Guy Fawkes Day

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Remember, remember the fifth of November



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I’ve been training pretty hard since January, and focused that training on Olympic weightlifting a few months ago. There have been plenty of times where I didn’t feel like training. Plenty of times between sets where I didn’t know how I was going to summon the energy for the next one. But I always have. Admittedly part of that is due to an ability to induce an adequate release of adrenaline (a topic for another time), but that has to start with a proper mindset.

First, decide how important training is. For me, if I am going to train for something, I’m going to do it right, and my trainees will be the same. Even when I played football in high school and college, I never let anyone work harder than me. Performing to my best ability was the goal then, and it certainly is the goal now. If I slack on a given training session, then I don’t get stronger and better. If I don’t get stronger and better now, then I don’t hit my goals in the next lifting meet. That, my friends, is not an option. If improving through training is just not that important to you, then you should redefine your goals and your intentions. At that point you aren’t training, you’re just working out.

Let’s assume training is important to you for whatever reason. Depending on the goal, sport, or activity, there are many motivational factors for those days you “feel tired”. It isn’t my job to give you a list of these factors. It’s just my job to give you a kick in the ass to figure them out yourself. I don’t have time for people who “feel tired” when I coach, and I don’t have time for it on 70’s Big either.

There is a guy at our gym named Ronnie. He’s 60 years old, about 6’2″, 260 pounds and has been training at WFAC since he was 52. In the CrossFit Total Meet (lifting meet that consists of the squat, standing press, and deadlift) we had at the gym in February, Ronnie squatted 363. He went for 385, but it was dumped over his head, and he pulled his hamstring in the process. His recovery was arduous because of his age, but he stuck with it and eventually recovered. A couple months ago an MRI showed 3 bulging discs in his cervical spine. This caused the muscles in his left shoulder and triceps area to give out during pressing and bench pressing. Ron went from repping 225 for sets of twenty on the bench to barely being able to bench 135. He’s had one set back after another.

I started working with him so that we could figure out how to train around and through this problem while at the same time improving his squat given his cervical limitations. While working on the neuro deal, we tweaked the squat form, then worked the strength back up.

One day Ron came in the gym, and the man was tired. He was moving into a new house, running his furniture business, making his wife and granddaughters happy, and you could tell he was drained.
“How ya doin’, Ron?”
“I’m tired.”

Well, you know what Ron did next? He strapped on his belt, stretched his hamstrings, and started squatting. He didn’t complain, didn’t bitch — just continued loading the bar. We slapped on 300 pounds. 300 pounds for the man who hadn’t such weight on his back since dumping the 385 over his head 8 months previous (sorry about that, Ron! –> I was a spotter). 300 pounds for the man with the three bulging discs. 300 pounds for the man who was tired. Ron stepped up to the bar, un-racked it, and squatted it five times.

If a 60 year old man can come in tired — legitimately tired — and squat 300 pounds for a set of five, then some how you can find the energy and the balls to get through your training session when “you’re tired”. I know I do.

Ron, born in 1949, wants to know if he is 40''s Big

Ron, born in 1949, wants to know if he is 40’s Big



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I had a request for a video of me snatching, so I delivered. In this training session I am just doing some light singles at 110 kilograms to practice getting under the bar. Red, white, and blue, baby.

Justin Snatches – 11-4-09 from 70s Big on Vimeo.

Note: I don’t need anybody pointing out any faults you may see. Not only do I feel them precisely at the time that they occur, but I can see them in the video since I coach this shit. I also don’t care that you have a friend that is stronger than me; this is not a “penis length” contest.

29 thoughts on “Guy Fawkes Day”

  1. hey justin I was wondering if you could answer I noob question of mine about olympic lifting and squat height. according to the rules of olympic lifting, would the Ripp-taught Power Clean and then a Jerk be a legitimate contest lift? I understand that the full clean allows you to hit more weight since you dont lift it as high and duck under it more, but is it a rule in olympic weightlifting that says that there must be a full “ATG” or parallel squat for the lift to count? The same applies for the Power Snatch/Snatch in my question.

    Once again I realize that you can Clean more than you can Power Clean, I’m just a little confused on rules.

    Thanks, love the site got 2 shirts comin in the mail!

    ———–
    Hey Casey,

    There is no rule that limits the height of a clean, however no body part but the feet is allowed to touch the floor. There is some regulation on where the bar can touch (it cannot touch lower than the point it lands I think — I need to find a copy of the IWF rules), but not with how you clean the weight. In my meet, I didn’t have to squat anything because it wasn’t heavy enough to do so. Wasting energy to squat it when you don’t have to is silly, and it should be obvious why. In preparation for my first meet, I had a shoulder deal that prevented me from jerking heavy, so I had never jerked more than 120, but did 140 at the meet.

    But to answer your question more precisely, Rip does not exclusively teach the power clean. He does in a general strength program (which is what the linear progression is), but the clean (or squat/full clean as it has been known on the internet lately) should be used when the weight is heavy enough to illicit such a squat.

    For some reason beginning weightlifters always clean the movement instead of power cleaning — it’s as if nobody told them that there was no requirement to squat it.

    –Justin

  2. FIRST!!!

    Ronnie is a beast, and props for training with the disc problems.

    Also, on the note about the penis length, I think the more appropriate term for this post is snatch depth…

    ZING!!!

  4. casey:

    No, you don”t have to squat to a certain depth, the bar just has to be racked on your shoulders then jerked. If you are strong enough you can power clean. From video I”ve seen, some amateurs power clean or power snatch in meets since they can pull more that way (I guess until they get better technique).

  7. Justin,
    After watching that video i think it’s safe to say that i am your biggest fan!
    If i send you my 70’s big T-shirt will you autograph it?

    ———–

    What will I be getting out of this?

    –Justin

  9. Damn impressive, Ron! Definitely 40”s big. I”m about to go train here in a second and this is great motivation..

    “Now I also know that you”re supposed to ”listen to your body”, but my brain says ”don”t be a pussy, and just lift the fucking weights”, and that”s just what I do. ” – Rip

  11. Ron IS 40””s BIG! Way to go.

    I suffer from phantom pain. Lost my arm in 90 and it constantly hurts. When I lift anything heavy, it causes it to hurt. Guys like Ron help me to continue to work out and keep pushing through the pain.

    My hat is off for you sir.

    Great lifts too.

    ———

    Your video is gonna go up soon. Keep training.

    –Justin

  15. Good column today, a commitment to lifting even on the days you don”t feel good is where the biggest gains are made in the long term. I can relate a bit, During my career as a rugby player (18 years total, three as a pro) I suffered 3 complete knee reconstructions, a broken femur, dislocated my right shoulder over a dozen times, broke my fibia, both ankles, all my fingers, most of my toes, fractured my skull, several lumbar vertebrae, broke ribs and lost two teeth. Long story short, that shit hurts and if you don”t push through the pain to get back in the gym and make your self stronger than you were before it never really heals and you become a weak, sedentary piece of crap who only talks about the good old days.

    On a side note, what kind of power racks do you use? I like the look of them and the way you can put the pins on a slant.

  16. Justin,

    I learned to snatch and clean about 4 weeks ago. I have really good coaches around me that help alot(These guys are 70s big) but no one can seem to help with a reoccuring problem.

    Every time I snatch or clean I hit myself in the nuts/sometimes weiner. I tried switching to boxer briefs which helped but I still keep going home with blue balls. My girl is starting to get suspicous with me saying, “it was from snatches at the gym.”

    The only advice I had besides boxer briefs was to go finkel/einhorn.

    Any advice?

    ———-

    I still don’t think think that this is serious, but I’ll bite anyway.

    I find it hard to believe that you’re doing the movement correctly whilst punishing your balls. The cleans touch the thigh as you jump, and the snatches touch your belly as you jump. Those two locations don’t include testicles. It may be a lot of things, like anthropometry or grip width, but I can’t see from here. Provide a video if you want any more help.

    I had a dude have a similar problem because his torso was comically short, horrendously long femurs, and gangly gorilla arms. It helped when he received a “shrug” cue, but you are not him and he is not you.

    And just because some guys are 70’s Big doesn’t mean they know how to coach.

    –Justin

  21. I assure you it’s no joke. Thanks for the reply. My coaches are Welbourn and Mormont at SoCalSC/CFB. I’m probably jumping with the bar too high and too close to my body. I’ll try to explain it more tomorrow after I snatch if it doesnt wreck me or correct itself.

    Gotcha. I bet your anthropometry is getting in the way, meaning your leg length, arm length, and/or torso length (not your dugan length). They will straighten you out, I’m sure.

    –Justin

  22. hey justin thanks for the response! I was wondering, as I hit the late stages of the Linear progression I might be getting near the point where Deadlifting 1.5 times a week (3 times per 2 weeks) is too much and I might need to switch to 1. I was wondering, would a Mon-Wed-Fri schedule of Deadlift monday, Power Snatch Wed and Power Clean friday be acceptable? Or is this too much like a Intermediate program?

    You shouldn’t be deadlifting that much. It shifts to deadlifting frequently in the beginning (when the weight is obviously light), to once every week, then once every one and a half weeks. You would stick with the once every 1.5 weeks until it is progressed. Have you read the book?

    And no, pulling 3 days a week is definitely not any better, that is more accumulated work on the week. It’ll overtrain the back — I know this because that is what I did early on (even though I ate a lot).

    –Justin

  25. LaHabra,

    One guy at my gym had this problem while learning to clean. I suggest compression shorts.

    My coaches comment on the matter was “Let”s not exaggerate. That little tummy of yours sticks out more than your junk does.”

  29. Justin,

    I was wondering if you needed some pointers on how to get toned. I”ve been doing some sit ups and some bicep curls. Also, a little bit of those lower back things that are like reverse sit ups. Just let me know.

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