Q&A – 46

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PR Friday is an opportunity to be a part of this amusing and fun community. You don’t “need” to be a certain strength level — post your progress or weekly PR’s. Everyone is on the same quest of strength, muscularity, and performance.

Beer brewed with bull testicles.

I forgot to list a Weekly Challenge last week (oops — sometimes I write the rest of the post before I’ve decided on one). I offered a shirt for the “Manly Deeds” challenge a few weeks back and have a winner — will do a post next week on that.

Next Week’s Challenge comes from a friend who just got out of the “professional soldiering for Uncle Sam” business, and it is: complete as many trips up and down a set of monkey bars — note how many monkey bars one length is. Don’t do this wearing a ski mask and don’t do it during recess.

Week In Review: On Monday I started the 70’s Big Breast Cancer Fundraising campaign. Help us raise money in the Battle for the Boobs. Tuesday was a reiteration of the idea that instead of comparing yourself to someone strict pressing 260 for reps, be the best you can be with what you have. Wednesday was a quick beautiful piece titled, “Ode to Bacon“. Thursday was an inspirational post about never giving up.

Meanwhile I’ve been solo adventuring/camping around Colorado and am now in Denver for the Great American Beer Festival with some friends. Beers I tasted include: bacon beer, peanut butter beer, combining the peanut butter beer with a blackberry beer (essentially creating a PB&J), a beer made with BULL TESTICLES, and a beer that was so spicy I had to pray to the old gods to ask for forgiveness so that my soul would stop burning.

Q&A

Justin,
I’m about to graduate this December with an exercise science degree. I’ve been interning since May with my school’s strength and conditioning staff and will continue until next May when I go to get my CSCCa. I don’t want to go to grad school in order to work at a college, but since I want to open up my own gym, I feel like I need to get some collegiate experience so I can better train people. What is your advice on this? Also, what certifications do you think are most important for a trainer to s&c coach to have?

Thanks for your help,
“chief” on 70sbig

 

Dear chief,

It sounds as though you’re doing the internship to satisfy your undergraduate requirements, but why do you have to wait that long in order to sit for the CSCS exam? Either way, it isn’t necessary to work in the collegiate realm if you want to own a gym. It certainly wouldn’t hurt, but it’s not necessary. I helped out (like an unofficial internship) in my university’s S&C program, but I was already owning/coaching CrossFit and had been personal training for a while. It’ll give you good experience for running classes, working with performance athletes, and seeing the logistics of a goal oriented facility.

All that being said, you could get in the gym industry without anything at all. I mean, look at all the people who start CrossFit facilities with just a few months of training experience. Sure, there are many CrossFit places that provide quality training, but there are also other facilities with coaches who have no business doing what they do. My only point is that the success of a gym business sadly isn’t solely dependent on the capability of the coach — this is a business that is dependent on the local market and the actions of the owner. If you are curious to talk more about business, I’m sure there are readers willing to do so (including friends of mine).

You already stated you don’t want to go to grad school so definitely don’t do it. It’s a slog, and you should only do it if you’re committed. As for certifications, I would sit for the CSCS as soon as you can. That really is the gold standard in the conventional fitness realm. I’ll point out that I don’t have it, but if I was going to get one to establish “credibility” for certain types of jobs or positions, that would be the one I would get. A certification doesn’t prove much, but some other good ones to have are USA Weightlifting and USA Track and Field.

Coaching and training isn’t about the letters after your name. And technically, education level (particularly S&C knowledge) isn’t dependent on certifications either. Your success in a business will be decided on how much you care for your clients. Your success as a S&C coach will depend on your ability to critically think, and I try and teach this skill through this website. Whatever you do, don’t stop learning.

 

NolanPower on  said:

Justin, I have a very important question. I wore short shorts to a crossfit competition this weekend that I attended as a spectator (for those who have never been/hate crossfit/whatever, go, it’s awesome) and I went to watch my friend compete but I was constantly surrounded by girls attempting to tear off my clothes. What can I possibly do to avoid this horrible side effect of manly short shorts?

Dear NolanPower,

This is a normal, albeit unavoidable side effect. Recently I went to the grocery store right before midnight in short shorts and a tank-top. This funny guy I see regularly was there that night. A few weeks later he was checking me out at the register and I reminded him of that night (because I bought a three-foot banana squash because I thought it was funny). He says, “Oh yeah! You had those shorts on. We didn’t know if you were in a hurry or…if you were gonna kill us all…”

But then he said that the females enjoyed it. I say this because The Revolution is important. Every time a female sees you in short shorts, it provides a(n orgasmic) stimulus that alters her perception of manliness, masculinity, and attractiveness. Expose her with enough frequency, volume, and intensity, and she will soon forget that skinny guys have any relevancy in her life. This means that she’ll naturally select a mate who is burly, strong, and muscular. They may eventually mate and produce more stout offspring, thereby reducing the “skinny” variation from the gene pool. No, we’re not talking about ethnic cleansing, but we’re talking about fully capable humans and men in a time where frailty — both physically and socially — are glorified.

 

Justin, I have an athlete belt from Bestbelts which I’ve been using for the last two years or so.  I’ve developed a chronic lower rib (floating) pain on the back a few inches from the spine.  I’ve posted about it a couple times and someone asked if I had hyper lordosis but then never explained why they asked.  To answer their question, I do have hyper lordosis.
In my limited knowledge of the body, I’m guessing that perhaps the lordosis causes most of the belts pressure to be applied to the top and bottom of the belt since it probably isn’t entirely touching my back, perhaps causing undue pressure/stress on the ribs?  Does that sound right? If so what are my options?  At this point I’ve stopped deadlifting with a belt and plan on taking it off for squatting as well to see if it feels any better after a couple of weeks.
At this point I wake up with my ribs aching, they ache at work and especially ache when wearing body armor.
What are my options? Learn to live with squatting and deadlifting without a belt?  Nylon belt? Thinner belt? I’m well into correcting my hyper lordosis with daily couch stretches and frequent psoas releases.  Would stuffing a shirt or towel in the hollow spot of my back between the belt help?
Thanks for your time and keep writing great articles!
-Kev B.
Dear Kev B,
First, you are correct that your first priority should be improving the hyperlordosis. Review this “Hyperlordosis” post. You should also be looking to improve your posture by tightening your lower abs and glutes. In the post I talk about doing this every time you go through a doorway to help make it a habit. Keep the daily psoas and hip flexor work.
As for lifting, you need to start lifting with a correct spinal position. On deadlift, it can help if you tighten your abs before starting the lift. If you consciously contract your abdominals, you won’t be able to anteriorly rotate your pelvis (see the above post to see what this means) and will avoid the position that is not only making your belt ineffective, but also irritating your ribs.
I would need you to describe your rib pain clearly — is it the base of the rib at the spine or the intercostal musculature that gives you fits? Either way, this needs to be rectified because it will either reduce your stability because it’s not 100% or provide enough pain to the point that your stability will be hampered (the body usually tries to avoid pain, and this can put you in awkward positions and induce other problems in lifting). I would put a premium on side planks and rotational assistance exercises to see if it helps with the rib issue.
It’s possible that your torso is short and a normal 4 inch belt is irritating your lower ribs. If this is the case, you can get a 3 inch suede belt or get a Harbinger nylon velcro belt. If you need to wear these in the short term, that’s fine. I would think that if you correct your mechanics that your regular belt will suffice (assuming a normal torso length). Whatever you do, the priority should be NOT hurting when wearing body armor at work.

115 thoughts on “Q&A – 46”

  1. I became a man last week, finally squatted 405. hard work aside, i think it had something to do with the 70s Big shirt i was wearing. I would like to thank my wife, kids, and extended family/friends for tolerating my weak ass all this time.
    also i Clean and Jerked my 1 rep max 4 times last night, but couldnt lift 10 pounds heavier once…so frustrating? seems like there is something im doing wrong in the rack position. thanks for all you do and keep up the good work!

  2. Monday:
    HB Back Squat: 5×5 @ 275#
    RDL: 3×5 @ 185#
    Bench Press: 5×5 @205#
    Pull-ups: 5×5 +25#
    Assistance Work

    Wednesday
    Front Squat: 3×3 @225#
    Press: 3×3 @135#
    Deadlift: 3×3 @335#
    Assistance Work

    Friday (today)
    HB Back Squat: 5 @275#, 5 @295#, 5 @315# (PR)
    Bench Press: 5 @185#, 5 @205#, 5 @225# (PR — easy!)
    Power Clean: 3 @185#, 3 @205#, 1 @225#
    Assistance Work

  3. This week:

    Deadlift: 330lbsx3
    Bench press: 285lbsx3
    Overhead press: 165lbsx4
    Squat: 285lbsx5

    In two weeks there is a casual bench press competion at the naval station gym where I am stationed. I’m kinda excited about it though. My bench 1RM is still untested at this point, so I’m not really sure what to open with and all of that. But it’s just for bragging rights so it doesn’t really matter.

  4. Good week:
    SQ- 300 3X5
    Bench- 230 3X5
    Dead- 335 1X5
    Press- 140 3X5
    Powerclean- 170 5X3 *PR

    Trying to stay around 181. We’ll see how long the progress keeps up at this weight.
    Food PR- put my turkey chili in my scrambled eggs today. mmmmmmm.

  5. Justin, just to jump in and clarify what Chief said. He’s getting his CSCCa not CSCS. Getting a CSCCa is a lot more rigorous and requires a lengthy “mentorship/internship” before being able to obtain it. It’s not just a matter of having a degree and passing the test like it is for the CSCS, which is why he isn’t sitting for the exam earlier.

  7. Justin, be sure to try ANYTHING from Odell Brewing Company while you’re there. All of their stuff is amazing. My favorite is the 90 Shilling Scottish Ale.

    PR on joining an actual strength and conditioning gym for some coaching. They train using Westside methods which I am largely ignorant of so it should be a fun learning experience. I did get a bench PR on my second day with improved form and lots of yelling.

  9. Deadlifted 550 last Saturday at my first meet. Benched 270×3 and 275×2 (both prs). Some how my left hip has become totally broken and I’m going to have to take some time off. This conflicts with going for the 525 state record in the squat in December so I’m quite naturally pissed.

    Also, I can’t seem to figure out an appropriate dose/response for the TM for squatting. Seems like no matter how I set it up, I come up 1 rep short on intensity day. And ID is ungodly heavy when I squat anywhere around 80-85% on volume day.

  11. Lifting PRs: Only one of note since I’m almost at the end of Starting Strength, so I’m stalling on both of my presses and working through a deload on my squat. Had an unreal deadlift set yesterday though, which involved lots of grunting and screaming at myself in my head when I thought I had nothing left in the tank. Ended up with a 360×5 set and a very high sense of self-worth. Lifting related PRs: Finally got my Rogue Do-Wins in the mail after having to send back my first pair for being too big. Hating myself for not getting them sooner. Also been approaching the bar before all my work sets with a lot more aggressiveness and intensity, which has surprisingly made a positive difference.

  12. Getting ready for my first meet in two weeks (USAPL VA States). Got all the gear – deadlift slippers, singlet, wrist wraps, etc.

    Cluster Squat PR: 255lbs – 1 rep on the minute, 11 reps total.

  13. Making what I intend to be my final SS LP run. Every week’s a PR week in BeginnerLand (c)

    Sq: 230# x 5 PR. Only 175# more to hit 405, so prolly 2-3 weeks max.

    Maybe my gym doesn’t suck PR: Not a quarter squat in sight today.

  16. First off, been reading/posting here for a few weeks now: THIS SITE IS GREAT. I love the attitude, content, and advice. Best bunch of internet strangers out there, in my opinion.

    Switched from a 5×5 ‘fitness’ progression back to 5/3/1 this week. I had good progression last year with 5/3/1, and 5×5 was starting to really suck. So first week:
    Squat: 205×5
    Bench: 175×5
    DL: 315×5
    Press: 125×5

    One arm PR: I just got done telling my wife how I may have to give up my goal of being able to do a one-armed pull up at a bodyweight of 190 lbs. when lo and behold this weekend, popped up on the Olympic rings in my garage gym, held at full contraction for 5 seconds on my left arm and 3 seconds on my right arm. Now, I am re-motivated to train the movement. I need to be smart and avoid tendonitis, which has hampered my efforts in the past.

    Headaches are getting better too, Justin nailed it – irritated neck muscles from straining. I have made a conscious effort when under load to not allow myself to recruit additional muscles to the movement but to maintain good form. Also massage therapy has helped tremendously.

  17. Heavy week in my 5-3-1. New volume PRs.

    LBBS: 330 x 6 (This was my 1RM last Dec)
    Bench: 265 x 4 (Damn spotter grabbed the bar and stole my 5th rep as soon as I struggled. Why don’t they effin listen when I say, “Okay, I’m going to work through this set. Hands off unless I drop the bar on my neck.”)
    Deadlift: 365# x 7
    Press: 160# x 6

    I want to hit a 405# squat 1RM by the end of the year. Based on this week, think I have a chance?

    I also spent time this week going through the archives and making a list of the challenges and trying to do them. In the last two weeks:
    – Made crockpot meatballs for a potluck. Cop out because they were frozen, but I’ll make a proper meal soon.
    – Chopped a cord of firewood last weekend up north. Took slow-mo video of the manliness.
    – Chose my hamstrings as the problem area I need to work on. They are way too tight.
    – Eat vegetables every day (but I do that anyway).
    – Heavy farmer’s walk, 115# dumbbells for one tour around the weightroom, dropped them 3 times.
    – Haven’t been skimping on my mobility (and warmups) Couch stretch, hammies, shoulders.
    – I did not suck.

    Up next, rucking, lifting for strangers, curls, food log, foot drills, add more conditioning, curl 90 lbs, Max Pushups, side planks, eat more butter, GET MY SHORT SHORTS.

    • Being as you’re doing 5-3-1, that is 5 lb increases per month, you’ll probably be squatting 15 lbs heavier than you are now.

      I’m going to guess your training max is at 390 right now. Add 15 lbs on to that, and take 95% of it (your 1+ weight) and that will put you at 385 for your 1+ by the end of the year. Its not far from 405, so with a bit more work you will hit it April or so as long as you don’t have any resets.

      Good luck man!

  19. Squat: 385×5 Matched 5 rep PR (although I hit 405×4 during smolov)
    Press 185×5 5 rep PR
    Deadlift 470×2 2 rep PR
    Chin-ups 3-2-2

    Just finished my 6th week of the texas method. Loving it so far, wish I started it sooner.

  20. Big DL PR – 407×5

    http://youtu.be/d-LXWXTo5wE

    Really happy with my deadlift progress. I tore my groin in January, and took a long layoff from squats and pulls to recover. I started back up on an LP and I’ve been successfully progressing with 5kg jumps on the DL, all the way past my pre-injury PR of 385 (with wad a struggle). Next week I’ll be going for 418×5. Most I’ve ever pulled for a single was 415 (pre-injury).

  22. Squat 365x1x5
    Press 165x1x5

    I’ve lowered volume on TM volume day to 3×5. I also switched intensity day to 5 singles. Last, I’m attempting to progress both bench press and press at the same time every week.

  23. Had a cold this week so only trained twice instead of three times. Things of note from this week’s workouts:

    Mon:
    Vol LB squat: 107.5kg, 115kg, 122.5kg x 3
    RDL; 95kgx5x3 (didn’t get my hips back enough on these, very tiring. Will prob repeat this again next week. Def helping my hamstring strength)

    Bench: 107.5kgx 1, 1. 100kgx3 (weak did 105.5kg for 3,3,2 the week before but I had a cold in this workout.)

    Pull ups: 3×5
    Side planks

    Fri:

    LB Squat 122.5kg, 132.5kg, 142.5kg x 2 (PR)
    Close grip bench 92.5kgx 6 (PR)
    Pendlay row: 97.5kgx3x3 felt good used DOH grip.
    Hammer curls 24kgx10,9
    Tricep pushdowns 85lbsx10x2
    Side planks/plank/foam rolling

  24. Hey Lads would love a bit of guidance/ advice :)

    I’ve recently joined a Olympic lifting club and i am enjoying learning how to lift properly. I’ll be going once a week on a Wednesday, Im not interested in competing or anything so i dont want to give up on the PL movements.

    What i want to do is 2 day PL one day OL. I just dont know how to program the none OL days. Push/Pull? Upper/Lower? Full body? I cant find any workout like this. OL training is usually Snatch, C & J, Squat. Any help would be great.

    PR : First ever Snatch done on Wednesday.

    • It would help to know some background before we recommend a routine to ya. However, I would recommend doing some oly stuff outside that one day to reinforce what you’re learning.

    • If you are using something similar to the Texas method, stick with that for Monday and Friday, using the former for a heavy volume day and the latter for a high intensity day. Wednesday, then, is a perfect day to do some Olympic lifting because you would have been going light on the volume and low on the intensity anyway. Since you are just starting out, I recommend just working with very light weights and light reps for both snatch and clean-and-jerk. Olympic lifting is all about athleticism and technique, so spend the time up front learning how to properly do the lifts. Again, you shouldn’t feel bad about working at lower volume and intensity, because you might have been doing that anyway in a powerlifting routine. Have fun. I love Olympic lifting and work it into my normal routine now that I have a gym with bumper plates.

  27. On Monday I high barred 140kg for three sets of five, and tonight I did 142.5.

    Deadlift is only 10kg under PR (whilst wearing weightlifting shoes and hook grip; it’s about 15kg higher when barefoot and mixed grip). Benching has also been good this week too – 90kg x 5 after two triples with it which felt easy, and tonight three triples with 92.5, which again weren’t too hard.

  28. I did some leg curls for sets of 50, and then did 5 sets of 10 on the pec dec with the full stack. The first time I ever went in a gym, I did that for 3 sets of 15 at 15 pounds. I hit a nice 335 paused bench, and an easy 350 touch and go. I’m shooting for a 5×5 OHP at 205 tomorrow- it might be ok.

    I’m pretty sure I have a level 1 grade tear in my left adductor, so I think I might have to back off squatting heavy. There’s no confidence or power in the hole at all. Time for some high volume, low intensity, just sort of squatting so “I feel it.” Lame, but probably necessary.

  29. Squat 385 x 3. Very solid.

    RANT: I was robbed in my PR attempt of Benching 295 x 3. No matter how many fucking times I try to explain how I want to be spotted on the bench, every fucking bro grabs the bar and yanks it up at the slightest grind. I was real fucking stoked for 295×3, but after 2 smooth solid reps, the 3rd just STARTED to slow down, and Wrist-Straps grabs it like a fat kid snatching the last Snickers out of the Halloween basket.

    I even use the spotter-bars and explain to them that even if I completely drop it, it probably won’t kill me. Don’t even touch the bar unless it starts moving backwards. IT WON’T KILL ME. You put in your volume, you eat your meat, you get your sleep… you look forward to a good PR all week like a fucking dork, and then nada- all because you wanted a little help off the rack so you don’t lose tightness in your upper back. Not that “they” understand this. But I do, and it fucking matters.

    I’m done bitching. Thank you for your time.

  30. Deadlift: 355lbx5 Not a PR; couldn’t deadlift last Friday due to time constraints. Did same weight from two weeks ago. Grip felt solid though!

    Chin-up PR! 9,8,8,5

  31. Coming back from hellish ankle sprain:

    Back Squat – 200#
    Overhead Squat – 135#
    Power Snatch – 100#
    Power Clean – 125#
    Weighted Pistols – 15#

    Plus awesome week at the pool:

    -a stiff neck made me start rolling my body instead of twisting my neck to breathe. Swimming just became effortless!
    – finally nailed the butterfly stroke! I credit all the hip action from olympic lifting

  32. Time to delurk.

    I’m an ageing (38) former sprinter who desperately wants to get back into sprinting, but who currently can’t run because of a chronic Achilles tendon injury. While I can’t run and have nothing better to do, I spend my time lifting and trying to get stronger, using the Texas Method and Justin’s excellent e-books.

    Two new 1RM PRs today: 122.5kg (270lb) squat (high bar, ATG), and 173.75kg (382lb) deadlift. Also did 5x110kg (242lb) snatch grip deadlifts, 5×21.25kg (47lb) weighted chin-ups, and 7×51.25kg (113lb) press.

    Not very impressive numbers, but I’m just a small mammal (75kg/165lb) who has always been rather weak.

  33. Strict press 185 at <185 bw, so finally able to press bw overhead. Also ended with 485×1 on deadlift, not an all time PR but most pulled in a while at this weight.

  34. Not much to report this week. Got glasses so I now have 20/15 vision instead of 20/30. Got an A on my lastest med school exam. On track for >3.5 this semester and stoked.

    Lifting was decent on squats and meh on everything else.
    Squat: 285×12. I was planning on 275x8ish (on a sort of LP/TM setup currently), but I texted Jay and typo’d, so I did 285×12 again. Restarting daily mobility 6 days ago has made a gigantic difference.
    Press: 145×5- meh. Still working out the kinks. Finally got around to fixing my grip, and whoa can I feel more triceps recruitment!

  36. Hey everyone. Recovery is going well still. I am off crutches but still have a very long way to go before I Can even think about about squatting or pulling.
    Bench 280×2

  38. Started on Starting Strength last week. First time lifting in any coherent fashion since high school, and after about a decade of collage + grad school and at least keeping things to a slow decline by various combinations of biking/sports/etc. the last few years with relatively heavy work travel and terrible lack of activity have just brought things to hell. No time, and no convenient facility anywhere convenient.

    Enough of that – set up a squat cage etc. in my basement, and going to get back to respectability. Even the day after my first session, muscle soreness and all, I already felt better, with improved strength and mobility – the ease of progress early on is one hell of a motivator not to get back there.

    Still reminding myself that my body parts work and bend like they should, along with bringing back the intensity. Great to find performance-oriented lifting resources, as I really don’t give a shit about appearance and the massive overload of crap form over function crap kinda, along with a lack of direction, threw me off of starting back up with lifting for a while. Any worthwhile program needs at least squats and power cleans as far as I’m concerned. Always my 2 favorite lifts.

    The big complication that I’m facing is that I travel for work – typically a couple of weeks a month, and with too-long days. For at least the next few months, I think I can scale back trip duration and move rest-days around a bit to mostly keep up a usable schedule to maintain progress, but especially as next year rolls around I’ll need to work out a better plan in that regard. Very interested in suggestions to maintain progress when spending maybe 80-90 nights a year in hotels, usually a week at a time, sometimes longer, occasionally shorter. Barbell training is where my comfort level is in terms of strength and power building and we all know it works really well, but not a lot of hotel gyms have olympic bars… Really interested in feedback in programming around that sort of schedule.

    Just feels so damn good to improve rather than waste away.

    • I’m a similar situation. I travel less but still a fair bit, I run a startup, and I have a young family. Training definitely has to fit around the margins.

      My solution is to use a lot of bodyweight exercises. You can knock out some reps almost anywhere (e.g. you can l-sit in your chair at work) and you can get a decent workout at crappy hotel gyms that don’t have any real weight. For example, a recent hotel gym had a pullup bar but the ceiling was too low to actually pullup (WTF?!) I did front levers instead — still got a good back workout and didn’t put my head through the plaster. When I worked near a park I keep a set of gym rings in my bad and would do sprints and various ring moves during a quick lunch break. One-legged squats (aka pistols) are a reasonable exercise for the legs. I should do them more.

      This definitely works for upper body strength. I’ve had less success with lower body work. My squat hasn’t moved much though surprisingly my deadlift is going up (probably due to back strength).

      • That could work out somewhat OK for me, since upper body has always been where I’ve had more difficulty making progress. Lower body near the limit has always felt like I could just dial up the intensity, push harder, and complete the rep. Upper body has always felt a lot closer to hitting a wall.

        For now I’ll reap the novice gains, shuffle my schedule for shorter trips to get as much work in at home as possible, and treat hotel workouts like something between active recovery and an actual workout. The hotel this week actually had (complete crap of course) barbells up to 110-115 points along with the usual dumbells, which is about as good as it usually gets, but still not really enough weight to really train without a big shift in program.

        Pistols etc. are worthy excercises as well. My biggest question is how I can best program this sort of thing to maintain/support overall progress, which will be a bit of an interesting challenge. Consistent schedule just isn’t going to happen, and diet is a challenge as well.

        • Here’s how I program:

          If I’m not sore and I can workout, I do.

          Occasionally I’ve done 3-in-a-rows, which is the limit for me, but my schedule generally takes care of “periodization”. Which is to say I’ll get a good run of workouts and then something will happen to keep me from working out for a few days so recovery just happens.

          Otherwise programming is the same as regular workouts. Try to balance push and pull and upper and lower body. For upper body I divide exercise into horizontal and vertical push and pull. For lower body just push (squats/quads) and pull (deadlights/hamstrings).

          360 pulls are my goto exercise on rings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwnlIPq_7A4&noredirect=1

          That’s probably the most exotic thing I do. Other exercises are fairly straightforward (pullups, pushups, etc). If an exercise is too easy, start to take one hand out of the equation.

          For legs: sprints, pistols, jumping.

          • Thanks for the added info – definitely a big help. The leg work in particular matches up pretty well with what I’d like to do once I reestablish my base (i.e. high intensity explosive sort of training along with continued strength building)

            Continuing to be amazed at the power of the novice effect. 2 weeks of 10 pound per session squat increases in, and somehow still getting easier every session.

  39. Can I suggest to “Chief”, and anyone else with any business desires, to learn the web. You dont have to be a coder to build a good site. You dont have to have a marketing degree to learn how to be found online (actually not having an education works to your advantage).
    Its the single best way to bring people in the door in just about every instance yet it is so often overlooked or the cheapest shitest way to go about it is done thinking its good enough.
    Your leaving money and opportunity on the table and an option for your competitors to kill you off.

    From the guy who has no pr’s this week because he had a shit time with his web business and missed the first 3 days of the week.

  41. Its been a few weeks since I have posted my training, so in short I am lagging it! Anyways today Sqts 3x5x245 1x8x205. Presses 5x3x147.5. Scheduling is hurting me right now but I duck it up and get it done! NO EXCUSES!

  43. PR’d on Kroc rows. I guess it’s something lol. 3 x 10 @ 48kg. My forearms were toasty after that. Hurt my jaw a little bit in a bad tackle during a rugby game. Can’t eat solid food right now. Fun stuff.

  44. First powerlifting comp today and so I suppose all my lifts were comp PRs. I had 7/9 lifts, squat being my best and I was surprised at just how tired I was by the time deadlift came around. Four hours of lifting really took its toll!

    Squat: 80-85-90
    Bench: 47.5-50-52.5(f)
    Deadlift: 90-95-100(f)

    Total of 235kg for a second in the women’s lightweight (all classes under 72kg) and I was given a trophy for best new female lifter! Such a friendly, positive group of people and I’m really looking forward to the next comp in November. :)

  47. Squat 170×5 (5/3/1 Deload Week)
    Leg Press 245x12x3 (swollertrophy sets)
    Press 150×5 (PR)
    Lat Raises 20x12x3 (swollertrophy sets)
    Inc Press 170x5x3, 125x8x3 (swollertrophy sets)
    Pendlay Row 155x5x3, 115x10x3 (swollertrophy sets)

  48. Only PR was Press – 162 x 2. Pretty weak. I missed squatting 345 x 2 and didn’t even attempt a DL PR. After a shitty couple of weeks I’m going to buy the TM ebook right now.

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