PR Friday, 19 April 2013

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Cloud

Weekly Recap: AJ Loreto pulls more than you, has a boat, and said you should do some sumo work, fool. I suggest you try it. (I’ll get a post up on coaching basic sumo form next week.) I went ahead and laid out some basic supplement and nutrition advice. A few people loved it, some people hated it, but the bottom line is this: you better be eating some steak and kale this weekend. AC benches more than you, and showed us his bench setup (and sweet shirt) after teaching us some press tips last week.

Last week, I told you to watch the USAPL Collegiate Nationals. If you didn’t, you missed out. Here’s an excellent write-up on the Men’s sessions. A huge congrats to my buddy Ryan Carrillo for winning the SHW division with the final pull of the meet. Preston Turner, world champion and fellow hair farmer, destroyed his competition (not only did he open with an American Record Bench, he then worked up to 716 pounds), and Ian Bell won his 3rd Gold in a row – even though he was pulling after midnight (Saturday was a long day)! I also have to give a shoutout to another friend from my gym, Joe, who benched 195kg…in a t-shirt! I have to say, TX lifters pretty much dominated the show, to nobody’s surprise. Congrats, y’all.

Mike quotes Gremlins, answers some questions, and gives Stroup kind of an evil eye.

I’ll keep it short, because we have a shitload of reader pictures this week. I appreciate you guys sending in your photos and will keep putting them up on Fridays ’til we run out. It’s gonna be awhile, so be patient.

First up: Rob. Rob’s wearing a kilt, so he gets bonus points for that. He’s also got some sort of hiking boots on, and that orange fence might be a police scene…so we’ll just leave the minor critiques of the actual 70sBig face alone, mmmk?

Elliot sent this in from Afghanistan. Thank you, Elliot.

Cal may or may not be performing any aspects of the traditional 70sBig face – it’s pretty much hidden by what looks to be an Eleiko bar. Cool pic. And he’s from Oz – bonus points.

Matt’s face uploaded crooked. I was gonna fix it, but honestly, it just kind of amuses me having it this way.

“Blister” wins this week’s points. He basically looks like he could be Justin’s little brother, except he’s probably too smart to be a Browns fan. This, folks, is a 70sBig face submission. Shirt? NAH. Creepy aviator glasses? YUP. Random field and forest and trap flex? DUH. Fact: He chainsawed some shit after this pic.

See ya next week, folks. A special shout-out to my lady friend, who is competing at the USAPL TX State Championships this weekend in San Antonio. If you’re around, I’ll be coaching her and a couple other lifters, so say howdy, damnit. I’ll be the one with the beard.

AC Discusses the Bench

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Cloud

Here’s the second installment of “AC teaches you how to do stuff more awesomely.” Last week, he went over some tips on how to press better. Today, he goes over how to coach a proper bench setup, and shows us a couple dozen nip slips. It’s fine. – Jacob

Have the athlete lay down on the bench (obviously). From there have them reach and grab the posts (like in the video) in order to pull their scapula (shoulder blades) together. Having them grab the posts can give them a better “pinch” then they might be able to do otherwise. Pulling the shoulder blades or scapula together artificially shortens the bench ROM as well as changing the angle of contraction for the pecs. If the shoulders are rounded out or flat, the chest contracts at an inward angle because of the attachment points at the shoulder and the middle of the chest. This causes the force to be applied at an inward angle. “Pinching” or retracting the scapula changes the angle of contraction so the force is applied in a more vertical, linear, fashion.

Once that is discussed you can simply sum all of that up by cueing the word “Pinch” or whatever you like. This is something that you talk to the athlete about ahead of time. Some guys like to hear “squeeze” instead.

From there, the athlete can now settle into his arch. What helps me when I arch is to try and think about getting my hips as close to my shoulders as possible. Again, this artificially shortens the bench ROM and allows for a better bar bath to the sternum. As I mentioned in the video, the arch and feet position can be done pretty much at the same time. There is literally no worry for risk of spinal injury from arching. Sometimes females can go into over-extension because they can be more mobile than a lot of guys. You might have to look for that if you coach any ladies. The only worry is cramping up at the low back and anterior hip, which proper mobility work can prevent. Anyone who says otherwise is an idiot. There is no compression of the spine at any point in time during the bench. The heels provide extra “drive” into the bar. Having them flat is important so they can “drive” or “dig” their feet into the ground. Having plantar flexion is basically adding a weak point in the chain. If they are on the balls of their toes, they can lose force production through the ankle. You just have to logically think “What can serve as a harder brace? My entire foot based on the floor, or the small surface area that I am pushing through with my calf?” The heels need to be slightly behind the knees. You can get a visual of that from the video I linked. Tell your lifter to “imagine you’re extending your knee to make your body slide up the bench” — NOT driving them so that the butt drives up to the ceiling. This solidifies the pinched upper back onto the bench and prevents any variability due to instability. That last part is courtesy of Jenn Thompson. She mentions it in her video and it’s a good take-home point. She is a really nice lady and I think I have a crush on her. (editors’s note – JT rules. <3)

After this is all discussed, you are going to sum it up with “Arch” and “Heels”.

When your athlete is setting up remind them. As a coach, you are a commanding presence, so cue the set up. “Heels!” “Arch!” “Pinch!” “Nice and tight!” The more emphasis on the set up, the easier the lift becomes. Justin likes to use the terms “Active Heel” and “Active Pinch.” Those are really good to cue because the set-up isn’t cemented. Guys can fall out of their arch and pinch, so during the set you have to actively maintain that position.

Some other info/cues that are equally important are:

Grip. When the lifter grips the bar, it should be a full grip. None of that suicide thumbless grip shit. I don’t care if they have been benching like since they began. It’s horse-shit and dangerous. From the coaches perspective (you!), the forearm should be at a 90 degree angle with the bar when the bar is on the chest (in other words, the forearms are vertical at the bottom of the rep). This puts the athlete at the most advantageous spot for the shortest distance for the bar path and the most musculature involved in the lift. As far as grip width goes, keep in mind that wider grips put a lot of stress on the elbows and shoulders and make it hard to stay externally rotated throughout the movement.

Elbows. This is very important. If they elbows “flare” out (which is called “Internal Rotation”), THIS IS BAD. You can do external/internal rotation reading this right now. Reach out in front of you and rotate your arms in. Your right hand rotates clockwise and the left goes counter clockwise. Basically, it’s like tucking in the elbows. You are stronger during any pushing when in external rotation. The cue to use is “Elbows to Ribs”. You can shorten that if you want to just “Elbows,” after you have explained it.

Finally, whenever I coach people, I try to make a point to tell them that the object is not to bounce the bar off your chest. The point is to lightly touch and “DRIVE” off the chest.

I think I covered it all. If you have a question about any of that, fire away.

Here’s a video of Justin explaining internal and external rotation:

Cloud’s Supplement Guide

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Cloud

I get a lot of questions about nutrition and supplementation, and I’m more than happy to share my opinions on the subject. However, I find myself typing out basically the same thing as a response nearly every time. If only I had some sort of platform where I could just write it all out once, so I could just send people the link later, right?

First, some basic nutrition advice, from a very high-level perspective. Like Mike, I’m not a doctor. I’m not going to argue with you, or try and sell you anything, or convince you to change your beliefs (everyone already has their own food beliefs). But if you’re my athlete, here’s what I expect you to do.

Food: Cook and eat real food, not pre-packaged crap. Get at least your pounds of bodyweight in grams of protein (IE, I am 250 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal. I better damn well get 250g of protein every day if I want to stay that way). Eat grassfed beef and other free-range mammals if you can, and eat wild fish. I guess you can add reptiles to that if you go Velociraptor hunting, or kill a snake that looks at your puppy the wrong way. Add all the good fats you can (oils, butters, etc). Add at least 100g of good carbs (tons of veggies, some fruits and potatoes, even rice, but avoid sugar and gluten). Alter your carbs and fat intake based on your aesthetic goals and performance needs. Buy and read Justin’s e-book Paleo For Lifters for a much more in-depth explanation. I edited that book and agree with just about everything in it – and it even goes into depth on supplements, too. However, keep in mind this post is my advice, not Justin’s.

Note: Assuming a consistent training schedule that is not completely stupid, your muscular gains will be DIRECTLY tied to how many days a year you hit your protein goals. You NEED to understand this. If I hit 250g of protein 3 days a week and ~100g the other 4 days of the week, I’m going to get half the results as if I am religiously eating carcasses. Think about it. How hard do you work to never miss a training session? Treat your protein intake this way, starting right now. Go eat a chicken; the article will be here when you get back.

Water: If you’re not drinking a gallon of water a day, you’re fired.

Now let’s get to the actual supplements. You have to have all the things above in order first, OK? It’s important. You can’t supplement your way out of a shitty application of the basics.

Protein Powder: I use whey because it’s cheap and delicious and mixes easily. Use something else (beef, egg, etc.) if whey bothers your stomach or skin. Get an additional 25g/day (small folks) to 50g/day (normal size folks) every day to supplement your real food. If, every once in awhile, you don’t hit your daily allotment of real protein, drink another protein shake, then wake up early and make more real food in your crockpot so you don’t make the same mistake twice.

PWO (Post-Workout): Bro science wins here, folks. I have an average person get an additional 50g of protein IMMEDIATELY post workout, almost always via another protein shake, but lean meat works too if that’s your thing. Add 10-25g of carbs for people who feel they’re too fat. Increase that to 50-100g for people who want maximum jackage and recovery. Reduce the carbs if you’re cutting, and/or use lower-glycemic carbs (sweet potatoes, etc). Add carbs and/or use higher-glycemic carbs if you can get away with it and/or need mucho mas energy (CF, etc). I currently use shitty sugar (Country-Time Lemonade mix…seriously) because I’m cheap and bulking, brah. Look, I’m human. There are better options, obviously.

Caffeine: Drink lots of good black coffee, and you’ll be a better person. Just stop before, say, 3-4pm, so it doesn’t affect your sleep schedule. If you don’t like it black, buy better coffee or try cold-brewing it (which reduces the acidity). If you still don’t like it, add some coconut creamer and stop whining. Use this as your pre-workout supplement if you don’t train at night.

Fish Oil: Take a couple grams a day of Omega-3 (that’s DHA+EPA). If you want to dork out about it, use Robb Wolf’s calculator and spend all your money on the best stuff available. Liquids are the best way to get high doses, especially if you’re nursing an injury. Use more if you eat cheap fatty meat. Use less if you slaughter your own grassfed cows or force-feed your chickens flax seed. Also, since I’m thinking about it, use grassfed butter, like Kerrygold. It’s delicious. Oh, and keep your fish oil in the fridge, unless you claim to be “Paleo,” in which case I expect you to find a cool damp cave for your medical pills.

Creatine Monohydrate: Take all of it. I have small females start at 5g/day and work up to 15g/day and most of my dude-lifters are taking 30g/day. Use something cheap and buy it by the bucket. Use the “internet” to find good deals until I make an affiliate connection with an e-store. Make sure you take it daily – the exact timing isn’t nearly as important as the consistency. Don’t take it on an empty stomach. Deload a couple times a year (vacation, sickness, after a meet, etc). Don’t take this much if you’re an alcoholic. But if you’re an alcoholic, you probably won’t listen to me anyway. Jerk.

Multivitamin: Get a cheap one and take it daily. Can’t hurt.

Zinc/Magnesium: Either take a cheap ZMA pill (especially if you’re a male: low Zinc=low testosterone=bad), or Natural-Calm. Work slowly up to around 25-50mg of Zinc and 4-500mg/day of Magnesium, preferably right before bed for the best acid-like dreams possible (and subsequently, deeper sleep). You and your toilet will know if you take too much, or if you take it on an empty stomach.

Vitamin D: If you live in Seattle, I’m jealous. But you only get to see The Mountain a couple dozen amazing sunny days a year. Here in Austin, we get like 400 a year. Less sun? Take more Vit D. It takes blood work to figure out if you’re deficient, but use your common sense here. I just go outside and creep out the hipster chicks at the pool. If you never get sun, you might need up to 10,000iu/day. If you get some, 2k/day is probably fine. Spend more time outside topless or in tank tops, just to be sure.

Vitamin C: If you feel like you might be getting a cold, take ALL the vitamin C. You might get the shits, but you probably won’t get sick. Otherwise, try and eat lots of various vegetables to get stuff like this on the reg and you’ll be fine.

Iron: Most of you ladies have been told to supplement your iron intake by your lady-doc, haven’t you? First, eat more red meat and kale and other good food. Then, take the liquid iron supplements from your local hippy grocery store, especially…well…you know when. Wait, don’t get mad. Please stop yelling at me. I AM listening. BRB, going fishing. Guys, just eat lots of red meat, and you should be fine, as long as you don’t bring up delicate lady-times like a jackass.

Other stuff: There are literally hundreds of other supplements out there, and some of them are actually worth discussing. If you have joint issues, try taking a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement daily for a full month and see if you feel better. If you’re loaded, BCAAs can be beneficial, but they aren’t cheap and need to be taken in high doses. You shouldn’t really need them if you’re eating properly. If you have specific questions about other supplements, feel free to ask. But make sure you’re eating your damn meat, first.

Sumo Deadlifts Are The Devil!! …Right?

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Cloud

Today’s post is brought to you be the letters A and J, as in AJ Loreto. AJ trains out of Just Lift Inc., in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His best competition lifts (all USAPL) include a 240kg squat, 150kg bench, 297.5kg DL, and 687.5kg total at 90kg body weight. He also has a boat, and runs a sweet t-shirt company. So read what he has to say, and learn from one of the top raw lifters in the country…that has a boat. – Jacob

The sumo deadlift. Competition legal for powerlifters, but hated worse than carbs in a Crossfit gym. Why do sumo pulls receive so much hate? It seems everyone’s got a hard-on for deadlifts nowadays – probably because you can stack some plates on the bar, pick it up, and feel like a bad ass. Crossfit, Strongman, Powerlifters, Bodybuilders; everyone can use them, and move a lot of weight. Feels Good Man. Now, I suspect sumo is disliked because it APPEARS you can be able to move even more weight compared to conventional, and well, haters gonna hate. So how many people in the 70sBig community have tried to pull sumo? Why not get out of your typical routine and give a barbell a tug with your legs spread wide? I bet you’d be surprised at what your strength is like going from conventional to sumo.

Why did I start caring about sumo? I was training on an afternoon with friends who dared me to sumo in a typical pissing match that occurs training hungover on Saturdays (editors note: Yessssssssss). It turns out I managed almost 90% of my conventional best for a double. This was pretty good motivation to give sumo a real go. Anything to increase my powerlifting total is a good thing, and if I get bigger and stronger in the process, I would probably like that as well.

To begin incorporating sumo, oddly enough, I maintained my conventional pulling as prescribed by the program I was running at the time (a modified 5/3/1). To add in the sumo, I began pulling each warm up weight both sumo and conventional. Then, at each work weight I would tug a single at each weight sumo. By doing only a single I was not changing the volume of my workout significantly. After 1 wave (phase, cycle, whatever) of this (4 weeks of training), I switched the movements. I pulled a single conventional and the prescribed reps sumo. Again, the intention was to keep my volume similar. As it turns out, I was smashing the shit out of my rep maxes sumo (nearly twice as many reps as I could hit conventional at a given weight but with consistent small increases in work weight – the changes in volume after the switch were not extreme). I ran this programming for several waves and believe it was effective and getting my form in order and increasing my strength.

Initially, pulling singles sumo helped develop the ‘groove’ for sumo and helped stretch out my hips a significant amount. Sumo requires, just like the squat, for you to keep your knees tracking out over the toes. Without enough flexibility to keep your knees out, many people will complain about knee pain pulling sumo. Maintaining enough ‘knees out’ will also work to get your glutes involved and is paramount to a good sumo pull. Of course you can consult your favorite coaches for advice on knee and toe placement, but I would bet that by and large most coaches would recommend knees and toes in a line, and pointed out.

Knees Out = Good

Knees caving in = pain

Because of the change in relative angles of your body parts, when pulling sumo, the back of the trainee will tend to be more upright than a conventional pull.

Conversely, the femurs will be more horizontal and the knee angle more acute. Because of the changes in the joint angles for the lifter, most will note that their back is not the limiting factor in the pull, but rather the legs and or hips will be the weakest muscles involved. What does this mean for you? If you suspect your back is weak-sauce when pulling, why not try sumo to grab a few extra pounds in the ego bank? If your back is as thick as thieves, maybe your hips and legs are lame and sumo can get them up to par with your upper body (why you no train legs bro? why?). In any case, developing strong hips at the bottom of a sumo pull should carry over nicely into a great number of lifts: your squat, conventional deadlift and even stone lifting.

Sumo: Note the vertical torso and knee angle

Conventional: Note the more horizontal torso and larger knee angle

Stone lifting is an item that I personally have not read much (anything) about. I learned to pick up stones in a garage where my friend told me to ‘pick it up.’ No matter how one is coached (or not coached) in stones, one thing WILL happen, and that is the lifter will straddle the rock in some capacity. The spreading of your feet to the outside of the stone will put your legs outside of your conventional deadlift stance (unless you’re some weirdo who hates Vince Anello and has their feet super wide and grips the bar even wider). Granted, your foot width might not be as wide as a sumo stance when handling stones, but the idea still remains: you’re grabbing an object off the floor, using plenty of hip and hamstring, and trying to push your chest up off the floor. Attempting to keep your stance narrow and the stone in front of the feet will not be an easy task, if it is possible at all. The stones are generally large enough in diameter that even if you had the strength, you physically would not be able to balance with your feet behind the stone (imagine picking up a barbell greater than your body weight that is 6+ inches in front of your toes). So spreading your legs and pulling with similar joint angles to stones will probably make sumo a tasty movement for strongmen.

For me and some teammates, I have found that my 1 rep max is incredibly close for both versions of the deadlift. Interestingly, for a given percentage of 1RM, I have noticed many lifters will hit more reps sumo. This has been my personal observation, and I’d encourage you to see how your numbers pan out. Training with a higher percentage of 1RM in a given rep range, or using higher reps at a given percentage of 1RM, may prove to be helpful in your training. Either of these will increase working volume and, if recovered from correctly, should increase ones strength. Increasing volume over time is a staple to most (if not all) training philosophies (when considering a consistent, long, multi-cycle period of time – not a single training cycle). With this in mind, if the overreach in volume is not too great to prevent adequate recovery, switching to sumo and achieving more reps or using a higher percentage should be a benefit to your training.

Initially, when training sumo the differential in reps can be deceiving and you might think that your 1RM will be significantly different. Therefore, it will be worth your while to hit some heavy singles in the gym before you hit the platform and end up making a bad attempt call. Most trainees will find properly performed sumo attempts to be slow off the floor, but fast towards the lockout of the repetition. With this in mind, if your attempt is too heavy, the bar will be glued to the floor, whereas a conventional pull will break and might wind up stalling around the knees.

I hope you give sumo a go at some point or another. I know it’s made me a more well rounded lifter, and I believe it will add to your strength in other movements, from squats to stones (note: I really believe it is huge for stones) and even your conventional deadlift. As always, Implement changes carefully and track your progress! And stop hating on sumo, fool.

PR Friday, 12 April 2013

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Cloud

Annnnnnnnd we’re back! Our servers made some mistakes yesterday (burpees instead of squats…tsk, tsk) and had to be put in timeout for half a day. Some unplanned maintenance later by our men in Berlin, and the ISIS mainframes have been upgraded with new neural net processors – learning computers – and our R2 is back on our 6, by the light of Kate Upton’s eyes. Bueno? Bueno.

So, let’s get back to business. This week, we had a post about Iris’s strength journey. AC taught us how to press more gooder (this was real, real popular on reddit). Markotta had us reflect on our motivation. Mike used the time off from reading the site to ignore Paul’s question and answer everyone else’s.

Additionally, USAPL Collegiate Nationals is this weekend in Killeen, TX. There’s going to be some pretty impressive single-ply lifting going on, and there are some fierce rivalries between teams. Naturally, I think Preston Turner, Ian Bell, and the rest of the Longhorn Team is going to take the cake, but watch and see for yourself.

http://mass-lift.com/2013-collegiate-nationals/

Last week, I asked you guys and gals to submit pictures of your “70sBig face.” Wait, back up. First, I asked you to go back and re-read the original post on HOW to make a 70sBig face, and then to submit some examples. I got some great ones, and I got some that, well, I’m pretty sure were taken on the shitter in a time of duress We’ll get there, folks, but this might take some work. I appreciate the flood of pics I got, and will post some each week.

“Billy” (we’ll use a code name to keep his identity a secret) sent in a picture that proves his commitment to the cause. He gets bonus points for the glasses, but the striped v-neck is hit or miss depending on yokeability. Guys, you can wear v-necks, but only if there’s chest hair poking out, mmmmk?

MeneGene spent the better part of the morning posing for this pic, showing off a pretty glorious mustache. There are literally ninja chicks beating up Abercrombie wannabee’s in the background, and he is sitting there stoicly not giving a fuck. I approve. I think there’s real blood on his shirt, too.

Jason lacks facial hair, but I’ll cut him some slack. If he was sporting a ferocious Viking beard, half the grease from this amazing burger would go to waste. Is that HAM on that hamburger, too? Shit, now I’m hungry – with a few fried eggs on top, that’d be a pretty dece breakfast. Good job, Jason. Next time, cut the sleeves off your plaid shirt for date night. Trust me, she’ll be impressed.

CriedTheFox shows us a classic selfie here, driving in some sort of van with “Free Ice Cream” scrawled on the side of it. Facial hair? Check. Cheap sunglasses? Check. Thrift-store t-shirt you’re unafraid to rip in half in case of emergency? Check. Bravo, sir. Bravo.

Blake’s got a pretty dece face here. The bushy brows, the insane look in his eyes, and a ‘Murican flag in the background are all excellent. A little more jaw-jutting would be nice, but HOLY SHIT there’s a Mustang snorting FIRE on his shirt.

We didn’t get nearly enough female face submissions, but Amanda played the game…sorta. She sent this in with the comment “No, this is not a 12 y/o boy but a 34 y/o woman.” I…I….look, I really appreciate the pic, but I….well, shit. I’m scared. You took some creative licensing and the end result is equal parts terrifying and awesome. I award you all the points, and hope to never cross your (bar)path when you’re angry.

That’s all for today. Keep the submissions coming, make sure they are LESS THAN A MEGABYTE (you’ve seen what happens when our systems get angry), and I’ll keep posting these on Fridays until I run out or get bored. Post your PR’s below. Have a great freaking weekend. Stay safe.