Want to get fit - Lets Roll in the Mud!

So when did running around in the mud become a legitimate fitness activity?

Sometimes I just scratch my shaved head and wonder what the fuck is going on here. In fact I am damn sure that at some point a starship is going to descend from the heavens and return me to the mother ship. Then I will be sitting there thinking 'ahhh that's why none of it made any sense..I'm  not one of these dopey fuckers'.

A couple of people I know are going in one of these colloquially named 'tough mudda' events. So they are madly running around at the gym cardioing the shit out of themselves preparing for this. Now my issue is not the event itself I mean if you want to run around in these, then hey whatever floats your boat. My issue is that these things like Zumba, like cross-fit become a verb that ends up being just another fad. Don't believe me, well how is the old Tai bo doing these days???

As one wise scribe pointed out this is one thing that we will look back on in 20 years and say how dumb but it persists in the short term because:

' There's a lot of money to be made making those who live in the safe confines of suburbia or cozy apartments feel dangerous in a well-controlled environment.'

I even had an ex military guy at an old client  ask me why I didn't want to step up and have a crack as it would be a great challenge. Well probably for the same reason that I don't shit my pants anymore, I grew the up.

Challenge, hmm well at some point in the next 18 months I am going to standard on a platform at a National Championship and squat down with 3x bodweight on my back in front of a panel of international judges. On that day I will achieve 9 perfect lifts and hopefully take a National record (got one already actually). That day will not be a one off event it will be the culmination of countless hours of discipline with diet and thousands of reps under the watchful eyes of teammates and coaches.

The sport is powerlifting and its been going for 40+ years and therefore ahh no I don't consider your mutual masturbation in the mud as something I really am keen on.

Yes maybe Thomo is a little grizzly today and my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek. After all its Tuesday and I haven't trained since Friday. But I truly believe these events and the almost overnight cult that springs up is another example of the short attention span of this current generation. Always seeking the next new thing whether it be an artist, club or dumb fitness event.

If you want to really feel like a bad ass then take off your dumb bandana take a shower and go fucking climb a mountain or any one of the real outdoor pursuits that require more than just a cursory weekend commitment.

Stay Strong
Thomo

Chris Papillion discusses Westside issues

Some interesting material has popped up on powerlifting watch regarding the the Westside Pro-am meet. For the few of you that haven't seen the issues surrounding the meet here is the skinny.

Essentially Westside ran a meet that had a number of records broken, once the youtube videos surfaced on the face of it there were a number of squats that looked very very far from legal that were passed easily.

Pretty soon the shit started to hit the fan on the forums with the usual assortment of Westside hatters and defenders squaring off. Now despite all the dumb shit a couple of genuine posts emerged that centred more on protecting the integrity of the sport and the impacts of shitty judging.

One of the those was from Chris Pap who I thought articulated the issues surrounding the meet with an accurate and passionate summary.

Here is the video, check out the lifts on powerlifting watch then review Chris's points below.




For me the vision is pretty damning but I will reserve my comments to similar issues at a  few local meets.

I believe powerlifting should be similar to Olympic weightlifting i.e. no fuckers on the platform, or near the platform unless you are wearing a judges shirt.

Too often I have seen morons lying down near or in front of the judges calling depth. Now I thought it was an individual sport and my belief is if you cant work our where depth is without someone calling it for you then fuck off and try something else. Oh what's that you say but with equipped gear I find it hard to work out where depth is??? So let me understand this, not only do you get 1-2 hundred pounds from the suit but you also want someone to call depth!!??

I think the sport needs to smarten the fuck up and run itself professionally. Chris Pap's rant is a good example of someone who cares about the sport and doesn't want to see it screwed up.

Stay Strong
Thomo

It's what Sam Byrd calls recovery day

Really really felt like shit this last 4 days. I suspect I have been fighting off one of the many ailments that is getting passed around though no doubt this has been exacerbated by pushing the envelope on recovery.

I have been hitting rep record after rep record on my Juggernaught template but at the beginning of last week everything started to feel heavy, much heavier than it should have. I even noticed my mood was pretty average (more so than normal!). That coupled with some particularly poor nights of sleep started the alarm bells ringing.

Therefore over the weekend I upped the calories (carbs particularly) over hydrated, and managed a couple of afternoon naps to aid the recovery process. Suffice to say starting to feel much better but I am not out of the woods yet so rather than hit the bench tonight I am taking a day off training. No active recovery just plenty of food, off to bed early and absolutely no training.

I definately feel I have programmed my everyday max too high on this template, that was despite being what I thought was conservative. Regardless I will make adjustments for the next cycle and keep pressing on.

Stay Strong

Thomo

Knees out when squatting

Today is bench day for me however I wanted to share a little bit about my progress on the squat. While my numbers have increased really well this year I am still far from happy with my squat form. There are a couple of things I have really been focusing on:

1. Staying tight, really, really tight. This means upper back tight, posterior chain really switched on
2. Exploding from the bottom i.e really activating all the fibers and driving like a somofabitch out of the hole
3. Getting foot position right.

Number 3 has occupied me considerably in the last few weeks. I found over the last year as I watched really good lifters, that their setup was perfect. Whereas I have lacked consistency in this all year. Each foot position and movement has been subtlety and sometimes not too subtlety different.  

In the past I have struggled for depth however rereading Starting Strength re hip positioning and remembering Dan Johns great cue that you 'squat between your legs' (duh I know) I realised I was a little too wide in my stance and that I hadn't locked down my set-up.

I have been working on this hard for the last 3 weeks going back to basics, even to the point of chalk marking my foot position so that each session is the same. The second element of this work has been understanding my decent. I am a raw lifter with relatively long femurs so the equipped notion of a large sit back in the squat just doesn't work. 

Part of unlocking the puzzle of my decent has been to work on tracking the knees out more. The idea of cueing the knees out is a pretty common mantra but like a lot of newbies I struggle to contextualize it. A video that helped it recently was the one above by Brett Contreras which is excellent in actually showing what is meant by pushing the knees out. Importantly it shows for a non equipped lifter that you need to narrow your stance a little to get it right.

Very simple but maybe the video will help you too.

Stay Strong

Thomo

RIP Christopher Lane

Power-lifting requires a level of self absorption to achieve great results. Inherent in the sport is a commitment to discipline across several elements, training, recovery, diet, GPP etc. More than many sports this can drive a level of focus that sometimes elevates training above other aspects of an individuals life. However this single minded focus can sometimes lead to a lack of clarity.

This morning was just another morning for me. I moved quietly through the house, kissed my sleeping family goodbye and drove to work. As I passed through darkened streets at 5:00 am I was lost in thoughts of the day ahead, trading conditions that are tough, client calls to make: a million different thoughts as I began to order my days activities. Then I heard the news that a young Australian baseballer, Christopher Lane, in the US on scholarship was shot dead in a random attack by three teenage lowlifes.

It's sobering and sad that someone else's misfortune provides such a jolt of clarity. I won't dignify the refuse of society that did this by dwelling on them. I am hoping that at some point soon these teenagers will find true torment and terror themselves behind bars.

The focus should be on Christopher Lane and his loved ones. At this moment a loving family is grieving the loss of a son, a girlfriend mourning the loss of a soul mate, a future extinguished randomly.

At these moments, what template you run doesn't matter, what PR you will hit at the next Nationals is insignificant. It can all be extinguished in an instant.

I like to think that what defines us is our empathy, the connection we can have as a society during moments of  sadness and tragedy.

So on this Monday stop for a second, think of Christopher Lane, celebrate  his short but meaningful life. Then go about your business, hopefully wiser remembering that this time is all we get and it can be taken from us so quickly and randomly.

Rest in Peace Christopher Lane....

Stay Strong
Thomo

Glute Ham Raise Rules

One of the key changes I have made in my training is to be diligent about performing the best assistance work that targets my key weaknesses. Quite simply this means targeting my hamstrings and overall posterior change. Genetically I have crap hamstrings and since I gave up running years ago what I did have fell into neglect.

Now the first order of business has been to add GHR's straight after squats and deadlifts. When I first tried these I couldn't get a single rep. But since starting Juggernaught I have been doing 3 sets of 8 with the purple band. Last night as I pushed through sets I simply let go of the band and kept powering on with the reps.

Even better I have finally noticed some growth in the hamstrings and lots of soreness in the glutes. These aren't fun to do but I think proficiency on GHR's really help squats and deads.

They key though is to work these at least 2-3 times a week and once you get some skill you can starting pumping out the reps, add weight and watch your wheels grow!

Stay Strong
Thomo

Friday nights alright for..Deadlifting

Saturday morning brings exquisite  post deadlift soreness, though thinking about it, it is most likely second day soreness from squatting on Wednesday. Regardless I had a bloody good session last night hitting another rep record at 70% 1RM.

On this template I am being very consistent in pushing through the sets to keep my work rate high. Consequently I charged through my six sets of five on deadlift and I'm getting out of the gym on time far more often.

As I have said before the longer build up on Juggernaut feels really good. I haven't missed a planned rep yet and the high volume, higher reps and faster work rate have made a real difference to my training.

Felt quite busy at PTC Perth last night with a few of the guys running their templates for Wild West and if rumours are correct at least a few of the guys have been invited to ProRaw.

Well the rest of the day brings the normal routine of chasing my two year old around which is surprisingly good active recovery.

Looking forward to bench on Monday!

Stay Strong
Thomo

Post Squat Recovery

Thursday morning and I have the lovely post squat leg heaviness that we all know so well. Definatly need to do a light workout for the legs today to get the blood flowing. Though I am fortunate (depends on perspective) to have my office above a flight of stairs so the 30 times a day I go up and down these damn things may well do the trick.

Overall it was a pretty good squat session. It felt really heavy out of the bottom but my form seems good but as I alluded to yesterday keeping knees out is a real key for me.

Quite a number in the gym last night, with a few visitors at least one was on the 'special' creatine. At 43 I like to think I have a little wisdom that comes with age and it often makes me wonder about guys that get on the gear in a big way in their early twenties. I mean unless you are a world better where do they think this is taking them. Do they even wonder what happens when (not if) they have to come off.

I should make it clear I am not moralizing here. My view is your body your right but I think that this game is about long term perseverance and if you haven't put 5-7 years in doing everything right then I think you just haven't milked your potential before exploring the dark side. I quote Wendler all the time..'you only get to flip that card (drugs) once'... so it better be the right decision. That's why I love Clint Darden's video posts because he talks honestly about the stupidity of some people going on the gear and the longer term ramifications.

Back to training and it really feels strong at the moment though a couple of little tweaks are needed. My food volume has to kick up a level. Based on how I am going I think another 500 calories will do the trick but it is a week to week thing. Secondly I want to up my assistance volume a little as I am not feeling that I am getting enough squat stimulus once a week so I will through some light intensity front squats in after deadlifts.

Regardless things are looking good and my 1 RM projections look right on the money. Active recovery for the rest of today and then ready for some nasty deadlifts on Friday!

Stay Strong
Thomo

Juggernaugt 5's week- About damn time

Last week I said goodbye to 8 rep sets and gladly welcomed 5's this week. Bench is done and dusted and tonight is squat night.

Actually I am really looking forward to squats now that I am more consistent with foot spacing on the back of last weeks great rep out numbers. Though I have to keep cuing myself to keep the knees out so that I get a nice deep squat and feel a much more solid base to hip drive from.

The real key for me to have a good session is to warm up well. I find at 43 and after a long day at work it can take at least 40 mins to get the hips sufficiently warm to get into the squats. Therefore on squat day I know I have to be out of work on time and in the gym early to get into the groove.

It will be good to see how the numbers go for 6 sets of  5.

Everyone have a great hump day (Wednesday duh!).

Stay Strong
Thomo

Massive Powerlifting in Australia

I spent the better part of Saturday and Sunday grabbing glimpses of the CAPO Australian powerlifting in Hobart. Most of the interest for this event was generated by the guest lifters Brandon Lilly, Sam Byrd, Lilliebridge etc side by side with our own monsters like Odell. I definitely enjoyed this section of the live feed.

What continues to freak me out though is the speed of true raw lifting. Watching some of the guys go raw into the hole was amazing (hmm that doesn't sound right does it?!), the speed of their decent and then drive out of the bottom was fantastic to see. Not the slow equipped 'back back back' shit I hear so often. It's probably why Olympic lifting is such a good spectator sport.

What was interesting was some of the live feed comments by those logged into the feed. Now apart from a couple of ass bandits who hijacked much of the feed with really inane commentary (no doubt teenage boys) it was interesting to see many of the North American guys thought the show was of a good standard. Though it must be remembered that given the enormous number of feds so many shows are 'high school hall' events run on a shoestring budget.

However here are a couple of observations for 'other' championship organisers. These are in no way intended to disparage the effort to stage this event but hey if you don't learn from each outing then whats the point? So I took the opportunity to discuss it with an events manager friend of mine and my thoughts are:

First if you have a fringe sport ( yes we are and I am ok with that) don't hire an 'iconic' venue if you can't fill it! Empty seats don't look good on the live stream and they take away from the atmosphere. Now in this instance I can understand the desire to be part of a sports expo but unless you are in the main pavilion with enormous amounts of passing traffic then it just isn't worth it.

Second, have a very good stage runner who understands the sport and can keep the 'show' on track. That means the show shouldn't stop for 5 mins with the MC having to ad lib because a 'ref' went missing. It means the main live feed shouldn't stop because a stage person decides to position themselves in front of the camera.

Also having experienced both I much prefer a show that puts on music during the lifting. Done well with the appropriate MC it really adds to the event and more importantly maintains a level of atmosphere during any unforeseen delays.

The most important thing following this event is to enjoy the result then get some feedback on what didn't work and feed that into subsequent events. Fuck-ups occur and are often unavoidable however making the same mistake a second time is poor form so its important to learn from it.

Overall it was amazing to see the big boys from the US lifting down-under. Lets hope for 2014 both GPC and CAPO learn from there respective events this year and put on even bigger and better shows.


Stay Strong
Thomo

Squatting well is 50% mental toughness

The more I squat heavy the more I believe squatting well is 50% a mental exercise. Let me explain my thinking.

Last night was the intensification week for my 8 week rep scheme on Juggernaut. My previous squat session felt shit even though I got the reps so manning up for my final set I new it had to be game on. Notwithstanding that seed of doubt in the dark recesses of my brain said maybe 5 reps I punched out 8 with probably 2 still in the tank.

So what gives? Well as we know squatting can be down right uncomfortable with a heavy loaded bar across the traps, it feels like shit and there is always that slightly sick feeling that you can get buried under the fucker if things go badly. I mean lets be honest bench is easy and while I love the deadlift there is no risk, either the bar moves or it doesn't, you aren't going to get stapled on that lift.

So for me the squat is king. That's probably why I view push pull and single lift events as soft. So a guy gets a big pull in a push pull..fuck off..do it after three limit squats then we are talking.

Last night I was still fucking around with foot spacing and this is half the problem for me as every rep is still not consistent. So finally I found a good foot position and got big Dan to mark my placing with chalk...hey presto each set felt good! So I measured that distance which conveniently is about the width of a 15kg bumper plate. So from now on no excuses related to foot position. I think most of the issues with foot position arise from my injury last year when I started to compensate for the pain by changing position etc.

I won't be wrapping or belting up on the next two months of training cycles. I want to feel as natural as possible so that when I finally put the soft suit, belt and wraps on next year I will get a nice poundage kick.

Stay Strong
Thomo

Best Powerlifting Quote of the Week

 It is often said powerlifting is a competition with yourself. There can really only be one strongest guy at a meet. Even factoring bodyweight classes the list is still pretty small and yet the rest of us turn up at the meet and chase ourselves to that next damn PB!

I read a quote by Scott Yard as he described the final pull of his USAPL Raw Nationals  as he was trying to lock in third place. Now ultimately he got beaten back to 4th by a subsequent lift but when he got that pull he was stoked. However his best move was this gem of a quote.....

'You do something that matters to no one but your self. Its silly, and meaningless, but for a short moment it defines everything you want to be."

That quote encapsulates powerlifting competition for most of us. At Nationals I went out for my final pull aiming for a 10kg PB deadlift that would deliver me a 30kg PB total overall and also give me a new Masters 1 National record.

Now by know means was that total a world beater, in fact probably half the competitors warm up with those lifts. Hell I want to put 70kg's on that total myself by next year but standing on that platform in front of a world class referee, spectators and my team it felt damn worthwhile.

Now that quote is the essence of this sport for all but the very best of lifters!

Stay Strong

Thomo

Benching the EliteFTS way

I managed to push through a great deadlift session on Saturday but boy was I feeling wiped out on the weekend and this despite the fact that I kept the obligatory 1-2 reps in the tank on my final deady set.

Recovery consisted of plenty of fish oil, stretching (Plenty of complaining!) and some light movements the following day as well as being chased around the playground by my 2 year old. Therefore when bench day rolled around last night I was pretty happy not to be squatting or pulling.

Scouring Elitefts I came across a brief little articel by Dave Allen. The crux of the article was a reminder of some of the common cues that can make a big difference to the 3 powerlifts. Now nothing in the article was new or ground breaking in fact you can find the content in a thousand similar articles across the net. However the power of these articles is that sometimes despite hearing the advice 1000's of times it can be the 1001st time that it finally sticks in the brain.

Similarly Dave's advice to pull the bar apart and try and snap it in two as you bench was old news to me but again it somehow resonated and during last nights session it came together really well. The activation of the lats that occurred meant I was much much tighter than normal  and my traps were really switched on. Overall it felt like a total upper body movement as I finally got the back involved. Noticeably my lats were pumped heavily after my final set and though I only got 1 rep above my rep target it was still a rep PB.

Also following my work sets I pushed out 4 sets of pause benches and again the tightness in my back and lats really worked a treat.

It just goes to show that you have to keep repeating and repeating these cues until they get bedded down. Check out the article, the light bulb may go off for you too!

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/no-bullsht-three-cues-to-improve-your-squat-bench-and-deadlift/

Stay Strong
Thomo

Week 5 on Juggernaught

Squats on Wednesday night felt bloody heavy. It felt heavy under the squat bar, it felt heavy when I was resting, it feels heavy now when I think about it! But I still managed a 2 rep PB on my final set so as hard as it felt the numbers are still going up.

In some ways that session to me is the epitome of average guy training. We all read the articles demanding you get great sleep to maximise gains etc but sometimes life just gets in the way. You get a shitty nights sleep, work is crazy and you may be late or short on the odd meal. Despite this you get your ass in the gym and hit the iron, man up and hit your numbers. That for me is training: consistency in the face of many daily shitstorms you still commit to training.

I am still sore and the lower back is feeling a little funny so I am going to push training to tomorrow and get a good deadlift session in on the weekend. The extra day recovery will work wonders and I am already desperate to get into it so I expect a great session tomorrow.

Stay Strong
Thomo