Post by Dennis on Aug 24, 2004 14:50:57 GMT -5
Joe Average
part 4
by Jim Parrish
At the 2002 IPA Nationals, I bombed. This is part of the sport of powerlifting. I wasn't the only one as any caliber lifter can bomb at any meet. At Nationals, average and experienced lifters bombed out. It's how you respond to the situation that will determine any future success. The majority of the Body Factory team did very well. Most of the team set some personal bests records as well as world records. My problem was that the last month prior to nationals my canvas squat suit spent more time in the mail getting altered rather than on me for training. Despite this, I had a positive experience at Nationals. I missed a 765 squat by about half an inch. A year ago I squatted 650, so I am making gains.
I have received many questions and comments via e-mail this last month so I am going to answer them in this article. First, I have received comments about my opinion regarding the various squat suits. I base my recommendations on the following two criteria. First, performance and second Ron's opinion on the type of material used. Should I use an Inzer or Titan squat suit? Titan or Inzer have no idea who I am and I do not receive any special compensation from Titan. I pay for my gear just like everyone else. It's been my experience that I, as well as many other lifters on the team, have received far better results wearing Titan squat suits than Inzer. Also, Ron will tell you that the material Titan uses is superior and stronger than what Inzer uses.
The Program
Not everyone can train everyday. My program is set up so that you can do something everyday. Most of the workouts are short and quick. So if I have to get one of my kids to an after school activity, I can get into the gym and get the workout done. I am very lucky. Everything is close by and I can train everyday. Some people can only train 3, 4 or 5 days a week. Each one of the 6 training cycles is broken up into two halves. Days 1-5 are the speed half and days 6-10 are the max effort half. What I recommend is that the first week will be reserved for your speed work and the second week will be for your max effort work.
Days 4 and 9 are basically off days. We may just do some sled pulling. Your goal would be to get the 4 training days in at some time during the course of the week. There are members of my team who have to train like this and they are still getting great results. For example, Ron, our alterations guy, set three world records at Nationals and had the second highest coefficient. He was also the Best Lifter in the Masters division. He trains 4 days a week. Now keep in mind that if you train like this, you have to allow yourself 12 weeks to get through the 6 cycles rather than 60 days.
Meet Preparation
When I set up our training schedule, I start from the meet date and work backwards. My program is set up so that we train each muscle group every 5 days. Our bodies get conditioned for that. Just because a meet is coming doesn't mean you start taking the week off before the meet. For example, if you've trained your squat every 5 days for two months or for two years, you want your last squat workout to be 5 days before the meet. Too much time off, even an extra day or two can do more harm than good. You've trained your body to peak on that 5th day. Now, the last week before a meet, five days out, I can't both squat and bench, so the only time in the entire program that we go on 4 days is the bench. If the meet is on a Saturday, day 8 cycle 6 will be done on Tuesday and day 6 cycle 6 will be done on Monday. The bench is the lift that is least effected by the one less day. Then starting with day 8 cycle 6, I work back 5 days, which will then be day 3 cycle 6. I then fill in everyday on the calendar until I get to day 1 cycle 1. For example, we are having a full meet at the Body Factory on Feb. 1. The training cycle starts on Dec. 3. Some of us are doing the IPA Dedication meet in Harrisburg, Pa. on Feb. 15 and 16. The training cycle for that meet starts on Dec. 15, on day 1 cycle 1 and you then train right through all 6 cycles.
As you can see, we do our max effort work right before the meet, others finish there training with there speed work. What we have found to be the most effective, having tried both ways is to finish with max effort work. The band combinations that we use on max effort squat and bench will be more resistive than the amount of weight we will be doing in the meet, therefore from both a mental and physical perspective, training this way gives us much more confidence in a meet.
You might notice that we just did Nationals and we are starting another training cycle. Guess what? Time off is the worse thing for you. Your muscles do not retain strength by just lying around. If you take weeks or months off after a meet you will lose everything you've gained. I hear people say, “Well I need time off to recover!” That is the biggest crock that I've ever heard. My program allows for enough recovery time between workouts. If you are well conditioned through sled pulling and you have raised your GPP as Dave teaches, you can train year round. I'm 38 years old and I'm clean. I cannot afford to lose any of the gains that I have made by taking time off. I do 5 meets a year. I do one training cycle after another and have yet to hit the wall. If you do one or two meets a year and you bomb one of those, are your going to put all of your eggs in one basket for one meet? I do 5 meets a year so that I can evaluate my progress. It allows me to see my weaknesses and correct them. The transition from a polyester suit to a canvas takes a lot of time, training and alterations. The best way to learn how to correctly use your gear is to lift in as many meets as you can. Every other sport plays more than one or two games a year. It is the athlete that is the best conditioned and trained that is successful throughout the course of a season. This is the same with a powerlifter.
Abs, Hamstrings and Back
When do you do your abs? I don't see any hamstring exercises! What about back exercises? First, I leave the ab exercises to the individual. I hate doing them and I should do more than I do. Just get them done at some point during the week. We strengthen our hamstrings when we do our wide stance good mornings with bands and when we do Reverse Hyperextensions with bands as demonstrated on my video. If you do wide stance good mornings as I teach them, you will develop powerful hamstrings. I rely solely on pull-ups with bands to develop my lats. I have been able to develop very strong lats by just doing only pull-ups with bands. This is what helped me to obtain a 700 deadlift this year at 235lbs.
Gear
I'm tired of reading these articles criticizing the gear that lifters use. I watched football yesterday and I did not see one player with a leather helmet. A NASCAR race team will spend millions of dollars every year developing racecars to be the best. These cars have the best aerodynamics, the best chassis, the best engines and tires. This is also seen in professional sports. They have the best training facilities, the best gear, and the best of everything. Every other sport has progressed with time. People are always developing the better equipment to give athletes the best chance to win. Powerlifting is no different. In order to be the best in this sport you have to train hard and wear the best gear. One great advantage is the better gear that is coming out will help to prevent injuries. Am I advocating the lifters that cheat and wear 2 or 3 squat suits? No. But lifting with little or no gear will shorten your career.
part 4
by Jim Parrish
At the 2002 IPA Nationals, I bombed. This is part of the sport of powerlifting. I wasn't the only one as any caliber lifter can bomb at any meet. At Nationals, average and experienced lifters bombed out. It's how you respond to the situation that will determine any future success. The majority of the Body Factory team did very well. Most of the team set some personal bests records as well as world records. My problem was that the last month prior to nationals my canvas squat suit spent more time in the mail getting altered rather than on me for training. Despite this, I had a positive experience at Nationals. I missed a 765 squat by about half an inch. A year ago I squatted 650, so I am making gains.
I have received many questions and comments via e-mail this last month so I am going to answer them in this article. First, I have received comments about my opinion regarding the various squat suits. I base my recommendations on the following two criteria. First, performance and second Ron's opinion on the type of material used. Should I use an Inzer or Titan squat suit? Titan or Inzer have no idea who I am and I do not receive any special compensation from Titan. I pay for my gear just like everyone else. It's been my experience that I, as well as many other lifters on the team, have received far better results wearing Titan squat suits than Inzer. Also, Ron will tell you that the material Titan uses is superior and stronger than what Inzer uses.
The Program
Not everyone can train everyday. My program is set up so that you can do something everyday. Most of the workouts are short and quick. So if I have to get one of my kids to an after school activity, I can get into the gym and get the workout done. I am very lucky. Everything is close by and I can train everyday. Some people can only train 3, 4 or 5 days a week. Each one of the 6 training cycles is broken up into two halves. Days 1-5 are the speed half and days 6-10 are the max effort half. What I recommend is that the first week will be reserved for your speed work and the second week will be for your max effort work.
Days 4 and 9 are basically off days. We may just do some sled pulling. Your goal would be to get the 4 training days in at some time during the course of the week. There are members of my team who have to train like this and they are still getting great results. For example, Ron, our alterations guy, set three world records at Nationals and had the second highest coefficient. He was also the Best Lifter in the Masters division. He trains 4 days a week. Now keep in mind that if you train like this, you have to allow yourself 12 weeks to get through the 6 cycles rather than 60 days.
Meet Preparation
When I set up our training schedule, I start from the meet date and work backwards. My program is set up so that we train each muscle group every 5 days. Our bodies get conditioned for that. Just because a meet is coming doesn't mean you start taking the week off before the meet. For example, if you've trained your squat every 5 days for two months or for two years, you want your last squat workout to be 5 days before the meet. Too much time off, even an extra day or two can do more harm than good. You've trained your body to peak on that 5th day. Now, the last week before a meet, five days out, I can't both squat and bench, so the only time in the entire program that we go on 4 days is the bench. If the meet is on a Saturday, day 8 cycle 6 will be done on Tuesday and day 6 cycle 6 will be done on Monday. The bench is the lift that is least effected by the one less day. Then starting with day 8 cycle 6, I work back 5 days, which will then be day 3 cycle 6. I then fill in everyday on the calendar until I get to day 1 cycle 1. For example, we are having a full meet at the Body Factory on Feb. 1. The training cycle starts on Dec. 3. Some of us are doing the IPA Dedication meet in Harrisburg, Pa. on Feb. 15 and 16. The training cycle for that meet starts on Dec. 15, on day 1 cycle 1 and you then train right through all 6 cycles.
As you can see, we do our max effort work right before the meet, others finish there training with there speed work. What we have found to be the most effective, having tried both ways is to finish with max effort work. The band combinations that we use on max effort squat and bench will be more resistive than the amount of weight we will be doing in the meet, therefore from both a mental and physical perspective, training this way gives us much more confidence in a meet.
You might notice that we just did Nationals and we are starting another training cycle. Guess what? Time off is the worse thing for you. Your muscles do not retain strength by just lying around. If you take weeks or months off after a meet you will lose everything you've gained. I hear people say, “Well I need time off to recover!” That is the biggest crock that I've ever heard. My program allows for enough recovery time between workouts. If you are well conditioned through sled pulling and you have raised your GPP as Dave teaches, you can train year round. I'm 38 years old and I'm clean. I cannot afford to lose any of the gains that I have made by taking time off. I do 5 meets a year. I do one training cycle after another and have yet to hit the wall. If you do one or two meets a year and you bomb one of those, are your going to put all of your eggs in one basket for one meet? I do 5 meets a year so that I can evaluate my progress. It allows me to see my weaknesses and correct them. The transition from a polyester suit to a canvas takes a lot of time, training and alterations. The best way to learn how to correctly use your gear is to lift in as many meets as you can. Every other sport plays more than one or two games a year. It is the athlete that is the best conditioned and trained that is successful throughout the course of a season. This is the same with a powerlifter.
Abs, Hamstrings and Back
When do you do your abs? I don't see any hamstring exercises! What about back exercises? First, I leave the ab exercises to the individual. I hate doing them and I should do more than I do. Just get them done at some point during the week. We strengthen our hamstrings when we do our wide stance good mornings with bands and when we do Reverse Hyperextensions with bands as demonstrated on my video. If you do wide stance good mornings as I teach them, you will develop powerful hamstrings. I rely solely on pull-ups with bands to develop my lats. I have been able to develop very strong lats by just doing only pull-ups with bands. This is what helped me to obtain a 700 deadlift this year at 235lbs.
Gear
I'm tired of reading these articles criticizing the gear that lifters use. I watched football yesterday and I did not see one player with a leather helmet. A NASCAR race team will spend millions of dollars every year developing racecars to be the best. These cars have the best aerodynamics, the best chassis, the best engines and tires. This is also seen in professional sports. They have the best training facilities, the best gear, and the best of everything. Every other sport has progressed with time. People are always developing the better equipment to give athletes the best chance to win. Powerlifting is no different. In order to be the best in this sport you have to train hard and wear the best gear. One great advantage is the better gear that is coming out will help to prevent injuries. Am I advocating the lifters that cheat and wear 2 or 3 squat suits? No. But lifting with little or no gear will shorten your career.