Some thoughts on improving Crossfit

I'm sure the title of this will raise some eyebrows, and possibly roll some eyes.

You can't even whisper the word Crossfit these days without making someone angrier than the Hulk or causing diamond cutter nipples on some chick that's been in a "box" for all of two weeks.

Crossfit doesn't tend to illicit a middle ground in regards to reactions from people.  It's either venom or valentines.  And the fact is, there's reasons for both responses.

For starters, Crossfit is big business now.

Yes, there's your obvious quote of the week from this blog post.  Reebok just made Rich Froning one of their highest paid athletes.  On par with the likes of NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL athletes.

Think about that for a minute the next time you talk about how no one can make money in powerlifting.  In the next 10 years, barring some unforeseen meltdown, Crossfit will be a billion dollar business.  Perhaps in less time than that.

Anytime something garners that kind of recognition, as quickly as Crossfit has, it's not going to be a polished product.  And that's where a lot of the criticism comes from.  Essentially, that there are too many stupid things being done in CF boxes, and even at the Crossfit games.

To be fair, this shouldn't be surprising.

There are over 10,000 Crossfit affiliated gyms in the world.

Ten thousand.

Can you name right off the top of your head, 10....TEN awesome Olympic lifting coaches, then TEN awesome powerlifting coaches, then TEN awesome conditioning coaches, etc so forth and so on?

Maybe.  Maybe not.

Yet in virtually ever CF box the following is "practiced".....

Plyometrics
Powerlifting
Strongman events
Bodyweight movements
Calisthenics
Distance movements (running, rowing, etc)
Kettlebell work

That's a LOT of shit to cover.  And one of the primary complaints from the strength community is that CF isn't specialized enough.  Well, if CF is going to be about doing a LOT of shit, then regardless of how much it chaps the ass of the CF community, then the rest of us have to expect them to be "ok" at a LOT of shit.  Not masterful at it.  People that do Olympic lifting only practice and practice and practice and practice.  Multiple times a day, if they are Olympic level athletes, on just perfecting TWO movements.

Really good powerlifters spend years and years and years perfecting their technique on three movements that, at the heart of it all, aren't OVERLY technical (sorry brothers, they really aren't).  Yet it can take a long time to really develop your squat, bench press, and deadlift.

So our expectations shouldn't be that Crossfit peeps are going to be as technically proficient as people that specialize in just a few things.  That's not the scope of what they do, so it shouldn't be expected.  Perhaps some of them do excel in some areas, then not so much in others.  Then when we see the "others" shit they do that looks atrocious, well that's when the pitchforks and mob part come out to set some boxes on fire then tar and feather the CF peeps and coaches for allowing such ugly looking shit to be carried on.

So the complaint that CFers don't specialize really isn't a legitimate complaint because, well....they never said they did.  Or were going to.  They want to do a lot of different shit.  So, we shouldn't expect specialization out of people who openly admit they aren't specializing.  Doesn't seem very fair.

Now that I have the anti-Crossfit people pissed off, let me assure you, I have complaints too.

First off, as I already posted about, the deadlift that got passed at the games was so atrocious it's been shared across the internet eleventy billion times due to the horrific nature of it.  It was a turd blossom of a deadlift the likes of which I've never seen.  And some of the comments defending it were astounding to me.

"She hung in there, and got the lift.  It was her job to get the bar from point A to point B, and she did that."

When I read shit like that, it's hard for me to believe that the person that wrote it was really the fastest swimmer out of the millions of sperm shot out of daddy's sex cannon.  I get that CF people want to defend their brand.  But call a fucking turd a god damn turd when you see it.  It's when CF people DEFEND shit like that, that other people tend to get incensed.

A sport won't and will never improve if the people involved in it cannot be critical of it as well.  That's a fact.
Just because something is allowed in a sport, doesn't mean it should be, or always will be.  Sports and athletics tend to evolve over time based on the invention of materials, and the competitors involved in said sports and athletics.

We're not still running around in fucking leather helmets in the NFL.  And pro teams aren't running the wish-bone as a base offense anymore either.  Things change.  And for good reason.  It's because people involved in those sports realize the need for change, and adapt to what will make the sport better.  If something sucks, either the sport changes, or it dies.  Even if it's just for entertainment, either it evolves, or no one wants to see that shit anymore.

I mean, we could only take so many years of American Gladiators before we finally go "alright fuck, that's enough of dudes in american flag yoga pants and chicks overdosing on primobolan.  What's on ESPN?"

So what, in my opinion - that won't be seen or counted by anyone with any say in the Crossfit community - could CF change in order to make it better?  Or less criticized at least....

• No more kipping pullups - This is probably the biggest complaint I hear about from people who don't do CF.  And I have to agree.  Kipping pullups are a fucking eye sore to watch.  It's like watching a fish get Rodney King'd on a chin up bar.  It's just....atrocious.  It can't be defended.  The pull up/chin up is a GREAT movement to demonstrate upperbody strength.  After all, you're pulling your body....errr, up.  Seems simple, doesn't it?  Well in CF, they did away with the strength aspect of it by allowing people to essentially kick their body up through the air, and do ZERO pull-ups.  Not only that, like most of the things I'm going to suggest, getting rid of the kipping would make judging easier.  I mean, I see shit counted after a CFer has done 30 or 40 kipping pull ups that don't look like what they were doing when they started the set.  Hanging chins, where you go from full arm extension, to your chin over the bar, without kipping, should replace kipping fish ups...chin-ups, I mean.  
• No hitcing or ramping on deadlifts - Not after that shit I saw last weekend.  Yes, I know that strongmen are allowed to hitch and ramp.  But CFers aren't strongmen.  And no, they aren't powerlifters either.  However as NOTED, they don't specialize either.  Since they don't, it makes doing hitched and ramped deadlifts far more dangerous for the athletes.  A deadlift without hitching or ramping once again also makes it easier for the judges to make correct calls.  No hitching or ramping, you have to lock it out, your feet can't move out of position once the lift is started.  Just keep it simple for both the athlete, and the judges.
• No high rep Olympic lifting - When Olympic lifting comes around at the Olympics, the athletes do a max lift in the snatch, and clean and jerk.  Seems simple enough.  But the fact is, the Oly lifts are highly technical.  And when you start asking an athlete to perform them in a high rep manner, then the technique portion goes out the window, and now you're inviting bad shit to happen.  Just have em do a max single in the snatch, clean, power clean, clean and jerk, whatever.  Not who can do a zillion reps in that shit.  
• Leave the endurance or rep events to movements that are more suited to it - Rope climbing  for example, is fine.  You climb up a rope.  Really simple.  So are box jumps.  You jump up on a box.  Yeah I know, lots of people have torn their achilles doing those but it's impossible to eliminate all danger from every sport.  Unless it just gets really out of control, you're going to have accept some risks.  My point is, if there are going to be endurance or repetition events, there are movements to lend themselves to be more "athlete friendly" in that regard.  Most all bodyweight movements do very well with that.  Once you impose a load onto a movement, then the ball game changes.  It changes a LOT when it's a highly skilled movement that is loaded, and then you ask the athlete to do maximum repetitions with it.  I mean, you can't compare doing barbell curls for max reps with doing max rep snatches.  One is highly technical, and one is not.  If it's a highly technical movement, keep it out of that "rep work" event.  
• If the demo team can't do it, the athletes shouldn't be doing it either - I saw this on a video, and heard about a few other instances of it.  Essentially, if a member of the "demo team" can't perform what the athletes are going to be asked to do, either get "better" demo team people, or reduce the "load" or "effort" required to complete the task.  It doesn't make sense to me that someone on a team that is supposed to demonstrate for the crowd, can't do so.  I don't understand how that doesn't raise more eyebrows!  "Look, here's our demo team.  Bobby, show the crowd what the competitors will have to do for this next event!"  - Bobby fails - "Wellllll, that really sucks.  Athletes....get ready!"  There should be some change there in some regard.

I realize there will be all sorts of fucking comments, and since this post won't ever be seen by anyone in the Crossfit community that will take it seriously, don't expect your lashing out about it to be taken seriously either.  After all, I am writing about Crossfit after midnight on a Friday night.  

Should women train like men for strength?

Crossfit takes a lot of heat from people in the strength community.  But so do fitness, figure, and physique competitors.

The parallel between the two tends to be that what they both do is essentially useless in regards to strength training.

Crossfit isn't "specific enough".

Figure, fitness, physique competitors have no idea how to build strength, or aren't strong.  They are "all show and no go".

They said that shit about bodybuilding men for a long time too.  But anyone that really follows the training of high level bodybuilders knows that there are plenty bodybuilders that are strong as shit.  And this whole "all show and no go" shit has gotten on my nerves for years.

Kai Green and Ronnie Coleman aren't strong?  Stan Efferding isn't strong?  Amit Sapir isn't strong?

Try 585x10 on squats belt only.




For months now I've seen women some fitness and physique competitors putting up numbers that rival and even best some of the top powerlifting women.

A few months ago I saw a video of Gillian Ward, currently an NPC Physique competitor whose roots lie in gymnastics and Crossfit, bench press 185 pounds for 15 reps at 132 pounds.

Why don't you let that sink in for a minute before you proceed.

185 for 15 at 132.

Do you know any 132 pound dudes that can do that?  Probably not.

And that's not even her best!

Gillian was kind enough to give me a very in depth look at her training history, and how she has trained throughout it.

• I began gymnastics at the age of 2 and did tons of conditioning throughout my childhood to help with gymnastics. I was one of the less "graceful" gymnasts on the team so I compensated by getting strong and powerful. My favorite things to do were to run, jump, climb, swing and tumble and I would do it anywhere that I could. I discovered that if I trained to be strong that my gymnastics skills improved. 
• Most of my training during my early childhood consisted of pull-ups, push-ups, dips, monkey bar climbing, squat jumps, lunges, sit-ups and sprints. 
• In my 20's I focused on my career and put my own athletic endeavors on the back burner. I continued to train with voracity on a daily basis but had no specific athletic goal. For a few years I dabbled in mixed martial arts, ballroom dance, modern dance and even yoga. I yearned to be an athlete again and found that when I was introduced to CrossFit in 2008.
• In 2008, I came in third at the CrossFit Games after only 14 weeks of dedicated training. This was because I had spent nearly 30 years at this point honing my physical skills and training. As a child I would day dream about having superhero strength & speed and spent my life chasing it. 
• CrossFit introduced me to the Olympic lifts and the power lifts. The bodybuilder squats that I had done previously were not legitimate squats. Through CrossFit I fell in love with the barbell. After a few very serious injuries my CrossFit career came to a halt. It was at this juncture that I transitioned to olympic lifting and powerlifting with the guidance of Mark Rippetoe. I met Rip at the 2008 CF games and he wanted me to train for the 2012 London Olympics as a weightlifter but at the time I was not interested.
• Once I started lifting seriously all of my nagging little injuries were gone and I felt better than I had in years. I no longer felt beat up all of the time. Instead I felt strong and capable. 
• I have tried several programs with powerlifting as I have progressed from being a novice to being an advanced trainee. I began by running Starting Strength for as long as possible followed by the Texas Method. After I had milked that for all of it's gains I hired professional help to design a program. I used Jim Steel for a while and he drastically upped my volume. After I while I moved on from that and enlisted the help of Matt Reynolds (strong gym). He introduced me to Russian Block periodization which worked well for me. Eventually my husband took the reigns of my programming and then I started doing it myself. 

Some more info on Gillian.  These numbers are ridiculous for dudes at her bodyweight.

Best Competition Lifts (148lb class, raw)
285 Bench
465 deadlift
400 squat

Rep Prs
225 bench for 17 reps
Bodyweight bench for 33 reps
Deadlift 315x 20 reps (at BW of 140, overhand, belt less)

Overhead Press (strict)
185lbs

Max strict Pull-ups (recent)
42

Max weighted chin
135lbs added


When powerlifting I bench 2x week, squat 2x week, press 1x week, deadlift 1x per week. I generally hit some singles and doubles in the 92-102% range of my training based on way phase I'm in and then do volume work in the 70-88% range (anywhere from 4-6 sets per exercise with a rep range of 4-12). During my powerlifting training I also do front squats, rack pulls, RDLs, floor presses, close grip benches, heavy barbell rows, weighted chins and dips. I keep it simple and hit my heavy work first flowed by accessory at high volume. I typically do dedicated training for 12 weeks leading up to a meet.

I transitioned to physique competition this past Spring and have added more "body Part" work though the meat of my training is still the main lifts. Right now I am training for the IFBB North Americans at the end of August in Pittsburgh. My current training cycle looks like this -


Day 1 - "Legs"
Squat - 5x5 heavy
Squat - 2x12 moderate load
Heavy Barbell Walking Lunges - 135lbs 4x20 steps
Super-set - Leg Press, Leg Extensions, some kind of plyo for about three sets of fairly high volume

Day 2 - "Upper/Push Priority"
Bench to a heavy single or some heavy doubles
Bench Volume Work – 3 or 4 sets of 12-15
Barbell press 4x10
Weighted Dips 4x10-15
Incline DB Press superset w/DB shoulder work – 304 sets to failure
One set max push-ups to finish (maybe 100 or more)

Day 3 - "Pull-priority"
Deadlift to a heavy triple or set of 5
Deadlift volume – one single hard set of 10
Legless Rope Climbs x 10to 20 ascents
Weighted Pull-ups or high volume unweighted pull-ups
DB or BB rows – 3-4 sets till failure

Day 4 rest

Gillian Ward

After that the three day split repeats again but I focus on more bodyweight exercises such as handstand push-ups and ring work in place of benching and pressing. I add in DB pressing and benching on these days. I will warm up for these days with some Olympic lifting – maybe snatch & c&J to a heavy single. My second leg day of the week tends to be higher volume, lighter load on the squats and then I do RDL instead of the lunges.

I do not do any direct arm work and focus entirely on large multi joint movements. It is not uncommon for there to be 300-400 pull-ups and 1000 push-ups in a week of training for me. This is very atypical but I have been doing it all my life.

She's not alone.  Susan Salazar, who started out doing figure, fitness, and physique competitions now sits atop the 123 class in powerlifting by totaling a world record 1,000 pounds.

In fact, in the 123 class she out totaled the person closest to her, world record holder in the squat, Caitlyn Trout, by a whopping 53 pounds.  Susan also holds the world record for the deadlift in the 123 class with a ridiculous 427 pounds.

Erin Stern, former Figure Olympia winner, said in Oxygen magazine that she's considering getting into powerlifting herself.  From Oxygen....

“It’s important to keep that competitive outlet, so I’m toying with the idea of doing some powerlifting competitions. I’m benching 165 pounds for reps, I’m squatting 225 for reps, and I just deadlifted almost 300 pounds. My strength is good,” 

These are solid lifts for someone who doesn't specialize in "strength" and weighs something to the tune of 135 pounds or so.  Especially in the bench press.

I chatted briefly a bit with Susan about her transition into powerlifting, and how her training differed from that of when she was doing shows.

Susan Salazar

Me - Ok so you came from figure, fitness, and physique competitors. That's how you got your start. Do you think the kind of training you did for those things carried right over into making you as successful as you've been in powerlifting?

Susan - Yes...I totally agree; that type of training helps "round out" the muscle group for a better performance on platform. We work on our weaker muscles groups that way, so to speak. Also the nutrition aspect of it has a lot to do with performance because I tend maintain a more consistent diet to be able to ease into my weight class rather than try to "cut" a large amount of weight at the end.

Me - So what did your training look like before when you were doing competitions compared to getting ready for meets?

Susan - It was pretty much not a method or style at all. Just a ton of volume (more like BBing) then maxing out wen it can closer to the meet. There wasn't much too it.  I was so new to it...I really wasn't sure what to do. I just continued with my BBing training and my coach fixed my technique so there you go.

Sooooo basically her training didn't change much at all.  She just refined her technique a bit, and off she went.  In other words, her base of strength was built from doing bodybuilding style training.

Now of course, powerlifting and strength sports will probably be dominated top to bottom by women who do just specialize in those areas.  So I'm not saying that physique competitors or Crossfitters have the market cornered on getting strong by any stretch of the imagination.  What I am saying is, their training methods probably do have benefits that powerlifting women could take some notes from.

Physique competitors essentially train like bodybuilders.  Lots of movements, lots of volume, lots of reps.

Crossfit women do a lot of bodyweight work.

Gillian was a gymnast.  So a big part of her "base" was built on tons of volume bodyweight work.

I've said all of this for a while.  In the offseason, powerlifters could and should take a few notes from what bodybuilders, strongmen, and other "strength" enthusiasts do.

For women especially, train to build the musculature involved in the big three, and most importantly in the torso.  At the end of the day, more muscle moves more weight.  There's no getting around that fact.  The bigger and more muscular you are, the higher your strength ceiling will become.  Powerlifting purists sometimes scoff at this.  But no one that got more muscular ever got weaker.  And when you limit yourself mainly to the big three, you're short changing your strength ceiling potential because you don't "fill out" completely.  The stabilizing muscle groups DO MATTER.

Women tend to have more difficulty building upper body strength in comparison to men, because they tend to have a lower proportion of muscle mass in their torso compared to men (ratio wise).  Note this particular study....

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8477683

The greater gender difference in upper body strength can probably be attributed to the fact that women tend to have a lower proportion of their lean tissue distributed in the upper body.  

You will often read that women should train like men to build strength.  Hell, even I have been guilty of saying this in the past.  But I do believe that women probably need to make some changes in their training in order to account for gender differences.  From an anecdotal standpoint, what I see going on with Physique competitors that cross over into powerlifting tends to back that up.  

Women probably need a LOT more volume and frequency than men to really maximize their upper body strength.  Not only that, they should also concentrate on getting stronger on their bodyweight movements as well.  I can't remember who, but someone once told me in regards to why Crossfit women were so muscular was all of the bodyweight movements they did.  It was something to the effect  of "bodyweight movements turn men into women, and women into beasts."  Some may argue that comment but I got the gist of it, and honestly I pretty much agree with it.  Women tend to do really well in terms of building upperbody strength and mass with high volume bodyweight work.  

To add to that, women also tend to need a significantly higher volume of upperbody work than men do overall.   

That means working the "angles" that bodybuilders talk about so much, doing a lot of rep work, and getting strong at moving your body through space. Where a man can go in and do lots of bench presses and some curls and get fairly jacked looking over time; women tend to need to do a lot of movements for a lot of volume, to really "fill in" all the gaps to achieve jackedness and get more strumpf. 

In my opinion, women should modify their strength training a bit to account for these differences and understand how to benefit from them.  

• Women might be better off having three to four upperbody days in a week.  Possibly two pressing days, and one or two pulling days.
• A quick look at Erin Stern's training routine from Bodybuilding.com shows she has three days dedicated to upperbody work.  
Monday: Shoulders and Arms
Tuesday: Plyometric Circuit and Legs
Wednesday: Rest or Cardio
Thursday: Back
Friday: Chest and Shoulders
Saturday: High-Intensity Interval Cardio
Sunday: Rest
• Again by no means am I saying that Erin is the epitome of what a strength athlete is, but doing 165 for reps on bench at 135 or so, is pretty damn good.  Notice she presses twice a week, then does back on another day by itself.  Just something to think about.
• They would benefit from doing all the various isolation movements that a lot of women in powerlifting ignore because it often gets seen as "fluff" by the men they train with.  But it may benefit the women a lot more by filling in the muscular gaps overall.  In other words, don't ignore flyes, laterals, curls, cables, and machines.  To maximize your upperbody strength and development you will need to do more work than your male counterparts.
• Women should be including bodyweight movements because I've never seen a female that could do a ton of dips, chins, and push ups that wasn't strong on barbell movements as well.  Some may say that the barbell movements are what make them strong on the bodyweight stuff but I don't agree.  I've generally seen it the other way around.  Gymnasts can move their body through space with speed and power, and I will bet a dollar to a hole in a doughnut that they could easily perform very well immediately on barbell movements.  In contrast, a lot of powerlifting women that gain weight in order to get strong on the powerlifts aren't going to be able to do chins, lots of dips, etc.  Women tend to struggle more with getting stronger on bodyweight stuff than just moving a barbell through space.  I do think they compliment each other very well, so just cover your bases and include both.  
• None of this means to totally exclude the lower rep ranges.  It just means to INCLUDE a lot of variation, higher reps, frequency, and volume in your upperbody training.

These are just ideas and nothing that was sent down from the Golden Gods. As you can see, the point is to cover all of the ideas touched on above. If you're a female and have been struggling to gain strength on your upperbody movements then the ideas addressed above may be what you need to change in your training to spurn on progress again.

It's hard to defend Crossfit when....

Shit like this gets passed..........



As most know, I've never been a crossfit basher. I've long said that it's done more for introducing more people to the barbell than anything in the history of strength and physical culture. So that is a good thing.

However, when I see shit like this it makes me shake my head.

This is exactly the thing people often complain about with Crossfit. That there is a "get the reps at all costs" mentality that is to blame for people getting fucked up and injured. And the fact is, that complaint is hard to ignore when people see shit like this, and the lift gets "passed".

Every sport has to have a set of clear cut standards that not only defines how to properly perform in said sport, but also takes into account the safety of the athlete. This is an example of where that is clearly ignored.

And before someone throws out the "you go down and judge then" bullshit, I don't need to be there judging to know this kind of shit is bad for the athlete.

Crossfit is here to stay whether you like it or not. Therefore what we should concentrate on instead of bashing it, is offering suggestions how to make it more structured and safer for the men and women that lay it on the line in these competitions. It would be infinitely better that Crossfit judged a deadlift in the same manner powerlifting does to eliminate confusion about whether the lift is good, and it would also improve safety for the athletes.

Not to mention that this shit is just ugly.

LRB Q&A

Do you think novices in their 30s and 40s should train the same as younger novices? Should novice and less expericed trainees at above 20 percent body fat work to increase their strength to a certain level or concentrate on becoming lean first?

For the most part, all novice trainees should train similar.  Unless there are serious extremes in ages or injury history, i.e. a 10 year old or 80 year old.

The best thing about being novice is that if you're overweight you get a nice window where you can indeed lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.  It won't be equal, mind you.  But it will be one of the few times where you can pull this off.  So yes, a novice that is above 20% bodyfat (male) should get their diet in order to lose the fat.


What do you find works best to increase your ability to hold onto the bar on the deadlift as the weight gets heavy? 
Special grip exercises, deadlift holds, ect ect.
Thank you in advance for your advice.

I've never had a grip problem.  Never lost a deadlift due to grip, but the one thing I have used with people is to do dumbbell holds for time.  Find the heaviest pair you can and hold them for as long as possible.  Do that twice a week and try to beat the time each week.


What's the carry over of deficient deadlifts been for you?

I do all of my deadlifts from a deficit.  Very small for regular deadlifts, and a big deficit for stiff legs.  Since I never pull from the floor it's hard to say.

1. What training programs and templates do you think work well together?

I don't know what this means.  I am vehemently against combining training programs.  Do them AS WRITTEN.

2. Do you feel there is a large difference between doing pyramid sets verses sets of the same reps but increasing weight each set?

They both have benefits and drawbacks.  If you want to sort of "pre-fatigue" yourself by staying with the same rep range all the way to the top set, you can.  If you want to save a little more for the top sets, then pyramiding is probably a better way to "warm up".

3. What is your stance on assistance work, are rep ranges as important with these as with the Big Lifts? Should you be consistent and follow the same exercises week by week? (I feel this is probably dependent on your goals: ie: BB, PL, Strongman)

It all depends on what support work you are doing, and why.  For example, I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would do sets of 6 on leg extensions.  Single joint movements don't tend to lend themselves to lower reps.  Where multi joint movements tend to like both high and low reps.  However some multi joint movements, like say front squats, tend to work better with lower rep ranges because of limiting factors (in this case, holding the bar).

Have you ever thought about doing a publicly posted skype conversation with pete rubish about gear usage? Both of you have done this but it seems that each you guys were the only knowledgeable person in each interview. It'd be a nice change of pace to see both parties bringing good information to the table. Stop yelling.

I can always ask Pete about it.

Pausing every rep for high rep sets on bench(8+) vs touch n go?

I like to pause ALL my reps on bench.  I feel like that is a great way to build power and speed from the bottom.  But if you're using the bench for hypertrophy reasons then touch and go would work well.

For someone who's been lifting for several years specifically for hypertrophy stimulation, that is now wanting to move toward powerlifting, what program and changes to lifting style should be made?

You need to focus on the big three, obviously.  You need to learn the difference in "moving weight" vs making the muscle work.  For example, bodybuilders can/do use the bench press to make the pecs work.  However in powerlifting the bench press involves everything from the legs for initial drive, and more tricep involvement.


What is your opinion of "pre-exhaustion", for mass gain purposes?

I did lots of that back in the day, and liked it a lot.  I did very well with pre-exhaustion.

High bar vs low bar squat as far as power output

All depends on the leverage of the lifter, and how they are built.  There have been lots of great high bar squatters, and lots of great low bar squatters.  My advice is to do both throughout the year.  Possible even in the same workout.  One thing I like to do is to do my pause squats high bar, but my meet training squats low bar.

Knee sleeves- elitefts or rehbands. 

I don't even own a belt, Andrew.

Any new music you're listening to for training lately

Lots of Trivium and Five Finger Death Punch.

Thoughts on including body weight movements outside of training ex. Push-ups sit ups pull ups during a base building phase.

I would like push ups as a bench day finisher.  Sit ups are an all around good movement no matter what people say.  There are a lot of muscle involved in a sit up.  Not to mention that it IS a very "functional" movement.  After all, "sitting up" is something you have to actually do every day.

Chins of course are awesome.


Lifting with knee pain

Depends on where it is.  If it's under the knee and feels like patella then get a brace for it.  If it's above the knee it could likely be IT band or even hip flexor related.  Lots of times pain radiates into an area above or below the actual problem area.

have you got any thoughts on groin hernias and recovery from surgery or nerve pain stemming from said operation? wondering if you have spoken to others that have experienced this?

Never dealt with that.

how is your training schedule? do you rotate the "big" exercises while using the base building model? squat bench deads front squatoverhead press sldl incline.

Generally it's lower body one day, upperbody the next day.  If my legs don't feel recovered I will throw in an extra upperbody day before another leg session.  But it's usually something like more back or arm work.

Other than discipline and sticking it out to it is there anything that you do to help with dieting down. You look like you did it with ease.

First thing I did was just cut out ALL junk.  No ice cream, no candy bars, etc.  Then after that I actually switched over to the diet Mike created for me.  Which was essentially no carbs on non-training days, then carbs mostly based around the training window.

Jonnie Candito - How big is your penor?

Slightly over 7".  I left your name in there Jonnie so that everyone knew you asked about my pinnis.

In general, what are some of the main underlying factors of hip hip pain at the bottom of a squat/hip impingement?

Generally that is related to glute medius/piriformis.  The best thing about that is, the same stretch tends to fix the issue.  Look up piriformis stretches and do some everyday.  It's an easy fix.

How do you effectively peak/prepare while avoiding over-training prior to a meet?

You DO need to overreach before a meet.  That's how super compensation kicks in if you time it properly.

What is your opinion on oly shoes for squatting?

If you squat like an Oly lifter, closer stance and more upright, then they tend to work well.  If you're a really wide squatter then I think people do better with more flat soled shoes.

How can a less experienced athlete (in terms of nutrition) calculate a reasonable amount of carbs for a refeeds and when should redress be done?

That's a very in depth question.  Ask my diet coach Mike Israetel.

For the over warm ups how much, percentage wise, should you go over your work set roughly?

Generally it's in the range of about 85%.

How would you rate a guy ready to use the Base Building? 
I mean, with which 1rms on big-3 at bw

If he has to ask if he's strong enough use it, he might not be.  However I've used it with fairly novice guys with great success as well.

Any merit to increasing squatting frequency and volume when a goal is systemic hypertrophy? Example going from conjugate style to 3x per week waving volume and intensity. going to work on mass for 12-18 weeks before beginning base building

Sounds like a bit of chronic routine changing to me.  Conjugate to 3X a week of madcow type stuff, then Base Building.  Mass training is largely dependent on calorie intake.  No mass building routine is going to work on a calorie deficit.  That being said, I prefer medium to high reps on multi-joint movements for mass training.  I'm not a big fan of squatting and pressing multiple times a week for "mass training".  Those kinds of programs are generally in place for practicing the lift.  Sure, you may gain some mass as side effect of it, but there is a reason why bodybuilding routines have stood the test of time for mass gain.

How to tackle the "dont ask, dont tell" culture of steroid use we currently have. It was really refreshing hearing you talk to Bret about this.

People just need to be educated better.  The media is still fairly ignorant about anabolics and still acts as if they are these horrible substances that are only used by people with low morals/cheaters.

Not progressing on OHP - even after resetting weight and building back up, any suggestions?

Overhead press with more volume, and multiple times a week, but keep bar speed good.  Don't grind out reps.  Lots of triples and sets of five.

How do you recommend a powerlifter eat the day before and during the day of a competition?

That depends on if he has been cutting weight or not.  If not, then he needs to stick with the foods he or she has been eating normally.  Don't all of a sudden add in something you weren't eating on a regular basis.  The last thing you want the day before or day of the meet is a case of the shits because of some new "super food" you had not been eating.  If you aren't cutting weight, then I suggest eating foods high in sodium to get somewhat bloated.  That does indeed help with lifting.  But you can do this by simply adding salt to healthy food choices as well.

Client's first meet success story

The last few months I have worked with a client who did his first meet last weekend.

To say he did well is a gross understatement. He went 9 for 9 with PR's on his squat and bench, and honestly, we undershot his deadlift so badly I am ashamed. I know people talk about leaving a lot on the platform, and most of the time it's to make themselves feel better, but watch his third deadlift here at 500....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyX-Fey1od4&feature=youtu.be

That was his previous best deadlift while he was fresh, and before he started working with me. He pulled it in the meet like an empty bar. He squatted 425 as well, and could have easily done 450.

Here is his write up about the last few months of working together....


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I first worked with Paul in September of 2013; at the time I had a sloppy, nowhere close to depth squat, and a deadlift that wasn't much better. That first three months saw my training loads cut way back while he worked to overhaul my technique. By the end of it I was squatting my previous "PR" correctly, and had increased my deadlift by close to 50 lbs.

Around the beginning of the year I made the decision to enter my first powerlifting meet, the Texas Firefighter Summer Games, so I once again contacted Paul to help me prepare. Over the next six months he utilized his Basebuilding method to get me ready. With his constant coaching on technique, and exceptional ability to program my loads I was basically able to train non-stop until time for the meet. The results of this method blew my mind. I came into the meet stronger than either of us expected setting a 15 lb PR on bench, and a 20 lb on my squat. I totaled 1200 (425s, 275b, 500d), took gold in my weight class, and after every third attempt I knew without a doubt that I had more in me. During that 6 months of basebuilding I only pulled over 400 a handful of times, only squatted 405 twice, and maybe benched 260 once, if that. I'm proof the Basebuilding system works, I consistently worked sub max loads, and still posted 2 PRs, and still left a lot of weight on the platform.

Training - Db Bench and shit

Training tonight -

Db Bench Press -

30's x 50
60's x 20, 10
100's x 8

140's x 13.5, 10
100's x 31

Incline Press - 225 x 25, 17

Barbell Curls - empty bar x 100

Notes - BLLLARG. Awful. Totally thought the first set would be an easy 15. Then as they started slowing down, in my head I literally thought "what the fuck? NO! It's just the 140's!"

Oh well. My elbows have been a bit achy so I am going to drop barbell bench for a few weeks for some db bench just as a change of pace. I will still incline press and do PBN as they bother my elbows less. I want to do the 140's x 20.

Training around pain - My article at strengthsensei.com

Go check it out.

http://www.strengthsensei.com/training-around-pain/