So this week at work, I’ve taken it upon myself to learn more about Weightlifting. Since I don’t have my REAL books with me, currently reading Training of Weightlifters, by Roman, I have to use the internet. Until now, I’ve known only online resources for Powerlifting – EliteFTS. Well, EliteFTS offers (almost) nothing to Weightlifters. I started with the blog of my coach, Wil Fleming. I read LITERALLY every post on that blog – other than the podcast ones, because I am at work. That was a great place to start and helped me know where Wil is coming from when I look at the programming he gives me. Next, I started to look through the internet. I started with my usual home, EliteFTS, and found a couple useful posts. The best post I found was an interview with Greg Everett. To find new stuff, I always read something and then google the interesting people or places from the article. So I googled Greg Everett and found his Catalyst Athletics page, complete with TONS of useful articles and information for Weightlifting. To boot, many of the writers on the site are VERY fun to read! I spent several hours reading from the site and wil continue to do so for WEEKS, haha. Here are my favorite articles, ordered by which source they’ve come from, and beyond that put in order of favorite to least favorite. There are many from Catalyst, a couple from EliteFTS, and a couple from Juggernaut. I read several really crappy articles Juggernaut, but managed to find a few good ones.
Like I said, Wil’s blog is awesome, especially if he’s your coach.
Next is an article from Everett himself. Here he discusses the Weightlifting squat and why it should be done a certain way. Coming from Powerlifting, this was very interesting to me. Both sports have very different goals, and I’m still learning how to maximize the usefulness of my squat for Weightlifting.
While Wil’s video series on warming up is very good, I also liked Everett’s explanation of the warm-up that he coaches and uses with his athletes. I do like Everett’s better, as it closely resembles the warm-up I already do. After reading, I’ve added a few things to mine, but for the most part it hasn’t changed much.
Again from Mike Gray, this is an article where he lays out what he thinks are some Simple Keys for Weightlifting Success. For one that’s more funny than anything, Mike makes some wishes. For some motivation and a no-nonsense approach to training, Mike asks Why Are You Here. For a good way to challenge you, read this – however training partners are required, so it’s not much use for me.
My favortie piece that I found on Juggernaut was an interview with Sean Waxman. He completely explains the difference between triple extension and catapult, which I did not understand before reading. He goes into detail on several other issues regarding the training of Weightlifters and some topics about powerlifting methods were discussed, so I was obviously interested.
Wow, this weekend was JAM-PACKED with heavy weights, laughs, and Mario treating his body like a trash-can.
The weekend began on Friday afternoon when I packed my training gear, a pillow, and a blow up mattress into my car, picked up Renea, and ventured 4 hours to Columbus. We drove STRAIGHT to Ludus Magnus to train with Matt Wenning, his crew, Sheena Leedham, and Lily.
My training partner, Josh, had hit a big front squat PR earlier that day, so I warmed up to do the same. Right after we got there Wenning squatted something around 860 at the top for TWO! It was a blast just to see his crew train together.
DAL (David Allen’s lower body warmup)
Front Squats
– warm, 135 x 5, 185 x 5, 225 x 1, 245 x 1, 275 x 1 PR
– 245 x 5, 4+1 (5th with lots of help from Sheena and Lily)
I really struggled to control the bar and keep my elbows up. On each unrack, the bar rolled into me, which just made it a little less comfortable. On my back down sets, I failed due to lack of ability to keep my back tight and elbows high. Sheena pointed out this is something I need to work on!
Band Suspended Goodmornings to Pins
My attempt to do suspended goodmornings.
– 95 x 10 , 115 x 10, 135 x 10 x 2
Reverse Hyper: 4 sets with rep-out on last set
GHR
I couldn’t even do a single rep on Matt’s GHR!! Chris assisted me with all reps. LOTS of STRAIN.
– 3 sets of 12
Serrano Split Squats
– 2 sets of 6 each leg (quick pauses)
It was time to go to dinner, so I cut the session short, but I got plenty of good work in. Renea spoke with Wenning much of the time we were there, picking up tons of knowledge to improve her bench press and lifting. We all packed up and headed to Roadhouse, where Brandon Smitley, Alycia Israel, Joe Schillero, and Mario D’Amico joined some of the crew for dinner. It was fantastic to see everyone, especially all together. From talking with Joe and Mario, it seems like Akron Barbell will do really well!
After dinner, Renea and I headed to meet up with a Buckeye Barbell member, Chris, to stay at his place for the night. After waking up early, we headed to the hotel for Brandon’s meet. We got there in the middle of the rules meeting. Afterwards, we hungout until it was time for warmups to start. It was great to see so many people roll in to support Brandon for the day. Ted Toalston, Molly Edwards (whose signature I added to my belt!), Joe Schillero, Mario D’Amico, and Alycia Israel all came to support him! Several from the spot were there, Savannah to compete and Nick and Lily to support her.
Once Brandon and Savannah got to warming up, Joe, Mario, and I ran one of the monolifts. Larry and Jimmie Pacifico were using the same mono to warmup their athletes, which was really exciting since I’ve seen lots of Jimmie’s stuff on YouTube. After warmups, I was on ammonia duty.
Brandon KILLED his squats. Opener and second were just like we expected them to be, so he put 525 (I think?) on the bar for his third. After unracking it, he lost a bit of his balance and took a couple shuffles back (which I thought would cost him the lift), but he got some more air and SMOKED IT! Great start to the day for him.
After this some of us went to tackle some Wendy’s. When we came back it was time to wait for bench. After warmups and a visit from Matt Wenning, Brandon got all three of his bench attempts after making a smart call for his third. After hitting the tork and punching me in the face (not too hard), he successfully lifted 315. I definitely don’t think he left any pounds on the platform for bench.
After bench we all went out to eat at Subway. Apparently it was give-away-cookies-day there, which was great. After eating and hanging out, we went back to lay around for a while. When it was FINALLY TIME to deadlift, Savannah and Brandon were in the same flight again. I had been giving Savannah some ammonia throughout the day, but on deadlifts she wanted lots of it. After having her bar misloaded for her opener, which she took sumo, she convertd to conventional and went 3/3 with a huge PR! It was really cool to watch her dig down when she didn’t want to and pull out some great lifts.
Brandon hit his opener of 480 for a 10x bodyweight total of 1320 (yes, he weighed in at EXACTLY 132.0 lbs). He literally leaped for joy into Joe’s arms after he turned to see three white lights. His next two attempts didn’t go so well, where he experienced a new technical issue of his right VMO prying his hand open. We’re still brainstorming on why this would happen for the first time there, but nevertheless it was a FANTASTIC day of lifting.
Afterwards, it was time to wait around for the meet to end, pack up, and wait for the award ceremony. Brandon won BEST RAW lifter, while Chuck V. won best geared lifter. I’d say that’s PRETTY AWESOME company to be in!!
Everyone that was still there, including Brandon’s family, headed out to Red Robin for dinner. Many laughs, stories, and good food were had. Finally, it was time for everyone to head out. I said this to Brandon when we left and I’ll say it again, he should be very proud of what he’s accomplished. Perhaps the biggest testament to his lifting and character is not his 10x bodyweight raw total, but the HUGE NUMBER of those who went out of their way to be at his meet and support him. It didn’t happen on accident.
Renea and I had been invited to join Joe at the Compound on Sunday, so we headed back to Alycia’s place to stay the night. I can’t thank her enough for putting us up. After laughing our asses off, we finally got to sleep. In the morning, even though we were worried about Mario making us late, we made it to S4 right at 9 AM. Everyone slowly rolled in, and Chuck said it would be great if I could join his group for their day’s benching. I was elated. Not only did I get to VISIT the Compound, I got to TRAIN. I’ll say this again, but I was incredibly thankful to be allowed to go and train. I’d been there for LTT8 and for a visit with Purdue Barbell, but nothing like this.
I loosened up and then joined Chuck and Jordan for their warmup.
Check out this article and video from the session!
DAU, EFS warmup (leg raises, GHRs, and external rotations)
Reverse Band Bench
I adopted the crew’s program for the day. It was incredibly similar to what was prescribed by Matt Ladewski anyways.
– warmed up to a triple around 300 or so and a single around 315 or so (the bands were taking off about 180 at the bottom)
I KNOW those numbers aren’t exactly right, but the weights changed really fast and I didn’t take the time to write them down.
Things to work on:
Attacking the descent (I was babying it)
Attacking the press (DRIVE through hips and heels)
Move my grip one finger out
Be intentional with when I flare my elbows, I was doing it much too soon
Regardless of the weight, I worked up to where I failed for two singles at lockout. Then I backed it down several pounds and successfully got a top single with a GRIND at the top.
In between my sets, I would load/spot/handoff for the other guys in the crew as well as help Joe and Mario with their sets as a spotter or whatever they needed.
Mario helped me learn how to give a tighter wrap. Wraps seemed to be a pretty heated topic all weekend. Hopefully my article idea pans out and answers ALL the questions!!
Elbows out DB Extensions against GHR
– warm x 2, 35 lbs x 12 x 4
Seated DB Side Raises
– 10 lbs (I think) x 20 x 2 (slow), 40 (pump)
Face Pulls
– heavy x 15 x 3
After finishing the crew’s workout, I worked in the rest of what Ladewski wrote while helping out Mario and Joe.
Bradford Presses s/s Reverse Swiss Bar Curls
T-Bar Row s/s Forward Raises
I got to talk with Molly quite a bit on Sunday in addition to Saturday. I picked up a lot of little tips, especially while she was cueing Mario and Joe. It seemed like so many people were there that day: Dave, Molly, Ted, Todd, Chris (I think), Jordan, Steve, Chuck, Grant, Joe, Mario, Alycia, Ben (whose signature I ALSO added to my belt!), Ben’s wife, and a few others. There was lots of video taken, maybe it will surface and maybe not, but I’ll definitely remember it for a long time!
After training, Renea and I headed to Bob Evan’s with Joe, Mario, and Alycia. We ate up and probably came up with the most lasting inside jokes yet. The weekend was an ABSOLUTE pleasure. I had plenty of time to reflect on it on the drive back. I can’t wait until the next time I get to spend more time around these GREAT PEOPLE!!
– 135 x 5 x 2, 185 x 3 or 5 (can’t remember and sloppy writing), 225 x 3
– 250 x 3, add belt, 250 x 3, add wraps, 250 x 3
As you can see in the video:
1st Set – didn’t keep my back tight out of the hole, let my chest fall
2nd Set – did better about my chest on the third rep
3rd Set – felt AWESOME, let my elbows shoot back out of the hole
Deadlifts
– 135 x 5, 185 x 5, 235 x 3, 275 x 3
– 310 x 3 x 2
Block Pulls (lower than I normally pull from the rack BY A LOT)
– 315 x 2, 365 x 2, add belt, 415 x 1
My 415 should’ve been 2, but I didn’t realize how much the different height would challenge me – I cut it at 1 rep. RPE was SUPPOSED to be 7 to 8…
FFE Lunges
– 35 lbs (in each hand) x 20, 20, 15; body x 25 (all for each leg)
These SUCKED as always.
Planks
– 25 lbs x 30 count x 3
Yesterday was fantastic. I still have a lot to work on for my squat before the meet (as one can see in the video), however with each set yesterday – they got better. The wrapped set felt incredible. Speaking of which, I’m trying to get into my wraps more frequently this cycle so that I’m more familiar with them come meet day.
Deads didn’t feel the best as I moved it up to my top sets. However, I got the work in that was called for.
Assistance work was hard, but being ME day there wasn’t much of it.
BEST PART of the day! I met a guy named Riley Burrows, who I worked in on the mono with. Finally! I’ve met a guy at the gym that knows EFS! He has been to LTT, follows the site, and trains smart and hard. Not to mention, he’s a fellow gear whore – something that is “frowned upon” in the little gym I go to… AWESOME!
The LTT survey asked for my favorite moments. I figured it would double well as a post here.
A little intro – I thoroughly enjoyed my LTT experience. I showed up on Thursday evening, skipping all my Friday classes (don’t worry – I sent my hw with others haha). I finally got to meet Mark Watts, and I got to hangout with Joe, Alycia, and the interns. Definitely a great time AND we got to go to Dirty Frank’s. Thursday night I kept seeing EFS members around the hotel, but I didn’t know if it was okay to go talk to them or not. I’m friends with you on Facebook, but I’ve never actually met you! I don’t know, I got around to meeting everyone so it’s no big deal.
Friday began with lectures, continued with lectures, and finished with lectures. I sat with Mario and Christa for much of it and got lunch with them and the regular group. Came back in a carb coma for the rest of lectures. The presentations were AWESOME to say the least. I could write a full recap of each one, and I certainly took enough notes to do so! Let’s just leave it at they were awesome for now. I was really proud when Harry mentioned Purdue Barbell as an aside during his presentation.
The day ended with the meet and greet, which was so cool! I went mainly to meet the team and I certainly got to do just that. I was sitting and eating with Ronda, Bob, Ted, Kirschen, and a couple others who rotated in and out. After we had eaten I turned to Ronda and asked, “I want to get all the team members to autograph my belt. Should I do that today or tomorrow?” She asked me if I had the belt with me and I said yes. She told me to grab it and follow her. I got the belt and my sharpie and followed her around the room as she got the attention of each team member for me. I would hand them my belt and come away with a signature. By the end of the weekend, I think I had every team member’s signature that was there, except Molly’s – I couldn’t find a good time during the hands-on. Steve Colescott got a great photo of me with my belt, which I will have with me for a long, long time. I got to have many big and small exchanges with the team members, which was so cool.
Saturday finally came around, I was actually pretty nervous for it. Jon Mike and Scott Stevenson needed a ride to The S4 Compound. Of course I offered a ride! Just cramming them into my tiny Celica was a great moment, but on the ride over we got to talking and Scott found out I’m heading to Germany for the better part of 2015. He immediately broke out into German! We had as much of a conversation in German as we could; I was struggling to keep up! I’m continually reminded that the team members are also people, with complete lives – and GREAT ones too. The stories and experiences could be shared for DAYS.
We hungout for a while and I rolled and mobilized so I could get to it when I had to. I also went and picked up a bunch of gear for the Purdue team. I’m almost a mule for EFS equipment. It’s great! I went back to the compound and Matt Wenning was walking my group through the box squat. I quickly put my shoes on and stepped into the group. I did my best to absorb EVERYTHING Matt and Dave Tate said ALL DAY. I have all my take-aways in hand written notes in my room so I’ll add them here later.
We moved on to the bench, where I got my favorite moment of the day. We were working on our form and warming up. Matt was explaining bar path and distance and whatnot, but it wasn’t getting through to some. Dave disappeared for a while, but returned with a yard stick. He proceed to get on the bench and set up like a “bench bro.” Loose feet, no arch, extended upper back. He had Matt measure his stroke – 16 inches. Then, Dave got into a COMPETITION bench stance. He brought his feet in, set his traps and hips, got a huge arch and was set. The look of pain on his face and in his eyes was incredible. After getting set, he expressed this, looking at the crowd of us and saying, “The things I do for you FUCKERS…” He proceeded to take the bar and perform a rep – 6 inches. Not only did we get to see the huge difference between a good and bad bench, seeing Dave get under the bar, in such pain too, was very cool. It’s true – he does a lot. Great moment.
I finally hit a 225 lbs bench, which was really cool. It didn’t even feel that hard! I didn’t tell anyone it was a PR, just did it quietly. It was cool having everyone around watching. Definitely didn’t want to miss! Again, I’ll add my take-aways when I get my notes.
We then broke for lunch, which was much needed! It was delicious and I got to spend some more time getting to know others that were there. I mainly just listened to everyone else, which I enjoy doing. Can’t learn while you’re talking – or something like that.
We finished up for the day with deadlifts. Matt had me work up in my opposite stance – sumo. We found that my glutes/hips SUCK. He gave me a bunch of stuff to work on and Brandon has added his suggestions into my next training block.
We finished with the Q&A. There were many little gems that I will remember for a long time, but one stuck out a lot. Zane Geeting answered one question, I think. But his answer was one of my favorites of the day. Dave Tate asked him how he manages to do all his training with his day job and all his other activities, going off of one of the previous question that had been asked. Zane explained all the obligations that he has, which is quite a lot, but continued saying, “No matter what I know my training is going to GET DONE. It may be at 9 PM on a Friday, but it’s going to get done. No matter what or how much I have to do, everything will GET DONE.” I’m sure that’s not exact, but it gets the idea across. Every task WILL BE completed. This really struck home with me.
Otherwise it was really just fantastic to develop relationships with the team members and staff. I’m truly honored to meet each and every one, much less interact with them on a deeper level. With each member comes a different relationship, but I look forward to all of them! It would be impossible to put all of the moments from the weekend into words. I’ll just say it was great to meet or see again:
The Yung Gunz: Brandon, Joe, Jennifer, Alycia, Mario, and Christa
Jon and Scott
Matt Rhodes and Vincent Dizenzo
Casey and Steve Goggins
Harry Selkow and Bob Youngs
David Allen
Sheena
Ted, Kirschen, Zane, JL, Chad
Matt Wenning and Dave Tate
Ronda, Steve, the interns, Matt Goodwin, Mark Watts
Finally, I finished catching up on training log posts and I can write the meet write up. The meet was a week ago, but I had a really hard week school-wise, so I told myself I wouldn’t let myself do this until after so that I could actually study.
Another note, I don’t talk about other members actual results/numbers/performance. I feel that that’s their story to tell or share. This is mine.
So this past Saturday. I can’t remember when, but I got up early, because we had about an hour drive to get to the meet. Unlike Flora, I could actually get down a pretty solid breakfast of oat, coconut oil, water, 4 eggs, protein powder, and a little creatine. So that was good. I made sure to stay hydrated all day and that started as soon as I woke up.
So we all met up and headed out. Christian took forever as always. I actually convinced him we were going to leave him behind and he freaked out – it was awesome.
We got there and Rich was happy to see us. We all got registered and such and got our cards. Then it was time to weigh in and get rack heights. I went to weigh in first. The night before (after a big meal) I weighed 197 lbs. I weighed in at 193 and a half or something. My weight baffles me sometimes. I have some work to do to get into the 220 class. Then we got our rack heights and claimed a corner of the gym as Purdue’s.
After hanging out for a little bit, Brandon Smitley and Joani showed up. It was a pleasure to finally meet Joani. A bit after that, Meagan Pollock arrived, and about the time we began to roll out and warm up for the actual PL meet (after the power clean and the curl of course – because NASA) Matt Ladewski arrived.
Joani and Billy (Brandon Billstrand) were in the first squat flight. Max, Joseph (my younger brother), and I were in the second flight, so I got to watch them in between warm ups. My warm ups felt good and easy. Matt helped me with some cues. Eventually we got around to my flight.
For my opener of 270 lbs (5 lbs meet PR), I wore the EFS Normal wraps. Brandon gave a nice wrap and my opener felt like nothing was on my back. Sat down and listened to music while I waited for my second attempt. For my second attempt of 298 lbs (32 lbs PR meet PR), I wore the Metal All Black wraps. The wrap on my right leg was pretty low (every time Brandon punched through the wrap slid down), but the wrap on my left was perfect (guess which one was first). I didn’t care, because after talking about the previous wrap I was told by Matt, “Don’t worry about the wrap, just lift the weight.” I listen to directions quite well, so from that point on I didn’t worry about the wrap. Brandon and Meagan did a great job of preloading, wrapping, and helping me feel my legs as much as possible. I walked out 298 lbs, sunk it, got a little off balance on the way up, but finished it rather easily. Then I sat and waited for number 3; I had called for 313 lbs.
I learned a lot from this attempt, so it gets its own paragraph. It was almost my time, so Brandon wrapped me up. They were perfect. Got up, chalked, belted, hit the tork, and approached the bar. I pulled myself under the bar, got ready, and unracked it. It was at this very moment I failed the lift. I said, in my mind, “wow, this is heavier than I’ve ever done before.” When I said that, I lost my mental fire and confidence. I then descended (faster than I should have), sunk it (much lower than I should have), came out of the hole (by shooting my hips up, like I shouldn’t have), and then quickly failed the lift. I remember when I was little, playing baseball, “Play the ball. Don’t let the ball play you.” I really did let the weight play me on that attempt. When it felt heavy, I simply abandoned my technique. If I had broke at the hips, sat back and down at a steady pace, and fired my head back into the bar out of the hole, then I would have had the lift. This is something I’m dedicated to fixing before my next meet. Every squat I do is going to be done with purpose – it’s as simple as that.
Once I was done squatting, it was time for the third flight: Andy and Jack. When they finished, Joani and Billy were up to bench. Throughout I had to continually roll a baseball on my back to keep it from getting painfully tight. Before warming for bench, I had a espresso double shot (130 mg caffeine – delicious too). Also, I was making sure to drink plenty of water/powerade throughout the day and even had some protein powder along with a subway after benching.
I started warming up for bench while Joani, Billy, and Joseph were still going. I was happy that I got to wrap my brother’s wrists for his bench attempts. Then it was time for Max and I to go.
My warmups for bench felt fantastic. My technique felt locked in the weights felt light. Eventually it was time for my opener of 205 lbs (tie meet PR). It was super easy. Matt had some suggestions for me. He said my setup looked good, but after I unracked the weight I exhaled, inhaled, and shuffled my feet before I actually lifted. He said this should be removed, and so it will be. I had this in mind going into my second attempt of 215 lbs. I got into some trouble here. I did my normal setup, but felt a very painful stretching through my lower abdomen. I wasn’t going to not lift, so I continued. When I unracked the weight I felt another big pain, which caused me to have to exhale and inhale (like I was explicitly trying NOT TO DO!). However, I performed the rep rather easily, though painfully. I talked about the pain I felt with Jack, and he explained that he has had the same thing or something and it was a hernia. He suggested doing my third attempt without a belt (I had been wearing my velcro spud belt), so as to reduce intra-abdominal pressure. I took his advice, though knowing this would also make me less rigid and get less leg drive. I went for my third attempt of 225 lbs (I actually didn’t know this one at the time). Pain-free, regular setup without the belt. Lowered the weight fine, pressed it a bit, but it just stopped and I missed the lift. My worrying about the pain and the possible hernia didn’t help, and I think if I had worn the belt 225 wouldn’t have been a problem. I have now determined that it’s just a lower abdominal strain, but at the time I had decided I would rather make it through the meet than get too hurt on my third bench to do so. All attempts were done with 80 cm Metal All Black wraps.
Then it was Andy and Jack’s turns.
Anyways, on to deadlifts. We had to wait what felt like FOREVER. All the bench-only lifter and push-pullers made this meet take so long. Whatever, I got to eat a sandwich and talk to my family members that came to the meet. I am so thankful of the support, of both myself and the club, from my family, friends, and community.
So then it was time to warm up for deadlifts, again while Joani and Billy were lifting. The bar had been loaded from previous warmups, so I asked the Purdue guys who were loading the warmup bar to take it down to the bar. I will NEVER, EVER do this again. The look and following scolding that I got from Matt made sure of that. It probably wasn’t really that bad, I was just taken aback. Since the bar was already empty, I went ahead and did my RDL to stiff-legged progression to get warm. Then I did my planned warm ups alongside Max and Joseph.
I took my opener of 375 lbs and it felt slower than it should have. I made note of this and knew I would have to pull harder on the next two. I had Brandon take me to just above 400 for my second. It, too, was a bit slow, but I got it. I knew I had another 10 lbs though, so I went to 413 (8 lbs meet PR – which was 4 weeks old) for my third. This was well short of my goal for the day – 430, but I knew that would be a stupid way to end the meet, with a bad miss. For my third Matt gave me some cues to pull back and attack it off the floor or it wasn’t going to happen. I chalked, belted, and hit the tork. Matt gave me a giant slap on the back. I got ready, grabbed the bar, and, with some yelling from behind me, got the lift! It was slow and it didn’t speed up when I got to the knees like it normally does, but I was thrilled to end the meet on white lights.
Then it was Andy’s turn, with Jack in the following flight.
I went 7/9 on the day, missed my third squat and third bench. I really want to feel what it’s like to go 9/9 with big PR attempts on each third.
We all got our “awards” and then lined up for a group photo.
^ Matt Ladewski not pictured
To end, I want to thank Brandon Smitley and Matt Ladewski of EliteFTS and Meagan for coming to help handle, Christian and Anthony for doing whatever they could all day, my family and friends for coming to support, and all the competitors from Purdue Barbell.
Jim Wendler just had a Q&A on his FB page. So I asked about butt wink. He essentially said the same thing as Matt Rhodes.
“Jim Wendler Butt wink is the new “Swine Flu” – everyone is scared over nothing. Every one has butt wink. Work on mobility in hips and strengthen the abs!”
Tanner of Purdue Barbell 