The Five-Rep Max

I wrote this poem on my commute home last night.  Hopefully, it motivates someone out there for PR Friday.

"The Five-Rep Max"

By Vir

You stand before the squat rack as if it were St. Peter, himself

The difference matters not, for a true five-rep max might bring you just as close to death

Buried beneath the squat rack, a noble death indeed

But not today

Today you will bounce out of the hole like Peter Cotton Tail on steroids

Today you will set a new PR

Chalk up your hands and take a deep breath, here we go

Tighten your grip on the bar and watch the chalk fall to the floor like a fresh winter snow

The calm before the storm

Retract your shoulder blades to build the shelf, Atlas would be proud

Elbows down, back tight

Three steps back, always three steps

Drive your knees out and descend to rock bottom, as if there is any other way to truly squat

Is there any other way to truly live?

Reverse direction so fast you wonder if you hit bottom

Forget that you still have four more

Let's go, deep breath, fill the belly

The next rep is smooth, but the third rep is exponentially harder

Come on, keep your head in it, one more!

The fourth rep is slower still but eventually your hips come through

One more. No one cares about your four-rep max

Fill the belly one last time and descend a bit faster, hoping the extra speed will carry you

Just past parallel you meet your nemesis -- the sticking point

Hello, old friend, care to dance?

Drive through that sucker with an unbridled fury, release your air in a primal growl

Most people don't know this side of you, but never feel more alive than you do right now

Sit down and relish the opportunity to write two simple letters in your training log "PR"

Cool down and bask in your fifteen minutes of fame

Turn out the lights

See you again next Friday, five-rep max plus two kilos.

 

Straight salt.

Book Review I: Speed Trap by Charlie Francis

Dismissing Francis' training methodology simply because his athletes used

PEDs would be a mistake.



Book Review I: "Speed Trap" by Charlie Francis

No need to put lipstick on a pig here, Francis' book Speed Trap is exceptional, a "must read" for serious coaches and athletes, alike.  While the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) features prominently throughout the book, Francis leaves no stone unturned when it comes to explaining the evolution of his coaching philosophy.  The following topics are covered in great detail: the respective differences between muscular fatigue and central nervous system fatigue, periodization, speed development, and taper schedules.  Many of Francis' ideas dovetail my own, specifically his rationale for limiting a sprinter's "traditional" endurance work.

Aside from the more technical points laid later in this blog post, a few subtleties within Francis' coaching philosophy jumped out at me:

(1) He would do anything if he thought it would allow his athletes to perform better -- and I don't mean simply providing them with PEDs.  He listened to their personal problems, bought them groceries, gave them money to pay rent or travel expenses, and he learned how to expertly massage his own athletes. This last skill was of particular importance, because it allowed Francis to learn how his athletes were responding to training, most importantly the high-intensity speed work.

(2) He never closed the door to any athlete who was willing to put in the work.  Ben Johnson wasn't the most talented teenager on his team, but Francis stuck with him and Johnson ultimately went on to set multiple world records.

(3) He brought on the best assistants, and he did not micro-manage them.  In doing so, he showed them a level of trust not commonly seen amongst coaches at the highest level, and he was subsequently rewarded with their loyalty and best efforts.

(4) He sought advice from the best in his business.  At one point, a conversation with the East German track coach led Francis to abandon his five-day taper schedule and instead adopt his peer's ten-day variation.  This is but one example of how Francis incorporated newer ideas into his training program. Others can be found in all segments of the book.

Now for the more technical discussion:

(1) Differentiating between muscular fatigue and central nervous system fatigue:

"In [the view of Gerard Mach], the muscles were affected by both high- and low-intensity training, but they also bounced back quickly, within 24 hours. The central nervous system, by contrast, was affected primarily by high-intensity work (maximum or near-maximum-speed sprinting or heavy weightlifting), but it also required more time to recover, a full 48 hours." (Pg. 49).

(2) Programming a "double periodization," meaning two different segments of competition: a winter indoor season and a summer outdoor season:

"Within each segment there were three phases: a preparatory phase, a main work phase, and a competition phase, each of which emphasized different training components and varied the proportion of work to rest. Without periodization, an athlete works at the same level year-round and inevitably grows stale, since he will stop improving after six to eight weeks at a given task." (Pg. 51). 

(3) Balancing speed work with volume:

"When I realized my runners were fatigued by our volume of speed work, I cut back from the year before -- from three times to twice a week, with a weekly total of 1,500 meters, a little less than a mile." (Pg. 61).

(4) Implementing weekly "special endurance" runs:

"To further reduce the stress on my sprinters' central nervous systems, I shifted some of their speed volume from short sprints to weekly 'special endurance' runs, from 150 to 300 meters. I conducted all speed work at 100 percent of my runners' capacity -- and since my runners always had adequate recovery periods between workouts [Francis prescribed speed work only every other workout], their capacity was consistently high. My theory was simple: Sprinters needed to train at race pace, both to imprint the higher speeds on their muscle memory and to acclimatize their muscles and tendons to the demand of racing. My athletes would run only two special endurance segments once a week and would rest up to a half-hour between the two, but I asked them to go absolutely all out every step of the way . . . I cared only about the quality of the runs. The quantity was almost irrelevant." (Pg. 62).

 (5) Adopting the East German 10-day Taper:

" . . . sprinters ran their last full-speed workout-outs 10 days before their meets -- an unheard-of gap in the West. There were more surprises. During the last maximum work-out, Hille's women sprinters performed about as much speed work as mine did, but at an even higher intensity -- in some cases at world-record paces. Hille's athletes would run four 30-metre starts, with seven-minute rests between them. They then took a 15-minute break, followed by an 80-metre sprint; then a 20-minute break and a 100-metre sprint; then a 25-minute break and a 120-metre sprint; finally, a 35-minute breaK and a 150-metre sprint. These were extraordinary rest periods -- my own sprinters had never paused longer than 15 minutes between speed runs at those distances, and most coaches allowed for rests of five minutes or less." (Pg. 107).

Bang. Bang.

PEDs or not, Linford Christie, the 100m Olympic champion from the '92 Barcelona Games, was straight yoked.  I mean . . . seriously?

 

I can still vividly remember my first year-round swim coach telling me at age ten "there is no substitute for yardage."  Gary was a great coach, as evidenced by his Crimson Aquatic Club produced several New Jersey state champions in the mid-90s, and he understood that while smart programming is important, athletes ultimately need to perform a certain amount of work to drive adaptation and reinforce proper technique.

Many weightlifters and their coaches also place a high emphasis on volume, especially for beginners – Nick  Horton, Glenn Pendlay, Caleb Ward, Jon North and Donny Shankle, just to name a few.  In the June 24, 2012 edition of "Weightlifting Talk," Shankle, North and Pendlay discuss this very concept in some detail.  Similarly, great powerlifters like Mark Bell, Brandon Lilly and Dave Tate often speak of "time under the bar" as a simple way of stressing the importance of volume.

 

As far as incorporating these ideas into my own programming, I have been performing a higher volume of snatches of late, with a lesser focus on cleans, jerks, and squats (that being said, I still perform these other three movements daily).  Most of this work has been done on relatively short rest intervals, anywhere from thirty to sixty seconds; rest intervals for clean and jerks are between seventy and ninety seconds.  Surprisingly enough, I have been consistently hitting lifts upwards of 90 percent, I have even made a few personal records following this approach.  The small 3- or 5-kilo jumps in snatches and cleans, respectively, have also helped me find a rhythm to these lifts.  Bang, bang – bar connects with my hips, feet slide out to the receiving position.  Bang, Bang.  Each lift the same, regardless of weight on the bar.  Bang, bang.  Don’t a wimp, perform a sufficient amount of volume.

 

Conversely, the problem I see most often with other lifters, especially those individuals coming from a Crossfit background, is that they take an attempt, make it/miss it, rest three minutes, take a ridiculous jump, miss it, rest three minutes, take another attempt, miss it, get upset . . . you get the point.  There is no rhythm to their lifts, and they’re simply chasing PRs, as opposed to developing consistency with a relatively high, i.e. 80-90, percent of their max. 

 

I’m still trying to figure out how, if at all, these same lessons might be applied to squats . . . stay tuned.

Don't Fall Into "The Power Trap"

It's old.  It's rusty.  It's no dice.

One of the mistakes I made recently in my own programming was incorporating the power variations, i.e. the power snatch and power clean (collectively referred to herein as "powers"), too frequently.  While powers do offer some advantages over the full lifts, a longer pull and easier recovery, they also have the potential to introduce bad habits into the full lifts, namely rolling onto the forefoot too early.  Powers mask this mistake by allowing the lifter to jump forward slightly with sub-maximal loads; however, the full lifts are far less forgiving and maximal loads require a greater degree of technical proficiency.   As I can attest, correcting these bad habits and regaining confidence in the bottom position, especially in the snatch, is frustrating.  Do not make this same mistake, I beg you.

In order to expedite these corrections, I am ditching the fancy programming concepts.  Snatch.  Clean and jerk.  Squats.  Pulls.  The meat and potatoes of weightlifting.   Percentages, you ask.  Ain't got time for percentages, baby.  Attitude Nation, Jon North, salute.

Train Like a Savage

I came across the following video from Mark Bell a few days ago, and it really struck a chord with me:

Run hills every morning that make others vomit? Catch bricks instead of game balls?

Only if you want to be the next Jerry Rice....

Mark is absolutely correct.  One day we will all need canes and walkers and wheelchairs.  One day we will all need assistance.  One day we will all be old.  But that doesn't mean we need to accept that reality today.  Today we can work hard.  Today we can challenge ourselves.  Today we can, as Mark so eloquently said, "train like a savage."

People are constantly telling me what will or will not in my own training.  They claim squatting heavy every workout isn’t possible.  They argue the body will break down under that type of workload.  And my all-time favorite, they point to “scientific research” that “concludes” your central nervous system cannot recover from heavy, daily squatting.  Well, folks, I'm still standing here, and I am stronger than ever.  Have I suffered my fair share of "bad days?"  Hell yes, but I'm not about to surrender to old age just yet.  This body is capable of much more, and I intend to prove it.

You doubt me, go ahead.  I've always relished the opportunity to serve others a hot plate of crow.  You say my approach to training isn't sustainable, and you might be right, but I'd rather be as a has-been, than a never was, you coward.  I don't fear hard work, pain, or fatigue, the only thing I fear is time, because, in the end, time catches up with us all.  However, until that day, why don't we continue to train like savages, and fight to add those little .5-kilogram weight plates to our bar?

That Inch

That little white .5-kilogram weight plate there on the end . . . yeah, the one you almost missed . . . it holds the meaning of life.  You just need to be strong enough to accept that reality.  

Only fractions of a percentage point separate the very good from the great and the truly great from the legendary in the world of competitive athletics.  To quote Al Pacino's epic pregame speech from the movie Any Given Sunday:

“You know when you get old in life things get taken from you . . . But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff.  You find out that is just a game of inches . . . Because in either life or football the margin for error is so small . . . the inches we need are everywhere around us.  They are in every break of the game, every minute, every second.  On this team, we fight for that inch.  On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch.  We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch.  Cause we know [that] when you add up all those inches, that’s going to make the fucking difference between WINNING and LOSING, between LIVING and DYING . . . And I know that if I am going to have any life anymore it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die, for that inch, because that is what LIVING is.  The six inches in front of your face.”

Fighting for that inch.  That's the name of the game, folks, just ask Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak, or any other great racer.  But it is not enough to fight for that inch only in competition.  The best racers I knew competed ALL THE TIME.  5 a.m. on Monday morning or 9 a.m. on News Year Day, it didn't matter.  Any final repeat "for time" was their time.  They owned it, and they made sure everyone else knew it, too.

People often talk about "the will to win," but anyone can want to win when the lights come on and everyone is watching.  The real racers, however, want to win on those cold rainy mornings in June when everyone else is still tucked away in their warm beds, the spring championship meets just a distance thought.  So my message is simple – race to win every day.  That's how you come to own that inch.  That's how you continue to improve. And that is something I didn't learn until after I was finished swimming.

A few years older and only slightly wiser, I now compete every day for one extra kilo. Good days, bad days, it doesn't matter – try to add just one more kilo to what you think is possible for that day.  Here’s the harsh reality – those little white .5-kilogram plates hold the meaning of life. To paraphrase Al Pacino, "clawing for that inch... because that's what living is." And I'll tell you something else, I have never felt more alive than I do today.

Strong men, one and all.

Yesterday was Yesterday and Today is Today

"I was never talented and nobody will call me talented, I am just a workaholic." 

Dmitry Klokov, 2005 World Champion, 2008 Olympic silver medalist in the 105 kg weight class.

One quickly learns when squatting to a daily maximum that yesterday's results do not necessarily guarantee greater, or even equal, success today.  Now, that's not to say past work isn't valuable, it is certainly, but progress will not be linear under this type of training program.. Moreover, you will inevitably experience what some people call "the dark times."  Grappling with these physical and psychological strains is normal.  Push on and accept each workout's results for what they are – just another day.  To quote Rocky Balboa, "that's how winning is done!"

With respect to my own training, a few changes have produced positive results (to date):

First and foremost, I quit squatting to an absolute max every workout, i.e. up a miss, especially in the back squat.  I made this change simply because I don't think "absolute" maxing is sustainable, healthy or terribly productive over the long-run.  I also found that repeated misses in the back squat left me drained for at least twenty-four hours (central nervous system recovery may be a factor here).

Second, I reduced both the volume and the intensity of my back-off sets.  Three to four sets, with 5 percent jumps, is usually the order of business, and the final triple is often between 84-87 percent.  Thusly, most days the work falls between 70 and 85 percent (as a reminder, percentages are based off that day's best single).

Third, I started front squatting at the beginning of every workout, usually up to a heavy single – this is not a one-rep max.  This progression usually takes 11-12 total reps and all of 15 minutes.  In the beginning rest periods are sixty seconds or less, while the final 2-3 intervals are several minutes.  A more robust squat workout comes after the classic lifts or powers.

And finally, I started voodoo flossing my knees before every workout (see example video below).  There is some variation day-to-day in the wrapping technique, but often I cover the entire joint, then proceed to do 10-12 squats with just my bodyweight.  I now consider this squat progression just another part of my warm-up, and it really helps open my hips up for snatches or cleans.  My one-rep max front squat has also gone up 20 pounds over the last three weeks.  I’ll take those gains any day of the week.

I'm experiencing some serious quad envy, broseph.