AC has been training with Taylor, a good friend that I used to pal around with when I was still in school. Taylor has pretty impressive pressing strength and bear-like features. I have heard stories of him cuddling a grizzly in its den because he “needed a soft warm body in those winter months”. I wasn’t shocked when he told me this.
A-way is his fiance and is in the top three funniest girls I know. She has surprising ferocity in her miniature stature, especially regarding her bear hug (it helps with Taylor). They are both the feature of another original AC film, and AC makes a deadlifting appearance at the end. Sweet song too.
In early June, Brent hit a PR Snatch at the WFAC in the midst of his powerlifting training.
Here’s a vid of Chris pulling 600 back in May (I think). He doesn’t get pumped at all, and that’s a rarity for him. I thought it was more impressive because he just walks up to the bar and pulls it (trust me, I know what he’s like when he’s amped).
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PR Friday. Post any personal bests you may have hit this week into the comments.
There’s a fella named John Broz coaching some serious weightlifting in Las Vegas. He runs Average Broz Gymnasium — a small and purposeful weightlifting gym that has the feel of a proper club.
Barry Kinsella is an Irish traveler who made his way around America to train with and interview various successful Olympic weightlifting coaches and their lifters. He has made at least two stops to Broz’s gym, and interviewed him both times. Now, why should you bother watching an interview with John Broz? Well, his favorite weightlifter is 70’s Big Co-Captain Anatoly Pisarenko and he lived with Antonio Krastev (you know, the guy who still holds the snatch world record of 216kg). Other than that, he coaches Pat Mendes and Rob Adell. Both of them are about 20 years old, and both of them are real fucking strong. Rob won second place in the 94kg category at Junior Nationals, and Pat has become quite the internet sensation with videos showing a 200kg snatch and a 230kg clean and jerk — phenomenal numbers.
There is also a lot of controversy (at least on the GoHeavy Forums) about Pat.To get you up to speed, Pat wants to win a gold medal, and probably will. He’s focused, devoted, and strong as three week old piss. But he wants to earn a living doing it. Pat has dual citizenship in the US as well as Brazil, but USA isn’t known for supporting its lifters. Thus, Broz and Pat are waiting to see if anyone is willing to pay the young lifter to bring home some gold.
In any case, Broz has a unique style of programming that he developed from three important coaches he has had in his life (including Krastev). The following videos dive into how he learned from those coaches and what his general training philosophy is. I hope you enjoy them — Barry is pretty good at gaining insight from his interviews.
Here are parts 1 and 2:
My friend Mike Hom (you’ll remember him from this video montage) has a goal of deadlifting 405×20. This may be daunting for most lifters, but Hom only weighs 190. But when you remember that he has pulled 505×5, it seems reasonable. Well, he’s almost there.
Note the shirt as he pulls 405×16.
That was a PR for Mike, and he wants to get 20 reps by September. If you’ve got any Personal Records then bust them out in the comments on this glorious PR Friday.
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Here is a very cool video of David Rigert mostly preparing for a 210kg clean and jerk (he was a 90kg lifter).
Note: There’ll be a new Saturday post that announces the “Comment of the Week” and some other kind of nonsense.
I’ve ran this site since last September — for free. I don’t know if yous guys know that. In the past nine months, this website has consumed more of my time than anything else. I bet I spent more time working on it than I did training. Sometimes it’s painstakingly hard to think of something to post when it’s 10:00 PM the night before, but some how I’ve managed to pull something out of my ass on a regular basis.
I like to think that I’ve had a nice blend of humor and entertainment. The only thing I really care about it is teaching people to get stronger and subsequently healthier (among other things). That’s the whole purpose of this site. So if I have to put up a YouTube video of my friends or me dancing like fools to get you to read some of the serious/helpful stuff, then I’ll do it (I have more of these videos, by the way).
Anyway, with that being said, here is my shameless plug for some new services that are available, Online Programming, Programming Consultations, and 70’s Big Workshops. You can read about them here, or click on the Services tab at the top of the page.
The Online Programming will net you a new best friend (me) and a training program. I will not sing you lullabies. The Consultations are those who don’t want a new best friend, but want to talk on the phone once t hash out a program. The Workshops are a traveling whacky inflatable sideshow and educate people on all kinds of things about training. You can read about them in more depth on the Servicespage.
Now that that’s settled, here is an obligatory European techno/electro/dance video that includes half of a 70’s Big guy with a sick beard. Warning: intense flexing and confusing images ahead. Watch the whole thing if you really want to be confused.
What I want you all to focus on, aside from how awesome the old guy was in the video, is that he apparently is in his 50’s (maybe 60’s, I can’t tell because the words are lost in his beard). I mean, he looks like he’s at least 72, but that’s not the point. He lifted that fridge overhead like a man should, much to the approval of his wife. And he didn’t need the tailgate down.
Wouldn’t it be nice to do that at 50 years old? I don’t know about any of you, but I’d like to still compete in weightlifting at that age. My friend, Lon Kilgore, started competing when he was 11 and still competes into his early 50’s. That’s awesome. If that’s gonna happen, then we need to address a few things.
The only person that has been on this site that is in danger of doing something spectacular as a world class athlete is Kendrick Farris. The rest of us lift because it is a glorified hobby. Some readers may do it because it helps them do their job as a law enforcement officer or military personnel, but for those of us that will compete in things that probably won’t get us killed, we are simply hobbyists.
We have goals and should train hard, but we need to be mindful of not completely breaking down in the process. Strength is incredibly important for longevity and overall health, so let’s not let our pursuit of it turn everything into an unhealthy endeavor. Keep in mind I’m not saying that Skinny Guy needs to have a pristine diet. No, that little bastard needs to eat everything so that we don’t have to call him Skinny Guy anymore. Eventually he won’t be skinny, and he’ll learn how to eat correctly for the maintenance of lean body mass, and we’ll have a delightfully productive human male among us.
But make sure you’re doing all of the little things correctly, like warming up properly, handling injuries and set backs correctly, and taking rest when you need it. And next time you make an AC Jump on your weight, remember Bill Starr’s old adage:
Patience + Persistence = Strength
A Request For Experienced Lifters
I’d like to ask any experienced lifters and competitors to share what they have learned they need to do in order to keep training, whether it be training for competition or maintenance, as well as anything they wish they would have done differently when they were younger. I shouldn’t have to say this, but “experienced lifter” would probably mean you’re at least in your thirties if you’ve been training consistently, and I’d like to hear from much older guys. I’m gonna send this link around to pull in some good feedback, and you should do the same.
