Hello, fellow carcass-eating-lifting-enthusiasts.
I’m writing under my user name because I thought it would be easier for a couple of work reasons. I met Justin at one of his seminars a couple of years ago, at which point I realized why I had a recurring lower back injury: because I was squatting like a constipated sloth. The path that led me to Justin’s seminar was a typical one. Former CrossFitter, bumbling around with internet programs not really knowing what I was doing. I’ll summarize how it happened.

I realized I needed to get stronger prior to my SOF selection, I was running a lot when the opportunity came up and I was pretty skinny. My standard body building style program from the military PTI worked pretty well for a while, and got me strong enough for selection (obviously I did a lot of other training also). On a shared hard drive in Afghanistan I found a program from a guy called Ross Enamait (whose stuff I still love), CrossFit programs, and various other info. I started with something I knew I could do well, the high intensity interval style circuit training, which is nothing new. I noticed that the new ideas and workouts I found on the internet gave me great challenges and variety. The Olympic lifts and even the basic lifts were still a bit daunting for me because I’d never really had any coaching in them. Unfortunately, this experimentation resulted in a right knee injury from heavy lunges and squats with bad form.

It became pretty apparent I wasn’t strong enough overall. I was pretty fast and agile, could do a few party trick movements, but needed to carry heavy weight on my back which demands strength.
So I switched gears to a program the guys I worked with in the SOF community found – Military Athlete by Rob Shaul. I started to see some real gains for the first six months but I combined the training (which is high volume) with a low carb paleo diet. Why? Because I am an idiot, that’s why, and I speak of this to caution any of you from doing the same. From what I’ve seen on this site, most of you seem smarter than that. Rob’s training is legit and I’d recommend checking it out if you’re in the military. However, for me personally I found the volume too much to do it year round (note: I was eating low carb as well). I also tried to make my own programs based on Rob’s but doing the wrong exercises with the wrong volume.
To cut a long story short, 3 x 8 deadlifts at 90% 1RM twice a week later, I hurt my back (“No shit!” I hear you say). Yep, well I thought I knew what I was doing; I didn’t. Meanwhile, I’m eating paleo on operations overseas, dealing with gastro symptoms from the gluten in the MREs, and losing weight (I have shitting stories but you don’t want to hear that). I thought I was training and eating smart. I wasn’t. It all came to a head when I nearly fell out on a long extraction march with a heavy pack. I had never, ever come close to falling out from my team before and I took a good hard look at myself. I learned some valuable lessons.

So I saw Justin’s seminar and got some coaching tips. I rehabbed the shit out of my back with mobility drills, a lacrosse ball and PVC pipe, and I started upping the carbs in the diet.
Since I got some coaching on how to lift from Justin, I have not had a serious injury. I believe most of this is due to the fact I have focused more on lifting and mobility and added endurance/speed work when I needed to.
I’d summarize what I’ve learned so far as follows (lower your expectations, this will may be underwhelming):

1.      Get a coach to look at your lifts, even online coaching is better than none.
2.      Program to what you need to improve, not what you’re already good at.
3.      Strength is vital to every other aspect of your game. If you neglect mistress Strength, she is a jealous bitch and will make you pay.
4.      Paleo diet works great for me, but don’t go low carb unless you have a specific and valid reason to do so (and preferably get advice on how to do it from someone who has experience).
5.      Don’t take programs off the internet and modify them. See point 1.

I’m currently training for an ultra marathon, which should definitely draw some heat from Brent, Chris and the regulars (and I welcome the smack talk). It’s a bucket list thing. I’m doing one and one only. I’m still lifting though.
The Paleo Chronicles are another post, if anyone cares to hear about that. Given Justin has just written a book, I’d start with that.
Looking forward to some posts from you other guys/girls who read the site. Some real strong, fit people read this resource and I learn a lot from all you guys.
Cheers.

– olpainless

Olpainless is a 70s Big reader who has been in military for 19 years. He was recently employed with the Air Force in a special operations role for six years, but now drives a desk.Training with a strength focus has gone from being a job requirement to an integral part of his life and has helped him to manage and reduce injuries. He has been eating a Paleo-based diet for three years and has experimented with lots of variations of this diet whilst dealing with a demanding work schedule.

Matt F asks, “How do you treat conditioning for lifters or people generally more interested in lifting?”

Minimal. Depending on the case, I would stick to 2-3 days a week at most, with no more than one session in excess of 5-6 minutes and no more than 10 (and that’s if you are in more of a GPP phase, far out from competition). I typically like to make up circuits out of assistance work the lifter would do anyway, such as back extensions, weighted sit-ups, pullups, dips, rope climbs, etc. Kettlebell and dumbbell work is a good option as well, and occasionally I like the Prowler, but be careful – it can leave you wrecked for the next day’s training. Same goes for strongman type stuff.

Rick R asks, “Why would someone be able to do a hang power clean with a given weight, but struggle to do a power clean from the floor with the same weight?”

To put it simply: the closer the bar gets to the floor, the more complex the pull becomes. In the hang position, the lifter does not have to worry about what is perhaps the most complex part of the lift – the gradual, controlled backwards movement of the knees as the bar passes them. With the hang variation, even an inexperienced lifter can fairly easily keep the bar close and moving towards their center of mass, stay on their heels, and finish aggressively at the top with the bar where it’s supposed to be.

“It’s only a game. Why you heff to be mad?”

Kenneth M asks, “What are some good drills for improving speed under the bar?”

Snatches/cleans from the hip and high hang. Snatches/cleans from the high blocks. No hook grip/no foot movement snatches (you can do cleans with this exercise too but I don’t think it’s nearly as effective). Anything that a) minimizes time between the initiation of the pull and the finish and b) teaches you to move smoothly and immediately under the bar.

Donovan Ford: Snatch Pull + Snatch from high blocks

I’d like to take this opportunity to address what I feel is a common mistake: the snatch balance, which is a very useful exercise for other things, will NOT make you faster under the bar in the snatch! It may increase your comfort in going under the bar, and it may help make you stronger in the jerk, but going under a bar which is moving from your back to overhead is in no way the same as going under a bar which is going from the floor to overhead.  If you want to get faster in the snatch, you have to snatch.

Brendan W asks, “What are your go-to assistance exercises for increasing shoulder stability?”

Push press, rows, pullups, band facepulls and pull-aparts, planks, Sotts press, snatches and clean & jerks.

Jacob Tsypkin is a CrossFit and weightlifting coach, the co-owner of CrossFit Monterey and the Monterey Bay Barbell Club in Monterey, CA. He is available for weightlifting seminars and gives excellent hugs imo. 

During the Arnold Sports Festival Mike Jenkins was kind enough to let me interview him in the Rogue booth. Unfortunately, the two minute interview we did had too much background noise. When I told him about it on Twitter, he told me to call him and do a phone interview. Yesterday we had a 20 minute conversation discussing his career. Unfortunately (again) the app I used on my phone to record the conversation only recorded me talking. EPIC FAIL. Clearly I do not have future in journalism. Thankfully, I have a decent memory, and wrote down most of the things we talked about. -Mike B.

In case you have been living under a rock, Mike Jenkins is an American Strongman Corporation professional strongman sponsored by Rogue and Maximum Human Performance (MHP). In case of you have never tried MHP’s Dark Matter, do yourself a favor; it’s pretty awesome (MHP has the best supplement names ever).

For those of you that don’t know, even as a sponsored professional strongman, it is difficult to make ends meet just doing strongman. Although Mike has won the Arnold Strongman Classic with a $50,000 prize, not every contest has a purse that high. For his day job, Mike is a recreation leader at Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania. This is not a typical school however. Milton Hershey School is a private school that focuses on the individual growth of the student more so than a traditional school. The students at the school have different social and financial needs than traditional schools, and talking to Mike about it, he clearly has a passion for his work. The kids also love the fact that Mike competes in strongman, and love watching him compete.

Additionally, Mike works with a few younger, local football players, because he feels that some of the football strength programs are a bit out of touch with the times. He also emphasized that not all of these coaches are enthused about the help he gives these players, which to me is just crazy. Just looking at Mike and what he has accomplished, why wouldn’t you want him to help your players get stronger?

Prior to picking up strongman in 2007, Mike played 12 years of high school, collegiate, and professional football. When I asked why he stopped playing, he gave the answer I have heard many times, and it was that he lost love for the game. Thankfully for us, in 2007 Mike picked up a pair of farmer’s walk implements that his friend had, and entered his first contest shortly thereafter. Also in 2007, he went to North American Strongman Nationals and placed sixth. In 2009, Mike would place second in that same contest. In 2010 however, is where Mike truly took the strongman world by storm.

The Arnold Amateur Strongman World Championships were first held in 2010, and the winner received a pro card. In 2010 that winner was none other than Mike Jenkins. Not only did he receive a pro card, he was invited back in 2011 to compete with the big boys (literally) at the Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC). While the World’s Strongest Man (WSM) title might be the title that the average person has heard of, strongman enthusiasts know that the Arnold Strongman Classic is the heaviest contest, and carries prestige nearly equal to WSM. Mike pointed out that because the ASC is such a heavy event, there are rarely repeat winners (aside from six time champ Zydrunas Savickas). In 2011 Mike made his professional debut at the ASC, and finished in second place behind Brian Shaw. More impressive than that however, was that he came out ahead of Big Z, who placed a disappointing third. How many people can say in their debut pro strongman contest they upset Big Z?

In 2012 Mike would go on to win the ASC ahead of fellow American Derek Poundstone, and 2011 winner Brian Shaw (who suffered a torn biceps). I was fortunate enough to be sitting in the center row of that contest as I watched this:

After other athletes failed to press the log, Mike comes out and presses it TWICE. And this log weighs 460 pounds. It was quite a sight to see, especially since Big Z, arguably the greatest strongman ever, only pressed it once.

In addition to a 2nd place finish at the ASC 2011, and a 1st place finish in the ASC 2012, Mike has also competed in two WSM finals. In the 2011 WSM Mike finished in 8th, and in 2012 he finished in 5th. When I asked if he thought he could one day be a WSM title holder, the answer was a resounding yes.

Unfortunately, as we all know, strongman can be hard on the body. Going into WSM 2012 Mike had some pain in his left knee, but didn’t think much of it other than it was a minor issue. Unfortunately, during his narrow miss to match Big Z on the 220k log press he heard a “crunch” in his left knee. After returning home from California, Mike spent a few months trying to rehab it himself, and even received shots that made it feel temporarily better. However, nothing was really working to allow him to train at 100%. In December, Mike made the decision that he needed to have surgery. Mike said that although in the short term he had to withdraw from the ASC 2013, it was his career and even more so, his long term physical abilities that needed to worry about. Since then Mike has made significant progress, and plans to be ready in September for WSM 2013. He has resumed squatting and deadlifting, and is quickly getting back to where he needs to be.

When I talked to Mike about his strengths and weaknesses in the gym, he was quick to identify them. I figured Mike would say his world class pressing ability was his strength, but he said he felt moving events were his best. I can’t really argue with that though, the guy can seriously move with a yoke. As far as weaknesses, Mike says he needs to bring his deadlift up. Moving forward, he is going to be working with Brandon Lilly from Juggernaut Training Systems or Jesse Burdick from Powerwod.com/Supertraining (http://powerwod.com/) in his pursuit of a bigger pull. Mike has actually been working with Jesse for the past few months on his diet, and has dropped from 400lbs to about 350lbs. Note: Mike routinely posts pictures of empty Ben & Jerry’s ice cream containers on Twitter, and keeps losing weight. We need to redefine “superfood”. Something else that was interesting is that this will be the first time Mike has ever worked with a coach for strongman. He has taught himself to be a strongman through trial-and-error. He did however mention this is not an approach that will work for everyone. Mike said that if you have the opportunity to learn from anyone that has competed in strongman, at least listen to what they have to say.

When I asked Mike about his long term future in strongman, he didn’t give me a definitive answer. He knows for now that he wants to get his knee back to 100%, and get back to WSM. We briefly discussed the longevity of athletes in the sport, and he pointed out how heavy the weights have gotten over the years. In January, Mike wrote this article for JTS strength highlighting how the log press records have been utterly annihilated over the past 15 years. The fact is, the weights keep getting heavier, and this is going to be a factor in how long strongmen are in the game. How many ASC and WSM competitions can a person’s body really handle?

I’m extremely thankful that Mike took time to let me interview him not once, but twice in the past week. Mike has already accomplished quite a bit in his career, and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. I for one would love to see him press a 500lb log, maybe even before Big Z. Let’s hope he has a fast recovery and once again makes a trip to WSM. Who knows, maybe he could be standing on the podium in six short months…

Spot?

Mike Battaglino is a professional spotter, amateur strongman, and powerlifter that trains in his garage (70’s Big HQ). He spends a considerable amount of time watching strongman videos on YouTube, and declining requests for a spot.