Meet Report - How Spud helps Thomas Phillips break RAW Pr's

By Thomas Phillips

For www.EliteFTS.com

IMAGE CAPTION: Marc Bartley is powerlifting’s Mr. Miyagi. (Marc is Japanese by virtue of cuisine.) Mr. Miyagi may be able to catch a fly with chopsticks, but Marc can kill a f@#kin elephant with a fork!

I just finished my seventh (full meet) raw powerlifting competition in 27 months. For the first 24 months, I followed the Westside for beginner’s template and made modifications and variations after the first couple times around. In my first meet, I totaled a pathetic 1105 lbs in the 181-lb raw division for the AAU. I squatted 350 lbs (no knee wraps), benched 270 lbs, and deadlifted 485 lbs. Two years later, leading into this past meet, my best lifts were a 440-lb squat (no knee wraps), a 300-lb bench, and a 545-lb deadlift. My best total was 1270 lbs in the 198-lb raw division.

To see my progress charts over the past two years, visit http://www.thomasphillipsfitness.com/pl_progress.html.

The Westside for beginner’s template and the modifications I made were working great for me. Overall, I was very happy with my progress. I decided to change things up a bit in September for a meet I was preparing for on December 15th. I contacted Marc Bartley at South Carolina Barbell and asked for his help. I shared with Marc what I had been doing and proposed to him the new template I was going to follow based on my weaknesses. Marc turned things around for me in a very good way.

“HMM Thomas, let me get my thinking cap on . . .”

I was used to doing a lot of 3–5 rep maxes on my ME work and a heck of a lot of supplementary work. I had done this for about two years, and I explained this to Marc.

Here’s the original template (with information about myself) that I proposed to Marc. It’s fairly typical of what I had been doing for my powerlifting training:

Template for December 15th meet

Helpful things to know about me:

On the bench press, if I miss, I miss the lift about halfway up
On the squat, if I miss, I miss out of the hole
On the deadlift, if I miss, I miss at the top

(I do a lot of stretching and foam rolling. I also get ART work done regularly so I do a good job of keeping myself injury free. I don’t go into it in the template, but just know that I do all the extra shit to keep myself healthy. No, I didn’t ask Marc for advice on how to stay injury-free. Marc uses a steam roller. He uses the foam rollers as hoagies.)

For all ME work, I try and beat the previous week’s numbers. For the first week, I’ll do four sets of all supplementary work. For the next week, I’ll do three sets of all supplementary work, and for the final week, I’ll only do two sets of all supplementary work. The idea is that during each three-week mini cycle, as the intensity goes up, the volume goes down. I’ll do this for weeks 1–3, 4–6, 7–9, and 10–12, choosing different ME lifts after every three weeks. The only difference is that in the bench press, I’ll take my eight rep max down to a six rep max during weeks 4–6. Then, I’ll take a five rep max during weeks 7–9 and a three rep max during weeks 10–12. For DE work on both the bench and the squat, I’ll add about 5–7 percent to the weight that I’m lifting each week within each three-week period. Then I’ll drop it back down and do it again in the next three-week period and so on.

Monday (DE bench press)

DE bench press 135 lbs with light band and monster mini for 10 sets of 3 reps

Supplementary work:

Bench press with 53-lb kettlebells hanging from bands off of bar (wide) for 4 sets of 12–15 reps

Pull-ups for 4 sets of 8 (I can do 21 pull-ups in a row, ME for one set)

Scarecrows with either bands or on functional trainer, 4 sets

Triceps work with ropes, dumbbells, straight bar, bands; I usually choose two to three exercises and do 4 sets of 12–15 reps

Wednesday (ME squat or deadlift)

Safety squat bar work up to a 5 rep max

Supplementary work:

Safety squat bar good mornings for 4 sets for 5

Glute ham raise for 4 sets of 12

Kettlebell best swings for 4 sets of 12

AB work; I do most of my ab work standing; I choose two exercises and do 4 sets of 12–30 reps of each

Friday (ME bench press)

ME bench press, work up to an 8 rep max

Supplementary work:

Thirty-degree incline dumbbell bench press for 4 sets of 12 reps

Feet elevated blast strap rows for 4 sets of 12

Twelve front dumbbell shoulder raises, then 12 lateral dumbbell shoulder raises, and then 12 bent over shoulder raises all in a row for 4 sets

Triceps work with ropes, dumbbells, straight bar, bands; I usually choose two to three exercises and do 4 sets of 12–15 reps

Saturday (DE squat/deadlift; max competition raw squat is 440 lbs and max competition raw deadlift is 545 lbs)

Squat for 10 sets of 2 reps with 200 lbs with light mini, mini, and monster mini bands

Deadlift for 10 sets of 1 rep with 315 lbs (no bands)

Supplementary work:

Sumo deadlift for 4 sets of 5 with a 70 percent weight (max sumo is 485 lbs)

Glute ham raise for 4 sets of 12

Forty-five-degree back extension with cambered bar on back for 4 sets of 12

Lateral side lunges for 4 sets of 20 reps holding heavy medicine ball

Ab work, choose two exercises and doing 4 sets of 12–30 reps

Sunday (GPP work)

20–30 minutes of sled dragging and Prowler work

Most of my work remains the same with the exception of rotating ME lifts on Wednesday. However, supplementary work pretty much stays the same. (I may do band pull thrus instead of kettlebell swings or I may do floor presses instead of the kettlebells on the bar presses.) In general, for legs I’ll be sure to hit the hammies, the glutes, and the hips in various ways.

Here’s how I plan to rotate my ME lifts on Wednesdays:

Wednesday’s ME work for weeks 4–6

Rack pulls about two inches below knee building to a 3 rep max

Wednesday’s ME work for weeks 7–9

Safety squat bar good mornings working to a 5 rep max

Wednesday’s ME work for weeks 10–12

Sumo deadlifts off floor working up to a 3 rep max

I would have a 10-day taper before the meet, but let me know what you suggest.

Marc took a look at this and changed my program up big time. Basically, he increased my intensity and decreased my overall volume.

Here’s the new template that Marc designed for me:

This is abbreviated because I asked Marc about 100 questions for clarification. Please keep in mind, he made this specifically for me based on the information that I gave him and what I had been doing in powerlifting for the past two years as well as my specific weaknesses.

He started me off with ME work and then went into DE work. I did ME lower on Wednesday and ME upper on Friday. I did DE upper on Monday, DE lower on Saturday, and GPP the first 10 weeks on Sunday. When Marc talks about DE work and says, “You can do all your crazy assistance work on this day” he is mainly talking about the assistance work that I wrote about in my proposed template.

ME work

Weeks 1–3
ME squat with chains or bands, go over your max with chains or band tension and less bar weight, doubles and a single or two on third week
Max rack pulls, 3 reps just below knees
ME floor press, threes to failure, competition grip
Heavy triceps presses with 4- or 5-board, 3 X 5 rep pinky ring on bar rings (semi close grip)

Weeks 4–6
ME squat singles third week, work up to 20 lbs of opener
Heavy triples or double on good mornings or Romanian deadlifts (sumo or regular)
ME bench, 2-board, threes to failure, competition grip
Heavy triceps with 4- or 5-board, 3 X 5

Weeks 7–9
ME squat, doubles, third week 85 percent for 2 X 2
Reverse band deadlifts, threes or twos to failure, one or two singles on third week
ME bench, 1-board, threes
Heavy triceps 4- or 5-board, 3 X 5

Weeks 10–12
ME squat week, 10 Russian routine 5, 3, 3, 3, 5 reps (the third set of three is about 80–90 percent and the final set of five is your first set of three)

Week 11–12

Repeat the Russian but at 70 percent on max set or you can do 6 X 3 at 55 percent and 50 percent
Rack pulls, 70 percent in week 10, 60 percent week 11, 50 percent week 12 (Get fast!!)
ME bench full press

Week 10 work up to 80–90 percent only, triples or doubles then 3–4 singles up to 90 percent
Heavy triceps 4-board, 3 X 5

Week 11, same, 70–80 percent doubles or triples, no singles
Semi heavy triceps, 3 X 5, 3-board

Week 12, light 2-board, 60 percent
No heavy board work

DE work

DE box squats the entire cycle, 6 X 3 reps only, you can vary the depth on boxes from right at parallel the first 3–4 weeks and work down to depth by lowering it an inch or two each cycle until the meet Work on control all the way down and then explode off the box
DE deadlifts, 3 X 5 reps only, no higher than 70 percent the entire cycle, pick only one type of deadlift in each session and toward the end go only with the deadlift that you’re going to do in the meet
(You can do all the crazy assistance work on this day.)

DE upper
Drop the sets to 8 X 3 only on DE bench
Do heavy shoulder work on this day (overhead pressing, kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells, log presses) Heavy threes
Do high rep snatches and snatch presses
Do most of your crazy assistance work on this day (i.e. extra back, biceps, heavy dumbbell rows for sets of 20)

The result was four PRs. I went up in all three lifts and put 50 lbs onto my best total. In a little over two years, I had increased my total by about 165 lbs, and in only 12 weeks on Marc’s suggested template, I put another 50 lbs onto that total. I had a few more lbs in me. I went from 1105 lbs to 1320 lbs in 27 months, and I’m certainly not done yet. My goal is to total raw elite in a drug-tested federation in the 198-lb division, which is 1471 lbs (no knee wraps). It’s all thanks to Marc that I’m that much closer to my goal. My 1320-lb total puts me at #34 in the top 50 (in all federations) for 198-lb raw lifters. Check it out at Powerlifting Watch.

Here are videos of my lifts. The first video shows my second attempt for the squat at 455 lbs. My third attempt at 465 lbs didn’t come out because someone stood in front of the camera. However, in all three squat attempts, I got three whites:

A big thanks goes to Marc Bartley for all his help. I highly recommend his services if you’re looking to put some pounds onto your total. No question, I would not have hit these numbers without his help. By the way, I bet you didn’t know that Mr. Miyagi gets more ass than Marc?

Thomas Phillips is the owner of Fit-for-Life Personal Training in Marlboro, New Jersey. He is the 2002 Body-for-Life Grand Master Champion. He placed first in the deadlift at the National AAU, received first place at the AAU PL Nationals 181 raw division, and is a national qualifier for the sport of kettlebell lifting. Thomas also won back to back first place finishes in the National TSC elite class (www.the-tsc.com) and the U.S. Army certificate of Achievement in Physical Fitness. Thomas was chosen to be an RKC team leader for Pavel Tsatsouline. He is a certified personal trainer, sport specific trainer, strength trainer, and kettlebell instructor. Visit his website at www.ThomasPhillipsFitness.com or www.FitforLifeMarlboro.comm.

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