Tag Archives: Training

THE TRUTH MAY HURT (BUT IT’S STILL THE TRUTH)

BY DAVE GLASGOW

I LOVE WORKING WITH METAL.  CUTTING, GRINDING, FITTING, MELTING.  IT’S ALL FASCINATING TO ME.  HOWEVER, MOST OF ALL, I LOVE TO WELD.  NOW, I WILL GRANT YOU, I AM NOT THAT GREAT A WELDER.  I LEARNED MANY YEARS AGO FROM A MAN WHO WAS PRETTY DAMN GOOD AT FABRICATING THINGS.  HE COULD ‘EYE-BALL’  A BENT PIECE OF STEEL, AND IN NO TIME, HAVE IT BACK TO VERY NEAR PERFECT.  I ALWAYS MARVELED AT THAT AND ASKED HOW HE GOT SO GOOD AT IT.  HE LOOKED AT ME AND SAID, ‘PATIENCE, PERSISTANCE AND YOU HAVE TO DO IT CONSISTANTLY.’

THE OTHER DAY, I WAS ATTEMPTING TO GET MY WELDER STARTED TO MAKE UP SOME STANDS I HAVE WANTED FOR A WHILE NOW.  TRY AS I MIGHT, I COULD NOT GET THE DAMN THING TO RUN.  I AM NO MECHANIC.  I KNOW THE RUDIMENTARY CONCEPTS BEHIND A COMBUSION ENGINE AND THAT IS IT.  I FINALLY PINNED IT DOWN TO A FUEL PROBLEM.  THAT ENGINE HAS NOT BEEN RUN ENOUGH OVER THE YEARS FOR IT TO PERFORM CORRECTLY!  BUILD UP IN THE FUEL TANK HAS CAUSED ALL SORTS OF CRUD AND SCALE TO BUILD UP IN IT AND HAS GOTTEN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK AND, THUS, INTO THE FUEL SYSTEM ITSELF.  NOW, I STILL HAVE NOT GOTTEN THAT BLESSED THING TO GO, YET.  BUT, I WILL.  IT MAY TAKE SOME TIME BUT I WILL.

WHICH BRINGS ME TO THE POINT OF THIS WRITING.  I ACTUALLY HAVE TWO POINTS, HOWEVER, BARE WITH ME.  ONE THING AT A TIME.

I AM GUILTY OF THE BIGGEST SIN IN WEIGHT TRAINING(LIFTING).  I AM NOT VERY CONSISTANT.  SUBCONSCIOUSLY, I HAVE KNOWN THIS FOR YEARS.  ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO, A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE WAS TALKING TO ME ABOUT TRAINING AND HE SAID, ‘YOUR MAJOR PROBLEM IS YOU DON’T STAY WITH IT LONG ENOUGH TO DO YOU ANY REAL GOOD!’  BUSTED!!  THERE IT WAS.  THE TRUTH WAS SHOOVED DIRECTLY DOWN MY THROAT.  I KNEW IT, IT DID’NT FEEL REAL GOOD BUT SOMEONE ELSE HAD TO SAY IT TO ME FOR IT TO REALLY SINK IN. 

THAT THOUGHT POPPED INTO MY HEAD, AS I WAS STRUGGLING FUTILLY OVER THAT WELDER ENGINE, ‘THIS DAMN THING IS JUST AS I AM.  IT WOULD BE A PRETTY GOOD WELDER IF IT WERE USED MORE OFTEN!’  HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE HEARD, ‘DON’T USE IT, LOSE IT?’  WELL, HERE WAS A MECHANICAL AND HUMAN EXAMPLE, INCARNATE.

THE OTHER POINT I WOULD LIKE TO SUBMIT IS THIS.  IN ORDER FOR THINGS TO WORK CORRECTLY IN OUR LIFTING, WE HAVE TO BE PATIENT AND PERSISTANT, WHICH MEANS WE MUST HAVE CONSISTANCEY OF TRAINING.  THIS MEANS YOU HAVE TO, SOMETIMES, ‘WILL’ YOURSELF TO THE GYM, WORK HARD AND ACCEPT THE SMALL GAINS THAT COME YOUR WAY.  AND BE GLAD FOR IT!!

THIS PAST YEAR, MY OWN TRAINING HAS BEEN MORE CONSISTANT THAN ANY OTHER TIME IN MY LIFE.  I HAVE A TRAINING PARTNER THAT NEVER MISSES A WORKOUT.  THERE ARE DAYS I AM SURE I WOULD JUST GO HOME IF I KNEW HE WAS’NT THERE, WAITING FOR ME.  GOOD TRAINING PARTNERS ARE AS IMPORTANT AS ANY EQUIPMENT YOU COULD EVER PURCHASE.

AND, GUESS WHAT?!  LAST SPRING, I POSTED A LIFE TIME BEST SQUAT!  EVEN AT MY AGE!!  I WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THAT.  HOWEVER, IT WAS JUST PROOF POSITIVE THAT YOU HAVE TO BE REGULAR IN YOUR TRAINING.  VERY SIMPLY PUT,  ………..‘SHOW UP, SHUT UP, GET TO WORK’!

‘PATIENCE, PERSISTANCE AND YOU HAVE TO DO IT CONSISTANTLY’.  THAT OLE MAN KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT!

I SURE DO MISS HIM.

Unorthodoxy: A Training Program

By Thom Van Vleck

Bill Pearl autographed this cover of Muscular Development for my Uncle Phil. This picture hangs in the JWC Training Hall and inspires me in my bodybuilding workouts.

Anybody that trains for any length of time will get stale on any particular routine.  Everybody knows that.  We constantly switch things around to keep things fresh.  For many of us this means recycling many of the basic routines over and over….which can become stale within itself.  I have been training for 36 years and it’s easy to get stuck in a rut and make no progress.  Or in my case, at age 49….trying to hold off the aging process which means lifting a weight I did 10 years ago is considered progress!!!! With those kinds of goals (avoiding decline instead of making gains) it becomes harder for me to stay motivated and enthusiastic about my training.

So, last year I decided I needed to shake some things up.  I upped my sets and reps, added  more exercises to the mix, and did what I would call an “Old School Bodybuilding” Workout.  Something that would make Reg Park or Bill Pearl happy!  This meant training heavy, but with more sets and reps.  I figured my single rep strength would suffer but to my surprise….it’s doing quite well.  I would credit the routine, but I really think it’s the enthusiasm this routine has created in my training.  My enthusiasm has been the highest it has been in years!

I really tried to start thinking outside the box.  I recalled about 18 years ago working my Bench Press for a solid year and adding a paltry 5lbs to my max.  Back then I was in my early 30’s and expected more!  I went from 360lbs to 365lbs.  I went into my next workout with no real plan and decided to hit ten sets of ten reps with 185lbs (about 50% of my max).  Boy was I sore the next day.  I had been used to a basic 3 sets of 8 reps program and this more then quadrupled my reps.  I went into my next workout still without a plan so I just added 10lbs and decided to make hitting 225lbs for 10 sets of 10 reps my goal.  I spent the next 6 months doing this same routine with NO ASSISTANCE work (of course, I was working back and legs….but no upper body assistance work).  This may be hard to believe, but I eventually did 300lbs for 10 sets of 10 reps.

Now, before Al Myers calls BS on me….let me explain.  When I did the 185, it was full reps, controlled, with a full pause at the bottom.  As I increased my form got sloppier and sloppier…..I didn’t care because I was so frustrated with my bench anyways.  I began to do half reps only locking out the last rep and slamming them harder and harder off my chest.  I also began to wear two, three, and even five tight t-shirts for extra padding.  So, I’m sure if I’d been doing these in a gym there would have been some guy making fun of me, telling me I was a joke, etc. etc.   I will be the first to admit that ten sets of ten reps with 300 was about the ugliest benches you would ever see.

The result.  The next week I warmed up.  I loaded 370 for the easiest PR I’d had in years.  I got cocky and jumped to 390….and got it.  Then I went to 400lbs…and I narrowly missed the first try and then did it on a second attempt!  I jumped up and screamed like I’d won the lottery!  The last Powerlifting meet I was in I got that 400lbs wearing a single ply bench shirt and that was my last  powerlifting meet.  I would point out I got 2 reds on that 400 for moving my feet….but I got it as far as I was concerned.  At that point Highland Games were beginning to consume my interest and I haven’t maxed on the bench since.

More recently, I have went back to that 10×10….with a twist.  I call it the 10x10x10.  Again, this is Unorthodox and will likely get you funny looks in gyms and chastised by most trainers.  But I just don’t care if it gets me results and keeps my interest up.  That’s worth more than “perfect form and the perfect routine”.  So, here are two examples of my 10x10x10.

The first is the Dumbbell Press.  I do 10 sets of 10 reps…..but at 10 different angles.  I have an adjustable bench that goes from a straight up and down to different angles of inclines all the way to a flat bench and then I slide plates under the front end to get two levels of declines.  So it’s ten sets of ten reps done ten different angles.  I have done this with the same weight allowing minimal rest and I’ve done it increasing the weight each set.

The second version of my 10x10x10 is with the box squat.  I have been using a safety squat bar which right there will get you made fun of my some guys.  I contend that you can save your back a lot with that bar and at my age that’s an issue.  I also would contend that you have to be very disciplined in using it as you can easily cheat.  I focus on keeping me weight centered on the balls of my feet and only using my hands to keep my body upright. This limits the weight…which is hard on the ego…but keeps the focus on my legs where I want it.  I do 10 sets of 10 on the squat but I start with a rock bottom squat, then to an 8″ box, then 10″…..in 2″ increments up to 24″ which from me having a 36″ inseam is well above parallel (God forbid!).  All the while I jump up in weight.

I’m not trying to say these are “secret routines” or you will have great gains, I’m just trying to show you how I have used some “Unorthodoxy” in my training to keep me motivated.  So, from time to time try being a little unorthodox in your training.  I would still say a good, structured program is best, but every so often do something outside the box.  A little change from time to time is good.

Moving Past the Hype of Science

by Eric Todd

This is a picture of Eric "ET" Todd training strongman events at the Dino Gym a few years back. Eric is one of "very few" men that have loaded the Dino Gym's 405# stone to a 48" platform. (photo courtesy of webmaster).

It has been quite obvious that a number of you on here are very interested in the science behind weight training.  I tried to go down that road once.  I had been competing a few years, won some meets, won a strongman nationals and placed well in others, and had won my pro card in strongman.    I heard other guys who would talk about the science behind what we were doing.  I began to think that if I was more knowledgeable in this arena,  it may lend itself to further success.   So I delved in.  I ordered some books on programming, read some online articles about the science between diet and nutrition, and so on and so forth.  It was about 10 minutes into this venture that I realized I may better enjoy myself (and understand what I am doing) if I were to go watch the grass grow or possibly find a recently painted wall somewhere that I could enjoy watching dry.  I guess it is for some, but not for everybody.  As luck would have it, I have surrounded myself with some very knowledgeable people in that area that I can go to if I have a question.  I just bring a translator along to decipher what they are saying.

No, what fascinates me the most about strength training/competition is the psychology involved.  I love the concept of man against immoveable object.  I love facing the worthy adversary and conquering it with a successful lift, or coming back to defeat the iron a different day.  Falling down, but coming back again, and again, and again.  Even if George Kennedy is standing over you telling you “Stay down.  You’re beat.”

My way at looking at weightlifting, strongman (or any physical conquest for that matter) is a rather primordial one.  When attacking a top end or PR type weight, I am often able to go inside my head, and establish a fight or flight frame of mind, if only for a moment or two.  Shoot, there have been times when I came back out of my head to attack the iron, I found I had tears in my eyes and a rage in my heart.  That heap of scrap didn’t stand a chance!   When I set myself up for a heavy lift I sell my soul to the devil.  Did the same thing when stepping on a wrestling mat, a football field, or preparing to run a 400m dash.  I throw everything I have into it, and when it is said and done, I will have won or I would have lost, but there would be no doubt either way.  No excuses.  Now for the disclaimer.  This methodology has often left me with  injury, and has left me a crippled, hobbled old man at 38.  But I wouldn’t do it any other way.

I will have to say, that seeing a big lift gets me going.  But what really jacks me up, almost to the point of swinging at the fences my adrenaline is running so, has nothing to do with the amount of weight moved.  It is when you see somebody who sells themselves out on a lift.  One of those deadlifts that takes 15 second to complete.  Or the yoke walk that was so slow and arduous that the individual never had a chance of a decent placing, but they never set it down, never gave up on it, all the way to the end.  That kind of effort is a real inspiration.  Where it is cool to see someone make a lift look easy, what really shows the do or die attitude I am talking about is when the lift is not easy, as a matter of fact, there are a few times when there is grave doubt about the lifter completing it.  But they dig in, they grind it out.  They exhaust themselves physically.  And most importantly, they exhaust themselves mentally. 

Now, this article was not written in an effort to make me seem like a   bad ass.  It is just an effort to explain the mentality that has been engrained in me through where I came from.  Everything you got, you earned, and there was no place for excuses.  If you were not tough, you were going to get tough.   Nor is it in an effort to slam those who enjoy the science behind it.  I know it has its place, and I seek help from those smarter than me all the time.  My point is that science does not have an answer for everything.  And sometimes when George Kennedy is standing above you, you have to get up one more time, and reply “You’re gonna have to kill me.”

Rep Schemes

by Larry Traub

Dave Glasgow performing a Pullover and Push at the 2011 USAWA National Championships. Larry Traub is in the background to the left "looking on". (photo and caption by webmaster)

 The last two emails I received from Dave Glasgow who has been my lifting partner for the last 40 years, (even though we now live 800 miles apart) went like this.  The first one just encouraged me to start submitting some articles that could be used on the USAWA website.  The second one went exactly like this except for some expletives deleted.  (Only one, which is pretty good for Dave.)

“I was thinking last evening (yeah, laugh, ************). I am doing the 5/3/1 deal and it struck me. I know that you are a fan of the 7 rep system which got me wondering……

Take a weigh that you know you can’t get 7 reps with. Do however many sets it takes to get 7 reps. Example

Set 1… 2 reps, Set 2…2 reps, Set3 … 1rep, Set4…1 rep, Set5…1 rep.  OR

Set 1… 3 reps, Set 2…2 reps, Set3 … 2rep.   OR

Set 1… 4 reps, Set 2…3 reps.  OR

Set 1… 6 reps, Set 2…1 rep.  OR

You see where I am going. As you get stronger, the intensity increases but the volume ALWAYS remains the same. So I think you have a built in safety net of not actually doing the same workout twice.  When you can do one set of seven, that’s it for the day. You add weight the next workout and start over.

Thoughts??”

Well I did think about it and decided to use Dave’s idea as fodder for my article. First you need to realize how hard it is for Dave to take training advice from me.  So, even though he took a principal that I used and altered it beyond recognition before he considered using it, it is still a big step for him.  First, I’m not stuck on seven reps as being a magic number.  What I’m really doing is focusing on the development of the type 2B muscle fibers, which get maximum stimulation for growth when failure of an exercise is reached somewhere around the 7 to 10 rep range.  There are 3 types of fibers. First, the slow twitch type 1 muscle fibers which are stimulated by endurance activity and have no real ability for growth.  These have no real value for a weightlifter and too much endurance activity will result in the loss of our all important fast twitch fibers.   The second type is the type 2A fiber which is the fast twitch fiber that is geared  towards a little more endurance and is stimulated when failure of an exercise is reached somewhere in the 12 -20 rep range. This has some limited potential for growth.  It appears that it’s potential for growth is greatly increased with anabolic drugs so if you read articles about bodybuilders getting great results with high reps you need to consider the possibility of drugs being involved.  The last of course is the 2B muscle fibers which are the fibers that have maximum growth potential for the bodybuilders, and maximum potential for explosive movement which is probably a focus for most every athlete except the extreme endurance athlete.

I am first and foremost a powerlifter, so what I’ve done is taken the squat bench and deadlift and focused on 7 reps as my goal for a particular workout in those lifts. I am staying in the low end of the 7-10 rep range because these are the lifts I will compete in and I want to work with as heavy a weight as possible while stimulating the type 2B fibers.   For most of the other  “assistance” exercises in my workout I use a 10 rep goal because I am generally not concerned about my max on these.  This makes sense on another front also because it’s not really how many reps you do. It’s more about reaching failure in a certain amount of time.  I believe that doing a rep on squat, bench or deadlift will generally take longer than completing a rep on one of my assistance exercises.  For instance it seems reasonable that the time elapsed in doing a set of 7 in the squat might be the same or greater than doing a set of 10 on my hyperextension machine.

The late, great, West Virginia heavyweight , Luke Iams has often been quoted as saying, “Anything over 6 reps is bodybuilding.”  I might agree, but would have to ask, why is that a bad thing? Bodybuilding does not imply that you have to shave your body and get out the Speedos.  It just means that you are concerned with building muscle size which is directly proportional to strength.  My personal experiences with competitive bodybuilding some 30 years ago has made me conscious of training the whole body and maintaining a balanced physique while training at a bodyweight where I am fairly lean. I think this emphasis has aided me in my powerlifting.  It has also, absolutely, been a plus in my latest ventures in USAWA, where eventually every muscle in the body is tested and the bodyweight formula rewards a lean muscular body. 

Of course there is always the concern that the person who focuses on bodybuilding will become narcissistic and egotistical.  Was that a problem in my case?  I would have to say, no, I’m pretty sure those personality traits were probably firmly established before I ever oiled up and took the stage.  Actually, I can remember a time in college where several members of our lifting group were discussing bodybuilding.  I don’t remember details, but I’m guessing the conversation reflected a general disdain for the sport.  I was taken aback when a buddy spoke up and said, “You know, we’re all bodybuilders.”  This guy was on the football team and eventually became a pastor.  I’m sure he had no plans to ever compete as a bodybuilder.  He was just recognizing the fact that we were all enjoying how weightlifting changed the way we looked and the way we felt about ourselves. Maybe that’s OK.

So, what about the lower reps? What purpose does that serve?  Well, a powerlifter has to test his strength levels so he knows what attempts are feasible in a contest.  He also has to give his body, and maybe more importantly, his mind an opportunity to adapt to the heavyweights. But I really think that most of the benefit that lifters experience from doing lifts in the 1-5 rep range is neuromuscular. Training their brain and body to interact is a way that allows a strong signal can be sent to the muscles, so that every available muscle fiber can be recruited for one maximum explosion of power.  I usually switch to the lower reps 4 or 5 weeks away from a contest.  Would I get more benefit from spending more time with the lower reps in my lifting? Who knows, but I am convinced that some combination of the lower reps and the “bodybuilding” could benefit every lifter and probably most every athlete

What about Dave’s idea. Could it result in a nice mix of type 2B fiber development and neuromuscular activity?  Possibly so.  Lifting is definitely not an exact science, but there a lot of science involved.  A lot of different things have worked quite well for a lot of different people. I guess my feeling is this. If you have a better understanding of how all these different factors contribute to the big picture then you might have a little more success in designing the workout that gives you the results you are looking for.

ARE YOU REALLY WORKING HARD?

BY DAVE GLASGOW

Larry Traub performing a 325 pound Zercher Lift at the 2011 USAWA National Championships in route to winning the Overall Best Lifter Award in Larry's first USAWA National Meet appearance. Obviously, Larry has worked out very hard in his life to achieve this accomplishment! (photo and caption courtesy of webmaster)

ASK ANYONE WHO TRAINS WITH WEIGHTS. ARE YOU WORKING HARD?? NINETY NINE OUT OF A HUNDRED WILL LOOK YOU RIGHT IN THE EYE AND SAY, “YES, I WORK HARD!!” HMMMM…ARE THEY REALLY??

A FEW YEARS AGO, THE WINFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT SPONSERED MY BUDDY AND EARLIEST TRAINING PARTNER, LARRY TRAUB, TO COME AND SPEAK TO THE LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES ABOUT LIFTING AND HIS TRAINING PHYLOSOPY.  WITH NUMEROUS NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS AND COUNTLESS NATIONAL CHAMPS TO HIS CREDIT, AS WELL AS HIS OWN RESUME’,  WE FELT HE HAD SOMETHING TO SAY!!  HE WAS SCHEDULED TO TALK FOLLOWING A MORNING WORKOUT BY THE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM.  HE TOLD ME HE WANTED TO GO WORKOUT AT THE SAME TIME AS THE KIDS WERE HAVING THEIR WORKOUTS. LITTLE DID I KNOW THIS WAS REALLY A RECONISCONCE MISSION!!

FOLLOWING THEIR WORKOUT, HIS TALK BEGAN.  LARRY’S PHIOSOPHY CAME OUT AND HE CALLED FOR ONE OF THE LIFTERS OF THAT MORNING’S WORKOUT TO COME FORWARD.  AS I RECALL,  HE WAS ONE OF THE ‘STRONGEST’ OF THAT GROUP AND HAD BEEN SQUATING WITH WHAT I WOULD CALL A MODERATE WEIGHT, FOR FIVE REPS.  THIS SEEMED TO BE ABOUT ALL THE KID COULD HANDLE.  LARRY TOLD THE BOY THAT HE WAS WATCHING HIM SQUAT EARLIER AND, ALTHOUGH HE HAD JUST FINISHED HIS WORKOUT FOR THE DAY, HE (LARRY) WOULD LIKE HIM TO TRY SOMETHING FOR HIM.  LARRY LOADED THE BAR WITH THE VERY SAME WEIGHT THAT THE LAD WAS USING PRIOR AND SAID, “OKAY. I’LL BET YOU THAT, EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE DONE YOUR WORKOUT, YOU CAN DO 10 REPS WITH THE SAME WEIGHT YOU WERE USING BEFORE!”  EVERYONE LAUGHED, THE BOY SEEMED SKEPTICAL BUT SAID HE WOULD GIVE IT A GO.  WITH EACH REP, THE LAD WAS ENCOURAGED TO “GET ONE MORE!”, AND EACH TIME, HE COMPLIDED! UNTIL HE HAD DONE 12 REPS!!

THERE WAS A LOT OF WHISPERING AND GIGGLING BUT THE POINT HAD BEEN MADE. “MAYBE WE NEED TO WORK JUST A LITTLE HARDER!”

I KNOW IN MY OWN CASE, I FIND MYSELF ON AUTO-PILOT, JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS A LOT OF THE TIME.  HOWEVER, THE POINT OF THE WHOLE TALK WAS THE NEED FOR INTENSITY!!  MOST ANY PROGRAM WILL BRING A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF SUCCESS.  BUT, YOU HAVE TO BRING THE INTENSITY IN ORDER TO GET THE FULL BENEFIT OF THE WORKOUT. SO, THE NEXT TIME YOU ARE TRAINING, ASK YOURSELF. “AM I REALLY WORKING HARD!!”  YOU MAY SURPRISE YOURSELF, IF YOU ARE HONEST, WITH THE ANSWER!!

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