How was your Valentine’s Day? Did you eat several pounds of medium-rare steak? If not, get off the computer and fire up the grill. If so, please continue. I had a T-Bone and a Strip, and they were both bloody and delicious, thanks for asking.
Monday was the conclusion of Bert and Marijke’s story about her introduction to lifting and her first powerlifting meet. Here’s Part 1, and here’s Part 2. I hope you gals send me more articles about your experiences. The whole community is behind you.
Speaking of behinds, everyone’s second-favorite Jacob wrote up a great little article about posterior training, with the follow-up coming next week. Hopefully you read it thoroughly, or at least scrolled past the picture of Ariel’s back and saw some of the other stuff. I dunno, I didn’t look. I do know that our own Glenn Pendlay made a couple appearances, and hey, he’s a pretty cool guy, right?
Yeah, boyeeeeeee.
Had a couple people submit questions:
Karen asks: I am a female crossfitter (2/yrs) who is not getting enough lifting in the classes and finding them quite unsatisfying for a few different reasons. I am not dumb enough to think I can oly lift on my own but am considering taking the bench press to the globo gym (gym options are limited in my small town). So question for all: Are you all annoyed when/if a stranger asks for a spot? Any tips?
Karen, three things:
1. Talk to your coach first. Tell them you want to get stronger. Always give your coach a heads-up when you’re not happy, and allow them the chance to fix the situation. If he/she doesn’t pay you attention, or refuses to allow you to bench for some asinine reason, send them to me and then go ahead and send your ass to another gym.
2. At a globo, good spots are rare. Know that ahead of time. But you can try. Find someone that looks remotely like they know what they’re doing, and just ask if they mind spotting you. Hint: No bro minds giving a lady a spot. But it’s up to you to define your expectations. A sample conversation would go something like this: “Hi, random fella. I’m going to ask you for a spot not because your neon green shirt and shoes match, but because you’re one of the few people in here that squats, presses, and deadlifts and/or has a sweet beard. Can I get a spot on bench? I’m going for 5 reps. I’d like a little help on the liftoff (on the count of 3) and will ask you to take it IF AND ONLY IF I FAIL THE REP (emphasize this part, make eye contact, and realize that they’ll STILL screw it up half the time). Please don’t touch it unless I mention it. If I ask, grab the bar and rack it. I do not want a bro-spot.” Wink if you’re down with that, or if the beard is that legit.
3. Always put three things in a list. And never say “Oly lifting” near Pendlay in person. Trust me.
JayGreenShirt asks: I have been wondering how to program in order to maintain strength on certain lifts. I’ll give you my own example as a basis for this question. I will likely (hopefully) pull 500 within the next month. I do not care to take my deadlift higher than that at this time and would like to shift my focus to bringing up other lifts. That said, I want to be able to maintain the 500 lbs. deadlifting strength. I would like to know your thoughts on what I would do with my deadlift given this situation.
Congrats on getting close to the ol’ 500 mark. I’m not sure why you’re not re-gearing and getting ready for 600, but to each their own. I think that in order to maintain strength in a movement, you need to maintain your relevant musculature, and maintain your efficiency at the movement (i.e., practice). The deadlift, of all the lifts, is the easiest in these regards. Once you have your form down, you really only need to pull about every 7-10 days to improve strength, and every 10-14 days should be OK for maintaining it (I am speaking in terms of novice to intermediate pullers, obviously). So pull at least 2-3 times a month, do a max effort set, and push those pulls hard. Something in the range of 405×10, 425×7, 455×4-5, etc. outta do it. You could use the 5/3/1 percentages, or just wait for my ebook to come out on the KISS deadlift program. Whatever you decide, don’t completely neglect your pulls just for the sake of pushing your other lifts, and you’ll be fine.
Last week, I promised some really cool vintage stuff. I didn’t get to it this week, but here’s a preview, because it’s totally in the pipeline. You might have heard of Doug Young, right? Well, I’m going to share some information from this book:
And do you recognize this picture? YUP!
I got my dirty paws on a copy of this rare and expensive book (published in 1978, when, oh, dudes were 70sBig), and chances are, you can’t. So I’ll share with you some really great stories from it and some of the history, including awesome stuff from the Texas Athletic Club (predecessor to where I train and coach, Hyde Park Gym in Austin). By the time we are done, I fully expect all of you to be pressuring Terry Todd to re-publish it.
Luckily, if you’re on the hunt for ol’ Dr. Terry, he’s going to be at the Arnold, along with a large portion of the 70sbig crew. I don’t personally know the man, but I do know he’s in charge of the Arnold Strongman event, which is just one of the hundreds of things you can see at the Arnold. In the next couple weeks, we’re really going to dive into a preview, some coverage, and then some recaps of one of the coolest sports festivals in the world.
Finally, I’ll be interviewing Ryan Carillo this weekend. He’s a 21 year-old powerlifter and already practically the definition of 70sBig at 6’5″ and 300lbs. Ryan is raising money to go to IPF Bench Press Worlds in Lithuania, and I think we’re going to be able to help him out a bit. If we’re lucky, he’ll give us some tips on increasing our bench, too. Or at least, not eat us.
Post your PRs for the week. Have a great weekend. Get big.
Remember that time you said “Man, I wish my back was weaker?” Yeah, I didn’t think so. This is the first of a two-part series by Jacob Tsypkin on effective movements for training the posterior chain. Tsypkin coaches competitive weightlifters, CrossFitters,and even a powerlifter or three (if you force him) so his advice works well for most of you. As with most things in the gym, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do these, so read this carefully, watch the videos, and get to work.
Ariel says “Don’t be such a guppy. Get swole.”
To anyone remotely familiar with strength training, it is quite obvious that the posterior chain plays an important role in the sport of weightlifting. However, developing strength in the hamstrings, glutes, and back for improving performance in the snatch and clean & jerk isn’t quite as simple as it may seem.
I break the movements I use for this purpose down into two groups. This article discusses the first of those groups, the general: These movements are designed to create strength throughout the posterior chain in a way which is not specific to the snatch and clean & jerk. You are probably at least familiar with most of these movements.
1. Romanian Deadlift
If you are a consistent reader of 70’s Big, it is pretty unlikely that you haven’t heard plenty about the RDL. I’ll keep it simple here: we train it once a week, usually for 3×5, occasionally building up to a top set of 5 with good form before resetting. For mechanics, I’ll refer to you Justin’s post on the topic.
2. Pendlay Row
Basically a strict barbell row. The man himself tells you how to do it in the video below. We usually do these for heavy sets of 3-5 across, occasionally doubles or singles. In a lighter training phase, or for a lifter who needs some hypertrophy, we’ll do sets up to 10-12 reps.
3. Glute Ham Raise
I like sets of 5-10 on these. If 10 reps is easy, add some weight. Use with great care; these will make you sore for days. Once a week is plenty, and start with a low dose, like 3×5 (if you can do them at all…a lot of very strong people can’t.)
(I had Tsypkin create a GHR video because 90% of the GHR’s I see out there in the cold dark world are turrible. Just turrible. He got Ariel to be his lovely assistant. You’re welcome. – Cloud)
4. Back Extension
This is a true back extension, as taught here by some strange non-bearded Pendlay impersonator. Typically I start a lifter with 3×10-15 at bodyweight, and increase the reps up to 20 over a week or two, then add load at 3×10.
5. Back Raise
This is what most people refer to as a back extension. In reality the hips and hamstrings are doing the work here, but it’s still a very useful exercise. I follow the same protocol for applying these to a lifter’s training as I do for the back extensions, and Glenn covers this in the back extension video.
In the next segment, we will discuss posterior chain exercises specific to the sport of weightlifting.
Jacob Tsypkin is a CrossFit and weightlifting coach, the co-owner of CrossFit Monterey and the Monterey Bay Barbell Club in Monterey, CA, and a very handsome young man. He is available for weightlifting seminars and orders triple meat on his Chipotle burritos with a straight face.
Last Monday, I posted an article by a long-time reader, Bert, about how he introduced his lady friend, Marijke, to lifting, and what a dramatic difference it quickly made in her life. It had a great response amongst dudes and dudettes, and I promised a follow-up article on her first meet, which happened just 4 months after she started lifting. Here it is. A huge thanks to Bert for this well-written submission, and extreme props to Marijke for getting out there and competing after her first four months in the gym. How long have you been lifting? Have you competed? Have you trained a significant other?
In my previous article, I outlined the training and diet I had my girlfriend use during her first four months of powerlifting to have her recover from intestinal and spinal problems. In this article, I’ll review her experiences and results from her first contest.
The Results
First off, we both had a great day of lifting.
The Olympic Ghent Team
She went 7/9, doing 70 kg (PR) in the squat (154lbs), 35kg in the bench press (77lbs) and 70 kg (PR) in the deadlift (154lbs). Her second squat attempt was not approved because she racked the bar before the command, and she missed her last bench press attempt of 42.5kg (91lbs) because she gripped the bar closer than normal. Her bodyweight was 54.4 kg (120lbs) in the 56kg weight class, senior category (+24).
Cloud says “get your shins vertical!”
I went 9/9 and hit 170kg (375lbs) – 110kg (242lbs) – 220kg (485lbs) at a bodyweight of 75.25 kg (165.55lbs) in the 83kg weight class, senior category. I chose not to cut weight for the 74kg class since 75 is already light for me and I’m not yet near my actual all-time PRs yet, so I’m just going to “grow into the class” and get back into competing.
Other impressive performances were a 105 lifter of our club who hit 300 – 195 – 300 (geared) and a 125+ lifter who squatted 360kg (geared) and deadlifted 330kg (raw).
Experiences at the Meet
Going into the meet, she was nervous: “What if I am the only girl?” (she was); “What if I’m the odd duck there?” (she wasn’t; much odder ducks were present), “What if my butt looks big?” (it does, but that’s a good thing).
All these worries proved to be unfounded. All lifters were extremely supportive and friendly towards her and myself, and encouraged her each time she stepped up to the platform. Seeing her be accepted in this way pleased me enormously, let me tell you (this made the Hank Hill in me happy, btw, I tell you what. – Jacob). By the end of the day nearly every lifter had come by for a talk and words of appraisal for our lifting execution and lifts.
The camaraderie at the meet was exceptional and there was no rivalry at all to be found.
Post-Meet Impressions
My girlfriend claimed this was the most fun and friendly competition she had ever entered (having experience from competition in martial arts, gymnastics, dog and horse sports).
She was shocked how well-mannered (and often highly educated) the lifters were. No less than 2 lifters out of 20 had a PhD. Also, she received compliments that her back position was very good, without anybody knowing that she had such grave problems in her spine only months before.
She had an amazing time and felt accepted from the first moment. Besides constantly bombarding me with questions about how her new training schedule will look, she’s registered for the next comp on March 2nd. I’m enormously happy for her and hope that we’ll continue to have such a great time as a couple in this sport. I can recommend it to anyone.
Video of Bert and Marijke’s attempts:
I hope everyone learned something from Bert and Marijke’s experience. Training a significant other can be much more difficult than Bert let on, but can also be extremely rewarding. My lady friend is capable of hitting 10 reps with what she hit at her first meet now, but those early days weren’t easy, though she did experience a lot of camaraderie when she entered her first few meets, including USAPL Nationals. Ladies, I’d lofe to hear from you about your experiences as you got into lifting. Let’s get more females involved with competitions, and spread the word about how rewarding being 70sBig can be. I will always be a huge proponent of females competing, because I have seen the smile that ensues. Get big!
Fridays are an opportunity to reflect back on the week here at 70sBig. We look over the posts as a community, but we also look back as individuals – at our training, nutrition, and recovery.
I’m trying to bring back “Ladies’ Mondays,” and had a great opportunity this week with Bert and Marijke, his lady friend, as they talked about her introduction to heavy lifting, and her growing love of Powerlifting as a sport. This coming Monday, I’ll share with you Bert’s recap of her first meet. Spoiler alert: She kicked some ass.
On Wednesday, Aaron’s 2nd post on the site proved to be a huge hit, and an inspiration for many of us. Justin has often talked about how any motivated man can squat 405. Aaron’s post told us about how he did more than that…102 days after breaking his back. He got a little reckless, sure, but isn’t that what this site is all about?
How reckless did you get this week? What PR’s did you smash? If you didn’t, why not? How’s your nutrition? Did you make it a point to get 8 hours of sleep a night? Did you stretch? Did you follow your program, and log your work?
You guys know RoryT. He competes as a 181, and is a dream to coach. I’ve written about him on the site before, but in the spirit of PR Friday, I thought I’d share this video of his squats last Saturday, when he DEMOLISHED 460 for 7 reps, for a dece PR.
In case you missed it on twitter and facebook, here’s our own Mike B discussing some important meet strategies. He’ll be at the Arnold again this year, competing alongside Big Chris, Matt Nolan, and AC, and over the next few weeks, we’ll be discussing that quite a bit more. You can also follow along with his log (and the other fellas’) at the top of the page.
Matt Nolan hit a PR this week – he pulled 657 for a triple as he prepares for the Arnold. Must have been the shirt.
Talk about your PRs below. Update us on your status, and when your next contest is. You have committed to a meet of some sort, haven’t you? You think these guys got this awesome without competing? Your friends are tired of seeing you post PRs on your facebook page, but the 70sBig community cares. Except Brent.
In fact, I liked this pic so much I made a replica of Doyle Kenady’s shirt. You can ogle it, and even buy it, at my LiftHeavyShit store.
That’s all for today, folks. Next week, we’ll not only have some updates on Bert and Marijke, but we’ll also have an article or two on training the posterior chain (including Weightlifting-specific advice), and some really awesome historical stuff that I’m putting together, including pics similar to the one above, but even cooler. You’re welcome. Keep the reader submissions coming, too – I have a few, but the more I have, the more I can share. Have a great weekend – Get Big.
Aaron is a PJ, or pararescue jumper. He wrote an inspiring article last week introducing himself to us as a new contributor. In it, he taught us “You have to stand up, do the work, and grind out every day of your life. Some say, ‘Half of life is just showing up,’ but the other half is putting out, and getting the work done. 50% is a failing score in real life; just showing up isn’t enough.” Well here’s the proof. Here’s his story about how he broke his fucking back…and squatted 425 pounds 102 days later. Life is full of potential excuses. It’s up to you if you use them, or if you get up and do something. – Jacob
I had already surpassed my own expectations for the competition. I already knew what everyone else squatted, and I had 2nd place locked down no matter what number I put up. After talking with Justin for about a week, going over training prep and weights for the meet, we had settled on a good 3 lift progression. Justin warned me a couple times, “This is pretty ambitious. Those are big jumps for a raw lifter.” He was right; we had planned on going 350, 380, and 405, and those were pretty large jumps. But, as sometimes things like this work, I got amped up and started feeding off the competition. I watched lifter after lifter fail at weights that weren’t anywhere near my totals. I turned to my friend Mike and said, “Hey man, this is crazy, but I am freaking amped. I want to jump to 405 for my second and 440 for my third.”
“Well,” he said, “do you think it’s safe? Do you think you have it in you? Why don’t you go 425 for your third?”
I immediately left him and went to the judges. I drove 405 out of the hole hard. The lift was never in question. So there I stood, ready for my third, staring down 425.
Let me back up. 102 days prior to this competition, I was lying in a hospital bed. I had taken a pretty nasty fall, and the doctors were concerned. A good doctor friend of mine was in charge of my overall care; she was not optimistic.
“Listen- you might never be allowed to fly again, let alone jump. I can’t even tell you if you’re going to be able to run, or walk up stairs without pain. What happened was very serious. We are going to do everything we can, but you have to be prepared for the worst possible scenario. This could be it.“
That’s what a broken back and a little crack looks like. The yellow tint is from jaundice related to all the broken tissue.
She was right. The tally read like this- I had broken the transverse processes off of everything south of L1 in my spine. I compressed 3 vertebrae 18% each in my upper back in between my shoulder blades. I had fractures throughout my iliac crest on both sides of my pelvis. I had hit the ground with such force I had offset my pelvis in my sacroiliac joint, and had instability as a result. I broke 5 ribs, separated my left shoulder, and damaged so much tissue that rhabdomyolysis was a serious concern for 5 days after the injury.
I spent a week in the hospital and was released to my home to continue my recovery on the strict guidance I could do nothing – nothing at all – for a period of 6 weeks. Lay down, wear a special brace, no lifting anything-not even my kids- and nothing but slow, careful walking. “If you don’t do this exactly as we prescribe, you may never be the same,” my doctor told me as I was leaving the hospital. I had narrowly avoided surgery.
So I played by the rules. For 6 weeks, I wore that stupid brace and I took it easy. For 6 weeks, I got more and more angry. The first to go was the pain meds. They made me so sick it was not worth the vomit for the 4 hour relief in pain. For 6 weeks, I talked to friends who called just to tell me how lucky I was. For 6 weeks, doctor after doctor saw me, and told me how lucky I had been, and what a long road I had ahead of me. At the end of 6 weeks, I saw my doctor again. She asked, “What do you plan to do for rehab? How many days a week?”
“Seven days a week, Doc. I’ll do it on my own. I want to be back on team in 6 months. It’s April now – I want to take my PT test and start running on team by November 1.”
She was a mix of dumbfounded and extremely angry. “That is unrealistic. You are setting yourself up for failure! What is it you think you’re going to do?!?” I was going to do the same thing I did before the injury, the thing I think saved my life. I was going to get underneath a barbell and lift.
For the next 3 months I learned how to walk again. I had to take very short steps; any time I slipped or found myself off balance, the pain was excruciating. I couldn’t run, I had issues lifting my knees above my hips, and I got so sore from minor things some days I honestly thought it would be better if I just passed out and woke up a day later. I had nearly zero thoracic mobility. I couldn’t sleep well for weeks on account of the broken ribs. Nothing was easy, but I started squatting again. It was the most embarrassing day I have ever had in a gym, squatting just the bar. 45 lbs. That was my work set for the day – 45lbs for 10 reps for 5 sets.
I kept at it, doing 5/3/1. I made gains. I had setbacks. As the pain slowly got less, my lifting got better and better. I had to focus on perfect form; I couldn’t afford to tweak anything or hurt myself worse. I did mobility work before and after my workouts. I stretched all day long. I started to feel like myself again. For a while, I could only do the elliptical machine for cardio, but I graduated to the bike, then to the rower, then to very slow walking on the treadmill.
And that finds us back where I started this article. 102 days after the injury, 77 days after I was allowed to start working out, there was a squat competition on base. I had been having a bad couple of weeks, and I wanted to do something reckless to show all the doubters in my life – of which I had many – just how healthy and strong I was.
Justin and I had set a hard limit of 405, seeing as I hadn’t gone over 365 since I hurt myself. We decided 405 was a victory, and that’s what I needed to shoot for. When I drove that second attempt of 405 through the ceiling of the gym I was ecstatic. Motivated. Angry. I wanted to breath smoke.
So, as I prepared for the lift at 425, I knew I had already won, and things might just be ok after all. As you can see in the video, I look an inch high. I laugh when I see this video; I immediately start taking my belt off and shaking my head. The judges counted the lift, but I didn’t.
Two months after this lift I jumped out of a plane again with my team. I was cleared in mid December to start my normal duties with no restrictions. I went from a doctor telling me I might not walk correctly ever again to full “up” status in a period of 7 months. For the record, I credit the team of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals who helped me through this. It was a team effort, and every single person involved deserves credit.
At the present, I have pain every day. I have to do mobility work every day, and I need to focus on form and listen to my body. But what I learned from this event in my life I will never forget. I truly feel the strength I had, as a result of 3 solid years of linear progression barbell programs, saved my life. Many doctors were astonished I was able to take such a hit and somehow come out with the “few” injuries I had. Every time they asked me what I did for exercise, I would simply respond “I lift heavy weights. It makes me much harder to kill.” Some would chuckle; some would just shake their head.
Countless doctors, friends, co workers and others hear this story and ask what I was feeling like, what was running through my head when this all went down. When I was lying in that hospital bed, what was I thinking? My only response, in fact the very first thing I said to my doctor when she asked me what my plan was, was “I am going to come back from this stronger, and you need to lift to be stronger. That’s what I am going to do.”
