I’ll try to get my next max attempt recorded and post it on here.
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
Free2Be wrote:
Meat
What does your nutrition look like. I don’t know many strongmen/PLers who count calories or grams of anything. Is that true of you? Do you consciously put carbs around workouts, do you drink beer, do you eat meat and fat only meals not surrounding training?
Also, do you change amount of training days a week based on where you are in a training cycle? How did you figure out optimal training days? Is getting stronger about managing fatigue?
I asked an ass load of questions…if you have time I appreciate it. If I’m asking all the wrong questions please internet slap me.
Thank you.
i definitely don’t count calories. I don’t eat big meals and can’t really sit down and have a huge meal anymore. I’ve conditioned myself to graze all day. my job allows me to eat whenever i need to. i don’t take protein shakes anymore since i’m at the top of my competitive weightclass now. in the morning i take fish oil, vitamin C,E, and a multivitamin. i also take a BCAA, creatine, and carb drink during training mainly becuase gym waterfontains skeeve me out.
i try to keep the processed foods to a minimum and stay away from high fructos corn syrup filled crap. i eat lots of lean red meat, chicken and pork. not much dairy except cheese. not a ton of complex starchy carbs but plenty of fruit and i love differnt kinds of nuts.
i guess it’s all pretty basic.
i’m not a big drinker but i do have one or two a week.
my eating now is a lot different then when i was trying to gain weight. i used to do a ton of protein shakes and eat everything in site. my bodyweight has stablized now and i just eat to maintain and when i’m hungry.
my training is centered around 4 week cycles, a deload week and then a test of maxes. then it all starts over. this coming training cycle i’m going to cycle the weights based off of percentages of my 1 rm on the particular movement variations.
recovery is definitely a big part of my training. i only train three days a week and take the deload every four weeks. i’m going to take it even further and cycle the loads using the above mentioned percentages in this next cycle. i’m constantly changing up my movements and my approach to lifting. it’s an ever evolving process.
[/quote]
Thanks for the Reply Meat. I got my weight up to 250lbs and was getting into the intermediate level of stregth and my body fell apart.
I think I read too many of the wrong authors. I trained too often and used too high of percentages too often.
I am learning just by reading your training logs and it is giving me confidence that a lot of my ideas about why things fell apart are right.
Thank you again.
[quote]Jimmy T wrote:
Your a well rounded strength athlete. Nice work meat![/quote]
once i start pulling the sled again, i’ll be a well rounded athlete.
thanks hoss!!
[quote]trav123456 wrote:
I’ll try to get my next max attempt recorded and post it on here.[/quote]
post away.
i really like videos. it’s very unbiased.
[quote]Free2Be wrote:
Thanks for the Reply Meat. I got my weight up to 250lbs and was getting into the intermediate level of stregth and my body fell apart.
I think I read too many of the wrong authors. I trained too often and used too high of percentages too often.
I am learning just by reading your training logs and it is giving me confidence that a lot of my ideas about why things fell apart are right.
Thank you again.[/quote]
it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the info. out there.
here is a short list of common mistakes people make when training for strength-
-
training too often- i train no more than three days a week.
-
training to failure on max effort type of movements
-
training too often in the 90% range. this is totally contrary to what Westside teaches but if you are natural and raw, training in the 90% range too often will lead to injury and overtraining.
-
not doing enough accessory work.
-
not cycling your training and planning a deload after each training cycle.
-
not determining form or muscular weaknesses and addressing them as your priority in your training.
these are just the major training mistakes that i thought of off the top of my head.
no problem bro. most of the stuff that i’ve tried hasn’t work. it’s all about trial and error. what really sucks is something may work at one point and then not at another time. it’s a constant battle to keep finding things that work.
What do you think about DE work? Is it important for a raw drug free powerlifter?
[quote]ecogenx wrote:
What do you think about DE work? Is it important for a raw drug free powerlifter?[/quote]
i think it’s as important as ME work. i don’t separate mine into two days like most do. I do my DE work after ME and right before accessory stuff.
my favorite DE movement for squat are the speed box squat with minibands. for deadlifts my favorite is speed deficit pulls against minibands and for bench- speed bench against minibands. i only do the speed bench every other week durign a training cycle because i find them to be hard on my shoulders but i attempt to do them every week on deadlift and squat day.
having good bar speed can really get you through a sticking point. i’ve found that it’s easier and quicker to improve bar speed to get you through a sticking point than it is to get stronger to get through the same sticking point.
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
Free2Be wrote:
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the info. out there.
here is a short list of common mistakes people make when training for strength-
-
training too often- i train no more than three days a week.
-
training to failure on max effort type of movements
-
training too often in the 90% range. this is totally contrary to what Westside teaches but if you are natural and raw, training in the 90% range too often will lead to injury and overtraining.
-
not doing enough accessory work.
-
not cycling your training and planning a deload after each training cycle.
-
not determining form or muscular weaknesses and addressing them as your priority in your training.
these are just the major training mistakes that i thought of off the top of my head.
no problem bro. most of the stuff that i’ve tried hasn’t work. it’s all about trial and error. what really sucks is something may work at one point and then not at another time. it’s a constant battle to keep finding things that work. [/quote]
I’ve def done 1-4 and gone over board in the wrong way. It destroyed me for about two years. I got pretty strong fucking up big time and it hurt my joints like no ones business. I am feeling fairly healthy now and am getting my volume and base of strength up…I’m going to start the “better 5x5” in about two weeks.
I’ve pasted your list into word pad.
To understand your schedule, after you do a ME lift like Squat; in the same session do you switch to a DE exercise like band squats?
The reason I ask, is I am getting murdered after a couple of weeks on a 4 week cycle before I take a break. The ME kills me. I understand that my body is not used to doing ME so it will take some time and I may have to cut the volume down and progressively add.
However, in your experience, do you see better results and better recovery by doing ME and DE in the same session?
I assume that you do Bench 1 session, DL next and Squat the final?
[quote]SergeantQ wrote:
To understand your schedule, after you do a ME lift like Squat; in the same session do you switch to a DE exercise like band squats?
The reason I ask, is I am getting murdered after a couple of weeks on a 4 week cycle before I take a break. The ME kills me. I understand that my body is not used to doing ME so it will take some time and I may have to cut the volume down and progressively add.
However, in your experience, do you see better results and better recovery by doing ME and DE in the same session?
I assume that you do Bench 1 session, DL next and Squat the final?
[/quote]
yeah… i do a ME variation… sometimes two and then follow with a DE movement.
is it killing you because you keep trying to increase the loads and going for heavy 1-3 reps every week? i’ve found that i need to cycle the loads. for example, with my next cycle i’ll probably start with 80% of my max on a particular ME movement for the first week, then 85% for second, then if i’m feeling good i may go to 90% for the third then drop to 80% for my last week… deload and then test my max. i like to vary the percentages based on how i feel as the weeks go on. another option is to vary the rep range. sometimes if i’m feeling strong, i’ll go with a 3x3 that day, but if i’m feeling not as strong, i may drop the weight and go 5x5. there are many ways to modify your training to fit how you feel.
doing the things i mentioned above is what helps me recover. i also only train three times a week. i have a bench, squat and deadlift day.
[quote]Free2Be wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
Free2Be wrote:
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the info. out there.
here is a short list of common mistakes people make when training for strength-
-
training too often- i train no more than three days a week.
-
training to failure on max effort type of movements
-
training too often in the 90% range. this is totally contrary to what Westside teaches but if you are natural and raw, training in the 90% range too often will lead to injury and overtraining.
-
not doing enough accessory work.
-
not cycling your training and planning a deload after each training cycle.
-
not determining form or muscular weaknesses and addressing them as your priority in your training.
these are just the major training mistakes that i thought of off the top of my head.
no problem bro. most of the stuff that i’ve tried hasn’t work. it’s all about trial and error. what really sucks is something may work at one point and then not at another time. it’s a constant battle to keep finding things that work.
I’ve def done 1-4 and gone over board in the wrong way. It destroyed me for about two years. I got pretty strong fucking up big time and it hurt my joints like no ones business. I am feeling fairly healthy now and am getting my volume and base of strength up…I’m going to start the “better 5x5” in about two weeks.
I’ve pasted your list into word pad.[/quote]
getting strong isn’t too hard… it’s doing it without getting injured. that’s the hard part.
i would give my version of the 5x5 a try for four weeks. it’s very intense and you will definitely need a deload week afterwards. if you do do it, only do one ME variation then follow it up with a DE or RE type movement and then do your accessory work.
bill roberts would be sooo mad at you:)
First I would like to say thanks for your advise and quick response; you sure do a lot of coaching on this site!!!
As I look over my training log, I see that I am constantly in the 90%+ range; which you indicated in a previous post to another member as being bad.
I will give this a shot and go 3 days also. I’m sure my body will appreciate the rest.
Thanks again!
[quote]SergeantQ wrote:
First I would like to say thanks for your advise and quick response; you sure do a lot of coaching on this site!!!
As I look over my training log, I see that I am constantly in the 90%+ range; which you indicated in a previous post to another member as being bad.
I will give this a shot and go 3 days also. I’m sure my body will appreciate the rest.
Thanks again![/quote]
no problem hoss.
some people can continually train week after week in the 90% but i’m not one of them and i would guess that many other can’t as well. i do believe that strength gains are achieved more readily in the 90% range BUT to really take advantage of it you have to be thoroughly recovered to do so. that’s why i cycle my training and usually have a low percentage week right before a 90% + week.
Meat, whats on your feet when lifting(pull/squat)? Love your videos. Thanks for the support you provide us.
[quote]barryjenkins00 wrote:
Meat, whats on your feet when lifting(pull/squat)? Love your videos. Thanks for the support you provide us.[/quote]
i wear wrestling shoes to pull and sometimes squat. i also wear chucks most of the time when i squat.
thanks!! i appreciate it!!
Let me throw my thanks in here. Have tried several of the suggestions you’ve made and all have proven dead on. My thanks. And I do love your vids. Inspirational.
deload week (not really)
tonight was supposed to be a light squat night but instead i decided to do some moderate weight pulls to see if my chest injury could handle it. I need to plan out my percentages for my next cycle and i needed to know what i could handle with the injury. good news!! the chest held up just fine. just a little twinge on my last set. also, everything felt good and i left a good bit in the tank.
elevated deads (about 3 inches)- i used double overhand for sets up to 405. i find these are really improving my grip. i’ll move it up to 495 next time.
135x10
225x10
315x6
405x4
495x2
585x1
635x1
hypers
bw x 20
bw +25lbs x 20
bw +45lbx x 20
incline situps
bw x 15 x 3
feel good.
[quote]hel320 wrote:
Let me throw my thanks in here. Have tried several of the suggestions you’ve made and all have proven dead on. My thanks. And I do love your vids. Inspirational.[/quote]
it’s my pleasure.
anytime you need specific suggestions, i’m more than happy to give them.
thanks again.
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
Free2Be wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
Free2Be wrote:
bill roberts would be sooo mad at you:)
[/quote]
HA! He’ll probably live.
Just writing some things down reviewing the things I did wrong:
Top four are:
1.) Too much 90% and above training
2.) Training too often
3.) Not enough hypertrophy training
do you count that as accessory work? I think you can do accessory work too heavy, I think I did it more as ME than I should have…
4.)Training too close to failure on ME movements and Accessory movements almost same as 1
Most are related in a lot of ways for me. I totally neglected hypertrophy work and always wanted to go heavy, heavy, heavy. I was obsessed with weight, I didn’t lift with bad form just to get weight up, but I felt like I was cheating if I didn’t go as heavy as possible.
Just some thoughts…I talk too much.
You should rename this thread to, ‘The Library of Powerlifting’.