If you are a fan of the 70’s Big Facebook Page, then you will have already seen this announcement. I’ve been working on a project with Dr. Lon Kilgore and Dr. Michael Hartman. It’s a general fitness book called “FIT” and is a guide to make you exactly that. The book dives into quality chapters on the quantified parameters of fitness: strength, endurance, and mobility. Here’s a teaser, and stay tuned for more as we near the August release date:
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Edit: I just want to point out that even if you aren’t a “fitness trainee”, this book is chock full of quality information, even if you’re merely a strength trainee who wants to add in conditioning. The strength and endurance chapters alone are worth the money and could be books by themselves. Then we take the concepts of strength, endurance, and mobility and tie them all together and teach how they should be structured and programmed. Feel free to ask questions and stay tuned for excerpts and features.
This is a video of Glenn Pendlay cleaning 170 quite a few years ago. I think it’d be cool to see more of these converted home videos. I think this might be the old WFAC location?
This is a sweet video of Dmitry Klokov clean and jerking 242 in training. With a head band. And spandex. And a tank-top. And beast mode. As he walked away I’m pretty sure he said, “Bitches ain’t shit.”
May as well show you this other Klokov vid to keep this “sweet music” theme alive. He almost snatches 214kg off of blocks. Almost.
I’m off to write. Feel free to chat about these topics, or whatever in the comments. I’ll chime in periodically.
I am looking forward to this book almost as much as I’m looking forward to being accepted by Mjolnir as possessing the power of Thor.
I love the text on the back of the book. I’ll be getting several copies for me and to loan out/give folks.
Can we pre-order this?
The nature of how it’s being published is that it won’t need a pre-order. Once it’s sent to publishing, it will be on Amazon within several days.
–Justin
Klokov is so dreamy.
Also, is this book going to be an e-book or can we get a physical copy?
“FIT” is an actual book. It will be available on Amazon. You can hold it in your hands. You can read it while pooping.
–Justin
Derp, I just saw the barcode on the back cover.
the 2nd Klokov video is notable because it would be a WR weight for the weight class ABOVE his.
Go Glenn. I’m going to start a petition to get some Rolling Stones tunes played at my gym.
This book is gonna be so cool. Justin I sent you an email
sounds freakin sweet, I’ll be grabbing that for sure
Klokov is a BAMF. I hope for his sake that C&J video isn’t from 2006 but from more recently. It’s crazy to think about how many of the best lifts ever aren’t done in competition. 6kg over the WR in his weight class in the C&J and 1kg over the official super-heavy Snatch if he had made it (albeit off blocks).
Djay, even if it was an e-book, if you have a laptop your reading while pooping issue will be cured.
Just don’t wipe with the wrong implement. Na’mean?
Awesome news about the book. I’ll definitely check it out.
Has anyone ever made, or have plans for, pulling blocks or jerk boxes (not sure what they’re called) like the ones in that second Klokov video?
I’m sorry, I’m just not convinced that Klokov can bring the intensity needed to succeed in weightlifting.
@JStadt7
And while we’re on the subject of wiping tips, front to back is always best out of courtesy for any potential lady friends.
Justin, what’s your opinion on training lifts from the blocks? It seems like most people with competent technique can actually handle more weight from the blocks than from the floor, and the gap widens as technique improves.
It’s largely an advanced thing that nobody here would need to worry about for a while, unless the breach the one to two year mark on consistent weightlifting experience. My lack of experience won’t let me have a decent opinion on it, but doing the lifts off blocks will help with the second pull. The hip extensors begin their forceful extension from a static isometric position as opposed to a position that is in motion. Most complete movements will include isometric action at the hip extensors off the floor, then they will concentrically shorten after the par passes the knee. There will be some degree of “scooping” going on as the knees push forward under the bar after it has ascended past them — my current analysis would say the degree of “scooping” is dependent on the technique the lifter is attempting to do AS WELL AS the existing musculature. An anterior-chain-dominant is naturally going to shift into a position to use their anterior chain for the lift. In any case, after the scoop — IRregardless of degree — the hip extension is occurring after all of that goofy motion. The pulling off blocks initiates the hip extension without any of that precursor movement, especially the “scoop” which is a subtle (or more blatant) re-bending of the knees. One could argue that the scoop takes tension off the hamstrings (specifically) before returning that tension when forcefully extending the hip during that second pull. You can see how pulling off the blocks would be different since there is not a reduction in tension at the start of a pull from blocks.
As far as their implementation or set/rep scheme, I don’t know. Depends on the system (volume or intensity focus) and a whole host of other things. We could ask Pendlay what his thoughts are.
–Justin
Beginners are better served with mostly sticking with the actual lifts, and lifts from the hang. These tend to build technique better.
Lifts from the block below the knee are useful in reinforcing several technical points, and, can often be used to get more practice on the catch without extreme lower back fatigue.
The pull off blocks above the knee is more of a pure explosion, for advanced athletes it can be used to concentrate on the top pull without all that pesky technical stuff, and, often heavier weights can be utilized, which has obvious advantages.
When we use blocks, we normally use more reps per set than the normal lifts since the lift is obviously producing less fatigue.
I would rarely let beginners lift from the blocks, because blocks can screw up technique in beginners. Depends on the lifter, but maybe 12 months might be a normal time of training before I would start to utilize more lifts from blocks.
Justin, sorry to hijack the thread, but I’ve sent you an e-mail about the TM e-book, and I don’t know if you have had time to check it.
R.E.
I used the e-mail that you log-in to this site with, and I don’t have any e-mails from you. I’ll send an e-mail to that address.
–Justin
The book sounds sweet, I look forward to giving it a read. Also, Klokov is a beast.
I had read something about the above-the-knee off blocks lifts, it was from a russian text where they suggest lifts from above the knee provide the most carryover to the top-end explosiveness required in the lifts, and that maximal to above-max weights can be used here.
I’ve recently started training using the medvedyev programming, where a lot of above-knee lifts are used, either from the hang with a fast rebend from the top, or heavy pulls off blocks. I think next week includes heavy clean pulls to 110% or something from above-knee.
found it:
“Consider the results of two studies by Marchenko… Both studies dealt with the relative effectiveness of different snatch and clean exercises. The authors found that when lifters performed the snatch and clean from a starting position above the knees, from the hang (without a pause at the start) and from plinths [blocks]; these were the most effective exercises for developing key speed-strength qualities: “reactive ability” (developed best by the snatch and clean from the hang, above the knees, without a pause) and explosive-strength (best developed by the snatch and the clean from the plinths, bar above knee height). The results of these two studies demonstrate the effectiveness of employing different starting conditions for the execution of the weightlifting exercises.”
interesting as this study was published in 93/94, while the exercises are from a book published in 86 (Medvedyev texts), yet they are still often used today as evidenced by the videos, 25yrs later.
I’ll also point out that they were undoubtedly used on lifetime trainees of Olympic weightlifting as something to garner progress. This is me questioning their inclusion in your program.
–Justin
Justin, I sent the e-mail to Justin@70sbig.com from my google account. I’ll reply to your e-mail as soon as I get home. And from the receipt I’m seeing that you also have a gmail account, which is probably the one you use. Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it.
Killustrated also did “Anatomy Without a Scalpel” correct? The reason I ask is because I ordered it from Amazon, and was greatly disappointed in the quality of the photo reproduction. They were super dark and looked like they were copies of copies of copies done on a 70’s Xerox. It may have just been a bad batch of books, or maybe Amazon hates me and sent me a crappy copy. If there’s going to be pictures of you in it, I want them to be crystal clear.
I’ll go ahead and assume your copy is the same as mine. Unless you have bad eye sight, you’re just whining. If you go on the Amazon page, there are previews of the images. They are in black and white, and all of the models are taken on a black background so that the background doesn’t interfere with what is being pointed out in the picture.
LINIK Click that link, then click the picture of the book, then page through the preview. Black and white pictures are no less valuable than colored pictures in pointing out anatomical references.
Assuming your copy is normal, everything is clearly distinguishable in the pictures. For a cheap price you’re getting a very detailed anatomy book that goes out of it’s way to talk about the structures and their role in movement and training. Whether you are a trainee or coach, this is more valuable than a much more expensive anatomy book.
If you’d like, you could photograph a page spread and post it to determine whether the images in your book were mis-printed, but I’d assume that isn’t the case.
–Justin
@Justin, I’m just following the program as written.
I don’t have the other book that goes into explanations of everything, but the small amount of stuff written in my book talks about mastering the lifts in parts, while also doing the full lifts as well. Specifically, it suggests its easier to master techique this way.
the OTC coach Zygmunt also uses pieces + full lifts for the majority (if not all) of the athletes who train or have visited there, seemingly emphasizing strength & speed in different key positions of the lifts.