This is the best article I found on Andrei Aramnau, a weightlifter in the 105kg weight class, not partaking in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
“I was in great shape, but for whatever reason my coach had asked me to compete in a meaningless competition, where I first suffered the injury,”
There he goes again, throwing his coach under the bus. The 24 year old Aramnau didn’t learn any humility when he won his Olympic gold medal as a 20 year old at the 2008 Beijing games; he’s always been a dickhead.
It started with drunk driving. I’ll never understand why financially sound athletes bother to get behind the wheel of a car after drinking; Aramnau would probably make friends with NFL players. It would be wise to know ‘can you refuse a breathalyzer?’ if you were stopped at a dui checkpoint.
Olympic champion Aramnau gets ban for drinking Olympic Champion Andrei Aramnau of Belarus was handed a two-year suspended ban from competition on Friday after driving while intoxicated for the second time in less than three months.
The 20-year-old, who won gold in Beijing by breaking several world records in the 105kg weight class, was first caught driving drunk in December before he repeated the offence last month, just a day after receiving keys for a new apartment.
Belarus Sports Minister Alexander Grigorov, who headed the disciplinary hearing, told Reuters: “The Olympic success obviously went to his head. He is young and he couldn’t handle it in a right way. We gave him a suspended sentence because we didn’t want to lose him as an athlete.”
Aramnau, who also faces criminal charges for being a repeat offender, was stripped of a presidential monthly stipend worth more than $5,000.
However, Grigorov said Aramnau, who won his first world title in 2007 as a 19-year-old, could be given a second chance.
“If he retains the world title this year, he would get the stipend back,” Grigorov said. (source)
What they leave out is how he defended himself in this interview (translate with Chrome). When asked about the marijuana incident, he deflects it, says he had lots of stress and nerves as a result of the Belarus athletic governing body. Oh, that’s right, a champion goes and looks to substance abuse — regardless of the kind (he claimed he didn’t know there was weed in it) — to fix his problems.
And then when they brought up the drunk driving citations, of which he had several, he claimed that because he could lift several tons of tonnage in his workouts that he could handle it. Sorry, just because you’re strong doesn’t mean alcohol doesn’t effect you, and just because there are murals of you in the city doesn’t mean the law doesn’t apply to you. Then he goes onto claim that beer has significant recovery agents, as if that’s the reason he was drinking it to begin with. Can you believe this fucking guy? That’s either him continuing to deflect blame or he’s a god damn idiot. Either way it’s unacceptable.
I’ve never hidden the fact that I don’t like Aramnau, and it’s not because I’ve been a fan of Klokov for 4 years. It’s because Aramnau is always making excuses. He may train hard in the gym, as evidenced by his world records and gold medal, but he doesn’t do the things outside of the gym that make him admirable. You never hear these stories about Klokov because he conducts his life to be the greatest he can be. That much is apparent by his physique; he’s trying to get the most musculature for his weight class while Aramnau is a doughy beer drinker. Sure, he’s a doughy beer drinker with a gold medal while Klokov only has a silver, but that lack of effort in life means something to me.
I hate Aramnau’s attitude. He’s still young, but all of the best athletes in the world are young. What makes him so special that he can be a fucking dick head and get away with it? Nothing. He’s whiny, he deflects blame to others, and he’s an asshole. I’m happy that he’s not in the Olympics, because he hasn’t lived his life the past four years to deserve it.
I’ve been talking with a few people about this topic lately, and I figured I’d give my thoughts on it. The popularity of CrossFit has pushed more people into the realm of strength training. Powerlifting is incredibly accessible since most people are squatting, benching, and deadlifting in their program to get bigger and man-like (woman-like?), yet Olympic weightlifting is that girl across the room that you’re too afraid to approach.
In reality, she’d probably love to talk to you because she’s sick of hanging out with losers. Please, for the love of the old gods, follow this motto:
“Who dares wins”
— the motto of the UK and Aussie SAS, and also my pup Lily
If you’re bored with powerlifting, strength training, or CrossFit and want to give Olympic weightlifting a try, this is my recommendation on how to make the transition.
Shirts are optional in weightlifting.
A Note
There are probably some Oly disciples that will disagree with these recommendations. Considering that I coach both raw powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting, I once made this transition myself, and I regularly counsel people on the transition, I think the recommendations are solid. I regularly see people accumulate nagging injuries when they don’t do something like this.
Ignore Sexiness
Wait, what? But I love sexy stuff! Jesus, that much is apparent. I know that there are cool Russians lifting many times a week. I know that there are cool Americans lifting frequently throughout the week, often going to max. I know they are so cool and sexy, it makes your teeth hurt. But ignore them. Look to them for inspiration, nothing more.
Emulating the frequency, intensity, programming, assistance lifts, complexes, or whatever of a more advanced lifter will not yield success to you. You literally have no idea of the context of anything that they are doing. Sure, a coach like Pendlay will kind of talk about those things, but it’s still hard to glean his program, structure, or strategy from his tidbits (and in reality, I don’t think he should detail his exact program for everyone to see). Ignore them. What they do does not apply to you. Yet.
Progression
“The journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step.” — Lao Tzu
Start lighter. Incorporate the lifts with a consistent, steady progression. Do not begin by maxing out. In fact, you won’t even do the lifts more than twice a week. You’ll use non-Oly days to start incorporating motor pathways and strengthen musculature that will facilitate the Olympic lifts.
Chances are you are not a balanced lifter. Chances are that your mechanics support that of powerlifting. These things need to be addressed, and that’s why there are some exercises below that are not in a traditional Olympic weightlifting program. When you advance — in how you adapt to the stressors of Olympic weightlifting and are actually decently strong in the lifts — then your program will look like a more traditional weightlifting program. But right now, you are aiming to transition.
As for progressing the lifts themselves, you’ll only make incremental jumps when you do train them. Something like 5 or 2.5kg will work. As with any skill or strength development, the rate of progression will slow as you advance. Treat your Oly work as a linear progression for several weeks. After the initial “baby phase” is over, you’ll do one of the lifts at a “medium” intensity while the other is “progressed heavier”. That doesn’t mean you max out; just continue the steady progression.
The Template
Monday
Snatch
Clean and Jerk
Tuesday
High bar squat
Press*
Rows
Thursday
Snatch
Clean and Jerk
Friday
Front squat
Bench*
RDL
Elaborations on the Template
* People will whine about how the bench and press, are not specific to weightlifting. If you are weak — and you should know if you are — then just do them. No one wants to see a skinny fat 85kg male lifter go 80/100 while, as Brent says, high school football players easily out-bench him. None of you are going to the Olympics anyway, so get traditionally strong to compliment your future Oly prowess. If you are “strong”, then you could use push-press.
– Keep the rows. Having a jacked back is one of the coolest things ever. Sure, the Oly lifts will eventually get you there, but unless you’re running some test propionate, your back needs all the help it can get.
– Pull-ups or chin-ups can be thrown in on the “strength days”.
– Front or high bar squatting can be interchanged. Both are important; both will help. Just do them both. No, don’t do them on the Oly days just yet.
– RDLs can be done 2x/week if you want, but I’d have them be a bit lighter on one of the days. Banded good mornings are a good substitute for the lighter posterior chain work.
– I say that this template should be used for at least 4 weeks, but it should probably be used for about 3 months. It eases the joints into consistent Oly work, it improves mobility and mechanics, and it allows a progression on the O-lifts and vertical squat styles. You will feel like you can do more. It’s easier to prevent your dick from being driven into the ground than to pull it out (the female equivalent, as requested by the ladies at the Tucson seminar, is “burning your labia off”).
Rep Schemes
Snatch/CJ
The “baby phase” will have you working up to five singles on each of the lifts after you have warmed up with Pendlay’s teaching progression (google them, but they are on the Cal Strength website). This should last for several weeks. Then one lift will be medium while the other is progressed. “Medium” means at least 80% of a hypothetical max. Do 6 to 10 reps at this weight, preferably on a clock (1 minute for snatch, 90 seconds or 2 min for CJ). This will work on the whole “power development” thing and get you used to lifting with some fatigue on a clock (important for a) meets and b) not being a poon). The “heavier” lift will be pushed by the standard 5 or 2.5kg and hit for 3 to 5 singles. When 5 singles gets hard, just do 3ish. When 3 gets hard, just do 2. When you can only hit a top rep, aim to push it steadily every week. Eventually it won’t go up, but if you did this right you should have at least 2 or 3 months of this progression. At this point, you’ll graduate to a 3x/week program. No, you shouldn’t start doing 4, 5, or 9 training sessions a week.
Squats
If you came from powerlifting and you have been low barring, then do 3×5 or 3×6. You need reps with vertical style squatting to reinforce movement patterns, actively push your mobility ROM, and develop the musculature with the new mechanics. Think “heels” out of the bottom and control your descent. You can fall into the bottom of your high bar squats when you’re more experienced. That won’t be for at least a year unless you’re already high barring 500+ lbs. After the first 4 weeks, you can start doing triples on the squats if you want. Note that if you want muscular thighs, you should progress the 3×5 for as long as you can.
Other stuff
Don’t over complicate this stuff. Use a 3×5 set up, especially if you need strength and size. That goes for press, bench, rows, RDLs, or weighted pull-ups. If you’re using push-press, do sets of 2 or 3 reps. If you have crappy hamstring mobility, use higher rep sets of 8 to 10 reps (this will help in the “baby phase” if you are severely lacking hamstring musculature).
Mobbing
Note that regular and aggressive mobility work is implied at the beginning of all sessions. Always, always, always open up your anterior hip, external hip rotators, and ankles. Anterior hip stuff can be hit with anterior band distraction and couch stretch stuff (work on your psoas at night). The external hip rotators can be hit immediately before training with a lacrosse ball while the hip is in flexion (lying on your side). Use the “table top/pigeon stretch” after. Use banded distraction on the ankles. Most people with forward torso inclination on the snatch have shitty mobility in their thoracic spine. Lacrosse balling the t-spine and using “5 way shoulder” are good starting points. All of this shit has been mentioned on this website multiple times, but you’ll find it on MobilityWOD.
External Rotators
Some people still have crappy external rotation. Do the “band pulls” with a supinated grip after every session (3 sets of 12ish). Shirts are optional.
Thoughts
There you have it. It’s a very simple template with some simple guidelines that will help ease you into Olympic weightlifting activity. What happens to people that try to do too much? They accumulate injuries or excessive joint pain that can be debilitating to performance. Everyone is not me, but I wasn’t able to jerk over 120kg in training when I made the transition due to a mechanics issue (I would do 140kg in the first meet). I’ve seen people accumulate hip, knee, elbow, and shoulder issues from doing too much stuff too soon. I’ve written about this concept in FIT, and the two TM books, but when you are introducing a new activity, do so with a slow progression. Structures need to adapt.
The system also needs to adapt. High(er) frequency Olympic weightlifting training is very different than low frequency strength or powerlifting training. Don’t ignorantly jump into the former, because it won’t work as well. You’ll either develop a structural issue (which can happen as fast as two weeks or take as long as four weeks to materialize), or just reinforce awful habits with heavier weights. At the very least, the “Transitioning to Weightlifting” template above will allow you to learn about the lifts, get many quality reps, not develop a nagging injury, strengthen Oly specific motor pathways, and give you time to get some feedback (I’d start at the Pendlay forums). In other words, it’s a simple template that helps transition you into a weightlifter from a strength trainee, CrossFitter, or powerlifter. Post questions to the comments (but don’t over think this stuff).
Mondays are dedicated to female training. Today’s post also applies to males.
Hyperlordosis is a condition in which normal lordosis, or curvature in the lumbar spine, is over exaggerated and severe to the point that there is damage to the spine or it is limiting to properly executing a given movement.
This can be an over extension in the lumbar spine itself, an over extension in the lumbar/sacral junction, or possibly even an over extension of the thoracic/lumbar junction. If you are unfamiliar with these terms, edumicate yourself with this picture. Women are stereotypically hyperlordotic, yet this issue effects a lot of guys as well.
Hyperlordosis is a problem in athletic movement, including lifting, because it alters mechanics and excessively loads the spine to increase the chance of injury. If the injury doesn’t occur in an acute instance, then poor mechanics will weaken the structure(s) over time to the point that a sub-maximal or meaningless act causes the structure to fail (more on this concept). This is how people get injured by tying their shoes, picking up their dog, or sneezing.
The cause of hyperlordosis is having short hip flexors. It should be no surprise that this is the case since most people in Western society spend at least several hours sitting down with their hip flexed every day (don’t know “hip flexion”? Review anatomical movements here). There are many muscles involved in hip flexion, including the glutes and adductors, yet primarily include the rectus femoris, sartorius, TFL, and, most importantly, the iliopsoas.
The “iliopsoas” is a conglomerate of the psoas major and iliacus, and it’s important to know where they attach to understand why they cause hyperlordosis when they are chronically shortened. Note that we typically just say “the psoas” because only about 40% of the population has a psoas minor — it’s a muscle that still lingers, evolutionary speaking, from our quadruped counterparts (i.e. your dog or cat has one).
The psoas attaches on the transverse processes (bony protrusions on the site) of the lumbar vertebrae and the lesser trochanter (small bump) on the inside, and sort of in towards the rear, of the femur. The iliacus attaches on the iliac fossa (large, smooth area on the inside of the ilium, which is part of the pelvis) down to the same lesser trochanter.
Now that you know where the muscles are, imagine what happens when they shorten. The distance between the top and bottom attachments will decrease. This happens during leg raises or sit-ups with the feet supported. It also happens when you sit. Now imagine that you sit so much that this shortened distance adapts to being shortened and remains shortened. When you stand back up, the distance will remain the same, and this pulls the top attachments down towards the femur. Since the top attachments are either the pelvis or the lumbar vertebrae, it hyper-extends these two areas. Read this again: the top attachments of the psoas are pulled down to the femur when they are chronically shortened.
This is why you’ll never fully integrate your hips into any jumping movement. This is why you’ll hurt your back in pulling exercises. This is why your erectors won’t increase to be big pork loins (bread loaves aren’t meaty enough). This is why you don’t have a straight trunk on the press. This is one reason why your overhead position sucks. This is why your back hurts anywhere from the bottom of your scapula to your glutes. This is also a contributing factor to you walking with your feet pointed out (i.e. like a lazy bastard).
Treating The Muscles
Knowing where the muslces are is necessary because we’ll need to massage them in order to help “un-shorten” them by reducing their tension. Simply doing something like the couch stretch will help open some of the other hip flexors, but overall is inadequate to reducing tension on the psoas. You may have seen this type of treatment, but if you’re going in blind you may not actually hit the intended area. And you could occlude the abdominal aorta if you’re a belligerent goober — if you feel a pulse when trying to massage your left psoas, then move a bit laterally to avoid it.
To begin, lie on your back, pull your knees up, and let them fall to the side opposite to the posas you want to work on. This will let your intestines move away from the target area. Start about two inches from your belly button — you’ll be between the button and your hip bone. You are feeling around for a muscle that runs longitudinally with your spine. If you are incredibly tight, it can feel like a hard sausage. To confirm that you are touching your psoas, flex your hip (pull your knee up) slightly; the psoas should contract. Another way is to lift your head to contract your rectus abdominis; the psoas will be off to the side of the area that contracts. It may take a few minutes to become acquainted with the psoas your first time; be patient, virgin.
Use all four of your fingers together to massage the psoas. You can move laterally across the fibers and then along the muscle belly (vertically with your spine) when you are familiar with the psoas’ location. If you are particularly tight, even light pressure will be near unbearable (and probably make you feel sick). Stroke the fibers and continue moving down the psoas towards the hip itself. The more you can massage, the more tension you’ll release. Use short deliberate strokes, preferably in one way. Accumulate about 10 to 15 strokes on one spot and then move on down the muscle belly. Check from below your lowest ribs all the way to the groin/hip area.
The iliacus can also be massaged from this position. Just stick your thumb inside of your hip bone (the anterior superior iliac spine, ASIS) and work the inside wall of the iliac fossa. Most of your attention will be on the psoas, but a few seconds on the iliacus will only help.
What Else Should You Do
If you have a problem with hyperlordosis, then it probably has developed over a long period of time. Sitting down a lot, bad mechanics, trying to over correct posture, trying to do lower ab work with hyperlordosis, trying to stick your ass out (girls), or trying to puff your chest up (guys) will cause tightness in the hip flexors. Stop sitting. Stop sleeping with your hips flexed. Open your hip flexors with couch stretching, anterior band distraction on the proximal hip, and lunge stretching (Mark Verstegen’s “perfect stretch” works). The lunge stretch is effective if you push your groin to the ground and laterally flex and slightly rotate the trunk away from the back leg’s side (it can stretch the psoas a bit). Keep the lower abs tight on any hip flexor stretch. This is imperative. Otherwise you’re just going to go into hyperlordosis and not stretch anything.
Use the stretches after manually working on the psoas. Soft tissue work should always precede positional stretching since it will help relieve tension on the muscle before actually stretching it. Soft tissue work can be done multiple times a day — and it should be if you have a bad case of hyperlordosis. Spending a minute on each psoas up to ten times a day if you are crusty.
Note that abdominal work, especially on the lower abs, while in hyperlordosis will only make the problem worse. Many people will say, “Well, I’m doing leg lifts and GHD sit-ups to strengthen my abs,” but they are just training their hip flexors by contracting them, which will only help shorten them even more. Use abdominal exercises that don’t anchor the feet. People tell me the “hollow rock” is effective for people with hyperlordosis.
The Doorway Method
I read a communication book that it helps to re-position your posture when going through a doorway. It gave the example that you’re reaching up slightly with your mouth to bite a piece of leather. The idea is that it would raise your chin and shoulders, and pull the lips slightly lateral, like a smile, before entering a room. A confident, happy person gives a much better impression than an internally rotated, deflated pussy. If a person did this when they passed through every door, then they get up to 30 reps a day of not looking like a loser. I like to use this same method for postural corrections in mobility.
If you know you have bad posture, whether it’s hyperlordosis or slouched, internally rotated (i.e. pussy) shoulders, then start realigning yourself every time you pass through a doorway. Not only will it be a constant reminder for good posture, but you’ll get consistent reps every day.
“Good posture” has the lower abs tight with the shoulders back. Don’t over-exaggerate the “chest up” and “shoulders back” thing; be natural, not a Tommy Tough Guy.
Consistency
It’s important to note that any mobility issue most likely has developed by doing something wrong for a very long time. I always tell people, “The longer it takes for something to develop, the longer it’ll take to eradicate it.” Be consistent in working on your hyperlordosis. That means work on it daily, multiple times a day. If you only have a limited amount of time to train, be sure to put an emphasis on your mobility. If you ignore it and a) get injured or b) perform crappy because of it, then all of that bad training was an inefficient use of your time.
Post your training PR’s AND updates to the comments. This community can provide a lot if you do. If you don’t post, you’ll never know.
Weekly Challenge
Last week’s challenge consisted of completing these foot drills daily. I highly recommend you make a habit out of doing this, especially if your feet and ankles are all wonky.
Next Week’s Challenge: Keep an honest to gods food log. At least do it for two week days and a day from the weekend. Tell us next week what you learn (not enough protein, too many carbs, etc.).
@70sbig 3 wks. into TM & going great. Sprained my ankle Sun. walking down f’ing stairs. Any tips for rehabbing fast?
Dear @btnewgent,
Sprained ankles are no fun. I’ve sprained my right ankle pretty bad three times. The last time was the first CrossFit Football seminar and someone mocked me for being a pussy in the comments afterwards. This is a generic way that I would progress back into good ankle health. This assumes you haven’t broken any bones. Also, consult your doctor and sue him or yourself if you make things worse. Don’t listen to me. Ever. These progressions may take several days due to severity; rehab means you do a little bit, see how it responds and heals, then do a little more next time. Do not do too much, but be consistent and progressive with rehab.
– Ice it ASAP after the injury. It’s best if you can submerge your foot into a bucket of ice water. They make little rubber toe covers to protect your toes. Just don’t exceed 10 to 15 minutes if your toes aren’t covered.
– Ice it some more. You should be icing it, letting it return to normal, and icing it again as much as possible, especially during the first few days.
– Ice it. Hey, see the trend?
– If it’s bad enough where you can’t put any weight on it, then start doing ROM stuff prior to icing. Ankle circles, plantar flexion/dorsiflexion, inversion/eversion, or whatever you can handle. Note that pain during these movements probably won’t make it worse. You may need several exposures of this over a few days. Ice after ROM work.
– Load the ankle lightly. Do this by standing on the good foot, and giving the bad foot a little weight. The progression moves from a little weight, to equal weight, to more weight on the bad side, and finally to full weight on the bad side. Follow this up with ROM work and icing.
– Do the same loading with calf raises on a step. Progress from barely any load to full body weight load. Always follow up with ROM work and icing.
– Begin walking. Do not limp and do not look down. The neuromuscular connection will be, uh, fucked, and you need to reestablish it. Don’t hamper progress by allowing limp so that people realize that you’re hurt, but a heart-filled warrior. I would quantify the distance of the walking so it can be progressed. Finish with ROM work and icing.
– At this point you are fine to do non-explosive lifting and training. You might have been able to do some after the calf raise progression. Do ROM work and icing after training.
– The ankle will probably feel good after the walking progression. Do not start doing something idiotic like box jumps. Go through an “extra body weight loading” progression. Start this by pretending like you are going to jump, lowering your body as if you’re about to jump, extending the hips and knees, but do NOT leave the ground. This will probably apply a force 4 to 9 times your body weight on the structures (I’d have to check some data to be more specific). I would quantify reps of this. Eventually you can have short little hops and landings with loading similar to the standing and calf raise loading (more on healthy side, progressing to more on bad side). ROM and icing will obviously follow.
– Things are probably pretty good now. I’d jump rope as a warm-up and regularly do the foot drills before I do any lateral activity. Go ahead and ROM and ice it.
At this point, you should have gotten hundreds of ROM reps, which act like rehab in itself. I didn’t even mention using therabands (for resisted inversion/eversion/plantar flexion/dorsiflexion) or compression tack and stretch (“voodoo flossing”, a term I do not like), but those methods would work extremely well. If you followed a progression and didn’t act like a Tommy Tough Guy, then your ankle should be back to normal, and probably even better than before the injury. Icing can be irritating, but if you get an ice bag (at most $5) from any pharmacy or convenience store and wrap it with an ace bandage, it will stay on without effort (plus those ice bags don’t produce condensation or drip water).
Tom H.
Justin, would you program high bar back squats and low bar back squats in the same way (in terms of sets and reps) despite the mechanical differences and subsequent difference in stress upon the musculature?
Dear Tom,
The high and low bar will pretty much be trained the same. The systemic stress isn’t terribly different and it’s still back squatting. The only differences to note is how the rest of the program will change depending on which movement is used and what the goal is. For example, I often like to place RDLs with high bar squats because of the subtle difference in posterior chain work during the high bar. But, then again, I obviously like RDLs for low bar squatters too.
John F.
Is training in a headband and sunglasses considered ‘geared’ lifting?
Dear John,
Headband and sunglasses are essential “lifting gear” much like a good belt and lifting shoes. However, like a belt and shoes, they provide an ergonomic aid to the actual lifts. The specifics are a bit complicated, but the headband essentially increases cranial pressure which resonates down the cerebrospinal fluid into the spine. The fluid swells, ultimately increasing the pressure inside of the spine. This not only improves stability on the spine, but the vertebral segments will exponentially increase in density. It’s possible to receive a back breaker in wrestling and not experience any spinal damage after this type of training (see image below).
This was fun to google.
The sunglasses function in a different way. High levels of retina photon exposure can be debilitating to power output and absolute strength, so it’s only natural that sunglasses would limit this. Polarized sunglasses are preferable as the increase the clarity of the site picture, ultimately making it easier to balance and stabilize with a good point of reference. This assumes that the cervical spine is in neutral alignment — if it’s in extension, then it’ll complicate the cerebrospinal pressure increase and result in your rectum blowing out of your asshole.
Eric R.
I’ve been doing CrossFit for about 2 years now. 6 months ago, these were my numbers: 500lb DL, 380lb HBBS, 175lb SP, 255lb BP. I’ve kind of fallen off a steady workout regimen since returning stateside. I want to get back into it but now I want to focus more on raw strength. Where’s the best place to start? Specifically, any books or websites that spell it out for me? Thanks.
Dear Eric,
I am receiving a lot of these messages lately. Eric is a bit more specific, but they often ask, “Where do I start?” with respect to strength training. First, learn what a linear progression is. Second, try to learn how to program. I try very hard to get this across on this website, but I also spend a lot of time teaching it in my books (solo or with other authors). You shouldn’t be picking a program and following it like a drone. I know that’s what you want, because you don’t want to think about your training and just be told what to do, but that won’t work. You either need to pay someone to do it for you (you can pay me if you want, or attend a gym with a good coach if you’re lucky) or learn how to do it on your own. It basically means you’ll use a programming template and make subtle changes to it when necessary.
I think FIT is a good start on all things programming, because it touches on different components of fitness and training; there are extensive strength and endurance chapters. You won’t believe me, but I’m not just saying that because I helped write it (I don’t get as much money from you buying FIT as I do one of my solo books); I’m saying it because it is a good resource. My goal is to give you tools that you can use to work on your own program. Other guys out there will just give you a program and tell you to do it. The program will probably work, but it’s not specific to what will be optimal for you, because you are an individual.
In reality, all of this shit has been pretty much the same for over 50 years. We call things different names, make some tweaks here and there, but it all focuses on applying an adaptive stress based on your current state of adaptation. Nothing more, nothing less. If that doesn’t make sense, then get reading.
There is not a man, but a legend. There’s a man whose name is whispered into the night by children in distant villages. There’s a man who some may call a conjurer — not of cheap tricks, but of demons. Others call “that crazy guy”. Still, yet, others simply call him Mark Brown.
Mark Brown is a good friend of mine that lives in Texas. He trains at least three times a week, every week. When people boast about not having a light day, that is just standard ops for the legendary Mark Brown. The reason I love Mark Brown so much is because he brings intensity EVER. SINGLE. DAY. His intensity shifts depending on what he’s training that day. When he snatches and cleans, he is a stolid, grim figure. He paces back and forth between lifts. In an instant he’ll snatch 100 kilos, then shake his shoulders out and walk away. Yet when he’s squatting or deadlifting, THE WORLD IS ON FIRE. The intensity is cranked up, because there’s an animal within Mark Brown, and he must — HE DESIRES — to unleash it on the bar.
Some of my most favorite training sessions of my life — and I’ve had many in the 13 years that I’ve trained — are with Mark Brown. We would yell and kick and antagonize each other. We would summon the demons. I still remember the exact phrases Mark Brown would say as I would go to hit a PR squat.
“C’mon Justin. GET MAD AT IT. Grit your teeth!”
Mark Brown is about 5’8″, 185 pounds. He can deadlift about 550, and squats at least 450. He’s about 50 years old nowadays. At the same time he can do a set of ten ring muscle ups unbroken. One of his finishers is to hook his toes over a pull-up bar and do sit-ups (bring his elbows to his thighs) with a 25 pound plate. He can do one armed chins and the flag. Another finisher is to do kip-ups off the floor to his feet. He has long hair and is one of the craziest, most amusing people that I’ve ever met. Additionally, if you want to have a dreadlocks hairstyle, you can shop here for hair care products.
I still think of training with Mark Brown during those dark times when I’m feeling sorry for myself. It allows me to “summon the demons”, releasing a surge of unprecedented adrenaline. The other day I was in my second Oly session in a long time. The first session I worked up to 100 and 125kg for a few singles on the snatch and CJ respectively. In this session, I had snatched up to 120 and CJ’d 140 — numbers I was happy with in my second session. I don’t have a squat rack, so in order to front squat, I have to clean the weight. I lost some weight in my hectic month, so I’m using around 5 reps with eating and sleeping well to put some weight back on. I haven’t squatted in over a month and have done some lighter front squatting until this day. I say all this because the weight I am using is not all that impressive, but I’ve accepted that I’m not purely a weightlifter.
I did 125kg on the first two sets, and I was feeling a bit knackered. Then I started thinking…What would Mark Brown do? This is what transpired.
I hope that you all can learn to summon the demons, because mindset is important for getting the most out of your body in the gym. Just ask yourself, “What would Mark Brown do?”
Olympic Champion Andrei Aramnau of Belarus was handed a two-year suspended ban from competition on Friday after driving while intoxicated for the second time in less than three months.
