De-Load Week On Wendler 5/3/1

Yes sad but true the dreaded de-load week is here. It's kind of like being the red headed step child at a family reunion... everyone is having fun but you are stuck on the outside looking in.

Well perhaps I am being a little dramatic,  after all once you get to de-load week you know you need it. Particularly this week given I have spent the last week or two really working the squat flexibility. So right now every damn hip flexor is crying out for rest.

In fact the problem is not so much the rest and light weights. In fact I welcome the chance to work on light speed work and pump the reps up a little. The real issue is I sit around doing light weights like I did tonight at PTC Perth and then the music starts pumping, I watch Dan Rucci pull big plates on the trap bar (Dan isn't your shoulder hurting!!??). Ok got to look away this is de-load week...so I spin around and then I see big Dan doing this in the rack....195x5




Hell, I am like 2 weeks before I have anything reasonable on the bar...maybe if I just do a couple of heavier sets...argggh noo...no..no its de-load. Ok focus on my stretching. Shit there is Ricky stretching like a god dam yoga master!! See that's the problem with PTC Perth everyone is so damn competitive and strong even de-load week gets the juice flowing.

Not such a bad problem, by the time this week end rolls around I will be ready and rested to pick it up again, cycle 6 of Wendler 5/3/1..bring on the Boom!

Oh and if this sounds like a place you want to train....get your ass down to PTC Perth.

Stay Strong
Thomo

Random Thoughts Sunday!

Sunday morning and PTC Perth Bench Comp today! Unfortunately I have work so won't be able to make it, pretty annoying really as I was going to help side judge but regardless the boys will put on a great show.  Should be a good turnout, 20 lifters and plenty of spectators and at least 1 lifter opening at 180kg+ (sounds like my total!).

The Gym has been pumping this week. Lots of energy in the gym, seriously if you want to blow past your previous limits come down and see the boys Dan, Paul or Aaron. There is nothing better then getting up for a lift and finding 4-5 guys are all watching, encouraging and coaching..you can't help but get better. Saw big Josh pulling what looked like 5 plates nicely from the blocks on Friday.

Training has been good this week..well other than damn squat. For some inexplicable reason the groove hasn't been there. After a week of annoyance I finally identified that since I have been messing around with foot placement and bar position I have been way too narrow in my stance. Once I widened it back things are feeling good again, just need to get used to my Romaleos 2 shoes. Have to say though since playing with them for a week, there is nothing quite like the rock solid platform they give you for coming out of the hole. Expect my numbers to start kicking up now.

Anyway need to get into some work but will leave you with my ass kicking favourite video of the week from the Pendlay's crew and Muscle Driver USA. As you know I am getting my pre training kicks watching this crew put up some great Olympic lifts. Check the video out below, Tom push pressing 170kg for a PB set of 5. Forget how good the set looks watch those kgs crash into his traps on each rep!!

Stay Strong
Thomo

Just do it - Romaleos 2

Well 3 days after ordering my Nike Romaleos 2 lifting shoes are here! Arrived at my work this morning and I entertained my work mates by testing the fit in the boardroom...Romaleos 2 and Armani business suit...priceless!

First impressions....great fit due to the fantastic locking system, looks good and comes with an additional pair of heavy duty innersoles.

I have been waiting for these for several months to finally start re-grooving my squat. Understandably I cant wait to get under the bar but wouldn't you know its bench day!! Despite bench day I couldn't resist putting them on at the end of my session and get a feel for them under load.

Front squat felt fantastic, very easy to drop into the hole and rock solid, back squat took a little longer, certainly changed the dynamic and took a while to work out foot spacing. Regardless the most notable aspect for someone who has never used a squat shoe before is the absolute feeling of solidity through the floor. The rock solid polymer heal allows absolutely no flex which means there is no force lost through lateral movement or compression of sole. Definitely worth kilo's to the total once you groove the different mechanics of the elevated heel.

Will update you as I get more experience with the shoe.

Stay Strong
Thomo

Steroids...Ignorance aint bliss

So when did being completely ignorant become the pastime of the majority? I went to dinner last night and with the opening of the Olympics the conversation turned to drugs sport etc.

Now my view on roids is that my body my choice but with some significant caveats. First I believe that there is clear medical justification for replacement test for a man. In saying that one has to be mindful of potential causality to prostrate cancer but hey if I went down that route I would review the evidence. Second I don't want anyone to be using the gear if they haven't exhausted their genetic potential first and take it from me its rare to run across naturals in your average gym that are anywhere close to potential.

So there I am at dinner and the prevailing view was that drugs need to be stamped out of the Olympics as it is morally wrong. In an ideal world I think that is both a virtuous and idealised view.

Unfortunately the obvious retort is "wake the fuck up". Since at least the 84 'McDonald' Olympics the event has far from resembled the idealistic view of amateurs striving to be their best. Fuck that, the genie is out of the bottle and the Olympics is big business where many athletes will do or take whatever is required.

Here is my proposition I don't care what a small percentage of elite athletes stick in their bodies. I prefer finite tax dollars to be spent targeting meth addicts that break into my house looking for money to pay for their habits. In fact it is stupid to spend millions of dollars targeting a drug when bee stings in the USA kill more people per year than steroid related deaths.

In fact as John Romano once stated elegantly if the roids are so dangerous where are all the damn bodies!

So I must say it was an eye opener to understand still how ignorant most people are on how the gear works though most disappointing to see that ignorance and myth is alive and well!

Stay Strong

Be yourself...just do it!

One thing I cant abide is the unrealistic and unhealthy images that the media perpetuate. It could be androgynous catwalk models, or even worse movie stars starved half to death to get ripped and then having the public think abs are a prerequisite to health and athleticism. 

That's why I love the image/add below a celebration of natural curves.

Stay strong

Thomo

Doesn't matter where or when...just lift!

So right now I am like a pig in the proverbial training at PTC Perth. For the last 3-4 years I have sought an old school powerlifting gym though constantly disappointed by endless chain franchises where heavy deadlifting and squatting were rare and often discouraged.

However since Paul, Dan and Aaron opened PTC Perth the wait is over. Case in point as of this week they have added their 3rd power-cage which brings to total 4 racks for squatting with another plus a monolift to be added!

Now despite the fortunate position I am now in regarding training environment, it is easy to forget that sometimes we have to just make do,at the end of the day its about hoisting weight wherever and whenever you can.

So I finish with this video of a lifter who embodies what it is all about...wooden rack, outside, freezing weather... fuck it...un rack squat....breathe...lift! This guy knows what its about!

Stay strong
Thomo

I salute you Jon North

A slight detour today to the world of Olympic lifting. Often during a week I Google my favourite inspirational pieces before I train...you know something nasty to get the blood pumping before a deadlift session. Often I will trawl the pages of EliteFts for some great black and white shots of monster heavyweights deadlifting, other times I might throw pumping iron in the DVD or Ronnie squatting 805 for 2 reps!

Recently I found myself watching videos of Glen Pendlay coaching the Olympic lifters at California Strength (now Muscle Driver USA since his recent move). I came to this originally seeking a good instructional video to tighten my Clean technique but in the course of these video interludes I have to say the Olympic lifting guys and particulary one Jon North are now my standard pre-workout viewing.

Ok I know my powerlifting friends have just hurled their pre-workout drinks and might even be in the midst of typing me an abusive e-mail but hear me out. Watch their damn videos, each lift is a microcosm of technique and concentration. No casual half reps or desultory sets, you lift in this game,you bring your A game on every lift.

Which brings me to Jon North, when I first started watching I wondered who the crass outspoken annoying bar slamming guy was on the videos. However once I watched a little longer and read the guys blog I started to realise here is a guy not unlike me. The guy genuinely loves the sport, he loves to lift and if in the pursuit of what he loves he might be a little left field then so be it. More importantly Jon is a guy with texture, he has seen shit, been to the bottom and has found salvation in the iron. He and his training crew embody old school they love to lift, they eat, they train they recover and they do it all over again!

So hey I might not be snatching anytime soon in my Wendler 5/3/1 but I will sure as hell be watching every coaching session of Muscle driver USA and Jon North slammin bars. Jon, Donny and coach Pendlay I salute you. Watch below and enjoy!