70’s Big has always been about getting stronger, but in order to persistently get strong you need a kick-ass attitude. This whole “ass kickery” has developed into a demeanor that defines 70’s Big. Intense, hard work warrants a congratulatory, “that’s 70’s Big”. This is why we have the “70’s Big Face”; executing such a glare lets everyone know that you aren’t fucking around.
Ed from the picture contest is PISSED
Intensity is another defining feature of 70’s Big; we all remember Chris and the third attempt deadlift (children will hear this story for generations). That’s why I like the 105kg Olympic weightlifter Dmitry Klokov so much; the guy wants to lift the bar overhead and then break it over his knee.
Klokov is PISSED
Intensity is effective, but it’s useless without old school toughness. Recently Jeremy, Chris’ brother-in-law, played in a high school alumni football game. Jeremy grew up in Bowie, Texas shooting stuff, drinking beer, and bulldogging cattle. Unfortunately it had been over ten years since Jeremy could legally hit someone and take them to the ground, and that’s why he was excited to put the pads on one last time. Jeremy was an imposing force at middle linebacker against rival Henrietta …right up until a brawl cleared both benches at the end of the game (Texans take their football real fucking seriously). Even though Jeremy’s days as a weight lifter are behind him, he still exudes the 70’s Big attitude.
Jeremy at the game, and then on an average Saturday
Everyone who reads this site may not win medals or achieve fame, but maintaining a strong attitude and vigorously intense determination are qualities that will permeate into this thing called life. Go forward and attack each day, and you too will be 70’s Big.
AC attacks the day, because he is PISSED
10 days of no working anything upper body due to micro-tears in both arms… I am ridiculously
PISSED OFF about this as I can’t even do deadlifts and loading plates on the bar to squat causes pain. Aparently my traps are good to go for 500# BB shrugs but my tendons weren’t…Don’t worry though, I am bottling it up inside and when the arms are fully healed I plan to fucking let loose on a deadlift day.
Sprints/core is ok, but when its all you can do it gets gay fast.
Thanks for keeping me motivated guys, keep up the good work.
PRs:
Squat: 265 3×5
Press: 125 3×5
Deadlift: 305 x5
Consistency PR: bodyweight has been steady at 184-185. I was worried that when I quit GOMAD I might lose some size. I’m going to do GOMAD again, probably next month. I was pretty sick with a cold the past two weeks but I only missed one workout. Strong.
Training other people PR today. I train a neighborhood kid. He’s 12, and has spent his entire youth sitting in front of a videogame console. He is skinny-fat, and getting him to the point where he can do a bodyweight squat or jog in place with high knees has been a battle. But this week I got him over a huge hump: quitting when things get hard. It has taken a lot of encouragement and even more stern words to get him to that point, and I often wanted to give up. But he kept coming to the gym, even when fitter kids have bailed because training was hard. This week he learned to push through fatigue and push through pain, and I could actually see the realization dawn on his face that he could do more than he (or anyone else) thought he could. I’m looking forward to the coming weeks as we take it up a notch.
PR:
Squat 538×3
And I guess bench pressing for the first time in a month without feeling like my pec will tear off is a PR of self control
Surprise Bodyweight PR: My scale had a dead battery and I hadnt weighed myself in over a month. Had been making sure to get atleast 400 grams of protein in and had recently added creatine back into the mix around the time I stopped weighing myself. Anyways I was 225-230 before, and if anything I felt like I might be down a little bit. Put a new battery in and stepped on the scale and was delighted to see 240.9! I’ll be up in the top of the 242 class at my next Power meet at the NASA Unequipped Nationals in Oklahoma City on Oct. 15th…
I guess I should say that 240 is up from a crossfit induced, measly 185 at 6’4″ almost a year ago.
Bench: 275×3
Not a lot going on this week. The GF surprised me with ticekts to a Bruins preseason game, so missed recovery/Press day. Then had to curtail intensity day squats and cleans due to some knee pain. Lots of vitamin I and icing.
Deadlift: 395 for 5 singles
Squat: only 290 3×5, working back up after a deload
Adulthood PR – Hit the scale last night at 201, BAM! 6 weeks of eating like a horse, and 30 days of GOMAD = 25-30 pounds gained, and squat PRs coming each of the last few workouts. Cutting back on the milk after today and trying to maintain or gain right around 205-210, not bad for 5’7″. Wouldn’t have done it without this site, thanks everyone, maybe I’ll kick in some before and after 70s BIG shots.
Food PR – Doubled down on 2 KFC double downs for lunch yesterday, with a side of slaw to wash it down, delicious!
Squat PR – 270x5x3 – gonna hit my 1RM from about 6 months ago (275)for 3 sets of 5 tomorrow, unbelievable! That’s a big short term goal for me, the best part about hitting goals, setting new ones! 300x5x3 will be next.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makmende
70’s big face. Straight out of Kenya.
while reading stuff on the internet yesterday I came across an article about Klokov. His training consists of 2-a-days, where he does powerlifting style bench, deadlift and squat in the AM, and then the olympic lifts at night. Pretty damn impressive.
PR’s – BB shrugged all the weight I own for a set of 8 last night (370lbs). Gonna need to buy some more plates.
Squatted 275×3 also. Not really a PR, but something I haven’t done before, and impressive to me since 275 was my 1rm a little over a month ago.
Life PR – today marks 6 months of real actual training for me, started seriously lifting April 1. Very happy with how far I have come in this short of time, and am looking forward to where I’ll go. Looking to max out my squat on Sunday to see just how far I’ve come.
Also am arguing with people on the Oly forums at bodybuilding.com on the topic of “90 out of 100 people will never squat 400lbs”.
to which I ask “why not?”
Prime example: Brent Kim
i really enjoyed this post.
“kicking ass” in the gym is very important but carrying that attitude over into real life is even more valuable.
dont just be “70’s Big” at the gym, just be “70’s Big.”
no pr’s this week. trying to match this year’s PR of squatting 405×5 before Christmas. this is after a layoff, injury, and some piss poor programming.
BW PR, solidly 180lbs. Finally putting some of the weight i lost in fire academy back on
Squatted 225×20.
This is very awesome:
More PRs this week
Snatch 279 lbs (127 kg)
Deadlift 462×3 (210 kg)
BW hovering around 175 (79 kg)
PR’s:
@211 BW
Squat – 390×7
Deadlift – 496×10 (rest/pause)
Wife PR’s:
@ 136ish BW
Squat – 215×4
Deadlift – 325×12 (rest/pause)
@smithb – This is why bb.com is ridiculous and I never go there.
figured I would watch the USAW/CF thing today out of pure boredom:
http://live.crossfit.com/
the feed fucking sucks. Crossfit can’t even get this right? wtf
Great work everyone. Its cool to see people making progress and getting pumped about it.
BW up to 193 which is cool. My goal is to be 3 lbs for every inch in height so somewhere around 207 210… Debating whether or not i should do some gomad now or when my squats get heavy again
Also SQUAT PR: first time in almost 6 months that i could squat without ANY pain. It was a glorious day, but i have to stay pretty light for a while to make sure i don’t re-agitate anything…
DL 430×5 still making progress here on the ol SS but am starting to fizzle out and am contemplating a switch to TM… we’ll see
Wife invented the most ultimate TEXMEX dish EVER! Tamale Casserole! FAAAANOMINAL! Its wicked easy to make and has some wicked awesome taste. Bees Knees.
Also I can run again, sprinting… not so sure but I’m itching to play some lax, so i might have to give it a little test run.
Looking forward to an exciting TEXANS FOOTBALL WEEKEND!
PRs-216 lbs and I had to buy some slacks for work and I had to upgrade to a 38″ waist. Nice! My strength numbers are going up as well. Will post them next Friday.
Was very lucky to be able to watch all of the world’s over the last couple of weeks on eurosport. Was frickin’ awesome!
Some highlights for me would have to be liao hui (the backflip was a classy touch) and lu xiaojun from china. Kashirina was just amazing, the way she nailed those lifts, incl the WR, so easily. Bad luck on the last c&j, but i think she’s only 19 or something ridiculous.
The 85s were disappointing, bad luck for kendrick, too. The super heavies didn’t quite deliver, either, with chigishev injuring his leg – although watching him muscle that snatch into line was crazy! a couple of the others didn’t do as well as expected, either.
Lots of great lifting all around, though. I’m sure the standard at the upcoming Commonwealth Games will be just as good, though…haha. Probably the only way Australia will ever medal in weightlifting for a while!
@Nolan: that is a big squat dude.
@Ryan: nice weight gain!
Only PR this week:
Bench: 235 x 3 x 5
All other lifts stalled out on LP recently so I have reset them.
@mgd134 – what do you mean by restting them? I’ve heard that used before and was curious what people did when they started to get stuck w/their LP. I think my squats are going to outrun everything else. Maybe I just need to go buy Practical Programming and give that a read.
Not much lifting done recently, but next couple of weeks should be awesome. Got a few things arriving by mail…
Next week i should receive my squat racks finally! Really wanted a power rack, but these will be fine for a while and it’s not worth not being able to squat/press at home. Also coming is my 1.5 pood kettlebell, Robb Wolff’s new book and “Never Let Go” by Dan John.
Then hopefully the week after my beautiful new Toro Power Belt will arrive – awesome!! Oh, plus 2 free t-shirts because there was a bit of a delay from the States.
@Truss
resetting = dropping the weight by 5% or so and progressing from there, hoping to push past the last plateau.
Female, 31
Started on Starting Strength this week –
Squat: 118 x 5 x 3
Press: 58 x 5 x 3
Bench: 73 x 5 x 3
DL: 183 x 5
Cleans: One on the minute for 15 minutes @ 83
Chins: 2, 1, 1
Proud parent PR: My 18 mo. son now squats and drinks his milk at the same time.
Does anyone have a good substitution for fractional plates? I won’t be able to make 5 lb. jumps in bench much longer and I don’t want to drop 50 bucks on fractional plates if there is a cheap / easy solution.
@kpow1979
great job!
there are a number of ideas for making fractional plates yourself, do some googling.
I know some have used sections of chain weighed and made into loops, also pennies tied in a tube sock too I believe. I think theres also a certain size washer you can buy at a hardware store that will work too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4AREh_tRkU
I’m not sure how old this is but it proves that Gant is a flippin genius! Holy hell I haven’t seen anything this funny in a long time.
B – gotchya, thanks for clarifying
@kpow – Go here: http://www.mcmaster.com/#
and buy these: Part Number: 91081A046
Get 8 or so, should cost you about 20 bucks shipped, got mine last week. They are just giant steel washers (2in ID to fit on the bar). I weighed mine out and they were between 0.60 lbs and 0.66 lbs a piece. So 2 on each side will give you about a 2.5 lb jump, or 1 on each side will be about 1.25 lbs, you pick!
Not a great week for training due to other commitments, but still:
Bench 5x95kg (210lbs)
Squat 1x140kg (305lbs)
First time I’ve hit 3 bucks on the squat. I’m pretty pleased with that. Got it fast so I think I might have another 10kg in the tank. 160kg will be twice bodyweight which is my longer term goal.
Bouncing out of the hole as been a revelation for me. My squat has rocketed up since doing that. I used to think my build was wrong for squatting, but I’ve almost caught my deadlift now — so thank you Justin and the rest of the crew!
second powerlifting meet
squat 330
bench 259
DL 451
– all PR’s
first meet-
s 292, b 251, d 407
BW 90 kg
1. Drank 3-1/2 24oz beers at Oktoberfest.
2. Then went to Louisiana Fried Chicken by the ballpark (not as good as real southern fried chicken) and ordered everything they had. Literally. I think it was like 22 pcs. I got some pretty angry looks from the folks in line behind me.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31066109@N04/5042513062/
3. Started 2nd cycle of 531, PRd all the max reps.
4. Gained 10+ lbs in last month.
5. Ate a ton of CFS. This particular lunch was about 2lbs worth:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31066109@N04/5041918549/
Mmm. I just made myself hungry
@ Ryan
re: NASA Unequipped Nationals in Oklahoma City
Cool! I’m doing that one too.
198+
PR’s
2 bench PR’s this week!
Monday 185×1
Friday 190×1
I’m particularly happy about these because I was stuck at 180 since June.
Looks like most of us have had a decent week. :)
http://richarddawkins.net/articles/3266
70s big face equates to kicking to your ass.
smithb9 and MattTruss223 – thanks for the suggestion. Much appreciated!
@ Awainer1 – Damn Right, don’t forget to mention 3 weeks of hard core dieting to get you there
Coaching PRs:
Awainer1- 4 PRs (8/9 lifts)
Small veggie female – 9 for 9 at her first meet with a few state records sprinkled in there
Personal PR:
Deadlift over 1 year to add 5kg
Awesomeness pr: included in the same blog post as Klokov (I can still remember sitting looking at him on TV bellowing at the bar in the Beijing olympics! He needs to win in London!
Predicted pr: I’m going to snatch 85kg this week and 90kg next!
HT: 5’10″
BW: 211lbs
Squat:1×5@405lbs
FT Squat: 1×5@325lbs
Press: No Press, Bicep pain coming back again
Deads: 1×5@435lbs
Bench: No Bench, Bicep pain coming back again
BW: 177 lbs
Deadlift: 335 x 3
I know i can pull double BW if i wanted to.
Zlatan Vanev embodies the intensity aspect of 70sbig. He’s only a 77kg lifter but he’s also quite short so it’s excusable. Here he is in 2007:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJgrF92hYAg&feature=related
He’s quite old here and he’s done much more than 190 in his younger days. In the Ironmind “Unbelievable Bulgarians” tape, he makes 5 attempts at 210 in the span of like 20 minutes, making the clean on all of them. Then he finishes things off with a 245kg front squat.
Bench 155×3
Squat 280×5
I should PR my deadlift tommorow.
Press PR- 5×3 77 1/2# (I love fractional weights!!)
Push Press PR- 95# (finally beat the rebending of the knees!)
And even though I have to lean out for work (I miss eating to gain weight as much as I hated it then) I matched my squat PR in a 5×1!
A good week for a near cripple. Stupid broken leg is acting up again…
BW at 95,8kg – I was set to compete in the 94kg weight class, but that’s just not gonna happen. Right now I’m not even trying to eat big, and the kilos just keeps pouring on.
Push press PR 105kg
Snatch PR 90kg (The snatch is quickly becoming my favourite lift)
Ginger,
Awesome! I’ll have to keep an eye out for you. I’m assuming I’ll be lookin for a 200lb red head?
Bench PR: 275×5
Deadlift PR: 410×5
Looking for 4 solid weeks of texas method before first competition. Squats were shitty this week, so no PRs. Looking to get 400×5 next week though.
Me:
Bench 115kg x 6
Squat 150kg x 8
Deadlift 215kg x 3
Trap bar shrugs 250kg x 3.
Wife:
Squat 56kg x 10
Deadlift 90kg x 3
Last weekend at a WNPF meet:
Bench: 405X1 – PR (mission accomplished)
good week, two PR’s doing the TSC.
Deadlift – 365lbs, way better than my last 1RM. I’m thinking a goal of 400 is possible.
17 deadhang pullups, i WILL do 20 by the end of the year.
Bench felt good, looks like I really did push through that 185 barrier, maybe I will hit my goal of 205x5x3 soon.
Hanging at the Gorilla Pit for a few days. All day Thursday everyone talked shit about how skinny I am. Assholes.
Deadlift 2 x 5 x 235 lbs
This was huge. My 5RM from six weeks ago was 210 lbs. My fucking 1RM from July 1 was an ugly 215 lbs.
It’s all because Ty is an asshole. He had me pulling singles after 185 lbs. I was feeling really good, unlike last week which was a giant crapfest all around. I pulled 225 lbs for 1 then he put 235 lbs on the bar and told me to pull 3. I told him he was an asshole. I’ve never pulled anything over 210 for more than 2 reps. And, as soon as I pulled, he told me to make it 5 reps. And then made me do it again.
So, fuck yes, I am pulling 2 x bodyweight soon.
After this, I flipped the 360 lb tire and the 445 lb tire for multiple flips. Those are both PRs because my gym sure as hell does not have tires that big. And, then I told everyone to fuck off for telling me I’m skinny.
F/34/5’8/140lbs
Tbone,
Do you have to use so dern many curse words? Haha