I hope you all gained five pounds yesterday. This may be an abbreviated week for some of you, but it is still PR Friday nonetheless. At the very least you can detail your eating PR’s from yesterday.
Remember, these are the PR’s you set this week in lifting, eating, or gaining weight. If you’re a more advanced lifter, then you might just highlight your training week since PR’s will be less frequent.
As for me, I clean and jerked 150 twice on Tuesday (PR), squatted 460 for three sets of five on Wednesday, and failed on my last rep of pressing 210 for three sets of five (had never pressed this but will consider it a PR when completing all the sets). I weighed in at 226.5, which is the heaviest I have ever been — got a few more pounds to gain to get to the upper limit of my weight class. Oh, and yesterday I watched an abnormal amount of Battlestar Galactica.
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I have been coaching a 14 year old kid named Colton for a couple of months. He walked in as a quiet, 122 pound boy who had a decent bench press (he was repping 135). 35 pounds later he is a pretty strong 157 pound pain in the ass who will talk smack to the majority of people in the gym (although probably not up to Greyskull standards).
Colton has squatted 235 for three sets of five, pressed 110x5x3, and benches 165x5x3. He will compete at the state meet in January with us, and will be close to hitting the qualifying total for national level competitions in his age and weight class.
In the following video, he pulls 285 for a set of five. He could probably stand to keep the low back locked in the first few reps, but the last few reps are typical of a heavy set of five. Nice work nonetheless.
This is the day that we all have been waiting for. This is the day when everybody that you know will be building (yes, building) and eating lots of food. Thanksgiving is a 70’s Big holiday.
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Everyone we know is going to be eating lots of food?!? And they are going to be giving away leftovers?!!? My friends, it is raining calories. If you need a temporary refrigeration equipment to store your leftover food, you may contact companies like Rental Chillers to rent a chiller.
This was the best picture I could find.
I know some of you bigger guys may be trying to reduce your carbohydrate intake for the sake of body composition, but I think we can all agree that you should exempt yourself from such annoyances today. Realistically speaking, everyone should do the same. The malnourished Zone Dieters need this day just as much as we do. It will let them feel human again.
Go forth on this day and eat comically massive amounts of food. Enjoy the company of your friends, but don’t let them get between you and the next plate of food.
Unfortunately I won’t be eating with my mom today since I am in Texas. Her Thanksgiving smörgåsbord (to use the term again) sets the standard for all 70’s Big meals. Nothing compares. Miss ya, Mom.
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Here is another video from the WFAC. On November 13th I squatted 485 for a set of 5. It was the intensity day on the Texas Method, and I think I could have driven the 5RM up to 500 had I not altered my program for an Olympic weightlifting emphasis. I intentionally did not edit this video so you can get an idea of what goes on before and after the set.
After I come out from under the bar, Rip tells me my stance was about an inch wide. The tendency to widen the stance is exacerbated by an increase in weight, and some times a lifter may have to think about keeping it more narrow than they would want it. My reps are kind of slow in the beginning, but they increase with speed as I use my bounce a little better. The knees click in on the fourth rep (which I felt), but the 5th rep looks pretty good, given the stance.
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I’ve been training pretty hard since January, and focused that training on Olympic weightlifting a few months ago. There have been plenty of times where I didn’t feel like training. Plenty of times between sets where I didn’t know how I was going to summon the energy for the next one. But I always have. Admittedly part of that is due to an ability to induce an adequate release of adrenaline (a topic for another time), but that has to start with a proper mindset.
First, decide how important training is. For me, if I am going to train for something, I’m going to do it right, and my trainees will be the same. Even when I played football in high school and college, I never let anyone work harder than me. Performing to my best ability was the goal then, and it certainly is the goal now. If I slack on a given training session, then I don’t get stronger and better. If I don’t get stronger and better now, then I don’t hit my goals in the next lifting meet. That, my friends, is not an option. If improving through training is just not that important to you, then you should redefine your goals and your intentions. At that point you aren’t training, you’re just working out.
Let’s assume training is important to you for whatever reason. Depending on the goal, sport, or activity, there are many motivational factors for those days you “feel tired”. It isn’t my job to give you a list of these factors. It’s just my job to give you a kick in the ass to figure them out yourself. I don’t have time for people who “feel tired” when I coach, and I don’t have time for it on 70’s Big either.
There is a guy at our gym named Ronnie. He’s 60 years old, about 6’2″, 260 pounds and has been training at WFAC since he was 52. In the CrossFit Total Meet (lifting meet that consists of the squat, standing press, and deadlift) we had at the gym in February, Ronnie squatted 363. He went for 385, but it was dumped over his head, and he pulled his hamstring in the process. His recovery was arduous because of his age, but he stuck with it and eventually recovered. A couple months ago an MRI showed 3 bulging discs in his cervical spine. This caused the muscles in his left shoulder and triceps area to give out during pressing and bench pressing. Ron went from repping 225 for sets of twenty on the bench to barely being able to bench 135. He’s had one set back after another.
I started working with him so that we could figure out how to train around and through this problem while at the same time improving his squat given his cervical limitations. While working on the neuro deal, we tweaked the squat form, then worked the strength back up.
One day Ron came in the gym, and the man was tired. He was moving into a new house, running his furniture business, making his wife and granddaughters happy, and you could tell he was drained.
“How ya doin’, Ron?”
“I’m tired.”
Well, you know what Ron did next? He strapped on his belt, stretched his hamstrings, and started squatting. He didn’t complain, didn’t bitch — just continued loading the bar. We slapped on 300 pounds. 300 pounds for the man who hadn’t such weight on his back since dumping the 385 over his head 8 months previous (sorry about that, Ron! –> I was a spotter). 300 pounds for the man with the three bulging discs. 300 pounds for the man who was tired. Ron stepped up to the bar, un-racked it, and squatted it five times.
If a 60 year old man can come in tired — legitimately tired — and squat 300 pounds for a set of five, then some how you can find the energy and the balls to get through your training session when “you’re tired”. I know I do.
Ron, born in 1949, wants to know if he is 40’s Big
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I had a request for a video of me snatching, so I delivered. In this training session I am just doing some light singles at 110 kilograms to practice getting under the bar. Red, white, and blue, baby.
Note: I don’t need anybody pointing out any faults you may see. Not only do I feel them precisely at the time that they occur, but I can see them in the video since I coach this shit. I also don’t care that you have a friend that is stronger than me; this is not a “penis length” contest.
If you missed Rippetoe’s interview with Iron Radio, you can find it here.
Rip didn’t have some of his facts straight about some of the lifters here at the WFAC. Zach is one of the guys mentioned in the interview who has had a lot of success since he’s been at the gym. Zach has been training here for 9 weeks, and here are his actual numbers (all lifting numbers are for three sets of five, power cleans are five sets of three):
Body weight: 162 –> 210
Squat: 155 –> 295
Press: 85 –> 125
Deadlift: 225 –> 285
Bench: 165 –> 197
Power Clean: 50 kg –> 70 kg
The program he used was the standard linear progression that is outlined in Starting Strength. Zach eats a lot of food, drinks a lot of milk, and has gone from a guy who is 90’s Small to a guy on a quest to 70’s Big. Oh, and for all of you confused critics, he may have gained 8 pounds of fat, but I doubt it’s that much. Well worth it for the increase in strength, size, and muscle mass.
If you have anybody that has had a lot of success with gaining strength and bodyweight, send it on in.
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Someone wrote in and requested a video of me doing some power cleans. I had meant to film my training today when I power cleaned and jerked 140 kg for five singles, but I forgot. Instead, I filmed the second set of squats I did immediately following the C&J. Notice the Pacifico-style glasses and socks. If you want to send in some videos of you or anybody that you coach lifting, send it on in.
Well, he’s done it folks. Paul, a regular commenter on the site, has finally become an adult male. He e-mailed me today, and he finally weighs 200 pounds. Nice job, Paul.
Also, Zach, one of my pals at the WFAC, hit the 200 pound mark today as well. He came here as a 162 pound disgruntled fitness gym goer, and now he’s a decently strong adult. I’ve personally witnessed Zach drinking two gallons of milk in one day. Two. He gained 38 pounds in two months folks. You aren’t even trying to eat.
Paul also sent me pictures of his homemade creation: a grilled cheese bacon cheeseburger. Observe:
Ground beef and bacon
Burger patties. Lots.
3/4 angle of grilled cheese bacon cheeseburger
Nightcapped with funfetti frosting marble cake
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To go along with Wednesday””s accomplishments, my friend AC benched 330 for three sets of five. To get an idea of how stupid that is, he only weighs 205. Oh, and I””ll remind you he””s only 20 years old.
AC knows he has to amp his eating up, so he took some pictures of yesterday””s breakfast. As you can see, he went all out.
2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, 2 sausages, 2 pieces of toast, PB&J, 2 chicken breasts, and 32 oz of milk with coffee flavored syrup
