Powerlifting Training
A Developmental Approach
Second edition
Matt R. Wenning
M.S. Biomechanics
World Record Powerlifter
My Journey of training
A text dedicated to anyone wanting to get stronger, reduce mileage, and
have long-term success and fun with resistance training.
1
Warning
No part of this book may be reproduced without the written permission of
the author.
This book is solely written for the purpose of information and
education. It is not intended for the uneducated athlete or coach who is
not aware of how to be safe and efficient around weight training
equipment. Before you begin any training, contact a physician or doctor
and make sure your healthy enough for physical activity.
Safety is a priority, make sure you utilize all strength equipment as
designed and follow any manufacturer recommendations. It is also
important to contact a strength specialist and make sure your form and
technique are up to par before utilizing a strenuous training regimen.
While strength training can be a relatively low-risk sport, there is an
inherent risk in any physical activity. The author and publisher are not
responsible for injury or damage that may occur.
About the Author
8
2
Forward
15
Introduction to Iron
16
Objectives of this book
20
My History Pre-lifting
Things I would have changed
22
Chapter 2
34
The Start of Lifting: Age 12
34
Chapter 3
48
Stepping my game up
48
Chapter 4
54
32
The college years
54
Understanding the Value of Cross training and being an athlete and
Mesocycles
62
Training template
64
(Introduction to Soviet Systems)
64
Age 19-23
64
Template for the years of 2001-2003 collegiate USAPL national
champion multiple American and state records
68
The cycle I used to break American records in the USAPL as a junior
(771 Squat 1900+total)
73
Chapter 5
Graduate School 2003-2005
77
Chapter 6
80
Full time Westside member
My First Interview for the NFL
BASIC LAYOUT TEMPLATE
80
Chapter 7
85
Leaving Westside
85
77
83
84
3
Chapter 8
2010
95
Chapter 9
103
2012
103
True strength
Going to RAW
103
Chapter 10
111
My Lifting and my Health
111
95
105
Chapter 11
112
Lighter, leaner, and stronger with a drastic change in warm-ups112
Training History
117
A Heritage in Soviet Science
The conjugate system as we know it today
Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell
117
(B)
131
Methods, Guidelines, and modifications
Biological Laws of Training
(C)
Law of 72 Hours
(D)
Law of Individualization
(E)
Law of Diminished Return
Accessory Work/ Wenning warmups
(Repetition Method)
Benefit to Risk Ratio:
Summary
(3)
WENNING WARMUPS
131
120
127
132
137
137
138
138
139
139
154
154
156
158
160
160
4
Pre fatigue (specific SPP)
161
(C)
164
Program Design
164
1 - WEAK POINTS
165
2 - STRESS LEVEL
166
3 - DIET
167
4 - EXPERIENCE LEVEL
168
5 - EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE
170
RAW TRAINING CYCLES
172
The off-season
218
Equipped Training Cycles
259
EXAMPLE E
275
Bench only shirt cycle
275
The Game Changer
289
Wenning Warmups
289
Weaknesses in the Squat
305
The Bench Press
307
Bands and Chains (Accommodative Resistance) And why they are
needed
319
Band Tensions and Use:
334
Part 9
336
Recovery, Restoration, Soft tissue injury
336
Soft Tissue Injuries
342
The Phases of Remodeling of Soft Tissue Healing:
346
Ultra-light Tempo Training
350
Contents
About the author
Forward
5
Introduction to Iron
(A)
1.1
Personal history
1.2
1.3
The start of lifting
1.4
Time to get serious
1.5
The College years
1.6
Graduate School
1.7
Westside Lifter
1.8
1.9
Pre lifting age
Leaving Westside
Opening of Ludus Magnus
1.10 True Strength
1.11 My lifting and my health
1.12 Lighter leaner and stronger
History of methods (2.1)
6
A Heritage in Soviet Science
The conjugate system and transfer to weightlifting
The United States and its minimal influence
Western Science and the Dilemma
(2)
Application of Methods
2.2
Methods and guidelines of resistance training
2.3 program design (what you need to know)
2.4 the big 3 lifts (squat, bench, deadlift form and tips)
2.4 Bands and chains (accommodating resistance)
2.5 Restoration and modalities (takes more than lifting to be great)
7
Matt Wenning prepping for the 1197 world record squat in 2011.
About the Author
Matt Wenning is one of the top powerlifters and strength coaches
of his generation; totaling over 2600 lbs. on multiple occasions and
winning both top national and international powerlifting competitions.
He was one of the youngest lifters to squat 900 pounds, as well as held a
world record squat of 1197 pounds in multiply powerlifting equipment.
Matt was also one of the youngest lifters to break an all-time world
record 2665 pound total and has been on the Westside Barbell record
board with a 785 pound bench press.
8
His impressive raw accomplishments also put him in an elite class
of lifters that only a few can say they’ve achieved. Matt has a 611 lb. raw
bench and a world record 832 and 865 lb. completely raw squat in full
powerlifting competitions. His 2204 raw total was ranked 2nd of all time
in the 308lb weight class.
There have been few lifters who have achieved both world-class
powerlifting statuses in both equipped and raw competition. The
strength training systems outlined in this book were utilized for both
environments.
Wenning doing his first 600lb raw bench in competition (2012).
While Matt Wenning has experienced several great successes
throughout his powerlifting, it was by no means an easy journey to get
to where he is today.
Wenning, at a mere six years of age, was struck by a car while
riding his bike. The accident broke both of his legs in multiple places,
leaving Matt in two full leg casts as well as confined to a wheelchair for
almost a year. It took years of rehabilitation before he began his
strength training at a local gym. He was thirteen, and this very training
9
facility was where he found his calling to both the platform and his
future career.
After high school, Wenning earned a Bachelor of Science in
Exercise Physiology in 2003, as well as went on to earn a Master of
Science in Sport Biomechanics from Ball State University in 2005.
Wenning worked alongside some of the top exercise science professors
in the field, including Rob Newton, William Kraemer and David Costill. It
was at Ball State that he was introduced to muscle physiology,
endocrinology, and biomechanics.
A leader in exercise
sciences both in the
United States and
across the globe. The
University has
contracts with NASA,
and is one of the best
biomechanics and
muscle physiology labs
in the world.
Matt Wenning now owns the Ludus Magnus performance center
in Columbus, Ohio. On a daily basis, he works with U.S. Army Rangers,
Firefighters, as well as triathletes and the general population for weight
loss and functional strength.
10
Wennings performance center located in Columbus OH. Athletes,
powerlifters, and the general population train at his facility
Wenning has over 12,000 hours of experience as a Division 1
college strength coach in a variety of sports including football, track,
swimming and baseball. He has helped over a dozen football players
secure NFL contracts on various teams, and has helped them stay in the
league throughout injury and rehabilitation.
While Matt has a lot of experience with elite level athletes, the
majority of his clientele revolves around general populations,
rehabilitation, and anti-aging. This vast group of people has allowed him
to experiment and develop training that is geared towards the majority
of the population,
and has proven
time and time
again to get
impressive
results.
11
Wenning speaking at Elite fts learn to train seminar in 2013.
Matt Wenning is also on the committee board for the Australian
Strength and Conditioning Association (ASCA). He is an international
consultant for Tactical and Performance education, seminars for pro
rugby, as well as the Australian Research Institute.
He also is a major speaker in the United States for the National
Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He spoke at multiple
coach’s conferences, tactical conferences, and internal seminars for
employees of the NSCA. He has been a part of the speaking circuit since
2011.
Wenning speaking at the NSCA
tactical conference in San Diego
California 2014.
Wenning has advised
many pro strength programs on methods to optimize their time and
equipment, including the San Francisco 49ers, the Cleveland Browns,
and the Chicago Bears.
12
He also has experience with firefighters which includes his time
spent serving as Strength and Wellness Coordinator for the Washington
Township Fire Dept. in Dublin, Ohio. He implemented a state-of-the-art
strength and conditioning program for more than 130 firefighters that
encompassed a wide range of ages (22-60) and ability levels. He has
lowered injury and increased performance significantly within the
department from 2008 to the present. Since he started his work there,
injury claims have dropped nearly 50% while performance ratings have
increased 30%, all while the average age of the department has stayed
over 45.
The Third Battalion3rd Ranger Battalion of the United States
Army has also updated their training with the help of Matt Wenning.
From 2007 to 2009, he assisted in training this elite group of 700 +
Soldiers by helping them increase their dominance over opposing
forces. He structured his training by teaching them the methods in this
manual. The training included a paradigm shift towards increasing
maximum strength and power, rather than focusing on traditional
endurance training.
Ironically, this led to better running times while decreasing injury
rates. The training addressed weaknesses and focused on balancing the
Soldier’s physical abilities. This was a shift from the previous way the
armed forces were using weight training; furthermore, it helped them
select better modes for increasing endurance both aerobically and
anaerobically.
The next step was to implicate these training methods into more
conventional Army forces, starting with The 4th Infantry Division in Ft.
Carson, Colorado. From 2010 to 2013, Matt Wenning employed what he
13
learned from his time with the 3rd Ranger Battalion into a system that
could be used for over 6,000 ground troops. In just a short period of
time, he saw the same statistics as before. Endurance was increasing,
while injury rates were
reduced.
4th Infantry at Ft. Carson
2010-2013.
This attention allowed him to become a part of the Pentagon
committee for physical fitness in the Armed Forces. His advice on some
of the fitness standards helped change the current PT testing. These
changes include more anaerobic based training and agility, all of which
are very important on the battlefield.
14
Forward
This book is dedicated to those that wish to get stronger in all aspects,
those that want to keep expanding their minds as well as their bodies.
I'd like to thank all of the guys that started me on this journey:
Brad Warner, Tim Smith, Jim Dawson, Sonny Runion, Louie Simmons, Ed
Coan, George Halbert, and Chuck Vogelphol.
Without you guys I would have never found or had such passion in life.
I would also like to thank all of the teachers, coaches and professors that
helped me along the way to better myself:
Wade Russell, Robert Newton, Bill Kraemer, David Costill, Scott
Mazzetti, and everyone else at Ball State University for their knowledge
and patience.
15
Introduction to Iron
Powerlifting by definition, is the ability to squat, bench press, and
deadlift with as much weight as possible. It is a skill that to master
requires weeks, months, and even years in order to achieve desired
results. Most great powerlifters are not young guys, nor are they
considered by most standards to be in their prime (ages 18-23).
Powerlifting is a sport where most people break world records not in
their prime, but instead in their late 20s continuing all the way into their
40s. This is due to the amount of time it takes to obtain maximal
strength and power.
To understand powerlifting is to understand physics,
biomechanics, nutrition, endocrinology, and of course, strength and all
of its facets. Without a great understanding of the human body functions
and the gravitational forces we encounter on the daily, your strength
and potential will be limited.
I’m aware that not everyone who reads this necessarily wants to
be a world record holder, strength coach, or trainer. I’m sure most
people just want to perform better in their local gym, or perform better
at a regional level in lifting or in their respective sport. Others may be
more concerned with the increase of injury risk as they age, since 80%
of the population will suffer from lower back injuries and pain at some
point in their lifetime. This debilitating phenomenon is the cause of 1
out of every 5 injuries incurred in the job field (regardless of
profession). It is no surprise that many of these injuries are related to
16
weak muscles, poor posture, and lack of overall fitness. This makes
powerlifting-training methodologies important to us all in some way,
shape or form. That’s why the ultimate takeaway from this book is how
to work on being strong.
There is knowledge in each journey and you must be patient. We
all start somewhere, the key is to better ourselves every day. It’s always
been both challenging and fun for me to pursue strength gains. And
throughout it all, it’s important to remember that strength improvement
is just that: it’s a small buildup of you. It doesn’t matter where you start,
it matters where you finish. Powerlifting has taught me to take it one
day at a time.
Great things come to those who think long term. It took me most
of 20 years to reach the world class in powerlifting. Ultimately, I
realized that anything worth having takes time, effort, and passion.
There will be ups, there will be downs; but the key is to hold on and do
your best. Everyone has setbacks; those setbacks could be how you’re
built, your ability to put on muscle, the flexibility of a person, etc. The
key is to deal with the hand you are dealt and work hard despite the
setbacks. Without my downs, my lows, and my setbacks, as you will see
in this book, I would have not gained the experience and knowledge that
has helped me become who I am today.
Your potential will also be limited by your mental and physical
toughness. Most people have a difficult time throughout normal day to
day life with taking chances, investing time and effort into something,
as well as being patient. Being a good lifter takes all of those qualities
and more. 600 pounds will always be 600 pounds, and that leads to the
question do you have the drive training and toughness to move that
weight? Big weights are 70% mental and 30% physical.
The hardest part about teaching powerlifting is that we all begin
with different athletic experiences, varying ages, and biomechanics. We
are all human, but we also all have unique differences that definitely
17
become apparent when one starts to push the envelope. This is why it’s
difficult to use standard training programs. Although people can get
ideas from others, the real education is learning for yourself, identifying
your needs and weaknesses, and addressing them systematically.
It’s important to remember that the training that’s best for you in
the beginning may not be what you need at another stage of your ability.
In this text I have broken the training down into multiple training
stages. This will allow you to make better decisions when selecting your
exercises. Furthermore, this text will go over biomechanics and how to
work towards proper form.
Teaching the Basics at Elitefts.
Sometimes I remember the basics by helping beginners past plateaus.
Throughout this journey and the different stages, we must be
willing to learn, adapt and grow, otherwise we will become stagnant.
There is no maintaining, in the end you are either gaining or retracting.
This can also mean that to get better, one must take a step back, in order
to take 2 steps forward.
18
The greats understand that certain programs and training models
all have their merit, but always keep in mind the fundamentals and
make sure to apply logic when encountering obstacles. I’ve seen far too
many lifters and coaches stray away from the necessary basics in order
to find the next best thing. There is no new trick, shortcut, or easy way,
but there is always a better way. As you can see, this becomes a double
edged sword, but it always comes down to fundamentals and the ability
to train what you need, instead of training what you are comfortable
with.
Bill Kazmaier
benching 661
raw in the
early 1980s.
He’s an all
time great,
and one of my
idols.
What I love about weight training is that it’s me against the
weight. It’s a feeling of accomplishment knowing that I’m going to the
gym, while others are at home or in bed relaxing. It’s a sense of
accomplishment that I make progress on something every day.
19
Most individuals never get to experience daily progress, or watch that
manifest into achieving long-term goals.
The deadlift has always been
the lift I struggle with, but
has taught me more than the
other disciplines due to its
hardships.
I hope this book helps you achieve the goals you are seeking faster
with fewer injuries, and while having more fun. I know that if I would
have obtained some of this information earlier in my career I would
have been able to get stronger much quicker, and saved myself a ton of
hassle. This book should give you just about everything you need to
start correctly, and continue to see progress for a very long time. The
key is to always strive for progress and push your limits physically and
mentally. Without challenges life is lackluster.
Matt R. Wenning M.S.
Objectives of this book
This books objective is to lay out as much as possible on training
and the development of strength. Although there are many paths to
20
greatness, and no one lifter or athletes’ journey is the same, this book
focuses on a smart approach to strength as a long-term process.
Talking training with Mark Bell after
26 years of competing and
training.
Although strength enhancement can be dangerous and confusing,
I hope that this book alleviates some questions and makes strength
training more enjoyable by avoiding the pitfalls of thought and training.
The lack of long-term training studies and funding for strength research
has always been a shortcoming in the strength and conditioning fields.
Labs and colleges have gone in search for the money, instead of
identifying the fundamentals necessary for continued strength
improvement. Unfortunately, I do not see this being corrected in the
near future.
Therefore, we are left to the practitioners of strength training and
their long-term progress to figure out a better, more efficient means of
development. I made many mistakes during my training career (as you
will read and witness in this text), but since have learned the first
process in order to understand any complex endeavor is to make
accounts, keep records and try to use everything we have to our
imaginations and literature. In this text I hope to show my strengths, my
weaknesses, and how I applied what I learned both educationally and
physically.
21
My History Pre-lifting
age 6-13
22
I think the best way to begin this book is to first explain my
background and how I started strength training. While I was born an
average weight, I was sick, and stayed in the hospital for close to a week
after birth for monitoring. Not soon afterwards, everything was back to
normal for an infant. I grew at a normal rate, weighed a normal amount,
and was the same as any other small average child.
My great
grandmother,
Blanch
Circa 1980
Weaver.
Just like any other boy between the ages of 4-6, I was filled with
energy, fearlessness, as well as a little insanity. I learned to ride a bike at
3 years old, and from then on, continued moving non-stop. I wasn’t
bigger, faster, or stronger than everyone else around me, I just seemed
to have much more energy to burn.
We had a TV antenna in the back yard attached to the house; I
occasionally would sneak outside and climb up the tower onto the roof.
One day, while pretending I was superman, I jumped off to see if I could
fly. As you probably already know, I couldn’t fly, and instead of taking
off I crashed hard and hit my head against the gas meter attached to the
house. I was out cold, only to be found wheezing, bruised, and bleeding
by my mother fifteen minutes later in our backyard. In no time at all, I
was back up and playing once again. This is how I lived life, trying
something new, occasionally crashing hard, but learning something
invaluable every time.
23
One of the larger lessons I learned was that pain is temporary, and
that if you wanted to be able to do something better than someone else,
you had to pay your dues. This was a lesson which helped me with
powerlifting, although before I found my way my parents often
wondered if I was insane, or just plain stupid.
At the age of 6, just before 1st grade, I started out onto the road,
riding my bicycle out in the neighborhood. My friend Gus and I had a
game we loved to play, essentially tag on bikes. Your bike tire had to tag
the other person’s bike or body, and then it switched so that they then
chased you.
This chasing game was a blast for me throughout my younger
years, until about 11am on a hot August day. I had jumped out into the
street racing my friend, and was struck by a car going somewhere
between 40-50mph. My right leg was severely injured from the
incident, and the doctors even contemplated amputating the limb. I
don’t remember much, but I do remember a moment of alertness in the
back of the ambulance. I woke up, screaming in pain, before the
paramedics administered some pain medication.
The next thing I knew, I woke up in surgery, and can still
remember the bright lights shining down into my eyes. I was only half
awake, and could hear voices, but couldn’t make anything of importance
out.
Turns out, I had broken my legs in 6 different places, as well as
shattered my pelvis. After 3 major surgeries, I ended up having to be
homeschooled throughout first grade. The accident and surgeries left
my legs filled with scar tissue and supposedly bad knee joints. After
removing the cast, my leg was a twig. It could barely support my body
weight, even with crutches. It was a long, brutal recovery for most of my
grade school years.
24
The cast from my right
leg at 6 years old. I keep
this at the gym to
remind me where I
came from and had to
work through.
After the surgeries, I lived with my great grandmother for around
a year because my mother was working, and my father had a job as a
semi-truck driving instructor. My great grandma lived on the other side
of town, but Muncie isn’t a huge city by any means, so family and friends
were always close by.
Living with my grandmother alone, without any siblings nearby,
was an important choice to make at the time. My legs couldn’t be moved
for the first few months so that they could heal. The fractures in my
bones were so severe that pins had to be installed, and with too much
movement, the bones could resist recovery. My brother and sister were
very young at the time, and their playing and jumping was a concern for
the doctors when my bones were in the early stages of healing.
My great grandmother was a hardworking straight arrow that believed
in busting your ass for what you want. She also could work circles
around me as a child. She was obsessed with growing roses and
snapdragons, and would often put me in a wheelchair and let me sit
outside for hours on the porch with her. She would keep me company,
talk to me, and let me enjoy a little bit of what the outdoors had to offer.
I was lucky to have her in my life for as long as I did. She didn’t
end up passing away until I was in college. We were so close, and by far
one of my favorite people. She let me know daily that I could be
25
anything or do anything I set my mind to. She would always tell my
parents, aunts, uncles, and whoever else would listen that I was going to
do great things.
After the original casts were removed, it was back to school.
Second grade was difficult, considering my right leg was still in a boot
cast, and crutches and limited movements were still a nuisance. This
didn’t allow me to move very well, and gym class and recess had to be
both limited and modified.
Swimming
26
Even once the casts were completely gone, I didn’t find normally
sports very enticing due to the injury. Anything that was a high impact
sport like running would cause me pain to the point of tears. This went
on for the first 4-5 years after the accident.
Swimming became an interest because it didn’t bother my legs,
and the neighborhood pool was directly across the street while I was
growing up. I was a decent swimmer by the age of 8, and found that I
wasn’t scared of the water.
Halteman Pool Muncie, IN,
with my house right
across the tree line.
I would spend hours in swimming practice and jumping off the
high dive to the point where I basically lived at that pool. Being on the
swim team was my major source of exercise in a team setting. In
27
swimming, I was always a sprinter, and I was damn good at freestyle.
Unfortunately, I never figured out I was mostly fast twitch fiber, and
coaches at that time had me swimming way too many laps. My best
times in the 50 Freestyle were 24 seconds at 13 years old, and I could
swim almost 3-25yd lengths underwater.
I always thought I had trouble with 200+ meters because I was
out of shape, but in truth it was just because I was built to be explosive.
Not knowing it at the time, I would spend hours each day, beginning at
six in the morning, swimming lap after lap. There was an advantage to
this though. I started to develop a great work capacity in all my muscle
groups. This idea of work capacity is also commonly referred to as
General Physical Preparedness, or GPP.
I spent my years from eight to twelve years of age playing outside,
biking, skiing, playing basketball, and any other sport I could find.
Although other kids were better than me at many athletic endeavors, I
would always give 100 percent at whatever athletics I could try.
Biking
28
My friend’s dad owned the town’s bike shop, Kirk's Bike Shop, which
since has moved location but still is in Muncie IN.
Biking always stayed with me, even after my injuries recovered
from the accident. My friends and I would spend hours building jumps,
racing the streets, and trying new tricks. I found myself in a lucky
position, my good friend Aaron’s dad, Brian Kirk, owned the bike shop
in town. We always had the coolest bikes on the block.
Brian Kirk was also an avid runner, he did several marathons and
triathlons, all while dabbling in weight training. He was good, too,
placing in the top 10 in the Boston Marathon. I remember his Bow-flex
at home, which we would toy with occasionally as kids. He was the first
man I knew that lifted weights and worked out as a part of his daily
regimen.
29
Kirks Bike shop (Muncie, IN) one of my first summer jobs assembling bikes.
circa 1992
Being on my bicycle was a huge part of my life. The neighborhood
kids would ride from dawn till dusk some days, even venturing over to
the university for more extreme stairs and guardrails. I was skilled on a
BMX bike, and found that my legs became quite strong in the summer
months because of it. We would ride hard and try trick after trick,
varying from jumps to stairs to rails.
It was around this time that I first realized I was competitive. I
would practice something over and over again until I figured it out.
Anything t
30
hat I made my mind up towards, I would stick with and push until
I achieved mastery. But the competitive bug was more me against
myself, I never envied others. I was mainly concerned with becoming as
good as possible.
Despite this, I was always a little too big after the accident. I
wouldn’t say I carried a lot of fat, but my body was never the same after
being bed ridden for almost a year. My metabolism was slow, my eating
habits were bad, and my physical activity had been limited for too long
after the accident.
Finding my competitive side helped. Being outside, swimming,
and biking were pretty much my young childhood. I was never the star
athlete, nor was I the best at anything. All it took was for me to realize
that if I wanted to be good at anything, I was going to have to work
harder.
At this time most of my attention was focused on physical
endeavors, and although I thought I had tried in school, looking back I
admit I was not interested in my studies. My mom told me later on that
she was advised by doctors to place me on ADD medication, but she
never really considered that a good option. To her I was just an average
kid with a little too much energy.
31
Things I would have changed
My downfall during this time period was that most of the sports
that didn’t bother my previous injuries were cyclic, meaning the same
motion. Because of this, they ignored the hip and certain joint flexibility
that I would need later to be a better powerlifter and strength athlete.
Flexibility, mobility,
dexterity, and strength.
32
Many of the developmental soviet books speak of gymnastics to
develop flexibility and overall body strength. Swimming attacked those
areas, but it was very repetitive, and not a great builder of hip mobility.
Due to my car accident, my hips and legs were already very tight, and
therefore could have gained more strength in different areas and
flexibility at this time.
The real reason to involve yourself in various activities
throughout youth is to develop work capacity, as well as just an ability
to do things that are painful, uncomfortable. It’s also vital to learn to
deal with being both tired and fatigued. Without this main base of work
capacity, I do not believe that I would have excelled quickly in the sport
of powerlifting, if at all. I also think that this is a large issue now, as well
as becoming an even larger one for the U.S population as time
progresses. With the absence of P.E. classes and decreasing general
fitness in younger populations, bigger problems are quickly arising as
these children become adults. Doctors and therapists are already seeing
huge differences in the Army entrance tests.
General Soldier estimated measurements (pre basic training)
Year 1960- average weight 165 / average body fat 15%
Year 2012- average weight 200 / average body fat 23%
Tips for parents
I would strongly encourage all parents to enroll their children in
tumbling and gymnastics between the ages of 4-8, keeping them in it for
at least a few years. This will help in the development of mobility,
flexibility, and strength. These characteristics are more difficult to attain
at the ages of 13 and up, and by then you will have to play catch-up to
others who have already been working on these skills throughout their
youth. This holds true no matter what sport your child might have an
interest or talent for.
The ages of 4-8 are perfect for the lengthening and development
of mobility, balance and overall body strength/coordination. This gives
a large starting base for adolescence, as when body segments change
33
length and resistance training becomes important. The soviets were
experimenting with actual lifting at the age of 8 years old (although it
was very light lifting).
Another great point is the development of work capacity and
mental toughness. This allows workouts in the teenage years to be much
more rigorous than as a child with little to no prior physical experience.
When I started to weight train, my ability to tolerate pain was high, and
my workouts that started out around an hour were not too terrible,
considering I was used to playing hard for 4-6 hours at a time. I do
believe, however, that if gymnastics were a larger part of that activity, it
would have helped tremendously.
Chapter 2
The Start of Lifting: Age 12
My uncle Jon had come to live with us when I was around 12 years
old, which I found great throughout my adolescence. He was my closest
uncle in the family, and we bonded through his various motorcycles and
other various objects he owned. I was very lucky to have such a cool
uncle that would take me under his wing at the time. He saw potential in
me, and that made us inseparable.
The first recollection I have of weights, aside from Brian Kirk, was
my uncles’ set in my family room. They were the plastic sand filled type,
but despite that it was a massive deal for me to do some lifting with my
idol.
34
He became one of my father figures around that point in my life,
and he was a great one. Jon occasionally taught me how to train, but the
weights never took the place of riding bikes. Despite him never having
much money, you couldn’t find a more likeable guy. All we had were free
weights and a bench, so most of the training was arms and bench
pressing. He was built well from working in a foundry and being active.
All I wanted at that age was to be built like my uncle, lean and strong.
But training was only occasional, nothing regimented.
I remember in the 6th grade I was able to do reps with 110lbs on
the bench. I would have my friends over and we would toy around with
the weight set. My good friend Nate was always a better athlete, he
could run, jump and even swim better than me. Despite that, and for
some odd reason, I was stronger than my friends with the few lifts we
knew. Not by leaps and bounds, but enough to catch everyone’s
attention.
35
In 7th grade, early middle school, there was a resistance training
class we could take that lasted for a semester. Like most middle school
gyms there was little equipment, but there was a bench machine and a
few other select pieces. The gym teacher, Mr. Frank, was amazed that I
could lift the stack. I believe, from what I remember, that 250lbs was the
maximum amount you could load.
The entire class was stunned, and frankly, so was I. At that point,
it’s important to remember that all I had done so far was play around
with the sand filled weights in my family room, plus had a semi active
childhood.
The machine had no bearing on free weights, but was a huge
accomplishment in gym class. Most of the other kids were lucky to get
100lbs. This is where I started to realize that weight training might have
some value in my life. I liked the attention I got from being stronger, I
liked the fact that I could do something better than most people my age.
Northside Middle School Muncie IN in the early 1990s.
The summer of 1992, I was in junior high football. My lifelong
friend Nate Shadoin had talked me into going to the local YMCA with
him to start a training regimen for football. I was a guard on the 7th
grade team, but needed more leg strength. Due to the car accident, I was
still underdeveloped in my lower extremities.
36
And so we started to train, not really knowing what we were
doing. My upper body strength was above average, so most of our
summer days were occupied by training the bench press, arms, and
shoulders. We would watch others, mimic programs, ask questions, and
do our best to figure out our own plan of attack. Nate was a better allaround athlete than me, and he pushed me hard. We would spend hours
in the gym, training to exhaustion, with no air conditioning and
blistering temperatures.
Although I was strong in the gym, my real goal at the time was to
become a better athlete. I worked on sprints and conditioning too,
usually a few hours after our weight training. This helped when football
practice started, and started to help me begin to lean out some of my
muscles.
Northwest YMCA,
Muncie IN where it all
started.
After that summer I was instantly hooked with weight training at
the YMCA. For some reason, running and conditioning always flared up
my leg injuries, but weight training never gave me the same issues.
Nate and I just went in and did whatever felt right, mostly full
body workouts from what I remember. There was never a full plan of
attack or much thought behind what we were doing. We would go in,
destroy every bit of our bodies, and then ride our bikes home and die
until the next day. Looking back now, this was the best and the worst
way I could have trained myself.
37
I became more fit, no doubt, but wasted a lot of time and energy
on senseless activity. I would characterize our workouts as overtraining,
but it wasn’t like today where the internet was readily available and at
least a few semi-smart programs could be attained. There was a
shortage of good information out there, at least for the average person.
Another bump in the road
38
That spring, my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He
was a smoker, and during his time in the Marines and the Vietnam War
he had been exposed to Agent Orange. My father was a stout 6ft 3 inches
tall, and weighed around 250 lbs. After only 4-5 months, he was less
than 140lbs.
One of the last family photos with the whole family circa 1993, here my
father was about 3 months from passing away.
At that time in my life, my dad being sick definitely affected my
demeanor. I became more of a loner, starting to do most of my activities
in isolation. My circle of friends and acquaintances became limited. I
didn’t know how to deal with the situation, as I was too young to
process things like an adult and too old to not comprehend what was
happening.
August of 1993, my father was gone. I can still remember the
soreness from training and the energy from working out minimizing the
pain of his passing. Weight training became my therapy. It became a
way to help with sadness, anger, and the pain of my loss. I think in a lot
of ways, this is what made the gym stick with me for my entire life.
Weight training helped me release raw emotions, that if I hadn’t dealt
39
with, may have come out in other harmful ways and gotten me in
trouble.
As the weeks went on, my body started to change. My legs were
somewhat bigger, and my upper body had started to take shape from a
mix of growing and the excess training. I had put a lot of work in the
past 6 months, and by the time football came around some of my extra
weight was turning into muscle. Now the just husky kid was starting to
become a little more athletic. In 7th grade, I was around 170lbs. By the
8th grade, I was finally caught up with most of my classmates. I couldn’t
wait for football season (despite my love for it) to be over so I could get
back to the gym.
It was at this point in my life that I realized I was not a team sport
player. I wanted to be in control of whether I won or lost. I wanted to
have all the rewards or all of the defeat. As time went on I started to
dabble in boxing and wrestling, but weightlifting stayed my passion.
Between that time, I also started to read fitness magazines. I
remember seeing old pictures of Arnold and all the other great
bodybuilders of the early 90s, I just couldn’t believe how large and
defined those guys were. I knew nothing of powerlifting, except I was
certain I wanted to be built like Arnold in Terminator.
Arnold, the man the myth
and the legend.
40
I think my training was more aesthetically based in those days
because that was the only information that was available to the public.
Having a big set of shoulders and arms were all most people at the gyms
cared about. All I had access to was the Muscle and Fitness Magazine,
which in the early 90s was far worse than now.
This is when a man by the name of Brad Warner started to take
notice in me. He saw that I never missed workouts, and was intense
with my training. He knew I had the beginnings of something, but wasn’t
sure what. Brad was a strongly built guy, as well as a great person who
worked at the YMCA and was starting his bodybuilding career in college
at Ball State. His muscle symmetry to me was insane, as we were both
smaller framed yet muscular. As time progressed, I started asking him
for advice, to which he was more than willing to give. I found out what
days he was working and from there began to have him help me with
smaller techniques and pointers in his spare time.
By the age of 13 I was almost 180lbs. I had been working out for a
year at this point, and was a big kid for 8th grade. I was much better built
than earlier on in my youth, but was aware it wasn’t all good weight.
The car accident had led my body to be huskier and carry weight in the
wrong spots. I was self-conscious of it, but that ended up being a good
thing for me. It had given me the desire to train.
Although at first I did lift for aesthetics, Brad noted that I was built
more for powerlifting. At the time, I still wasn’t sure what that was.
When I did learn, that’s when my shift from training for looks and size
started to morph itself into just how strong I could get. Although I
wanted to be a bodybuilder, it was apparent that my frame was built for
different activities. That mindset has always stuck with me at some
level.
Brad directed me to a man named Tim Smith. Tim was a national
caliber lifter in his own time, the mid 80s, and had benched 500 raw at
under 200lb bodyweight. He also had some impressive squat and
deadlift numbers. I had seen him in the gym before; he was a very
approachable guy that was more than happy to take me under his wing.
I was pleased to finally be in the crew of the strong guys in town. I was
hoping to one day be one of those guys.
41
Tim had everything I wanted in life. He lived in a great house, had
an awesome job, was the big cheese at the YMCA, and still is to this day.
He was 5ft 6 in but close to 200lb of solid rock. He was very capable of
500 bench presses, 600lb squats, and 600lb deadlifts at the time. He was
also the strongest guy I’d ever seen in my adolescence. He was my
mentor for the next 6 years or so. When I first started training with Tim,
I wrote my lifts down in an old journal.
Matt - 13 years old
Squats 185
Bench 165
Deadlift 225
(Probably the worst form ever)
(For some reason, I was strong from the start)
(I remember this being an absolute grinder)
Our training program was as follows:
Saturdays
Heavy bench training, lots of shoulders and triceps
We would rarely ever work up to a heavy max, usually no less than 2RM. Most of our work was based on reps. Full range, with little change
other than the rep schemes.
Workouts would look something like this:
➢ Bench work slowly up to a 5-10RM, usually in 6-8 sets
➢ Burnout sets either wide or narrow grip with 50%
Just this alone would sometimes take 45min.
Then, we would be off to military presses of some sort
➢ 3 sets of 10-12, we rarely ever did these heavy but worked on a
burn
Then we did triceps, usually cable pushdowns, but sometimes skull
crushers.
42
➢ 3 sets until failure, usually with different weights
Lateral raises and pec work were also always included.
Everything was on a pretty easy template for accessory work, 3 sets until
failure, using a weight that allowed around 8 reps.
Mondays
Heavy squats, with lots of leg volume
Squat day was always hard for me a first. We did squats based on
volume, most times using a pyramid style of training:
12-10-8-6-5-4-3-1. After that, we would start over hopefully with a new
number.
Then it was off to leg presses, leg curls, leg extensions and calf raises,
most of the time being 3 sets of between 8-20, which were rotated
weekly.
Tuesdays
Upper body dumbbell presses (of all types)
This day always started out with dumbbell bench presses, usually
higher rep ranges 20+ and we would work up heavy for more than 1 set.
We did 2-4 sets, trying to best anyone in the group, with Tim
always coming out with an ass whipping for everyone.
Then we would move onto pec fly’s, biceps, and lateral shoulder raises.
➢ 3 sets of each for different rep ranges depending on the weight
Thursdays
Deadlift day with lots of lat work
43
Deadlift days were like squat days
➢ 10-8-6-5-3-1 rep schemes in a 6-week wave
This worked well for my developing years.
After deadlifts were completed, we moved onto lots of lat work, usually
in the form of pull-ups, lat pull-down, and various rows.
In the beginning, I couldn’t do a single pull-up.
I used this exact system for 4 years, from the ages of 13-17.
It was a traditional form of Linear Periodization and was a great
all-around builder. (A great example is located on the wenning strength
patreon channel.)
The first 5 years or so I had never seen or heard of other ways to
train, nor had I ever considered new methods. nor thought of new
methods. At the time, as I mentioned before, information was not
readily available (like the internet or publications nationwide).
My first lifting full
lifting meet, 500+lb
squat, still had picture
book form as a kid. This
was a result of moving
slow and taking my
time getting strong
My results from this system:
➢ Squat 185 to 500
➢ Bench press 155 to 405
➢ Deadlift 225 to 510
44
These were my estimated numbers at 17-18 years of age. Looking
back, we had very little variation, as we used mostly the classic lifts to
achieve results. There were some definite positives and negatives to
using this system.
I considered this my train to train phase. Competitions were far and few
between, as we would just max in the gym. In other words, I had just
found my passion for lifting weights, did a few competitions here and
there, but never really compared myself to others. I just focused on
working hard and paying my dues.
However, what we did have were peaking phases and yearly off
seasons, where we would switch training on everything to higher reps
and lower weight. This was important at the time, as it gave me a rest
from the big lifts that I never would have done at the time on my own.
This is how I believe all weightlifting should start. It should begin
with just training, learning to love working out, and being a student of
the game. While I cared about how much stronger I was getting, I was in
no real hurry to achieve anything. I just let my body grow and do its
thing. If I felt tired or beat up, I backed off a bit. If I felt strong, I pushed a
little harder. But I learned to listen to my body and learn to slowly
strengthen my mind. Most lifters skip this step and focus on gaining
45
strength too quickly, as well as neglect to put the needed time into their
efforts. This leads to injury and lackluster performance.
Positives
1) I always felt comfortable with a straight bar, even after long
periods of not using them
2) I had a pretty big work capacity; I could work out for 2 hours
straight and not get tired
3) I built a lot of mental toughness and pain tolerance through high
reps
4) I gained a good amount of muscle mass due to the higher volume
Negatives
1) My body had constant wear issues. My elbows, shoulders etc.
were always sore
2) I had not really trained my weaknesses which had made my lifts
stall at this point
3) Although we did the big lifts, small technique changes and
specialized perfection of form were not closely monitored
4) We trained exactly the same for months on end with little
variation, which would cause staleness and burnout.
I do believe this simplistic system I followed had more positives
than negatives in my developing years. My work capacity for the later
years was always strong, and I also had a good base of all-around
46
muscle tissue. My weight went from a soft 185 at 13 years old to 240lbs
at 17. I looked muscular and my body was transforming. This, in my
opinion, was exactly what I needed in order to achieve results later.
Although our accessory work and weak muscle groups could have used
more attention, we did the best we could with the knowledge we had at
the time.
Another positive was that this training was building my
connective tissue. As a young lifter I never had more than a small pull or
strain, and never had any big injuries. The high-volume training has its
place in the developing lifter, and as a teenager doing lighter sets and
lots of reps has its merit. Also, for a good 5-6 years, it made me very
good gains.
47
Chapter 3
Stepping my game up
At 17 years of age, Tim Smith introduced me to a gentleman by
the name of Jim Dawson. Jim was a world-class deadlifter in the 70s
with a staggering pull of 722 at 242. He trained with a small group in a
little town called Ridgeville, which was in IN and about 25 minutes from
Muncie. The group was comprised of Jim, Sonny Runion (USAPL state
chairman) and Joe Goodhew, a good ADFPA lifter himself. These guys
were current lifters, all stronger than me, and that was something that I
needed to push my limits and make me strive for more strength.
Capt Kirk
Karwoski
squatting 1003,
considered by
many to be the
greatest squatter
ever.
circa 1996
At this time, I was starting to read powerlifting USA, and was
regularly seeing animals like Kirk Karwoski on the covers and in
articles. I was amazed at what other people both nationally and globally
were accomplishing. I never looked at their successes as a negative for
me, instead it made me more determined to achieve my goal of being as
good as the greats one day.
Because I started off being weaker than almost everyone I trained
with, I never had the “big fish, small pond” issue. I was always glad to be
48
able to work with people stronger than me, as it helped me pick up tons
of valuable information that ended up being an advantage throughout
my career.
On the weekends I was off to Joe’s gym in Ridgeville to train with
the big hitters of Indiana. I had a good base at the time, but it was now
time to hone my skills in meets. I entered my first bench meet in New
Castle IN, where I bench pressed 375 pounds. Most of my lifting at this
time was pretty basic, heavy 3 to 5 reps with tons of warm-ups,
walkouts with heavier weights, and tons of pauses on both the bench
and squat. Although at the time it made me feel weaker, it built a strong
base.
At 18 years of age, my senior year, I entered my first official full
power meet. I squatted slightly over 500, benched closer to 445, and
pulled slightly over 500 too. It was here that my hard work had finally
paid off, and I was the state high school powerlifting champion.
Jim, Sonny, and Tim were so proud of me, and I was excited to call
them my coaches, training partners, and friends. I was now hooked.
Powerlifting was all I thought about, and all I wanted to do was to be the
best.
The high-volume work was just what I needed at that time. This
allowed my tendons and ligaments to become both strong and resilient
to injury. I always had more in the tank in all my lifts, which was good
for my mind and body. Jim was always careful to push me enough to get
better, but never enough to over train or wear me out. This was my first
lesion in training smarter, and not harder. So, from the ages of 17-19,
my training looked something like this:
As you can see in the graph, training was starting to become more
balanced with more heavy work, and less hypertrophy. This is where
training started to become more specific to the task, but still had a good
general base.
Ages 17-19 training split
49
Mondays OFF
Tuesdays
Bench press rep work
We always stayed under 225, and most of our work was done with
dumbbells or machines on this day.
Accessory work was based on shoulders and triceps with a little bit of
pec and bicep work as well.
All exercises still consisted of 3 sets per muscle group, and workouts
were in the range of 1.5 hours in length.
Wednesdays
Leg assistance work
We didn’t do much barbell work on this day, mostly leg presses,
machines, etc. mostly working as a bodybuilder
Thursdays OFF
Fridays OFF
Saturdays
Heavy squats and deadlifts
On Saturdays I would drive 30 minutes away to train with the stronger
crew, Sonny who had a squat of close to 800 and raw bench of 530,
Dawson who had pulled 722 in his prime, and some other guys that
were also incredibly strong. We did tons of pauses and squats with
heavy walkouts.
These workouts would take upwards of 2+ hours, but form and
technique were more closely watched. My squat and deadlift were really
starting to rise.
50
For squats we would do upwards of 10-12 sets of gradual progression,
usually for heavy 3 reps or 5 reps depending on what the plan was for
the day.
Then we did deadlifts, usually heavy 3s and 5s were utilized, and we
would also do heavy eccentric work afterwards, along with tons of grip
and various back exercises.
The sets were usually long rest periods, which I found awesome getting
ready for powerlifting meets at the time. It got me used to cooling off
then ramping back up between attempts.
Sundays
Heavy bench press
Bench pressing was still done with Tim at the YMCA. We were doing
wide grips, close grips, incline or declines and rotating them on a weekly
basis. We rarely would do heavy singles, but many times 3s and 5s. We
would follow this with a good 45min of accessory work.
Tons of pauses both for squats (with no box) with Jim and for the bench
press with Tim for anywhere from 1 to 5 seconds were used at least
once a week on a few sets. This helped with the long pauses at the meets
and built my confidence in strict lifting for both the state and national
levels.
Not much variation of training existed for me during these years.
However, I did notice that because I was training with different crews I
ended up being more specifically inclined to powerlifting, which was
really boosting my meet results. At this time, I held every teenage
51
record in the state. That’s also when Jim told me, “You have to go
compete against people outside of Muncie and outside of the state, to
push your limits.”
At 19 I was asked to do the WDFPF drug free world
championships, held in Nebraska. It was a new experience to travel that
far away for a meet, and to compete with more than the people in my
area. I was probably more nervous at that meet than any I could recall.
Although I had confidence, this was another level of competition. There
were quite a few Europeans there and it was interesting to see
international lifters for the first time.
My first squat into
the 600s.
I remember this meet as the first time I squatted 600, benched
close to 500, and deadlifted in the high 500s. For me, squatting 600 was
a huge accomplishment, and one that I was extremely proud of. I had
wanted to hit that goal that before the age of 20. The large influencing
thing affecting my mindset and attitude at the time was that I never felt
strong enough. In some ways, this was a great motivator, but in many
ways it was also frustrating. I never felt like I had accomplished my goal,
there was always more; I could always be bigger and stronger.
52
My teenage years were over shortly thereafter; it was bittersweet,
I had chased the state USAPL records for so long and that organization
was the only one I had ever associated with. Looking back, I’m glad I
started and stayed in that federation for so long, it gave me a sense of
flexibility that I had never had before, as well as made my lifts strict,
sometimes stricter than needed. I recommend anyone getting started in
the lifting game to get involved with the USAPL and develop themselves
within that organization during their beginning years of lifting. Some of
my fondest memories of weight training were in the USAPL, and they
still hold the best nationals for teenage, junior and college ranks in my
opinion.
Having to go super deep in squats and pause benches for
considerable time gave me a huge advantage when switching to
multiply gear, as well as training for raw competition. If I had it to do all
over again, I would have stayed completely away from gear and belts all
together in the first 5 years of my training.
53
Chapter 4
The college years
(That almost didn’t happen)
Directly after high school I found myself wanting to go into
welding for the pipe-fitters union. I loved working on cars and welding
stuff in the garage. As I mentioned before, and to continue the honesty,
losing my father at the beginning of my high school career dramatically
affected my grades. I wasn’t sure how to emotionally deal with the
situation, and that began to really limit my chances of going to college.
Ball Memorial
Hospital 19992003 where I
learned the value
of hard work.
After completing a short welding schooling from Purdue
University, I was hired as a welder’s assistant at the local hospital. There
were always a plethora of jobs that needed to be completed, and this led
to a man named Ted Stevens becoming a new mentor to me. He was a
hard ass pipe fitter that could weld anything together, as well as so
smart with his angles and fabrication that it regularly blew my mind. He
had worked on the Alaskan pipelines in the 70s, and was just an allaround badass workaholic. From 18 to 19 years old over a period of
about ten months, I was able to save up enough money from working
with him to pay for 3 years of college. My lifting suffered, but I still
54
made it to the gym to train. My weight had dropped to under 250lbs, but
I was very lean at the time.
Me welding frames for HVAC units 1999.
Ted asked me what I was going to do with the almost $20,000 I
had saved. I had replied with something along the lines of buying a
motorcycle or a car. That didn’t go over well with him, and I can still
remember his pissed as hell retort: “you’re going to college you little
fucking shithead!”
Until that point, college hadn’t really crossed my mind. Ted told
me that I shouldn’t beat my body down doing this shit job my whole life
like he had, and had argued that I was too smart for this. At the time, I
didn’t believe him. I continued on as a welder.
This was June of 1999, and I worked all the way through the hot
summer. I remember being in full welding gear in temperatures close to
100 degrees, welding or cutting out pipes for 10 hours a day. The work
was back breaking, and as the weeks rolled by, I realized that Ted was
right. Welding just really wasn’t what I wanted to do. While I was good
at it and making great money, breathing that horrible smoke for hours
55
on end every day to then go home exhausted was only filling my wallet.
It wasn’t allowing me to progress my lifting.
Strength Coach… As a Career?
One summer day I was visiting my mother at the local hospital
that both of us worked at. My mom’s assistant was a very nice lady, and
she was questioning me about what I was doing for a job and what my
long term plans were. I informed her I was also employed at the hospital
as a welder, but wanted to do something with strength training. At the
time I had no clue there were people who made their living as strength
coaches. The only thing I did know at the time was that I wanted to do
something with weight training.
My mother’s assistant ended up having a son who worked for the
Indianapolis Colts as an accountant. She called him almost immediately
for me, and I was off to visit a pro football team.
When I arrived, my mother’s friend greeted me at the door. He
walked down the hall with me, claiming that he had the most perfect
person ever for me to meet. The name on the door was John Torrine, the
Head Strength and Conditioning coach for the Colts. I couldn’t believe
my eyes. There was a job in the pros that had my name written all over
it.
I was alone when I first sat down in his office, he was in a meeting
so I had a few minutes to look around. My nerves were building by the
second as I took in all the various degrees, awards, and
accomplishments hanging around the room. Before this point, I had no
idea that teams even had jobs of this nature, neither in the pros or
college. Because I was from a small town, this type of knowledge was a
little harder to come by.
56
When John entered the room, he gave me a strong handshake as
well as looked me dead in the eyes throughout our entire conversation.
He asked what I wanted, to which I replied that I wanted his job.
John then had laughed, asking “is that right?”
I had nodded, replying that I loved lifting weights.
It was from there that he began to explain to me that there was
much more to this job than just weight training. We talked for a few
hours, covering topics from weights and conditioning all the way to
nutrition as he showed me around the facilities.
The weight room was smaller than my local YMCA, and looked as
though it was used far less than my home gym too. I was slightly
disappointed at the size, but he went on to explain things about injury
prevention being key with the athletes and all the other things he
focused on. After this, he explained that for a job such as this one I
would need at least a master's degree. Suddenly, my anxiety was at an
all time high. I rewatched my highschool years flash before my eyes,
honing in on all the moments I didn’t take classes seriously, I goofed off,
or concentrated on things other than my studies.
The forty-five minute drive home was a rough one. I was
determined to try to make it, but I couldn’t comprehend how I was
supposed to go about doing it.
57
The next day I was back to work with Ted. I explained to him what
I’d learned, and how I needed to get a degree before I could have a job
like John’s with the Colt’s.
Ted looked at me and replied, “Well… what the fuck you waiting
for?”
He was right. I was one year out of high school, had 20k in the
bank, and was finally at a place where I was ready to start school. So, I
went and applied to Ball State. I filled out all the paperwork and was
well on my way to the college life, or so I thought.
When I received my first letter back in the mail from Ball State, I
was more than excited to open the colorful packaging. My excitement,
however, did not last long. The letter came back stating that my grades
were not up to the standards that Ball State accepted. I was denied
enrollment. I felt like I had just been hit by a truck.
Heartbroken at the news and with all the wind out of my sails, I
went back and slammed the letter on Ted’s desk. I told him I was right
from the beginning, that I’d told him so, and I couldn’t get into school.
Ted scanned the paper for about thirty seconds before he handed
it back to me. He stood then, replying “during our lunch break you’re
going to go down to admissions, shove that paper up their ass, and tell
them they are letting you into their school.”
Without Ted’s advice, I would have taken the letter to the trashcan
and never thought of school again.
Ball State Admissions Office 1999.
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When I went back to admissions, it was eleven am on a Monday. It
was only about two blocks from where I worked, but I can still
remember the petrifying, heart-beating-out-of-my-chest feeling that had
come over me as I made my way to the office. As I sat in the waiting
area, all I could think about was how life changing these next few
moments could be. All my cards were on the table. As I sat in the waiting
area, all I could process was how life changing these next few moments
would be, and how angry I was at my past highschool self for slacking
off as much as he did. He was the reason this was happening.
The secretary called me in, leading me to a young man’s office. He
looked very fit, and was sitting at a desk when he asked if he could help
me.
I said yes and handed him the letter of denial. I informed him that
I wanted to be accepted into this school.
After looking at the letter, he typed my name up to view me in the
system. As my file popped up, he glanced back over at me. “Ah, yes,
you’re grades aren’t at this school’s standard Mr. Wenning.”
Again, my wind was all out of the sails, somewhere in between
depression and mental breakdown.
I started down at my shoes, unsure of what to do next.
He paused, mentioning that I looked familiar. “Do you work out at
the YMCA?”
I nodded in reply, “Yes, I’ve been there for quite some time. I
compete in powerlifting.”
He had smiled, “I thought you looked familiar. I’ve seen you on the
news as the kid that won a world championship… I’ve been trying to put
some weight on myself, what do you think about creatine?”
It was a new supplement at the time, to which I responded
truthfully, “It works by allowing more water, and therefore ATP into the
cell, making you slightly bigger and more powerful.”
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Chemical
structure of
creatine
monohydrate.
A little bit of
knowledge went
a long way in my
case.
His eyes lit up with amazement, “So, you’re pretty into this
weightlifting huh?”
I had inhaled before I responded. I said something along the lines
of, “Yeah, I want to be a strength coach for a pro team. That’s why I’m
getting strong. I want the respect of learning how to train from
education, as well as the respect of putting the physical work into my
craft.”
He had smiled again then, nothing something along the lines of
how much fortitude it took to come into admissions. I showed him I had
saved over 20k throughout the year in my checking account, and that I
was ready to get focused on school.
This was my money that I had practically killed myself over, I
explained, and I didn’t have a penny to waste time on classes just to not
pass them.
He thought that through for a moment, before saying that he
wasn’t totally sure what he could do for me but to keep an eye out for
another paper in the mail. This wasn’t a yes at the time, but it certainly
was better than a no.
I was kind of in the dark for the next month, not knowing if the
school was going to let me in. It was all I could think about every day.
Every time I went to work, I just knew that I couldn’t be stuck doing this
every day. The question grew bigger and bigger each passing week.
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Would I be stuck working a job like this, physically busting my ass for 810 hours a day, or off to school to follow my dreams? My life was in the
balance of a single letter in the mail.
2 weeks before fall semester started, I got a letter saying that I
was accepted on probation. I needed a 2.75 GPA to stay an active
student at Ball State.
It was a long road. English 101, chemistry, history, all of which
were not easy for me. But for some reason, paying about four hundred
dollars a class makes you study a little harder and listen a little more.
That next semester, I hit a 3.65 and made the dean’s list. I was
finally a college student that could make the grades.
There was a small bench meet for charity at the YMCA that we
lifted in that summer. A local business offered $20 for every rep I could
do with 225. At 19 I got 45 reps with 225, this is when I started to
realize that my rep training had put me in impeccable shape, but 500
raw was still not quite there. Something had to change, but I wasn’t sure
of what exactly. This was the first real time I took a long hard view at
what I was doing right, and what I was doing wrong.
Ball State was known for exercise science, which I didn’t know at
the time, and it even had some of the best researchers in the world: Dr.
Robert Newton, Dr. William Kraemer, and Dr. David Costill to name a
few.
They were studying all kinds of interesting things. Resistance
training in space with NASA, single cell muscle physiology, and even
hyperbaric chamber training. I was blown away at all the things that I
was encountering. We had force plates to measure ground reaction
forces, which I was keen on for weightlifting, as well as motion capture
cameras for all kinds of data. As the months passed, I found that I was
basically in heaven.
Most importantly, they had a powerlifting team. The team could
train in the athletic weight room, far beyond the grasp of the YMCA.
They had loud music, tons of squat racks, and an atmosphere that
demanded attention.
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The head coach of the weight room was Wade Russell, former tight end
in the NFL and a mountain of a man, 6ft 6in and about 290lb of insanity.
This guy’s voice made everyone pay attention.
Along his side was Justin Cecil. He was an extremely intelligent
grad student that was also on the ball with the athletes. I remember I
immediately started to volunteer any extra hours I had in the weight
room. This proved to be invaluable in not only being a coach, but also
learning how to get stronger by pushing other individuals’ limitations.
It was also the first time I was introduced to a team setting. I knew
then and there that training in a group is the only real way to push your
limits every day, and do it safely. Group training made you step outside
your comfort zone and match others intensity.
Understanding the Value of Cross training and being
an athlete and Mesocycles
Justin is who taught me about athletic warm-ups, as well as a
more athletic approach to training. With his guidance, I would stretch
way more, and our lifting had more strategic plans for accessory work,
as well as longer mesocycles (monthly to tri-monthly plans).
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I also learned about off-season training, and that your yearly plan
shouldn’t always look the same as your in-season training. This logic
was what changed my off-season training forever.
I worked on conditioning, walking with weight vests, kettlebell
swings, stairs, some boxing and wrestling. I started to notice that at first,
I was weaker when weights came as the primary importance in training,
but this didn’t last for long. I found, In fact, that my weights started to
climb since my joints felt good, my muscles were recovered, and I felt
mentally prepared to strain again.
This was just what I needed, a way to keep getting more athletic
while staying lean, and not getting burned out. At that time, I had almost
10 years of lifting under my belt. I truly believe the things I learned at
this time in my life kept me in the game for the entire time. In
powerlifting, one must have an off-season and work on other forms of
athletics, especially in the younger years when building your base of
training.
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Training template
(Introduction to Soviet Systems)
Age 19-23
Because of school and work, training was moved to later in the
day. All the athletes had to be out of the weight room, so training usually
began around 6-630. It was a tough transition to training late, but I
learned that getting stronger at different times of the day was beneficial
for meets, since you were not in control of when you did your lifting on
meet day.
At 20 years of age I went to the Arnold Classic with a good friend
named Brad Sheward. At this event I witnessed insanity, but it wasn’t
the bodybuilders that caught my eye. It was the bench bash on the main
stage. It was George Halbert and others doing things I had only read
about in the PL USA magazine. It was amazing to watch my idols brawl it
out on the platform with weights.
George Halbert with an
impressive 766 at 242
bodyweight.
These legends were bench pressing the weight that I had one day
hoped to squat! I’m still amazed to this day looking back on it, and for
the people that never got to witness the pro-lifting at the Arnold (pre
2007) you truly missed the golden era of hardcore powerlifting.
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At the end of the bench, the crews of guys were rushing out the
door, trying to avoid the normal Arnold crowd. They were the biggest
and baddest dudes I had ever seen.
Brad tapped me on the shoulder saying something along the lines
of, “Dude, here is your chance to talk to Louie Simmons!”
At first, I let him pass by. But then twenty seconds later I was
running through the convention center to catch up, darting through
crowds of people, trying to reach them before they left the building.
I went right into the crowd of animals, shouting Louie’s name. I
introduced myself, telling him that I’d read a lot of his magazine
material and that I wanted to come by.
He asked me what my strength level was, and after a short pause
he’d said “Sure, get a hold of me.”
I called that next week, brimming with excitement and nerves at
the same time. I had no idea at the time what I was getting myself into.
Not soon afterwards I was making trips to Columbus, Ohio on the
weekends when I could swing it. As an undergraduate (1999-2003), I
was still working at the hospital on the weekends and helping in the
weight room between classes. I was one of the first paid undergraduate
strength coaches, so I was making a small amount of money in the gym
and great money on the weekends. This left time for training and that’s
about it.
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My first few years of occasionally going to Westside would consist
of me driving up to squat on Friday evenings, staying at Louie’s house,
and then waking up early Saturday mornings to bench with the crew
then drive the two and a half hour trip back home half crippled. But it
was well worth the drive. At Westside, I was surrounded by some very
strong guys. They were light years ahead of me, but I was determined to
be one of them one day.
The original Westside gym, 800 square feet of intensity and blood, this is
where many great lifters made history.
This is also where I started to learn the conjugate system and was
able to apply bits and pieces of it in my training. I was not, however, able
to apply all of it. The system, although simple enough in nature, can be
complicated due to the amount of exercises one can select and his or her
knowledge of their own weaknesses.
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This was the first system where my training was evenly split with volume,
speed, and maxing.
First template using conjugate principles:
A) I started using box squats in my programs
B) I started to dabble with speed work
(but I did not really fully understand it yet)
C) I started to use max effort work (1-3 rm) more frequently
D) Accommodating resistance Bands and chains (chains mostly at first)
bands were still very new to training.
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Template for the years of 2001-2003 collegiate
USAPL national champion multiple American and
state records
Junior American
Record bench 589
MONDAY OFF
TUESDAY
➢ Dynamic leg day (squats)
➢ 6-10 sets of 2 mostly using a low box with 50-60% real weight
and 100-150lb of band (based on a 750-770 squat)
➢ Speed pulls 8x1 with 50-60% and some form of band or chain
➢ Reverse hypers 3x6-10
➢ Glute ham raises 3x fail
➢ Abdominals, mostly standing
Workouts done usually in 1hr 15min (between sports teams)
WEDNESDAY
➢ Dynamic bench day
➢ 6-10 sets of 3 using 135-155 and a red band
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➢ 3 sets of dumbbell bench presses
➢ Tricep work 2 exercises
➢ Lat work 2 exercises
THURSDAY OFF
FRIDAY
(drive to westside or stay in town with the powerlifting team)
➢ Max effort squat or deadlift
➢ 2-3 accessory exercises, very meet specific that day, lots of rest
SATURDAY
Max effort bench would rotate chains, bands, real weight and started to
use boards.
➢ Heavy triceps 2 exercises
➢ Heavy back and rear delt work 2 exercises
SUNDAY OFF
What I first realized upon switching to this system was that I got
weaker. My lifts for a short time, about four to six months, actually fell.
My intuition was that my volume was much lower, so my body was not
getting as much work. But the intensity was much higher with the speed
work, and the max work on a consistent basis, which fried my CNS.
This is when people usually discard the system or get frustrated.
But I had a clear understanding at the time that lifting heavy is just as
much neural as it is muscular. I kept on the path and pull all my focus
into continually training hard and avoiding a freakout. I did a lot more
accessory work (like I was used to) to get the muscles working more.
69
2003 was the year I had been using the above template
religiously, and my last collegiate nationals were approaching. I was
learning to drop my intensity down right before competition to recover
a little bit better.
By the time the meet came around I was strong, and quick, and I
dominated all the lifters that year at Nationals. I was still lifting in the
USAPL, in junior and collegiate ranks at the time, and was hitting some
impressive numbers with strict drug testing requirements.
When I was lifting in the USAPL I was one of the best young lifters,
even holding some American records in the squat (771) and bench
(589), and the total (close to 2000).
I had one final meet left in me as a junior, so in September, as my
24th birthday was rapidly approaching in October, I enrolled in the
Chicago Viking open (USAPL) and went to give all I had.
I broke a few American records at that meet, which caught the eye
of a short broad man. He came up, shook my hand, and said “Great job,”
then mentioned that I should come train with him sometime.
After he had walked away, I asked my old-time friend Jim Dawson
who had come to watch me who the hell he was.
He replied that he was the greatest lifter to ever compete in
powerlifting, Ed Coan.
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Ed Coan, greatest lifter of all time here squatting 1000+
Eddie’s ideas were very old school, but they worked well. His
training was like what I grew up with, progressive overloading with the
big lifts, and choice accessory work that mostly revolved around general
hypertrophy. I was amazed by his progress regardless.
I skipped going to Westside and made a trip to Chicago to train
with Ed. It was a day I will never forget. His lifts were picture perfect,
and his deadlift was insane. He pulled somewhere around 930 that day
at 242 bodyweight sumo. I could not fucking believe what I saw. This
was a whole other planet of strong.
Ed Coan training at
Quads Gym in Chicago.
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We stayed and I watched him bench 550 and squat 1000lbs, the
entire time I was in disbelief. I had seen this with squats at Westside,
but not with a weak suit and a pair of flimsy looking knee wraps. The
memory of that weekend has always kept me humble. It showed the
importance of being strong without all the new supportive lifting gear.
Best deadlifter and deadlift form. Ed pulled 901 at 220.
I knew even at a young age that there was “for real” strong and
“smoke and mirrors” strong. But that didn’t stop me from using gear or
going the opposite direction. One of the biggest choices I made in my life
was to either go to Westside, or go to Chicago and train with Coan. I did
choose Columbus, but sometimes regret that decision.
72
The cycle I used to break American records in the
USAPL as a junior (771 Squat 1900+total)
Monday OFF
➢ Contrast showers 15 min
➢ Dynamic Mobility stretching
Tuesday Dynamic Lower body
We did a lot of jumping on this day and even played with some Olympic
lifting variations.
➢ 25 jumps to various heights with various weights
➢ Speed squats, speed pulls, Olympic variations
Accessory work was starting to be more based on weaknesses
➢ Lower back
➢ Hamstrings
➢ Grip
➢ Abs
Wednesday Dynamic Upper body
We started to work on speed work, Justin was keen on explosive power.
➢ Shoulder warmup (consisting of band stretching, rotator cuff
movements, and upper back warmups)
➢ Speed bench using bands, chains or free weights
6-10 sets of 3
➢ 4-6 accessory exercises all based on movement weakness
➢ Triceps
➢ Back
➢ Shoulders
Thursday OFF
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➢ Electro stimulation on any muscles that were fatigued, tired or
irritated for 20 min
➢ Massage stick or foam roller
Friday Max effort Squats/DLs
This day was purposefully set on Fridays in case I could make the drive
over to Westside
➢ Max effort band, chain, squats with various bars
(this is where I found the safety bar to be very beneficial, since I had
never used one at the YMCA.
We would also deadlift on Fridays usually for speed or maximum.
4-6 accessory exercises based on movement weaknesses
➢ Lower back
➢ Upper back
➢ Leg strength
➢ Abs
Saturday Max effort Bench press
This was also a day set on Saturdays in case I could get out of work and
make it to Westside
➢ Max effort bench with bands, chains, or different angles
➢ 3-4 accessory exercises
➢ Lats
➢ Triceps
I believed at the time, and still do, that on max effort days accessory
work should be limited and all focus should be on the main lift.
Sunday Completely off
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Unless I had to miss a workout, I would try to not step foot in a gym on
that day. I believe that everyone should have at least one day a week of
separation from the gym. This helps with physical and mental burnout.
75
76
Chapter 5
Graduate School 2003-2005
Biomechanics- The study
of the structure and
function of biological
systems by means of the
methods of mechanics
This was a trying time for me. Getting a master’s degree in
biomechanics from one of the best schools in exercise science was no
easy task. I received an assistantship through athletics, which paid for
my school, but that left very little leftover for any other ventures at a
500-a-month stipend. Whenever I was able, I would drive to Columbus
Ohio to squat.
The big meet in my graduate career was the WPO qualifier, which
took place in Dubuque Iowa. One of my old training partners Steve lived
there while he was going to Palmer chiropractic school, so I had a place
to stay. That was the first meet where I really noticed my strength was
coming full circle. My training had been full conjugate system for about
2 years, and I was doing things that I thought were never possible.
It was at this meet that I squatted more than 900lbs, benched in
the 600s, and deadlifted in the high 600s. It was enough to qualify me
for WPO semifinals! That was the extent of my lifting in graduate school.
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With 600 level classes and 60 hours a week in the weight room, my
lifting was getting attention, but not near what it needed for me to be
my best. By the time I was done with my graduate career, I had
accumulated 10,000 hours of weight training experience at the Division
1 level and had an impressive GPA.
The big change was that I had accumulated a vast array of soviet
training literature, and I had a keen interest in studying training. While
this was mostly to help myself at the time, I was starting to realize that
this knowledge was more than just lifting for my sport. It was showing
me the advantages of using this mentality for other sports. Wade was
great about letting me experiment with swimming, football, and track.
These were all amazing experiences that helped me become a better
coach.
At that time, Louie was the only person I knew of that had all that
knowledge until my professors showed me that this was no secret and
that the Russians had been experimenting since the 1950s. Vladimir
Zatsiorsky, which at the time was the biomechanics head professor at
Penn State, was the real genius behind much of what we use today. I was
grateful enough to be put in contact with him through Dr. Kraemer,
which was my old professor at BSU. He graduated under Zatsiorsky, and
I was able to ask him multiple questions. He was gracious enough to
look at my training and give me some key advice.
Zatsiorsky’s Advice
78
His advice was simple but worth sharing:
1) Understand that moving heavy objects is just as much about
velocity as it is strength. (Stretch reflex/inertia)
2) Remember that your weakest link (muscle) is always the limiting
factor to your form
3) Biomechanical factors help or inhibit your gains, make the best
leverage possible, and know what muscles need to be built in
order to make progress
He was also keen on volume, making sure I understand that
training was not about a feeling, but more so a volume game. To be a
certain strength, one must lift a certain amount of weight per week and
month to achieve desired training results.
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Chapter 6
Full time Westside member
My first 1000lb squat
in 2006 APF senior
nationals, WPO
qualifier.
After graduating with my master’s degree in the summer of 2005,
it was time to move to Westside full time. My thesis had taken me about
2 months longer than the spring semester, so I was done with classes
and working in the athletic weight room as a GA but still finishing my
paper. I spent my summer of 2005 completely focused on my paper.
Towards the end of July, after countless revisions, I finally graduated.
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The old crew with me in the middle behind Louie, in this picture alone
there was about 8 world records from these guys in 3 years
(Vlad A, Greg P, were some of the world record holders pictured)
When August came around, it was time for me to move over to
Ohio. I packed my things, said goodbye to my friends, old training
partners, and my family and then headed off for the land of giants. My
first job was working at Lifetime Fitness as a trainer. It gave me the
freedom to train in the mornings and work from 1-9pm.
This put me in Chuck Vogelphol’s group. It was a weekly beatdown, but the strength gains went through the roof! Our crew was one
of the strongest ever assembled.
Greg Panora, multiple 242 world record holder
Chuck Vogelphol, multiple 220, 242, 275 world record holder
Vlad Alhazov, 1250 squat world record
6 or more 800+ deadlifters
8 or more 1000+ squatters
I was currently ranked 7th in the world
By summer I squatted 1003, my bench was creeping to 700, and I
was deadlifting consistently over 700. Chuck taught me a lot of things,
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but the most important was mental intensity. He was the most intense
and powerful human that I had ever seen in the squat. No one ever
complained about being sore or hurt around Chuck, the man was the
definition of tough. Work ethic and determination were also a huge
lesson, although at the time the training seemed borderline insane.
We spent grueling hours in the gym blasting squats and deadlifts.
I worked on the bench with George Halbert. I was in the mix of some of
the best lifters in the world, and I made sure to soak up as much
knowledge as I could from these guys. This was the first time I really
understood how and when to use bands and chains to alter the loading
profile during the main lifts. There were people using bands and chains
other than Westside at the time, but the experimentation of our groups
really made it a science.
1055 squat at the Iron house meet 2007.
I became an expert in squatting gear to the point that I was hitting
1055 in squats, along with my pull nearing close to 800. My total was
2465, only bested by John Stafford at 2505. I had finally earned my spot
in the famous gym and was recognized as one of the better lifters
associated with the facility. I was writing articles for the gym on the
things we were experimenting with, and making a name for myself in
the lifting world.
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My First Interview for the NFL
Although my lifting had started to really take off, Louie knew my
passion at the time was to be in the NFL as a strength coach. Buddy
Morris was the head Strength coach for the Cleveland Browns at the
time, and was an avid follower of Louie and our practices.
It was off to Cleveland in the fall of 2006. We entered the Browns
training facility, and I was in total awe. We had everything imaginable,
from reverse hypers and glute hams, all the way to chains and bands.
Buddy was practicing a lot of what we were doing. After a day at the
facility, Louie had expressed to Coach Morris that I was interested in
working for him. We discussed what would be expected of me.
I was to be hired within the month, and I was so excited. I had
finally gotten my big break, and was ready to join the NFL only 6-8
months out of my master’s program. But asking Louie for this chance
was in a different view. In my mind, he perceived that I wasn’t serious
about my own lifting and that my heart wasn’t into it.
In the summer of 2006 my good friend Drex wanted to go to a
seminar held by Bill Crawford, a great bencher and technician from New
York. In a few hours we had figured out what shirt worked for me, and
had a technique figured out that worked for my body. Within the next
year (2006-2007) my bench progressed from 672 to 785! This meant
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that as one of the best benchers at Westside, and as a full lifter, I was
finally on the Westside famous board of records. It was an
accomplishment that I will never forget. I was on a board that had Chuck
V, George Halbert, Kenny Patterson, and all my other idols on it.
The training template for my lifting from 2006-2007 was as follows.
This template stayed the same for much of my career.
Current lifting maxes 1055-785-750
BASIC LAYOUT TEMPLATE
Tuesday
➢ Speed squats and deadlifts
➢ 4-6 accessory exercises dedicated towards weaknesses
Wednesday
➢ Speed bench
➢ 4-6 accessory exercises
Friday
➢ Max effort squats
➢ Mad effort pulls every 2-3 weeks
➢ 4-6 accessory exercises
Sunday
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➢ Max effort bench
➢ 4-6 accessory exercises
Chapter 7
Leaving Westside
85
815 bench press at a full meet in 2008.
After the interviews with Cleveland and benching the big 785
using the Metal Militia techniques, things were different. Although
people were slowly progressing in the gym, the atmosphere was filled
with pressure. I think we were all feeling the stress of other gyms, and
our progress. We had used lifting gear so often, that our muscles were
not hypertrophied, and our raw strength was decreasing.
Although our equipment technique was better, it ended up
equaling out so no one was making gains. Big Iron at the time had some
great lifters. Although known for using gear week in and week out, they
were strong by anyone’s standards and had lifters that were doing great
things on a consistent monthly basis.
The coach of Big Iron, Rick Hussey, would be a huge
encouragement to me whenever he saw me at meets. Although I was not
on his team, he would always push me and help any way possible. I fed
on positive energy, and Rick was always there to tell me to kick
everyone’s ass.
What I started to notice is that my bench was soaring and my
other lifts were flattening out. I sat down and started to look at my
training template.
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As you can see in the graph, more than 70% of the work I was
doing was raw and only 20% was with equipment. We used the shirts
enough to handle larger loads, but we mostly worked on making the
muscles stronger and more powerful.
Our layout for lower body was much different, however. We had hardly
ever pulled the gear off, and when we did there was still added support
(briefs, wraps, belts, etc.)
The intensity was always too high, and the singles and large jumps
and our muscles were getting little volume. Therefore whatever what
we gained in equipment experience, we lost in shear strength.
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As you can see in this graph, our training for legs had a much
different outlook. There was no de-loading, so we were over trained,
plus the equipment was always on so our muscles never got much work.
We were all frustrated, and we were working our asses off for 5lb gains.
The Winter Pro Am of January 2008 is when shit hit the fan.
Chuck, my training partner, had been pushed to the limit with some
things and was ready to leave Westside after that meet. I don’t really
know the reasons, but at the time it was a huge shock. He was both the
face of the gym and a lot of the reason it was world famous. It was a
trying time for all of us. Especially the ones like me, as I had moved
hundreds of miles away to train with and be around the legend.
Not more than a few weeks after that I was taking charge of the
morning crew, but not for long. Chuck had been such a strong leader
that his shoes were hard to fill. Furthermore, Louie was both pissed and
possibly embarrassed that he had just lost his best and most famous
lifter.
The first thing of order was to take the lifting equipment
completely off. This allowed us to work on our muscles and build
strength. After 4 weeks of doing this, we were all back to hitting PRs in
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the gym and excited to compete once more. Everyone was excited,
everyone but Louie.
Louie and I didn’t see eye to eye on training, and I wanted to do
more raw work. The entire time I was at the gym, there was never any
workouts or guidance offered except what we gave ourselves as a group.
This ended up being both a confusing and frustrating predicament.
Nothing anyone did was correct at this point, and with Chuck gone and a
lot of the veterans leaving or already left, there were no leaders.
Finally, things came to a head on a Sunday and we parted ways.
We both said things we probably didn’t mean, but I was told I was no
good without him or the gym. This was the ultimate blow, since I lived
and breathed for that facility.
At first, I believed him. After all, he was my mentor for the past
decade, so I pondered on this for a few days wondering if I should retire.
I was at the top 10 in the world, but was mentally beat down from the
negative energy that surrounded the gym and the lack of guidance that
was present.
I couldn’t help but wonder if this was all I had left in me, and if
this was as far as I’d go. My next step was to call Chuck, see where he
was, and if he would be gracious enough to let me work with him once
more. I was a little nervous, at that time no one was sure why he left. He
was both the face of Westside and my idol, but for all I knew, he could
have left because of the group, and I could have had a role to play in
that.
We ended up talking for an hour, discussing our views and what
we wanted to accomplish. We decided it would be a good choice for
both of us, and started the process of training for the Pro Am in the
summer. The purpose embedded in both of our minds at that time was
to show the powerlifting community that we could accomplish great
things, and that we had the knowledge and expertise to dominate.
We had been our own coaches for some time in the gym, so in our
mind, what the fuck was the difference? We were never told what to do
in the gym, so our workouts were just that, ours. We did what we
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thought was best for the group or us. So, it was time to show that we
were the reason for the success. We were off to the other side of town
to Lexen. It was a small gym with only a few lifters there, but had all the
equipment we needed to make it work. It was time to do our thing.
Time to Prove a Point
That spring and summer, training was intense. We both had
things to prove, and I was out for blood. My body was beat up every
training day, but I didn’t care. My system and layout stayed the same,
but something inside was different. I was mad, I wanted to beat
everyone, and I was strong enough now mentally and physically with
nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Box squats with
insane amounts of
band tension at
Lexen in Grove
City, 2008.
We had a new lifter in the group named Chuck Fought. He was
strong, agile, and a deadlifting machine. Chuck and I poured all our
energy into the 3 of us. Although I was benching way more than them by
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100+ lbs., our squats and deadlifts were close enough to really push
each other, and that we did.
Westside Pro Am 2008
My first all time world record
When the end of summer 2008 came, and it was time to break the walls
down. Every squat I did was easier than the last.
1025-1050-1085 PR
Bench was the same, my technique and my speed was insane.
740-780-815 PR
Deadlifts were also on point, 685-725-766.
I had just broken the total world record! I had taken home best
squat, bench, and money for breaking that record. I had achieved, in 6
months, my total going from top 10 to the best done at 308 bodyweight!
That could have arguably been the best day of my lifting career.
At 28 years old I had accomplished what I had set out to do in
middle school, and that was to be on a world stage beating the best in
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my era. I had worked for 15 years to make it to this point, and it felt like
I had accomplished a lifelong goal.
590 bench press
raw in 2008.
But there was another reason it was so important to me.
Louie had to hand me the money and swallow down his pride. I
had beaten him on his own stage. Although that entire training cycle my
energy level was based on revenge and payback, I buried my hate in the
ground after that. I cared less about proving points and was back on a
better track of just aiming to best myself.
Although our relationship will never be the same, I now realize
that moving on was the best thing for me at that time, even though it
was the hardest transition point of my life. I had lost a mentor, but I
gained my own self-confidence.
After the meet it was back to the drawing board to try new things,
take the gear off for 3-4 months, and work on getting stronger. As I
always did in equipment, the off-season was always pushing up muscle
mass, and prepping for the next season.
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Westside Pro Am 2009
1100 lb squat with the massive nosebleed.
That summer I finally hit an 1100 squat, and I was ecstatic. It
actually moved easy and was no doubt deep and clean. The bench that
meet was strong, but had not showed the promise of the training. I think
I only hit around 750, but the training was showing somewhere around
825.
The deadlift was strong that year and pulled 800. I was finally an
800lb deadlifter and felt awesome to attain that. Although 800 for most
people was just the point of being decent, in my mind it was a great
accomplishment at 6 ft. 1in with short arms.
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This shows you that in a year, 30% of my time was training to fix weak
points. I was no longer trying to hold my strength at a high level year
round.
It was always my worst lift and seemed to be the one that was the
least predictable. But I finally hit it. Ed Coan had called me and said that
he could finally die in peace. I had pulled 800! Hearing that from the
man that I looked up to for a majority of my life was a chip off my
shoulder and a massive sigh of relief.
Pulling the 800 was about 15% less work than pulling 771 in
previous meets. The big difference was recovery. If I felt beat up, I let
myself recover, and didn’t try to push too hard or too fast. I always left
something in the tank, I listened to my body, and was also fresh to train
heavy again after a good off-season recovery program.
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Chapter 8
2010
The opening of my new facility Ludus Magnus, and off on my own.
My clientele base had grown to the point that it was time for my
own facility. I had attained equipment over the past few years, and was
ready to come into my own. I was training nearly 40 clients a week,
most of them coming in at least 2 times every 7 days or so.
With the connections of the military and local fire departments I
had gained enough buzz that I was finally able to have financial
breathing room and start to look for the right warehouse to start my
gym. I found a 3000 square foot warehouse that was perfect close to
downtown Columbus. It was clean enough for clients, but hardcore
enough for my own lifting. Now I needed a name.
A friend had thrown out the idea of calling it Ludus Magnus, which
meant elite training ground. I thought this was perfect. I wanted a
facility that people were serious about, if they were coming to me for
guidance.
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Now I was the coach and the lifter, to which I gave all the respect
in the world to Chuck for doing this for so many years. He was my
greatest teacher, I watched him train through injury, sickness, and
issues that would have caused most people to stop, retire, or give up. It
was my training with Chuck that let me realize that being strong was a
lifelong endeavor, not a 10-week plan. If you wanted to be your best,
you had to pour your life into it, not just when you are in your prime or
feel your best.
I created a new training group. I needed some fresh blood around
me, people I could count on and that were just as much my friends as
my training partners. I found this through a lot of my clients of whom I
had built a strong foundation with.
Rob had come to me out of shape and beat down from past cancer
problems, asking for my help. He was a gigantic 345lbs and played some
football at my former college. From that point on, I helped him, watch
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him turn his fat into muscle, and develop far beyond anyone’s
expectations.
In just a short span of time he was benching mid 500s raw and
deadlifted a staggering 700lbs at his first meet. In this group the average
deadlift was well over 700, the squat was over 850, and the bench was
over 700 (equipped). The guys around me were strong enough to really
start a good thing.
785lb in weight with 500lb of
band with briefs and belt only.
After the opening of the new facility and things slowed down a bit,
it was time to look towards a new goal. There were only a few guys that
had squatted 1200 pounds, and to be considered a great in equipped
lifting the 1200lb mark was the gold standard for the larger weight
classes. It was a dream for me to be mentioned in the same class as
Andy Bolton and other great multiply lifters.
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1110 squat in New York at the Metal Militia meet.
My previous best squat was 1110 in New York, and the world
record was 1192. My eyes were set on going for that. I knew I had a lot
of work to do, so it was time to rest up and start the training protocol
for the large squat!
I took 2 weeks off and trained easy to recover, then it was time to
go back to the drawing board.
2011 weight 305-312 THE BIG WR SQUAT
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Working my way
down in the hole
with 1197.
My training cycle was more rest and less all out lifting. I was
focusing on how to get the strongest without being beat up all the time.
This is where I learned to listen to my body and not feel like I had to
make progress every week.
On my ultra-heavy days, I used a fair number of partials down to
catch chains (like Big Iron training) to get used to insane loads on my
back. The final heavy phase of training for the UPA nationals was a stout
1245 in true bar weight, down to about an inch above parallel. We
literally had to tape the weights together, because there was no room
for collars.
My gear had stayed exactly the same for the entire time from 20082011. Same suit, same style briefs, same bench shirt and everything. But
my training was shifting more towards raw work. I would only use my
gear once every 3-4 weeks, and between that time was doing tons of
raw box squats. My legs were getting very large, and I felt like I was on
to something.
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Raw=belt only variations Free=no box variations belt only
Full gear=everything you could legally wear
As you can see in this graph above, training constituted mostly
squatting with just a belt. I was hitting 800 squats raw, and my
bodyweight was climbing to 315lbs. I was strong everywhere and
training raw close to 60% of the time.
Ed Coan was at the meet to both wrap my knees and call my
depth. My past best was 1110, and I was uncertain what I was capable
of. I opened with around 1030, was so fast I almost lost balance, then
went to 1125 and found that this was just as easy. Now was the next
tough call.
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Ed Coan wrapping my knees as I prepare for the squat.
The World Record was 1192, and I was on the fence regarding
whether I had the confidence to beat that or not. I was hoping for 1150,
but Ed looked at me and said “Lets give this motherfucker a ride.”
We turned in 1197 and I was shitting my pants.
I was 4 guys out, and Ed started to wrap my knees, I had to take
them half as tight as he could wrap them. The bar was loaded, and it was
time to put in some work. I remember the bar being so far loaded with
50kg plates that I couldn’t even count the weight.
My eyes were focused on my focal point and my setup was
calculated for a good 30 sec. The weight felt like a ton of lead on my
back, but I blocked the pain sensors and focused on my technique.
Taking that kind of weight down is another experience. Half blacked out,
half in a trance, all I was waiting for was to hear Ed’s voice yell me up.
When I heard his command, I pushed as hard as I could. Weight stood
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up easy, and I was already thinking, god damnit, I should have gone
bigger! Watching the video and talking to Ed after, 1235-1250 was in me
that day.
The other lifts did not go as planned. I had a great training cycle
that time with the bench, handling loads well above 900lbs, but the new
shirt I had was just what I was used to. I ended that meet with a hard
mid 700 bench. For some reason, the training did not pan out well for
the bench. The same held true on the deadlift, I had pulled an easy 825
in the gym with a little room to spare, so I was confident that 840 would
be there meet day. My second deadlift at 750 was the end of the day.
This is when I realized that although I was strong enough to
accomplish my lifting goals, my fitness level was too low after squatting
to have any power left.
2011- Post WR squat Fitness level had to rise for strength to be seen in the
other 2 lifts.
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Chapter 9
2012
True strength
After my world record squat in gear, my attitude towards lifting
started to change. I realized how much that gear had helped me, and I
was also very aware of where the records were going. They were
increasing, but not because people were getting stronger, it was from
lackluster judging, high squats, and to be frank, bullshit lifts.
Chuck Vogelphol 2006 WPO, some of the last quality judging in multi-ply.
Let me be clear in stating I have no ill feelings towards people
who lift multiply. It’s just my opinion of what I want out of MY career. I
embedded myself in the equipment era in 2004 and enjoyed every
moment. But the era from 2004-2008 was a different atmosphere than
2010-2017.
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There was only one real goal, to reach the WPO at the Arnold
classic, and that was the same for any great lifter. To do this meant you
had to work your way through the APF, which was not in control of only
a few hands, but had many players and a larger stage. This meant
bullshit lifts were rare, and people couldn’t wear equipment that would
be so tight they were incapable of performing the lift to complete depth.
I started to look at the old timers Like Kazmaier, Reinholdt,
Pacifico, and realized that If I wanted a shot to be remembered as they
were, I had to be out of the gear for the world to see my true potential.
This was a risky move for some, but it validated what I already
knew. That I could keep up with the best in any era. It also gave me a
new set of goals, which made it fun to train again. I wanted to have the
respect of the old timers, and look back and have integrity and
satisfaction in my accomplishments
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Going to RAW
A massive back has always been a trait of mine, and I would need every
ounce of it for the lifts to come.
I decided sometime in 2011-2012 that I did not want to be
associated with geared lifting. The meets I went to, the lifts I saw
streamed on the Internet, and the records I saw taken from lifters who
earned it before this time were making me ashamed.
I wanted my lifts to count for something. I wanted my
accomplishment to be recognized by both powerlifters and regular
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people that use weight training recreationally. Being around the
military also made my raw strength more important. The guys and girls
I worked with in Special Forces and big Army could care less about what
I could do in fancy equipment, and quite frankly I found that I could care
less either.
I did know that most of my training was already done raw or with
very minimal gear on, which made me think that maybe raw lifting
wasn’t that far of a reach for me to be successful at. My best bench in the
gym (touch and go was 625), and I would play with box squats with 800
or more, so now it was time to put it to the test. Could I be world class
raw?
2012 my first raw Bench Press Meet
My old mentor George Halbert had come to my facility to get
ready for a raw bench meet in the summer. It was an honor and
privilege to have him back in the picture, and us training together like
the old days at Westside. We had 15 weeks to get ready for this
competition, and the training started in May. The workouts were both
grueling and fulfilling at the same time. Workloads were intense, and
George was going for the 585 bench at 198, which would be an all-time
record. I personally wanted the 600-bench bad. Not only had 48 guys
ever accomplished the feat, but only a handful of them had achieved that
lift and been a full meet lifter.
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I realized through this training cycle that raw lifters have to do
more volume. The raw lifter only has his muscle to rely on, so more
hypertrophy was needed, therefore more sets must be done. This is
when I started playing with increasing warm-up sets and doing more
complex schemes in my routines.
600 raw bench 2012, 303 bodyweight.
The day arrived, and the opener was set at 525. It was effortless
and very strong, then 570, also easy with only a slight slowing of the bar.
600 is what I came for, so the bar was loaded to that weight, and the 600
also went up very well. I was ecstatic! The others in the crew also did
exceptional, my training partners Rob and John both had massive
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benches and PRs. Rob hit an easy 520, with a slight miss at 535, and
John hit 530, missing a close 560.
This bench meet was more fun than any meet I had done in the
last 5-7 years. Not only did I feel accomplished, but also felt awesome to
look at your name sitting next to the greatest lifters from every
generation. I was proud to be on the 600 all-time bench list, and proud
to call myself a powerlifter once again.
The accomplishment made me want to train harder as well as it
me a new set of goals, something I’d needed for a long time. It was never
fun to worry about my equipment fitting correctly, or if I had everything
perfect. It was fun to just go out and attack the weight to see if my body
could do it, not a piece of cloth.
I also liked the way I felt and looked. I was leaner, harder, and my
conditioning from the extra volume made me more energetic at work.
There were no downsides to my current position.
285lb lean and
strong.
2013 My first full raw meet
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574 bench press uspa 2013, 295 bodyweight.
The only way to truly know was to say fuck it and go for the big
dog stuff right off the rip. Now that I knew my bench was where I
thought it would be (600+), that gave me confidence that my other lifts
would be there too.
I entered my first raw meet. USPA walked out federation, no
wraps and just try to bang out something nasty. That fall and early
spring of 2012 and 2013 was all raw training, and everything was
feeling great the next 12 weeks. The only damage I had from the
equipped lifting was a torn left hip flexor that was aggravating in deep
squats, but not painful enough to stop training. It was a great learning
tool though, and did make me evaluate my exercise selection and
training from time to time.
My numbers were
Squat 705-745-771
Benches 540-574-601 miss
Deadlift 700-749-Pass on 3rd
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That made a 2105 total at my first raw meet, ass to grass nothing
to hide, showing everything I had. That meet made me realize I was
having fun lifting again. I wasn’t concerned with sitting around with
equipment so tight that I wanted to pass out, nor was I uncomfortable
between lifts or rushed on attempts.
With no gear, there isn’t much to set up, considering it’s just you
walking out and seeing if YOU are strong enough to lift the object. I love
that aspect of raw lifting. There is nothing to dial in other than form and
weaknesses. All you need to do is put the work in and see what you’re
capable of.
That day I was capable of 2105. Just 97lbs shy of the all-time raw
world record.
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Chapter 10
My Lifting and my Health
I had stayed over 300lbs for more than 8 years, and it was taking a toll
on my body. On top of that, to add in another factor, my family history
had some negatives regarding heart health. That made me nervous, so I
began seeing a doctor that was used to dealing with strength athletes. I
needed a full panel of tests done to check on my overall wellness before
I could see how my health was.
My blood sugar was good at 102, but it needed some tweaking.
The first thing we did was time my carbohydrates versus just eating
whenever and whatever I wanted. When I was younger, I had to eat
everything in sight to gain weight. It took me 5 years to go from 280 to
300. My eating habits, food selection, and timing were not great.
Timing of carbohydrates
Down to a 35 in waist with the help of the vertical diet.
We put my carbohydrates both before (30grams) and after
(50grams) training sessions, and then watched my carb intake (in
moderation) for the rest of the day. At first, I had headaches and felt
slightly weaker, but that didn’t last for long.
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Within 3 months I was floating around 280 and was feeling
awesome. My blood pressure was great, 125/88, and my fasting blood
sugar was 84. Everything else was perfect, and I learned to be slightly
dieted down in the off-season and get my weight back up to low 300s
before contest time. This not only made me healthier, but also stronger.
Chapter 11
Lighter, leaner, and stronger with a drastic change in warm-ups
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Now that I had my health in order and went down a little in
weight in the off-season, it was time to train for another big meet. Raw
Unity in Florida was the selection, and I started to ramp my training and
my strength up in late summer.
My best previous was 2105, only 97lb away from the world
record. I began my training for it in July of 2013. The first thing to do for
any meet, especially raw training, is to get a solid foundation. This solid
foundation includes putting on muscle mass as well as increasing
conditioning to be able to withstand and recover from the heavier
workouts later in the cycle.
What I had learned from the previous raw meet in May is that my
bench suffered slightly after squats. This was a valuable lesion, as it
started a long thought process of how to correct this issue. The first
thing I did was increase warm-ups volume. I added 4x25 reps with
dumbbells before every upper body workout.
As one becomes stronger, volume must increase in order to make
gains. I think we can all understand that. The harder issue with this is
how to fit the volume into the workouts. As one becomes stronger, your
ability to do massive amounts of accessory work is limited, due to your
energy level. I devised a plan of intensive warm-ups (in the off season)
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that would slightly affect my large lifts, but once tapering for meets
began, would give me a huge base of strength.
This worked amazing for my bench press in a full meet, as I found
out in February 2014. It also built a strong hypertrophy base for my legs
in the squat, as for every leg workout I added 4x25 of various leg
presses (mostly wide stance).
This was very new to me at the time because I was a huge fan of
just getting to the large lifts and trying to warm up quickly. I felt that it
prepared my body to be rushed in a meet as you often don’t have a
chance to feel things out but you still must step up both mentally and
physically very quickly. I think this approach helped, but I had done that
for close to 10 years, and now my body needed a change.
Incorporating reverse hypers in the pre warmups.
Potentiation of weak muscles
Putting your weak muscles first is a great way to not only warm
up, but to also ensure proper volume in these areas for injury reduction
and future growth. Potentiation, by definition, is directly focusing on an
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area in order to use it in another motor pattern. It makes sense to put a
developmental warm-up into your program.
I usually set a time frame for my warm-ups. My dumbbell bench
press and 3 weak point muscle exercises take less than 15 minutes. This
also pushes my conditioning level up slowly over time.
It all started with
the upper body
and bringing up
the bench after
heavy squats.
These
warm-ups should in no way be heavy, and they should only be slightly
taxing. I started off my warm ups with 15lb dumbbells for the first few
months for the presses, and by the end of a few years, I was able to use
100lb dumbbells for 4x25 and not affect my max or speed benching for
the day.
Warm-up Layout (Off Season)
The warm-up:
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Upper:
➢ 4x25 dumbbell bench press, varying grips, positions and angles,
and tempo every workout
➢ 3 exercises to potentiate weak muscle groups
➢ 3 sets of each exercise (25 reps per exercise)
➢ tricep pushdowns
➢ Lat pulldowns
➢ Rear delt rows
For about 90% of the people I have either trained or worked with,
these have been their muscle weak points. Slowly doing this warm-up
will allow you to correct these weak points.
For 8 months out of the year I utilize a potentiation warm up. This
has allowed me to see great gains in the last few years, and I think it
would help any lifter at any stage of their lifting career.
Remember that when starting this type of warm up procedure,
less is more. The key is to slowly build up the volume and resistance
over time, without affecting the major workout or exercise(s) for that
day.
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Training History
A Heritage in Soviet Science
Opening remarks
◼ Constant use of one training method causes it to become habitual
and yield a lesser training effect.
A.S. Medvedyev (1986)
◼ Training is efficient if the highest level of results are achieved with
the least amount of energy expenditure.
Thomas Kurz (2001)
It was during the cold months in the USSR early 1950s that a track
coach by the name of Verkoshansky was snowed out of the tracks that
his team used in order to practice. This snowstorm had kept the track
team from training for weeks, and Verkoshansky, being an old Soviet
track star himself, was in a bind.
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He needed to find a way to train his athletes and make them
better, but no track was available and precious time was being lost due
to the weather.
Verkhoshansky in the middle, speaking to his athletes in the 50s.
With very few options available, he did have an old weight room
with boxes, barbells, dumbbells and a few elementary machines.
Verkoshansky was a thinker, and his idea was to use plyometrics (or
jumping exercises) and weightlifting in order to possibly help with
running.
What he developed was a series of jumps and resistance training
circuits that was slightly specific to both the athlete’s motor patterns
and time in which they needed to exert energy (I.E. 10 sec sets for 100m
runners etc.) Each track event had a select few exercises that were
specific to the event, with general strength exercises (such as back
squats) as well.
After increasing strength and power output for a span of 8 weeks,
he noticed through this training that his athletes running speed, as well
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as his jumper’s distance and height were all increasing at a rate faster
than on the track the previous year. After this discovery, track and other
sports were never again the same in the USSR.
While other countries were training very specific, the Russians
had adapted a crude form of the conjugate system. Utilizing strength
phases, jumping exercises, and weighted plyometrics, they were
creating new stimuli and seeing fantastic results. No one had ever really
before considered that to get faster, one had to get stronger.
A graph out of one of Verkoshansky’s earlier texts showing different
training methods used for jumpers.
They realized that training too specific was an error, and that
much was to be gained from doing things that were not as sport specific.
By doing this, athletes were able to develop many forms of athleticism,
and strength was one of the tools that many of the athletes were lacking.
This massive split starting after World War 2 made the western
world far less superior to the Eastern Bloc countries in most things
anaerobic. The superiority was mostly blamed on anabolic steroids, but
the real difference was the organization of training and the research of
Science.
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For the Russians, it was simple math. The Olympics had weight
classes in weightlifting (15+), wrestling (12+), and multiple explosive
events in track and field (10+). They figured that there were more gold
medals to be won by focusing on the anaerobic sports. So, scientists
from different fields were brought in to study the physics and
physiology of training.
At that time, having a superior Olympic team was a symbol of both
strength and pride during the Cold War. By the mid-1950s, all the way
through the 1980s, the Soviets researched, studied, and mastered
training for anaerobic sports.
Transfer to Weightlifting
The conjugate system as we know it today
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In the 1950s there was a man by the name of Paul Anderson. Paul
was a short, but stout athlete, and he was the last American to win a
gold medal in Olympic lifting. He was the man that started it all with the
Russians becoming interested in weightlifting.
Paul
Anderson, one
of the
strongest men
to walk the
planet.
While the Russians were at the Olympics, they began taking notes
on his physique and raw power. This both fascinated the Russians and
created a want for Olympic lifting to be of major importance to the
Soviet state. This made sense at the time to the Russians as well, with
the multiple weight classes to use finances to have more gold medals.
So, the search began for men in their population to rival everyone in the
future Olympics.
A man by the name of Vasily Alekseyev came a decade later. This
Russian would be the greatest Olympic lifter ever, with more than 80
world records broken by him. He would be named athlete of the year by
sports Illustrated in the mid-1970s.
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Vasily Alekseyev, with
another world record clean
and jerk.
A national coach and former champion by the name of A.S.
Mevdiev followed, helped, and wrote down Alexiev’s training, as well as
watched his methods employed by Vasily and his training partners
closely.
What Alexiev had designed was a system of rotating dynamic and
max effort movements that were vast in abilities but highly transferable
to the classic Olympic lifts. This allowed him to push hard year-round
but keep burnout, injury and fatigue at a minimum.
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By the end of his career, a group of people including Alexiev and
Mevdiev had devised more than 70 different training exercises, rotating
on a daily basis. This was the invention of what we use today. This list of
exercises included back squats, front squats, overhead squats, pulling
from the floor to the knees, high pulls, push press, and many other
variations of the classic Olympic lifts.
This created a team of eastern bloc lifters that were known as the
Dynamo Club. These lifters, when combined, took every gold medal and
world championship they entered. This was the golden era of Olympic
lifting and will probably never be topped as far as the sheer number of
athletes that were capable of breaking records.
The communist system fell apart shortly thereafter, and with it
came the demise of the state funded programs. Although communism
has distinct downfalls, when using it for training and long-term
development of athletes it actually is an optimal system, despite it
controlling more of people’s lives and activities outside of the gym.
This was one of the first attempts to control volume, it uses data from
nearly 2000 Olympic lifter. While it is a great reference, we must
understand that this is for Olympic lifting and not powerlifting.
When researched was conducted for Prilepin’s Chart, it was
focused on Olympic, not Powerlifting. Olympic Weightlifting (Clean and
Jerk/Snatch) at its core is a speed sport, not a strength sport like
Powerlifting is. This means that there isn’t much straining, you either
make the lift or you don’t.
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Power Lifting will have higher percentages of straining. Olympic
Weightlifting is a Speed Strength Sport, Powerlifting is an Absolute
Strength Sport.
This creates some slight adjustment adapting Prilepin’s Chart to
Power Lifting. When calculating the weighted mean for Percent of 1RM
in Prilepin’s Chart, you will find a result of 75%. After adjusting the
Optimal Total Reps for those in Powerlifting, you will find the weighted
mean to be 78%.
Ironically, in calculating the average RPE/Percentages used in of
Wenning Warmups, Maximal and Dynamic Effort (because both are
maximal force production) and High Intensity Accessory Work the
average is 77%. This shows why the scale located above, although for
different lifts, matches almost identically to RPE and percentages of this
manual, as well as follows the guidelines of adaptations and
overtraining. This is how we create long term success with a program,
by giving the organism enough stimulus to change and grow but
avoiding overreaching/overtraining.
Therefore, you may notice some of the old Soviet Olympic lifting
coaches in Iran and China. Most coaches realize that to excel in longterm developmental sport, it is crucial to have total dedication to the
task, something that we have struggled with in the west.
The United States and our background of
Strength Training
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Dr. Fred Hatfield, a pioneer in
lifting and research in training
methods. A leader in
understanding speed and
strength correlations, but one
of the few in the western world
at that time.
Strength training in the United States, (although starting off well
with Paul Anderson in the 1950s) kind of took a different direction in
the 60s and 70s. Our attention was loosely on bodybuilding, and other
than that, sports were not utilizing weight training for athletics.
Furthermore, strength was not really a main objective for many people
in the United States.
Here in the United States, our research was mostly based on
aerobic sports such as distance running, swimming, and cycling. This
was due to the researcher’s interest at the time, and one of them
happened to be a mentor and professor of mine, Dr. David Costill at Ball
State University. Dr. Costill was an avid runner and swimmer, which
sparked his interest in the area greatly from the 1960s well into the
1990s.
Resistance training was not really understood in the scientific
community, and it was not much of interest to researchers at that time.
This created a distorted view of fitness and what people thought was
being in shape. There was also this assumption that anaerobic training
was simplistic.
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Steve Prefontaine,
on of the greatest
distance runners
ever.
The first real sport to pick up weight training mainstream was
football. This started with a man named Boyd Eply from Nebraska. He
was an assistant coach at the time and had done a bit of experimenting
with weight training with athletes, all which reaped good results. There
was a football dynasty during that period for Nebraska, which increased
the buzz of using weightlifting with football.
10 years later, strength and conditioning coaches were at almost
every college, and weight training was starting to become a stable of
athletic training. Everyone was on the bandwagon for weight training.
There was a problem though. The only real knowledge that was out
there was mostly from bodybuilding. Few researchers were studying
weight training, and weights had only really been discovered as training
devices for a few years. This led to a massive debate, and lack of
education for proper weight training use in sport. Coaches had to go
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with and use their own mind, past experiences, and techniques to make
the best of what they had.
There was a small group of coaches and researchers that started
an association called the NSCA. (National Strength and Conditioning
Association). The researchers and coaches formed this to help educate
and create standards for high school, college and pro coaches. By the
time the NSCA had a standards and accreditations, as well as schools
catching on to teaching the basics, we were already 30 years behind The
Soviet Literature.
Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell
Starting in an old garage in Columbus Ohio, a man by the name of
Louie Simmons started to see a pattern in the world of powerlifting. By
the 1980s Louie noticed that a lot of the lifters at that time were riddled
by injuries and stagnated lifts. With his own injuries accumulating, it
was time for him to look for a new system to follow with a better return
of strength to injury ratio.
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At this time there was a lifter named Matt Dimel. This was the
lifter that ended up putting Westside barbell and Louie on the map.
After a few years of rotating movements and training differently than
linear periodization, Matt squatted over 1000lb. From then on out,
Louie slowly became a leader in the powerlifting world.
Soon after followed the all-time greats of the old school crew
Chuck Vogelphol
George Halbert
Kenny Patterson
Dave Tate
And many others
This crews magic was experimentation. From this crew, learning
the band tensions, chain weights, and rotation of raw and box squatting
became a science. At this time there were over 10 - 900lb squatters, 8 600lb benchers, and well over 10 - 800lb dead lifters. Not to mention
Louie and Dave were starting to read tons of Russian literature, as well
as write articles on what changes in strength they were seeing in the
gym for a magazine called Powerlifting USA.
From 1990s to the mid-2000s, there were many strength coaches
from the colleges and pro teams visiting the gym to get in on the secrets
of conjugate training.
This would be the Golden era of Westside barbell. Their
accomplishments were not only setting world records but starting to
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decipher the Russian texts and implement the techniques in this manual
to powerlifting.
Some of the top changes from Westside Barbell:
Use of Chains
Use of Bands
Use of weight releasers
Use of Dynamic Method
Structured max effort training
Science and the dilemma
There is still huge debate regarding what methods are best.
Everyone has different experiences, successes, and failures with
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modalities, and for good reason. This is because there is an inherent
problem with our research today.
Unlike our former communist counterparts, we do not have full
control over our test subjects (athletes, etc.) The soviets had a distinct
advantage in the fact that they could control eating, sleeping, training,
restoration, and pretty much every other factor, thus removing all the
variables. Furthermore, there were thousands of athletes to monitor,
experiment, and train; versus here we only use 10-15 as a basis for a
study.
It’s important to note that in science, variables are everything.
They are a key ingredient to the success and failure of any study.
Therefore, it is vital for coaches and people that help others in this field
to obtain masters and PhD degrees. This education level makes you
understand the variables, difference, and individualization of each
person and environment. Without this base of education, it is hard to
truly help, and therefore difficult for the field to make progress.
Let me be clear in saying that my gym experience has far
outweighed the knowledge I have obtained in school, but the schooling
allowed me to understand what I was witnessing with others and myself
while training and prescribing exercise. Be wary of coaches that have
not taken the time, effort, and investment in education.
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(B)
Methods, Guidelines, and
modifications
Part 1
Biological laws and adaptation to stimulus
Part 2
Methods and guidelines
Part 3
Wenning warmups
(1)
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Biological Laws of Training
Just like any organism, the human body has laws as well.
Understanding these laws allows one to understand the importance of
rotational training, and why adaptation and progress is not always as
easy as just working harder.
The conjugate system of training is one of the few methodologies
that take these laws into account, therefore being superior to many
training philosophies. The human body is a complex organism, and
should be treated as such.
Simplistic programs can create results, but to what point? By
understanding how an organism adjusts to an environment, one can
build these parameters into a workout and have better long-term
results. Another factor that needs to be considered is mileage. I believe
that by rotating means (mostly exercises) we can combat this negative
of training.
Most of this information is from V.M. Zatsiorsky’s book Science and
Practice of Strength Training.
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(A)
Law of Accommodation
The Law of Accommodation states that utilizing the same stimulus
or exercise for too long will cause little to no training effect. It also
means that similar stimuli used for training will require more volume
and energy to ensure gains. The easiest way to adjust for the Law of
Accommodation is to change the exercise. Therefore, different bars,
bands, and chains, when done correctly, can elicit greater results than
just training with normal weights alone.
The environment change on a weekly basis allows the body to
have to adjust its output to accomplish the task. Constant change of
resistance, stance, or position also decreases overuse problems (such as
tendonitis etc.) as muscle can often adapt faster than other structures.
Example: Bench pressing with a regular bench, regular bar, and regular
weights will eventually lead to slowed or stalled progress, unless more
volume, higher intensity, or another change occurs, (often after one week
for advanced and three weeks for amateur).
In this example, an effective adjustment would be to bench with a
different bar each week. Another great adjustment is to use different
angles (incline, decline, floor press). Finally, one can bench weekly
without stagnation by mixing the type of resistance (bands, chains, etc.).
Variation is key to progress both in the short term and long term, but
becomes a very big tool once a lifter has made it to an elite level. Elite
athletes have a great ability to strain, so burnout becomes much quicker
with simplistic training modalities.
(B)
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Law of Specificity
The Law of Specificity states that workouts and training
movements need to be similar to the task in which the person is trying
to improve. If the workouts are not transferable to one’s testing or
environment, then the workout will not provide proper training
direction and performance.
Example 1: When training to run a marathon, it would not be wise to
swim constantly instead of doing something similar to running.
Example 2: Training for a bench press meet, one must still use free
weights and a barbell similar to the competition enough times to have a
proper transfer. Over the years of competing, I use free weights every 3-5
weeks (advanced) in order to keep specific resistance periodically.
The law of specificity is the other side of the coin for the conjugate
system. One must still practice the actual event (squat, bench, deadlift)
on a consistent basis. This ensures that the body and mind are
connected to the task. As a lifter becomes better and more experienced,
the training can show less specific work, have the free weights further
apart, and still see results. Beginners need more specific work, due to
the limited time of development.
To balance these different laws, we must categorize our training into
different long-term phases Beginner- Intermediate – Advanced.
134
135
Istvan Bayli showing the fundamental steppingstones to sport
mastery.
Advanced: years 8+ (training age)
This stage of training becomes very specific to one’s needs, and on
the other hand, needs to go back to the basics. I had found at this
training I needed a vast array of stimulus to stay healthy and deter from
burnout. The core lifts can be stretched to every 4-6 weeks if the base
was developed correctly. There are multiple reasons for this.
Core exercise selections squats 15-20, bench press 15-20,
deadlifts 10-12. Exercises are now based on what feels fresh both
mental and physical as well as what part of the cycle the lifter is in.
1) Psychological burnout is high at this level.
2) Tendonitis and overuse injuries are a training session away.
3) The body has already adapted to basic stimuli.
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(C)
Law of 72 Hours
This law states that you must space your training properly in
order to make constant progress. (See the super compensation chart
below.) The proper spacing of your training can make the difference
between ensuring or condemning your progress.
With any max weight or dynamic training, upper or lower body
stimuli must be separated by 72 hours. This allows the muscles to
recover properly and make consistent gains when using extreme loads.
With medium loads this rule follows 12-24 hours, and with small loads
12 hours.
Example: Training legs on Monday and then again on Tuesday (Ex. A)
Would be incorrect for weightlifting with extreme loads. Cardio must also
be carefully calculated to mesh properly with weightlifting.
Example: Say you train squats very heavy on Monday. The body is not
ready for high intensity lower body lifting until at least Thursday. This is
not based on how you feel. This is based on blood testing cortisol levels
and hormone changes that occurred in thousands of Eastern Bloc athletes
that tried every training regimen under the moon.
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(D)
Law of Individualization
This law is crucial in the aid of making a great program for you or
your responsible party. This principle takes into account your age (both
chronological and training), your gender, your sport, rate of progress,
and your previous skill level in general (or your GPP).
Individuals can also lose training at different rates; some can start
to lose strength in a matter of weeks, while for others it may take
months (mostly due to training age and experience).
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(E)
Law of Diminished Return
This law is one that can be applied to all the other thought
patterns, as it’s a representation of using the same workout too long, or
training a body part more than 2 times per week, etc.
Example: You may be able to make gains training squats more than 2x
per week for a short time, but the work put in will have less of a return
after what we consider optimal (every 72 hours).
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From Zatsiorsky’s Science and Practice of Strength Training. Notice
Example B is optimal, but recovery, optimal volume, and training are
important for this to occur.
Example A (graph) top line
Doing full body workouts on a daily basis, leading to massive
over-training and no progress.
As you can see in example A, there is training occurring but the
load is too intense with stimulation occurring too close together. This
creates a negative training effect of overtraining.
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Example B (graph) middle line
Training each muscle group optimally and adjusting for recovery,
volume, intensity, etc. 72 hours between training sessions of the same
muscle.
In example B, the training allows for the stimulus to create a
training effect by becoming stronger and more prepared for each
session. The issue with this graph is that this does not only account for
training stimulus.
Recovery, nutrition, and previous conditioning from the off-season
preparation plays a vital role in what is obtainable in the
preparation phase.
Example C (graph) bottom line
Working out once per week, (very hard for 2-plus hours) creating
some gains, but not leading to optimal gains or consistent progress due
to insufficient training frequency.
This happens with a lot of lifters that work taxing jobs or travel
frequently. Although they are training hard when they can make time,
the lack of consistency to the muscles make gains complicated and
frustrating, with no real physical change in view.
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(2)
The Methods
(A) Max effort method
(B) Dynamic effort method
(C) Repetition effort method
The whole point of all training methods is to increase force and power
production. Force production has quite a few components, but the ones
important to us is having Maximal strength, dynamic strength, and
cross-sectional muscle area. This we can change with training.
The net force equals the mass of the object multiplied by the amount of
acceleration.
(A)
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Maximal Effort Method
This method, considered the best for increasing both strength and
coordination, is any main exercise (squat, bench, etc.) above 90% of
maximum weight lifted (1-3RM). It should be performed with caution
and proper form. This allows gains in maximal strength, increasing
overall ability and allowing for heavier loads over longer periods of
time.
For powerlifting, or any strength sport, the Max effort method has
no equal in terms of development of strength. However, there are some
downsides to this method:
1) One must rotate exercises regularly in order to stay clear of
overuse injuries, and fatigue (beginner – intermediate -advanced
levels may need different amounts of mode selection)
2) One must develop a work capacity to go heavy on a weekly basis
(this can take 5-10 years)
3) Exercises must be selected that bring out weak points
The maximal effort method is a much more powerful tool as the
athlete becomes stronger, this is due to the ability to strain. Workouts
and recovery time must change in order to withstand the stimulus that
workouts provide as one becomes stronger.
As strength rises, exercises must become more varied.
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When working out, one has to have the proper thought pattern.
Selecting your exercises and laying out your weekly, monthly and yearly
training protocols must have purpose. Max effort training is a must,
week in and week out. As you will see in the intermediate and advanced
program, you will max on a consistent basis. But there are different
types of maxes.
Absolute max = usually unobtainable (fight or flight)
Competition max = your best ever done
Training max = your best that day
When maxing on a constant basis you will not always hit personal
or all-time bests (all though it is possible). Maxing can be up and down,
not always at peak. This type of maxing is training max. Training max
just means you go as hard as you can. Although your best may be more,
the organism is still adjusting through training what you do that day.
Beginning stages of training (max effort)
Lower body max effort exercises (beginner) 1-5 RM
Back squat/front squat/wide stance squat/narrow stance squat/sumo
deadlift/conventional deadlift/straight leg deadlift/ deep box squat
Although this may seem like a lot of exercises to some, these are
the main ones to master in the beginning of your training to ensure you
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become very skilled in the main lifts. For max effort in the beginning
stages, mastering 6-8 exercises will ensure that you get enough specific
training for transfer, but enough variation in order to stay fresh.
Lower body max effort exercises (advanced) 1-5 RM
Safety bar box squat 5 chain per side/Free squat comp stance 1-3
RM/Cambered bar 3 RM with lightened band/hi box squat with 3 sec
pause wide stance/ narrow stance squat with 5 sec pause/Low box squat
with 3 chain/ safety bar squats with hanging kettle bells
As you can see, boxes, bands, chains, and multiple bars are used in
order to keep progress moving forward. Although the main lift is used
every 3-5 weeks, it is not nearly used as much as in the beginning
phases of
training.
Speed
Deadlifting
with bands, an
instrumental
part in getting
strong through
the entire
range of
motion, and
having to
accelerate the
bar as the
tension
increases.
It is okay to not hit a personal best every week. If this occurs, it does
not inherently mean that progress has stopped. It is used to tax the body
and get used to going heavy on a constant basis.
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Example: I look at maxing like playing the odds in Vegas. In Las Vegas, no
one can tell you whether you win or lose that day, but the house (or
casino) will eventually win over time. Maxing is the same way. If you
strain week in and week out, then over time you will become stronger, it’s
just not always a linear process.
The beginner program will have less maxing, as the strength of
the person usually is not enough to sustain any kind of straining, and
also volume will not be high enough to change the muscle or CNS.
Beginners will use 5 rep schemes in most of their heavy sets,
utilizing a max effort (1-2RM) only occasionally. This is so the
inexperienced lifter will be able to achieve a better amount of volume
for muscular change. For the first 3-5 years of training, volume becomes
key, even over max effort and dynamic efforts. It does not always mean
that these methods are not used; it just isn’t in the programs nearly as
much. 5 rep maxes should represent around 70% of your total volume
in core training as its imperative to have enough volume to induce a
muscular change. 1 rep and 3 rep max efforts can be used but may not
be the volume that many lifters need in order to progress.
It takes quite a few years to achieve proper volume on max effort due to:
1) The body’s inability to strain. For some people, straining is not a
simple task, and is a learned process.
2) Technical issues. This is the most important time to build form
and technique, as well as a time to utilize seminars, and seek out
help. Building a base of proper form at this stage is crucial to
being strong later; as old habits are hard to break, so don’t make
bad ones.
(B)
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Dynamic Efforts
Dynamic efforts are very important in creating great amounts of
Force. Strength can only go so far, as one may run out of time in which
to strain. Most people can strain from 3-7 seconds at max. What does
this mean? It suggests that the amount of work you can complete in this
time is your limitation. After that point, if you move too slow you will
run out of energy. So, the next issue to overcome is moving faster.
For example, in 5 competition benches (572-584-600-606-611)
my average time from start to finish was 6 seconds. This meant that if I
wanted to move more weight, I would have to do it in the same amount
of time. The speed of the lift would either have to stay the same or get
faster. 33% of my training is for speed, and it shows.
Dynamic Effort Method
Force x Velocity
This method utilizes sub maximal loads at the highest rate of
speed attainable. It creates a maximal rate of force development
through acceleration (A), this in turn helps convert maximal strength
into speed and works great for anaerobic endurance when practiced
with short rest periods. The percentile range for this type of work is
between 30-40% of a maximal load. Reps should be 3 or less and sets
should fall into the 6-10 range. Accommodating resistance (bands and
chains) is optimal for dynamic efforts as it allows drive through the entire
range of motion. (30-40% may allow too much bar speed)
Speed wave personal example 600
Week 1
190 real weight and double red band 30%
Week 2
215 real weight and double red band 35%
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Week 3
235 real weight and double red band 40%
Week 4
Deload from speed work
German volume training 10 sets of 10
Speed work for a 600lb bencher 180-200 in weight and 120lb in band:
Example: 1) If the bench press is used for speed work, then a 300lb
bencher would utilize 100-150 lbs of resistance to create a maximal
amount of force.
Imagine that you’re throwing different types of balls. You have a
ping-pong ball, a baseball, and a bowling ball. Your object is to choose
the ball to throw the farthest. The ping-pong ball is too light, so it is only
thrown 20 ft, the bowling ball is too heavy and is thrown 15 ft, but
baseball is perfect and is thrown 75 ft.
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Summary
Same with max effort lifts, beginners will not achieve a lot of work
with speed work. Their maximal strength is too low, and coordination is
too weak in order to achieve maximal power output (.7m/s) with a
reasonable weight. In my experience, speed work can be used after a
250lb bench for men and 150 bench for women. Before that, it is mostly
a waste of time.
Also, keep your reps on the max effort work in the 5rep set range.
This will keep the delicate position between strength and hypertrophy.
1 and 3 rep maxes can be used but with irregularity due to its lower
volume and higher intensive fatigue.
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(C)
Repetition Effort Method
If you want to get more horsepower, eventually you must have a bigger
engine!
The repetition method is the most used training stimulus in the
U.S. It creates a high level of hypertrophy or muscle growth and
develops strength endurance. Soft tissue such as ligaments and tendons
also become enhanced with the fatigue method.
For peak benefit, it is important to push until complete failure or
at least 9 RPE. The real limitation, as with most of these methods, is the
ability to come up with new environments for the muscle to have to
adjust to. Using a straight bar with straight weight should be limited, as
the repetition method should not only be volume but different
environments for the muscle to adjust to.
185lb dumbbells for 14 reps. as you can see although it is real weight, the
resistance is in the form of dumbbells, rather than a straight bar. Although
it’s a small change, it is enough to keep from burning out with a straight
bar.
Most accessory work is based on rep method, and since most
accessory work is based on weaknesses, the isolation and repetition
work are developed for hypertrophy.
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There are 2 types of hypertrophy ➢ Sarcoplasmic- (a swelling of muscle fibers storage area)
➢ Myofibrillar- (a density change of the fiber itself)
Myofibrillar hypertrophy is usually caused by lifting heavy loads,
such as max effort squatting, or deadlifting, etc. and is caused by severe
damage of the muscle tissue versus a burn like sarcoplasmic
hypertrophy. It is also a more permanent change in size and strength.
Whereas bodybuilding muscle can dissipate quickly, myofibrillar
hypertrophy tends to last
for years.
I still use some squatting,
deadlifting and benching
for reps, just not very
often, and when I do, it is
rarely pure weight. As you
can see here 240lb of
chain and 225 bar weight
on a cambered bar for sets
of 8 to work on size in the
off season after my speed
work.
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Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is usually caused by dealing with high
levels of lactic acid (burning). So, bodybuilders and people who use
higher repetitions are the ones who elicit this type of growth. This
usually happens at around the 45sec range of time under tension.
Examples of hypertrophy training (for triceps)
Tricep extensions for 45sec with 100lb
Tricep extensions 3-3 tempo for sets of 12
Tricep extensions sets til failure until a total of 100 reps is achieved
As you can see in the listed examples there are 3 different ways to
train your triceps using the same exercise. Many people never modify
tempos or time under tension. They rely on reps to account for their
workout rather than time. This tool for repetition training becomes
invaluable when your muscles cease to grow from basic training (3-5
years)
The repetition method is great for isolation work of certain
muscles, as well as some large movements, but it has been my
experience that anything over 4-6 repetitions should not be used in the
classical movements (squat, bench, deadlift) regularly. This is due to
form degradation and fatigue. Both these factors cause the core lifts to
become dangerous, especially to beginners, novices, or lifters, trying to
break bad or old habits.
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Squatting with the knees buckled in, is a common beginner mistake, and
seen in lifters that did not learn to correctly squat. More squatting will not
fix this issue it will make it worse. Seek form perfection throughout your
training endeavors.
A program must involve all three of these methods on a consistent
basis. Maximal effort is important because it helps to safely learn how to
strain and think under severe stress. It is important to do dynamic effort
work in order to get the task done quickly and turn strength into speed,
getting the most out of inertia and stretch reflex. It is important to use
the repetition method in order to gain specific hypertrophy in lagging
muscle areas, and endurance of the muscle groups when needed.
In a perfect world we would start with a little bit of each and build
on them equally. But some people will need more of one than the other.
Example 1: Athlete is fast, but not very strong
Example 2: Athlete is strong, but not very fast
Example 3: Athlete is big, but not strong or fast
If this is the case, then an athlete may need more of one method
than the other. But 90% of the time, if an athlete is training all methods
equally, then their weaknesses are addressed, their strengths are
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preserved, and their weaknesses are stimulated.
Accessory Work/ Wenning warmups
(Repetition Method)
Accessory work, whether a starting lifter or advanced, holds about
the same importance throughout a lifters career. Usually after a main
exercise, 4-6 accessory exercises are chosen in order to correct weak
points. In the beginning lifters have distinct weaknesses, but advanced
lifters can be much more tricky in understanding where their weak
points are.
An athlete’s form at a high level can be so perfect that it’s often
hard to see weak points. Fractions of an inch are a huge deal.
Throughout an entire career, I have found 4-6 accessory exercises be
the golden rule. Remember that accessory work builds functional
muscle mass.
Remember the goal for accessory work is to put on functional muscle mass
and fix lagging muscle groups.
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Too many exercises cause massive overtraining, and too few do
not allow the body to sustain usable growth. The real issue with this as
one gets better is to constantly find new exercises and tools in order to
make the muscles change. Habitual use of the same exercises has been
the ruin of many great lifters, as it causes confusion and frustration
which often lead to retirement.
Much of how hard you can train is based on your current and past
fitness level. The more conditioned you are, the less that tough
workouts will affect your body in a negative fashion.
Another major factor is stress. Jobs, family, and many other
personal factors can lead to overtraining with minimal stimulus.
Therefore, a holistic approach to your system and understanding what
you can handle that day becomes important. Remember, it’s not how
much you can do in one day. Training is cumulative, and to do it safely
and effectively takes months and years, not weeks. This graph is a key
indicator of the 72-hour rule, and furthermore helps to slightly change
stimulus (or exercise) constantly to aid in this process.
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Benefit to Risk Ratio:
There are many exercises that can create a great amount of fitness
and strength. Running is great for cardiovascular health, but when used
as a primary exercise for extended periods of time it is poor for joint
wellness and long-term health (especially when the runner is
overweight).
Swimming is a great exercise for the entire body, but it does little
to nothing for bone density. On top of this, when used constantly as the
only exercise stimulus, it creates shoulder and posture issues. Although
swimming has its place in overall fitness and is a great tool, when it’s
the only tool in the toolbox there will eventually be an issue.
Every exercise utilized with weightlifting should be examined and
then practiced only if the benefit outweighs the possible dangers or
wear and tear.
Common mistakes:
1) Utilizing the same exercise too long
This can be using exact squatting-bench press – deadlifts, and
all accessories
2) Using the same contraction speeds
Many times, we tend to not think about how fast or slow we
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are moving with an exercise. By changing contraction
speeds, we are changing the exercise
3) Retaining the same angles
Make sure your using different angles, such as in the bench
press use incline – decline – and flat benches. This will
help keep pressure of the shoulder joint the exact same
way constantly.
4) Using the same implements
Using the exact same bars for exercises is another huge issue.
An example on triceps would be to use ropes, v bars,
mustache bars, and backwards hand positions.
As said before, the most common mistake is utilizing the same
training exercise for too long. Training regimens must create constant
gains over long periods of time, allowing the organism to adapt to the
training load while not overreaching. It also allows for a constant gain of
strength in multiple faucets. (Re-read about the law of diminishing
returns and accommodation).
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Summary
All training affects the body differently as well as at different
rates. Exercising also creates immediate short and long term changes.
Understanding how these changes occur can give insight into training
regimens. Keeping this in mind, as well as retaining long term joint
integrity (low mileage), is crucial to discovering true potential.
By switching max effort with dynamic efforts every 72 hours, this
allows the body to make constant progress rather than overtraining
one’s ability. The central nervous system is responsible for both max
effort and dynamic effort training gains, therefore must be separated.
The repetition method is predominantly muscle activity intensity and
volume (sub max loads with sub max contractions), so it can be trained
more frequently but must change in duration, mode, and volume. It’s
important to remember this in order to make constant progress and
inhibit accommodation.
Review of methods
It is clear that there are three methods of training. No matter what
is being done in a resistance training workout, he or she is using one of
these methods. The most commonly employed method is the repetition
method. With this, it’s important to note that the maximal effort method
and the dynamic effort method are not only underused, but also
misunderstood.
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Maximal strength must be employed on a consistent basis, as well
as the dynamic effort method. If maximal strength and dynamic strength
are ignored for too long, then performance gains will halt. If the volume
of the exercise or exercises is not satisfactory (repetition method) then
muscle mass will not change, and therefore gains will be limited to cross
sectional muscle area.
Your mental energy and programming thought should be comprised at
trying to achieve all methods ability equally.
Max effort method
Needed for ability to strain. Remember that 90% of your best can be
considered max effort, it doesn’t always have to be 100%.
Dynamic effort method
Needed for ability to move weights quickly to utilize stretch reflex,
inertia, etc. This method needs to keep the weights sub maximal and in
most cases between 30-40% of 1-RM if training raw and 50-60% if one
decides to train in equipment and/or has no accommodating resistance.
Repetition method
Needed for the ability to create muscle size and more cross-sectional
muscle area. This method is also crucial for the volume needed for
muscles to gain in size. Tendons and ligaments also benefit greatly from
this method when used in optimal ranges and intensities.
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(3)
WENNING WARMUPS
In 2012 I competed in a bench only raw competition, which was
my first official 600lb raw bench contest. This bench press was the
motivation to start my journey into chasing the raw all time, total at 308
(2202lb in 2013).
As training began for this cycle, I knew my squat was somewhere
in the 800 range but had not been tested in competition. Because of
this, training was staying THE same as it was in gear. No major
warmups before the main lift, and following the same procedure that
had brought success in equipment (geared lifting).
Squat 771
Bench 574
Deadlift 744
3rd highest total of all time
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Although the squat and deadlift were around what I was
estimating, the bench press had fallen off nearly 30lb from my bench
only competition a short time before.
After a strong analysis, I realized that my GPP or conditioning was
lacking after squatting near max. So, the quest began to find a solution
and bring back my bench press.
Pre fatigue (specific SPP)
At first on my warmups, I was pre fatiguing the muscle groups in
order to be tired before the bench press sets were accomplished. But I
had to figure out a rep scheme. I needed a rep setup that would fatigue
my muscles, but not really be associated with 1 to 5 RM strength. So, my
first thought was 15 reps.
After talking to some pro bodybuilders, I found that they had seen
dramatic success with rep ranges around 25. Their thought process was
more in the hypertrophy sector, but I theorized that this would be
fatiguing but not necessarily disrupt my ability to max (after the initial
shock period).
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GPP
(The next missing tool that Wenning warmups create)
Now that I had the rep scheme that I was going to use, I had to
figure out a way to fit it into an already demanding lifting schedule.
Knowing that training over 60min would cause a hormone shift from
anabolic to catabolic, I had to maintain the timing of this window. This
meant that warmups were going to have to be short and intense. So, I
decided to make them a circuit and keep rest (at first) minimal then
work my way towards zero rest throughout the warmup. Over time I
realized that my warmup was falling between 11min and 14min
consistently.
Wenning Warmup
based on weak points
Warmups are dictated by needs, and for the last 5-7 years all my
world records were designed around warming up the muscles that are
the weak links in the movement (or are not functioning correctly).
These higher volume weakness specific warm-ups have a few distinct
purposes:
1)
It adds more volume over time to the areas which need the
most work
2)
It potentiates the weak muscle groups in the larger complex
movements that are next in the workout
By doing this over time, the weaknesses are corrected, position,
and technique of the core lift is improved.
I firmly believe in doing this for every experience and strength
level. Not only does this bring about strength gains, but it also enhances
your muscle activation (by potentiation). It also lowers injury risk by
enhancing motor patterns, correcting weak points, and increasing
temperature and mobility of the tissue.
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Fast forward to 2017 (4 years of using Wenning warmups)
Squat all time world record 865.5
Bench press 611 after the squat
Deadlift 771
Furthermore, my body weight went down from 305 to 293 and
my body fat dropped from 22% to 16% in this time frame. I give much
of the credit to the Wenning warmup and its benefits.
In 2016 I implemented Wenning warmups to all fire depts,
military personnel and general clients. Similar results were achieved in
both strength and functional capacity on the job.
Firemen were able to work harder and safer on a scene, and
military personnel were able to run less distances and still pass or excel
in their PT tests. No matter what your goal is they will help and make
workouts more efficient.
Summary:
By being honest with myself, I was able to realize that
conditioning was my weak point. At first the Wenning warm up was a
pre-fatiguing thought pattern, but soon turned into enhancement of
motor patterns and muscle mass.
Remember that GPP or general physical preparedness will be
massive at all endeavors and the more you have, the better you can
recover. It’s also important to remember that ligaments and tendons
along with other soft tissue respond well to volume, so make sure that
your building resiliency as well as strength.
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(C)
Program Design
Lifting big weights is more than just training hard. It’s also calculation,
education, and restoration.
Laying out short term and long-term cycles of training can be
difficult if the right thought patterns, understanding of methods, and the
bodies reaction to external stimuli is not fully understood.
We have explained the methods and how our bodies react to
resistance training in the previous chapters, but now we must
understand the thought patterns that make great programs.
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The first thing you need to do is have a clear understanding of:
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
What your weak points are
What your stress level is
What your diet consists of
What your experience level is
What is your availability of equipment?
1 - WEAK POINTS
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Weak points play a crucial role in both the selection of accessory
work and on a regular occasion the maximal effort work implemented.
Selecting the proper max effort exercises can be crucial in getting
specifically stronger.
Weak points should be determined by a good coaching eye and
can usually be seen with lack or degradation of form in the major lifts.
Many lifters use poor biomechanics due to poor motor patterns and
specific muscle weaknesses.
Common weak points and what they may appear to look like:
➢ Weak hips in the squat
➢ Overpowering shoulders in the bench press
➢ Weak upper back in the deadlifts
➢ Overpowering quadriceps in the squat
2 - STRESS LEVEL
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Stress levels play an immense role in your ability to train
effectively. Having a stressful job or home life can inhibit how much
physical stress you can accumulate on your body.
Many times, less training is more effective if other factors are
stressful. (I.E. going back to 3 days a week training or sometimes 2 days
a week if the work or family load is at peak.) Remember you may only
have so much energy to devote to training.
Trying to stay in the yellow is optimal, remember that not only training
stress needs to be monitored, but daily stress must also be taken into
consideration, this is a good reasoning for RPE (rate of perceived
exertion).
3 - DIET
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Your diet can be your best friend or your worst enemy when
making strength gains. Eating clean foods and less processed choices
have a direct impact on your hormones and your ability to have a
positive effect on your training, sleep, brain function and much more.
Making sure your nutrition matches your goals is one thing that
powerlifting can tend to neglect.
Look into the
Vertical Diet.
Eating a diet that has optimal protein, carbs, and fats will not only
be very important for your strength gains but also your long-term
health. This includes immune system, blood work, endocrine system,
etc.
4 - EXPERIENCE LEVEL
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Your experience level is also a crucial factor. This can dictate how
much variation may be needed in your training, as well as many factors
including……..
➢
Restoration and Recovery
During the week I always have some form of recovery or
restoration (look at restoration chapter). This makes me remember and
think about it, to then build it into my week so I’m more likely to do it.
➢
Deloading
Many times more experienced and older lifters need more
downtime before meets and between cycles than beginner lifters, who
may need less time away from weights (and deloads built in the
workouts in different ways.)
➢ Bands and chains and other modalities
Keeping it simple in the beginning is crucial to understanding
proper form, timing, and body position with the classic lifts. The
intermediate and advanced stages sometimes need more stimulus
change in order for progress to be achieved; this is due to the law of
accommodation.
➢ Form
Any technical errors should be fixed immediately in the beginning
of training. It is 10 times harder to fix form problems with lifters that
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have already achieved some strength gains than it is with lifters that are
new and still learning.
5 - EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE
170
Equipment is also a huge detriment or helper when deciding
what to do. Most times a simple squat rack, bench press, and deadlift
space are more than ample at the beginning, but more stimulus
including different bars, accommodating resistance, and sometimes
specialized machines are key in order to make progress when the body
stops reacting to specific stimuli.
First thing we lay out is the Objective. The objective keeps us on
task and true to the goal we are trying to achieve. It also lays our
timeline (cycle) and lets us know or equipment limitations.
171
The next process is to have a video analysis. This shows our weak
points either to a trained eye or ourselves and hopefully shows us faults
that can guide our accessory work and be a teaching tool.
Then we list the weak points.
There are 2 different chapters in this cycle layout
I Raw cycles
II Equipped cycles
I strongly urge you to gather information from both chapters as
they share far more similarities than differences. Raw helped my gear
success and geared training accelerated my raw training.
I
RAW TRAINING CYCLES
Minimal equipment
basic weak points and equipment
(low glute activation – GPP – tricep strength – upper back)
6-week basic cycle
3 days per week
This workout is a direct take away from the minimal manual. The
minimal manual is a 30-week protocol, so if this fits your time and
equipment needs then obtain the other manual for more workout help.
You will notice bi lateral – isolateral – German volume training etc.
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belt and sleeves, as raw as it gets, 845x2 in 2017
Sometimes all we have is a rack and basic stuff, so for a
beginner/intermediate this is a great program!
173
174
175
176
177
178
NOTES
179
Usually listing more than 3 correction points in a 12-week cycle is
overkill. Remember the body changes slowly, and concentration on only
the major problems is usually best until skill level is high.
All Stress levels are cumulative, be aware of your stress level, and if
possible, avoid stressful conditions during pre-comp and comp phases.
Breakdown of Workout Listed below
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Red lettering in the working are tips and explanations for what is being
done or said in the workout.
It is important when looking at this workout to read the red
lettering and understand why things are being done, and what is changing
on a weekly basis.
Notice that these workouts are listed for informational purposes
only, and were designed with the individuals needs (example A) in mind.
EXAMPLE B
BEGINNER
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training protocol with limited time
(Post meet GPP)
OBJECTIVE:
GPP cycle using traditional lifts less often, and more accessory work
4 week sample cycle
3 DAYS PER WEEK WEIGHTLIFTING
2 maximal effort days
1 upper /1 lower
1 volume/dynamic day
joint upper and lower
As you can see, we combined the dynamic day for upper and lower so we
can still get the proper volume in on both max effort days and speed days.
This protocol was used for a female that wanted to do a meet 5 weeks
after a previous meet; she felt she needed more traditional work, so we
experimented with this very specific loading cycle.
FEMALE
Previous lifts
Squat 225
Bench 135
Deadlift 285
After specific loading cycle
Squat 275
Bench 155
Deadlift 300
WEEK 1 (BEGINNER)
MESO 1 (STRENGTH)
In this sample cycle, you will see very specific work in order to peak for a
meet RAW, this would be right before the deload, but shows minimal
182
accessory work and lots of core lift work (recommended for beginners
who lose touch of loading quickly).
DAY 1 MAX low volume LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X15
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X20
➢ Squats, work up to 85% x3 with wraps competition stance dial in
form
➢ Warmup
➢ Deadlifts 5x3 after warmups, work up to a 90% 3-rm (do not fail)
➢ Decline sit ups 3x30 reps with weight
➢ Hamstring curls any 3xfailure with 100lbs
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Bench press do 135 5x2 with the last rep being a pause
➢ Heavy DB rows 3x10 progressive
➢ Superset 3 tricep exercises (lighter weight) for 3 rounds No rest
DAY 3 UPPER & LOWER
WEDNESDAY
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➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ SPEED SQUATS 10X3 WITH 30% OF 1-RM
No box with 2 sec pauses in the bottom use a light band attached
as well
➢ SPEED PULLS 10X1 START WITH 135 AND PROGRESS UNTIL BAR
SPEED SLOWS – 10TH SET SHOULD BE FAST BUT DIFFICULT
➢ Leg press 3x25 with moderate weight (mix up stances, pauses
etc.)
➢ Sled dragging 3 plates 4x40yds straight leg
➢ Speed bench 8x3 with 60lb bar weight and a single over red band
50lb
➢ Rope tricep pushdowns 3x fail with 70lb
P.M. OFF
➢ Recovery: hot cold contrast shower 10min
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by a hot cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ Walk 1 hour
➢ Hot tub 15min
WEEK 2
MESO 1 (STRENGTH)
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DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ Heavy squat to moderate box (parallel) work up to 1-RM
➢ MAX EFFORT DEADLIFT STANDING ON 45lb plate 2-RM
➢ GLUTE HAM RAISE 3XFAIL
➢ REVERSE HYPER (HEAVY) 3X10 3-3 TEMPO
➢ Recovery massage stick legs 10min
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Floor press 2-RM work up to heavy 2 take 8-10 jumps to reach
goal
➢ Dumbbells 4x25 with 20lb dbs (bench press) 1.5 min rest
➢
➢
➢
➢
INCLINE SUPPORTED DB ROWS 3X45 SEC W 45L
SINGLE ARM TRICEP extensions 3x fail each arm
HAMMER CURLS 3X 1MIN WITH 15lb
DB LATERAL RAISES 3X1MIN WITH 15LB DUMBBELLS
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DAY 3 UPPER/LOWER
WEDNESDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ SPEED SQUATS 10X3 WITH 50% OF 1-RM (base it off 300) add
mini band
➢ Speed bench 10x3 with 65lb all 2 sec pauses add mini band
➢ SPEED PULLS SUMO (STANDING ON 2IN BLOCK) 10X1 START
WITH 135 AND PROGRESS UNTIL BAR SPEED SLOWS – 10TH SET
SHOULD BE FAST BUT DIFFICULT
➢ KB STIFF LEG DEADLIFTS W 100LBS STANDING ON BENCHES
FOR INCREASED ROM 3X1MIN
➢ Speed bench 8x3 with 65lb bar weight and single over red 50lb
band tension
➢ JM presses 3x fail with 45-55-65
➢ Hamstring curls 3xfail (heavy)
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by hot cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ WALK 1 HR with 5lb ankle weights
WEEK 3
MESO 1 (STRENGTH)
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DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ MAX EFFORT SQUAT WORK UP TO 3-RM REAL WEIGHT
➢ Deadlift 5x5 progressive work up to 250x5
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Wide grip bench 5sec pause 1-rm take 10 sets to reach goal
➢ Back down to 60% for 3xfailure no pauses (same grip)
➢ VBAR PUSHDOWNS WITH BAND TENSION 3X FAIL (USE BLACK
AND GREEN)
➢ LEANED OVER DB ROWS 3X FAIL WITH 100S
➢ REVERSE CURLS 3XFAIL WITH 45LBS
DAY 3 DYNAMIC UPPER/LOWER
WEDNESDAY
187
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ Squats competition stance work on speed with 70% 5sets of 2
➢ Deadlifts 5x5 work on speed progressive
➢ Bench work up to a heavy 8rm competition grip take 6-8 sets to
reach
➢ Reverse hypers w 130lb 3x45sec
➢ Speed bench 6sets of 3 reps with 70lb bar weight and single over
red band 50lb band tension
➢ DB tricep fold ins 3x 1min with 15-20s
➢ Hanging leg raises 3x1min
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by a hot cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ WALK 45 min then foam roller 15min
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WEEK 4
MESO 1
Deload
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ Work up to 90% of competition squat for 2 RM
➢ Work up to opener on deadlift (think fast and strong) take 6-8
sets to reach goal
➢ Rev hyper 3x 30sec with 150lb
➢ Glute ham 3x fail with hard setting
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢
➢
➢
➢
REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
Db bench press 4x25 with 20lb dbs
➢ Work up to 90% on bench for a 2-RM
➢ VBAR PUSHDOWNS WITH BAND TENSION 3X FAIL (USE medium
band)
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➢ LEANED OVER DB ROWS 3X FAIL WITH 50s
➢ REVERSE CURLS 3XFAIL WITH 85LBS
P.M
6 hours post
➢ pool walk 20min high raises of legs
DAY 3 DYNAMIC LOWER
WEDNESDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ Speed box squats 8x2 with 2 sec pause 40% with mini band
➢ Leg press 3x25 heavy
➢ Heavy decline sit-ups 3x 10
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by a hot cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ Off
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EXAMPLE C
INTERMEDIATE (more tuned)
Program for powerlifting (RAW)
OBJECTIVE:
Peak for next meet, using traditional lifts more often, no access to rev
hyper etc.
12 week cycle
2 weeks of deload
Weak points
Reversal strength low on squat
Eccentric phase too long on bench (lowered reaction speed, strength)
Deadlift, Lower back, and hamstring strength, upper back support
So, as you can see, we have taken the weak points into account and try
to accommodate them in the workouts.
4 DAYS PER WEEK WEIGHTLIFTING
2 maximal effort days
1 upper /1 lower
2 volume/dynamic day
joint upper and lower
As you can see, we have talked about addressing all these areas to keep us
on track when laying out our program. We have the goals, the timeline,
the restrictions, and the weak points.
WEEK 1
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MESO 1 (STRENGTH)
a mesocycle is a block of training usually 3-4 weeks that specifies some
area of need.
DAY 1 MAX low volume LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN (focus on low back and
hamstrings)
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ Wide stance KB swing with 70lb KB 3x20
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT with wide stance 3X25
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X20
built in weak point warm-ups to help them activate before big lifts
➢ Squats, straight bar 5 sets of 5 reps (work up to a heavy 5 80%
range difficulty)
➢ Belt only (no box work on reversal strength)
We are using higher volume since his muscle mass is low
➢ Straight leg deadlifts 6sets of 3 reps (standing on 45lb plates)
work up to heavy 3 RM
➢ Reverse hypers 3x10 heavy
➢ Oblique bends 3x12 with 100lb Db
➢ Hamstring curls w heavy bands 4x15 3-3 tempo
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
192
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Bench press work up to heavy 6rm, take at least 8 sets to reach
final set. Once that set is complete (narrow grip 2in inside the
rings)
➢
➢ 2 board press 275 for 5x5 w 3-3 tempo (2sec pause on the board)
1 finger on smooth
➢ Heavy DB rows 3x10 progressive
➢ DB tricep extensions 2x45sec each arm w 35s-40s
➢ Foam roller on back 10min for increased ROM
DAY 3/ LOWER
FRIDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
You can see the warmup is still involving conditioning and
some stretching
➢ SPEED SQUATS 10X3 WITH 30% OF 1-RM No box with 2 sec
pauses in the bottom
➢ SPEED PULLS 10X1 START WITH 225 AND PROGRESS UNTIL BAR
SPEED SLOWS – 10TH SET SHOULD BE FAST BUT DIFFICULT
➢ GOOD MORNINGS 3X45 SECONDS WITH A MANAGEABLE
WEIGHT (USE MORE FOR FLEXIBILITY AND ROM, VARY FOOT
STANCE WITH EACH SET
➢ LYING BAND CURLS WITH BANDS AT THE TOP OF RACK 3X 1MIN
WITH STRONG BAND
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➢ HANGING LEG RAISES WITH 15LB ANKLE WEIGHTS 3X 45 SEC
➢ SEATED CALF RAISES 3X 1MIN WITH AS MUCH WEIGHT AS
POSSIBLE
P.M.
Recovery
➢ Hot cold contrast shower 10min
Day 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
➢ Db bench 4x25 w 35lb DB, super setted with 4x15 lat pulldowns
with 100lb
This warmup is to directly build more muscle mass over time and
build conditioning so the bench press is strong after a squat
➢ Speed bench 10x3 w double red band and 145lb work on fast
eccentric
➢
➢
➢
➢
DB tricep fold ins 3x1min with 30-45lb dbs
Band rear delt pull aparts 4x25
Forearm work (any) 5min
Lateral raises 2x1min with 15lb dbs
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by a hot cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ KB swings 3x30 with moderate KB or DB
➢ Hot tub 15min
➢ Stretch 20min
1) Separated the 2 lower and 2 upper body workouts apart by 72
hours allowing recovery.
194
2) Built in recovery modalities, hot cold contrasts etc.
3) 6 assistant exercises 3 in the beginning and 3 in the end. This
works well to make muscles activate with the larger more
important exercises.
4) We have done vastly different exercises and tempos on the days in
which similar muscle groups were exercised.
This general weekly template has developed gains for many of my
clients and myself for the last 15 years, both at a beginner level and
world-class level.
WEEK 2
MESO 1 (STRENGTH)
195
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
Good mornings deadlift stance 3x45sec light
45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12 squat stance
DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
Squats 3 rep range work up to heavy 3RM, use 3 rep sets all the
way up
➢ 8 sets minimum
8 minimum sets ensure proper volume of the lift, taking too small
of jumps will cause fatigue, taking too large of jumps will not
allow you to reach potential
➢ MAX EFFORT DEADLIFT STANDING ON 2IN BLOCK (5-RM)
➢ GLUTE HAM RAISE 3XFAIL
➢ REVERSE HYPER (HEAVY) 3X10 3-3 TEMPO
➢ Recovery massage stick legs 10min
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ MAX EFFORT Bench narrow grip with 3 sec pause 2-RM work up
with doubles the whole way (use lightened medium band)
196
➢ Burnout set with 70%, get as many as possible at quick speed
This was included because this person needed more muscle mass
➢
➢
➢
➢
INCLINE SUPPORTED DB ROWS 3X45 SEC W 75s
SINGLE ARM TRICEP extensions 3x fail each arm
HAMMER CURLS 3X 1MIN WITH 15lb
DB LATERAL RAISES 3X1MIN WITH 20LB DUMBELLs
DAY 3 dynamic LOWER
FRIDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ SPEED SQUATS 10X3 WITH 50% OF 1-RM (base it off projected
max for meet)
➢ No pauses, max reversal strength at comp depth
➢ SPEED PULLS SUMO 10X1 START WITH 185 AND PROGRESS
UNTIL BAR SPEED SLOWS – 10TH SET SHOULD BE FAST BUT
DIFFICULT
➢ KB STIFF LEG DEADLIFTS W 100LBS STANDING ON BENCHES
FOR INCREASED ROM 3X1MIN
➢ Sled drag with 5 45s 4x50yds slow big steps
Day 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
➢ Db bench 4x25 w 35lb DB, super setted with 4x15 lat pulldowns
with 100lb
➢ Speed bench 10x3 w double red band and 155lb work on fast
eccentric
➢ Rope behind the head pushdowns 3x1min with 100-120lb
➢ Band rear delt pull aparts 4x25
➢ Rope swings 200 reps any way
197
As you can see in this week, is it quite different than week one in exercises
and stimuli, while still attacking weak points.
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ KB swings 3x30 with moderate KB or DB
➢ Hot tub 15min
➢ Stretch 20min
WEEK 3
MESO 1 (STRENGTH)
198
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY (video tape lifts)
Video analysis allows one to see form breakdown, and technique needed to
make progress, side angles usually show the most information.
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ Wide stance KB swings 3x15
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ MAX EFFORT SQUAT WORK UP TO 80% of competition max
➢ Max effort deadlift work up to 80% of competition max
➢ Glute ham raises 2xfail
➢ Cable ab crunches 3x 20 with 150lb or more
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
199
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Narrow grip bench work up to 90% with a pause Raw
➢ Back down to 60% for 3xfailure no pauses (raw)
➢ VBAR PUSHDOWNS WITH BAND TENSION 3X FAIL (USE BLACK
AND GREEN)
➢ LEANED OVER DB ROWS 3X FAIL WITH 100S
➢ REVERSE CURLS 3XFAIL WITH 45LBS
DAY 3 LOWER
FRIDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ Squats competition stance (parallel box) work up to a heavy 3rm
take 6-8 sets to reach
➢ Deadlifts 10x3 with 225 for speed with double red band 45sec
rest
➢ Good mornings 3x45sec with 135-200lb
➢ Hanging leg raises 3x1min
➢ 150lb dumbbell shrugs
Day 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
➢ Db bench 4x25 w 40lb DB, super setted with 4x15 lat pulldowns
with 100lb
➢ Speed bench 10x3 w double red band and 155lb work on fast
eccentric all narrow
200
➢ Wide grip pushdowns 3x1min with 100-120lb
➢ Band rear delt pull aparts 4x25
➢ Rope swings 250 reps any way
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ KB swings 3x30 with moderate KB or DB
➢ Hot tub 15min
➢ Stretch 20min
WEEK 4
MESO 2
The second meso cycle will use some different things to help aid in
strength progress.
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY add 20lb weight vest
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ Safety bar squats to 1in below parallel (work up to a heavy 3 RM)
with strong band
➢ Reverse hyper 3x45sec with 250lb
➢ Cable pull throughs 3x1min with 170lb
➢ SLED DRAG backwards 3x75 steps w 3 plates
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
201
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Lightened method bench press comp grip work up to 3-rm with
shirt full range
➢ 2 burnout sets with max effort exercise narrow grip with 50% of
achieved weight all paused reps with slingshot
➢ Pull Ups with band assistance 3x fail wide grip
➢ Db lateral raises 3xfail with 15-20s
DAY 3 LOWER
FRIDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ SPEED squats 8x2 with 55% of 1-RM No belt (parallel box)
➢ RDLs standing on 45lb plates 3x 12 heavy as possible
➢ Band hamstring curls 3xfail with silver (medium band)
➢ Leg press wide stance 4x20 with 300-350lb
Day 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
➢ Db bench 4x25 w 35lb DB, super setted with 4x15 lat pulldowns
with 100lb
➢ Speed bench 10x3 w double red band and 140lb work on fast
eccentric
202
➢ Dumbbell presses incline 2x failure with 110lb dumbbells 45deg
angle
➢ Band rear delt pull aparts 4x25
➢ Rear delt rows 200 reps with 130lb
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ KB swings 3x30 with moderate KB or DB
➢ Hot tub 15min
➢ Stretch 20min
WEEK 5
203
Unload
Unloads are necessary to achieve long term strength progress and keep
burnout from occurring.
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ Warm up to 50% of squat full commands 5sets of 1 rep
➢ Warm up to 50% of deadlift pause at the top 5sets of 1 rep
Warming up to 50% allows the body to recover but still maintain
the groove of the actual lift.
➢ Hamstring curls 3x10 light
➢ Leg ext 3x20 light
➢ Abs (any) 2 exercises light
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Warm up to 50% of bench max, full commands
The rest of the week is active rest to recover from past 4 weeks.
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WEEK 6
MESO 2 (peaking phase)
This phase starts to bring stimulus up to maximal volume that can be
tolerated.
DAY 1 MAX low volume LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ Rev hyper 3x10 with 300lb
➢ Wide stance 45deg back extensions holding a 45 3x10
➢ Bent over shrugs 3x10 with 75lb dumbbells 3-3 tempo
➢ Work up to brief and belt 2-RM max (make sure to bring feet in
slightly so knees can push out) no box
➢ Pin 3 deadlift max (sumo stance) wider than normal
➢ GLute ham raises 3x fail
➢ Oblique bends 3x12 with 100lb Db
➢ Decline sit ups 3x10 with 100lb db
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 4x25
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Slingshot 2-RM work up slowly comp grip
➢ Finish off with 315 for 2sets until failure with narrow grip
205
➢ Heavy DB rows 3x10 progressive
➢ DB tricep extensions 2x45sec each arm w 35s-40s
➢ Foam roller on back 10min for increased ROM
DAY 3/ LOWER
FRIDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ SPEED SQUATS 10X3 WITH 40% OF 1-RM No box raw
➢ Hi pulls 8x2 with 225 pull it as fast as possible
➢ Leg press moderate stance 4x20 with 200-300lb (pause at bottom
on last 5)
➢ Leg curls 3xfail with 110lb
➢ Deadlifts sumo with 135 4x20reps work on flexibility
P.M.
Recovery
➢ Hot cold contrast shower 10min
Day 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
➢ Db bench 4x25 w 40lb DB, super setted with 4x15 lat pulldowns
with 100lb
➢ Speed bench 10x3 w double red band and 165lb work on fast
eccentric w pause
➢ DB tricep fold ins 3x1min with 30-45lb dbs
➢ Band rear delt pull aparts 4x25
➢ Forearm work (any) 5min
➢ Military press work up slow to a 8 RM
SATURDAY
206
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ KB swings 3x30 with moderate KB or DB
➢ Hot tub 15min
➢ Stretch 20min
WEEK 7
MESO 2 (peaking phase)
DAY 1 MAX low volume LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ Rev hyper 3x10 with 330lb
➢ Wide stance 45deg back extensions holding a 100 3x10
➢ Bent over shrugs 3x10 with 100lb dumbells 3-3 tempo
➢ Take 90% for a 2-RM squat (goal 500)
➢ GLute ham raises 3x fail
➢ Oblique bends 3x12 with 100lb Db
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
207
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 4x25
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Db bench press 4x25 25-35-45-65lb
➢ Bench press raw work up to 1-RM
➢ Bench (comp style) work up to 90% for 2 RM
➢ Heavy DB rows 3x10 progressive
➢ DB tricep extensions 2x45sec each arm w 35s-40s
➢ Foam roller on back 10min for increased ROM
DAY 3/ LOWER
FRIDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ SPEED SQUATS 10X3 WITH 50% OF 1-RM 1in below parallel box
and medium band
➢ Deadlift work up to 85% or close to max with double red band
over bar
➢ Decline sit ups 3x8 with heavy weight
➢ Leg press narrow stance 4x25 progressive (250-350lb)
➢ Leg curls 3x failure with 120lb
P.M.
RECOVERY
➢ Hot cold contrast shower 10min
Day 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
208
➢ Db bench 4x25 w 55lb DB, super setted with 4x12 lat pulldowns
with 150lb
➢ Speed bench 10x3 w double red band and 165lb work on fast
eccentric
➢ DB tricep fold ins 3x1min with 30-45lb dbs
➢ Band rear delt pull aparts 4x25
➢ Forearm work (any) 5min
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ KB swings 3x30 with moderate KB or DB
➢ Hot tub 15min
WEEK 8 unload
MESO 2 (peaking phase)
The second unload will drop volume and intensity down on the main lifts
for 1 week.
DAY 1 MAX low volume LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ Rev hyper 3x10 with 330lb
➢ Wide stance 45deg back extensions holding a 100 3x10
➢ Bent over shrugs 3x10 with 100lb dumbells 3-3 tempo
➢ Squats Work up to 60% for 5x1 speed singles
209
➢ Deadlifts work up to 60% for 5x1 speed singles
➢ GLute ham raises 3x fail
➢ Oblique bends 3x12 with 100lb Db
➢ Decline sit ups 3x10 with 110lb db
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 4x25
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Db bench press 4x25 25-35-45-65lb
➢ Lightened bench work up to 6RM (use strong band)
➢ Heavy DB rows 3x10 progressive
➢ DB tricep extensions 2x45sec each arm w 35s-40s
➢ Foam roller on back 10min for increased ROM
DAY 3/ LOWER
FRIDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ Leg press do 6x20 with 350lb or a strong burn each set
➢ Decline sit ups 3x8 with heavy weight
➢ Leg press narrow stance 4x25 progressive (250-350lb)
➢ Leg curls 3x failure with 120lb
P.M.
Recovery
➢ Hot cold contrast shower 10min
210
Day 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
➢ Db bench 4x25 w 55lb DB, super setted with 4x12 lat pulldowns
with 150lb
➢ Speed bench 10x3 w double red band and 135lb work on fast
eccentric
➢ DB tricep fold ins 3x1min with 30-45lb dbs
➢ Band rear delt pull aparts 4x25
➢ Forearm work (any) 5min
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by hot and cold contrast shower
➢
SUNDAY
➢ KB swings 3x30 with moderate KB or DB
➢ Hot tub 15min
WEEK 9
MESO 2 (peaking phase)
DAY 1 MAX low volume LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ Rev hyper 3x10 with 330lb
➢ Wide stance 45deg back extensions holding a 100 3x10
➢ Bent over shrugs 3x10 with 100lb dumbells 3-3 tempo
211
➢ Supermaximal method
➢ Work up to heavy squat with all chain 2-rm to parallel box comp
stance
➢ Max effort deadlift from pin 5 comp stance (with double mini
band)
➢ GLute ham raises 3x fail
➢ Oblique bends 3x12 with 100lb Db
➢ Decline sit ups 3x10 with 110lb db
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 4x25
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Db bench press 4x25 25-35-45-65lb
➢ Double orange (medium band) bench work up to 2RM
➢ Heavy barbell rows 5x5progressive
➢ JM press extensions 5x6 with 135-165
➢ Foam roller on back 10min for increased ROM
DAY 3/ LOWER
FRIDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ Leg press do 6x20 with 350lb or a strong burn each set
➢ Decline sit ups 3x8 with heavy weight
212
➢ Leg press narrow stance 4x25 progressive (250-350lb)
➢ Leg curls 3x failure with 120lb
P.M.
Recovery
Hot cold contrast shower 10min
Day 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
➢ Db bench 4x25 w 55lb DB, super setted with 4x12 lat pulldowns
with 150lb
➢ Speed bench 10x3 w double red band and 135lb work on fast
eccentric
➢ DB tricep fold ins 3x1min with 30-45lb dbs
➢ Band rear delt pull aparts 4x25
➢ Forearm work (any) 5min
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ KB swings 3x30 with moderate KB or DB
➢ Hot tub 15min
WEEK 10
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MESO 2 (peaking phase)
DAY 1 MAX low volume LOWER MON
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ Rev hyper 3x10 with 330lb
➢ Wide stance 45deg back extensions holding a 100 3x10
➢ Bent over shrugs 3x10 with 100lb dumbells 3-3 tempo
➢ Supermaximal method
➢ Work up to heavy as possible band squat (strong and medium)
safety bar max to parallel box) 1-RM take slow jumps
This allows the body to sustain utra maximal loads at the top,
making the central nervous system have to work overtime, allowing
strength gains in a few weeks, delayed transformation.
➢ Glute ham raises 3x fail
➢ Oblique bends 3x12 with 100lb Db
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 4x25
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Db bench press 4x25 25-35-45-65lb
➢ Bench press raw work up to 2-RM
This particular lifter had not tested their real bench in a while, so
getting a good opener for a competition was in order.
➢ Heavy DB rows 3x10 progressive
➢ DB tricep extensions 2x45sec each arm w 35s-40s
214
➢ Foam roller on back 10min for increased ROM
DAY 3/ LOWER
FRIDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ SPEED SQUATS 5X3 WITH 40% OF 1-RM 1in below parallel box
max
➢ Speed pulls standing on plates (6x1 with 50%)
➢ Pin 3 deadlift lockouts 3x10 with 315 work on glute squeeze
➢ LYING BAND CURLS WITH BANDS AT THE TOP OF RACK 3X 1MIN
WITH STRONG BAND
➢ HANGING LEG RAISES WITH 15LB ANKLE WEIGHTS 3X 45 SEC
➢ SEATED CALF RAISES 3X 1MIN WITH AS MUCH WEIGHT AS
POSSIBLE
P.M.
Recovery
➢ Hot cold contrast shower 10min
Day 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
➢ Db bench 4x25 w 55lb DB, super setted with 4x12 lat pulldowns
with 150lb
➢ Speed bench 5x3 w double red band and 155lb work on fast
eccentric
➢ DB tricep fold ins 3x1min with 30-45lb dbs
➢ Band rear delt pull aparts 4x25
➢ Forearm work (any) 5min
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
215
➢ Followed by hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ KB swings 3x30 with moderate KB or DB
➢ Hot tub 15min
WEEK 11
MESO 2 (peaking phase) UNLOAD
Unloading is crucial for optimal performance, this allows the body to
recover from the long training cycle, and peak. Most lifters struggle not
feeling weights out, but this is the only way to make sure you are 100
percent come meet day.
DAY 1 MAX low volume LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ Rev hyper 3x10 with 200lb
➢ Wide stance 45deg back extensions 3x10 bodyweight
➢ Bent over shrugs 3x10 with 100lb dumbells 3-3 tempo
➢ Work up to 50% and do 2 reps squat same on deadlift
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 4x25
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
216
➢ Db bench press 4x25 25-35-45-65lb
➢ Heavy DB rows 3x10 progressive
➢ DB tricep extensions 2x45sec each arm w 35s-40s
➢ Foam roller on back 10min for increased ROM
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ KB swings 3x30 with moderate KB or DB
➢ Hot tub 15min
WEEK 12 peak week
MESO 2 (peaking phase) UNLOAD
➢ Stretch every 3-5 hrs, light
➢ Get a 2 hr nap in every day possible
➢ No hot tub or massages 96 hours pre meet
➢ Try to work the least amount possible and avoid stressful
situations.
This workout created:
50lb increase in the squat
50lb increase in the bench
70lb increase in the deadlift
The reason it worked so well was because we:
217
1)
2)
3)
4)
Worked on weak points
Were able to strain almost every week
Had proper volume
Had proper recovery between muscle groups
Remember that training is also an additional stressor on top of
your job, life, and family, so sometimes training less will bring more
progress than lifting more. The best way to do this is to go down to 3
days per week if needed.
The off-season
The off season is where you really build your gains, so in this next
cycle we built a lengthy program that had long term development in
mind to correct weak points in preparation for a new training cycle
down the road.
I have always had my best meets when I could train the hardest
off-season, fix my weak points, and then dial in my strength when I’m
12-15 weeks out from a meet.
This cycle is a sample of my off-season training for the 2014 Raw
Unity meet. I used this for all of the spring and summer of 2013 in
preparation for Raw Unity in February of 2014.
Lifts came out to:
Squat 832 world record no knee wraps
Bench 606 highest at the meet for a full lifter
EXAMPLE D
218
ADVANCED
Off season training protocol
summer 2013 RAW and pre 832 all time squat world record
OBJECTIVE:
INCREASE STRENGTH, FUNCTIONAL HYPERTROPHY, AND
ENDURANCE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL, WHILE KEEPING BODY FAT
LOW AND WEIGHT SUSTAINABLE.
10 week cycle
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4 DAYS PER WEEK WEIGHTLIFTING
2 DAYS LOWER BODY
1 MAX EFFORT 1 DYNAMIC EFFORT (72 HR SPLIT)
2 DAYS UPPER BODY
1 MAX EFFORT 1 DYNAMIC EFFORT (72 HR SPLIT)
Cardio 30min everyday 120 or less BPM, anything you like
(lower body fat increases work capacity)
You will see in this cycle, cardio is included. One must have a season to
increase overall fitness, and develop other athletic qualities. This aids in
future preparation for training and health. The lifter still needs to be
healthy and overall fit, which is widely ignored especially in powerlifting.
People always want to know how I stay lean for a big guy... here is your
answer.
Unloading is built in every 4 weeks to ensure positive progress,
allow the body to heal during this time, keeping excessive
straining, and energy expenditure down.
220
WEEK 1
MESO 1 (STRENGTH)
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X15
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X20
➢ MAX EFFORT SQUAT TO 12 IN BOX WITH 3 CHAIN
(Working up to a strain but not trying to break a PR)
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
GLUTE HAM RAISE 3XFAIL
DB ALTERNATE TOE TOUCH 3X12 W 35LB DUMBBELL
SLED DRAG W 4PLATES STRAIGHT LEGGED 6x50yds
KB SWINGS TO THE EYES 2X1MIN WITH 55LB
REVERSE HYPER (HEAVY) 3X10 3-3 TEMPO
Lots of accessory work, minimal rest and building a good base of
fitness, and not worrying so much on the strength portion of the
workout
➢ 6 hours post Walk with weight vest 45min (25lb)
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
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➢ MAX EFFORT BENCH NARROW GRIP WITH DOUBLE ORANGE
(MEDIUM BAND)
➢
➢
➢
➢
JM PRESS WITH 25% OF BENCH MAX 3XFAIL
HEAVY T BAR ROWS 3X FAIL WITH 3 45lb PLATES
FAT BAR CURLS 3X FAIL WITH 50LBS
MILITARY PRESS FAT BAR (USE AS MUCH WEIGHT AS POSSIBLE
FOR SET OF 1MIN)
DAY 3 DYNAMIC LOWER
WEDNESDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ BOX JUMPS 15 REPS TO 35 IN BOX WITH LIGHT WEIGHTS IN
HANDS, OR VESTS, OR ANKLE WEIGHTS
Adding jumps is a huge portion of just staying athletic, and this is
the point of this cycle, to maintain former strength gains,
but gains some GPP and athletic qualities to aid in future
strength goals.
➢ SPEED SQUATS 10X3 WITH 30% OF 1-RM AND AN ORANGE
BAND (MEDIUM)
VARY STANCES AND NO BOX
➢ SPEED PULLS 10X1 START WITH 135 AND PROGRESS UNTIL BAR
SPEED SLOWS – 10TH SET SHOULD BE FAST BUT DIFFICULT
➢ GOOD MORNINGS 3X45 SECONDS WITH A MANAGEABLE
WEIGHT (USE MORE FOR FLEXIBILITY AND ROM, VARY FOOT
STANCE WITH EACH SET
➢ LYING BAND CURLS WITH BANDS AT THE TOP OF RACK 3X 1MIN
WITH STRONG BAND
➢ HANGING LEG RAISES WITH 15LB ANKLE WEIGHTS 3X 45 SEC
➢ SEATED CALF RAISES 3X 1MIN WITH AS MUCH WEIGHT AS
POSSIBLE
222
P.M.
Recovery
➢ Hot cold contrast shower 10min
DAY 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
FRIDAY
➢ Warmup 4x25 reps with 20-30lb dumbbells (bench press) varying
hand positions
➢ Internal external rotations 2x25reps/ rear delt rows 4x25 with
100lbs
➢ Speed bench double red bands 10x3 no pauses with 30% of 1-RM
➢ Super set with light band rows for back reinforcement 10x20
➢ Sled rows 4x50yds with 3 plates slow and deliberate (vary angles)
➢ Tricep sled drags 4x50yds 2 plates slow and deliberate
➢ Tricep pushdowns 6xfailure with 100lbs
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by a hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ WALK 1 Hour
➢ Hot tub 15min
As you can see in the first week of this off-season cycle, there is much more
accessory work, general conditioning, and although max efforts and speed
training is present, it is not the main emphasis.
Being in shape and training muscles that are ignored pre contest, having
little to no rest periods etc. make this program more designed for
conditioning.
223
The accessory work is pushed up to 3-4 exercises pre core movements, and
at least that many after the big exercises. Focusing on small muscle
groups during this period is key for future progress.
You can also see that core training I.E. Abs, lower back etc. are playing a
key role in training at this time.
224
WEEK 2
MESO 1 (STRENGTH)
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER MON
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ MAX EFFORT DEADLIFT STANDING ON 2IN BLOCK
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
GLUTE HAM RAISE 3XFAIL
Single LEG CURLS 3X12 HEAVY AS POSSIBLE
SLED DRAG W 5PLATES STRAIGHT LEGGED 4X40YDS
KB SWINGS TO THE EYES 2X45sec WITH 70LB
REVERSE HYPER (HEAVY) 3X10 3-3 TEMPO
➢ Recovery massage stick legs 10min
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ MAX EFFORT FLOOR PRESS (FAT BAR) REAL WEIGHT 1-RM
➢ SINGLE ARM TRICEP PUSHDOWN W FAT HANDLE 3X FAIL EACH
ARM
➢ INCLINE SUPPORTED DB ROWS 3X45 SEC W 45LB DUMBBELLS
➢ HAMMER CURLS 3X 1MIN WITH 30-40LB DUMBBELLS
➢ DB LATERAL RAISES 3X1MIN WITH 15LB DUMBBELLS
225
DAY 3 DYNAMIC LOWER
WEDNESDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ BOX JUMPS 15 single reps 45sec rest between jumps TO 30 IN
BOX WITH LIGHT WEIGHTS IN HANDS, OR VESTS, OR ANKLE
WEIGHTS
➢ SPEED SQUATS 10X3 WITH 35% OF 1-RM AND AN ORANGE
BAND (MEDIUM)
VARY STANCES AND NO BOX
➢ SPEED PULLS SUMO (STANDING ON 2IN BLOCK) 10X1 START
WITH 135 AND PROGRESS UNTIL BAR SPEED SLOWS – 10TH SET
SHOULD BE FAST BUT DIFFICULT
➢ KB STIFF LEG DEADLIFTS W 100LBS STANDING ON BENCHES
FOR INCREASED ROM 3X1MIN
➢ LYING BAND CURLS WITH BANDS AT THE TOP OF RACK 3X 1MIN
WITH STRONG BAND
➢ HANGING LEG RAISES WITH 15LB ANKLE WEIGHTS 3X 45 SEC
➢ SEATED CALF RAISES 3X 1MIN WITH AS MUCH WEIGHT AS
POSSIBLE
P.M.
➢ Off
DAY 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
FRIDAY
➢ Warmup 4x25 reps with 20-30lb dumbbells (bench press) varying
hand positions
➢ Internal external rotations 2x25reps/ rear delt rows 4x25 with
100lbs
➢ Speed bench double red bands 10x3 no pauses with 35% of 1-RM
➢ Super set with light band rows for back reinforcement 10x20
➢ Lat pulldowns 20lb over bodyweight 3x failure
226
➢ Dumbbell fold ins 3x1min with 25-35lb dumbbells
➢ Reverse flys 3x1min with 20lb dumbells
➢ 6hrs post Walk on high incline 30 min slow long steps
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by a hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ WALK 1 HR with 5lb ankle weights
You can also see in this workout that cardio is playing a role in the
training process. Usually 6 hours pre or post, cardio is added to aid in
overall health and recovery. Fitness level, especially when moving up
weight classes, and or age, plays a crucial role in your ability to stay in the
game.
227
WEEK 3
MESO 1 (STRENGTH)
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ MAX EFFORT SQUAT WORK UP TO 1-RM REAL WEIGHT WITH
3SEC PAUSE AT BOTTOM
➢
➢ GLUTE HAM RAISE 3XFAIL
➢ Single LEG CURLS 3X12 HEAVY AS POSSIBLE
➢ SLED DRAG W 5PLATES STRAIGHT LEGGED 4X40YDS
➢ KB SWINGS TO THE EYES 2 sets of 20 reps with 50lb kb
➢ REVERSE HYPER (HEAVY) 4X10 3-3 TEMPO
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ MAX EFFORT 100 reps ON BENCH FOR REPS FAILURE 3SETS
1MIN REST (use 35%)
➢ VBAR PUSHDOWNS WITH BAND TENSION 3X FAIL (USE BLACK
AND GREEN)
➢ LEANED OVER DB ROWS 3X FAIL WITH 100S
228
➢ REVERSE CURLS 3XFAIL WITH 45LBS
DAY 3 DYNAMIC LOWER
WEDNESDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ SPEED SQUATS 15X3 WITH 40% OF 1-RM AND AN ORANGE
BAND (MEDIUM)
VARY STANCES AND NO BOX
➢ KB STIFF LEG DEADLIFTS W 100LBS STANDING ON BENCHES
FOR INCREASED ROM 3X1MIN
➢ LYING BAND CURLS WITH BANDS AT THE TOP OF RACK 3X 1MIN
WITH STRONG AND MINI
➢ HANGING LEG RAISES WITH 20LB ANKLE WEIGHTS 3X 45 SEC
➢ SEATED CALF RAISES 3X 1.5MIN WITH AS MUCH WEIGHT AS
POSSIBLE
P.M.
➢ Off
DAY 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
FRIDAY
➢ Warmup 4x25 reps with 25-40lb dumbbells (bench press) varying
hand positions
➢ Internal external rotations 2x25reps/ rear delt rows 4x25 with
100lbs
➢ Speed bench double red bands 12x3 no pauses with 40% of 1-RM
➢ Super set with light band rows for back reinforcement 10x20
➢ Lat pulldowns 30lb over bodyweight 3x failure
➢ Dumbbell incline tricep ext 3x1min with 20-25lb dumbells
➢ Reverse flys 3x1min with 25lb dumbells
229
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by a hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ WALK 45 min then foam roller 15min
WEEK 4
MESO 1 (STRENGTH)
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ Take opener on squats 4 sets of 1 rep, and work on explosiveness
➢ Take opener on deadlifts and work out form kinks 5x1
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
GLUTE HAM RAISE 3XFAIL
SINGLE LEG CURLS 3X12 HEAVY AS POSSIBLE
SLED DRAG W 5PLATES STRAIGHT LEGGED 4X40YDS
Kb swings 6x5 with 50lb kb work on explosiveness
REVERSE HYPER (HEAVY) 3X10 3-3 TEMPO
230
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Take bench press opener 4 sets of 1 rep and work on pauses and
explosiveness
➢ VBAR PUSHDOWNS WITH BAND TENSION 3X FAIL (USE medium
band)
➢ LEANED OVER DB ROWS 3X FAIL WITH 50s
➢ REVERSE CURLS 3XFAIL WITH 85LBS
P.M.
6 hours post
➢ Pool walk 20min high raises of legs
DAY 3 DYNAMIC LOWER
WEDNESDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ BOX JUMPS 15 REPS TO 35 IN BOX WITH LIGHT WEIGHTS IN
HANDS, OR VESTS, OR ANKLE WEIGHTS
➢ LYING BAND CURLS WITH BANDS AT THE TOP OF RACK 3X 1MIN
WITH STRONG AND MINI
➢ HANGING LEG RAISES WITH 20LB ANKLE WEIGHTS 3X 45 SEC
➢ SEATED CALF RAISES 3X 1.5MIN WITH AS MUCH WEIGHT AS
POSSIBLE
P.M.
231
➢ Off
DAY 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
FRIDAY
➢ Warmup 4x25 reps with 25-40lb dumbbells (bench press) varying
hand positions
➢ Internal external rotations 2x25reps/ rear delt rows 4x25 with
100lbs
➢ Box jumps (seated) work up to highest box possible
➢ Lat pulldowns 50lb over bodyweight 3x failure
➢ Dumbbell incline tricep ext 3x1min with 20-25lb dumbells
➢ Reverse flys 3x1min with 20lb dumbells
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
➢ Massage
➢ Followed by a hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ Off
232
WEEK 5
MESO 2 (Power)
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY add 20lb weight vest
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ Lightened method squats with medium band work up to 2-rm
explode every rep
➢ Speed pulls 8x1 with a double red and 30% of 1-rm
➢
➢
➢
➢
Reverse hyper 3x45sec with 150lb
Cable pull throughs 3x1min with 150lb
SLED DRAG backwards 3x75 steps w 3 plates
Single leg jumps 5x5 each leg with added weight 30in box
(P.M.)
➢ Incline treadmill walk 1 hr
➢ Hot tub 15min
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
233
➢ Lightened method bench press wide grip work up to 3-rm
➢ 2 burnout sets with max effort exercise narrow grip with 50% of
achieved weight all paused reps
➢ cable standing pullovers 3x10 heavy as possible
➢ TRX handle tricep extensions 3x fail
➢ Bent over barbell rows work up to 10RM
DAY 3 DYNAMIC LOWER
WEDNESDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ SPEED squats 8x2 with 50% of 1-RM and medium band with 14in
box
No deadlifts
➢ Leg press 3x failure progressing in weight (shoot for 20 reps a set)
➢ Stiff leg deadlifts from pin 5 40% of 1-rm for 1min 3 sets
➢ Roman chairs holding 45lb plate 2xfailure
DAY 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
FRIDAY
➢ Warmup 4x25 reps with 25-40lb dumbbells (bench press) varying
hand positions
➢ Internal external rotations 2x25reps/ rear delt rows 4x25 with
100lbs
➢
➢
➢
➢
Speed bench 10x3 with 2 chains per side and 30% of 1-RM
Lat pulldowns 20lb over bodyweight 3x failure
Dumbbell incline tricep ext 3x1min with 25-35lb dumbbells
Reverse flys 3x1min with 20lb dumbells
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
● Massage
234
● Followed by a hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ WALK 1.5 HR with 40lb pack
WEEK 6
MESO 2 (Power)
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY add 30lb weight vest
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ Safety bar squats with 3 chains per side work up to 1-RM explode
every rep no box
➢ Speed pulls 8x1 with a double red and 40% of 1-RM
➢ Reverse hyper 3x45sec with 175lb
➢ Stiff leg kb swings 3x1min with 35lb
➢ Lateral sled dragging 3x 40yds each side with 2plates
➢ Leg curls 3x fail with 80-100lbs
(P.M.)
➢ Incline treadmill walk 15% backwards 20min
235
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Incline bench press work up to 3-rm normal grip
➢ 2 burnout sets with max effort exercise narrow grip with 50% of
achieved weight
➢ wide grip lat pulldown with 120lb 3x fail
➢ TRX handle tricep extensions 3x fail with 20lb weight vest
➢ Rear delt flys on incline bench 25lb dumbbells 3x 1min
DAY 3 DYNAMIC LOWER
WEDNESDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ SPEED squats 8x2 with 55% of 1-RM NO box (work on reversal
speed)
➢ Isometric deadlifts pulling to pin 4 and holding for 10sec 4 sets
with 185lb
DAY 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
FRIDAY
➢ Warmup 4x25 reps with 25-40lb dumbbells (bench press) varying
hand positions
➢ Internal external rotations 2x25reps/ rear delt rows 4x25 with
100lbs
➢ Speed bench 10x3 with 2 chains per side and 40% of 1-RM
➢ Lat pulldowns 30lb over bodyweight 3x failure
236
➢ Dumbbell hammer incline tricep ext 3x1min with 20-30lb
dumbbells
➢ Reverse flys 3x1min with 30lb dumbells
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
● Massage
● Followed by a hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ WALK 1hr with heavy backpack
WEEK 7
MESO 2 (Power)
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY add 30lb weight vest
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
237
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ Cambered bar squats with heavy band and 14in box work up to 1RM
➢ Speed pulls 6x1 with a double mini and 50% of 1-RM
➢ Reverse hyper 3x45sec with 150lb
➢ Glute ham raises 3xfailure with 25lb plate
➢ Lateral sled dragging 3x 40yds each side with 2.5plates
➢ Decline sit ups with 50lb weight
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
decline bench press work up to 1-rm off a 2board (2sec pause)
1 burnout sets with max effort with 75% of achieved weight
wide grip lat pulldown with 150lb 2x fail
fat rope tricep pushdown 3xfailure go heavy
Rear delt flys on incline bench 20lb dumbbells 3x 45sec
DAY 3 DYNAMIC LOWER
WEDNESDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ SPEED squats 8x2 with 55% of 1-RM NO box (work on reversal
speed)
➢ Isometric deadlifts pulling to pin 4 and holding for 10sec 4 sets
with 250lb
238
➢ Speed deadlifts from a 4in block work up 6 sets or until bar slows
start at 135
➢ Bulgarian squats 3x10 each leg progressive
P.M.
➢ Off
DAY 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
FRIDAY
➢ Warmup 4x25 reps with 25-40lb dumbbells (bench press) varying
hand positions
➢ Internal external rotations 2x25reps/ rear delt rows 4x25 with
100lbs
➢ Bent over db rows 3x12 with 65lb dumbbells
➢ Internal external rotators 2x25
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
● Massage
● Followed by a hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ Off
WEEK 8
MESO 2 (Power)
239
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY add 30lb weight vest
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X12
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X12
➢ DECLINE SIT UPS 3X25 W 30LB WEIGHT
➢ Use 75% of 1-rm and do 5x5 for grinding strength
➢ Deadlifts work up to max effort pin deadlift off of pin 2 (use
straps)
➢
➢
➢
➢
Reverse hyper 3x45sec with 100lbs
Leg curl 3x10 progressive
Lateral sled dragging 3x 40yds each side with 2.5plates
Decline sit ups 3x1min with 50lb
(P.M.)
➢ Incline treadmill walk 15% with no weights 1hr 20min
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Double mini bench max work up to 1-rm (w 2 sec pause) fast
eccentric
➢ wide grip lat pulldown with 150lb 2x fail
➢ fat rope tricep pushdown 5xfailure
➢ Rear delt flys on incline bench 20lb dumbbells 3x 45sec
240
DAY 3 DYNAMIC LOWER
WEDNESDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ Single leg leg press work up to 10 rm
➢ Hamstring curls 3x burn
➢ Leg extensions 3xburn
DAY 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
FRIDAY
➢ Warmup 4x25 reps with 25-40lb dumbbells (bench press) varying
hand positions
➢ Internal external rotations 2x25reps/ rear delt rows 4x25 with
100lbs
➢ Speed bench 10x3 with 2 chains per side and 45% of 1-RM
➢ Lat pulldowns 20lb over bodyweight 3x failure
➢ Dumbbell hammer incline tricep ext 3x1min with 25-35lb
dumbbells
➢ Reverse flys 3x1min with 30lb dumbells
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
● Massage
● Followed by a hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ WALK 1 HR
➢ Followed by lymphatic drain (look up online)
241
WEEK 9
MESO 2 (Peak unload)
DAY 1 MAX EFFORT LOWER
MONDAY
➢ WARMUP DYNAMIC MOBILITY add 50lb weight vest
➢ 3-EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ LIGHT REVERSE HYPER 3X20
➢ 45 DEGREE BACK EXT 3X20
➢ DECLINE SITUPS 3X25 W 45LB WEIGHT
➢ Take 50% of your 1-RM and do 10 sets of 1 rep, working on form,
speed, and setup
➢ Reverse hyper 1x45sec with 140lb
➢ Glute ham raises 1 x fail with 25lb plate
➢ Straight leg sled drags 2x100yds with 150lb
➢ Decline sit ups 3x1min with 50lb
DAY 2 MAX EFFORT UPPER
TUESDAY
242
➢ WARMUP SHOULDER CUFF MOBILITY INT/EXT ROTATIONS
10MIN
➢ 3- EXERCISE CIRCUIT TO POTENTIATE WEAK MUSCLE GROUPS
➢ REAR DELT ROWS 3X25
➢ TRICEP PUSHDOWNS 3X20
➢ LAT PULL DOWN 3X20
➢ Take 50% of your bench max and do 10sets of 1 (working on
speed, setup, and form)
➢ Single arm lat pulldown 3x fail with 100lb
➢ JM press with feet up 3x fail with 70lb
➢ Db Lateral raises 1x 1min with 20lb dbs
➢ Military press 1 set until failure with 85lbs
DAY 3 DYNAMIC LOWER
WEDNESDAY
➢ WARMUP – SLED DRAGGING 4X50YDS WITH 4/45s
DYNAMIC MOBILITY 10MIN
➢ Speed squats 6x2 with 50% of 1RM (free no box)
➢ Speed deadlifts 8x1 progressive until speed slows (80%)
➢ Test box height jump ability (work up to a high as possible box
with 10lb dbs
➢ Hamstring curls with moderate band 3x burn
➢ Leg extensions with 150lb 3xburn
➢ Bulgarian squats w dbs overhead 3x10 with each leg using 15lb
dumbbells
DAY 4 DYNAMIC UPPER
FRIDAY
➢ Warmup 4x25 reps with 25-40lb dumbbells (bench press) varying
hand positions
243
➢ Internal external rotations 2x25reps/ rear delt rows 4x25 with
100lbs
➢ Speed bench 12x3 with 2 chains per side and 30% of 1-RM (30sec
rest)
➢ Incline supported DB rows 3x1min with 50lb dumbbells
➢ Single arm tricep extensions 3-3 tempo with 35lb
➢ Mini band pull aparts 3x1min
SATURDAY
RECOVERY
● Massage
● Followed by a hot and cold contrast shower
SUNDAY
➢ WALK 1 hr 30min with restrictive mask
➢ Followed by lymphatic drain (look up online)
This off-season program used a lot of failure sets, very minimal
rest periods, and built a strong base of athleticism.
Being strong is all about building the base beforehand, and this is
important every year. Each year or two, the toughness of the off-season
244
workouts rise, with a slight change in emphasis depending on what the
competition has shown to be a detriment.
Early 2013 is when I first started experimenting with my offseason cycle cross training. Cardio was a main factor, as well as building
in recovery on a larger scale.
My numbers in my first full powerlifting meet were 771 squat,
584 bench, and a 749 deadlift. That makes a 2105 total, which was
number 3 of all time in the 308 class with room to spare.
749 deadlift and 2105 total in 2013 3rd highest all time total at 308.
My particular detriment was conditioning and muscle fatigue level
after my squat and bench press. The massive squats and bench presses
left little to no energy to pull. So I devised a plan to correct this.
This particular off-season I needed more muscle mass in certain
areas. Relying on muscle alone to lift massive weights means that the
muscle tissue must become greater, stronger, and more resilient. This
built a great base to hit big numbers in the weeks leading up to the
contest, and world records at the competition.
245
Finally the front cover of a
large magazine in Nov of
2014, Pictured here a 832
raw squat, and then
followed by a massive 606
bench (largest in the 3 lift
meet)
EXAMPLE E
Advanced cycle
RAW
611 bench press, 2204 2nd of all time raw at 308
246
You will see in this cycle mini workouts were incorporated and used to
increase volume without overtraining, this forced me to take 1-2-hour
naps daily and have calories upwards of 6000 a day to achieve.
Weak Points
Shoulder stability (upper back) – Triceps
YOU WILL SEE NO PEC WORK! Motor patterns can go bad quickly
using pecs in your training. Most benchers I have trained with that train
pecs consistently tend to tear their pecs and have shoulder issues.
Advanced
Raw bench cycle
10 weeks
Week 1 meso 1
straight weight
247
Max effort upper (Sunday) AM
Wenning warmups
4x25 w bench press 50lb dbs
4x25 lat pulldowns w 110lb
4x25 tricep pushdowns w rope w 75lb
5 rep max straight weight w comp grip
(last rep paused) on each set take 6 sets to achieve worked up to 80%
485 weight for 611
Band tricep pushdowns 3failure with 250lb of band v bar
Wide grip bent over rows 3xfail work up in weight but maintain 3-3
tempo
Internal external rotators 3x 1min with 10lb dbs
Mini workout 24 hours later (recovery)
Light dumbells 4x25 hammer grip
Rear delt band pull aparts 4x20
Dynamic upper (Wednesday) PM
Wenning warmups
4x25 w 35lb hanging kbs
4x25 w reverse incline db rows
4x25 w db fold ins 25-30s
Speed bench
10x3 with 185 and double red band (100lb band tension)
Mini workout 24hrs later (recovery)
Reverse incline supermans 4x20 w 15lb dbs
Cable pullovers 4x20
You will notice 3-week waves of straight weight, accommodating
resistance and chaotic resistance.
You will also notice speed work progresses in chain weight not bar
weight.
Also exercises change weekly but muscle groups deemed important
are always present.
248
Also notice Sunday is AM and Wed is PM (more recovery time
between days.)
Advanced
Raw bench cycle
10 weeks
Week 2 meso 1
accommodating resistance
Max effort upper (Sunday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 w decline bench hammer grip 55lb dbs
4x25 lat pulldowns w 120lb fat grip
4x25 tricep pushdowns w supinated grip (mustache bar) w 85lb
Bench press max Bench with 5 chain (200lb) 5 rm
JM press off of pin work up to 8-RM straight bar
Db bent over row off of bench 3xfail w 100lb db
Band face pulls 4xfail with avg band (100lb)
Mini workout 24 hours later (recovery)
Light dumbells 4x25 hammer grip
Rear delt band pull aparts 4x20
Dynamic upper (Wednesday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 w 35lb hanging kbs
4x25 w reverse incline db rows
4x25 w db fold ins 25-30s
Speed bench
8x3 with 185 and double red band (100lb band tension) and one chain
Mini workout 24hrs later (recovery)
Reverse incline rear delt flys 4x20 w 20lb dbs
DB pullovers 4x20
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Advanced
Raw bench cycle
10 weeks
Week 3 meso 1
chaotic weight
Max Effort Upper (Sunday)
4x25 incline press up 65lb dbs
4x25 lat pulldowns w 120lb fat grip
4x25 tricep pushdowns w supinated grip (mustache bar) w 85lb
Cambered bar bench work up to 5-RM narrow grip take 6-8 sets to
reach
JM press to throat up to 6-RM football bar
Db bent over row off of bench 3xfail w 110lb db
Band face pulls 4xfail with avg band (100lb)
Mini workout 24 hours later (recovery)
Light dumbells 4x25 hammer grip
Rear delt band pull aparts 4x20
Dynamic upper (Wednesday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 w 60lb DB on decline (supinated grip)
4x25 w fat bar lat pulldowns
4x25 w db skull crushers w 25-30lb
Speed bench
6x3 with 185 and double red band (100lb band tension) and 2 chain per
side
Mini workout 24hrs later (recovery)
Face pulls 6 sets of 20 w cable (light but controlled)
250
Tricep pushdowns 4x25 light
Advanced
Raw bench cycle
10 weeks
Week 4 meso 2
straight weight
Max effort upper (Sunday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 w flat bench feet up 55lb dbs
4x25 lat pulldowns w 120lb
4x25 tricep pushdowns w rope w 80lb
3 rep max straight weight w comp grip
(last rep paused) on each set take 6 sets to achieve worked up to 85%
520 weight
Band tricep pushdowns 3failure with 275lb of band v bar
V bar lat pulldowns 3xfail with heavy weight (8 reps is the goal)
Internal external rotators 3x 1min with 15lb dbs (bench press position)
Mini workout 24 hours later (recovery)
Light dumbells 4x25 incline press
Rear delt band pull aparts 4x20
Dynamic upper (Wednesday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 w 35lb hanging kbs
4x25 w reverse incline db rows
4x25 w db fold ins 25-30s
251
Speed bench
10x3 with 185 and double monster mini band (120lb band tension)
Mini workout 24hrs later (recovery)
Reverse incline supermans 4x20 w 20lb dbs
Cable pullovers 4x20 10lb heavier than week 1
Advanced
Raw bench cycle
10 weeks
Week 5 meso 2
accommodating resistance
Max effort upper (Sunday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 w incline press 60lb dbs
4x25 lat pulldowns w 130lb fat grip
4x25 tricep pushdowns w supinated grip (mustache bar) w 95lb
Bench press max Bench with double orange (200lb) 3 rm
JM press off of pin work up to 6-RM football bar
Sled rows 4 plates (180lb) 4x50yds
252
Band face pulls 4xfail w cable 120lb (rope)
Mini workout 24 hours later (recovery)
Light kettlebells 4x25 hammer grip
Db lateral raises 3xfail (controlled ) w 25s
Dynamic upper (Wednesday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 bamboo bar w hanging 35s
4x25 w machine rows rpe 6
4x25 w tricep overhead extensions w rope 100lb
Speed bench
8x3 with 185 and double monster mini band (120lb band tension) and 1
chain
Mini workout 24hrs later (recovery)
Reverse incline rear delt flys 4x20 w 20lb dbs
DB pullovers 4x20
Advanced
Raw bench cycle
10 weeks
Week 6 meso 3 deload
chaotic resistance
Max effort upper (Sunday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 w bench press incline 65lb dbs
4x25 lat pulldowns w 140lb fat grip
4x25 tricep pushdowns w supinated grip (mustache bar) w 105lb
Bamboo bar Bench 3-RM (use spotters) deload due to difficulty to
balance (hit 500lb hanging on this day)
253
Db bent over row off of bench 1xfail w 100lb db
Band face pulls 2xfail with avg band (100lb)
Mini workout 24 hours later (recovery)
Light dumbells 4x25 hammer grip
Rear delt band pull aparts 4x20
Dynamic upper (Wednesday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 w 60lb DB on decline (supinated grip)
4x25 w fat bar lat pulldowns
4x25 w db skull crushers w 25-30lb
German volume training 10 sets of 10 reps build up each set last set
for me was 405
Mini workout 24hrs later (recovery)
Face pulls 3 sets of 20 w cable (light but controlled)
Tricep pushdowns 4x25 light
If training is optimal you can push deloads up to 6 weeks apart, most
people will do better with 3 week deloads due to their training being sub
par in rotations and restoration
Notice we still trained hard on speed day just not explosive, its common to
get more sore from GVT but remember that your deloading is for your CNS
not your muscles.
Advanced
Raw bench cycle
10 weeks
Week 7 meso 3
straight weight
Max effort upper (Sunday)
Wenning warmups
254
4x25 w bench press decline 75lb dbs
4x25 single arm lat pulldowns w 60lb
4x25 tricep pushdowns w rope w single arm 40lb
2 rep max straight weight w comp grip
(last rep paused) on each set take 6 sets to achieve worked up to 90%
550 weight
Band tricep pushdowns 3failure with 275lb of band v bar
V bar lat pulldowns 3xfail with heavy weight (8 reps is the goal)
Internal external rotators 3x 1min with 15lb dbs (bench press position)
Mini workout 24 hours later (recovery)
Light dumbells 4x25 incline press
Rear delt band pull aparts 4x20
Dynamic upper (Wednesday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 w 35lb hanging kbs
4x25 w reverse incline db rows
4x25 w single arm pushdowns w grenade handle 35-40lb
Speed bench
10x3 with 185 and 3 chain per side (ultra fast)
Mini workout 24hrs later (recovery)
Reverse incline supermans 4x20 w 20lb dbs
Cable pullovers 4x20 10lb heavier than week 1
Because the press on max effort day was near maximal speed, work
deleted the band and went to a tad more chain for recovery, (bands
although great for strength) do tend to cause more damage.
Advanced
Raw bench cycle
10 weeks
255
Week 8 meso 3
accommodating resistance
Max effort upper (Sunday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 w incline press 90lb dbs
4x25 lat pulldowns w 150lb fat grip
4x25 tricep pushdowns w supinated grip (mustache bar) w 125lb
Bench press max with hanging blue band (MINUS 200) worked up to
785lb or 128% (overloading for CNS to become immune to heavy
weights) Super compensation this will allow the new PR to feel much
lighter
Off the floor tricep skull crushers work up to a heavy 6-RM 315 was
the weight
Lat pulldowns 3x failure with 220lb v-Bar
Internal external rotators with 20s (bench position)
Mini workout 24 hours later (recovery)
Cable press iso lateral 3x burn each side 20-30 reps
Reverse cable flys for rear delts 3x burn ea side 20 reps
Dynamic upper (Wednesday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 bamboo bar w hanging 55s
4x25 w machine rows rpe 7
4x25 w tricep overhead extensions w rope 100lb
Speed bench
6x3 with 185 and double red with 1 chain per side
Mini workout 24hrs later (recovery)
Light db rows one arm 3x25 ea arm
Light band tricep pushdowns w v bar 6 x burn
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Advanced
Raw bench cycle
10 weeks
Week 9 meso 4 unloading to taper
Straight weight
Max effort upper (Sunday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 w incline press 50lb dbs
4x25 lat pulldowns w 100lb fat grip
4x25 tricep pushdowns w supinated grip (mustache bar) w 85lb
Bench press work up to 70% for 4 sets of 3 reps (all pauses)
Reverse hyper rows 3x 10 slow tempo with 150lb
Internal external roators with 20s (bench position)
Triceps 150 reps with blue band (10 sec rest between stops) v bar
Mini workout 24 hours later (recovery)
Cable press iso lateral 3x burn each side 20-30 reps
Reverse cable flys for rear delts 3x burn ea side 20 reps
Dynamic upper (Wednesday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 bamboo bar w hanging 55s
4x25 w machine rows rpe 7
4x25 w tricep overhead extensions w rope 100lb
Dumbbell bench 10 sets of 10 reps slowly progressing (all flat)
Mini workout 24hrs later (recovery)
Rope swings 4x50 reps
Light cable tricep pushdowns w wide bar 6 x burn
257
Advanced
Raw bench cycle
10 weeks
Week 10 meso 4 unloading to taper
Straight weight
Max effort upper (Sunday)
Wenning warmups
2x25 w incline press 50lb dbs
2x25 lat pulldowns w 100lb fat grip
2x25 tricep pushdowns w supinated grip (mustache bar) w 85lb
Bench press work up to 50% for 4 sets of 3 reps (all pauses)
Reverse hyper rows 3x 10 slow tempo with 150lb
Internal external roators with 20s (bench position)
Triceps 150 reps with blue band (10 sec rest between stops) v bar
Mini workout 24 hours later (recovery)
Cable press iso lateral 3x burn each side 20-30 reps
Reverse cable flys for rear delts 3x burn ea side 20 reps
Dynamic upper (Wednesday)
Wenning warmups
4x25 bamboo bar w hanging 25s
4x25 w machine rows rpe 4
4x25 w tricep overhead extensions w rope 70lb
These first 3 workouts need to be done by Wednesday, making sure by
comp day your are fully recovered.
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551 – 578 -611 bench
II
Equipped Training Cycles
Training for equipped or raw competitions share more
similarities than differences. Often times, each discipline can learn from
one another.
My training went from:
Raw 1992 to 1999
Single ply usapl 1999-2004
Multi ply 2004 2011
Raw 2011-2018
259
These cycles listed below were used from 2007-2011 with
dramatic results. Not only did I achieve world records and top 3 all-time
rankings for multiple years, most of the westside barbell and lexen
crews of the time were utilizing similar programs. Greg Panora, Vlad A,
and Chuck Vogelphol were other people that were under and using this
developed cycle.
EXAMPLE C
EQUIPPED TRAINING CYCLE (Lower)
(2008-2011)
2 All Time world records
Squat 1197.6-lb
Total 2665-lb
This training cycle skeleton belo was mastered from 2008-2011.
Although some small things changed, for example my weaknesses got
stronger and lifts went up, there were still some shortcomings so
improvement was enhanced by multiple cycles.
Squat Assessment 2007 (1035lb)
Weak Points: Glutes – Hamstrings – and upper back support
260
2011 1125 squat in prep for 1197wr
Deadlift assessment 2007 (735lb)
Weak Points: Lower back strength - grip
2 years of this cycle
produced Lower body.
Squat 1197 world
record
822 deadlift
2665 world record total at 308
Suit used Inzer Leviathan
Briefs Inzer Predator angle legged
Wraps elitefts soft and stretchy 2.5m
World record squat and total cycle
Multiply equipped 2009
261
Week 1 (partial equipment)
Meso 1
(notice minimal warmups, but mini workouts were becoming a part of the
programs)
Max effort lower
➢ Warmup
Sled drag 4x50yds with 135lb
➢ Parallel box squat
Work up to 3 rep max using briefs and belt only
(6-8 sets) worked up to 905x3
➢ Rack Pulls
➢ Pin 4 (right below knee) 1 RM worked up to 725 (80%)
➢ Glute ham raises 3xfail with 2min rest in between
➢ Standing band crunch with blue band 3x20
➢ 6 hours post
Stretch 20 min
Hot tub 20 min
Dynamic Lower
➢ Speed squats
➢ 8x3 with 405 plus silver band
➢ Speed deadlifts
➢ 8x1 with double red worked up to 315 and worked on
positioning and speed
➢ Calf raises 3x fail heavy
➢ Grip work 10min (all types)
Mini workout
➢ Hamstring curls 4x10 slow
262
➢ Oblique bends 4x10 w 100lb db
World record squat and total cycle
Multiply equipped 2009
Week 2 (full equipment)
Meso 1
Max effort lower
➢ Warmup
Sled drag 4x50yds with 155lb
➢ Free squat full gear (minus knee wraps) I never used knee
wraps but 2 x in a cycle
Work up to 80% x 2 (linear progression every 3 weeks on full
equipment)
(6-8 sets) this was 960x2 top set
No deadlifts
➢ Glute ham raises 4xfail with 2min rest in between
➢ Standing band crunch with blue band 4x20
➢ 6 hours post
Stretch 25 minutes
Hot tub 20 min
Dynamic Lower
➢ Speed squats
➢ 8x3 with 425 plus silver band
➢ Speed deadlifts
➢ 8x1 with double red worked up to 355 and worked on
positioning and speed
➢ Calf raises 3x fail heavy
263
➢ Grip work 10min (all types)
Mini workout
➢ Hamstring curls 4x10 slow
➢ Oblique bends 4x10 w 100lb db
World record squat and total cycle
Multiply equipped 2009
Week 3(raw) DELOAD
Meso 1
Max effort lower
➢ Warmup
Sled drag 4x50yds with 175lb
➢ Chain box squat with 3 sec pauses (belt only) work up to 5-RM and
8RPE
➢ Deadlifts Comp stance
Work up to 80% x2 with 5 sec lowering phase
➢ Glute ham raises 4xfail with 2min rest in between
➢ Standing band crunch with blue band 4x20
➢ 6 hours post
Stretch 30 min
Hot tub 25 min
Dynamic Lower
➢ Speed squats
8x3 with 405 plus 3 chain per side
264
➢ Speed deadlifts
8x1 with double red worked up to 315 and worked on
positioning and speed
➢ Calf raises 3x fail heavy
➢ Grip work 10min (all types)
Mini workout
➢ Hamstring curls 4x10 slow
➢ Oblique bends 4x10 w 100lb db
Notice how the cycle fluctuates every 3 weeks, we have medium equipment
– maximum equipment – no equipment. Also rotated when heavy pulls full
ROM were away from high CNS squat days – accessories stayed similar,
but increased in intensity or volume in 3 week waves.
World record squat and total cycle
Multiply equipped 2009
Week 4 (partial equipment)
Meso 2
Max effort lower
➢ Warmup
Belt squat 4x10 progressive (just to loosen up)
➢ Partial equipment squats parallel box w pad
briefs and belt only work up to 2 rm worked up to 950lb
➢ Pin pulls (pin 3) 2in below the knee (my personal sticking point)
265
➢ Worked up to 5 RM with long pauses on the pin (grinding strength
and weak point)
➢ Deficit deadlift straight leg 1 RM
➢ Kettlebell swings 2x1 min with 50lb
➢ Decline sit ups 2xfail with 75lb
➢ 6 hours post
Stretch 20 min
Sauna 20min
Dynamic Lower
➢ Speed box squats
8x3 with 415 plus silver band
➢ Speed deadlifts
8x2 with 4 chain worked up to 335 and worked on positioning
and speed
➢ Donkey calf raises 3xfail heavy and slow
➢ Fatgrip shrugs 3xfail with 100lb dbs
Mini workout
➢ Single leg Hamstring curls 4x10 slow
➢ Reverse hypers 3x10 heavy 200lb
World record squat and total cycle
Multiply equipped 2009
Week 5 (Full equipment)
Meso 2
Max effort lower
➢ Warmup
Belt squat 4x10 progressive (just to loosen up)
➢ Full gear squats (no wraps)
➢ Full gear squats (no wraps) straps on the Leviathan are taken 20%
tighter
266
work up to 85% x2
Take 6 sets after 60% to reach 85% this day it was 1020lb
➢ Deadlifts (higher volume 315 x10 - 4 sets) building GPP but no
damage
➢ Kettlebell swings 3x1 min with 50lb
➢ Decline sit ups 3xfail with 95lb
➢ 6 hours post
Stretch 25 min
Sauna 25min
Dynamic Lower
➢ Speed box squats
8x3 with 455 plus silver band
➢ Speed deadlifts (non comp stance)
8x2 with 4 chain worked up to 375 and worked on positioning
and speed
➢ Donkey calf raises 3xfail heavy and slow
➢ Fatgrip shrugs 3xfail with 120lb dbs
Mini workout
➢ Single leg Hamstring curls 5x10 slow
➢ Reverse hypers 3x10 heavy 250lb
World record squat and total cycle
Multiply equipped 2009
267
Week 6 (RAW) Deload
Meso 2
Max effort lower
➢ Warmup
Belt squat 4x10 progressive (just to loosen up)
➢ Belt only squats
➢ Work up to an 8RPE with a belt only to a 1in below parallel box
(this will depend on mental state so no weight is selected only
RPE
➢ Deadlifts straight leg pulls
(double overhand)
3x10 progressive but light and slow
➢ Kettlebell swings 2x1 min with 50lb
➢ Decline situps 2xfail with 95lb
➢ 6 hours post
Stretch 25 min
Sauna 25min
Dynamic Lower
➢ Speed box squats
6x3 with 405 no bands
➢ Speed deadlifts (non comp stance)
8x2 with 6 chain worked up to 405 and worked on positioning
and speed
➢ Donkey calf raises 3xfail heavy and slow
➢ Fatgrip shrugs 3xfail with 120lb dbs
Mini workout
➢ Single leg Hamstring curls 5x10 slow
268
➢ Reverse hypers 3x10 heavy 250lb
➢ 6 hours post
Walk in pool 20 laps forward backward, sides
World record squat and total cycle
Multiply equipped 2009
Week 7 (partial equipment)
Meso 3 (peak phase)
Max effort lower
➢ Warmup
Sled drag 3x50 yds
➢ Squats
➢ Briefs and belt only
➢ Work up to 3 -RM no box
➢ Worked up to 975 or 81% of projected max in full gear
➢ Pin pulls (pin 3) 2in below the knee (my personal sticking point)
➢ Worked up to 3 RM with pauses and straps (started to save hand
strength for comp)
➢ Belt squats 4x10 progressive and heavy
➢ Band Crunch 4x20 slow and steady
➢ 6 hours post
Stretch 20 min
Sauna 20min
269
Dynamic Lower
➢ Speed box squats
8x2 with 465 plus silver band
➢ Speed deadlifts
8x3 with double red band up to 1 rep max (585 in plate weight)
➢ Seated calf raises 3xfailure with 200lb (slow)
➢ Heavy decline sit ups 3xfail w 100lb db
Mini workout
➢ Band Hamstring curls 4x10 slow (seated)
➢ Reverse hypers 3x10 heavy 270lb
World record squat and total cycle
Multiply equipped 2009
Week 8 (Full equipment)
Meso 3 (peak phase)
Max effort lower
➢ Warmup
Sled drag 3x50 yds
➢ Squats
➢ Full gear squats with wraps
270
Worked up to an opener for 2 reps 1080lb (was guessing my
squat was 1150)
➢ Deadlifts
➢ Pin pull 1-RM off pin 1 (very hard pin to PR on but great for
straining) LAST HEAVY PULL BEFORE MEET
➢ Belt squats 4x10 progressive and heavy add 50lb each set more
than last week
➢ Band Crunch 4x20 slow and steady
➢ 6 hours post
Band stretch 30 min
Hot tub for 20min
Dynamic Lower
➢ Speed box squats
8x2 with 505 plus silver band
➢ Speed deadlifts
6x1 with 500 work on bar speed and technique (also timing for
real weight pulls)
➢ Seated calf raises 2xfailure with 200lb (slow)
➢ Heavy decline sit ups 2xfail w 100lb db
Mini workout
Band Hamstring curls 4x10 slow (seated)
Reverse hypers 3x10 heavy 3000lb
Chiropractor adjustment after dynamic lower day
The next day full massage 1.5hr with lengthy naps each day
World record squat and total cycle
Multiply equipped 2009
271
Week 9 (RAW) DELOAD
Meso 3 (peak phase)
Max effort lower
➢ Warmup
Sled drag 3x50 yds
➢ Squats
➢ Raw with belt and light knee wraps 1-RM (9RPE)
➢ Work up to a high box squat max with 6 chain on each side (hit
1000 top weight)
➢ Deadlifts
Worked up to 75% for technique and speed dialing (CNS
recovery)
➢ Belt squats 4x6 progressive and heavy add 50lb each set more
than last week
➢ Band Crunch 4x20 slow and steady
➢ 6 hours post
Band and stretch 30 min
Hot tub for 20min
Dynamic Lower
➢ Speed box squats
8x2 with 405 no band
➢ Speed deadlifts
4x1 with 550 work on bar speed and technique (also timing for
real weight pulls)
➢ GHR 3x failure with easy setting
➢ Reverse hypers 3xpump with 250lb (all traction based
movements for accessories to aid in low back recovery)
272
Mini workout
➢ Band Hamstring curls 4x10 slow (seated)
➢ Reverse hypers 3x10 heavy 3000lb
➢ Chiropractic adjustment after dynamic lower day
➢ The next day full massage 1.5hr, with lengthy naps each day
World record squat and total cycle
Multiply equipped 2009
Week 10 (equipped) PRE COMP
Meso 4 (super comp phase) UNLOAD
Max effort lower
➢ Warmup
Sled drag 3x50 yds
➢ Squats
➢ Free squats full gear
Worked up to 70% for 3 sets of 2 to keep form and technique
➢ Deadlifts worked up to 50% and did 4 sets of 1
➢ Belt squats 4xpump to keep leg hypertrophy enhanced
➢ Band Crunch 4x20 slow and steady
➢ 6 hours post
Band stretch 30 min
Hot tub for 20min
Dynamic Lower
➢ Speed belt squats
273
Still being expulsive but using a non compressive tool for lower back
restoration
6 sets of 2 reps 5 countdown
➢ Speed deadlifts
5 sets of 2 reps with 315lb (super light and just restorative)
➢ GHR 1x failure with easy setting
➢ Reverse hypers 3xpump with 250lb
(all traction based movements for accessories to aid in low back
recovery)
Mini workout
➢ Band Hamstring curls 4x10 slow (seated)
➢ Reverse hypers 3x10 heavy 100lb
➢ Chiropractic adjustment after dynamic lower day
➢ The next day full massage 1.5hr with lengthy naps each day
World record squat and total cycle
Multiply equipped 2009
Week 11 (equipped) PRE COMP
Meso 4 (super comp phase) UNLOAD
MEET WEEK
Monday pre meet
➢ Stretch and warmup with the belt squat to pump only
274
Tuesday pre meet
➢ Stretch and warmup with dumbbells and lat pulldowns 6 sets
each until warm
Saturday MEET DAY
2008
2665 ALL TIME TOTAL at 308 WEIGHT CLASS
2011
SQUAT 1197.7 ALL TIME WORLD RECORD AT 308 WEIGHT CLASS
Key notes:
1) ROTATING IN AND OUT OF GEAR ONLY SPECIFICALLY TRAINING
EVERY 3 WEEKS
(THIS STAYED WITH ME EVEN IN RAW TRAINING FROM 20121017.)
2) I LEARNED I NEEDED TO DELOAD IN SOME WAY SHAPE OR
FORM EVERY 3 WEEKS, IF NOT I WOULD MASSIVELY
OVERTRAIN AND LIFTS WOULD STAGNATE.
3) I HAD SOLIDIFIED THAT IT TOOK ME 12-14 DAYS TO TAPER FOR
A PERFECT MEET, WITHOUT DELOADING BEFORE CONTESTS IT
WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO HIT PRs.
EXAMPLE E
Bench only shirt cycle
275
This cycle was devised after the departure from westside barbell. I was on
the record board with a 785lb bench press. After designing this cycle and
using it and in its modification, I was able to raise my bench press to 844
in the same shirt.
.
800+ BENCH ONLY cycle 10 weeks
Multiply equipped 2010
Meso 1
Week 1
Accommodating resistance (heavy band)
276
Max effort UPPER
➢ Warmup (wenning warmups had not yet been used)
➢ Light dumbells
➢ Shoulder stretching
Double purple max: work up to 5 rm
(200lb of band tension)
I hit 335x5
➢ Flat dumbbells 3 fail with 100lb dbs
➢ Heavy lat pulldowns 3xfail w 150lb wide grip pulldowns to the
chin
➢ DB hammer curls 3xfail w 50s
Dynamic UPPER
➢ Warmup
➢ Reverse grip db 3x10 or burn
➢ Face pulls 3x10
Speed bench
205 straight weight with monster mini 1.0 m/s
(120lb band tension) 10x3
➢ Face pulls 4xfailure 120lb
➢ Heavy DB rows 4x10
➢ Internal external rotators (mostly stretching)
Pre 2010 I did not use many mini workouts, recovery was huge for me
largely due to the fact I was 310lb bodyweight.
➢ Epsom salt baths every 3rd day and massages 1 time every 7 days.
800+ BENCH ONLY cycle
Multiply equipped 2010
Meso 1
Week 2
Raw straight weight limited ROM
277
Max effort UPPER
➢ Warmup (wenning warmups had not yet been used)
➢ Light dumbells
➢ Shoulder stretching
➢ Floor press wrist wraps only 2 -RM worked up to 585
➢ Incline dumbells 3 fail with 80lb dbs
➢ Heavy lat pulldowns 3xfail w 130lb v bar pulldowns
➢ DB hammer curls 3xfail w 55s (pronate on lowering)
Dynamic UPPER
➢ Warmup
➢ Reverse grip db 3x10 or burn
➢ Face pulls 3x10
➢ Speed bench
215 straight weight with monster mini 0.9 m/s
(120lb band tension) 8x3
➢ Face pulls 4xfailure 130lb
➢ Heavy machine rows 4x15
➢ Internal external rotators (mostly stretching)
➢ Epsom salt baths every 3rd day and massages 1 time every 7 days.
➢ Hot tub 20 min after every training cycle
800+ BENCH ONLY cycle
Multiply equipped 2010
Meso 1
Week 3
Shirt work (limited ROM shirt break in)
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Max effort UPPER
➢ Warmup (wenning warmups had not yet been used)
➢ Light dumbells
➢ Shoulder stretching
➢ 4 board max effort 2-RM using comp shirt for break in and form
Worked up to 795lb x2
➢ Raw work stripped down to 225 did 1x failure set with NFL
players
Got 53reps
➢ Heavy lat pulldowns to the nose 3xfailure with 170lb
➢ Rear delt flys (chest supported) 4x20
➢ Forearm work 15 min (use to do this for bar control in heavy
shirt benching)
Dynamic UPPER
➢ Warmup
➢ Reverse grip db 3x10 or burn
➢ Face pulls 3x10
➢ Speed bench
225 straight weight with monster mini .8 m/s
(120lb band tension) 6x3
➢ Face pulls 4xfailure 130lb
➢ Heavy machine rows 4x15
➢ Internal external rotators (mostly stretching)
➢ Epsom salt baths every 3rd day and massages 1 time every 7 days.
➢ Hot tub 20 min after every training cycle
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800+ BENCH ONLY cycle 10 weeks
Multiply equipped 2010
Meso 2
Week 4
Accommodating resistance (lightened method)
Max effort UPPER
➢ Warmup (wenning warmups had not yet been used)
➢ Light dumbells 3x10
➢ Shoulder stretching using bands 10min
➢ Lightened av band max: work up to 5 rm (-150lb band tension)
Worked up to 600x5
(200lb of band tension)
➢ Decline dumbbells 3 fail with 110lb dbs
➢ Heavy lat pulldowns 3xfail w 150lb wide grip pulldowns to the
chest
➢ DB hammer curls 3xfail w 50s
Dynamic UPPER
➢ Warmup
➢ Reverse grip db 3x10 or burn
➢ Face pulls 3x10
➢ Speed bench
205 straight weight with double red band 1.1 m/s
(100lb band tension) 10x3
➢ Face pulls 4xfailure 120lb
➢ Heavy DB rows 4x10
➢ Internal external rotators (mostly stretching)
800+ BENCH ONLY cycle
Multiply equipped 2010
Meso 2
Week 5
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Raw straight weight (slingshot)
Max effort UPPER
➢ Warmup (wenning warmups had not yet been used)
➢ Light dumbells
➢ Shoulder stretching
➢ Board press 3 board (sticking point) 3-RM with pause on the
board (USE NORMAL SLINGSHOT)
➢ Incline dumbells 3 fail with 80lb dbs
➢ Heavy lat pulldowns 3xfail w 130lb v bar pulldowns
➢ DB hammer curls 3xfail w 55s (pronate on lowering)
Dynamic UPPER
➢ Warmup
➢ Light pec flys (just to loosen up)
➢ Face pulls 3x10
➢ Speed bench
215 straight weight double mini band and 1 chain per side 0.9
m/s
(100lb band tension) (40lb of chain) 8x3
➢ Face pulls 4xfailure 130lb
➢ Heavy machine rows 4x15
➢ Internal external rotators (mostly stretching)
➢ Epsom salt baths every 3rd day and massages 1 time every 7 days.
➢ Hot tub 20 min after every training cycle
800+ BENCH ONLY cycle
Multiply equipped 2010
Meso 2
Week 6
Shirt work
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Max effort UPPER
➢ Warmup (wenning warmups had not yet been used)
➢ Light dumbells
➢ Shoulder stretching
➢ 3 board max effort 2-RM using comp shirt for break in and form
Worked up to 805lb x2 (pause on the board)
➢ 2 x failure with bamboo bar and hanging 300lb did a set of 15 and
second set 11
➢ Heavy lat pulldowns behind the head 3xfailure with 130lb wide
grip
➢ Rear delt cable fly’s
➢ Forearm work 15 min (use to do this for bar control in heavy
shirt benching)
Dynamic UPPER
➢ Warmup
➢ Reverse grip db 3x10 or burn
➢ Face pulls 3x10
➢ Speed bench
215 straight weight with mini band and 2 chain 0.8 m/s
(100lb band tension) (80lb of chain) 6x3
➢ Face pulls 4xfailure 130lb
➢ Heavy machine rows 4x15
➢ Internal external rotators (mostly stretching)
You will notice that speed work is considerably heavier than other cycles
for raw training, this is because the assistance of the extra equipment
(shirt) etc., allots less overall muscle volume.
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800+ BENCH ONLY cycle 10 weeks
Multiply equipped 2010
Meso 3
Week 7
Accommodating resistance (heavy chain)
Max effort UPPER
➢ Warmup (wenning warmups had not yet been used)
➢ Light dumbells 3x10
➢ Shoulder stretching using bands 10min
➢ Heavy chain (10chain per side) work up to 2 rm (400lb in chain)
➢ Decline dumbbells 3 fail with 110lb dbs
➢ Heavy lat pulldowns 3xfail w 150lb wide grip pulldowns to the
chest
➢ DB hammer curls 3xfail w 50s
Dynamic UPPER
➢ Warmup
➢ Reverse grip db 3x10 or burn
➢ Face pulls 3x10
➢ Speed bench
➢ 225 straight weight with double mini and 3 chain per side (120lb)
This is almost out of the speed barrier, and the heaviest of the
speed cycle 0.7m/s
(100lb band tension) 10x3
➢ Face pulls 4xfailure 120lb
➢ Heavy DB rows 4x10
➢ Internal external rotators (mostly stretching)
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800+ BENCH ONLY cycle
Multiply equipped 2010
Meso 3
Week 8
Raw straight weight
Max effort UPPER
➢ Warmup (wenning warmups had not yet been used)
➢ Light dumbells
➢ Shoulder stretching
➢ Work up to 9-RPE raw bench max 1-RM (this was 590)
➢ Incline dumbells 3 fail with 100lb dbs
➢ Heavy lat pulldowns 3xfail w 180lb v bar pulldowns
➢ DB hammer curls 3xfail w 65s (pronate on lowering)
Dynamic UPPER
➢ Warmup
➢ Light pec flys (just to loosen up)
➢ Face pulls 3x10
➢ Speed bench
➢ 205 straight weight with 3 chain per side (120lb) 10x3 3 sec
Eccentric switched to chain the last bit of the cycle, as I noticed
far less accumulated fatigue with chains versus bands
➢ Face pulls 3xfailure 150lb
➢ Heavy machine rows 4x10 progressive
➢ Internal external rotators (mostly stretching)
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Because chain only was used on speed w lengthened eccentric portion for
more time under tension.
800+ BENCH ONLY cycle
Multiply equipped 2010
Meso 3
Week 9 peak week
Shirt work
Max effort UPPER
➢ Warmup (wenning warmups had not yet been used)
➢ Light dumbells
➢ Shoulder stretching
➢ 1 board max effort 1-RM using comp shirt for break in and form
Worked up to 815lb x1 (pause on the board and hold lockout for 3
sec
(burnout sets start to disappear)
➢ Heavy lat pulldowns to the forehead 3xfailure with 150lb wide
grip
➢ Rear delt cable flys 3xburn each side w 50lb
➢ Forearm work 15 min (use to do this for bar control in heavy
shirt benching)
Dynamic UPPER
➢ Warmup
➢ Reverse grip db 3x10 or burn
➢ Face pulls 3x10
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➢ Speed bench
215 straight weight with 3 chain per side (120) 8x3 5 sec
eccentric w pause
➢ Face pulls 4xfailure 100lb 3-3 tempo
➢ Db bench supported rows 2x fail w 150s
➢ Internal external rotators (mostly stretching)
800+ BENCH ONLY cycle
Multiply equipped 2010
Meso 4
Week 10 peak (FINAL TRAINING WEEK)
Shirt work
Max effort UPPER
➢ Warmup (wenning warmups had not yet been used)
➢ Light dumbells and rear delts
➢ Shoulder stretching
➢ Shirt work go up to opener or 90% full ROM 1-RM using comp
shirt for break in and form (worked up to 775)
Warmed up to 500 raw, then put shirt on and did 585 – 645 – 700 – 735
– 775
the weight touched at 735
(burnout sets start to disappear)
➢ Heavy lat pulldowns to the forehead 3xfailure with 150lb wide
grip
➢ Rear delt cable flys 3xburn each side w 50lb
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➢ Forearm work 15 min (use to do this for bar control in heavy
shirt benching)
Dynamic UPPER
➢ Warmup
➢ Reverse grip db 3x10 or burn
➢ Face pulls 3x10
➢ Speed bench
185 straight weight with 3 chain per side (120) 6x3 (recovery) 5
sec eccentrics
➢ Face pulls 4xfailure 100lb 3-3 tempo
➢ Db bench supported rows 2x fail w 150s
➢ Internal external rotators (mostly stretching)
800+ BENCH ONLY cycle
Multiply equipped 2010
Meso 4
Week 11 peak (deload)
Max effort UPPER
➢ Warmup (wenning warmups had not yet been used)
➢ Light dumbells and rear delts
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➢ Shoulder stretching
➢ Dumbells do 10 sets of 10 reps with slight progression, volume
but not much intensity
(burnout sets start to disappear)
➢ Heavy lat pulldowns to the forehead 3xfailure with 100lb wide
grip
➢ Rear delt cable flys 4xburn each side w 30lb
➢ Forearm work 15 min (use to do this for bar control in heavy
shirt benching)
Dynamic UPPER
➢ Warmup
➢ Flat db press 3x10 or burn
➢ Face pulls 6x10
➢ Bench press work up to 70% 1-RM raw (based on raw max) then
put on slingshot and do 50lb more for 2 sets of 1 rep w pause
➢ Face pulls 2xfailure 70lb 3-3 tempo
➢ Db bench supported rows 2x fail w 60s
➢ Internal external rotators (mostly stretching)
This week I get a 1.5 hour massage, full chiropractic adjustment and
naps every other day if possible
800+ BENCH ONLY cycle
Multiply equipped 2010
Meso 4
Week 12 peak (unload) super comp
Max effort UPPER
➢ Warmup (wenning warmups had not yet been used)
➢ Light dumbells and rear delts
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➢ Shoulder stretching
➢ Work up to 135lb raw and do 3-5 sets of 10 with various tempos
➢ light lat pulldowns to the forehead 3xpump with 70lb wide grip
➢ Rear delt cable flys 2xburn each side w 15lb
➢ Forearm work 15 min (use to do this for bar control in heavy
shirt benching)
Dynamic UPPER
No training – just try to relax and stay out of the gym as much as
possible the rest of the week.
It's important to let everything completely recover, and restore, I
found that 2-4 days before comp, I don’t even go to the gym, I let my
mind and body fully recover.
Often when we even arrive at the gym over many months or years
our body ramps up to train, we want to avoid that.
This cycle was used in modification 2x and produced a 815 bench
press and a 844 bench only press
The Game Changer
Wenning Warmups
Between the years of 2012-2014 I started to experiment with
what was at first a pre-fatigue system. This was devised after the first
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raw meet of 2013, when I discovered that my GPP was lacking for the
bench press after a heavy raw squat.
Going into the competition, my bench was promising a 1-RM of
well over 600lb. What I soon realized, however, was after squatting
nearly 800 body fatigue decreased my bench 30-40lb. If I was at the
time to take the 2202 all time world record, then my bench press would
have to be optimal after squats.
So the quest began on how to get this bench back to its shining
light after the squats. I also knew the conditioning and fatigue was only
going to get worse after trying a All-Time record in the squat (going for
832 in 2014, picture above).
So, I had a long discussion with all-time great bodybuilder Flex
Wheeler on his success with the 20plus rep range in bodybuilding. He
said that not only did his muscles grow, but he also felt that his recovery
was immense. My thought pattern was that 20 plus reps was nothing in
the range of max effort or dynamic effort rep structure.
I also knew that ligament and tendons would be enhanced in
density to the higher rep ranges, and this was going to be important
especially to withstand loading raw for long enough to see the training
make world records with no injuries.
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I experimented with sets in the 25 rep range. I figured 4 sets of 25
would be 100 reps, and easy to calculate volume on a daily-weekly-and
monthly parameter.
The next was to figure out how to select other exercises that may
aid in my strength gains and counterbalance the pressure that the extra
anterior loading was going to create. My thought pattern was this extra
loading was going to create a form issue if the antagonist muscles were
not accounted for. This is where the Lat and upper back training had to
match the new volume that was presented to the program. So back
training jumped into the equation on the Wenning warmup, and I threw
in 4 sets of 25 on lat pulldowns, rows or something similar.
From consistent assessment of lifting videos both from max effort
days and competitions with 1-RM loads I noticed that the bar would
slow down ¾ of the way upward. This forced me to consider that the
triceps were a major player in needing more work to assist this bench
progression. Both to keep it easy to remember and keep the rep ranges
far away from maxing, I also selected 25 reps on this.
On upper body I created:
4x25 of a press similar angle to the press being trained that day.
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4x25 of a back exercise that was going to help balance the shoulder in
pressure.
4x25 of a triceps movement to aid in lockout strength as well as elbow
tendon strengthening to keep me pressing for much longer and
increasing my capacity to train longer.
Now it was time to implement this to the full extent. The trick
since this was new was to measure RPE (rate of perceived exertion). My
thought pattern was to keep my RPE around a 6 out of 10. This would
ensure fatigue was present, but not too serious where the main lift
would be compromised.
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I also learned through research that my workout couldn’t last
more than an hour or so (which was much easier due to no bench shirts
or suits). This has a lot to do with keeping testosterone at a high level
and keeping cortisol levels low. But there was also another reason in my
mind. It all came back down to GPP. I needed to be more fit and used to
shorter rest periods in order to achieve this stature. So, the goal of the
warmup was to last between 12-14min. That meant that 300 reps had to
be achieved in this time constraint.
The last thought I had was about how this was a considerable
amount more volume than I was accustomed to. To account for this, I
made sure that pressure points, stances, angles and implements stayed
rotated to ensure lower levels of overuse were going to occur, all while
still having high levels of transfer to the core lift.
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The next phase of my training journey!
Introduction to Charles Poliquin
R.I.P 1951-2018
Early spring of 2016, I was holding a seminar in Colorado Springs.
There were some eager lifters at this seminar, all wanting to enhance
their training methods using my modified conjugate system.
About 2 weeks before the seminar was planned to happen, I
received an email from Charles Poliquin. In the email he expressed an
interest in joining in on the seminar and hearing what I was teaching
and showing the lifters. This was a huge deal for me. As many did in the
early 2000s, Charles’ work in the magazines and newly launched
internet was
drawing a lot of
attention. His talk
of training – diet bloodwork – and
peaking seemed to
be information
that we had not
practiced or
mastered. He was
one of the top
trainers for pro
athletes and
Olympic medal
holders on the
planet.
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Poliquin using the
wenning belt.
I was nervous about showing him my information. I was worried
it was all too elementary or outdated compared to what he was doing
and experimenting with.
However, after the seminar, I found myself pleasantly surprised.
He was not only thankful for the information that I provided, but stated
that it had been a long time since someone had taught him something of
value.
Some things I showed Charles
What I had showed him was the speed in which I theorized that
dynamic work needed to be. The philosophy of 1 m/s instead of
Westside's .7 m/s, as well as the vast rotation of max effort exercises
were some of his favorite new ideas. But the one big idea that he really
was keen on was the instability training of the Chaotic method.
After the seminar we became great friends, bouncing training off
of each other and experimenting with a vast array of new ideas. This led
us to want to put together a world tour seminar in 2016-2017,
consisting of Prague, Amserdam, Toronto, and also back in Colorado
again.
What I learned from Charles:
Something that I had learned long ago was tempos. Tempo
training was nothing new, but ironically, I had not used it in some time.
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In my brain it was always either move fast, or move heavy. When I re
added tempos again for the first time in Charles’ training facility, I found
myself humbled immediately.
What I came to realize was that training for me was a gracious
amount of stretch reflex, but when I slowed the muscle down I saw that
I was getting faster, but mostly from storing energy more so than being
muscularly strong. The implementation to do much more of my
accessory work slower was now a top priority. And also brought forth
many gains!
Almost all my daily accessory work now has a tempo exercise or
component thrown into the regimen.
Here are my favorite tempos to use:
Accessories
3-3 tempo
3 second concentric and 3 second eccentric
5-5 tempo 5 second concentric and 5 second eccentric
By slowing the motion down a few things happen:
1) Increases muscle fibers volume
The eccentric contractions of lowering the weight slowly produce
greater increases in muscle fiber length, and the concentric contractions
produce greater increases in muscle cross sectional area (fiber
diameter.)
2) We can get more work with less direct pressure on the joints
This is important as we get stronger, as the main lifts tend to put a
massive amount of pressure on our joints and tendons. I have found that
I can make great progress a tad lighter if I just slow the accessory work
down.
3) We can focus on the muscle
By slowing the concentric and eccentric portions of the lifts down
on accessories we can enhance our concentration to the muscle at hand.
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Even at an advanced level one can get so concerned with lifting more
resistance that we start engaging muscle groups that should be avoided.
Favorite Tempos for main lifts (off season only)
On main lifts I’m a huge component of eccentric loading
modifications in the off season. But the main lifts must ALWAYS be
forceful on the concentric portion of the movement. Closer to contest I
allow my body to have its own timing and groove. Doing tempo work
with main lifts can be a detriment to your timing and your performance
1-rm, if performed too often to contest.
Example :
Squat
5 second eccentric 1 sec pause in the bottom and 1 second on the way
up 5-1-1 tempo
Bench press
3 second eccentric 1 second pause on the chest and 1 second on the
concentric phase. 3-1-1 tempo.
As you will see in the workout, these are used regularly to
enhance not only more cross-sectional muscle diameter, but also help us
to avoid training the exact same way constantly. Tempo training is
crucial if your equipment availability is lower. (see minimal workout
example)
The Big 3 Lifts
Execution, Form, and Perfection
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832 world record squat with belt only in 2014 raised to 865.5 in 2016.
(The ins-and outs of lifting big)
This could not be a good text or manual without going over
technique and how to do things properly. It seems today more than ever
there are a thousand ways to squat, bench press, and deadlift. The
people I tend to listen to have been doing their methods for 20 or more
years, have broken multiple world records, or have an advanced
education. So you are the judge.
The Squat
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Teaching proper squat technique at the learn to train seminar in 2014.
Squat technique is a learned process, taking months and most
times years to accomplish. As your weaknesses become less apparent
and your body becomes more aware, your technique will rise and so
will your numbers. Having proper technique is based on having all the
muscle groups do what is intended, but this is also why you see so much
variation. Most lifters and coaches tend to look for a quick fix or an
accelerated way to proper form, while many times it’s a long process.
Example:
Lifters with strong quads will recommend keeping a lower head or a
neutral head position, while back dominate lifters will turn the lift into
the good morning.
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Too much back and all quad, compounding the problem with heeled shoes.
This variation make teaching a universal squat form next to
impossible, that is unless you’re in it for the long run. I have taught guys
as tall as 6ft 6in and as short as 5ft. to squat, all using the exact same
form.
This is not saying that success cannot be done with different
thoughts or technique, but sometimes particular form can cause added
wear and strain on certain areas. Be careful when listening to coaches
and others that have not had formal schooling and have not proven
themselves for years on the platform. You will find that having both is
rare.
As stated above, the key is having balance on the muscle groups. I
am not a firm believer that different builds cause different form, it
creates distinct muscle weak points.
There are structural issues that can cause distinct form problems
like hip socket structure. This can change your goals and training
drastically.
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The Squat
Proper form Top to bottom
The Head
The head is the guide to your position throughout the squat, with
the head down it is possible to shift forward and cause a squat to turn
into a good morning. It is important to keep the head slightly above
neutral, and look to a fixed object slightly above your eye line.
Head up allows the chest to help stay up too!
The Upper Back
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The upper back is also key to keeping the squat at a proper torso
angle.
Upper back posture can be a
major cause for lower back
pain.
While squatting it is imperative to keep shoulder blades locked in
position for a few reasons:
1) It keeps the shelf for the bar, this inhibits the bar from rolling,
moving and causing balance issues.
2) It also keeps the back from rounding, causing the bar to be harder
to lift and back injury to occur.
The Lower Back
The lower back is the final part of the torso chain, and is also one
of the most important. The lower back is key for keeping the hips and
legs in synchronicity while the lift is being performed. If the lower back
goes flat then the squat turns into a leg dominant exercise, so keeping
an arch will allow the legs to receive help from the glutes and
hamstrings.
Glute Position
Glutes are attached to the lower back activation, so usually if the
lower back is in the correct position then the glutes tend to follow.
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Knee Pressure
The knees should be constantly forced out opening up the hips
and allowing the glutes to help the quadriceps more efficiently. This also
protects the knee as most cases knee injury only occurs if knees buckle
inward.
Foot Pressure
Foot pressure is key in order for the lift to be performed properly.
Proper foot pressure should be on the outside of the foot and stay on the
heel at all times. Because pressure for squatting needs to be outward
and lateral, it is important to have flat-soled shoes.
Breathing
Breathing while squatting is important mostly in its timing. The
procedure can change depending on whether or not your walking
weights out or using a monolift, but during the actual squat itself
transfer of air is not recommended. Keeping the torso and stomach full
of pressure is key to lifting maximal loads (valsalva maneuver.)
Mono lift- once the bar is positioned on your back, you will want to take
in as big of a breath as possible and hold the air until the lift is
completed. This creates great pressure in the abdomen and helps lift
large loads tremendously.
Walking out- if you do meets that require you to walk weights out, you
take in a large breath and then walk the weight out, setting your feet,
and then re breathe before squatting. This is a little more complicated
than a monolift, as most people miss calculate on when to breath.
Performing the actual lift
Setup
Bar placement becomes crucial when setting up. I always teach
bar placement to be right on or slightly below the trap muscles. This
allows a shelf for the bar to sit on and doesn’t allow the bar to roll on to
the neck or down the back.
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Once that is established it’s time to get the feet where you need
them. A good all around stance for gear or raw is slightly wider than
shoulder width, with toes pointing outward just a pinch. In this position
I was able to squat 1200 with equipment and 832 with a belt.
Descent
During the descent of the lift, the setup you obtained at the top
needs to be maintained. This allows the transfer of strength to be
supported while the legs and hips are causing the motion. Any back
movement or posture failure can and will cause performance decreases,
as well as possible injury.
Rebound
The rebound is very important in order to transition the weight
the other direction. Accidentally pausing or stopping can use up much
needed strength and power used for the concentric part of the lift.
Accent
The progression upward is where the actual work is being done,
and the better the rebound the less work needed to accomplish the lift
(due to kinetic stored energy). But the middle is where that starts to
decrease, and real muscle power is evident. This is why chains and
bands can be very powerful when used correctly (its where their
resistance actually begins). It’s important to maintain bar speed and
inhibit the weight from slowing down too much.
Steady and balance at the top
I have seen many good lifts turned down because of stability at
the top. This is usually due to poor form and lack of lateral foot
pressure. Remember that although squatting is measured by how much
you can go down and stand up with, lateral pressure on the hips and
legs is important throughout the entire lift. One advantage to this is
balance.
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Weaknesses in the Squat
The major weak points I see both in competitions and in my gym
daily tend to deal with the lower back, glute activation, and hamstring
strength ratio to the quadriceps. Although there are many other issues
regarding strength development of the squat, these are the 3 major
issues with 95% of the lifters.
Lower back
The lower back is the key to unlocking most people's potential.
Without strength and balance in this area, strength is limited and or
hardly ever achieved in both the deadlift and squat.
Glute activation
Glute activation is key to not only performing the squat, but also
doing it safely for years on end. When you try to be glute dominant in
your squatting, it disperses the pressure over the knee, hip, and core
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evenly. This allows more muscle groups to help the process, therefore
causing less pressure in one spot.
Hamstring to quadriceps strength ratio
Most athletes work their entire careers, but it is important to try
to maintain a balance between the front of the leg and the back of the
leg. The quadricep is already at an advantage due to its natural strength
and leverage advantage (the patella or kneecap creates a leverage
advantage).
This puts the hamstring at a distinct disadvantage from the start.
It takes many years to create balance. Most old texts talk of a 1-1 quad
to hamstring strength ratio, but achieving at least a 65% or a little over
half the strength is good for injury prevention. In most of my programs
the hamstring plays at least a 30% role in accessory work for the lower
body. Most people can’t use their hamstrings because they are not
present.
Helpful tips
Shoes with a heel?
This is a highly debated topic, but I still stand firm on what I
studied in Grad School. A heeled shoe places more emphasis on the
quads and shifts some of the weight off the glutes and posterior chain.
Remember that heeled shoes were designed for Olympic lifters that
must do movements such as the clean and jerk and snatch that require
more flexibility and range of motion during the exercise to catch and
squat the bar than a back squat.
Raising your heel will also not allow you to push out on the knees
as drastically because the shoe will roll laterally. Pushing out on the feet
is a key way to squat big weights, and that’s hard to do on a raised flat
shoe.
Never forget your weak points are your limitations and the key to
perfecting form.
Always have a strong understanding of your weak spots and make
sure that most of your training is designed around fixing those
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problems. As listed above, the lower back, hamstrings, and glute
activation are key to success. Notice I didn’t say quadriceps strength.
The Bench Press
606 at Raw Unity in 2014 at 293 bodyweight.
The bench press is another lift with very small muscle groups
involved, with technique and speed being of extreme importance.
Although the bench press is thought of as a measurement of upper body
strength, it is actually a measurement of total body balance and power.
Most of the weakness both in shirts and raw is arm strength. The tricep
is the primary mover and limiter in the bench press, but the bench is
also limited by the coordination and stabilization of the Upper back.
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Proper form head to toe
We will start explaining the bench from the lower extremities to
upward. Contrary to most people’s understanding, the bench is a full
body exercise, where leg drive can help up to 15% of a bench presser’s
strength.
The Feet
The feet are the cornerstone of your pressing stability, as none at
all or minimal foot drive can create an unstable bar path, and therefore
less strength. Some people like flat feet, others like them pulled back on
their toes; I have lifted successfully both ways but prefer the toes to
arch more aggressively.
The Legs
Leg drive into the ground is very important. Leg drive should be at
100 percent once the bar is handed to you out of the rack. This does not
change throughout the entire lift. Leg drive must stay constant in order
to support the rest of the body.
The Glutes
The glutes also need to stay tight and squeezed throughout the
lift. This pushes the hips upward without raising the butt off the bench
and helps create a slight decline of the body position. This is also the
connection from the leg drive to the core of the body.
The Lower Back
The lower back needs to also be tight and flexed, while also in an
arched position. Usually when benching heavy, my lower back gets quite
a bit of static work.
The Stomach
The stomach needs to stay tight and filled full of air the entire lift
(1-5RM). This allows the body to stay rigid. Connecting the torso to the
ribs, the stomach is very important for stability and overall performance
of the bench.
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The Shoulder Blades
The shoulder blades need to stay retracted and locked. This
shortens the bar paths and makes the bar travel in a linear path both on
the descent and ascent of the lift. Keeping your shoulder blades back is
also a protecting technique for the shoulder, and keeps the triceps the
dominant muscles.
The Hands
Hand position is also a variable that many overlook. It is true that
a wider hand position shortens the bench press range of motion, but
this is at a cost. The wider the hands, the more shoulder and pec
involvement occurs due to the bone angles. This can create problems
over a long period of time.
I have found with raw training that a shoulder width hand
position tends to be best in both protecting the shoulder and pressing
performance.
The Head
The head needs to stay down in the press. This allows the bar path
to stay linear and not arc. An arching bar path can cause the weight to
either go too far down or shoot back over the head. Keeping the head
down allows the elbows and shoulders to stay under the bar and create
the best leverage.
GEAR LIFTING - Changes with a Shirt
With the bench shirt added, some of the techniques explained
change. Most of the changes come in hand position. The rest stays
constant from the feet, all the way to the shoulder.
Hand position widens to allow a tighter shirt to be worn and
shorten the range of motion. This is adjusted because the shirt takes
most of the pressure through the middle and bottom of the lift, allowing
the shoulder and pec to be protected with the added equipment.
Raw strength was still a key component to my training, when
benching mid 800s in full meets in a shirt, I was still capable of 600+
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raw benches in the gym. Point being; don’t think that wearing a shirt all
the time is going to take care of everything. Your raw strength should
be just as much of an emphasis.
When I was training for shirt competitions, I would use a shirt
every 3rd week. Training raw strength week 1, shirt technique week 2,
and then a slight de load on week 3. This would allow both my muscles
to get stronger, my technique in the shirt to increase, and my body to
recover from both ends of the spectrum. This worked from 650 shirt
bench to 840 shirt benches in 3 years.
Biggest weaknesses in the Bench Press
There are a few key areas that I’ve seen cause people to have fits
with the bench press. As with most lifts, weaknesses are the limiting
factor to strength increases and injury reduction, so it is important to
structure your training around your weak points.
Triceps
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Triceps are the key to bench strength and safety. Almost 90% of
the people I have coached or helped have used the bench press as a
chest exercise. This is simply not the case. The bench press should be
attacked as an arm builder. Thinking this way allows one to bench for
much longer, with much less problems in the shoulder.
The medial head of the tricep is the main part of the muscle that
needs to be developed. It’s easy to see a big bencher by looking at the
amount of tricep muscle they have right around the elbow, rather than
up higher in the lateral and long head of the muscle.
That’s why it’s important (as you will see in the program
development chapter) that triceps are trained hard, heavy, and often.
Many times, triceps need to be built into the warm-up (refer to Wenning
Warmup), the accessory work, and sometimes mini workouts to
increase potentiation of the muscle group in the movement.
This is how bench is taught out of most textbooks and coaching staff.
Tricep strength is also key in maintaining a proper bar path while
benching. This bar path should be as close to a straight line as possible.
This linear path keeps the elbows the primary workhorse. It does not
mean that the bench press will necessarily move in a perfect straight
line, but it will ensure that your muscles are activating correctly.
The reason that most people don’t advocate for this is because it
takes time to learn how to bench correctly, and the shoulder and pec
tend to be stronger in the beginning stages of training. But as the tricep
gains its strength (and leverage as the medial head grows), then the
bench form will change.
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The Lats
The lats ats play a vital role in the bench press. Lats are what help
the shoulders stabilize and aid in a proper bar path. Without lat strength
and tightness, pecs and shoulders can overpower the lift and cause form
to breakdown.
Over the long run, the lats and triceps save the shoulder from
being put in awkward and dangerous positions. This leads to big
strength gains and little to no injuries. Although lat training has been
downplayed in many circles for the bench press, I firmly believe that
their secondary role is next to none in the development of the upper
boy.
Proper form from head to toe
Setup
As stated above, the body should be locked from head to toe before the
handout occurs. Legs should be driving into the ground, glutes should be
tight and flexed, the lats should be squeezed, and shoulder blades
should be retracted.
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The Handout
The handout person should hand out strong and steady, usually
putting the bar over the chest slightly below nipple level depending on
your arch. This allows the bar to descend in a straight path. Hands are
squeezed and tight the entire time.
The Locked Position
This is important to stabilize the bar and allow the weight to settle
after being repositioned off the rack into your hands. This becomes
more important the stronger you become, as weights rolling on the bar
can affect stability and control of the descent.
The Descent
Usually the direction in which the bar goes down will be the
direction it comes up. That is why it is important to lower in a straight
line, always allowing the elbows to stay under the bar. Once the elbows
are in front of or behind the bar, leverage is decreased and the bench is
often missed.
It is also important that the decent is deliberate and fast. Most
people, as weights become heavier, tend to slow the bar down. This
seems to be a protective mechanism, but as you become more
experienced the bar speed should increase on the descent.
This does a few things:
1) It wastes no energy on the way down, so you can have that energy
on the way up.
2) If the bar is in the right position before the descent, it ensures the
bar drops in a straight path. Weight likes to fall straight down.
Usually when resisting in the descent, the bar will change path
and drift into an unfavorable position.
As the weight is dropping the hands must stay squeezed and the
pressure should be trying to rip the bar in half. This ensures the wrists
and forearms stay tight.
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The Pause
The pause can be difficult in the beginning of your training, but as
you get more and more meet experience and years of training behind
you pausing becomes second nature. I rarely train the pause, but as you
lower weights more quickly, it takes the pause to re-gather your body’s
position and increases strength.
The Ascent
Once the press command or the bench starts to go upward,
slowing down is your enemy. It is important to try to maintain bar
speed throughout the ascent of the lift, trying to outrun the weight all
the way through the top.
The Lockout
Once the bar is locked, it’s good to hold at the top for a second or
two. This allows the weight to stay over the arms and teaches you to not
push towards the rack as your pressing the weight upward (keeping the
straight line).
The Deadlift
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The 628-opening pull before my groin tear in 2014. The deadlift has
always been a lift that has went up and down, and is hard to train for
after squatting big and benching big.
The deadlift for both me and many others has been a lift that
shows promise and large numbers at times, but can be very up and
down depending on the other lifts. Since it is the last lift in a meet, it is
often tested when the body is demolished from squatting and bench
pressing. For this reason, the deadlift can be a complicated endeavor.
There are 2 major ways to deadlift, sumo and conventional.
Both have their distinct advantages and disadvantages.
Conventional Deadlift
The conventional deadlift has the record for the most pulls over
900 (when compared to sumo), and for good reason. The conventional
deadlift is a test of back and leg strength, but glutes become needed at
the high level. Lifters tend to gravitate towards conventional deadlifting
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versus sumo because it feels more natural and flexibility is less of a
concern.
Ironically though, most great deadlifters can pull big weight in
either position. The glutes usually become the limiting factor in pulling
big weights, so conventional deadlifters tend to gain a lot from pulling
sumo in training. This is why no matter what way feels optimal, I make
many of my lifters and clients pull sumo and get strong at it for many
months before conventional deadlifting.
Often times for others this is not the case though, as I see many
lifters that start conventional because it felt the best when they started,
or some coaches think it's more suitable for sport because of foot
placement specificity. But in reality, however, a great conventional pull
needs to be built with a strong sumo based training (to attack glutes,
and hamstrings).
The Sumo Deadlift
The sumo deadlift is very technical and requires much more
flexibility than its counterpart, but that also means it carries a lot of
advantages.
Teaching the sumo deadlift in 2013
1- The biggest cause of lower back pain is hip mobility, and sumo
deadlift is crucial in developing and maintaining that throughout
your career and aging process.
2- The sumo deadlift seems to be less lower back pressure, so it is
great for enhancing increased volume.
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Double overhand grip
Deadlifting with a switch grip is absolutely needed in maximal
weights unless your hands are large enough for hook grip. In training,
however, I believe that most of your warm up and training sets need to
come from a double overhand grip.
The double over hand grip has some distinct advantages:
1- The back muscles and spine posture are balanced. This means
that the scapular muscles have even pressure, and the neck and
spine are in better alignment.
2- Grip strength is huge for not only being all around strong, but also
allowing your strength to be transferable. Hand strength plays a
vital role in more than just gym lifting, as it also enhances
throwing, carrying, and any other objects you come into contact
with. For beginner’s, grip strength may be the first to fail. Don’t
neglect your hands!
3- Grip strength is also correlated with safer shoulders. Having a
strong grip helps coordinate the rotator cuff muscles and
decreases the activity of the anterior delt. This is crucial if your
already experiencing shoulder impingement.
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Bands and Chains (Accommodative Resistance) And why they are
needed
The first known picture of someone using different resistance, the water
made the weight have more resistance at the bottom, therefore acting as
resistance as drag on both the weight and the body
Bands and chains are a form of accommodating resistance.
Accommodating resistance is a form of tension that increases or
decreases as the range of motion and speed (or velocity) is changed. It is
uncertain when this training methodology was discovered in the USSR,
but many Soviet manuals and translated texts talk about the use of
chains and cords (we assume bands).
When using bands or chains, as the bar reaches the bottom of the
lift (the chest on a bench press or the bottom of a squat) the external
force acting on the bar is decreased. As the bar rises back to the start
position, the chain rises and the band stretches, which increases the
inertial load and/or the downward force respectively. This necessitates
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additional force to maintain the same acceleration. Work generated on
the system also must increase, however the external force varies
depending on position. Nearly 50% of advanced lifters’ exercise
selection should
include
accommodating
resistance.
This diagram shows
how our muscle force
varies based on the
velocity we try to
generate, or said force.
We can create
maximal force at very
slow velocity, shown on the upper left-hand side of this curve. On the lower
right-hand side, it illustrates that there is some terminal speed our
muscles can contract.
Power, which is mathematically described as the force multiplied
by velocity, is maximized somewhere in between these two extremes.
Bands and chains may be able to manipulate where we are using our
muscles on the force velocity curve, and therefore power output, during
a single lift. This enables the lifter to have to strain through and use
strength throughout the entire lift, versus relying on momentum
already applied to the bar.
Example: imagine throwing 3 objects:
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1) a wiffle ball
2) A baseball
3) A weighted baseball
The whiffle ball is too light, so no matter how hard you throw it, it
never goes far. Your muscles are just not able to contract any faster, no
matter how hard you try, or even if the wiffle ball was lighter.
On the other end of the spectrum we have the weighted baseball.
The weighted baseball is too heavy, so even though you can apply
substantial work to the ball, it is difficult to apply that work quickly (ie
power), so its distance when thrown is less too. The regular baseball,
however, is a more ideal weight, allowing the ball to travel a far distance
because we are able to apply a force and velocity that optimizes for
power. Think of weights in a similar fashion.
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speed bench with 135 lbs of weight and 40 lbs of chain, 6-10 sets of 3 reps.
Approximately 90% of athletes stick on a lift in the middle and at
the top. The reason for this is the bar goes through deceleration to stop
at the top, and leverages may be worse. For this reason, we needed to
devise a way to increase intensity and volume in that range.
Example: a 200lb bench for 10 reps
200lb to move from bottom
220lb of force 220x10
2200lb moved
200lb to move from middle 185lb of force 185x10
1850lb moved
200lb to lock out
165lb of force
165x10
1650lb moved
After months and occasionally years of using traditional free
weights, the muscles at certain points get overloaded; while at other
points get less work. This leads to sticking points with heavy weights.
Bands and chains teach the body to exert maximal external force
regardless of if the bar has momentum or is in the slowing portion of the
lift (on the up or down phase). As we train it’s important to get stronger
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and accelerate more to overcome sticking points.
This force production decrease is due to the inability of your
muscle fibers to generate force as you increase speed (as you can see on
the green line of the diagram). With regular weights, as the bar increases
in velocity, the necessity to push on it becomes less as it has momentum.
With accommodating resistance, you need to continually apply maximal
force to overcome the increasing external loads. Accommodating
resistance requires the muscles to push through the entire lift, rather
than create tension at the bottom (zero velocity) and drift through the
rest of the motion.
Chains and bands help trick the muscles into having to work
through the entire lift, therefore manipulating the strength curve to
some extent. This makes sure that the middle and top of the lift do not
miss work due to bar velocity already being created.
Band and chains are not needed for a lot of beginners. Although
they can help burnout effect and lessen overtraining, they are
complicated and one needs to have a great understanding of normal
weight training before bands and chains should be used.
Warning:
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As with most resistance training, professional guidance is a must to make
sure you are using these modalities to the best of their potential. I had
trained with bands and chains for the better part of 5 years before I
attained a grasp on the best ways to use them.
Setting up the resistance:
As you will see below, this is the proper way to set up bands and chains
for the various lifts. I felt this was important to list because I have seen it
done incorrectly so many times, even at advanced gyms.
The squat
Bands
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(Out of a power rack)
Notice the bands are attached to the bottom and the outside of the band is
going towards the bar (bands need to be very close to the ground) Also
make sure bands are as close to the ground as possible (picture need a
dumbbell to go around as well).
The squat
Bands
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Out of the monolift
Notice the bands are tied to the bottom of the mono lift and the outside of
the band goes to the bar.
The squat
Chains
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With safety bar out of monolift
As one can see here, the chain has approximately one link on the ground to
keep it from swaying too much, this is how chains are properly positioned
on to the bar.
The bench
Bands attached (minis)
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This is how bands should be attached for speed, lined up to the path in
which the bar travels while benching and all the way to the floor, this is
the proper band tension (double over minis) for speed work with a bench
over 300.
The bench
With chains
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This
shows the proper way to set up chains for the bench, a few links on the
ground but still touching slightly when at arms length. This would be a
good amount of chain for maxing, or doing speed work if bench is over
300.
Those are the basic ways to set up bands and chains for most uses.
Max effort and dynamic effort work can both use or need bands and
chains. This depends on your strength as to what the proper amount of
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tension and chain is appropriate.
Is it too much chain for the weight on the bar? Usually one does not want
more than 30% chain or band to weight ratio. I have found transfer to
real strength to be minimal.
Some Pointers:
Chains are fairly clear-cut. Each 5ft length of 5/8 chain (the size
used in weightlifting) weighs 20 lbs. A general rule of thumb is to use no
more than 30% of the total weight on the bar as chain weight.
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Example: 3 chains per side would be 6 chains total on the bar, which is
120 lbs of chain weight; this would be an acceptable amount of chain for a
300lb bencher to use.
Advantages to chains:
Chains also have a coordination aspect to their use. Chains like to
sway and cause the balance of the stabilizers to be enhanced, which can
give them a distinct advantage over bands and even traditional weights.
Advantages to bands:
Bands use elasticity as a way to increase resistance during a lift.
The elasticity often does not linearly increase with the change in length,
so it can be difficult to choose the appropriate level of accommodating
resistance. Bands have helped me become very explosive with massive
weights. This elasticity has powerful properties to the muscles both
lifting the weight (concentric movement) and lowering weights
(eccentric movement). But bands need to be understood fully and used
properly in order to get benefit.
Neither bands or chains by themselves are great developers, they
are at their best used when partnered with weight. This is both true for
max effort work and for speed (or dynamic) work.
It should also be noted that free weights are still a large part of
training, and only at the advanced level should free weights be missing for
more than 3-5 weeks. Law of specificity.
Max effort and the use of accommodating resistance
Max effort work, as with any other method of training, can
become stale very quickly if similar movements, types of resistance, and
angles are similar. It is important for long term development that the
stimulus changes constantly, and even more so once a lifter becomes
strong.
For example: A 400lb bencher would use chains or bands as such.
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3 chain max bench (using 3 chain keeps him or her around 30%)
double monster mini band max bench (35% band weight)
Lightened orange band bench max (approx. 70lb taken off the bottom of
the lift)
A 400lb bencher would not want to use 6 chain per side or 240lb of chain
weight (over 50%), a good rule of thumb is to always have more weight on
the bar than tension in chains or bands.
Accommodative resistance is also just another environment in
which the muscles have to adjust to. Plain and simply put, the more
environments that the muscle has to adjust to, then the larger, stronger,
and quicker that muscle will eventually be. It becomes important,
especially when you reach an elite status, that you have various stimuli
in order to make progress.
Using bands and chains for accommodating resistance for speed
work:
As stated above, the velocity of the bar decreases dynamic works
potency. By adding bands, chains, or a mixture of both, the lift can have
more benefit.
A 6-week example wave of speed bench for a 300lb bencher:
Week 1: 30% bar weight and a double red
10sets of 3 reps
The first week we have worked on explosive strength I.E. the bar
weight and band tension could be higher, but the speed of the bar is very
fast
Week 2: 35% bar weight and a double red
8 sets of 3 reps
The second week we have increased the bar weight 5 percent, now the
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weight and band tension is heavier but still fast, so we are working on
speed strength
Week 3: 40% bar weight and a double red
6 sets of 3 reps
The third week we have increased the bar weight again by 5% which is a
tad on the heavy side, but bar speed is still fairly quick, so we are working
on strength speed
Week 4: intensity deload 15 sets of 15 reps on dumbbells (30lb)
Beginners need deloads every 4 weeks or so to keep from overtraining,
because the last week was a tad on the heavy side, we deload the intensity
(not worrying about speed) and increase volume to shock the muscle
Week 5: 30% bar weight with 2 chain per side (80lb chain) 10sets of 3
reps
We have started the process over again but now went to chains instead of
band tension, this will be less resistance but more difficult to balance
Week 6: 35% bar weight with 2 chain per side 10sets of 3 reps
Speed strength
Week 7: 40% bar weight with 3 chain per side 8sets of 3 reps
Strength speed
Week 8: deload 10sets of 10 reps w 50lb dbs
This deload is a little heavier than the previous one, keeping the muscles
working but also changing the stimulus even on the deload weeks
With the workout examples in the next chapter, you will see the
proper use of bands and chains at different strength levels. In the
beginning of training, bands and chains play less of a role than in the
intermediate and advanced levels. When learning form and just getting
accustomed to training, actual weight resistance is enough for 3-5 years.
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When should chains and bands be used?
The use of bands and chains also depends on ones weak points
(especially for max effort work). If your sticking points are in the middle
and the top of a lift, then bands and chains can help you quickly break
through those plateaus. However, if your sticking point is at the bottom
of a lift, then they will be a less powerful tool.
The bottom of the lift is usually the sticking point for most
beginners, and one reason I don’t advise the use of them for a while (the
first 6-12 months). Now this can be a different scenario under a
qualified coach who can spot when to use these different modalities
correctly, but in general the basic resistance training alone will be
enough of a stimulus to enhance strength, size and neurological change.
Speed work is tricky though, most women that bench under 120lb
will have a hard time using bands or chains due to their total weight and
tension, and guys benching under 225 will also not be able to utilize
them to peak.
Band Tensions and Use:
Bands from www.Elitefts.com
Micro band - good for weaker lifters and female benching, adds roughly
35lb to a bench or total tension 35lb in total tension
Mini band - good for speed work on bench up to 350lb bencher, and
used for weaker squatting under 200lb. It can be double looped for
deadlifts but is 200lb of tension (300lb+ deadlifters) 100lb double
looped in tension 50lb single looped
Monster mini band - 120lb double looped in tension 75 single looped
good for advanced speed work, 400lb benchers and up and moderate
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squatting under 250lb
Light band - great for band tension on deadlifts (single looped 100lb of
band tension and lightened bench (taking off roughly 75lb at the
bottom) Also great for max effort benching if bench press is over 350lb
Average band - great for lightened bench pressing and squatting, 150lb
of band tension This band is very strong, so it’s only used in these two
environments for lifting and for assisted stretching
Strong band - 200lb of band tension single looped on squats or lightened
bench press (takes off 150lb) This band is for advanced squatters over
550lb and most times needs a monolift in order to be set vertically (see
pictures)
Monster Band - 250lb of band tension single looped on squats or 200
taken off on lightened bench. This band is a massive amount of tension,
and should not be used for people that cannot squat well over 600lb
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Part 9
Recovery, Restoration, Soft tissue injury
One of my favorite quotes that I take credit for but originally heard from
Dr. Newton a long time ago is:
“It's not what you can do, it's what you can recover from.”
Robert Newton Ph.D. Professor at Edith Cowan University, Perth,
Australia.
One of my mentors at
Ball State University.
I find this to be true in everything that I do, and I think it’s a major
reason that most people cannot use a world-class athletes program for
results. You see athletes at high levels that have had to build up their
bodies to withstand severe loads frequently. Loading the organism too
fast creates overtraining, which most times is worse than not training at
all.
I read and found many sources online as well as looked through a
plethora of other hardbound articles that stated that there is no such
thing as overtraining, and that the body adjusts to the loads or stimuli
applied to it. This, however, is the uneducated way out of having to
understand the changes that the body must go through in order to
achieve a higher level of work or performance. It also downplays the
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fact of how much patience is really needed in order to be the best of
your ability.
Restoration is very important, especially as fitness level rises and
the intensity of training increases. There are a few major tools of
restoration that are both simple to use and work wonders. Each should
be used at some point during the month. When utilizing restoration and
flexibility programs, it is not uncommon to be able to work out almost
25% harder, compared to when you are just training and resting. Below
are some ways to help restore muscles after working hard and training.
Many of these restoration methods were researched and used by
Soviet Olympic athletes, and are now commonly used with top athletes
all over the world. I have personally used, or still use, every one of these
modalities. All have had impressive results in not only how I feel, but
also how I perform.
Ice Bath
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(full body and foot)
Foot ice baths are used at top training facilities to help restoration
by shocking the central nervous system through cold temperatures.
Although recently these have received bad press, I still believe that this
modality is crucial for reducing inflammation. It has been proven to
increase natural growth hormone levels, and this in turn increases your
ability to recover from training, as well as sleep deeper.
The footbath is simple; you only need a large bucket and ice, so it
is ideal for people with limited resources. A routine of 1-2 sets of 2-3
minutes works very well.
At the facility we have an entire body tank which we use 5-10lb
bags of ice and ice baths after heavy lifting days (1-2 times per week).
This has helped tremendously with restoration and recovery. Another
advantage to the full body immersion is the decreasing of joint
inflammation.
Temp of the ice bath: 36-50deg F
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Hot/Cold Contrast Showers
Like the ice baths, hot and cold contrast showers increase blood
circulation and flush toxins and inflammation away from the muscles
and joints. Foreign literature also suggests that this method results in
elevation of resting growth hormone levels, which also aids recovery.
A proper rotation would be to switch between hot to cold every
minute for a combined total of six to twelve minutes, ensuring that the
entire body is heated and cooled each time.
As stated above with the ice bath, a great advantage especially to
the cold part of the contrast, is the decrease in inflammation in the
joints. Keeping the joints from swelling allows the resistance training to
not have near the damage to the joints or soft tissue.
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Keeping joints
healthy is one of
the hardest tasks
for anyone, let
alone weightlifters
and athletes.
In the off season I use hot cold contrast showers 1 time per week,
and in my roughest training times I use it at least 3 times per week. The
nice aspect of this modality is all you need is a shower.
Hot temp – 104-108 deg F
Cold temp – 55-40 deg F
Massage
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Massage has long been and remains one of the best ways to
restore the body. Massage works by relaxing stiff muscles, increasing
blood flow, and helps to break down knots, trigger points, and fascial
restrictions in the muscles. There are many forms of massage, but
athletic and deep tissue massage work well for tactical populations.
Utilizing this method once a month is a great way to make constant
progress and feel up to par.
I use this modality once per week in my heavy training cycles, and
once every few weeks in the off-season. I believe that this has helped me
tremendously throughout my career, and is very important for anyone
that is pushing his or her body to the limit. I always use it on a day
where I have no lifting (or at least large workouts) and where I can
rehydrate, as well as sleep afterwards.
There are other forms of massage as well that have specific goals in
mind.
MAT and ART
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Soft Tissue Injuries
Soft tissue refers to muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, discs,
nerves, and joint capsules in the body. Therefore, a soft tissue injury
would include an injury to any of these structures, which cover our
bodies from head to toe. Soft tissue injuries generally fall into the
categories of a sprain, strain, contusion, repetitive strain injury,
tendonitis, or bursitis. Injuries of the soft tissue are generally poorly
understood and therefore improperly treated.
Due to the lack of understanding of soft tissue injuries combined
with less than optimal treatment methods, soft tissue injuries are a
major cause of pain and disability today. If the injury cannot be properly
diagnosed, then it cannot be properly treated and resolved. Working in
the medical field, I see daily people living in pain and dysfunction due to
the inability to properly diagnose their soft tissue injuries, coupled with
the inability to apply proper treatment to resolve it.
Injuries to soft tissue structures has a widespread effect on both
function and performance of muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons,
connective tissue, the central nervous system, and the circulatory
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system. The residual scar tissue that is formed as a result of an injury to
a soft tissue structure will restrict movement of the tissue, which in turn
results in the development of abnormal and dysfunctional movement
and motion patterns due to the body compensating and working around
these restrictions. Compensation leads to dysfunction and altered
biomechanics that will generally create further structural imbalances
and put the individual at a higher risk for further injury.
The buildup of scar tissue and the residual effects that it can have
due to the altered biomechanics from compensation can last for years,
even after what seems to be a resolution of the initial injury. Due to the
improper diagnosis and treatment of soft tissue injuries, they have
become very prevalent in today’s society, and most people suffer the
lingering effects of past injuries like altered movement patterns and
biomechanics without conscious awareness of their impact on their
daily function and performance.
Injury Cycle
When the body is subjected to injury, it undergoes numerous
changes: including altered biomechanics (gait and motion patterns), the
inability for the internal soft tissue structures to translate with each
other correctly and efficiently, decreased circulation and blood flow to
injured areas due to tissue restriction and scar tissue build up, and
many other issues.
As you can see, it can be a snowball effect, and generally it’s due to
the inability to properly treat and diagnose these soft tissue injuries.
More times than not, people believe their injury is or was resolved;
however, if it was not properly treated with function and mobility
restored to the soft tissues, then the altered biomechanics and motion
patterns as well as some of the other issues mentioned above will
continue to linger and affect daily function and mobility.
Do not assume that external forces are all that is needed for there
to be an injury to any of the soft tissue structures. Often, a great deal of
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pain and dysfunction is not from the initial injury, but from how the
body adapts to deal with it. Some of the residual aftereffects from an
injury to a soft tissue structure include:
Inflammation: The body responds to inflammation by laying down scar
tissue in an attempt to stabilize the area so it is able to continue to
function, even though proper function will now be altered due to the
scar tissue preventing the soft tissue structures from translating over
each other correctly.
Adhesion and Fibrosis: Soft tissue structures are supposed to translate
or glide internally with each other; however, once the injury cycle
begins and inflammation is present, it creates an environment where
scar tissue is being built up to continue to support the injured area.
Skeletal muscle is generally divided into three layers: superficial (close
to the surface), intermediate (between the superficial layer and deep
layer) and deep (the deepest layer of soft tissue). Along with all the
other soft tissue structures mentioned above (tendons, ligaments,
nerves, etc), these soft tissue structures are all designed to translate or
glide about each other for optimal and smooth function and
biomechanics. When scar tissue is being laid down, it binds these layers
of soft tissue together and prevents the internal movement or
translation of these tissues’ layers across each other. When the lack of
translation of these tissues is accompanied by continued repetitive
actions, the result is an increase in friction between the internal layers
of soft tissue, resulting in an increase of inflammation and therefore the
formation of more scar tissue.
Increased Internal Friction, Pressure and Tension: When soft tissue
structures are adhered together, friction, pressure and tension are all
drastically increased. For some soft tissue injuries, all that is needed is a
decrease in the internal translation of soft tissue structures to initiate
the inflammation and adhesion fibrosis injury cycle. This cycle then can
put an individual at a much greater risk for an acute injury.
Decreased Circulation: When internal pressure is increased, it
decreases the circulation to those soft tissue structures. The decreased
circulation limits the amount of nutrients, blood and lymphatic flow,
and oxygen that the tissues need in order to maintain function. It is
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essential to increase circulation for soft tissue injuries to be resolved so
that they can have the nutrients that are needed to heal.
Cellular Hypoxia: The decreased circulation due to increased pressure
will decrease the amount of oxygen that can be delivered to the soft
tissue. Decreased oxygen (hypoxia), along with the other effects listed
above, is one of the main causes of the formation and build up of fibrotic
scar tissue between the internal layers of soft tissue.
Shorten Tight Muscle Tissues: Muscles are designed to behave much
like rubber bands. When a muscle is optimally functioning without
knots or restrictions and the muscle has internal tissue translation, it
can store, release, absorb, and recycle energy. The ability to absorb
energy enables the muscle to help prevent a great deal of injuries by
having the ability to absorb an external force that can cause injury. Once
the formation of scar tissue begins, they lose a great deal of their ability
to act like rubber bands and absorb energy, making them very
susceptible to further injury.
Weak Muscle Tissues: As mentioned earlier, muscles are designed to
behave much like rubber bands, which enables them to store, release
and absorb energy. When muscles become tight, they lose much of this
ability, which in turn makes them weak. Instead of functioning like a
rubber band, they now function more like a rope that is tied down at
both ends. The only issue is this rope is tied down tightly to two or more
bony landmarks via a tendon attachment, which now due to the
increased tension is going to cause an increase in pressure and friction
in and between tendons, causing further damage to those soft tissue
structures.
Tissues which are compressed together:
Inhibit the function of nerves
Reduce lymphatic flow
Decrease blood flow
Creates cellular hypoxia
Increase the formation of adhesion and scar tissue
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Many of the effects listed above, when combined with continued altered
motion, cause chronic irritation to the soft tissue structures resulting in an
increase in everything described above. The combination of all or even a
couple of the effects listed above generally leads to increased friction and
pressure between the layers of soft tissues, which in turn leads to micro
tears within those affected soft tissue structures.
Function and performance are based upon optimal biomechanics
without compensation. Without optimal biomechanics, balance and
coordination are altered, forcing the body into compensation and
creating muscular imbalances that often lead to injuries.
Effective treatment, management and rehabilitation of soft tissue injuries
necessitate knowledge and understanding of phases of tissue healing.
The Phases of Remodeling of Soft Tissue Healing:
Phase I - Inflammation:
Acute inflammation, also referred to as swelling, generally lasts
for approximately 72 hours, but can last longer and is the first phase of
soft tissue healing. Inflammation accompanied by pain from the injury
characterizes this phase. This is the body’s reaction as a result of the
soft tissue structures being damaged. The damage impacts the tissues,
and the inflammation creates internal pressure, particularly on the
capillaries, resulting in decreased blood flow and oxygen to the area.
Phase II - Regeneration:
The regeneration phase starts after the inflammation phase and
can last up to six months or more. The regeneration phase begins once
the capillaries can be restored back to normal function and begin to
supply the injured tissues with the blood flow and oxygen needed to
deliver the healing substances and nutrients to begin to heal the tissue.
Once oxygen and blood flow are restored, collagen will begin to be laid
down where the gaps are in the injured soft tissue structure.
Unfortunately, the collagen tissue that is being laid down is not only
weaker but stiffer, which in turn decreases the functionality of that
tissue and makes it less elastic. Therefore, as touched on earlier, instead
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of being able to act like a rubber band that can store, absorb and release
energy, it functions more like a rope.
It should be noted that if receiving proper treatment with the
combination of correct exercises during this phase, it will make this new
tissue not only stronger, but the collagen tissue will be laid down in the
same direction as the tissue being repaired. Without treatment and
exercise during this phase, the tissue will be laid down in random
patterns, making it more susceptible to re-injury, and the tissue will not
be as strong.
Phase III - Remodeling:
The final phase is the remodeling of soft tissue which can last up
to a year or longer. During this phase, collagen fibers are remodeled and
increase in size, diameter, and strength to increase the functional
capabilities in the once injured and now healing region. Corrective
motion and exercise should be continued and increased during this
phase as the amount of remodeling is directly related to the forces that
are applied to the tissue. Collagen is remodeled to withstand the forces
and stresses that are placed upon it during this important phase. If the
injured person is performing corrective motions and exercise coupled
with soft tissue treatment, the remodeling will lead to a full and
complete recovery of the injured tissue. If the combination of corrective
motion and exercise with soft tissue treatment is not introduced and
maintained during this phase, it will be a much longer recovery time,
and the chance for re-injury will be significantly higher.
It should be noted that the combination of soft tissue treatment
and corrective motion and exercise should be incorporated directly
after the inflammation phase and sustained throughout all the stages
listed above. Also light stretching during Phase II and III is particularly
important for restoring range of motion and flexibility as well as
improving function and biomechanics.
Treatment of Soft Tissue Injuries
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Active Release Technique® (ART®)
“ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement-based
massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments,
fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin
splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis
elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly
and permanently with ART. These conditions all have one important thing
in common: they are often a result of overused muscles.”
ART is a non-invasive, hands-on, biomechanics based, soft-tissue
technique which locates and breaks up adhesions and scar tissue. As
touched upon earlier, adhesion and scar tissue build-up is the primary
cause of pain, stiffness, weakness, compensation, and altered
biomechanics that are generally associated with soft-tissue injuries.
Treatment through ART restores function and internal translation to the
layers of soft tissue and increases circulation and neurological function.
The goal of ART treatment is to:
● Reestablish optimal tissue texture, decrease tension, and restore function
and movement.
● Reestablish internal translation to the soft tissue structures
● Restore strength and flexibility to skeletal muscle tissue
● Break up and release soft-tissue restrictions (adhesions and scar tissue)
What is an ART Treatment like?
“Every ART session is actually a combination of examination and
treatment. The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture,
tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments, and nerves.
Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with
very specific patient movements.”
“These treatment protocols - over 500 specific moves - are unique to ART.
They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are
affecting each individual patient. ART is not a cookie-cutter approach.”
Http://www.activerelease.com. Active Release Techniques®, 2010.
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Web. 23 June 2013.
<http://www.activerelease.com/what_patients.asp>.
For more information or to locate an ART-certified proved near you, visit
www.activerelease.com.
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Ultra-light Tempo Training
Ultra-light tempo training is performing general exercises with
very light weights, allowing for easy motion, but causing contractions
that increase blood flow to specific areas. Usually reps of 50-100, with
weights no more than 10 lbs. work very well.
I use this in my very small 10min mini workouts about 2-3 times
per week. This has helped tremendously with my weak points and my
recovery. I have used this for overworked muscles and lagging muscles
with some pretty nice results in the past 5-7 years.
I would avoid these until you have a great grasp on not over
training and taking your time with these, usually when prescribed they
are done to add benefit.
Example from my mini workouts 2012 (notice weak points, and
lightweight)
Mon AM
(OFF DAY)
4x25 leg curls w 30lb
4x100 steps with 60lb sled
Tues AM
(Workout 430pm)
Wed AM
rev hyper 4x20 w 50lb
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Sleep and Naps
It is very important to get eight hours of sleep each night. This
allows the natural healing process to do its job. There is no replacement
for proper sleep. Without it, over-training can happen at a much faster
rate. In addition to sufficient nightly rest, naps are a very good way to
help with restoration. A short 10-30-minute nap can make a great
difference in energy levels.
Research shows that poor sleep has immediate negative effects on
your hormones, exercise performance, and brain function. These
functions are crucial to one’s success.
In some European countries, a nap is built into the daily schedule.
These countries seem to have a better health profile when compared to
America.
At my strongest points I will sleep 9-10 hours a night, and then
take a ½ hour nap in the middle of the afternoon before training.
Although this is not obtainable for many people, it is still the most
optimal way I have found to get better. It takes time to not feel drowsy,
but my muscle mass and strength have rose tremendously with my
schedule this way
If sleep is my issue how can I increase the quality of my sleep?
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Most times in training, we focus on our programming, our sets,
reps and rest periods between sets. But you don’t hear of athletes and
strength personnel speak of sleep. Sleep, in my opinion, is one of the
most crucial factors to making progress and having good health.
Sleep quality is not only how long your laying down, but the
quality of that time. The amount of time that people need to recover
varies on a few factors:
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Their nutritional state
Training intensity
Genetics
Stress level
So how do we increase our ability to sleep better? Well here are
some huge pointers that have helped me sleep longer and deeper,
therefore keeping me strong into my 40s:
1- Increase bright light (outside) exposure during the day. Your
quality of the time you're awake will increase your quality of the
time your asleep.
2- Reduce light in the evening (especially blue light). The more light
your exposed to after 7-8pm, the more it can affect your sleep
cycle. A good rule of thumb is no TV or cell phones after 8:30pm.
This will help tell your body and brain to start shutting down.
Also, make your bedroom colder and more light protected. This
means darker blinds and no electronic light.
3- Reduce Caffeine consumption. I know most of us live off of coffee
and caffeinated drinks, but reduce these or eliminate them and
sleep will start to thrive.
4- Keep naps below 30-45min. This is a crucial factor in being able to
sleep better! Naps are needed and great for your body around
1pm, but make them too long and you can mess up your sleep
cycle.
5- Turn off your phone to sleep. There has been talk that phones and
Wi-Fi can alter your brain waves while you sleep. This can reduce
REM sleep and keep quality lower. I wake up with an old alarm
clock from high school.
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Supplements that help sleep:
Magnesium Glycinate - Magnesium glycinate is monumental for sleep
quality. It is responsible for 600 reactions in your body and restfulness
is one of them! It has a calming effect due to its presence of glycine. It’s
also been said that 4 out of 5 people are magnesium deficient, but the
cause is unknown. There is a theory though.
ATP labs synermag
This theory is that the herbicides and pesticides we use destroyed
the magnesium in the soil. Most of the foods we eat were rich in
magnesium 50 years ago, but no longer have the same amounts in them.
It’s quite possible this is caused by our farming practices.
Now here’s the issue.
The FDA does not regulate supplements and enforce proper
policies in their production. This means that most supplements made in
the USA can be incorrect dosages or contain invalid products and
chemicals.
Canada does regulate supplementation closer to controlled
substances, and for that reason I reach to our northern neighbors for
supplements. ATP labs (en.atplabs.com) is one such company that
provides medical grade supplementation at reasonable costs.
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Guasha
Guasha tooling is an ancient Chinese healing technique, and has
been used on everything from muscle soreness to chronic pain. The
qualified person scrapes your skin with a special shaped tool at a
certain speed and pressure.
This tooling allows microcirculation of the soft tissue, which
increases blood flow. It’s supposed to address stagnant energy called
Chi. This chi in the body is thought to be responsible for inflammation,
which is the underlying cause of several conditions associated with
chronic pain. Tooling the area is theorized to help break up this (Chi)
energy and promote healing.
We have found this to be VERY helpful in lower back tightness,
shoulder pain and recovery, as well as general health. We use this
technique on everything from pre competition prep to client recovery.
How to use:
First you will need the proper guasha tools. These tools are made from
buffalo bone (not plastic or steel). It is said that organic material reacts
better to human tissue that steel or plastic. For many guasha
practitioners, this is one reason they believe Graston is not as effective
and could possibly be more damaging than helpful.
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Pressure used:
The pressure needed is around 5lb, this is a very sustainable pressure
for the person and the practitioner. It is more about tool speed and
proper angle than it is the pressure applied.
Speed of the tool:
Tool speed is about 3-5 strokes a second, so it is quick and repetitive.
Keeping tool speed constant is crucial for the tissue to act correctly.
Stroke length and tool angle:
Stroke length is around 1 to 1.5 inches in length. The tool angle should
be around 45 degrees and maintained throughout the treatment. Each
spot of 1 to 1.5 inches should be maintained for around 10-12 seconds.
Common areas that are Guasha tooled:
UPPER
LOWER
Shoulder
Hamstring
Neck
Quad
Bicep
Lower back
Forearm
Tibialis Anterior (lateral calf)
Pec
Rhomboid
Trap
Lat
References and Recommended Readings
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Essentials of Strength and Conditioning: National Strength and
Conditioning Association, Ed. Thomas R. Bechle and Rober W. Earle.
This is a great starting tool for learning the basics and science behind
training.
Science and Practice of Strength Training, VM Zatsiorsky
Much of this manual references information from this book, which
should be studied for a thorough understanding of training. This book
will answer many more in-depth questions.
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Super Training, by Mel Siff
This massive training book contains tons of information. Dr. Siff was an
avid weightlifting scientist and influenced some of the strongest in the
world.
Basic Anatomy and Physiology books. Without a basic knowledge of the
human body and how it functions, it’s tough to understand complicated
training methods and their application.
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Science of Sports Training, by Thomas Kurz .
This is a great book with tons of information on training, nutrition, and
stress.
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A.S. Medvedyev, a great Soviet text with vast amounts of Information.
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A great text on junior weightlifters and how they increased loading over
time.
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500lb incline press to the throat in 2014.
Common Questions
On max effort day is it important to fail?
In the beginning stages of training, I believe it is not important to
truly do 1-RMs, but I do believe that 90% is more than enough to
increase the athlete’s ability to strain. I’m not a big fan of teaching
beginning lifters failure. Most people that train fear failing, and when a
failure does happen it is a negative experience for most in the beginning
stages. For this reason, I believe in always saving some in the tank until
failure can physically and emotionally be controlled.
In the intermediate phase it is important to learn how to fail, and
to do it more often. Failure is the only true way to make muscles
respond to training once a good base is established.
The advanced phase goes back to almost the beginner phase,
learning to strain is mastered, now it’s time to figure out the least
amount to do and still make gains. At this point getting the most from
the least is key. Mileage is increasing on your body and overtraining
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leads to digression versus progress.
How does training change comparing raw and equipped lifting?
I’m one of the few, if not the only, lifters with world records in
both equipped and raw lifting. My training does not change much other
than using gear from time to time. If training is correct, then Strong is
Strong. When training for raw competitions (no wraps) it’s okay to use
knee wraps as a slight overload, as well as briefs. When training for
equipped meets, the suit must take 3-5 years to master, then it can come
back off for a period of 2-4 weeks with no negative side effects.
The issue comes down to training age. Training age (or the time in
which you have trained in your life) is the most important factor in how
to train.
If it were a perfect world an equipped lifter would train 3-5 years
completely raw to develop all the athletic qualities needed to be a good
lifter. I did not touch any equipment for 6 years before trying suits,
wraps, and things other than a belt. This helped me tremendously in the
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later years when I was breaking world records. The bottom line is you
must put your time into your body and your muscles. Equipment can
add to your numbers, but where do you want to have it help? Would you
rather have it help from a 200lb squat to a 400lb squat, or 1000 to a
1200lb squat?
The next 3-5 years, understanding and dialing in equipment lifting
and all of its technical and form needs. Depending on how strong you
get the first 3-5 years will depend on your development at this stage. I
still did at least 70% of my work raw from the ages of 19-25, just
working on getting stronger and not relying on the equipment for
progress.
The remaining time, training 5+ years and combining raw and
equipped lifting together to get more technique, muscle, and other weak
points as close to perfect as possible. If I used my equipment, then it was
to overload and dial in form.
1197 world record squat multiply
832 world record squat no gear
The real key with all these phases is to be aware of your weak
points, address them in your training, and adjust your workload as your
weak spots change.
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How does training change if your drug free versus utilizing PEDs?
Steroids and growth hormones are in sports and here to stay, but
training and what you can withstand has a lot to do with genetics.
Genetics play a vital role in not only your natural ability, but also your
body’s ability to utilize the drugs. I’ve seen it time and time again,
people wondering why their strength isn’t increasing despite their use
of massive amounts of drugs.
The answer is simple: drugs increase your strength, there is no
doubt about that, but it still comes down to your genetics and your
smarts.
There are some key differences in training drug free:
1) The strength gains will take longer, but they will still come.
2) Being able to recover becomes more important, so some people
will need to go down to 2-3 times per week of training versus 4.
But this is more dependent on your fitness level, rather than your
drugs.
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What is the best way to warm up for lifting heavy?
This also depends on your fitness level, past athletic endeavors,
and what part of the season you are currently in.
Off season- Wenning Warmup GPP
Pre season – Wenning warmup Strength Progression
Competition prep- wenning warmup (motor Prep)
In the off season, warmups need to be fairly intense (see Wenning
Warmups.) Warming up in this fashion will require a decent amount of
GPP (general physical preparedness) but is crucial for not only volume
increases but ligament, tendon, and soft tissue density, which all reduce
the occurrence of injury.
In the pre-season, the warmups stay consistent but start to drop
in sets from 4 to 3 rounds. The rounds start to increase in intensity to
start the specific change from GPP to strength improvement.
In the comp prep the warmups should become very light and all
the energy is focused on the main lift. This turns the warmup back to a
lighter form and harnesses all the energy needed for consistent personal
records.
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Does how I’m built (I.E. height, arm length, etc.) change how I should
train?
How your built can be a huge factor in how you train, but it
usually just influences the changes in how fast you will see strength
gains and what exercises are best to make you better.
Some people are built to bench and some to deadlift. I have
noticed that build does not affect the squat nearly as much as the other
lifts. Most people are either built to bench, I.E. thick chest, short arms, or
built to deadlift, long arms, and short torso.
Built to bench:
If you are built to bench, then deadlifting training will have to be
somewhat different. Your bodies ability to use high volume heavy
deadlifting will not only have your deadlift go backwards, but your back
will constantly give you fits.
One way to combat this is to get stronger stiff leg at the lift, using
moderate weights with slower tempos. This builds muscle without
tearing your body down.
Built to deadlift:
If you are built to deadlift then the bench press will be difficult,
but training will not change much. Your distance the bar must travel on
the deadlift is shortened, which allows you to pull heavy often, but your
distance on the bench press is increased. This means your arm strength
will have to be exceptional. Training for the bench will not change much
versus a traditional build, but tricep strength will take much longer to
develop and therefore the bench press
Do I need to eat clean in order to be strong?
The answer is, long term, yes. Health plays a key role in recovery,
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long term fitness and overall body function. The hard part is short term,
nearly any weight gain will result in strength progression. This is where
most people get confused. In the beginning we seem to get stronger by
simply eating more, and this is true, a calorie surplus will help the body
to expend more energy in power. As this happens, however, the
unwanted body fat creeps up, with blood pressure and poor blood work
soon following. This creates a poor functioning endocrine system for
true muscle development and use.
Look up Stan Efferding’s vertical diet.
This is generally due to higher levels of inflammation. This creates
lower testosterone levels and higher non anabolic hormones. Over time
it is crucial to keep natural hormone levels optimal. A proper diet will
aid in this.
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Why is speed work 30% to 40% range?
This is something I experimented with for many years before
becoming public on this. I found when switching to raw training that the
if the speed percentages were too high it would actually hamper my raw
bench.
Moving my weights on the bar down to 30-35-40% range on the
bench press assisted my bench to go from 575 raw to 611 raw! The key
is 1.0 m/s not 0.7 m/s. keep it super fast and watch your lifts explode.
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My Doctor says I have low Testosterone. Should I utilize a Low T
prescription?
A low testosterone level is usually below 300ng/DL and an
optimal one will be around 1000ng/DL. It is important to have these
levels over 300 for various health reasons (osteoporosis, heart disease,
diabetes, and others)
Let’s look at the symptoms:
❏
❏
❏
❏
❏
A dip in sex drive
Low energy / Fatigue / mood change / memory loss
Hair Loss
Loss of Muscle mass and bone density
Increased body fat
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Should I train as a powerlifter or powerlifting style if I’m getting
over 40?
Absolutely! Staying as strong as possible is crucial for staying
healthy as you age. However, there are some key mental notes you may
want to keep in mind.
1) Staying in shape and maintaining work capacity is huge to staying
strong. So implement Wenning warmups and keep rest periods
low so your fitness level stays optimal.
2) Selecting exercises that are pain free and or more traction based
may be more optimal as life starts to take its wear and tear.
3) Consulting your doctor and maintaining proper hormones and
blood work will become more important as aging progresses and
starts.
4) Recovery will become more important as age increases, sleep
quality, and passive processes (massage, guasha, art/mrt)
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Where to go to find new exercises and get
information?
www.wenningstrength.com
www.patreon.com/WenningStrength
Both my personal website and my Patreon channel (above links) provide a
wealth of information through a wide variety of podcasts and
articles.
My gym page on facebook: Ludus Magnus Gym
Instagram @RealMattWenning
YouTube channel Wenning Strength are also great sources.
www.elitefts.com
Dave Tate and elitefts.com have been putting out great information
for years, and my Think You Can Squat and DL series help with
form issues in those lifts.
www.drjohnrusin.com
Instagram: @drjohnrusin
John Rusin DPT, is a leader in the Physical Therapy field with a focus on
strength training. He works with many high-level athletes and is a
great resource for exercise variation.
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