BEYOND STRONG

Almost perfect

Here's some more info on the Life Fitness I was talking about in my last post. Actually, let's call it something else...let's call it Beyond Strong - The program for life fitness...or something like that!

I believe that most non competitive but motivated trainees require a routine that pushes them but not too much. This doesn't mean you have to be lazy or never work hard but the majority of people only really require a slightly above average level of strength, conditioning and mobility. I may not be qualifying this all that well (it's late here) with 'slightly above average' so let me give you some examples.

• Wouldn't it be nice to carry your shopping without your arms dropping off!
• If you had to help someone push a car, it would be nice if you could do it without fear of a heart attack right?
• What if a member of your family has a fall and you need to be able to pick them up off the floor and carry them to the car. Can you?
• A friend asks you to do a 1/2 marathon in 2 months time for a charity close to your heart and thankfully your regular training allows you to get in shape in 6-8 weeks
• Walking up stairs is a joy not a chore
• You can burst into a sprint to catch the bus or the train about to leave
• A friend asks you to help them move house. No problem, your strong, fit and mobile.

These are a few of the everyday things that can and do occur in peoples lives all over the world no matter what their income, race, age or gender.

In the article The Perfect Warrior from November 2007 I stated the case for the term Beyond Strong.

"Greater than average strength levels combined with excellent endurance, maximum speed recruitment and a toughness to compete with the best in the worst situation. If you add that combination to ANY sport you are going to do very well indeed."

I still believe that to be true for the athletes who compete but now I also think there are different levels of Beyond Strong. Perhaps there are 3 levels. Level 1 for the average Joe or Jill. Level 2 for those competing in their spare time. And Level 3 for the more full time competitive athletes. Level 1 is what I am talking about right now.

Ponder on this as I continue experimenting and refining things.

Nick

A far from average Allan Wells tribute. Allan was a huge influence my athletics career as a junior in the 1980's

biglozstrongman.com

My friend and World's Strongest Man Competitor, Laurence Shahlaei, has a new website. Check it out here...Big Loz Strongman

Laurence and I trained together last week. Loz is working on bodybuilding to bulk up his upper body with LOTS of conditioning work. You would be amazed at how fast he moves for a 310lb man! Our workout consisted of bench presses and LOTS of bicep and tricep work, ending with a massive set of 'you go I go' on the tricep pushdowns. We did 10 sets of 10 which was a serious PUMP. After that we did 20 minutes on the Cross Trainers. If you haven't used these machines then give them a go.They are excellent for heavier people who find running too hard on the joints.

The next morning we did 1000m rows with pushups and mobility in between whilst the other person was rowing. Loz SMASHED the last set doing 1000m on the concept II in 3mins27secs!

Look out for the Big fella on TV later this year.

Nick

Loz pushes up another big log press

Confessions of a Former Bar Bouncer (the Bench Press Kind) - by Jeff Flynn

I’ve always held the lifting philosophy that you can’t really begin to progress until you’ve fought your way around some roadblocks. There’s always that one guy you know that benched 300 through halfhearted routine and bouts of sporadic training, but never got any higher. Fortunately for me, I am not that guy. I remember my bench stagnating in High School at 190 for months, that’s when I realized that progress wasn’t automatic and that I’d have to plan and execute with a purpose to bench some big weight.

This is what I did to get past a recent stagnation point and how I thought through what I needed to do to reach a new level. What I recommend is not the specific routine that I did but to think about problems in your own bench and ways to go about solving those problems. At the end you’ll find a bunch of those tips that you’ve heard over and over again from authors and lifters better than me and if they haven’t sunk in already just maybe they will this time.

Big problems: I broke through the 400lb barrier a few years ago, but since then I noticed that my bar speed on the eccentric was slow and inconsistent and I was often tentative lowering heavy weight. Like an idiot I sometimes still bounced the bar off my chest on lighter weights and often my left hand would rise faster making the lift uneven. I was doing barbell flat bench almost year-round and put a lot of pressure on myself to perform which could sometimes lead to frustration. Ok, a lot of problems many of them I should have corrected long ago, but bad habits die hard. I needed to be tighter, develop a better setup, but the most urgent problems were mental.

What I hoped were the solutions: I switched to doing close grip benches, a lift I hadn’t done seriously for weight in a few years, and to gain confidence lowering heavy weights I started board presses from varying heights. My routine after warm-ups was 4 sets of close grips, then 3 sets with a board then 3 sets of JM presses; tricep heavy and I was doing no regular bench. Every four weeks or so I would try for a close grip pr single, the next week I would board press first and try for a pr single or triple. The week after I would start on a different height board (choosing between 1 and 3 board) and start over again.

What happened: I worked on setting up tighter on the close grips and since I was focusing on them and my triceps I could work into close grip pr territory mentally pretty easily. The board presses required ultimate tightness and developed a lot of surplus lockout power. I had no excuse to be uncertain lowering heavy benches when I had done 80 lbs more with boards. Bouncing or squirming around kills a board press so the lift itself helps break those bad habits because it demands perfect technique or you’re going to miss reps.

When I switched back to regular-grip benches all these things stuck in place. I had extra triceps strength; I even decided to move my grip in a touch to pinkies on the rings. I felt confident lowering 400+ lbs. Because of a tighter, more consistent setup I recently hit a 440lb raw, gym lift (no pause) bench.

Ok here are those bite sized tips you want to hear; check elitefts.com, powerandbulk.com, or beyondstrong to get more.

• Setup setup setup! It needs to be perfect every time. A back cramping arch, big air, touch the same spot on your lower chest/upper sternum.

• Warm-up, why do I see people not warming up? Here’s what I’d do if I was going to bench say 375 for work sets: bar, 135, 205, 265, 315, 345 – that’s six sets warming up, it would be seven if I go over 400, warm-up!

• A closer grip makes it easier off the chest but harder to lockout, a wide grip makes it harder off the chest but easier to lockout – plan accordingly.

• A bench is triceps; train them with high volume and heavy weight. My preference is free weights save the pumping stuff for after.

• A bench takes back; you know you need one so why not build it? Deadlifts, shrugs, chins, rows. See? Nothing new here, I’m still working on this one too.

• Don’t neglect the mental! The best workouts are ones that feel easy, so do what you can to make them easy. Take off the pressure, try to hit easy Prs. My Olympic lifting coach used to say “Train, don’t strain” and while you’ve got to strain sometimes if you’re doing it all the time you are going to run into some problems.

Jeff Flynn has been involved in strength sports for 14 years, he has competed in Powerlifting, Olympic style weightlifting as a member of the Michigan State University Olympic Lifting Club, and he is a regular competitor in the Michigan Grip Championships in Three rivers Michigan. He is currently studying at Wayne State University to become a teacher.

Beyond Strong thanks Jeff for his excellent and informative contribution. If you have a suitable article then please send all submissions to nick@beyondstrong.com.

Nick

Arnold or Bruce?

When I started Beyond Strong a year ago I wrote a series of articles entitled Bruce V Arnold. It was, like many of my articles, nothing more than a fun comparison of some of the men that have influenced my training and my life over the years. Bruce and Arnold are iconic and we can say their first names knowing exactly who we are talking about.

After recently making some training changes myself, I realised that throughout our training lives we tend to associate more with certain athletes than others. For example, Bodybuilders may revere Dorian Yates, Powerlifters may look to Chuck Vogelpohl, fighters to Randy Couture and Strongmen to Mariusz Pudzianowski. I have found over the years that I have been so influenced by the strength AND the physiques of such men that I base my training around that particular ideal. Right now I am looking at something between Steve Reeves with 80% of the strength of Marvin Eder. Perhaps even more realistic is the shape of a top 205lbs (light  heavyweight) MMA fighter.

Some people are just not very realistic about this concept though.

I can remember training in Sydney, Australia about 5 years ago and a man, who we'll call Mr. Over Confident, looking at this picture of Arnold on the wall.

He said to me, " When was that picture taken?".
I replied "Around 1975".
"Wow, I guess if he could do that back then, then we should have no problem today. I think I'll make that my goal for the next few months".

Now this person was a similar height to Arnold, he had a big chest naturally, small arms and average legs. He had been training properly for about 6 months. He was also considerably over weight and although he weighed around 265lbs he held very little muscle or strength. I told him he was looking at around 5-6 years of consistent training and eating to get anywhere near this level of physique. His answer was simply, "Watch me". I did. Not surprisingly 6 months later he looked the same. He hadn't changed his diet, he hadn't studied training and he hadn't dedicated himself to this goal. This is all too common. Don't be like this guy. The point here is set targets but be REALISTIC.

If you want the look of someone set REALISTIC targets and goals based around people at the top of the sport. As a perfect example, look no further than Rick Walker. Rick really practices what he preaches. He reads and writes about his sport. He trains consistently and he trains smart. He keeps a training diary. He watches his food. He looks at the greats in his sport and learns from them but more importantly he understands and tweaks things for his own needs. Rick walks the walk. Too many talk but don't walk.

So let me get back to the main question, Bruce or Arnold? Ask yourself if your training towards something that is realistic and also if you are REALLY going in the right direction. Are you training like Arnold? Are you hitting the weights hard and heavy, doing lots of different movements for each bodypart, mixing it up all the time to keeping the muscles confused and eating a healthy, clean diet? Or are you training like Bruce? Are you doing long distance wind sprints, hundreds of reps of bodyweight exercises, limiting your calorie intake, practicing martial arts and stretching like a gymnast?  To get the strength and physique you want you have to do what they did, tweak it as required and then go for it!

Don't be a talker...be a Walker! ;)

Nick

Four tips (not ten, not twenty, just four!)

I see a lot of gurus and strength 'experts' giving out tips on the internet. I sometimes pick up one or two things that get me thinking about my training but nothing that I hadn't done before or am doing in my training now. This got me thinking about things that REALLY count. Now I am no guru but I do have 20 plus years of training behind me and I have been the guinea pig for all that time. So here's four ideas to get you thinking and hopefully make a difference in your training goals.

It's not the routine

The training routine you pick or design is not the deciding factor for success. STOP RIGHT NOW! Stop looking for the secret workout to get that 400lb squat or 17" arms. It's not the routine that will make the difference. You are the only person who can make it happen. You could hire Dan John, Dave Tate and Dorian Yates to design the ultimate routine for athletic, size and strength but guess what? If you don't WANT it it won't happen.

Knowing is not enough

We ALL want to be strong(er). Even those people who don't train want to be strong, They want nice physiques and they want to be better. I know you want to be bigger, stronger and better. However, that's not enough. Before the internet there was two ways you could 'brag' about your strength. You could write about it in a magazine or you could prove it on the platform in competition. Let me tell you something. No one cares what you lift. NO ONE! The only person who should care is YOU! Can you dig it? Get in the gym, lift. Go home, eat and sleep. Repeat. Grow. Compete. Be happy. End of story.

Dangerous liaisons

Are you training with weak people? Do they belittle your efforts? Is your gym full of gifted meatheads who offer nothing but snide comments and foolish pride? GET OUT! Find a proper gym. Find somewhere that you can learn from the other guys. Find strong people. Train with them. That alone will make you stronger.

It's not the exercises

There are lots of good exercises but there are only a handful of truly GREAT exercises. Some 'gurus' seems to be putting up new videos on YouTube and writing some bizarre e-book about this stunning new exercise for your (insert any muscle group here) every single week! Do yourself a favour. STOP READING THIS RUBBISH! You want the GREAT exercises? SQUAT! PRESS!! PULL!!! Everything else is just gravy.

Nick

Now watch Ed Coan Behind the neck Press 400lbs.

The Power Clean and Push Press

Over my 20 plus years of training there is one exercises I have neglected more than most. I have done countless squats, deadlifts, presses, curls, chins, dips, pushups, situps etc but I have done very little work to improve my power clean. It's a great exercise and can benefit everyone who performs it. Combining this movement with a push press creates a near perfect combination of upper and lower body exercise.

This may well be the most complete exercise for all round, full body, power and strength output in the book. Although squats and deadlifts require you to lift maximal weights with lots of muscle they don't do a few things the PC and PP does.

Why Power Clean?

1. It's a full movement. From the floor to full lockout overhead.
2. Unlike the the full clean and jerk you use more muscle power and less technique.
3. It requires very little coaching and is quite easy to learn.
4. Only the biceps and possibly the chest are not directly involved.
5. It has a great carry over to all sports from strongman to rugby to basketball.
6. Anyone can do it
7. It requires a bar and weights.
8. The power clean has a greater power output than most exercises (save perhaps the box squat?). It requires true accelerated force. Basically you have to start slow and move faster before the final explosion of force. Speed is king.

Why Push Press?

1. It requires minimal coaching. Bend the knees and return the energy to the bar with a forceful push of the legs and arms.
2. It is very natural. Often I have seen people doing push presses and calling them military presses. It's very natural to want to use some leg drive.
3. Unlike jerks the push press still requires a considerable amount of strength, especially when locking out heavy weights.
4. You're clean is usually the limiting factor. It should even up your strength. When doing a power clean and a military press, most people will be able to clean more than they can strict press. The push press equalizes this out and allows greater weights to be taken from the floor to overhead.
5. It's an athletic movement that will relate well to many sports from basketball to shot putt.
6. It is a great strength builder.

Combining the PC and PP creates a a unique exercise that requires very little equipment, minimal coaching whilst providing feedback on strength improvements, speed development and and coordinated  body movement.  Although the squat can do this with the lower body the power clean does it with the upper and lower body in synergy.

In terms of muscle used?

From the floor the hands grip the bar and the forearms tighten. The legs squeeze and initiate the lift. The back locks in tight along with the glutes and hamstrings. Half way the traps begin the shrug upwards. The abs stay tight throughout. At the top the hips push through, the calves extend the lower legs as the traps and upper back begin there final pull where the neck gets a brief workout at the rear. As the bar pulls through the arms bend but only to receive the bar in its final resting position at the clavicles. The legs re-bend slightly to absorb the weight of the barbell as the hands and wrists prepare to take the brunt of the force with elbows as high as possible forcing the bar onto the front delts.

From here the legs bend around 4-6 inches, the body stays upright to allow as much upwards force generated  by the legs to come into play. As the legs straighten up the calves continue the explosive push from the legs by raising up onto the toes. The arms (triceps) continue the push from here. The abs and lower back stay super tight  and the feet plant firmly as the weight is locked out overhead. There is no re-bend. 

Low reps or high reps?

Again the beauty of this dynamic combination is that you can do both high or low reps and reap rewards from both protocols. High reps are REALLY hard. Even sets of 5 are tough if you power clean every rep. 3 sets of 5 reps with a challenging weight (75-80% of your maximum) will get you puffing and panting, possibly a little bit wobbly and certainly seeing a few stars if you work hard enough. A hard set of 10-12 reps is great for a mental and physical challenge from time to time as well (get the sick bucket close by).
Low reps are also perfectly fine. Singles, doubles and triples will enforce good form, and allow you to really concentrate on mastering the skill of the whole exercise.

Here are some examples of a workout or three.

1. PC and PP - 1xwarm-up set of 5, 1xslightly heavier warm up set of 5. Then 3 sets of 5 reps with 75% of your one repetition maximum.
2. 1xwarm-up set of 5, 1xheavier warm-up set of 4, 1xheavier again warm-up set of 3. Then 5 sets of 2 reps in pyramid fashion. eg. 90x2, 95x2, 100x2, 95x2, 90x2.
3. Warm-up set of 5 reps. 8 progressively heavier singles or doubles working to a maximum weight. The drop the bar to 70-75% and go to failure for around 10-12 reps.

It was difficult to find any decent footage of correct PC and PP form. So instead here's a video of the amazing Serge Redding doing a clean and Olympic style press with a ridiculous 502lbs! I am sure Serge would have been able to virtually power clean that weight and he certainly could have push pressed it. You don't need to worry about the technicalities of the 'old' Olympic style press, however, you can still train like the great Serge Redding by lifting big weights from the floor to overhead with the Power Clean and Push Press.

Enjoy!

Nick

NOTE: If you find any really good examples of the Power Clean and Push Press please send them into me here. Thanks!

Routine design and Realism

I get a lot of people asking me for routines and I thoroughly enjoy helping them out. Over the years I have been coaching I have probably trained hundreds of people. Some of them stick to the routines, talk about the exercises with me, tweak certain things and review them after a month or so. Others take it and do their own 'version' of it instead. That's up to them but from now on I won't be doing routines for free. Why? Not because I want to make money but because it takes me a good amount of time to come up with a routine for someone. If I give them out for free people don't value them as much. If you pay for a routine design you automatically value it and will work at it. In the next week or so I'll be entering a post that explains exactly what I am offering to people who really WANT to train.

This post I want to explain some of the things I look at when designing a routine that is for a specific person. I should also note that I talk and ask questions to others to assist in my own routines as well. You never know too much. I have recently been talking to Rick and some of the throwers I know about certain aspects and it has helped me put together something nice for the first part of 2008. Never be afraid to ask people their opinions if you know they have experience that can help you. After 20 plus years of lifting and coaching I still want to learn.

Routine Design

1. Form.

Hopefully I have seen the person lift. The one thing I demand is perfect form. If you're lifting with sloppy or bad form on exercises then that is my first port of call. I don't care how strong you are, if you lifts are all wrong then eventually you'll get injured. Tighten up your bench, curls, chins, squats and deadlifts first and foremost.

2. Weaknesses.

It is said a lot but you really are only as strong as your weakest link. Westside might not be the answer for everyone but one thing that is paramount to lifting success that Louie Simmons drives home is to find your weakness.  If your lockout is weak on bench press or overhead then triceps are the key. Struggling at the top on deadlifts? Upper back work is your friend.

3. Exercises.

This will totally depend on your sport. Powerlifting, Weightlifting, Strongman, Bodybuilding, general sports or whatever. I usually sit down with a pen and paper and start jotting down exercises. I then add them into each day and then move them around, alter them and switch them so they have a specific use on that day. This can take sometime and is by no means a random activity. I may have three squat sessions a week for one person and only one for another. This is an important part of the design and I have to get this right.

4. Sets and Reps.

Again this takes time. I like basic sets and reps like 5x5, 5/4/3/2/1, 5x3 etc but I will note that someone may be great on high volume and include 8x3 or they may need less as they are a beginner so I will only give them 3x5. This again takes sometime and is specific to each person.

5. Warm-ups and prehab.

Warming up is becoming more important than ever the older I get. I work from top to bottom and in between for about 10 minutes or so. This can be general or specific to the workout. Everyone is different again. Someone may have poor flexibility and I may have them do extra glute or hamstring stretches here as well. Others may have shoulder problems where things like L flys can be of use in warming up. It must be done or problems will increase.

6. Progression.

I will explain how each exercise is to progress from week to week. Sometimes this is simply adding some weight. Sometimes adding sets. Sometimes adding reps. Sometimes both. Sometimes all three. Sometimes changing exercises. Sometimes going faster. Sometimes changing rep speed. This is done for each exercise on each day of training.

7. Duration.

This includes the duration of the workout and how long to continue the routine. I don't believe everyone can follow a specific 8-12 week routine all the way through. Things change and routines need to be tweaked. Work may get more demanding, you may get ill or other commitments make training time scarce. If I am working with someone I will change these as necessary. As a general rule though I don't change anything for 4 weeks unless they are very advanced (5 years plus of heavy training).  Workouts themselves should last no more than an hour and half and an hour is preferable.

8. Extras.

GPP (General Physical Preparedness) is a term from Russian Weightlifting and sports and is something I simply call extra conditioning. Most sports require extra general conditioning that will aid recovery and increase weekly workload. This can be simply adding in 10 sets of 10 pushups throughout the day or it might be extra abdominal work or dragging a sled for the upper body. Again this is general training that is specific to the routine and person it is for. SPP (Special Physical Preparedness) can also be employed which means special exercises for a particular sport. This might be throwing drills for a basketball player or dribbling skills for a soccer player.

9. Mobility and Flexibility.

Once again this is specific to the sport and general nature of the routine. A weightlifter needs mobility in the hips, ankles, wrists and shoulders and flexibility in the glutes, calves, upper back and chest. A martial artist will need different requirements like high dynamic kicking strength and bridging exercises. This is all specific and taken into account.

10. Nutrition.

I am not a nutritionist. I keep my diet advice to the minimum. Eat clean, fresh foods with each meals. Stay away from saturated fats such as cakes, chips and biscuits. Try not to eat too many carbs in the evening. Always eat breakfast. Drink water. As Dan John says, eat meat, leaves and berries and you can;t go far wrong!

This is a just part of what I do to prepare a full workout training schedule for many people. Some only require the routine itself. Exercises, sets and reps with some descriptions. Other need the full monty of routines, extras, flexibility, nutrition and progression.  It usually takes be between one and four hours. Hence time is money from now on. I'm not wasting my time designing a routine that someone might not follow.

Rock Climbers are meticulous in their training plans

Realism

Although goals are vital to training success you have get real. If you bench 200lbs don't expect 300lbs next year. It's not impossible but it's not going to happen without some serious commitment.

Two of my goals this year are to squat, olympic style with just a belt 220kg/485lbs for 5 reps. My best raw squat is 505lbs with just a belt. I have done 450 for 5 reps before. I am asking myself to add 7.5% to my best 5 rep set. Highly achievable but still good progress. I also want to clean and push press 140kg. My previous best is 125kg. This is a 15% increase. That's a LOT! However, over the last year I made some great improvements and found exercises that improved my overhead more than ever. I discovered my weaknesses and worked on them. 140kg is a big ask but it is not out of reach. I would never ask more than 15% on any lift in a year. However, younger lifters can make huge increases. I know a young lifter who has added 25% to some of his lifts or more in the past year. This isn't just about natural talent. He has talent for sure but more importantly he has drive, sets intermediate goals and works on his weaknesses. It can be done but less so by the advanced and experienced lifter. World Record Deadlifter and Powerlifting champion aims to add 2% to his lifts each year at the most. When you deadlift 1000lbs 2% (20lbs) is huge!

I hope this gives a small insight in to how one coach designs routines and sets goals for each individual. If you want a routine I will help you but you have to be willing to work.

Nick

1003lbs anyone? Andy Bolton adds as little as 2% to his maximum lifts each year.

 

750...almost...RAW!

Not much else to say really...Laurence Shahlaei deadlifts 340kg/748lbs raw (well a belt and straps but the grip is NEVER a problem for him) in freezing weather. Impressive you say...you wait till he really starts his winter training!

Nick

748lbs Deadlift

Get ya orders in!

David Horne has again designed a winner. His new Vulcan Hand Gripper is designed around his own Wrist Developer with an adjustable spring to take you from the strength of Ironmind's Trainer to the No.4 and beyond!

 

David is offering them at a special price so check them out.

Nick

Squatting through the ages

I've never been a great squatter but I have always enjoyed the squat more than most people. For the past few months I have had an injury in my adductor/groin/hip which is debilitating and frustrating. How bad my hips are is another story but the main thing is that despite the groin injury I have been able to do Hip Belt Squats. I bought a great Hip Belt from EFS called the Spud Inc. Belt Squat Belt and have been using it to rehab and keep some strength in my legs.

Loaded up with 140kg

My routine initially was Hip Belt squats for med/high reps followed immediately by Leg Curls using the low pulley and an attachment followed immediately by a heavy drag with the sled pulling backwards. This was brutal but effective. The last work set of the workout was as follows.

Hip Belt Squat - 295lbx15
Leg Curl - 70lbsx10
Drag - 600lbsx50ft

Our makeshift leg curl set up which works great.

Doesn't look like much but it is IF you do it properly. The leg curl is much harder than a regular leg curl machine hence the relatively low weight.
The last few weeks I have been going heavier as I come to the end of the Hip Belt experiment. I hit a triple with 405lbs which was my limit on this lift.

Going deep with 140kg for 10

Whilst I have been doing this Harry and Loz have been doing squats. Harry at 18 hit 225kg/495lbs today with super ease. Here he is being spotted by his older brother.

Harry hits an easy 210kg on his way to a 225kg PB.

Then two minutes later Laurence, 24,  hit a double with 290kg/638lbs.

Big Loz slams out a double with 290kg.

Both of them wore loose knee wraps and belts only.

Is there a point to this article? Well, simply put that young or getting old-er, there's always time for squats.  Whether it's front squats, back squats, olympic squats, safety squats, goblet squats, overhead squats or any other squats, you should be doing at least one of them each week - no excuses!

Nick

(All photos copyright Nick McKinless and Beyond Strong)