So it’s $10 for a BJ, $12 for an HJ, $15 for a ZJ…
What’s a ZJ?
If you have to ask, big man, you can’t afford it.

This concept popped into my head last night when I was brushing my teeth. Antigen and I were talking about a lifting contest we will host here on the site, and I thought about ego lifters.

Ego lifters are folks who a) are under the impression that everyone else in the gym gives a shit about what they are doing, b) think it’s a good idea to do one more set or make one more jump in weight, or c) unintelligibly make a huge jump in weight typically followed by a complete failure.

Coaching, by definition, shouldn’t be ego driven. Coaches want the most out of their lifters, especially in competition, but knowing when to challenge their lifter is important. For example, let’s say I have the squat attempts planned out for “Timmy” in his fourth power meet. I will usually have a “best case scenario” and “not as good case scenario” attempts written out. Let’s say Timmy hits his second squat at 502, and we wanted to go to 524. Well, if that 502 was harder than it should be (because he had to cut weight, because of a bad taper, because he didn’t sleep — any random reason), I might say, “All right, Timmy, do you want to go to 513 or 524?” knowing that I may choose 513 and not the original 524 since 502 was a grinder. If he hesitates in his answer, then I already know my answer: 513. If he says “524” right off the bat, then I know he has confidence that he can get it. In this case, confidence and adrenaline may summon the demons to hit that 524, but if Timmy isn’t confident in it when asked, then it most likely isn’t gonna happen.

If a lifter has to ask himself, “Can I make this jump?” or “Should I get one more set?”, then he probably can’t afford it. When training, I advise you to think about what the goal is for the day. Are you trying to get some accumulated volume? Then three sets of five is probably enough, especially if the third set was kinda tough. Are you trying to keep the volume down? Then don’t do another set if you’ve done a 3×5. If you were keeping the volume down and trying to get some intensity, it’s relative. If you hit your minimum goal of, say, 425 for a double after doing 405 and 415 for doubles, then a fourth double will be superfluous.

If you have to ask, big man, you can’t afford it.