Ebook Elitefts Ptw42

POWERLIFTING  STRONGMAN  BODYBUILDING  NUTRITION  SPORTS TRAINING

LIVE. LEARN. PASS ON

PROGRAMS THAT WORK DECEMBER 2014 FOURTH EDITION BOOK 2

L A T U R B WER PO

ULL, IF T P L D A E FUL D S, R E W FL AW PO G H A C P N E NDIN LO B E E B V R E U R D YO BA WITH COME R D E R V A O TS PW SQUA ODE U G L N P I X K E RE A RD-B O C E R

DRIVE UP YOUR TOTAL IN POWERLIFTING

WRESTLING, SOFTBALL, FOOTBALL, THROWING, CROSSFIT, ICE HOCKEY

PAGE 74

BUILD MAXIMUM LEAN MUSCLE MASS BEN HARTMAN ON ARM SPECIALIZATION ALWYN COSGROVE’S 12-WEEK FAT LOSS AMIT SAPIR’S MASS BUILDING TRAINING

PAGE 34

ACHIEVE SPORTS MASTERY

LIFT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

ALL PROCEEDS OF THESE BOOKS BENEFITS MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OHIO, KENTUCKY, INDIANA

FOOTBALL | HIGHLAND GAMES | OLYMPIC LIFTING WRESTLING | STRONGMAN | ULTRA-MARATHON FIGURE COMPETITION | THROWING | BASKETBALL

When your baby is diagnosed with cancer – life changes. Suddenly you are confronted with the possibility that they won’t have ‘the rest of their lives’ to live out their hopes and dreams. You hope and you pray that they will, but you are also confronted with the frailty of life in a very real way. This is a rambling way of getting to my main point — how in the world do I thank someone who gives her something that I couldn’t? I mean, if she wanted a webkinz, I could and did get that for her. If she wanted pickles (or anything else for that matter!) at 11:30 p.m. in the hospital, her dad could and did do that. But for “Make-A Wish” to give her the opportunity to think of one thing she would love to do in her lifetime and for elitefts™ to offer such a huge donation to make that happen…there just are no words to fully express the gratitude I have for them all. That is crazy love…I can’t think of another way to describe it. Every one of them has a special place in my heart. I will never forget their kindness to a little girl they had not even met when they agreed to give so generously.” — Mother of a Wish Child This was part of a letter elitefts received from the very first wish granted in 2008. I have kept this quote on my phone even since. This one quote not only represents what Make-A-Wish® does, but also what we do at elitefts.com. It was these common values that brought us together in 2007 and has solidified our relationship ever since. This past year elitefts.com was presented with the Make-A-Wish, OH, KY, IN Strength Award. This was in part for the 49 wishes we have helped grant, the one wish we personally made come true, the hours of volunteer work, over a quarter of a million dollars donated and stepping up in helping the chapter grow. When elitefts can partner with another organization and truly make a difference, that is something to be pound of. Unlike most companies who donate to charities, elitefts doesn’t do things in a selfish way, we truly do this as a team. The money that has been raised has all been through work we do as staff, athletes, coaches, columnists, and friends and then turned around and offered as seminars and ebooks used to raise awareness and donations for Make-A-Wish®. Your purchase of this manual completes the circle, involving everyone that is a part of elitefts.com. PLEASE suggest this manual and the others to everyone you know as every cent made on these will go to granting even more wishes. You may not have realized this when you purchased this manual but elitefts.com will not make one cent on these. All proceeds will go to granting wishes. As the mother above noted. There are no words we can use to express our gratitude for you all, so I will end with another quote: “From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.” — Arthur Ashe

1 The Weekender by Dave Kirschen



2

Fourteen-week Training Program for NAS Strongman Nationals by Chase Karnes

3

Prioritization Cycle for the Off-Season Bodybuilder by Ben Hartman

4 5 6 7

Four-day General Athletic Training by Matt Foley Grip Training by Eric Maroscher Off-Season Basketball by Skyler Farley Strength and Explosiveness in Six Weeks by Marshall Johnson

6 9 13 16 20 26 32

Making Wishes

35

8

Basic Hypertrophy Training by Amit Sapir

36

9

Eight-week Olympic Weightlifting Cycle by Greg Everett

38

10 Beast Training College Football Preparation by Erik Eggers

43

11 Twelve-week Fat Loss Training by Alwyn Cosgrove

54 64

12 Knee Integrity: Building Better Knees by JL Holdsworth

13 Common Training Mistakes of Aspiring Female Competitors by Alexander Cortez 67 14 Foundational Training by Mike Kozak 15 Creating a More Powerful You by Josh Bryant 16 Equipped Bench Circa-Max Phase by Vincent Dizenzo

71 75 84

Making Wishes



87

17 Off-Season Strength Program for Wrestling by Jerry Handley

88

18 Off-Season Speed and Agility for Football by Nick Aloi and Mike Inman

96



19 The Stim-Method for Track and Field Athletes by Willie Danzer 98 20 The Knowledge Behind Programs that Work by James Smith

110

21 Shoulder-Blaster Program by Julia Ladewski

123

22 Perfecting Your Bench Work by Scott Yard

126

23 Strength Training Program for Ultra-Marathoners by Bill Allars 130 24 Advanced Powerlifting Training by Bryan Mann

135

25 Strongman Training for Old Dudes by Mark Watts

140

26 Block Periodization Program by Shane Church

144

Making Wishes



27 Summer Football Training by Ron McKeefery

146 147

28 Build Your Sumo and Conventional Deadlift by Casey Williams 149 29 Twelve-week Monkey Bar Progression by Sheena Leedham

152

30 How to Come Back from a Patellar Tendon Rupture by Thomas E. Deebel

158

31 Twelve-week Peaking Template for Collegiate Throwers by Nate Harvey

160

Making Wishes

167

32 Upgraded Movement: A Pre-Season Plan for the Football Athlete by Brett Bartholomew 168 33 In-Season Squat Progression for a Traveling Football Team by Ted Perlak

171

34 The Nerd Off-Season Program by Dan Fosselman

175



35 Contrarian Approach to Off-Season Highland Games Training by Mark Valenti and Erin R. Stewart

180

36 The Tactical Preparedness Workout by Chris Smith

190



37 Six-week Weightlifter’s Program by Hank McDonald 38 Powerlifting Program by John Patrick 39 M2 Deadlift Program by Brian Schwab



196



200 202

The Weekender Dave Kirschen

M

aintaining a powerlifting career for the long haul is not easy. The training is physically and mentally demanding, the time commitment is significant, and injuries are a real and constant threat. To top it all off, there is little, if any financial reward for the vast majority of the athletes. While some lifters are willing to prioritize their training over all else, this is simply not a reality for the majority, myself included. While most lifters excel with somewhere between 3-5 training sessions per week, outside commitments like work and family that will make it difficult to maintain that pace year in and year out. Sometimes, when life throws you a curveball, the easiest thing to do is give yourself a week or two off, take care of your priorities, and get back to the grind whenever you can.

If you decide to have a couple of days in-between training sessions, it really doesn’t matter which session you perform first. If training on consecutive days, keep the bench session first so your shoulders aren’t already smoked from holding the squat bar. Of course, you’re probably wondering if it’s possible to make progress training so little, and I can say from experience that it is. You probably won’t progress at the same rate you would training 3-4 times per week, but if time is scarce, it’s much better to program 2 days and make them all, then it is to miss workouts and constantly have to re-adjust.

The Weekender isn’t so much a program geared for progress as it is a way to exercise damage control when life throws a curveball or two your way. And for you veterans out there that are always beat Other times, the distraction will take much longer up, you might even find that you progress faster to address, requiring you to put your training on the on The Weekender because you’re still training back-burner for months, if not years. consistently, but beating yourself up less. The weekender is a program I’ve used during stretches of my life where I couldn’t devote a ton of time to my training, but I still wanted to stay consistent. It’s a two day a week, conjugate periodization-based powerlifting program. I call it the weekender program because while not optimal, you could conceivably get all or your main lifting done over the course of a weekend, then have the rest of the week free to care of business.

Since this is a conjugate program, you can use any max effort movements you want. If you want to use this program to prepare for a meet, I would schedule 16 weeks of training, and wave the contest lifts from 85% to 95 % for the first 3 months, deload in week 4 of the final month, then compete in what would be week 5.

7

The Weekender

elitelifts. Volume 2

7

If not competing, repeat the previous 12 weeks, trying to beat your previous bests in each of the max effort movements. Keep your competition squat/ bench/DL numbers the same until you are able to enter a meet and establish new prs on the contest platform.

Dave Kirschen

speed or max-effort days.

Week 1

Day 1 – Max effort floor press – 3 rep max Day 2 - Max effort Box squat – 3 rep max

Week 2

Day 1 - Max effort board press – 3 rep max The assistance exercises are up to you. For your Day 2 - Max effort pin pull - 3 rep max squat/DL sessions, the typical movements are back extensions, glute-ham raises, straight leg deadlifts, Week 3 cable pullthroughs, and abs Day 1 - Speed bench 8 x 2 @ 45% Day 2 - Speed squat (box) 8 x 2 @ 45% For upper body, plenty of heavy rows, close grip bench, dumbbell bench, pulldowns and triceps Week 4 extensions. For ideas on more assistance movements, check out Day 1 – competition style bench – 85% x 1 the elitefts.net Exercise index which goes into way Day 2 competition style squat and deadlift – 85% x 1 greater depth than I can here.

Week 1

Day 1 – Max effort bench (special exercise) Day 2 - Max effort squat (special exercise)

Week 2

Day 1 - Max effort bench (special exercise) Day 2 - Max effort deadlift (special exercise)

Week 3

Day 1 - Speed bench (45%-55%) Day 2 - Speed squat (45% - 55%)

Week 4

Day 1 – competition style bench – 85% - 95% Day 2 competition style squat/DL – 85% - 95%

Week 5

Day 1 – Max effort floor press – 1 rep max Day 2 - Max effort Box squat – 1 rep max

Week 6

Day 1 - Max effort board press – 1 rep max Day 2 - Max effort pin pull - 1 rep max

Week 7

Day 1 - Speed bench 8 x 2 @ 50% Day 2 - Speed squat (box) 8 x 2 @ 50%

Week 8

Day 1 – competition style bench – 90% x 1 Day 2 competition style squat and deadlift – 90% x 1

Week 9

Then repeat, switching out the max effort exercises. Day 1 – Max effort floor press – 1 rep max (try to Leave your contest lift percentages alone until you beat previous month’s pr). Day 2 - Max effort Box squat – 1 rep max (try to beat establish new prs at a meet. previous month’s pr) The following is a sample program so you can see how it all works The max effort exercises can be changed to any squat, goodmorning or deadlift variation you want, based on what your needs are and what tools are available to you. You may also use whatever accommodating resistance you like on the

Week 10

Day 1 - Max effort board press – 1 rep max (try to beat previous month’s pr) Day 2 - Max effort pin pull - 1 rep max (try to beat previous month’s pr)

8

The Weekender

elitelifts. Volume 2

8

Week 11

Day 1 - Speed bench 8 x 2 @ 55% Day 2 - Speed squat (box) 8 x 2 @ 55%

Week 12

Day 1 – competition style bench – 95% x 1 Day 2 competition style squat and deadlift – 95% x 1 As with any program, any extra or feeder workouts you can fit in will be a huge plus. But this could be as simple as a few band goodmornings or triceps extensions a few times per week. If you have gym access during the rest of the week, great. But if not, you’ll still be able to either make progress, or maintain as much as possible until you can get back to your original schedule. I should note once again, that the Weekender is by no means an optimal program for most lifters due to the low training frequency, but sometimes the best program is the one that you can fit in your schedule consistently. So if you are at a place in your life/career where you are unable to devote as much time as you’d like to your training, give The Weekender a run. It might just be the difference between training and not. Dave Kirschen has been powerlifting competitively since 1998 and has since reached totals of 1901 in the 181-pound class and 1925 in the 198-pound class. He trains at Eastside Barbell Club in Palisades Park, New Jersey, and currently manages a fitness center in New York City. A lifelong fitness professional, he holds a degree in physical education from SUNY Cortland and lives in New Jersey with his wife Liz.

Dave Kirschen

Fourteen-week

Training Program for NAS Strongman Nationals Chase Karnes

B

elow is my program for the 2014 North American Strongman Nationals where I’ll be competing in the Middleweight 200 pound class. The program is broken down into two 6 weeks training phases with a deload week after the first 6 weeks and an off week after the second 6 weeks. This makes for a 14 week long program.

The events for 2014 NAS Strongman Nationals are: Day 1: Press Medley – 225# Keg, 275# Axle, 150#

Circus Dumbbell. 1 rep on Keg, 1 rep on Axle, then max reps on Circus DB. 1 minute time limit. Most reps win. Yoke – 700# - 60 ft. with a 60 second time limit. Fastest time wins. Carry Medley – 275# Keg for 60 ft., 275# Farmers for 40 ft., 300# Duck Walk for 20 ft. 75 second time limit. Fastest time wins. Car Deadlift – Toyota Camry. Most reps in 1 minute wins.

Day 2: Giant Wheel Barrow Push – Push a 1650#

Wheelbarrow 60 ft. with a 60s time limit. Fastest time wins. Keg Carry & Load Over Bar – Carry a 225#, 250# and 275# Keg 10 ft. each and load each over a 54 inch bar.

This program was designed with my strengths and weaknesses in mind. These are factors I considered for each event when programming for this competition:

• Pressing is one of my strongest events. The weights are all submaximal for me. On this event I’ll need to get through the first two implements as fast as possible and then hit as many reps as possible on the dumbbell. More than likely I’ll run out of time before I run out of reps. The goal here is to work on increasing my strength endurance on the dumbbell without beating my shoulder to death. I’ll also work on efficient viper technique of the keg and efficient axle clean and press technique. • The name of the game for yoke is speed. The weight is very doable for me, I just need to focus on foot speed and perfecting my technique. I’ll be working on some speed (dynamic effort) days along with some heavier (max effort) days hitting 90101% of competition weight. • For the carry medley conditioning will be a big factor. Grip strength is also going to be a factor on the farmers and duck walk implements. Speed is also key here and transitions between implements must be fast and smooth. • The car deadlift is typically very heavy at nationals. The goal here is to peak deadlift strength while also pushing the squat and car deadlift implement. • Giant wheelbarrow push will come down to foot speed and grip strength. Since I don’t have this

Fourteen Week

10

implement I’ll let my foot speed work from farmers and yoke carry me here along with adding some direct support grip work. On the keg carry and load it’ll come down • to the fastest time. The weights are very doable and the height isn’t a problem to load to. The focus here will be moving as fast as possible with smooth transitions and no wasted steps. • NOTE: During phase #2 I was asked to compete in England in a u90kg strongman competition put on by the Strongman Champions League. The events were similar to Nationals with the exception of a max log press and a squat for reps event. Because of this I did program log in and hit more rep work on the back squat. The goal for the log was to peak in strength, but I needed to keep the axle in my hands some. In order to accomplish this I programmed a peaking phase based on my estimated 1RM on log and just ran those percentages alternating the log and axle each week.

Chase Karnes

B1. Bench Press – 65% of training max for 3 sets of 5-10 B2. Machine Row – 5 sets of 10-15 C1. Support Grip Work C2. Hanging Leg Raises – 3 sets of 12-15

Wednesday:

A. Deadlift Week 1: Work up to a training 5RM Week 3: Work up to a training 3RM Week 5: Work up to a training 1RM B. Car Deadlift Week 1: Work up to a heavy set of 5 Week 3: Work up to a heavy set of 5 Week 5: Work up to a heavy set of 5 C. Rollouts – 80-100 total reps

Thursday:

Keg/Duck Walk Medley – Carry each implement 50 ft. Week 1: 250#/265# x 2 Week 3: 250#/300# x 2 Week 5: 275#/300# x 2

The training split is 14 days total rotating the entire 6 weeks. In regards to gym lifts Weeks 1, 3, 5 are the same and weeks 2, 4, 6 are the same in terms of exercise performed, but other variables change. Week B. (Weeks 2, 4, 6) Event days rotate on the same schedule.

Phase 1:

Saturday:

A. Keg Clean & Press – Work up to 230# for: Week 2: 3x1 Week A. (Weeks 1, 3, 5) Week 4: 4x1 Week 6: 5x1 Saturday: B. Circus DB Clean & Press – Work up to % of training A. Axle Clean & Press – 5/3/1 B. Keg Carry/Farmer Walk/Duck Walk Medley – max for max reps: Week 2: 85% x As many as possible Competition Distances Week 4: 90% x As many as possible Week 1: 250#/255#/265# x 2 Week 6: 95% x As many as possible Week 3: 275#/275#/300# x 2 C. Yoke Walk – Competition distance - Work up to: Week 5: 275#/295#/335# x 2 C. Speed Farmers Walk – Half competition distance. Week 2: 630# Week 4: 700# Percentages based off competition weight. Week 6: 730# Week 1: 65% x 5 runs w/1m rest D. Keg Carry & Load Over Bar Week 3: 70% x 5 runs w/1m rest 230#/250# x 1, 230#/250#/275# x 1 Week 5: 75% x 5 runs w/1m rest

Monday:

A. Strict Overhead – 5/3/1, followed by a training 5RM, 3RM and 1RM on their respective weeks.

Monday:

A. Bench Press – 5/3/1 B1. 1-Arm DB Strict Overhead Press – 3 sets of 8-12

Fourteen Week

B2. Chin Ups – 4 sets of 8-12 C1. Support Grip Work C2. Hanging Leg Raises – 3 sets of 12-15

Wednesday:

A. Back Squat – 5/3/1 B. Safety Squat Bar Squat – 3 sets of 5-10 C. Rollouts – 80-100 total reps

Thursday:

A. Keg Carry & Load Over Bar 230#/250# x 1, 230#/250#/275# x 1

Deload Week 7

11

Chase Karnes

Week 1: 3x1 Week 3: 4x1 Week 5: 5x1 B. Circus DB Clean & Press – Work up to % of training max (increased every 3 week wave) for max reps: Week 1: 85% x As many as possible Week 3: 95% x As many as possible Week 5: 90% x As many as possible C1. Incline Bench – 5/3/1 C1. 1-Arm DB Row – 3 sets of 20 D1. Support Grip Work D2. Hanging Leg Raises – 3 sets of 12-15

Wednesday:

A. Deadlift – Percentages based off estimated 1RM Week 1: 80%x3, 75% 3 sets of 3 Week 3: 85%x3, 80%x3 Week A. (Weeks 1, 3, 5) Week 5: 90%x3, 85%x3 B. Back Squat – 5/3/1 Saturday: A. Log Clean & Press - Percentage based off of C1. Rollouts – 80-100 total reps estimated 1RM C2. GHRs – 3 sets of 10 Week 1: 80%x1, 70% 3 sets of 8 Week 3: 85%x1, 75% 3 sets of 8 Thursday: Week 5: 90%x1, 85% 3 sets of 3 Keg/Duck Walk Medley - Carry each implement 50 B. Keg Carry/Farmer Walk/Duck Walk Medley - ft. Competition Distances Week 1, 3, 5: 250#/300# x 2 Week 1: 250#/255#/265# x 2 Week 3: 275#/275#/300# x 2 Week B. (Weeks 2, 4, 6) Week 5: 250#/255#/265# x 1, 275#/275#/300# x Saturday: 1 A. Axle Clean & Press Percentage based off of C. Speed Farmers Walk - Half competition distance. estimated LOG 1RM Percentages based off competition weight. Week 2: 83%x1, 73% 3 sets of 8 Week 1: 65% x 5 runs w/1m rest Week 4: 88%x1, 80% 3 sets of 5 Week 3: 70% x 5 runs w/1m rest Week 6: 93%x1, 90% 2 sets of 2 Week 5: 75% x 5 runs w/1m rest B. Yoke Walk – Competition Distance – Work up to 710 weeks 2, 4, 6. Sunday: C. Keg Carry & Load Over Bar – Competition distance Prowler Sprints – 45 seconds work : 90 second rest and height. Week 1: 4 rounds 230#/250#/275# x 2 runs Week 3: 5 rounds Sunday: Week 5: 6 rounds Prowler Sprints – Week 2: 4 rounds Monday: Week 4: 5 rounds A. Keg Clean & Press - Work up to 230# for: Week 6: 6 rounds

Phase 2:

Fourteen Week

12

Monday:

A. Keg Clean & Press - Work up to 230# for: Week 2: 3x1 Week 4: 4x1 Week 6: 5x1 B. Circus DB Clean & Press - Work up to % of training max (increased every 3 week wave) for max reps: Week 2: 90% x As many as possible Week 4: 85% x As many as possible Week 6: 95% x As many as possible C1. Strict Overhead Press – 5/3/1 C2. Chin Ups – 3 sets of 10 D1. Support Grip Work D2. Hanging Leg Raises – 3 sets of 12-15

Wednesday:

A. Deadlift Percentages based off estimated 1RM Week 2: 83%x3, 75% 3 sets of 3 Week 4: 88%x3, 80%x3 Week 6: 70%x3 B. Car Deadlift Week 2: Work up to a heavy set of 5-10 Week 4: Work up to a heavy set of 5-10 Week 6: Work up to a heavy set of 5-10 C1. Rollouts – 80-100 total reps C2. GHRs – 3 sets of 10

Thursday:

A. Speed Yoke - Half competition distance. Percentages based off competition weight. Week 2: 65% x 5 runs w/1m rest Week 4: 70% x 5 runs w/1m rest Week 6: 75% x 5 runs w/1m rest B. Keg Carry & Load Over Bar 230#/250#/275# x 2

Off Week 7

*Exercise with pairings are done as alternating sets (Example: A1. And A2.). A set of A1. Is performed followed by a short rest. Then A2. is performed followed by a short rest. This is repeated until all sets/reps are completed. * Training rep max (Work up to a training 5RM for example) is a heavy set of the respective prescribed

Chase Karnes

rep number without hitting failure or without a major loss of form. Typically leaving some “in the tank”.

Chase Karnes is a personal trainer/strength coach located in Paducah, Kentucky. He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in exercise science along with his CSCS and NSCA-CPT credentials. Chase is also a national level Strongman competitor with a second place finish at the NAS Strongman Nationals in 2012. He can be reached through his website at www.chasekarnes.com.

Prioritization Cycle for the Off-Season Bodybuilder

Ben Hartman

C

ompetitions are won in the offseason. Sure, contest prep obviously plays a major role in achieving that shredded, polished look on stage, but real champions are built in the offseason. I sometimes like to approach my offseason training by focusing on periods of priority training for weak body parts. By cycling these periods in and out in 4 week increments an athlete can make measurable, noticeable gains as well as prevent overuse injuries from training a body part too often, for too long. Over the course of each block, progression is the name of the game. Strive for more weight or reps and better execution on each successive workout.

4 week: Arm prioritization

M - Quads (3), Hams (2), Calves (1)

- Squat….ramping sets of 6 (6 @ 135, 185, 225, 275, etc.) until a top set of less than 6 reps - Hack Squat….1-2 warm-ups; 3 x 10 - Leg Extension….3 x 20 - RDL….ramping sets of 8 - Seated Leg Curl….3 x 10 - Donkey Calf….1-2 warm-ups, 3 x 10

T - Biceps (3), Triceps (3), Forearms (2) -

Machine Curl….ramping sets of 8, finish with a drop set

- - - - - - -

Barbell Curl….4 x 6 Hammer Curl….3 x 10 Pressdown….ramping sets of 8, finish with a drop set Overhead DB Extension….4 x 10 Overhead Rope Extension….3 x 12 Wrist Curl….3 x 20 Reverse Curl….3 x 10

W - off

Th - Chest (2), Back (2), Shoulders (2) - Incline DB Press….1-2 warm-ups; 4 x 8 - Machine Flat Press….3 x 10 - Neutral Pulldown….1-2 warm-ups; 4 x 8 - Seated Machine Row….3 x 10 - Machine Lateral….3 x 15 - Reverse Pec Deck….3 x 15

F - off

S - Biceps (3), Triceps (3), Forearms (2) - - - -

Cable Curl….ramping sets of 8, finish with a drop set Incline DB Curl….4 x 8 Rope Curl….5 x 20 (BFR – blood flow restriction) Rope Pressdown….ramping sets of 8, finish with a drop set

Prioritization Cycle

14

Ben Hartman

- Dips….4 x 8 - Overhead EZ Extension….5 x 20 (BFR – blood flow restriction) Standing DB Wrist Curl….3 x 10 - Wrist Roller…3 sets, up and down both - ways

- - - -

Barbell Row….4 x 8 Reverse-grip Pulldown….3 x 10 Machine Lateral….3 x 15 Reverse Pec Deck….3 x 15

Su - off

4 week: Leg prioritization

4 week: Chest prioritization

M - Quads (3), Hams (2), Calves (1)

Su - off

T - Quads (3), Hams (2), Calves (1)

- - - - - -

Squat….ramping sets of 6 Hack Squat….1-2 warm-ups; 3 x 10, finish with a drop set Leg Extension….3 x 20, finish with a drop set RDL….ramping sets of 8 Seated Leg Curl….3 x 10, finish with a drop set Donkey Calf….1-2 warm-ups, 3 x 10, finish with a drop set

W - off

- - - - - -

Weighted Chin-ups….1-2 warm-ups, 3 x 8 DB Row….4 x 10 Cable Row (neutral)….3 x 15 Machine Curl….3 x 10 Barbell Curl….3 x 8 Rope Curl….3 x 12

M - Chest (3), Biceps (3) - - - - - -

Incline Barbell Press….ramping sets of 6, finish with a drop set Flat Machine Press (banded)….4 x 8 Incline DB Fly….3 x 10 Machine Curl….ramping sets of 8 Barbell Curl….3 x 6 Rope Curl….3 x 10

- - - - - -

Squat….ramping sets of 6 Hack Squat….1-2 warm-ups; 3 x 10 Leg Extension….3 x 20 RDL….ramping sets of 8 Seated Leg Curl….3 x 10 Donkey Calf….1-2 warm-ups, 3 x 10

Th - Chest (3), Triceps (2) - - - - -

F - off

Flat DB Press (banded)….ramping sets of 8 Incline Machine Press….4 x 10, finish with a drop set Pec Deck….3 x 20 Machine Dips….4 x 10 Pressdown….3 x 15

S - Back (3), Shoulders (2) -

Pull-ups….50 reps (as many sets as it takes)

T - Back (3), Biceps (3)

W - off

Th - Quads (3), Hams (2), Calves (1) - - - - - -

Seated Leg Curl….1-2 warm-ups; 3 x 10, finish with a drop set Leg Press (banded)….ramping sets of 10, finish with a drop set Machine Squat….3 x 15 Leg Extension….5 x 20 (BFR – blood flow restriction) Lying Leg Curl….5 x 20 (BFR – blood flow restriction) Donkey Calf….1-2 warm-ups, 5 x 10

Prioritization Cycle

15

F - off S - Chest (3), Shoulders (2), Triceps (2) - - - - - - -

Bench Press….1-2 warm-ups, 4 x 6 Incline DB Press….1-2 warm-ups, 3 x 10 Cable Fly….3 x 15 Machine Lateral….3 x 15 Reverse Pec Deck….3 x 15 Pressdown….4 x 15 Overhead Rope Extension….3 x 10

Su – off

CEO of Morphogen Nutrition, Ben’s knowledge of training and nutrition is bolstered by practical experience as both a threesport strength athlete and as a contest prep consultant for numerous successful competitors. He has a Bachelors degree in exercise physiology, a Masters degree in nutrition and dietetics, and a CSCS through the NSCA.

Ben Hartman

4-day General Athletic Training

Matt Foley

Summer 4 day general condition phase part 1 of 3 exercise

1 leg split squat leg up bent press squat broad jumps 1 arm db press standing face pulls good mornings skulls

sets/reps

3x10 3x10 14/10/6/2/2/6/10/14 8x5 3x10 3x10 3x10 3xamap

incline db press bent over row bench plyo push up tate press straight bar curl rev. lunge db row

3x10 3x10 14/10/6/2/2/6/10/14 8x5 3x8 3x8 3x10 3x10

standing band crunch clean hang power snatch dollie wipes

5x20 6x5 6x5 6x20

incline close grip bench rev. curl

3xamap

pull-ups shoulder box deadlift lateral band holds step-ups split squat jumps close grip strap PU hammer curl

3x10 3x6 14/10/6/2/2/6/10/14 8x20sec. 3x10 3x10 3xamap 3xamap

3xamap

Four Day General

17

Matt Foley

Summer 4 day accumulation phase exercise

s e t s / weights reps

sets/reps

pitch fork dollie leg curl squat

3x15 3x15 70%x6x5

3x15 3x15 65%x2,72.5%x2,77.5%x4x5

vert. jump 1leg bent knee dead shrugs

6x5 3x10 3x15

6x5 3x10 3x15

bench

70%x6x5

65%x2,72.5%x2,77.5%x4x5

dollie wipes incline football press inverted row rev. skulls strap bicep curls

6x20 3x8 3xamap 3xamap 3xamap

clean and jerk 1 leg band calves hang power snatch w/squat band pull through suitcase lunge med. Grip chin-ups

10x2 5x20 6x2 6x10 3x10 3x10

dead lift

70%x6x5

65%x2,72.5%x2,77.5%x4x5

bridge

1min

1.30min

weights

s e t s / weights reps

3x15 3x15 50%x5,60%x3,70%x2,75%x1,80%x1,85%xamap 6x5 3x8 3x15 50%x5,60%x3,70%x2,75%x1,80%x1,85%xamap

3x8 3xamap 3xamap 3xamap

3x8 3xamap 3xamap 3xamap

8x3

10x1

5x2

4x3

3x10 3x10

3x10 3x10 50%x5,60%x3,70%x2,75%x1,80%x1,85%xamap 2min

Four Day General

18

Matt Foley

db overhead press

70%x6x5

65%x2,72.5%x2,77.5%x4x5

rev. grip row front squat tricep kickbacks

3x8 3x8 3xamap

3x8 3x8 3xamap

50%x5,60%x3,70%x2,75%x1,80%x1,85%xamap 3x8 3x8 3xamap

Summer 4 day peaking 3 of 3 exercise

s e t s / weights reps

sets/reps

weights

75%x7x3

70%x1,77.5%x1,82.5%x5x3

50%x5,60%x3,70%x2,75x1,80x1,85x1,90xamap

broad jump split squat leg up 1/2kneel chop/press good mornings db high pull

5x6 5x10 5x10 5x8 5x8

5x6 5x8 5x15 5x8 5x8

bench

75%x7x3

70%x1,77.5%x1,82.5%x5x3

dollie roll out bentover row incline fly close grip bench hammer curl

7x15 5x10 5x10 5x8 5x8

7x15 5x8 5x8 5x8 5x8

7x15 5x6 5x6 5x8 5x8

clean/4 front squat/4 press/4 overhead squat/4 1 leg squat jm press db swing/4 snatch/4 1leg dead/4 push uppull/4

5x

6x

7x

5x5 5x10 5x

4x5 4x10 6x

3x8 3x15 7x

squat

sets/reps

5x6 5x6 5x10 5x8 5x8 50%x5,60%x3,70%x2,75x1,80x1,85x1,90xamap

weights

Four Day General

dead lift

75%x7x3

alt. strap knee tucks

7x20

db overhead press

crossover step-up db row strap push-up

19

Matt Foley

70%x1,77.5%x1,82.5%x5x3

50%x5,60%x3,70%x2,75x1,80x1,85x1,90xamap

75%x7x3

70%x1,77.5%x1,82.5%x5x3

50%x5,60%x3,70%x2,75x1,80x1,85x1,90xamap

5x10 5x10 5x10

5x10 5x8 5xamap

5x10 5x6 5xamap

Grip Training Eric Maroscher

T

his is a program that I have personally used, developed and tweaked throughout my over two-decades long competitive powerlifting career and over some 30 years of weight training in general. I have seen loads of programs come and go, some that work well, some that result in no substantial benefit. This program can be injected into your larger training program as its focus is two-fold. First, it works to increase your grip strength. We all know that getting the deadlift locked out is useless if you cannot hold the weight at the top long enough for the down command. Further, grip, a strong grip is essential in so many aspects of powerlifting and overall strength development. Be it gripping the bar on a 600-700LB bench press, hefting strong man kegs, deadlifting, Farmers’ Walk, etc., a strong grip is where it all begins as the barbell, the dumbbell, the implement is being held in the hands and the tighter you can lock a vice like grip onto that apparatus, the more you can ultimately control the trajectory of that implement. The second focus of this program is the actual development of the forearm itself. The

ancillary parts of grip are all hit when performing some hypertrophy aspects to grip development, thus in addition to a vastly enhanced physical grip, the forearms will also develop muscular development.

A few points to cover prior to getting into sets and reps and such… In my experience, grip strength is not a max effort, speed work thing, nor is it an equipped vs RAW thing, and finally, in my opinion, grip is not a percentages thing. Grip is a slow and steady, month building on month, year building upon year process. Grip is also, again based on my experience, a higher rep type of animal vs say a deadlift or squat. The reason being, much like say calves or your abs, you use your hands and indirectly your forearms on a daily basis. Every time you load a 45LB plate onto a barbell, every time you lift a dumbbell, every time you lift off for someone or wrap their knees tight, you are working your grip. You will really notice how much griping you do when you shake hands with a non-powerlifter. Their hands are free of callouses that you have built up over time by grabbing some type of weight or barbell or lifting implement or something heavy repeatedly. You will also note

Grip Training

21

how, and I will use the word “pillow-like,” their hand feels. So although you might not be doing anything specifically for your grip strength, truly, if you are serious about your weight training, powerlifting, strongman, you truly are working your grip, albeit unintentionally and not to fullest, but you are and have developed grip strength up to a degree.

Eric Maroscher

to this as time and consistency are the keys to improved grip work. Think of it like a clean diet. It is not something that you do over a 6 week cycle, but something you always chip away at and then after time, referring to the clean diet, you are now a solid as a rock 242 vs a sloppy-fast-food-ball-fat 275-er.

Typically this program is a lot of volume for a very This program will ultimately work in your advantage few movements but a lot of that movement as we for any movement you do that requires your hands, are trying to exhaust the grip, wear it out if you will, forearms, fingers to be strong. as your grip is like your calves, it has tremendous endurance and excessive reps at a good amount of There are two types of times that I use this program, weight is what it takes to actually push this area to one being after a bench or back training day, or on get stronger. Just like sprints can build some cardio, “scraps” day. Scraps day being a day for those all long distance running (ick) can build tremendous to left out movements by so many powerlifters who cardio. The muscles involved in your grip works all are focused on the big three but sometimes forget the time so it takes a lot to work it, as does the grip, the supplemental movements. Thus scraps in my but obviously not to that degree. vernacular can include non-big three movements such as, grip work, calves, abs, GPP, as well as By all means, experiment with this program, keeping stretching/flexibility/mobility, foam rolling and the what works for you and dumping what does not. like. On scraps day, there are none of the traditional movements, but these ancillary movements. The Program: Training grip after bench press and back is on As I mentioned earlier, grip work follows a bench purpose as quite frankly, if you train your grip first or deadlift training day….or is incorporated into a (really train it, not just touch and go) you wouldn’t scrap day. be able to hold onto the barbell to bench or pull. The first coupling of exercises I will explain so you Secondly, once you are finished with either of these get the idea and the rest will be in list form for your two (chest and/or back) you have been using a lot of convenience. I will list them in groupings and you grip, so you are warmed up and ready to train that can choose from the list and pair them up as you aspect of your strength. like. My typical grip work is a combination of two movements with typically 5 sets per movement. If Unlike my deadlift, bench or squat routine, my grip the movement is about muscle hypertrophy of the work is not built like a training cycle, but trained forearm, I go with higher reps with a weight that all year around. There is a frequency however and allows me to get to X amount of reps until I cannot that is at least once time every 6 calendar days, but finish the movement. No spotters needed with the more often than not I train my grip two out of every grip like a bench or squat so you can go until you four training day. I can get away with this frequency drop the weigh. Also incorporated are a lot of static because grip training will not stress your central holds and I hold for 8 seconds on virtually all of these nervous system *unless you are working with as for me, 8 seconds is the amount of time it takes farmers’ walk apparatus as farmers’ walk work is a to pull a grinder of a deadlift and then hold it until completely different type of beast. the judge says down. I am not a fan of holds that last until I cannot hold on any longer as I feel that The following are example of my typical grip/ is just taxing your CNS and I see no point for that. forearm work sessions. There is no magic formula Having said that, the Farmer’s Walk is an exception

Grip Training

22

and if you are training specifically for a duration grip movement, practicing that is advantageous. Here is typically how the pairing goes with this first basic pairing as the example:

Exercise 1 - Old fashioned wrist curls.

Eric Maroscher

Exercise 2 - Reverse wrist curls.

Follow the old fashioned wrist curls moment with 4-5 sets of reverse wrist curls (perhaps the most neglected body part in the world of powerlifting). Use an ez curl bar as a straight bar will not work as well as it puts stress on your wrists. I guarantee you will be able to use very limited weight for your reps (same rep configuration as with the prior movement). As your hands will need to be wider, you will sit on the bench the same way, but put your wrists, forearms and elbows on your quads as you sit on the bench. With both type of wrist curls, it is not a race, so no herky-jerky momentum curls, but a nice evenly paced set. Again, like the wrist curls, I feel higher reps are called for and 25-30 is the range you are looking for. Unlike the burn of the forearm, when you hit the wall with the reverse wrist curls you will know it as either your forearm will cramp up or it will simply conk out on you.

Although this sounds like something from a 1976 body building magazine, there is nothing better to start a grip session with as it works the hands, fingers (as you will bring the bar down to the last phalanges in your hand). You will do this on a bench press bench as it is a wider surface than most stand-alone benches. I personally use the elitefts deluxe bench press as it is extremely wide. I lay my entire forearm, from elbow to wrist on the bench as I sit on the bench long-ways. It is essential to keep your elbow and forearm on the bench as not to incorporate your biceps. Use a 45LB barbell with or without weight on it, depending on your strength level. The rep range for the first Following these movements, finish off with set is high, 30-35 reps. Only a few minutes should static holds with the Rolling Thunder. separate each set, so you will find, if you have picked the correct weight or your strength, that you will lose about 10 reps per set. You are going to want to do 4-5 sets with as many reps as you can burn through, and burn is the word as if your forearms are not burning, the weight is too light. Again, you should hit the wall around 30-35 reps. I like to alter this movement sometimes by using elitefts fat gripz. If you are a large handed person, there is a product from elitefts called fat gripz extreme. Sometimes I will use the Mastodon bar as it is longer, heavier and thicker (1 3/8” thick, 8’ long and 60LBS). I have tried the El Gordo Fat Bar too. That is pretty aggressive, but does the trick. So, this movement will look like this:

Sets: 4-5 Reps: 35 reps should be all you can get on the first set, then each following set is to failure, with no more than 3-5 minutes between sets.

You are going to want to hold the weight for 8 seconds, or about the time it takes to pull and hold a grinder deadlift in a meet. Again, with all but a few exceptions, I am not a big fan of holds over 10 seconds (not including Farmer’ Walk) as you want to hold for all you are worth for the time it would take to perform a lift. Load the Rolling Thunder

Grip Training

23

up and pick a weight and add weight for the 4-5 sets of 8 second holds. You will find that your nondominant hand will be considerably weaker. *TIP: As I am right handed, pretty much any time I grab a gallon of milk, a suitcase, your lap top, a dumbbell, load a bar, I do so with the dominant hand and it becomes stronger. This might sound a little odd, but I alternate hands when I am loading bars at the gym. I train on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Monday’s and Saturday I grab weights off of the tree, or dumbbells off of the rack with my left hand, and Wednesday and Sunday, the right hand. Sounds strange, but if you have a significant imbalance of grip strength with your hands, my guess is you pick up 99% of the weights and other heavy implements with your more dominate hand. Food for thought. The following are the other pairings I put together for my non-cycled grip work, this time without explanation, as I am going to make an assumption that you know most of these movements and the ones you don’t you can search for online. Again, in my experience, grip work is a journey, not so much a destination. It is ongoing so the work does not have to take a long time, as the volume is significant and the days in-between are few.

Exercise 1 - Farmers- Walk.

5 trips x ??? weight at 100’ per trip. If you don’t have a Farmers’ Walk use the afore mentioned fat gripz on heavy dumbbells. Unless you are a strongman competitor, I would not do FW more than once every three weeks as it is an extreme training tool and in my experience it does impact your central nervous system and my hands feel tired and almost exhausted for days.

Exercise 2 - 10LB plate pinch grip

5 sets x 8 seconds per pinch. If 10LB plates are too light, try 25LBers. Put as many plates together (I.E. three, 10LB plates) and when the grip goes the plate in the middle will slip out from between the two other plates. *Watch out for plates hitting your feet.

Eric Maroscher

Exercise 1 - elitefts Gripper Machine

3 warm-up sets followed by 5 working sets of 2-25 reps. You will need to experiment with weight until you find that sweet spot where your grip is shot come the 20th or so rep. These are all done one hand at a time, so 5 sets for the left, and 5 for the right.

Exercise 2 - elitefts Heavy Grips

These, in my experience, are really hard on your skin. For the grip athlete, have at it. For me, I am trying to develop my grip and I want to do so without pulling the skin off my hands so I cheat and put a mini-face towel or a part of a t-shirt around the gripper and squeeze it from there. It is like shrugs, I use straps as I want my traps to give out first, not my hands. Same here, I want to stop using the heavy grips after my hands are shot, not because my skin is getting ripped to shreds. I will go 5 sets per hand with 8 seconds of the grip being completely closed in my hand. Some will have to start with a trainer, then go to a 1, then so on. Some will be able to start with a 2. There is no wrong amount of starting grip strength, there is only improving on your strength. So, 5 sets x 8 second squeezes per set, first with the right then left hand. *TIP: Keep your arms strait when you do this as that best mimics the deadlift.

Exercise 1 - Sled pulls with 4-grenade balls.

Load up your sled and at the end of the rope or chain (which ever you pull your sled with) attach (2) 4’ grenade balls and pull that heavy sled (walking forward so you can pull more weight) all over the parking lot. Minimally 150’ per trip x 5 trips x ???? pounds of weight.

Grip Training

24

Exercise 2 - Standing finger roll curls

Eric Maroscher

wraps =’s one set). Sounds a little silly until your hands becomes too engorged in blood to continue. Also, any chance you get to wrap someone’s knees, do it as a good knee wrap will work your hands. This link is how we wrap at the Monster Garage Gym and after wrapping a few pairs of knees, your hands are shot as they have been worked hard. This movement falls into the category of “don’t worry about looking silly wrapping and re-wrapping knee wraps. Remember, the devil is in the details and that always works to your advantage when all other variables are equal. http://youtu.be/mX6ayCLYOnA

Exercise 2 - sandbag grabs

Take your barbell, hold it with a double pronated grip and allow the barbell to roll to the edge of your fingers to the point where you almost drop it, hold it there for a moment then close the barbell back into our pronated fist grip. 5 sets x a weight you can do for 20-30 reps. Do not let the bar come in contact with your thighs during the movement. You can do this exercise with all four fingers per hand, or two or one finger at a time once you have built up some finger strength. You will see 800LB pullers workout with an empty bar. Less is more with this movement.

Exercise 1 - Knee wrap roll ups

This is one of the best finger-hand-forearm movements I have ever found and I stumbled onto it 20 years ago. I was at a meet and wrapping knee after knee after knee and after each wrap, I had to re-roll the knee wrap. You know, you step on the knee wrap, pull a length of wrap, and then roll it into a tight little Hostess Hoho looking wrap. Take the longest knee wrap you have at the gym, make it a thick one like the elitefts super heavy knee wrap, and let it unfurl. Then wrap it up as tight as you can and as quickly as you can. 5 non-stop sets of wrapping. Rest for a few minutes, then 5 nonstop sets again. Repeat this for 5 total sets (five

This is about as non-sexy of an exercise you can do. You load up a sandbag with as much sand weight as you like, I suggest 75LBS to start with, and from the floor you pick up the bag, deadlift style, and hold the bag for up to 8 seconds. This is repeated for 5 sets, (each sets is comprised of 5, 8 second pick-ups). Warning: There is simply no way to look cool doing this movement, but there is everything cool about hanging on to that deadlift bar at the meet.

Grip Training

25

Exercise 1 -Rolling wrist curl bar

This is that steel bar with the hollow barbell sleeve over it, thus being able to roll the weight up on a string. I put the bar on the J-hooks of the squat rack or the arms on the elitefts monolift and with my shoulders parallel to the floor at chest height, I roll a few kettle bells (they have big handles and that is simply easier than using plates) that is on the rope up to the bar with my hands going forward, then back down, then up the other direction with my hands going in the opposite direction. Five sets of each direction with the right weight will blow your forearms up in the best of ways. This movement, like the wrist curls works both grip and forearm size. Choose a weight that at the top of the rope your hands and grip and forearms are shot. It will take some experimentation. Be liberal with the chalk too as it does work abrasively against the skin of your hands. Lastly, keep your arms straight out as much as possible, again to best mimic the straight arms of a deadlift.

Exercise 2 - Dumbbell holds

Again, simple and cheap. Not the plate dumbbells, but with the all one piece dumbbells, grab the dumbbell from the weighted side and with your arm straight down, hold the weight for a count of 8-10 seconds with a grip that makes this amount of time a challenge. 5 sets of five holds. Use a face towel if the dumbbell slips because this is about grip strength, and losing the weight when your hands and fingers fatigue. It is not about trying to hold something slippery.

Eric Maroscher

Remember, you work your grip indirectly all of the time, so grip work is a slow and steady wins the race type of thing. Also, consistency with grip work is more important than the sheer weight as grip comes over time, not unlike flexibility or endurance. Lastly, grip work is meticulous and precise, it is not about heaving the weight nor using momentum, as that will only serve your ego, not enhance your grip.

Off-Season Basketball

T

he primary goal of our off-season basketball raining is to develop starting, reactive, and maximal strength in the lower body, develop strength endurance in the upper body, prevent injuries and increase performance through educating athletes on quality movement. In the ever growing world of ‘sport specificity’ the general need for the ability to initiate movement via overcoming inertia (i.e. first step out of a defensive stance), the ability to effectively use the stretch shortening cycle to quickly get off the ground or change directions, and the ability to operate at high-levels of strength and power via possessing a high-strength reserve cannot be overlooked. A good program is preventative in nature; therefore, the means of programming/ coaching the movements addresses a majority of the injury prevention needs along with the athlete’s awareness of how to properly move and apply force. At the start of the off-season, it is important to re-establish proper technique, as athletes have likely spent little time in the weight room during the season. It is also important during this time of year to undo some of the stress imparted over the course of the season. The lower body session is categorized as a speed-strength phase using loads between 5060%. Since athletes often perceive such loads as “too light,” a four second eccentric component is added with a two second pause on the box. Eccentrics and pauses also further reinforce technique and the static

Skyler Farley

overcome by dynamic action on the box develops starting strength. Two birds, one stone. Throughout the entire off-season, the upper body is trained primarily with the repetitive effort method. The idea here is to train the lower body for performance and the upper body to increase confidence and hypertrophy. Due to the higher volume and low to moderate intensities on these days, they are less intensive on the Central Nervous System. In the second phase of the off-season, the emphasis of the lower body transitions to strengthspeed using loads between 60-75%. The volume in this phase is spread across fewer sets to allow the athletes to develop a higher level of a-lactic capacity and to teach them how to effectively “grind” to some extent in the last few reps. To accommodate the higher intensities the eccentric component is removed, while still employing a pause to reinforce technique and continue to develop starting strength. In the third phase, the box and pause are removed to allow athletes to lower at a faster rate, take off the breaks, and attack the weight. During this phase, intensities range from 70-85% and clusters are used to reinforce technique and preserve the quality of the repetitions. In the fourth and final phase, maximal effort methods with intensities ranging from 90-100% are used. Technique is well-established by this point and athletes will set a 5RM, 3RM, and 1RM in weeks

Off-Season Basketball

27

Skyler Farley

one through three, respectively. All jump training at this point is reactive in nature with low total volumes. In all four phases, volume on accessory work is kept high to positively affect body composition, maintain work capacity, and joint integrity.

Phase One – Day One - Lower

A) Box Squat (42X0)*Upper classmen add 80-120 lb chain B1) MB Catch to Box Jump B2) Clean Pull C1) 6” DB RFE Split Squat (40X0) C2) Band-Assisted Natural GHR C3) Weighted Plank

12 x 2@50%

12 x 2@55%

10 x 2@60%

3x5 3x5 3 x 8ea

4x4 4x4 3 x 6ea

5x3 5x3 4 x 4ea

3x4

3x5

3x6

3 x 30s

3 x 45s

3 x 60s

Phase One – Day Two – Upper A1) Plate Elevated Iso Pushup Hold A2) Dynamic Blackburn B) Bb Floor Press (42X0) C1) SA Db Press C2) Db Chest Supported Row D1) Banded Pushdown D2) Banded Pull-aparts D3) Db Zottman Curl

4 x 15s

3 x 20s

2 x 30s

3 x 10 3 x 10 3 x 12ea 3 x 12

3 x 10 4x8 3 x 10ea 3 x 10

3 x 10 4x6 3 x 8ea 4x8

100 total 100 total 3 x 10

100 total 100 total 3 x 10

100 total 100 total 3 x 10

Phase One – Day Three – Total A1) Seated Box Jump A2) Overhead Squat A3) Bird-dog B1) Trap Bar Deadlift B2) Side Plank B3) Speed Skater Hop C1) Plate Elevated Push-ups C2) Neutral Grip Pull-ups C3) Hyper-ext

3x5 3x6 3 x 10ea 3x5 3 x 20s 3 x 5ea 3 x 10 3 x amap 3 x 10

3x4 3x6 3 x 10ea 4x4 3 x 30s 3 x 6ea 4x8 3 x amap 3 x 12

3x3 3x6 3 x 10ea 5x3 3 x 45s 3 x 7ea 5x5 3 x amap 3 x 15

Off-Season Basketball

28

Skyler Farley

Phase Two – Day One – Lower A1) Static Box Jump (5s hold in quarter squat) A2) Banded TKE B) 2s Pause Box Squat *Upper classmen add 80-120 lbs chain C1) Front Loaded KB Bulgarian Split Squat C2) Weighted Side Plank D1) Banded Pull-Through D2) Stability Ball Rollout

3x4

3x3

3x2

3 x 10ea 5 x 5 @60%

3 x 15ea 5 x 4 @67.5%

3 x 20ea 5 x 3@75%

3 x 8ea

4 x 6ea

4 x 4ea

3 x 20s 3 x 10 3 x 12

3 x 30s 3 x 12 3 x 15

3 x 45s 3 x 15 3 x 20

Phase Two – Day Two – Upper A1) Depth Drop Push-up A2) PVC Over-and-Backs B) Paused Board Press C1) Db Floor Press C2) SA Db Row D1) Manual Resistance Lateral Raise D2) Banded Pull-aparts D3) Lying Banded Triceps Ext.

3x5 3 x 10 5x5 3 x 10 3 x 10ea 3 x 10

3x6 3 x 10 5x4 3 x 15 3 x 15ea 3 x 10

3x7 3 x 10 5x3 2 x 20 2 x 10ea; 1 x 20ea 3 x 10

3 x 10 3 x 10

3 x 10 3 x 15

3 x 10 3 x amap

Phase Two – Day Three – Total A1) Seated Broad Jump A2) Overhead Squat A3) Bird-dog with 5s hold B1) Deadlift B2) Banded Iso-Pallof Press C1) Military Press C2) Neutral Grip Pull-up C3) Banded Good-morning

3x5 3x7 3 x 4ea 5x5 3 x 20s/ea 3 x 10 25 total 3 x 12

3x4 3x7 3 x 5ea 5x4 3 x 30s/ea 3x8 30 total 3 x 15

3x3 3x7 3 x 6ea 5x3 3 x 30s/ea 4x5 35 total 3 x 20

Off-Season Basketball

29

Skyler Farley

Phase Three – Day One – Lower A1) 12” Hurdle hop to Box Jump A2) SA Db Snatch Complex (snatch pull – snatch high pull – snatch) B) Squat Clusters C1) Db Reverse Lunge C2) Dynamic Side-Plank D1) Natural GHR D2) Stir-the-Pot

3x5

3x4

3x3

3 x 5ea

3 x 3ea

3 x 1ea

3 x 3.2.2 @70% 3 x 8ea 3 x 10ea 3x4 3 x 10ea

3 x 2.1.1 @77.5% 3 x 6ea 3 x 12ea 3x5 3 x 15ea

3 x 1.1.1 @85% 4 x 4ea 3 x 15ea 3x6 3 x 20ea

Phase Three – Day Two – Upper



A1) Clap Push-up A2) Behind the Neck Banded Pull-aparts B) Close Grip Bench *Upper Classmen add 40-60lbs chain C1) Incline Db Bench C2) Inverted Row D1) Side-lying Db Reverse Fly D2) Db Rolling Triceps Ext

3x5 3 x 20

3x6 3 x 20

3x7 3 x 20

5x5

5x4

5x3

3 x 12 3 x 12 3 x 10ea

4 x 10 4 x 10 3 x 12ea

2 x 20 2 x 20 3 x 8ea

3 x 10

3 x 12

3x8

D3) Db Curl

3 x 10

3 x 12

3x8

Phase Three – Day Three – Total A1) Single-leg Box Jump A2) SA Db Snatch A3) Overhead Walking Lunge *Reinforce Posture B1) 2” Sumo Deadlift B2) Banded Pallof Press C1) Barbell Push-Press C2) Pull-ups Various Grips C3) Reverse Hyper

3 x 5ea 3 x 4ea 3 x 8ea

3 x 3ea 3 x 2ea 3 x 8ea

3 x 2ea 3 x 1ea 3 x 8ea

5x5 3 x 15ea 3x5 30 total 3 x 10

5x4 3 x 15ea 4x5 35 total 3 x 12

5x3 3 x 15ea 5x5 40 total 3 x 15

Off-Season Basketball

30

Skyler Farley

Phase Four – Day One – Lower A1) Single-leg Hurdle Bound to Box Jump A2) SA Db Snatch A3) Banded Bird-dog B) Squat C1) Db Walking Lunge C2) Db RDL C3) Stir-the-Pot

3 x 3ea

3 x 2ea

3 x 1ea

3 x 3ea 3 x 10ea 5RM 3 x 8ea 3 x 10 3 x 20ea

3 x 2ea 3 x 10ea 3RM 3 x 6ea 3x8 3 x 20ea

3 x 1ea 3 x 10ea 1RM 3 x 5ea 3x6 3 x 20ea

Phase Four – Day Two – Upper A1) Lying MB Chest Throw A2) Y-T-W B) Bench Press C1) Barbell Bent-over Row C2) Db Arnold Press D1) Db Lateral Raise D2) Barbell Curl D3) EZ Skull Crusher

3x7 3 x 8ea 5RM 3 x 10 3 x 10 3 x 10 3 x 10 3 x 10

3x6 3 x 8ea 3RM 3 x 12 3 x 12 3 x 12 3 x 12 3 x 12

3x5 3 x 8ea 1RM 4 x 10 4 x 10 4 x 10 4 x 10 4 x 10

Phase Four – Day Three – Total A1) Barbell Squat Jump A2) Rotational MB Throw A3) Rotating Plank B) Sumo Deadlift C1) Push-Jerk C2) Various Grips Pull-ups C3) Reverse Hyper

3x7 3 x 5ea 3 x 10ea 5RM 4x4 40 total 3 x 10

3x7 3 x 4ea 3 x 10ea 3RM 5x3 45 total 3 x 12

3x7 3 x 3ea 3 x 10ea 1RM 6x2 50 total 3 x 15

It is recommended that this program include four days of running: two high-CNS acceleration and change of direction days and two low-CNS aerobic tempo days. True speed and acceleration days always precede day one, lower-body sessions and never exceed 40 yards in distance. The general sequence throughout the four phases is as follows: hill sprints, sled resisted sprints, contrast sprints, flying sprints. Aerobic capacity tempo days always follow after day two, upper-body sessions and generally range in 100200 yards in distance. The general sequence throughout the four phases is as follows: med ball tempo throws, 100 yard sprints (submaximal), 200 yard sprints (submaximal), 100 and 200 yard sprints combined (submaximal). The acceleration and change of direction days fall on the non-lifting day. These days focus on the three primary qualities of changes in direction: acceleration, deceleration, and re-acceleration. The general sequence of training throughout the four phases is highly-dependent on the athletes’ progress and readiness. Drills become more complicated through adding reactive components as athletes’ readiness permits. Aerobic capacity tempo days also fall on day three, total-body days. These days are performed

Off-Season Basketball

31

Skyler Farley

on the basketball court, to condition the athletes’ tissues to run on hard surfaces. The general sequence throughout the four phases is as follows: down and backs in 11s, two down and backs in 22s, 8 sideline touches in 30s, double suicides in 55s. Skyler Farley was hired as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Charlotte in June of 2013. He is responsible for all facets designing and implementing the strength and conditioning programs for women’s basketball, as well as men’s tennis.   From 2012-13, Skyler served as the Graduate Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at his alma mater, the University of Kansas. During this time, he worked with track and field, women’s rowing, and women’s tennis and assisted with men and women’s basketball. For the three seasons prior to becoming a GA, he was an intern strength and conditioning coach at KU, working with all 16 varsity athletic teams. During this time, he also completed summer internships with the University of South Florida and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Farley earned his Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science KU in 2012. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA and a Level 1 Sports Performance Specialist through USAW. He was born in Anchorage, Alaska and was raised in a military family moving 10 times before landing in Charlotte, N.C. He resides in Charlotte and enjoys training for and competing in powerlifting and is passionate about his faith.



Strength & Explosiveness in Six Weeks

I

was trying to come up with a mini training program that would help me utilized how I liked to train, with what will make me stronger that in neglect. DED Strength is the mini program I came up. Defiant Every Day Strength is a combination of strength training and explosive DE training. I had gotten to the point where I was extremely annoyed with only being strong on meet day, peak strength you could call it. I didn’t only want to be strong at the acculmination of a training program, I wanted to be just plain old strong every day! So I started to think about the unique ways that I like to train and had to figure out what they were missing. I absolutely love training with lots of accommodating resistance. Whether it be chains, bands, or both. If you know me at all you know that I love AR because it takes my mind off the numbers game. I quit focusing on the weight on the bar, because you really have to clue, and just focused on training as hard as possible. Using very heavy resistance with low bar weight teaches you to be as explosive as possible. If you aren’t explosive you will not make it through the top end of that resistance. Also it helps me stay healthy, the weight is less during the eccentric part of the lifts when most of your joints and tendons are in a comprised position. The problem with this type of training was that I was starting to get weaker when I lifted just the straight weight. The eccentric part of my lift was actually starting to decline. I felt weak lowering the bar. When I would press though it would be strong, but the decent wore me out. I

Marshall Johnson had to stop and think about what I was leaving out. You’re program is only as strong as its weaknesses. I needed to add strength training along with my explosive AR training. I had remembered that I had read something in a strength and conditioning book about combining strength training with plyometric or explosive lifts. I apologize for not remembering the name of the book. So I came up with a short 6 week training program that fits very well into those gaps between meets and programs that a lot of us sometimes have. The program would consist of two main lifts followed by two less compound building movements. It was dividing between four training days a week. Three of the four, squat, bench, and deadlift, fit easily already into most powerlifters regimine. The fourth day was an Olympic lifting day whether it was snatches, cleans, or clean and jerk. When I think about being strong in general I can’t help but think that working on your Olympic lifts will contribute to that. I actually had to learn how to Olympic lift this summer while I was testing DED Strength. If you do not know how to Olympic lift www.elitefts.com has many resources to help you get started.

Getting started and developing your plan:

-6 week plan -You should have a rep range and weight end goal for both your start and your finish -For your first lift you need to choose a rep range

Strength and Explosiveness

33

that puts you somewhere between power and hypertrophy(strength). It is going to be something different for everyone. You need to pick a rep range that just starts to put you into that lactic acid burn. The weight should be heavy enough to keep you from hypertrophy rep ranges but light enough to do multiple sets. For myself my rep ranges were 6 reps for squat, 10 reps for bench, and 5 reps for deathlifts. All of this work is done raw.

*Example week 1-6(end goal is 385x10) Bench

315x10x4 325x10x4 335x10x4 355x10x4 370x10x4 385x10x4

Squat(end goal 500x6x4) 315x6x4 365x6x4 405x6x4 425x6x4 455x6x4 500x6x4

Deathlift(end goal 635x5) 495x5x4 525x5x4 545x5x4 585x5x4 610x5x4 635x5x4

Marshall Johnson

bench, deadlift) but the change is in the weight, AR, and rep range. You will start with a weight and AR of your choice. But you will have to add weight or AR or both after every set so do not set your first set to heavy. You will do 4 sets of 5 trying to be explosive as possible. Some parts of the movement main change on this second lift. For example my squats move to the box, and my deathlifts are usually done off a deficit. Deathlifts off a huge deficit against massive AR is probably one of my most favorite movements. You are making the lift pretty much as hard as possible. The key with these lifts is to be as explosive as possible, if you aren’t explosive you won’t make it through the lifts because of the heavy AR or just being fatigued from the first lift.

*The Olympic lift day is unique. There is no second lift, instead the snatches or cleans are super setted with box jumps. I would first warm up with light squats and shoulder mobility work to prepare myself for the lift. After I was warm I would then start my oly lift that I had chosen. So for example I would do my 4 sets of 10 and then immediately head right to 4 sets of 10 box jump. After those super sets were finished I ended the day with some form of ab work 4 sets of 20

Second lift example:

Squat&Bench: Choose an intial weight and AR that is of moderate difficutly. -do an explosive set of five -add AR or weight or both, do an explosive set of 5 -repeat this until you have hit 4 sets of 10 Deathlift is a little more unique: *Olympic lift day(end goal 185x10x4 snatch) -Start with an initial bar weight and AR but also start 95x10x4 with a very small deficit and hit an explosive set of 5 115x10x4 -Add more bar weight, AR, or both, but also add 135x10x4 another small deficit 150x10x4 -Repeat this until you have hit 4 explosive sets of 5 165x10x4 *For example I like to start with a 1in deficit and end 185x10x4 with about a 7in deficit. I like hitting those last sets See you set yourself up to hit that desired rep and set with the bar pretty much resting on my foot. range at the end of the 6 weeks. You progressively Third and fourth lifts: overload for 6 weeks. These lifts are more hypertrophy based and are there *Second lift to help you get blood moving and some strength -The second lift is still the main movement(squat,

Strength and Explosiveness

34

via less compound movements focusing on individual muscles. You will do 4 sets of 12-15 reps. Squat: Hammy curls, leg extension, split leg squat, Bench: tricep press down, skulls, band pull aparts, dumb bell side raise, lat pull down Deathlift: GHR, stiff leg deathlift, hammy curls, Fifth and final lift is an ab movement, always hit abs every training session. You will do 4 sets of 20

Week 1 example Tuesday oly lifts - - -

Squat and shoulder mobility warm up Snatch 4 sets of 10 superset with box jumps 4 sets of 10 Abs 4 sets of 20

Wednesday Deathlift - - - - -

Deathlift 4 sets of 5 Deficit Deathlift with AR 4 sets of 5 Stiff Leg 4 sets of 12 GHR 4 sets of 12 Abs 4x20

Friday bench - - - - -

Bench 4 sets of 10 Bench 4 sets of 5 with AR Skulls 4 sets of 12 Tricep pressdown 4 sets of 20 Abs 4 sets of 20

Sunday Squat - - - - -

Squat 4 sets of 6 Box squats with AR 4 sets of 5 Leg ext 4 sets of 12 Hammy curl 4 sets of 12 Abs 4 sets of 20

*Things to remember

1. Be explosive as possible in those second lifts 2. Choose weights and AR wisely 3. Pic reasonable goals 4. Have fun with it, this is just a 6 week mini program between your main training prep I used myself and two of my training partners as guinea pigs for this mini program. All three of us experience every day strength gains that were noticeable when our main training cycles started. Sometimes we

Marshall Johnson

all have bigger breaks in between meets and find ourselves struggling to find direction and motivation during those down times. This is a fun, short, and effective way to spend those down times. It also keeps you healthy because you are still working with maximal effort but with sub maximal real weight. It will help keep you fresh and working hard.

Like many lifters, Marshall Johnson started out as a bodybuilder and has only been powerlifting for three years now. Now, he’s a rising name in powerlifting with a 1000-lb squat.

Strength and Explosiveness

35

Marshall Johnson

May, 17 Columbus, OH I WISH TO HAVE AN iPAD2. May was diagnosed with a bone growth

May was diagnosed with a bone growth disorder at birth. Her life-threatening medical condition strictly limits how much weight she is able to lift. May is not allowed to carry textbooks.

When she was visited by her Wish-Granting Volunteers, May knew exactly what she wanted: an iPad2. She shared with her volunteers that she wanted to use the tablet, which weighs only a little over a pound, to download the books she needs for school.

May was overwhelmed with joy when her wish came true. In addition to doing her school work, May can now read about her favorite sports team, Ohio State basketball, and her favorite player, Jared Sullinger.

“Ever since her wish came true, May has been so happy,” shared May’s mom, Elizabeth. “Everywhere she goes, the iPad goes with her. She is able to download books for school, watch movies and play

games. It is just wonderful!”

Basic Hypertrophy Training Amit Sapir

T

his is a basic 4 days a week hypertrophy program. This should be done for 6 weeks. It will incorporate both strength work and “intensity techniques” to keep volume high. This program is for intermediate lifters and will fit anyone who would like to maintain a strength base and build mass.

DAY 1 LEGS BACK SQUATS 5 sets X 10/8/6/4/20 reps

DAY 2 CHEST & SHOULDERS INCLINE BENCH PRESS 5 sets X 10/8/6/4 + drop set: 10/10/10 reps SUPERSET:(use the same weight for both) 3 sets X 12/10/8 reps Flat dumbbell flies (lower the weight slowly.. 4-5 seconds on the way down and press fast) + Flat dumbbell press

WIDE GRIP WEIGHTED DIPS 3 sets X 10/8/6 + 1 LUNGES 3 sets X 15/12/10 reps + drop set : 8/8/8 bodyweight set to failure reps SEATED MILITARY BARBELL PRESS (behind neck) 3 sets X 12/10/8 reps SUPERSET: Hack squat machine 3 sets x 15 reps, 12 reps, drop set: 10/10/10 reps + Stiff leg deadlift 3 sets x 15 reps, 12 reps, drop set: 10/10/10 reps

SUPERSET: 2 Supersets of 12 reps each Standing dumbbell laterals + Rear delt laterals(face down on bench @45 degrees). *For a 3rd set do a drop set of each exercise individually of 10/10/10 reps, drop the weight after SUPERSET: Lying hamstring curls 3 sets x 15 reps, 12 reps, drop every 10 reps. set: 10/10/10reps STANDING WIDE GRIP UPRIGHT ROWS + Leg extensions (sets/reps same as hamstring curls) *pinky finger on ring of the bar 3 sets X 15 reps, 12 reps + drop set: 10/10/10 reps

Basic Hypertrophy Training

37

DAY 3 BACK & TRAPS OLYMPIC DEADLIFTS (it’s a deadlift with a shrug at the end) *video attached 5 sets X 8/6/4/2/20 * the last set of 20 reps is normal deadlifts without the shrugs, it should burn!) http://youtu.be/SB5Zz0PV-zY WEIGHTED PULL-UPS (neutral grip) 5 sets X 10/8/6/5 + bodyweight to failure

SUPERSET Bent over barbell rows. 3 sets x 12/10/8 reps + Rope Pullovers. 3 sets x 18/15/13 reps SUPERSET Wide grip pull downs. 3 sets x 12/10/8 reps. (5 second negative for first 1/2 of the set) + Seated cable rows (or rowing machine) 3 sets x 12/10/8 reps (3 second pause at the peak contraction for first 1/2 of the set) http://youtu.be/NYfsxKDG9qc RACK DEADLIFTS 3 sets x 12 reps

MACHINE SHRUGS (or barbell/dumbbell shrugs) 3 sets x 15/12/10 * pause at the top for 3 seconds for the first half of the set

DAY 4 ARMS

CLOSE GRIP BENCH PRESS. 5 sets x 10/8/6/4 + drop set: 10/10/10

SUPERSET. 3 sets x 15 reps, 12 reps + drop set: 10/10/10 Rope pushdowns + Overhead rope extensions

Amit Sapir

EZ BAR DECLINE SKULLCRUSHERS 4 sets x 12/12/10/10 reps * 2 sets close grip, 2 sets wide grip

CLOSE GRIP PUSH-UPS ON BENCH 2 sets to failure STANDING EZ BAR CURLS 3 sets x 8+8+8 http://youtu.be/-b3sYuR6Az4

INCLINE DUMBELL CURLS (set bench at 45 degrees) 3 sets x 15/12 + drop set: 10/10/10 SUPERSET. 3 sets x 15/12 + drop set: 10/10/10 Hammer curls + Concentration curls

ABS AT THE END OF EVERY WORKOUT 3 sets x 15 reps of decline crunches with weight behind your neck 3 sets to failure -Knee raises on roman chair 3 sets x 12-15 reps - lying knee raises (video attached) http://youtu.be/MvGF7PrFqPE

Eight-week Olympic Weightlifting Cycle

Greg Everett

T

his is a simple 8-week weightlifting training cycle using 3-position snatches and cleans, - power snatches and power cleans, and plenty of pulls, squats and classic snatch and clean & jerk. - - It will test for max snatch, clean & jerk, and either front or back squat at the end of week 8.

65%, 70% x 4 sets Snatch Pull - 90% (of sn) x 3 x 2, 95% x 3 x 2 Back Squat - 70% x 5 x 5 Push Press - 70% x 5 x 5

Tuesday

If you don’t have accurate 1RMs for these exercises, you can adjust the weights by feel to be more - Power Clean - 70% x 3 x 5 appropriate on week 1. After that, attempt to increase - Power Jerk - 60% (of split jerk) x 3 x 5 weights according to the percentages prescribed to - Overhead Squat - 70% x 3 x 5 maintain the same approximate progression. For example, if in your 3-position snatches on Monday, Wednesday your final 4 sets are done at what amounts to 75% of your 1RM instead of 70%, simply bump up all - 3-Position Clean (floor, below knee, above subsequent prescriptions for that exercise by 5%. knee) + Jerk - 60%, 65%, 70% x 4 sets Notation is weight x reps x sets (e.g. 90% x 3 x 2 - Clean Pull - 90% (of cln) x 3 x 2, means 90% of 1RM for 3 reps for 2 sets). If no weight 95% x 3 x 2 is assigned, notation is sets x reps (e.g. 3 x 5 means 3 - Front Squat - 70% x 3 x 5 sets of 5 reps). If no weight is assigned, select weight - Good Morning - 3x5 by feel.

WEEK 1

For all exercises this week, if the prescribed weights feel good, you can increase weights on your final sets, but don’t push to maximum effort.

Monday

-

3-Position Snatch (floor, below knee, above knee) - 60%,

Thursday



- - -

Power Snatch - 70% x 3 x 5 Snatch High-Pull - 70% (of sn) x 3 x 5 Snatch Push Press + Overhead Squat - 70% (of sn or ohs) x 5+1 x 5

8 Week Olympic Weightlifting

39

Saturday - Snatch - 60%x2, 70%x2, 80%x2, heavy single - Clean & Jerk - 60%x2+1, 70%x2+1, 80%x2+1, heavy single - Back Squat - 75% x 3 x 5 - SLDL - 3x5

Greg Everett

Thursday - - -



Power Snatch - 75% x 3 x 5 Snatch High-Pull - 75% (of sn) x 3 x 5 Snatch Push Press + Overhead Squat - 75% (of sn or ohs) x 5+1 x 5

Saturday

- Snatch - 60%x2, 70%x2, 80%x2, heavy single WEEK 2 - Clean & Jerk - 60%x2+1, 70%x2+1, 80%x2+1, heavy single For all exercises this week, if the prescribed weights - Back Squat - 80% x 3 x 5 feel good, you can increase weights on your final - SLDL - 3x5 sets, but don’t push to maximum effort.

Monday -

3-Position Snatch (floor, below knee, above knee) - 60%, 65%, 70%, 75% x 3 sets - Snatch Pull - 95% (of sn) x 3 x 2, 100% x 3 x 2 - Back Squat - 75% x 5 x 5 - Push Press - 75% x 5 x 5

Tuesday - - -

Power Clean - 75% x 3 x 5 Power Jerk - 65% (of split jerk) x 3 x 5 Overhead Squat - 75% x 3 x 5

-

3-Position Clean (floor, below knee, above knee) + Jerk - 60%, 65%, 70%, 75% x 3 sets Clean Pull - 95% (of cln) x 3 x 2, 100% x 3 x2 Front Squat - 75% x 3 x 5 Good Morning - 3x5

Wednesday



- - -

WEEK 3 Monday -

3-Position Snatch (floor, below knee, above knee) - 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, max - Snatch Pull - 100% (of sn) x 3 x 4 - Back Squat - 70% x 5, 75% x 5, 80% x 5, 5RM - Push Press - 70% x 5, 75% x 5, 5RM

Tuesday

- Power Clean - 70% x 3, 75% x 3, 80% x 3, 3RM - Power Jerk - 60% (of split jerk) x 3, 65% x 3, 70% x 3, 3RM - Overhead Squat - 70% x 3, 75% x 3, 80% x 3, 3RM

Wednesday



- -

3-Position Clean (floor, below knee, above knee) + Jerk - 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, max Clean Pull - 100% (of cln) x 3 x 4

8 Week Olympic Weightlifting

40

- Front Squat - 70% x 3, 75% x 3, 80% x 3, 3RM - Good Morning - 3x5

Thursday

- - -

Power Snatch - 70% x 3, 75% x 3, 80% x 3, 3RM Snatch High-Pull - 75% (of sn) x 3 x 3, 80% x 3 x 2 Snatch Push Press + Overhead Squat - 70% (of sn or ohs) x 5+1, 75% x 5+1, 80% x 5+1, max 5+1

Saturday

Greg Everett

Wednesday -



-





-

Clean & Jerk - 60% x 2+1, 65% x 2+1 x 2, 70% x 2+1 x 3 Clean Pull - 90% (of cln) x 2 x 2, 95% x 2 x 2 Front Squat - 70% x 2 x 5

Thursday



- - -

Power Snatch - 70% x 2 x 5 Snatch Push Press + Overhead Squat - 70% x 3+1 x 4 Press - 3 x 5

- Snatch - 60%x2, 70%x2, 80%x1, heavy single - Clean & Jerk - 60%x2+1, 70%x2+1, 80%x1+1, heavy single - Back Squat - 70% x 3, 75% x 3, 80% x 3, 85% x 3, 3RM - SLDL - 3x5

Saturday December 22 2012

WEEK 4

Like in previous weeks, take up the weight in the last sets if you’re feeling good. Don’t push to maximum effort.

This is a recovery week. You’ll probably feel beat up until the end of the week. Next week we start pushing again.

Monday



- - -

Snatch - 60%x2, 65%x2x2, 70%x2x3 Snatch Pull - 90% (of sn) x 2 x 2, 95% x 2 x 2 Back Squat - 70% x 3 x 5

- - -

Power Clean - 70% x 2 x 5 Power Jerk - 60% (of split jerk) x 2 x 5 Push Press - 70% x 3 x 3

Tuesday



- - -

Snatch - 65%x2, 70%x2x2, 75%x1x2, 80%x1x3 Clean & Jerk - 65%x2+1, 70%x2+1x2, 75%x1+1x2, 80%x1+1x3 Back Squat - 75% x 2 x 4

WEEK 5

Monday - - - -

Snatch - 60%x3, 65%x3, 70%x2, 75%x2x4 Snatch Pull - 100% (of sn) x 3 x 4 Back Squat - 70%x3, 75%x3x4 Push Press - 70%x5, 75%x5, 80%x3x3

- - -

Power Snatch - 70%x3, 75%x3, 80%x2x4 Power Clean + Power Jerk - 75%x1+1 x 5 Overhead Squat - 80% x 2 x 5

Tuesday

8 Week Olympic Weightlifting

41

Wednesday

- - - -

Clean & Jerk - 60%x3+1, 65%x3+1, 70%x2+1, 75%x2+1x4 Clean Pull - 100% (of cln) x 3 x 4 Front Squat - 70%x2m 75%x2, 80%x2x3 SLDL - 3x5

Thursday



- - -

Power Snatch - 70%x2, 75%x2, 80%x1x4 Power Clean + Power Jerk - 75%x2(1+1) x 5 Snatch Push Press + Overhead Squat - 70%x3+1, 75%x3+1, 80%x3+1

Saturday

- -

- -

Snatch - 60%x2, 70%x2, 75%x2, 80%x1, 85%x1, heavy single Clean & Jerk - 60%x2+1, 70%x2+1, 80%x1+1, 85%x1+1, heavy single Back Squat - 75% x 3, 80% x 3 x 4 SLDL - 3x5

WEEK 6

Greg Everett





- -

85%x2x2 Power Clean + Power Jerk - 75%x1+1 x 3, 80%x1+1x2 Overhead Squat - 80% x 2 x 2, 85% x  2 x 3

Wednesday

- - - -

Clean & Jerk - 60%x3+1, 65%x3+1, 70%x2+1, 75%x2+1, 80%x2+1x3 Clean Pull - 100% (of cln) x 3 x 2, 105% x 2 x 2 Front Squat - 70%x2, 75%x2, 80%x2, 85%x2x3 SLDL - 3x5

Thursday

- -

- -

Power Snatch - 70%x2, 75%x2, 80%x1x2, 85%x1x2 Power Clean + Power Jerk - 75%x2(1+1) x 2, 80%x2(1+1)x2 Snatch Push Press + Overhead Squat 70%x3+1, 75%x3+1, 80%x3+1, 85%x3+1x2

Saturday

Take up the weight in the last sets if you’re feeling - Snatch - 60%x2, 70%x2, 75%x2, 80%x1, good. Don’t push to maximum effort. 85%x1, 90%x1, heavy single - Clean & Jerk - 60%x2+1, 70%x2+1, 80%x1+1, 85%x1+1, 90%x1+1, heavy Monday single - Back Squat - 75% x 3, 80% x 3 x 2, 85% x - Snatch - 60%x3, 65%x3, 70%x2, 75%x2, 3x2 80%x2x3 - Good Morning - 3x5 - Snatch Pull - 100% (of sn) x 3 x 2, 105% x 3x2 WEEK 7 - Back Squat - 70%x3, 75%x3, 80% x 3 x 3 - Push Press - 70%x5, 75%x5, 80%x3, 85% Monday x3x2

Tuesday -

Power Snatch - 70%x3, 75%x3, 80%x2x2,



- -

Snatch - 60%x3, 65%x3, 70%x2, 75%x2, 80%x2, 2RM Snatch Pull - 100% (of sn) x 3, 105% x 3, 110% x 3 x 2

8 Week Olympic Weightlifting



- -

42

Back Squat - 70%x3, 75%x3, 80% x 3, 3RM Push Press - 70%x3, 75%x3, 80%x2, 85%x1, 1RM

Tuesday

- - -

Power Snatch - 70%x3, 75%x2, 80%x1, 85%x1, 1RM Power Clean + Power Jerk - 75%x1+1 x 2, 80%x1+1x3 Overhead Squat - 70%x2, 75%x2, 80%x1, 85%x1, 1RM

Wednesday

- - - -

Clean & Jerk - 60%x2+1, 65%x2+1, 70%x2+1, 75%x2+1, 80%x2+1, 2+1RM Clean Pull - 100% (of cln) x 3, 105%x3, 110%x3x2 Front Squat - 70%x2, 75%x2, 80%x2, 85%x2, 2RM SLDL - 3x5

Thursday

- - -

Power Snatch - 70%x2, 75%x2, 80%x1, 85%x1x3 Power Clean + Power Jerk - 75%x1+1, 80%x1+1, 85%x1+1, 1+1RM Snatch Balance - 70%x3x2, 75%x3x3

Saturday -

Snatch - 60%x2, 70%x2, 75%x2, 80%x1, 85%x1, 90%x1, heavy single - Clean & Jerk - 60%x2+1, 70%x2+1, 80%x1+1, 85%x1+1, 90%x1+1, heavy single - Back Squat - 75% x 2, 80% x 2, 85% x 2, 2RM - Good Morning - 3x5

WEEK 8

Greg Everett

Monday



- - - -

Snatch - 75%x2, 80%x1, 85%x1x3 Clean & Jerk - 75%x1+1, 80%x1+1, 85%x1+1 Clean Pull - 90% (of cln) x2, 95%x2x2 Back Squat - 75%x3, 80%x2, 85%x2x2

Tuesday



- -

Snatch - 75% x 1 x 6 Power Clean & Jerk - 75%x1+1, 80%x1+1, 85%x1+1x3

Wednesday - - -

Snatch - 75%x2, 80%x1x3 Snatch Pull - 90% (of sn) x 2 x 3 Front Squat - 75%x2, 80%x1, 85%x1

- -

Power Snatch - 75%x2, 80%x2, 85%x2x3 Clean & Jerk - 70%x1+1, 75%x1+1x2

Thursday

Saturday - - -

Snatch - max Clean & Jerk - max Front or Back Squat - max

Catalyst Athletics was founded in 2006 by Greg Everett in San Diego county and relocated to Sunnyvale, CA in 2008. Catalyst was a continuation of NorCal Strength and Conditioning in Chico, CA, in which Everett was partnered with Robb Wolf and Nicki Violetti. The Performance Menu journal was started by the three in February 2005 and was taken over exclusively by Everett in 2008, at which time it was merged with Catalyst Athletics to form the company as it now exists.

Beast Training College Football Preparation

Target Athlete: Programing Duration: Primary Focus: Secondary Focus:

B

Erik Eggers

High School/College Football Player having solid Strength Base 8 Week Offseason Training Cycle – Season Preparation Increasing Explosive Power and Conditioning/GPP Increasing Strength

east Training LLC designed this program to prepare a college athlete for his upcoming football season. The athlete had been away from the game for several years, but had retained an above-average level of strength from his general programming. Our goal was to focus on increasing his endurance, general physical preparedness (“GPP”), and explosive power during this eight week programming cycle. My dream is to play Division 1 College Football. I have one year of eligibility remaining. I haven’t played in two years. I am going to walk-on to the program and I need you to train me and help me prepare physically and mentally. I didn’t believe him at first. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe he wanted to play. I did; I guess. It was just that initially I doubted he was going to devote the time to perform the necessary work. I knew it was going to be a tremendous amount of hard work and two years away from the game is a long time.

“Alex, listen. I have a lot going on right now, work, the gym, my kids’ sports, so I need you to really think about this. If this isn’t something you are going to totally commit to, please don’t waste our time. I want you to go home and really consider how badly you want this.” “I want it badly,” he said.

“Come back this weekend and we can talk about it some more.”

Beast Training Eight Week

44

Erik Eggers

Alex came back and the rest is history.

My words sound harsh in retrospect - he must’ve caught me after an extra-long day. I was serious though. We were either going to do it all the way or help facilitate Alex’s move into the next phase of his life (without football). Coincidentally, a week or so after I decided I was going to help Alex achieve his goal I attended a breakfast meeting with his former High School Head Coach. We were discussing how Beast could best serve his latest crop of football players. I’d casually mentioned I was in touch with Alex and he had come in to see me to discuss making a football comeback and attempting to walk-on to a D1 program. “Ah, it’s been too long. He’s been away from the game too long. He can’t do it, I don’t think,” he said, shaking his head and pausing to grab a sip of lukewarm diner coffee. “It’s been too long.” I’m not so sure about that. Where there is a will, there is a way.

The coach’s comments got me fired-up. I was angry he was doubting Team Alex – and now I was definitely part of the team; I was all-in – those comments, that doubt galvanized my determination to provide whatever guidance and assistance I could. We were going to crash the D1 Football Party with simple, yet effective and intelligent programming. Coupled with Alex’s iron determination we were going to maximize his chances of achieving the goal.

The complete Story of Alex is beyond the scope of this programming article, but it suffices to say he decided he was committed to his stated goal. He did the programming (and more). He committed to making the sacrifices and doing the work, which paved the way for what I consider one of the greatest sports triumphs I have ever been fortunate enough to be involved with. I’ve told him his story trumps that of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, the young man who, against all odds, played college football at Notre Dame. He thinks I’m joking. I assure you, I am not. I truly believe if we ever seriously get pen to paper and memorialize Alex’s journey toward achieving his lifetime goal, we’ll have told a tale to inspire generations to come. As I look back, I am amazed at the simplicity of the programming. I believe in the end the program worked so well because of the consistency with which it was performed. Remember, one of the keys to the development of power and strength is showing up for all of the training. Alex did just that. THE PROGRAM Traditionally Beast employed the following split for our three-day a week football trainees: TRAINING SESSION 1: Lower Body Strength TRAINING SESSION 2: Upper Body Power/Strength TRAINING SESSION 3: Lower Body Explosive Power

Beast Training Eight Week

45

Erik Eggers

HOWEVER, because this particular athlete already had an above-average strength base yet had been away from football for so long, we were decided to primarily focus on his development of explosive power. Additionally we felt an additional day to focus on GPP was optimal. TRAINING SESSION 1: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength TRAINING SESSION 2: Upper Body Power/Strength TRAINING SESSION 3: Hill Sprints or Prowler Sprints TRAINING SESSION 4: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

Specific comments on the programming in the tables can be found throughout. We have placed the comments after each table where applicable. We began each workout with a dynamic warmup to properly prepare the body to handle the workload.

WEEK 1

 

 

 

 

 

TRAINING SESSION 1: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

%    

%    

 

Set 2   5 Jumps 3 Jumps  

Squats (reps listed)

Set 1   5 Jumps 3 Jumps 3 Jumps 5

65%

GHR

10

Exercise: Box Jumps Band Resisted Box Jumps Weighted Box Jumps

 

 

 

%    

Set 4    

%    

 

Set 3   5 Jumps  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

75%

5

85%

85%

10      

         

 

     

         

     

         

AMRAP  

Set 1   5

%   65%

Set 2   5

%   75%

Set 3   5

%   85%

12 15

   

12 15

   

  15

   

Prowler Sprints Grappler Twists   TRAINING SESSION 2: Upper Body Power/Strength   Exercise: 2 Board Bench DB Bench Lying Tri Extensions

 

    Set 4   AMRAP    

        %   85%    

Beast Training Eight Week

46

Erik Eggers

 

     

AMRAP      

   

   

Set 1   5 5

%   65% 65%

AMRAP Abdominal Circuit       TRAINING SESSION 3: Hill   Body Weight Chins

Sprints or Prowler Sprints

  TRAINING SESSION 4: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength   Exercise: Power Clean Hex Deadlift Backwards Sled Drags Abdominal Circuit

 

30 Yds      

 

     

AMRAP      

        30 Yds  

    30 Yds

   

   

   

 

 

 

Set 2   5 5

%   75% 75%

Set 3   5 5

%   85% 85%

Set 4   5 AMRAP 30 Yds  

%   85% 85%

30 Yds      

30 Yds      

 

 

   

Box Jumps – We do most of our jumps from a standing position (we don’t allow a step or a run-up to

the box). Jumps were initially performed on a box of moderate height. We increased the height to make the jumps more challenging in subsequent weeks with the goal of exploding off the floor and sticking the landing in the middle of the box. Band-resisted jumps were performed with an elitefts™ Pro Monster Mini Resistance Band around the athletes waist to provide light resistance. Weighted jumps were performed with very light dumbbells in each hand (i.e. 5 to 15lbs).

Prowler Sprints – we performed these with moderate weight – 30 yard sprints with a strict one minute rest in between sets to simulate the cadence of a football game.

Grappler Twists – we typically performed 3 sets of fifteen reps with moderate weight.

2-Board Bench– we utilized a 2-Board bench throughout the cycle to reduce some of the shoulder stress caused by full range of motion; other bench variations could be easily substituted without significantly impacting the program.

AMRAP – As Many Reps as Possible. Here we prefer to leave one rep in the tank (stopping just shy of

complete failure).

Abdominal Circuit – our abdominal circuit varies. I am partial to a sample circuit I first saw on Joe Defranco’s YouTube page. It consists of sprinter sit-ups, v-ups, toe touches, and hip ups. I believe that consistency with abdominal training trumps exercise selection, so whatever exercises you ultimately choose, be consistent.

Hill Sprints or Prowler Pushes – exercise prescription for Hill Sprints is challenging – I suggest doing

them until you feel as though you are going to drop if you do one more. With regard to Prowler Pushes,

Beast Training Eight Week

47

Erik Eggers

please see above. We are prescribing one or the other – not both. If possible utilize a training cadence similar to the pace of a football game (i.e. no more than one minute rest in between sets).

Power Clean – I am not a big proponent of the power clean because it is a very technical lift and can place

a lot of stress on an athlete’s elbows and wrists (especially when done with poor form). This particular athlete was adept at the movement (he also really enjoyed performing them), so we incorporated it in his training. Notwithstanding the aforementioned, I am partial to the benefits of triple extension – I recommend substituting explosive Jump Shrugs for any athlete less versed in the power clean. We’ve done Jump Shrugs with both a traditional barbell and a hex deadlift bar.

WEEK 2

 

 

 

 

 

TRAINING SESSION 1: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set 1   5 Jumps 3 Jumps 3 Jumps 3

%    

%    

 

Set 2   5 Jumps 3 Jumps  

70%

10         Set 1   3

Exercise: Box Jumps Band Resisted Box Jumps Weighted Box Jumps Squats (reps listed) GHR Prowler Sprints Grappler Twists   TRAINING SESSION 2: Upper Body Power/Strength   Exercise: 2 Board Bench

12 Lying Tri Extensions 15 Body Weight Chins AMRAP Abdominal Circuit       TRAINING SESSION 3: Hill   DB Bench

Sprints or Prowler Sprints

 

 

 

%    

Set 4    

%    

 

Set 3   5 Jumps  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

80%

3

90%

90%

         

10        

         

         

         

AMRAP        

%   70%

Set 2   3

%   80%

Set 3   3

%   90%

%   90%

     

12 15 AMRAP      

     

  15 AMRAP      

     

Set 4   AMRAP      

   

   

   

 

     

     

       

     

Beast Training Eight Week

48

Erik Eggers

   

   

   

   

   

 

 

 

Abdominal Circuit

Set 1   5 12 12  

%   65%      

Set 2   5 12 12  

%   75%      

Set 3   5 12 12  

%   85%      

Set 4   5      

%   85%      

WEEK 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRAINING SESSION 1: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set 1   5 Jumps 3 Jumps 3 Jumps 5

%    

%    

%    

Set 4    

%    

 

Set 3   5 Jumps  

 

 

 

 

Set 2   5 Jumps 3 Jumps  

 

 

 

 

 

75%

3

85%

3

95%

95%

10        

         

10        

         

10        

         

AMRAP        

Set 1   5

%   75%

Set 2   3

%   85%

Set 3   3

%   95%

%   95%

12 15 AMRAP  

     

12 15 AMRAP  

     

  15 AMRAP  

     

Set 4   AMRAP      

 

 

 

  TRAINING SESSION 4: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength   Exercise: Power Clean Romanian DL Bulgarian Split Squat

Exercise: Box Jumps Band Resisted Box Jumps Weighted Box Jumps Squats (reps listed) GHR Prowler Sprints Grappler Twists   TRAINING SESSION 2: Upper Body Power/Strength   Exercise: 2 Board Bench DB Bench Lying Tri Extensions Body Weight Chins Abdominal Circuit

 

 

 

       

     

Beast Training Eight Week

49

Erik Eggers

  TRAINING SESSION 3: Hill  

   

   

   

   

TRAINING SESSION 4: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set 1   5 5

%   65% 75%

Set 2   5 3

%   75% 85%

Set 3   5 3

 

Sprints or Prowler Sprints

Exercise: Power Clean Hex Deadlift Backwards Sled Drags Abdominal Circuit

30 Yds      

30 Yds      

 

 

 

%   85% 95%

Set 4   5 AMRAP 30 Yds  

%   85% 95%

30 Yds      

   

On or about the third week of training, Alex called me one evening and asked if he should be waking in the middle of the night to perform an additional training session. He’d been watching a Ray Lewis video and was inspired to do more work. We simply told him to trust in the program and that he needed his sleep to recover from the training. Trust in the programming!

WEEK 4 DELOAD

 

 

 

 

 

TRAINING SESSION 1: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set 1   5 Jumps 10      

%    

%    

       

Set 2   5 Jumps 10      

%   50%          

Exercise: Box Jumps GHR Grappler Twists   TRAINING SESSION 2: Upper Body Power/Strength

Set 1 Exercise:   2 Board Bench 5 Body Weight Chins 10 Abdominal Circuit       TRAINING SESSION 3: Hill    

Sprints or Prowler Sprints  

 

 

 

 

%    

Set 4    

%    

       

Set 3   5 Jumps 10      

       

     

     

Set 2   5 10      

%   50%        

Set 3   5 15      

%   50%      

Set 4          

%          

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beast Training Eight Week

50

Erik Eggers

TRAINING SESSION 4: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abdominal Circuit

Set 1   5  

%   50%  

Set 2   5  

%   50%  

Set 3   5  

%   50%  

Set 4      

%      

WEEK 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRAINING SESSION 1: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set 1   5 Jumps 5 Jumps   5

%    

%    

Set 4    

%    

 

 

 

  75%

Set 3   5 Jumps 5 Jumps   5

%    

  65%

Set 2   5 Jumps 5 Jumps   5

  85%

  85%

10        

         

10        

         

         

         

  AMRAP        

Set 1   5

%   65%

Set 2   5

%   75%

Set 3   5

%   85%

%   85%

12 15

   

12 15

   

  15

   

Set 4   AMRAP    

 

 

 

 

     

AMRAP      

 

     

AMRAP      

   

   

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercise: Hex Deadlift

Exercise: Box Jumps Medium Banded Box High Max Jump Attempts Squats (reps listed) GHR Prowler Sprints Grappler Twists   TRAINING SESSION 2: Upper Body Power/Strength   Exercise: 2 Board Bench DB Incline Bench Lying Tri Extensions Elbow Out

AMRAP Abdominal Circuit       TRAINING SESSION 3: Hill   Body Weight Chins

Sprints or Prowler Sprints  

 

 

 

       

   

Beast Training Eight Week

51

Erik Eggers

TRAINING SESSION 4: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set 1   5 5

%   65% 65%

Set 2   5 5

%   75% 75%

Set 3   5 5

Exercise: Power Clean Hex Deadlift Backwards Sled Drags Abdominal Circuit

30 Yds      

30 Yds      

%   85% 85%

30 Yds      

Set 4   5 AMRAP 30 Yds  

%   85% 85%    

Max Jump attempts in Week 5 were performed as single jumps to determine the maximal box height in which athlete could stick the landing (again from a standing position).

Lying Tri Extensions Elbow Out – We perform these on an incline bench with the bells always in contact with one another; begin from a top position and lower the bells together, with elbows out, until they touch the chest; then extend to the top position using the triceps. There is a video on elitefts™ YouTube page that shows a demonstration of this exercise – “Elitefts.com: EX index - Elbows Out Extensions s/s BW exten.”

WEEK 6

 

 

 

 

 

TRAINING SESSION 1: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squats (reps listed)

Set 1   5 3

%     70%

Set 2   5 3

%     80%

GHR

10

 

10

Prowler Sprints

       

       

Set 1 3

% 70%

Exercise: Broad Jumps

Grappler Twists   TRAINING SESSION 2: Upper Body Power/Strength   2 Board Bench

 

 

 

Set 3   5 3

%     90%

%     90%

 

10

 

       

       

       

       

Set 4     AMRAP AMRAP      

Set 2 3

% 80%

Set 3 3

% 90%

Set 4 AMRAP

% 90%

       

Beast Training Eight Week

DB Bench Lying Tri Extensions Elbow Out

12 15

AMRAP Abdominal Circuit   TRAINING SESSION 3: Hill   Body Weight Chins

Sprints or Prowler Sprints

52

Erik Eggers

   

12 15

   

12 15

   

   

   

 

 

 

 

   

AMRAP    

 

   

AMRAP    

 

 

 

%   85%        

Set 4   5   30 Yds 30 Yds  

%   85%        

TRAINING SESSION 4: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set 1   5 5 30 Yds 30 Yds  

%   65%        

Set 2   5 5 30 Yds 30 Yds  

%   75%        

Set 3   5 5 30 Yds 30 Yds  

Exercise: Power Clean Lateral High Hurdles Backwards Sled Drags Prowler Sprints Abdominal Circuit

Broad Jumps – these were simple broad (or long) jumps for distance from a standing position. We always have the athlete attempt to stick the landing. Concentrate on good form with these and utilize arm swing.

Lateral High Hurdles – this is a lateral bounding exercise that can be performed either over a bench or a high WEEK 7

hurdle.    

 

 

TRAINING SESSION 1: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squats (reps listed)

Set 1   5 5

%     75%

Set 2   5 3

%     85%

GHR

10

 

10

Prowler Sprints

       

       

Set 1

%

Exercise: Broad Jumps

Grappler Twists   TRAINING SESSION 2: Upper Body Power/Strength  

 

 

 

 

Set 3   5 3

%     95%

%     95%

 

10

 

       

       

       

       

Set 4     AMRAP AMRAP      

Set 2

%

Set 3

%

Set 4

%

       

Beast Training Eight Week

53

Erik Eggers

  5

  75%

  3

  85%

  3

  95%

  95%

   

  AMRAP    

12 15

   

12 15

   

12 15

 

 

     

AMRAP      

 

 

 

     

AMRAP      

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

 

 

 

Abdominal Circuit

Set 1   5 5 30 Yds 30 Yds  

%   65%        

Set 2   5 5 30 Yds 30 Yds  

%   75%        

Set 3   5 5 30 Yds 30 Yds  

%   85%        

Set 4   5   30 Yds 30 Yds  

%   85%        

WEEK 8 DELOAD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRAINING SESSION 1: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set 1   5 Jumps 10      

%    

%    

Set 4    

%    

       

Set 3   5 Jumps 10      

%    

       

Set 2   5 Jumps 10      

       

     

     

Set 1   5 10

%   50%  

Set 2   5 10

%   50%  

Set 3   5 15

%   50%  

Set 4      

%      

Exercise: 2 Board Bench DB Bench Lying Tri Extensions Elbow Out

AMRAP Abdominal Circuit       TRAINING SESSION 3: Hill   Body Weight Chins

Sprints or Prowler Sprints   TRAINING SESSION 4: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength   Exercise: Power Clean Lateral High Hurdles Backwards Sled Drags Prowler Sprints

Exercise: Box Jumps GHR Grappler Twists   TRAINING SESSION 2: Upper Body Power/Strength   Exercise: 2 Board Bench Body Weight Chins

   

Beast Training Eight Week

54

Erik Eggers

      TRAINING SESSION 3: Hill  

     

     

     

     

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

 

 

 

Set 1   5  

%   0.5  

Set 2   5  

%   0.5  

Set 3   5  

%   0.5  

Set 4      

%      

Abdominal Circuit

Sprints or Prowler Sprints   TRAINING SESSION 4: Lower Body Explosive Power/Strength   Exercise: Hex Deadlift Abdominal Circuit

BIO ERIK EGGERS

Erik Eggers graduated from the University of Connecticut with a BS in Finance. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (“CSCS”) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association (“NSCA”) and has been involved in resistance training for the past 25 years. In competitive Powerlifting, Erik has held state records in the International and American Powerlifting Associations (“IPA” and “APA”) and in Gene Rychlak’s Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate (“RPS”). Erik founded Beast Training (“Beast”), a warehouse Strength and Conditioning facility located in Trumbull, Connecticut, where he served as its Strength and Conditioning Coordinator from 2010 to 2013. Erik enjoys writing horror fiction and is an avid reader, particularly favoring the works of Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk, and Cormac McCarthy. He is periodically haunted by the “Deadlift Devil,” a fiendish apparition and source of woe who frequently besieges his training platform, not unlike the ghost of Jacob Marley in the Charles Dickens’ classic, “A Christmas Carol.” (Web: www.beastgym.com; YouTube: BeastTrainingLLC; Instagram: @beastllc, and Twitter @BEASTTRAINING)

12 Week Fat Loss Alwyn Cosgrove

12 WEEK FAT LOSS TRAINING PROGRAM Alwyn Cosgrove Team Elitefts

12 Week Fat Loss

56

Alwyn cosgrove

Frequency Of Training Note: when two sessions are listed for the same day, perform the strength training portion first.

Stage 1

Sun

Mon

Week Three  

Cardio A   Cardio A   Cardio A  

Strength A   Strength B Cardio B Strength A  

Week Four  

Cardio A  

Strength B Cardio B

Week One   Week Two  

Stage 2 

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

OFF  

Strength B   Strength A   Strength B  

OFF  

Strength A Cardio A

Tue

Wed

OFF   OFF  

Thu Cardio B  

Fri

Sat

OFF   Cardio B  

Strength A   Strength B Cardio A Strength A  

OFF  

Cardio B  

Strength B  

OFF  

Thu

Fri

OFF   OFF  

Sat

Week Five  

OFF  

Strength A Cardio A

OFF  

Strength B Cardio B

OFF  

Strength A Cardio A

OFF  

Week Six  

Cardio B  

Strength B Cardio A

OFF  

Strength A Cardio A

OFF  

Strength B Cardio B

OFF  

OFF  

Strength A Cardio A

OFF  

Strength B Cardio B

OFF  

Strength A Cardio A

OFF  

Cardio B  

Strength B Cardio B

OFF  

Strength A Cardio A

OFF  

Strength B Cardio B

OFF  

Week Nine  

Sun Cardio A  

Mon Strength A Cardio B

OFF  

Wed Strength B  

Thu Cardio A  

Fri Strength A Cardio B

Week Ten  

Cardio A  

Strength B Cardio B

OFF  

Strength A Cardio A

Cardio B  

Strength B Cardio A

OFF  

Week Eleven  

Cardio A  

Strength A Cardio B

OFF  

Strength B Cardio A

OFF  

Strength A Cardio B

OFF  

Week Twelve  

Cardio A  

Strength B Cardio B

OFF  

Strength A Cardio A

Cardio B  

Strength B Cardio A

OFF  

Week Seven   Week Eight  

 Stage 3

Tue

Sat OFF  

12 Week Fat Loss

57

Exercise Protocols

Alwyn cosgrove

Cardio B:

We have two interval training modalities that we are going to use for the duration of the program.

This second routine is a Heart rate based method. With this method, work until your heart rate reaches 85% of your max, then recover until your heart rate is at 70% or less. Obviously this means that the Cardio A: work and recovery time will be all over the place. This is a general type of interval program. It’s not However, the cool part is that the “periodization” complicated, it’s not pretty, but it’s extremely is built in. Just do as many rounds as you can effective. Basically we’re beginning on a 1:2 work in the given time frame for the entire duration. to rest ratio and progressing by week nine to a This will change as fitness improves, and may 1:1 ratio. In the example I’ve given I have used change day to day based on fatigue levels. one minute work intervals. This is the upper limit as I don’t believe most people can work for longer Weeks 1-4 than this at maximum intensity. However I have no problems with you working for only 30 seconds, and Warm up for 3-5 mins resting for one minute and working up to the one Perform as many work and recovery cycles based on HR as you can in 20 mins. minute work interval. Recover with a slow walk for 3-5 mins. The typical question I get asked as regards this type of training is “how hard do I work?” The work period Weeks 5-8 should be around 8 or 9 on a scale of 1-10, and the Warm up for 3-5 mins recovery period should rate about a 5. Perform as many work and recovery cycles based on HR as you can in 25 mins. The workout: Recover with a slow walk for 3-5 mins. Warm up 3-5 mins. Weeks 9-12 Workout for the given “rounds” Cool down 3-5 mins Warm up for 3-5 mins Perform as many work and recovery cycles based Weeks 1-4: One minute high intensity work, Two minutes easy on HR as you can in 30 mins. Recover with a slow walk for 3-5 mins. cardio, Repeat for 6 to 8 rounds

Strength Training Weeks 5-8: 1 min high intensity work (higher than weeks 1-4), 90s recovery, Repeat for 8 to 10 rounds The Complexes

Weeks 9-12: One of the key components to this program is the 1 min high intensity work (again, this should use of barbell or dumbbell complexes. A barbell continually be at a higher level), 1 min off, Repeat complex can be defined as two or more movements for 10 to 12 rounds performed in a sequence without rest using the same load. Each Movement is performed through a set number of reps before moving to the next movement.

12 Week Fat Loss

58

Alwyn cosgrove

The advantage of this type of training is obvious – in a short period of time, in a limited space, with limited equipment you can get a lot accomplished. The metabolic effect of this type of work is unparalleled – you get increased work demand, use more muscle groups, increase work capacity and massively increase caloric expenditure. We will alternate between the use of two complexes in this program, however the possibilities are endless and the trainee should not be afraid to come up with their own variations. The rep ranges change every four weeks so adjust the loads accordingly.

Complex A:

Bent over Row Hang Clean Front Squat – push press Back Squat Good Morning

Wks 1-4: 4 x 8 Wks 5-8: 5 x 4 Wks: 9-12: 5 x 6Complex B: Deadlift Clean Pull High pull Reverse Lunge Push Press Wks 1-4: 4 x 8 Wks 5-8: 5 x 4 Wks: 9-12: 5 x 6

The Circuits:

The bulk of the program involves around a more traditional type of training. Each workout will involve four exercises, alternating between upper and lower body exercises, performed for various reps (according to the program phase) with short to non-existent rest periods.

Circuit A: Weeks 1-4 Weeks 5-8

Bulgarian Split Squat Push Ups SHE Seated Cable Row/DB Row

Squat Inverted Row SHELC T-push Ups.

Weeks 9-12

Dynamic Lunge Incline DB press Romanian Deadlift Bent over Row

12 Week Fat Loss

59

Alwyn cosgrove

Circuit B: Weeks 1-4 Weeks 5-8 Hip thigh Extension. DB Military Press DB Squat Wide Grip Pulldown

Weeks 1-4:

Step Up Close Grip Pulldown Static Lunge Db Rotational Press

Weeks 9-12

Deadlift Prone Pike Explosive Squat Chins

Perform a total of three strength workouts per week on non-consecutive days. Alternate between workouts A and B.

Energy system work: Workout A

Order Exercise A Complex

Sets 4

B1 Bulgarian Split Squat Workouts one and four 4 Workouts two and five 2 Workouts three and six 3

Reps 8 ea.

6 each 20 ea. 12 ea.

Rest 90s

90s 30s 60s

B2 Push Ups (use load/elevated feet for the low reps) Workouts one and four 4 6 90s Workouts two and five 2 20 30s Workouts three and six 3 12 60s B3 Supine Hip Extension Workouts one and four 4 6 Workouts two and five 2 20. Workouts three and six 3 12. B4 Seated Cable Row/ DB row Workouts one and four 4 6 Workouts two and five 2 20. Workouts three and six 3 12.

90s 30s 60s 90s 30s 60s

Note: A1, A2, A3 etc are supersets. Perform one set of each exercise in a circuit format, until you have completed all the work sets.

Workout B

Order Exercise A Complex

Sets 4

B1 Hip thigh Extension Workouts one and four 3 Workouts two and five 4 Workouts three and six 2

Reps 8 ea.

Rest 90s

/ Single leg Glute bridge 12 60s 6 90s 20 30s

12 Week Fat Loss

60

Alwyn cosgrove

B2 DB Military Press Workouts one and four 3 Workouts two and five 4 Workouts three and six 2

12 6 20

60s 90s 30s

3 4 2

12 6 20

60s 90s 30s

B3 DB Squat Workouts one and four Workouts two and five Workouts three and six

B4 Wide Grip Pull down 3 Workouts one and four Workouts two and five 4 Workouts three and six 2

/Pull Up 12 each 6 ea. 20 ea.

60s 90s 30s

Note: A1, A2, A3 etc are supersets. Perform one set of each exercise in a circuit format, until you have completed all the work sets.

Motion – again, concentrate on moving one vertebra at a time, until you are in the fully stretched position. Weeks 5-8: Perform a total of three strength workouts per week on nonconsecutive days. Alternate between workouts A and B.

Workout A

Order Exercise A Complex

Sets 5

Reps 4 ea.

B1 Squat Workouts one and four 4 4 90s Workouts two and five 2 12. 30s Workouts three and six 3 8.

Rest 20s

60s

B2 Inverted Row Workouts one and four 4 4 90s Workouts two and five 2 12. 30s Workouts three and six 3 8. 60s B3 SHELC Workouts one and four 4 Workouts two and five 2 Workouts three and six

B4 T-push ups Workouts one and four 4 Workouts two and five 2 Workouts three and six

4 90s 12. 30s 3 8. 60s 4 90s 12. 30s 3 8. 60s

12 Week Fat Loss

61

Alwyn cosgrove

Note: A1, A2, A3 etc are supersets. Perform one set of each exercise in a circuit format, until you have completed all the work sets.

Workout B

Order Exercise A Complex

Sets 5

Reps 4 ea.

B1 Step Up Workouts one and four 3 8 each 60s Workouts two and five 4 4 ea. 90s Workouts three and six 2 12 ea. B2 Close Grip Chins Workouts one and four 3 8 60s Workouts two and five 4 4 90s Workouts three and six 2 12

Rest 120s

30s

30s

B3 Split Squat Workouts one and four 3 8 each 60s Workouts two and five 4 4 ea. 90s Workouts three and six 2 12 ea. 30s B4 DB Rotational Shoulder Press Workouts one and four 3 8 each 60s Workouts two and five 4 4 ea. 90s Workouts three and six 2 12 ea. 30s

Note: A1, A2, A3 etc are supersets. Perform one set of each exercise in a circuit format, until you have completed all the work sets.

Weeks 9-12: Perform three times per week on non-consecutive days. Alternate between workouts A and B. Energy system work:

Workout A

Order Exercise A Complex

Sets 5

B1 Dynamic Lunge Workouts one and four 4 Workouts two and five 2 Workouts three and six 3 B2 Inc DB Press Workouts one and four 4 Workouts two and five 2

Reps 6 ea.

Rest 90s

5 each 90s 15 ea. 10 ea.

30s 60s

5 15

90s 30s

12 Week Fat Loss

Workouts three and six

62

3

Alwyn cosgrove

10

B3 Romanian Deadlift 4 5 each 90s Workouts one and four Workouts two and five 2 15 ea. Workouts three and six 3 10 ea. B4 Bent Over Row Workouts one and four 4 Workouts two and five 2 Workouts three and six 3

5 each 90s 15 ea. 10 ea.

60s 30s 60s 30s 60s

Note: A1, A2, A3 etc are supersets. Perform one set of each exercise in a circuit format, until you have completed all the work sets.

Workout B

Order Exercise A Complex

Sets 5

Reps 6 ea.

B1 DB Deadlift Workouts one and four 3 10 Workouts two and five 4 5 Workouts three and six 2 15 B2 Prone Pike –push up combo 3 10 ea. Workouts one and four Workouts two and five 4 5 ea. Workouts three and six 2 15 ea. B3 Explosive Squat/Jump Squat Workouts one and four 3 10 Workouts two and five 4 5 Workouts three and six 2 15 B4 Wide Grip Pull ups/Pull downs Workouts one and four 3 10 Workouts two and five 4 5 Workouts three and six 2 15 Note:

Rest 90s 90s 60s 30s 90s 60s 30s 90s 60s 30s 90s 60s 30s

A1, A2, A3 etc are supersets. Perform one set of each exercise in a circuit format, until you have completed all the work sets.

12 Week Fat Loss

63

Alwyn cosgrove

Alwyn Cosgrove Alwyn is a Tae kwon-do international champion and has utilized his personal experience as an athlete and combined it with the advanced theories of European Sports Science and the principles of modern strength and conditioning systems. He worked with a wide variety of clientele, including several Olympic and national level athletes, five World Champions and professionals in a multitude of sports including boxing, martial arts, soccer, ice skating, football, fencing, triathlon, rugby, bodybuilding, dance and fitness competition. http://www.alwyncosgrove.com

Knee Integrity:

Building Better Knees

JL Holdsworth

I

have trained several world champions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: white, blue, purple, brown belts and I’ll have a black belt world champion soon. Two joints that take a lot of punishment and are the primary injury spots for BJJ athletes are the shoulders and knees. When Vitor Oliviera (current 6th best absolute black belt in the world) came to start training with me two years ago, he had some knee issues. I needed to find a way to strengthen everything around the joint so he could compete more often and at a higher level. Although this program started with BJJ athletes in mind, we use it for all of our athletes and have had tremendous success in rehabbing and preventing new knee injuries.

or knees (like myself), the jumping may not be an option, as you must be able to do it pain free for it to be an exercise choice for you.

Let’s start by looking at the exercises in this program. I have divided the exercises into two categories: Strength work and Density work. In all of these exercises, how you perform them is of utmost importance. Cheating, or not doing them correctly could result in a negative effect on your knee health. I have included some basic exercises without pictures as they are commonly done or have been written about extensively. Although with some exercises, you may wonder why I prescribe them, but you have to remember that in order to really protect the knee, The injury itself, your level of fitness, how much you must strengthen everything around it. pain and where the pain is coming from will determine how often or at what level of resistance Strength Work you can perform the following exercises. Obviously, someone needs to start out very light if just coming Step back - Start at a comfortable height to complete off an injury and work up slowly as to not agitate it. and add height as you progress. 18’’ being the target I like to use the 80% rule. Do 80% of what you think goal for this exercise. Bring your heel to back end of you are capable and if you don’t hurt the next day, box, step back lightly touching heel to the ground & then you can bump it up a little. coming back up. For healthy athletes the jumping work is very Step Down (w/variations)- Healthy individuals important and helps to build stronger ligaments, should be able to do this off of a 10’’ box but I have tendons and cartilage. For people with bad injuries

Knee Integrity

65

had people start as low as 3’’. Start with your toe at the very edge of the box. Slowly and under control step down off the box tapping your heel gently to the ground and returning back up. Once you have mastered this off at least an 8’’ box then you can move up to the banded version. This combines a TKE (Terminal Knee Extension) with the step down. Lastly, you can move on to the heel elevated banded version. This is extremely difficult for someone who has had knee issues and should be saved until the other versions have been mastered.

JL Holdsworth

extended and pull back slowly (don’t jerk) through your full range of motion. Keep the foot close to the ground at all times.

Sled leg curl/Leg extension - Load a pulling sled

with a weight that you can complete the whole exercise with in good form. Loop the end of a pulling strap around your ankle. Place your supporting foot several inches behind your foot (ahead for extensions) with the strap. Pull the sled through the full range of motion while maintaining your posture. Step back and repeat (step forward for extension).

TKE- Choke a band around a stationary object and put it behind your knee. Let your knee bend slightly Quadruped internal isometric (perturbation & then fully lock out the knee joint, contracting the rotation) - Choke a mini band around something quads as much as possible. stationary. Start on all fours with the band around your ankle pulling you towards the stationary object. Banded anterior tib pumps - Sit on the ground Ensure that your hip and knee is at 90° with your with legs straight out in front. Wrap a band, that is ankle is direct line with your knee (Left pic). Pick choked on an object, around your toes. Then allow your knee and toe off the ground an inch and hold the foot to be pulled into plantar flexion (toe down) isometrically in that position. Perturbation (middle and then pull up and squeeze into dorsiflexion (toe pic) is where you hold same position but someone up). moves the band and you try to keep foot still, resisting and stabilizing against movement. Rotation (right Standing calf raise - Make sure that you do these pic) is where you let the band externally rotate your hip and then bring it back to the start position and one leg at a time and get a 2s hold at the top. hold for 2s. Leg extension - Make sure that you do these one leg at a time and get a 2s hold at the top. Depending on Quadruped external isometric (perturbation & the knee injury this may limit your range of motion rotation) - Same set up as above but the band will and/or ability to do this exercise. be pulling your ankle towards the stationary object from the outside. Make sure to let the band go over GHR - If you don’t know what this is by now then top of the leg that is closest to whatever you attach band to. Obviously the other two variations are the go to elitefts.com and do a search. same. Banded adductor - Choke band to a stationary object. From a standing position hook band around Guard (Partner) external/internal isometric ankle and bring it across in front of your other foot. (perturbation & rotation) - In BJJ, you use the Let it return and repeat. Hold for 2s each contraction. guard position but this is also great for team or group Banded leg curl - Sit on a bench that is far enough settings where you need to get more people through from the object you have choked the band to so quicker. This is great for any athlete and you will that there is never slack in the band. Adjust band quickly see some weaknesses show through. thickness based on your strength level. Hook the Density work (for relatively healthy athletes) band around your ankle. Start with the leg fully

Knee Integrity

66

One leg Land & stick hop - This exercise is done

just as the pictures below, only on the ground and not on a balance pad. Make sure that you can land and hold for one second with good balance before moving on to the balance pad.

One leg Land & stick over hurdle (height based on athlete ability) - Same concept as exercise

below only you jump over a hurdle and stick landing on the other side. Start with a 6’’ hurdle and then move to 12’’ and finally an 18’’ hurdle.

One Leg Land & stick on balance pad - Start

with one leg on balance pad. Hop up and land in good position with butt slightly back and weight decelerated through glutes and hamstrings.

Depth Jumps - Start at a height that is 75% of the

persons max box jump for double legged. Unless they can do this with good form they should not move on to single leg depth jumps. Start at 50% of max for single leg depth jumps. These are only for your most advanced athletes who are healthy, this is not for rehabbing purposes. So now that you know how to do the exercises, let me explain how to use them. For rehab purposes, you can use them as your primary workout. For everyone else I recommend either putting it before lower body workouts or scheduling other days of the weeks to complete the work. For BJJ and other combat athletes, I recommend doing them 2x/wk. For other athletes with healthy knees, 1x/wk can be sufficient. But if you have the time, doing both days would be beneficial as well In the table all exercises with A1, A2 are referring to a circuit and should be done consecutively. The rest interval is not after each exercise but rather after the circuit is completed. Sets/reps and the level of difficulty can all be adjusted based on health of knee and work capacity of athlete. The examples below are examples to start with.

JL Holdsworth is one of the most experienced, knowledgeable,

JL Holdsworth

and educated strength coaches in the world. His unique blend of experiences as a collegiate athlete, strength coach at the University of Kentucky, professional powerlifter, (forced) rehabilitation expert, grip strength specialist, and small business owner gives him a unique perspective and range of knowledge that most coaches don’t have. Owner of The Spot Athletics, JL has helped produce numerous state, national, and world champions in various sports. His personal best competition lifts to date are a 905-pound squat, a 775-pound bench, and an 804-pound deadlift. Although he has many letters behind his name from certifications and a degree, the most important letters to JL are BAMF.

Common Training Mistakes for Aspiring Women Competitors

Alexander Cortez

O

ne of the fastest growing categories in bodybuilding right now is the bikini, physique, and figure divisions. At any show, there is an ample amount of female competitors, and classes are becoming increasingly crowded.

1. Not Training Heavy Enough

Women as a gender tend to have less overall type II muscle fiber than men do, and this often makes them predisposed to be better and more comfortable with higher repetitions. This presents To use general terms, for any women competing a common problem, as many women simply do not in any physique category, the dedication to train lift weights heavy enough to build any appreciable is identical to that of any bodybuilder. However, muscle, and instead spend time training endurance there are unique training considerations that over and over again, with no progress to show for it. need to be considered for women that are truly interested in dedicating themselves to a competition This is partly a psychological issue, as I have and the overall lifestyle of a physique athlete. found with many of my female clients, they are often upset initially that they can only do 5-6 Having a solid amount of experience training female reps with a weight, and they are determined to clients, I can definitely say that women present do 10. Because of this, I always breakdown to their own unique set of challenges that arise them the basics of muscle building physiology, during training, and for the uniformed trainer or the differences in fiber sizes, how muscle is trainee, progress can be incredibly slow or grind remodeled through damage, progressive overload, to halt. Often times this is simply due to lack of and overall, why they HAVE TO lift heavy (relative awareness of certain issues that may be inhibiting to them) if they truly want to see body changes progress. Or it could be lack of understanding of the unique training needs that women present. Working with bikini competitors, I have encountered the same common issue over and over again of Regardless, I decided to break down and analyze a woman being told that she needs to fill out X as many of these common and not so common muscle group, say glutes and hamstrings, but problems as I could. Some of these are extremely she continues to do the exact same workouts she basic, other not so much. For all the women that was doing prior, with no differences in weight. are new to training, and even for the ones that are not, this list should hopefully be an informative look As you can imagine, one of the first changes I will that helps to guide you in making your own process suggest making is incorporating lower rep sets more effective. in the 3-8 repetition range, and recommending

Common Mistakes

68

Alexander Cortez

alternating 3-4 weeks period of heavier lifting with 3-4 week periods of higher volume. Combined with proper diet, this spurs new muscle growth that may not have been happening prior.

The exercise hierarchy of effectivity, and basic muscle physiology explain this. If you want to create major changes, you must use major movements, and that starts with the execution of the basics.

It goes without saying that women do not have the same testosterone levels or natural levels of strength as men. Men have not only larger muscles, but greater levels of neuromuscular innervation.

Let me qualify this statement first, there has been some confusion in today’s training environment as to what the term “plyometrics” signifies. I’m not referring to technical plyometrics, but the now common definition of repeated jumps. If this statement is confusing, understand that plyometrics were first conceived as a low volume, very specific way of training explosive reaction and power in athletes. They had precise jumping and landing guidelines. The usage of them was on a low volume basis for short periods of time in training.

2. Undeveloped Mind Muscle Connection

Subsequently, many women who have never lifted will often have trouble “feeling” a muscle working when they first attempt to lift weights.

4. Not Utilizing “Plyometrics”

Addressing the psychology of this issue, women are often fixated on the “toning and burning” mentality, and they want the movements they do to give them that fatigued sensation. Problem though, is that they Now, plyometrics are simply a catch all end up fixating on triceps kickbacks and that seated term that refers to anything that is “jumpy”, abductor machine, and not a squat or a pushup is done. and covers everything from box jumps to hops, leaps, and everything else in between. I always explain this to my novice female clients that they shouldn’t expect to automatically “feel So yeah, plyometrics. If you are a female the burn” when lifting heavy weights on compound physique athlete of any kind, I would really movements, especially for lower reps. After a session recommend incorporating them into training. or two when they report back being more sore than they ever have been in their life, they usually drop Why is this? Simple, they are an explosive movement that stimulates the growth of type II muscle fibers. the “toning” mindset readily. Additionally, I’ve had many women express to me that their lower half got much leaner after utilizing 3. Favoring Isolation Movements plyometrics in their training. Not so scientific, but Following the lack of mind/muscle connection I’ll take it as evidence that clearly they are doing and fitting into the “burn” mindset, women something beneficial. often which in the easier

gravitate towards isolation movements, by their very nature are far more acute 5. Not Enough Volume or Intensity small muscles they stimulate, and much to “feel” than the compound movements. Whenever I open women’s health magazines, I’m always disappointed to see how low volume and While these movements can have their place, low intensity the routines are. Often it is nothing the majority of training should not be comprised but a few “activation” type bodyweight movements. of this. There is no replacement for properly As such, it seems to be a common issue with novice performed squats, presses, pulls, and rows. female lifters that they will end up following either one, or both of these lower volume or low intensity routines.

Common Mistakes

69

For example, I’ve observed a woman may do something like a dumbbell shoulder press, 3 sets of 15, and not once during any set do they strain, struggle, or really exert too much of an effort to move the weight.

Add in a similar set for some lateral raises, and that concludes the entirety of the shoulder training. As you can imagine, no one is going to make progress training this way.

Your working sets should be with weights heavy enough that you must exert mental focus and effort to complete the set. You should not be able to throw this kind of weight around easily. It is the kind of weight where proper form is crucial to avoid injury, and necessary to maximize results.

6. Neglecting Strength Development

These all intertwine with each other, clearly. Neglecting strength is a common issue, and one I feel arises simply because women are not often told that they are unable to get strong in the first place.

Alexander Cortez

they were gymnasts, dancers, or crossfitters, they all trained with bodyweight movements. While most men wont get “big” with just bodyweight, bodyweight exercises are absolutely fantastic for women’s muscular growth. They are easy to progress, easy to assess, quick to recover from, and they can be utilized in most every workout. Any women who can rep out 10 chin-ups, 20 pushups and bust out high reps of jump squats, is going to have excellent upper and low body development while being very lean. While these might seem like difficult goals, like anything else, they take time. See an example in this month’s training section on what a solid program looks like for a female competitor with bodyweight work incorporated into it.

8. Neglecting Weak Points

Men certainly do this as well, but it is the inverse of women. For most men, upper body is the greatest area of focus, and legs get neglected. For women, the lower body tends to be their strong suit, and upper body is secondary.

It certainly takes more time for women than men to build their strength in the big Depending on your division, some women need lifts, but in no way is it impossible. All it more upper body development than others. If requires is dedicated training and patience. you are competing in fitness, figure, physique, I can say without hesitation that your upper half For many professional female physique athletes should be getting trained high frequency around I have spoken with, their strength levels are, in 4x weekly. The upper body for women can take far fact, how they gauge their physique progress. longer to develop than the lower body, and should Over the years in which they trained, they be prioritized in training. An example of this high realized there was a direct correlation to the frequency would be the following progress in the mirror and the weights on the bar. Day 1-Lower body - quad focus, abdominals This is a mindset more women need to adopt in Day 2-Upper body - chest and back training, and not just focus on the short term. Day 3-Lower body - deadlifts, hamstring and glute focus 7. Not Enough Bodyweight Movements Day 4-Upper body - shoulders, arms, abs The most developed and impressive female Day 5-Upper body - back training physiques I have seen have all had one thing in common; high volume bodyweight training. Whether

Common Mistakes

70

In this way, you are working back 3x weekly (with chest, with deadlifts, and a dedicated back day) and the pressing muscles twice weekly. Depending on recovery, you could even add in another light pump day for shoulders or arms, if you wished.

9. Neglecting Stabilizers and Synergists

Say you are a woman that is training hard and heavy, and you are making progress—but you start getting anterior shoulder pain that won’t go away, or you have patella pain that comes and goes. This is not uncommon. Women have smaller joints and more lax connective tissue than men, and while high volume works well, it also increases the chance of overuse injuries or general joint aggravation. To remedy this, perform the following as part of your warm-up: Upper body days - extra rotator cuff work, band pull aparts for the rhomboids and rear delts.

Lower body days - high rep hyperextensions for glutes and low back, pulse lunges for VMO and glute medius.

Maintaining a balance of pushing/pulling movements (2:1 ratio being the best), as well as lower body unilateral work, will go a long ways towards preventing injuries.

10. Not Modifying Training According to Menstrual Cycle Depending on where a woman is at in her monthly menstrual cycle, she could be feeling high energy, feeling sluggish, be experiencing extra water retention, having higher or lower pain tolerance, or potentially be at greater risk for an injury.

Alexander Cortez

For both the trainers and trainees, it is important to be aware of this. There is evidence that female athletes are actually more likely to get ACL tears during the week of menstruation, and even for someone not competing on the field, this is relevant information. Temporary anemia would make it wise to taper back the volume, and changes in estrogen and testosterone levels can make a particular week a bad time to push heavy. Every woman is a bit different, make sure your training is working with your body and not against it. Overall, an aspiring female competitor should realize that this lifestyle is one that is constant learning process, and be willing to question and change things that are not working. Hopefully these insights can help both the women and men out there be better athletes and better trainers as well. Should anyone have any questions, as always feel free to ask me in the Q&A, or directly on Facebook as well.

Alexander is a new addition to the EliteFTS team, and is fiercely proud of it. A former ballet dancer who became an iron disciple after using traditional barbell lifting to recover from injury, Alexander lives and works by the mantra of being strong(er). In 2008 after injuries he needed a cane just to walk, but after reading Dave Tate’s Under the Bar, he made a choice that he would never be weak again. Coming from a non-traditional athletic background, with a degree in Dance Choreography, Alexander is an intense study of the psychology and science of how and why we train. Currently dually studying for his CSCS and masters in exercise science, he has trained hundreds of clients as a personal trainer since 2009, and will be lifting in his first powerlifting meet in 2013. He currently is a fitness coach at UFC Gym in Corona, CA, and he has begun writing on strength and life on his blog, Godsofstrength.com

Foundational Training Mike Kozak

I

have been in the private sector of strength and conditioning for over 10 years now. One major thing that I have learned is that properly developing 12 – 14 year old athletes is critical to the ongoing success of my business. First of all, there is no shortage of average young athletes in Central Ohio. I have written an article on this in the past: if you are looking to only cater to the elite athletes, you might want to rethink your business plan. Secondly, if you do a great job of training these kids, you are setting yourself up to get their business for 5 or more years.

Taking into consideration that my average 13 year old athlete either plays 2 or more sports or participates in year round practice for one sport, my typical foundational program is set up for 2 days per week of training. Our sessions are set up for 75 - 90 minutes of training that are comprised of flexibility/ mobility, plyometrics, speed or agility training and then strength and power development. Early in the week, our speed focus is linear and later in the week our focus is lateral acceleration/deceleration. Our plyometrics are set up to match the speed emphasis - so typical linear and vertical plyos are set for early in the week and lateral hops and set for later in the week. We also do some agility ladder drills on our lateral days. Keep in mind that our speed/ agility work is kept to 6 – 10 sets of drills lasting 2 – 6 seconds. We are not just running kids through

30 minutes of hurdle and cone drills for the sake of saying we do SAQ. The goal of that portion of the program is to learn proper movement skills and then continueing to work on putting force into the ground at the right angles.

The 12 week program I have provided is broken down into three, four week phases. With that being said, these are templates and nothing is set in stone for each kid. I know everyone fears the dreaded cookie cutter program - in this instance everyone starts with the same cookie, but it is decorated differently for each kid. For instance, Phase 2 has “1 leg squat or variation” programmed on Day 1. Some young kids just simply do not have the strength to bodyweight ratio to do this, so we might use a step up instead. For bodyweight exercises like pushups, our ultimate goal is to do QUALITY push ups from the floor. But my average 12 – 14 year old needs to begin with the hands on an elevated box or bar. As time goes on, we lower the box and progress to the floor. However, I have some pretty advanced 12 year olds that put there feet on box for push ups. My suggestion would be to take the templates that I have provided and begin to tailor them to the needs of each individual kid that you train. For some, you might not have to make any changes. For others, you might have to change half the exercises. It is not uncommon in our gym for a kid to have a sheet that

Foundational training

72

Mike Kozak

has all kinds of exercises crossed out, notes made and arrows pointing everywhere. If that is what it takes for kid to get a quality workout, then that is what we do.

One more note. We rotated various weighted carrys or famers walks on a week to week basis. You will see these programmed on Day 1. We start all new kids with a basic 2 arm farmers carry with KBs. As time goes on, we might move to suitcase (1 arm) carries or other versions that we feel are appropriate. The same goes for our sled work. Our beginners always begin with sled pushes. As time goes on, we progress to walks, backward drags and lateral drags. Mike Kozak is the owner of SOAR Fitness Systems in Lewis Center OH. For questions about this program, email him at mikekozak03@ gmail.com.

Day 1

Date

Foundational Training - Level 1 Date Date Date

Foam Roll/warm up 1 leg plyo paired with breathing/ brace in supine

Hop and stick in ladder

Hop and stick Box blast in ladder

Box blast

Box jump

2x5

3x5

3x6

3x6

Prone bridge

2x20sec

2x25sec

2x30sec

2x30sec

2x -

3x

3x

3x -

2x5e

3x5e

3x6e full

3x8e full

2x8

3x8

3x10

3x10

2x8e

2x8e

3x8e

3x10e

2x4

2x4

2x5

2x5

2x5e

2x5e

2x5e

2x5e

2x50yds

2x250yds

2x50yds

2x50yds

T and Y 2x 10sec

T and Y 2x10sec

Linear speed Hip program

Push up – reps then ISO box or bar if nec Split squat 5 sec ISO from bottom up weeks 1 and 2 TRX row - last rep ISO 1 leg RDL – bodyweight or with cable 2 leg glute bridges - 5sec MB fwd overhead throw w step Farmers walk



Day 2

Foam Roll/warm up

Date

Date

Date

Date

Ladder/lateral hops Agility – lateral accel/ decel Shoulder stability/mobility

T – 2x10sec

T – 2x10sec

Foundational training

MB push press throw or box jump Side bridge variation DB chest press Front Squat - KB if nec last rep ISO Band assisted NG Chin up – finish w ISO – 2 leg hip lift on floor Sled Pushes MB chest pass

73

2x5

3x5

3x6

3x6

2x15sec e 2x6

2x15sec e 2x8

2x20sec e 3x8

2x20sec e 3x10

2x8

3x8

3x10

3x10

2xmr

3xmr

3xmr

3xmr

2x8 4x10yds

3x8 4x10yds

3x10 4x15yds

3x10 4x15yds

2x10

2x10

2x12

2x12

mr - max quality reps



Day 1

Date

Foam Roll/warm up 1 leg plyo 2 leg plyo Linear speed Supine hip flex hold Olympic Progression using MB Prone bridge - toes on box Inc DB 1 leg squat or variation 1 arm cable row 1 leg RDL - cable Half get up MB slam



Day 2

Mike Kozak

e – each side

Foundation Phase 2 Date Date Date

1 leg box Box jump w apr

1 leg box Box jump w apr

1 E leg box

1 leg E box

E box jump

E box jump

2x10sec

2x10sec

2x12sec

2x12sec

3x5

3x5

3x5

3x5

2x20sec 3x6 3x6e 3x8e 3x6e 2x8e 2x10

2x25sec 3x8 3x8e 3x8e 3x6e 2x8e 2x10

2x30sec 3x10 8 6 3x10e 3x10e 3x8e 2x10e 2x12

2x30sec 3x8 3x6e 3x10e 3x8e 2x10e 2x12

Date

Farmers walk Date Date Date

Foam Roll/warm up Ladder/lateral hops Agility Shoulder circuit - wall slides, quadruped rotations KB swing – nec progression Side bridge variation

3x8

3x8

3x10

3x10

2x15sec

2x15sec

2x20sec

2x20sec

Push ups

3x

3x

3x

3x

Foundational training

Front squat – KB or bar Chin up SB Leg curl - ecc if nec Sled drags or pushes H. Kn chop – MB

74

Mike Kozak

3x6 3x 3x6

3x8 3x 3x8

3x10 3x 3x10

4x6 3x 3x10

2x10

2x10

2x12

2x12

Stretch



Day 1

Foundational Training - Level 3 Date Date Date Date

Foam Roll/warm up Power skip Forward Hurdle jump Linear speed Supine cable hip flexion Snatch - DB or bar Prone bridge -1 leg Bench press FE split squat - or progression Seated row 1 leg RDL Half get up w hip lift MB H. Kn Rot throw

2x5e 2x12

2x5e 2x12

2x6e 2x12

2x6e 2x12

2x10e 2-3x3 2x12sec e 3x6

2x10e 2-3x3 2x12sec e 3x8

2x10e 2-3x 4 2x15sec e 3x10 8 6

2x10e 2-3x4 2x15sec e 3x6

3x6e

3x8e

3x10e

3x6e

3x8 3x6e 2x6e 2x10

3x10 3x6e 2x6e 2x10

3x12 3x8e 2x8e 2x12

3x8 3x8e 2x8e 2x12

Stretch

Day 2

Date

Date

Foam Roll/warm up Ladder/lateral hops Agility Blackburn holds - T W Y DB squat jump Side bridge – feet on box H. Kn. DB military KB or TB dead lift Chin up Hip thrust – back on bench - band or chain resisted Half Kn cable chop Sled work TRX row

Farmers walk Date Date

2x10sec 3x5 2x15sec 3x6e 3x5 3x

2x10sec 3x5 2x15sec 3x6e 3x5 3x

2x10sec 3x6 2x20sec 3x8e 3x6 3x

2x10sec 3x6 2x20sec 3x8e 3x6 3x

3x8

3x8

3x10

3x10

2x10e

2x10e

2x10e

2x10e

2xmr

2xmr

2xmr

2xmr

Creating a More Powerful You

Josh Bryant

O power.

n the field of play, the determining factors between the all-stars and those picking splinters out of their rear ends are speed and

For the no longer competiti-ve sportsmen, possessing power can mean reigning victorious in any situation; from a self-preservation situation at the local kick n’ stab, to a gold medal at the next dwarf tossing competition. Power simply means the ability to develop force rapidly. Developing high amounts of force slowly is great for powerlifting… but not much else. This program is all about creating a more powerful you! If you are not technically proficient in the Olympic Lifts, do not do this program. Guidelines

When weights are not given for accessory movements, the instructions are simple, go as heavy as possible without sacrificing technique and completing the allocated number of reps. On dips and pull-ups, add weight if applicable. If specified weights feel too light, move the weight faster. DON’T add weight to the bar, don’t do extra reps. Remember, moving the bar faster creates higher

Creating a More powerful You amounts of force and power.

The Routine Week 1 Day 1

76

Josh Bryant

 

 

 

 

Clean Low Hang Clean Front Squat Pendlay Row RDL  

Weight % 70, 72.5, 75, 72.5, 75, 77.5 60 72        

Sets   3 5 3 3    

Reps 5, 3, 1, 5, 3, 1 5 5 5 8    

Rest Interval As Needed 2-3 min. 2-3 min. 1-2 min. 2-3 min.    

Bench Speed Bench Push Press Dumbbell Incline Tricep Extensions Hammer Curls

80 70 75      

3 6 5 3 3 5

As Needed 1 min. 2-3 min. 90 sec. 90 sec. 90 sec.

 

   

   

3 4 5 10 10 20 (10 each arm)    

Snatch High Hang Snatch Back Squat Speed Squat Step-ups

70, 72.5, 75, 72.5, 75, 77.5 60 82 70  

  3 3 6 3

As Needed 2 min. As Needed 1 min. 2-3 min.

 

Day 4

   

   

5, 3, 1, 5, 3, 1 5 3 4 16 (8 each leg)    

Deadlift Power Clean Power Snatch

70 60 60

6 3 3

1 5 5

45 sec 2 min. 2 min.

Week 2 Day 1

 

 

 

 

Weight % 72.5, 75, 77.5, 75, 77.5, 80 62

Sets   3

Reps 5, 3, 1, 5, 3, 1 5

Rest Interval As Needed 2-3 min.

Day 2

Day 3

Clean Low Hang Clean

   

   

Creating a More powerful You

77

Josh Bryant

Front Squat Pendlay Row RDL  

75        

5 3 3    

5 5 8    

2-3 min. 1-2 min. 2-3 min.    

Bench Speed Bench Push Press Dumbbell Incline Tricep Extensions Hammer Curls

82 70 77      

2 8 5 3 3 5

As Needed 1 min. 2-3 min. 90 sec. 90 sec. 90 sec.

 

   

   

3 4 5 10 10 20 (10 each arm)    

Snatch High Hang Snatch Back Squat Speed Squat Step-ups

72.5, 75, 77.5, 75, 77.5, 80 62 85 70  

  3 2 8 3

As Needed 2 min. As Needed 1 min. 2-3 min.

 

Day 4

   

   

5, 3, 1, 5, 3, 1 5 3 4 16 (8 each leg)    

Deadlift Power Clean Power Snatch

70 65 65

6 3 3

1 5 5

45 sec 2 min. 2 min.

Week 3 Day 1

 

 

 

 

Clean Low Hang Clean Front Squat Pendlay Row RDL  

Weight % 75, 77.5, 80, 77.5, 80, 82.5 65 77        

Sets   3 5 3 3    

Reps 5, 3, 1, 5, 3, 1 5 5 5 8    

Rest Interval As Needed 2-3 min. 2-3 min. 1-2 min. 2-3 min.    

Bench Speed Bench

85 70

1 10

3 4

As Needed 1 min.

Day 2

Day 3

Day 2

   

   

Creating a More powerful You

78

Josh Bryant

Push Press Dumbbell Incline Tricep Extensions Hammer Curls

80      

5 3 3 5

5 10 10 20 (10 each arm)    

2-3 min. 90 sec. 90 sec. 90 sec.

 

   

   

Snatch High Hang Snatch Back Squat Speed Squat Step-ups

75, 77.5, 80, 77.5, 80, 82.5 65 87 70  

  3 1 10 3

As Needed 2 min. As Needed 1 min. 2-3 min.

   

5, 3, 1, 5, 3, 1 5 3 4 16 (8 each leg)    

 

Day 4

   

Deadlift Power Clean Power Snatch

82.5 65 65

5 3 3

5,4,3,2,1 5 5

as needed 2 min. 2 min.

Week 4 (Deload) Day 1

 

 

 

 

Weight % 60 60 60 60% of working weight 60% of working weight    

Sets 3 3 3 2 2    

Reps 5 5 5 5 5    

Rest Interval 90 sec. 90 sec. 90 sec. 90 sec 90 sec.    

Bench Push Press Hammer Curls  

60 50 light    

3 3 3    

5 5 10    

90 sec. 90 sec. 90 sec.    

Snatch High Hang Snatch Back Squat  

50 50 60  

3 3 3  

5 5 5  

90 sec. 90 sec. 90 sec.  

Day 3

Clean Low Hang Clean Front Squat Pendlay Row RDL  

Day 2

Day 3

   

   

Creating a More powerful You

79

Josh Bryant

Day 4

 

 

 

 

Deadlift

60

5

1

90 sec

Week 5 Day 1

 

 

 

 

Day 2

Weight % 80, 82.5, 85, 82.5, 85, 87.5 95 (Of Full Clean) 80 Heavy as possible      

Sets   3 4 4 3    

Reps 5, 3, 1, 3, 2, 1 3 4 5 6    

Rest Interval As Needed 2 min. 3 min. 2 min. 90 sec.    

87 75 82  

3 6 4 4

2 3 3 8

As needed 1 min. 3 min. 90 sec.

Day 3

     

3    

6 to 10    

90 sec.    

Snatch Snatch Pulls Back Squat Speed Squat  

Day 4

80, 82.5, 85, 82.5, 85, 87.5 95 (Of Full Snatch) 90 75    

  3 3 6    

5, 3, 1, 3, 2, 1 3 2 3    

As Needed 2 min. 3 min.. 1 min.    

Deadlift Power Clean Power Snatch

70 70 70

6 3 3

1 4 4

45 sec 2 min. 2 min.

Week 6 Day 1

 

 

 

 

Weight % 82.5, 85, 87.5, 85, 87.5, 90 97 82 Heavy as possible

Sets   3 4 4

Reps 5, 3, 1, 3, 2, 1 3 4 5

Rest Interval As Needed 2 min. 3 min. 2 min.

Clean Clean Pulls Front Squat Neutral Grip Pull ups GHR   Bench Speed Bench Push Press Seated Military DB Press Dips  

Clean Clean Pulls Front Squat Neutral Grip Pull ups

Creating a More powerful You

GHR  

80

Josh Bryant

Day 2

     

3    

6    

90 sec.    

90 75 85  

2 8 4 4

2 3 3 8

As needed 1 min. 2 min. 90 sec.

Day 3

     

3    

5 to 8    

90 sec.    

Snatch Snatch Pulls Back Squat Speed Squat  

Day 4

82.5, 85, 87.5, 85, 87.5, 90 97 92 75    

  3 2 8    

5, 3, 1, 3, 2, 1 3 2 3    

As Needed 2 min. 3 min.. 1 min.    

Deadlift Power Clean Power Snatch

70 70 70

6 3 3

1 4 4

45 sec 2 min. 2 min.

Week 7 Day 1

 

 

 

 

Weight % 85, 87.5, 90, 87.5, 90, 92.5 100 85 Heavy as possible      

Sets   3 4 4 3    

Reps 5, 3, 1, 3, 2, 1 3 4 5 6    

Rest Interval As Needed 2 min. 3 min. 2 min. 90 sec.    

92.5 75 87.5  

1 10 4 4

2 3 3 8

As needed 1 min. 2 min. 90 sec.

   

3  

5 to 7  

90 sec.  

Bench Speed Bench Push Press Seated Military DB Press Dips  

Clean Clean Pulls Front Squat Neutral Grip Pull ups GHR  

Day 2

Bench Speed Bench Push Press Seated Military DB Press Dips  

Creating a More powerful You

81

Josh Bryant

 

 

 

 

Snatch

85, 87.5, 90, 87.5, 90, 92.5

 

5, 3, 1, 3, 2, 1

As Needed

Snatch Pulls Back Squat Speed Squat  

100 95 75    

3 1 10    

3 2 3    

2 min. 3 min.. 1 min.    

85 70 70

5 3 3

5,4,3,,2,1 4 4

as needed 2 min. 2 min.

 

 

 

 

Weight % 87.5, 90, 92.5, 90, 92.5, 95 105 90 Heavy As Possible      

Sets   3 3 3 3    

Reps 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1 1 3 8 6    

Rest Interval As Needed 2 min. 3 min. 2 min. 90 sec.    

Bench Speed Bench Push Press Dips  

95 80 90      

3 6 4 3    

1 2 2 5 to 7    

As needed 1 min. 2 min. 90 sec.    

Snatch Snatch Pulls Back Squat Speed Squat  

87.5, 90, 92.5, 90, 92.5, 95 105 97.5 80    

  3 3 6    

3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1 1 1 2    

As Needed 2 min. 3 min.. 1 min.    

Deadlift

80

6

1

1 min.

Day 3

Day 4

Deadlift Power Clean Power Snatch

Week 8 (Deload), Repeat Week 4 Week 9 Day 1 Clean Clean Pulls Front Squat Wide Grip Pull ups GHR  

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Creating a More powerful You

82

Josh Bryant

Power Clean Power Snatch

75 75

3 3

3 3

2 min. 2 min.

Week 10 Day 1

 

 

 

 

Weight % 90, 92.5, 95, 92.5, 95, 97.5 107.5 92.5 Heavy As Possible BW    

Sets   3 2 3 3    

Reps 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1 1 3 8 6    

Rest Interval As Needed 2 min. 3 min. 2 min. 90 sec.    

Bench Speed Bench Push Press Dips  

97.5 80 92.5      

2 8 3 3    

1 2 2 5 to 6    

As needed 1 min. 2 min. 90 sec.    

Snatch Snatch Pulls Back Squat Speed Squat  

90, 92.5, 95, 92.5, 95, 97.5 107.5 100 80    

  3 2 8    

3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1 1 1 2    

As Needed 2 min. 3 min.. 1 min.    

Deadlift Power Clean Power Snatch

75 75 75

6 3 3

1 3 3

30 sec 2 min. 2 min.

 

 

 

Clean Front Squat  

Weight % 75 75    

Sets 3 3    

Reps 3 3    

Rest Interval 2 min. 2 min.    

Bench

75

3

3

2 min.

Clean Clean Pulls Front Squat Wide Grip Pull ups GHR  

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Week 11 (Deload for next week’s max out)   Day 1

Day 2

Creating a More powerful You

Push Press  

Day 3

Snatch Back Squat  

Day 4

Deadlift

Week 12 Week!)

83

Josh Bryant

70    

3    

3    

2 min.    

75 75    

3 3    

3 3    

2 min. 2 min.    

60

5

1

2 min.

(Max

Noah Bryant is a 2-time NCAA Champion and 4-time All-American in the shot put, with a personal record of 20.80 m. He holds the school record in the shot put at the University of Southern California. Noah represented the United States in the 2007 World Track and Field Championships and the 2011 Pan-American Games. He was regarded as one of the strongest shot putters in the world, with a 210 kg (462-pound) clean and 150 kg (330-pound) snatch.  He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and has over five years experience coaching some of the best NCAA Track and Field athletes in the country. You can visit his website at NoahStrength.com.

Josh Bryant, MS, CSCS, trains some of the strongest and most muscular athletes in the world in person at Metroflex Gym in Arlington, Texas, and via the Internet. Josh has won many national and world titles in powerlifting and strongman and was the youngest person in powerlifting history, at 22, to bench press 600 pounds raw. Josh has squatted 909 pounds in the USPF, officially bench pressed 620 pounds and deadlifted 810 pounds – both raw. He is not all brawn; he has a Master’s degree in Exercise Science, along with other prestigious certifications. He is the co-author of Amazon # 1 selling book, Jailhouse Strong, along with other best-selling strength and conditioning books. To learn more about Josh Bryant or to sign up for his free training tips newsletter, visit www.JoshStrength. com

Equipped Bench Circa-Max Phase Vincent Dizenzo

T

his is the six week peaking cycle I used for a meet. This was preceded by my regular conjugate programming. It pushed me over the top to finally hit the 900-pound equipped bench I had been searching for. I was ac=tually only doing two other exercises on these days. In addition, I was only training one other day and it was moderate weight/very low volume squatting and deadlifting. I had to cut work to an absolute minimum to get through this training. The weight along with the (un) accommodating resistance that was required on top of the strain of wearing the gear itself was brutal. I think assistance and additional days of training is dependent on one’s level of development. Below you will see my actual program and numbers. That means you get to learn this program like I did. That is, if you want to implement it — don’t hate me, it’s that whole teach a person to fish thing. I extrapolated the numbers I needed for the ME (Max Effort) portion from an article I read by Jim Wendler on elitefts.com for a Circa Max Squat Cycle. The DE (Dynamic Effort) numbers came from email correspondence with Dave Tate. You can see the notes and ideas directly following the six-week program. I really had to reverse engineer a bunch of numbers to get there, but the results were well worth it.

creating a training cycle. It’s not something taken lightly, especially when you are trying to reach the next level. That does not necessarily mean for the sport itself, but how it relates to your own lifting. Man, as I work on this I realize how instrumental Dave Tate was in reaching this goal. Dave really is the friggin’ man! If you need help setting something up for yourself just hit me up on the elitefts Q&A. I might not be as brilliant as Dave, but I have developed some programming chops myself.

Week 1: ME Bench: (3x2 @55%) Shirted bench 500 + mini

and avg short bands + 4 chains to 2 board 2x2, to 1 board 1x2

DE Bench: 170 + 140 lbs of band tension 2x3

140 + 180 lbs of band tension 2x3 140 + 180 lbs of band tension + 40 lbs of chain 2x3 140 + 180 lbs of band tension + 80 lbs of chain 2x

Week 2: ME Bench: (3x2 @60%) Shirted bench 550 + mini

and avg short bands + 4 chains to 2 board 2x2, to 1 board 1x2

ME

Bench

(w/Swiss

Angle

Press

I also think it’s good to see the process that goes into Bar): 170 + 140 lbs of band tension 2x3

Equipped Bench Circa-max Phase

85

170 + 180 lbs of band tension 2x3 170 + 180 lbs of band tension + 40 lbs of chain 2x3 170 + 180 lbs of band tension + 80 lbs of chain 2x3

Week 3: ME Bench: (1x1 @50%, 1x1 @55%, 2x2 @65%)

Vincent Dizenzo

squat-phase/ *These were email notes Dave Tate sent me:

Shirted bench 500 + mini and avg short bands + 4 chains to 2 board 1x1, 550 1x1, 590 2x2

This may or may not help but is a cycle I used years ago at Westside that put 50 DE Bench(w/Swiss Angle Press pounds on my bench. My thought process Bar): 200 + 140 lbs of band tension 2x3 was the band overload was great but 200 + 180 lbs of band tension 2x3 200 + 180 lbs of band tension + 40 lbs of chain 2x3 the bands also made me faster out of 200 + 180 lbs of band tension + 80 lbs of chain 2x3 the bottom and I always wondered if my lockout suffered because while the Week 4: tension was higher I was getting there ME Bench: 640x1 to 2 board, 730x1 to 1 board, faster because of the increased eccentric 835x1 to chest contraction. So I used both bands and DE Bench (w/Swiss Angle Press chains. Using boards is different so I Bar): 200 + 140 lbs of band tension 2x1 would modify to what you have in some 200 + 180 lbs of band tension 2x1 200 + 180 lbs of band tension + 40 lbs of chain 2x1 way. Maybe just lower the band tension 200 + 180 lbs of band tension + 80 lbs of chain 2x1 some and make up the different (the top weight) with chains.  Week 5: ME Bench: worked up to 460 raw for a single (This

was just to feel some weight the week before the Circa- Maximal Band and Chain Phase meet) Application: This cycle is designed for intermediate DE Bench: Blast strap circuit 2 sets x10 (pushups, and advanced lifters who need added lockout strength. If heavy band tension tends to beat you tri ext, rows, curls, scarecrows) up, but you’re still in need of lockout help, this cycle will help you. It’s intended for lifters who can bench Week 6: press over 450 pounds, and it uses a mix of bands Meet 900 lb bench *Goal Realized! and chains to reach the desired top weight. If you bench under 450 pounds, adjust the chain weight so *The article Circa Max Squat article Jim the top weight for the heaviest sets does not exceed Wendler wrote that was the original 85% of your one-rep shirted max or 90-95% of your one-rep, non-shirted max.

inspiration for my Circa Max Bench Cycle http://articles.elitefts.com/ Week 1: use suggested band tension for all training-articles/the-circa-maximal- dynamic sets

25% for 2 sets 3 reps with 20 pounds of chain per

Equipped Bench Circa-max Phase

86

side 25% for 2 sets 3 reps with 40 pounds of chain per side 25% for 2 sets 3 reps with 60 pounds of chain per side 25% for 2 sets 3 reps with 80 pounds of chain per side

Week 2: use suggested band tension for all dynamic sets 30% for 2 sets 3 reps with 20 pounds of chain per side 30% for 2 sets 3 reps with 40 pounds of chain per side 30% for 2 sets 3 reps with 60 pounds of chain per side 30% for 2 sets 3 reps with 80 pounds of chain per side Week 3: use suggested band tension for all

dynamic sets 35% for 2 sets 3 reps with 20 pounds of chain per side 35% for 2 sets 3 reps with 40 pounds of chain per side 35% for 2 sets 3 reps with 60 pounds of chain per side 35% for 2 sets 3 reps with 80 pounds of chain per side

Suggested Band Tensions (based on max bench press)

100-200 -pounds – Bands not recommended 201-300 pounds – 30-40 pounds of band tension at the top of the lift 301-400 pounds – 40-50 pounds of band tension at the top of the lift 401-500 pounds – 70 - 80 pounds of band tension at the top of the lift  501-600 pounds – 70 - 80 pounds of band tension at the top of the lift 601-700 pounds– 100-120 pounds of band tension at the top of the lift 800 plus pounds – 140-160 pounds of band tension at the top of the lift 

*My Correspondence back with Dave

  Okay, here’s the outline for the circa max:   5/23: Shirt (55%)495 w/300 lbs band tension to a 1 or 2 board for 3x2

Vincent Dizenzo

5/30: Shirt (60%) 545 w/300 lbs band tension to 1 or 2 board for 3x2

6/6: Shirt 495 1x1, 545 1x1, (65%) 585 2x2, all with 300 lb band tension to 1 or 2 board

6/13: Opener to chest around 820 or so 6/20: Deload of some sort 6/28 Meet

*Dave’s response I think this is on point. Only suggestion is adding some chain. Maybe kick back the band tension to 240 and add 60 pound of chain at the top. 

Vincent Dizenzo began competing as an amateur full meet lifter in the 220-pound class. Two ruptured discs caused him to focus on the bench press, and he eventually became a top ranked bencher. His best bench is 830 pounds in the 275-pound class and 850 in the 308-pound class. He has a raw bench of 605 pounds as a super heavyweight and 600 pounds in the 308-pound weight class. Vincent won Bench America and has competed in the Arnold Classic. He has also competed in Strongman competitions. He is the host of the Just Big radio show.

Monte, 6 Indianapolis, IN I WISH TO GO TO WALT DISNEY ® RESORT WORLD- RESORT WORLD Monte is a humorous 6 year-old boy who could talk all day long! He enjoys playing with small toys like bouncy balls and action figures. He especially loves going outdoors and having water gun fights with his sister! Monte is recovering from a kidney (renal) transplant. A kidney transplant is a surgical procedure primarily performed on patients with end-stage renal disease or when the individual’s kidneys have failed. The kidneys filter waste from the blood and remove it from the body in the form of urine. They also help maintain the body’s fluid and electrolyte balance. If your kidneys stop working, waste builds up in your body and can make you very sick. When Wish-Granting volunteers met with Monte, he knew exactly what he wanted to wish for: to go to Walt Disney World® Resort. Monte is excited for a lot of things as the trip is being planned. For one, he loves all kinds of food and can’t wait to eat as much as he can at the park! Also, since his surgery he hasn’t been able to spend a lot of time outdoors. This will be a great chance for him to get to soak up the sun! Monte is thrilled that he gets to go to Disney, meet all of his favorite characters, and have a great Thank you for making wishes like Monte’s come true.

time with his family.

Off-Season Strength Program Jerry Handley

T

his program is designed specifically for wrestlers with an early-intermediate training age (typically the later high school years) looking to build overall strength using traditional (barbell, bodyweight) and “nontraditional” (strongman, kettlebell) exercises.

About the Coach Jerry Handley, M.S., M.S. CSCS, SCCC, Barwis Methods Master Performance Coach Owner of Viking Performance Training LLC in Morgantown, WV

Former Strength and Conditioning Coach at West Virginia University

Jerry Handley is the founder and head coach of Viking Performance Training LLC. Jerry was a strength and conditioning coach for West Virginia University for over 10 years, where he was directly responsible for the strength and conditioning of some of WVU’s most successful athletic programs in that time. Handley has coached multiple Olympians and other athletes have found success on the international level, with multiple athletes winning Gold at the prestigious Pan-American Games. Handley-trained teams at WVU won numerous conference championships while at West Virginia University in various sports and multiple national championships in rifle. Outside of collegiate and international athletics, Handley has focused on nationally competitive strongman and powerlifting training as well as martial arts competitors. Handley has Master’s Degrees in Exercise Physiology as well as Athletic Coaching Education. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, as well as a Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified through the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association. As well as his work training elite athletes, Handley has spent years competing in mixed martial arts, amateur boxing, kickboxing, and submission grappling tournaments.

Off-Season Strength program

89

Jerry Handley

Pre-Test Week (should perform this routine after several weeks of training basic strength or strength endurance)

Day 1

Power Clean Bench Press DB Posterior Delt Raise RDL Manual Resistance Neck

Work to a max single (start light, take several sets to warm up as weight increases) Work to a max triple (start light, take several sets to warm up as weight increases) 3x12 3x10 Light 1x12 ea Forward/Backward/Side/Side

Hang Power Clean Squat Chinups Reverse Hyper Fat Bar Biceps Curls 3x10 Band Triceps Pushdown Isometric Neck Holds

Work to a max single (start light, take several sets to warm up as weight increases) Work to a max triple (start light, take several sets to warm up as weight increases) 3x10 3x10 Light

Day 2

Day 3

3x10 1x 12-sec. each

Forward/Backward/Side/Side

Clean Work to a max single (start light, take several sets to warm up as weight increases) Front Squat Work to a max triple (start light, take several sets to warm up as weight increases) Towel Chinups 3x Max Reps Conditioning 2-KB (kettlebell) Clean + Squat + Press: Choose a weight you can only do 3-5 reps with, And perform 21 total reps in as fast a time as possible (record time). If over 9:00, reduce weight next time. If under 5:00, increase weight.

End of week, plug in maxes (Cleans) to following program. Do NOT update maxes while in middle of program. For the max triples, use a low-rep estimated max calculator as follows, then plug in the max: (Weight lifted for 3RM) x (0.03) x (reps lifted…which should be 3) + (weight lifted) = estimated max Week 1 of 7 Rest between sets in primary compound movements- 2 to 4:00 (recover!) Rest between sets in auxillary exercises- 1 to 2:00 (recover but keep pace up)

Day 1

90

Off-Season Strength program

Power Clean Squat RDL Pullups Grip

Day 2

3-sec Pause Bench Press Push Press Military Press 3x5 Pendlay Row KB Lunge Strongman Press

5x3 65% 6x 50% 5x 65% 5x4 75% 4x8 3x10 Gripper (3x8) or Forearm Roller (3x4) 8x3 3x5

60% 1:00 Rest

3x8 3x8 Overhead Medley (x2)-

*if no implements, use fat bars and fat grip dumbbells

Day 3

Jerry Handley

Atlas Stone, Single arm KB, Log Clean and

Clean Pause Squat Front Squat Chinups Reverse Hyper KB Swing Isometric Neck Hold

5x3 70% 8x3 60% 1:00 Rest 3x5 75% 3x10 3x10 2x10 1x :15 each

Hang Power Clean Bench Press Inverted Row DB Posterior Delt Raise Pistol Squat Conditioning

3x3 65% 6x 50% 5x 65% 3x4 80% 3x2 80% 3x10 3x10 3x5 onto difficult height Prowler High Handle / Low Handle Push: 3x4 total (:30 Rest reps, 2:30 Rest sets)

Day 4

Week 2 of 7 Rest between sets in primary compound movements- 2 to 4:00 (recover!) Rest between sets in auxillary exercises- 1 to 2:00 (recover but keep pace up)

Day 1

Power Clean Squat RDL Pullups Grip

Day 2

5x3 70% 6x 50% 5x 65% 6x5 75% 5x7 3x7 Weighted if possible Gripper (2x8, 1x max reps) or Forearm Roller (3x5)

3-sec Pause Bench Press Push Press

2x4 4x4

50% 8x3

70% 1:00 Rest

Off-Season Strength program

91

Jerry Handley

Military Press 3x5 Pendlay Row KB Lunge Strongman

4x8 3x8 Atlas Stone- load to 48” to heavy stone, do 3 reps *if no implements, do 3x7 Zercher Squats

Clean Pause Squat Front Squat Chinups Reverse Hyper KB Swing Isometric Neck Hold

2x3 70% 3x2 75% 4x 50% 8x3 70% 1:00 Rest 3x5 75% 1x max reps 75% 3x8 Weighted if possible 3x8 2x10 1x :15 each

Day 3

Day 4

Hang Power Clean 3x3 70% Bench Press 6x 50% 5x 65% 3x6 80% 3x3 80% Inverted Row 4x10 DB Posterior Delt Raise 4x10 Pistol Squat 3x7 onto same height as last week Conditioning 2-KB (kettlebell) Clean+Squat+Press: 21 reps fast as possible; same guideline as before Week 3 of 7 Rest between sets in primary compound movements- 2 to 4:00 (recover!) Rest between sets in auxillary exercises- 1 to 2:00 (recover but keep pace up)

Day 1

Power Clean Squat RDL Pullups Grip

5x2 75% 6x 50% 5x 70% 7x4 82.5% 5x5 4x6 Weighted if possible Gripper (2x8, 1x max reps + max hold) or Forearm Roller (4x6)

Day 2 3-sec Pause Bench Press 2x4 60% 6x3 75% 1:00 Rest 5x3 Push Press Military Press 2x5 Pendlay Row 4x6 KB Lunge 3x8 Strongman Atlas Stone- load to 48” to heavy stone, do 3 reps, Yoke Carry 5x10yd (heavier each time) *if no implements, do 3x7 Zercher Squats and Carry a Bar with bands/chains on it

Day 3

Off-Season Strength program

Clean Pause Squat Front Squat Chinups Reverse Hyper KB Swing Manual Resistance Neck

Day 4

92

Jerry Handley

3x2 75% 2x2 80% 4x 60% 6x3 75% 1:00 Rest 2x5 80% 1x max reps 60% 3x6 Weighted if possible 3x8 3x8 x9 each

Hang Power Clean 3x3 75% Bench Press 6x 50% 5x 70% 3x5 85% 3x3 85% DB or KB Chinese Row 3x10 3x12 DB Posterior Delt Raise Pistol Squat 3x5 onto lower height than last week 2-KB (kettlebell) Clean+Squat+Press: 21 reps fast as possible; Conditioning same guideline as before

Day 1

Week 4 of 7 Rest between sets in primary compound movements- 2 to 4:00 (recover!) Rest between sets in auxillary exercises- 1 to 2:00 (recover but keep pace up)

Power Clean Squat RDL Pullups Grip

Day 2 Clap Pushups 3x5 1-sec Pause Bench Press Military Press 3x6 Bent Over Row KB Step Up Strongman

3x2 75% 2x2 80% 6x 50% 5x 65% 4x 80% 6x3 87.5% 5x3 Start moderate, work to heavy triple 3x10 Bodyweight or light weight Gripper (1x10 light, 2x5 heavy) or Forearm Roller (1x6 light, 2x3 heavy) alternate with Med Ball Overhead Drop 6x3 65% 1:00 Rest

3x5

4x8 4x6 Carry Circuit 3x15yd (Atlas Stone, Farmer’s Walk, Zercher Carry, Yoke)

*if no implements, do Zercher, DB Farmer’s, Zercher again, and Unsteady Barbell)

Day 3

Box Jumps 3x3 alternate with Clean Work to heavy single 3-sec Pause Squat 6x2 65% 1:00 Rest Towel Chinups 3x10 Reverse Hyper 3x10 Single-leg KB Deadlift 3x5 Manual Resistance Neck x7 each

Continuous Squat Jumps 3x6

93

Off-Season Strength program

Jerry Handley

Day 4

Hang Clean 3x3 70% Behind the neck Push Press 2x5 Bench Press 6x 50% 5x 65% 4x 80% 4x4 90% DB or KB Chinese Row 4x8 DB Posterior Delt Raise 3x15 Pistol Squat 4x5 weighted, onto same height than last week Conditioning Prowler High Push + Prowler Backwards Drag: 3x5x 15yd each (:30 Rest reps, 2:30 rest sets) Week 5 of 7 Rest between sets in primary compound movements- 2 to 4:00 (recover!) Rest between sets in auxillary exercises- 1 to 2:00 (recover but keep pace up)

Day 1

Power Clean Squat RDL Pullups Grip

Day 2

Clap Pushups 3x5 1-sec Pause Bench Press Military Press 4x5 Bent Over Row KB Step Up Strongman *if no implements, do DB Farmer’s

Day 3

Work to heavy single 6x 50% 5x 70% 4x 80% 4x3 92.5% 3x8 4x6 Weighted if possible Gripper (1x10 light, 3x5 heavy) or Forearm Roller (1x6 light, 3x3 heavy) alternate with 2x3 60% 6x2

Med Ball Overhead Drop 75% 1:00 Rest

3x5

4x6 4x6 Farmer’s Walk, work to max 15yd Carry

Box Jumps Clean 3-sec Pause Squat Towel Chinups Reverse Hyper Single-leg KB Deadlift Isometric Neck Hold

3x3 alternate with Continuous Squat Jumps 3x6 2x1 80% 3x1 85% 2x3 60% 6x2 75% 1:00 Rest 3x7 Weighted if possible 3x8 4x4 2x :15 each

Hang Clean Behind the neck Push Press 3x3 Bench Press DB or KB Chinese Row DB Posterior Delt Raise

3x2

Day 4

75%

5x 50% 4x 4x6 3x15

70% 3x

85% 3x3

95%

Off-Season Strength program

94

Jerry Handley

Pistol Squat 3x5 lower height Conditioning Prowler High Push 15yd+Low Push 15yd+Stone Load 48” (or 1rep heavy Zercher) 6x, 1:30 Rest

Day 1

Week 6 of 7 Rest between sets in primary compound movements- 2 to 4:00 (recover!) Rest between sets in auxillary exercises- 1 to 2:00 (recover but keep pace up)

Power Clean Squat RDL Pullups Grip

Work to heavy single, then 3x3x75% of heavy single 5x 50% 4x 70% 3x 85% 3x2 96% 4x6 5x5 Weighted if possible Gripper (1x10 light, 3x5 heavy) or Forearm Roller (1x6 light, 3x3 heavy)

Clap Pushups 4x5 1-sec Pause Bench Press Bent Over Row Strongman

alternate with Med Ball Overhead Toss 2x3 60% 5x2 80% 1:00 Rest 5x5 Log Clean and Press, work to max single

Box Jumps Clean 3-sec Pause Squat Towel Chinups Single-leg KB Deadlift Isometric Neck Hold

5x3 alternate with Speed Box Jumps 5x5 Work to heavy single, then 3x2x80% of heavy single 2x3 60% 5x2 80% 1:00 Rest 4x5 Weighted if possible 3x3 2x :15 each

Day 2

*if no implements, do Fat Bar

Day 3

Day 4

4x5

Hang Clean 4x1 80% Power Jerk 2x3 Bench Press 5x 50% 4x 65% 3x 80% 2x 90% 2x2 100% DB or KB Chainsaw Row 3x5 DB Posterior Delt Raise 2x15 Pistol Squat 2x5 same height with weight Conditioning 2-KB (kettlebell) Clean+Squat+Press: 21 reps fast as possible; same guideline as before Rest 5:00, then Atlas Stone to Shoulder: max reps 2x1:00 (Rest 1:30). *if no stones, do max reps KB swing 2x :45 + max Reps Zercher squat 2x :45 Rest 5:00, then Prowler High 15yd + Prowler Low 15yd + Burpees x7 (10x, Rest :30)

Week 7 of 7 Rest between sets in primary compound movements- 2 to 4:00 (recover!) Rest between sets in auxillary exercises- 1 to 2:00 (recover but keep pace up)

95

Off-Season Strength program

Day 1

Power Clean Squat DB Posterior Delt Raise RDL

Day 2

Clean Bench Press Towel Chinups

Jerry Handley

Work to max Work to max 2x12 2x10 Light Work to max Work to max Max Reps

Day 3

Front Squat Work to max Pullups Work to max weighted triple Chinups Work to max weighted triple Conditioning 2-KB (kettlebell) Clean+Squat+Press: 21 reps fast as possible; same guideline as before Rest 3:00 6x 3:00 on / 1:00 rest Rounds 1 & 4: 1:30 ea- shots in resistance band, box jump up-sprawl on floor down Rounds 2 & 5: 1:30 ea- Jumping MB Slams, heavy KB load and unload to 48” height Rounds 3 & 6: 1:30 ea- Walking lunge, walking reverse lunge

Jerry Handley is the founder and head coach of Viking Performance Training LLC. Jerry was a strength and conditioning coach for West Virginia University for over 10 years, where he was directly responsible for the strength and conditioning of some of WVU’s most successful athletic programs in that time. While at WVU, Handley worked with every varsity sports program through his career. Handley has Master’s Degrees in Exercise Physiology as well as Athletic Coaching Education. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, as well as a Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified through the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association. Jerry has worked alongside some of the nation’s top strength coaches, including several years with Mike Barwis (former WVU and Michigan Director of Strength and Conditioning, founder of Barwis Methods), Chris Allen (Director of Strength and Conditioning at Arizona), and Mike Joseph (Director of Strength and Conditioning at WVU). Jerry’s work with Barwis has earned him a Level 8: Master Performance Coach distinction.

Off-season Speed and Agility Nick Aloi & Mike Inman

T

he purpose of this program is to develop the speed of your football players through addressing all the energy systems that the body requires to both recover and produce speed. This program is multifaceted and aims to increase both the conditioning and the running power of football players. By addressing aerobic power, speed technique, alactic capacity and alactic power/speed development your athletes will get faster. Below is a description of all of the components of the program. Aerobic Power: Aerobic power is the backbone of recovery from speed work and is crucial to football players. Football is primarily a game of intense intervals with a short rest time. During these intervals primarily anaerobic systems are used. The body to recover from the use of anaerobic systems uses the aerobic energy system. To create better Aerobic power timed runs, tempo runs, and set distance runs will be incorporated. These techniques are characterized by longer run times that should last 3-10 minutes, have 1-5 minute rest times and 2-5 repetitions per workout. The benefits from training this system last from 28-35 days and do not need to be addressed as frequently as the other aspects of the program. Speed technique: Speed techniques are the arm and leg actions of the program. These are addressed

heavily in the beginning of the program to establish proper running mechanics. These proper mechanics teach your athletes to run more efficiently. These are programmed by addressing them methodically and broken down into parts. For the arm actions you can start from a seated position with one arm, than progress to using both arms in a standing position for time and repetitions. The main focus should be on keeping the elbows locked in at 90 degrees and the arm swing going from cheek to cheek. For leg actions find a wall and lean your arms against it at a 45 degree angle keeping everything in line. It can be progressed the same way as the arm actions from single leg to double leg work for reps and times. Insure that the toes stay high the knees stay up and a quick ground strike. Alactic Capacity: This work is primarily the energy system used in football. It incorporates agilities and short intense interval work. The agility work is broken up into 3 focuses. 1. Decelerations- Focusing on starting and stopping from a good athletic position. Stopping and landing in a strong stance from multiple angles. 2. Pre-programmed agility drills- pre-programmed agilities include anything with cones such as 5-10-5 the T-drill the L-Drill as well as the box drill and 3. Reactive/Chaos drillsThese include pre-programmed agilities but with

Off-Season Speed and Agility

97

a reactionary component. Meaning the athletes does something on a coach’s queue whether it is a deceleration or a cutting move that the coach controls. It is important to note that for the game of football it doesn’t matter if you can run fast only one time it is the ability to reproduce speed play after play that matters in the long term progression of the game. Alactic Power/ Speed Development: This is where the athletes develops his speed and power. It focuses on improving acceleration and top end speed. It is broken down into 4 primary parts 1. BuildupsBuildups are a gradual acceleration to a top speed at the end of a set distance. For example in a 40 yard buildup the athlete starts slow at the beginning and should be at top speed by the end of the forty yards. Buildups should be between 30 and 60 yards. They should not be running at top speed for more than 5 yards. 2. Accelerations- Accelerations are an all-out sprint for 10-40 yards. You can start these position specific stance, from a seated position, blind as well as from a falling start. Falling starts are a great way to reinforce a good forward lean while accelerating 3. In and outs- Are transitions from jogging to sprinting 2-3 times for a given yardage. An example would be jog ten yards sprint 10 yards then jog ten and finish with a ten yard sprint. It is important to note that all of the yards covered go into determining the volume of the workout. It is not only the sprinting that counts. The transitions between jogging and sprinting should be quick and immediate right at the marker. 4. Flying sprints- Flying sprints are characterized by a buildup period up to 10 yards than on a set cone an immediate production of power into a full on sprint for the rest of the allotted yards. The max sprint should only last between 10 and 40 yards. Full recovery is needed between each repetition for all of your speed development work at least 3 minutes in length. To get fast you need to run fast and to run fast you need to be fully recovered. Nick Aloi and Mike Inman are Graduate Assistant Sports Performance Coaches at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland. Both Nick and Mike work

Nick Aloi & Mike Inman

with and develop the training programs for the Football team at SU. If you have any questions about the program please contact Nick at na47522@gulls. salisbury.edu or Mike at [email protected]. edu .

The Stim Method Willie Danzer

T

his program was used by our high-level collegiate track-and-field shotputters  who had at least three years of experience in our program. More importantly, the throwers who used this program had attained a certain degree of competition success, and their general strength was approaching the upper level of model characteristics  for high level shotputters (Table 17)  as seen in Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk’s book, Transfer of Training in Sports. The purpose behind using Dr. Yuri Verkhoshansky’s Stim Method was to intensify the general training by more advanced means as a way to illicit further progress in general power outputs, something that was seen as a need for these athletes at that time in their careers. Both athletes used the exact framework (volume, intensity, rest intervals, etc.) that Dr. Verkshonsky prescribed. However, the exercises were varied for each athlete based on their intrinsic  athletic nature and abilities (reactive vs. brute strength). A high-low training week was utilized wherein the Stim Method was used on high-stress days, and lower stress auxiliary exercises were used on low-stress days. A traditional seven-day week was abandoned at this time, and the primary temporal consideration was the number of days between sessions, regardless of what calendar day training sessions fell on. The training days were programmed by working backwards from the upcoming meet.

During the course of the program, methods of autoregulation (both objective and subjective) were utilized to determine the degree of stress of each training day. The Stim Method was crosschecked against their vertical jump heights, which were tested daily, to determine how much volume would be used during a given training session. If the athlete was at, or above, their personal best vertical-jump height for this time period, they performed the planned volume for the day. If their jump was below their best, the volume was lowered accordingly. Depending on how low the jump result was, the volume was adjusted downwards incrementally. If the result of jump testing was especially low on a scheduled high intensity day, an auxiliary session was performed in place of the Stim Method. The opinion of the athletes (how they felt), as well as their performance during throws practice earlier in the day, was also taken into consideration regarding their readiness for the training session. During the time of this program, a trend of recovery and higher levels of performance were noticed, and were used to help peak for meaningful meets. Lastly, this program was used for eight to twelve individual training sessions depending on their recovery. It should be noted that these sessions were run primarily over Christmas break due to the extremely long duration of the training sessions, as well as due to how taxing these training sessions were. Please use caution when performing this

99

The stim-method For track

Willie Danzer

program and ensure that athletes are qualified for it, and that it is an appropriate plan of action for the needs of the athletes. It should be noted that another important consideration that you, as a coach, should make is that you, as well as your athletes, must have enough time in a given training session to perform the workout as intended by Dr. Verkhoshansky. The rest periods recommended are important to the success of the Stim Method and cannot be compromised. Also realize that context is everything, and the specific program was written specifically for the individual athletes (their nature, needs, timing, abilities, etc.) who performed this program. Willie Danzer earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa in 2006 and received his Master’s at Northwestern State in Sports Administration in 2008. Danzer is an NSCA certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, a certified USA Weightlifting Level-I club coach and is also a certified American Powerlifting Association referee.

Bobby

Week 29

Day 1-Heavy Shot Day A1. Heavy Shot Put Technique A2. Discus or Hammer Tech B1. Standing Heavy Throws (20lb) Volume determined by Coach Shelby

E-I-C  

%  

Load  

SxR  

RI  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1--1--1  

  60/70/80/90  

     

  x1/x1/x1/2x2  

  4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1 1--1--1  

      60/70/80/90  

BW        

3x6 Jumps     x1/x1/x1/2x2  

4min Set     4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1  

     

       

3x6 Push Ups      

4min Set      

%

Load

SxR

RI

C1. Box Squat Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES C1a. Hurdle Jumps Pair C1b. Stretch if Necessary D1. Narrower Grip Bench Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES D1a. Plyo Push Ups Pair D1b. Stretch if Necessary Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch

Bobby and John Day 2

Week 29

E-I-C

100

The stim-method For track

Accessory Circuit B1. RDL (USE STRAPS) Series B2. ANY TRICEP Series B3. Incline Bench DB Row Series B4. ANY BICEP Series B5. McGill Sit-Ups Series B6. Any Shrug Series B8. TRX Fatman Pull Up to External Rotation Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch

Bobby

Day 1-Heavy Shot Day A1. Heavy Shot Put Technique A2. Discus or Hammer Tech B1. Standing Heavy Throws (20lb) Volume determined by Coach Shelby C1. Box Squat Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES C1a. Hurdle Jumps Pair C1b. Stretch if Necessary D1. Narrower Grip Bench Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES D1a. Plyo Push Ups Pair

Willie Danzer

  1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1

                           

  155+       100+ Total       BW       BW

  2x8-12   2x8-12   2x8-12   2x8-12   2x15e   2x15   2x8-12

 

 

 

 

E-I-C  

%  

Load  

SxR  

RI  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1--1--1  

  60/70/80/90  

     

  x1/x1/x1/2x2  

  4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1 1--1--1  

      60/70/80/90  

BW        

3x6 Jumps     x1/x1/x1/2x2  

4min Set     4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X  

   

   

3x6 Push Ups  

4min Set  

Week 29

              N/A            

101

The stim-method For track

D1b. Stretch if Necessary Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch

1--15--1  

John

Week 29

Day 1-Heavy Shot Day A1. Heavy Shot Put Technique A2. Discus or Hammer Tech   C1. Box Squat Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES C1a. Free Squat Pair C1b. Stretch if Necessary D1. Narrower Grip Bench Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES D1a. Bench Press Pair D1b. Stretch if Necessary Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch

John and Bobby

Day 2 Accessory Circuit B1. MR Reverse Hypers Series B2. ANY TRICEP Series B3. Incline Bench DB Row Series B4. ANY BICEP Series

Willie Danzer

   

   

   

   

E-I-C  

%  

Load  

SxR  

RI  

 

 

 

 

 

    1--1--1  

    60/70/80/85  

       

    x1/x1/x1/2x3  

    4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1 1--1--1  

30     60/70/80/85  

         

3x6     x1/x1/x1/2x3  

4min Set     4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1  

30      

       

3x6      

4min Set      

%                  

Load   155+       100+ Total      

SxR   2x8-12   2x8-12   2x8-12   2x8-12  

RI               N/A  

Week 29

E-I-C   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1  

102

The stim-method For track

B5. McGill Sit-Ups Series B6. Any Shrug Series B8. TRX Fatman Pull Up to External Rotation Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch

John

Day 3-Heavy Shot Day A1. Heavy Shot Put Technique A2. Discus or Hammer Tech C1. Box Squat Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES C1a. Free Squat Pair C1b. Stretch if Necessary D1. Narrower Grip Bench Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES D1a. Bench Press Pair D1b. Stretch if Necessary Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch Bobby Day 1-Heavy Shot Day A1. Heavy Shot Put Technique A2. Discus or Hammer Tech B1. Standing Heavy Throws (20lb) Volume determined by Coach Shelby

Willie Danzer

1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1

         

BW       BW

2x15e   2x15   2x8-12

 

 

 

 

E-I-C  

%  

Load  

SxR  

RI  

 

 

 

 

 

1--1--1  

60/70/80/85  

   

x1/x1/x1/2x3  

4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1 1--1--1  

30     60/70/80/85  

         

3x6     x1/x1/x1/2x3  

4min Set     4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1  

30      

       

3x6      

4min Set      

Week 29 E-I-C  

%  

Load  

SxR  

RI  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 29

         

103

The stim-method For track

C1. Box Squat Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES C1a. Hurdle Jumps Pair C1b. Stretch if Necessary D1. Narrower Grip Bench Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES D1a. Plyo Push Ups Pair D1b. Stretch if Necessary Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch  

Bobby and John

Week 29

Day 2 Accessory Circuit B1. RDL (USE STRAPS) Series B2. ANY TRICEP Series B3. Incline Bench DB Row Series B4. ANY BICEP Series B5. McGill Sit-Ups Series B6. Any Shrug Series B8. TRX Fatman Pull Up to External Rotation Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch  

Bobby

Willie Danzer

1--1--1  

60/70/80/90  

   

x1/x1/x1/2x2  

4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1 1--1--1  

      60/70/80/90  

BW        

3x6 Jumps     x1/x1/x1/2x2  

4min Set     4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1  

       

       

3x6 Push Ups      

4min Set      

 

 

 

 

 

E-I-C   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1

%                            

Load   155+       100+ Total       BW       BW

SxR   2x8-12   2x8-12   2x8-12   2x8-12   2x15e   2x15   2x8-12

RI               N/A            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 29

104

The stim-method For track

Day 1-Heavy Shot Day A1. Heavy Shot Put Technique A2. Discus or Hammer Tech B1. Standing Heavy Throws (20lb) Volume determined by Coach Shelby

Willie Danzer

E-I-C  

%  

Load  

SxR  

RI  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1--1--1  

  60/70/80/90  

     

  x1/x1/x1/2x2  

  4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1 1--1--1  

      60/70/80/90  

BW        

3x6 Jumps     x1/x1/x1/2x2  

4min Set     4min Set 8 Min Series

C1. Box Squat Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES C1a. Hurdle Jumps Pair C1b. Stretch if Necessary D1. Narrower Grip Bench Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES D1a. Plyo Push Ups Pair D1b. Stretch if Necessary Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch  

X--X--X   1--15--1  

       

       

3x6 Push Ups      

4min Set      

 

 

 

 

 

John

Week 29

E-I-C  

%  

Load  

SxR  

RI  

 

 

 

 

 

    1--1--1  

    60/70/80/85  

       

    x1/x1/x1/2x3  

    4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1 1--1--1

30     60/70/80/85

       

3x6     x1/x1/x1/2x3

4min Set     4min Set

Day 1-Heavy Shot Day A1. Heavy Shot Put Technique A2. Discus or Hammer Tech   C1. Box Squat Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES C1a. Free Squat Pair C1b. Stretch if Necessary D1. Narrower Grip Bench

105

The stim-method For track

Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES D1a. Bench Press Pair D1b. Stretch if Necessary Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch  

John and Bobby

Day 2 Accessory Circuit B1. MR Reverse Hypers Series B2. ANY TRICEP Series B3. Incline Bench DB Row Series B4. ANY BICEP Series B5. McGill Sit-Ups Series B6. Any Shrug Series B8. TRX Fatman Pull Up to External Rotation Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch  

John

Day 3-Heavy Shot Day A1. Heavy Shot Put Technique A2. Discus or Hammer Tech   C1. Box Squat

Willie Danzer

 

 

 

 

8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1  

30      

       

3x6      

4min Set      

 

 

 

 

 

E-I-C   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1   1--1--1

%                            

Load   155+       100+ Total       BW       BW

SxR   2x8-12   2x8-12   2x8-12   2x8-12   2x15e   2x15   2x8-12

RI               N/A            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

E-I-C  

%  

Load  

SxR  

RI  

 

 

 

 

 

    1--1--1

    60/70/80/85

     

    x1/x1/x1/2x3

    4min Set

Week 29

Week 29

106

The stim-method For track

Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES C1a. Free Squat Pair C1b. Stretch if Necessary D1. Narrower Grip Bench Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES D1a. Bench Press Pair D1b. Stretch if Necessary Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch

Willie Danzer

 

 

 

 

8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1 1--1--1  

30     60/70/80/85  

         

3x6     x1/x1/x1/2x3  

4min Set     4min Set 8 Min Series

X--X--X   1--15--1  

30      

       

3x6      

4min Set      

Bobby

Week 29 E-I-C

%

C1. Box Squat

1--1--1

60/70/80/90

Day 1-Heavy Shot Day A1. Heavy Shot Put Technique A2. Discus or Hammer Tech B1. Standing Heavy Throws (20lb) Volume determined by Coach Shelby

Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES C1a. Hurdle Jumps Pair C1b. Stretch if Necessary D1. Narrower Grip Bench Pair SERIES 1-3 TIMES D1a. Plyo Push Ups

1--15--1 1--1--1

BW

60/70/80/90

SxR

RI

x1/x1/ x1/2x2

4min Set

8 Min Series 3x6 Jumps 4min Set

x1/x1/ x1/2x2

REPEAT

Pair D1b. Stretch if Necessary Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch

Bobby and John

X--X--X

Load

X--X--X

1--15--1

Week 29

3x6 Push Ups

4min Set 8 Min Series 4min Set

The stim-method For track

Day 2 Accessory Circuit B1. RDL (USE STRAPS) Series B2. ANY TRICEP Series B3. Incline Bench DB Row

107

E-I-C

Willie Danzer

%

1--1--1

155+

2x8-12

1--1--1

100+ Total

1--1--1 1--1--1

BW

1--1--1 1--1--1

%

C1. Box Squat

1--1--1

60/70/80/90

X--X--X 1--15--1 1--1--1

2x15e

BW

2x8-12

Load

SxR

RI

x1/x1/ x1/2x2

4min Set

BW

60/70/80/90

8 Min Series 3x6 Jumps 4min Set

x1/x1/ x1/2x2

REPEAT X--X--X

N/A

2x15

E-I-C

Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES C1a. Hurdle Jumps Pair C1b. Stretch if Necessary D1. Narrower Grip Bench

2x8-12

2x8-12

Week 29

Day 1-Heavy Shot Day A1. Heavy Shot Put Technique A2. Discus or Hammer Tech B1. Standing Heavy Throws (20lb) Volume determined by Coach Shelby

RI

2x8-12

Bobby

Pair

SxR

1--1--1

Series B4. ANY BICEP Series B5. McGill Sit-Ups Series B6. Any Shrug Series B8. TRX Fatman Pull Up to External Rotation Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch

Pair SERIES 1-3 TIMES D1a. Plyo Push Ups

Load

3x6 Push Ups

4min Set 8 Min Series 4min Set

The stim-method For track

108

Willie Danzer

D1b. Stretch if Necessary Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch

1--15--1

John

Week 29 E-I-C

%

C1. Box Squat

1--1--1

60/70/80/85

Day 1-Heavy Shot Day A1. Heavy Shot Put Technique A2. Discus or Hammer Tech

Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES C1a. Free Squat Pair C1b. Stretch if Necessary D1. Narrower Grip Bench Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES D1a. Bench Press Pair D1b. Stretch if Necessary Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch

John and Bobby

Day 2 Accessory Circuit B1. MR Reverse Hypers Series B2. ANY TRICEP Series B3. Incline Bench DB Row Series B4. ANY BICEP Series

Load

SxR

RI

x1/x1/ x1/2x3

4min Set

X--X--X

30

3x6

1--15--1 1--1--1

60/70/80/85

x1/x1/ x1/2x3

X--X--X

8 Min Series 4min Set

4min Set

3x6

8 Min Series 4min Set

Load

SxR

RI

155+

2x8-12

30

1--15--1

Week 29 E-I-C

1--1--1

%

1--1--1 1--1--1

1--1--1

2x8-12 100+ Total

2x8-12

2x8-12

N/A

The stim-method For track

109

Willie Danzer

B5. McGill Sit-Ups Series B6. Any Shrug Series B8. TRX Fatman Pull Up to External Rotation Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch

1--1--1

John

Week 29 E-I-C

%

C1. Box Squat

1--1--1

60/70/80/85

Day 3-Heavy Shot Day A1. Heavy Shot Put Technique A2. Discus or Hammer Tech

Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES C1a. Free Squat Pair C1b. Stretch if Necessary D1. Narrower Grip Bench Pair REPEAT SERIES 1-3 TIMES D1a. Bench Press Pair D1b. Stretch if Necessary Athlete’s Notes: Post workout, Lower Body Band Stretch



BW

1--1--1

2x15e 2x15

1--1--1

BW

2x8-12

Load

SxR

RI

x1/x1/ x1/2x3

4min Set

X--X--X

30

3x6

1--15--1 1--1--1

60/70/80/85

x1/x1/ x1/2x3

X--X--X 1--15--1

30

3x6

8 Min Series 4min Set

4min Set 8 Min Series 4min Set

The Knowledge Behind Programs That Work

James Smith

C

onsistent with how I’ve operated on the Q&A of elitefts.net since 2005, my contribution to this noble project will be rooted in “teaching you to fish”, though I will, in addition, offer you a “fish” as well, in so far as the “elevator version” allows.

No doubt, this beginning segment is an unpopular approach given my observations of the corporate on-line sports training community over the last 14 years who seem to prefer fish over learning how to catch them. Never the less, my uncompromising nature makes for the ease in which I offer donations such as this one. In the spirit of the late Bruce Lee “take what is useful and discard what is not”.

The casual and competitive lifters share a common goal- to become stronger. In the case of the competitive lifter the goal might be stated: “to be come strongerperiod”. In this way, “strength training” is both the means and the ends and occupies the near totality of area in the pie chart.

For all other populations (personal trainers, athletes, and coaches), despite what you might think, “strength training” represents only a mere fraction of important training components that you must introduce to yourself, clients, or athletes. In this way, and despite the title of “strength coach” the role of “strength training” is nothing more than a means, just one of many in fact, that are central towards Most important for you to understand is that, as the the development of various physical preparatory saying goes, “perception is reality”. In this way, we objectives for athletes and non-athletes alike. must first ask the question…what is your objective? Your objective is proportional to your perception “of In this case, particularly regarding the training of the training problem” and the associated realization athletes, the pie chart will also include qualities such of your efforts. as skill, speed, stamina, and suppleness. Further sub-divisions of these qualities include, but are not The bulk of the readers of this project will no limited to, reactive-elastic ability, power, a-lactic / doubt be “strength” enthusiasts. Of that population lactic /aerobic power or capacity, rhythm, relaxation, exists, primarily, casual lifters, competitive lifters, timing, movement/joint amplitude, and more… personal trainers, athletes, and strength coaches. A pie chart exist, for each one of you, in which From this we know that “programs that work” is the proportionality and contribution of “strength a relative term and the real question, as previously training” is different; based upon your objectives. stated, is- what is the objective. Keep in mind,

The knowledge Behind programs

111

however, that in order to identify the objective one must first ask the proper questions. Outside of the casual and competitive lifter populations, my observations over the years have revealed the fact that most personal trainers and coaches typically, via no help from there misguided certifying organizations and university curricula, fail to ask the proper questions.

James Smith

physical effort, let’s say once every calendar week, that vastly exceeds the demands of their day-to-day tasks then the body will have to generate a defense reaction proportional to that stress. We call it a defense reaction because the human body’s ability to adapt is inherently linked to our survival. The body adapts, utilizing the minimal required energy, to adjust to the physical effort such that the effort itself renders the least amount of life threatening In the words of the late Hungarian Nobel Laureate stress to our bodies. Albert Szent Gyorgi “True discovery consists of seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking No different than the concept of dose: response, as what no one else has thought” the frequency of the stimulus increases (provided the magnitude is sufficiently in excess of the office The eventuality of asking the proper questions workers day to day stress) the associate defense will result in the optimal proportionality and reactions see to it that the office worker’s structural contribution of elements within the pie chart; and resources and operational capabilities increase the proportionality will change over time. in a proportional fashion. Thus, in time, provided genetics and nutritional habits are sufficient, the Important to recognize is that the physiological ordinary office worker begins to transform into foundations of “strength” development, regardless something more. of its contribution to the training objective, are the same. The foundations are linked to the human Marcus Aurelius said “of each particular thing ask, organisms adaptive capabilities. what is it in and of itself, what is its nature”. In this way, we must ask ourselves why do programs that The process of adaptation may be paraphrased and work, work? The answer lies in the means by which simplified down to the concept of a defense reaction. we manipulate the nature, or taxonomy, of the In this way, adaptation is a defense reaction to stress training load. (both positive and negative stress). The taxonomy of the training load may be reduced A sedentary office worker’s level of day to day down to means, methods of execution, frequency, physical stress exists as nothing more than the intensity, and volume. physical effort associated with getting out of bed, in and out of the car, bus or train, walking, maybe up • Means = exercises (to include all movements some stairs, getting in and out of a chair, and so on. regardless if they are performed inside a weight room, If no physical efforts exist outside of those mundane on a track, field, ice, court, or in or on the water tasks then the physical condition of the sedentary • Methods of Execution = how the means are office worker’s body will exist as an aggregate performed combination of their miniscule physical actions, • Frequency = the time interval that passes inherited genetic traits, and nutritional habits. This between episodes of training stimuli is why most people who fit this profile, particularly • Intensity = the magnitude of work imposed by those with poor nutritional habits, carry very little the training stimuli per each episode of stress lean muscle tissue and higher amounts of fat. • Volume= the sum total of work performed per unit time and there are many contexts in which volume Now, if we take this same individual and impose a may be calculated (per set, per training session, per

The knowledge Behind programs

112

series of sessions…) Most important are that these aspects of the training load are optimized for the individual and task at hand.

James Smith

business person whose day job entails a great deal of sitting either behind a desk or behind the wheel in transit to various work locations. He is a devout enthusiast of physical preparation and his goals are, and have been, to develop both lean muscularity and strength void of the use of anabolic steroids and other anabolic/androgenic pharmaceuticals.

Many suggest that one seek the minimum effective dose. In this way, the training load is managed in such as way as to introduce the minimal effective Prior to enlisting my service he had been trained frequency, intensity, and volume of work performed via a more conventional approach for a number of in order to accomplish the desired outcome. years by a well-known on-line trainer in addition to following the programs in a well-known training Others, for whatever reason, seem to find solace manual. In this way, he had been performing more of in vastly exceeding this minimum effective dose in a generic series of programs and, by association, his favor of finding how much they, or their clients/ results were not remarkable. athletes, can tolerate. Clearly, this also qualifies for negligent behavior. After our first five months together he achieved extraordinary results. Through his diligent work From this, you must recognize that a program that ethic and commitment to very specific nutritional works cannot responsibly be targeted at no one manipulations (reflections of his own researches) in particular as the means, methods of execution, his physical condition improved dramatically on the frequency, intensity, and volume must be generated order of a 4 kilogram decrease in body fat and an for the specific needs of individuals. 8kilogram increase in lean muscle mass assessed by a medical doctor; accompanied by strength Those familiar with my work know that I have increases across the board. paid continued respects to the late sprint coach Charlie Francis. One of the myriad of lessons shared What I have decided to share here are two sequential by Charlie was the fact that programs that were 4 week training blocks which lead to him setting constructed for individuals that yielded certain a 6kg PR in the bench press of 130kg in the week results are to serve as history lessons; in that, they of 9-14. Earlier in 2014 I transitioned him to a happened in the past. In this way, no matter how flexible 3x/calendar week training schedule to “intelligent” or “flawed” a program may be judged by accommodate his demanding work schedule (long another, one cannot deny the fact that the program hours and a great deal of travelling in the car). You’ll happened (it was executed by at least one person); see the training illustrated in Upper 1 and 2 and and in retrospect the program and circumstances Lower 1 and 2. In this way, his training week consists surrounding its execution serves as a learning of two sessions for the upper body and two sessions opportunity for someone in the future. for the lower body; however, he performs no more than three sessions every seven days. So his training Following I present to you a general strength week typically lasts 8-9 days on the calendar. This program (suggested only for the casual training schedule has worked exceptionally well for him. enthusiast) that worked for a client of mine. I rarely agree to work with a non-competitive athlete; He performs sequences of 3 week loading blocks however, this person is a close friend of mine so I followed by 1 week deloads. The nature of the made an exception. Not so dissimilar from the office loading weeks has varied from strength-aerobic, worker scenario I explained earlier, this client is a accumulation, to higher intensifications of load

The knowledge Behind programs

113

James Smith

increases. New movements are introduced during deload weeks and any movement highlighted in red indicates a change from the previous week. It is prudent to note that he also performs restorative cyclical aerobic work (20-30 minutes) as well as mobility work and stretching on the days in between his primary training days.

Week of July 20- Continue Deload, Begin Reload *The training is illustrated starting from the beginning of a reload. Two deload sessions preceded this one in the same calendar week Primary Upper Reload 1 General Warm Up- up to you

1.

Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2: (rest between movements is up to you)

2.

Mcgill Bird Dog RLRL

3.

Isometric pushup hold with a med ball under each hand

4.

Stir the Pot

5.

Decline Rhythmic Pushups

6.

Neck and Traps Superset

•

Leg Curl Neck Extension- 4x10

•

Bench Neck Flexion- 4x10

•

Single Arm Cable Shrug- 4x10ea

Main Training

1.

Bench Press- warm up to 80kgx5, 95kgx5, 105kgx max reps, 5min btwn sets

2.

Pushups Up/Down Easy- 3x5

3.

Close Grip Chest Supported Row- 5 x 10, increase weight each set, slow and controlled, 3-5min between sets

4.

Delts- dumbbell giant set, any 3 dumbbell exercises, no rest between movements, x 2 supersets, 2min between giant sets

5.

Biceps/Triceps Superset- your choice for exercises, 2 supersets, no rest between exercises, 2minutes between supersets

6.

Close Grip Pushups in Smith Machine- 3 x max reps, start on the bottom rung and move up 1 rung each set, 90sec btwn

sets

114

The knowledge Behind programs

James Smith

Week of July 27 Primary Lower Reload 1 General Warm up- up to you

Secondary Upper Reload 1 General Warm Up- up to you

1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest

1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2: 1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest (rest between movements is up to you)

between movements is up to you)

• McGill Bird dog box pattern

• Mcgill Bird Dog LLRR

• Rolling Planks

• Stir the Pot

• McGill Bird dog box pattern with legs only (hands stay fixed on the ground)

• Iso Front Squat with 20kg barbell

• Isometric pushup hold between two benches or boxes for a deep stretch (back flat)

• Rolling Planks

• Dumbbell Shoulder Ext Rotation lying face down on incline bench

• Single Leg Seated Leg Curl

between movements is up to you)

• McGill Curl ups • Double Leg Seated Leg Curl • Rhythmic Rebound Hops on Aerobics step Neck • Leg Curl Neck Extension 3x12 • Bench Neck Flexion 3x12 Main Training

1. Pullups- 50 total reps any way you want (do not extend elbows all the way, perform semi-explosively)

• Decline Rhythmic Pushups Neck • Leg Curl Neck Extension 2x20 • Bench Neck Flexion 2x20 Main Training

1. Pushups Up/Down Easy x 3x4 2. Dumbbell Bench Press- up to

Secondary Lower Reload 1 General Warm up- up to you

• Bulgarian Split Squat • McGill Curl ups • Rhythmic Rolling Hops Neck • Leg Curl Neck Extension 4x10 • Bench Neck Flexion 4x10 Main Training

1. Pullups- 10x5 anyway you want (do not fully extend elbows, semiexplosively)

2. High Box Squat- 100kg x 9sets x 4reps, 40kg ea x 2 x max reps, 5min btwn sets 2. Glute Ham Raise- 48 total reps 1min btwn sets 3. Any Row- 5 x 10, increase wt each any way you want, slow and controlled movement tempo, 2min btwn sets 3. Barbell Single Leg Glute Bridge- 40kg set, 2min rest between sets, controlled x 2 x max reps each leg, slow and controlled movement tempo in all phases 3. Low Pulley Split Squat front foot movement tempo (the slower the better), elevated on aerobics step- 2 x 20,each 4. Delts- pick any 3 movements and optional rest between sets

4. Low Pulley Split Squat front foot

elevated on aerobics step- 4 x 10,each leg, increase weight, 2min between legs and , 2min between sets

perform 2 giant sets, slow movement tempo, no rest between movements, 2min between giant sets

5. Biceps Superset- Pick any two

5. Glute Ham Raise- 60 total reps any

biceps exercises and perform 2 supersets, 1-2minutes rest between supersets

6. Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown- 3 sets,

6. Any Pushup variation x 1 sets of

way you want, slow tempo slow movement tempo

maximum reps

leg, increase weight, 2min between legs

4. Close Grip Lat Pull Down- 3 sets, smooth movement tempo

115

The knowledge Behind programs

James Smith

Week of 8-03 Primary Upper Reload 2 General Warm Up- up to you

Primary Lower Reload 2 General Warm up- up to you

1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2: (rest 1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest

Secondary Upper Reload 2 General Warm Up- up to you

1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2:

between movements is up to you)

between movements is up to you)

2. Mcgill Bird Dog RLRL

• McGill Bird dog box pattern

• Mcgill Bird Dog LLRR

3. Isometric pushup hold with a med ball

• Rolling Planks

• Stir the Pot

under each hand

• Iso Front Squat with 20kg barbell

4. Stir the Pot

• McGill Curl ups

5. Decline Rhythmic Pushups

• Double Leg Seated Leg Curl

• Isometric pushup hold between two benches or boxes for a deep stretch (back flat)

6. Neck and Traps Superset • Leg Curl Neck Extension- 3x12 • Bench Neck Flexion- 3x12 • Single Arm Cable Shrug- 3x12ea

• Rhythmic Rebound Hops on Aerobics step Neck • Leg Curl Neck Extension 2x20 • Bench Neck Flexion 2x20

Main Training

Main Training

7. Bench Press- warm up to 85kgx5,

1. Pullups- 5 sets of max reps any way

100kgx3, 112kgx max reps, 5min btwn sets

8. Pushups Up/Down Easy- 3x6 9. Close Grip Chest Supported Row- 4

you want (do not extend elbows all the way, perform semi-explosively), 3min rest btwn sets

x 12, increase weight each set, slow and controlled, 3-5min between sets

2. High Box Squat- 100kg x 8sets x

10. Delts- dumbbell giant set, any 3

3. Barbell Single Leg Glute Bridge-

4reps, 1min btwn sets

dumbbell exercises, no rest between movements, x 2 supersets, 2min between giant sets

45kg x 2 x max reps each leg, slow and controlled movement tempo (the slower the better), optional rest between sets

11. Biceps/Triceps Superset- your choice

4. Low Pulley Split Squat front foot

for exercises, 2 supersets, no rest between exercises, 2minutes between supersets

12. Med Grip Pushups in Smith

Machine- 3 x max reps, start on the bottom rung and move up 1 rung each set, 90sec btwn sets

elevated on aerobics step- 3 x 12,each leg, increase weight, 2min between legs and , 2min between sets

(rest between movements is up to you)

• Dumbbell Shoulder Ext Rotation lying face down on incline bench • Decline Rhythmic Pushups Neck • Leg Curl Neck Extension 4x10 • Bench Neck Flexion 4x10 Main Training

1. Pushups Up/Down Easy x 3x5 2. Dumbbell Bench Press- up to 45kg ea x 2 x max reps, 5min btwn sets

3. Any Row- 4 x 12, increase wt each set, 2min rest between sets, controlled movement tempo in all phases

4. Delts- pick any 3 movements and

perform 2 giant sets, slow movement tempo, no rest between movements, 2min between giant sets

5. Biceps Superset- Pick any two

biceps exercises and perform 2 supersets, 1-2minutes rest between supersets

5. Glute Ham Raise- 70 total reps any 6. Any Pushup variation x 1 sets of way you want, slow tempo

6. Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown- 3 sets, slow movement tempo

maximum reps

116

The knowledge Behind programs

James Smith

Week of 8-10

* Primary Upper Reload 3- I’m giving you the option to work up to a 1RM; however, it is imperative that you pay attention to how your strength feels as you are working up on the sets with 85kg and 100kg. If you are not feeling exceptional I do not want you to test the 1RM. Instead, I want you to perform 4-5 heavy singles with either 112kg or a greater weight that you are certain you can manage for 4-5 x 1. Secondary Lower Reload 2

Primary Upper Reload 3

Primary Lower Reload 3

General Warm up- up to you

General Warm Up- up to you

General Warm up- up to you

1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest

1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2:

1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest

• McGill Bird dog box pattern with legs only (hands stay fixed on the ground)

2. Mcgill Bird Dog RLRL

• McGill Bird dog box pattern

• Rolling Planks

3. Isometric pushup hold with a med ball

• Rolling Planks

under each hand

• Iso Front Squat with 20kg barbell

4. Stir the Pot

• McGill Curl ups

5. Decline Rhythmic Pushups

• Double Leg Seated Leg Curl

between movements is up to you)

• Bulgarian Split Squat • McGill Curl ups • Single Leg Seated Leg Curl • Rhythmic Rolling Hops Neck • Leg Curl Neck Extension 3x12 • Bench Neck Flexion 3x12 Main Training

(rest between movements is up to you)

6. Neck and Traps Superset • Leg Curl Neck Extension- 2x20 • Bench Neck Flexion- 2x20 • Single Arm Cable Shrug- 2x20ea Main Training

1. Pullups- 10x6 anyway you want (do not 1. Bench Press- warm up to 85kgx5, fully extend elbows, semi-explosively)

2. Glute Ham Raise- 56 total reps

any way you want, slow and controlled movement tempo, 2min btwn sets

3. Low Pulley Split Squat front foot

elevated on aerobics step- 2 x 16,each leg, increase weight, 2min between legs

4. Close Grip Lat Pull Down- 3 sets, smooth movement tempo

100kgx3, 112kgx1, *up to 1RM, 5min btwn sets

between movements is up to you)

• Rhythmic Rebound Hops on Aerobics step Neck • Leg Curl Neck Extension 4x10 • Bench Neck Flexion 4x10 Main Training

1. Pullups- 3 sets of max reps any

2. Pushups Up/Down Easy- 3x7

way you want (do not extend elbows all the way, perform semi-explosively), 3min rest btwn sets

3. Close Grip Chest Supported Row-

2. High Box Squat- 100kg x 7sets x

15,12,10,8, increase weight each set, slow and controlled, 3-5min between sets

4reps, 1min btwn sets

4. Delts- dumbbell giant set, any 3

dumbbell exercises, no rest between movements, x 2 supersets, 2min between giant sets

50kg x 2 x max reps each leg, slow and controlled movement tempo (the slower the better), optional rest between sets

5. Biceps/Triceps Superset- your choice

4. Low Pulley Split Squat front

for exercises, 2 supersets, no rest between exercises, 2minutes between supersets

6. Wide Grip Pushups in Smith

3. Barbell Single Leg Glute Bridge-

foot elevated on aerobics step12,10,8,each leg, increase weight, 2min between legs and , 2min between sets

Machine- 3 x max reps, start on the bottom 5. Glute Ham Raise- 80 total reps any way you want, slow tempo rung and move up 1 rung each set, 90sec btwn sets 6. Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown- 3 sets, slow movement tempo

117

The knowledge Behind programs

James Smith

Week of 8-17- Begin Deload Secondary Upper Reload 3 General Warm Up- up to you

Secondary Lower Reload 3 General Warm up- up to you

Primary Upper Deload General Warm Up- up to you

1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2: (rest 1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest between movements is up to you)

between movements is up to you)

1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2:

• Mcgill Bird Dog LLRR

• McGill Bird dog box pattern with legs only (hands stay fixed on the ground)

2. Mcgill Bird Dog RLRL

• Isometric pushup hold between two benches or boxes for a deep stretch (back flat)

• Rolling Planks

on the floor

• Dumbbell Shoulder Ext Rotation lying face down on incline bench

• Single Leg Seated Leg Curl

• Stir the Pot

• Decline Rhythmic Pushups Neck • Leg Curl Neck Extension 3x12 • Bench Neck Flexion 3x12 Main Training

1. Pushups Up/Down Easy x 3x6

• Bulgarian Split Squat • McGill Curl ups • Rhythmic Rolling Hops Neck • Leg Curl Neck Extension 2x20

3. Any Row- 15,12,10,8, increase wt

3. Isometric pushup hold with hands 4. Stir the Pot 5. Decline Rhythmic Pushups 6. Neck and Traps Superset • Any Neck Extension- 4x10 • Any Neck Flexion- 4x10

• Bench Neck Flexion 2x20

• Any Shrug- 4x10ea

Main Training

Main Training

1. Pullups- 10x7 anyway you want (do

1. Bench Press- warm up to 85kg x 5

not fully extend elbows, semi-explosively)

x 3, 3min btwn sets

any way you want, slow and controlled movement tempo, 2min btwn sets

3. Neutral Grip Chest Supported

2. Dumbbell Bench Press- up to 50kg ea x 2. Glute Ham Raise- 64 total reps 2 x max reps, 5min btwn sets

(rest between movements is up to you)

2. Clapping Pushups- 3x5

Row- 15,12,10,8, increase weight each set, slow and controlled, 3-5min 3. Low Pulley Split Squat front foot elevated on aerobics step- 2 x 12,each leg, between sets increase weight, 2min between legs 4. Delts- pick any 3 movements and 4. Delts- dumbbell giant set, any 3 perform 2 giant sets, slow movement tempo, 4. Close Grip Lat Pull Down- 3 sets, dumbbell exercises, no rest between no rest between movements, 2min between movements, x 2 supersets, 2min smooth movement tempo giant sets between giant sets

each set, 2min rest between sets, controlled movement tempo in all phases

5. Biceps Superset- Pick any two

biceps exercises and perform 2 supersets, 1-2minutes rest between supersets

6. Any Pushup variation x 1 sets of maximum reps

5. Biceps/Triceps Superset- your

choice for exercises, 2 supersets, no rest between exercises, 2minutes between supersets

6. Close Grip Pushups with feet

elevated on bench/hands on floor- 3 x max reps, , 90sec btwn sets

118

The knowledge Behind programs

James Smith

Week of 8-24 Continue Deload Primary Lower Deload General Warm up- up to you

Secondary Upper Deload General Warm Up- up to you

1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest

1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2: 1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest (rest between movements is up to you)

between movements is up to you)

• McGill Bird dog box pattern

• Mcgill Bird Dog LLRR

• Rolling Planks

• Stir the Pot

• McGill Bird dog box pattern with legs only (hands stay fixed on the ground)

• Iso Back Squat with 20kg barbell

• Isometric pushup hold with feet elevated on bench (back flat)

• Rolling Planks • Alternate Reverse Lunge

• Single Leg Seated Leg Curl

• Cable Face Pull with rope attachment

• McGill Curl ups

• Rhythmic Rebound Hops on Aerobics step

• Decline Rhythmic Pushups

• Single Leg Lying Leg Curl

Neck

• Rhythmic Rolling Hops

Neck

• Any Neck Extension 2x20

Neck

• Any Neck Extension 3x12

• Any Neck Flexion 2x20

• Any Neck Extension 4x10

• Any Neck Flexion 3x12

Main Training

• Any Neck Flexion 4x10

Main Training

1. Clapping Pushups x 3x5

Main Training

1. Pullups- 10 x 3, 30-45sec btwn sets,

2. Dumbbell Floor Press- up to 30kg

1. Pullups- 6 x 3, 30-45sec anyway you

between movements is up to you)

• McGill Curl ups

any way you want (do not extend elbows all the way, perform semi-explosively)

2. High Box Squat- 70kg x 10sets x

ea x 2 x max reps, 5min btwn sets

3. Any Row- 1, increase wt each

3reps, 1min btwn sets

set, 2min rest between sets, controlled movement tempo in all phases

3. Barbell Double Leg Glute Bridge-

4. Delts- pick any 3 movements and

100kg x 2 sets of sub-max reps, slow and controlled movement tempo (the slower the better), optional rest between sets

4. Dumbbell Split Squat rear foot

elevated on bench- 2 x 15,each leg, same weight, 2min between legs and , 2min between sets

5. Glute Ham Raise- 50 total reps any way you want, slow tempo

6. Wide Grip Lat Pulldown- 3 sets, slow movement tempo

Secondary Lower Deload General Warm up- up to you

want (do not fully extend elbows, semiexplosively)

2. Glute Ham Raise- 40 total reps any way you want, slow and controlled movement tempo, 2min btwn sets

perform 2 giant sets, slow movement tempo, no rest between movements, 2min between giant sets

3. Dumbbell Split Squat rear foot elevated

5. Biceps Superset- Pick any two

4. Close Neutral Grip Lat Pull Down- 3

biceps exercises and perform 2 supersets, 1-2minutes rest between supersets

6. Any Pushup variation x 1 sets of maximum reps

on bench- 2 x 12,each leg, same weight, 2min between legs sets, smooth movement tempo

119

The knowledge Behind programs

James Smith

Week of 8-31- Reload Primary Upper 1 of 3 General Warm Up- up to you

Primary Lower 1 of 3 General Warm up- up to you

Secondary Upper 1 of 3 General Warm Up- up to you

1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2:

1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest

1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2:

2. Mcgill Bird Dog RLRL

• McGill Bird dog box pattern

• Mcgill Bird Dog LLRR

(rest between movements is up to you)

between movements is up to you)

3. Isometric pushup hold with hands on • Rolling Planks

(rest between movements is up to you) • Stir the Pot

the floor

• Iso Back Squat with 20kg barbell

4. Stir the Pot

• McGill Curl ups

5. Decline Rhythmic Pushups

• Single Leg Seated Leg Curl

• Cable Face Pull with rope attachment

• Rhythmic Rebound Hops on Aerobics step

• Decline Rhythmic Pushups Neck

Neck

• Any Neck Extension 4x10

• Any Neck Extension 2x20

• Any Neck Flexion 4x10

6. Neck and Traps Superset • Any Neck Extension- 3x12 • Any Neck Flexion- 3x12 • Any Shrug- 3x12ea

• Isometric pushup hold with feet elevated on bench (back flat)

• Any Neck Flexion 2x20

Main Training

Main Training

Main Training

1. Bench Press- warm up to a 5RM,

1. Clapping Pushups x 3x5

1. Pullups- 9 x 4, 30-45sec btwn sets, any 2. Dumbbell Floor Press- up to 35kg ea

3min btwn sets, then drop down to 80% of that weight for 3 sets of max reps, 5min btwn sets

2. Clapping Pushups- 3x5 3. Neutral Grip Chest Supported

way you want (do not extend elbows all the x 2 x max reps, 5min btwn sets way, perform semi-explosively) 3. Any Row- 5x10, increase wt each 2. High Box Squat- 100kg x 6sets x set, 2min rest between sets, controlled 5reps, 1min btwn sets movement tempo in all phases

3. Barbell Double Leg Glute BridgeRow- 12,10,8,8 increase weight each set, 100kg x 2 sets of max reps, slow and slow and controlled, 3-5min between sets controlled movement tempo (the slower the better), optional rest between sets 4. Delts- dumbbell giant set, any 3 dumbbell exercises, no rest between 4. Dumbbell Split Squat rear foot movements, x 3 supersets, 2min between elevated on bench- 3 x 12,each leg, same giant sets weight, 2min between legs and , 2min 5. Biceps/Triceps Superset- your

choice for exercises, 3 supersets, no rest between exercises, 2minutes between supersets

6. Med Grip Pushups with feet

elevated on bench/hands on floor- 3 x max reps, , 90sec btwn sets

between sets

5. Glute Ham Raise- 60 total reps any way you want, slow tempo

6. Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown- 3 sets, slow movement tempo

4. Delts- pick any 3 movements and

perform 3 giant sets, slow movement tempo, no rest between movements, 2min between giant sets

5. Biceps Superset- Pick any two

biceps exercises and perform 3 supersets, 1-2minutes rest between supersets

6. Any Pushup variation x 1 sets of maximum reps

120

The knowledge Behind programs

James Smith

Week of 9-7 Secondary Lower 1 of 3 General Warm up- up to you

Primary Upper 2 of 3 General Warm Up- up to you

1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2:

1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2: (rest between movements is up to you) (rest between movements is up to you) • McGill Bird dog box pattern with legs only (hands stay fixed on the ground) • Rolling Planks • Alternate Reverse Lunge

2. Mcgill Bird Dog RLRL 3. Isometric pushup hold with hands on

the floor

4. Stir the Pot

Primary Lower 2 of 3 General Warm up- up to you

1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest between movements is up to you) • McGill Bird dog box pattern • Rolling Planks • Iso Back Squat with 20kg barbell • McGill Curl ups

• McGill Curl ups

5. Decline Rhythmic Pushups

• Single Leg Lying Leg Curl

6. Neck and Traps Superset

• Rhythmic Rolling Hops

• Any Neck Extension- 2x20

• Rhythmic Rebound Hops on Aerobics step

Neck

• Any Neck Flexion- 2x20

Neck

• Any Neck Extension 3x12

• Any Shrug- 2x20

• Any Neck Extension 4x10

• Any Neck Flexion 3x12

Main Training

• Any Neck Flexion 4x10

Main Training

Main Training

1. Pullups- 6 x 4, 30-45sec anyway

1. Bench Press- warm up to a 3RM, 3min btwn sets, then drop down to 70% of that weight for 3 sets of max reps, 5min btwn sets

2. Glute Ham Raise- 40 total reps

2. Clapping Pushups- 3x6

foot elevated on aerobics step- 3 x 12,each leg, same weight, 2min between legs

4. Delts- dumbbell giant set, any 3

dumbbell exercises, no rest between movements, x 3 supersets, 2min between giant sets

Bridge- 110kg x 2 sets of max reps, slow and controlled movement tempo (the slower the better), optional rest between sets

5. Biceps/Triceps Superset- your

4. Dumbbell Split Squat rear foot

choice for exercises, 3 supersets, no rest between exercises, 2minutes between supersets

elevated on bench- 3 x 10,each leg, same weight, 2min between legs and , 2min between sets

6. Wide Grip Pushups with feet elevated on bench/hands on floor- 3 x max reps, , 90sec btwn sets

5. Glute Ham Raise- 70 total reps

you want (do not fully extend elbows, semi-explosively)

• Single Leg Seated Leg Curl

1. Pullups- 8 x 4, 30-45sec btwn

sets, any way you want (do not extend elbows all the way, perform semi-explosively)

any way you want, slow and controlled 3. Neutral Grip Chest Supported 2. High Box Squat- 100kg x 5sets movement tempo, 2min btwn sets x 6reps, 1min btwn sets Row- 4x10 increase weight each set, slow and controlled, 3-5min between sets 3. Barbell Double Leg Glute 3. Dumbbell Split Squat front

4. Wide Neutral Grip Lat Pull Down- 3 sets, smooth movement tempo

any way you want, slow tempo

6. Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown- 3 sets, slow movement tempo

121

The knowledge Behind programs

James Smith

Week of 9-14

*For primary upper 3 of 3 you once again have the option to work up to a 1RM (only if you feel good). If you don’t then, work up to heavy, but not maximal single, then drop down to 60% of that for 3 sets of max reps with 5min in between Secondary Upper 2 of 3 General Warm Up- up to you

Secondary Lower 2 of 3 General Warm up- up to you

1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x

1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest 1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2: between movements is up to you)

(rest between movements is up to you)

• Mcgill Bird Dog LLRR

• McGill Bird dog box pattern with legs only (hands stay fixed on the ground)

2. Mcgill Bird Dog RLRL

• Stir the Pot

• Rolling Planks

• Isometric pushup hold with feet elevated on bench (back flat)

• Alternate Reverse Lunge

the floor

• Cable Face Pull with rope attachment

• Single Leg Lying Leg Curl

2: (rest between movements is up to you)

• Decline Rhythmic Pushups Neck • Any Neck Extension 3x12 • Any Neck Flexion 3x12 Main Training

1. Clapping Pushups x 3x6 2. Dumbbell Floor Press- up to

40kg ea x 2 x max reps, 5min btwn sets

• McGill Curl ups • Rhythmic Rolling Hops Neck • Any Neck Extension 2x20 • Any Neck Flexion 2x20 Main Training

1. Pullups- 6 x 5, 60sec btwn anyway you want (do not fully extend elbows, semi-explosively)

2. Glute Ham Raise- 50 total reps

any way you want, slow and controlled 3. Any Row- 4x10, increase wt each movement tempo, 2min btwn sets set, 2min rest between sets, controlled 3. Dumbbell Split Squat front foot movement tempo in all phases elevated on aerobics step- 3 x 10,each

Primary Upper 3 of 3 General Warm Up- up to you

3. Isometric pushup hold with hands on 4. Stir the Pot 5. Decline Rhythmic Pushups 6. Neck and Traps Superset • Any Neck Extension- 4x10 • Any Neck Flexion- 4x10 • Any Shrug- 4x10 Main Training

1. Bench Press- warm up to a 1RM, 3min btwn sets, then drop down to 60% of that weight for 3 sets of max reps, 5min btwn sets

2. Clapping Pushups- 3x7 3. Neutral Grip Chest Supported Row3x10 increase weight each set, slow and controlled, 3-5min between sets

4. Delts- pick any 3 movements and leg, same weight, 2min between legs perform 3 giant sets, slow movement 4. Wide Neutral Grip Lat Pull

4. Delts- dumbbell giant set, any 3

5. Biceps Superset- Pick any two

5. Biceps/Triceps Superset- your choice

tempo, no rest between movements, 2min between giant sets biceps exercises and perform 3 supersets, 1-2minutes rest between supersets

6. Any Pushup variation x 1 sets of maximum reps

dumbbell exercises, no rest between Down- 3 sets, smooth movement tempo movements, x 3 supersets, 2min between giant sets for exercises, 3 supersets, no rest between exercises, 2minutes between supersets

6. Close Grip Pushups with feet

elevated on bench/hands on floor- 3 x max reps, , 90sec btwn sets

122

The knowledge Behind programs

James Smith

Week of 9-21 Primary Lower 3 of 3 General Warm up- up to you

Secondary Upper 3 of 3 General Warm Up- up to you

Secondary Lower 3 of 3 General Warm up- up to you

1.Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest

1. Pre-Training, Repeat this series x 2:

1. Pre-Training: repeat series x 2: (rest

•McGill Bird dog box pattern

• Mcgill Bird Dog LLRR

•Rolling Planks

• Stir the Pot

• McGill Bird dog box pattern with legs only (hands stay fixed on the ground)

•Single Leg Seated Leg Curl

• Cable Face Pull with rope attachment

• McGill Curl ups

•Rhythmic Rebound Hops on Aerobics step

• Decline Rhythmic Pushups

• Single Leg Lying Leg Curl

Neck

• Rhythmic Rolling Hops

Neck

• Any Neck Extension 2x20

Neck

•Any Neck Extension 3x12

• Any Neck Flexion 2x20

• Any Neck Extension 4x10

•Any Neck Flexion 3x12

Main Training

• Any Neck Flexion 4x10

Main Training

1. Clapping Pushups x 3x7

Main Training

1. Pullups- 7 x 4, 45-60sec btwn

2. Dumbbell Floor Press- up to 45kg ea

1. Pullups- 5 x 6, 60-80sec btwn anyway

between movements is up to you)

•Iso Back Squat with 20kg barbell •McGill Curl ups

sets, any way you want (do not extend elbows all the way, perform semiexplosively)

2. High Box Squat- 100kg x 4sets x 7reps, 1min btwn sets

(rest between movements is up to you)

• Isometric pushup hold with feet elevated • Rolling Planks on bench (back flat) • Alternate Reverse Lunge

x 2 x max reps, 5min btwn sets

3. Any Row- 3x10, increase wt each

set, 2min rest between sets, controlled movement tempo in all phases

4. Delts- pick any 3 movements and 3. Barbell Double Leg Glute Bridge- perform 3 giant sets, slow movement

120kg x 2 sets of max reps, slow and tempo, no rest between movements, 2min controlled movement tempo (the slower between giant sets the better), optional rest between sets 5. Biceps Superset- Pick any two 4. Dumbbell Split Squat rear foot biceps exercises and perform 3 supersets, elevated on bench- 3 x 8,each leg, 1-2minutes rest between supersets same weight, 2min between legs and , 6. Any Pushup variation x 1 sets of 2min between sets maximum reps 5. Glute Ham Raise- 80 total reps any way you want, slow tempo

6. Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown- 3

between movements is up to you)

you want (do not fully extend elbows, semi-explosively)

2. Glute Ham Raise- 60 total reps

any way you want, slow and controlled movement tempo, 2min btwn sets

3. Dumbbell Split Squat front foot

elevated on aerobics step- 3 x 8,each leg, same weight, 2min between legs

4. Wide Neutral Grip Lat Pull Down- 3 sets, smooth movement tempo

sets, slow movement tempo James Smith: Professional duties have included stations in 3 countries. Coaching or consulting roles have spanned the Olympic, International, Professional, University, High/Secondary School and private sector levels. Work positions have included: track and field coach/ consultant, physical preparation coach/consultant, Program Director, and Senior National Physical Preparation Coach with Performance Director responsibility for the Portuguese Rugby Federation. Presentations on global sport concepts have been given in 5 different countries. Consulting duties have spanned work with coaches/athletes from the NFL, CFL, Collegiate American Football, United Kingdom Athletics, Jamaican Track and Field, US Collegiate Track and Field, US National Luge, Super 15 Rugby, Premiership Rugby, Rabo Direct Pro 12 Rugby, English Premier League Football, Croatian Water Polo, USA Volleyball, Mixed Martial Arts, and a variety of other Olympic sports disciplines. Military special operations, Paramilitary, and Law Enforcement clients have included: operators from USAF Para Rescue, US Navy SEAL Teams, US Navy Divers, Swedish Särskilda Skyddsgruppen, US Army Special Forces, Federal Air Marshals, Para Military Contractors, and Corrections Officers.

8 Week Shoulder Blaster Program

T

his is an 8 week shoulder program that I used to bring up my delts for my physique shows. I still did a heavy chest day. Having a concentrated shoulder day proved to be extremely beneficial for bringing up my delts. This program can be utilized intermediate or advanced lifters. It can be used as a standalone shoulder program for an aesthetic based bodybuilding regimen. If using it for mass gains, I suggest the following split:

Legs Chest & light shoulders Arms Back/lats Shoulders & light chest (this workout)

It can also be adding to a powerlifting program as a separate supplemental shoulder day (in addition to max effort and dynamic effort days). If adding it to a powerlifting program, I suggest the following: Max effort bench with lat work, triceps and light shoulders Dynamic bench (3 days later) with back work and triceps Shoulder day (this workout, the day after dynamic bench) with shoulders and curls optional. The idea behind it is to get some concentrated shoulder work in rather than doing it at the end

Julia Ladewski

of a bench day with only 1 or 2 small exercises. With this, the volume and intensity is higher, so take that into consideration with your other bench days as well. Recovery is still important, but it does give a good blend for those looking to maintain or increase strength and bring up a lagging body part.

WEEK 1

• BB Overhead Press work to heavy 5 DOWNSETS, 2x10 • DB Hex Press 4x12 • Pec Minor Dips- 4xfailure superset with Band Over & Backs- 4x10 • Grenade/Band Rear flyes 3x30 For these, attach bands to a post and attach two 3” Grenades to the band with large carabiners.  • 6 Way shoulder 3x10

8 Week Shoulder blaster program

124

WEEK 2 • Timed DB Overhead Press 1 press every 6 seconds for 2 minutes x 3 sets • Face Pulls 4x20 • Side Chain Laterals 3x10, 1x20 • Scarecrows 3x10 • Feet elevated Pushups 8 pushups every 30 seconds Work to failure or 100, whichever comes first

WEEK 3

• BB Overhead Press work up to heavy 5 Down set of 5 with a 3 sec up, 3 sec down • 6 way shoulder 3x10 • Rear delt destroyer set  60 reps partial 30 reps partial 15 reps full range • Dumbell hex press 4x12 • Ladder pushups 3 different positions on the rack.  Pushups to failure on each position. 

WEEK 4

• Swiss bar Overhead press Used the 3 neutral grips. Started with narrow one first and work your way out.  1st set- 5 reps at each grip 2nd set- 4 reps at each 3rd set- 3 reps at each 2nd set- 2 reps at each • Leaning side raise 4x40 seconds • Seated dumbbell cleans 4x20 reps 

julia Ladewski

SUPERSET WITH  Band pull aparts 4x10  • Band chest press 3x10 w/ hold • Chain fly/press combo 3x8 each

WEEK 5

• 6 way Shoulders 3x10 • Bradford press 5x5 • (Downset of over/back+full overhead press = 1 rep) 2x8 • Alt. DB OH Press x40, 36, 38 • J Walking w/ micro mini around wrists 2 sets (1 down the rack, 1 up) • Chain Flyes 3x12 superset with TRX Pushups 3x12

WEEK 6

• Overhead press 6 second rep (3 ct up, 3 ct down) - 3x10 Chain Side Laterals - 4x12 • Serrano OH Press 4x8 • Face Pulls for a song • Band Flyes 3x15 • Reverse Band Bench 100 total reps

WEEK 7

• Serrano Overhead Press 3x8 each • BB Military (standing) 4x6

8 Week Shoulder blaster program

125

• Bradford - 3 sec back, 3 sec forward 3x12 (6 over and backs) TRI SET WITH • Band side raises 4x20 TRI SET WITH • Rear delt (hang and swing) 4x15 • Grenade chain flyes 4x12 • Ladder pushups- 4 levels failure at each level

WEEK 8

• Rear/Side/Front Raise 3x20 reps each, non-stop • DB Arnold Press 4x12 • Rear Delt Rows 4x10 (last set drop set of 10, 10, 10) • DB Flyes 4x8+6 w/ manual resistance • Banded Chest Press 4x1 minute timed

Julia Ladewski, CSCS, is a coach to athletes, women, men, powerlifters, crossfitters, fitness enthusiasts, recreational lifters and those seeking body transformation. She takes pride in helping people from all walks of life to see and reach their full potential. Julia was a Division I University strength & conditioning coach from 2002-09 at the University at Buffalo, where she worked with every sport on campus. From 2009-2014, she was Director of Sports Performance at Parisi Speed School in Schererville, IN. As an elitefts.com sponsored athlete and Q&A staff member, Julia is an elite-level powerlifter in three different weight classes. She is also a physique competitor, mother to two children, and wife to husband Matt. Julia also owns Bella Forza Strength Apparel (www.BellaForza.me). She continues to write and speak about youth sports performance, female strength sports, and nutrition. She is one of the best hands-on technical coaches in the country. Her writing can be found on elitefts.com and JuliaLadewski. com. She is also a member of the Institutional Review Board for MusclePharm.

julia Ladewski

Perfecting Your Bench Work

4

Scott Yard

lessons that have had an impact on the platform He taught me to take 135 as seriously as 1000. He and a back to basics approach to assistance showed me that even though I’m strong that doesn’t bench work. make me good and strength is only half the battle. You need to practice your technique and get better. I am going to preface this article by stating that I am I learned that you should try and get better in the not the most qualified person in this eBook. The gym with each rep. truth is I wish I knew more and could offer more. With that being said I am very fortunate though to Powerlifting is a marathon not a sprint. Chase PRs, have 15 years of competitive platform experience not milestones. A 5lb pr is better than no pr. under my belt and during those 15 years I have had the luxury of knowing many smart people and have This is something I learned early on when I was in had many great conversations, tips, and pointers to gear and making my way towards my first 800lb give me the information I have lacked. bench. To date I have done 840 in a full meet and at one point was the best bencher in the world in a full The purpose of this article is to share some of the meet. Before that happened I was a 735 bencher and great things I have learned over the years. I aim to was being told I was on the way to 800. I listened to Live, learn, and pass on. Being a part of ELITEFTS the hype and started taking shots at 800. I missed had been a blessing for me these past 8 years and I them all lol. I started to think and my wife asked hope this article can help one of you reading this. If me why I kept doing so badly at meets. I told her I I can help just one person do better my mission was just missed 800 and I was close. She said why not accomplished. just do 740 first. I thought she was nuts. 740? But I want 800. I realized then that I was chasing mile Get better, not just stronger. stones and not prs like I should be. The next meet I did I opened at 675 and went 740 for a pr. I then did I used to train with a guy name Matt Wilson. Matt was 770. The next meet I did 775. I did this and finally an 1105 squatter and very technical. I would come hit my 800. It took longer but in the end it was the up to train with him and he was always reminding right way to do it. I stopped wasting training cycles me of how much I needed to work on things. At on long shots and walked away from meets being my own gym all I ever heard was “smoke show” or better then I was from the last meet. that was easy. At Matt’s gym all I heard was “that was high” or why are you rushing your warm ups”. Worry about yourself, not the next guy on deck.

Perfecting your bench work

127

When you are competing you are really just competing against yourself. Some may disagree but it isn’t a sport based on skill or miracles. You can either lift the weight or you can’t. The ability to hit the weight is based on genetics, your training cycle, and the years of iron under your belt. No one goes to a meet and hits a 100lb deadlift pr for the win. Powerlifting doesn’t have anything equivalent to the 1/2 court shot at the buzzer. The point of this is that it is better to get a pr on a third pull and hit a huge pr total then to go for something stupid on the deadlift you will never hit for the win. Again some will think this is crazy but I will take a big pr total any day over I almost got first but now I settled for 5th. Take second and win next year by actually being stronger than everyone else. Cutting weight isn’t always a good idea.

Stop cutting weight and start getting stronger. I see so many new lifters doing the first meet and cutting to 181 or 220. STOP IT. This is absurd. The only thing you should be doing at your first meet is focusing on getting all 9 attempts. Unless you are trying to be a top 20 lifter or going for a record it’s not worth it. This even goes for when you are going for a record or too. Cutting large amounts of weight is hell on your body. I did the Arnold bench bash in 2007. I came in third overall with an 828 bench. I went from 305 to 275 in two days. I was lucky to hit 828 but should have gone in at 305 and benched 865-870. The 308 record was 859 at the time and I was so hell bent on going 275 that I never even looked at the 308 records. I focused on a weight class instead of a pr and it cost me. Looking back no one cares what I weighed for the bench bash. I was still 3rd. If I focused on the task at hand of lifting the heaviest weight possible and performing to my best I might be bragging about a bigger bench then 840. Always choose performance over a division. In summary

Get better not just stronger.

Scott yard

Best yourself, and focus on PRs. Not landmarks

Best yourself and focus on your meet, not someone else’s Put performance first over any division

A back to basics approach for raw bench assistance work.

With those things in mind I will leave you with an outline of how I have handled my last two bench meet cycles. I will outline my assistance work and things that have helped me. The main bench work has consisted of lots of singles, rest pause work and cat sets. Check out josh Bryant’s book sold at elitefts.com titled bench press the science for more details on those. In 2009 I benched 505 raw in a full meet and was doing well going into my next meet for a pr. Long story short I tore my bicep tendon and sprained my ac joint and was stuck in the high 400s for 4 years until March of this year. I decided to go old school and add in bodybuilding type movements and focus on getting bigger and stronger. I also realized I need over head work. The problem was over head work hurt my shoulder. My solution for overhead work was the elitefts Swiss press bar and the elitefts shoulder saver pad. I found with these two I could do over head work. I alternate between incline and over head presses. I use a close grip for shoulder safety and like to use high reps and heavy reps. Peck work is a must for raw benches. I neglected my pecs for years buying into the hype that pecks don’t help your bench. I added in peck work and my bench went up. Heavy flies in the incline and flat variety are key. Push downs and band work for the triceps won’t cut it. I told myself my elbows were sore and I could get away with fluffy crap for my triceps. I got back to barbell and heavy db work for my triceps and again I hit PRs. Basics work and we all must return to them. Below is how I worked these movements in for my past two meet cycles. I went from struggling with high 400s last year to hitting 510 in March and 525 in July.

Perfecting your bench work

128

Scott yard

The chart bellows shows how I use these movements in a 12 week cycle. Like I said I always bench heavy first followed by cat and dead work. These movements follow the main work and are done in left to right order. Week

Delt / tricep movement Strict over head press Max set of 6

Chest movement

Tricep movement

Incline fly 8-10 reps

Strict over head press Max set of 12 Close grip incline Max set of 4

Low incline fly 8-10 reps Flat fly 8-10 reps

Close grip tricep ext off pins with chain max set of 5 Lying palms in db ext Max set of 10 Lying barbell exts 3 sets of 8 with same weight

4 5

Deload Close grip incline Max set of 2

Flat fly

6

Strict over head press Max set of 10 Close grip incline for max single

Incline fly 8-10 reps Low incline fly 8-10 reps

8

Deload

9

Strict over head press Max Set of 8

Flat fly 8-10 reps Incline fly 8-10 reps

10 11

Close grip incline for set of 8 at 80% Deload

12

Meet day

1 2 3

7

Low incline fly 8-10 reps Flat fly 8-10 reps

Close grip tricep ext off pins with chain max set of 5 Lying palms in db ext Max set of 10 Lying barbell exts 3 sets of 8 with same weight

Close grip tricep ext off pins with chain max set of 5 Lying palms in db ext Max set of 10 Lying barbell exts 3 sets of 8 with same weight

The over head press work is done with the elitefts Swiss press bar close grip for higher reps to keep the shoulders working but healthy and safe. The close grip incline is done with an elitefts shoulder saver pad to protect my shoulders but hammer the triceps pecks, and delts with heavy weights. The flies and exts are done heavy and changed weekly for variety. The key is to be strict but heavy and always shoot for weight or rep pr. Complacency equals stagnation, and stagnation equals death. Always try to be better and you will.

Perfecting your bench work

129

Scott yard

Bio: Scott Yard is a 2004 graduate of Western Maryland College. He is a 15 year veteran to the sport of power lifting who has lifted on many stages. As an equipped lifter in 2006 Scott broke the all-time world record total for the 275-pound class. This was done at the age of 23. His 2605-pound total consists of a 1050 squat, 840 bench, and a 715 deadlift. Scott’s 840 bench at one time was the heaviest recorded bench to date in a full meet across all weight classes. In early 2007 Scott placed third overall in the 242 plus division at the WPO ARNOLD bench bash. Later that year Scott placed third in the 242 plus division at the inaugural IPA PRO-AM. Scott currently competes raw. In November of 2010 he fulfilled a long term goal of totaling 2000 lbs raw with wraps in the 275 weight class. Scotts best competition raw with wraps lifts include 765 in the squat, 505 in the bench, and 755 in the deadlift. Scott also competes raw in the USAPL and won 2011 USAPL Raw nationals in the 242 class. In March of 2012 Scott competed at the Arnold Raw Challenge at the 231 weight class and came in second place. In 2014 Scott continues to compete raw and has squatted 700 raw without wraps, benched 525, and totaled 1925 with a belt only. Scott has held American and world records in the APF, APA, IPA, USAPL, and RPS powerlifting organizations. Scott trains out of Club Natural Gym in Hanover, Pennsylvania, and hopes to compete for many years to come. By day Scott is a husband and father of two girls and is the director of vocational services for a nonprofit agency that supports Adults with developmental disabilities.

Strength Training Program for Ultra-Marathoners

T

his year brought an unexpected challenge from two former clients of mine. One was participating in a 100 kilometre race while the other was going to run 50 kilometres of the race with her. The goal of my client was to complete the race in under sixteen hours to ensure she received the beer stein that was awarded to all participants who finished in under that time. Both of these clients had significant injury histories relating to their hips, glutes and calves. The brief they provided to me was simple:

• Get them stronger for the race; • Address their existing injuries as much as possible; and • Avoid any new injuries.

Bill Allars

The Functional Movement Screen showed that each of my clients has limited shoulder mobility, problems with hip flexion and extension, a lack of rotary stability and limited ankle mobilisation for one client. All of these conditions were supported by their physiotherapist who highlighted the remedial work they were to do while noting that there were no specific contraindications for either of them. Given that both of my clients were avid runners, the problems identified with hip flexion and extension in the Functional Movement Screen surprised me but most likely reflected a lack of gluteal function for each of them and the ongoing hip problems that one of them has been afflicted by. In putting together a program for these two runners, my focus was on the following:

All of this was to be completed in the sixteen weeks • Improving their hip mobility; that remained prior to the race. • Developing their ability to move in multiple Prior to developing the program with my clients, planes rather than the single plane that running there were two key things that I undertook. These required; were: • Address their gluteal dysfunction; and • Strengthen the core and driver muscles to • Completing a Functional Movement Screen on support their running. each of them; and • • Contacting their physiotherapist to review While the Functional Movement Screen identified a their injury histories, their progress and any lack of shoulder mobility for both clients, this was recommendations or contraindications that they not a key consideration in their program it would identified. not directly impact on their running goals. It is,

Strength Training Program

131

Bill Allars

• Quadruped Thoracic Rotations • Hip Flexor Mobilisations • Single Leg Deadlifts • Bowler Squats • Strength Work • SSB Squats (5x5) • Trap Bar Deadlifts (5x10) • KB Single Leg Deadlifts (5x10) • Bodyweight Lateral Lunges (5x10) • McGill Curls (3x20) • Super Mans (3x20) • Stretching • Hamstrings Phase 1 – Rehabilitation and Prehabilitation – • Calves • Quadriceps Weeks 1 through 4 • Gluteals • Lower Back This phase was focused primarily on continuing • Adductors to address existing injury issues in conjunction with the physiotherapist while also starting on the Each week we rotated the sets and repetition schemes process of improving their hip function. for the SSB Squats and the Trap Bar Deadlifts. The A standard session during this phase was: selection of SSB Squats was deliberate as I like the added instability that using this bar provides, forcing • Warm Up both clients to increase their stability and effectively • Foam Roller (10 rolls on each site) engage their core when completing the exercise. • Calves The lacrosse ball was included to allow us to identify • Backs of Knees and focus on addressing knots in muscles more • Hamstrings effectively through more focused contact than we • Glutes could achieve with the foam roller. The pained looks • Quadratus Lumborum on the faces on my clients was always a sure sign • Lower Back that a trigger point requiring attention had been • Quads identified. While they grappled with this during • Adductors the early phases, as they progressed with it, the • Hip Flexors improvement was visible. • IT Bands Phase 2 – Focused Strength Work – Weeks 5 • Lacrosse Ball through 14 • Calves • Gluteals • Mobility Work (10 repetitions of each exercise) This phase was focused primarily on building on the • 10 Hip Crossover foundation we had established during the first phase • 10 Scorpions while maintaining or focus on rehabilitation and prehabilitation. • 10 Supine Scorpions A standard workout during this phase was: • Front Leg Raises • Side Leg Raises • Rear Leg Raises • Warm Up • Foam Roller (10 rolls on each site) • Fire Hydrants however, something that I will now be working with both of them on addressing. The program we completed was divided into the following phases Rehabilitation and prehabilitation; Strength development; Taper. The program was amended as we progressed to take account of the running training that was prescribed by their running coach. This generally wasn’t a problem but there weeks where we backed off on load and intensity as they were particularly high volume running weeks.

Strength Training Program

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

132

Calves Backs of Knees Hamstrings Glutes Quadratus Lumborum Lower Back Quads Adductors Hip Flexors IT Bands Mobility Work (10 repetitions of each exercise) 10 Hip Crossover 10 Scorpions 10 Supine Scorpions Front Leg Raises Side Leg Raises Rear Leg Raises Fire Hydrants Quadruped Thoracic Rotations Hip Flexor Mobilisations Single Leg Deadlifts Bowler Squats Cossacks into Lunges Strength Work SSB Squats (5x5 working up to 3 repetition maximums) Trap Bar Deadlifts (5x10) Single Leg Bridges or Barbell Hip Thrusts (3x10) Front, Lateral and Reverse Lunges (3x10) McGill Curls (3x20) Super Mans (3x20) Planks or Side Planks (3x1 Minute) Stretching Hamstrings Calves Quadriceps Gluteals Lower Back Adductors

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • Each week we rotated the sets and repetition schemes for the SSB Squats and the Trap Bar Deadlifts. During this phase, we would occasionally need to change the volume and loads to reflect their running training. During one week we switched

Bill Allars

to an upper body session as they were due to run forty kilometres two days after our session and then thirty kilometres the following day. Needless to say, frying their legs during our session was not going to be of much benefit to them during this time. The strength exercises during this time was in the region of 20% on their squat and deadlift numbers. The increase in load for the barbell hip thrusts was in the order of 50%. While this was excellent news in terms of raw numbers, perhaps of greater impact was their anecdotal feedback that they both felt much stronger during their longer training runs and felt much more powerful when running up hill and across uneven terrain.

During this phase, exercise bands were added to the mobility work wherever possible, particularly during the front, side and rear leg raises. Regular massages were also included in their overall training program for recovery purposes.

Phase 2 – Taper – Weeks 15 & 16

This phase was focused primarily on keeping the muscles free of knots and loose. The hard work had already been done, the key here was on maintaining the gains that had been made. A standard workout during this phase was: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Warm Up Foam Roller (10 rolls on each site) Calves Backs of Knees Hamstrings Glutes Quadratus Lumborum Lower Back Quads Adductors Hip Flexors IT Bands Mobility Work (10 repetitions of each exercise) 10 Hip Crossover

Strength Training Program

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

133

10 Scorpions 10 Supine Scorpions Front Leg Raises Side Leg Raises Rear Leg Raises Fire Hydrants Quadruped Thoracic Rotations Hip Flexor Mobilisations Single Leg Deadlifts Bowler Squats Cossacks into Lunges Strength Work Light KB Goblet Squats (3x15) Bodyweight Single Leg Bridges Bodyweight Front, Lateral and Reverse Lunges (3x10) McGill Curls (3x20) Super Mans (3x20) Planks or Side Planks (3x1 Minute) Stretching Hamstrings Calves Quadriceps Gluteals Lower Back Adductors General Comments

Bill Allars

During all of the training phases, the client completed the mobility activities as part of their pre-run warm ups to ensure their hips and glutes were activated before they started. They also completed bodyweight circuits that included squats, lunges in all directions and single leg bridges and core week at least one other day during the week (preferably two but with their running loads this was not always possible given that they both also work full time). Outcomes The beer stein was gratefully accepted with my client finishing the 100kms in 15 hours, thirty minutes. A thirty-minute margin for error, just what I like to see. The most gratifying element of the whole experience for me was that both of my clients remained injury free during the whole preparation period and both noted that they felt strong not only at the start of the race but also at the end of it. The next step for these two is to confirm the next item on their bucket lists (I believe it has to do with a race up the stairs in an 80+ floor building) and start the process of developing a training program for this while also getting them in “bikini” shape for the upcoming southern hemisphere summer.

Strength Training Program

134

Bill Allars

About the Author: I am a personal trainer based in Frankston, Victoria. I have more than 30 years of training and nutrition experience that I can bring to bear to help you achieve your health and fitness goals. I have trained for sports, to build strength, to build muscle and to improve general health and fitness levels. I work with my clients to help them achieve the health and well-being that they deserve. [email protected]

Advanced Powerlifting Training Bryan Mann Week 1 Monday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Tuesday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Thursday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Saturday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Low Box Squat Leg Press Pistol Squat Hise Shrugs Glute Ham Raise

Speed Press JM Press Tate Press Lat Pull Downs Bradford Press Band Pull Aparts

Box Squat Dimel Deadlifts Walking Lunge Pull Down Abs Reverse Hypers

Floor Press Piston Pushdowns Chest Supported Row

Max Effort 4 4 3 6

8 6 6 6 3 3

8 3 3 6 6

Max Effort 3 6

1 8 10each leg 20 8

3 10 15 10 10 12

2 20 8each leg 10 10

1 1 minute 10

Max Effort Heavy Bodyweight Moderate Bodyweight

50% Moderate Moderate Heavy Moderate Mini band

50% Light Moderate Moderate Moderate

Max Effort Bands Heavy

Advanced powerlifting Training

DB Row DB Arnold Press Hammer Curls

6 3 3

136

Bryan mann

10 10e 12

Moderate Heavy Moderate

Week 2 Monday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Tuesday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

3

12

Mini band

Sets

Reps

Intensity

6

10

Moderate

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Band Resisted Deadlift Hack Squat Pistol Squat DB Shrugs Glute Ham Raise

Speed Press Close Grip 4 board Triceps Flare Outs Seated Cable Row Rev Grip Overhead Press Band Pull Aparts Palms Up

Thursday

Box Squat RDL Reverse Walking Lunge Pull Down Abs Stagger Stance Reverse Hypers Feet Wide

Saturday

3 Board Press Band Pushdown Barbell Row DB Row Elbows Out Plate Raise Hammer Curls

Max Effort 4 4 3 6

8 6 6 6 3

8 3 3 6

Max Effort 3 6 6 3 3

1 8 10each leg 20 8

3 3 15 10 10

2 10 8each leg 10

1 1 minute 10 10 10e 12

Max Effort Heavy Bodyweight Moderate Hands Behind Head

55% Heavy Moderate Heavy Moderate

55% Moderate Moderate Moderate

Max Effort Bands Heavy Moderate Heavy Moderate

Advanced powerlifting Training

137

Bryan mann

Week 3 Monday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Tuesday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Thursday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

6

10

Moderate

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Chain Squats Front Squat Pistol Squat-Elevated Behind Back Shrugs Glute Ham Raise

Speed Press Barbell Extension Rolling Extensions V Bar Lat Pulldown Seated DB Snatch Band Pull Aparts to angles

Box Squat Pull Throughs DB Step Ups Pull Down Abs Stagger Stance Reverse Hypers

Saturday

Reverse Band Press Piston Pushdowns Reverse Grip BB Row DB Row Elbows Out Lateral Raise Hammer Curls

Max Effort 4 4 3 6

8 6 6 6 3 3

8 3 3 6

Max Effort 3 6 6 3 3

1 8 10each leg 20 8

3 8 15 10 10 12

2 20 8each leg 10

1 1 minute 6 10 10e 12

Max Effort Heavy Bodyweight Moderate Band Resisted

60% Heavy Moderate Heavy Moderate Mini band

60% Moderate Moderate Moderate

Max Effort Bands Heavy Moderate Heavy Moderate

Advanced powerlifting Training

138

Bryan mann

Week 4 Monday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Tuesday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Lat Pulldown Seated DB Snatch Face Pulls

6 3 3

10 10 12

Heavy Moderate Light

Thursday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Saturday

Sets

Reps

Intensity

Reverse Band Squat Overhead Squat Pistol Squat-Elevated Snatch Grip Shrugs Glute Ham Raise

Speed Press French Press

Box Squat Pull Throughs Reverse DB Step Ups Pull Down Abs Reverse Hypers Feet Out

Shirted Bench Press Piston Pushdowns Reverse Grip BB Row If you’ve still got gas in the tank, you didn’t go hard enough on bench today

Max Effort 4 4 3 6

8 6

8 3 3 6 6

Max Effort 3 6

1 8 10each leg 20 8

3 10

2 20 8each leg 10 10

1 1 minute 6

Max Effort Light Bodyweight Moderate Plate Behind Head

50% Moderate

50% Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate

Max Effort Bands Heavy

Advanced powerlifting Training

139

Bryan mann

This workout is for a more advanced trainee. The exercises change weekly excluding the things that are more foundational. Even then, things like GHR and Reverse Hyper will change in small variations of the main lift. I like getting into the bench shirt about every 4th week or so, and usually follow this progression of max effort lifts or some form of them. For the lower body- when I could still compete in squat, I found that my reverse band squat with the strong band was pretty much what my geared squat would be. I never really had to throw on gear to keep my squat in check, but would normally do so about every 6th to 8th week just because. For me, the bench press was more crucial to get into the gear more often. It wasn’t so much the strength, but the pressure in my head that I would have to get used to. While the reverse band squat pretty much replicated everything on the squat for me save for the funky waddle up (who am I kidding, I waddle everywhere), the pressure throughout my body was the same. For the bench press, if I didn’t get enough work in the shirt it wasn’t the weight I couldn’t handle on meet day, it was the pressure in my head. Mann received his degree in Health Promotion from Missouri State University in 2003, a Graduate Certificate in Sports Management from Missouri State University in 2004, a Masters Degree in Health Education and Promotion in 2006 and PhD in 2011. Mann is recognized as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as well as Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified (SCCC) from the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association. Mann resides in the Columbia area with his wife Corinne Schoppet Mann.

Strongman Training for Old Dudes

Mark Watts

T

his is a very basic program for strongman for the off-season with not a lot of volume. This program utilizes Zatsiorsky three methods and provides about 10 days before an exercise is repeated. The four basic lifts will be repeated three times every 4-week cycle. This is an outstanding program for anyone need more recovery in between training sessions. Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

Day 1: Dynamic Effort Bench Press Deadlift Military Press Squat

Day 2: Max Effort Squat Bench Press Deadlift Military Press

Day 3: Repetive Effort Military Press Squat Bench Press Deadlift

Typical Set & Rep Scheme Dynamic Effort: 5 doubles, 5 triples, or 10 singles Maximum Effort: Work up to heavy double or triple Repetitive Effort: 1x10-15 Exercise Pool & Rotation

Exercise Squat Bench Press Deadlift Military Press

Dynamic Effort Box Squat w/ Bands or Chains BP w/ Bands or Chains DL w/ Bands or Chains BTN Push Press

Maximum Effort Front Squat Fat Bar Bench Press Trap Bar Deadlift Fat Bar Military Press

Repetitive Effort SS Yoke Bar Squat DB Bench Press for Time Conv. Deadlift Log Clean & Press

141

Strongman Training for old dudes

Mark Watts

Typical Training Session Dynamic Warm-Up Main Lift Supplemental Movement (sometime supersetted w/ main lift) Accessory Movement (sometimes supersetted w/ supplemental lift) Accessory Movements Supplemental Accessory

Exercise

Dynamic Effort Seated Box Jumps Glute-Ham Raise

Glute-Ham Raise Single Leg RDL

Glute-Ham Bridge Banded Leg Curl

Bench Press

Band Pull-Downs Med Ball Throws

Neutral Grip Pull-Up Band Face Pulls

Cable Pull-Down Band Scarecrows

Deadlift

Single Leg Box Jumps Reverse Hypers Pallof Press

Single Leg Squat Blast Strap Fall-Outs

Walking Lunge Stability Ball Roll-outs

Military Press

Blast Strap Row Plyo-Push-Ups

Meadows Row Chain or Banded Push-ups

1 Arm DB Row Feet elevated Push-Up

Squat

WEEK 1 Day 1

Maximum Effort

Repetitive Effort

Bench Press w/ Doubled Minis Single Arm Band Pull-Downs Rotational Med ball Push Throws against Wall

5 triples w/ 30 sec. RI 3 sets of 5 w/ an X33 tempo 3 sets of 5 throws each direction

Buffalo Bar Hands Free Front Squat Weighted Glute-Ham Raise Single Leg DB RDL

Work up to 3RM Cluster Set of 3 w/ 60 sec. RI DO set: -10%x5 3 sets of 5 3 sets of 8

Log Clean & Press 1 Arm DB Row Feet Elevated Push-up

80% of 1RM for Max Reps in 75 sec. 70% of 1RM for Max Reps in 60 sec. 3 sets of 10 100 reps

Day 2

Day 3

WEEK 2

Strongman Training for old dudes

Day 1

Deadlift w/ Bands & Chains Single Leg Box Jumps Pallof Press

Day 2

Fat Bar Bench Press Neutral Grip Pull-Up Light Band Face Pulls

Day 3

142

Mark Watts

60% of 1RM for 10 singles 5 sets of 2 jumps each leg 3 sets of 10 reps

Work up to 3RM Cluster Set of 3 w/ 60 sec. RI DO set: -10%x5 Work up to 5RM Same weight for 2 triples or 3 doubles 2 sets of 15

SS Yoke Bar Squat Stability Ball Bridge & Curl Seated Band curls

Work up to 5RM Same weight for 2 triples or 3 doubles 3 sets of 10 reps 2 sets of 25 reps

Behind the Neck Push Press Blast Strap Row Plyo-Push-ups

Work up to 2RM Drop 10% and perform 3 doubles 50 reps 10 sets of 3

WEEK 3 Day 1

Day 2

Trap Bar Deadlift Prisoner Side Step-Up Blast Strap Fall-outs

Day 3

Work up to 3RM Cluster Set of 3 w/ 60 sec. RI 3 sets of 8 2 sets of 15

Stability Ball DB Bench Press 25% bodyweight for max reps in 60 sec. Same weight for 45 sec Same weight for 30 sec Cable Pull-Down 4 sets of 12 reps Mini Band Scarecrows 3 sets of 10 reps

WEEK 4 Day 1

Box Squat w/ Bands & Chains Seated Box Jumps Glute Ham-Raise

40% for 5 doubles 5 sets of 3 3 sets of 5

Strongman Training for old dudes

Day 2

Fat Bar Military Press Meadows Row Push-ups w/ Bands or Chains

Day 3

Conventional Deadlift Stability Ball Roll Outs Walking Lunge

143

Mark Watts

Work up to 3RM Cluster Set of 3 w/ 60 sec. RI DO set: -10%x5 4 sets of 6 reps Add Chain for every 3 reps OR… Add band tension for every 10 reps 70-80% of 1RM for max reps in 60 sec 3 sets of 10 4 x 25yards

Mark Watts is the Director of Education at elitefts.com™ and the NSCA Ohio State Director. He is also an adjunct professor in the College of Professional & Applied Studies at Urbana University. Watts has a master’s degree in exercise science and health promotion from California University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in elementary education from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Mark has been working with college athletes in over 20 different sports at the Division I, II, and III levels for over 15 years as a strength and conditioning coach. Prior to elitefts™, he coached athletes at Denison University, the United States Military Academy at West Point, Allegheny College, and Clarion University. He has also completed strength and conditioning internships at the University of Tulsa and Ohio State University. Mark is certified by the National Strength & Conditioning Association, USA Weightlifting, the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association. He started competing in powerlifting in 1997 and is an amateur Strongman competitor in the master’s division. Mark is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is a USMC veteran.

Block Periodization Program Shane Church

T

his program came to me as I was writing programs for no one. I really liked it and thought I came up with the next big thing. Boy was I wrong. Not only was this not “the next big thing” I’m pretty Moses was doing Block Periodization when he was crossing the desert. So, after having my dreams of being the Canadian Jim Wendler were dashed, I decided to research Block and put it on paper the way I would want to do it. This is what I came up with:

Block 1: Accumulation Squat

3 sets of 6 @ 60% of goal 4 sets of 6 @ 60% of goal 5 sets of 6 @ 60% of goal 6 sets of 6 @ 60% of goal The accessory work in this block will focus on building work capacity. For that I like to use low intensity, high volume work done in a circuit. An example of an upper body day would be;

• Overhead Swiss bar Extensions • Swiss bar curls • Swiss bar military press with a slow tempo • Face pulls • Push ups. Rocking each exercise for 10-12 reps and doing this for as many sets as you are doing on your main lift.

Black Periodization Program

145

Shane Church

Block 2: Transmutation Squat

Bench

Deadlift

CG Incline Bench

4 sets of 4 @ 70% of goal 4 sets of 3 @ 75% of goal 4 sets of 3 @ 80% of goal 4 sets of 2 @ 85% of goal

4 sets of 4 @ 70% of goal 4 sets of 3 @ 75% of goal 4 sets of 3 @ 80% of goal 4 sets of 2 @ 85% of goal

4 sets of 4 @ 70% of goal 4 sets of 3 @ 75% of goal 4 sets of 3 @ 80% of goal 4 sets of 2 @ 85% of goal

4 sets of 4 @ 70% of goal 4 sets of 3 @ 75% of goal 4 sets of 3 @ 80% of goal 4 sets of 2 @ 85% of goal

Your accessories here will look nothing like the actual movement. An Upper body day would have stuff like vertical rows, DB flys and rope push downs in it. Focusing on the muscle and getting a sweet sweet pump on.

Block 3: Realization Squat

Bench

Deadlift

CG Incline Bench

6 sets of 1 @ 85% of goal 4 sets of 1 @ 90% of goal 3 sets of 1 @ 92.5% of goal 2 sets of 1 @ 95% of goal

6 sets of 1 @ 85% of goal 4 sets of 1 @ 90% of goal 3 sets of 1 @ 92.5% of goal 2 sets of 1 @ 95% of goal

6 sets of 1 @ 85% of goal 4 sets of 1 @ 90% of goal 3 sets of 1 @ 92.5% of goal 2 sets of 1 @ 95% of goal

6 sets of 1 @ 85% of goal 4 sets of 1 @ 90% of goal 3 sets of 1 @ 92.5% of goal 2 sets of 1 @ 95% of goal

\

The 12th week will also be your opener. This is where the rubber meets the tracks. Higher intensity accessories like rack pulls and pin press are done added to make sure the tonnage of your training days isn’t dropping to much with the less volume. The most crucial part of this, and pretty much any program, is to be REALISTIC with your goals. A safe bet that I tell people is to attempt no more than 10% of your previous best meet lift. And that number drops the longer you have been lifting and stronger you are. I would never tell a 1000 lbs squatter to base it off of getting an 1100 lbs squat in his next meet. That is unrealistic. Powerlifting is a sport of longevity. The longer you compete the better it gets, the more friends you will make and the stronger you will become. Mentally and physically. Give this a try and for at least 12 blocks and let me know if you think I’m crazy or not!

Shane Church started competing in Strongman in Canada in 2007. With nothing to do in the winter, he started competing in Powerlifting and never looked back. Shane currently trains in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and has personal best lifts of 960 lbs squat, 615 lbs bench, and 705 deadlift, and a Canadian record total of 2245 lbs, all in the 242 lbs weight class.

Frederick “Fred”, 5 Columbus, OH I WISH TO GO TO THE FINAL SHUTTLE LAUNCH. Astronaut Fred, this is Houston. Do you copy?

For 5-year-old Fred, rocket ships and astronauts serve as a positive distraction from his tough medical tests and procedures.

Fred suffers from diamond blackfan anemia, a bone marrow disorder. Fred doesn’t let his condition stop him because nothing could stop his heroes, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, either!

When volunteers asked Fred what his one true wish would be, it was easy for this young boy to answer. He wished to visit Kennedy Space Center – specifically to see the final space shuttle launch.

“We had a fantastic time. Fred met all sorts of astronauts and pilots and NASA employees. It’s hard to describe how perfect this turned out,” Fred’s parents, Joanne and Mark, shared in a note to the Foundation.

The astronauts’ courage reminded Fred of his own

hope, strength and joy, and now he is ready to face

hope, strength and joy, and now he is ready to his next frontier!

Summer Football Training Phase II and III

Ron McKeefery

Ron McKeefery Eastern Michigan Football Sports Performance Summer Phase II Monday Power Clean-BB Front Squat Russian Leans Step Ups-BB-UL Leg Curl-PB-UL TKE Swings-KB-BL Hip Thrusts-BB-BL Abduction-MR Calf Raise Neck Lat Flex-MR Neck Flex-MR Plate Holds Core

Tuesday 6 x (5,3,1) 3 x 6-8 3 x 6-8 2 x 8-10 2 x 8-10 1 x 10-12 1 x 10-12 1 x 10-12 1 x 10-12 1 x 10-12 2 x 12 1 x 12 1 x :60sec 200 reps

Bench Press Row-BB-BL Military Press-BB Pullover-DB-BL Dips Pec Fly Hyperextension TPDs-CB-BL-SG Bicep Curls-UB-StD Rear Delt-DB-BL Neck Lat Flex-MR Neck Ext-MR Wrist Rolls Core Weight

6 x (5,3,1) 3 x 6-8. 3 x 6-8 2 x 8-10 2 x 8-10 1 x 10-12 1 x 10-12 1 x 10-12 1 x 10-12 1 x 10-12 2 x 12 1 x 12 Cycle 200 reps

Summer Football training

148

Ron McKeefery

Thursday

Friday

Snatch-BB-BL 6 x (5,3) Bench Press-BB-#B 3 x 6-8 Pull Up-PG 3 x 6-8 Military Press-DB-BL 2 x 8-10 Row-DB-UL 2 x 8-10 Pec Fly-CB 1 x 10-12 Good Mornings-BN 1 x 10-12 Tate Press-DB-BL 1 x 10-12 Bicep Curls-BB-PG 1 x 10-12 Shrugs-BB 1 x 10-12 Neck Lat Flex-MR 2 x 12 Neck Flex-MR 1 x 12 Finger Walks-SH x1 Core 200 reps

Squat-BB 6 x (5,3,1) Deadlift-BB-BL-PG 3 x 6-8 ? 3 x 6-8 RDL-DB-BL 2 x 8-10 Lunge-BB-UL 2 x 8-10 Sled Drag-Reverse 1 x Set Distance Pull Thru-BN-UL-SA 1 x 10-12 Hip Lift-UL 1 x 10-12 Adduction-MR 1 x 10-12 Dorsiflexion-MR 1 x 10-12 Neck Lat Flex-MR 2 x 12 Neck Ext-MR 1 x 12 Plate Flips 1 x 12 Core 200 reps

Day 2

Ron McKeefery Eastern Michigan Football Sports Performance Summer Phase III Day 1 Clean and Jerk Box Squats Military-DB-UL-AT TGU-DB-UL Lunges-DB-UL-Rev Leg Curl-MR-UL Lat. Lunge-DB-UL F/S/R-DB-BL Core Plate Holds Neck Lat Flex-MR Neck Flexion-MR Weight

6-8 x 3-2 2 x 6-8 2 x 8-10 2 x 8-10 2 x 10-12 2 x 20yds 1 x 10-12 200 reps 1 x 60sec 2 x 12 1 x 12

Bench Press-BB-BL High Pulls-BB-BL RFE-DB-UL Row-BB-BL Hurdle Hops Push Up-MB-AT Rev Hyperextension Dips Core Wrist Rolls Neck Lat Flex-MR Neck Ext-MR

6 x (5,3,1) 6-8 x 2-3 2 x 6-8 2 x 8-10 2 x 6ea 2 x 10-12 2 x 10-12 2 x 10-12 200 reps x2 2 x 12 1 x 12

Day 3 Deadlift-TB-BL Bench-BB-CH Box Jumps-UL RDL-BB-BL Pull Ups-NG TKE-BN-UL Lower Leg Bicep Curls-SB Core Plate Flips Neck Lat Flex-MR Neck Flex-MR-AT

6 x (5,3,1) 6-8 x 3-2 2 x 6ea. 2 x 8-10 2 x 8-10 2 x 10-12 2 x 10-12 2 x 10-12 200 reps 1 x 10-12 2 x 12 1 x 12

Build your Sumo and Conventional Deadlifts

D

isclaimer: You should be proficient in both lifts before you try this program. You don’t have to be an expert in both lifts, but poor technique in over an extended period of time is asking for longterm problems. I think most lifters ask themselves at one point or another, “Am I built to better pull sumo or conventional?” Sumo is more technical and can be considered more difficult to learn, but a deadlift is a deadlift is a deadlift. Both pick the bar up from the floor and lock it out at the top. I was a decent conventional deadlifter when I first started powerlifting. I pulled an ugly 700 at 200lbs that wouldn’t have passed at a sanctioned meet. A month later, in my “offseason,” I decided to give sumo a try. I missed 600lbs and 550 was uglier than my best conventional pull. This left me scratching my head. At this time, I was fortunate enough to train at Westside on the weekends, so naturally Louie threw me in briefs and said just pull sumo for a while. I did all my speed deadlifts with a sumo stance, still ugly, but I was getting better. I went to a deadlift meet only a few months later and pulled a smooth 700 conventionally. It doesn’t take much “figurin” to understand that the sumo work was bringing up my conventional pull. So I took it a step further. I committed to pulling sumo in training regularly (and heavier). I learned that I could train my sumo from the floor relatively heavy

Casey William

just about every week, where my conventional pulls from the floor would leave me burned out within a matter of weeks. I had to take a step back to take two steps forward, but it’s paying off. So I’ll show you a condensed version of what I did (because my journey into learning both was a two year process), although it will likely need altering to fit your individual weaknesses.

*I’m doing this as a conventional puller in competition. If you’re a sumo dead lifter, you may want to consider switching the days I have listed for each respectively. Or run the program once the way it is written, and then switch it the next time through. Hell that would leave you with 12 weeks to start a meet prep if you did that. (52weeks – 20 – 20= 12 weeks, ain’t life grand?)

Notes: • Percentages are based on true competition max. • Rack pulls are done with the bar at the top of the kneecap. • Block pulls are done with the plates sitting on 4” blocks (or mats or stacked plates). • GHR’s can be replaced with ”poor man’s GHR’s” if you don’t have one available (YouTube it if you’re unsure of what I’m talking about). • Also any type of glute/hamstring exercise can be substituted for Rev. Hypers if one is not available. • The main movement and first assistance are the most important. The additional assistance

Build your sumo

150

exercises are to bring up weaknesses.

Block 1 Week 1

Sumo pulls 5x5 60% Conventional rack pulls 4x6 80% Stiff leg deficit deads 3x10 GHR 3x10

Week 2

Sumo pulls 4x4 65% Conventional block pulls 4x6 70% Snatch grip block pulls 3x10 GHR 3x10

Week 3

Conventional speed pulls (against bands or chains) 50-60% bar weight 8x1 30sec rest Sumo block pulls 4x6 75% GHR x 50 reps

Week 4

Conventional deadlifts 5x1 working up to 85% Good mornings 3x8 RDLs 3x8 Shrugs x 50 reps

Block 2 Week 5

Sumo pulls 5x5 65% Conventional rack pulls 4x6 85% Stiff leg deficit deads 3x10 GHR 3x10

Casey williams

Sumo block pulls 4x6 80% Rev. Hyper x 50reps

Week 8

Conventional deadlifts 5x1 working up to 90% Good mornings 3x8 RDLs 3x8 Shrugs x 50 reps

Block 3 Week 9

Sumo pulls 5x5 70% Conventional rack pulls 3x6 90% Stiff leg deficit deads 3x10 Rev. Hyper 3x10

Week 10

Sumo pulls 4x4 75% Conventional block pulls 3x6 80% Snatch grip block pulls 3x10 Rev. Hyper 3x10

Week 11

Conventional speed pulls (against bands or chains) 50-60% bar weight 8x1 30sec rest Sumo block pulls 4x3 85% Rev. Hyper x 50reps

Week 12

Conventional deadlifts 5x1 working up to 90% Good Mornings 3x8 RDLs 3x8 Shrugs x 50 reps

Week 6

Block 4 Week 13

Week 7

Week 14

Sumo pulls 4x4 70% Conventional block pulls 3x6 75% Snatch grip block pulls 3x10 GHR 3x10

Sumo pulls 5x5 70% Conventional rack pulls 3x3 95% Stiff leg deficit deads 3x10 GHR 3x10

Conventional speed pulls (against bands or chains) Sumo pulls 4x4 80% Conventional block pulls 3x3 90% 50-60% bar weight 8x1 30sec rest

Build your sumo

151

Snatch grip block pulls 3x10 GHR 3x10

Week 15

Conventional speed pulls (against bands or chains) 50-60% bar weight 8x1 30sec rest Sumo block pulls 3x3 90% Rev. Hyper x 50reps

Week 16

Conventional deadlifts 5x1 working up to 95% Good Mornings 3x8 RDLs 3x8 Shrugs x 50 reps

Block 5 Week 17

Sumo pulls 5x5 75% Conventional rack pulls 5x2 100% Stiff leg deficit deads 3x10 Rev. Hyper 3x10

Week 18

Sumo pulls 4x4 85% Conventional block pulls 5x1-2 95% Snatch grip block pulls 3x10 Rev. Hyper 3x10

Week 19- treat this as a deload week

Conventional speed pulls (against bands or chains) 50-60% bar weight 8x1 30sec rest Sumo block pulls 5x1 80% GHR 3x10

Week 20- Test

Conventional deadlifts 5x1 working up to a new max Good Mornings 3x8 RDLs 3x8 Shrugs x 50 reps

Casey williams

Casey Williams works as a sales account manager in the oil and gas industry in Pittsburgh, PA. He was exposed to some powerlifting in high school as an offseason for football, but it wasn’t until he finished his football career and degree at Bucknell University that he committed to the sport. Since then he hasn’t looked back. In 2012 at the IPA Nationals he broke the alltime world record drug tested raw squat and total in the 220′s with a 700 squat and 1770 total. His best raw lifts to date are a 755 squat, 529 bench, and 727 deadlift with a 2011 total at 235 pounds.

Twelve-week Monkey Bar Progression Sheena Leedham

“I am going to fail with this next squat attempt. My chest will cave, my knees will buckle.”

Lack of confidence, a bad past experience, repeated failure, and social pressures give fear permission to invade the playground, the classroom, the gym, and Seconds before attempting the last set of squats, our home. these thoughts flooded my lifting partner’s brain. She whispered these exact words into my ear as As many ailments are soothed through early I was tugging on the tapered tongue of her belt, detection, the key to sabotage a childhood fear is helping her to secure the prong at it’s tightest fit. through early intervention. Once identified, it’s

necessary to take specific steps to meet his or her Despite my words of encouragement and plea to needs at the appropriate levels and slowly build ban self-doubt, she needed the assistance of the side their body and mind through small successes. spotters to lift the bar into the rack. When is the last time you let your thoughts undermine your ability to accomplish a task? It seems at any age, fear can creep up on us and put our best-intentioned efforts to a screeching halt.

Similarly, just the other day a client of mine refused to use his left hand (his weaker of the two) to complete single-arm rows. His exact words were, “My left hand is weaker. I know I won’t get the same amount of reps. What’s the point?” Twenty years between the two, both had let fear take over.

One prominent fear I’ve seen plague the playground is fear of the monkey bars. Think about it…this playground staple is set up for a child to use his or her grip and back strength to move across approximately 12 feet of steel bars, one hand at a time.

Now imagine the child with special needs. He has experienced failure over and over again, is frightened of heights, and has a weak grip. Is it bizarre to think this same child would want nothing to do with the monkey bars, let alone other physical tasks that require excessive effort?

In response to the decline of play and movement, Working primarily with children with special needs, below is a 12-week exercise progression for the I’ve seen fear dominate cognitive and physical ability. child with special needs whom specifically fears

Twelve-Week Monkey Bar

153

Sheena Leedham

the monkey bars. Teaching points you’ll find of both arms, their rotation, and have the child helpful throughout are: continuously open and close their hands and fingers.

• Every week attention is given to the muscles and motor patterns responsible for completing the desired task • Similar exercises and activities mimic/replicate the desired task • During the session, model each exercise before the child is expected to complete a given task • Physical assistance and verbal cues are heavy from the start and lessen as body awareness, skill proficiency, and confidence increases • The environment changes eventually (if applicable) • Play is the leading component

Verbal/Physical Cues: Use both hands, dig, right

hand has to find this one, left hand has to find this one, find the quarter.

Set x Rep: 1 x 10 quarters are collected Week 2: Shrek Seated Sled Pulls

How-To: Add two single-arm spud straps to a sled

using carabineers. Add weight to sled (something they’ll be able to row for sets of 12-15. Add a stuffed Shrek, or stuffed animal they like, to the stack of Note: Each week’s progression may be extended as long as weight, securing the arm/head/leg/body of the needed. For example, Week 2 may take a revisit for three weeks stuffed animal with Velcro. Facing the sled, each before moving on to Week 3. Also, these exercises/steps are hand securing a spud strap, model how to extend intended to play a part in a 30- to 60-minute training session. arms, row arms simultaneously until sides of hands make contact with lower abdomen (moving the sled towards you), and stepping back to complete A fear of self will sprout at some point—perhaps another row. facing the monkey bars or barbell. It’s sure to happen at some point in time and just as one fear dies another one will rise. The goal (and the goal of Benefit: Again we’re focusing on using each hand/ this 12-week progression) is to minimize Fear’s visit arm independently. Grip comes to play, as does the and take the necessary steps to outsmart him, again use of the back and core. and again. Enjoy! Verbal/Physical Cues: Stand tall, belly full, squeeze straps, pull steady, stretch lats, pull Shrek toward you.

12-Week Monkey Bar Exercise Progression Set x Rep: 2 x 12-15 reps Week 1: Sand Bin Money Find

Week 3: Seated Pull-down Machine

How-To: Fill a large plastic bin 3/4 full with sand. How-To: Using a straight bar attachment, grip the

Mix 10 quarters within the sand. The goal, using both hands, is to find the 10 quarters. Emphasize using both hands to dig through the sand. As they are found, place quarters in a pile next to bin.

bar using a wide stance (hands outside of shoulder width). Sit on seat and secure knees underneath pad. Pull the bar down to top of head. Reverse bar, shy of the starting position, for a big lat stretch.

Benefit: This fine motor work will engage the use Benefit: This exercise puts the child in a similar monkey bar position, yet with the comfort of sitting

Twelve-Week Monkey Bar

154

in a fixed position. Grip comes to play, as does the use of the back and core.

Verbal/Physical Cues:Set x Rep: 3 x 10 Week 4: Assisted Pull-up Machine

Sheena Leedham

to play, as does the use of the back and core.

Verbal/Physical Cues: Pull with your lats, elbows down, pull, squeeze rope, belly full, smooth pulls, one arm at a time.

How-To: With one knee on the pad and the other Set x Rep: 3 x Shrek to ceiling and back to ground

foot on the stand, use a medium grip (arms shoulder -Orwidth) to grip the pull-up bar. Once a firm grip is 3 x Sled pulls to feet secured, place both knees on pad. Pull-up until chin makes contact with bar. Adjust the weight so that he Week 6: Angry Bird Static Hangs or she can get at least 10-12 reps. How-To: Using a modified pull-up bar (the height Benefit: This exercise puts the child in a similar of the bar can be reached as the child stands up on monkey bar position. Comparable to the last exercise, their tip toes and extends their arms) the child will the lower body is primarily in a fixed position, yet is grip the bar and hang (feet grazing the ground). moving in sync with each pull up. Grip comes to play, Standing 3 feet away, you or another player will as does the use of the back and core. have a bin full of plush stuffed animals. Aim Angry Birds (or another small plush stuffed animal) at the Verbal/Physical Cues: Squeeze the bar, belly full, child’s stomach (mark an X using chalk on their shirt and stress “do not hit the face”). The goal is to make lightly touch chin to bar, pull, hang, stretch lats. contact with the child by aiming for the X. Each Angry Bird that makes contact earns the thrower a Set x Rep: 2 x 10-12 reps point.

Week 5: Shrek Rope Pull-down

Benefit: The bar is low enough that as the child

hangs and loses grip, he or she is a hair off the

How-To: In this video, you’ll see a rope pulley setup ground. This allows the child to get the feel of losing

with Shrek attached. This is an upright pull down. With one arm at a time, pull the rope down until it makes contact with chest. As the rope continues to pull down, Shrek (and added weight) is raised to the ceiling. Once Shrek reaches the ceiling, reverse the pull down until Shrek is on the floor.

grip from the bar and landing on his or her feet. Grip comes to play in a very direct way since the child is statically holding, waiting as the other player gets through all his stuffed animals. No longer is the focus hanging and losing your grip, but instead, if your friend is hitting the X. This is really a fun game.

If this setup is not attainable, instead add a rope to the sled (using a carabineer attachment or knot) and pull the rope (one arm at a time) until the sled Verbal/Physical Cues: Tight grip, aim for the X, reaches your feet. belly full, land on both feet.

Benefit: The pulley system changes the angle of

Set x Rep: 2 x 10 stuffed animals (players taking the row previously done. Rather than one arm/lat turns each round and regaining grip if grip is lost) potentially compensating when pulling together, each side of the body is forced to work. Grip comes

Twelve-Week Monkey Bar

155

Week 7: Playground Climbs to Slide How-To: Moving from the gym to the playground,

today’s focus is to climb on the playground and slide. At most playgrounds, there are multiple ways to climb the structure to get to one slide (at multiple heights). Find 5 different ways to climb up to the slide (chained steps, ladder stairs, parallel bars, climb up the slide, etc.)

Sheena Leedham

ground, the fear of heights is lessened or completely out of mind. In future weeks, piggyback support will take place when approaching the monkey bars. Therefore, the Stop and Go game will provide a positive experience to transition forward.

Verbal/Physical Cues: Hold on to me, squeeze arms, squeeze legs, Stop, Go, Red, Green

Set x Rep: 2 x 1 (cone to cone)

Benefit: The focus at the playground is climbing Week 9: Stuffed Animal Monkey Bar 3-Second and sliding. The constant climbing and variety Grab Carry in equipment continues to build those muscles responsible for monkey bar swings. Also, it’ll be How-To: Allow the child to choose a stuffed animal beneficial for the child to associate the playground (or something related) to bring to the playground. with something other than the monkey bars. Explain that today the stuffed animal will be completing the monkey bars with help. Holding Verbal/Physical Cues: Climb, use your arms, the stuffed animal in hand, model how the stuffed squeeze the bar, leg drive, slide down. animal swings from one bar to the other with assistance. Once both hands are on one bar, hold for 3 seconds, then repeat. Give attention to how you’re Set x Rep: 5 x 1 close and helping and verbalize the stuffed animal’s body position: tight, using lats, keeping grip strong, Week 8: Piggy Back Ride Stop and Go holding for 3 seconds, etc.

How-To: Mark a stretched distance with cones or

chalked lines. Have the child step up onto a sturdy chair, a tire, or bench. Position yourself in front of the child, facing away. Close to the child, cue him or her to place both of their hands around your shoulders. One leg at a time, cue him or her to wrap their legs around your waist. This game is similar to Red Light Green Light. Starting at one end, have the child say “stop” and “go.” When the child says “stop”, stop. When the child says “go”, walk forward to reach the destination. For variety, you can add players and race against them. Instead of verbal cues, a player can be at the “finish” line with red and green colored ribbons or paper. Red signals stop and green signals go.

Benefit: This exercise provides a visual for the child.

He or she can hear and see your role in allowing the entire process to be attainable and safe. This exercise will also model expectations for the future.

Verbal/Physical Cues: Look at his/her form, I’m close, I’m helping, lats are tight, belly full, one arm at a time, 3-second hold, 1-2-3.

Set x Rep: 1 x length of monkey bars Week 10: Monkey Bar Grab Carry

How-To: Assume piggyback position. Underneath the monkey bars, the child will reach for each bar,

Benefit: Piggyback rides are often a go-to for one hand at a time. The goal is for the child to have

children because they place the child in a comfortable one hand around the shoulder and the other to position in full contact with another. Although off the secure the bar in hand. Continue this until all bars

Twelve-Week Monkey Bar

156

have been secured.

Benefit: Up to this point, the child has had good experiences in the piggyback position and is familiar with watching the stuffed animal do this the week prior. This exercise allows the child to complete something familiar and he or she will get used to how the bar feels in his or her hands.

Verbal/Physical Cues: I’m close, I’m helping, lats are tight, belly full, one arm at a time. Set x Rep: 1 x length of monkey bars

Week 11: Monkey Bar Setup with Static Hold How-To: Model to the child how to climb up the playground structure to get to the monkey bars. Model how to stand on the edge of the platform and reach for the bar. Grasp the bar with both hands. Have the child try. As the child tries, stand before him or her on the ground. Explain how you’ll secure their legs once their holding tightly onto the bar. Hold position for three seconds and bring the child down to the ground to standing position.

Benefit: This setup provides expectations of how to

approach the monkey bars. Also, the support system is slightly lessened because they are no longer in piggyback position (chest and back are no longer assisted).

Sheena Leedham

Have the child try. As the child tries, stand before him or her on the ground. Explain how you’ll secure their legs once their holding tightly onto the bar. Securing their legs, the child will hold the hang position for three seconds and then swing one arm forward to reach and grab the next bar. Secure the bar in hand. Do the same with the other hand. With both hands securing the same bar, hold position for three seconds. Explain how you will let go of their feet after the 3-second hold and they are to then land on the ground with both feet.

Benefit: The setup and your role will be familiar. He

or she will also be used to reaching for the bar with one hand while having support. The 3-second hold gives the child a pace to work with. Similar to the Angry Bird game, in this exercise they’ll resume the static hold position. As this drop will be slightly farther than the modified bar, they’ll be familiar with the cue of landing on both feet. Because falling and getting hurt is one major area of uncertainty for the child, we’ll be practicing this aspect over and over. The message that’ll be conveyed is that “you’ll eventually lose grip. Here’s how to land on the ground and then try again.”

Verbal/Physical Cues: Stand tall, tight grip, belly

full, land on both feet, one arm at a time, 3-second hold, 1-2-3, hold for three seconds, I’m here, I have your legs, hang, let go of bar, land on both feet.

Verbal/Physical Cues: Stand tall, belly full, squeeze Set x Rep: 3 x 1 swing and drop bar, hold for three seconds, 1-2-3, I’m here, I have your legs.

Set x Rep: 5 x 1

Week 12: Monkey Bar Swing and Drop

How-To: Model to the child how to climb up the

playground structure to get to the monkey bars. Model how to stand on the edge of the platform and reach for the bar. Grasp the bar with both hands.

To further this progression, go from one complete swing to a drop, to two complete swings to a drop. Continue this progression until all bars are reached. Moving forward, consider how you can continue to lessen the amount of cues and support. Fear can either be a limiting factor or, by overcoming it, a method of building a lifetime’s worth of confidence.

Twelve-Week Monkey Bar

157

Sheena Leedham

Sheena is the Content Coordinator of elitefts™. She coordinates the article section on www.elitefts.com and the content that is posted on the Strong(her)™ FB page. A graduate of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, she holds a BS in Recreation Administration and a Master’s of Education. Sheena competes as a figure athlete and trains as a powerlifter. She commits in sharing her voice and shedding light on a wide array of topics with the intent for all elitefts™ readers to continue to stir their passions, never slacking in the extraordinary resolve to be strong(er).

How to Come Back from a Patellar Tendon Rupture Thomas E. Deebel

M

Next step is nutrition. My nutrition was not optimal immediately post surgery due to loss of appetite and hospital food. At this point just try to get calories of some type in. this will only be short term, so don’t stress. When I was out of the hospital three days after surgery I was finally off morphine which helped the appetite issue. Percocett and warfarin didn’t seem to affect it as much as morphine for some reason. S I could now eat with some normality. I concentrated mainly on good sources of protein. Immediately after the accident I realized I ruptured When you’re on blood thinners you can’t eat dark green vegetables such as kale, spinach, and brocoli my tendon, so I made my way out of the office, called my wife, and called an ambulance. I had a so I just ate what was allowed. successful surgery just hours later and was now on the long road to 500 lb squats and 600 lb deadlifts. As for supplements, I took liposomal vitamin C and But first there’s a whole lot of stuff I’ve done, will do. vitamin d drops. 3-5 gs a day of the c for two The first is mental attitude. If you suffer a serious weeks, then 1 g per day after and 20,000 Ius of D per day which ws 10 drops. I added these to protein injury, suck it up and deal. Accept your situation and decide right there you will do what it takes to shakes mainly because the C was pretty harsh get better. A positive mental attitude is what is going tasting. Yogurt would also help you mask the flavor to get you out of that hospital bed and back in the of the c if you’re a yogurt fan. gym. Your going to need the help of many people from your Rehab is has been pretty simple. I consulted a few doctor, to your therapists, to your family,spouse, and friends, Louie Simmons and Brian Bott and they friends. Her’s a tip : don’t be a jerk. They are on your gave me great suggestions for exercises once I get side, gratitude and appreciation for their efforts will my knee to 90 degrees. Mainly sled dragging front go a long way into making your road to recovery and back, wheelbarrow walking , and box squats of easier. No one likes pain and setbacks, but life is full various heights. This is down the road yet as I write this article, but I plan to follow this in the future. of them so be good to your people. any of you have heard that I suffered a pretty severe injury on 8/30/14. while doing front squat supports with 482 lbs I attempted to set down the weights on completion of my first set but forgot to lock in the j hooks. I went into a dead drop and ruptured my left patellar tendon when I hit my safety chains. These chains literally prevented a more serious injury or death in this case.

How To come back from a

159

Four days post surgery I started PT which amounted to some light bw leg exercises such as straight leg assisted leg raising, foot flexing, extending, and how to ambulate with my walker. This process went on for app two weeks initially. 9 days post surgery I was fitted with a Bledsoe brace which allows varying degrees of leg bending. I started with 30 degrees and have added 10 degrees every 5-6 days to the current 60 degeees I have dialed in.

App. 25 days post surgery I received soft tissue instruments which allowed me to finally work on myself until I can get to physical therapy. This work is similar to Graston and other techniques and fall under what is called instrument assisted soft tissue manipulation . I highly recommend this soft tissue work for those who have need.

Two sessions had me at 75 degrees of bending which is where I am at today. I’m hoping to be at ninety degrees by this Friday at my next Doctor’s appt. Once I hit ninety degrees of bending I can resume normal leg and deadlift type of exercises, though with drastically reduced weights. When you are recvoerng from a surgery such as this there is a key time frame of 4-6 weeks. This is what it normally takes for your surgery to become stable and when you can start challenging the area with direct rehabilitative work. DO NOT RUSH THE ORIGINAL TIME FRAME! To much to quickly can cause damage and now you’ve taken a case with a definitive recovery time to maybe you never get back to old levels. But once you’ve hit the 4-6 weeks and the doctor gives you the go ahead, start moving forward. I’m planning on a time frame of app 4-5 months of specific increases to get back to my bests. I will start very light concentrating on form and building up my injured leg being careful not to exacerbate any muscular imbalances. I’ve lost size around the left quad insertion so it’s important o bring this up slowly and evenly.

Thomas E. Deebel

I’m going to start with the SSB bar which weighs 82 lbs first and 135 on the deadlift done with tight form. Any assitance exercises will be dialed down to app 60 percent of my old numbers just to allow a nice gradual progression as I regain my old strength. Each month I’ll add in app 90 lbs which will give me targets of 172, 262, 352, 442 on squats and 225, 315, 405, 495 on deads. Four months should have me ready to meet train.

This is app 4-6 weeks from today’s date, which is 30 days post accident and surgery. This gives me a possible meet June 2015. I hope you can take some of these suggestions and apply them to coming back from your injury. Be patient, have faith, and do the work , and you will get back on that platform safely ready to set some new Prs. Good luck.

Thomas graduated from Penn State University in 1985 with a B.S. in biology with a physiology concentration. In 1988, he graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic with a D.C. degree. In 1998, Thomas achieved his first ART certification in upper extremity work. Since then he’s achieved certification in all course work through level three (biomechanics).Thomas worked on the Ironman Triathlon treatment staff 6 times in 1998-2001,

Twelve-week Peaking Template for Collegiate Throwers

Nate Harvey

T

his program is a template for the peaking phase our throwers have utilized over the past 8 years while producing numerous conference champions, regional and national qualifiers, All-Americans and one Olympic Trials Finalist. This program IS NOT the reason for these accomplishments, but rather a small piece of the puzzle. The larger more important pieces are our outstanding throws coach, the culture he has created and the student athletes who train their tails off to achieve these accolades. I will also admit, much of this is stolen from West Side Barbell. Their methods match up nicely with the sport of throwing. I inherited this group of athletes from Paul Childress when he left the university setting to go into private sector. As you can see my job has not been hard in this aspect, we’ve just continued to tweak things as the years have gone by. We have made these tweeks based on athlete’s feedback. You have to know who your indicator kids are and use them to your advantage.

Weightroom work is GPP (general physical preparedness) training. We are trying to raise maximal strength, explosive strength and lean bodymass. We continually raise all of these all year long using the conjugate method (maximal effort method, dynamic method and repetition method). We want to shoot cannon balls from tugboats NOT canoes! That being said, we do prioritize the trait we need most for competition as we approach our meet (GPPSPP). We can do this by exercise sequencing, loading parameters and volume. This may or may not (depending on your school of thought) seem like a lot of volume, but the athletes have slowly built up to this workload over the school year.

Training days are: Sunday: Max Effort Lower Monday: Max Effort Upper Wednesday: Dynamic Lower Thursday: Dynamic Upper

This obviously is not the ideal rotation if we were training lifters, but for our situation and competition Our philosophy with this group has been simple keep schedule it is. The heavy/CNS intensive work is them healthy and get them as strong as possible; done early in the week so the athletes are ready to their sport coach will make them better throwers. compete on the weekend. If the strength is there everything else will fall into place. As any other issues arise we address them. Below is a TEMPLATE of a 12 week peaking plan. We also make adjustments for the various events eg. You can adjust to fit your athletes, facilities and Javelin throwers may do some different movements resources. than Shot Putters. PROGRAM GENERALITIES:

Twelve Week peaking tremplate

161

Nate harvey

- 3 week training blocks - Deload every 4th week if they feel like it. MANDATORY deload the week before final 3 week block - Increase volume on speed squat and speed pulls by increasing percentage each week, EXCEPT for the final 3 weeks of prep. Then we decrease volume as our meet approaches Increase volume on accessory work weekly during each 3 week block - - Speed bench volume stays constant during each 3 week block - ME LOWER- alternate between pulling and squatting movements each week. Also vary stances and bars - ME UPPER- alternate between full and partial movements. Vary the accommodating resistance too - Always vary accessory movements from week to week and never repeat an exercise with in the training week All squats are done to a parallel box - Box Jump Variations include- seated box jump, wgtd box jump, seated wgtd box jump, seated - footslam box jump… Speed days are higher volume with less taxing movements, Max effort days are lower volume - with more taxing movements Soft tissue work/ rolling is done on major muscle groups to be trained as part of the warm up - every day If good mornings are done they are done immediately following the Max Effort Squat - movement. Usually between 3x5-8. We typically do them with the same bar and accommodating resistance that the squat was performed with. These are usually moderately hard, we are not trying to kill anyone with these, just train the movement.

WEEK 12- 12 weeks out from meet ME LOWER

• Light Reverse Hyper 2x15 • Box jump variation 3-4x5 • Conventional Deadlift Variatoin- 1RM • Rev. Hyper- 4x20 • GHR – 3x8 • Abs w/w -4x25 • 1 Arm DB Row- 3x8

ME UPPER

• Shoulder warm up • DB Bench – 10% bench max for 60 total reps • Floor Press- 2rm • DB Bench – 3x8 • DB Tricep- 3x10 • Pull up variation- 3x8 • Shrug variation- 3x15 • Obliques- 4x25 • Rear Delt or Scap variation- 3x12 • Biceps- 3x10

SPEED LOWER

• Rev. Hyper- 2x20 • Box jump variation3-4x5 • Speed Squat vs chain8x2 @50% • Speed Pull- vs chain – 5x2@50% • Single leg Variation3x6-8 • Rev Hyper- 4x20 • Banded leg curl- 120 total • Abs with wgt- 4x25 • Groiners- 80 total • Machine Row to stomach—4x12

SPEED UPPER

• Shoulder warm up • Speed Bench vs chain – 9x3@ 40% • Board Press variant3x5-8 • Pulldown variation to chest – 3x12-15 • Shrug variation- 3x12 • Triceps pushdown variation – 3x12 • Obliques -4x25 • Rear delt or Scap variation- 3x12 • Biceps- 3x12

Twelve Week peaking tremplate

162

Nate harvey

WEEK 11- 11 weeks out from meet ME LOWER

• Light Reverse Hyper 2x15 • Box jump variation 3-4x5 • Wide Stance Squat Variation- 1RM • Rev. Hyper- 4x20 • GHR – 4x8 • Abs w/w -4x25 • 1 Arm DB Row- 4x8

ME UPPER

• Shoulder warm up • DB Bench – 10% bench max for 60 total reps • Rev Band Bench- 2rm • Inc. DB Bench – 3x8 • Barbell Tricep- 4x10 • Pull up variation- 4x8 • Shrug variation- 3x15 • Obliques- 4x25 • Rear Delt or Scap variation- 3x12 • Biceps- 3x10

SPEED LOWER

SPEED UPPER

SPEED LOWER

SPEED UPPER

• Rev. Hyper- 2x20 • Box jump variation3-4x5 • Speed Squat vs chain8x2 @55% • Speed Pull- vs chain – 5x2@55% • Single leg Variation3x6-8 • Rev Hyper- 4x20 • Banded leg curl- 140 total • Abs with wgt- 4x25 • Groiners- 100 total • Machine Row to stomach—3x12

• Shoulder warm up • Speed Bench vs chain – 9x3@ 40% • Board Press variation3x5-8 • Pulldown variation to chest – 4x12-15 • Shrug variation- 3x12 • Triceps pushdown variation – 4x12 • Obliques -4x25 • Rear delt or Scap variation- 3x12 • Biceps- 3x12

WEEK 10- 10 weeks out from meet ME LOWER

• Light Reverse Hyper 2x15 • Box jump variation 3-4x5 • Sumo Deadlift variation- 1RM • Rev. Hyper- 4x20 • GHR – 4x8 • Abs w/w -4x25 • 1 Arm DB Row- 5x8

ME UPPER

• Shoulder warm up • DB Bench – 10% bench max for 60 total reps • Bench vs bands- 2rm • DB Floor Press – 3x6 • DB Tricep- 6x10 • Pull up variation- 5x8 • Shrug variation- 4x15 • Obliques- 4x25 • Rear Delt or Scap variation- 4x12 • Biceps- 3x10

• Rev. Hyper- 2x20 • Box jump variation3-4x5 • Speed Squat vs chain8x2 @60% • Speed Pull- vs chain – 5x2@60% • Single leg Variation3x6-8 • Rev Hyper- 4x20 • Banded leg curl- 160 total • Abs with wgt- 4x25 • Groiners- 120 total • Machine Row to stomach—4x12

• Shoulder warm up • Speed Bench vs chain – 9x3@ 40% • Board Press variation3x5-8 • Pulldown variation to chest – 6x12-15 • Shrug variation- 3x12 • Triceps pushdown variation – 6x12 • Obliques -4x25 • Rear delt or Scap variation- 3x12 • Biceps- 3x12

Twelve Week peaking tremplate

163

Nate harvey

WEEK 9- DELOAD – Extra soft tissue and mobility work. Non-taxing accessories only

WEEK 8- 8 weeks out from meet ME LOWER ME UPPER

SPEED LOWER

SPEED UPPER

WEEK 7- 7 weeks out from meet ME LOWER ME UPPER

SPEED LOWER

SPEED UPPER

• Light Reverse Hyper 2x15 • Box jump variation 3-4x5 • Close Stance Squat variation- 3RM • Rev. Hyper- 4x20 • GHR – 4x8 • Abs w/w -4x25 • 1 Arm DB Row- 5x8

• Light Reverse Hyper 2x15 • Box jump variation 3-4x5 • Conventional deadlift variation- 2RM • Rev. Hyper- 4x20 • GHR – 4x8 • Abs w/w -4x25 • 1 Arm DB Row- 5x8

• Shoulder warm up • DB Bench – 10% bench max for 60 total reps • 2 Board Press- 2rm • DB Bench – 3x6 • DB Tricep- 3x8 • Pull up variation- 3x8 • Shrug variation- 3x15 • Obliques- 4x25 • Rear Delt or Scap variation- 4x12 • Biceps- 3x10

• Shoulder warm up • DB Bench – 10% bench max for 60 total reps • Cambered bar to 1 board- 2rm • DB Floor Press – 3x6 • DB Tricep- 4x8 • Pull up variation- 4x8 • Shrug variation- 3x15 • Obliques- 4x25 • Rear Delt or Scap variation- 4x12 • Biceps- 3x10

WEEK 6- 6 weeks out from meet

• Rev. Hyper- 2x20 • Box jump variation3-4x5 • Speed Squat vs bandsband tension=25% of squat max at top 8x2 @40% • Speed Pull- vs bands – 5x2@40% • Single leg Variation3x6-8 • Rev Hyper- 4x20 • Ankle wgt leg curl120 total • Abs with wgt- 4x25 • Groiners- 80 total • Machine Row to stomach—3x12

• Rev. Hyper- 2x20 • Box jump variation3-4x5 • Speed Squat vs bandsband tension=25% of squat max at top 8x2 @45% • Speed Pull- vs bands – 5x2@45% • Single leg Variation3x6-8 • Rev Hyper- 4x20 • Ankle wgt leg curl140 total • Abs with wgt- 4x25 • Groiners- 100 total • Machine Row to stomach—3x12

• Shoulder warm up • Speed Bench vs band(minis or ultra minis) – 9x3@ 40% PAIRED WITH Med ball chest pass x3 • Board Press variation3x5-8 • Pulldown variation to chest – 3x12-15 • Shrug variation- 3x12 • Triceps pushdown variation – 3x12 • Obliques -4x25 • Rear delt or Scap variation- 3x12 • Biceps- 3x12

• Shoulder warm up • Speed Bench vs band(minis or ultra minis) – 9x3@ 40% PAIRED WITH Med ball chest pass x3 • Board Press variation3x5-8 • Pulldown variation to chest – 4x12-15 • Shrug variation- 3x12 • Triceps pushdown variation – 4x12 • Obliques -4x25 • Rear delt or Scap variation- 3x12 • Biceps- 3x12

Twelve Week peaking tremplate

ME LOWER

• Light Reverse Hyper 2x15 • Box jump variation 3-4x5 • Wide Stance Squat Variation- 2RM • Rev. Hyper- 4x20 • GHR – 5x8 • Abs w/w -4x25 • 1 Arm DB Row- 5x8

ME UPPER

164

• Shoulder warm up • DB Bench – 10% bench max for 60 total reps • Rev band vs chain Bench- 2rm • Inc. DB Bench – 3x6 • Barbell Tricep- 6x8 • Pull up variation- 5x8 • Shrug variation- 3x15 • Obliques- 4x25 • Rear Delt or Scap variation- 4x12 • Biceps- 3x10

Nate harvey

SPEED LOWER

• Rev. Hyper- 2x20 • Box jump variation3-4x5 • Speed Squat vs bandsband tension=25% of squat max at top 8x2 @50% • Speed Pull- vs bands – 5x2@50% • Single leg Variation3x6-8 • Rev Hyper- 4x20 • Ankle wgt leg curl160 total • Abs with wgt- 4x25 • Groiners- 120 total • Machine Row to stomach—6x12

SPEED UPPER

• Shoulder warm up • Speed Bench vs band(minis or ultra minis) – 9x3@ 40% PAIRED WITH Med ball chest pass x3 • Board Press variation3x5-8 • Pulldown variation to chest – 6x12-15 • Shrug variation- 3x12 • Triceps pushdown variation – 6x12 • Obliques -4x25 • Rear delt or Scap variation- 3x12 • Biceps- 3x12

WEEK 5 – MANDATORY DELOAD - Extra soft tissue and mobility work. Extra naps and extra food. Non-taxing accessories only. THINGS THAT CHANGE DURING THE LAST 4 WEEKS OF PREPARATION

- - - -

‘Max Effort’ work is only taken to a perceived 80% of their max. In other words work up to what feels like an 8 on a scale of 1-10. Dynamic work volume starts high on the first week of this block then decreases weekly as you approach the meet. This allows for supercompensation. The repetition work (repetition method) volume also decreases weekly. The jumps typically are performed only with bodyweight during this phase. The object of this phase is speed, so you don’t want to slow your jumps down. Maximal strength supposedly lasts up to 30 days, but speed is only maintained for approximately 1 week if it is not stimulated. Also, speed/explosive strength is our priority during this phase so the program should reflect that.

WEEK 4- 4 weeks out from meet- this is THE hardest week of training they will have- VERY

Twelve Week peaking tremplate

165

Nate harvey

taxing ME LOWER

• Light Reverse Hyper 2x15 • Box jump variation 3-4x5 • Sumo dead variationonly up to a perceived 80% maximal efort • Rev. Hyper- 4x20 • GHR – 5x8 • Abs w/w -4x25 • 1 Arm DB Row- 5x8

ME UPPER

• Shoulder warm up • DB Bench – 10% bench max for 60 total reps • Floor press vs chain- 2 reps- only up to a perceived 80% maximal efort • DB Bench – 3x6 • Barbell Tricep- 6x8 • Pull up variation- 5x8 • Shrug variation- 3x15 • Obliques- 4x25 • Rear Delt or Scap variation- 4x12 • Biceps- 3x10

SPEED LOWER • • •

• • • • • • •

Rev. Hyper- 2x20 Box jump variation3-4x5 Speed Squat vs bandsband tension=one band up from weeks 8-6 (if they used average on weeks8-6 they use strong bands for this phase) 8x2 @40% Speed Pull- vs bands – 5x2@40% Single leg Variation3x6-8 Rev Hyper- 4x20 Banded leg curl- 160 total Abs with wgt- 4x25 Groiners- 120 total Machine Row to stomach—6x12

SPEED UPPER • •

• • • • • • •

Shoulder warm up Speed Bench vs band(minis or ultra minis). Also choke a mini band in addition to quaded band. This kicks in at the top. More band=more speed – 6x3@ 40% PAIRED WITH Med ball chest pass x3 Board Press variation3x5-8 Pulldown variation to chest – 6x12-15 Shrug variation- 3x12 Triceps pushdown variation – 6x12 Obliques -4x25 Rear delt or Scap variation- 3x12 Biceps- 3x12

WEEK 3- 3 weeks out from meet- volume and intensity start tapering down in prep for the meet ME LOWER

• Light Reverse Hyper 2x15 • Box jump variation 3-4x5 • Close stance squat variation- only up to a perceived 80% maximal efort • Rev. Hyper- 4x20 • GHR – 4x8 • Abs w/w -4x25 • 1 Arm DB Row- 4x8

ME UPPER

• Shoulder warm up • DB Bench – 10% bench max for 40 total reps • 10. Incline Bench- 3 repsonly up to a perceived 80% maximal efort • DB Bench – 3x6 • Barbell Tricep- 4x8 • Pull up variation- 4x8 • Shrug variation- 3x15 • Obliques- 4x25 • Rear Delt or Scap variation- 3x12 • Biceps- 3x10

SPEED LOWER • • •

• • • • • • •

Rev. Hyper- 2x20 Box jump variation3-4x5 Speed Squat vs bandsband tension=one band up from weeks 8-6 (if they used average on weeks8-6 they use strong bands for this phase) 8x2 @35% Speed Pull- vs bands – 5x2@35% Single leg Variation3x6-8 Rev Hyper- 4x20 Banded leg curl- 140 total Abs with wgt- 4x25 Groiners- 100 total Machine Row to stomach—5x12

SPEED UPPER • •

• • • • • • •

Shoulder warm up Speed Bench vs band (minis or ultra minis). Also choke a mini band in addition to quaded band. This kicks in at the top. More band=more speed – 6x3@ 35% PAIRED WITH Med ball chest pass x3 Board Press variation3x5-8 Pulldown variation to chest – 4x12-15 Shrug variation- 3x12 Triceps pushdown variation – 4x12 Obliques -4x25 Rear delt or Scap variation- 3x12 Biceps- 3x12

WEEK 2- 2 weeks out from meet- volume and intensity continue to taper down in prep for the meet

Twelve Week peaking tremplate

ME LOWER

• Light Reverse Hyper 2x15 • Box jump variation 3-4x5 • Belt Squat- 3x5- moderate • Rev. Hyper- 4x20 • GHR – 4x8 • Abs w/w -4x25 • 1 Arm DB Row- 3x8

ME UPPER

166

• Shoulder warm up • DB Bench – 10% bench max for 40 total reps • 11. Bench out of foam – 1rep- only up to a perceived 80% maximal efort • DB Bench – 3x6 • Barbell Tricep- 3x8 • Pull up variation- 3x8 • Shrug variation- 3x15 • Obliques- 4x25 • Rear Delt or Scap variation- 3x12 • Biceps- 3x10

Nate harvey

SPEED LOWER

• Rev. Hyper- 2x20 • Box jump variation3-4x5 • Speed Squat vs bandsband tension=one band up from weeks 8-6 (if they used average on weeks8-6 they use strong bands for this phase) 6x2 @30% • Speed Pull- vs bands – 3x2@35% • Single leg Variation3x6-8 • Rev Hyper- 4x20 • Banded leg curl- 120 total • Abs with wgt- 4x25 • Groiners- 80 total • Machine Row to stomach—3x12

SPEED UPPER

• Shoulder warm up • Speed Bench vs band (minis or ultra minis). Also choke a mini band in addition to quaded band. This kicks in at the top. More band=more speed – 6x3@ 35% PAIRED WITH Med ball chest pass x3 • Board Press variation3x5-8- LIGHT • Pulldown variation to chest – 3x12-15 • Shrug variation- 3x12 • Triceps pushdown variation – 3x12 • Obliques -4x25 • Rear delt or Scap variation- 3x12 • Biceps- 3x12

WEEK 1- MEET WEEK- GO COMPETE!!!! • • • • •

•

Harvey is entering his third year in the Sports Performance Program at the University at Buffalo. During this time he has either assisted in or directed the training of each one of UB’s athletic teams at one time or another. Harvey holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Physiology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. During his time in graduate school at UB he also served as a volunteer assistant in the sports performance department. Prior to his time at the University at Buffalo he spent time as a high school football coach, sports performance coach in the private sector and a Fitness Director for Xerox Recreation Association in Rochester, NY. Harvey’s undergraduate work was completed at SUNY Brockport in Exercise Physiology and Physical Education. At Brockport he was a four year letter winner in football and eventual Usafootball.com All-American selection. He completed his undergraduate work with an internship in the Buffalo Bills strength and conditioning department. He has been training himself for twenty years and uses this ‘under the bar’ experience to help his athletes reach their maximal potential. Recently, he earned his Elite Powerlifting status in August of 2009 in only his third competition entered. Harvey resides in Buffalo with his wife Hillary and two children Natalie and Rocco. 

Levi, 13 Salem, OH I WISH TO HAVE A CLUB HOUSE Living the carefree life of a teenager is not easy for 13-year old Levi. For the past year, he has been fighting a malignant brain tumor. His routine hospital stays and treatments often prevent him from going out and being with his friends. Through it all though, Levi keep his head held high and continues to smile.

When Levi learned he qualified for a wish, he was overjoyed with excitement! After careful consideration, Levi wished to have his very own club house! He wanted a place to kick back and relax after a long day of school. Levi wanted a place just to be a kid and hang out with his friends where they could build LEGO projects or play video games.

In late October of 2012 Levi stepped off the bus from school to find a very big surprise in his back yard; his very own furnished club house! When he walked inside, he was greeted by a pile of toys including LEGO sets, a futon, and numerous Super Mario Brothers posters and décor! His new hang out even has a loft for him to relax in.

“I think it’s awesome!” said Levi. He’s looking forward to creating memories with his friends and family that

Thank you for making wishes like Levi’s come true.

will last a lifetime.

Upgraded Movement:

A Pre-Season Plan for the Football Athlete Brett Bartholomew

T

he following is a 3-week intermediate preseason movement progression for football athletes age 18+. It provides a breakdown of the following training components that are included in each of the 3-days shown in the program. • Pillar-Preparation: Getting the system ready to perform by addressing assymetries, soft-tissue, and honing in on key issues regarding mobility or stability as needed by whichever screen you utilize. • Movement Prep: “Preparing to play” via addressing key stabilizers, increasing core temperature, and addressing dynamic flexibility, coordinative movement skills and firing up the nervous system. • Plyometrics: Addressing and enhancing transfer of training through enhancing the use of the stretch shortening cycle (SSC). Plyometrics optimize power output via training and enhancing qualities that contribute to force absorption and expression. • Movement Skills: Allow us to optimize characteristics and transfer of acceleration, speed, decal & COD under both controlled and reactive conditions. Training these components broken down into the following categories:

o Skill acquisition: This is where we work on the technical aspects of movement where we develop/teach positions, patterns and power. Activities such as wall-drills which don’t directly transfer but do aid in the delivery of context when discussing angles of projection. Or bungee, leash or sled resisted drills which aid help the athletes understand how to move with intent, power and coordination. o Skill application: This is where we work on the tactical aspects of movement where we now focus on transfer to more advanced or chaotic drills that build off of fundamental movements learned during acquisition. Cone drills, reactive agility drills, acceleration starts out of different positions etc. are fit here and teach the athlete how to react appropriately and re-position the body to move adequately and effectively. These sessions should take no longer than 2530 minutes and volumes for plyometrics are kept relatively low to account for the increased amount of time spent practicing/scrimmaging etc. If this

Upgraded Movement :A Preseason

169

Brett Bartholomew

was an off-season example, volume would be higher since “on the field” work is not a competing stressor as it is during pre-season and in-season. If you wish to add volume week to week (which is not necessary since movement skill mastery is the end goal), be mindful of doing so incrementally (10%) rule and NEVER increase both intensity and volume at the same time. Remember to always be sure that you are cleared to participate in an athletic development program and be realistic about your limitations. Simple is NOT synonymous with easy. It is always easier to fall into the trap of “more…more...more” but the best programs are rooted in simplicity and you must understand that balance and more important REST is a weapon. For movement descriptions or visuals, check out http://www.coreperformance.com/knowledge/movements/ Enjoy the process and get to work! Brett Bartholomew is a performance specialist at Athletes’ Performance in Phoenix, where he works with elite college, high school and youth athletes. Prior to joining AP, he was a volunteer football strength coach at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. While at SIU, he also served as an assistant strength coach for football and basketball and as head strength coach for baseball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s golf, swimming & diving, the cheerleading squad and the dance team.

In-Season Squat Progression for a Traveling Football Team

I

n-season training for the lower body has always been a slippery slope - How much do you push the intensity? How much volume? How many times a week? What exercises? The list could go on forever. To me, as I get more experienced and weathered in this field I’ve tried to make my questions and my goals more black and white so I can make our plan, for our team, with our facilities, that we can coach. Here are the questions I now ask myself --What are the team’s goals (head coach) for the 1. In-season Program? 2. What can we use from an equipment & time stand point to get what we need? 3. How many sets of eyes will I have to monitor the plan and make sure it is what we wanted – not a rag tag version of it. Here, at the University of Delaware I am lucky to have a Head Football Coach who wants his player’s to be a better version of the recruits he brought in, not a different player than they were in high school, and an administration that understands our department needs to have equipment based on the needs of our team and program. The answers to the above questions are as follows 1. Team Goal – Durability & Availability – we need to be training and practicing so we can get better during the season. 2. Equipment & Time - Orthopedically the equipment we will have our athletes use during the

Ted Perlak

stress of Football season, and still get a training response – is the SS Yoke Bar (safety squat). Time wise – we get 3 lifts a week, and we start our week with the lower body lift. We train Tues (lower body, Wed OR Thurs (upper body), and Sunday (single joint/ recovery). From a Strength & Conditioning standpoint our Sunday lift ENDS the previous week, and Tuesday BEGINS the next week – this allows for us to not be massively effected by players being beat up from the game the day before. Number of Coaches - I need a minimum of 3 3. coaches on the floor – we will have 3 travel groups with no more than 25 guys, we use 8 of our racks, this will allow us to monitor the room. Ideally we will have a couple of interns, but they to me are a bonus. The next part of the plan is what are my goals as the Director of the Program? My main goal is to get everyone training together, to be organized, and set an efficient atmosphere where we can get in, get out, and get what we need without wasting time. Time is precious, and in-season time is paramount. We accomplish this by using a clock for each set, and keep the group together for the entire time they are in the room – below is the set-up of our lower body day.

In-Season Squat progression

172

Category

Ted parlek

Warm-up

Time

Soft Tissue Foam / PVC Roll Routine

5min

Dyanmic Floor Routine

3min

Correctives Glute Routine

2min

Hip Routine

2min

Movement Prep Stick Routine

2min

Total Warm-up Time 14min Category

Strength Training

Sets x Reps Time

Total Body Power Kettle Bell Swings

4x:15-:20

5min

Lower Body Push Safety Bar Squat

3,3,4x3

12min

+ Terminal Knee Extension Lower Body Pull Bar RDL

6x10e 4x5

Core + Sit-up Variation (weighted) Upper Back Circuit Face Pull Variation

6min

4x10-15 4x10-15

+ Shrug Variation

4x10-15

+ Scap Variation

4x10-15

6min

Total Strength Training Time 29min

TOTAL TIME - 43-45MIN From an evaluation standpoint, my goal for any in-season program is to have the travel team be within 90% of their 1rm at the end of the program. Just from a CNS standpoint intensities can shift 5% on how you feel from day to day – without factoring in the stressor of a collision sport. If we can have our team hit 90%+ at the end of a 15 week season, we are in good shape to continue the progression and get better in the off-season. Our main evaluator during the off-season is the Front Squat – so we use our Front Squat Max as our Safety Squat Max. Is this perfect – No. Is it a 100% correlation – probably not. But it is pretty close when we tried it as a staff, so we ran with it. The one disclaimer is we load the Safety Bar (70lbs) as if it is a 45lb bar, this makes it easier for all involved, and factors in the fact that our athletes may be a bit stronger (5-10%) on the Safety Bar compared to the Front Squat. The other thing we want to do is stress the speed of the movement in-season, not just linearly load the bar and get slower as the season goes on. Our way of doing that is after week four of the program, we introduce accommodating resistance for the non-skill players (OL, DL, TE, LB), and the use of a tendo unit for the skill players (WR, DB, RB, QB, K). With our non-skill players or “Bigs” we add 40lbs of chain weeks 5-8, then restart the periodization and use 80lbs of chain for weeks 9-12. Week 13 we go back to straight weight, no accommodating resistance. With our Skill players, after week 4, as we get competent with the intent of the movement we re-start the periodization 2.5% higher for each cycle and use a tendo reading of 0.6 to gauge the speed of the bar – we stay with straight weight for the Skill players, and add no chains – just a competitive component with the tendo reading. We use a minimum Tendo reading of .6 on average velocity. This way the athletes need to have the intent of moving the bar fast. After set 2 of the “work sets” (4x3) we auto regulate the load by coaches discretion, with skill players you need to stay within the tendo reading with big you just need to have the intent of speed and keep your form. Here is the graph of the loading for our “Big” group.

In-Season Squat progression

173

Ted parlek

Saftey Squat - Loading Periodization w/ Accomadating Resistance - (OL, DL, TE, LB) Opponent

% for Work sets

sets & reps

Accom. Resistance

week 1

72.5

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

None

week 2

75

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

None

week 3

77.5

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

None

week 4

80

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

None

week 5

72.5

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

40lbs of Chain

week 6

75

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

40lbs of Chain

week 7

77.5

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

40lbs of Chain

week 8

80

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

40lbs of Chain

week 9

72.5

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

80lbs of Chain

week 10

75

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

80lbs of Chain

week 11

77.5

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

80lbs of Chain

week 12

80

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

80lbs of Chain

week 13

85

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

None

Here is the graph for loading and tendo readings of the Skill group. Saftey Squat - Loading Periodization w/ Tendo Reading - (QB, RB, WR, DB, K) % for Work sets

sets & reps

Tendo Reading

week 1

72.5

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

---

week 2

75

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

---

week 3

77.5

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

---

week 4

80

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

---

week 5

75

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

0.6

week 6

77.5

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

0.6

week 7

80

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

0.6

week 8

82.5

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

0.6

week 9

77.5

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

0.6

week 10

80

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

0.6

week 11

82.5

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

0.6

week 12

85

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

0.6

week 13

85

3, 3, 4x3 (work)

0.6

*Minimum Speed With regards to the intensities we use – we try to be within the parameters of Prilepin’s table, and on the low end of the volume.

In-Season Squat progression

174

Ted parlek

As you can see – not counting our two warm up sets of 3, we perform 4x3 (12 reps) with week 1 – 72.5% up to 80-85% by week 13. This is under the “optimal” reps for those intensities, but my interpretation of the chart is the low end of the chart is minimum amount of reps to create a training response, this is exactly what we want in-season – what is the minimum we can do to create a training effect and not hinder the performance of our athletes a practice an in the game. To recap this “program” or “progression”… 1. Goal of in-season Squat Progression is to be within 90% of pre-season max at the end of the season. 2. Stress the speed of the movement throughout the training cycle a. Adding Chains for the “Big” athletes b. Assessing bar speed with the use of a Tendo for “Skill” athletes 3. Use the low end of Prilepin’s table to illicit a strength response without overly fatiguing the athletes. 4. Be sure the program is based on the Goals, Facility, and Staffing availability of your department. The final thing I want to stress with this program is coaching technique. The volume, intensity, chains, tendos, staffing, etc; means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING if you aren’t grinding out your athletes on their technique. Squat to proper DEPTH, there is NO EXCUSE OR REASON NOT TO, if you can’t perform the squat – get them on a different movement. My goal is to enforce and brain wash to our athletes that working hard = great technique, and a 500lb squat without proper depth will not be rewarded, it will be broken down to a 400lb squat with proper form. I hope this helps some of you guys out, please feel free to email me with any questions – [email protected]. Get after your athletes, be organized, and COACH GREAT TECHNIQUE!!!!! Perlak has been involved with the United States Olympic Training Center, serving as a strength and conditioning resident intern from January until May of 2004. In that role he assisted the staff in developing and implementing programs for Olympic, Olympic hopefuls, Pan-American, and Paralympic individual athletes and national teams.

A 2001 graduate of Worcester (Mass.) State College, Perlak was a four-year starter and two-time captain with the football team before earning a bachelor’s degree in health science with a concentration in exercise science.   Currently Perlak, who spent the last 12 years as a strength & conditioning coach at the NCAA Division I level, has been named head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Delaware, Director of Athletics and Recreation Services.

The Nerd Off-Season Program Dan Fosselman

I

recommend this to all white collar workers and students whose goal is primarily to get stronger and increase work capacity while having studious/white collar obligations. This program is a 12 week program designed to push you mentally, spiritually, and physically. The reason I have you walk every morning on top of lift is if you are sitting for 8+ hours a day you need more than an hour of lifting a day to stay healthy. Heads up, there is a squat emphasis on this program. This program is a 12 week commitment. I recommend this for at least an intermediate lifter who has a reasonably high work capacity aka you’re not a fat ass. I did this program during my fourth year of medical school and it was a great stress relief for me. It was a challenge to complete and the regimen took away thinking. I hope you enjoy the program. You will need a front squat max and a squat training max. Program principles 1. Walk/bike every morning for 1 hour on treadmill while reading – first thing of day 2. Journal every night- 1 thing you’re thankful for, write down to do for next day, one thing you learned 3. Read 1 article pertinent to your desired profession or your hobby 4. Listen to NPR on commute to school/work, listen to educational podcast on way home or call friend or family member 5. Take 15 minutes per day to remove stimulus and pray/meditate/ clear your mind – lunch time is ideal 6. Follow the Anabolic diet aka eat clean (veggies and meat) Sunday-Thursday and eat whatever on weekends 7. Warm up consists of Joe DeFranco’s Agile 8, do 2x per day, every day 8. If you have a significant other give them at least 30min a day of your undivided attention. If you have children give 1hr a day to your wife and kids. Turn off your phone and all that shit. 9. 6 hours of sleep minimum, 7 is better, 8 is optimal 10. Supplements: vitamin pack, fish oil, probiotic, plant based protein (if you religiously use milk derived protein ie whey or casein, ), creatine, melatonin 10mg minimum 11. Work hard and bust ass

The Nerd off season Program

176

Dan Fosselman

Block 1 Day 1 (Monday) Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 (deload) 1. Front squat (55,60,65,70,75%x5)(60,65,70,75,80%x3)(65x5,70x4,75x3, 80x2, 85x1+)(60%x3x3) 2. Speed dead (sumo, convo) 50%x3,3x4 55%x2,2x5 60%x1,1x5 50%x3,3, 55%x2,2, 60%x1,1 3. A. Serrano Split squat 8x3s 6x4s 3x4s bw x 5x2s B. Reverse Hyper 20x3s 20x4s 20x4s 10x2s 10x3s 10x4s 10x4s 10x2s C. Glute ham 4. 100m x 4s 100mx5s 100mx6s 100m x 2s A. Single arm farmers B. KB Turkish Get up 3,3xr4s 4,4x5 5,5x6 3,3x2 Day 2 (Wednesday) Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 (deload) 1. SSB Squat 10RM 8RM 5RM 10s walk out with 100%TM 2. Hang clean 8s x 2r 8s x2r 8rx2s 4rx3s 5 week 3 week 5/3/1+ deload 3. A. 5/3/1 Bench B. Band pull apart 20r after each set 4. DB incline bench 12r x 3s 14r x 3s 16r x3s 8rep x 2 s 12r x 3s 15r x3s 18rx 3s 10r x 2s DB incline row 20r x 3s 20r x 3s 20rx3s 20r x 2 s Face pull 5. Push up 25r x 3s 30r x 3s 35rx3s 20r x 2s Pull up 8r x 3s 8rx3s 8rx3s 5rx2s Dip 15r x 3s 20rx3s 25rx3s 10r x 2s Around the world 3,3x3s 3,3x3s 3,3x3s 3,3x2s 6. Sprint 20m x 5 20m x 8 30m x 5 don’t sprint Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4(deload) Day 3 (Friday) 1. Back squat (TMx1, 60%x5x10s) (TMx1, 65%x4x10)(TMx1x2s, 70%x3x10) (60%x5x3) 2. High hex bar dead 8RM 5RM 3RM 5r x 2s light 3. 12r x3s 15rx3s 18r x3s 8r x 3s A. Lunge B. Single leg RDL 12r x3s 15rx3s 18r x3s 8rx2s 20swingx4s 25r x4s 30rx4s 20sx2s 4. A. KB swing B. Goblet squat 10r x 4s 10rx4s 10rx 4s 10rx2s 1minx4 1minx2 C. Plank 1min x 4 1minx4 Day 4 (Saturday) Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4(deload) 1. DB Row 15r x 4s 18rx4s 20rx4s 10rx2s 10r x4s 12rx4s 15rx4s 10rx2s Standing DB OHP 2. Bench Speed (3 grip) 0.5TMx3x9s 0.55TMx3x9s 0.6TMx3x9s 0.5x3x5s 15rx9s 15rx9s 15rx9s 15rx5s Face pull 3. DB flat bench 15rx3 18rx3s 20rx3s 10rx2s Lat pull down 10rx3s 10rx3s 10rx3s 10rx2s 10rx3s 10rx3s 10rx3s 10rx2s T bar row 4. Serrano press 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s YTW 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s Blast strap row 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 5. Jog 1 mile Block 2 Day 1 (Monday) Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 (deload) 1. Front squat (60,68,75,83%x4)(65,73%x3 80,88%x2)(70x4,78x3,85x2,93x1+)(65%x3x3)

The Nerd off season Program

177

Dan Fosselman

2. Speed dead(sumo, convo) (53%x3,3x4)(58%x2,2x5)(63%x1,1x5)( 53x3,3, 57x2,2, 63%x1,1) 3. 6x3s 5x4s 3x4s bw x 5x2s A. Quarter Full BSS 20x3s 20x4s 20x4s 10x2s B. 45 degree hyper C. Glute ham 13x3s 13x4s 13x4s 10x2s 4. A. Double arm farmers 100m x 4s 100mx5s 100mx6s 100m x 2s B. KB Turkish Get up 3,3xr4s 4,4x5 5,5x6 3,3x2 Day 2 (Wednesday) Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 (deload) 1. 8RM 5RM 3RM 10s walk out with 115%TM SSB Squat 2. Hang clean 8s x 3r 8s x 3r 8rx3s 4rx3s 3. A. 5/3/1 Bench 5 week 3 week 5/3/1+ deload B. Band pull apart 25r after each set 4. DB OHP 12r x 3s 14r x 3s 16r x3s 8rep x 2 s 12r x 3s 15r x3s 18rx 3s 10r x 2s TBar Row 20r x 3s 20r x 3s 20rx3s 20r x 2 s Face pull 5. Push up 30r x 3s 35r x 3s 40rx3s 20r x 2s Pull up 9r x 3s 9rx3s 9rx3s 5rx2s Dip 20r x 3s 25rx3s 30rx3s 10rx2s 3,3x3s 3,3x3s 3,3x3s 3,3x2s Around the world 6. Sprint 100m x 3 100m x4 100m x 5 don’t sprint Day 3 (Friday) Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8(deload) 1. (TMx1x2, 65%x5x8s) (TMx1x3, 73%x3x8)(TMx2x2s, 80%x3x8) (60%x5x3) Back squat 2. 5RM 3RM 5r x 2s light Low handle hex bar dead 8RM 3. 12rx3s 8r x3s 8r x 3s bw A. Lunge front foot elevated- 10r x3s B. Single leg RDL 15r x3s 18rx3s 20r x3s 8rx2s 4. A. KB swing 25swingx4s 30r x4s 35rx4s 20sx2s 10r x 4s 10rx4s 10rx 4s 10rx2s B. Goblet squat 1.5min x4 1.5 minx2 C. Plank 1.5min x 4 1.5minx4 Day 4 (Saturday) Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8(deload) 18r x 4s 20rx4s 22rx4s 10rx2s 1. DB Row Standing DB OHP 10r x4s 12rx4s 15rx4s 10rx2s 2. Bench Speed Comp Grip 10x4s 12x4s 15x3s 10x2s 25rx4s 25rx4s 25rx4s 15rx3s Face pull 3. DB flat bench 15rx4 18rx4s 20rx4s 10rx2s 10rx4s 10rx4s 10rx4s 10rx2s Lat pull down T bar row 10rx4s 10rx4s 10rx4s 10rx2s 4. Serrano press 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s YTW 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s Blast strap row 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 5. Jog 1.5 mile Block 3 Day 1 (Monday) Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 (deload) (65,75,85%x3) (70,80,90%x2) (75x3,85x2,95x1+) (60%x3x3) 1. Front squat 2. Speed dead (sumo, convo)( 55%x3,3x4) (60%x2,2x5) (65%x1,1x5)( 50%x3,3, 55%x2,2, 60%x1,1)

The Nerd off season Program

178

Dan Fosselman

3. A. Bulgarian Split squat 20x3s 20x4s 25x4s bw x 10x2s 20x3s 20x4s 20x4s 10x2s B. Reverse Hyper 15x3s 15x4s 15x4s 10x2s C. Glute ham 4. A. Single arm farmers 100m x 4s 100mx5s 100mx6s 100m x 2s B. KB Turkish Get up 3,3xr4s 4,4x5 5,5x6 3,3x2 Day 2 (Wednesday) Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 (deload) 1. 5RM 3RM 2RM 10s walk out with SSB Squat 125%TM 2. Hang clean 6s x 4r 6s x4r 6rx4s 6rx4s 3. A. 5/3/1 Bench 5 week 3 week 5/3/1+ deload B. Band pull apart 30r after each set 4. DB incline bench 12r x 3s 14r x 3s 16r x3s 8rep x 2 s 12r x 3s 15r x3s 18rx 3s 10r x 2s DB incline row 20r x 3s 20r x 3s 20rx3s 20r x 2 s Face pull 5. Push up 35r x 3s 40r x 3s 45rx3s 20r x 2s Pull up 10r x 3s 10rx3s 10rx3s 5rx2s Dip 25r x 3s 30rx3s 35rx3s 15r x 2s 3,3x3s 3,3x3s 3,3x3s 3,3x2s Around the world 6. Sprint 40m x 5 40m x6 40m x7 don’t sprint Day 3 (Friday) Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12(deload) 1. (TMx2, 70%x5x5s) (TMx2x2, 77%x4x5)(TMx3, 85%x3x5) (70%x5x3) Back squat 2. 5RM 3RM 2RM 5r x 2s light Deadlift- Comp stance 3. 10r x3s 8rx3s 5r x3s 8r x3s bw A. Lunge B. Single leg RDL 20r x3s 20rx3s 20r x3s 10rx2s 4. A. KB swing 30swingx4s 35r x4s 35rx4s 20sx2s 10r x 4s 10rx4s 10rx 4s 10rx2s B. Goblet squat 2minx4 2minx2 C. Plank 2min x 4 2minx4 Day 4 (Saturday) Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12(deload) 1. A. DB Row 20r x 4s 22rx4s 25rx4s 10rx2s 10r x4s 12rx4s 15rx4s 10rx2s B. Standing DB OHP 2. A. Bench Speed (3 grip) 0.53TMx3x9s 0.58TMx3x9s 0.63TMx3x9s 0.5x3x5s B. Face pull 15rx9s 15rx9s 15rx9s 15rx5s 20rx3 23rx3s 25rx3s 10rx2s 3. A. DB flat bench B. Lat pull down 15rx3s 15rx3s 15rx3s 10rx2s 15rx3s 15rx3s 15rx3s 10rx2s C. T bar row 4. A. Serrano press 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s B. YTW 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s 10rx2s C. Blast strap row 5. Jog 2 mile Week 13 test yourself. Congratulations, you finished the program. Just like after a test go drink a lot of low quality beer and hang out with your boo or friends. God bless, vigilance

The Nerd off season Program

179

Dan Fosselman

Dan Fosselman is a fourth year osteopathic medical student at LECOM. He played lacrosse at Denison University where he has an NSCA All-American. He graduated with a BS in Biochemistry and Neuroscience while interning as a strength & conditioning student coach for four years with Mark Watts. Dan is also a competitive raw powerlifter and practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He joined the United States Army Reserves to officially become Lieutenant Dan.

Contrarian Approach to Off-Season Highland Games Training Mark Valenti and Erin R. Stewart

Mark R. Valenti USAW club coach, CrossFit Level 1, CrossFit Strongman instructor, Former professional highland games athlete Erin R. Stewart CrossFit Level 1, RN BLIND DOG GYM AND CROSSFIT

CROSSFIT HIGHLANDER A contrarian approach to off-season Highland Games training.

body will lead to further throws in the long run. The notion that you cannot train for strength and conditioning at the same time is a myth , as we have proved numerous times in our facility.

As with any training program , your best bet is to count back twelve weeks from the date of the competition you would like to be at your best for. However, the in-season program still has a heavy emphasis on mobility and athletic movements.

BLOCK 1 (initial phase) In this phase ,you will be

primarily focused in the gym and will do little to no actually throwing of implements. Feel free to ne of the main problems with the training use this time to work footwork drills and increase of Highland games athletes is a lack of technical proficiency. concentration on conditioning,mobility and movements that will help a thrower stay in touch if Week 1: not completely develop the athletic prowess needed Monday to successfully compete, at the highest level ,on the heavy events circuit. 1. Warm up 2. 300 meter jog The following program is an “outside the box” 3. 20 dislocates w/ pvc pipe form of training for the throwing events in the 4. upward facing dog into downward facing dog Scottish Highland Games. The emphasis in (10 per position w. 3 sec. hold) the following twelve weeks is an increase in 5. 20 triple extension waist bends strength ,mobility,conditioning and overall power 6. 20 overhead squats w. pvc development. Normally mobility and conditioning are the forgotten aspects of training for the strength A. 12 mn EMOM events, but the development of a conditioned mobile every minute on the minute complete the following

O

Contrarian Approach to Off-season

181

Mark valenti and Erin R. Stewart

circuit @ 70% of clean and jerk max : deadlift, hi your max stone to shoulder) B. 1000 meter row for time pull, clean,hang clean, jerk B. back squat work up to a heavy triple (do not miss) C. 12 mn AMRAP 5 box jumps 50 jump ropes 20 KB swings

Tuesday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Warm up Banded shoulder traction Pec stretch against stationary object 20 push ups bar roll outs for triceps work on front rack positon stretching

A. Skill: hand stands against the wall. Practice kicking up on the wall and holding a handstand, 5mn of practice. If this is an easy skill for you work on trying to do hand stand push ups or even walking on your hands.

B. strict press work up to a heavy 5 rep set then work back down to warm up weight. C. 5 rounds for time

2 tire flips (as heavy as possible) 10 pull ups 10 ring dips

Thursday

1. Warm up 2. 400 meter row 3. 20 roll into stretch(start in a seated position , tuck your knees to your chest and roll back then roll forward and stretch between your legs) 4. bird dogs 10 on each side 5. 20 trunk twists 6. 20 air squats 7. biceps stretch A. Max stone load to shoulder (take 15 mn,. To find

Friday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Warm up 75 calories on the Airdyne bike band traction 20 push ups 20 triple extensions 20 air squat calf and shin stretching

A. 4 rounds for time 10 thrusters w. 135 20 russian twists 1 400 meter sprint

Week 2 Monday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Warm up 150 jump ropes or 75 Double Unders shoulder rolling pec stretch bar rolling for triceps front rack stretching

A. push press (Max Effort –work up to a max single) B. 7 mn. Amrap 20 double unders 20 pull ups C. 7 mn Amrap 10 wall balls 20 push ups

Tuesday 1. 2. 3. 4.

Warm up 20 trunk twist 20 side bends 20 triple extenstions

Contrarian Approach to Off-season

182

Mark valenti and Erin R. Stewart

5. 20 air squat

3. 20 dislocates 4. 20 thrusters w. pvc 5. bar hangs x 1 mn

Odd min.Yoke walk 2x body weight x 50’ Even min: 15 GHD sit ups w. wall ball

A. “ FAT FRAN” 21-15-9 thrusters @ 75% of bodyweight or higher pull ups B. mobility work on whatever positions or muscle groups that need work…spend 15-20 mn working your mobility

A. deadlift off defecit work up to a heavy 3 B. 14 mn EMOM

Thursday

1. Warm up 2. 300 meter jog 3. 20 dislocates 4. biceps stretch 5. pec stretch A. skill: Muscle up,,,working drills until you are able to get a full MU. Pick any drill and work at it for 10 mn B. 5 rounds for time

Bench press @ body weight or higher x 5 Row 100 meters

Friday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Warm up Cat / cow yoga positions x10 per position Bird dogx 10 on each side 20 Triple extensions 20 Dislocates 20 Over head squats w. PVC

A. 10 mn. EMOM perform this complex Hang hi pull, hang hi pull, snatch, OHS @ 70% of max snatch B. snatch ( Max Effort)

WEEK 3

Tuesday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up Sampson stretch 20 mountain climbers 20 triple exttensions 20 air squat

A. Front squat work up to a heavy double but don’t miss B. 12 mn Amrap 5 box jump 15 burpees 25 KB swings

Thursday Warm up

Pec stretch Biceps stretch 20 push ups 20 dislocates

A. bench press (max effort)

Monday

B. 12 mn. EMOM close grip bench for speed @ 60% of “A”

1. Warm up 2. 75 cal ride on Airdyne

1. Warm up

Friday

Contrarian Approach to Off-season

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

300 meter jog Biceps stretch 20 air squat 20 triple extensions roll into stretch

183

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Mark valenti and Erin R. Stewart

Warm up 20 Dislocates 20 Press technique w. pvc 20 Air squat 20 Push ups Tricep roll outs

A. deadlift off mats (raise the plates off the ground A. 15 mn. AMRAP about 4”) work to a max double 5x clean and press w. strong man log loaded to 80% of body weight or as heavy as possible B. 3 rounds for time 15 burpees 10 pull ups

10 hand stand push ups 6 stone to shoulder ( 3 to each shoulder) as heavy Thursday as possible 300 meter sprint 1. Wup 2. 500 meter row BLOCK 2 (transition phase) use this stage to 3. upward/downward facing dog x 10 in each slowly incorporate throwing. Use range throwing position to try and create an effortless technique capable of 4. walking lunge base line distances. You will still be hitting the gym 5. bear crawls 4 times per week during this phase. 6. 20 air squats

WEEK 4 Monday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up 5 mn. Of double under jump rope practice inch worm x 50’ walking lunge w. twist x 50’ 20 air squat

A. snatch (Max effort) 10 mn. To find max

B. clean and jerk (Max Effort) 10 mn to find max

A. front squats (max effort)

B. 12x 40 meter sprints work up slowly start at 50% speed and work up to max speed… spend 30 sec. to a minute recovering between sprints

Friday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Warm up Bar rolling for triceps Pec stretch Biceps stretch Ring rows x 20 Triple extensions x 20

C. Back squat up to a heavy double (don’t miss) 10 A. “ fat” Elizabeth min to find max 21-15-9 power cleans @ body weight D. tabatta x 8 rounds GHD situ ups ring dips

Tuesday

184

Contrarian Approach to Off-season

Mark valenti and Erin R. Stewart

WEEK 5

Thursday

Monday

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Warm up Cat/cow yoga positions Banded hip stretch Trunk twist x20 Side bends x 20 Air squat x20

A. 20 mn. EMOM Odd minutes: 5 seated box jumps Even minutes: 2 hang snatches w 75%of max or AHAP

A. Deadlift (max effort)

Friday

Tuesday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Warmup Dislocates Biceps stretch Pec stretch Band traction 20 Push ups

A. skill: upside down work hspu,walking on hands ,etc)

Warm up 20 Dislocates 20 Overhead squats w. pvc pipe 20 Triple extensions x Walking lunge w. twist

1. Warm up 2. Pec stretch 3. 20 Band tear aparts 4. 20 Push ups 5. Over head stretch A. 15 mn AMRAP (hand

stands,

5 bench press @ bodyweight or AHAP 5 atlas stone to shoulder @ 75% of bodyweight or heavier 10 ghd sit ups

B. “press party” warm up with strict presses, then take 3 sets at a heavy singles in the press, increasing WEEK 6 the weight each time. Then complete 3 sets of 3 in the push press ,increasing the weight each time. Monday Finally complete 3x5 in the jerk, increasing the weight each time. 1. Warm up 2. 20 Dislocates 1. stict press 3. 20 Triple extenstions 2. 3x1 4. 20 Air squat 3. C. push press 5. Bar roll outs 4. 3x3 6. Front rack stretches 5. D. jerk 6. 3x5 A. clean and jerk (max effort) C. tabata pull ups ( any grip) x 8 rounds

B. 1000 meter row

Tuesday

Contrarian Approach to Off-season

185

Warm up Band traction Overhead stretch Pec stretch Biceps stretch 20 Push ups

Mark valenti and Erin R. Stewart

BLOCK 3 (PREP PHASE) In this phase you will

start to incorporate more explosive jumping and Olympic lifting. The conditioning phase ,while still present, will start to taper slighlty. During this phase you will start throwing more often and building on the techniques established in phase 2.

A. 1 ¼ bench press work up to a heavy set of 5 B. dumbbell bench as many reps as possible in 2mn. Dumbells should be challenging but still light enough WEEK 7 that a solid 12-15 reps are possible when fresh C. chin ups (palms facing supinated grip) tabata x Monday 8 rounds

Thursday 1. Warm up 2. Jog 300 meters 3. Trunk twist x 20 4. Lungs x20 per leg 5. Triple extenstions x 20 6. Air squat x 20 7. A. EMOM

Odd min. ride airdyne for max calories Even min. 2 back squats @ 1.5% of bodyweight Go until you burn 200 calories

Friday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up 20 Dislocates Pec stretch Bar roll outs Front rack stretches

A. military press : work up to a heavy set of 5 and then work back down to warm up weight.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up Upward/downward facing dog 20 Dislocates 20 OHS w. pvc pipe 20 Triple extenstion

A. 10 mn EMOM (every min., on the min perform the following complex) snatch,hang snatch,hang snatch, overhead squat @ 70% of snatch max) B. snatch (max effort)

C. Front squat : ten minutes to work up to a heavy double

Tuesday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up 20 Strict press w. pvc 20 Dislocates Bar roll outs Front rack stretch

A. push press (work up to a heavy triple) B. 10 mn. Amrap

10 thrusters @ 135 B. bent over rows 10x10 work up as heavy as 10 box jumps possible without breaking form

Contrarian Approach to Off-season

186

Thursday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up 5 mn of DU or jump rope practice 20 trunk twists 20 triple extenstions 20 air squat

A. 16 mn. EMOM

Odd min: 3x front squat @ 80%of max or AHAP Even min: 2x tire flip @ AHAP B. 7 mn AMRAP 10 wall balls 10 burpees

Friday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up Pec stretch Biceps stretch Overhead stretch 20 push ups

A. bench press (max effort) B. tabata x 8 rounds : hspu ring dips pull ups

WEEK 8

(goal test your crossfit total: back squat,military press,deadlift)

Monday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up 300 meter jog 20 OHS w. PVC walking lunge w. twist inch worms

Mark valenti and Erin R. Stewart

A. back squat (Max effort) B. light 1000 meter row for quality not time

Tuesday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up 20 dislocates biceps stretch bar roll outs rack position stretching

A. Military press (max effort) B. 1 mile easy jog

Thursday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up Biceps stretch 20 triple extensions 20xOHS w. pvc pec stretching

A. 10 rounds for time

6 atlas stone to shoulder loads 200 meter row

Friday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Warm up 300 jog cat/cow yoga positions inch worms walking toe touches air squats

A. deadlift (max effort)

WEEK 9 Monday

Contrarian Approach to Off-season

1. 2. 3. 4.

187

Warm up 20 dislocates band traction 20 push ups

A. 10 mn EMOM

Push press x 3 @ 80% of best push press or AHAP B. 10 mn EMOM

Jerks x2 @ 80% of best jerk or AHAP

Tuesday

1. Warm up 2. 500 meter row 3. upward facing /downward facing dog yoga positions 4. 20 air squat 5. 20 triple extensions A. OHS (from rack) work up to a heavy double B. 3 rounds for time 10 OHS @ 80% of A 1 300 meter run

Thursday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Warm up Overhead stretch 10 pull ups 20 dislocates 20 push ups

A. bench press (work up to a heavy triple) B. tabata dumbbell incline bench press x 8 rounds C. tabata strict pull ups (use a band if needed) x 8 rounds D. tabata bent over rows x8 rounds

Mark valenti and Erin R. Stewart

Friday 1. 2. 3. 4.

Warm up Sampson stretch 20 roll into stretch 20 air squat

A. front squat (work up to a heavy double) B. 10 mn AMRAP 5 box jumps 20 russian twists 50 jump ropes

BLOCK 4 FINAL PHASE : In this phase the

conditioning will again drop off slightly (met cons should be kept under 8 mn.) increase your throwing workouts and the weight room workouts will drop to 3 times a week. Your focus has to be on the throwing aspect as you prep for the start of the season.

Week 10 Monday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up Cat/cow yoga positions 20 triple extensions 20 air squat 20 dislocates

A. snatch (max effort) B. snatch grip deadlift (work up to a heavy triple) C. OHS (work up to a heavy 5)

Wednesday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up Overhead stretch Bar roll outs Dislocates 20 push ups

Contrarian Approach to Off-season

A. bench press (max effort) B. 12 mn EMOM odd min. 5 pull ups strict Even min 10 sit ups on the GHD

Friday

Warm up

300 meter jog banded hip stretch 20 air squats 20 triple extensions

A. cleans ( work up to a heavy double) B. back squats (work up to a heavy double)

Week 11 Monday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up 20 dislocates 20xpush ups band traction overhead stretch

A. military press (work up to a heavy triple) B. 7 mn. AMRAP 10 push ups 10 pull ups

Wednesday 1. 2. 3. 4.

Warm up 50 calories on the airdyne 20 OHS w. PVC 20 triple extensions

A. deadlift (work up to a heavy triple) B. 10 mn EMOM Odd min: 8 box jump Even min: 10 kb swings

188

Mark valenti and Erin R. Stewart

Friday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Warm up Pec stretch Plate mobility 20 push ups 10 pull ups

A. 18 mn. EMOM Push press complex (2 push presses and 1 jerk @70% of best push press)

Week 12 Monday 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Warm up 300 meter jog cat/cow yoga positions 20 triple extensions 20 air squats 20 dislocates

A. hang snatch (work up to a heavy double) B. hang clean (work up to a heavy double) C. front squat (work up to a heavy triple)

Wednesday 1. 2. 3. 4.

Warm up Pec stretch Overhead stretch 20 push ups

A. bench press (work up to a heavy 5) B. 8 sets of pull ups (as many as possible per set… switch your grip every 2 sets)

Friday 1. Warm up 2. 1000 meter row 3. 20 air squats

Contrarian Approach to Off-season

189

4. 20 triple extensions 5. 20 roll into stretch A. defecit deadlift ( work up to a heavy 5) B. sumo deadlift w. plates elevated on 4” mats (work up to a heavy single) C. 8 mn EMOM speed deadlift @ 50% Mark Valenti is a former professional Heavy Events athlete and competed on the circuit for 22 years. He qualified for the National Championshiips at Bethlehem Pa and Portland Oregon on 5 occasions. Was one third of the World Team Champions in 2008 and won competitions in both the USA and Canada. He has also won strongman and CrossFit competitions in the recent past. Mark is the co-owner , along with his wife Erin, of Blind Dog Gym and CrossFit in Lorain,Ohio. He currently trains athletes of all kinds ,including CrossFit athletes, Highland games and strongman competitors . Mark is currently a certified CrossFit L!, CrossFit Strongman, USAW Club Coach and USATF Level 1 Coach. You can obtain more info at blinddoggym.com or contact Mark at [email protected]

Mark valenti and Erin R. Stewart

The Tactical Preparedness Workout Chris Smith

F

or the law enforcement officer, there are plenty of things that rank higher on the priorities list than hitting the gym. Long hours at work and an often unpredictable schedule can force even the most dedicated lifter to skip out on training. Add to this a diet rich in junk food, sleep deprivation, stress on top of more stress, and you’ve got a formula that doesn’t always quite add up to a string of PR’s. All hope is not lost, however. It’s entirely possible for an active law enforcement officer (LEO) to run an effective and efficient training program – but there are some factors that should be given consideration if you want to make the most of your time in and out of the gym. Law enforcement offers a number of unique demands, as both a lifestyle and a training goal. Therefore, an efficacious training program should look at these issues and take them into account at risk of producing substandard results. Injury Prevention Any program, regardless of target population, should aim to avoid injuries. For the LEO, however, even a minor injury has the potential to create a myriad of bigger problems. As with any tactical population mistakes and injuries can have deadly results. So, with this in mind, the training program for an officer should not only strive to avoid injuries, but to prevent future injuries both in and out of the gym. Prehab and

structural balance, therefore, are just as important as hitting a PR. Time Management When it comes to managing a busy schedule one of the first things to get cut for a busy law enforcement officer will probably be the gym. Free time is precious and often reserved for family, and unfortunately that sometimes means sacrificing training. This means that a good training program needs to get the lifter in and out of the gym in minimal time while still delivering results – because that time in the gym better be worth it! Another aspect of time management is a flexible schedule. It’s not uncommon for an officer to be suddenly called into work or have to give up a scheduled day off. That can mean that officers don’t always have the ability to adhere to a strict training schedule. Mondays can’t always be bench day! An optimal training program for a LEO should allow some flexibility in a training schedule, while still leaving room for recovery. Needs of the Job Law enforcement can really be thought of as a hybrid sport. Like a mixed martial artist, an officer needs to be good at a lot of things in order to be the best. In any given day, an officer may need to wrestle with a noncompliant criminal, sprint up ten flights of stairs, run

191

The Tactical preparedness workout

Chris Smith

a quarter mile, help lift someone who outweighs them by 200lbs, jump a fence or any other number of tasks all while wearing about 40lbs of gear. If you look at the job like a sport it requires a balance of strength, power, speed and conditioning. The big difference here is that neglecting one attribute won’t result in a last place finish; it could result in injury or worse. In addition to the multifaceted needs of the tactical athlete, there are other unique training demands that should be given consideration. Grip strength is an often forgotten training element and is something that can have a tremendous impact when it comes to confrontational situations for an officer. A firm grip not only sends a message but it can also mean the difference between retaining control of a suspect or not. Training of the neck is another frequently neglected area of training. As with any full-contact athlete a strong neck is vital to preventing injury and should be given the appropriate attention. The Program Taking into consideration all of the elements above, this program consists of a brief, effective warm-up, strength training and conditioning. The warm-up is designed to facilitate mobility and prevent injuries while preparing for an effective training session. The strength-training portion is designed for even the most minimally equipped gym while emphasizing development of strength and power. Lifting is divided into three days: lower body, upper body pressing, upper body pulling. The reason for this split is to allow for maximum flexibility in scheduling. If necessary you can train three days in a row with minimal interference between training days, or you can space the days out however works best for you. The conditioning element is broken into two phases. The first phase emphasizes development of aerobic capacity while the second builds upon that and focuses more on the anaerobic systems. While there has been a strong backlash against aerobic training in the past few years, it remains an important training element. A solid aerobic base will help your strength training workouts by reducing the amount of rest you need between sets and will give you a foundation to build upon with your anaerobic training. To top it off, many police agencies still require some form of aerobic capacity event as part of their fitness requirements. Warm Up T-Spine Extension on Roller Squat to Stand x 5 Kneeling hip flexor stretch Pushups x 20 Band Pull-Apart x 20 (Replace with Dumbbell rear delt raise x 20 if no bands) Strength Training Month 1 Day 1 Lower Body

A. Clean High Pull from Hang

Week 1

Rest

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Sets x Reps

90 sec

3x6

4x4

4x6

3x3

The Tactical preparedness workout

B. Squat C1. Fat Bar Romanian Deadlift C2. Bulgarian Split Squat D1. Barbell Russian Twist D2. Neck Flexion D3. Neck Extension

Day 2 Upper Body Pressing

Day 3 Upper Body Pulling

A. Weighted Pull-Ups* B. Barbell Row with Thick Grips C1. Face Pull

Chris Smith

90 sec

3x8

4x6

4x8

3x5

30 sec

3x8

4x6

4 x 10

2x8

60 sec

3 x 20

4 x 15

4 x 20

2 x 15

30 sec

3 x 10

3 x 10

3 x 10

2 x 10

30 sec

3 x 10

3 x 15

3 x 15

2 x 10

30 sec

3 x 10

3 x 15

3 x 15

2 x 10

Week 1

Rest

A. Incline Bench Press B. 1 Arm Standing Dumbell Push Press C. Flat Dumbbell Bench with Thick Grips D1. Close Grip Bench with Pause D2. Hanging Leg Raises

192

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Sets x Reps

90 sec

3x8

4x6

4x8

3x5

60 sec

3x8

4x6

4x8

3x5

60 sec

3 x 10

4x8

4 x 12-15

2x8

30 sec

3 x 10

4x8

4 x 10-12

2 x 10

60 sec

3 x 15

3 x 15

3 x 15

2 x 15

Week 1

Rest

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Sets x Reps

90 sec

3x8

4x6

4x8

3x5

60 sec

3x8

4x8

4 x 10

2 x 10

30 sec

3 x 15

4 x 15

4 x 20

2 x 15

193

The Tactical preparedness workout

C2. Rear Delt Raise C3. Barbell Curl C4. Ab Wheel Rollout

Chris Smith

30 sec

3 x 12-15

4 x 12-15

4 x 20

2 x 15

30 sec

3 x 12-15

4 x 12-15

4 x 15

2 x 15

60 sec

3 x 10

4 x 10

4 x 10

2 x 10

*If you can’t do pull-ups with added weight do 4 sets of as many reps as possible instead Strength Training Month 2 Day 1 Lower Body

A. Snatch High Pull from Hang B. Squat C. Snatch Grip Romanian Deadlift D. Reverse Lunge w/ Dumbells E1. Half Kneeling Pallof Press E2. Neck Flexion E3. Neck Extension

Day 2 Upper Body Pressing

A. Push Press B. Paused Bench Press

Week 5

Rest

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Sets x Reps

90 sec

3x5

4x3

5x4

3x3

90 sec

3x5

4x3

5x5

3x5

60 sec

3 x 6-8

4x5

4x8

2x8

60 sec

3 x 10

4 x 10

4 x 15

2 x 10

30 sec

3 x 10

3 x 10

3 x 10

2 x 10

30 sec

3 x 10

3 x 15

3 x 15

2 x 10

30 sec

3 x 10

3 x 15

3 x 15

2 x 10

Week 5

Rest

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Sets x Reps

90 sec

3x5

4x3

5x4

3x3

90 sec

3x5

4x3

5x4

3x3

194

The Tactical preparedness workout

C. Incline Dumbbell Bench with Fat Grips D1. Skull Crusher D2. Situps

60 sec

3x8

4x8

4 x 10

2 x 10

30 sec

3 x 10-12

4 x 10-12

4 x 12-15

2 x 10

60 sec

3 x 1 minute max reps

4 x 1 minute max reps

4 x 1 minute max reps

2 x 1 minute max reps

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Day 3 Upper Rest Body Pulling

A. Weighted Pull-Ups* B. Fat Grip Dead Stop Dumbbell Row C1. Face Pull C2. Rear Delt Raise C3. Scott Curl C4. Ab Wheel Rollout

Chris Smith

Sets x Reps

90 sec

3x5

4x3

5x4

3x3

60 sec

3x8

4x8

4 x 10

2 x 10

30 sec

3 x 15

4 x 15

4 x 20

2 x 15

30 sec

3 x 12-15

4 x 12-15

4 x 20

2 x 15

30 sec

3 x 12-15

4 x 12-15

4 x 15

2 x 15

60 sec

3 x 10

4 x 10

4 x 10

2 x 10

*If you can’t do weighted pull-ups do the prescribed number of sets for max reps instead.

Conditioning

Weeks 1 – 4

Work

Day 1

Day 2

2 mile run

¼ mile intervals 20 minute slow run ¼ mile fast, ¼ mile slow x 4

Day 1 Rest

Reps

Work

Week 5

30 sec sprint

120 sec

4

¼ mile fast

Week 6

30 sec sprint

120 sec

5

¼ mile fast

Day 2 Rest

¼ mile walk/slow jog ¼ mile walk/slow jog

Day 3

Reps

Work

4

1 mile fast run

5

1 mile fast

Day 3 Rest

¼ mile slow ¼ mile slow

Reps

2 2

195

The Tactical preparedness workout

Week 7 Week 8

30 sec sprint

120 sec

20 minute slow jog

6

Chris Smith

¼ mile walk/slow jog 20 minute slow jog

¼ mile fast

6

1 mile fast

¼ mile slow REST

2

Final Thoughts There are a few final issues I’d like to address about the above program. The last set of the day on primary and secondary lifts should be taken within 1-2 reps of failure, regardless of the prescribed rep range. This allows you to gauge your progress and will give you and idea of your current strength level, while taking into account daily fluctuations in strength. Don’t do this with auxiliary lifts such as neck work or rear delt movements. The benefits don’t outweigh the risks there. Weeks 4 and 8 should be treated as a deload – do not push for max reps on those weeks and cut back the weight about 10%. This program is designed to increase tactical preparedness while allowing maximum flexibility in scheduling and can be done in almost any gym. Ideally the strength training days would be performed with a day in between to allow for recovery, but as stated above you can perform them back-to-back if necessary. Schedule the conditioning however works best for you. You can do these workouts after your strength training, or on separate days. Good luck, good lifting and stay safe. About the Author Chris Smith is a strength coach from New York City and the founder of Train Better Fitness. Chris has experience in a wide variety of sports including track, martial arts, strongman and powerlifting. As a competitive powerlifter, he holds several world, national and state records. Chris specializes in integrating strength training and body composition techniques to help clients become stronger and fitter. Through a dedication to education he has earned certifications from the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Strength and Conditioning Association (strength and conditioning specialist). He also holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from St. John’s University. To learn more about Chris, visit him on the web at www.TrainBetterFitness.com, on Facebook (Facebook.com/TrainBetterFitness) or Twitter (Twitter.com/TrainBetterFit).

Six-week Weightlifter’s Program

Hank McDonald

5DAY/ 6WEEK WEIGHTLIFTING PROGRAM

(PERFECT YOUR TECHNIQUE, ROUND-OUT YOUR SQUAT, FILL-IN YOUR WEIGHT CLASS) By Hank McDonald

but allowing the reps to decrease (ex. Set 1:10 reps, set 2:8 reps, set 3:6 reps, set 4: 6 reps), since my main goal is to complete all 30 reps, not a specific rep/set scheme like 5x6 or 3x10. I also limited my rest time to around 60 seconds between sets.

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Need to know: Thought Process: wrote this program after just completing a competition • 6-week/ 5 day program and determining that it was time to move up a weight class. However, I was a very light 94kg and so I • The Olympic lifts, (clean variants/ had the goal of adding on some mass, especially to my snatch variants/ and split jerk) stay lower body, while going back to some technical work relatively light 60-75%, the emphasis for the snatch and clean & jerk. It was an experiment is technique! but the program worked great for me so I figured I would share it with you. • I have a 1RM for most variants of the Olympic lifts (ex. hang power clean, I decided to experiment with the squat by going power snatch, etc.), however you do 3 days a week utilizing the safety squat, front squat, not need to if you don’t already know. and back squat, while also incorporating something similar to escalating density training for the squats • Olympic lift variants move from high and accessory movements. Using a variation of position to low position through the Prilipen’s table (for hypertrophy & strength), I had an course of the week. ideal amount of reps that I wanted to hit for certain percentage ranges (ex. 70-80% an optimal amount of • You squat 3x a week: safety, front, reps would be 30 for my specified loads). For working and back squat. 70-85% sets I would always perform a max rep for my first set, with and each following set continuing to push myself, • Squat is set up to move from safety

I

197

Six-Week Weightlifter's Program

Hank McDonald

squat low int./ high vol.- front squat mod int./mod vol.-

back squat high int./ low vol.

•

Accessory movements that I have 1RM’s for I used percentages which coincide with the squat percentages. Some movements I do not have a 1RM, so I just experimented with the load.

•

Rest intervals for squats and accessory movements are no more than 60 seconds.

• • •

Some accessory movements varied week-to-week depending on what I felt like doing…. sin gle leg, and sometimes hamstring, just so I could have some variation and not get bored. The first set of any squat or accessory movement is a max rep set.

SAVE YOUR MONEY SO YOU CAN AFFORD TO BUY SOME NEW JEANS!!!! (I wish I did…)

D1 WK1

SETS/ REPS/%

D2 WK1

SETS/REPS/%

D3WK1

SETS/REPS/%

D4 WK1

SETS/REPS/%

D5 WK1

SETS/ REPS/%

HANG POWER SNATCH

6/3/60%

HANG POWER CLEAN

6/3/60%

POWER SNATCH

6/3/60%

POWER CLEAN

6/3/60%

SNATCH

6/3/60%

SNATCH PULL

6/3/70%

CLEAN PULL

6/3/70%

SPLIT JERK

6/3/70%

SPLIT JERK

6/3/60%

CLEAN + JERK

6/3/60%

SAFETY SQUAT

32 TOTAL/70%

RDL

30 TOTAL/70%

FRONT SQUAT

28 TOTAL/ 70%

GOOD MORNING

30 TOTAL/ 70%

BACK SQUAT

24 TOTAL/ 70%

MILITARY PRESS

30 TOTAL

POWER JERK

6/3/ 70%

BEHIND NECK PRESS

30 TOTAL

SINGLE LEG ACC.

30 TOTAL EACH LEG

HAMSTRING ACC.

30 TOTAL

GLUTE HAM RAISE

30 TOTAL

SINGLE LEG ACC.

30 TOTAL EACH LEG

HAMSTRING SLIDES

30 TOTAL

D1 WK2

SETS/ REPS/%

D2 WK2

SETS/REPS/%

D3WK2

SETS/REPS/%

D4 WK2

SETS/REPS/%

D5 WK2

SETS/ REPS/%

HANG POWER SNATCH

6/3/65%

HANG POWER CLEAN

6/3/65%

POWER SNATCH

6/3/65%

POWER CLEAN

6/3/65%

SNATCH

6/3/65%

SNATCH PULL

6/3/75%

CLEAN PULL

6/3/75%

SPLIT JERK

6/3/75%

SPLIT JERK

6/3/65%

CLEAN + JERK

6/3/65%

SAFETY SQUAT

30 TOTAL/75%

RDL

30TOTAL/75%

FRONT SQUAT

24 TOTAL/ 75%

GOOD MORNING

24 TOTAL/ 75%

BACK SQUAT

18 TOTAL/ 75%

MILITARY PRESS

30 TOTAL

POWER JERK

6/3/ 75%

BEHIND NECK PRESS

30 TOTAL

SINGLE LEG ACC.

30 TOTAL EACH LEG

HAMSTRING ACC.

30 TOTAL

GLUTE HAM RAISE

30 TOTAL

SINGLE LEG ACC.

30 TOTAL EACH LEG

HAMSTRING SLIDES

30 TOTAL

198

Six-Week Weightlifter's Program

Hank McDonald

D1 WK3

SETS/ REPS/%

D2 WK3

SETS/REPS/%

D3 WK3

SETS/REPS/%

D4 WK3

SETS/REPS/%

D5 WK3

SETS/ REPS/%

HANG POWER SNATCH

6/2/70%

HANG POWER CLEAN

6/2/70%

POWER SNATCH

6/2/70%

POWER CLEAN

6/2/70%

SNATCH

6/2/70%

SNATCH PULL

6/2/80%

CLEAN PULL

6/2/80%

SPLIT JERK

6/2/80%

SPLIT JERK

6/2/70%

CLEAN + JERK

6/2/70%

SAFETY SQUAT

25 TOTAL/80%

RDL

25TOTAL/80%

FRONT SQUAT

20 TOTAL/ 80%

GOOD MORNING

20 TOTAL/ 80%

BACK SQUAT

15 TOTAL/ 80%

MILITARY PRESS

30 TOTAL

POWER JERK

6/2/ 80%

BEHIND NECK PRESS

30 TOTAL

SINGLE LEG ACC.

30 TOTAL EACH LEG

HAMSTRING ACC.

30 TOTAL

GLUTE HAM RAISE

30 TOTAL

SINGLE LEG ACC.

30 TOTAL EACH LEG

HAMSTRING SLIDES

30 TOTAL

D1 WK4

SETS/REPS/%

D2 WK4

SETS/REPS/%

D3WK4

SETS/REPS/%

D4 WK4

SETS/REPS/%

D5 WK4

SETS/REPS/%

HANG POWER SNATCH

6/3/65%

HANG POWER CLEAN

6/3/65%

POWER SNATCH

6/3/65%

POWER CLEAN

6/3/65%

SNATCH

6/3/65%

SNATCH PULL

6/3/75%

CLEAN PULL

6/3/75%

SPLIT JERK

6/3/75%

SPLIT JERK

6/3/65%

CLEAN + JERK

6/3/65%

SAFETY SQUAT

30 TOTAL/75%

RDL

30TOTAL/75%

FRONT SQUAT

24 TOTAL/ 75%

GOOD MORNING

24 TOTAL/ 75%

BACK SQUAT 18 TOTAL/ 75%

MILITARY PRESS

30 TOTAL

POWER JERK

6/3/ 75%

BEHIND NECK PRESS

30 TOTAL

SINGLE LEG ACC.

30 TOTAL EACH LEG

HAMSTRING ACC.

GLUTE HAM RAISE

30 TOTAL

SINGLE LEG ACC.

30 TOTAL EACH LEG

HAMSTRING SLIDES

30 TOTAL

30 TOTAL

D1 WK5

SETS/REPS/%

D2 WK5

SETS/REPS/%

D3 WK5

SETS/REPS/%

D4 WK5

SETS/REPS/%

D5 WK5

SETS/REPS/%

HANG POWER SNATCH

6/2/70%

HANG POWER CLEAN

6/2/70%

POWER SNATCH

6/2/70%

POWER CLEAN

6/2/70%

SNATCH

6/2/70%

SNATCH PULL

6/2/80%

CLEAN PULL

6/2/80%

SPLIT JERK

6/2/80%

SPLIT JERK

6/2/70%

CLEAN + JERK

6/2/70%

SAFETY SQUAT

25 TOTAL/80%

RDL

25TOTAL/80%

FRONT SQUAT

20 TOTAL/ 80%

GOOD MORNING

20 TOTAL/ 80%

BACK SQUAT 15 TOTAL/ 80%

MILITARY PRESS

30 TOTAL

POWER JERK

6/2/ 80%

BEHIND NECK PRESS

30 TOTAL

SINGLE LEG ACC.

30 TOTAL EACH LEG

HAMSTRING ACC.

30 TOTAL

199

Six-Week Weightlifter's Program

Hank McDonald

30 TOTAL

GLUTE HAM RAISE

30 TOTAL

SINGLE LEG ACC.

30 TOTAL EACH LEG

HAMSTRING SLIDES

D1 WK6

SETS/REPS/%

D2 WK6

SETS/REPS/%

D3 WK6

SETS/REPS/%

D4 WK6

SETS/REPS/%

D5 WK6

SETS/ REPS/%

HANG POWER SNATCH

6/2/75%

HANG POWER CLEAN

6/2/75%

POWER SNATCH

6/2/75%

POWER CLEAN

6/2/75%

SNATCH

6/2/75%

SNATCH PULL

6/2/85%

CLEAN PULL

6/2/85%

SPLIT JERK

6/2/85%

SPLIT JERK

6/2/75%

CLEAN + JERK

6/2/75%

SAFETY SQUAT

20 TOTAL/85%

RDL

20TOTAL/85%

FRONT SQUAT

15 TOTAL/ 85%

GOOD MORNING

15 TOTAL/ 85%

BACK SQUAT

10TOTAL/ 85%

MILITARY PRESS

30 TOTAL

POWER JERK

6/2/ 85%

BEHIND NECK PRESS

30 TOTAL

SINGLE LEG ACC.

30 TOTAL EACH LEG

HAMSTRING ACC.

30 TOTAL

GLUTE HAM RAISE

30 TOTAL

SINGLE LEG ACC.

30 TOTAL EACH LEG

HAMSTRING SLIDES

30 TOTAL

Bio: Hank Mc Donald is an Assistant Coordinator for Strength & Conditioning at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has been involved with collegiate strength and conditioning and competitive weightlifting since 2010. He holds certifications through the CSCCA, NSCA, and USAW, as well as an exercise science degree.

Powerlifting Program

K

nowledge is powerful! With the renewed popularity in raw lifting recently, gear lifting has not been getting the publicity that it deserves. The push for lifting raw has really made a valid surge, with the help of social media, the limitless eBooks and current popularity of certain fitness methods. With the general population working out more now than ever, a lot of people perceive that veteran lifters have put away their gear and have made the switch over to raw lifting. Some have, but with most of the general population working out in local health/ fitness clubs, at home or at their local cross-fit “box”, the exposure to geared lifting is not relevant where most of the general population trains.

The EliteFTS Powerlifting Experience has given an opportunity for lifter who may never of had an opportunity to be exposed to geared lifting, to get out of there normal training arenas, expose them to a different training environment and let them feel what lifting on a team is really like. I think the process not only let the attendants attempt gear lifting but also, gave them the experience of lifting in a powerlifting meet. Without the EliteFTS Powerlifting Experience many lifter would not seek out or give geared lifting a try. It really presented a great opportunity for raw lifters that may of never had an opportunity to try lifting in gear or be coached by a team of professionals, experience just that. That’s what coaching is all about, the process. It’s the process of the exposure to something new, the educational opportunity associated with it and the ability to pass on the experience. Just like EliteFTS Powerlifting Experience, my

John Patrick

travels as a Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coach have landed me in some the greatest educational opportunities I could possibly think of. Not only have I had the opportunity to learn from some the best strength coaches at the collegiate/professional level, but also during every move I would seek knowledge from the best lifters/teams in that area. You have heard it a thousand times…. “You can be book smart, but under the bar experience is vital.” I found this quote to be very true. Every team I lifted with was a new opportunity for me to listen and grow in knowledge. Some of the training went against what I was taught by my education or my mentors, but it was all a new learning experience that I could pass on to others. Gear lifting is truly something you have to experience to be able to coach. I have had some great teammates along my way:

Scott Warman’s Pro Gym – El Paso, TX The Refuge – Middletown, CT North Georgia Barbell – Kennesaw, GA Mariettia Barbell – Marietta, GA Khaos Barbell – Athens, GA Team JAX – Jacksonville, FL Steel Dungeon Barbell – Yulee, FL

They all educated me on so different component of geared lifting. Weather it was single ply or multi ply, this federation or that federation or the differences in programing you would use when training for a geared meet. You have to be an open sponge and soak in as much info as possible. Through exposure with elite, intermediate and novice lifters, I have been

Powerlifting program

201

able educate myself on the skill of geared lifting. There are no books or cover all aspects of geared training. Geared lifting is a process of hearsay, of attempts and misses and the instruction of those who have had success in the sport.

There are many different training method, every one trains different but all train for one reason, to compete. Weather you are a elite, intermediate or novice lifter, there is a common question that arises as every time a meet comes close. “How do I taper my training to effectively lift well at the meet?”

The following program is an example of how a geared lifter might want to approach 4 weeks out from a meet. The workout will follow a basic systematic approach and slowly decrease volume as the meet comes closer. Each workout contains prehab and will explain what gear is to be used for that workout. Weeks 1-3 will include restoration workouts, which will help aid in recovery between sessions. This is not a one size fits all taper for all training level. This is merely a skeleton template that I created through my experiences. Enjoy! WEEK 1 – REALIZATION BLOCK WEEK 2 – ACCUMULATION BLOCK WEEK 3 – INTENSIFICATION BLOCK WEEK 4 – REALIZATION BLOCK Bio: Patrick handles the strength and conditioning duties for all 18 YSU athletic programs, working primarily with the football program on a daily basis. He is a National Strength and Conditioning Association certified strength coach. Patrick is also certified by the International Sports Science Association and the United States Weightlifting Association. He is also a member of the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association.

John patrick

M2 Deadlift Program Brian Schwab

T

his is a modified off-season Deadlift Program based off of a combination of the M2 Method and the equipped M2 Method with speed pulls incorporated every third week. It’s designed to increase raw top end strength, to maintain equipped strength, and to allow for a deload on the third week while helping to maintain or improve speed.

Chains or bands can be incorporated throughout the program if desired. To determine the bar weight, just subtract the weight of the chains or band tension from the bar weight on the initial working set. For the speed work, I recommend performing the first two sets with the recommended percentage, the second two with one set of chains or bands added, and the last two with two sets of chains added or the same amount of band tension as the second two sets. Try to maintain the same speed throughout. Following the main exercise I recommend performing one warm up and two working sets of upper back using a combination of pull downs or pull ups and a form of rowing motion as well as hamstring and weighted abdominal work.

I hope this program gives you some variety in your training and helps to take your deadlift to new levels! Thanks for reading and Never Give Up! Week

Excercise

1

4 “ Raw block pulls (or rack pulls from just below the knee) (percentages are based off a raw max)

2

3

2 “ Block Pulls Equipped Block pulls (or rack pulls from mid shin) w/ suit, straps down (percentages are based off an equipped max) Raw Speed pulls (6 sets of 2 while adding chains or bands) (percentages are based off a raw max)

Percent

Reps

85.00% 87.50%

5 5

87.50%

3

90.00%

3

52.50%

2

M2 Deadlift Program

203

Brian Schwab

4

4 “ Raw block pulls (or rack pulls from just below the knee)

5

2 “ Equipped Block pulls (or rack pulls from mid shin) w/suit, straps down

87.50% 90.00%

4 4

90.00%

2

92.50%

2

6

Raw Speed pulls (6 sets of 2 while adding chains or bands)

55.00%

2

7

4” Block pulls (or rack pulls from just below the knee)

90.00% 92.50%

3 3

8

2” Equipped Block pulls (or rack pulls from mid shin) w/straps down

92.50% 95.00%

1 1

9

Raw Speed pulls (6 sets of 2 while adding chains or bands)

57.50%

2

10

4 “ block pulls (or rack pulls from just below the knee)

92.50% 95.00%

2 2

11

2 “ Equipped Block pulls (or rack pulls from mid shin) w/straps up

92.50% 95.00%

1 1

12

Raw Speed pulls (6 sets of 2 while adding chains or bands)

60.00%

2

-Brian Schwab, BS, CSCS

Brian has a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise and Sport Sciences from the University of Florida. He also holds many certifications including his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He has been Personal Training for over eleven years and strength training for more than nineteen years, the last twelve of which he has been competitively Powerlifting.

PROGRAMS THAT WORK

THE END