Reader Content

I’m busy working on a project that will benefit at least 75% of you. In the mean time, enjoy some reader submitted material.

Here is a video that I was supposed to post a long time ago but I keep forgetting from Peter. He and his mates are from Sydney, Australia, and he’s been really campaigning for a 70’s Big Short Film Festival. Stay tuned for details.


Jeremey sent some pictures of his friend’s garage gym they’ve been putting together. First is a picture of one of them (I don’t know who) squatting in the homemade squat rack, and then the new plates they just got.

Looks like a heavy lockout



Sexy plates



Charles sent me this video of his 405x5x5 milestone. Nice work.


Question of the Day
What’s your favorite kind of barbecue sauce?

Chat with Dr. Hartman

The 70’s Big Chat is scheduled for this evening at 5:00 PM EST, and we’ll be joined by Dr. Michael Hartman again. Usually the chat is a free-for-all that is an open forum to questions. Dr. Hartman would take some questions regarding weightlifting and beer, and I’d answer things the best I could.
Link to chat: http://widget.mibbit.com/?settings=d979218505a306cbee7d9302470fe159&server=irc.synirc.net&channel=%2370sbig

Today’s chat will be a little different. Today is a live Q&A about Dr. Hartman’s new e-book “The Next 8 Weeks…” that I featured yesterday. Dr. Hartman will be taking questions regarding this book, but I encourage any of you current or future weightlifters to join as well. We’ll also have a topic discussion on Weightlifting Strength vs General Strength. Come with questions or just to spectate, but it’ll be an informative session.

We'll discuss this in the chat



Some of you may be reading this and think, “Who the hell is Dr. Hartman?” For the sake of validating his Olympic weightlifting background to you, here is his profile from the new e-book:

Dr. Michael Hartman is a Sport Scientist, and recognized expert in training for Strength-Power and Performance. He earned his Doctorate in Physiology and has previously worked as a Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coach and Sport Scientist at the US Olympic Training Center where he was a member of the inaugural USA Weightlifting Performance Enhancement Team.

Dr. Hartman’s involvement in Olympic Weightlifting dates back over 10 years. As Associate Director and Assistant Coach at the former USAW Weightlifting Regional Development Center and Wichita Falls Weightlifting, he worked closely with Glenn Pendlay in preparing athletes for national and international competition. Additional responsibilities included talent identification, athlete recruitment, and long-term competition planning.

As a Professor, Dr. Hartman is responsible for the education and training of hundreds of future fitness professionals and coaches. To date, Dr. Hartman has
taught nearly 500 individuals the anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics of strength training and conditioning at the collegiate-level. Other areas of teaching emphasis include neuromuscular physiology and coaching education.

Dr. Hartman has an extensive history of publication in scientific journals, with nearly 20 articles and 50 abstracts to his credit. His primary research interest focuses on the adaptations associated with strength training and conditioning; including athletic performance, strength-power training, overtraining syndrome and recovery strategies. Dr. Hartman has been a featured guest on the Strength-Power Hour and IronRadio internet podcasts and is currently working to bring his knowledge and experience to a wider audience by maintaining the Doctor Hartman blog, where he publishes new information related to training for Strength-Power-Performance, and Olympic Weightlifting.

Dr. Hartman is available for coaching and training program consultations at
doctorhartman@hotmail.com or through the Doctor Hartman blog.

“The Next 8 Weeks…”

As detailed here, Dr. Hartman released a free competition prep program for Olympic weightlifting. With over 500 downloads, most of the users were asking what they should do after the competition taper. After putting some work in, Dr. Hartman came to the conclusion that most lifters need or want one of three things: strength, technique, or a mixture of the two.

Strength is important for weightlifting; after all, you’re putting weight over your head. However, strength in the absence of quality mechanics won’t mean dick on the weightlifting platform. Dr. Hartman’s e-book, “The Next 8 Weeks…” is comprised of programs to increase weightlifting strength (Note: this is different than powerlifting or general strength), technique on the lifts, and an efficient hybrid of the two. Combined with the competition prep program (available for free), these programs can plan out at LEAST 8 months of training.

When I read through the programs in the e-book, it made me want to grab a bar and start lifting again (alas, logistically I currently can’t). These programs are designed for someone who is an experienced weightlifter. They would need to have competed in at least a few competitions. I won’t speak for Dr. Hartman, but it would take someone at least six months to get the point of using the programs from “The Next 8 Weeks…“. The reason is Dr. Hartman uses a very precise variable manipulation to shift volume, intensity, and technique appropriately for quality performance peaks. Personally, I’d feel good knowing that my training was on a long-term plan to create those peaks; too often Olympic weightlifters who train by themselves are in various stages of overreaching beyond their capability without having the discipline to allow a peak.

To prepare yourself for Hartman’s programs, I suggest learning the lifts and getting on an weightlifting focused program. Depending on your strength level, you may need a program that continues to establish a strength base as you do the lifts. I created a novice weightlifting program that would allow a trainee to get some experience with the Olympic lifts while improving their strength. I think it’s a good program to run for four to six weeks to get the joints and structures ready for more weightlifting frequency. After this base with the lifts is established, a trainee should compete and also shift their training to an intelligent three day-a-week program (perhaps it would consist of snatch and C&J every day with Day 1 as medium to moderate, Day 2 as a little lighter, and Day 3 as the heavy/max day with some strength work thrown in after the two lifts). After another four to six weeks on such a program, the trainee might be eligible for Dr. Hartman’s programs, but the more experience the better. Hartman’s programs from “The Next 8 Weeks…” include a good amount of work, and you don’t want to set yourself up for failure by not being adapted to doing the lifts at least three times a week.

I like the programs Dr. Hartman created. Again, I would feel confident that my training was preparing me for performance peaks instead of having to structure my training by trial and error. These programs are worth a read. I consider them to be solid the way they are, but you could still pull concepts and ideas from studying them. To get some examples of the different programs, Dr. Hartman has included some information on each one in THIS blog post. If you have any questions, I’m sure he’d be happy to answer them in the comments of that post.

You can buy the book HERE.
You can visit Dr. Hartman’s blog HERE.

Edit: Images not uploading. Will fix soon.

New Sites

New Sites
A lot of you have asked for training logs of those that are involved in this website. My tech-savvy friend Adam (who helps out with the site — thanks again, Adam) helped set up some sub-sites. AC, Chris, and Mike now have their own sub-site to be used as a training log, but will also be used for whatever they want to post about. As far as their programming goes, they are all younger intermediate lifters who compete in raw powerlifting. I took all three of them to USAPL Raw Nationals last year.

AC
Chris
Mike

I nagged Ben Claridad to make a site that would allow him to show his art work, and he turned into an amusing training log that also hosts his art work. Here is Ben’s site.

These sites are updated a few times a week, so be sure to check them out.

PR Friday
Post all of your PR’s and training updates to the comments. Regardless of your strength level you are a part of this brotherhood of lifters on the quest to 70’s Big, so don’t be shy.

Oh, and fuck the Steelers.

Boom

Today I was working on a project for this site and sorta forgot to make a post. Here’s a quick hitter.

Here’s a recent video of AC deadlifting 560. I’m pretty sure his meet PR is 568.



Some of you keep homo-erotically asking where Gant has been. He’s busy doing man stuff and kicking ass.


Here’s a video that Lewis found in his nightly YouTube session (he’s like a bigger and blacker version of Brent):