It’s Friday! This week on the site Paul Sousa reviewed a new android app called deep squatter. On Tuesday we had SOF Olpainless reflect on his experiences with training while deployed, and then on Thursday Darth Tsypkin answered more of your questions

I googled “brent kim” and this is what I got.

Going forward, Mike Battaglino will be answering reader submitted questions on topics such as Powerlifting, Strongman, Military related training, declining spots, etc. in a video format. Questions can be submitted to mike@70sbig.com or posted in the comments on facebook. Mike answered a few questions already, posted on our facebook page this week:

Michael asks:  I’m a Marine and I love powerlifting (just competed in my first meet) but I need to temporarily focus on dropping my 3 mile run time for a PFT. What are your suggestions for strength maintenance while I start running long enough to do well on the fitness test? I’m planning on throwing together a mix of interval/tempo work and the occasional longer run (2-3 miles). Probably 3-4 days a week of running. I’m sure this is a pretty common scenario for the military folk.

Mike: I’m quite glad my PT test days are over. I would reccomend trying to maintain your current program the best that you can, and just keep the weights the same for 4-6 weeks. If you need to, drop some of the accessory lifts. You shouldn’t lose a tremendous amount of strength, and you can be back to adding weight 1-2 weeks after the test. 

I wouldn’t worry about moving the weights up for either your volume or intensity days. Perhaps for your bench and press you can move up slowly, but I would just worry about passing the test, and maintaining your current numbers.

Kyp asks:  I recently bought a yoke and it’s supposed to be arriving sometime this week so figure I would study up on it in the mean time. I was wondering if you would be able to share any knowledge/know of any particularly good sources or information regarding programming yoke walks for somebody trying to get 70’s big, and have a good base of general conditioning?

Mike: Kyp, I have read a quite a few pro strongman training logs, and everyone seems to program it a bit differently. I’ve only had my yoke for about six months, but I would recommend keeping it light for a little while. If you could manage to do it once a week, you would probably develop your technique pretty quickly, but keep it relatively light. Once it starts to get heavy, do it every other week. If you’re going into a contest where you’re going to use the yoke, consider programming speed/heavy days with it. I think the most important thing is to develop skill walking with it. Watch videos of pro strongman using it and experiment with what works for you (particularly hand placement).

LW Pro Strongman Andy Deck with a 1010lb yoke

As today is PR Friday, let us know how you are doing in the comments. What do you want to talk about? Add videos by just posting the youtube URL. Since it’s snowing here in Boston, crockpot recipes will be awarded extra internet points today, along with the admiration of your peers.

Tom O asks, “I have calf pain when squatting ass-to-grass, whether back, front, or overhead.  Any ideas what this could be/what I can do about it?”

Could be quite a few things.  I’d start with soft tissue and mobility work on the hamstrings, IT band, and calves.  Start at the largest crossed joint (hips for hamstrings and IT band, knee for calves) and work down.  You may also want to do some compression work around your calves.  Finally, address the squat (and the hips) as a whole.  Do some range of motion testing (there is a lot of good stuff on Mobility WOD for this) and see where you’re limited.  Address those issues and see where it leads.  Perhaps of greatest importance, is to remember that dealing with issues like this is not a quick fix, one-and-done kind of deal.  It’s going to take some time and patience, but it will pay off.

David H asks, “I’m a new weightlifter and I have long arms.  Should I utilize a wide grip on the jerk? I’ve been using a relatively narrow grip and it feels more solid this way, but I can’t help but think I’d benefit from moving my hands out.”

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Joseph F asks “Box squat for CrossFitters?”

Star Wars action figures for Trekkies?

Harry S asks, “What are some ways to improve my mobility for the snatch? My bottom position looks like a low bar back squat due to tight hips and ankles, and the couch stretch alone isn’t covering it.”

In answering this, I’m going to assume you are already back squatting high bar.  If you’re not, fix that, train it for 6 weeks, and see where you’re at.  Second, while mobility and stretching is great, I’m a firm believer that the biggest changes are going to happen from doing a lot of the movement you’re trying to improve.  Don’t become that guy who spends 2 hours on mobility and 20 minutes lifting (emphasis added by me because this is a glorious statement. – Cloud). With that out of the way, let’s talk about a few excellent drills to help you with this.

1. This one is very specifically helpful for people with your problem: take a length of PVC or broomstick and go into the bottom of your overhead squat.  Have someone stand behind you, hands on the PVC, place their knee in your low back, and push your hips forward and down. Be sure to keep your weight on your heels as the knees go forward, and actively push up against the “bar.”  Have your helper push down slightly on the PVC – this will help you feel something to push up against.

2. Holding an empty barbell in your hands, squat down and place the bar across your thighs/knees. Push one knee forward at a time (it’s fine to come off your heel) and use the bar to weigh you down at the knee.  You should feel a deep stretch around the achilles tendon.  Do this a little at a time, switching back and forth between legs, gradually loosening up the tissues and pushing the stretch further.

Barry S asks, “What are the pros and cons of using a percentage based training program for weightlifting?”

This is a big question. I will address it as concisely as possible.

Using percentages can be helpful because it gives you a governor.  When done intelligently, in the long term, it can help keep you from doing too much or too little, ensure that you’re mostly working with loads that are beneficial to you, and give you an accurate measurement of the total training load from day to day, week to week, and month to month.

However, they can also be limiting. Is 80% as valuable as 85% or 90%? In my opinion, if you are having a good training day, you’re going to get more out of taking the weight up and working heavier than just sticking to a set number.  And it’s always good to have the opportunity to strike when the iron is hot and set new PRs.

This is not to say that a percentage based program can’t work.  There are obviously a lot of great lifters and coaches who use percentages.  And I think they can be useful for someone who is training alone, to mitigate burnout and keep the lifter from getting to the point where they’re so exhausted that they are no longer able to recognize and correct mistakes.

Dave F asks, “If you were to design a program for someone looking to compete in both weightlifting and powerlifting, what would you emphasize?”

This is another big question, not one I can address effectively within the scope of this post.  But I will say this: I very strongly believe that in order to be successful at both weightlifting and powerlifting, one would need to emphasize weightlifting as the main discipline. The short version of the long answer to the question “why?” is this: weightlifting has the potential to improve you as a powerlifter far more than powerlifting has the potential to improve you as a weightlifter. There is already great importance placed on squatting and pulling strength, and the bench press can be treated as a supplementary exercise for a large part of the year.  I would, obviously, shift emphasis closer to a powerlifting meet for the final preparatory period.

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 already has a perfect score on 13.4. 

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.

We received a message from Developer Johan of Jumisapps about a new Android app he developed called Deep Squatter. This app measures your squat depth through the angle of your leg, and gives you feedback at the end of your set (unless It’s still your MF’ing set, then I guess you won’t see it.) Our unofficial official 70’s Big app tester Paul Sousa put it though it’s paces last week and weighs in here:

Forget politics or religion, the most divisive subject on the planet is squat depth.  Well, if you own an Android smartphone you can now have proof of your depth to shove in the faces of all your Youtube critics.  Developer Jumisapps has released an app named Deep Squatter that aims to let you know if you truly are a deep squatter, or if you’re more like Marotta at the Arnold (too soon?).

The concept behind it is simple, in the app you set your desired reps and the depth you want to reach in degrees with 90 degrees being parallel.  You can also set whether you want to have a beep or vibration when you hit your desired depth on each rep (I had both turned on and could barely notice the vibration, and couldn’t hear the sound at all).  Once you begin squatting the app tracks your reps and depth, and upon completion of your set it will show how many reps you completed and the depth.

It would be nice to be able to see specific info for each rep though, instead of what seems to be either just the info from the last rep or an overall average (not sure which it is).  There is also a rumor that the developer will be adding the ability to track speed which could prove very useful, especially to those who use dynamic work in their programs.

Overall I think it’s a cool concept executed pretty well.  Some minor enhancements to allow for more detailed information would go a long way, but even as is I would recommend it for anyone who is curious about their depth.

 If you have an Android powered phone, you can get the app here. You can contact Johan at jumisapps@gmail.com, or check his site http://jumisapps.com/blog/

Paul Sousa is an amateur strongman enthusiast, general strength enthusiast, Android app enthusiast, husband, father, and is enthusiastic about burritos and hilariously oversized steaks.