Ben hit a 171kg at the NorCal Open on Sunday. His meet PR was 165. He opened at 166.


Ben missed 175 after. He snatched 140 in the meet (go here for his write up).

In other news, Brent is still being an asshole and snatching with iron plates. He had an overall PR of 235 pounds recently. In his words: should note that those are not bumpers, setting is a globo gym, and this is me not giving a fucking shit.


The last time he was snatching around that weight, he was weighing 180 or so. In this video, he’s 164. Not a big deal, really.
What happens after snatching with iron plates? Clean and jerking with iron plates, of course.


May as well deadlift right after, slow touch and go. Make sure and read the info on this vid. Oh, and the shirt he’s wearing is a picture of an astronaut with the caption, “Not all dreams can come true.”
Continue reading →

In ‘Merica, the seasons are changing and the sun is warmly shining. Men are supposed to enjoy the outdoors; all things that are important occur under the stars. There’s no sense in not having a delightful little sun bath. Some of you may remember that over a year ago I was minding my own business when a jealous brigand yelled from his motorcar, “GET A TAN, BUDDY!” whilst wearing a wife beater and sporting a sleek, fake tan. I couldn’t have been less impressed.

Meanwhile, this is happening:



What was I saying? Oh, yes. A man should be brawny. Like this:

Not only is it okay for you to have your shirt off outside, but it’s entirely necessary. I never understood the poor souls who wanted to walk around in beautiful weather and NOT feel the breeze against their skin. If you’re self conscious about how you look, then fucking do something about it. Until then, boldly stop giving a shit.

Note: On Urban Dictionary, the definition of “sun’s out, guns out” referenced annoying Italians. If this phrase has anything to do with that shit show “Jersey Shore”, then I am unaware since I don’t watch shitty fucking television.

Every Monday 70’s Big features women who quite clearly show that lifting weights isn’t something that women should shy away from. Pretty Powerlifting is a powerlifting team started by Vanessa and Sara in New York. Their message is pretty much the same as what 70’s Big reverberates: women who strength train are healthy in body and mind.

The roommates fell in love with strength training and powerlifting and started the site and team to encourage women to train hard, get strong, and be healthy. Their mentors and role models in the sport are women such as Sioux-z Hartwig Gary, Jennifer Thompson, and Ellen Stein.

Here’s a video that features various Pretty Powerlifting team members.


These girls are pretty strong, but they will no doubt aim to continue getting stronger. Pretty Powerlifting fits with the 70’s Big mindset of not being an emaciated and weak female, but a strong, beautiful woman.

Sarah (left) and Vanessa (right)

Getting strong and muscular isn’t something that happens easily. There are no shortcuts. You’ll learn a lot from getting under a bar, but you’ll learn more by being under that bar consistently. Don’t destroy your body and make sure to give it rest. Establish a solid strength base if you haven’t already. Don’t constantly switch programs. Avoid large amounts of volume. Read about programming, understand why the coach does that for his people, but understand how some of the principles can be generally applied. Don’t be a diet groupy. Don’t be or act like a zealot. Always get an informed opinion, but understand the difference between a blatant opinion and an educated guess based on the circumstances (you’ll find the latter here). Learn about basic anatomy and physiology. Keep an open mind. Always learn. And for fuck’s sake, have a good time doing it.

We’re all here to get Harder, Better, Smarter, and Stronger. Cheers.

Happy PR Friday
Post PR’s or training updates to comments. Welcome newcomers.

This podcast begin as a basic podcast on how JP would progress the deadlift and turned into a very interesting and useful programming podcast. You know someone is a good programmer when they are asked about a program, they ask an avalanche of questions like

How old, tall, and heavy are you?
What are your lifts at?
What program have you been doing?
How many times a week do you train?
What is the set/rep scheme?

Programming is an organic art. Listen to this podcast to learn how to do it effectively.




LINK (right click and “save target as”)
30:32 long. Also available on iTunes.

Note: 70sBig.com has gotten too 70’s Big for it’s current server and will be switching to a new server in the next few days. If the site is down, it will be back up in a few hours.