GLENN PENDLAY Q&A

Training Bodybuilding
281

Hey Glenn - question for you.

I’m doing my normal Olympic weightlifting stuff right now, but I have a police fitness test in 32 days. It tests sit and reach, sit-ups, max bench press, and 1.5 mile run. For the max bench press, I was thinking of improving this by benching a heavy single once a week, and then another day of the week, do 5 sets x 3 reps at a moderately heavy weight for some volume. Any suggestions you’d like to make?

Also for the 1.5 mile run, this may not your expertise, but I was thinking one tested 1.5 mile run a week, and 2 prowler conditioning sessions. Anything you’d like to add?

Thanks!

282

[quote]PB Andy wrote:
Hey Glenn - question for you.

I’m doing my normal Olympic weightlifting stuff right now, but I have a police fitness test in 32 days. It tests sit and reach, sit-ups, max bench press, and 1.5 mile run. For the max bench press, I was thinking of improving this by benching a heavy single once a week, and then another day of the week, do 5 sets x 3 reps at a moderately heavy weight for some volume. Any suggestions you’d like to make?

Also for the 1.5 mile run, this may not your expertise, but I was thinking one tested 1.5 mile run a week, and 2 prowler conditioning sessions. Anything you’d like to add?

Thanks![/quote]

How much bench pressing and running have you been doing up to now?

283

[quote]glenn pendlay wrote:

[quote]PB Andy wrote:
Hey Glenn - question for you.

I’m doing my normal Olympic weightlifting stuff right now, but I have a police fitness test in 32 days. It tests sit and reach, sit-ups, max bench press, and 1.5 mile run. For the max bench press, I was thinking of improving this by benching a heavy single once a week, and then another day of the week, do 5 sets x 3 reps at a moderately heavy weight for some volume. Any suggestions you’d like to make?

Also for the 1.5 mile run, this may not your expertise, but I was thinking one tested 1.5 mile run a week, and 2 prowler conditioning sessions. Anything you’d like to add?

Thanks![/quote]

How much bench pressing and running have you been doing up to now?[/quote]
Benching - jack shit. I’m not exactly weak on it since I have strong shoulders from weightlifting, I just want to bench 4 weeks prior to the test to grease that neural groove and just get used to it again. Then I’m dropping it after the test. Maybe just a heavy single, once per week?

Running - jack shit. However my conditioning levels are decent because I push the prowler 1-2x a week. But leading up to this test… I was thinking something like 1 prowler push, 1 sprint session, one 1.5 mile run a week. I don’t need to do spectacular on the 1.5 mile run, I just want something decent (like 10m:30s).

284

Just curious about your police test. Do you just have to beat a certain run time, lift over a certain amount of weight on the bench press? Do you have to make a top % of all the people being tested? I have no idea how tough these tests are and am interested.

285

My weightlifting club just got a new Pendlay bar and bumpers. Really like the bar - very smooth spin and the knurling is very comfortable. If the HD bar is similar to the competition bar I will be seriously looking to buy one for my home gym.

286

[quote]illgixxer wrote:
Just curious about your police test. Do you just have to beat a certain run time, lift over a certain amount of weight on the bench press? Do you have to make a top % of all the people being tested? I have no idea how tough these tests are and am interested.[/quote]
It’s the POWER test, which is easy. There are many other tests that police dept’s do though. The POWER test is pass or fail. I don’t want to ‘barely pass’ it though, I want to go in there not worrying at all. In fact I can take the test right now and pass it but I want to do better than what I can do now.

max points in bench press is benching .98 of your bodyweight. I can bench 235 easily w/o training it.

passing 1.5 run is like 13:42 or something. Easy but again, I might as well run for a bit this next 4 weeks.

there’s also a sit and reach test/sit-up test, both of which are easy.

287

Glenn-

I am looking to invest in a good all purpose bar for my home gym. I do a decent bit of olympic and olympic-esque movements in addition to lots of the heavy basics. I am not the strongest dude in the world, but I am mid 500’s on back squat at the moment and routinely put around that much weight on the bar.

My question, will this damage the more flexible Oly bars you sell? I highly doubt it given how damn strong the guys who use these bars routinely are, but I know some guys are real strict on only using Oly bars for Oly lifting and switch bars for the “slow lifts”.

288

[quote]PB Andy wrote:

[quote]illgixxer wrote:
Just curious about your police test. Do you just have to beat a certain run time, lift over a certain amount of weight on the bench press? Do you have to make a top % of all the people being tested? I have no idea how tough these tests are and am interested.[/quote]
It’s the POWER test, which is easy. There are many other tests that police dept’s do though. The POWER test is pass or fail. I don’t want to ‘barely pass’ it though, I want to go in there not worrying at all. In fact I can take the test right now and pass it but I want to do better than what I can do now.

max points in bench press is benching .98 of your bodyweight. I can bench 235 easily w/o training it.

passing 1.5 run is like 13:42 or something. Easy but again, I might as well run for a bit this next 4 weeks.

there’s also a sit and reach test/sit-up test, both of which are easy.[/quote]

Andy, are all the events done all in a row without any significant breaks? If so, I would suggest getting in weekly runs of 2 miles just to build what I call “reserve endurance.” I have some experience with this type of stuff. Other than that, I think your Prowler pushes and sprints will be just fine. I have no advice to give on the bench because I suck at it and hate it (I hate it probably because I suck at it). The weird thing is that increasing my overhead pressing strength lead to better gains in my bench than benching. I just overhead press these days, the logic being that if I can get my strict press, or even push press, well into the 200s, I should be able to at least bench what I can put overhead.

Good luck on this test. Personally, I think a cop who does Olympic lifting and pushes a Prowler is more bad ass than one who can bench a lot and run 1.5 miles, but no one listens to me.

289

"Good luck on this test. Personally, I think a cop who does Olympic lifting and pushes a Prowler is more bad ass than one who can bench a lot and run 1.5 miles, but no one listens to me. "

Anyone for that matter

290

[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:

[quote]PB Andy wrote:

[quote]illgixxer wrote:
Just curious about your police test. Do you just have to beat a certain run time, lift over a certain amount of weight on the bench press? Do you have to make a top % of all the people being tested? I have no idea how tough these tests are and am interested.[/quote]
It’s the POWER test, which is easy. There are many other tests that police dept’s do though. The POWER test is pass or fail. I don’t want to ‘barely pass’ it though, I want to go in there not worrying at all. In fact I can take the test right now and pass it but I want to do better than what I can do now.

max points in bench press is benching .98 of your bodyweight. I can bench 235 easily w/o training it.

passing 1.5 run is like 13:42 or something. Easy but again, I might as well run for a bit this next 4 weeks.

there’s also a sit and reach test/sit-up test, both of which are easy.[/quote]

Andy, are all the events done all in a row without any significant breaks? If so, I would suggest getting in weekly runs of 2 miles just to build what I call “reserve endurance.” I have some experience with this type of stuff. Other than that, I think your Prowler pushes and sprints will be just fine. I have no advice to give on the bench because I suck at it and hate it (I hate it probably because I suck at it). The weird thing is that increasing my overhead pressing strength lead to better gains in my bench than benching. I just overhead press these days, the logic being that if I can get my strict press, or even push press, well into the 200s, I should be able to at least bench what I can put overhead.

Good luck on this test. Personally, I think a cop who does Olympic lifting and pushes a Prowler is more bad ass than one who can bench a lot and run 1.5 miles, but no one listens to me.[/quote]

Thanks man. Yeah, weekly 2 mile runs sounds good… I don’t need to go overboard on it, I like to stick to the high intensity stuff anyways (prowler/sprints). The outdoor track near me is snowed in so at the gym, I’m just going to do suicides or something at the 40m track they have there. For the run, I think I’m just going to run as far/fast as possible in 15 minutes since I can’t accurately measure 2 miles right now. Fuck treadmills.

As for bench, I don’t think I need to focus on it too much… I’m thinking of working up to a heavy single once per week.

But yeah, about the police academy… it sucks in terms of fitness. The Chicago Police Dept bit the crossfit bug, so that is all they do. I mean that’s fine for a cop (I actually prefer Military Athlete). My friend is a probationary cop right now, he went in a strong and muscular 205, and walked out of there at 170. He looked like shit.

291

[quote]glenn pendlay wrote:

[quote]mwaltaccept wrote:
Christian and Glenn, do you recommend olympic weightlifting shoes for training. I’m 5’9, 200 pounds, want to do a bodybuilding show, am following the new HP Mass program, and have built myself up to some decent numbers IMHO. My max triple squat is 420 (430 single done in comp) and a 570 max deadlift (same contest). I wore wrestling shoes for the deadlift and my Nikes for the squat. Is it worth it to buy Olympiclifting shoes or not?

Thanks.[/quote]

I believe that you are better off with weightlifting shoes anytime you are doing any type of exercise where you are standing on your feet. Of course, as a bodybuilder its going to make less of a difference to you than to an Olympic lifter, but I think your still better off.[/quote]

Any particular reason why? I can understand Oly shoes for Oly lifting, but better for everything?

292

Hi Glen,

My question is about elbow lockout in the jerk, which I am having great difficulty with. I notice that the majority of people when they extend their arms that their elbows hyperextend and lock out however mine seem to lock out in a soft ‘U’ shape which requires great muscular effort to hold the barbell overhead.

I’ve noticed that the majority of olympic lifters can hyperextend their elbows in the jerk lockout however some of them seem to have a similar problem to me and as a result their jerk suffers, such an example is andrei rybakou of belarus, I would describe my elbows as very similar to his in the jerk lockout (obviously not as strong though!).

How do you correct this problem? Can this style of hyperextended lockout be developed through flexibilty exercise or is it genetic? Are there any technical cues or exercises that can help with the jerk lockout. I am very frustrated as I can almost snatch what I jerk at this stage.
Thanks.

293

[quote]kilpaba wrote:
Glenn-

I am looking to invest in a good all purpose bar for my home gym. I do a decent bit of olympic and olympic-esque movements in addition to lots of the heavy basics. I am not the strongest dude in the world, but I am mid 500’s on back squat at the moment and routinely put around that much weight on the bar.

My question, will this damage the more flexible Oly bars you sell? I highly doubt it given how damn strong the guys who use these bars routinely are, but I know some guys are real strict on only using Oly bars for Oly lifting and switch bars for the “slow lifts”.[/quote]

A good weightlifting bar should take an 800 or 900lb squat. Our Needle Bearing bars are definately not gonna have a problem with anything you put on them. I would just ask that you not commit the cardinal sin that is my own personal pet peeve… putting them in a squat rack that has no rubber or plastic in the cradle of the rack, so that their knurling is slowly destroyed by metal on metal contact. A good bar is almost a work of art, no reason to deface it

294

[quote]supa power wrote:
Hi Glen,

My question is about elbow lockout in the jerk, which I am having great difficulty with. I notice that the majority of people when they extend their arms that their elbows hyperextend and lock out however mine seem to lock out in a soft ‘U’ shape which requires great muscular effort to hold the barbell overhead.

I’ve noticed that the majority of olympic lifters can hyperextend their elbows in the jerk lockout however some of them seem to have a similar problem to me and as a result their jerk suffers, such an example is andrei rybakou of belarus, I would describe my elbows as very similar to his in the jerk lockout (obviously not as strong though!).

How do you correct this problem? Can this style of hyperextended lockout be developed through flexibilty exercise or is it genetic? Are there any technical cues or exercises that can help with the jerk lockout. I am very frustrated as I can almost snatch what I jerk at this stage.
Thanks.

[/quote]

This is largely genetic. You will simply have to be stronger than the average guy to hold your jerks, and its gonna be much more important for you to always get them to lockout behind your head.

Jerks from behind the neck off blocks are a very good exercise for a guy with elbows like you.

glenn

295

Hi Glenn, my question is about Olifting programming. In Olifting I am still a beginner, my lifts are 80kg snatch (BW) and 110kg C&J, that is after 6 months of training Olifts ones a week and 2 times squats, pulls, DL, … Powerlifting for 3 years. My BS 170, FS 150, DL 210, oli movements are weak.
From next semester I can Olift 4 times a week and I donâ??t know how to program my lifts. I was thinking about something like:

Mon: max snatch and C&J for the day, than go back to 80% and do some doubles, back squat triples, doubles
Tue: snatch balance, OHS, clean pull, … light day
Thu: max snatch and C&J, front squat triples - same as monday
Fri: I dont know what, something light. Squats for 3x5 maybe

Can u help my if it.

296

Hi Glenn, my question is about Olifting programming. In Olifting I am still a beginner, my lifts are 80kg snatch (BW) and 110kg C&J, that is after 6 months of training Olifts ones a week and 2 times squats, pulls, DL, … Powerlifting for 3 years. My BS 170, FS 150, DL 210, oli movements are weak.
From next semester I can Olift 4 times a week and I donâ??t know how to program my lifts. I was thinking about something like:

Mon: max snatch and C&J for the day, than go back to 80% and do some doubles, back squat triples, doubles
Tue: snatch balance, OHS, clean pull, … light day
Thu: max snatch and C&J, front squat triples - same as monday
Fri: I dont know what, something light. Squats for 3x5 maybe

Can u help my if it.

297

Glenn,

I’ve been training for a little over six months now. I’ve got a local competition here in February that I’m training for but then in March I’ll be going to the Arnold. I’m training five times a week right now (Mon-Thur,Sat) and I’ve seen a lot of gains but I need to do more. I was thinking about adding at least 2-3 sessions to my routine which would be during the morning. My program for right now is just one I found off of Mike Burgeners site (Bulgarian Routine), it’s about 5 weeks long/23 workouts. During the week it’ll go between heavy volume to low volume high intensity to light. Here’s a link… http://www.mikesgym.org/programs/index.php?show=program&programID=27
-To finish I just need some help. I have some good goals for myself and I think by increasing my training volume I’ll add some good numbers to my total. Thanks Glenn

Kaleb Whitby

298

One question, just how cool is Mark Rippetoe? I first heard of him in bill Starr’s book, defying gravity 29 years ago when I was preparing for my first powerlifitng meet. Both of you are two of my most respected authorities on picking up heavy things.

299

[quote]kalebwhitby wrote:
Glenn,

I’ve been training for a little over six months now. I’ve got a local competition here in February that I’m training for but then in March I’ll be going to the Arnold. I’m training five times a week right now (Mon-Thur,Sat) and I’ve seen a lot of gains but I need to do more. I was thinking about adding at least 2-3 sessions to my routine which would be during the morning. My program for right now is just one I found off of Mike Burgeners site (Bulgarian Routine), it’s about 5 weeks long/23 workouts. During the week it’ll go between heavy volume to low volume high intensity to light. Here’s a link… http://www.mikesgym.org/programs/index.php?show=program&programID=27
-To finish I just need some help. I have some good goals for myself and I think by increasing my training volume I’ll add some good numbers to my total. Thanks Glenn

Kaleb Whitby [/quote]

I looked at the program. It seems solid, but I prefer a little less structure.

Just an example… I went to the gym today planning on my lifters doing snatch and clean and jerk kind of medium intensity, nothing crazy, then squatting hard… but everyone just seemed to be “on” just on fire. So I said what the hell, and just let them go. We ended up with 12 personal records spread out betweeen 10 lifters. This included a couple of lifts that were world team or junior world team level efforts. So, if you are gonna follow that, I woujld say keep some flexibility and when you feel able, go for it no matter what the program says.

300

[quote]TomasK wrote:
Hi Glenn, my question is about Olifting programming. In Olifting I am still a beginner, my lifts are 80kg snatch (BW) and 110kg C&J, that is after 6 months of training Olifts ones a week and 2 times squats, pulls, DL, … Powerlifting for 3 years. My BS 170, FS 150, DL 210, oli movements are weak.
From next semester I can Olift 4 times a week and I don�¢??t know how to program my lifts. I was thinking about something like:

Mon: max snatch and C&J for the day, than go back to 80% and do some doubles, back squat triples, doubles
Tue: snatch balance, OHS, clean pull, … light day
Thu: max snatch and C&J, front squat triples - same as monday
Fri: I dont know what, something light. Squats for 3x5 maybe

Can u help my if it.

[/quote]

I would suggest that you do some sort of snatch or clean, or the power versions, all 4 days.