Old School Weightlifting Blog

The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban

This post of Sig Klein's article on the one-arm military press was sent to me by Jenn Purdy of FitWit-Decatur.

You don't see the strict military press any more at all, though a lot of people call a shoulder press a military press. A true military press, as the post above describes, is performed with heels together as though standing at attention. My father actually broke his nose as a teenager attempting this lift for the first time. Interesting note, the "Sandow" referred to in the article is Eugene Sandow, the inspiration for the IFBB Mr. Olympia Trophy.

Moratorium on Strength Classes

Due to a slew of factors, we're going to take a break with the Strength classes until 2011. We're working on a more convenient location and perhaps a different model for the classes. When I find interesting strength stuff, I'll still post it here. Check here too for updates regarding the restart of the classes. My apologies for any inconvenience. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. ben@fitwit.com

Workouts - Off Week

Please commit to the days and times you want to attend this week by posting to the comments.

Wednesday (6:30am and 6pm )

• Clean and Jerk: 6 sets of 3.
  

Saturday (9am)

• Max out on back squat, bench press, and deadlift. Three attempts to establish new PR.
  

More from Pavel

Tim Ferris posted this article: Pavel: 80/20 Powerlifting and How to Add 110 lbs. to Your Lifts about two years ago. The article fails to mention the time involved in learning correct lifting technique, but the "less-is-more" principle is worth considering for strength gains. It's true that our actual physiological fitness gains occur during rest. Note: Ferris has a new book coming out, The 4-Hour Body.

Workouts - Week 6

Please commit to the days and times you want to attend this week by posting to the comments.

Monday (6pm)

• Back Squat: 5 sets of 5 reps
• Power clean: 3 sets of 3 reps
  

Wednesday (6:30am only. Go to the Thrashers game!)

• Front squat: 5 sets of 5 reps
  
• OH press: 5 sets of 5 reps
  

Saturday (8am or 9am, depending on the Field Fay)

- Turkish Get-Up: 3 x 3
- Workout: 3 rounds for time: 400m run, 20 KB swings, 12 pull-ups. Compare times to 7 Sep 10.

Great interview with Pavel Tsatsouline

Pavel Tsatsouline is the reason you even know what a kettlebell is. See Part I and Part II at T-Nation (bodybuilding site), or the whole thing reprinted here. Well worth the time to read. All strength is core strength.


To answer Dyer's questions:

There's a lot to think about in the article, but what sticks with me three days later is this:
1) lifting to build muscles (bodybuilding) is not the same as lifting for strength and power. This is very important point for athletes, as the dominant paradigm in athletic weight rooms for the last 25 years has been a bodybuilding model--e.g. 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps, chest/shoulder/triceps day and legs/back/biceps day, etc. That's all very effective at growing muscle, but not necessarily creating strength and power.
2) All strength is core strength. Put another way, you are only as strong as you are able to maintain posture under load. Gripping the bar tightly and the corollary for push-ups are related to this through muscle activation and the holistic nature of our musculature system.

Pavel's points about not warming up and not lifting to failure are really items for an advanced audience; people with a year or more of serious lifting who understand the movements, their own reasons for training, and have experimented with multiple programs.

Not warming up is a matter of definition I think. Pavel talks about not warming up as a more accurate prep for mil and law enforcement. Valid point. However, my experience tells me that the first few sets of whatever you do actually function as a warm-up. With no official warm-up, the first 3 sets of a 5x5 workout become the warm-up by default. Also, the body performs better after it is warmed up. Sprinters routinely post better times/performances in their 2nd and 3rd events of the day. There is something to giving an all/nearly all out effort that preps the body-mind for giving a peak performance. I'm reminded of a quote from Gladiator (ca 1992); something like "If you go into the ring cold, you're going to come out of the ring cold."

I believe not lifting to failure to be a matter of experience and knowing thyself. What Pavel is talking about is people deliberately lifting to burn-out or failure. Max rep type workouts. In heavy lifts, you don't always know when failure will occur, but you are striving for known quantity of reps, usually 1 to 5. If you lift often and have a lot of experience, you can gauge how much is enough fairly accurately based on one set and how you feel. Novices don't really know themselves well enough to be accurate. Frankly, would anyone honestly try to move a barbell if they knew they were going to fail? That's why we try. We think we can, and sometimes we do. If you have a lot of experience, your "think" gets closer and closer to a "know", and you can make training decisions based upon it. You need to be pretty darned experienced to load a bar and know what's going to happen in a fifth set of heavy lifts. There isn't anyone in our workouts who is there just yet. I stress yet.

Workouts - Week 5

Please commit to the days and times you want to attend this week by posting to the comments.

Monday (6pm)

• 7 rounds for time of:
  10 push-ups
  10 squat cleans
  10 pull-ups

• Stacy: 24:39 with 65 lbs. cleans
• Gary: 11:28 + 5 additional rounds (8 reps each; 45 lbs. hang power cleans; jumping pull-ups)

Wednesday (6:30am and 6pm)

• Clean and Jerk: 6 sets of 3 reps
• Bottom-to-bottom Tabata squats
  

Saturday (9am)

• Snatch: 6 sets of 3 reps
• Tabata sit-ups
  

Great squat instruction

Watch this squat video from Greg Everett at Catalyst Athletics.

This is great cueing for those of us who struggle with getting to the actual bottom on the Oly lifts and squats. Stacy, Richard, this is especially useful for those of us who still round the lower back at the bottom of the squat. You will see this stuff soon.

Workouts - Week 4

Please commit to the days and times you want to attend this week by posting to the comments.

Monday (6pm)

• Deadlift: 5 sets of 1 rep
• Box jumps: 7 sets of 1 jumps; establish max height jump

Wednesday (6:30am and 6pm)

• Bench Press: Max out. Three attempts to establish a 1 RM.
  
• Workout: TBD
  

Saturday - No go. Jim and Margret's Wedding in Ohio!

Workouts - Week 3

Please commit to the days and times you want to attend this week by posting to the comments.

Monday (6pm)

• Back squat: 5 sets of 5 reps, increase weight each set
• Five rounds for time of:
  75 pound Thrusters, 21 reps
  21 Double-unders

Stacy: squats 125, 135, 145, 145, 145; workout: 10:29 (45 lbs. thrusters)
Richard: squats 95, 95, 95, 100, 105; workout-10:28 (45 lbs. thrusters; 50 singles)

Wednesday (6:30am and 6pm)

• OH squat: 5 reps for 3 sets across (same weight each set)
  
• Intro to snatch
  

Saturday - No go. Two reasons:

1. Event at the school prevents weight room use.
   
2. BigFat is not going to be back from FL to do something else.

So very sorry. I will make up as many of these days as possible during the off-week.

Workouts - Week 2

Please commit to the days and times you want to attend this week by posting to the comments.

Monday (6pm)

• Bench Press: 5 sets of 3 reps, increase weight each set
  

Wednesday (6:30am and 6pm)

• Clean and Jerk: 6 sets of 1-3 reps, increase weight each set
• Death by pull-ups
  

Saturday - No weight room today. Rest up!

Workouts - Week 1

Please post to the comments to let me know if you're coming Wednesday; please also include the time.

Monday -- No strength class. Go to the first day of camp!

Wednesday (6:30am and 6pm)

• Deadlift: 7 sets of 1 rep, increase weight each set
  
• Pistol Squats: skills and drills

NEW DEADLIFT PR's!

• Brian S. - 185 (first max effort)
• Gary S. - 185 (up from 125)
  
• John D. - 305 (up from 275)
• Jill G. - 160 (up from 135)
• Stacy S.- 185 (up from 135)
  

Cassi - 225!

Saturday -- No strength class. Go to the East Atlanta Strut 5k!

New Times and Rates for this Camp

Executive Summary:

• No Monday morning class (sorry Dyer)
  
• No 8am Saturday morning class
• Only two price options: $20/class or $120 for unlimited.

Dates and Times:

• Monday: 6:00pm
• Wednesday: 6:30am and 6:00pm
• Saturday: 9:00am
  
• Classes are approximately one hour

How much does it cost?

• Single class sessions: $20
• Unlimited sessions through 23 Oct 2010: $120
• Pay with cash or check made out to "FitWit" at camp or at your first session.

Workouts for Tuesday, 7 Sep 10

Tuesday (6:30am and 6pm)

- Back squat; 5-6 sets of 3 reps, increase weight each set. (no joy at 6:30am for back squats because we were unable to get access to the weight room)

- 3 rounds for time: 400m run, 20 KB swings, 12 pull-ups
Cassi N. - 12:33; 40 lbs. KB
Gary S. - 12:13; 25 lbs. KB, jumping pull-ups
John D. - 12:05; 55 lbs. KB
Stacy S. - 11:53; 40 lbs. KB


Please commit to the time you plan to attend this week by posting to the comments.

Workouts - Week 6

Please commit to the days and times you want to attend this week by posting to the comments.

Monday (6:30am and 6pm)

• Front squats: 3 sets of 5 reps
• Ring dips/pull-ups/muscle-ups

Wednesday (6:30am and 6pm)

- OH squat: 5-6 sets of 3 reps, increase weight each set
- AMRAP in 12 min of: 12 KB shp, 8 KB swings (1 or 2 arm), 2 Turkish get-ups (1 each side)

• Brian S.: 4+ rounds, 35lbs. KB
  
• Gary S.: 5+ rounds, 25lbs. KB
  
• John D.: 7 rounds, 35 lbs. KB
  
• Telly L.: 6+ rounds, 45 lbs. KB, 1-arm swings
  

Saturday (8am and 9am)

• Clean and Jerk: 6 sets of 1-3 reps, increase weight each set
  
• Bench Press: 3 sets of 5 reps
  

Workouts - Week 5

Please commit to the days and times you want to attend this week by posting to the comments.

Monday (6:30am and 6pm)
- Clean and Jerk: 6 sets of 3 reps; increase weight each set.
- Workout: TBD

Wednesday (6:30am and 6pm)

• Deadlift: 5 sets of 1 rep
• Bench Press: 3 sets of 5 reps

Saturday: NO WORKOUTS THIS WEEK

Due to the Summer Shade 5K event, we will not have weight lifting workouts this week. We will, however have workouts available Saturday, 4 Sep, and Tuesday, 7 Sep.

Workouts - Week 4

Please commit to the days and times you want to attend this week by posting to the comments.

Monday (6:30am and 6pm)
- Deadlift: 6 sets of 1 rep; increase weight each set.
- Workout: 3 rounds for time of: 10 deadlifts at 60-80% of 1RM, 25 double-unders

• John D. - 7:50 (195 lbs. DL)
• Jill G. - 6:57 (95 lbs. DL)
• Raj - 11:22 (225 lbs. DL, sub 50 singles + 25 box jumps on 24" box)
• Drew - 14:55 (225 lbs. DL, sub 50 singles + 25 box jumps on 24" box)

Wednesday (6:30am and 6pm)

• Press: 1 rep x 5 sets, increase weight each set
• Push-press: 3 reps x 5 sets
• Push jerk: 5 reps x 5 sets
  
• Split jerk: 5 reps x 5 sets
  

Saturday (8am and 9am)

• Back squat: 75-80% 1RM x 20 reps
  
• Power cleans: 1 rep x 6 sets, increase weight each set
  

Workouts - Week 3

Please commit to the days and times you want to attend this week by posting to the comments.

Monday (6:30am and 6pm)
- OH squat: 6 sets of 3 reps; increase weight each set.
- Workout: 21/15/9 of 75lbs. thrusters and pull-ups

• John D. - 12:46
• Raj - 10:21; jumping pull-ups
• Richard - 9:14; jumping pull-ups

Wednesday (6:30am and 6pm)

• Clean and Jerk

Saturday (8am and 9am)

• Bench Press
• Front Squat

Workouts - Week 2

Please commit to the days/times you plan to attend this week by posting to the comments.

Monday (6:30am and 6:00pm)

• Back squat
• Bench press
  

Wednesday (6:30am and 6:00pm)

• Front squat: 6 sets of 3 reps; increase weight each set.
  
• Power clean: introduction; 5 sets of 3 reps; increase weight each set.

Saturday (8am and 9am)

Establish a 1 rep max for all exercises.

- Back squat
- OH press
- Deadlift

• For each exercise, do 4-5 warm-up sets of 3-5 reps--e.g. 5, 5, 3, 3. Increase the weight each set. These sets should not stress you significantly, but should gradually prepare the body for lifting heavier weights. I recommend starting with a set of 5 with just the bar.
  
• You get 3 attempts to establish a 1 rep max.
  
• For the first attempt, use a weight you are certain you can handle.
• For the second attempt, go for broke.
  
• If you make the second attempt, add weight for the final attempt. If you miss the second attempt, reduce the weight for your final attempt.

Workouts - Week 1

Monday -- No strength class. Go to camp!

Wednesday (6pm only this week!)

• Deadlift
• Hand-stand push-ups

Saturday

• OH press
• Push press
• Push jerk
• Pistol squats
• Workout

Please post to the comments the days/times you are planning on attending. This is EXTREMELY important for helping us plan.