The Author in 1915

bent pressing a 115-lb. barbell at age 17.  

Mr.and Mrs. Bob Peoples would like to wish you a belated Merry Christmas. 

 And so would I. 

Back in the early 1930s a friend of ours named Mark Berry was editor of Strength magazine. He had training with us in New York at Siegmund Klein's Gymnasium and had observed Henry Steinborn doing his prodigious deep knee bends (squats) with upwards of 500 pounds. Henry would rock the bar on to his shoulders unassisted as he went into the first deep squat, and all of us around the gym had a try at it. We found it strenuous no end. If the descending bar caught you on the neck bone it nearly paralyzed you! 

At that time apparently no one had even thought of constructing racks from which to take the bell. Mark drew a picture of such a rack and printed it in Strength, along with some advice about an abbreviated program of exercise designed to make the subject gain weight. Several eager and possibly lazy pupils gave the shortened program a try, and in a few months some wild tales began to come in from the hinterlands from guys like Joseph Curtis Hise, Jacobson, Bullock, Boone and others. Reports of gains of 20 pounds in bodyweight in a month were not uncommon, and I believe it was Jacobson who gained one hundred pounds in a year!   

Mark himself gained from 130 to 180 pounds; and thereby hangs a tale. In his early days he had been a diet hound, and has eaten nothing but vegetables and chopped hay for some years until he finally lost all his teeth. When he fixed up the squat rack and began his abbreviated course, he was simply reverting to type. He had always simply worked himself almost to death; he was a "scientific" weightlifter, and would train for hours. When he started squatting he got his new store teeth and started eating too - and what he did to the more substantial foods shouldn't happen to a dog. His advice to all and sundry was to eat five or six times a day and as much as you could hold. The only dietary "don't" he listed was - don't eat anything that bites you first! 

His exercise routine was limited to a press on back, two hand curl, squat, and pullover. After going through his former multi-multiple routines, this was simply 

for Mark and it was no wonder he started to grow, particularly in the region about six inches below his chest. He further encouraged the growth of the lower chest by adjuring all pupils to refrain from situps. Waist exercise was poison to the lads who were all out for beef at any price. 

An early power monster from the era. 

At first, Mark did only one set of 20 squats and his exercise period only took up 10 minutes, which was just about all the time he could spare away from the buffet. Other enthusiasts out in the provinces experimented with two, three, and sometimes six or eight sets of squats on an abbreviated program and they grew like weeds in a garden. Mark had promulgated a great discovery - how a skinny guy could get fat. 

But he did have something tremendously important - the value of rest and change - and the great importance of leg and back work in creating a bulkier physique. 

Previous to this, the squat had been just another exercise. The use of the rack made heavier weights possible that would call for real effort and as use determines structure, the thighs began to bulge and the chest began to deepen. Actually the squat rack was a more important discovery than the squat itself. Anything that takes the pain out of our lives is very much worthwhile. Later discoveries of inclined benches, dorsi pulleys, etc., are anti-pain devices that permit the exerciser  to do some good exercises in a less painful manner. We hail these gadgets with delight as a contribution to a more restful and pleasant life. Physical culturists have too long been wearing hair shirts. 

To those of you whose faces are wan and drawn, and whose bones seem in danger of punching through the taut skin, I recommend a revised adaptation of the Squat Program, the big discovery of the 1930s. But I offer my version in fear and trembling lest too many of you become big fat sloppy bests with gargantuan appetites and no visible claims to athletic proportions. Just as the drunkard little knows when he downs his first slug of gin and bitters where the trail is going to lead, so many nice clean-cut athletes I used to know have disappeared forever from my ken covered and recovered by rolls and rolls of adipose tissue started in one weak moment a few years ago when they took a bar across their shoulders and made that first fatal dip. O Tempora, O Mores! Mark, why hast thou forsaken me? 

A great to-do has been raised about the proper method of breathing in connection with the squat. I find the instructions given by Mr. (Alan) Calvert quite sufficient. Breathe in deeply when you flex the muscles; breathe out vigorously when you relax them. This goes for all exercises, not merely the deep knee bend.

But you will find when you do 20 squats with a heavy weight that long about number 10 you begin to get a bit breathless, so you will naturally pause a bit at the top and start taking 2 or 3 deep pants. This is good. You are expected to puff and pant when you run a hundred yards at top speed. The squats are an athletic feat comparable to the hundred yard dash.

There is some value to beginners in doing light or "dinky" squats with several deep breaths between them. For one thing, the untrained man is so very much weaker than you would suppose him to be that even a set of 20 squats with 20 pounds becomes for him a major athletic feat. The even rhythm makes it easier for lungs and heart to accommodate themselves to their unaccustomed task.

The various ramifications through which the squat program has passed during the past 20 years are indeed enthralling (published in 1950), and the dietary atrocities committed in the sacrificial ceremonies to the Great God Beef would make any European's hair stand on end. We could write a whole book on this subject and enjoy ourselves no end. We remember Mark Berry telling us back about 1934 of a visit he had sustained from one of his squat-and-slop devotees. This 280-pounder arrived just as Mark was finishing breakfast, and naturally Mark invited him to bread and salt, although he didn't happen to have a largely stoked larder at the moment. A makeshift simple meal was provided however with one dozen eggs, a full loaf of bread and a big pot of coffee plus a quart of milk. Besides these edibles, the already over-juiced muscleman drank a two quart pitcher of water.

The squat program in the early days was a case of oversimplification if there ever was one, and unless the subject had some years of regular training to give use to all the muscles he was apt to become a rotund caricature of a strength athlete along the order of the Continental beer drinking iron men at the turn of the century. How much harm has been done organically to these men through gorging and flooding their systems with liquids is horrible to contemplate. Certainly the human body can stand only so much!  

The different types of breathing techniques which soon materialized in connection with the squat were forced upon the exercisers by simple cause and effect. The boys who took huge gasps of ozone and did a score or more of squats soon found that they were developing what they termed a "low chest." You may call it what you will. But some of these men have spoiled their physiques for life by getting the same sort of swelling bellies you will see among Indian and Japanese wrestlers. After a while the classic physique boys came along and began squatting and objected strenuously when they saw that suspicious bulge beginning to develop. So they began costal breathing - holding the abdomen in, and making sure the air went into the top of their lungs. They then squatted with the chest held high and the waist held in. This was an improvement.

If you find yourself squatting with a rounded back you are simply asking for trouble. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you try to make a lower back exercise out of the squat you are certainly going to push that tummy out.

Keep the back flat.
Keep the chest high.
Keep the belly in.

One of the chief virtues of the deep knee bend is that it is just about as strenuous an exercise as you can find. When you do 20 squats with a good heavy bar you will know you have been somewhere. This, I think, is the real reason why many people seem to get noticeable results when they add this movement to their program. Quite probably they have never worked hard enough before to make them really sweat and puff and pant.

Also, you are only as strong as your legs. Most people do not give their legs enough work to do. A heavy squat program places functional demands on the internal organs which they have not previously felt, and consequently this vigorous exercise may serve to cause a sudden change in the basic metabolism of the body. It is shaking the man out of his accustomed groove that makes the squat program work for people who have never really and truly exercised before, although they may have had years of vicarious experience in barbell training. Unless your program makes you breathless at some point or another, you are wasting your time.

Some of the original squat fanatics have mellowed with age. As their waistlines grew they began to complain a little of the severity of going all the way down in the squat. It is no fun to have your stomach bumping against your knees. So they shortened the piston stroke and stepped up the easier part of the program, the breathing. Some of them began to take 10 to 20 breaths between each squat, and soon they were only making only half squats. They continued to grow, as who wouldn't after they had shaken the body metabolism loose and begun to extract more and more flesh from their inordinate food intake.

They also began to do fewer and fewer accessory exercises. Finally they have now arrived at a point where they put the bar on their shoulders (off the rack, of course) and just bounce their shoulders up and down, and snort like a locomotive going up grade. This is the ultimate of something or other, brother. As Arthur Godfrey sings, "I don't want 'em, they're too FAT for me!"

    

   

     

Let us now leave the Land of the Squatters and travel on. Let's have a look at some of the other exercise routines which have gained rather wide acceptance since the introduction of the more or less basic squat in the early 1930s. 

 One of the earliest of these ideas was the "cheating" method of performing movements with more weight than you could handle properly. For example, suppose you could curl 100 pounds while standing erect and without body motion. Then one day you find that you can handle 124 by swaying the body and leaning back as you give a heave to start the barbell upward. You immediately rush out to tell your pals that you can now curl 125 pounds and of course you hesitate to go back to that insignificant 100 pounds which you formerly curled. 

You also do this with the press, a heave, a back bend and sundry motions which amount in essence to a jerk without moving your feet. So you can now press 200 pounds. At last you are a MAN! 

When you do pullovers you bend the arms and bounce the weight. You are now a strong man, kid. You have discovered the secret. Of course the fact that you have lost your soul is an insignificant by-product. You are no longer honest; you have become a liar. 

In America during the 1930s this cheating even crept into official weightlifting. The hunch or jerk presses during that era were sad to behold, and a few still get away with murder because they don't realize they are cheating; and the person they are cheating most is themselves. 

Now, weightlifting and bodybuilding are separate things. In the former there are rules, and the good lifter will obey them and profit thereby. If he gets into bad habits through attempts to press more than he can handle he is going to find eagle-eyed judges who slap him down. But here we are primarily concerned with body building and muscle molding, so we will let ethics drop and consider the value of the "cheating" technique. 

To accustom your muscles to handle ever increasing weights is a laudable endeavor. In some movements it has value - such and the bouncing pullover (see pic above) and the bouncing squat. Yet let us look at the facts squarely. What you are really doing in most of these cases is supplanting a tried and proven exercise with ANOTHER TOTALLY DIFFERENT MOVEMENT. I suggest that if you insist on trying the cheating exercise that you do it first, then reduce the weight and do the old exercise properly. And this leads us into an exercise technique that has great merit - THE HEAVY AND LIGHT SYSTEM. 

Hold on a second . . . 

 Third Series. That'd be today. 

Soon to be . . . 

I'm about half way through the book and don't want it to ever end.

Harry? Would you please come back here . . .

In this routine most of the standard exercises are followed but a stimulation to increasing strength is supplied by first doing five repetitions with the curl with a weight quite close to your limit, then taking up immediately a lighter bar and performing ten more reps. This has the great advantage of permitting you to handle more weight when you are fresh, and then as the fatigue toxins accumulate you really have to work to perform ten full repetitions with a lighter weight. Usually the last three or four reps of a movement are the ones which do you the most good, when the tissues start getting clogged. This brings the surge of blood into the area and results in growth. The Bob Hoffman courses have contained this system since 1932. In Britain the new Henry Atkin Multi-Poundage System in which the discs are removed from the bar while you are using it has carried this fine idea even further. 

The Atkin Multi-Poundage System by Henry J. Atkin (1949): 

http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2012/01/muscle-beach-inc.html  

About 1940 a number of lavishly muscled supermen appeared on the American scene, following the inception of the Annual Mr. America award which began in 1939.

Bert Goodrich, 1939 Mr. America

We spent a good bit of time backstage with these models, watching them warm up for the contest, and found they had hit upon a new technique for inflating the tissues with blood. They did innumerable sets of curls, bench presses and dumbbell movements, and they had grown some impressive lumps. This cult grew rapidly, and its center was the Pacific Coast. Today the idea of using a group of series (done in multiple sets) exercises is standard in practically every gymnasium catering to muscle builders. It is probably the very best system in the finishing stages of an athlete's training for a well muscled physique. But we have certain reservations which we will take up later. 

In some quarters the Rest-Pause System of training with single repetitions with almost limit weights has gained acceptance. This very much resembles the training of an advanced weightlifter in endeavoring to increase his three Olympic lifts. He takes a weight only a few pounds under his limit and does perhaps 10 single lifts with this weight, resting for several minutes between each attempt. The bodybuilder using the Rest-Pause System does about six exercises, the curl, press, squat, pullover, deadlift, and pullup. He takes a weight about 10 pounds under his limit, curls it once, then rests a moment and curls it again, until he has done 10 complete repetitions. He does the same with the other two movements - doing almost a limit poundage each time. That this system should build strength and rugged ligaments is apparent. However, the long time necessary for an exercise period is against it and it is a little doubtful if it would build comparable shape and size.

There are several other systems prevalent, but I think we have covered the main ones. The older school of thought that goes in for a large variety of exercises performed a standard number of repetitions (say 15 for every exercise) is still large. The idea of working the muscles from different angles instead of using a series of identical movements has a great deal to commend it. However, I believe progress will be a little slower this way, although it may be surer and the results more lasting. 

My old and good friend, Siegmund Klein, goes through a routine of possibly 18 exercises, 15 reps each, religiously three times a week. You could set your clock by him and I doubt if he has missed a dozen exercise sessions in 25 years. 

Note: There's a seventeen part serialized group of articles on this blog titled "My First Quarter Century in the Iron Game" by Sig Klein.    

  

I've written articles on how to snatch, clean and jerk. By following the presentation, any athlete who is interested in the Olympic lifts can learn how to do them. I realize many athletes are tentative in trying these high-skill, explosive movements on their own, but they can still be done quite successfully. 

That's exactly how everyone who wanted to participate in the sport of Olympic weightlifting learned how to do the contested lifts when I got bitten by the iron bug. In the '50s, there were no videos, clinics, books, and very few articles available for beginners wanting to do the quick lifts. On occasion, Lifting News and Strength & Health carried an article dealing with some aspect of technique on the press, snatch, and clean and jerk, but they were always aimed at the more experienced strength athletes and not rank beginners.

In addition, the number of capable coaches in the country could be counted on one hand, minus the thumb, and if an athlete didn't live close to one of these rare animals, he was out of luck. So aspiring strongmen had to teach themselves how to perform the lifts. 

Train With the Best

In my case, I learned how to press, snatch, and clean and jerk by studying photos in Strength & Health and attempting to emulate what I saw on the pages. As could be expected, progress came slowly, but in many ways it worked out better in the long run because I had to figure out every small aspect of not only the technique on the lifts, but also how to assemble a program to help me get stronger at the same time. When you're told how to do something, it has much less impact than when you've learned it on your own. And you certainly remember it much much longer. With no one to tell me whether I was doing a movement right or wrong, I learned from my mistakes, and it just so happens that mistakes are more readily recalled than successes. 

The fact that gains came slowly was also a point in my favor. The small increases allowed all the groups in my body to improve at a more natural pace. Nothing moved too far ahead of another, so I did not encounter a lot of weak links along the way. 

I cut my teeth on the Olympic lifts while I was in the Air Force, stationed in Iceland. As soon as I got back to the U.S. and began training at the Wichita Falls, Texas, YMCA, I went to the first meet I could find. This helped me immensely. Not only did I begin to understand the many variances involved in actually being a part of a contest, but I also tested my training program. I also closely observed the more experienced lifters during their warmups and on the platform. I would stand off to the side of the platform and study the more proficient lifters' moves, from the way they handled the chalk to how they would mentally set themselves prior to stepping up to the bar. How they set their hips, their head positions, how they placed their feet, where they gripped the bar - every tiny detail became etched in my mind, and I carried this information back to the Y weight room and practiced what I had seen. Often, I would pretend that I was an accomplished lifter. In that manner, my form began to improve. It was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it became good enough for me to win a few medals, which was my primary goal at that stage of my lifting career.       

My situation wasn't unique. On the contrary, it was the norm for that point in time. Every lifter I met had a similar story, with the exception of Bob Bednarski, who was fortunate enough to have a coach, Joe Mills, when he first started, and Bobby Hise had his father, one of the very best in the country. The rest of us were on our own, and from that group came the national, world and Olympic champions, proving that if a person is serious about excelling in this sport, he can do so through lots of hard work. 

Whenever possible, I trained with a group of Olympic weightlifters. Chicago was great for that because there were so many YMCAs in that city, and all had weight rooms. Irving Park was especially enjoyable for me, a mere neophyte, because national champions Fred Schultz and Clyde Emrich trained there. When I lived in Indiana, I would drive to a town where some lifter trained and take a workout in his facility. When I arrived in York in the mid-60s, I didn't have to go looking for a gym with other lifters any longer because the best in the country trained at the Ridge Avenue Gym. 

My point: while you're trying to learn the fundamentals of the Olympic lifts and how to adjust your program to fit your special needs, find out where other lifters train. Contact them and ask them when they train. No need to ask if you are welcome. Any fellow Olympic lifter, regardless of level of proficiency, is always met with open arms at an Olympic training facility. It may require a long drive, but it will be worth it. Many of those who showed up on Saturdays at the York Gym traveled over two hours, yet they didn't mind the journey because they always left in high spirits from having a great session in the supercharged atmosphere.  

Also, take advantage of the many instructional videos and clinics out there. IronMind enterprises has a long list of excellent videos of the best Olympic weightlifters in the world going through their paces in the training halls prior to the world championships. These are very instructional because you get to see perfect technique, and they are also inspiring and highly motivational. Check them out here:

https://www.ironmind-store.com/Wish-You-Were-There153-Videos/products/3/ 

Use any resource available to aid your cause. Keep this in mind: Olympic weightlifting is an individual sport. Even if you have the luxury of a good coach, when you step out on that platform, you're on your own. That's one of the aspects of the sport I appreciated the most. When I failed, I had no one to blame but myself and, conversely, when I did well, I knew it was due to my own efforts and not a result of someone else's exertion. So whether you achieve any degree of success in Olympic lifting is strictly a matter of how badly you want it.   

Preparing to Lift

I know that even when someone is anxious to try these complicated lifts, he's not sure how to go about assembling a program built around them. I receive lots of letters from those just getting their feet wet in the sport, and their questions bring back memories. Whatever they're asking me about, I was asking myself the same questions during my formative years. Where should the quick lifts be placed in the program? How often should the lifts be done each week? Should I concentrate on form more than strength? Or vice versa? How many exercises should be in a daily routine? Should I limit out or stay light and try to increase my workload? How many days a week should I train? And so on and so forth. When you're strictly on your own, it often feels like learning how to swim just by jumping in a pond. 

I am presenting two programs aimed at those wanting to give the Olympic lifts a shot. The first is a three-days-a-week routine for those who are unable to train more often. The second covers four days a week in the event the athlete has more time. The underlying theme for both is SIMPLICITY: basic exercise done over and over so as to enhance technique and expand the workload. There are no specific movements for some part of an exercise. Not yet. That will come later. In the beginning, but two goals exist: 

 - improving technique, and 

 - getting stronger overall. 

Whichever program you choose, in order to get results you must work to your fullest at every session and, most importantly, never miss a workout. If, for whatever reason, you have to skip a planned session, make it up the next day or sometime during that week. Nothing is as critical to success in the early stages as consistency.  

I want to briefly review the main points about the snatch and clean and jerk. If you can do an overhead squat and power snatch, you can do full snatches. If you're able to rack a bar correctly across your frontal deltoids when doing a power clean and can do a front squat, then you have the flexibility to do full cleans. The ability to hold the bar overhead during a full squat reveals that you can do jerks without any trouble. 

Shoulder flexibility is absolutely essential to the Olympic lifts, so time must be spent ensuring that this attribute is sustained or, better yet, improved. To stretch out the shoulders for snatches and jerks, hold a broomstick or rolled up towel over your head. Lock your elbows and rotate the broomstick back over your head as far as possible. Don't merely hold the broomstick, try and pull it apart. When that range of motion increases, shorten your grip and repeat the process. Do this ("dislocates") prior to every workout (even if snatches and jerks aren't on your program), again during the workout, and more at night. Once you've achieved the flexibility you're seeking, don't take it for granted. Stay on top of the discipline and you'll be a step ahead.

The wrists and elbows encounter a great deal of stress on power cleans, full cleans, and jerks, so them must be given attention as well. Plus, the shoulders too have to be loosened to accommodate the new requirements being placed upon them. When I hear of someone hurting his wrist or elbow or shoulder while doing something as basic as a power clean, I know for certain that he did not take sufficient time to stretch out those joints. Those who do not want to be bothered with the stretching movements end up paying the price for their laziness. 

To prepare the shoulders, elbows and joints for the act of racking a bar across the front of the shoulder girdle, do this: 

Fix a bar at shoulder height inside a power rack. Lock it in place so it cannot move. If this isn't possible or you don't have a power rack available, load up a bar with a few hundred more pounds than you can possibly move. Start by using one arm at a time. Grip the bar firmly and, while keeping our torso perfectly erect, elevate your elbow upward as high as you can, then hold it there for a five-six count. Do the same for your other arm. Do a couple of sets until you start to feel the joints relaxing a bit. Now grip the bar with both hands and elevate both your elbows at the same time. Stretch them upward as high as you can stand it and and hold for a five-six count. This latter stretch is much more effective when a training partner applies pressure to your elbows. He will be able to elevate them higher than you can by yourself. Do as many sets as you need to do so that you can fix the bar across your frontal deltoids comfortably.

You can loosen your wrists simply by flexing them down and back using your other hand. However, I believe it's beneficial to tape your wrists even when you think they are strong enough and quite flexible. They take a great amount of punishment during jerks, front squats and heavy cleans - even more so when an attempt is missed - so an ounce of prevention pays off for those small joints. When one gets dinged, it takes a very long time to bring it back to full strength. Wrap the wrists with trainer's tape before any session where you plan to snatch, clean or jerk to stay on the safe side. You need to tape them tightly enough to give support and stability to the joint, but not so snugly that the tape impedes circulation to your hands. A good way to do this is to flex your fingers as your laying on the tape. In the event that the tape is too tight or not tight enough, remove it and start over.

In order to do these suggested programs, you will need pulling straps, a lifting belt and bumper plates. Straps are available from a number of distributors, but the best can be made from seat belts. Cut them out of the back seat of an old car, then throw them in a washing machine a dozen or more times until they're nice and soft. These you need for the high pulls and shrugs. The belt can be an inexpensive model found in any sporting goods store. Contrary to what many assume, a belt will not save you from being injured if you do something really stupid. What it does do is keep your lower back warm during the execution of an exercise  such as the squat and provides you with feedback as well, such as telling you that you're leaning too far forward on the front squat or too far backward on the overhead presses.

Although you can certainly do all the exercises in the programs I'm presenting using metal plates, life is much easier when rubber bumper plates are used for the Olympic lifts. Missed attempts are inevitable, and the bumps do a lot less damage to the bar and platform than metal plates. They are not cheap but will last a lifetime unless they're abused. I'm using a set that was discarded 20 years ago, and the plates serve me well by protecting the floor of my apartment.

Before touching a bar at each session, you need to do some warmups: one exercise for your abs and one for your lower body to get the core groups ready for the upcoming stress that will be placed upon them. Crunches, situps and leg raises fill the bill for the abs, while back hyperextensions or reverse hypers work nicely for the lumbers - one very high rep set and you're ready to hit the weights. 

Bill Starr's Beginning Oly Programs

First, the three-days-a-week routine. It's broken down into A and B weeks, which are done on alternate weeks. Do the exercises in the order they are listed.

Week A

Monday

Power cleans and front squats

Clean and jerks

Clean high pulls

Back squats

Dips.

Wednesday

Front squats

Good mornings

Steep inclines

Chins

Calf raises.

Friday

Power snatches and overhead squats

Full snatches

Overhead presses

Back squats

Shrugs with snatch grip.

Week B

Monday

Power snatches and overhead squats

Full snatches

Snatch high pulls

Back squats

Dips

Wednesday

Same as Wednesday Week A

Friday

Power cleans and front squats

Full cleans

Jerks from the rack

Back squats

Shrugs with a clean grip.  

The changes in the two programs are minor. The primary difference is that the cleans and snatches switch places every other week so that one gets the priority spot twice a month. This helps to keep the two lifts in balance. However, should you find that one of those lifts is lagging far behind the other, keep the weaker one on Mondays until it improves. 

I'll go through the various exercises in detail and add in sets and reps. The first exercise on Monday and Friday is merely a warmup for the next one on the list. Power clean a light weight 5 times, and after each clean front-squat it and finish off with 1 jerk. Power-snatch a weight, then follow that with an overhead squat for 5 reps. 3 sets for both of these movements will suffice.

I've had some athletes who preferred doing the Drill instead of the exercises I just described. For those who have read Learning How to Do Full Cleans

http://library.crossfit.com/premium/pdf/CFJ_Starr_FullCleans.pdf?e=1304079927&h= 

and Learning How to Do Full Snatches

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ_Starr_Snatches.pdf 

they know the Drill for the snatch consists of a power snatch followed by an overhead squat, a hang snatch going into a deep bottom position, and finally a full squat snatch. For the clean, the sequence is power clean plus front squat, hang clean and full clean. The Drill works just as well as the exercises in this program, so it a matter of preference.

Move right into the full cleans and jerks. Do 3 consecutive cleans, then jerk the weight twice. Go as heavy as you can just so long as you maintain good form. When technique begins to break down, you need to either stop for the day or lower the poundages. Hammering away using sloppy form is counterproductive. If your form is way off, move right into the high pulls. 6 sets of 3 will provide you with plenty of work on the clean with 2 jerks on each set. 3 sets of 3 for the high pulls. On your final set of high pulls (for both the cleans and snatches), try to use 50 more pounds than you handled in the full movement. The reason behind doing the high pulls is to overload those muscles involved in snatching and cleaning, but in order for this to happen your form has to be perfect. High pulls are really no more than deadlifts followed by shrugs, but if the transition from one to the other is not blended smoothly the bar will ot jump at the finish. Use straps for high pulls.

Back squats need to be done with the bar set high on your traps and not low on the back as many powerlifters prefer. You can't lean at all on the back squats if you want the power gained to be utilized in the clean and snatch. On Monday, do 5 sets of 5 and work to max. On Friday, use this formula:3 x 5, the 2 x 3 reps. The final set on Friday should be 5-10 lbs. heavier than your final set of 5 on Monday. The next Monday will find you using the same weigh from your last set of 3 on Friday, but you'll do 5 reps with it. In that manner, the numbers will steadily climb upward on your back squat.

For dips, do 4 sets of as many as you can do. When you're able to do all 4 sets for 20, start adding weight and cut your reps back to 8s, 5s and 3s done on consecutive weeks.

Do 6 sets of 3 on the front squats and take them to limit every week. Good mornings are done every week because the lower back is the cornerstone of strength. Your goal is to handle 50% of what you're squatting for 10 reps in the good morning. If you obtain this ration early on, keeping it is rather easy. But if you do not work the good mornings diligently from the beginning, catching up is a bitch. Alternate the sets and reps every other week using these two formulas: 4 sets of 10 and 5 sets of 8. Use a bit more for the 8s. While the variance is small, it makes a difference in the two workouts. I'm not sure why, but it does.

Do inclines on as steep an angle as you can manage. I know some incline benches do not afford much flexibility in this manner, so do the best you can. The higher angle will hit many more groups that are part of the Olympic lifts than a lower one. The frontal deltoids, higher portion of the chest and triceps get lots of work on these. Alternate these two set and rep sequences every other week: 5 x 5 reps and 3 x 5 reps plus 3 x 3 reps. Try to move the numbers up every week, and when you feel that you can handle it, add in a back-off set of 8 or 10. Superset chins and calf raises - 3 sets of as many as you can do on the chins, and 3 x 30 reps for the calves.

After the warmups of power snatches and overhead squats, or the Drill, do 6 sets of 3 on the full snatches. When this exercise falls on Monday, you'll come in behind the full movement with snatch grip high pulls because you'll be doing shrugs instead. Use straps on the high pulls and shrugs shrugs. Load up the bar for shrugs and pull every set just as high as you can. Think in terms of shrugging over 500 lbs. with the clean grip and over 400 with the wider snatch grip.

Overhead presses also need to be worked hard and heavy. Here's a routine that will help you increase your presses: 3 sets of 5 as warmups, then 3-6 sets of 3 with a work weight. Start out with 3 work sets and slowly add another as you're able to handle the load.

Jerks off the rack can be done for form or pushed to the limit. This depends largely on how you feel on Friday. This advice also applies to the cleans and snatches. If you're having a good day, run the numbers up. If a tad sluggish, cut back on the weight and drill on technique.

Because you don't have a coach to keep an eye on how you're performing on any given day, you have to do this yourself. Pay attention to how your session is going. Some days, you may feel strong but have the coordination of a cow on ice skates (see Photo One).




   

 

Originally Published in This Issue (May 1970)

Ollie came over the other night to get me to have a beer with him.

"Can't," I said ."I'm trying to answer a batch of letters." 

"How many you got to go?" he asked me.

"How many?" I said. "About two hundred, that's how many." 

"Good grief," he groaned. "You'll never make it." 

"I'll try," I said.

"How come you got so many letters?" 

"I invited them," I said. "I mentioned in a 'Keys' article that I'd try to help anyone with a special problem. Only I didn't expect so bloody many. I'm running about three months behind on them."

"Listen," Ollie said, "you're going about it the wrong way." 

"Am I?" I asked him. "That's awfully decent of you to tell me." 

"Think nothing of it," he said. "You need me for a business agent. He paused a moment. "Look," he said. "How many bodybuilders are there in the world?" 

"Three million," I said. "Three million, four hundred and sixty two thousand, eight hundred and seventeen." 

Ollie blinked. "Really?"

"How the heck would I know how many bodybuilders there are?" I snarled at him. "And what difference does it make anyway?" 

"Listen," Ollie said. "There's a lot of bodybuilders, eh?" 

"Sure, sure," I said. "Rapidly growing sport and all. So what?" 

"So this," Ollie said. "A problem that's bothering one guy is probably bothering hundreds of others as well." 

"That's nice," I told him. "But how does it affect me?" 

"Simple," Ollie said. "You just group questions together that are related, and answer them in Strength & Health."

I glared at him. "Ollie, you idiot, I did that six months ago." 

Here:

http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2018/10/questions-and-answers-john-mccallum.html 

"Fine," he said. "Do it again. If people want questions answered, answer them in style." 

"You really think it would be of value" I asked him.

"Certainly," he said. "If the advice is any good, everyone might as well get it. No telling how many it would help." 

"What would I call it?" 

He thought it over. "Well," he said. "You might call it advice to the lovelorn." 

"Sure," I said. "Or 'Dear Abby'." 

"Right," he said. "You could change your name to Loretta Pinkpants or something. It'd be sensational." 

"Okay," I agreed. "Gimme a hand grouping some letters." 

"Right," he said. "And then we'll go out for a beer." 

One question that a lot of guys ask is: 

Q: I train my midsection daily. My waist is hard and muscular. There's no fat on it, yet it measures 34". How do the fellows in the muscle magazines keep their waistlines down to 30"? 

A: They don't. At least, most of them don't. They lie about it instead.

People lie about a lot of things. Some people lie about their fuel bill and their gas mileage. Most people lie about their income tax. Everyone lies about their love life. Bodybuilders, unfortunately, lie about their measurements. 

The cold, hard fact of the matter is that very, very few top bodybuilders have 30" waists. And, unless you're a rather small person, the chances are that you won't either. If you're a normal size man, you'd be wasting your time and energy trying to get your gut down to 30:. Actually, you'll do more damage to your appearance than you'd gain. 

A good friend of mine once asked me the secret of waistline reduction

"There's no secret," I told him. "It's just a matter of exercise and diet." 

"I'm gonna have to get at it," he said. "Gotta whip off a couple of inches." 

"What are you talking about?" I said. "You're in terrific shape now. You don't need anything off your waist." 

"It's too big" 

"What does it measure?" I asked him.

"Thirty-three."

"How small do you want it?" 

He patted his stomach. "About thirty." 

"You'll never make it," I told him. "You got too much muscle there." 

"That's what a lot of the big names measure."

"No, they don't," I said. "Somebody just claims it for them." 

"Well I'm gonna try, anyway," he said. "I know I can do it." 

He came around a couple months later. His clothing hung on him and he had big dark circles under both eyes.

"You look like you been hit by a gravel truck. What happened?" 

"I been specializing on my gut," he told me. "And dieting." 

"Oh yeah," I said. "I'd forgotten. Did you get it down to thirty?" 

He shook his head. "Thirty-two." 

"Well, that's more than I expected," I said. "It came down an inch, eh?" 

He nodded. "So did my arms and legs, and my chest came down five." 

Let's take a quick look at the midsection. You got the abdominal wall on the front, the external obliques at each side, and the spinal erectors at the back. The important thing to remember is that the tape's gotta go around the whole gig unless you bore a hole through your middle. If you develop your front, sides, and back like you should, then your waist has got to measure more than an undeveloped one.

Suppose, for example, that you're of a decent height and rather skinny to start. Your waist, correctly measured, would go about 30" or so.

Now, let's suppose that you're lucky enough to hear about weight training and wise enough to do it. A year or two of sensible training will alter your appearance drastically. All your muscles will be tremendously developed from when you started, but that also includes the muscles that strap your gut.

If you've done the proper amount of dead lifts and cleans and so on, you'll have a nice set of spinal erectors that'll add impressive depth to your back and an inch or more to your waist measurement. Your obliques will have thickened a bit to give you that herculean look. Unfortunately, they'll also add another inch or thereabouts to your waist. Finally, your abdominal muscles will have shaped up into a thick, impregnable washboard that'll require another inch or so of tape.

Your original 30" waistline will now measure at least 33" without an ounce of fat on it. It'll have increased about three inches. The thing to remember, though, is that it'll look smaller because your chest will have increased about a foot. In fact, you'll now be in the fortunate position of being able to claim a 30" waist and make all the other bodybuilders jealous because their waists measure 33".

The thing to consider is how do you go about getting your waist as small as possible without hurting your other measurements or reducing your strength in the process. The routine you should follow will depend on whether your waist is fat or muscular.

If your waist is fat, your course is pretty straightforward. You won't need to worry about thickening your waist with muscle. All the muscle you'll ever develop won't measure anything near what a thick layer of lard will.

If your waist is fat, you should figure on working it pretty hard. A half an hour per day isn't too much. If you're really sincere about training your gut, try the following on a daily basis:

Incline situp: 3 x 50 superset with
Seated twist: 3 x 100

Cuddle situp: 3 x 25 superset with
Side bend: 3 x 50

Leg raise: 3 x 50 superset with
Bent forward twist: 3 x 100.

Include some work for the rest of your body about three times per week, and get in at least three sessions per week of jogging.

You should keep a diet of about 1,500 calories per day. Eat mostly protein, take supplements, and stick to it until your waist is hard and your whole body is free from fat.

If your waist is hard, but you still think it is too big, try the following:

Start by giving it a good think. Make sure your waist is really large and that you're not just being influenced by someone else's dishonest measurements. If your waistline is hard and muscular it would be most unwise of you to try to reduce it very much. If nature gave you a thick abdominal structure, you're way better off just to accept it and attempt to perfect it. The Farnese Hercules has a lot thicker waist than Apollo, but he looks just as good.

If you must have your gut a bit smaller, then lay off side bends, bent presses, one-arm military presses, or any other exercise that activates the obliques. Cut out squats, cleans, and dead lifts. Substitute front squats and prone hyperextensions. Don't do any heavy abdominal exercise. Use one set of situps only in reps of 100 or more each workout.

You should also work in some jogging. Get in three or four sessions of five miles per week. Watch your diet carefully. You don't need to count calories, but stick to salads and proteins and take all the appropriate supplements.

Your appearance and ability depend on a variety of things more important than a 30" waistline. Don't worry too much about it. Live the strength and health life. Train hard, eat well, and be cheerful. Develop your body - all of it - to the maximum you are capable of. Build your gut into a wall of armor plate. In the final analysis it's a heck of a lot more important than how much tape it takes to go around it. 



   

   

 

First Published in This Issue (June 1970) 

There are two questions which are frequently asked and which relate directly to each other. Both questions are important and the answers to them are vital to your bodybuilding success. The first of the two questions is:

Q: Just how important is nutrition? Strength & Health keeps stressing the necessity of an adequate diet, yet I've heard of good bodies being developed on an average diet. Is nutrition as vital as it's made out to be? 

A: Yes. Nutrition is every bit as vital as it's made out to be, and then some. In actual fact, your chances of bodybuilding success without a proper nutrition program are just about nil.

There are three logical replies to these stories we hear of good bodies being developed on an average diet. The first and most obvious reply, of course, is to ask if the diet was really all that average. Some men like to create the impression they're not really trying too hard. They like you to think they'd be even more tremendous if they really tried. 

I have a friend who developed an absolutely herculean body with weights and then went into professional wrestling. He claims he pays no attention to his diet at all. He eats, he says, the same as everyone else. What he doesn't mention, though, is that his supper consists of a chunk of rare steak, two inches thick and about a foot square. He also goes through four quarts of milk and a dozen eggs per day. His diet, whatever else it may be, is definitely not average. 

The second reply is simply that some men are easy gainers. They grow muscle on practically anything. If your gains come easy enough, then perhaps you can ignore sound nutrition. If your gains don't come easy, though, and for most of us they don't, then sound nutrition is essential.

The third reply, and it's odd that no one thinks of it, is that the fellow who grows a good body on an average diet would probably be a lot better on a proper diet. That's a difficult point to prove, of course, but all the indications are that it's correct. We continually hear stories of muscle men who don't train hard, or who don't eat properly, or who smoke four packs of cigarettes a day. These stories, even if they're true, don't prove a thing. Weight training is a tremendous stimulus to the body. It's far and away the best method of building muscle. Weights will accomplish miracles even if they're not too well applied. The muscle men in question may look good, but they'd look infinitely better if they quit fooling around and paid attention to the rules.

Nutrition is of the utmost importance. Some authorities even go so far as to claim it's more important than the exercise. In any event, it's vital to your success. Find out more about proper bodybuilding nutrition, apply it, and reap the benefits.

Q: I do my best to eat an adequate supply of proteins, minerals, vitamins, etc. My financial position, however, isn't exactly the greatest, and I am also extremely pressed for time. Is there any food I can take that is convenient and economical that will increase my nutrition level? 

A: Yes, there definitely is. My Uncle Harry has a concoction he calls "souped up soup." It's convenient, economical, easy to make, easy to take, and contains enough food elements to make all the difference in your progress.

I was over at my Uncle Harry's apartment a few days ago. He was standing in front of the stove with a big white apron wrapped around him and stirring vigorously at some sauce that was simmering in a pot. 

"Well, well," I said. "The galloping gourmet. This is quite an honor."

He waved a hand modestly. "Just a little hollandaise for the asparagus tips." 

https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/julia-childs-hollandaise-sauce-251332 

He had on a York Barbell Club T-shirt that strained at the seams every time he moved. 

"Tremendous," I said. "What are you having with it?" 

"Nothing special," he said. "Any old thing to keep body and soul together." 

"Like what?" 

He coughed. "Beef tenderloin flamed in brandy." 

"Uncle Harry," I said. "You really let it all hang out for those teeny-boppers, don't you?" 

"Not really," he said. "You gotta eat." 

"You put a lot of faith in nutrition, don't you?" 

"Absolutely," he said. It's the greatest." 

"Do you really think it helps your progress?"

"No doubt about it," he said. "Creamed vichyssoise [cold leek and potato soup], candles, a little Beau Sejour, perhaps a . . ."

"Just a minute," I said. "That's not the kind of progress I'm talking about. I mean bodybuilding progress." 

"Oh, that," he said. "Sure, it's essential for that, too." 

"How 'bout an unrelated book recommendation?" said My Name is Nobody.

Isolation Exercise for Higher Biceps

by Bruce Page

Article Courtesy of Liam Tweed

 

Torsos may come and torsos may go, but arms remain supreme. This statement is a proven fact, for time without number the most popular physique star is the one with the most impressive arm development. When enthusiasts gather at a contest or at a strength show, what single part of the contestant is scrutinized most by the viewers? 

The arms, of course! 

A contestant may be lacking a little in his chest, shoulders or legs, but so long as his arms are right up to par, he is right in there. If a group of bodybuilders get together for a discussion, most invariably the topic of conversation and comparisons of development will mostly concern the arms.

Obviously when we speak of arms it takes in a great deal of territory, for the arms consist of many muscle groups within our biceps and triceps. But in this article I would like to dwell on the biceps only. The big reason for this is the many requests I have received in the gym for information and exercises which will aid in bringing out a greater degree of height and formations to biceps which appear flat and shapeless.

This condition appears to be more prevalent today than at any other stage in weight training and for bodybuilders it can be most perplexing. With photos appearing appearing in the magazines of fellows with high, well rounded biceps to match the sweeping curve of the triceps, producing a well-shaped, sizable upper arm, the trainee who lacks this biceps with development is rather harassed as to how to remedy his problem. Hence this article. 

First there is one thing to keep in mind . . . 

A high, pointed-appearing biceps is just the opposite to a flat underdeveloped biceps and neither one is an asset to your physique. In other words, do not carry isolation training to extremes and until the biceps take on a pointed appearance. What you are striving for is a well rounded, thick biceps with enough height to give the arm a look of complete development. 

If you glance back at the men who have been Mr. America or Mr. Universe, Mr. USA or any of the top physique men in the world, I don't think you could find one with grotesque biceps completely out of harmony with the rest of the upper arm, nor will you find any flat-appearing biceps either. These men have trained properly and built their arms as well as the rest of their fine physiques with with a god deal of common sense behind their training. 

Heavy barbell and dumbbell exercises are immediately associated with building bulk, so automatically we have to do the reverse of this in order to achieve separation and height. In order to do isolation exercises one factor must be positively understood and that is that there can be absolutely no extra body movement involved. 

The muscles being worked must do all the work and the concentration intensified. Swinging the bar or dumbbells will be an absolute waste of time and energy. In the first place, the exercises are performed at a slower pace and consequently a heavier weight could not be used without excess body motion. However, reasonably substantial poundages can be utilized with very good results. Remember, you are not building size when isolating for high biceps, you are attempting to bring the muscle up or to draw it out, so to speak. Bulk building is something else again; therefore, heavy poundages are not necessary at this time.

I have found through experience that dumbbell training is best in this instance, although there are a few variations of barbell curling which prove beneficial.

Before embarking upon a program to heighten your biceps, assure yourself that you need such a program. If you already possess a reasonably high biceps combined with thickness then a program of less severity is recommended. This type of schedule is for those who suffer greatly in this department and are in need of something a little different and out of the ordinary to remedy their condition. 

I will now describe some barbell and dumbbell exercises which you might like to give a try, and if you do I'm sure you will be more than pleased with the results obtained. A note of importance before listing the exercises: In isolation work for higher biceps it is more important to utilize good performance and body movement must be held to a minimum. It is better to sacrifice weight for good, proper muscle action to attain best results. 

And now for the exercises. 

Dumbbell Bent Over Biceps Curl - 

Bend over until your upper body is parallel with the floor. Your elbow and triceps lie against the inside of the thigh with the elbow just above the knee joint. Curl toward the chest. 

Dumbbell Curl, Elbow on Knee - 

Sit on a low bench (12-18 inches high), place the elbow just behind the knee cap and hold it in place with the thumb and first finger of the other hand. Allow the arm to extend to its full length and then curl back to the starting position.

Dumbbell Curl Off Low Bench - 

Using a low bench and a weight in each hand, start with the bells resting on the floor at your sides. Beginning with arms straight, curl to your shoulders.

Bentover Barbell Curl - 

Bend over to a position parallel to the floor. Take a close grip on the bar, hands about 3-4 inches apart. Curl with as little body motion as possible, to the chin.

Barbell Curl Off Knee - 

Performed in the same manner as the dumbbell curl, elbow on knee. 

Barbell Curl with Elbows Between Knees - 

Use a low bench. Take a close grip on the bar, same grip as for the bentover barbell curl, and from your seated position your arms will be between your legs, which will be fanned out somewhat to allow for the curling action. Curl with as little body motion as possible. 

These movements are designed to keep body movement to a minimum. You can, of course, cheat on them if you wish, but as I stated previously, your best isolation action for high biceps comes with a strict performance. 

Some of the above movements can be included in your workouts with changes being made from time to time. Do not make a full time workout of these exercises, but merely add one or two to your regular arm routine and take the time to work and concentrate properly on them. I might suggest that you work the arms last and at the completion of your regular arm routine make a special time for isolation work. If you feel that the biceps might be too tired to do the workout justice by this time, then cut your regular arm work down a little, retaining some energy for the isolation work.

Remember too that some fellows have a naturally high biceps formation which gives them a reasonably high biceps with very little extra specializing to achieve or retain it. But if you are among the less fortunate and have the flat type biceps, then the above exercises properly and sensibly applied will bring gratifying results. 

You will find it necessary to make changes to your arm routines from time to time in order to insure the muscles of a change and to work them from various angles. This will also help to ward off boredom and help you to train more efficiently. Your entire upper arm will take on a much shapelier appearance once you have attained more height in the biceps and a greater, fuller arm development will be yours.   

Many bodybuilders make the mistake of treating the calves like a delicate little group when in fact they are made up of dense muscle fiber, like the forearms. And, they are used to handling your bodyweight ten to fifteen hours daily. Can you imagine it! 

Say a man weighs 180 pounds. The calf muscles handle that amount of weight daily without even an ache. So it stands to reason that if you really want to give the muscles of the lower leg a real workout you have to bomb them with heavy poundages and force out the reps. I began with something like 300 pounds on some calf exercises and before you knew it I was pushing 1,000 pounds.   

Following is the routine that I believe gave me the greatest results. 

The first exercise is the Donkey Raise. For that movement I have two guys sit on my back. Sometimes, when only one fellow is available, I ask him to hold a heavy dumbbell as he sits on my back for added resistance.

Standing on a wood block, I start the exercise by lowering my heels way down until they are almost touching the floor. It's a good idea to use a block about three-and-a-half inches thick so as to allow that full stretch of the calves. From way down low I slowly raise myself up on my toes as high as I can go. Here, I hold the position for a full count of four and then return to starting stretch position. Usually I perform the exercise for 4 sets of 12-15. The Donkey Calf Raise is a marvelous mass builder. 

 

With hardly any rest, I move from my sixth set of Donkey Raises to another size builder . . . Toe Raises on the Calf Machine. This is my favorite calf movement and I really pack on the poundage here. Starting with four to five hundred pounds, I gradually work up to 1,000 pounds through six sets. My repetitions go no higher than 10-12. 

The idea here is to force yourself up as high as possible on your toes and to sink down slowly to the lowest point, heels almost touching the floor. That down stretch is as important as holding the highest top position for the count of four. Keep the pressure on the calves until you step off the machine. 

You should be feeling the calves ache in this exercise, as in the others listed here. Remember what I pointed out earlier. The calves are used to hard work. To get them to grow you've got to bomb them with tougher and tougher sets of continuous tension and reps that are forced. [Note: Increasing your bodyweight should be considered when trying to get larger calves.]     

My third movement is a shaper. It will help give you the diamond shape that is the hallmark of the physique champion. Men like Ken Waller and Franco Columbu sport these diamonds. they separate the men from the boys and the goats from the tomatoes! 

Take up the position on the Seated Calf Machine. Again push hard on your toes and go up as high as you can. Then come down slowly. I like to perform this movement in a sort of pumping style, forcing my knees just a little bit higher each effort. Naturally I use a heavy poundage, one that will allow me just about 15 repetitions. Don't be fooled by the ache you're bound to feel if you are doing it properly. It's a signal and you should aim at getting that ache. 

As far as I am concerned I must feel a little soreness in my calves at all times when I'm specializing on them. How else will I know I'm getting the message across to them! Six sets pump my calves up to balloon size.

My last exercise in this calf specialization routine gives me another opportunity to pile on the plates. I take up my position under the Leg Press Machine in the same way I would if I were doing a thigh movement. Only this time my toes take up most of the pressure. 

I begin by allowing the toes to fall back as the heels come up. What a fantastic S-T-R-E-T-C-H you get from that! From here I force the weight up as high as possible with my toes, keeping my knees locked throughout the movement. 

Towards the end of the set, when I am feeling particularly energetic (most of the time) I go for burns. That is, I keep up the pumping action for as long as possible until the calves are screaming for help. This action can really chisel out the outer section of the calf muscles for superb form. 

It is hardly worth mentioning that at this point in the specialization routine my calves stick out like blown up toy balloons, gorged with blood. But I'm not quite through with them yet. 

Now I get out the highest block I can find in the gym and, holding a bar for support I let my bodyweight sink down until the heels are nearly touching the floor. Here I don't come back up. I stay down, stretching the muscles as much as possible for a full minute.

Before continuing with the rest of my workout, I like to massage the calf muscles, kneading and squeezing them, already in preparation for the next calf session. Sometimes I will use a little less weight (not all that much less!) during all my calf exercises. I compensate for this by increasing all the reps and aim for third degree burns in the muscles.

You cannot simply go through the movements blankly and expect progress. With me there is a constant challenge to force the muscles to grow. I force out reps and use continuous tension, and I am not afraid of pain. I am not afraid to pack on the poundage required. Things like the pumping action, the deep stretch at the bottom, holding at the top for a four count and building the habit of stretching and contracting the calves to the limit . . . these all pay dividends.   

Originally Published in This Issue (Feb/March 1968)

Article Courtesy of Liam Tweed

THANKS AGAIN, BROTHER!

Click to ENLARGE

Hepburn Challenge: From Sept. 1996 PLUSA.
The Doug's date of birth: Sept. 16, 1926.

Les Hasler deadlifting 705 in 1989

at Garry Benford's YMCA Nationals. 

Article Courtesy of Jake Striefel:
https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2016/05/three-day-heavylightmedium-routine-by.html

The Deadlift is the King of the three competitive lifts. Whereas in the squat and bench press a person can use supportive equipment that takes three men and a boy to get on. The deadlift is a lift you can either do or can't do. The deadlift relies on a person's strength, rather than hi-tech equipment. As the saying goes, "the meet don't start until the weight hits the floor."

I have used various training methods over the years to improve my deadlift numbers. They have ranged from Vince Anello's program, where one does several singles with a short rest period

http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2011/02/14-week-deadlift-cycle-vince-anello.html

to high rep sessions.

The program I have used over the past several years is working up to a best triple a week before the meet. This routine brought me up to my present best meet deadlift of 735 pounds. A set of three should translate into approximately 75 pounds more for a single. If you can triple 600 comfortably, you should be able to pull 675 for a single in the meet.

I normally run a 12-16 week cycle, deadlifting once a week. As a warmup for the dead, I will do some light squats working up to 325 for a set of 5. I do a total of 5 sets in the deadlift as I feel that is enough work considering I squat twice a week which can stress the lower back.

As an assistance to the deadlift, I do rack pulls from the knee. I keep my feet narrow and do no more than three sets, keeping the reps VERY low as you can quickly overtrain. Do rack pulls every two weeks on your heavy squat day and pull about 150 over your deadlift weight for the week for a set of three, until two weeks out from the meet, where you will pull a single.

Take whatever time is necessary for stretching before AND after your workout. Do lots of weighted crunches as I feel strong stomach muscles work synergistically with a strong back. Finally, I like to do heavy arm curls to keep the biceps from possibly tearing during the deadlift.

In order to get a 600 lb. deadlift during a meet, this is the program I would recommend. I use straps the last six weeks on my last set because I do not want to worry about my grip. I just want to get the reps. This will not affect your grip during the meet.

You will notice that during the last few weeks there are big jumps in the weights, however, the reps are cut way down by the time you get to the last week to give your back plenty of recovery.

Good Luck!

Remember . . .

In Powerlifting, Less is More.


Week 12:
145x 10, 225x7, 275x5, 325x3, 360x10.
Rack Pulls (on heavy squat day): 525x3.

Week 11:
145x 10, 225x7, 275x5, 325x3,, 375x10.

Week 10:
145x 10, 225x7, 295x5, 345x3, 390x8.
Rack Pulls (on heavy squat day): 555x3.

Week 9:
145x 10, 225x7, 295x5, 345x3, 405x8.

Week 8:
145x 8, 225x7, 305x4, 365x3, 420x6.
Rack Pulls (on heavy squat day): 585x3.

Week 7:
145x8, 225x6, 315x4, 365x3, 435x6.

Week 6: 
145x8, 225x6, 315x4, 375x3, 450x5.
Rack Pulls (on heavy squat day): 605x2.

Week 5:
145x8, 235x6, 325x4, 405x3, 435x5.

Week 4:
145x7, 235x6, 325x3, 415x2, 480x4.
Rack Pulls (on heavy squat day): 635x2.

Week 3:
145x7, 245x5, 335x2, 425x1, 495x4.

Week 2:
145x6, 245x4, 335x2, 435x1, 510x3
Rack Pulls (on heavy squat day): 665x1.

Week 1:
145x6, 245 x3, 345x1, 445x1, 525x3.

Meet:
Opener: 500
Second: 550
Third: 600. 



          

Sumo Deadlift Peaking Routine

by Greg Reshel

This routine assumes that you are in solid powerlifting condition. You must be in shape and have a squatting or leg pressing foundation along with chins, high pulls, deadlifts or heavy back bodybuilding. The routine I am outlining for you now is a strenuous peaking routine designed for sumo-style deadlifters. 

You will be training for 10 weeks on this peaking routine. It uses "residual effect" training to first overload your muscles, exhaust your stabilizers, and shock your nervous system. Then, this routine will heal your body while reeducating your system to proper sumo technique and timing. The healing segment of this routine will allow your body to overcompensate, and to gain substantially more strength than otherwise possible in a conventional peaking routine. During the last five weeks of the routine, which is the rest and healing phase, you will feel sore and stiff, and will not be strong. You are always weaker when you are healing. Seemingly light weights will be difficult to accomplish in your work sets. You will have the big push at the meet where it counts.

You will need to stay focused on your goal as you avoid the temptation to test the strength you have gained during the pre-exhaust period so that you can have it all at the meet. After all, the competition is the whole reason for the peaking cycle.

The deadlift poundages are in percentages to make it easy to calculate your specific numbers. You will, as mentioned, train for ten weeks on this routine. Five weeks of pre-exhaust, and five weeks of healing rest.

I will repeat my peaking message here. Be aware that individual leverages differ dramatically, and that you may need to adjust the numbers used for your cycle accordingly. THE PERCENTAGES GIVEN ARE A GUIDELINE. THESE NUMBERS AREN'T CARVED IN STONE. There is no Holy Grail for powerlifters, no secret gimmick that unlocks mystical strength. You must learn your potentials and limitations through trial and error. And then keep working on your weaknesses until your numbers go up.

WORK IS THE KEY. Bust your butt for the first five weeks. Concentrate on technique and timing with full gear for the last five weeks. During these last five weeks you must focus on developing a consistent pattern of setup and delivery, and speed so that you are not thinking of technical details at the meet. The final five week peaking cycle is the time to rehearse your performance technique so that you can do it in your sleep. Stress balance and setup. You cannot lift any weight if you are off balance. Take your time. When you move to pull, you must do so EXPLOSIVELY.   

In the first five weeks, you build power like the torque of a large earth mover. You must focus on developing that raw grunt. During the last five week "rest" peaking phase you must teach yourself the high intensity speed of a sprinter or a drag racer. You must teach yourself, with full gear, to EXPLODE FASTER EACH WEEK WITH RELATIVELY LIGHT WEIGHTS. The combination of speed and grunt will give you tremendous power in the deadlift, especially with the sumo stance. During the peaking cycle eat and rest well as often as possible so that you will be fresh at the meet and hungry to take on the big weights! 

You will train your deadlift two times per week for the entire 10 weeks. It may be easiest to combine the light deadlift day with a heavy squat day, and the heavy deadlift training day with the light squat or leg accessory day.

Training Day #1 - Light Day

Leg Extension, 3 x 15 reps with rhythmic delivery.

Leg Curl, 4 x 12 with increasing weight.

Situp, keep lower legs over a bench with partner sitting on them. If possible, place a dumbbell on your chest to add weight, and do 4 sets of 8 reps. 

Rack Pull, set pins so that the bar is at a height just below your kneecaps. Always push with your head and chest out over the bar. The bar should travel underneath your upper abs with your chest out in front of it during the entire pull. Do not pull back away from the bar but rather drive forward and up into the bar at all times! Loads are percentages of maximum contest deadlift. Follow the chart below: 

First working sets: 

Week 1 - 5 x 5 reps @ 80%

Week 2 - 4 x 4 @ 75%

Week 3 - 6 x 2 @ 85%

Week 4 - 4 x 5 @ 60%

Week 5 - 4 x  2 @ 82%

Week 6 - 5 x 2 @ 74, 78, 82, 86 and 90%

Week 7 - 3 x 3 @ 60%

Week 8 - 4 x 2 @ 75%

Week 9 - 3 x 5 @ 60%

Meet Week - 2 x 6 @ 50%

Second working sets:

Week 1 - 1 x 10 reps @ 70%

Wk. 2 - 1 x 8 @ 80%

3 - 1 x 6 @ 90%

4 - 1 x 10 @ 80%

5 - 1 x 6 @ 100%

6 - 1 x 6 @ 100%

7 - 1 x 10 @ 40%

8 - 1 x 8 @ 50%

Underhand Grip Lat Pulldown, 3 x 10 with moderate weight and no strain. 

Training Day #2: 

Leg Press, 4 x 20 reps fast and light

Deadlift, first five weeks use a belt only, and pull in a narrow stance conventional or nearly stiff-legged style. The last five weeks use full gear and pull sumo style. Use a stop watch the last five weeks to push your timing faster each week. Follow chart below: 

First working sets:

Week 1 - 5 x 5 @ 70%

Week 2 - 6 x 4 @ 75%

Week 3 - 6 x 3 @ 80%

Week 4 - 4 x 5 @ 75%

Week 5 - 4 x 4 @ 82%

Week 6 - 5 x 1 @ 64%

Week 7 - 6 x 1 @ 64%

Week 8 - 7 x  1 @ 64%

Week 9 - 8 x 1 @ 64%

Meet Week - Open @ 92%

Second working sets: 

Week 1 - 1 x 10 reps @ 60%

Wk. 2 - 1 x 8 @ 64%

3 - 1 x 6 @ 70%

4 - 1 x 10 @ 60%

5 - 1 x 8 @ 64%

6 - 1 x 6 @ 70%

7 - 1 x 10 @ 60%

8 - 1 x 6 @ 75%, 2nd @ 103%, 3rd @ 110%

Decline Situp, 4 x 6 reps with slow descent and weight added to chest if possible.

Dumbbell Shrug, 5 x 12 with moderate weight.

 

   

 

"This is not just the story of another Holocaust survivor. After all, very few survivors would, just a few years after liberation, become Olympic athletes. It is a story Michael Freedland tells after dozens of interviews with Ben himself, as well as with members of his family, fellow survivors, and residents of his old home town in Poland. Ben grew up in a small Polish town, Pietrkow. His sister, the only other member of his family to survive, said that if she or anyone else needed a protector, Ben was the one to call. When the Nazis came to Pietrkow, his mother and one sister were shot. He and his father managed to survive initilly in the town ghetto by working in a glass factory and a woodwork plant. Before long, they were transported to the infamous Buchenwald concentration camp where his father subsequently died. Taken to Thereisenstadt, Ben was eventually liberated by the Red Army. Before long, he was one of 'The Boys' who came to England. His sporting excellence was recognised when he was selected for two Olympic Games in which he represented Britain as a weightlifter. He became a successful businessman and retired early so that he could make a personal crusade of bringing together other survivors. He founded the famous 45 Aid Society, worked with the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Holocaust Educational Trust. In his mid 80s, Ben is a prominent figure in the Claims Conference, which has awarded billions of dollars to needy survivors. He is a great believer in reconciliation with both Germany and his native Poland and both nations have given him awards in recognition of his work."

Excerpts From Chapter 16 - "Weights" 

Ben Helfgott was not the first Jew to think he could get good at lifting weights - and do very well at it. Until Ben came around the most famous of them was the Pole, Sigmund [Zishe] Breitbart. If that fact surprises, so might the thought of this Jewish strongman also being a Jewish blacksmith. He likely realized that if he could lift a horse's leg, the irons that were the tools of a weight lifter's trade were easy meat. 

In the 1920s Breitbart was regarded as a big star . . . 

. . . Ben, at five-foot, four inches tall, weighing 154 pounds, couldn't compete with Breitbart's achievements, which could be called, in effect, circus shows. What Ben Helfgott had set his sights on was purely sport, one that he took so seriously it was a form of science.

 . . . He was a lightweight (in athletic terms, that is). Prior to a certain meet he had to lose six pounds in three days. "I didn't eat as much." On the Friday before the big competition, he drank three glasses of water, two glasses on the Saturday, and drank or ate nothing on the day of the event until he weighed in. 

Of course, doing without food was no novelty for him. 

But this was different. Just how different he needed to explain . . . 

Chapter 17 - "Olympics" 

 - Sir Ben Helfgott     

 

https://www.ironmind-store.com/Olympic-style-Weightlifting-Beg-Int-Manual-DVD-Set/productinfo/1203/ 

https://www.otpbooks.com/product/olympic-weightlifting-tips-jim-schmitz/ 

The Author, Jim Schmitz

We each lift weights for varying reasons, and I am often asked. why and when did I start weightlifting? It was June 27th, 1960. I took up weightlifting in order to build myself up to be better for football, basketball, and baseball.  I noticed that the best athletes also had the best bodies and were bigger, stronger, and faster than the rest of us. 

In those days very few people lifted weights as it was thought to make one slow and to develop large muscles that weren't supple and mobile, commonly called "muscle-bound." Here it is 57 years later and more people, men, women, and children are lifting weights than ever before. It's long been proven that weight training, and especially Olympic-style weightlifting, only enhances athletic performance. 

However, many things influence why we lift the way we do. Why do some prefer CrossFit, powerlifting, bodybuilding, strongman, Highland Games, Olympic-style weightlifting, or any other sport that tests and requires great strength? Some of the reasons are to be physically better for a chosen sport, to look better, and to be healthier. But why choose one training method over another? Just as we are all different physically, mentally and emotionally, we have different tastes, likes and dislikes. That's why there are so many different sports and physical activities. 

The main reasons for choosing a certain sport over another are that you like the sport because you are good at it, it's fun, you feel good doing it and you like the challenge - or maybe by chance you were introduced to it. Consider the new popularity of Olympic-style weightlifting. Many people are doing it just because they like it, it makes them feel and look good. Now, I think this reasoning is true for all the strength sports, but I'm g to concentrate on Olympic-style weightlifting here. 

Many years ago there was a competition called the U.S. Olympic Festival put on by the United States Olympic Committee for all the Olympic sports. It was a fantastic, week-long event and was held annually from 1978 until 1995. The top four weightlifters per weight class were invited to participate, plus coaches and officials, all expenses paid. One year, I think it was 1979, we brought in the Hungarian national coach (I can't recall his name) for a series of clinics, and he shared a lot of great training information. What I remember most was what he said the most important motivating factor for the Hungarian and Eastern European weightlifters, was: 

Money. They do it for the money. It's their job.

Also, at the 1979 World Weightlifting Championships in Thessaloniki, Greece, at the closing banquet, the U.S. team shared a table with the Chinese team. Its 82.5 kg. lifter, Ma Wenguang, was very interested in weightlifting in the U.S. Through an interpreter, we talked about many things and he asked, "How much do U.S. weightlifters get paid?" When I told him, "Nothing," he was shocked. He said in China weightlifters get paid about the same as a school teacher, but with bonuses for successes and records. He wondered why the U.S. lifters lifted if they were not getting paid. Ma Wenguang, by the way, competed in the 1984 Olympics and then went on to be the president of the Chinese Weightlifting Federation and the Asian Weightlifting Federation and the secretary general of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

Up until around 1992, the U.S. had pretty strict amateur rules. Some of our lifters would get a small stipend of about $100 per month from the York Barbell Company, plus travel and lodging at national championships. My club, the

    

would hold fundraisers to help defer some of the costs to the various championships. I remember at my first meeting on the IWF Executive Board in 1993, the secretary general, Dr. Tamas Ajan, said to tear the page on amateurs out of the rule book. You could now openly get paid to lift and not under the table, as it had been done. 

The good news that now U.S. weightlifters can get paid, and many have sponsors so they can train full time. Also, some colleges offer scholarships for weightlifting. 

The top weightlifters around the world are largely all professional and now the USA is also able to pay its top lifters. 

After money, what motivates someone to want to lift big weights? Even though top lifters are able to get paid, they are a small and elite group. You have to train and compete on your own resources until you reach that high level. I lifted to get bigger, faster, and stronger in order to play football, and it helped. I was able to play at San Francisco State University from 1963 to 1967. I started as a 175-lb. fullback, but was switched to defensive tackle as I bulked up to 200 lbs. and wasn't quite fast enough to be a fullback.

I did a combination of Olympic lifting, powerlifting, bodybuilding, and fitness and conditioning training, but it was Olympic lifting that gave me the power and explosiveness to be quite good. I was defensive team captain, MVP, and All Far Western Conference. A funny thing happened on the NFL draft day in 1968: the Atlanta Falcons called me and said they had drafted me in the seventeenth round. I had to tell them they had called the wrong number, as it was another player on our team with a similar name.

After my senior year, I knew my football days were done and since I had competed in weightlifting a few times in 1966 and 1967, I wanted to pursue weightlifting.

I wasn't motivated to do weightlifting for any other reason that I liked, it felt good to do, and I wanted to see how strong I could be and how much I could lift. No money was there, and I had no chance of being a national champion or an international lifter. That was the prevailing motivating reason for us and why so many of us lifted and tried to lift more back then. We knew that, weightlifting is fun and lifting more weight is fun! We liked it, and our motivation was to set personal goals and try to hit them.

The first goal I remember was being able to clean and press bodyweight at 160 pounds, and then it was a 300 pound bench press and a 400 pound back squat. Once you hit a goal you would move it up. Eventually I wanted to bench press 400 pounds. It took me years and I had to gain a lot of bodyweight, but one day I did it and I wasn't motivated to go any higher. It was very heavy and hard and took a lot of work to get there. After that I was always satisfied with whatever weight came without too much effort - I wasn't motivated to push so hard.

That's what's really important: when the weights get heavy you have to be really determined to give as much as you can to your training to push through the barriers. When you reach your maximum and just can't break through, you might have reached your peak. What you do here is back off, rest, and build back up again and try again and keep trying until your body tells you that is as high as you can go. We all have limits, but you'll never know what they are if you quit or back off with your first or second or even third effort. You must keep trying until your body just won't do it. Hopefully you don't push through to injury. Pain and injury are the indicators that maybe you've reached your potential.

When I start someone in weightlifting, I always just say, let's see how good you can be. I don't say, you'll be a national champion or anything too lofty. I say, let's train hard and smart and see how it goes. I have so many examples . . . Ken Clark, Mario Martinez, David Langon, Than Nguyen, Rachel Silverman, Giselle Shepatin, Anne Lehman, Jo Ann Aita, and one in particular that I want to talk about, John Bergman. I was their first weightlifting coach, whereas Dan Cantore, Ken Patera, Bruce Wilhelm, Tom Stock, Butch Curry, Tom Hirtz, and Carol Cady came to train with me after they had already been coached and lifting for a few years. I always stress:

What do you have to do to lift the weight, don't overthink it, just focus on what you have to do to get that weight over your head (below).

John (above) didn't start out motivated to be a national champion and to compete at World Championships and the Olympics. He took up weightlifting for football and fell in love with weightlifting and never played football again. He was pretty good, he liked it, and when he saw that he could be a national champion and compete at the world championships, it excited and motivated him. This was in the 1980's and there definitely wasn't any money in weightlifting. You had to pay all your training, travel, and competition expenses. He was motivated to see how good he could be, and he enjoyed training and competition.

John could do 175 and 215 with no problem, but when he would go over those weights, his body would just break down with little nagging injuries. It was very frustrating, nothing serious, but enough to slow down or stop progress. We would back down, train light, and build back up, trying to avoid the little tweaks. It was frustrating because he was mentally and athletically capable of really big weights, but his body just couldn't take it. He was motivated and determined to make the 1988 Olympic Team; he might have made the 1984 team, but he couldn't hold the needed weight overhead.

From 1985 to 1988 John plugged along, getting up to the heaviest weights he could handle without causing injury, then backing off, recovering and starting over. Super compensation and periodization, and it worked: he lifted enough to make the 1988 Olympic team. From looking as if he were going on to some really big weights in 1985, he limped along and achieved his goal of making the U.S. Olympic Team in 1988. I would say that due to John's motivation and determination to make the Olympic Team, he endured a lot of painful and disappointing competitions, never achieving what he was capable of - but once an Olympian, always an Olympian, and it is a very worthwhile goal.

Another question I get asked a lot is, what motivates me as a coach and why do I still lift? First, there has never been money in coaching weightlifting. Today, a coach can make some money by charging for coaching, seminars, and clinics. Some may have sponsors or are on the staff of colleges and universities that have weightlifting programs. Many coaches support their weightlifting programs by teaching CrossFit sessions or through running strength and conditioning gyms. For 49+ years, I've supported myself and my weightlifting program by owning and operating a gym/health club and doing personal training.

Why have I done it and continued to do so?

 I have asked myself why so many times and thought, weightlifting must be a disease and I have a chronic case. The answer is, I love it, and it's great for you, it makes you feel great, a I love coaching it and actually still doing it. For years I wondered, what's wrong with me, why am I spending hours in the gym coaching and lifting for almost no money and my contemporaries are out on the golf course? Their vacations were in Hawaii, and Europe, mine were in Russia, Hungary, Cuba, China, Mexico, and about 35 other countries for weightlifting competitions. Actually, my travels and experiences with weightlifting were and continue to be fantastic experiences and 100% worth all the lonely hours in the gym and money spent to travel to competitions. I totally enjoy all those who are new to weightlifting and love it, and I hope it will be as meaningful to their lives as it has been to mine.

Motivation means having a strong reason or incentive to want to accomplish something. Once you've got your motivation, then you need determination to realize your goals. Determination means the quality of being resolute with firmness of purpose and action. In other words, motivation is your incentive - money, fame, being strong, or whatever - and determination is what gets you through hard, painful workouts, competitions, injuries, and setbacks. Two major ingredients of determination are persistence and will power. Once you are motivated, you need the determination - will power and persistence - to achieve your goals. Without persistence and will power, talent and two dollars will get you a cup of coffee.

Lifting more weight, winning competitions, becoming a national champion, representing your country by making an international team, then winning medals at the highest level, the Olympic Games, that's the ultimate. Not everyone can be a champion, but everyone can lift and enjoy it. Maybe you won't be the best, but you must always try your best and you will have a successful weightlifting experience   
 

Lou Degni

Load the Bar But Do Lighten Up

In order to attain the appearance of strength, the bodybuilder must maintain a positive nitrogen balance. This can be a tall-order tough-one, given his obligations outside of the gym. "Protein, PROTEIN, PROTEIN!" scream the muscle pundits. These peeps of the physique, some with great expertise and training wisdom, recommend no less than a gram per pound of bodyweight. Now, along with the required carbs, fat and water, our average man may find hauling all this gut-ballast around on a daily basis can lead to wee problems, even great ones in some cases. 

Assimilation is key! Sad to say, there can be no synthesis sans assimilation, my friendssssss, which is why here today I present a New Method, a Principle one may call it, A New Direction In Protein Consumption and Assimilation. The Alternate Principle of Protein Ingestion and Carb Replenishment As Postulated In Enquiry [TAPPI CRAPIE].  

We are all familiar with the the utterly unquestionable powers of milk as a builder of bodies, be they bovine, human or of builder-lifters. Yet, here once again, we are faced with the problem of internalizing then assimilating large quantities of the white magic. Quite tragic, indeed, to see the hard work of practicing bodybuilders go, pardon the pun, down the crapper owing to insufficient nutritive replenishment.  

To the rescue I present TAPPI CRAPIE. In layman's terms, dermal protein absorption. Let me introduce you to this newness through undoing any confusion. Ooh, you're gonna thank me, and your growing muscles will too! 

Early research from the late 1800's has proven the human body's ability to absorb various chemicals and nutrients through the pores of its skin. No question there. It is after all, in writing and does contain certain specific scientific words and phrases. I believe it will prove its worth and efficacy to bodybuilders worldwide in due time. Consider yourself one of the lucky few getting in on the ground floor of this amazing old discovery!

And now,  to follow I shall present an explanation of the methods.

Firstly, be certain to give your bathtub a solid cleaning, using only detergents that are free from the proliferation of refined chemicals and treatments we see so often. Warm water and tallow soap is my personal choice, but several other soap concoctions can work equally well. I like its manly scent. Never use hot water when prepping a TAPPI CRAPIE bath!

Now, while allowing the tub to air dry, the way of ages that God intended, strip yourself free of all clothing impediments and give yourself a firm rubdown with a compound paste made of green tea leaves and baking soda. Do not make the paste too thick! I am partial to a brisk Brillo rubdown to properly exfoliate the fibers, but again, there are many other equally efficient methods. Just be certain that the thin upper epidermal layers are livened.

Next, proceed to fill the tub at least half full with cow's milk. I've tried the goat variety, and aside from being an even bigger waste of time than writing or reading this nonsense, I have found it much less productive and result producing. The odor must also be considered here.

When in a bulking phase, use whole milk.
When cutting, skim is preferred.
When in maintenance mode, go with 1%.

Lower your body into the room temperature milk. Slowly, slowly, allow yourself to soak up and absorb the nutrient. Remain in the tub for no less than 25 minutes and no more then 30. Feel the uptake of protein being sent to your muscles, and through visualization and concentration see the muscles growing mentally. When specializing, it's best to still submerge the entire body, for we are composed as a whole, not of parts various and sundry. However, when specializing do concentrate and send extra-strong mental energies to the bodypart under attack.

Now, lift yourself from the tub and drain the milk from it, sending it back to Nature via the wonders of modern plumbing. If, however, you do not currently possess an indoor system I recommend seeking out several house cats to keep as combination pets and tub drainers. Be certain to acquire both male and female varieties, for once they begin mating and reproducing you will never have to seek elsewhere for more again.

A semi-brisk rubdown with a softish bath towel should now follow. Be sure to get a healthy dose of sleep each evening and prepare to enjoy your newfound muscularization!  



Yeah, fer sure. Light Sessions, Heavy Sessions, Medium Sessions.
All out attempts, coasting, keeping close to your current temperament and never forcing too far.

Writing's just like lifting. 

 

How Fast Should I Squat? 

by Brogan Samuel Williams (2018) 

Have you ever heard someone ask "Why do you bounce in the hole of the squat?" 

Which gets the internet gym bro response of "Stretch reflex, bro." 

Today we are going to take a closer look at the ideal squat tempo, some common myths, and drill down on the importance of tension, tightness, and stability when squatting.

I try and write these articles to ultimately help people . . . I want to see people move better and continue to stay healthy and strong for longer. I enjoy covering these types of subjects because these topics are either commonly misunderstood, or there is just a lack of quality information compiled, understood, tested, measured and articulated in a way that everyone can benefit from. Today once and for all, we are going to discuss the supposed benefits of a fast squat versus a controlled one. My goal is that you will self-evaluate your own style after reading this article and find a way to maximize your technique and promote longevity. Let's get into it. 

This is What We Will Cover: 

1 The Prime Movers in the Squat

 - A. The Prime Movers

 - B. Traditional Anatomy

 - C. Lombard's Paradox

2) Why Squat Fast? 

 - A. The Stretch Reflex

 - B. The Stretch-Shortening Cycle

 - C. Momentum

 - D. Rate of Loading

 - E. Less T.U.T. (time under tension)

3) Why Squat Slow? 

 - A. Loading Tension/Tightness

 - B. Maximizing Stability

 - C. Technical Proficiency

 - D. Injury Prevention

4) The Perfect Approach to Squat Tempo IMO

- A. Tension Over Reflex

- B. Control Over Momentum

- C. Squat Tempo

5) Conclusion

1) The Prime Movers in the Squat

First we need to have a quick lesson on anatomy and biomechanics. 

 - A. The Prime Movers: 

 - Gluteus (Gluteus maximus, Gluteus medius, Gluteus minimus).

 - Quadriceps (Rectus femoris, Vastus lateralis, Vastus intermedius, Vastus Medialis). 

 - Hamstrings (Semitendinosus, Semimembranosus, Biceps femoris). 

These 3 groups of muscles have a unique relationship when functioning together to perform the squat movement alongside a series of synergist muscles and stabilizing muscles which also aid in the movement. 

 - B. Traditional Anatomy: 

You see, traditional anatomy would indicate that for the quads to contract efficiently in the hole of the squat, the opposing antagonist (hamstrings) would have to fully relax - and similarly for the hamstrings to fully contribute to hip extension, the antagonist (quads) would have to relax to allow that contraction to occur. This is the basic principle of agonist VS antagonist and is used to describe the functionality principles of our muscles. 

- C. Lombard's Paradox: 

The Lombard's Paradox describes a paradoxical muscular contraction in humans where the hamstrings and quadriceps contract at the same time, despite being an antagonist to each other. If you don't believe me, squat down right now and monitor the contraction of your quads and hamstrings. Interested? 

Both are contracting in knee/hip extension. This is primarily because a quad muscle (rectus femoris) and all of the hamstring muscles (semitendinosus, semimembranosus, biceps femoris long head) are biarticulate muscles, meaning they contribute to both knee flexion, extension and hip flexion and extension. 

The rectus femoris not only extends the knee but flexes the hip, while the hamstrings not only extend the hip but also flex the knee. In the bottom of the squat, while the rectus femoris is stretched at the knee and shortened at the hip the hamstrings are shortened at the knee and stretch at the hip. Now please keep in mind we are not literally meaning the muscles are exclusively stretching in one area as a muscle belly contracts globally across the muscle, but we are using this terminology more as a general idea and guide to how the muscle is reacting and being stretched or pulled and from which point and direction.

During the squat, your gluteus are exclusively working to extend the hip and the other three quadriceps muscles are working to extend the knee however the rectus femoris and hamstring muscles are working together by creating stability for maximal force production and redistributing of force to the moment arm requiring it the most. These muscles all work in synergy, together creating force through maximizing stability and muscular contraction. So keep that in mind below as we begin to discuss how these muscles react when under certain stimulus and we define the best way to squat.


2) Why Squat Fast? 

A. The Stretch Reflex:
What is the stretch reflex? The myotatic reflex is a neurophysiological response to a stretch stimulus applied to a muscle. You see, we have these sensory receptors in and around our muscles. These receptors initiate a mechanism within our muscle fibers called muscle spindles. When a stretch stimulus is applied to the muscle, the spindle communicates by sending an impulse to the CNS which results in a response to muscle contraction. This communication is between the muscle spindle and the spinal cord so generally occurs very, very quickly, with most data suggesting within milliseconds. Using the proprioception system, this prompts your body to create a muscular contraction directly after the muscle itself has been stretched. The Stretch Reflex is known to be primarily used by our bodies to prevent muscular injury or tearing, as well as aiding in correct posture and force production. So what does this have to do with Squats?

Well, by increasing speed into the hole of the squat you are sending your large, strong, prime mover muscles into a stretched position - the gluteus are stretched, the hamstrings are stretched at the hip, and the quads are stretched at the knee joint. This then fires off neurological impulses to return the stretched muscle to its normal position.

For years lifters have tried to take advantage of this physiological mechanism to create more force output with the squat. Some data shoes that this reflex not only causes the muscles involved to activate but it also prompts the CNS to recruit and engage supporting synergistic muscles to aid in the restoration of positioning for the stretched muscle and even send an impulse to your antagonist sensory receptors to relax.

B. The Stretch-Shortening Cycle (SSC): 
Now, the Stretch-Shortening Cycle is a bit different . . . it is a global term used to describe a reaction that occurs to your muscular-skeletal and physiological system when you perform a movement that requires an eccentric and concentric contraction. So, the Stretch Reflex is more of a neurological prompt and the SSC being the actual muscular response to being stretched while also incorporating aspects of the stretch reflex. The SSC refers directly to a physiological counter-movement when performing certain exercises like squatting, sprinting, and jumping. The pre-stretch during the eccentric load is thought to have a direct effect on the concentric muscular contraction and force production and is said to allow the lifter to produce more force and move quicker than he could if he were to perform the movement from a static position.

Although there is some controversy around the reasoning of this, let's look at what is commonly believed to represent the SSC:

1 - The Storage of Elastic Energy Within the Muscle:
Elastic energy is stored in the muscle throughout the eccentric portion of the lift. That energy can be used to contract the muscle and produce force during the concentric phase (however, this energy will dissipate into heat if not used straight away).

2 - The Rate of Loading:
As discussed above, muscle has elastic properties, thus lending itself to the argument that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that the faster you extend the muscles, the faster they want to return the muscle via the elastic energy stores and muscular rebounding momentum.

3 - The Neurological Prompts That Incorporate the Proprioception System:
This includes the sensory receptors of the muscle spindle the neurologically activate the stretch reflex, resulting in the contraction of synergistic muscles.  

By utilizing all these things, data shows you can increase athletic performance with plyometric, ballistic training, jumps, and body squats. However, I would suspect that it has some but little carry over to the loaded squat. In fact, let's take at the extent these muscles are 'stretching'.

The gluteus are in a full stretch at the bottom of the squat but don't primarily aid in the bottom of the squat - knee extension does - hip extension is for later. The hamstrings are shortened at the knee and lengthened at the hip, while the quads are lengthened at the knee and shortened at the hip . . . meaning that to achieve a full stretch from these two muscles you would have to perform a totally different movement than that squat - the squat, in theory, is only providing half the amount of stretch that a specific muscle is capable of. Giving us only half the amount of stretch reflex and SSC.

C. Momentum:
Linear momentum is the mass multiplied applied by the velocity of an object. When we descend into a squat we often find that lifters can experience an extra "pop" out of the hole by loading their calves into the bottom of their hamstrings and then launching off them, building momentum out of the hole. You will also see lifters shove that shove that eccentrically gathered momentum into their knees as they rebound out of the hole. You see their knees travel excessively forward and then drift back into a normal position as they maximize the momentum gathered to drive them through their sticking point.

D. Rate of Loading:
As discussed above, our muscles have an elastic type quality to them that allows them to be stretched then creating a returning force to the neutral position. The muscles are not always best represented as a rubber band, but as a spring - the increased rate of the eccentric load directly equals the force applied to the concentric contraction. The Stretch Reflex is not only a force contributor but an injury preventer, a key principle being that the muscle will try to respond at the same rate at which it has been pushed. The reflex itself is to avoid the muscle being over-elongated or stretched to the point of injury - so the force that is placed on the muscle needs to be met with an equal responsibility for this injury-avoiding mechanism to function properly. This can often be brought up when discussing the stretch reflex and evaluation of the force that is returned on a concentric contraction.  

E. Less Time Under Tension:
Any further time under a maximal amount of load will result in a higher rate of fatigue to the muscle. In the traditional sense, we use time under tension (TUT) to create muscle trauma, tear down muscle fibers, stimulate muscle growth and force blood into a muscle. The longer your muscle is under the tension the more that muscle fatigues, as well as the energy source that is supplying the movement (buildup of hydrogen ions, metabolites, and acidity in the muscle). This traditional concept most definitely applies to a squat, but furthermore, we need to discuss the loss of elastic energy if we are performing a 'pause squat'.

Once you hit the required depth you need to explode into the concentric contraction. Every second you spend in an isometric or static contraction leads to a weaker and weaker launching position. Meaning, if you wait around t the bottom you will not only begin to experience muscular fatigue but you will begin to burn through your elastic stored energy. Keep in mind we have not discussed the rate of force or aid the SSC and SF has on a loaded squat.


3) Why Squat Slow?  

A. Loading Tension/Tightness:
It is absolutely necessary for an athlete to understand the benefits of tension and tightness when performing compound movements. Maximizing tension not only promotes safety within the lift but helps the production and transfer of force throughout your body. Force is often emphasized through tightness, tension, and stability.

Breathing and Bracing:
One of the many things I feel is overlooked and misunderstood in general is the benefit and importance of Breathing and Bracing . . . not to mention it's always the first thing that goes out the window when someone decides to drop in and out of the hole at a rapid pace.

The idea is to produce as much force as physically possible when performing the squat, and we do this by applying tension and tightness in the correct areas that become compromised during the lift, from the foot to the floor, the knee to hip positioning, posterior tightness, and torso rigidity.

In my experience, the breathing and bracing efficiency tend to be the first thing that is lost when someone is squatting too fast or bouncing out of the hole. First, let's look at why breathing and bracing are so important.

To create, transfer and withstand maximal amounts of force efficiently you need to:

 - Create the best biomechanical leverage possible with your anatomy. 

 - Load the correct prime movers.

 - Provide adequate muscular tension for the force to be transferred without technical breakdown.

 - Provide adequate tightness through breathing and controlling your air for the force to be transferred without technical breakdown.

 These fundamentals are built on the premise of tension and tightness which is created through breathing/bracing.

 - You can start in the best biomechanical position but will struggle to maintain the correct positioning during the lift if you are not maximally utilizing your breathing/bracing.

 - You can load your prime movers to start with but due to lack of tension and tightness you begin to recruit other muscles to provide stability due to poor movement patterns, rather than neurologically focusing on recruiting as many fibers as possible from the prime movers.

 - You cannot provide and transfer maximal contractile force efficiently and safely without adequate muscular tension to help transfer or withstand that force.

 - You cannot provide and transfer maximal contractile force efficiently and safely without adequate tightness produced by your breathing to help transfer or withstand that force.

Breathing and bracing is another tool that should be utilized to maximize performance. However, I find that lifters who move quickly often find it harder to contract the right muscles, control their breathing and master their coordination. I always coach my athletes to SLOW DOWN which allows them more time to make that mental connection to what they are trying to achieve.

This is why, in my opinion, squatting slower allows you to better practice and perform your breathing and bracing routine.


The Eccentric Loading:
We can utilize the time during the eccentric load to create tension where we need it most. I often teach my lifters to use the negative part of the movement to store the tension into the appropriate muscles like a spring. We know the principle of elastic energy/SSC's physiological muscle response is at work and we can utilize this when descending into the squat. The Stretch Reflex and SSC response is said to occur within milliseconds, which would mean that you run the risk of losing energy as heat if you were to pause the rep, however, we are talking about benefiting from both sides here - utilizing the eccentric for stability, specific loading of tension and enhanced coordination whil still achieving a great reflex/muscle response out of the hole of the squat. It's about training the proprioception system to recognize when to send those signals to the sensory receptors to kick the prime movers into action.

So can we give you a specific number for how long we can eccentrically load the squat or pause at the bottom? The data is limited for this, however, we can theorize an answer by analyzing a study of a similar physiological action, the static stretch. A study recently showed that the greatest alteration to a muscle when being stretched is between 15-30 seconds. So somewhere between the initial stretch and that 15-second mark your body's stretch reflex wears off and the stored energy 'allegedly' burns off as heat. Can we give a specific number? Well, no. But I would say that the energy-storing properties or a muscle last longer than a few milliseconds and most likely can be used within a few seconds and also can/do contribute to force production during a squat - how much, we just don't know for sure.     


B. Maximizing Stability

I recently wrote an article of Active Foot Stabilization (AFS) and had a massive amount of positive feedback. I find that people often overlook some of the most important aspects of lifting. In this case, most lifters would maybe focus on knee position and keeping their chest up, with maybe a little breathing into their belly for bracing while completely overlooking stability from the foot to the floor. Wow.

It all begins at the floor and a weak link there will compromise stability all over the body. So, I teach stability at the floor and move my way up, sometimes fixing the valgus knee or hip shift purely by teaching stability. It is the exact same when squatting - stability has to be prioritized to maximize force production and safety during the lift.

We can do this by:
 - stacking our joints correctly in the starting position.
 - breathing and bracing.
 - implementing active foot stabilization.
 - using eccentric tension.
 - correct movement patterns.
 - slowing down the eccentric on the squat to enhance coordination.


C. Technical Proficiency

When performing complex barbell exercise, technique HAS to be the priority. But we know that, right? You know, chest up in the squat . . . back flat on the deadlift . . . tuck in your elbows on the bench? Well . . . it's a little more complicated than some overused, not lifter-specific cues.

The technique is primarily to do with motor pattern and coordination.

It takes time, it takes weeks, months, years of blood/sweat/tears. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit but you get my point. We train multiple times a week, working not only on getting stronger but also at increasing our technical proficiency.

It takes time and many sessions of a coach's evaluation, or self-assessment with feedback/dues or instructions on how to better ourselves - it's a long process. I'll be honest with you. I trained very hard for a GPC Nationals event one year and was really excited to squat a massive amount of weight. Leading into the prep I incorporated some new teachings to maximize my technique and I removed the fast bounce and hoped for the best squat. Well, even after months of preparation when it all came down to it I was nervous and dive bombed . . . yep, I dropped that squat low and fast! I was so annoyed at myself for all of a sudden changing my whole technique back to what I used to do. Man, technique can be really hard and can suck sometime.

A lot of the lifters I see in the gym and online generally exhibit poor form, so my advice is . . . slow down the squat to better focus on stability and coordination. Even World Champion powerlifter Stan Efferding has said that he slows down his squats to keep himself from falling over.

Todd Hardgrove, movement therapist, explains, "To move slowly and gently is to allow yourself time to approach movement in an exploratory and curious manner, and to put a great deal of attention on the subtle details of the movement. Becoming more coordinated is essentially a matter of rewiring the neural circuits that control movement, which is an example of a very fashionable process called neuroplasticity. According to Michael Marzenich and other prominent neuroscientists, attention and awareness are major preconditions for neuroplasticity to occur. In other words, your brain is much more likely to get better at a certain activity if you are paying close attention to doing it. Slow movement can help your ability to pay attention to exactly what you are doing when you are doing it.

So there you have it! A slower squat leads to more coordination/stability and most likely better technique.


D. Injury Prevention

We use many tools in the toolbox to enhance performance and avoid injury. When under maximal amounts of load you DO NOT want to be dive bombing or moving faster than your body can handle. Lack of stability, tension, and tightness during the squat can lead to injuries. When momentum is accumulated and force is being produced it can be expressed in many different ways. We teach full body tension to keep this momentum and force applied to the correct muscles, avoiding power leaks throughout your setup. When moving fast you are more likely to make a motor patter error, resulting in the wrong muscle and mechanical movements to overcompensate and finish the lift.

When we squat too fast and lack tension/tightness and stability we can often see:

 - the knees caving in.
 - hips shooting back.
 - chest falling forward.
 - lateral hip shift movement.
 - shoulder instability and excess pressure.
 - excessive elbow pressure.
 - lumbar flexion.
 - foot to floor instability (medial pronation, foot movement, etc.


4) The Perfect Approach to Squat Tempo

Based on my own personal athletic performance, my experience with my own clients, athletes, the study of biology, anatomy, biomechanics and information stated above, I'm going to lay out the most efficient squat tempo, and why, in my opinion.

A. Tension Over Reflex
The raw squat requires an incredible amount of full body tension/tightness and stability to be created by the lifter to insure safety, longevity, efficiency and strength/power in the lift. Spend more time focusing on activating the correct muscles to lift the weight which in return will produce greater hypertrophy and strength results. Use your breathing and bracing to minimize risk and maximize stimulus - induced to the correct muscles that you need to grow stronger to blow up your squat.

A reflex is a neururo-physiological response, a reaction caused by movement. Are you going to rely on this to increase your strength? It can help you initiate muscle contraction but in my opinion it's a very small piece of the pie. The reflex is another tool, so use it in proportion to the results it produces. You can utilize the stretch reflex and train your proprioception system to fire with a controlled eccentric squat.

You don't need to sacrifice tightness, stability, safety and technical efficiency in the name of a reflex or "momentum".

B. Control Over Momentum
Momentum may be an option for those who are trying to squeeze every last kilo out of their competition squat, but at what cost? Relying on momentum to squat can have its benefits, but it absolutely has to come under the umbrellas of CONTROL.

Controlled and planned momentum may provide some benefits for you but it also comes with risk. Rather than relying on an external force to carry you through the motion, we should be focusing on maximizing the performance of our engine room, the muscle fibers! There are many different ideas and perspectives out there on this topic, but in my opinion all beginners and intermediates should be learning how to properly contract and utilize their muscles when performing compound lifts, which means taking the time to streamline their technique and control their body, not throwing it around in hopes of a few extra kilos on the bar.

C. Squat Tempo

I can hear it now . . .

"I hit the hole so fast bro to get more rebound."

Yeah . . . okay bro.

Squat tempo has its own place in the pie of 'squatting' but ultimately what is the right answer?

After all the information we have just covered, let me break this down very clearly for us all . . .

SQUAT FAST - more momentum, rebound and reflex which can potentiate into more weight lifted.
SQUAT FAST - more instability, lack of technical consistency and efficiency, harder to maintain bracing, higher injury factor.

SQUAT SLOW - more controlled, better technical efficiency and overall stability, easier to maintain  correct breathing and bracing, proper muscular contraction and engagement, more tension and tightness throughout the setup and movement and less likely to cause injury.
SQUAT SLOW - can potentially take longer to train proprioception system, minor loss of power through lack of possible momentum, rebound and stretch reflex.

MOVE QUICKLY BUT DON'T RUSH . . .
So, what about a 3rd option? One that incorporates the best of both worlds?

A controlled yet confident quick squat that prioritizes breathing/bracing, torso rigidity, overall muscular tension, and engagement and setup stability while hitting the hole with confidence and speed through streamlined technique.


5) Conclusion

In my opinion, the raw squat is more reliant on efficient breathing and bracing, stability and mechanical proficiency than a neurological reflex or a physiological muscular response to being stretched. However, the stretch reflex and the SSC [Stretch Shortening Cycle] is a proven physiological response and can be used when squatting. You can still maximize the force production properties of the Stretch Reflex/SSC and not sacrifice the other important factors above by eccentrically loading in a controlled but fast manner throughout your descent. By training your proprioception system you can explode out of the hole, maintaining the best physical and mechanical positioning based on tension, tightness, and stability and still get some use of the Stretch Reflex/SSC without bouncing or using excessive amounts of momentum which provide too much risk. For beginners, I would suggest keeping your squats slow and controlled until you become competent with your mechanical positioning, breathing and bracing, and bar path. I would then encourage you to explore the benefits of a faster squat tempo.

So there you have it. I hope this information helps you make better decisions when considering how you want to SQUAT.    
           

         
 

  



     

       

      

 

Article Courtesy of Liam Tweed

Originally Published in This Issue (Iron Man Lifting News, May, 1958)

This grip is recommended by many authorites because they claim that the "thumbs around the bar" grip brings into action certain muscles of the forearm that tend to hinder the easy locking of the arms. Our own opinion, however, is that it twists the wrist and forearm to a greater extent than the thumbless grip and thus places the bone structure in a poorer position for most efficiency. I have always preferred a jerk with the thumbs around grip, but press with a thumbless grip. Many champions use the thumbs around grip for all lifting. 

Some lifters prefer to make their clean with the thumbs around grip and then shift at the shoulders to the thumbless grip. Some of them make this shift as the bar is turned over at the shoulders.

Hook Grip article by Bob Takano: 

http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2008/02/hook-grip-and-release.html 

Top lifters who possess terrific grips and who are able to hold their cleans easily find it to their benefit to use the most secure grip so they can place all their attention on the pull with no distracting concern for the security of their grip. 

 https://www.catalystathletics.com/

 To this end we would like to recommend that you learn to use the "hook" grip. To secure this grip you take a regular thumbs around the bar grip and then place the first two fingers over the thumb. This makes an almost unbreakable grip. It locks the hand around the bar. At first you think this is going to crush the thumb and it may make it somewhat sore for a while but it will soon toughen up so that you will never notice it if you practice consistently. 

If you wish, you can release the thumb after the weight is at the shoulders. There are some who will tell you that the hook grip can't be used with the "dive" method of cleaning but this is not true, for many lifters have used it with a dive. It is just a matter of practice until you do it automatically without thinking. 

The Dive and Get Set Position

Whether to use the "Dive" or the "Get Set" position before commencing the pull has been a matter of controversy. Whichever style is used depends, I think, largely on what trainer has the most influence at the particular time. A few years ago nearly every lifter used the dive style. Of recent years there has been a big swing to the get set style. I have used both styles but prefer the dive because I can clean much more and much easier in this style. I also feel it starts an explosive cycle that carries through to the jerk. 

The big disadvantage of the dive is that it does not give you an opportunity for the precise hand spacing that some men feel they require. On most lifts I find my hands grasp the bar in a very satisfactory position but a few times I will lose a jerk because one hand or the other was off too much. It does take a lot more practice to perfect the dive method but then it takes a lot of practice to become a good lifter anyhow. 

Don't ever discard a method of lifting just because it might be difficult to learn. If it is good then get in there and work and work and work until you perfect it. You're going to have to do thousands and thousands of repetitions to become good at weightlifting, and this is a simple fact.   

In the dive method of cleaning you stand in proper position before the bar. Most fellows will bend down first and grasp the bar where they want the hands and take the correct back and leg position. They will concentrate a moment in this position then stand erect and after further concentration they will dive very fast and grasp the bar and immediately on the rebound they pull with all they have.

You must work at this until you have it perfected so that your grip is properly spaced and secure and your body positions are correct. You must put a lot of zip and fire into your pull. This dive helps to develop the explosive drive needed for a powerful clean.

Many lifters use a slow dive for the weight. Others will go down about half way slowly then dive very fast for the last half of the way. 

In the get set method your approach is very much simplified. You go into your position slowly and deliberately. You grasp the bar correctly and firmly and take the correct body position then pull.

 

Whether you should use the dive or the get set method depends much on your temperament and inclination. Either style will work well. We very much dislike seeing any coach trying to force some particular style on ALL his lifters just because he happens to think it is correct. There is NO CORRECT STYLE for everyone. Just as physical structure and mental and emotional types vary so do styles of lifting. We have had champions who have used every conceivable style. Some of them look awkward but the lifter used it to make records. He liked his style (which is important) and it suited his particular temperament and body structure. Why try to change him just because it is unorthodox?

Here is something I'd like you to keep in mind. Champion lifters are champions because they are STRONG and not because they know a lot of "tricks" not known to other lifters. Nearly all men can learn good lifting style but very few will become world champions because they do not have the inherited physical and mental foundation necessary for a champion, or because they will not train properly and hard enough. The day is past when a weakling with no family background of vigor can quickly forge to the top in the lifting game. There may at times appear to be exceptions but I believe you will find upon exhaustive investigation that this is not true.