Have fun its a gold mine
Anyone know what ever happened to this guy? Prob my favorite poster/thread on this site
Wish I knew. We used to PM back and forth a lot, and always talked about meeting up with the wives, training, and grabbing some grub when he made it stateside. Stupidly I never thought to get a real email address.
S
Man this guy was awesome.
Definitely miss his page long words of wisdom. I have them printed out and read through them every other week or so to keep myself on track.
[quote]Highjumper wrote:
Definitely miss his page long words of wisdom. I have them printed out and read through them every other week or so to keep myself on track. [/quote]
Same, I reread whenever Iām feeling a bit sluggish. Hope heās doing well.
Damn you guysā¦ I saw this pop up on the forum and thought he was back! I guess its time to re read through this bad boy
BUMP
Paragon A: If you are back and have the time to post, it would be interesting to hear how things have been training and diet-wise for you lately.
Dear friends
I never ment to let you down or not post for such a long time. I appologize and I feel ashamed.
Many things happened over the last year or one and a half years. Not all of them good. I had to āsolveā many problems for my family. Iāve never made a secret out of the fact that I grew up as the son of a poor father with lots of financial problems.
Unfortunately, some of those ghosts from the past came back to haunt my father now at over 80. Nothing that couldnāt be solved, But it took a lot of time and most of my energy.
My mother died some time ago, far too early. I feel these constant sorrows somehow manifested themselves physically and, eventually, her heart just stopped.
Iām happy I am still alive, but something similar happened to me and I had to go to the hospital for a surgery. Some kind of tumor grew in my chest. Not malignant, so there is nothing to worry about, but there were a lot of problems in the healing/recovery process. I ended up going to the hospital 3 times and not being able to train or eat right (my stomach didnāt do well on medication) for many months.
I donāt want to complain and just wanted to give you at least some explanation why you did not read from me for so long. Iāll leave it with this.
Friends, life is good. Extraordinary good. We are all blessed with our lives. Never forget that, Life is such a great gift.
As for training: currentyl I am making good gains and trying to get stronger again. Obviously, my bench press is much worse these days. I rarely bench more than 310/320. I am still affraid of trying to press a heavier barbell. I am sure nothing could tear inside my chest anymore, but there is stimm some sort of mental blockade.
My squat workouts usually consist of back squats uo to 420-440 or front squats up to 385-400. Deadlift workouts up to around 520-550.
Not the most spectacular numbers and a far cry from what I was able to lift 2 years ago. But even though I am an old fart, I donāt see a reason why I should not regain most of my strength 
I will do my best to post regularly. I finally got myself a computer, after all. Did not have one in years.
And a personal note: as you might remember, I got married a bit over a year ago. Best thing I have ever done in my life. Could not be happier.
Cheers,
P
Paragon glad that lifeās issues have been sorted out for you and thingās are back on track.Happy to see ya posting again cause even though I have never commented In them, they are worth their weight In gold.Thanks again.
Thank you very much.
[quote]jppage wrote:
Paragon glad that lifeās issues have been sorted out for you and thingās are back on track.Happy to see ya posting again cause even though I have never commented In them, they are worth their weight In gold.Thanks again. [/quote]
CURRENT WORKOUT ROUTINE
If this is of any interest: this is how my weekly schedule currenty looks like:
MONDAY
A) Bench Press
- Force Spectrum Ramp with sets of 3 reps. Usually around 7-9. I do some waves every third workout or so.
- Some work capaciy / density work. E.g. 4 reps with 85% of my max weight in the FSR, every minute on the minute for 10-15 minutes. Depending on how I feel. Or 50 reps with 80% of the max weight of the FSR for time. Or as many reps as possible in 8-10 minutes with 80-90% of max of FSR.
B1) Pullups / Chins
50 reps (ususally weighted with 1.5 pood Kettlebell), broken up in as many sets as needed
B2) Ring Dips
also weighted - 50 reps
C) Weighted Overhead Carry
Either barbell or waiters walk with 2 Kettlebells. 5-8 times 1 minute with 1 minute rest intervals
D) Incline treadmill
15%. Easy pace. Just to ācool downā. I feel this also helps with ankle mobility and keeps my hips healthy.
TUESDAY
A) Front Squats
Same procedure as with the bench press on Monday. FSR first, followed by capacity work.
B) Deadlifts
I alternate between sumo and conventional style. I do 5 sets of 5 reps.
C) Prowler Work
Lots. Usually I combine proweler work with tall box jumps inbetween sets. I would say I spend rouhgly 25 minutes on this part of the workout.
WEDNESDAY
Off day. I often do some neural charge work on Wednesdays (10-15 minutes) as well as some mobility drills and foam rolling. I follow Kelly Starretts videos on youtube. The additional mobility work has helped me a lot with some shoulder and middle back issues I suffered from a long time.
THURSDAY
A) Overhead Press.
Also here: FSR first, followed by on the minute work or density work. I usally start the ramp with stric presses. When the weight gets too heavy to stay explosive (i.e. when I would have to start grinding) I switch to push presses. I do a few more sets push presses and when these get too heavy switch to push jerks. If I do waves I only go back to a weight I can still explosivly push press and donāt do strict presses in the second or following waves.
B1) Pullups / Chins
50 reps (same as in Monday)
B2) Stationary Dips
50 reps
C) Barbell Bent-Over Rows
I do 5 sets of 8 reps not emphasizing the excentric phase.
D) Farmers Walks
5-8 times 1 minute.
E) Incline Treadmill
Same as on Monday.
FRIDAY
Thatās my fun dayā¦
A) Overhead Squats
6-8 sets with 3 reps. Not my strongest move, but it helped a lot with shoulder mobility and back stability/health.
B) Snatch-Grip High Pulls
Focussing on mechanics. 6-7 explosive doubles. Either from hang or blocks.
C) Conditioning
This is usually a combination of some of the following: Kettlebell work, battle ropes, sled, prowler, slam balls, heavy med balls and jump rope.
15-20 minutes.
SATURDAY
A) Snatch
8 doubles (1.1). I rest 10 seconds between the single reps, and 90-120 seconds between sets. I increase the weight after every set.
B) Clean&Jerk
8 singles. I increase the weight after every single.
C) Optional: I sometimes follow the C&J with some (squat) cleans, starting at the weight I could not jerk anymore.
D1) TRX band work for rotator cuffs, rhomboids and rear delts
D2) some ācoreā work, like planks, windmills, turkish getups, etc.
SUNDAY
Off day with some mobility work and foam rolling. Sometimes my wive and I go outside to do a fund workout. Last Sunday we did:
6 rounds for time of 400m run, 3 bar muscle-ups, 15 burpees.
Thatās basically it. Basic stuff, as usual.
Dude! So happy you are back and doing well! Congrats on the marriage. Sorry to hear the past couple of years have been hard on you,
Anyway, good to hear you are in a much better place and I am looking forward to more of your posts!
All the best,
Marc
Itās been a good read
What were your all time best Oly numbers andh ow old were you? How do they compare now and what do you think your drop in speed and power has been like? I know that your strength is relatively high still but I already know that most people can keep getting stronger as they age but it seems that speed drops off after 30-32. Or is it that the top athletes just lose their hunger and retire? Or that they just canāt keep up with the young elites anymore?
Cool to know another olifter on the BB forums
Koing
[quote]Koing wrote:
Itās been a good read
What were your all time best Oly numbers andh ow old were you? How do they compare now and what do you think your drop in speed and power has been like? I know that your strength is relatively high still but I already know that most people can keep getting stronger as they age but it seems that speed drops off after 30-32. Or is it that the top athletes just lose their hunger and retire? Or that they just canāt keep up with the young elites anymore?
Cool to know another olifter on the BB forums
Koing[/quote]
Heya bro
Well, my Oly lifts have never up to the level of my powerlifts. One reaso for that is, that at the time I got interested in Olympic lifting, there were abolutely no coaches in Switzerland able to teach the lifts correctly. And no competions!
So I some tried to learn the lifts by reading books. These were pre-youtube timesā¦
Having that said, my best numbers were 305 for the snatch and 385 for c&j. That was at the age of 22-24. 15-17 years ago.
I began to re-learn the lifts roughly 2 years ago. My strength levels were very high at that time, but I struggled to snatch 200 because I had sush a hard time to forget just about everything I tought I knew about Olys and relearn proper technique.
As you might know, I was out of the game for a while due to a surgery last year. The numbers are climbing again, but Iām not there again yet. I usually ramp up snatches to somewhere bewteen 245-270 for a double. And follow that ramp with c&j singles up to 305-315.
I donāt know if it would be possible to continue to progress until after the age of 40. There really might be physiological barriers.
I do believe that many lose their hunger or jsut get bored or feel that they donāt āneedā all that grinding and suffering no more. Many of my friends who startet lifting with me and are about the same age have families now and their focus and interests just shifted. Thatās perfectly fine, thatās life.
Iām feeling very strong and āyoungā, so to say - even at the age of 39. I believe that I can regain some strength and progress well into my 40ā.
I might not be able to get a 2000 powerlifting total, which once was my goal, but on the other hand I discovered that I still have lots of potential as an athlete. Be it with the difficult Oly lifts which require much more than raw strength, or by getting more coordinated and balanced as an athlete. I started indoor rowing, e.g., a few month ago and already row 2k times which would make competing very interesting. Or I learned to handstand walk a few month ago. Still not good at it, but I can walt 10 yards unbroken.
Ok, most guys here might not be interested in such āskillsā. But what I am saying is: there is always room to improve.
Mind you, Iām not planning to become a gymnast. I did 11 sets back squats with 3 reps at 405 this moring, by the way 
How about you? What are your PRās and goals?
[quote]ParagonA wrote:
Iām feeling very strong and āyoungā, so to say - even at the age of 39. I believe that I can regain some strength and progress well into my 40ās.[/quote]
Hell yea. I know multiple guys personally who hit their biggest totals in their late 40ās.
[quote]ParagonA wrote:
Ok, most guys here might not be interested in such āskillsā. But what I am saying is: there is always room to improve.
Mind you, Iām not planning to become a gymnast. I did 11 sets back squats with 3 reps at 405 this moring, by the way
How about you? What are your PRās and goals?
[/quote]
Most might not be interested in that stuff, but I think itās pretty cool. Iām also 39 and was walking on my hands just this morning. Other goals: be able to bang out super-slow, super-strict pistol squats at any given moment, perform strict, slow āwindshield wipersā (full leg raises from the hang), hold a seated āLā position for longer than a few seconds, and the big oneā¦finish off a no-handed windmill (aka helicopterā¦breakdancing move) with a transition into a one-handed hand spin. Oh yeah, and get all jacked and ripped, too.
Great logā¦I always enjoy your updates.
[quote]ParagonA wrote:
[quote]Koing wrote:
Itās been a good read
What were your all time best Oly numbers andh ow old were you? How do they compare now and what do you think your drop in speed and power has been like? I know that your strength is relatively high still but I already know that most people can keep getting stronger as they age but it seems that speed drops off after 30-32. Or is it that the top athletes just lose their hunger and retire? Or that they just canāt keep up with the young elites anymore?
Cool to know another olifter on the BB forums
Koing[/quote]
Heya bro
Well, my Oly lifts have never up to the level of my powerlifts. One reaso for that is, that at the time I got interested in Olympic lifting, there were abolutely no coaches in Switzerland able to teach the lifts correctly. And no competions!
So I some tried to learn the lifts by reading books. These were pre-youtube timesā¦
Having that said, my best numbers were 305 for the snatch and 385 for c&j. That was at the age of 22-24. 15-17 years ago.
I began to re-learn the lifts roughly 2 years ago. My strength levels were very high at that time, but I struggled to snatch 200 because I had sush a hard time to forget just about everything I tought I knew about Olys and relearn proper technique.
As you might know, I was out of the game for a while due to a surgery last year. The numbers are climbing again, but Iām not there again yet. I usually ramp up snatches to somewhere bewteen 245-270 for a double. And follow that ramp with c&j singles up to 305-315.
I donāt know if it would be possible to continue to progress until after the age of 40. There really might be physiological barriers.
I do believe that many lose their hunger or jsut get bored or feel that they donāt āneedā all that grinding and suffering no more. Many of my friends who startet lifting with me and are about the same age have families now and their focus and interests just shifted. Thatās perfectly fine, thatās life.
Iām feeling very strong and āyoungā, so to say - even at the age of 39. I believe that I can regain some strength and progress well into my 40ā.
I might not be able to get a 2000 powerlifting total, which once was my goal, but on the other hand I discovered that I still have lots of potential as an athlete. Be it with the difficult Oly lifts which require much more than raw strength, or by getting more coordinated and balanced as an athlete. I started indoor rowing, e.g., a few month ago and already row 2k times which would make competing very interesting. Or I learned to handstand walk a few month ago. Still not good at it, but I can walt 10 yards unbroken.
Ok, most guys here might not be interested in such āskillsā. But what I am saying is: there is always room to improve.
Mind you, Iām not planning to become a gymnast. I did 11 sets back squats with 3 reps at 405 this moring, by the way
How about you? What are your PRās and goals?
[/quote]
Solid numbers. Better than mine!
96.35 128 156 | 286
85 115 138 | 253
83.3 116 142 | 258
87.7 105 140 | 245
Iāve Cn 160 about 10x, failed the dam Jerk everytime, but was very close on 3 occasion. Iāve Cn 167.5kg, racked 170kg but never could stand up with it on 5 occasions.
I started when I was 15. I did random gym training for 18months as my Rugby coaches told me to get bigger. Stupid 14yr old me at the time didnāt ask them WHAT TO DO 
I went to the gym once a week for 12months and did random stuff. No squats, DL or BP. I got bigger and stronger and then I stepped it up to 2x a week. My only saving grace is that there wasnāt much of the internet back in 1998/99. Then I met my weightlifting coach randomly. Did a good solid 3yrs pre Uni and taught me most of what I know. I did my first comp after a weeks training, did 35kg 45kg lol, nearly bombed out. That was 14yrs ago. Still loving it.
My main issue is that Im not particularly strong so that kills my ability to lift heavier for my current strength levels.
97kg FS 191kg, 181x3
93kg FS 180kg BS 201kg
85kg FS 160kg
My mate is 41 and has done 115 140 or so. Nice tech but canāt seem to get much more out of his lifts.
I"m 30 this year so 4 more years I can be a Masters lifter. Hopefully go to the Euro and World Masters :D. Iāve come 2nd and 3rd at the British senior champs since 2007 for the most part. But the top guy seems to be too far ahead for me to beat him. At least I won the English champ in 2011 so that was my first national title.
Iām getting more in to BB now so maybe next year iāll do one if it fits in about 12-16 weeks post British Champs.
Love the handstand stuff. I use to do some training at a Gymnastics club so I have some moves on the trampoline and can back summy and use to be able to back flip. My handstands sucked. I do want to get back but Iām too beat up from training 4-5x a week as well as playing Tennis. Canāt do everything but Iām having fun.
Koing
Any vids of your lifts? Those are some pretty serious weights youāre throwing around.
Thank your for this thread. The positive energy just flows from it along with knowledge.