Getting fit with SwordsMaster

[Beirut]

Tree killer exercises: Putiing the truth into annoying statements like "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."

The Log Lift.

Look at wood. Breathe heavy. Worry.


Pick up wood. Grunt loud enought to scare little animals away.


Give the finger to cameraman because he's too much of a woosy to pick the damn thing up himself. (And especially because he makes more money than you do.)


Then, after work, go to the gym. Not! Go home, drink beer, and attack girlfriend.

[SwordsMaster]

LoL Nice one. Are you the guy "exercising" or the cameraguy? How heavy is that anyway? 120lb?

Sorry about me not updating this thing as often, work gets most of my time now and then spending my honestly earned money gets the rest... when I get 2-3 days off I'll post another big update.

[Beirut]

I'm the dog with the log. The cameraman is the tree climber. I'm just cleaning up his mess.

I'm not really sure about the weight. It's a (was a) balsam tree. Soft wood, but not light. My guess is about 150lb, compared to 66lb bags of cement, which I am very well aquainted with.

Always feels good to tote around logs like that. Feels even better putting them down.

[SwordsMaster]

I'm the dog with the log. The cameraman is the tree climber. I'm just cleaning up his mess.

You're pretty fit for a man of your age . only joking. You've got a good tan though. Or is that dirt?

I'm not really sure about the weight. It's a (was a) balsam tree. Soft wood, but not light. My guess is about 150lb, compared to 66lb bags of cement, which I am very well aquainted with.

I used to lift 60 kg (130lb) bags of flour last summer when I was working on a flour plant.... Imagine putting 200 of those in a truck and then unloading the truck an hour later.... I was damn fit. Couldnt get the girls off me.

[Beirut]

You're pretty fit for a man of your age . only joking. You've got a good tan though. Or is that dirt?

Not bad for 41. No choice though. I'm either able to do what I can do or I have to learn another job skill. And I like doing what I do.

Oh, the "tan" is my personal concoction of sun, dirt, and balsam gum. Looks good - smells good. I can work into a filthy stinking sweat and still smell like a car air freshener at the end of the day.

I used to lift 60 kg (130lb) bags of flour last summer when I was working on a flour plant.... Imagine putting 200 of those in a truck and then unloading the truck an hour later.... I was damn fit. Couldnt get the girls off me.

That's real work. I respect that very much.

Damn straight the girls love it! I don't care how much money the guy has or how fast his car goes, when they're standing next to a guy who can work, all that flash and cash is trash. The chicks want the real men who can be the bear and keep them warm at night.

[ah_dut]

seems like I do no working out then You know...as a schoolboy, my teachers would piss themselves in anger if I carried that heavy a weight around...My bag only weighs 15kg...15kg of books. Damn, why do we do this to the kids? I mean not everyone's 6 foot tall ya know...

Damn straight the girls love it! I don't care how much money the guy has or how fast his car goes, when they're standing next to a guy who can work, all that flash and cash is trash. The chicks want the real men who can be the bear and keep them warm at night.

Work, what work?

[SwordsMaster]

Oh, the "tan" is my personal concoction of sun, dirt, and balsam gum. Looks good - smells good. I can work into a filthy stinking sweat and still smell like a car air freshener at the end of the day.

*notes down carefully for future application*

Damn straight the girls love it! I don't care how much money the guy has or how fast his car goes, when they're standing next to a guy who can work, all that flash and cash is trash. The chicks want the real men who can be the bear and keep them warm at night.

...And we boys want to keep them warm at night

Work, what work?

Curiously enough, after a whole year sitting behind a PCin summer I always get jobs where I have to carry stuff. Last summer it was the flour plant. This summer, I´m a porter in a huge hotel and carry people´s bags around the place.

[Voigtkampf]

Then, after work, go to the gym. Not! Go home, drink beer, and attack girlfriend.

Putting the famous notion of Beirut the Treekiller to a picture. Impressive, I might say.

[SwordsMaster]

Well, well, well, my dear friends. You have been relaxing for too long now and now I'm back to give your muscles something to worry about other than reaching the tv remote.

First things first, a workout routine doesnt have to be complicated. The one I've been using for the last 4 weeks consists of only 3 (well, technically 4) exercises.

This is my proposition for lazy bums like myself that don't want to make it to the gym:

Get a pullup bar. I suggest one of those you can stick in your bedroom doorframe, but as long as you have it somewhere where you spend lots of time (home, work, mistress' place :P) it should work all the same.

Now, that is going to be the only device you need.

Start by doing a set of pullups. Bend your knees and do NOT swing. Do as many as you can at least 5 times throughout the day. It should be the same amount in every set, so push yourself.

Tomorrow you will add one pullup to the set. Everytime you add 5 pullups (ie, 5 days in theory) you subtract 2 the next day and start again (say you got up to 15, next day you do 13, then 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and then back to 16, 17, etc...)

You limit is your imagination, of course, but I do not recommend going further than 30 per set. Instead change your leverage, stretch your legs in front of you, for example and do pullups like that.

Next exercise: pushups. Personally I alternate, I do a set of pullups, then 30 pushups, then a set of pullups, then 10 one-armed pushups with each arm.

Easy.

Next up are squats: proper squats, all the way down and 50 should be your minimum acceptable goal. If you feel brave you can do one legged ones.

And jog for 30-40 mins everyday or at least every second day. Don't tell me you dont have 30 mins a day to waste......

Thats about it. If you manage the above, your ma will be proud. :P

[ah_dut]

my personal routine is a bit different.

I do pullup ladders, like 1 rep then 2,3,4,5,6 and then stop. Do some one armed pushups (again laddering, alternating hands) and get up to 10 usually...

that's upper body over with.

I feel like normal squats wreck your knees to some degree so I do reverse squats instead (no chance of knees over toes) and yes I do feel the effect of worn down cartilige at my age which is very, very bad...

I run up stairs instead, don't feel bad in the joints afterwards

[mfberg]

Now I just need all of this in a pdf file to print.
When I was young and fit I fenced twice a week, practiced fencing the 2 other days, did light/medium lifting at work for about 2 hours a day and bicycled everywhere. Now I am older and have a small keg instead of a 6-pack, live too far from work to bike, all I do is walk about 2-4 miles a day while at work, and occasionally 80-100 stomach crunches at night. I shall reclaim my weight bench, and put a rounded 2x4 for pull-ups outside and see if I can't get back into decent shape once again.

mfberg

[ah_dut]

All righty...

I am probably not the right person to talk to about the getting old buisness and physical decline...I like to think I'm very much on the rise at my age...:laughsatself:

I don't think that many crunches will do you much good. The keg as you name it is fat...all crunches will do is make it seem even bigger...not good eh?

Weights, sure...but remember to ease into it. pullups and dips are great excercises. Also try squats and deadlifts. Great for overall getting into shape.

Can't say better than the olympic lifts in my opinion though

[SwordsMaster]

Well, I can't make it a pdf just now, but I've found a pretty cool article at trickstutorials.com that I wish to share with you lot.
(Thanks to compleks)

Training & Conditioning
Common Myths & Misconceptions:

You may have seen me mention that I was working on this, well it took a little longer than I expected but I finally got around to finishing it after a few delays.

The fitness industry is plagued with lies, scams, myths, ignorance, and misconceptions. Some of these myths have been around for decades without any evidence or truth what so ever, and yet they still seem to be believed by so many. No matter where you go or whom you speak to you are bound to hear someone say something that is untrue. Hopefully this thread will help inform you on some of the common myths you are likely to hear, or may have heard already. Trouble is that so many people believe these myths, which cause them spread so fast, and few people actually step back and question their validity.
Below is what I believe to be the 10 of the most common myths and/or misconception surrounding the fitness industry. Most people here are probably well aware of most of these, but occasionally you still hear someone mention them. I got a bit off track at points so excuse any rambling. I don’t expect anyone to read the entire thing (I don’t blame you, I barely even proof read the thing) but at least browse through the sub-titles to make sure there isn't anything you may have believed. I think there is some useful information in there for most people, even if it is completely off topic.

Now, if you have anything you think should be added then feel free to reply and let me know. If you would like to write something up yourself to be added then PM it to me, or just reply back here and I will cut and paste it into the original post along with the name of the author. I know Maverick said he would like to add something about getting shredded abs I think, so that would be a good addition.
If you have any questions or criticisms or you disagree with anything I wrote then please reply and let me know so I can try to clarify or justify myself.

Toning:
myth-"Doing lots of reps with a light weight will tone up my muscles"
Wrong. Tone, when referring to muscle composition is either a myth or at very least a poor choice or words. The definition of tone is described as "the amount of tension in a muscle", so the easiest and quickest way to increase tone is to contract your muscles - there you go, instant toning without any real work.
Most myths surrounding the fitness industry stem from some minor truth or misguided logic. In this case I assume the myth began when someone decided to use weight training as a form of cardio by doing a ridiculous amount of light weight, high rep training (which really negates the purpose of weight training). Now we know that cardiovascular training is an effective form of exercise, which in this case may have reduced body fat in a number of people doing this form of high rep training. This reduction in body fat would have increased the visibility, or definition of their muscles, which may have been mistaken as 'tone'.

Since then the word has spread and the 'toning' myth has since plagued the fitness industry. Now I don’t have anything against high rep training, as long as you are doing it for the right reasons such as increasing your muscular endurance, practicing your technique etc...
There are a few basic guidelines when it comes to resistance training and rep ranges, but basically training over 15-20 repetitions will primarily work as an endurance exercises, increasing the rate at which your muscles can produce and use energy for extended periods of time. This will also target your slow twitch muscle fibers more specifically, which decreases the likelihood of muscular hypertrophy (muscle growth). Of course this could well be a good thing depending on your goals, and the rep range will also vary depending on the individual and experience.
You will probably have to come to accept the term 'tone' and will probably even find yourself using it, which isn't the problem. The real problem here is the belief that high rep training is an effective way to increase 'tone'.
To summaries, if you want to 'tone up' then your real goal is most likely to increase muscle definition. Increasing definition can be achieved by lowering your body fat and/or increasing muscle mass, in which case you will need to adjust your training and/or diet.

Spot reduction:
myth-"Exercising a certain muscle will reduce the amount of fat covering or surrounding that muscle"
eg: Doing situps to decrease stomach fat.
This myth is often blended in with toning, especially amongst the female population trying to loose weight from around their hips, glutes and thighs while trying to 'tone' them up at the same time. Fat is an important energy source used during exercise, especially lower intensity longer duration type training such as jogging, or in this case it's usually high rep training once again.
Using situps as an example, the prime mover is obviously the rectus abdominus, which for men is generally directly below a major storage site for adipose tissue (fat). Females tend to store the majority of their fat in their lower limbs causing the 'pear' shape, where men are more likely to deposit their fat around their torso giving them more of an 'apple' shape. This fat deposition is largely determined by genetics and hormones, and from a health perspective women may have an advantage over men with abdominal and torso fat being a larger health risk factor than fat stored in the limbs.
Back to the issue, it is common to see people doing hundreds of situps in an attempt to burn fat from their stomach. Yes, muscle will utilize fat as an energy source under the right conditions, but fat cannot simply pass directly into the working muscles from its surroundings. The process is allot more complicated than that and the fat must first be broken down into useable molecules before entering the bloodstream and continuing to the desired location. Since your body has to undergo this complicated procedure the location of the fat being used is of little importance, and cannot be determined or manipulated by training different muscles. Your body will most likely burn fat evenly from around your body, breaking down fat from all over. You may notice some difficult fat retention around your main storage sites, even with a low total body fat percentage, this is no different to any other form of fat and should be dealt with in the same manner as any other fat, which is proper diet and cardiovascular training. Situps are not an effective means of cardio, and will not utilize a significant amount of fat as energy

Muscle to Fat:
myth-"That unused muscle will turn to fat, or that with training fat will turn to muscle"

Okay, I have no idea where this myth began but if I had to guess I would say it was just simply ignorance. I'm hearing this less and less as of lately which is a good sign that people may finally be wising up to this one. There isn't alot to be said here unless you want to get into the molecular composition of muscle and fat and why it is impossible for one to transform into the other. This statement is just as absurd is implying that bone can turn to muscle, or that wood can turn to steel or that paper can turn to rock etc... You get the idea.
Muscle and fat are two completely different substances, they are divided within the body and don't even make direct contact with one another. It is completely false and illogical to believe that one such tissue or compound can be converted to the other.

Weight training & Hypertrophy:
myth-"Resistance training will make your muscles huge, and the process is irreversible"
eg: "I don’t want to do weights because I don’t want to get huge" or "I'm lifting the light weights so I don’t bulk up"
Many aspiring bodybuilders find this particular myth to be especially frustrating, because they know how much effort, knowledge, discipline and dedication is required in order to increase muscle mass. Bulking up will not happen overnight, you will not wake up one morning, look in the mirror and realize you are massive. Alot of people have seen images of professional bodybuilders and don’t wish to look like that, so they avoid weights all together which is a shame. Adding muscle is a very slow process; it requires a well-structured routine and strict diet, as well as alot of patience. If you do manage to stick it out and actually accumulate this desired muscle you must continue all your hard work in order to maintain it, or it will atrophy (shrink, decrease, waste away). Fact is that very few people have the commitment or knowledge to increase their muscle mass even significantly.
Hypertrophy (enlargement, growth) of your muscles occurs when you consistently apply overload to them while supplying your body with the right nutrients, your body will respond accordingly by increasing your muscle mass and strength. In a reverse scenario if you are not using your muscles consistently or are not supplying them with the right nutrients then your body will be unable and unwilling to maintain them, this will cause atrophy of your muscles.

Muscle tissue:
myth-"That there is a structural difference between big bulky muscle and lean 'toned' muscle"
eg: "I want to look like Bruce Lee not Arnold, so I'm just going to do bodyweight exercises"
I'll start by letting you know that Bruce Lee lifted weights frequently as part of his routine, and he understood the benefits of doing so and had the knowledge to make weight lifting as effective as possible for his specific goals.
Basically speaking, muscle is just muscle. To quote Maverick, "Bruce Lee and Antoine have the same type of muscle, Antoine just has more.” All I am referring to here is the makeup of muscle on a cellular level, nothing else. No amount of bodyweight, high rep, low rep or cardio training is going to alter the chemical composition of your muscle tissue.
That said, there are things you can do to train your muscle to act in a way you desire. You can train for strength, size, endurance, functionality, speed, power etc... but your muscles will always be just muscle and most of these changes will occur or a neurological level.
Without going into any real detail, because my knowledge on the subject is very limited, it does appear possible to increase muscle density. When it comes to muscular hypertrophy it can occur on two levels, sarcoplasmic or sarcomere hypertrophy. Sarcomere hypertrophy is an increase in the contractile portion of the muscle, which in turn increases the density of a muscle.
"Sarcomere hypertrophy involves an increase in the number and size of the sarcomeres which comprise the myofibrils. These are added in series and/or in parallel with the existing myofibrils. It should be noted that only parallel growth will lead to an increase in the ability to produce tension. In contrast to sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, with sarcomere hypertrophy there is an increase in myofibril density and a significantly greater ability to exert muscular strength. The type of hypertrophy that you experience from your training depends on the manner in which you train. High volume/moderate rep (8-12) training leads to more sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, while lower volume/low rep (1-6) training leads to more sarcomere hypertrophy (Nikituk & Samoilov, 1990)."
You cannot single out one type of growth over the other, however you may be able to emphasize the amount at which one occurs. This may be particularly useful for strength training athletes, but regardless the muscle is still just muscle and the previous writing still applies.

Bodyweight V's Weights:
myth-"Bodyweight training will harness different or more functional results than weight training"
eg- "I heard doing bodyweight training will increase functional strength."
Well this may actually be true in a sense, depending on how you look at it. For example, if a breakdancer were to train doing bodyweight exercises then he may benefit from the increase of functional strength. But what makes his strength functional is really dependant on how he intends to use it. A bodybuilder may not typically be referred to as having functional strength, but it depends in what context you are looking at it. His strength is certainly functional for his lifestyle of bodybuilding. But generally when people talk about functional strength they are simply referring to the ability to perform everyday tasks with ease, like picking up a heavy object, or unscrewing a tight lid from a jar. Just simple daily tasks that some untrained people may struggle with. I would also add the ability of your muscles to work co-operatively as a team to perform a required task.
However you choose to look at it doesn't really have any impact on this myth, so don't get distracted by it.
The real issue here is whether or not bodyweight training has any functional advantage over weight training. My answer is, maybe. Now I would be typically inclined to say that there is no advantage, but I would find it very difficult to do many isolation bodyweight exercises, and that's what my argument comes down to. I'm basing everything here on the fact that functionality is defined by the ability of your muscles to perform as one to accomplish a task (which isn't always the case if you are training for something specific).
Now this isn't to say that weight training cant be just as beneficial if not more so than bodyweight training. More importantly here is the selection of exercises, and obviously compound exercises are going to out perform isolation exercises in functionality, based on the previous description.
Why I said bodyweight exercises may have some benefit over weight training is simply because it is very difficult to perform many isolation exercises using just your bodyweight. But if you are using weights and performing compound exercises I see no difference between the two in that sense. Your body cannot tell the difference between weights and bodyweight, so in the end it comes down to how well you know what you are doing.
I believe that if you know what you are doing then you will be capable of planning an effective program regardless of equipment, meaning that you should be able to get a good workout using weights or bodyweight. However I also believe that weights are easier to use effectively and that a good bodyweight routine will require alot more thought and improvisation, depending on your goals.
Okay, well that got a little off topic, but this was particularly difficult to explain because everyone has a different point of view and the myth can vary depending on your definition and goals etc... But basically speaking your body does not differentiate between bodyweight and weights, and neither will increase functionality any more than the other, it all depends on how you train with either option.

Speed and flexibility:
myth-"That weight training will reduce your speed and/or flexibility"
First I will deal with flexibility. Studies dating as far back as the 1960's have been produced to prove that correctly performed resistance training will not negatively effect your flexibility. Resistance training does however have the potential to decrease muscle length when performed in a limited range of motion. But it is always encouraged that you perform any weight lifting exercises through your fullest possible range of motion. So resistance training when performed correctly will not reduce your flexibility. There are even studies that suggest resistance training has the ability to increase your flexibility when performed correctly.
This all makes perfect sense when you break down the essence of flexibility, which is defined as 'the ability to move a joint through its full range of motion". I'm sure you all saw Antoine doing the splits in the 'heat' sampler. Ronnie coleman also does the splits, and he's about as big as they come.
http://trickstutorials.com/forum/at...tachmentid=5864
Speed is in a similar situation as flexibility. Like most things in the fitness industry there are alot of variables to take in, meaning that the answer depends on alot of other factors. Speed is generated by muscle contractions, so the hypertrophy of ones muscles would not negatively impact their ability to produce speed. What may impact their speed is how they are implementing resistance training into their routine.
As I mentioned, speed is generated by the contraction of ones muscles, and what increases speed is the rate at which a muscle can contract. On a physiological level speed is determined by the effectiveness on ones nervous system to recruit the largest number of motor units in the shortest possible time. The physiology of muscles would also indicate that the prime candidate for these fast contractions would be the type IIa muscle fibers, which also happen to be the muscle fibers effected most during resistance training. What I am getting at here is that resistance training can actually be a great tool for increasing ones speed, if performed correctly.
Specificity is one of the fundamental principles of resistance training, or any type of training. Meaning that if you want to be able to jump higher then practice jumping, want to run faster then practice running etc... Of course this can have its limits, muscle mass and strength being one of them. There is also merit in using variation and alternative training to accommodate your goals, and in this case it happens to be resistance training. Basically if you want to be faster at a certain activity, then you should practice that activity with speed. But if you want to enhance your speed further or faster then resistance training may be what you are looking for. Now using that principle of specificity it may be of even more benefit to lift with explosive speed, in order to train your nervous system to recruit more motor units quicker. Though I don’t believe even slow resistance training would negatively impact your speed anyway.

Muscle shaping and emphasis:
myth-"That you can isolate or emphasize different areas of a muscle along the same fiber"
Just to clarify what I am talking about here are a few common examples. Upper and lower abs, inner and outer pecs, upper and lower bicep etc...

Now to understand why this is not the case you first need to understand some of the anatomy and physiology of your muscles. Skeletal muscle, as the name implies is muscle attached to your skeleton, it makes up the majority of your muscle mass and is the type of muscle being targeted with resistance training. Skeletal muscle is responsible for all movement involving your joints. This movement is achieved by the contraction of the muscle fibers. All skeletal muscle has at least one origin and insertion, which are the apposing points where the muscle attaches to bone via its tendons. Between these two points the muscle is arranged like a rope, with all the tiny threads (fibers) running the entire length of the muscle from origin to insertion.

Now your muscle contracts when your nervous system sends a message to the muscles motor unit(s), which is a nerve attached to a bunch of muscle fibers. When a muscle fiber receives the message to contract, it will contract along the entire length of the fiber from origin to insertion. This is why it is impossible to emphasize one end of a muscle when the fibers are oriented in that same direction.
I'm not going to go into any detail on all the muscles, but if you are interested here are two files with all the muscles you will need along with their origin, insertion and a picture.
ftp://tricks:tricks@67.18.198.27/Mu...n-insertion.zip
With those files and the information above you should be able to figure out yourself, which muscles can or cannot be emphasized in different areas.

Post exercise stretching reduces doms:
myth-"That stretching after exercise will reduce the effect of DOMS."
DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness is still somewhat a mystery. Most people believe it is cause by a combination of things, such as micro trauma to the muscle, lactic acid and tearing of the muscle fibers. There isn't yet any real solid evidence on the cause of this soreness experienced after an intense workout, but there are plenty of theories on how to reduce the effects, stretching being the most common one. I'm sure you have all heard that you should stretch after exercise to reduce the soreness; well there isn't actually any evidence to prove that stretching has any effect on soreness what so ever. Stretching does has numerous other benefits when performed after exercise, or even performed on it's own but reducing DOMS is not one of them.
There is one study I know of carried out many years ago that may have been the beginning of this myth. This particular study apparently 'proved' that stretching reduced soreness in the subjects the following day, however the study was shown to be tainted and results were discarded as simply a placebo effect. More recent studies have been conducted which have indicated stretching to have no effect on DOMS at all.

Resistance training stunts growth:
myth-"That resistance training will stunt growth in children, or anyone not finished growing"
This has been a major problem surrounding resistance training for as long as anyone can seem to remember. I have no idea where it began, but even today you constantly hear of and meet people that believe this.
Before I get started, some background information on how we grow: There are different classifications for different types of bones in our body, but the majority of them are classified as 'long' bones, and these are the bones which will have the greatest effect on our height. Our bones begin as simple cartilage models that later will be transformed into bone, this process is called ossification (the formation of bone). Most of this ossification will occur before or shortly after birth, and for the next 18-23 years your bones will continue to develop and grow.

Bone can grow in a number of ways, appositional growth and endochondral growth being the primary ways affecting height. In 'long' bones it is endochondral growth, which will determine the length of a bone, which inevitably effects a persons height. At both ends of a long bone there is an epiphyseal plate, which is a layer of cartilage separating the epiphysis (end) from the diaphysis (shaft). This epiphyseal plate is what allows the bone to grow in length (endochondral growth). This layer of cartilage is continuously growing and expanding, as new cartilage is formed nearest the diaphysis the old cells are ossified (turned to bone), and this process is what makes our long bones grow.

The two main effectors of bone growth are nutrition and hormones. Nutrition is important for providing your body with the necessary energy, nutrients, vitamins and minerals to continue growing. In times of illness or malnutrition children can show signs of arrested growth, which is a line of increased bone density caused by a period of slow growth. Hormones are obviously vital for bone growth, growth hormone, thyroid hormone, and sex hormones are all vital for normal bone growth, these hormones can also be effected by diet. Females tend to stop growing earlier than males due to an increase in estrogen levels. Bone growth will cease when the epiphyseal plate becomes completely ossified.
Now if you happen to fracture a long bone at a young age then there could be some complications, especially if the fracture occurs at the epiphyseal plate. A break at the epiphyseal plate will result in damage to the cartilage that can interfere with the growth of that particular bone. These injuries are quite common amongst children and often result in one arm or leg being shorter than the other. This can largely impact the entire balance of a person’s body and distort the positioning of their back, all leading to possible future difficulties. Especially those spinal related.
Back on topic. Now the forces generated with heavy weight lifting can be enormous, but it is highly unlikely that these pressures will have any significant effect on bone growth at all. If you do plan on avoiding resistance training for these reasons then it would be advised that you avoid physical activities all together, since the forces generated in jumping or running can be far greater than those of resistance training.
There are no studies or evidence what so ever that show resistance training to have any effect on height, though many people still believe this myth without question. One common argument is the size of professional weightlifters, who are generally all of very short stature. This has nothing to do with their weightlifting or training, rather the process of natural selection. A 5"1 80kg person would have a large advantage over a 5"10 80kg person when it comes to professional powerlifting. Why? Because the shorter person has much shorter levers, meaning they can generate more power and need to move the weight a shorter distance. These people are not short because they are professional weightlifter; they are professional weightlifters because they are short.
In my opinion resistance training is often a great way to encourage growth when performed correctly, because participants are often interested in getting their diet and lifestyle in order aswell. If they do the proper research then I think they will have the knowledge to live a healthy lifestyle and grow to their fullest potential. It is sports like dancing, gymnastics and wrestling which can have a negative impact on height. This is due to the weight categories and calorie restricted diets put in place to encourage these athletes to stay small and light, which can have a huge impact on their development.