Bodyweight -268
Squats - high bar, no belt, 60 seconds rest
315 x 8 sets of 5
This weight feels about right for where my quad is at post injury. I still have a LOT of pain in it coming out of the bottom. Especially on pause squats, which I did a few of here and there during the 8 sets.
Deficit Pulls -
225x2
315x2
405x2
500x2
585x3,3
First set was ok, but the second set was VERY fast. I feel good about this. I will probably just add more volume and work on speed at this weight for a while.
Strength Life Legacy
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Base Building: Progression and goal setting
Base Building templates are built around three factors, for the most part.
Because these are the three key components, the obvious question becomes "where is progression built in?"
That's an easy question to answer.
Progression is determined by the lifter, and his understanding of those three factors.
If bar speed increases on a considerable basis over time, then it's up to that lifter to discern how much he should raise his EDM by. Let's not lose sight of the fact that the whole point of BB is to increase your EDM, so that your BASE LEVEL, your sustainable level of strength, has increased. This is how your offseason should be spent, unless you're trying to increase your base level of muscle mass. Mind you, these are two entirely different training protocols, though there will be overlap with both. BB will increase muscle mass (trust me, it happened with me), and mass building will up your base level of strength. However each one does a specific job better than the other.
So back to progression, and how to plan for it.
Once you've established your EDM and understand what weights you will be working with for your phase, it's not entirely a bad idea to set a goal for what you would LIKE to be working with eventually. I write "eventually" because the BB methodology is built around "slow and stead wins the race".
For example, right now I'm using BB Bench model I. That means I'm basing my EDM bench at around 425, something I know I can do any day of the week. So my work sets are at 315 x 5 sets of 8, all reps paused.
Now there are days (like last night) when 315 x 5 x 8 is hard, and other days where I feel like I can throw it through the roof. My own personal focus is that even on the days where I feel like total shit, I can still hit 5 x 8 @ 315 with good speed across all 5 sets of 8. Last night, that wasn't the case.
My goal in terms of progression is to EVENTUALLY be able to do 365 x 5 sets of 8 (all reps paused) on a GOOD DAY. This is not a short term goal. Just something I see up there as a place I would like to be. My EDM at that point would obviously be significantly higher (duh, right? around 485).
Now this runs counter point to most of my points about setting small goals, and inching forward. The reason here is because I know I will probably go into BB model II for a while, where I would be using 365 for 3 x 5, then 315 x 3 x 5, then a set with AMAP, and then BB model III before finally coming back to BB phase I
If you notice, I don't raise my EDM throughout all three of those phases. It stays the same. What I will do is the following........
Run phase I until I never have a day where 315 x 5 x 8 isn't easy as shit
Go into phase II, and set goals with both bar speed AND goals on the AMAP set
Go into phase III and set goals with both bar speed AND goals on the AMAP set
Go back to Phase I when I feel as though 365 x 5 sets of 8 all paused, are clearly possible
I do not have a timetable on this. It might take a year, or two years, or three years. The point is, that whole time I will be still be inching forward, making progress. Rather than being greedy and trying to force things to happen, I will inch forward slowly so that I'm not sitting here saying I haven't gotten any stronger in three years.
Most guys are not going to be patient enough to understand how to make this process work for them, and that's too bad. They spend too much time reading information about going balls out every single session with no understanding that training that way has a time and place, but will eventually find one at a point of diminishing returns. In that regard so will EVERY form of training. This is why in the Base Building manual, I make a point to emphasize that training must have PHASES THAT BUILD ON EACH OTHER. One style or method of training will not help you reach all of your goals.
Get Base Building HERE
- EDM (everyday max)
- Volume
- Bar Speed
Because these are the three key components, the obvious question becomes "where is progression built in?"
That's an easy question to answer.
Progression is determined by the lifter, and his understanding of those three factors.
If bar speed increases on a considerable basis over time, then it's up to that lifter to discern how much he should raise his EDM by. Let's not lose sight of the fact that the whole point of BB is to increase your EDM, so that your BASE LEVEL, your sustainable level of strength, has increased. This is how your offseason should be spent, unless you're trying to increase your base level of muscle mass. Mind you, these are two entirely different training protocols, though there will be overlap with both. BB will increase muscle mass (trust me, it happened with me), and mass building will up your base level of strength. However each one does a specific job better than the other.
So back to progression, and how to plan for it.
Once you've established your EDM and understand what weights you will be working with for your phase, it's not entirely a bad idea to set a goal for what you would LIKE to be working with eventually. I write "eventually" because the BB methodology is built around "slow and stead wins the race".
For example, right now I'm using BB Bench model I. That means I'm basing my EDM bench at around 425, something I know I can do any day of the week. So my work sets are at 315 x 5 sets of 8, all reps paused.
Now there are days (like last night) when 315 x 5 x 8 is hard, and other days where I feel like I can throw it through the roof. My own personal focus is that even on the days where I feel like total shit, I can still hit 5 x 8 @ 315 with good speed across all 5 sets of 8. Last night, that wasn't the case.
My goal in terms of progression is to EVENTUALLY be able to do 365 x 5 sets of 8 (all reps paused) on a GOOD DAY. This is not a short term goal. Just something I see up there as a place I would like to be. My EDM at that point would obviously be significantly higher (duh, right? around 485).
Now this runs counter point to most of my points about setting small goals, and inching forward. The reason here is because I know I will probably go into BB model II for a while, where I would be using 365 for 3 x 5, then 315 x 3 x 5, then a set with AMAP, and then BB model III before finally coming back to BB phase I
If you notice, I don't raise my EDM throughout all three of those phases. It stays the same. What I will do is the following........
Run phase I until I never have a day where 315 x 5 x 8 isn't easy as shit
Go into phase II, and set goals with both bar speed AND goals on the AMAP set
Go into phase III and set goals with both bar speed AND goals on the AMAP set
Go back to Phase I when I feel as though 365 x 5 sets of 8 all paused, are clearly possible
I do not have a timetable on this. It might take a year, or two years, or three years. The point is, that whole time I will be still be inching forward, making progress. Rather than being greedy and trying to force things to happen, I will inch forward slowly so that I'm not sitting here saying I haven't gotten any stronger in three years.
Most guys are not going to be patient enough to understand how to make this process work for them, and that's too bad. They spend too much time reading information about going balls out every single session with no understanding that training that way has a time and place, but will eventually find one at a point of diminishing returns. In that regard so will EVERY form of training. This is why in the Base Building manual, I make a point to emphasize that training must have PHASES THAT BUILD ON EACH OTHER. One style or method of training will not help you reach all of your goals.
Get Base Building HERE
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Some early Base Building FAQs
1. "Paul, I made it through phase "X" of the Base Building squat, in the minimum time, and it was easy. What should I do?
A. The first thing I have to stress is, or rather ask, is...was your speed on every set as fast as possible? Generally people think yes, however after having worked with many dozen guys using this protocol I can tell you that I often still see slow downs from the 3rd set to the 5th-8th set. It still feels "light" however the drop in power is evident on video.
If it is not, then I bump the EDM (every day max). This is good. This means progress, of course. I recommend that you video your first, third, and last set of your work phases and watch your speed. If there is any slow down in the transition point, then stick with that weight. If the bar is still flying off of your back, then bump the EDM. But always milk out a phase for as long as possible.
Lastly, this isn't about getting in X amount of work in X amount of time. It's about doing it, and having every set look as explosive as possible. Two factors without the third factor (power in each set) means the other two don't matter.
Work + Time + Explosiveness
That's the key.
2. "Paul, I'm entering a fat loss stage. Should I still run base building or something else?"
A. Base Building works great for guys who are in the process of trying to go from lard ass to not so lard ass. Mainly because the EDM can be adjusted as strength levels wane a bit during the acclimation process during fat loss. Where a peaking program is based around ramping up, BB is built around sub-max intensities with speed, and a static max. The static max can be adjusted as needed based on how your speed is doing. You can also use the Fatigue Singles protocol to judge where your EDM is.
3. "I have a powerlifting meet in 9 weeks. How should I work Base Building with that?"
That's easy. You should run the short cycle for 6 weeks (this includes the deload), so run Base Building for three weeks before that as the primer.
4. "How do I decide what phase to use?"
My recommendation is to always start at Phase I, and milk it for all it is worth. Once boredom or "gains" stall, you can move into Phase II or III. But again, I emphasize that you need to understand all of the factors that go into what you are trying to accomplish here. Becoming explosive with heavier and heavier weights. Even though they are sub-max, you want to be able to move them with more speed over time, and then push the volume with the other phases. So you need to ask yourself WHY you are changing phases.
A. The first thing I have to stress is, or rather ask, is...was your speed on every set as fast as possible? Generally people think yes, however after having worked with many dozen guys using this protocol I can tell you that I often still see slow downs from the 3rd set to the 5th-8th set. It still feels "light" however the drop in power is evident on video.
If it is not, then I bump the EDM (every day max). This is good. This means progress, of course. I recommend that you video your first, third, and last set of your work phases and watch your speed. If there is any slow down in the transition point, then stick with that weight. If the bar is still flying off of your back, then bump the EDM. But always milk out a phase for as long as possible.
Lastly, this isn't about getting in X amount of work in X amount of time. It's about doing it, and having every set look as explosive as possible. Two factors without the third factor (power in each set) means the other two don't matter.
Work + Time + Explosiveness
That's the key.
2. "Paul, I'm entering a fat loss stage. Should I still run base building or something else?"
A. Base Building works great for guys who are in the process of trying to go from lard ass to not so lard ass. Mainly because the EDM can be adjusted as strength levels wane a bit during the acclimation process during fat loss. Where a peaking program is based around ramping up, BB is built around sub-max intensities with speed, and a static max. The static max can be adjusted as needed based on how your speed is doing. You can also use the Fatigue Singles protocol to judge where your EDM is.
3. "I have a powerlifting meet in 9 weeks. How should I work Base Building with that?"
That's easy. You should run the short cycle for 6 weeks (this includes the deload), so run Base Building for three weeks before that as the primer.
4. "How do I decide what phase to use?"
My recommendation is to always start at Phase I, and milk it for all it is worth. Once boredom or "gains" stall, you can move into Phase II or III. But again, I emphasize that you need to understand all of the factors that go into what you are trying to accomplish here. Becoming explosive with heavier and heavier weights. Even though they are sub-max, you want to be able to move them with more speed over time, and then push the volume with the other phases. So you need to ask yourself WHY you are changing phases.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Training - Lower body work
Bodyweight - 260
Front Squats -
barx20,10
135x5,5,5
225x,5
315x5,5,5,5,5
Deadlifts (light) -
225x3,3
315x3
405x3
500x3,3
Leg Press -
3 plates per side x 20
4 plates per side x 20
5 plates per side x 20
Notes - Had the shits all weekend so I lost so weight but my stomach still looks and feels like I swallowed a fucking beach ball.
The 500 pulls will be my light speed check pulls. These felt good tonight after fronts.
Front Squats -
barx20,10
135x5,5,5
225x,5
315x5,5,5,5,5
Deadlifts (light) -
225x3,3
315x3
405x3
500x3,3
Leg Press -
3 plates per side x 20
4 plates per side x 20
5 plates per side x 20
Notes - Had the shits all weekend so I lost so weight but my stomach still looks and feels like I swallowed a fucking beach ball.
The 500 pulls will be my light speed check pulls. These felt good tonight after fronts.
Picking meet attempts
One of the most simple things about powerlifting, in my opinion, is picking proper attempts on meet day.
I mean, it can't be that hard. You just spent X amount of weeks preparing for said meet, with a cycle based around hitting doable third attempts. So you should already know the goals for the meet, and your training cycle should have reflected that.
Right?
RIGHT?
So often the answer to that is "uhhhhhhhhhhh........"
Training - The first place it all goes wrong
First off, you have to train within your means. That is, your training cycle should represent nothing but success across the board, for whatever length of time it is.
Most of the time it all goes awry because a guy totals 1,850 then sets up his training cycle to go 1,950 only a few months later. Rather than 1,875 or something more manageable. So now the entire training cycle is based around numbers that on meet day, probably aren't really doable.
Now, the lifter has to reach not only on training day, but on meet day as well. Missed lifts ensue, and then confidence wanes come meet day because the training cycle was never set up for success.
If you missed lifts on a fairly often basis, then how solid could your programming have been? If you winged it, well, I guess you'll wing it on meet day too. I don't see any other athletes "winging it" in training then showing up expecting to win. Yet powerlifters do it all the time.
So the first short circuit by a guy in not understanding how to pick attempts properly on meet day, started in the gym. Going too heavy too soon, missing reps, getting burnt out, and then walking into the meet feeling very unsure. So now, the athlete isn't positive what to pick because he bases his attempts around maxes he hit in the gym.
In other words "Well I hit 500 in the gym, so I'll open at 480 and go from there."
Nevermind that 500 was a grinder and had only been hit one other time in this lifters life. So he proceeds to open at 480, it grinds, and he goes to 510 for his second. Which he misses of course. Then misses it on his third as well.
This is common. I see it at every meet. Some guy opening with a grinder, then gets his ass kicked on his second, or then makes it but it zaps him so much he doesn't account for the fact that it will take some off of his other lifts, and then proceeds to miss most of them as well.
I've detailed how I pick attempts and how I get guys to pick attempts in Strength, Life, Legacy but I'm going to go a little more in depth in that here.
Just to get this bit of chest puffing out of the way, I have a fairly solid track record of training and picking attempts for powerlifters ranging from fairly new to elite level guys. Most of the guys I have helped in this regard generally go at minimum 7 for 9 with several PR's. 8 for 9 and 9 for 9 are very, very common. Not to mention that Ernie Lilliebridge Jr. tells me all the time "I don't know how you do that." in terms of picking attempts or nailing every call in terms of when someone will make a lift or miss it. I very rarely miss.
Success fuels success -
As an athlete I always thought that you prepared to be successful. It wasn't until I got into powerlifting that I found out that I had been fooled all these years.
That's heavy sarcasm in case you didn't catch it.
The whole purpose of training for weeks on end, traveling, spending money, and putting forth all the effort you did in preparation for a meet should be to go 9 for 9, with 4 PR's.
Period.
That's a squat PR, a bench PR, a deadlift PR, and a total PR. Yet I've read all sorts of fucking nonsense like "if you didn't have a miss you didn't go heavy enough."
What?
"If you got three whites on your squat you went too low."
Huh?
God damn, I've never been involved in a sport where success was so heavily frowned upon by so many. If your training and competing is spot on, it should reflect that on the platform.
And that starts with your opener. A great opener builds to a solid second, which sets the lifter up for a lot of confidence come that third.
This is what should be the goal on meet day. So where do I feel most guys go wrong?
Let's start with the opener.....
The opener and clarifying -
The opener is both the least, and most important attempt you will pick.
Your opener is least important in the way that, it should be an after thought. It should be so easy, that it literally requires almost no psyche. No second thoughts. You respect the weight, but it's insignificant IN TERMS OF WEIGHT ON THE BAR.
On the flip side, it's the most important because if you do not pick your opener correctly it can really set you up for a shitty day, or of course, you can bomb out.
Your opener should be EASY. I don't know what part of that word most people do not get.
EASY! EASY!!!!!!!!!
Your opener should be your last warm up. That's it. Your LAST WARM UP. What does a warm up feel like? Fucking easy.
If you wanted me to be a little more specific I usually call it between 85-88% of the planned third attempt. Some guys look at me incredulously and say "really?!?!"
Yes. That light. Who are you trying to impress with an opener? Seriously. I swear to Christ that's what half, or more than half, of these asshats I see at meets are doing. Trying to impress people with openers.
One myth I want to debunk is that "your opener should be something you can do for a triple."
What? You want to open with something that is roughly a max triple? That is a great piece of advice if you plan on leaving the meet that day with a shit ton of misses, or bombing out.
Most peoples three rep max will fall somewhere between 90% and 93% of their TRUE max. And you're going to open with 90+%?
I even had a friend tell me, upon my suggestion as to what his opener should be "that's a waste of an opener".
The only wasted opener is the one you miss.
Second and third attempts -
From a percentage standpoint your second attempt should generally fall around something in the 93% area of your goal.
Again, if you're not being completely stupid, your second attempt should be very doable. It should definitely require you to get "prepared" for it, however confidence should be high that you can make this lift.
Your second attempt is also the attempt that gives you an idea if the goal for the third attempt is there or not. If it grinds more than you'd like, back off a bit. If it has good speed through the transition point, then you should be good to go for hitting that goal.
At the UPA meet a few weeks ago I picked attempts for Pete Rubish, who went 8 for 9 for his biggest total ever. Pete fought me a little bit each time but eventually relented and told me after the meet "man, it's amazing how when you go smoke your opener, and then have a solid second, how much better than third attempt moves and feels."
Yeah man. That's the point.
Managing fatigue -
The other factor that people generally don't think about in regards to their second and third attempts is the accumulative fatigue that it has on the body. A low bar squat will tax the shoulders more than you think. If you arch hard in the bench, then the low back contracts very hard and will be more taxed than usual in the deadlift.
The meet day in general is long and boring, and fairly draining. So you need to take into account that there will be a certain amount of fatigue involved that time in the gym doesn't really account for. Adrenaline dumping after squats tends to take quite the toll as well.
So make sure you understand for example, that if you deadlift on a day you don't squat, then your deadlift is going to be a bit lower on meet day than it is in training. You won't be phresh come deadlift time on meet day.
The methods I don't like -
There are quite a few methods I see that I don't care for. I do know that some good and even great lifters use them, however that doesn't mean they are optimal, in my opinion.
Method 1 - Picking attempts too close
I see this one a lot. The guy will basically make the smallest jumps possible to his third. For example....
455 - 470 - 490
This guy opened with what should have been his second, then took a second that really served no purpose (97% of your goal???? Why???)
His attempts should have looked more like.......
415/430 - 455 - 490
Method 2 - Go for broke
I think this is my most despised method, because well, I think it's completely retarded.
"Open with something you could triple, get a small PR on the second, go for broke on your third."
This method makes my head hurt so bad I'm not sure where to start.
It's the anti-successful method. First off, this sets you up for misses. If you're going for broke on all of your thirds, one thing that is going to happen is you're going to grind the living shit out of them and then your next lift is going to be quite less than you anticipated (as we have covered).
Not only that, but on a down day, you're likely to miss a lot of those seconds. Small PR's are never a given. It's why you save them for your thirds, based on how your second attempts feels. You don't grind out an opener, then go for a PR on your second. Even if you make that small PR, it's probably not going to be an easy lift, and now the subsequent lifts will take a bit of a dive.
Closing -
Powerlifting is a sport where most of us spend quite a few bucks to go compete, and put in a lot of hard work and time in order to show up and be our best. Therefore it's also important that you make solid decisions about your attempts on competition day. You're not there to miss. Remember that.
I mean, it can't be that hard. You just spent X amount of weeks preparing for said meet, with a cycle based around hitting doable third attempts. So you should already know the goals for the meet, and your training cycle should have reflected that.
Right?
RIGHT?
So often the answer to that is "uhhhhhhhhhhh........"
Training - The first place it all goes wrong
First off, you have to train within your means. That is, your training cycle should represent nothing but success across the board, for whatever length of time it is.
Most of the time it all goes awry because a guy totals 1,850 then sets up his training cycle to go 1,950 only a few months later. Rather than 1,875 or something more manageable. So now the entire training cycle is based around numbers that on meet day, probably aren't really doable.
Now, the lifter has to reach not only on training day, but on meet day as well. Missed lifts ensue, and then confidence wanes come meet day because the training cycle was never set up for success.
If you missed lifts on a fairly often basis, then how solid could your programming have been? If you winged it, well, I guess you'll wing it on meet day too. I don't see any other athletes "winging it" in training then showing up expecting to win. Yet powerlifters do it all the time.
So the first short circuit by a guy in not understanding how to pick attempts properly on meet day, started in the gym. Going too heavy too soon, missing reps, getting burnt out, and then walking into the meet feeling very unsure. So now, the athlete isn't positive what to pick because he bases his attempts around maxes he hit in the gym.
In other words "Well I hit 500 in the gym, so I'll open at 480 and go from there."
Nevermind that 500 was a grinder and had only been hit one other time in this lifters life. So he proceeds to open at 480, it grinds, and he goes to 510 for his second. Which he misses of course. Then misses it on his third as well.
This is common. I see it at every meet. Some guy opening with a grinder, then gets his ass kicked on his second, or then makes it but it zaps him so much he doesn't account for the fact that it will take some off of his other lifts, and then proceeds to miss most of them as well.
I've detailed how I pick attempts and how I get guys to pick attempts in Strength, Life, Legacy but I'm going to go a little more in depth in that here.
Just to get this bit of chest puffing out of the way, I have a fairly solid track record of training and picking attempts for powerlifters ranging from fairly new to elite level guys. Most of the guys I have helped in this regard generally go at minimum 7 for 9 with several PR's. 8 for 9 and 9 for 9 are very, very common. Not to mention that Ernie Lilliebridge Jr. tells me all the time "I don't know how you do that." in terms of picking attempts or nailing every call in terms of when someone will make a lift or miss it. I very rarely miss.
Success fuels success -
As an athlete I always thought that you prepared to be successful. It wasn't until I got into powerlifting that I found out that I had been fooled all these years.
That's heavy sarcasm in case you didn't catch it.
The whole purpose of training for weeks on end, traveling, spending money, and putting forth all the effort you did in preparation for a meet should be to go 9 for 9, with 4 PR's.
Period.
That's a squat PR, a bench PR, a deadlift PR, and a total PR. Yet I've read all sorts of fucking nonsense like "if you didn't have a miss you didn't go heavy enough."
What?
"If you got three whites on your squat you went too low."
Huh?
God damn, I've never been involved in a sport where success was so heavily frowned upon by so many. If your training and competing is spot on, it should reflect that on the platform.
And that starts with your opener. A great opener builds to a solid second, which sets the lifter up for a lot of confidence come that third.
This is what should be the goal on meet day. So where do I feel most guys go wrong?
Let's start with the opener.....
The opener and clarifying -
The opener is both the least, and most important attempt you will pick.
Your opener is least important in the way that, it should be an after thought. It should be so easy, that it literally requires almost no psyche. No second thoughts. You respect the weight, but it's insignificant IN TERMS OF WEIGHT ON THE BAR.
On the flip side, it's the most important because if you do not pick your opener correctly it can really set you up for a shitty day, or of course, you can bomb out.
Your opener should be EASY. I don't know what part of that word most people do not get.
EASY! EASY!!!!!!!!!
Your opener should be your last warm up. That's it. Your LAST WARM UP. What does a warm up feel like? Fucking easy.
If you wanted me to be a little more specific I usually call it between 85-88% of the planned third attempt. Some guys look at me incredulously and say "really?!?!"
Yes. That light. Who are you trying to impress with an opener? Seriously. I swear to Christ that's what half, or more than half, of these asshats I see at meets are doing. Trying to impress people with openers.
One myth I want to debunk is that "your opener should be something you can do for a triple."
What? You want to open with something that is roughly a max triple? That is a great piece of advice if you plan on leaving the meet that day with a shit ton of misses, or bombing out.
Most peoples three rep max will fall somewhere between 90% and 93% of their TRUE max. And you're going to open with 90+%?
I even had a friend tell me, upon my suggestion as to what his opener should be "that's a waste of an opener".
The only wasted opener is the one you miss.
Second and third attempts -
From a percentage standpoint your second attempt should generally fall around something in the 93% area of your goal.
Again, if you're not being completely stupid, your second attempt should be very doable. It should definitely require you to get "prepared" for it, however confidence should be high that you can make this lift.
Your second attempt is also the attempt that gives you an idea if the goal for the third attempt is there or not. If it grinds more than you'd like, back off a bit. If it has good speed through the transition point, then you should be good to go for hitting that goal.
At the UPA meet a few weeks ago I picked attempts for Pete Rubish, who went 8 for 9 for his biggest total ever. Pete fought me a little bit each time but eventually relented and told me after the meet "man, it's amazing how when you go smoke your opener, and then have a solid second, how much better than third attempt moves and feels."
Yeah man. That's the point.
Managing fatigue -
The other factor that people generally don't think about in regards to their second and third attempts is the accumulative fatigue that it has on the body. A low bar squat will tax the shoulders more than you think. If you arch hard in the bench, then the low back contracts very hard and will be more taxed than usual in the deadlift.
The meet day in general is long and boring, and fairly draining. So you need to take into account that there will be a certain amount of fatigue involved that time in the gym doesn't really account for. Adrenaline dumping after squats tends to take quite the toll as well.
So make sure you understand for example, that if you deadlift on a day you don't squat, then your deadlift is going to be a bit lower on meet day than it is in training. You won't be phresh come deadlift time on meet day.
The methods I don't like -
There are quite a few methods I see that I don't care for. I do know that some good and even great lifters use them, however that doesn't mean they are optimal, in my opinion.
Method 1 - Picking attempts too close
I see this one a lot. The guy will basically make the smallest jumps possible to his third. For example....
455 - 470 - 490
This guy opened with what should have been his second, then took a second that really served no purpose (97% of your goal???? Why???)
His attempts should have looked more like.......
415/430 - 455 - 490
Method 2 - Go for broke
I think this is my most despised method, because well, I think it's completely retarded.
"Open with something you could triple, get a small PR on the second, go for broke on your third."
This method makes my head hurt so bad I'm not sure where to start.
It's the anti-successful method. First off, this sets you up for misses. If you're going for broke on all of your thirds, one thing that is going to happen is you're going to grind the living shit out of them and then your next lift is going to be quite less than you anticipated (as we have covered).
Not only that, but on a down day, you're likely to miss a lot of those seconds. Small PR's are never a given. It's why you save them for your thirds, based on how your second attempts feels. You don't grind out an opener, then go for a PR on your second. Even if you make that small PR, it's probably not going to be an easy lift, and now the subsequent lifts will take a bit of a dive.
Closing -
Powerlifting is a sport where most of us spend quite a few bucks to go compete, and put in a lot of hard work and time in order to show up and be our best. Therefore it's also important that you make solid decisions about your attempts on competition day. You're not there to miss. Remember that.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Training log and 2 awesome success stories......
I haven't updated my training log the last few days -
Sunday - Squats
High Bar -
135x10,10
225x5,5
315 x 8 sets of 5
Notes - Quad is still very tender. So I'm taking it very easy.
Monday - Press
Incline Press -
barx20,20
135x10
185x5
225x4
275x3
315x2
365x2
405x2
275x20, 9, 7 = 36
Hammer Row - 4 plates per side x 6,6 2 plates per side x 12,12
Upright Rows - 110x8,8,8
Notes - Working towards 50 reps over the three sets on incline. The 405 double was stupid easy.
Success story #1 -
Paul,
I wanted to write to you about my meet on Saturday at the IPA Nationals in York, PA. I decided in
early September after being a reader of your blog over the past 2 years that I would finally fully
implement your Strong 15 program. I plugged in 10lb PR’s for each lift for Phase 3. (415 Squat, 275
Bench, 545 Dead) Prior to all of this, I’ve been in 2 meets. One in July 2012 where I totaled 1125 and
one in December 2012 where I totaled 1170.
Over the first half of 2013 I ran Sheiko based programs, but was plugging in maxes that were well over
my actual max. Additionally, I was using a belt for nearly all of my working squat and deadlift
training. Eventually, I beat myself into the ground and set myself up for injury. Ironically, I injured
my left lat when I was doing beltless squat training in May. The injury happened because I was out of
town for work and didn’t bring my belt. When I went to squat that night of the injury, I just took 30lbs
off my normal training weight and figured that would be good to squat beltless. I was wrong! I took a
week off from the gym after that injury.
When I started training after that injury, I decided to back the weight off a TON and I did 100%
beltless training. I started extremely low in weight and basically did 5x5 and 6x6 all summer adding
2.5-5lbs every session. By the time August rolled around, my beltless 5x5 squat was up to 335, which
was better than any of my previous belted squat work. As with any type of linear programming,
eventually you come to a halt and have to reset or back-off.
At that point in time, I decided I wanted to compete again and eyed up the IPA National
Championships in York, PA. When I decided to do the meet in September, I was 11 weeks away from
the meet date and the Strong 15 fit in perfectly with that timeframe. A couple key takeaways from
the 9 weeks of training: I didn’t institute using a belt until about week 7 of my training. I only did
about a half dozen singles with the belt on deads and squat through the whole program. All of my
back-off work was done without a belt. I only missed ONE lift the whole 9 weeks. It was the very last
week for deads training. I was training very late at night after a stressful and long day at work. On the
final back off set of 1x3, I only managed 2 reps as the 3rd rep only got halfway up. I loved the AMAP
work for bench. My final AMAP bench set was 235x7 paused, which I thought guaranteed my 275 3rd
attempt.
I decided to cut to 198. Really the only reason I cut to 198 was because the 198’s and under all lifted
on Saturday. The 220’s and up lifted on Sunday. I had some previous family obligations so it didn’t
work out for me to lift on Sunday. After reading about your weight cut for Relentless, I had some
trepidation, but I still decided to move forth with my cut. The previous Sunday I was 216. On Monday
I started my water loading and carb/sodium cut. On Friday morning, I woke up at 530 am at 203.6.
Over the course of the next 3 hours, I hot bathed and steamed off the remaining 5.6lbs. When I got
to the meet site at 10am, my initial weigh-in was 198.5, putting me .25 over. The lady weighing me in
told me to go pee and spit out as much as I could. I maybe got a couple dribbles of pee out and I was
trying to spit whatever saliva was left in my mouth. 15 minutes later, I weighed in at 198.1.
After the weigh-in, it was a food smorgasbord all day. BBQ, Pho, candy, Hawaiian Punch, Mike & Ike’s,
tons of water, quesadilla’s. I went to bed at 214. I woke up the next morning and had a half of an egg
omelet at the hotel and a bunch of coffee and water. Off to the meet I went.
In regards to the meet, I have to say it was run pretty darn well. The venue was the USA weightlifting
hall of fame in York, PA. The Challiet’s run the IPA and run the meet and I give them a ton of credit.
Great venue, nice warm-up area, the hall of fame was really cool, a nice seating area for eating and
relaxing between flights, and a cool retail store run by York Barbell.
When I started warming up, I felt a ton of gas on my insides. Part of the problem with a 17lb weight
cut is that the recomp forces you to eat a ton of food which my body wasn’t prepared for. The entire
day of the meet my stomach was hurting. I must have taken about 10 dumps. Although it didn’t
affect my lifting, it wasn’t exactly comfortable.
The IPA doesn’t have distinctions between wraps and no wraps. I still decided not to wear wraps, but
I did wear my Rehband knee sleeves. (I don’t think sleeves add any poundage to your total, but they
are good for health) I’m not sure if I’m ever going to be a knee wrap guy. It just seems like a lot of
hassle. I’m not going to knock anyone else for wearing them, but they just ain’t for me.
Squats felt good during warm-ups. My opener of 355 was a smoke show so I went ahead and called
for my planned second at 385 which was also fast. I called 415 for the 3rd and that was also fast.
I probably left a good 10lbs on the platform on squat. I credit all of the paused squats in Strong 15 for
giving me a 40lb meet PR that day. It was also a 10lb PR over my best gym squat, which doesn’t
necessarily matter. If you’re curious, my assistance lifts during the 9 week training cycle was a lot of
high bar squats and leg presses. I used the 350 method most of the time. After squats, I was on cloud
9. I could have left the meet at that point and still have been happy, but I knew I still had work to do.
60 lifters were going that day and they had 3 flights. So I had about 3 hours of waiting until I went for
bench. My back started wrenching up during that time. When I was doing my bench warm-ups,
whenever I got into a good arch starting position, my back was killing me. I decided to go with a
milder arch than usual because of that. 235 went up fast on my first attempt, 255 also was good. I
called 275 for my 3rd.
I was pretty nervous about that attempt as I’ve missed 275 a couple times when I attempted it over the last year. I figured with a 235x7 paused bench in training, that 275 would be in the bag this time. Unfortunately, I misgrooved the lift. The bar landed about 2 inches lower on my
body than I normally like and I only got the weight halfway up. I also probably should have taken the hand-off that was offered, but for some reason I felt like I needed to be a man and unrack it myself.
The weight cut could also be part of the reason that I missed 275. Regardless, I think that I could get 275 under optimal conditions in the future.
Over the next few hours, I did a lot of foam rolling for my lower back, which seemed to help the
wrenching feeling. I also did a lot of bitching and moaning to my girlfriend about how long the meet
was. She was nice enough to hear me out! 60 lifters is a lot, but I also understand that it was a big
venue and the IPA had a lot to pay for, so it was probably an unnecessary evil to have that many
lifters.
I started warming up for deads around 5pm. I believe my first lift was at 530pm. 465 was an absolute
smokeshow. Some of the other lifters said I could have cleaned it with the type of speed I had. 505
was also fast. I was nervous about calling 545 because of my missed lift on the last week of deadlift
training. I decided to call 540 because that was a 5lb PR. The lift was good and I had decent speed
with it. I didn’t shake through the lift like a lot of the other lifters did on their 3rd
attempts.
I probably left about 15lbs on the platform with that lift. I think I underestimated how many pounds a
whippy bar can add to your deadlift. I will forward you the video I have for that lift.
Anyway, I was 8/9 for the day and ended up with a 1210 total which gave me a 40lb meet PR. Also
PR’ed 2 of my lifts. I want to thank you so much for your blog and the Strong 15 program. The
submaximal training is great for confidence and recovery. The paused squats and AMAP work for
bench are amazing. All of my beltless training gave me a ton of confidence when I finally decided to
put a belt back on. The 350 method is an awesome protocol for assistance that also saves me a ton of
time, which is great for a business professional like me.
I’m looking forward to your base building manual when it comes out today. I plan on doing some
base building throughout the remainder of November and first half of December. I’m then going to
start another round of Strong 15 in mid-December in preparation for IPA States in early March. The
only changes I plan on making in the next round of Strong 15 are doing deficit deads as my back off
work and doing more DB rows in the first two phases of the training for assistance.
-- Bryan Schaeffer
Success Story #2 -
Hey Paul, hope alls well. Just felt the need to drop a line on you and say I just finished my second cycle of your strong 15, I got good results from running the first cycle stock, as-is, other than a lack of deadlift progress. The second cycle I repeated the bench day, minus the back off set, on saturdays, and upped the volume of the pulls. My first cycle ended with a 27.5 lb meet pr in bench, 35 lbs in squat, and 5 lbs in deadlift.
My second cycle ended with a 15 lb squat pr, a 20 lb bench pr, and a 25 lb deadlift pr. Granted my squat and bench sucked ass to begin with, but either way, I moved from an 1092.5 raw and wrapless total at 165 to 1220 in 18 weeks with only a handful of reps above 90%
If it weren't for LRB I'd still be moving a sub 500 dead and sub 400 squat. You totally changed the way I looked at training
-- Colton Lynn
Sunday - Squats
High Bar -
135x10,10
225x5,5
315 x 8 sets of 5
Notes - Quad is still very tender. So I'm taking it very easy.
Monday - Press
Incline Press -
barx20,20
135x10
185x5
225x4
275x3
315x2
365x2
405x2
275x20, 9, 7 = 36
Hammer Row - 4 plates per side x 6,6 2 plates per side x 12,12
Upright Rows - 110x8,8,8
Notes - Working towards 50 reps over the three sets on incline. The 405 double was stupid easy.
Success story #1 -
Paul,
I wanted to write to you about my meet on Saturday at the IPA Nationals in York, PA. I decided in
early September after being a reader of your blog over the past 2 years that I would finally fully
implement your Strong 15 program. I plugged in 10lb PR’s for each lift for Phase 3. (415 Squat, 275
Bench, 545 Dead) Prior to all of this, I’ve been in 2 meets. One in July 2012 where I totaled 1125 and
one in December 2012 where I totaled 1170.
Over the first half of 2013 I ran Sheiko based programs, but was plugging in maxes that were well over
my actual max. Additionally, I was using a belt for nearly all of my working squat and deadlift
training. Eventually, I beat myself into the ground and set myself up for injury. Ironically, I injured
my left lat when I was doing beltless squat training in May. The injury happened because I was out of
town for work and didn’t bring my belt. When I went to squat that night of the injury, I just took 30lbs
off my normal training weight and figured that would be good to squat beltless. I was wrong! I took a
week off from the gym after that injury.
When I started training after that injury, I decided to back the weight off a TON and I did 100%
beltless training. I started extremely low in weight and basically did 5x5 and 6x6 all summer adding
2.5-5lbs every session. By the time August rolled around, my beltless 5x5 squat was up to 335, which
was better than any of my previous belted squat work. As with any type of linear programming,
eventually you come to a halt and have to reset or back-off.
At that point in time, I decided I wanted to compete again and eyed up the IPA National
Championships in York, PA. When I decided to do the meet in September, I was 11 weeks away from
the meet date and the Strong 15 fit in perfectly with that timeframe. A couple key takeaways from
the 9 weeks of training: I didn’t institute using a belt until about week 7 of my training. I only did
about a half dozen singles with the belt on deads and squat through the whole program. All of my
back-off work was done without a belt. I only missed ONE lift the whole 9 weeks. It was the very last
week for deads training. I was training very late at night after a stressful and long day at work. On the
final back off set of 1x3, I only managed 2 reps as the 3rd rep only got halfway up. I loved the AMAP
work for bench. My final AMAP bench set was 235x7 paused, which I thought guaranteed my 275 3rd
attempt.
I decided to cut to 198. Really the only reason I cut to 198 was because the 198’s and under all lifted
on Saturday. The 220’s and up lifted on Sunday. I had some previous family obligations so it didn’t
work out for me to lift on Sunday. After reading about your weight cut for Relentless, I had some
trepidation, but I still decided to move forth with my cut. The previous Sunday I was 216. On Monday
I started my water loading and carb/sodium cut. On Friday morning, I woke up at 530 am at 203.6.
Over the course of the next 3 hours, I hot bathed and steamed off the remaining 5.6lbs. When I got
to the meet site at 10am, my initial weigh-in was 198.5, putting me .25 over. The lady weighing me in
told me to go pee and spit out as much as I could. I maybe got a couple dribbles of pee out and I was
trying to spit whatever saliva was left in my mouth. 15 minutes later, I weighed in at 198.1.
After the weigh-in, it was a food smorgasbord all day. BBQ, Pho, candy, Hawaiian Punch, Mike & Ike’s,
tons of water, quesadilla’s. I went to bed at 214. I woke up the next morning and had a half of an egg
omelet at the hotel and a bunch of coffee and water. Off to the meet I went.
In regards to the meet, I have to say it was run pretty darn well. The venue was the USA weightlifting
hall of fame in York, PA. The Challiet’s run the IPA and run the meet and I give them a ton of credit.
Great venue, nice warm-up area, the hall of fame was really cool, a nice seating area for eating and
relaxing between flights, and a cool retail store run by York Barbell.
When I started warming up, I felt a ton of gas on my insides. Part of the problem with a 17lb weight
cut is that the recomp forces you to eat a ton of food which my body wasn’t prepared for. The entire
day of the meet my stomach was hurting. I must have taken about 10 dumps. Although it didn’t
affect my lifting, it wasn’t exactly comfortable.
The IPA doesn’t have distinctions between wraps and no wraps. I still decided not to wear wraps, but
I did wear my Rehband knee sleeves. (I don’t think sleeves add any poundage to your total, but they
are good for health) I’m not sure if I’m ever going to be a knee wrap guy. It just seems like a lot of
hassle. I’m not going to knock anyone else for wearing them, but they just ain’t for me.
Squats felt good during warm-ups. My opener of 355 was a smoke show so I went ahead and called
for my planned second at 385 which was also fast. I called 415 for the 3rd and that was also fast.
I probably left a good 10lbs on the platform on squat. I credit all of the paused squats in Strong 15 for
giving me a 40lb meet PR that day. It was also a 10lb PR over my best gym squat, which doesn’t
necessarily matter. If you’re curious, my assistance lifts during the 9 week training cycle was a lot of
high bar squats and leg presses. I used the 350 method most of the time. After squats, I was on cloud
9. I could have left the meet at that point and still have been happy, but I knew I still had work to do.
60 lifters were going that day and they had 3 flights. So I had about 3 hours of waiting until I went for
bench. My back started wrenching up during that time. When I was doing my bench warm-ups,
whenever I got into a good arch starting position, my back was killing me. I decided to go with a
milder arch than usual because of that. 235 went up fast on my first attempt, 255 also was good. I
called 275 for my 3rd.
I was pretty nervous about that attempt as I’ve missed 275 a couple times when I attempted it over the last year. I figured with a 235x7 paused bench in training, that 275 would be in the bag this time. Unfortunately, I misgrooved the lift. The bar landed about 2 inches lower on my
body than I normally like and I only got the weight halfway up. I also probably should have taken the hand-off that was offered, but for some reason I felt like I needed to be a man and unrack it myself.
The weight cut could also be part of the reason that I missed 275. Regardless, I think that I could get 275 under optimal conditions in the future.
Over the next few hours, I did a lot of foam rolling for my lower back, which seemed to help the
wrenching feeling. I also did a lot of bitching and moaning to my girlfriend about how long the meet
was. She was nice enough to hear me out! 60 lifters is a lot, but I also understand that it was a big
venue and the IPA had a lot to pay for, so it was probably an unnecessary evil to have that many
lifters.
I started warming up for deads around 5pm. I believe my first lift was at 530pm. 465 was an absolute
smokeshow. Some of the other lifters said I could have cleaned it with the type of speed I had. 505
was also fast. I was nervous about calling 545 because of my missed lift on the last week of deadlift
training. I decided to call 540 because that was a 5lb PR. The lift was good and I had decent speed
with it. I didn’t shake through the lift like a lot of the other lifters did on their 3rd
attempts.
I probably left about 15lbs on the platform with that lift. I think I underestimated how many pounds a
whippy bar can add to your deadlift. I will forward you the video I have for that lift.
Anyway, I was 8/9 for the day and ended up with a 1210 total which gave me a 40lb meet PR. Also
PR’ed 2 of my lifts. I want to thank you so much for your blog and the Strong 15 program. The
submaximal training is great for confidence and recovery. The paused squats and AMAP work for
bench are amazing. All of my beltless training gave me a ton of confidence when I finally decided to
put a belt back on. The 350 method is an awesome protocol for assistance that also saves me a ton of
time, which is great for a business professional like me.
I’m looking forward to your base building manual when it comes out today. I plan on doing some
base building throughout the remainder of November and first half of December. I’m then going to
start another round of Strong 15 in mid-December in preparation for IPA States in early March. The
only changes I plan on making in the next round of Strong 15 are doing deficit deads as my back off
work and doing more DB rows in the first two phases of the training for assistance.
-- Bryan Schaeffer
Success Story #2 -
Hey Paul, hope alls well. Just felt the need to drop a line on you and say I just finished my second cycle of your strong 15, I got good results from running the first cycle stock, as-is, other than a lack of deadlift progress. The second cycle I repeated the bench day, minus the back off set, on saturdays, and upped the volume of the pulls. My first cycle ended with a 27.5 lb meet pr in bench, 35 lbs in squat, and 5 lbs in deadlift.
My second cycle ended with a 15 lb squat pr, a 20 lb bench pr, and a 25 lb deadlift pr. Granted my squat and bench sucked ass to begin with, but either way, I moved from an 1092.5 raw and wrapless total at 165 to 1220 in 18 weeks with only a handful of reps above 90%
If it weren't for LRB I'd still be moving a sub 500 dead and sub 400 squat. You totally changed the way I looked at training
-- Colton Lynn
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