some weights, eat more protein and the process looks after itself. The reality is that there are a lot more pieces to the puzzle than that.
Ultimate Conditioning
When training for strength and size you should never overlook the importance of staying in excellent condition. You may think that high intensity conditioning compromises your gains from weight training, This is untrue.