Chasing Strength

New Blog Address

2009-03-12T21:29:00.002-05:00

Here's my new blog address:

http://chasingstrength.com

Please contact me here.

Thanks.

Geoff

Quality or Quantity--Why Not BOTH?

2009-03-05T21:23:00.003-05:00

I'm starting to see it as the beginning of a trend now.

Some more prolific fitness coaches and trainers are starting to buzz about "quality."

What does "quality" look like?

Well, Z-Health has a pretty good answer in it's "Four Elements of Efficiency," which I'm not going to get into here, but they definitely make you aware of junk reps.

Of course, the RKC promotes nothing but quality in its programming and material--low rep grinds, medium to high rep ballistics. Ladders are SOP for good reason.

But it seems like most trainers and trainees focus on or get stuck in the rut of quantity. For example, not long ago the movie, "300" came out. Then youtube was filled with "300" style workouts--300 reps of whatever completed in the shortest amount of time. Some of it, ok, almost all of it was pure ugly. Junk reps.

Well, how do you keep the quality up and push the quantity without burning out neurologically? As I already mentioned, ladders are one way.

How about another?

Compound lifts like the Clean and Press.

More specifically, complexes.

Complexes are a series of compound exercises performed sequentially with the same weight without rest. All the reps for one exercise are completed before moving on to the next exercise in the sequence.

Steve "Istvan" Javorek, Romanian Coach Emeritus, coined the term, although I'm pretty sure the Soviets (Russians) were using them at least at the same time as Coach Javorek. I first found them back in '97 when I was a peon Strength and Conditioning Coach at Rutgers.

Anyway, the weight used is usually light enough to really focus on your technique, but because you never put the bar down, you become taxed metabolically. This becomes a great way to perform a lot of high quality work (assuming your technique is correct in the first place) in a very short period of time--making for very time efficient training sessions. Complexes can be manipulated for a variety of goals: fat loss, strength, hypertrophy.

I've been using them for the last two weeks with my barbell because my left hip is still gooey and I can't put the KBs between the legs without compensating still. (It's been almost 12 months since I hurt it again and I didn't realize how badly until last December--but it's almost better.) However, I prefer kettlebells due to greater ranges of motion, more grip duress, and faster movements.

Here are the two I've been alternating between. One's a snatch-based complex and the other is a clean-based complex.

Complex 1: Snatch-based

Snatch High Pull from floor (to throat) x6
Power Snatch from above knee x6
Pressing Snatch Balance x6
Snatch-grip Behind Neck Push Press x6
Good Morning x6

Complex 2: Clean-based

Clean Pull from floor x6
Power Clean from floor + Military Press x6+6
Front Squat x6
RDL x6
Row x6

I've been timing myself and each complex takes approximately 2 1/2 minutes to complete. I then rest for 5 minutes and repeat. They are pretty brutal. I'm definitely out of shape. Not using the KB routinely has hurt my conditioning levels for sure. But, as I said, the light weights allow me to keep my quality up. My body fat is down and my muscularity is up.

Here's one of my favorite KB complexes:

Double Swing x5
Double Snatch x5
Double Clean + Press x5+5
Double Row x5

That's 25 reps and it usually takes a minute to complete. The Double Snatch is usually the limiting exercise here or possibly the press, depending on your lower body strength levels, so make sure to use a weight dependent on completing your weakest exercise.

Rest 2 minutes.

Repeat up to 6 times. Brutal.

By keeping the reps low you can focus on quality and still push the quantity. Quantity, or volume, as we know, is key for growth.

Feet Burning...

2009-02-19T17:10:00.007-05:00

I'd thought I'd experienced most things in the Iron Game: Broken capillaries, torn calluses, bar bruises, but I'd never experienced "burning feet" until now.

In some of Pavel's writings when discussing tension, he mentions the great Soviet Superheavyweight Weightlifting Champ of the 1960s, Yuri Vlasov. Vlasov said he pulled on the bar so hard by pushing his feet through the floor that it made his "feet burn." I can generate some tension, but I'd had never experienced this until my training session today.

After training the Power Snatch and the Power Clean for speed, I implemented an old protocol developed, or at least perfected by my old coach, Alfonso. It starts between 60-65% of your max and works great for developing strength and muscular size, which of course is why I'm doing it. It's a very simple protocol: the Repetition Maximum. Pick a weight, warm up to it, and perform as many reps as you can with good form. (Of course there are some other tricks to it that make it effective, but I'm not giving that away...)

Well, my leg strength is down and someone who is very close to me is making fun at my chicken legs, and I need to gain another 15lbs, so this seemed like the perfect protocol. I only was aiming for 10 reps, but around rep 7 my feet started to burn, and I started to wonder if I could do 12 reps. So I went for it. My form maintained and my feet felt almost like I was on hot coals--a very strange sensation. After I hit my 12, I racked the bar, walked around to let my feet cool off. Then another strange sensation hit me that I haven't felt in years: The heavy weight "pump."

Now you've got to understand, I don't train for size so I haven't felt this for almost 10 years. I'm walking around the warehouse and it feels like someone's inflating my legs and they are swelling. Very unusual.

But it was great feedback. And so was the "burning feet." It's nice to know that I now have the ability to ground myself while lifting, which apparently was what I missing in order to feel the feet in the past. Very cool.

I think we all need this type of feedback from our bodies to let us know we are on track.

Support? Who Needs It...?

2009-01-27T20:58:00.002-05:00

Recently, doing some research, I discovered that bodybuilding legend, John Grimek, attributed his great strength and bodybuilding success to "heavy power training." Included in that training was the use of heavy "support" work--that is, holding heavy loads for given periods of time. Apparently, he supported 800lbs (!) overhead and over 1000lbs in the straddle lift (a combo deadlift/squat) with straps and could've done more if the straps had been stronger (!). All this from a guy who was 5'9" and approximately 210lbs.

Anyway, I've decided to incorporate some of this into my training. Not so I can win a Mr. America title or anything like that, but to re-accustom my body to the heavy weights. So far it feels pretty good. In fact, I'm doing some different things that I'm not necessarily used to or have don before.

Last Thursday, I decided to do some partial deadlifts from mid-thigh. I worked up to 675lbs with a 10 second hold. It felt great! I didn't concentrate on just holding it, but actually pushing back against it--feeling my feet flatten and press through the floor and really trying to extend by body under the load. It felt exhilarating! I could feel every muscle in my body contract! It has been a long time since I've done anything like that. After that, I dropped the weight to 495lbs and hit 8 sets of 3 with about 60 seconds of rest between sets. Felt great. This has inspired me to work on some progressive movement training as developed by the late great Paul Anderson. Essentially, using the same load, you add a little greater range of motion to a movement and your body adapts to the load over the course of time. So the "progressive overload" is the range of motion and the load remains constant. I think there are about 15 more pin holes until the floor in the rack I was using, so I have plenty of time to get to the floor. I just have to be patient.

Tonight, in a similar vein, I performed overhead supports. I worked up to 405lbs. Hardly Grimek weights. But the interesting thing about support work is you definitely find your weaknesses.

My training template then is something along these lines:

Heavy support work (isometric) --> RM work (maximum effort) --> 70-80% of RM for 18-30 reps (submax work for hypertrophy).

Tonight's work looked like this:

A. Overhead supports, 10s: 405lbs (135lbs/225lbs/275lbs/315lbs)

B. Military Press, 3RM: 195lbs (shoulders were a bit tired after the support work), followed by 90% (175lbs) for (3,2,1) x3; 60s rest. I hit the same 3RM last week, but without the support work. Last week I used 155lbs as my back down weight for (5,4,3,2,1) x2; 60s rest.

C1. Underhand Barbell Rows, 145lbs/8, 10, 7 supersetted with
C2. Parallel Dips w/ Scap. Depression, 10, 10, 7; rest 60s

D. 45 Degree Hypers: Bodweight/10 x2 sets; 60s rest
My hammies have been screaming at me from this exercise, so I thought I would skip what I had planned and hit a recovery day just to get rid of some of the intense soreness...

Regarding the platform: I'm staying off it right now until I get my strength back. Many of the patterns are already grooved. I always maintain my speed and my lack of strength is my limiting factor. I'll jump back on at the end of the month.

Here's an interesting article on some of John Grimek's training: http://www.fitflex.com/johngrimek.html

The Spirit Is Willing...

2009-01-20T19:08:00.002-05:00

...but the flesh is weak...as the old saying goes.

This past week I've struggled to iron out the problems with this left hip.

I've decided to do what I can do, and do a lot of high quality "that" in order to build muscle. I'm also using patterns and movements that I believe I am currently weak in that will serve as assistance lifts to my lifting.

One such movement is the 45 degree hyperextension. This blasts my hamstrings more than anything I currently do. In fact, I feel weak as a kitten. I am only performing sets of 10 with just my bodyweight. My hamstrings have been perpetually sore from this exercise for the last week. I'll be interested to see the carryover to the platform.

I'm also moving to an upper/lower split to 4 sessions per week. This allows me to put more volume in. Currently, the only kettlebell exercise included is the single arm press. I cannot currently perform ballistics due to hip compensation except for lifts on the right side. The good news is the Z-Health eye work seems to be helping. Patterns are slowly starting to normalize.

Eventually, I will get into barbell and kettlebell complexes along with some lower rep/higher volume lower body training. To make up for this lack of stimulation, I am performing "heavy" support work twice a week--once for the squat and once for the deadlift. It feels good to get under some heavy weight.

Today's training session:

A. Military Press, barbell, 3RM, then 80% for 5,4,3,2,1,4,3,2,1
90kg/3, then 70kg/5,4,3,2,1,4,3,2,1
The descending ladders are to minimize fatigue but keep the quality of work high.

B. Underhand Bent over Barbell Rows, 4x8
40kg/8, 50kg/8, 60kg/8 x2.
I perform only overhand pulling so I thought it might be time for a change. Much weaker than I thought...

C. Parallel Dips, bodyweight only, with scapular depression 2-3x10

D. 45 Degree Hyperextension 5x10, 60s rest
Bodyweight with stick on traps (BSQ position)

Training felt good overall today. Weird not squatting or pulling. Will pull on Thursday.

Old Patterns...New Learning...

2009-01-13T21:29:00.005-05:00

Some old patterns are creeping up on me.

The left hip is still tight posteriorly. I'm having a hard time sitting back on simple exercises like 2 hand kettlebell swings. My hips are shifting to the right and I'm having to aggressively "force" the hips back straight. I can keep the proper pattern only on the right side.

The right knee is starting to "sore up" after squatting--interestingly not really while squatting but after...

Not really sure what's going on--probably just remnants of stress from the last quarter. Gut is still wound up but healing daily with the addition of grapeseed extract and HCl. Probably time for a massage just to help me r-e-l-a-x...Probably should've done that before starting up training again.

However, speed on everything is up. Strength feels fine--lifts although light, feel incredibly easy...

Seem to be getting leaner--as if it is accidental. Right...anyway, I like eating carbs again. I forgot how much I missed eating things like rice and beans with cheese.

Have to set up that massage tomorrow for later this week...Definitely looking forward to that.

I am currently investigating exercises to include into M-W program to help counter the effects of the Olympic lifts. I'm looking for exercises that stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. This includes R-Phase and some other exercises modified from some other disciplines.

End of Week One

2009-01-10T13:50:00.003-05:00

...And I feel good. Better than I've felt in awhile.

I still have some intermittent chronic right knee irritation that bothers me when I'm walking, but for lifting, it's fine.

This first week was very easy and one of the notable features is that my squat stance has (intuitively?) changed. My feet are a bit wider, which is better since they are approximately where they are upon receiving the bar in the classic lifts. I think one of the mistakes that led to my hip injury in April is that I wasn't this specific in my training. I was leaving that foot spacing to the lifts themselves. Anyway, it feels better.

My experiment with the carb rotation plus one cheat meal feels ok. Still too early to tell, although visually waist is smaller, abs are more defined, and scale weight is down. (I know, it's supposed to be going up but I'm not concerned about that in the short run. It'll take another 2-3 weeks to evaluate this strategy.) Muscularity is up, so I'm guessing there's a net gain of muscle and a net loss of fat. The key of course is not to provoke a serious threat response in my body so that progress comes grinding to a halt. The key is provoking positive change.

Interestingly, this is really the first time in my entire training life where I'm not in a hurry. I know where I want to be and when, but I'm in no hurry to get there. Strange. I'm just trying to enjoy the ride. This, I think, may be key for my long term success both health wise and performance wise. I'm pretty sure this is what Alfonso was trying to teach me all those years ago.

I'm looking forward to next week.

"Easy" Days

2009-01-07T21:16:00.002-05:00

These are the days that I'm not on the platform.

They're designed to be easy from a relative intensity point of view. They are also designed to augment my platform days by making up for weaknesses that the platform work doesn't address: Overhead pulling toward the body from above and unilateral work from snatching.

Right now it's just neutral grip chin up ladders and very light kettlebell snatches with the 16kg, one minute on, one minute off. The goal is to get up to 75 reps or so on the chin up ladders and 20 minutes of snatches, 10 minutes of work, 10 minutes of rest. Once I get there, then I'll start adding weight to the chins and pushing for more reps per minute on the snatches. No rush though.

It'll be interesting to see what effect these days have on my platform days. Honestly, I'm quite proud of myself for coming up with what I think is a very sensible program. Each "easy" workout should take no longer than 40 minutes ever. Today's was about 20 minutes primarily because I was "slacking" with my rest periods on the chins.

More squats and pulls tomorrow. Should be fun.

On another note, had to do a PREP test due to non-stop knee pain. Positive. Eyes up. Pain immediately diminishes.

Modifications of a Long Lost Program...

2009-01-05T22:13:00.003-05:00

I once asked Alfonso what one of the best programs for Olympic lifters was for putting on mass. With most questions, the real answer lies in a story which he told me.

One of the Soviet coaches he met earned his Master of Sport in Weightlifting by helping an injured weightlifter return to glory on the platform. This particular weightlifter was 165lbs. By implementing his non-conventional methods, he ballooned his weightlifter up to 242lbs. Were drugs involved? Maybe. It was the Soviet Union, so, really, it's more like probably. Regardless, these kind of results in--I forget the time frame--6 months or less, are truly astounding.

What was the program?

Here it is. It looks simple. But it's brutal. It requires a TON of sleep, a TON of food, and a TON of patience.

Days 1, 3, 5-Workout A

Squat
Snatch
Bench Press
Clean
Squat

Days 2, 6-Workout B

Overhead Squat
Jerk
Pull

Now the squat is either back or front.

The snatch and clean is any form from any position.

The pulls can be fast or slow, but tend toward the slow and heavy side of things. For me, it was a lot of snatch-grip deadlifts.

The last time I did this program, I was 28. I am now 36.

Am I going to do this program again?

H*ll No!

That would be crazy. I gained a good 10lbs on a 6 week cycle the last time I trained on this, but I pushed w-a-a-y-y-y-y too hard and burned out early.

I will modify it to a M-W-F routine. M-F will be Workout A and W will be Workout B. I have started with a very low volume at an intensity based on RPEs, with an RPE of 5. I am going to take my time, for once, and eat, eat, eat and sleep, sleep, sleep.

On T-Th, I will do some very easy GPP work--bodyweight and unilateral KB work. VERY low intensity, but movement nonetheless. For example, snatches with the 16kg.

How do I expect this to work out?

I want just want to gain some of my muscle back from what I've lost over the last year and feel like I'm "in-shape" to lift. Ultimately, I want to get back on the platform at the NC State Championships in May.

So how'd this start?

Sunday, 1.4.09

BSQ: 70kg/5; 100kg/5, 105/5, 110/5
P.Sn, AK: 50kg/3, 70kg/3 x3
Push ups: Bdwt/10 x3
PCl, AK: 70kg/3, 90/3 x3
BSQ: 100kg/5, 105/5, 110/5

No problems except with the BSQ groove.

Felt good to be back on the platform.

New Year, New Look, New Posts...

2009-01-03T20:31:00.003-05:00

2009 is here.

I decided to change the look of the blog and start posting again as I'm in the mood to write again.

As I look back at 2008, I realize I haven't posted in 4+ months. In fact, some of my friends have taken me off their links. Rightly so.

Fortunately, not much was happening training-wise and I had some major training ADD. I never seemed to recover from that hip injury back in April while training for the NC State Championships.

This year, my major goals are, well, not that important.

I am bound and determined to get back on the platform and compete again. Perhaps for the NC State Championships in May. I have about 30lbs to gain as I am now a soft, weak, 210lbs. I talked to Dave Whitley, SrRKC, the other day, and we're reconnecting on our goal from 2 years ago--meet at 240lbs.

I will get up and running on the platform again this week. I will be digging out some workouts from Alfonso, my former coach, and modifying them to suit my current condition, with of course, the goal to gain a large amount of muscle in a short amount of time. Fortunately, I haven't been training hard--"softening up" as Pavel calls it--so packing on some appreciable muscle mass should be relatively easy.

This will be an interesting start to the New Year.

GPP, Yes-sir-ee--That's the trick for me...

2008-08-19T18:20:00.002-05:00

I've come to the following conclusions:

I'm made to lift heavy stuff over my head explosively
I need more GPP to do this
My GPP should be made up of exercises that not only compliment, but balance out my Olympic lifting

Obviously, this seems like pretty obvious stuff, but when your head is so far up your own rear end, it makes this type of introspection suprsingly and couterintuitively, difficult.

Currently, I've decided on a 4 day cycle--2 days on the platform and 2 days performing supersets of exercises that I haven't done routinely for the last 10+ years, along with some KBs of course.

I finish the GPP days with some interval work to boost my work capacity and take off some bodyfat, which seems to accumulated for no other reason than my own laziness.

And not only that, I've noticed that I tend to tweak myself a lot. This cycle is designed to put an end to that.

Today felt very good.

Here was the workout:

A1. Chins / A2. Reverse Lunges: 3x8 each, rest 60s

B1. Push-ups / B2. Shin-box to shin-stand: 3x10 each, rest 60s

C1. Renegade Rows / C2. Reverse crunch with feet touching over head: 2x12 each, 60s rest (C2-only got 10 reps and 8 reps)

This was the hardest as it fried out my abs. Guess that might be a weakness...that ol' ab stabilization strength-endurance...Might be somewhat important for spine health...

Yesterday was platform work and the highlight was Power Snatches from above the knee--(85kg/2, 90/2, 95/2) 3. Felt fast and good. Very strong. On my way back. 110kg is the target for this particular exercise.

Thursday I'll be back on the platform and Friday I'll hit some more GPP work.

So Far, So Good...

2008-08-14T16:01:00.002-05:00

Been alternating between platform days and kettlebell days and keeping the volume on the platform work relatively low.

Everything feels pretty good so far.

Nothing on the platform feels heavy, although admittedly, I've been staying pretty light. Power snatched from above the knee 90kg/3 x2 the other day. It felt very fast. This was after a light 30 minute KB snatch interval style workout with the 24kg--30s work, 60s rest.

Squatting again. Feels kind of sticky, but overall, good. Just trying to refind the groove after not squatting routinely since April.

Figured out how to get rid of the neural tension in the left hand in the rack position. Neck work and thoracic work in lumbar extension. Cool.

Last night, did 20 minutes of KB snatch w/ 32kg, 15s of work, 45s of rest. Good for the thoracic mobility and shoulder mobility, which is good, because I'm using the KB snatches for that, some GPP, and some hamstring stimulation.

Tonight, cleans, maybe some jerks, and some squatting.

More later...

Success or Failure or Both?

2008-07-29T19:07:00.003-05:00

Both: Not something we tend to think in terms of. We tend to be either/or. I know I do.

Almost finished up my hypertrophy cycle. Long story short--too much volume, poor recovery, put on some fat, little if any muscle.

However, during this time I came to the conclusion that I don't have to pick either Oly or KBs--I can do both. So, this week I'm trying alternating days of Oly and KB. So far, so good.

I've also isolated the problem in my right hip, left knee, and left hand/wrist to locked down T1-T8 while my arms are over my head. I stumbled on that one tonight. It sure made the overhead squatting much, much easier. In order to work this, I did some thoracic A/P while my torso was in extension. The two drills that made the biggest impact were while I was in a neutral stance and while I was in posterior 45 degree lunging positions.

Also noticed that I'm not stretching out enough on my snatches and cleans. I will have to monitor this while KB training, since the two tend to have opposing patterns.

The Oly work is staying light since I really haven't done anything consistent since early April. It's almost like starting over again...almost. However, the bar speed is really fast. My KB work will be all unilateral, focusing on generating as much force as possible, especially on the ballistics. The past cycle had a lot of doubles work in it, which interestingly doesn't do too much for me. I think I've posted on this before, but the KB work seems to work best for me if done unilaterally--works imbalances and stabilizers.

My close friends think I'm crazy for getting back on the platform. I plan on taking this even slower than I did last year preparing for the November meet. I've got at least a 12 week cycle lined up to get me into peak shape--none of this 6-8 week rush delivery stuff.

I will still look for a meet and will still attempt to qualify for the American Open in December at my buddy Joe's place in Arizona.

90 Pounds In 4 Years?

2008-07-05T15:26:00.005-05:00

Ah, yes...the good ol' days...when I could actually move significant amounts of weight.

I bought The Purposeful Primitive last weekend and have been transported back in time to a time when I trained, ate, slept, and occasionally went to class. Arguably college was the best time of my life training wise. I graduated high school in June of 1990 weighing approximately 165lbs. Just after Christmas break my senior year of college--February 1994, I weighed in at 252lbs. That's approximately 90lbs in 4 years. It's amazing what testosterone surging through a young male with plentiful food and little stress can do to physically transform a boy into a man.

Almost 15 years later, I weigh approximately 220lbs, and have been re-inspired by Marty Gallagher's magnum opus to train similarly to the way I did all those years ago. Only this time, I will use kettlebells. I'm sick and tired of hearing people say the kettlebell is a tool primarily used as a means to acquire strength-endurance.

Pish-posh.

Just because that's the way it's used in GS or the way you use it, doesn't mean I have to use it that way. You can do anything you want with a kettlebell. It's all in the size of the bell(s) and the loading parameters you choose. Nothing more. Nothing less.

I'm going to divert my training from the intent of my last post, and rebuild myself using Old School methods. I'll pry open my shoulders and hips to allow myself back under the bar and my intent is to pack on usable muscle--about 20lbs of it using only kettlebells over the next 12 weeks. As I said, it's all in the way you design the program. I believe the KB is superior in all ways to a dumbbell and in many ways to a barbell. It's the way the bell sits in the hand--it recruits more musculature.

I'll be on the platform once a week for a low volume Olympic lift and low volume barbell squat session.

The plan will look like this:

Tuesday: Day 1, KB

Thursday: Day 2, KB

Saturday: Day 3, KB

Sunday: Day 4, Olympic lifts

Just about all the work will be done on Days 1-3. Day 4 is just to keep a touch on the barbell and to measure progress.

This is a major change for my training as I haven't engaged in this particular style of training for 10 years--since summer of '98 and of course, I didn't have KBs then.

I think this will be a very valuable experiment as I've been lifting weights now for 19 years--and touched them 20 years ago. If I can make good gains on this program I'm putting together, anybody should be able to. The next 12 weeks will tell.

I forgot to mention, I started this program on the 1st of July. I've gained 4lbs since then. I'm on my way.

ROP 2.0

2008-06-23T21:06:00.002-05:00

I've come up with what I call "ROP 2.0," or the "Right of Passage, 2.0"

The original ROP in ETK is essentially single arm C+P ladders and Snatches. The 2.0 version is done with Double Clean and Press and Pistols and Snatches: C+P & Pistols one day, Snatches the next. The original called for 3 C+P workouts per week, L, M, H, (not in that order.) The 2.0 calls for them 2x week--L and H. The goal is still the same: 75 reps from 5 ladders of 1-5 reps on not only the C+P, but also the Pistol

For me, my goal is to achieve this with 2x48kg KBs on the C+P for 75 reps and 48kg on the Pistol for 75 reps. Lofty goals, but I've got to start somewhere.

The thing that makes this particularly nasty for me is that I am pairing the C+P and the Pistols. This takes a lot out of me. I'm giving myself approximately 60s between each pair. Tough.

I bought a pair of 36kg's for home. The 40kg's are light for low intensity work, but I wanted to hit some volume work and push up my work capacity, so I bought these.

I tried this workout tonight. It's been awhile since I've done Pistols, so they didn't go as well as I wanted them to.

Here's how the whole thing went down:

A1. Double C+P, 2x36kg: 1,2,3/1,2,3/1,2,3; NL=18. Felt very easy, but trying to match the sets and reps with the Pistols using the same weight--this may change.

A2. Pistols, L, R, 1x36kg: 1,2,3/1,2,3/1; NL = 13+13. Left psoas bothering me, so stopped it here.

This was harder than it should be due to my slothfulness in training since I tweaked my hip in April training for that meet. I'm out of shape and this workout proved that point.

This should be good. Perhaps I'll achieve my goals by the end of December and my 36th birthday. Something to shoot for.

Oh yeah, since I still am "jones-ing" for Olympic lifting, I'm going to hit that once a week for now on the weekends. That way I'll get to see the transfer of strength from the KB exercise to my sport of choice. Should be good, especially all those pistols. It is also my reward: No KB work, no Oly. We'll see how this works out.

I've Thought It, But Never Seen It Done...

2008-06-20T18:58:00.002-05:00

...And Here It Is...

...courtesy Fawn Friday, RKC. OUTSTANDING Job, Fawn!

This obviously takes a great deal of athleticism, coordination, mobility, flexibility, and strength.

Something for us to all aspire to, that's for sure.

Back From the RKC

2008-06-11T19:46:00.003-05:00

It was great.

I'm still a little cooked.

This was my first RKC as a newly minted Senior Instructor and it was a blast.

Good quality candidates and everybody worked really hard.

The course moved at a very fast pace and had a great flow to it.

It was also great to see Randy Hauer and Shaun Cairns again. Randy and I went through the RKC together 3 summers ago and Shaun and I went through the Level 2 together 2 summers ago. High class guys, outstanding instructors.

Brett and I roomed together and O'Connor and Brett and I hung out whenever we could--like the Three Amigos--or Stooges. Good times, quality people.

My RKC workout was similar to the one I always do while there:

A. Double C+P drop sets: 40kg/3, 36kg/3, 32kg/3, 28kg/3, 24kg/3, rest 3 mins., repeat.
B. Chins off basketball stands, thumbless, descending ladder: 5,4,3,2,1

I've been running the shop since my business partner is on vacation, so my workouts have been short and sweet.

Monday: Clean + Press w/32kg, As Many Reps As Possible: 20+20.
This left me breathing pretty darn hard for about 5 minutes after.

Tuesday: Get-Up Series.
(24kg/1+1, 32kg/1+1, 40kg/1+1, 48kg/1+1) x 2
This felt good even though I hate the GU. It made me more tired today than I'd like to admit.

Tonight I'm taking off and will hit something bigger tomorrow. Massage planned for Friday before I head out of town on Friday night for a short trip to Florida.

10+10

2008-06-04T11:53:00.002-05:00

Gearing up for teaching this weekend at the RKC.

Messed around last night. As a SrRKC I have certain minimum expectations for myself. One of them is snatching the 48kg for 10+10, so I decided to take the Beast for a ride.

It was pretty easy--there's definitely more room in the tank. I think my ultimate goal will be 20+20 or 25+25, somewhere up there.

Warmed up with the following: 24kg/10+10, 32kg/10+10, 40kg/10+10. The 24kg felt terrible, so of course I went up. Then things got better. By the time I hit the 40, I was feeling good.

The toughest part of the whole thing was not letting my face go into startle--but forcing myself to keep it relaxed. This of course distracted me from my heart rate, which stayed up for about 5 minutes after the set. I hate that part, but admittedly, it's very cool to do that little work and have that big of an effect. The other thing I have to work on is keeping my right foot firmly planted--it started to drift into external rotation.

Was playing around with competing on August 10th, but it's too soon due to my hectic summer, so it'll be a summer of "Mastering the Beast" I guess.

2008-05-28T21:17:00.002-05:00

RKC Kettlebell Training: Almost the Perfect Mix of Olympic Lifting and Powerlifting

...And that's the appeal to me.

I love moving heavy weights quickly over my head. That's Olympic Lifting.

I love pulling and squatting heavy weights. That's powerlifting.

(Admittedly, I love the first more than the second.)

The RKC School of Strength is the perfect blend of both worlds.

This week I stayed completely off the platform and still worked my legs hard with pistols. Worked the entire body hard with double clean and presses. And I worked my lungs hard with snatches.

Tonight I used the 32kg bell and hit 100 snatches in 8:26. I don't know if that's good or not, but it's good for me and it's a starting point--something to beat in the future. And the best part is the KB felt incredibly light. I'll have to ask KJ if I can use this for his VO2max Protocol. It may be too heavy. I was averaging 10 snatches with a switch (5 each hand) in about 20 seconds. Hard and fast--the RKC way. Good stuff.

I am also working on doing a little bit every day--tonight was just 10 minutes. That's all I wanted. That's all I needed.

And that's the brutal efficiency of RKC kettlebell training. A little bit goes a very long way.

Hard-s-t-y-l-l-e-e-e...

On the Z front, been doing less of it lately. I'm using the KB as mobility work: The unilateral nature is (once again) having a very therapeutic affect on my body. I will probably stay with the KB training for the next 3-4 months and then decide if I can get on the platform or not. As I posted last year, there are still plenty of things I can't do repeatedly with the Beast. Time to work on them. Fortify.

Fortify. I can think of no better way than Z-Health and the RKC. None. They cover all the bases. I think everything after them is specialization.

2008-05-21T19:50:00.002-05:00

Reboot. Recharge. Rebuild. Reevaluate.

After one month of hip aggravation, it's time to reconsider the direction of my athletic career, such as it was.

Some Z combos/drills/principles provide momentary alleviation, but none sofar have proved the cure.

Do I believe the right Z combo exists?

Yes.

Do I have the patience to find it and work on it and get back on the platform?

Probably not.

I'm 35 1/2 years old. I've devoted my entire adult life to my weightlifting, always with the belief I could make it. This past month, I've reached the point where I'm not sure I care anymore--I want to live the rest of my life, and to live adventureously. I'm starting to crave the outdoors--flying, sailing, boating, etc.

Kettlebells, my trusty kettlebells, provide for the alternative life.

I've consulted several friends on this matter who have encouraged me to move on. I still have one or two more to speak to. Spoke with Rif and Brett Jones ealier in the week, and after Rif's excellent post, "Training for Life," http://rifsblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/training-for-life.html, it may be time to embrace adulthood while I can still move well. The Bible says "there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors." I will make a decision soon.

In the meantime, I've rediscovered my love for windmills, and how much they love my lats.

The thing I love most about KB training is how well they take any exercise and amplify it. They make everything harder--sparing the joints and punishing the musculature. Good stuff. When I return to them, I always forget how much I love them. Right now my left lat and rhomboid aren't sure if they agree with me though.

Monday's training:

A. Windmill, R+L, 10x 1+1, 40kg in 15 mins.

B. Fsq + Press, 3+3, 2x32kg: 7 x 3+3, focusing on bone rhythms.

Felt good, relaxing. Crashed afterwards.

Tonight's training:

A. Windmill, L+R, 3x5+5, 32kg

B. Clean + Press, 2x32kg: 5x5+5

C. Snatch, 24kg:
(5+5) 4, rest 2'
(5+5) 3, rest 90s
(5+5) 2, rest 60s
(5+5) Done. Smoked. Out of shape. (Round is a shape...)

Probably pistols and chins tomorrow.

That's all for tonight.

2008-05-15T20:49:00.004-05:00

Getting It Done.

As far as training goes this week, I just decided to follow my own advice (surprise!)--just do something for 10-15 minutes each day.

Monday, I did 15 minutes of bodyweight chins and parallel dips descending ladders. I got 46 reps of each: (5,4,3,2,1) x3; 1 = 46.

Tuesday, I snatched the 32kg KB for 12 minutes, 30 seconds on, and 30 seconds off, alternating between L and R hands. This broke a good sweat. Surprised me really.

Today, I went to the platform and did some Presses and some Deadlifts, with a clean grip.

Presses: work upto 80kg for 5 reps, then rest 60s, 70/5, rest 60s, then 60/5 x5 with 60s rest.

Deadlifts: Worked up to 190kg and was going to do 5, but felt too slow, so did one and dropped back down to 140kg/10. Pretty easy. Breathed too hard though.

Generally, after literally a month of doing not much of anything, I feel pretty out-of-shape. Better get back in shape real quick as I have to teach at the RKC the first weekend of June.

Off to stretch--yes--I said "stretch." Not for gaining flexibility but for stress relief. Feel like I could use it.

2008-05-10T16:14:00.004-05:00

Not Much Training This Week...

Both hips still bothering me--not too much making a dent.

Going for the acupressure "resets" this weekend from a couple of months ago.

On the bright side, right knee feels great.

Just got back from the platform where light snatches and light squats were on order. Felt good while there--good, not great--but after I got done the all-to-familiar tightness and achy-ness returned.

A. P.Snatch, AK, 60kg/3, 70/3; (80/3, 85/3, 90/3)2; RPE = 6
B. BSQ: 60/3, 80/3, 110/3 x3, 120/3 x3; RPE = 6; Felt OK, bone rhythms were off.

Will continue with acupressure and relaxation work to turn this mess down.

I will also start working in some other exercises--last week I was messing around with bodyweight exercises and kettlebell work.

This week I'll get back into deadlifting and more kettlebell work. My tendency is to back off instead of changing it up. I will change it up this week.

Need to get back in shape after a essentially a month off. Lots of swings are on order I think to try to get the bone rhythms back. Worked in the past. See if it works again.

Not giving up though.

2008-05-04T12:15:00.003-05:00

Learning From Your Past

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
George Santayana, Poet, 1905

Yup, that's me.

Repeating the past.

I was supposed to compete at the Moorestown Open last Saturday.

I did not.

I injured my right hip--again--on Saturday, April 9th, under some moderately heavy snatches (opening attempt weight).

Fortunately, three weeks later, I'm back on the platform, remembering my past.

Here's the problem: When I trained for the Savannah meet, I tried something completely different. I trained using a lot of combo lifts and trained myself to get under the bar with some of the lighter weights. It worked great. I survived the training, and survived the meet. Check off one goal.

For this meet, I was so focused on my strength and speed--both of which are/were up to 1999/2000 levels (speed was better than EVER), I failed to train my body very specifically to accept the shock of the bottom position--reactive strength is the preeminent quality in that position. I listened to advice that "worked" for me when I was younger. Come to think of it, it didn't work for me when I was younger--I got injured--so it was bad advice for me. I failed to learn from the "advice" my body gave me when I was training for the Savannah meet. This worked. And it worked well. I snatched 10kg below my best. Not bad for 19 days of training. For the Moorestown meet, I didn't get under the bar until I "had" to--which was around 115/120kg. By then, it was too late. The body wasn't used to getting under the bar, so patterns were off.

Not only that, I should have paid closer attention to my body earlier in the prep work. My left knee was starting to pop/crackle going up and down stairs and while squatting--sure signs that I was losing mobility in the left hip.

So what now?

Move ahead. Intelligently. Slowly. Methodically.

I may jump into the NC State Championships on May 31st (just announced this past week and not on the USAW schedule--brilliant!), but most likely I'll train for a meet in Norfolk, VA on August 10th.

This will allow me time to train my body very specifically and also to do some "brain training"--apparently I have some eye tracking dysfunctions that I need to work on.

In the meantime, training will be very focused on the different pieces of each lift, working on my weak areas, and combining them in combos. I'll also use the KBs and perform some general strength training. I will have to break slowly back into squatting.

Learning. That's what life is all about. Too bad some of us have to learn the same lessons repeatedly. My short term goal is to finally learn this one: Activities are VERY specific. The more complex the activities, the more specific the training must be. This is the SAID principle: You always get exactly what you train for. General strength training is good, generally, and specific to most of the general population. Not so for weightlifters. Heavy front squats are good, but they're not as good as high point cleans, which train the weightlifter to get under the bar and then stand up.

Specificity in training is key--and it's specific to you and to me, the individuals.

2008-04-09T21:17:00.002-05:00

Prepping For the Meet...

...on Saturday the 26th. I've changed my loading yet again. Heavy cleans mid-week to accommodate for the last heavy clean 10 days before the meet: the 16th--so next Wednesday. In the mean time, I'm going to clean a lot. Heavy cleans, light cleans, etc.

Hit 135kg for 10x1 with 60s rest on the Power Clean today. Form good, but not the best. Last rep the best.

Then moved to Jerk recovery work: FSQ + PJk. These were significantly harder than I expected. Worked up to 130kg for a single, then stopped, cause my hip and knee on my right side were out of alignment on the recovery. No pain though which is good.

Then Clean Pulls from the floor. Worked up to 150kg/3 x3 which were harder than they should've been. Focused on keeping the chest out and the bar on the mid-thigh and away from the groin. These were good, but can still be better. I'm glad I can move well now because I can feel the subtle nuances in each lift and make changes when necessary.

Will attempt to train again tomorrow night--snatch work and squats for some hypertrophy. Gotta work off the two double cheeseburgers I just ate. I credit Brett Jones for those.

2008-03-30T09:24:00.002-05:00

The Frustrations of Not Regularly Blogging...

I used to love blogging--writing to get the thoughts out of my head. Now, with a new business, those thoughts are just bottled up. The road to hell, they say, is paved with good intentions. I'm in my own personal blogging hell then.

My training has been following the same path--sporadic at best. I'm able to train routinely on the weekends, but the weekdays have been non-productive. Not a good sign for a meet that's 5 weeks away.

I'll train and go anyway. Thank God for visualization--I'm going to need it.

Last weekend, I had my speed day on Saturday, and a strength day on Sunday. What I failed to realize is that I need my heavy O-lift day on Saturday's, cause, hey, I'm lifting heavy in a Saturday meet. Makes sense to me...Mid-week will be a lighter day because my stress levels can handle that.

Last Monday, I was sore from a heavier squat session on Sunday--BSQ, (160kg/2, 156/2, 170/2) x3 series. So I performed light KB snatches--16kg/10+10 for 5 sets and 60s rest.

I missed Tuesday's training and Thursday's platform training, so I brought home a 32kg KB and did some work with that along with some pistols--5 Snatches + 5 Clean & Presses each side, followed by 1 minute rest, followed by 5 pistols each leg with the 16kg. 5 rounds later, I was huffing and puffing swearing at my lack of stamina.

Yesterday, I went to the platform. Probably didn't warm up enough, since I feel beat up today in the shoulders and knees. (Lots of Z later today.)

Here's the training:

A. P. Snatch, Fl,: 60/4, 60/3, 70/3, 80/2, 90/2, 100/1, (105/x) 2; Restart
(90/kg/1, 100/1, 110/1)x 3; rest 60-90s
This was a frustrating start because my mind wasn't present. So I had to calm my mind. This took a lot of energy.

RPE = 7.5

B. P.Cl + PJk: 90/2+2, (110/1+1) x2, (120/1+1) x2; (110/1+1, 120/1+1, 130/1+1) x3; 60-90s rest
I was just plain ol' tired by the time I got here and had to force myself to get it done. Fortunately, the last set of 130 felt like a feather and was lightning fast, so I finished on a high note.

I probably should've gone even lighter today, but with the impending meet, I knew I had to do some work. My shoulders were feeling beaten up after a couple of the snatches and my form wasn't as good as it was last Saturday. But sometimes, you just have to lift. It's a pretty safe bet that meet day won't be perfect, so I'm learning how to train under less than ideal circumstances. Today, as I mentioned earlier, I feel pretty beaten up. So, before I train this afternoon, I'll make sure I get a lot of high quality Z in.

2008-03-21T11:25:00.002-05:00

RPEs Are the Way to Go

I've been using RPEs a lot in my training recently. I try to match the RPE to the percentage of my lift, for example, RPE of 7 equals 70%, and so on. I know I'm making progress if the RPE is lower than the percentage. At least I think I'm making progress. This keeps me dialed in to my body and not necessarily the weight on the bar. I believe Siff called this "cybernetic periodization."

Wednesday's training was outstanding. I trained at an unusual time--3pm--instead of the usual 8pm. Overall, I think it will be much better.

Here's how the training session played out.

A. Power Snatch, Floor: (60kg/3, 70/2, 80/1, 90/1, 100/1)
105/1 x5, 110/1 x5; 60s between sets.

RPE = 7/7.5

I haven't hit numbers like this since I was training for the Nationals in 2000. These felt very good--however, I need to stay over the bar just a little longer on the first pull, keep the elbows straighter, and not rush the second pull. Much better than last week when I had to switch to above the knee because I kept hitting myself in the jewels. Overall, I'm pleased.

B. Power Clean, Floor: (90kg/1, 100/1, 110/1, 120/1)
130kg/1 x10

RPE = 7.5-ish.

This was tough to tell what the true RPE was. Felt light, but slightly awkard. Have to slow down the first pull and make a true distinction between the two. Also need to keep the elbows straight and exagerate staying over the bar to be able to pull the bar straight up the thighs and not back into the body like the snatch. Overall, felt very strong. My clean has traditionally lagged behind my snatch, which, technically, is an indicator of a lack of maximum strength. However, for the first time ever, I'm feeling very hopeful that my clean will jump up. My overall strength is feeling very, very good.

This training session was truly eye-opening. It told me that if everything goes according to plan, I am well on my way to hitting my numbers at this meet in April. The only thing lacking is that I'm missing my strength sessions due to poor self/time-management. I will get back on track this weekend as I enforce my new boundaries.

I was seriously considering throwing a KB only day into the cycle, but after seeing that the meet is 6 weeks from this Sunday, I thought better of it. I'll get those back into the cycle regularly after the meet. I really need to focus on usable leg strength, so I'll squat twice a week--light and heavy.

The interesting thing about training is I am much more body-aware than I ever have been. It's fascinating when I'm on the platform. This is all a result of Z--more coordination, increased proprioception, more displayable strength.

I have a quick strength session to make up tonight, and then speed tomorrow and strength again on Sunday or possibly Monday, depending on how beat up I feel after two in a row.

It finally feels like it's all coming together.

2008-03-18T21:43:00.002-05:00

Training Update, Nerves, and Speed, Baby, Speed...

This past week has been crazy busy. I had to go to Phoenix last weekend (40 hours--Friday thru
Sunday) for a figure competition and stayed with my very good friend, Josh Henkin. If you live in AZ, you have to pay him a visit--the man knows his stuff.

Last week, I had significant left elbow pain/discomfort. Courtney did some scar release work on my abdomen and my left AC joint. Left median and ulnar nerve pain started to dissipate. However, still couldn't support much load in the rack position.

Thursday's training ended up primarily being Back Squats. I've settled on my previous theory that I really have no business using the bar on heavy strength work for more than 3 reps. I squatted 160kg/2 x10 with 60s - 90s rest. Bone rhythms were right on and the weight felt fast and light. Not much else that day due to the left elbow.

Saturday, I snuck in a training session at Josh's between the pre-judging and the night show. This was a 50-70% day, which really means I try to keep the RPE between 5 and 7. Power snatches from the floor were spot on and so were the Power Cleans from the floor.

A. P Snatch, floor: 85kg/2 x10; 60s rest; RPE = 5.5

B. P Clean, floor: 100kg/2 x10; 60s rest; RPE = 5

These caught me completely off guard: After all the travel and sitting and poor eating and lack of sleep, these were lightning fast! At times, there barely felt like there was anything on the bar.

Due to the lack of sleep this weekend and the outstanding training session at Josh's, I took Sunday off from any strength work and hit a light KB circuit yesterday.

No training today, even though it was scheduled. I'm readjusting/implementing boundaries and will be training during the day, between 230-430pm, instead of at night which tends to be catch up from business.

Tomorrow is a technique day--70-90%, with hopefully RPEs that at least match, but are preferably on the easy side. Strength work on Thursday.

2008-03-10T22:50:00.002-05:00

Mixing It Up

Yesterday, Sunday, I hit some Good Mornings from a pulling stance--Not my strongest exercise for sure. Worked up to 120kg for a 5TM (Training Max, different from an RM--TM is working up to a comfortable stop, RM is all out.) Then backed down to 80% (95kg) and hit 5x5 with 60s rest for some hypertrophy work.

I'd love to have long, rest-filled training sessions, but my schedule just won't allow it. I'll have to make it up with something extra--I-Phase and/or some KB work for recovery.

After the GMs, moved on to the Military Press. And then needed to figure out this left elbow thing: More overhead squats--found out that the right elbow wasn't fully locked. Talk about SMA--how does one miss that? Anyway, locked out the elbow and lo' and behold I got more into that left hip again and the right knee was smooth and oiled. Cool.

Here was the training:

A. GMs, pulling stance: 5TM: 120kg, then 80% for 5x5 w/ 60s rest (95kg/5 x5)
B. Military Press: (70kg/5, 75kg/5, 80kg/5) x2; 90s rest
C. Overhead Squats: 50kg/6 x4; rest as needed but short

Today--Some GPP

A. 45 minutes of I-Phase

B. Get-Ups: 10 minute drill w/ 24kg, alternating L+R, 1+1; worked on being very smooth. Felt good since never used to be able to do them do to knees. Threw in some arm bars on the L side. Hindsight, should've thrown some in on the R side for the L hip. Next time.

C. KB Presses from full lunge position (trail knee off the ground) to work on opening the hips: 5 reps each side contra-lateral, 5 reps each side ipsi-lateral, 5 reps each side contra-lateral again.

Felt good.

2008-03-09T12:18:00.003-05:00

Back In the Saddle

I've been offline for the last month or so. Have some personal issues I've been working through plus the stress and responsibility of opening a new business have kept me very busy. However, I've realized that I've missed blogging/writing and actually feel disconnected from my blogging community, who have been a big support to me. Sorry for not posting for awhile--my goal is now to post three times per week or so, basically around my training sessions at a minimum until I get this business where I want it.

Speaking of training...

It was not going well due to being so sick. That messed me up bad. Even 4 weeks later, I still have a cough. My plan to put on some muscle has changed. That week didn't work out for me--my body wasn't ready for it. Plus, I realized time was running out for my weightlifting timeline. So I'm now training for a meet--the Moorestown Open, on April 26th/27th.

I also got a reality check while I was sick and after reading Rif's blog--in which he stated he loves to train just to train--I used to feel that way about weightlifting. Now I don't. For the first time in my life, I actually need a meet date to organize my training around, otherwise, I just feel lost. I think part of it is that although I love weightlifting, I realize that I can't do it forever, and I now don't want to do it forever. Although I'm enjoying this process, I'm actually looking forward to the day when I don't have to monitor everything as closely as I do now. And I'm looking forward to the day when I can get the KBs back out and go to town on them, instead of using them for GPP work.

Back to the meet: I originally set a program that had me training each lift or some variation of it 4 times per week. Now I've switched that program to another which has me training each lift or some variation of it 4 times per week...However, I've had to build in a "speed" day, similar to a Westside template, because my coordination is off. In the past, this has been the best way to regain my coordination. My technique has been off on both the snatch and the clean. Yesterday, I got back in my groove. My clean felt the best it has in probably 10 years or so--no lie.

Here's what the program looks like as of yesterday:

Day 1, Saturday: Speed/Technique: O-lifts--50-70%, 2's, 60s rest

Day 2, Sunday: Strength: Assistance work, 3-5s, possibly some RM work with some backdown sets

Day 3, Tuesday: Speed/Technique: O-lifts--70-90%, singles, 60-90s rest

Day 4, Thursday: Strength: Assistance work, 3-5s, possibly some RM work with some backdown sets

Monday and Wednesday will most likely be some R-Phase/I-Phase and some light KB GPP. My elbows, especially my left one, have been bothering me since I got sick (weird--and I don't know why) and the KB work seems to help. I will also have to boost my calories. Right now I'm at about 3600 per day. I think I'm going to have to ramp up close to 5000 based on past experience. Better put some extra money aside for the increased food bill.

I realized that I have been using the same weights in my training for the last 8 years or so, and I just couldn't handle doing that training for this meet. So, I'm training off the numbers I want to hit in the meet--140kg in the Snatch, and 170kg in the Clean and Jerk. I've been under 140kg before, but couldn't hold it, and I've cleaned 170kg before, and jerked it from the rack. Right now, I'm moving better than I ever have, I'm faster than I was at age 27, and my strength is coming back so fast that I expect to beat all previous PRs by the end of 2008, so why not train this way? If/When I hit 140/170 I will qualify for the American Open in December and 2009 Nationals. And this is all part of my plan.

Yesterday's training:

A. P. Snatch from floor: 50%/2 x12, 60s rest. 70kg/2 x12
This was challenging to get my technique back. It returned around set #9. Better late than never. It still wasn't perfect, but it was much better than it had been.

B. P. Clean from floor: 50%/2 x10, 60s rest. 90kg/2 x10
A little heavier than 50% but I didn't feel like messing with the "change" on the bar, so I just slid a 10kg on each side. These were so much better than they have been. Found the correct bar path and my timing between the first and second pull also returned. The weight felt almost effortless. This will be very fun to watch improve...

C. BSQ: 50%/2 x5; 110kg/2 x5
Left elbow was giving me some problems and the knees were not that happy here. Not pain, just a little discomfort.

D. Push Press, 50% of Jerk/2 x5; 90kg
Couldn't get these moving--right knee wasn't happy and neither was the left elbow. Decided to quit after first set. Don't want to re-enforce pain during this important movement pattern. Decided to move on to elbow "damage control."

E. Pressing Snatch Balance, 40kg/5 x3
These felt like just what the doctor ordered. Reduced left elbow pain and right knee soreness disappeared. The knee soreness (bilateral) was most likely due to squatting on a freshly broken toe. The body is so smart, it moves away from pain. Did this on Wednesday and the squat was not what it should've been. Live and learn some more, I guess.

2008-02-17T19:11:00.003-05:00

15lbs In 36 Training Sessions?

That's the goal.

I've been dreading going back to squatting 3 times per week so it's obviously time for a change. I was putzing around on the platform yesterday, when I thought I'd just call Alfonso and get his opinion on the "best" program for mass and strength for a busy guy like me. It's very interesting, because when you spend enough time with someone and apply what you learn from them, you start to think the same way you do. I was already thinking of two strength/mass days and two technique days. That's exactly what Al came up with. One dynamic/ballistic day and one grind day, interspersed with two technique days.

Here's how it's broken down:

Saturday: Technique, varied positions

Sunday: Snatch pulls from above the knee, based off 110% of best ever snatch (135kg)

Tuesday: Technique, varied positions

Thursday: Back Squat, based off best ever 1RM (500lbs)

The loads are as follows:

Weeks 1-3: 60-80%/6 x6; rest as needed (5 minutes for me)
Pulls: 70-75-80%
Squats: 60-65-70%

Weeks 4-6: 65-85%/5 x5; rest as needed (again, 5 minutes)
Pulls: 75-80-85%
Squats: 65-70-75%

Weeks: 7-9: 70-90%/4 x4; rest as needed (5 mins.)
Pulls: 80-85-90%
Squats: 70-75-80%

Overhead work can be performed 1-2 times per week, any loading parameters desired.

Today was brutal--coming back off being sick, I thought I was going to vomit after my first work set of pulls with 105kg/6. All the wind was ripped from my lungs. Fortunately, I started to adapt as the session went on.

Here was today's session:

A. Snatch Pull, AK: 105kg/6 x6; 5 mins rest. Tough. Definitely felt every muscle in my body.
B. Press: 70kg/6 x4; 3 min rest
C. Pistols: 16kg: R--3x6, L--2x6; Just wanted to throw these back in the rotation keep everything "balanced." Right knee had some lateral and patellar discomfort. I think this is from catch a pull with my right foot externally rotated.

Also, some weird stuff going on with my right leg: My body has dumped all the hypertrophy from that leg so now it's almost half the size of the left one. This is very recent. Up until two weeks ago, just before I got sick, the right was almost exactly the same size as the left. Very weird. I'm wondering if it's a result of being sick--some sort of neurological reaction to the virus. I'm sure I'll bounce back.

I have a feeling I'm going to feel like I've been hit by a truck tomorrow when I wake up. If I recall, this type of training produced a lot of mass when I was in college. I wonder if it'll do the same 15 years later. If today's post-workout feeling is any indication, 15lbs should be pretty easy to come by.

2008-02-15T14:05:00.003-05:00

Next Year, I Think I'll Get the Flu Shot...

Been out all week with the "flu" or something viral. This left me in bed on Tuesday and Wednesday with the exception of forcing myself to eat and go see the doctor.

Went to NJ last weekend to see my coach, hang out with some friends, and revisit the past at Rutgers. It was a great trip.

I spent the entire afternoon on Saturday with Alfonso. It was just like old times and he hadn't changed a bit. The Cuban coffee was as strong and sweet as I remember it. He was glad to hear that I was faster at 35 than 25. However, he was incredulous when he actually saw it. This is one of the premises behind Z-Health: Truly becoming better with age. I snatched 102.5kg/2 x3 from above the knee and cleaned 130kg/2 x3 from above the knee. All were very fast, very easy, and very solid lifts. Al commented that my lockout on the snatch was much stronger than he remembered it. To be honest, it was much stronger than I remember it. This is undoubtedly from the cranial mobilization work I've been doing lately which has finally allowed me to feel "grounded."

Speaking of feeling "grounded," I spent all day Sunday at Rutgers walking through the campuses and various memories of the 10 years I spent there. It was pretty cool really.

Two major conclusions were reached while I was there:

As the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Wrestling team, I had a major impact on the success of the team and the lives of those young men. So said the Assistant Coach when I saw him. He came right up to me and just told me how it was, with no solicitation on my part. In fact, he told me it was a major loss for the program when I left and that none of my successors measured up. This was very important for me to hear because I always wondered if the time I put in mattered, if my passion made a difference. It was good to see that I did. Every man needs to know that the battles he fights matter. I've been dreaming about this for almost 8 years, especially the last year, probably once a month. It's good to have some closure.
As I walked near my old house and another part of the campus, I was keenly aware of God's presence and His working on my heart. What He was gracious enough to show me was that I have essentially spent the last 20 years living with the fear of the uncertainty of the future. This is EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of living by faith. Life, as John Eldredge says, is an adventure to be lived, NOT a problem to be solved. I have been "living" just such a way--as if life was a problem and I must find the solution. What a waste of time and energy! God has been teaching me through another area in my life to walk moment by moment trusting Him for the outcome. It was good to see the pattern revealed so now I can do something about it.

Having returned home, I have had a chance to practice this as I was miserably sick, lying in bed for 2 days. Instead of worrying about what I haven't done, I've just been attempting to be content to take each moment as it comes. However, the temptation has been to beat myself up for not getting my work done. And I have caught myself and been caught thinking this way. I must confess, there is a sense of peace from not trying to anticipate the future, but to just savor the moments in which I'm currently living.

What has all this to do with strength?

Quite a lot, really.

I am continually and repeatedly learning that strength, all strength, ultimately comes from God, whether I acknowledge it or not. Man, after all, is created in the image of God, and God of course, is strong. Faith then, or spiritual strength, is just like physical strength. It must have an object of focus and it must be exercised routinely. Just like physical strength, the more faith is exercised, the more of it you get. Unfortunately, I'm not sure you can periodize faith. You just have to look for it in the moment. It's kind of like always keeping your eyes open for a squat rack as you walk down the street, only better.

What did I learn about pain while I was gone? Absolutely nothing I didn't already know. The bottom line on why pain exists, from a philosophical perspective is simply this: Pain exists to draw us closer to God. That's it. Nothing more.

Why pain?

Because when pain is loud enough, we look for answers outside ourselves. This is where God comes in. This is where He gets our attention.

Interesting, huh?

More thoughts later, I'm sure.

Tomorrow, I hope to get back on the platform without my lungs burning. Should be fun. Probably plain ol' power snatches and power cleans from the floor.

2008-02-07T22:16:00.000-05:00

Last Minute Trip to NJ

Off tomorrow night for a last minute trip to NJ, my old stomping grounds, to revisit the past and investigate further the issue of the purpose of pain.

Will get to spend a good deal of Saturday with my weightlifting coach, Alfonso, and will hopefully train with him, his schedule allowing.

Sunday I will spend all day at Rutgers. Should be interesting to say the least.

2008-02-05T14:10:00.000-05:00

Back For More--Weeklong Update

Last week was a complete wash. Got sick and never made it back to the platform. Nothing except some kettlebell and bodyweight work. Oh yeah, and some heavy Windmills and Bent Presses. Always fun.

Some things I've been thinking about lately:

Pain: I know what it is, but I forgot its purpose
Weight gain: Is it really possible to gain 20lbs for an advanced trainee in 12-16 weeks? Does it really matter?
Z-Health: Re-wiring the CNS so your new patterns are more efficient than your old ones--but then are they really your old patterns?

Each of these will most likely be my upcoming blog posts. Lots of meat in them I think.

Met with Dr. Cobb Sunday AM. We were finally able to do some cranial work. First session with him ever without some sort of sympathetic response. CNS was ready apparently. After mobilizing some joints in the skull, I was able to increase active hip extension on my right hip by about 15-20 degrees. I also felt grounded, or rooted, as we speak of in the RKC for the first time in my life. That was very weird. Posture improved even more, which is very surprising since most of my colleagues in the fitness industry already think I have good posture.

Thought about working the Smolov. Attempted that. I was right. I suck for reps. The first workout was for 70%/9 x4. I got two sets. Then I had to stop for fear of injury--my legs were so wobbly. Probably a good thing right now as I have a lot of things going on behind-the-scenes. So I'm just going to stick to my 2 week cycles of hypertrophy/strength and strength/power.

Back to the platform tonight.

2008-01-27T17:20:00.001-05:00

Getting Closer

Yesterday, I was on the platform again, as I am every Saturday. I felt particularly good warming up and needed little mobility work.

The loading ended up being very close to what I was doing almost 10 years ago at my prime.

A. Power Snatch, AK: 60kg/3, 70/3. 80/3, 90/3, 100/3, (100/2-X-1)2; approx. 2 mins rest.

The "2-X-1" indicates 2 completed attempts, followed by one miss, followed by another completed attempt. When I was in my prime, I could easily hit 100kg/5 from this position. I am close, very close.

B. Clean Pull, AK: 150kg/5 x3; 2 minutes rest.

Didn't actually feel like performing cleans. So I subbed them out with some pulls. I had to focus on pushing through my whole foot as my old pattern of rolling off the lateral side of my foot and aggravating my knee, was starting to show up.

I am noticing that my old patterns must be continually destroyed and replaced each time I venture into heavier loading zones. Every rep requires the utmost concentration and I can no longer just blow through each set like I [thought] could when I was younger.

I am contemplating my next program. I think I will forget about forced rest periods and just focus on the load and eating my way up into the Supers. I think...

2008-01-24T15:42:00.000-05:00

9+.

That was the RPE of my squat session yesterday. I hadn't hit a true 9+ in a long, long time. Quite frankly, I don't remember having hit that since I've been back on the platform.

Five weeks ago to the day yesterday, I hit 405lbs/3 on the BSQ. Again, nothing to write home about, but the fact that I'd been able to do it since re-mobilizing myself seemed almost miraculous. I skipped my training on Tuesday due to very poor sleep on Sunday and Monday nights. So, Wednesday, I headed over to my pay-gym and hit the squat rack. I ended up with 11 total reps with 405lbs: 405/1, 405/2 x5 with 2 minutes of rest between each set. Admittedly, I probably shouldn't have taken that last double--barely stood up with the second rep--but there was nowhere to hide. Interestingly, my body reverted back to its old neck position--cervical hyperextension and I mildly strained my neck. No worries though.

I also didn't get full use out of my right leg--perhaps my body was naturally protecting itself. Overall, I probably shouldn't have lifted that heavy, but I had the energy so I went for it. No negative ramifications today other than my left leg is more sore than my right.

The rest of the session was as follows:

B. Isometric Holds: Back Squat: 495/12s x3; 60s rest
These were interesting. They felt good. The last set I actually walked out and set up my squat and lengthed up into the load. I may incorporate these more frequently.

C. Military Press: 135/3, 185/3, 195/3, 205/3, 215/2; 90s rest

D. Chins: Bdwt/4, Bdwt +25lbs/4 x2; 60s rest

After the squats, I just felt like fooling around. However, I was interested to see that my military press was up. I did a similar session 5 weeks ago with 5 minutes of rest between sets.

I guess Progressive Overload still works for me. Again.

As I type, I'm trying to decide what I'll do tonite--perhaps a similar session with lighter loads or just some kettlebell work and reload the volume work next week.

2008-01-20T15:43:00.000-05:00

Finding the Groove

I haven't been posting much due to work--training clients and opening a new business just doesn't allow you to be on the internet much at all. However, I've still been training and it's going well.

My weight is a constant 220lbs with very little fluctuation--a sure sign that the "weight" I'm putting on is just more than water and stored glycogen. My shoulders, upper back, and legs are all thickening up, a sure sign that the weight is high quality.

My training, has fallen into the pattern I noticed on my last cycle: Over a 14 day period, I train 7 days, Sa-Su-Tu-Th-Sa-Su-T-Off for 3 days. This just happened on the last 2 week cycle and I'm feeling great. Yesterday, after working out some kinks, I worked up to 90kg/2 x3 on the Power Snatch Above Knee. Not particularly impressive, but very easy and definitely an indicator that things are moving in the direction they should. When I can hit 10 doubles here, I'm definitely back in business.

Speaking of being back in business, my legs and back are rapidly regaining the strength they once had. I am only a matter of months from squatting 405/5 x5--perhaps as little as two, but certainly no more than six. And I'm getting VERY hungry to move some of the bigger weights, also a sure sign that my strength (and confidence) is returning. The interesting thing here is that my positions are all very different than they were pre-Z. My starting position on the pulls has much more leg than it used to--more back. My grip has returned to it's origins--when I first started the lifts, and I'm moving faster than I have in years. I am really starting to feel like I am moving at the same speed I was ten years ago.

Yesterday started another two week cycle, although honestly, I'm not sure how this one is going to play out. It may just be a continuation of the H-M-L, with a tweak in loading parameters--dropping reps and really pushing the strength parameters and backing down the next cycle. We'll have to see how I feel once I get to the platform.

Yesterday's training:

A. Power Snatch from above knee: 60kg/3 x3, 70/3 x2, 80/3 x3, 90/2 x3; rest--approx 2 minutes rest.

My right knee was not happy at first and it took quite a bit of I-Phase to cool it off--hence the multiple sets at each weight. By the time I got past 60kg it seemed just fine. No residuals today.

B. Power Clean from above knee: 100kg/5 x5; approx 2 minutes rest.

Just "felt" the need to do some volume work here on the clean. Probably will continue in the same vein for awhile. If my memory serves me correctly, Medvedyev states that one of the issues holding back strength is lack of strength-endurance. I'll have to check again on that--but I really need to push the clean back up to pre-injury status of 170kg. I'll go back and see what the good doctor has to say about this and apply it to my training.

Overall, I am incredibly pleased with the pace of my training. I'm growing and gaining strength without overtraining or getting injured--firsts in many, many years. This is the type of training Alfonso tried to get me to do 10 years ago but I just insisted on going hard and heavy all the time. The old axiom is true: Youth is wasted on the young.

2008-01-13T19:26:00.000-05:00

It's Amazing What Can Happen In As Little As Two Months

Just got back from the platform. Right now I'm engaged in a H-M-L strength cycle as that's all my schedule will allow. Two months ago, I went to Palm Beach and started my training session with 315/5 x5 with 2 minutes rest on the Back Squat. That was new "re-mobility" territory. It was a heavy day.

Today, I hit 140kg/5x5, with 2 mins rest (essentially the same weight) as the "light" part of the training session, after Snatch Grip DLs and Military Presses. And it felt even easier and faster than it did 2 months ago, despite being last in the rotation.

I was just thinking today that I was at my strongest between ages 21 and 25--then things started to break. Now, being "re-mobilized," I feel like I'm about 4-6 months away from reaching those peak strength levels. This truly excites me.

Today's session:

A. Snatch-grip DL: (140kg/3, 150/3, 160/3, 170/3) x2; 2 mins rest
RPE= 8 maybe at the 170kg. Plenty of room left here.

B. Military Press: 80kg/4 x6; 2 mins rest.
RPE= 7-ish. Also plenty of room here.

C. BSQ: 140kg/5 x5; 2 mins rest.
RPE= 7. Fast and easy.

Tomorrow, Z and possibly some 2H KB Swings.

2008-01-10T23:06:00.000-05:00

Back Online And the New Year's Good

Been offline since Christmas Day because I just opened a new business and it has consumed almost every waking hour that I wasn't training clients, eating, training myself, or sleeping.

Training has been going very well. In fact, it hasn't gone this well in years. The downside is that my metabolism has cranked up again from all the stress (good stress--been lots of fun) of the business and training that I'm having a hard time keeping weight on. Strength is still going up.

I just finished the first week of my new cycle. Started one two weeks ago, but it was interrupted by opening the business. So I started another one. I've decided that 5s and front squats don't mix well for me. This one is a H-M-L rotation of 3s, 4s, and 5s with the corresponding previous intensity.

Here's how today's session played out:

A. Front Squat: 8x3; (120kg/3, 125/3, 130/3, 135/3) x2; 2 mins rest

B. Snatch Grip DL: 6x4, 1 DL followed by 3 paused 1 inch off floor at mid-shin: 120kg/4 x5; 2 mins rest. Just felt like doing something different to increase the tension on the P-Chain. Weight was too light but hadn't done anything like this in years--needed to take it easy

C. Military Press: 5x5; 70kg/5 x5; 2 mins rest

Overall, a very easy week. I played it conservatively and next week I'll push the intensity much higher on all lifts. This particular cycle will probably last 4 weeks: 2 Accumulation and 2 Intensification. We'll see how it goes. This week made me very hungry for next week. That's always a good sign.

2007-12-25T18:48:00.001-05:00

Reconsidering Assistance Work, Part 1

Somewhere along the way, we've only paid lip service to the SAID principle and forgotten the its true meaning. We speak of working on "sticking points" and "weaknesses"--lockouts for the triceps and extra hamstring work on the GH bench. Some people use these as excuses for exercise variety instead of just doing the hard work that is required to make real progress. Others, truly find success working these areas. The rest of us may just be confused.

But the reality is, great poundages have been hoisted on simple programs, probably more so than all the advanced programs combined. I say "probably" because I am no Iron Game historian--I just a casual follower.

After spending almost 2 years re-mobilizing--for lack of a better term--my body, I can say definitively that movement feels different--better, and yet sometimes strangely harder. I am writing this after completing the first day of my new training program, and although relatively high in volume (75 total work reps), my legs feel shakier and more taxed than I can recently remember and from doing very simple exercises--Snatch Grip Deadlifts and Front Squats (Separated by Military Presses).

From my vantage point on this side of "re-mobility," it is fair to say that trainees mistake lack of strength, or "weak links" for lack of mobility. Mobility work is by strictest (and admittedly newest) definition strength training. We tend to separate the two, but whether you're performing back squats or shoulder circles, you are providing your brain with proprioceptive input--one just happens to be loaded.

So far, we're just talking theory, so let's get down to brass tacks and look at a very simple exercise: the Squat.

Traditionally, the Squat is categorized as a "quad dominant" movement. Indeed, in the latest Strength and Conditioning Journal from the NSCA, they spoke of research using EMG analysis regarding muscle recruitment in the squat. Surprisingly, very little activation was reported in the hamstring musculature. I say "surprisingly" because now during the "re-mobility" period it seems they are one of the only muscle groups I feel after a squat session! At this point, I need to clarify that the squat they defining is not a full Olympic squat or a Westside-style power squat--it is an "athletic" squat, which is very similar to the traditional powerlifting squat.

Now, back to the hamstrings. What is the major difference between my experiences and the latest findings in the research? Well, for starters, I am an experiment of one, if you don't include my clients, who also perform mobility work and squat. Secondly, and here's the part I'm trying to sell, mobility work, especially Z-Health mobility work, changes everything. And by everything, I mean EVERYTHING.

Let's look at why a scientific study in a well-thought of journal would consider the squat a quad-dominant exercise. Traditional performance of the squat dictates a tight arch in the lower back with an upward eye position. These two variables alone are enough to eliminate the contribution of the hamstrings during the squat. Let me explain. The upwardly- fixed gaze usually results in the trainee fixing his eyes on one spot on the wall and keeping them there for the entire performance of the lift. This means the head and neck will rotate about the eyes resulting in cervical hyperextension. This movement causes compression of the cervical vertebrae and results in what's known as the arthrokinetic reflex. This reflex inhibits muscular recruitment when a joint becomes jammed. Cervical hyperextension inhibits the proper recruitment of the hamstrings as hip extensors during the squat, thereby shifting the load primarily to the glutes (for a little while, until that tight arch catches up to you--but more on that in a second or two) and the lumbar erectors.

But it gets worse. The tight arch in the lower back initiates an anterior pelvic tilt, which shortens the hip flexors, inhibits the recruitment of the deep abdominal wall (thus exposing the spine to potential harm), and pre-stretches the hamstrings and gluteals, which at first, doesn't seem like such a bad thing. Three things are actually occurring here:

1. When a muscle shortens (contracts) it's antagonist relaxes. This is called reciprocal inhibition. As the hip flexors shorten, the hip extensors relax. This would normally be a good thing except in this case, your spine is under load. So something needs to counter that anterior pelvic tilt which is busy compressing your vertebrae from L3-S1. Normally, this "something is supposed to be your gluteals, which act as a neutralizer against the pull of the hip flexors during the squat. This leads us to the second point:

2. Leaving a muscle on stretch, through passive or active means, decreases force production by up to 30%. That's huge! What's that got to do with squatting? That tight lumbar arch you're initiating when you squat is putting those glutes and hamstrings on one long stretch, decreasing the neural drive from the brain to the muscles effectively weakening them both during the squat and in the long run. But wait--it gets even better!

3. Adaptive Shortening. Sounds like some form of Crisco and it can be just as bad, if not worse for your long term health. That tight arch shortens your hip flexors which happen to be your psoas, illicus, and rectus femoris at a bare minimum. If proper hip mobility is not restored, these muscles remain short and then tighten keeping that pelvis in a permanent anterior tilt. This causes a permanent decrease in neural drive to the hip extensors (gluteals and hamstrings) which in turn leads to sensorimotor amnesia (use it or lose it). This of course causes problems all over the body, not just at the hip and low back, but also at the shoulders, thoracic spine, and neck, at a bare minimum.

2007-12-24T15:54:00.000-05:00

5 And 1

...those are the numbers of significance from my last training cycle.

Upon closer examination of my training, it appears I can push it hard for five weeks, followed by one week of active rest.

Before Z, I couldn't get a bead on how my body would cycle. Recently, I've concluded that each microcycle can last about 10 days before a change and/or deload period, within the larger 5 week macrocycle.

Upon closer investigation, it appears that I one microcycle can last approximately five training sessions before I need to change it. Over this past cycle I noticed that after these five training sessions, I need to take an extra day of recovery--active recovery--Z-based.

One week ago today, I had my last heavy training session of that cycle. Since then, I've done two kettlebell workouts and one Olympic lifting session. The amount of muscle growth that I've seen this week has surprised me--Once again proving that even the simplest of programs can produce results in advanced trainees.

I'm applying these parameters to my next macrocycle, with the emphasis still on hypertrophy and strength. The last one yielded approximately 7lbs. of quality muscle. It'd be nice to see that much again. If that's the case, the end of the next cycle will put me almost on top of 230lbs. This means if I can keep everything timed appropriately, I could very well be 240lbs by the end of March.

Christmas dinner should help that along nicely.

This particular cycle I'll focus on Front Squats and Snatch Grip Deadlifts. I couldn't pull heavy and Back Squat heavy on this last cycle. I haven't decided exactly the loading parameters yet, but they will be based around 3s and 5s.

Getting back to Christmas, Merry Christmas.

2007-12-21T12:48:00.000-05:00

Make A Difference--Give Your Strength To Someone Who Really Needs It

It's Christmas-time again.

Which means most of us are trying to figure out exactly what our loved ones need. In case you're stumped, here's an alternative.

This year, why not make a difference in somebody's life who really NEEDS your help?

Why not donate money to a charity in a loved one's name. That way you honor your loved one and really help someone else in need. Everybody wins: You feel better about yourself; your loved one is honored; and someone gets something they need.

If you're stumped for ideas, try your local halfway house, food shelter, or HERE.

2007-12-18T15:34:00.001-05:00

30lbs In 72 Hours

Something told me when I designed the 3rd phase of my squat cycle that my frequency had to change--I just wouldn't admit it to myself at first. I'm glad I did.

Here's a recap of the cycle I put together. It's highly scientific and I'm absolutely sure no one has ever seen anything like this let alone done this before so you'll want to pay close and careful attention (he said, tongue-in-cheek, thus once again proving there is "nothing new under the sun").

Phase 1: Accumulation: 5x5, 2 minutes of rest, 3 days per week--approx 2 weeks
Phase 2: Intensification: 5x3, 3 minutes of rest, 3 days per week--approx 2 weeks
Phase 3: Realization: 3x3, 5 minutes of rest, 3 (?) days per week--approx 2 weeks

I had a hunch that I wouldn't be able to stay on Phase 3 for longer than 4 training sessions, as the higher the intensity (with regard to load, not effort) the quicker I adapt.

My goal was to get back into some sort of squatting "shape" (Hey, "round" is a shape...) by using 2 key indicators: 315lbs/5 x5 with a 2 minute rest and a 3RM of 405lbs. (Don't ask me how they correlate in my head, but for some strange reason they do...)

Anyway, I didn't realize how accurate my predictions about the "realization" phase would be: The heavy loading was very taxing on my NS and I found I couldn't squat every 48.3 hours but instead had to push it back to 72 hours. This all came in the form of a gut check around the 48 hour mark and I had to listen to my intuition--which in this case was what my body and mind were telling me. Each time, I decided to wait another day. And although I was tired, I became more efficient as the load increased within the training session, with each set being better than the former.

Yesterday, after a very demanding 48 hours and losing 5-7lbs in the same time frame, I decided I was ready for 405. I can't explain how, I just knew it. The previous three training sessions were as follows:

363lbs/3 x5, 3 minutes rest on Sun, 12/9
345/3, 355/3, 365/3, 5 minutes rest on Tues, 12/12
355/3, 365/3, 375/3, 5 minutes rest on Fri, 12/15

And then last night's, 12/17:

365/3, 385/3, 405/3, 5 minutes of rest

The third rep of 405 was a little off. Looking back, I could've squeezed out a 4th rep if you made me. However, with the heavier loads, my form would falter a little bit--I'd kick the neck into extension. Once I would drop the chin back to neutral, I could drive my elbows forward again and stand up pretty explosively. This is something to work on for the next BSQ cycle.

Anyway, from an RPE standpoint 375/3 on Friday was about an 8.5 and last night was about a 9 or so. As I figure it that's approximately a 30lbs jump in 72 hours give or take a little bit on the RPE scale. Not bad, especially given the loss in bodyweight, which of course means very little except for leverage.

How'd I do that?

Obviously it's my outstanding program design skills--or then again, not.

The reality is Z-Health has taught me how to make my body more efficient in almost all movement. The more Z I practice, the easier movement becomes for me. Not only that, it makes the re-acquisition of old movement patterns that much easier. It was only about a month ago that I hit that 315/5 x5 while I was in FL. I've also noticed immediate improvements in the expression my leg strength while on the platform. It just feels lighter.

Interestingly enough, I was also able to break many of the rules of training, like load cycling of individual exercises within the training session. The other 2 exercises I used were the barbell military press and the weighted chin-up. Usually, it is prudent to pick one heavy, one medium, and one light exercise each day, cycle the H-M-L through exercises. I did not. I was able to lift continually heavier and heavier each training session. Last night's MP culminated in 205/3. Certainly nothing to write home about, but more than I've been able to in a long while, perhaps upto 3-4 years ago. Not only that, the squat load should've taxed my NS to a degree to prohibit an RM on the MP--which technically it was not--I think there was another 10lbs in there for another 3 reps.

The Z-Health is fascinating to play around with strength acquisition and expression. I have no doubt based on my current experience that I will achieve all my athletic goals. Although, technically speaking, this is strength re-acquisition. Although I might be able to counter that with the argument that my current squat mechanics are dissimilar to my pre-Z squat mechanics. Either way, it provides food for thought and certainly hope for the future.

One more thing I forgot to mention--last night's squats were pain free. I've NEVER squatted 405 pain free. That's a great feeling.

2007-12-16T19:57:00.000-05:00

What Is Strength?

As long as I can remember, which is back in Virginia, age 4, hanging from the washing line uprights in my back yard with my next door neighbor trying to do a pull-up, I've been fascinated with strength. It wasn't until I was wrestling in high school that I truly understood the depth of that fascination.

Lately, I've been testing my strength in all sorts of ways I didn't expect, and very few of these involved weights.

So, what is strength?

The ability to lift the heaviest possible weight from the floor?

From the floor to overhead?

To lift a fixed weight as many times as possible in a given time period?

To run the fastest?

To run the furthest in the shortest time?

Some combination of the above?

Is it just for yourself?

Can you give it away?

Can someone take it from you?

Can you impose it unwillingly on others?

Is it like money in the bank?

I think it can be all of the above and much, much more.

As I have experienced it, I've come to realize strength has a very simple definition:

The Ability To Overcome.

It doesn't matter how you test it, it's whether you overcome the obstacle that's the measure of your strength.

I've also come to realize that strength is required for many, many things. Here are some of them:

To overcome temptation
To honor others
To honor your commitments
To turn the other cheek
To run from temptation
To run from evil
To stand and fight evil
To fight when you don't feel like it
To not fight when you do feel like it
To fight when you should and not fight when you shouldn't
To keep going no matter what the cost
To be courageous
To speak the truth even when it's uncomfortable
To love even when you don't feel like it
To withhold your love even when you desperately want to give it because it would be wrong to do so
To be accountable for your actions
To be honest
To defend those in need whether they know they're in need or not
To be humble
To admit you're wrong
To be gracious
To accept the praise of others
To protect yourself
To protect others

Those are just some of the things strength is used for.

I don't think I fully understood the meaning behind the title of my blog, Chasing Strength, when I chose it. Now I'm starting to...

So where does strength come from?

I'm sure there are many answers.

Some get it from addictions. Some get it from their significant other. Some get it from their kids. Some get it from competition. Some take it from others by force or coercion.

But I've come to realize there is another place--a better, safer, cleaner place.

The Bible says we are all created in the Image of God. So I can only assume after studying religion and philosophy in college and some theology since, that we are inherently born with a certain amount of it because God is Strength.

When I feel weak, I remember some of God's promises to me:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Joshua 1:9

And probably my favorite:

28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31

This begs at least two questions:

"Why are we designed in God's image to be strong?"

And

"Why are we designed to renew our strength in God?"

John Eldredge sums up these answers to these questions in his book, Wild At Heart.

To give my strength, God's strength, to those who need it.

For me, one of the places I receive my strength is on the platform.

It has become a place, one of the best places, to connect and meet with God. It has become for me, a holy place--a place set apart. This is why weightlifting is so important to me. It draws me close to God. It gives me strength.

I can't believe it has taken me 12 years to get here.

Thank God I have.

2007-12-10T21:38:00.000-05:00

THIS Is How Well Z-Health Works.

Finally, Videos of the Meet.

Here's 120kg Snatch.

Here's 140kg Clean and Jerk.

Sorry about the poor quality. I'm not a techno-kinda-guy so the fact I'm posting this is tech-ie enough. Betsy actually filmed the DVD while it played. Not perfect by any means, but certainly good enough for the point to be made.

2007-12-09T20:29:00.000-05:00

2475kg. 15 Reps. 20 Minutes--Plus or Minus.

Or 165kg (363lbs)/3 x5 sets. After Snatches. After Cleans. Hardly anything to brag about, yet, a milestone. It's been at least 3, probably 4 years since I've lifted this.

Depressing.

Joyous.

Exciting.

At least three words to describe how I feel about it.

It went relatively well. My last rep was a little suspect as it felt like something, right glut med maybe, stopped working.

It shouldn't be this hard, though. But, alas, therein lies the joy--overcoming the struggle. I was experiencing a little more mental discomfort than I normally care for as I approached this training session, which I guess can be expected: Over the years, these weights started playing havoc with my nervous system--startle reflex without knowing it.

But tonight, everything felt smooth once I got under that first set. I am experiencing a weird, almost eerie calm during this type of training. I've never experienced it in the past--except of course at the meet last month. Peace of God I guess. I distinctly remember feeling very "grounded" underneath the bar--I could feel my whole foot--both of them--on the floor with even pressure between them throughout the each rep. Very weird. Everything's firing in the order in which I assume it's supposed to fire. And the best part: Pain free. I guess that's why I approached this session, and some previous ones with a little bit of trepidation--because in the past they caused so much pain.

The crazy thing was that this must have been tougher on my CNS than I thought--probably from an emotional perspective--because after dinner, and even throughout really, all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

Addendum.

Today's Monday. Last night I crashed hard. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I've been relatively tired all day and I've been sucking on the B5's.

No major soreness except for the traps. Left glute and right adductor are more sore than the rest of the legs. Sign of a good training session and I know with these types of loads I am really starting to cement my new squat style.

Really looking forward to tomorrow's training. Starting to think about the next cycle too. Perhaps I'll switch over to FSQs and I'm going to throw in some Snatch-grip DLs. Can't seem to mix these with the heavy BSQs--yet.

2007-12-08T20:56:00.000-05:00

Defining Yourself As A Result of Understanding Life...

I love movies that speak to my heart: About Struggle. About Adventure. About Good and Evil. I loved this the first time I saw it. It's from Rocky Balboa. Rocky is talking to his son. It's a perfect example of what fathers are supposed to do and the power of one man to speak life and truth into the life of another.

Powerful.

2007-12-07T12:04:00.000-05:00

Almost There.

Almost back to baseline.

For me to start feeling "strong," or at least semi-strong, I need to be able to hit 185kg/405lbs on the BSQ for a triple. I should be there in about 16-17 days. Not a lot of weight for sure, but like I said, this is "baseline."

I've been very impressed with how my body's responded to this last squat cycle. My strength has come back very quickly. Dr. Cobb was right: Once we removed the compensations it would return very fast. So, I'm actually looking forward to his next prediction: A 30% strength increase above previous bests. That would put me on the medal stand at Nationals. I sense this to be true by the speed at which my strength has returned. We'll see.

This week has been a bridge: I decided to go with the 5x3 since the 355/5 x3 on Sunday was a 9 on the RPE scale. Last night I hit an easy 345/3 x5 with 3 minutes rest. Sunday will be 365/3 x4-5.

Then Tuesday starts the 3x3 with 5 minutes rest. True strength training. My favorite.

Bodyweight's staying up too--holding pretty steady around 220lbs pretty routinely. Time to eat more.

Going to the platform tomorrow. Should be even more fun now that my leg strength is returning.

2007-12-02T18:59:00.000-05:00

Resistance and Momentum

...Really are the keys to growth--Any growth.

There's a group of "enlightened" individuals in the strength training industry who dictate slow even tempos while training to avoid momentum while lifting. They also eschew any ballistic lifting seeing it as too dangerous and derived almost exclusively from momentum to be of any real benefit to strength trainers. However, the late Dr. Siff pointed out all movement begins with momentum, no matter how slight.

And as it is in the weight room, so it is in life.

Apparently, I've been burning the candle at both ends without knowing it, which explains the lack of blogging for the last 9 days. I was at our friends house last Saturday for dinner, had 2 Newcastle's with dinner (I usually only have one or some wine) and then spent 45 minutes or more in the hot tub after dinner. I was done for. I don't know what it was exactly, but it seemed everything fell apart. When I got out, everything hurt. I don't suppose it helps that I don't fit in the hot tub--I have one of those extra long torsos which makes staying fully immersed a little difficult and causes you to scrunch down. Somehow, Sunday, I was able to train--barely after sleeping at least 10 hours. Monday through Wednesday I don't remember much about, only that I was hyper-loading Vitamin B5 in an attempt to keep my brain working without slurring my words or transposing words in sentences or completely blanking out mid-sentence.

It was bad. Very bad.

Tuesday, I had to go home mid-afternoon and take a 90 minute nap. Training was the furthest thing from my mind.

The only thing that kept me going in my business was momentum. (And my clients' graciousness I suppose.) When you've been training clients as long as I have, it seems you can do this almost on autopilot, unless of course somebody throws a wrench in the works. Fortunately, no one did.

This was a form of resistance for me. And for the first time in life, it seems I didn't get upset about not training. I relied on the momentum I had generated in the last month or so to carry me through the rest of this cycle. So on Thursday, after 3 days of barely doing any physical activity, including Z, I climbed back under the bar to hit Tuesday's squat session. The weight, 325lbs, felt like a ton of bricks and I wondered if I were about to get crushed, even though the previous Friday's 335 felt like a hot knife through butter. I banged out the program, a 3x5 with 3 minutes rest. The last set my CNS finally got the message and woke up.

Life is the same way I recently discovered. If I just move despite the resistance, I build up momentum and start moving closer toward the goal. Too many of us forget this valuable lesson and give up at the first sensation of strain or discomfort.

Yesterday, I went to the platform and banged out some very easy, very light snatches and cleans, just to get moving.

And today, I climbed under the bar again at my studio, where the weight always seems heavier than anywhere else, and faced the resistance. The resistance took the form of doubt this time--doubt that I had the energy to do the work. It turned into an exercise of faith and then a process of worship of my Creator. Tonight's session was 355lbs or 160kg, depending on where I decided to train, for a 3x5 in the back squat with a 3 minute rest. 315 felt heavy but do-able. So as an exercise of faith, in order to overcome the resistance of doubt, I used the momentum I had created and knocked off my first set. It felt relatively easy and my technique was certainly better than it was on Thursday with 3olbs less.

The second set was challenging.

And the third set was pretty unbelievable.

To be honest, I don't know where the strength came from. This is a new paradigm in training for me. I just step out, squat down, and trust that my body will have the strength to stand up. My mind isn't even part of the equation it seems. Or perhaps it's my emotion. Whatever the case, it's new and different. No psyching. Nothing. Just down and up. And down and up.

I think success in life, however one measures it, is as simple as that: Using the momentum of getting moving to overcome any resistance which in turn makes you stronger, and much more likely to achieve your goal: Take the mind out of it--Don't think, just do.

Tonight's training:

A. Back Squat: 355/5 x3; 3 minutes rest
B. Military Press: 185/5 x3; 3 minutes rest
C1. Chins: Bdwt/6 x3; 60 secs. rest
C2. 2 Hand Swings: 130lbs/10 x3; 60 secs. rest

Tomorrow I may do some light KB complexes for recovery and definitely some Z.

I shall decide on Tuesday whether to keep going for a second cycle of 3x5 or make a quick switch on the fly for a transition week of 5x3 before the 2 week taper of 3x3. I'm assuming my body will know by then.

2007-11-23T17:23:00.000-05:00

Faith: The Assurance of Things Hoped For and the Certainty of Things Unseen

I remember one of my first private sessions with Dr. Cobb: He told me that I was, "really, really, strong" and that when I finally regained my function, I would notice huge increases in my strength and that I'd be able to finally fulfill my strength potential. Honestly, I felt so broken, so defeated that I wanted truly to believe him, but thought I was doomed to live a life of regret and find another sport. Fortunately, the ability to lift KBs kept me from completely falling over the precipice of despair. Mid-2006 I really felt like giving up. The only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that I owed it to my clients and my staff at the time to lead from the front. God, it seemed, had stripped me bare.

And yet, 20 months after the Z-Health journey begun, I'm starting to see Dr. Cobb's words come to life in my training.

Today, is a perfect example.

My stomach and lower back were not happy, undoubtedly from all the rich food. My hips felt tight. My mood, sour. It would've been easy to blow off training because I didn't "feel" like it--because I was "listening to my body." However, I was reminded that I am on a mission: I am training to qualify for the American Open in 2008. So I dragged my butt to my local gym where, much to my wife's dismay, I still keep a membership, just for times like these. I hit the head for the fourth time today and then walked back to the weight room, without even changing into my training gear. As I warmed up with some Z, I noticed a gentleman old enough to be my dad in the power cage squatting with a USAW Valeo belt and a pair of Chinese weightlifting shoes. It turns out he was quite active with weightlifting in NC back in the 80s. He and I chatted, as the English say, and he knew my first weightlifting coach. Apparently, some of the guys in the gym told him to keep an eye out for me, as there aren't many weightlifters in there (Ok, none.). I spotted his squat (315lbs/3 x2 pretty easily) and he eyeballed mine. I gave him my number to call me to train on the platform. If I hadn't acted out of faith, I never would have met him.

Here's the best part: My back squat was easier today than it was on Wednesday and 30lbs heavier. 335/5 x6 with 2 mins. rest. Last Thursday I hit 315/5 x5. Today felt easier than that. Not only that, the feedback within my body was instantaneous as I knew my technique was spot on: My right quad started to get sore and so did my left glute--exactly the opposite of my old pattern. Again, had I gone with what I "felt" today, I never would've experienced this.

Life is funny like this: We tend to only want to engage in situations we can control. But the joy of life and the pleasant surprises in life come not from the need or desire to control, but from walking where we cannot see, by walking by faith. All great empires, business or military, were built on faith. All great works of art were created by faith. All great athletes compete on faith. In fact, I cannot think of anything great that happened by accident or that was done under the complete control and immediate sight of the individual who performed that particular great thing. Faith then is not a "feeling;" it is the exact opposite--it is acting in spite of not knowing or seeing the outcome or the future. Faith takes courage. Faith is like exercising a muscle--the more you step out in faith, the stronger your faith becomes. And a positive feedback loop is then created. The more you exercise your faith, the more you're able to exercise your faith. This is something I've known intellectually, but not really experientially. Now that I'm experiencing it, it feels almost like a drug. I hope to become addicted to faith in God.

Today's Training:

A. BSQ: 335lbs/5 x6; 2 mins rest

B. Military Press: 170lbs/5 x6; 2 mins rest

C. RDL: 280lbs/5 x2; 2 mins rest

D. 45 Degree Hypers: Bodyweight/10

Chariots of Fire - Liddell's final race 400m

2007-11-21T21:04:00.001-05:00

In honor of Thanksgiving: This clip has ministered to my heart over the last 10 years. This is the Epitome of Strength: A Man Possessed by the Love of God. My goal is to be that Man. Thanks Be To God Alone.

2007-11-19T21:13:00.000-05:00

I've Been Down This Road Before...

...and I'm starting to recognize the scenary. And I remember that I like it--a lot.

Thursday I flew to Florida for a weekend conference. Taking a gamble, I brought along my weightlifting shoes just in case I found a barbell. I did. And adequate weight. I ended up back squatting 315/5 x5 with 2 minutes rest. Easily. With lots of speed. I haven't done that in a long, long time. It was like visiting a place from childhood about which you have fond memories. I didn't expect to make it back there for awhile and my body performed exceptionally. (This is a landmark on the path back to strength. Next stop: 365/5 x5 and then 405/5 x5. Should be there by February...)

Then I sat on my butt the rest of the weekend and ate. A lot--salmon (lox), red meat, and carbs. It felt very, very good. But I slept terribly--soft bed.

But here was the best part about the training session: Earlier in the day my right knee had been bothering me from wearing an older, but wider pair of shoes for the previous 2-3 days. And by bothering me, I mean it hurt to walk. On my way to the airport I stopped home and threw on the Chucks. I don't remember exactly when, but by the time I landed, the right knee was fine. No problems.

My body is remembering quickly this type of loading: I woke up Friday morning and I swear my legs grew an inch overnight! My bodyweight's climbing steadily too. Last night, after a day without carbs, I stepped on the scale: 221lbs. Very nice. However, I'm just too busy right now to concentrate on my nutrition so I'm hiring Erik Ledin, of Lean Bodies Consulting. You can read about him here: http://www.leanbodiesconsulting.com. I met him this weekend and we had a nice "chat" about a client of mine that wants to enter a figure competition. (She's sitting at 10.1% right now.) He really knows his stuff. So I'm abdicating all my responsibility for my nutrtion to him. The goal is to get to 240lbs at about 10% BF by the end of February or March and then drop down to 231lbs and hit a meet.

I met some other great fitness professionals, not least of which was Dax Moy, the UK's leading fitness professional. A Stand-Up Chap, that Dax is. You can check him out at http://daxmoy.com. Josh Henkin and Troy Anderson and I hung out most of the weekend. Each of them is hysterical on his own. Put the two together and it's non-stop laughter all weekend long.

Back under the bar tonight for a step back down to 275/5 x6 with 2 minutes rest followed by some MP, some light RDLs, and some chins:

A. BSQ: 125kg/5 x6; 2 mins rest
B. MP: 65kg/5 x6; 2 mins rest
C. RDLs: 100kg/5 x5; 2 mins rest
D. Chins: Bdwy/6 x2; 2 mins rest

Started a little rusty but then got everything moving. Lots of I-Phase to start, especially lumbar work and shoulder work.

Training W, F, Sa, Su this week. Goal is to push up the volume a little bit. The next two weeks I'll increase the rest, up the load, and drop the volume by approximately 50%.

2007-11-14T21:34:00.000-05:00

Another Busy Week.

Where does the time go? I just haven't stopped running for the last month or so it seems. Tomorrow I'm off to Florida on yet another business trip. Fortunately, it's the last one of the year.

This week I've squatted twice so far. Last night's session was 130kg/5 x5 with 2 minutes rest. Did I ever mention that I love to squat? I'm joining Brett Jones' "Squat-aholics Anonymous." Tomorrow, I'm going to try to squeeze in 140kg/5 x5 before I leave. I've mentioned this before, but I'll do it again: Bone Rhythms while squatting torch the hamstrings. Interestingly enough, they don't seem that demanding on the quads--yet.

I won't get any platform time this weekend, that I'm aware, but I think I'll take the shoes just in case. One never knows if there's a barbell lying around.

On a professional note: I was promoted from an RKC Team Leader this week to a Senior RKC. I am relishing the opportunity to teach more. Thanks to my friends and colleagues for all the congratulations behind the scenes and congratulations to the others who were promoted: Brett, Andrea, Jeff, and Dave.

I love the flexibility and accessibility of the kettlebell to the general population for fitness and am proud to be part of this organization. The RKC just makes fitness simple. I like that. Perhaps that's why I like weightlifting so much: Lift this weight over your head in one motion. Now lift that weight over your head--And by the way, you can rest the bar on your shoulders in order to get it there. Simple.

2007-11-11T18:58:00.000-05:00

220--The Magic Number

I've noticed over the years that as soon as my weight drops below 220lbs, it seems harder to maintain my strength, let alone increase it. Over the last 8-10 weeks I've cycled carbohydrates back into my diet and gone from a low of 208-210lbs up to 222lbs last night (cheat day) with a minimal increase in bodyfat. At 220, everything just feels lighter--the bar, KBs, even my relative strength feels better. Interestingly enough, even my conditioning feels better. At my absolute strongest I was over 240lbs. It's been almost 15 years since then, but I'm heading that direction. Alfonso always told me that for my height and structure, I'd only lift my potential at over 240. I'd like to stay and compete in the 105's, so there may be some dieting involved.

I'm also doing some scar work on my appendectomy scar with some interesting results: Greater bilateral hip extension, especially right; greater hamstring, adductor and VM recruitment on right side; greater bilateral shoulder flexion and increased Lat. recruitment, especially L side. Cool stuff.

Today's training:

A. BSQ: 120kg/5 x5; 2 mins rest
B. Mil. Press: 65kg/5 x5; 2 mins rest
C. RDL: 120kg/5 x5; 2 mins rest
D. KB Snatch: 32kg/5+5 x5; 60s rest

Total RPE = 6. Felt good. Squatting felt really good--light.

Z tomorrow and back under the bar on Tuesday.

2007-11-08T17:48:00.000-05:00

Back In The Saddle

This week has flown by.

Now starts Phase 2 of my plan: Qualify. My goal is to qualify for the American Open in 2008. I started training again last night. The interim goal is to pack on some muscle and push my strength up. This will be done in 2 week phases that'll look like the following:

Weeks 1-2: 5x5, 2 minutes rest; 3 days per week,
Weeks 3-4: 3x5, 3 minutes rest; 3 days per week,
Weeks 5-6: 3x3, 3-5 minutes rest; 3 days per week,

Exercises are:

Back Squat, Military Press, RDL, so far...There may be some exercise changes every 2 weeks. I have to see how the body responds, other than quickly I mean. Here's an idea of how it may break down:

BSQ -> FSQ
RDL -> DL variation -> Some form of Pull
MP -> Push Press -> Power Jerk

Again, all this is momentary speculation. Part of the fun is seeing how it will turn out.

Saturdays will be variations of the O-lifts. Su-T-Th will be the rest of the training. Z-Health will be on the days in-between focusing on perceived areas lacking mobility and keeping/improving current mobility.

Wednedsay, I did a "bridge" training session, just a little something to get the blood flowing and get moving.

A. BSQ: 110kg/5 x5, 2 mins rest
B. Military Press: 60kg/5 x5, 2 mins rest
C. RDL: 110kg/5 x5; 2 mins rest

I'll be at a conference from 11/16-18, so I will have to play that weekend by ear.

I'm looking forward to training for the next 6 months. It should be a lot of fun.

2007-11-04T12:38:00.000-05:00

Restoration: The Culmination of 5 Years of Work

Z-Health's R-Phase stands for Rehabilitation, Re-Education, and Restoration.

Yesterday, I competed in my first weightlifting meet since February 2000. The results? Unimportant. The fact that I did is a testimony to two things: Z-Health as a system for healing the body and improving performance and the healing power of Jesus Christ who will heal the heart and restore the mind. I'll get to the second one in a minute.

I decided five weeks ago that I was going to train for this meet. No time like the present I thought. I had planned 30 out of 35 days to train. I think I actually got about 19 days of platform work due to traveling. On most of the other days I performed either R- or I-Phase dynamic joint mobility work. After compressed nerve roots at L4-L5-S1, multiple labral tears in both hips, including damage and loss of articular cartilage, arthritis, and damage to patellar cartilage, I competed and walked away unscathed.

I surprised everyone at the meet except myself. At one point, the meet director, a former US Olympic team coach, asked me when my birthday was. (I'll be 35 next month.) He and the scorer, an older gentleman, then informed me that I could compete next year in the Master's division where there was less competition. I told them I didn't want to. They inferred that I didn't want to compete. I told them I wanted to compete in the Senior division for the sole reason that there is more competition. This shocked both of them. You see, guys in their mid-30s are supposed to be slowing down, not speeding up. Sure, my total was 30kg below what it was in 2000. But, I only trained for 5 weeks. This is the PROMISE of Z-Health: Restored function, improved performance. I am a testimony that the system works.

Now for the really exciting part. About 3-4 years ago I read John Eldredge's, Wild At Heart. It changed my life. In it, he declares that
1. Man is made in God's image, and
2. Because of that, we are designed to come through in a pinch--it is our utility; and
3. Every man has a question that needs to be answered, "Do I have what it takes?"
4. The answer to this question is given to us by more often than not, a male authority figure. And more often than not, the response is "No" or "I don't know."
5. This creates a Wound to the heart of a young boy and interferes with God's utility for us as men.
6. And because of this, we as men compensate for our wound by becoming a Poseur--the person others see--which is a mask we wear--often in the form of our strengths, to protect the wound and the emotional pain caused by it.
After identifying the problem, Eldredge provides the solution: Jesus Christ alone can heal a man's wound and restore to him his utility.

I am also a testimony to this process. Jesus healed the wound in my heart yesterday by allowing me to return to the platform and compete. It's what I love to do. However, my wound interfered with my love and so the Poseur in me defined myself, my self-image, as a weightlifter--"Geoff Neupert, Weightlifter. No, no, weightlifter--snatch, clean and jerk--you're thinking of powerlifting--two different things."

Most men identify themselves with the things they are good at: businessman, weightlifter, entrepeneur, doctor, etc--you get the idea--and then they "become" that thing. You know these guys--the guys who are still living in their past glory days or whose moods change like the tides based on how work is going-up, down, up, down...

Anyway, Jesus has been working on this wound for the last 3-4 years. Here's the hardest part out of the whole process: You have to go into your wound in order for Him to heal it. What's that look like? Well for years, my self-worth, my identity came from my physical strength, and to a certain extent, my size. Looking back, I struggled with the amount of time I obsessed over weightlifting and knew it wasn't normal and there was something wrong. I tried to quit repeatedly but my heart was drawn to it over and over again--like an addiction. I didn't know why. Now I know it was my identity, the Poseur, based on my wound. So, as part of the healing process, I had to be stripped of the weightlifting in order to not define myself by my sport but by God's love and acceptance of me, just as I am. I find it no coincidence that when I first started reading this book, both my knees were giving me problems. Then my right hip went in early 2005. My left in September 2005. Finally both knees locked up in January 2006. I was done for. At my end. I was forced to quit weightlifting because I couldn't move.

Yesterday, as I drove down to Savannah (a 5 hour trip), I wrestled with anxiety and fear--the same things many athlete wrestle with right before competition. Then I heard God speak: "Fight." So I fought. (I'll leave this part out cause from the outside looking in, it's just weird.) After much prayer, I heard God speak about the purpose of this meet: "Restoration." Then two more words almost in succession: "Presence"--"I am with you," and "Pleasure"--"I delight in you and am glad you are doing this." This was EXACTLY what I needed to hear.

So, yesterday, for the first time EVER as a competitive athlete, I was calm before and during the competition. No jitters. No butterflies. No anxiety. No diarrhea. No upset stomach. This is what I've been waiting for my entire life. Yesterday, for the first time ever, I knew that I was loved and accepted by the One who mattered most--My Father, My Creator, My Savior, My Lord--and for the first time in my life I was free to enjoy the competition. I am no longer enslaved to the fear, the Poseur. I am free to be the man that God created me to be which means I can go forth into my world and create--since I'm created in His image. I will never forget what it felt like to step on that platform and to be free from anxiety and to actually live in the moment--pressure-free. I can still see everything from my foot position, the bar, my hand placement, the feel of me stretching out, everything from those moments. My heart wasn't racing. My palms weren't sweaty. I was composed. All I saw was the bar. And those words: Restoration. Presence. Pleasure.

Why am I writing about this? About "religion?" Well first, I'd be a liar at best if I said I did this all on my own. How can I keep silent about what God's done for me? How can I take credit for His work? It's like having the cure for cancer and not telling anybody. And second, I'm not talking about "religion." I'm talking about Jesus--a Person. The Consummate and Ultimate Man. I'm talking about how He changed my life, not some church service. The movie Chariots of Fire, is about two track athletes, one of whom, Eric Liddell, said this, "When I run, I feel God's pleasure." Yesterday, while I was standing on that platform, I felt the exact same thing. Now when I lift, I can say I feel God's pleasure instead of lifting to prove something to others or even myself. I now lift for the sheer pleasure of it. It's one of the things God made me to do. In doing so, I can share this part of my life with others and tell them about how much God loves them and how much He wants to heal their wounds.

You may think I'm crazy. I don't care. Yesterday, God restored to me my heart, the place from which we are meant to live, the place which fuels and drives our true passions. The place that gets things done. He did this through the vehicles of Z-Health and John Eldredge's writing, and of course some other things, like friends who spoke truth into my life. So, I must publicly thank these individuals who have been a part of this journey with me, spurring me on in some way, shape or form, whether they know it or not. So thank you Rif, Pavel, Brett Jones, Eric Cobb, Josh Henkin, Kyle Battis, and Tom Stafford. Thank you, Men.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, I went 5 for 6 yesterday--better than I've ever done. I normally go 4 for 6 in my meets. I snatched 120kg and clean and jerked 140kg.

Soli Deo Gloria. To God Alone Be the Glory.

Van Halen - Right Now

2007-11-01T20:55:00.001-05:00

This has been good motivational music after 13+ hours of work...

2007-11-01T20:04:00.001-05:00

Last Minute Thoughts

I won't have time to post tomorrow and I'll be up early for the drive to Savannah on Saturday. My clients have been asking me if I'm excited about this meet.

No.

I'm not thinking about it except for now, obviously.

My training seems to have reflected this. It has been sporadic at best the last 3 weeks. Organic is a word that comes to mind. I only have 3 sessions under my belt this week: 1 Monday and 2 yesterday. I was supposed to have 2 today, but I have 0--only about to do a full I-Phase+. Yesterday I worked up to 80% of my previous competition bests and they felt awkward. In pieces, everything feels like it's coming along: The full lifts don't. There just hasn't been enough training time. Life is interrupting me. I guess that's ok.

This is good. It has allowed me to adopt my 4 stage strategy which is a much more sane approach to training. After I get "on the board" so-to-speak at this meet, it will be my first meet since Jan/Feb 2000--whenever the Mason-Dixon Open was. I placed third at that meet and my total of 290kg (I honestly can't remember if I jerked 160 or 165kg--I think it was only 160 and I missed my third attempt with 165kg.) and it qualified me to compete at Nationals in April (I think--poor memory) of that year. Multiple injuries and almost 8 years later, I'm excited at the opportunity to compete again. If I feel good, I'll pull all the stops out. But my immediate goal at 2pm on Saturday will be to get my first set of 3 white lights in almost 8 years.

So I'm holding my excitement until that time.

I'll post my results and maybe even some video on Sunday.

2007-10-31T22:37:00.000-05:00

Busy. Busy. Busy.

I've been going non-stop for the last three weeks which explains the very few recent blog entries.

I'm training for my first meet in almost 8 years this Saturday. My training days have been sporadic at best for the last 3 weeks. But, that's good I guess. No pressure. My goal is to complete at least one attempt on each lift this weekend. If I feel great, I'll aim for a qualifying total. If not, no big deal. I'm not even that excited. That's probably because this is stage 1 of my 4 stage plan. Stage 1 is to compete again.

Z-Health Story of the Year

Got a call from a friend of mine on Monday. I missed my training session because of it, but this was way more important. His wife has had 3 kids in 3 years so needless to say her body is tired. Her back locked up and she dropped to the floor screaming. She laid there unable to move for almost 2 hours before my wife and I got there. We tag-teamed her and 40 minutes later she was up and walking. Don't ask me to repeat exactly what we did. It was very organic but just so you know, it's possible do perform toe pulls while lying down.

Relax.

I'm looking forward to competing this weekend and then relaxing. I'm starting to get tired. Sunday I'll probably do nothing. This seems to be the part we in the fitness industry are forgetting: Planning relaxation and recovery. We can train all we want but the adaptation occurs when we are not training. Training is the stimulus for the adaptation. I think most trainees, trainers, and coaches forget that. For me, I usually plan to honor the "Sabbath" each week by taking a full day's rest on the weekend. I think a lot more people would reach their goals a lot sooner if they implemented this too. So far, it's helped me a lot. Except for the last 3 weeks when I haven't had one. The previous ones I believe have helped me keep my sanity. Food for thought for sure.

2007-10-25T20:54:00.000-05:00

Training Update

I only got to train 3 days this week. Now I'm off to Dallas for a 3-Day working weekend (non-fitness related). Missed my training session today. Last week I got 5 sessions in. Eight sessions in 14 days isn't too bad, but it's not what I wanted. Next week, I'll get in 4--all of which will be a mini-taper for this meet. It should be interesting. Training hasn't been going exactly the way I'd like it to go: Still haven't hit some numbers and still haven't put all the pieces together. Next week should be a fun week--a lot has to come together. I can do it--It's how I was made and it's what I was made to do.

Z and RKC, Part 2

One of the Z-Health's 4 Elements of Efficiency: Synchronized Respiration

Both systems focus on or acknowledge breathing patterns that are synchronized with and within movement.

2007-10-23T08:32:00.000-05:00

Back From the RKC

Got back Sunday night from the RKC. This is just such a great event that many in the KB community take for granted. It is by far the most cutting-edge program on the market today (...and Z-Health). I'm amazed at how many "fit" individuals show up and surprise themselves at how fit they aren't. There is nothing like this in the industry. Just the "quick fixes" alone for simple exercises like squats are worth the price of admission.

Here are the reasons I went back in June 2005:

I couldn't perform 2 Hand Swings without back pain and couldn't figure out any way around it.
I wanted the "Secret Quick Fixes"--I was tired of following the 12 week plan of the "sports medicine" program I had been sold, and which, by-the-way, didn't work very well.
Community: I wanted to get to know other like-minded individuals.

I really love the RKC because of the simplicity: The principles are rock solid and the methods are so simple. In fact, they seem "too simple." No one else in the industry teaches this stuff. As a friend of mine says, "You can't teach what you don't know."

RKC and Z-Health, Part 1

There seems to be some confusion within some circles about whether these are compatible systems. The short answer: Yes, they're compatible. I'll elaborate in my next post. But let's just say for now that there are many more similarities than differences. From the RKC Manual:

"The emphasis on technique over routines, exercises, and workloads. The latter are marginal until the technique is perfect."

More later...

2007-10-16T20:50:00.001-05:00

The Fog of War

It's sometimes said that battle clouds your judgment. That was the case yesterday. Saturday and Sunday were both tough and although not physically that demanding they took their toll emotionally and psychologically, and by Monday, I knew which direction I needed to travel, but wasn't sure how exactly to get there. My internal compass was no longer working.

Fortunately, I'm still on great speaking terms with my old coach, Alfonso Duran. That was pretty much the training session. I did get in some snatch work, but only a little and it wasn't the high quality that I required. So I made the call. One thing I really admire about Alfonso is the way he makes lifting so simple. He reminded me of what I already knew, what I'd already used, what I'd been successful at, and what I needed to do to get back on track. The answer was so, so simple. I applied what I had been reminded of today and had a great session. Everybody needs an Alfonso.

Today:

A. Clean from High Point + P. Jerk (add a squat after P. Cl's)
70kg/2, 90/1 x2, 100/1, 110/1, 120/1, 130/x (right elbow touch + press out on Jerk), 130/1
These are where they need to be--approx. 80% of projected competition clean

B. Clean Pull from Above Knee
130kg/3, 140/3, 150/3
Surprisingly easy, although coordination is off slightly.

I was going to hit a double session, but it's been at least 3 years since I've jumped under 130kg from this position and I'd never done it pain free before. I'd decided to walk away and save it for tomorrow. One PR a day is fine for me--for now.

Tomorrow may be my last day of training this week although I will attempt to squeeze a session in early Thursday AM before I head out to the RKC.

2007-10-14T13:24:00.000-05:00

Fighting the Inner Battle

Athletics is funny: The athletes who master the mental game arguably dominate the ones who are physically superior. "Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane" is a cliche that comes to mind. The battlefield of the mind arguably takes a toll on the soul or heart of a man and affects the way he interacts with the rest of society and the world at large. Battles won or lost and the interpretation thereof ultimately predict whether he positively or negatively interacts with that world.

Training alone is a dangerous game. Physical safety becomes an issue when heavy weights are involved. But psychological and emotional safety are arguably the bigger problem. When things appear to go wrong, there is no one to help interpret the situation except the voices in the individual's head at that moment in time. Usually the loudest voice wins. Being spiritually and emotionally grounded help at these times.

This is where I found myself yesterday. Yesterday could be viewed as a watershed moment. Upon reflection, it was the culmination of 3+ years of spiritual work plus 18 months of physical work. I started the training session snatching and finished it wrestling. Wrestling because I had multiple questions to answer and decisions to make based on those answers:

"Am I tired?"

"Am I weak?"

"Is it positioning?"

"Am I just slow today?"

"Do I attempt another rep?"

"Do I stay here at this weight or add more, even though I keep missing?"

"What is the problem here?"

"Do I really have what it takes to do this--Really?"

It was the last question that got me: The one filled with self-doubt. It's that question that John Eldredge, in his sure-to-be-classic, Wild at Heart, says every man has asked, and had answered either positively or negatively in the course of his life. And that question, and more specifically, the answer to that question, dictates how a man lives his life.

That question, "Do I have what it takes?" is really a form of this question:

"Am I strong enough to come through in a pinch--when it's needed most--when I'm needed most?"

If a man isn't grounded spiritually, he may not know the answer. That's what my 3+ years of spiritual work was: Learning and applying the answer to that question.

God says He created Man in His image. Strong, merciful, gracious, loving, just, creative, intelligent--to name but just a few. However, it is doubtful many of us ever heard that or were taught that when we were growing up (Isn't that right, Monkey-Boy?). Therefore, we don't know who we are and it stands to reason that we don't know what we are supposed to be doing--How else can we explain such mass under-achievement?

This is why athletics are so, so powerful. It gives a boy a chance to become a man, to prove his worth, to obtain an identity, to obtain an answer to the question...The field of competition then can be the training field for life. (It can also go horribly wrong...)

And it is upon this backdrop that I was on the platform yesterday missing snatch after snatch after snatch. The old me, the one that hadn't allowed Jesus (uh-oh--he said the "J-word") to heal the wounds of my heart, to answer positively the question and tell me, "Yes, you have what it takes to come through in a pinch because you are strong because I created you in My image," would have undoubtedly stopped and processed this moment as a personal defeat taking all the negatives thereof upon myself and into my world. You know them--sulking, snapping at your wife, disappearing into the television or the internet, etc.

But, I didn't.

After missing 100kg from the above the knee to a full (classic) snatch at least 7 times, I decided to put 110kg on the bar. (For the record, I am currently strong enough to power snatch 100kg from the above knee position--the point of the exercise was to get under the bar.) The exercise was 2 pulls from above knee followed by 1 classic snatch. It seemed I just couldn't get the bar on top of me: I was either cutting the pull or kicking the bar away.

I missed the first rep with 110kg.

I missed the second.

The third I was unhappy with--it was kind of an ugly hybrid of a power snatch and a classic snatch. At this point, my first coach would've made me stop--too much negative grooving. This is where my mind was at this point. But in my heart, I knew that I could snatch 110kg--today.

So I stayed and fought for a fourth.

All the aforementioned questions were racing through my head. At this particular moment, a man must just decide who he is and act, regardless of the outcome. If he knows without a shadow of a doubt who he really is, then some form of success awaits him, even in the midst of defeat.

The fourth was beautiful. And strong.

I had won the wrestling match in my mind and the battle against my heart.

It's moments like this one that will undoubtedly keep fueling the fire to compete and win in a body that's altogether stronger at 34 than 24. I could not have done it without the training I had received for the past 3+ years.

And that's where I left it.

Soli Deo Gloria.

2007-10-10T20:37:00.001-05:00

Talked Myself Down, But Not Out

Felt tired all day today, but alert. Must've been the two big cups of coffee this afternoon.

I experienced some old-school sharp pain on 3 (out of 20) of my snatches tonight, the last one with 90kg. Normally, I would've pushed through. Post/Intra-Z, I would've stopped. I did neither. I talked myself down. David Butler, of the NOI Group, explains in his outstanding book, Explain Pain, that pain lives in the brain, not at the site of injury. It is the brain's way of sensing danger. So, remembering this, I quickly and audibly told my body and my brain that I was fine--my knee was no longer in danger, and this was just my brain's response to a perceived old motor pattern which was dangerous.

My next rep was pain-free. And so was my last rep in which I pulled myself under the bar.

I proceeded to cleans where I remained pain-free even though I was pulling from the "Danger Zone," or the place/position I am most likely to destroy the remaining cartilage in my patella. Good thing I did the work with the tape job.

Checked the posture and the ROM along with mental outlook as I left: Improved--a sign of a good training session.

I will continue to remember tonight's valuable lesson: I can talk myself out of pain and that I have done the necessary work to prepare me to be on the platform. I know how to control my brain in order to control my body. I am amazed at how powerful the brain is.

Tonight's training:

A. (Power Snatch above knee + Classic Snatch from High Point)/2; 5 mins. rest between sets
50kg/2, 60/2, 70/2, 80/2, 90/2

B. (Power Clean above knee + Classic Clean from High Point)/2; 5 mins. rest between sets
70kg/2, 80/2, 90/2, 100/2, 110/2
110kg felt like the best lift of the night. Great way to finish.

The Scorpions - Don't Stop at the Top

2007-10-10T18:48:00.001-05:00

Used to love this song a long, long time ago and used it to focus. For some reason it popped into my head tonight just before I went off to the platform. Kinda cool video too...

2007-10-09T21:21:00.000-05:00

Valley? Nope, Not Always...

Just got back from the platform. Felt pretty good all day.

Here's how you know a training session was good for you:

Improved posture
Improved sense of well-being
Improved ROM
Improved desire to train again

Experienced all of these tonight. (Thanks to Dr. Cobb who points out the posture and ROM during Day 6 of R-Phase.) Here was the training session:

A. Snatch Grip Deadlift: 5TM
90kg/5, 110kg/5, 140/5, 160/5
RPE=7-7.5
Felt relatively light--the worst part was that I didn't wear a particular piece of athletic apparel and the bar ended up hitting--well, nevermind.

B. Back Squat: 5TM
70kg/5, 90/5, 110/5, 130/5, 150/5
These were interesting: They weren't comfortable until the very last 2 reps. I couldn't get the bone rhythms right until then. They made the whole thing worth it.

Some thoughts spurred on by tonight's training session:

Balanced Tension and Relaxation: Really got a good understanding of this tonight. KBs have really helped my O-lifts--position, speed, etc, but have done virtually nothing for my squat strength. Tonight felt heavy. After the 1st rep with 150kg I was questioning the sanity of hitting 5. I'm glad I did because I learned something: When the weight feels heavy, you must lengthen up against it and use your breath. This of course increases total body tension. But the neat thing here is that I wasn't trying to increase the tension--it was the combo of the lengthening and the breathing. I don't know why I haven't experienced this since I've been squatting again. Then again, without double-checking my log, I can't say for sure that 150kg isn't a 5RM since I've been squatting again (pathetic if it is--but gotta start somewhere, I s'pose).
My Body Likes to Move With Weight: That's right and it likes to do it quickly. Weird, but I'm just wired that way. I really love being on the platform again. I'm thoroughly enjoying training again. Pain free is so much fun. And this week's Snatch DLs felt better (less knee discomfort) than last week's.
My Initial Impression May Be Wrong: I wasn't sure I should continue squatting tonite. Most of my reps were sub-par, but I just knew I could pull off some good one's. If I had racked the weight early, I wouldn't have had my reward. I just have to remember not to be cavalier or stupid about this. Being "tough" in the past got me in big trouble in the long run. I must remember there's a fine line between tough and stupid.

Overall, tonight's training was MUCH better than last night. Temperature was much cooler with much less humidity.

Tomorrow's another day and another lesson.

2007-10-08T20:51:00.000-05:00

After A Mountaintop Experience, Always A Valley?

After last week's fantastic training experience, I was wondering what this week would look like. Yesterday I hacked around and did some expense reports for my taxes (Yes, I file October 15th...). Did a little mix of I- and R-Phases throughout the day and there was some mild swelling on the lateral portion of the right knee just around the IT Band insertion. No pain though.

Today was hotter than normal and I was a little tired and the warehouse had cooled to about 95 degrees by the time I got there at 730pm-ish. Everything felt off even though I had done one full R-Phase and multiple I-Phase drills throughout the day. Knees took awhile to warm up and had some soreness in them--mild discomfort at worst and they remained pain free. But the darn heat in there sucked all the energy out of me! Things just felt slow. I got an extra set w/ 5kg more on the snatch work, but had to cut back the C&J work. Nothing felt particularly hard, the heat just killed me though!

Here was the training session:

A. (1 Power Snatch + 2 OSQ)/3
50kg/3, 60/3, 70/3, 80/3, 85/3; 5 mins. rest

B. (1 Power Clean + 3 FSQ + 1 Power Jerk)/2
70/2, 80/2, 90/2, 100/1, 110/1; 5 mins. rest
I had to drop a rep off the 100 and the 110kg--in fact, I missed the lockout on the jerk on the 110kg so I hit another rep but with only 1 FSQ in it. Nailed the Jerk. This is why I'm training this particular set-up: My jerk's plenty strong, but when I fatigue, I miss it after a heavy front squat.

Performed lots of Z between sets and different things every time--couldn't seem to "lock on" to anything in particular.

Came home and downed 3 scoops of Surge. Gonna go run through some R-Phase as recovery work. Something tells me I'll find something in my left ankle.

Too early to see if this week's a valley. On hindsight, since last week was a PR, maybe I should've reduced the volume this week. Time will tell--this is a learning experience, right?

2007-10-06T18:45:00.000-05:00

Achieving The Impossible

It is very easy to let others influence you: advice, behavior, opinions, etc.

One thing I am very careful is to temper information I seek or consume with what I know to be true or what I want to be true (within the laws of physics of course). One of my core tenets is just because someone hasn't done it (fill in the blank), doesn't mean it can't be done. It just hasn't been done yet.

I am very fortunate to have a few friends who are generally much smarter than I am that I can bounce training ideas off. I always listen objectively and base the usefulness their advice off what I know intellectually and what I've experienced and compare that particular individual's experience and knowledge with mine. Many times I defer to my friends because they are the voice of reason and sanity. Sometimes, I don't. Many times I pay for that mistake. Sometimes I don't.

Today was one of those few times.

I have had the SAID Principle rolling around in the back of my head for a long time now, chewing on it, mulling it over, ruminating. I figure that since weightlifting is essentially two pulls followed by two reactive squats, that I better be able to do just that--especially the reactive squat part. The more I do it well, the better I'll be able to do it. The only way to do it well is to do it as frequently as possible, as fresh as possible, with as little fatigue as possible. This means that I must perform some form of squatting every session if I want to master the skill of pulling myself under the bar and simultaneously gain strength.

Today, I did just that.

I just finished the first week of training for Nationals--six days in a row squatting, pain free, every day.

I have never done that before. Ever.

In fact, it is downright freaky to not feel my knees while squatting as those two things have been linked together in my mind for so long--squatting and knee pain. Now that chunk is broken and it feels great! It's like throwing off some great weight that I've been carrying around for the last 5 years, maybe even 10, and the right knee--18. Those are long periods of time to carry extra baggage!

This is all fantastic positive mental input. Tomorrow is a day off. I'm going to smile (like I am as I write this) all day long like some kind of fool knowing that I've just accomplished what I once thought was impossible.

2007-10-03T21:35:00.000-05:00

Three In A Row!

Felt great going into tonight's training session. Twelve hour day training clients and less sleep than I needed so I was feeling pretty tired when I arrived at the platform. However, my knees felt better than they ever have at the start of any training session. Very little Z as a warm-up. This can only be due to three things:

Intelligent training
Long, protracted, concentrated, R-Phase drills post-training session
Increased "balance" to my life by increasing spiritual component

I had one bad rep tonight and that was because I lost my focus. I recovered superbly (if I may say so myself) the next rep.

I realized that subconsciously I had been using the following strategy based on neural chunking:

I have been pairing strong points with weak areas and looking for positive carryover.

It's been working!

Although I am feeling very tired from the jetlag and less sleep than I need, my body and mind feel very fresh and focused.

Tonight's session was using the same weights as Monday but with about half the total volume. Here's how it was broken down.

Again, attempting to avoid fatigue by using 5 minute breaks between all sets and a 10 minute break between the snatches and C&J's.

A. (P. Sn, AK + Cl. Sn fr. High Point)/2
50kg/2 x2, 60/2, 70/2, 80/2

Figured out how to pull myself under the bar without my feet externally rotating: Shoulder top circles in external rotation, wrist and finger flexion. Cool.

B. (P. Cl, AK + Classic Cl. fr. High Point + P. Jk)/2
70kg/2, 80/2, 90/2, 100/2

Left with knees and everything feeling great. Looking forward to the rest of the week. I'm also looking forward to learning more about the lifts and how to use my body to maximize the technique and load.

2007-10-02T20:27:00.000-05:00

Day 2 of 30 And Feeling "Hungry"...

I have 30 training sessions to fit in before this meet. Being older and hopefully wiser, my training is a lot different than it used to be:

Training off daily RPE: I know what my percentages should be for a competition cycle so I'm trying to make the RPE match the percentage on a scale of 1-10, for example, 70% is an RPE of 7. This will hopefully produce a natural "rhythm" to my training that I can study and learn from in order to set up future cycles.
Respecting that weightlifting is truly a Power sport supported by Maximum Strength and adjusting the rest periods accordingly: In the past, I'd "challenge" myself to make my training sessions "tougher" by using inappropriate rest periods, anywhere from as low as 45s to 120s. Part of this was brought on by my first weightlifting coach who never allowed us to rest longer than 2 minutes because that's all you have in a weightlifting meet if you have to "follow" yourself, or take two attempts in a row. This was a mistake and led more often than not to burnout and/or injury. Looking back on my college days when I was "ox strong," and 250+lbs, I always trained with a rest period of between 3 and 5 minutes. Sounds familiar, doesn't it, Party members? Now, I'm training with 5 minutes of rest between sets. Around 3 minutes in, I can't wait for the next set. And if I want conditioning, I'll just put a complex or chain together, as long as it gets me under the bar.
Training for the sport of weightlifting, not just hitting numbers in the gym: Because I didn't have a platform in the past, I trained with iron on concrete, so I never had any room for error getting under the bar, or so I thought. Who really knows for sure? The point is now I have my own platform and weightlifting is about getting under the bar. Now I'm forcing myself to get under. Also in the past, the right knee was a serious issue, so going under wasn't very fun. Now it's remedied. Inevitably, I trained to hit numbers in the gym and less to learn how my body was working. Z has fixed that. I'm much more in tune with the feedback my body is giving me.
Leaving the training session "hungry:" In the past, if I came up short in a session, I saw it as a personal insult to my psyche, so I would push myself that much harder, often attempting lifts (and completing them) I had no business attempting. That too led to burnout and/or injury. Now I'm making it a point to feel like I can do more but leave instead of doing more. This ensures I'll come back. Tonight's training session was a case in point: Snatch DL to 5 Rep Training Max of 150kg. RPE 6/7. If I pushed it, possibly 180kg. But why? It's the start of the cycle. My goal is to train 6 sessions per week and accumulate as much positive chunking under the bar as possible. The Back Squat was the old monster who came to visit: 140kg for a 5 Rep Training Max (5TM--5RM is a full on "all you can lift for 5 reps"--TM is what you "feel" like going up to). It was surprisingly heavy and the groove was all but absent. I was a little discouraged--in my prime I could hit that for 25 reps...Then the monster wanted to do battle: Stay and fight and hit 145kg/150kg and prove to myself I could do it or just walk away. I talked myself "down" and walked away, fresh, knowing that I probably need more warm-ups next time, and wanting there to be a next time.

The next 28 training sessions will be exciting for sure. I'm looking forward to learning even more in that time frame.

2007-10-01T20:08:00.001-05:00

There Is Never A "Perfect" Time

I came to realize this while I was gone.

The stars never line up exactly.

It always costs twice as much and takes three times as long.

Nothing just "happens."

Tomorrow never comes.

And I'm not getting any younger.

All cliche-y for sure, but the reality is I want to move on with my life both personally and professionally and I must chase my dream now.

I must train to compete. I must train to place. I must train to win.

So I've found two weightlifting meets: One is in NC on the 27th of October and the other is the 3rd of November in SC. I must total 292kg qualify for the American Open in December and 295kg to qualify for the Nationals in February.

Is 5 weeks enough time? I'm about to find out. Some of my indicators tell me so. I've got all the tools that I need and a fully operational body (for the most part). It's time to get going.

My plan is to train 6 days per week, Monday thru Saturday. M/W/F will be practicing the lifts and T/Th/Sa is pure strength training. I am wary of several things:

In order to train at this frequency, daily volume must be kept fairly low, especially on strength days
I must get under the bar routinely making it comfortable and automatic
I must practice recovery: sleep, creatine, and R-Phase
Along with the increased physical work, I must increase my spiritual work in order to keep from burning out emotionally: I am getting up 30-60 minutes early for "prayer walks." This of course also means that I have to go to bed earlier too.

Today's training:

A. (1 Power Snatch + 2 Overhead Squats)/3
50kg/3, 60/3, 70/3, 80/3
Felt pretty easy and good to be under the bar. Knees pain free. Should be able to ride this up to around 80% or so.

B. (1 Power Clean + 3 Front Squats + 1 Power Jerk)/2
70kg/2, 80/2, 90/2, 100/2
The 100kg felt right on the money with the 90kg feeling the "best." I've got about 20-30kg left on this combination right now. So room to grow.

Tomorrow is strength day. Because I need to get under the bar, I will perform some form of squatting every day, either low intensity/low volume or higher intensity/very low volume.

2007-09-27T18:56:00.001-05:00

Tired.

Who knew being on "vacation" could be so tiring? Of course, this isn't a real vacation, but a family visit where almost every moment is scripted. Today is our first "free" day since we've been in CA. We just read and hung out by the pool. Sleeping in a too small bed on a mattress that's too soft in a room that's too hot isn't restful either. Nor is all the driving, sitting, and flying. Today, everything just hurts. Even Z hurts. Probably just need to rest.

The past couple of days have been fun though.

Tuesday, I went to visit a friend in LA. We had brunch (steak, eggs, and pancakes for me) and lots of coffee, talked shop, went to one of the local piers. He gave me a tour of Gold's Venice, the local areas, and we stopped at Santa Monica Beach. Beautiful and empty. Here's the cool part: Not only was I able to repeat the rope climbing feat from July at I-Phase, I also climbed two parallel ropes, one in each hand, simultaneously, with only the use of my upper body. Not bad for never doing it! I can only attribute this to the I-Phase work I've been doing. Anyway, it was a great time for me. We get to see each other at some certs, so this was a lot of fun for me to be in his stomping grounds with him. There's something to be said for good friendships.

Wednesday, I went back over to Rif's. I was feeling slow and tired and should've taken it lighter than I did, (yes, I tweaked something again...right psoas...again...) but I was moving relatively fast on the cleans. After I tweaked the psoas, I tried to BSQ (of course!) but no luck. All classic symptoms for me of systemic fatigue.

A. Power Clean: 60kg/3 x2; 70/2, 80/2
90/2, 100/2 x2, 110/2 x5, 120/1+x, 120/2 x4, 130/1
Worked my way up to 80% for a single. Felt OK. Not great. So I was done. Avg % was about 70% for 20 lifts.

B. Clean, from Scoop (classic clean w/ squat under): 60kg/3 x2, 70/3 x3, 80/3 x3
This was the one that tweaked my psoas. It was on the 80kg, first set. Seemed OK by the third.

C. Back Squat. Not much happening here. 142kg was tough so played with 100kg, but no joy. Psoas wasn't having any of it.

Didn't get to take Rif through any assessments. Both of us were just too cooked by the end of the session. Joe Sarti and Tim Dymmel both dropped by to train. Tim's got one of the most natural looking squats I've ever seen. Rif, Tim, and Joe all were throwing around the KBs. Yesterday was the best I've seen Rif move since I've known him.

Will probably hit some pistols and bodyweight drills tomorrow. Thinking about going way back to old school training: 6 days per week, 2 exercises per day. In and out in 40 minutes. We'll see.

2007-09-24T19:05:00.000-05:00

Gotta Watch That Low Ceiling On the Snatch!

(And the trophy case!)

Trained with Rif today over at his place. His garage gym is smaller than I remembered it and it has a very low ceiling. It's a sharp contrast to the 20+ foot ceilings of my warehouse. This changed my snatch a little: I was cutting my pull and throwing my head. But I still had a good training session. He has an old York bar which reminded me of Rutgers and the bars I had in the strength room--rust and all. And he has the old York training bumpers--about 8" in width, like tires. Man, those bring back great memories!

My wife actually helped Rif out with his Z more than I did: I had a long training session and they both had short ones. She was in her element--interupting me left and right--it was great to see her so alive. Normally she would've deferred to me. I was glad she didn't. She was busting Rif's chops pretty good too. Anyway, Rif said his right shoulder felt the best to date on the snatches. He performed hip circles on the same side. That was actually for his left shoulder--SC joint but it helped his right shoulder too.

Wednesday will probably be a shorter training session for me and a longer one for him, so we'll get more Z in together. It's fun watching him "get it." He's damn smart and very intuitive with his body and his training despite being so beat up. Z is right up his alley.

A. Power Snatch, Above Knee: 60kg/3 x2; 70kg/3; 80kg/2 x7; 90/2, 90/1 + X, 90kg/2; 100kg/2 x2.
Banged my head on Rif's trophy case on the second rep of the second set of snatches with 90kg. I was lifting a little too close...

B. Overhead Squat: 60kg/5 x 5 sets. All felt awkward, but relatively discomfort free.

C. Press: 60kg/5 x2; 70kg/5; 80kg/5

Felt tired after the snatches so took the OSQs light. Shoulders tightened up after the snatches so did some hip work and some camshafts in a side lunge. Presses felt good.

Gotta run--being rude to my extended family and got to finish the details for my trip to LA tomorrow.

2007-09-23T11:03:00.000-05:00

Fully Operational

The fallout from my private session with Dr. Cobb seems to have been positive.

For the first time that I can remember, I actually was able to perform Bulgarian Split Squats yesterday completely pain free everywhere, especially the right knee. (Love hotel workouts--force you to be creative.) Also, no popping in the left knee which has always occurred from not being able to use the left hip adequately. I tested out the lunges afterward which I have not been able to do since I locked everything down back in late July/early August. They were a go: Pain free.

This means I can now squat, lunge, BSS, step-up, and pistol all pain free for the first time since I can remember. I have never been able to perform all those movements at any given time pain free--it's always been a give-and-take game. For example, when I completed the Beast Challenge, I could perform Pistols, but not squat. Pre-Z, I could squat (compensated) but not perform BSS's or Pistol's on my right leg. Here's the great thing: Because I broke the pain cycle, I now have good reps positively chunked in my brain with all the good thoughts and feelings that go along with those reps, making it easier to perform in the future. This is what I was attempting to do at I-Phase.

Here's another interesting thing too: We did some (well attempted to before having an incredibly strong sympathetic response) head mob's and nerve work on the left side of my face and head (concussions and repeated blows to the face plus dominant side while wrestling) and as I sit here typing, I am acutely aware of that side, almost as if it has woken up after a long sleep.

This of course means I now have the ability to use all the muscles in my body to increase my strength levels and drop my bodyfat back down into single digits. I now can eat more (which is always good) because I can now use my toothpicks--uh, legs, to rev up my metabolism. (Side note: This is huge for people/clients trying to make changes in bodyfat--if you can't move well, don't expect to see much improvement in body comp no matter how hard you diet and train. The body will eventually hit a wall and hold onto its remaining fat stores. I have a client with arthritic knees performing full bodyweight squats pain free. This has taken a lot of work on our part using Z, but imagine the payoff for her now having new ROM and using muscles in ways that they haven't been used in 10-15 years...)

The next area for me to tackle will be jumps, hops, etc--all the explosive/reactive movements that I've never been able to perform without pain. However, I think I'll probably wait on those for awhile and just savor this small victory.

On another positive note: I'm glad to see my buddy Rif enjoying R-Phase. I knew this would be his reaction once he finally sucked it up ( ;-] ) and got the program. I'm really looking forward to seeing him tomorrow and being able to train with him all week.

2007-09-20T22:06:00.000-05:00

Back In Action And Then Off To California...

Was able to train a 58kg female weightlifter Tuesday night. I'll post in depth later on it, but long story short, got her doing a triple on the Power Clean with 7.5kg less than her best competition clean. Used some Z principles of course and some things I've been thinking about as a result. Just food for thought: We've been teaching it all wrong. Again, I'll post in detail on it in the future.

Tuesday night, hit 100kg on the Power Snatch above Knee--easy.

Tonite, Thursday, worked up to 120kg for 2 singles on the Power Clean above knee. Then 120kg on the BSQ for 2 ladders of (1,2,3,4) with 60s rest. Here's the interesting part: more plantar and dorsiflexion after a session with Dr. Cobb last night working on my head--cranial work. There's some other stuff in there too and I'll post on that later. But squats felt much different--forward on my whole foot, lots more power of my toes--that's right, my toes. There's an article in that statement too.

Diet update: fat's dropping, bodyweight going back up. Nice to be eating carbs routinely again. Should help my sleep and my strength.

Off to Cali in 7 hours. Wine Country til Sunday evening then down to the Bay Area and Rif's stomping grounds. Gonna hang out with him next week. This should be a very interesting visit since he's now got the Z bug. Tuesday I'll fly to LA to visit a couple of friends and work out at Gold's Gym in Venice Beach--should be very cool.

Will be posting more from CA.

2007-09-17T19:35:00.001-05:00

Back From the Beach.

Four days at the beach was refreshing, but not refreshing enough. Got some sun. Got some Cable TV time. Needed a little more. But I'm thankful to have had time off.

Did some high quality Z.

Did some hard KB work. Here's one session I did, just because I thought I could and hadn't done so before:

A. Clean + Press, 2x32kg, 10 sets of 10+10 reps. 5 Minutes rest.
Pretty tough, especially mentally. Now I don't have to ever do that again. Wasn't really that sore the next day, but I was and still am tired.

Z-Health is back in town this week and I've got another appointment with Dr. Cobb. This time we're going to address some head trauma issues: multiple concussions. This should be interesting since my wife can't do head massage/work on me without feeling like I'm going to throw up.

More later. Hungry and tired.

2007-09-10T19:33:00.000-05:00

Right On.

Came up with a new plan (I know, yet another one...) and it just adds to the one I proposed in my last post--so really, it's an addendum.

After talking with Dr. Cobb this past weekend, it was his feeling that my body is responding better to gradual, subtle changes rather than bigger jumps. This means that wave loading and series are out for now. Looking back, I always trained on either end of the spectrum: RM/ME work or Sub-Max Effort work (great for technique). This is what my body knows. This is what it adapted to in the past. I think I have to allow it to "stabilize" again with that type of work, the only difference being this time, is that I'm leaving out the RM/ME work for 2-3 months.

So, the goal is to make small changes in load each training session--to force adaptation s-l-o-w-l-y instead of quickly, which my body has the good fortune of doing.

Here's an example: Tonight, I was doing some High Snatch Pulls from AK for 5s with 90kg. My right knee didn't like that. So, I dropped the weight to the floor and performed "strength" Sn. Pulls--Shrug at the top, arms locked. I stayed with the 90kg. For the first time in almost 5 weeks, I was able to be in that semi-squat position without knee pain. Felt great! Instead of concerning myself with the load, I just focused on setting up each rep the same--weight in the center of the foot, chest out so I can feel the T-Spine, head on top of the body and gaze on the floor--and making the pulls all the same. I got 85-90% of them to feel the same. That's the type of progress I'm going to be aiming for. Once I get the feel back, then I'll start adding load.

Tonight's Session:
A. Front Squat: 70kg/3 x2; 100kg/3 x 5 sets; 2 minutes of rest.
These felt awkward, and the knees never really felt perfect--I had some pain in the right patellar tendon that I was able to alleviate. However, I was able to work my grip in closer which is where I used to hold it when I was almost at my strongest.

B. High Snatch Pull, AK: 70kg/5, 90/5 x 2; Painful in the right knee-still not ready for these yet, at least not tonight, so I switched to--

C. Snatch Pull from Floor for Strength: 90kg/5 x3, 2 minutes rest.

D. Press Behind Neck, Wide, Thumb-less Grip:
Seated: 50/6
Standing: 50/6 x2; 60/6
Just going light on these, plus, last exercise, so tired.

E. Pressing Snatch Balance: Bar/6 x3
Finishing every session with these just to teach the body to get under the bar again and to get used to being there.

This is the pace I'm going to keep my training sessions at. If I can maintain this pace, I should be pretty far along once I the American Open rolls around. Who knows, I may even be there. That's the goal, anyway.

2007-09-10T08:54:00.000-05:00

Mmmm...Sore Legs...

...which can only mean one thing: Squats...

...which can only mean one thing: joints functioning properly so muscles functioning properly. Adductors, hamstrings, and glutes all sore, especially the left glute and bilateral adductors; quads--not-so-much.

Went to the platform Saturday and trained smart.

A. Power Snatch, AK: 50kg/3 x2; 60/2; 70/2 x10; 100 degrees in warehouse, so rested as needed.

B. Complex: Snatch Pull, AK + P. Sn., AK + O. Sq. + Pressing Snatch Balance: (50kg/2+2+2+2) x4

C. Back Squat: 70kg/6; 100kg/6 x4 sets; 2 minutes rest. Adductors and Hams turned on after the second set. Good stuff--just like old times, except without the knee pain and with much less weight. But gotta [re]start somewhere.

Went for a 90 minute walk yesterday, which I try to do most weekends.

I'm thinking about going back to a beginner's type training protocol: 3 days per week with the Olympic stuff, every other day--probably Su-T-Th. On 3 of the other days per week, Z and KBs to counteract the bilateral work. Don't know for sure yet, but will probably get more serious about this in October after I come back from CA. It would be great to think I could hit a token meet and qualify for American's in December. That would be a personal milestone.

Going to the beach this Thursday and will have Thursday and Friday to myself--Court will be joining me Saturday. One of my clients is kind enough to let me use her place right on the beach. Very cool. Should be very relaxing. KBs will travel with me though.

Ćwiczenia mistrzów

2007-09-06T22:56:00.001-05:00

Polish Weightlifting footage from the 70s. Watch the head and neck positions then look at the leg and back musculature...Interesting stuff.

2007-09-02T19:20:00.000-05:00

Weightlifting is Reactive...

...and therefore, squatting for weightlifting should be so too. I have noticed this when watching the elite squat. There is no slow descent. Only a descent that's controlled and fast, whether front or back squat. I'm certainly not elite, but I can take a piece out of their playbook.

Needed to get back on the platform so I did some overhead squatting today in spite of earlier knee discomfort. I was fine. In the past I try to think/feel my way down into the squat. Today, I visualized it first and then did it. Quickly, without thinking. Pain free. Relatively discomfort free. And without tape on my right knee. And my right VMO was working great.

Here was today's training session:

A. Power Snatch above knee (AK): 50kg/3, 60/2, 70/2, 80/2, 90/2
The 90kg was a little choppy so I put together this next exercise:

B. Snatch Pull (AK) + P. Sn. AK: (90kg/1+1) 5

C. Combo, AK: Snatch Pull + P. Snatch + OSQ + Pressing Sn. Balance (2+2+2+2):
(50kg/2+2+2+2) 3 sets

D. Bar work: Snatch Balance, Classic Snatch from AK, Pressing Sn. Balance

And then, some unusual work: I went to the track with my wife and we ran barefoot in the grass along the sidelines of the football field. The distances varied, but were between 60-100 yards. All I can say is my wife is very fast! Now my ankles are sore and so are my hamstrings. I did not get out of breath at all. Must be the KB work. Cool stuff. Fun to be out there with her.

2007-09-01T10:42:00.000-05:00

Pistols and the Stress Response/Experience

I had some major negative stress last week. BIG stuff. Stuff you don't ever want to have to face. And it wasted a lot of my time, especially my creative time. It was interesting to notice my body's response: My knees got stiffer. The progress I had made started to reverse.

One of the things I had stopped doing the last two weeks was the acupressure. So I tried some pistols last night cause I felt like it was time to try. The first two on the left were painful. I couldn't even get down on the right. Then I tried some acupressure. I was able to perform pistols on both legs pain free, although I still had a little discomfort on the medial side of the left knee.

So I performed one pistol holding onto a 16kg KB per leg and supersetted them with 5-10 bodyweight squats with my heels elevated. I paused each one at the bottom and really focused on extending the non-working leg and really sitting into the hip of the working leg especially on the left side to stretch the posterior hip capsule and fully engage the hip musculature on the ascent. I've noticed that if I don't get the bone rhythms correct then the knees pop on the ascent of any leg exercise. I didn't count the sets, but it was somewhere around seven and I rested as I wanted. I also performed acupressure for 30 seconds between each set just before I started each set.

The knees feel OK this morning and were fine when I went out for a 90 minute walk. My quads are slightly sore and my left glute is slightly sore.

I need to further investigate the links between stress, acupressure, and pain in my knees. They are somehow related at this point, I just don't know how.

2007-08-31T16:51:00.000-05:00

Catch Up

Just realized it's Friday and I haven't posted all week. Lots going on but very little "spare" time.

Here are some highlights:

Knees doing OK--definitely related to stress. Have squatted bodyweight pain free for 25 reps and done 60kg on FSQ and BSQ for multiple sets of 5 pain free, but with occasional discomfort.
Working with an amateur strongman--BIG--320lbs and strong. But he lacks mobility. He wanted to focus on KB lifting, but he's not weak, he just has to get out of his own way. Then he'll be able to express his strength.
"Diet:" Been using Biotest Surge post-workout. Works great. Leaning out already this week.
Getting bored with my workout plan. Screwing around last night I clean and push pressed my 130lbs KB like it was the 106. Thought about the 145 but decided I'd be better off not doing it.
Mobility: Discovering some severe ankle mobility deficiency, especially position specific--hip and knee flexion. Squatting anyone? Hmm...
Working on some online business ideas. Also came up with an outstanding "hard" business idea that I've bounced off a couple of people who thought it was awesome. It would be great if I could implement that but not really "work" it.
Constantly amazed with the human body and how smart it is: Worked with an RKC earlier this week who had medial epicondylitis (tennis elbow). It was a 5 out of 10 on the pain scale. He had done a lot of myofascial release and thumper work on the recommedation of a mutual friend. 60 minutes later--no pain. Never touched the elbow or the forearm or the upper arm.

That's all for now.

2007-08-25T15:23:00.000-05:00

Today, I'm Just An Average American

I'm starting Joel Marion's "Cheat To Lose Diet" with my wife today. (Actually today is like a "warm-up.") So, I get to eat anything I want. I started off this morning with a run (ok, not a literal run, cause everybody knows I don't run...) to the grocery store. I had 6 blueberry Eggo waffles with real maple syrup and about 32oz or so of Tropicana OJ. Good stuff. Surprisingly, I didn't instantaneously crash into a carb coma.

For lunch, nothing but the best: McDonald's Double Quarter Pounder w/cheese, fries, and a vanilla shake. Felt pretty gross after this and did need to take a nap.

For an afternoon snack I polished off the OJ.

Then we went to our friends' house where I had one chicken breast, mashed potatoes, meatballs, and brownies and ice cream for dessert.

This particular program calls for cardio 4 days per week. Uh-oh! I guess I'm gonna hafta get back into KB snatches. JM recommends five 2 minute intervals which of course are the worst kind. So tomorrow, I'm breaking out the 16kg and hitting 20+20, which I think is approximately 2 minutes. We'll see. This could be painful. I'll have to see how this will play in with my current program. There may be some modifications to be made but I don't think so right now.

I'll post some numbers later.

2007-08-23T19:52:00.000-05:00

Hip Bone Rhythms

Just a quick follow up tonight.

I'm pretty much out of pain. Some occasional discomfort when squatting.

I was able to throw the weightlifting shoes on tonight and overhead squat pain/discomfort free for 2x5 with the bar. Woo-hoo. I then threw 60kg on and back squatted 2x5 pain free.

Here are some things I noticed:

All rhythms were off but were pretty well cleaned up by the last rep
My weight was primarily on the heels--It shouldn't be. It should be in the whole foot. I eventually got it there and even loaded the big toe (increases ankle mobility and stretches flexor hallicus longus, which when contracted contributes to plantarflexion--kinda important for getting out of a squat...)
Bar needed to be held in fingertips to keep wrists in extension
Taping the right knee changes the entire hip set up--I need to sit back into the left hip more
Hip rhythms were especially off, especially the left one. Didn't really fix this until the KB snatches later in the session
The overhead squat, particularly the pressing snatch balance version, really allowed for the establishment of the rhythms--perhaps more so than the back squat

I was also able to perform some pain-free lunging for the first time in almost 3 weeks.

On the comeback trail...slowly.

My plans are to finish out this new training plan incorporating a lot of variety for the legs when possible and then get back to a squat cycle.

2007-08-21T13:04:00.000-05:00

How Much Is Enough?

When I used to train athletes for a living I used to ask this question because from a volume comparison my training programs never looked like the ones recommended by the NSCA and other such organizations. I never had my athletes perform 100-150 ground contacts of "plyos," and the strength exercises were used on an "as needed" basis, meaning, I stuck with the basics unless a change was needed and then modified accordingly. It's interesting to watch the pendulum swing back this way in the fitness industry, and to a certain extent, the S&C industry of almost a decade of influence by well-meaning but misinformed and misapplying functional training gurus and rehab specialists. Back are the heavy compound lifts. Gone or dying is the prescription for unstable surfaces to "enhance proprioception."

Why is this?

Because, as my friend Zachariah Salazar says, "More is always more." There's only so much the body can adapt to and if there is too much "thrown at it," (nice scientific phrase, huh?) it won't adapt much at all and progress stalls.

The bottom line is everything we do in the gym and on the athletic field is a skill. If there are similarities between exercises, than skills are easier to obtain.

How are skills obtained?

By analyzing movement and practicing those movements...perfectly.

Intuitively we all know this, or at least we should. I vividly remember teaching the volleyball team my last year at RU how to land. That's right, land. They'd been taught how to jump, but never how to land. Most of them allowed their bodies to pitch forward at the net when blocking--especially the taller girls. So we focused on high quality landing mechanics from boxes of varying heights. Upon asking the girls if they'd ever been taught to land, everyone of them said "no." So how did learning how to land make a difference for them? They were able to land, load, and re-block/re-jump quicker. In science-speak, the amoritization phase of the stretch-shortening cycle decreased because they were no longer fighting their own bodies from pitching forward.

The same thing should be true with weight training. My good friend Brett Jones is on track to break into the Raw Elite ranks of Powerlifting. How's he train? Primarily with the squat, bench, and deadlift. The same is true for many elite weightlifters. They train the snatch, the clean, the jerk, and the front squat. My greatest success as a weightlifter was when I trained using a minimalist approach: pulls, jerks, squats, full lifts on Saturdays. I practiced the movements a lot. Then with heavier loads. A lot. Why did I change? Because I ran out of mobility.

I think that's why concepts like the Conjugate Method work well for some but not for others. If you run out of mobility in primary exercises, you have to find similar exercises that have "carryover." Why did the Bulgarians start beating the Russians in Weightlifting? Essays have been written about this and the debate will never surely die, but to a certain extent, the Bulgarians perfected the classic lifts and used others sparingly. This gets into varying aspects of sports science which are too in depth for this post, but on some fundamental level we all know that the best in every sport have the basics mastered: movement/technique/strategy. How much could Michael Jordan snatch or squat in his prime? Who cares?! All this of course is just my pontification/theory based on my experience, reflection, and study. Bottom line though is this: If we fail to use it, we lose it. Once it's gone, it's hard to get back--regardless of the "it."

So all this begs a question: How much is enough?

Just enough.

And unfortunately, that's dependent upon the individual at hand.

For the [almost] Elite Powerlifter, it may be [re]acquiring foot, ankle and hip mobility.

For the young field athlete, it may be keeping the mobility he already has and loading specific movements like lunges and jumps.

But the prescription is simple, I just wished I had learned it sooner: Learn how to move in all planes of motion.

This is more than multi-planar lunging as prescribed by some coaches. Or with adding a reach by others. It's learning how to move all your joints in full ranges of motion and then integrating those motions. Then, and only then, load them. I wish somebody'd told me this 15 years ago--not that I'd probably listen...

I'm doing this with my squat right now. My body won't let me load the squat right now, so every squat I do with just my bodyweight, I try to make it feel the same--exactly the same. Not similar, exactly. So when I can get back to loading, my body knows the pattern--exactly.

Quality is key. Not quantity. It's better, meaning reaping more results focusing on doing things well regardless of the prescribed rep ranges. Alfonso taught me to use these as a guide--"Do no more than x reps..." That sort of thing.

When quality breaks, stop. Stop when you are in pain. Stop when you start changing your breathing pattern (not frequency...). Stop when your posture starts to break down. Just stop. Move on to something else--another exercise, mobility work, recovery work, home...

Why am I posting all this?

Because I never stopped.

I'd be on my feet 16 hours a day having had 5 hours of sleep the previous night and then go snatch 80% on iron in a commercial gym, then back squat 90%. It's easy to keep going at 24, 25, 26. Not so much 10 years after that. It's easy to "put a hurt" on young athletes. Go back and visit them 10 years after you've worked with them. If you did your job, they'll be moving better and probably in better shape. If not, they'll look like me--broken and trying to regain lost ground, clinging to a glimmer of hope. If I weren't so darn stubborn, I would've given up two years ago.

Rif (Pavel?) is right--glory is temporary, pain is forever.

Once you dig yourself that hole, it's hard (but not impossible) to dig out.

Pay attention now and save your future.

2007-08-20T19:26:00.000-05:00

As Long As It Takes

...that's the answer to how long I have to do these exercises. Until I can squat all the time (and lunge, and pistol, etc) pain free. That's the frustrating thing about this--I can only really exercise half my body.

In the mean time, I'm staying away from the platform--no negative neural chunking.

Here's what I've come up with as far as training. It's a hybrid of Pavel's 5x5x5 program.

A. 5 reps
B. 10 reps
C. 15 reps
D. 20 reps
E. 25+ reps

Total: 75 working reps per day

I'll start with the following:

A. Total Body
B. Push
C. Pull
D. Lower
E. Torso/Abs

and rotate priorities each day so the A will move the E position and each movement will move up the workout.

The goal is twofold: Train with as little tension as possible and two avoid any pain or discomfort whatsoever in my knees.

Today was very easy:
A. Rack DLs from above knee (AK) 405lbs/5
B. Parallel Dips: Bodyweight/10
C. Inverted Rows: Bodyweight/15
D. 45 degree Hypers: Bodyweight/20
E. Planks: 25 reps of 2 second holds.

Done in approximately 15 minutes.

My goal is to use as much good movement as possible to re-enforce to my brain that working out is good for me. Plus, I should put on some muscle with the increased frequency and volume--that's each major muscle group getting 75 quality reps per week. It's been awhile since that happened.

Hopefully in 30 days, I'll be completely out of pain and back on the performance track with about 5 more pounds on me than I do now. Then I'll get back to the platform.

By the way, the pic posted is a Pistol w/106lbs on the hip with two labral tears, cartilage damage, osteoarthritis, and bursitis. That's what Z can do. (Just in case anyone was wondering how I got back into pain, I violated the first rule of Z which states, "Don't move into pain." So I was stupid...)

2007-08-19T11:35:00.000-05:00

Neural Switching

I finally broke down and called Dr. Cobb yesterday for the following reasons/experiences this past week:

I was very irritable
I was generally angry
I had incredibly poor concentration
I couldn't remember to do even the simplest of things--felt kinda confused/disoriented at times
I was having "out of body" experiences, for lack of a better term--I would be in the middle of conversations and then start having conversations with myself about those conversations: I'm not sure if this is a really accurate description, but this is a hard sensation to describe.
Lean Body Mass was dropping--especially in my legs, but body fat wasn't
I was sensing the need to eat more carbs for seretonin release
Neither I- nor R-Phase made my knee pain go away

There are probably some other things, but like I mentioned, my memory was failing me. So after explaining some of these things to Dr. Cobb he had me try some acupressure points on my body and my face. The body ones didn't work, the face ones did. By did, I mean that instantaneously the pain in my knees was gone and I could squat.

I asked why this worked / happened. He explained that in simplest terms, sometimes the CNS becomes confused about what it's supposed to be doing. This whole process, including the restoration of normal operations Dr. Cobb called "neural switching." Very interesting stuff.

After explaining all of my "experiences" this week, he suggested that there may be neurotransmitter imbalance (which intuitively I suspected based on my lack of mental acuity) and supplementing with acetylcholine and B5 with perhaps some 5-HTP.

Today as I write this, I am incredibly tired--almost physically exhausted from the switching exercises that I started yesterday. It'll be very interesting to see how this all turns out. I hope to return to a sense of normalcy ASAP. Also, I feel the need for a lot of carbs so I will most likely carb load all day today.

2007-08-15T10:54:00.000-05:00

It's All Connected (Obviously!)

So, I locked my knees back down and am struggling to get out of pain. I read David Butler's, Explain Pain, which is the dumbed-down version (my take, not his) of his tome, The Sensitive Nervous System. (Every fitness professional should read it--it explains a lot.) Here's the 411: The body experiences pain because it thinks its in danger, which it may or may not be. After it's been cleared of danger, pain may linger as a memory, base on how long the brain perceived that danger and what thoughts, feelings, movements, etc. were associated with that pain. In my case, it's squatting, and really, any knee flexion.

Based on my past experiences, I'm guessing that the pain in my knees is a signal that something's wrong with my hips. I posted a couple posts back that after taping my right knee, my left hip felt like it got a lot more work. Well, since the "R" in R-Phase stands for "Restoration, Re-Education, Rehabilitation" guess who forgot to do his "Restoration" work after his squat sessions? You got it: Yours truly. Now, here's the problem: Left hip gets used in ways it's unaccustomed. There's mechanical change in the right knee. These two "forces" are supposed to work together but they're actually working against each other. As the hip musculature responds to work, it tightens down. The right knee is still forcing the left hip to work, but it can't, cause genius here hasn't done his post-training R-Phase. The force can no longer be absorbed the way it's supposed to be by the left hip which forces the weight back onto the right knee and the cycle repeats itself. The ankles may or may not be moving well--in either case, that leaves the musculature around the knees to take the brunt of the loading. I think we can all see where this is going...

Anyway, my body's been down this road before, and the result was multiple hip connective tissue injuries/damage. So I believe my brain is sending my body signals based on its past experiences. It believes the hips are going to be damaged again. It may be right. Last night I was also demonstrating KB snatches and noticed that my bone rhythms were off--I was bailing out on the ankles and didn't seem to be able to sit into the hips. Later that evening while watching some weightlifting videos, I noticed my shoulders were sore, the right one almost painfully so from the snatches and cleans earlier in the day. This in my mind could only mean one thing: force was not being adequately produced and reduced within that training session. Sure enough, my hips were very, very tight--especially in abduction and extension, especially the left one. Apparently I can compensate at the I-Phase work, but the R-Phase leaves me no room to hide. I had almost no movement in the abduction on the left hip. (I am very fortunate that my wife is also a Z Practitioner, because she spotted this...)

So, what's my immediate plan?

Remember what R-Phase is for: Restoration, Re-Education, Rehabilitation. All of which I need based on what I actively engage in or forgetfully fail to do (15 years of squatting and deadlifting, etc with out proper ROM will take it's toll...)
Hit some bone rhythm work with the KBs to get my patterns back (and then hit some R-Phase...)
Engage in as many movements as possible requiring knee flexion (and hip flexion) that don't cause pain to calm the CNS. Engage in as few as possible movements that create pain with knee flexion and hip flexion.

That's the plan. We'll see how long I can stick with it and what the results will be. Knowing me, I'll be modifying on the fly...

On a positive note, the Icy Hot I used yesterday on the platform seemed to help. I put some on my hips and that was one of my clues that they weren't working correctly--the Icy Hot gave me some feedback that allowed me to use them more and keep the knees [mostly] pain free. My speed is way, way up. If I can just relax my CNS, I should be able to train for strength and get my weights back up.

2007-08-11T10:17:00.001-05:00

NC State Powerlifting Championships Today...

...and I'm not there.

I was going to go.

Then, I met with Dr. Cobb during I-Phase and he changed my mind.

Well, he helped me think clearly about this knee injury.

My focus was on staying out of the ROMs that would negatively impact the cartilage damage, so the only obvious conclusion and therefore decision at the time was no more weightlifting. His point of view was why not examine the leg and determine what's the cause of the problem and if it is repairable/re-trainable. So, the cause was the patella dislocation. The result of that was tibial external rotation. In order to return the tibia to its natural/optimal location, he taped the patellar tendon to decrease/eliminate pain in knee extension and taped the gracilis and sartorius to increase mechanoreceptive input and retrain their ability to keep the tibia aligned correctly.

So what does all this mean? It means I jumped the gun with powerlifting. In my heart of hearts I still hold out hope to compete again in weightlifting, so as long as there is even a remote possibility, I owe it to myself to follow that possibility. So, back to the platform.

What have the results been? Virtually pain-free all the time in almost all ROMs with this right knee that I can't honestly remember having before--even the dreaded right lateral lunge is pain free. My body responded very quickly to the new tape job and the VMO is growing nicely. The VL is growing again and the right quad is quickly starting to look like the left. Also, this changes the mechanics of my squat, so I'm recruiting even more of my left glute. Even the bone rhythm work feels better on the right side. I knew something was wrong because I could rarely get the right side to feel as easy or as fluid as the left while performing bilateral work, like squatting or deadlifting.

What about training? Was going well until this week when I had too much of a SNS overload and locked down my left knee (I know, weird that it was the left one.). It took some serious PNS stimulation to unlock it. This was a valuable learning process for me: I need to plan active recovery work into my training program. I can't just use passive means such as rest and sleep. When I look back on my most productive training, I used AR work daily. It allowed for much higher workloads, quicker recovery, and therefore faster adaptation. If that was the case at 24, how much more so at 34.

Therefore, my new training program will be based on a 3 day cycle:
Day 1: Speed,
Day 2: Strength
Day 3: Active Recovery

I will most likely employ some form of AR work on days 1&2, but day 3 will be solely devoted to it.

I think this should work well.

So, back to the platform today to play with some comfortable doubles.

One More, Just In Case You Feel Stuck In Your Current Reality...

2007-08-09T14:42:00.001-05:00

Switchfoot, "Dare You to Move"

2007-08-09T11:47:00.000-05:00

Accepting Our Current Realities

One of the things I learned in I-Phase was the concept of "neural chunking." Simply put, everything you think and feel is associated with what you do, more specifically, what you are currently doing when you are thinking and feeling that particular thing. The more you do those things (thinking, feeling, doing) together, the more they are cemented in your brain as distinct patterns.

Here's a personal construct which I recently changed: "Every time I bend my right knee under load, it hurts." So based on one or two experiences, I came to expect the same experience associated with that movement. Reversing those thoughts, I am now able to move in ROMs without pain that I haven't been able to for 18 years. Sounds "New Age-y," I know. Dr. Cobb spoke of the specific scientific evidences based on PET scans (I think he said PET--maybe CAT--my hearing's going I swear...) So you can limit or amplify your movements, your pain, everything through your thoughts.

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine. He gave me a swift kick in the butt regarding some of my goals based on a book that we've both read. He has a great way of lovingly (humorously) pointing out where I'm failing based on what I've told him. So, I'm accepting my current reality. I forgot that I don't want to. And the great thing is I don't have to. I can change my current reality, supported by science through thought, feeling, and movement.

Here are two songs I've heard in the last two days regarding accepting your current reality:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NR2eOrvR0tQ&mode=related&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ipf0wg0tCQc

The point? Some things in life happen to you and you have to live with, like gravity. The rest you can change. It just takes getting the reps in.

2007-08-08T20:09:00.000-05:00

Training Update...

Realized I haven't posted on my training in awhile.

Here's tonite's training:

Complex:
Snatch High Pull (above knee--AK) x3
Power Snatch, AK x3
Snatch Grip Behind Neck Press x3

(43kg)2, (47.5kg)4; 2 minutes rest.

Just wanted to move light weight with tape on the knee. Felt good.

More on all this later...

2007-08-08T14:01:00.000-05:00

Critics and Learning

I love the following quote by President Theodore Roosevelt:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

I'm pretty sure this is applicable to some of the "circumstances," for lack of a better word, that I have found myself in since Friday.

Let me paint you a picture:

Imagine that someone attends a kettlebell seminar for 3-4 hours. She gets some level of proficiency with the KB, but it's rudimentary at best. In her mind, it should be easy to use, to master even, because she's familiar with other exercise modalities such as dumbells, barbells, bands, etc. She then trains a client using a KB borrowed from a friend and the client has a negative experience. However, she is still interested in "understanding" the kettlebell, so she posts the comments of someone using KBs very effectively (touting the use, actually) within his own full-time business(es) and her experiences on a private forum of highly proficient dumbbell users for their review, thoughts, and subsequent critique. The only catch is these people have never used kettlebells.

What do you think the outcome would be? All you have to do is "google" kettlebells and I'm sure you'll have your [negative] answer.

What's my point?

Unless you are actually in the trenches, day in and day out and derive a healthy income from particular training modalities, you are really an amateur and haven't earned the right to criticize that which you don't understand. It's like someone advocating the use of the Olympic lifts for, well, anything, if they can't snatch their bodyweight. Or like me criticizing NASCAR drivers because I too can turn left. There's a credibility gap. Spend some time with that which you are questioning or with people who are using a particular method you are interested in.

Anyone can be an armchair expert and quote all the scientific studies in the world to justify whatever it is they want to justify (Low fat/high carb diets, anyone?) However, it's the doing where one really learns (Thank you, Dr. Robert Atkins).

If you want to learn about something, go spend time with someone who has some expertise and a large amount of success (financial, preferably--money talks, everything else walks) using that which you wish to learn. I did this with my weightlifting coach, Alfonso. Every Saturday, occasional evenings too, for almost 4 years, I went to see him, watch him work, pick his brain. The only thing it cost me was my time (and gas money...and espressos...).

2007-08-07T13:28:00.000-05:00

Mea Culpa

Last week, I made the following statement:

"I can help my clients in ways (almost instantaneously) that no chiro, PT, or Orthopod can."

Hindsight being 20/20, this was a rash, ignorant statement made after a "mountain-top" experience. I've said it before, but I will say it again: We need these medical professionals (although I think a lot of PTs think DCs are quacks...) and I'm glad they exist. I think it's important to make several distinctions about Z-Health based on my statement.

Dr. Cobb has never, to my knowledge made this statement publicly or privately, and certainly not to me. This is my own statement and I take full responsibility for it.
I do not have a financial stake in the company, Z-Health Performance Solutions. I only use their products. I am not compensated to write about my experiences with their products/systems. Nor do I expect to receive any compensation.
Z-Health is first and foremost an exercise system based on precision movement with the focus on healthy joint movement allowing the body to express more movement options.
Z-Health does produce amazing results, when applied correctly, primarily through increased movement awareness and [re-]education.
Z-Health is not marketed to diagnose or treat illnesses or injuries, although it has been my experience that the system's movement education has the ability to enable the body to heal itself after injury.
I cannot explain my experiences on a neurological level adequately enough for some. I am not a physiologist.
I use the system based on the results I have seen personally, with my contemporaries, and with my clients. I freely admit I do not have all the science at my fingertips to support my use of the product.

Why am I writing all this? Because my blog was excerpted and posted on somebody else's forum. It happened to be a forum for PTs specializing in most things neurological. When I tried to explain Z-Health to them, I found my explanations woefully lacking anything meaningful to them.

My main point of this post is this: If you've been waiting to get involved with Z due to lack of scientific evidence supporting the system, I now understand your point of view. And I don't blame you. We're all wired differently. Keep on waiting, I'll make no judgments on your actions. If you're happy with what your doing, can prove it using current scientific knowledge, and your getting results, please drop me a line and let me know what you're doing. I'm always open for learning.

As for me, I'm still going to keep on using the system because I like the results and my clients like the results. I will start doing some more digging in the scientific literature, though.

2007-08-04T11:29:00.000-05:00

Everything You Do Always Works...

...it may just work against you.

One of the overarching principles of Z is "All the body, all the time." Which simply means, the body doesn't ever work in isolation on any level (neuro, musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory, endocrine, etc.). So one set to failure with 20 reps on the squat obviously affects more than just your legs. So does foam rolling. So does agility training. Etc, etc, etc.

I know an individual who's been through R- and I-Phase and says Z doesn't work. He obviously failed to grasp this concept. This is painfully obvious when you see him. He's skinny-fat, weak, has poor movement skills, poor flexibility, and a bad attitude. What he means to say is that Z hasn't worked for him the way he expected it to. Is there anything wrong with the system? No. That's obvious too when speaking with other individuals who have gotten the results they wanted not only with themselves, but with their clients too.

I learned this lesson early in my career. Alfonso, my weightlifting coach, is fond of saying, "Any system can work if applied properly." [Emphasis mine.] I think Steve Maxwell, former Sr.RKC had a similar saying, "It's how you put it together." So getting back to the aforementioned individual, it is apparent that he failed to apply the principles of Z correctly. It is my guess too that he has failed to apply many other principles correctly which would account for his appearance and attitude.

I would add to Alfonso's statement, "...for a little while." Then adaptation occurs, be it positive, or negative. That's the part we tend to forget. We focus on the short term: Which exercise will bring up hamstring strength for the deadlift? But we forget to ask if that exercise will transfer to the sporting event that we are trying to improve. In other words, yeah, your deadlift may increase due to this perceived lack of strength in the hamstrings, but will you run any faster?

This is why I'm glad I went to I-Phase. Clean, precise, fluid movement always makes you a better athlete. Always. It gives you more options. Michael Jordan was arguably the greatest basketball player who's ever lived. Who cares how fast he can run a 40 or how much he can hang clean? He could move. He could move better than his contemporaries. Whether that was under the basket, in the lane, in the air, all of the former while shooting, he had the best movement--he had the best use of his body.

Training with weights for a strength end is no different than training for any other sport. The deadlift for example, is made up of a bunch of smaller movements: Metatarsal extension, ankle plantar flexion, knee extension, hip extension, shoulder extension, etc. The more precise each one of these movements become, the stronger your deadlift will be. Makes sense. R-Phase gives you those tools.

So how do you get everything to work in your favor?

Learn how to move again. I guarantee you that you are not moving as well as you could be or need to for your sport (which is life if you're not competing in a sport). R-Phase teaches you these basic isolated movements.
Learn how to put the smaller movements together to form bigger movement. This is I-Phase.
Study training methodology. Understand principles such as the SAID principle, the GAS theory, "supercompensation" and the "fitness-fatigue theory," progressive overload, and cycling. This is a good start.
Keep things as simple as possible, but no simpler. This is where learning how to move again comes in very handy. Fancy periodized training programs aren't necessary if you don't know how to move. (I'll post more on this later when I post about Strongman training.)

Keep in mind that because of the "all the body all the time" principle, you may surprise yourself with the results you achieve from good, clean movement (more on this later too).

2007-08-02T12:57:00.000-05:00

Blog Correction/Clarification

Yesterday, I made this statement:

"I can help my clients in ways (almost instantaneously) that no chiro, PT, or Orthopod can."

This was not meant to be a slap in the face to these professions. Each have their respective places. For example, I am not qualified to perform knee replacement surgery like an Orthopod or acute ACL rehab like a PT, which is a good thing, because I'd throw up if I had to perform a total knee on someone.

What I am saying is that many if not most ailments that people see the above professionals for, especially chronic ones like tennis elbow or even quad pulls, can be alleviated by teaching the client how to move his/her body to get out of pain and regain performance almost immediately with Z-Health drills. The body is a powerful machine and the nervous system is the thing that makes it all happen. If given the chance, the body will heal itself. Z gives the body that chance.

Hope that clarifies it.

2007-08-01T20:49:00.000-05:00

It's Like Scales Falling From My Eyes...

I-Phase was really incredible. It totally put R-Phase into perspective. I can honestly say it was the best professional educational experience of my life so far (at least crammed into 4 days--Alfonso's weekly mentoring was pretty good too...). In fact, everything fell into perspective.

I/We learned just how much the nervous system controls everything from how fascia is wound and unwound to how you are what you think you are on a synaptical level (and you thought that old proverb wasn't really true: "As a man thinks in his heart so he is.").

With just a tape job on my patella and my adductor area I was able to squat truly pain free for the first time ever. I know I've said that before, but those were just a couple of reps. This was multiple sets of multiple reps. Here's the really cool part: my gait was changed as a result. (It's still changed two days later...)

Speaking of eyes, here are some of the things we learned about the eyes.

The muscles that control eye movements can actually become imbalanced. We learned a test to detect these. And then we learned how to correct the imbalances. This is important to know because if these imbalances/weaknesses exist, they affect how the body moves and what happens on the myofascial level. This means your eyes can set you up for structural imbalances and injuries without you even knowing it. Take home point (mine, not Dr. Cobb's): quit using the foam roller for tissue quality until you know if you have a visual problem. If you do, your body will wind your fascia in the opposite direction of your weakness.

The same holds true for the vestibular system: If you have an inner ear problem (and yes, we learned a test for this too) than the same holds true for the fascia. Take home point: Get off the foam roller.

We also learned how to determine if an imbalance is occurring on the fascial level and how to correct it. It's much easier than you think and yes I've corrected mine. Take home point: (all together now) Get off the foam roller.

[I don' know why I hate the foam roller so much. Oh yeah, now I remember--it never worked long term for me or my clients. And how many clients like pain as much as us muscle-heads? (Hint: not that many...)

OK, not only do you need to get off the foam roller, but Z-Health will make you rethink your corrective exercises. I no longer waste time with many of the traditional exercises like YTWLs for shoulders, bird dogs, dead bugs, hip bridges, planks, etc. Controversial for sure, but Z is truly like the Matrix: You can't experience it unless you take the red pill...which means you gotta suck it up, slap down the plastic, and go to R-Phase.]

We also learned that people with various forms of chronic pain usually manifest all of the above problems, one, two, or even all three of them (like yours truly used to...). This is important for anyone dealing with post-rehab patients and athletes, since we often perform in pain.

Those are just a few quick points.

I can honestly say I feel prepared to handle almost any type of client. I thought that before, but now I know it for sure. There was just so much great info in I-Phase. There was a lot of confirmation of my intuition.

The money I have spent with Z-Health, although seemingly expensive for both my wife and I, has been worth every penny. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. I can help my clients in ways (almost instantaneously) that no chiro, PT, or Orthopod can. Is that a bold statement? You betcha. How can I say that? Cause I've already helped clients by using Z that chiros, PTs, and Orthos couldn't. How would you like to say that?

Now go sign up for R-Phase and tell them I sent you.

2007-08-01T10:37:00.000-05:00

Back From I-Phase

Still tired from I-Phase--just came back last night.

Here are some thoughts I'll be posting on some of these thoughts:

I-Phase and instantaneous strength gains: rope climbing and deadlifting as examples
Visual and Vestibular testing
Neural Chunking
Professional Strongman training

All of these ideas were a part of an amazing weekend.

2007-07-24T16:08:00.000-05:00

Off To I-Phase...

...tomorrow. (My wife, the smart-one, is going too.) Finally going to suck it up and get it done. Time is right.

I'll be staying with a friend of mine in the biz out there.

I'll probably be offline until next Wednesday. Probably...

2007-07-23T20:34:00.000-05:00

Great Question From Guarden:

Why only increase work capacity in your assistance exercises?

This is a great question.

Actually, I am trying to increase my work capacity through, not necessarily in, my assistance exercises.

In all sports, technique is skill. The same is true in weightlifting--the snatch and the clean and jerk; and powerlifting with the squat, bench, and deadlift. These want to be practiced while you're as fresh as possible creating as little fatigue as possible. Why? The secret to great strength according to Zatsiorsky is to train as often as possible, as fresh as possible, creating as little fatigue as possible.

How do you do that if you're not Bulgarian and training five times per day with a nap between each session?

Since your strength is a skill, if you practice your events under fatigue, you will destroy the motor pattern due to systemic fatigue, local muscular fatigue, and stabilizer fatigue. This is why bodybuilders, generally speaking, have large legs, but cannot squat the nearly the same amount as their powerlifter cousins. Since your strength levels are limited by accumulated systemic (read: neural) fatigue, the only way to build strength reserves is through non-CNS intensive exercises and training protocols. This is where assistance work comes in. (This, by the way, as the name suggests, is why it is called "assistance work." It "assists" in the development of the main sporting skill. Not trying to be sarcastic here, just stating a fact.) So, for weightlifters, exercises that are similar to, but not identical to the classic lifts are used: pulls, jumps, back extension exercises, etc. Powerlifters, especially those who subscribe to the "Westside Philosophy" of conjugate loading, use variations of the powerlifts. Some IPF lifters from Russia do increase the total volume of the classical lifts. I don't know enough about the older/experienced lifters training protocols to speak on there training. Weightlifters use the squat as a general strengthening exercise for the snatch and the clean and jerk. And not only that, earlier in a weightlifter's career, both the volume and intensity are increased, according to Medvedyev. As he ages and attains sport mastery, the volume remains relatively constant and the loading is intensified. (I think I'm digressing--it's late...)

So again, the point of building work capacity through assistance work is to spare the CNS from too much fatigue and to preserve the sporting skill, in this case, the lifting of a barbell.

It is also interesting to note that what may be a sporting skill for one sport may be used as an assistance exercise for another sport. For example, powerlifters compete in the squat, but the squat is traditionally used in the US strength and conditioning profession to develop overall strength, but not necessarily limit strength.

So for me personally, because I have so many years under the iron, my body is very efficient at the pulling and squatting motor patterns. They don't need a volume based approach. In fact, from my experience, I can't recover from a volume-based approach. But in order to keep my "wind" or ability to do the work I need to do to progress by using an intensity-based approach, I need to find similar exercises that strengthen the muscles I am using for my sporting events without trashing my CNS and destroying my lifting "groove." That's where kettlebells come in.

Hopefully, that makes sense.

2007-07-20T09:03:00.000-05:00

First Week of "New" Old Training Done.

When I was in college, I ate as much as I could, lifted as much as I could, and rested as much as I could. It seems I didn't know any better. In four years, all it got me was the following:

a 90lbs increase in bodyweight--165lbs to 252lbs (OK, that's only 87lbs--I lied.)
225lbs x5x5 Seated Military Press
390lbs bench press in competition
225lbs x 25+ reps on the bench after a bench workout
Shrugs with 1000lbs.
500lbs stiff leg deadlift off a 5 inch block (405/5 x5 off same block)
315lbs Hang Clean for 5, 4, 4
545lbs Deadlift my junior year (stopped most of my deadlifting after that...)
315lbs Bent over rows off a 5 inch block touching the floor between each rep with the weight for a 5x5
Parallel Dips + 100lbs for reps of 8-10

...and those are just the things I can remember off the top of my head without digging out the training log.

Why do I bring that up? Because now that I'm so smart, I'm 35lbs lighter, who knows how much weaker, and have been hamstrung by injuries over the last 5 years. Good thing I know what I'm doing!

But seriously, I've been all around the world it seems as far as strength training goes in the last 12 years or so. Pick a coach and a methodology and I've studied the material. Applied that material. Moved on.

Now, approaching 35, it seems I've returned to where I started over half a lifetime ago: heavy weights, long rest periods, simple, yet effective cycles. And, a return to powerlifting. What sidelined me in '93-94 was a good ol' case of bilateral patella alta, a condition so painful, climbing the stairs to get to class or my apartment became excrutiating and leaning on the handrail was the only way to get where I was going. Brought on by squatting incorrectly--lack of development of the VMOs--the medial knee stabilizers to counteract all the work the VLs were doing. Then, I got into Olympic lifting. Fun but frustrating years.

So now, I return to where I left off some 12+ years ago. Sometimes I wonder if they were wasted years. I don't think so. I've learned a lot about what to do and what not to do--probably more the latter if the truth be told.

After all these travels, here's what I've learned about strength and the acquisition thereof:

Lift heavy.
Rest a lot, especially between sets.
Build work capacity with assistance lifts ONLY.
Eat.

That's practically about it.

I think I'll write an article on this and elaborate more, but for now, that's it.