Powerlifting

We have to go way back to get some understanding on this one. Back in 2000, when we were skeletons and I was almost ripped, Adipose had just sold his gym and was going for his—literally—all for broke, make it or break it, in powerlifiting. Now, in order to complete his master plan, he had to dissolve all ties. I know this is silly, but this is how the man thinks.

I’m a fat man at heart. I eat a lot. Five reps is “high-rep” work for me.

The deadlift has become very popular over the past few years. It’s a relatively easy exercise to understand.

I received a call two weeks ago from a friend of mine, and he had some good news for me. About five months ago, he and I were discussing a three-day split that would accommodate his needs and time schedule. He’s an ex-football player, and competes in the 242 lbs class. Like many of you, he’s tried the standard four-day split, but because of work commitments (60+ hours a week) and a long drive time to the gym, he has trouble getting to the gym all the time.

With new and stronger squat suits and bench shirts hitting the market, more attention has been given to training the lockout. It seems most experts believe that since the lifter is doing most of the work at the top, then range of motion should be trained the most. Although common sense tells us that the suits and shirts will get us out of the bottom of the lift, I have modified my belief somewhat.

In our series, “Overcoming Lousy Leverages,” Eric Cressey and I covered all three power lifts and discussed how smart training can lead to bigger totals. In this series, we will discuss the biomechanics behind each lift as well as several strategies to destroy any sticking points you may have. We will examine:

Keeping your athletes motivated is one of the hardest things to do as a strength coach.

I received this article and immediately realized that Alan’s plight mirrors many other lifters.

Getting ready for a big meet is stressful. There are a lot of things to consider, especially when using equipment. I am not going to write out all of my workouts, but I am going to give you a few points that I have learned over the last 20 years, and hopefully you can avoid some of my mistakes. Then again we are a bunch of hard headed powerlifters so who knows. This is based on a 16 week program.

Almost a year ago, Matt Bash and I put our collective heads together and were thinking of different ways to approach our weak point in the deadlift; the lockout.

“There are a hundred ways to skin a cat, I am only good at one of them”, is something my grandfather used to say to me all the time.

As I traverse the bumpy road that leads to elite level lifting, I’ve pondered what things can hasten the journey. Most trainees can rapidly progress from being a beginner to an intermediate level lifter, but many often plateau and never move out of the intermediate phase. This article is designed for the intermediate level lifter, to help them kick-start their process and get back on the road to elite lifting!