Category: Lifting

When You’re My Age

It seems what qualifies as “old” keeps getting younger and younger.

A guy no more than early 30s telling me how he’s doomed to a lifetime of low recovery and injuries. I told him that shits all mental.

See I came up reading more “old time” lifting sources (and some “crazy” modern ones), no mentions of rhabdo, overtraining, and whatnot, just advice, successes, and possibilities.

Anecdotes such as Bruce Randall’s ULTRA FAST losing of weight, a man pulling either 700 or 800lbs cold in street clothes upon walking into the gym having just jumped off the train he hobo’d his way across the country on, Jack LaLanne’s exploits, and the one that popped into mind talking to that guy yesterday:

The old man squatting with the NFL player.

See that guy in the gym yesterday was saying how he’s doing no lower body due to having strained either his abductors or adductors.

An insane squat story seems relevant.

An old time great (John Grimek) was hanging around inside the gym.

In walked a local NFL player, who being big and strong, yet wanting to lift with a partner asked if anyone would squat with him.

All and sundry replied no, except the old man now in his 70s.

The NFL player laughed but welcomed the old man thinking he’d squat him into the dirt.

The NFL player started off with low reps, but the old man took the first warmup set to 20, and suggested the football player match him.

A testosterone challenge, and thinking how many sets of 20 could an old man really do the next set was 20 reps for each.

NFL player during warmups: “Damn this is hard”.
Old Man: “Up the weight”.

315.
315 x 20 reps.
It’s hard but something I feel all can accomplish. “Natty”, “hardgainer”, “weakling”, or whatever, you can at some point hit 315×20. Hell I just did.

Back to the story: 315 on the bar. The NFL player either didn’t make the 20 or decided no more after one set here. The old man….5×20 at 315.

The NFL player asked him “How can you do that, I’d never be able to and I’m in my prime”

The old man’s reply “Squats are easy”.

Age is no limit. Sure building the base comes easier at earlier ages, but it can be done at anytime.

Just because you’re x years old doesn’t mean you can’t be robust, jacked and injury free. 70 year old men have outworked prime of their life NFL players. What can you do?

-J

Training Your Legs For It All

I’m sure I’ve discussed this before, but I’ll say it again, you can train for all qualities.

Yesterday in the gym amused me. After doing jump front squats (which felt very chaosandpain like) I did a shit ton of box jumps to a 39″ box. I caught a handful of people watching me hit the jumps. Normally I use 36″ as the height, but whimsically I decided to up it, thinking I’d hit maybe 5 total, but ended up doing over 20, and in general resting less than one is “supposed” to for power.

Doing both squat every day, and working labor I want my legs and hips to have all qualities, strength,power, and endurance.

I’m training myself to be able to be on my feet all day, have a good squat, and still have the power endurance after all that to explode well and repeatedly.

Call it insane, it’s what I’m going for though, and I’m already seeing adaptation.

Work, anywhere from 5-16 hours, squat variation (generally low rep and low volume, occasionally higher rep), then power endurance via a bunch of low rest high rep high height box jumps.

It’s still on my mind to add in long runs in the AM, people have done it, so can I. It’s also on my mind to add in more work for the legs and hips after the jumps. Maybe prowler sprints or sprints, followed by roundhouse kicks to the heavy bag and ended with a long run or jump rope.

We can push ourselves pretty far with the necessary mindset and work put in. As humans we’re meant to perform. This is my part in the battle against physical devolution.

Eat a dick should this offend you or be “impossible”. Open your mind and work.

-J

Doble Training

I picked this concept up years ago reading about the training of a Canadian weightlifter:

Doble (Double) Training: To hit the same lift as both the first and last movement of the session with everything else in between.

Personally I’ll do this with squats from time to time. It’s a great way to essentially pull a 2 a day, but without making the second trip to the gym.

It would be silly to do this with some small bullshit, but any big compound will do. Nah, scratch that if you want to do this with an isolation have at it. Training is an individual endeavour after all. Train your way.

Give it a shot. Your mind will deceive you as to your abilities at first. Quickly however you’ll find you can be just as strong with such little recovery.

Frequency by any means. Frequency does work. Most just won’t try it out.

-J

Lifting Weights vs PT

I view lifting weights as icing on the cake. It’s fluff, I enjoy it, but if you took all the gym shit away from me I’d be just fine and keep on getting better.

I’ve done it the past and am fully capable of doing it again.

I started training before I’d ever touched a barbell.

As a 2nd and 3rd grader I did karate and all that comes with it. In addition to the drilling, sparring,and wrestling we also threw medicine balls and did fairly high quantities of situps and pushups.

I can still hear my Sensei, and my mother’s imitation of his voice telling me to do poooshups (pushups).

That pushup ability I maintained over the years. Most can’t imagine how many I’ve truly done .

In 4th grade we moved across the country and being lazy , thinking it was hard I never went back to karate, instead spending the next few years playing PlayStation and getting horrendously out of shape.

However growing up I always thought that I’d be a US Marine.

The summer between my 8th and 9th grade years, my grandfather having just died, and searching for meaning I adopted a fairly intense mentality.

So it’s summer break, I’m at my now Grandma’s house, and am sleeping on a bed roll on the living room floor.

I’d wait until late night and turn the TV to MSNBC. I’d discovered Lockup Raw.

I’d watch an hour or two with the volume real low so as to not disturb anyone, then right there on my bed roll I’d PT having got myself into life or death mentality via amp up by prison documentary.
(Not my first method of amp up,but far more result yielding than metal before middle school baseball games)

All I did were situps and pushups, the only exercises I knew, but the beauty of it looking back was the mentality behind those few daily sets.

I worked it into my mind that not giving my all could be the difference between life and death in the future for myself and/or my comrades in the Marines or for myself in prison one day.

I’d visualize the Spartans at Thermopylae while viewing these sets as life or death.

I’d do as many reps as possible for 3 sets of pushups and 2-3 sets of situps. I’d exhaust myself, pant, regain a semblance of normalcy,then go again. When done I’d drink a little water and pass right out.

Now come freshman year I backslid on this mentality, having quit both football and wrestling while still being horrendously out of shape, but the roots had been laid.

Having quit wrestling was the last straw.

I did PT obsessionally for the rest of that school year.

Lots of pushups, situps, pounding a punching bag, some chins, and riding a stationary bike for 1000 calories burnt nightly.

I’d drop and do pushups practically whenever there was a gap. I still remember this kid saying I couldn’t even do a few pushups and I dropped right then and there backpack still on hitting far more than he gave me credit for, standing up,looking at him and saying something like “your turn asshole”. I still can hear his reaction,his excuses for not dropping, as he knew I won.

Over the years I’ve kept doing pushups, daily.

I’ve went almost as long as 4 years without missing a day. Currently I’ve went more than a year.

I still view exercise through the lens of survival and with a military mindset.

I’ll always PT, pushups I love, Hindu squats are close behind, and I always maintain the ability to hit at least 5 chins.

9 months of no gym in 2015 and I came back stronger from calisthenics, isometrics, and jump rope.

I will always PT.

It’s both a part of me at this point and a life necessity.

PT is my foundation not weights. It is readily accessible to all, and travels with you as it is a part of your body.

Gyms are nice and fun to use.

PT is part of survival and can never be taken from you.

I PT EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Weights? When I feel like it, anywhere from 2x to 10x weekly.
If I lose weight access, I’ll be annoyed that my fun is gone, but I’ll still be hitting the PT.
(Also I’ll be ramping up PT volume)

All would benefit from this mindset shift. You don’t need a gym it’s just icing on the cake. PT is necessary and is no excuses.

Get It.

-J

Adaptation

“Your body will adapt to anything you throw at it, running,weights,swims, keep doing it, and your body will adapt” – Stew Smith (paraphrased as I can’t find it again for the life of me)

The above quote stayed with me over the years and very much sums up my opinion on training, and what is too much….nothing eventually.

Last night after a moderate effort shift (6hrs labor/2hrs truck time), and an afternoon front squat session, I went back to the gym a second time. I was in the area,bored, and figured back squats were the thing to do given my 3 hours of sleep the night before and the slushee + McDonald’s in my belly.

“Let’s see if I can still hit 405” the prevailing thought on my mind.

Warm up, empty bar through 405 using the 25/45 method.

I see stars on the atg 365. Switch the radio to my shit, hit the 405 half asleep and slightly higher than atg.

Finish up with some box jumps, then rowing, pressing, and twists using the landmine.

Hitting the squat under really adverse circumstances lit the fire in me for the rest of the session, but back to the point:

People don’t (generally) pick up a labor job, and start squatting daily at the same time, just like it’s “insane” to teach oneself Russian and Spanish side by side.

Honestly I’d rather overreach, stagnate,grind, and with enough time…adapt, seemingly overnight to others instead of the scientific, “proven”, slow and steady ways suggested to me.

Log books, “reasonable” courses of action, and calculators aren’t me. I haven’t had any protein powder since high school either.

Gotta do it your own way.

As I said I’d rather overreach, and then adapt.

I haven’t overtrained yet. Recovery still is coming along well enough. Strength is improving, and endurance is gaining rapidly both while dropping weight, but the biggest change is acting like less of a bitch about all things physical.

On my feet all day, squatting daily, there’s a deep set sort of soreness in my quad fibers, yet I’m still performing. Sleep doesn’t matter, nor does the diet.

Your ability is 99.9% mental. Physically you’re better off not thinking, but shutting off your brain and just doing. I see it all day long with coworkers. Humans are meant to be beasts.

Lately a perceived lack of strength has been pissing me off.

It’s squat time, then more landmine work, and feast time after.

Kill it!

-J

600lb+ Squatter? + Some Inspirational Stuff

600lb+ Squatter?

That’s the second opinion (by someone stronger than me) now to say my mid 4 squat is an insult to the lifting gods.

The second opinion to say I should be squatting 625+.

“I know a guy who is built very similar to you that squats 675”

How many times have I been told to recover, to allow the gains to come? To allow the rebound and supercompensation?

Yet I’m working labor, and squatting daily ala John Broz.

The gym owner working on my biceps did a good deal for the tendonitis, apparently my biceps and forearms were far past overly tight.

Front squats went well. Fairly easy to 225×5 and an easy 275 single.

To allow the biceps to heal up fronts and SSB squats for a while.

After a week or so add in some wide stance squatting.

“Use your hips, the reason you’re leaving so much on the table is that you’re all quad.” Am I? I’m uncertain here.

Maybe rotate through more variations than my 7 day a week schedule of back squats.

The gym I’m at has ALL the specialty bars, plus an ok lever squat machine. I may as well mix the stimuli up more. See if my narrow stance is still ideal for my leverages. I’m thinking that I may now be solid in wide stance squatting.

In my mind I’ve been mad dashing to get back 455, then to hit 495, and 545 on my squat. Why not make this goal 635 and please the lifting gods?

Once I’ve sorted the biceps out and fully adapted to the labor I can pull again. It’s not like my deadlift is in danger of dropping below my squat. If I can squat it I can pull it, and generally the next 45/25 increment.

Some Inspirational Stuff:

1. Reading tnation years ago there was a log by a guy with the username Alpha (search Alpha’s log there) who did grappling, powerlifting, strongman, and conditioning at high levels while running on very little sleep. He also opened his own gym.

Inspiration

2. Also on tnation I remember a guy running a 60 minute 10 mile, and squatting over 600(meet) at 198 on the same day.

Inspiration

Neither one was a crossfitter. They just had goals that they trained for. No reason you can’t be all around.

-J

Hit It Cold And Progress

Some days after work all I do is a cold single, but sometimes I’ll hit a slightly higher rep range.

Yesterday I went 365×5 leaving some in the tank. 365×10+ felt on the table, and lifetime PR is 365×9.

After reracking the weights the idea hit me.

Now before I continue:
405×5 is my lifetime PR.

Mentally I want 405×10, and more along the lines of 495×5 as short term goals.

Now I could continue adding weight every so often to cold singles while randomly doing higher rep ranges, or an approach that makes more sense to me:

Do cold sets of 5 primarily, and add weight to this rep range.

Instead of focusing on the 1rm focus on the 5rm.

It’s easier mentally for me to add 5lbs to 5 reps than to add the 5lbs to a single.

8-5lb weight jumps would have me at my lifetime 5rm PR….but cold, and would be an easier progression than adding reps at a heavy weight.

Same end result, different approach.

As of posting I’ll be at what may end up being a 16+hr shift of labor, and you know what?

I’ll hit 365 for over 5 or 370-375 x5 cold immediately after be it 7pm or 1am the next day. (Update: After what ended up being a 14hr shift I hit 365 x 10 @ 11pm 7/24/17)

Whatever it is,make it a need. You’ll do what it takes… effortlessly.

And the best part is…none of this labor and Bulgarian squatting is draining me in the least. I live for this.

Growth on all fronts.

WHOO!!!

-J

315 x 20 Rep Squat

315 x 20 Rep Squat

7/20/17 At around 745pm I finally did it.

(I audio swapped, other than those first 2 views no one else gets to hear the grunts,breathing, or me trying to say “And for good measure” just THE MUSIC!)

That set had been years in the making.

It was one of those sets I’d been wanting to hit since 15 or 16 years old.

So roughly 8 years in the making.

I didn’t want to warm up, or really lift.

It had been done at the end of an easy labor shift.

I wasn’t able to take the pre-workout…you know a shit.

I loaded the bar to the 3 plates, while loading I knew I’d do it.

20+ reps or death.

I mentally decided to finish the set or hit a TRUE failure. Unconsciousness or a snap the only allowed set enders below 20 reps.

Near the end of the sets my hands were numb, in fact semi locked in position.

I thought I’d hit 21 reps.

It took rewatching 4 or 5 time to accurately count 22.

The scary thing I could’ve pushed it to 30 reps or more.

365 x 20 feels possible, 405 x 20 is scary to imagine doing, but the 4 minute mile principle comes up here.

I’ve seen video of it done. That short bodybuilder did it in the Animal Cage. So can I!

At work today my coworker suggested I go for professional strongman.

Wouldn’t that be greater than manual labor?

No matter, I hit one of those beginner lifetime goals, and expanded my mind to greater possibilities.

Whoo!

Great things happening, great things on the horizon.

-J

P.S. Ended with 225×12 Bench feet up and one set of 9 chins. Of note: Squat Every Day does great shit, and goddamn I was under tension for 3:02 to finish that set….Endurance!

Physicality Beyond The Gym

Lately I’ve been picking up day labor for some much needed quick cash.

Carrying shit for long hours is something that is just different than the gym.

Very quickly you’ll realize why laborers often have far stronger hands than lifters, and why many laborers are built quite wiry.

Being on your feet all day long, moving uncalibrated moderate to heavy shit, and having a lot of time under tension while resting very little will do that to you.

A lean body, with disproportionately overgrown forearms and hands.

The hands need and respond well to all the weird stimulus, and mentally you’ll have no choice to get tougher as the work is hard….far harder than the gym, while your warm ups and stretching are non-existent.

Quickly you’ll realize that pain, the hurt kind is just temporary, it’ll go away. (Remember I don’t get injured, your results may vary.)

Labor will test your commitment to the gym. Will you puss out of it, or will you go hit it anyway?

I can already tell that doing this will solid my hand strength right up, from getting good to STRONG.

It’s too soon to tell whether this will have me lean out or not.

Do I want to do this for life? No, but right now it has its benefits:
Mental toughness, hand strength, cardio, and cash.

Time to squat, the big guy ball n’ thigh sweat chafe from that 12hr doesn’t matter…if you don’t let it haha.

Get it!

-J

 

Jump Squats,Speed Pulls,And Olys

Now I can most likely count on my fingers how many times I’ve done either jump squats or speed pulls, and my Olympic form generally looks like a caveman heaving a carcass so take this for what you will:

When you’re being a lunatic and pushing the frequency of your squat or pulling to asshole like levels of daily or even higher (7+ sessions weekly) at some point you’ll be doing yourself no favors continuing to add in sessions that aren’t light as fuck.

Here’s where the speed work comes in, and that’s what jump squats, speed pulls, and olys are…speed work.

Jump Squats

Squatting? While you can get away with maxing out near it daily the best progress on high frequency seems from just getting under the bar as often as possible and keeping it moderate.

When you absolutely positively should not be squatting there’s a variation for you….Jump squats.

They come in as a God send of a streak extender and seem to allow you to get airborne (barely) with far heavier weight than you’d expect the day after maxing. 435 (regular) at around 10pm followed by 405 (questionable, no vid to tell) but definitely 365 airborne the next morning…on no sleep. No squat variation has ever felt as easy on my body as the jumps, even when I’m in the vicinity of 90% 1rm(that’s regular 1rm), and no variation feels as good on days where you feel as if your ass is crippled.

Speed Pulls

As I preach time and again: Frequency, frequency and fucking frequency!

Before the months long burn out of hating the new gym(since you’re reading this want to know why,ha!), soon after I’d joined I was pulling PRs all over the place.

I got pissed and pulled daily for between 14 and 21 days.

The 1rm came near the end of this streak.

How how did I pull that many days in a row and often 10x weekly without visiting snap city or some other fagged out land of crippled weaklings?

Speed pulls.

The speed work seems to take nothing out of you, primes you to blast your hips, and likely at play here pisses you off as you are gripping and ripping yet it’s light and you have to pull out your hair keeping yourself from maxing again.

Olympic Variations:

Same concept as both of the aforementioned.

Even to fucking 500lb cleaners it’s still light as fuck and explosive in relation to what they can squat (I say there are squat records waiting to be broken by weightlifters that won’t bother due to their not giving a fuck about powerlifting), and deadlift should they care to max.

You can hit Olympic variations daily or more than daily indefinitely without dipping into recovery and while at it muscling up your traps and improving hip pop.

Initial Point:

Jump Squats:

Add them in, actually remember to do them, see how heavy you can still clear ground with and then be amazed at both how “heavy” that is, how you didn’t get injured, and at how good the lift itself feels and how it makes you feel.

-J

P. Fucking.S. I imagine I’ll hit a jump squat with more than my current 1rm soon, and’ll have to get that inch of airborne glory on video. It feels very chaos and pain like.
L O L
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