Lewhitehurst, What's Your Story?

Training Bodybuilding
101

[quote]HolyMacaroni wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Usually this is where a few powerlifters and forumites claim the lift isn’t real because it isn’t full ROM or some bullshit.[/quote]

X - it’s not ‘some bullshit’ i don’t do rack pulls and then claim them as deadlift numbers.

OP did not "incline barbell press 495 for 15 reps. he didn’t.

i’m sorry. i’m not trying to start wars, or w/e the hell drama stuff seems to happen all the time.

if he really was pushing up 495 6-15 times, he would have some kind of video evidence.

that’d be like having a 6 second car and not having video proof of it.[/quote]

^^^^ Yeah, basically this, but was going to try and go about it more tactfully.

Even picking the middle of that range, 10 reps, would put his max somewhere around 650. On the INCLINE. 495 x 15 would equate to over 740 lbs as a 1-rep max, meaning lewhitehurst can raw incline more than the world record holder can raw BENCH press (raw WR is 715 BTW). Max calcs are pretty accurate too; hell, if you doubt it, think what you can do for 15 reps vs your 1 RM and apply the %.

And yet somehow, as lanky said, we’re just supposed to accept that lewhitehurst is the strongest presser of all time?? Please. It’s OK though, no video required, as it flat-out did not happen. I’ll assume, LWH, you don’t care one way or the other, so I’ll move on.

Now, excuse me while I go start a thread in the bodybuilding forum about how I can squat 855 for 6-15. And if anyone has the audacity to challenge me and ask for proof, I swear to Christ, I WILL launch an obscenity-laced tirade!! DON’T TEMPT ME!!!

102

[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
A few years after I got out of college I played semi-pro football and I played fullback and linebacker and eventually played defensive tackle near the end.[/quote]

…and they doubt your lifts?

Wow.

103

I don’t understand this “If he can do it for 15 his 1 rep max must be x”
I can do bodyweight squats all day long it doesn’t mean I can squat 600lbs (although I wish it did)

endurance and raw strength are two different things, you simply need to be able to be strong enough to lift it to be able to do reps with it (not the best wording, but I don’t know explain this)

lots of guys can squat 160kg for 5 rep say, but bump it up to 170kg and they fail to produce a single rep.

now they can continue to train endurance wise with 160kg, eventually getting to 160kg for 10, but because they didn’t train for strength, still be unable to produce 170kg for a single rep still.

104

[quote]jak3_dude wrote:
I don’t understand this “If he can do it for 15 his 1 rep max must be x”
I can do bodyweight squats all day long it doesn’t mean I can squat 600lbs (although I wish it did)

endurance and raw strength are two different things, you simply need to be able to be strong enough to lift it to be able to do reps with it (not the best wording, but I don’t know explain this)

lots of guys can squat 160kg for 5 rep say, but bump it up to 170kg and they fail to produce a single rep.

now they can continue to train endurance wise with 160kg, eventually getting to 160kg for 10, but because they didn’t train for strength, still be unable to produce 170kg for a single rep still.

[/quote]

Agreed. It does make little sense because it is completely ignoring tendon strength and the fact that no one is doing some weight they have never lifted before at that extreme just because they can do a lighter lift more than 10 times. It would take time t even get adjusted to a weight like that even if you could do it.

Not to mention that no one involved in bodybuilding gives a shit about performing an exercise according to powerlifting meet standards.

105

[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
A few years after I got out of college I played semi-pro football and I played fullback and linebacker and eventually played defensive tackle near the end.[/quote]

howd you like the semi pro lew?

I tried out for and made the semi pro team down here in San Diego but it was going to be too expensive. We had to provide our own helmets and shoulder pads which are crazy expensive. I couldnt justify buying the equipment and committing to the team when I’m hoping to get into the fire academy in a few months (basically removing me from the team)

Did you have fun playing? I wish I would have stuck with football in college and not got burnt out. its just so much fun

106

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
A few years after I got out of college I played semi-pro football and I played fullback and linebacker and eventually played defensive tackle near the end.[/quote]

…and they doubt your lifts?

Wow.[/quote]

Wow is right. I was actually planning on dropping the whole thing because the thread got back on track, but this gem was priceless.

Show me a pro football player that can incline 495 pounds for reps. If you can’t do that, than don’t tell me we shouldn’t be doubting his lifts because he played semi pro ball.

107

[quote]LankyMofo wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
A few years after I got out of college I played semi-pro football and I played fullback and linebacker and eventually played defensive tackle near the end.[/quote]

…and they doubt your lifts?

Wow.[/quote]

Wow is right. I was actually planning on dropping the whole thing because the thread got back on track, but this gem was priceless.

Show me a pro football player that can incline 495 pounds for reps. If you can’t do that, than don’t tell me we shouldn’t be doubting his lifts because he played semi pro ball.

[/quote]

Dude, go argue with someone else. I’m done with that.

This shit is retarded. Go ahead and fuck this thread as well.

108

[quote]jak3_dude wrote:
I don’t understand this “If he can do it for 15 his 1 rep max must be x”
I can do bodyweight squats all day long it doesn’t mean I can squat 600lbs (although I wish it did)

endurance and raw strength are two different things, you simply need to be able to be strong enough to lift it to be able to do reps with it (not the best wording, but I don’t know explain this)

lots of guys can squat 160kg for 5 rep say, but bump it up to 170kg and they fail to produce a single rep.

now they can continue to train endurance wise with 160kg, eventually getting to 160kg for 10, but because they didn’t train for strength, still be unable to produce 170kg for a single rep still.

[/quote]
Agreed, the calculators have always been laughably off-base for me.

LWH just wanted to thank you for some of your insight in this thread. You do some things differently and it’s interesting to read about.

109

[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:

[quote]buzza wrote:
Hi Mr. Lew,

pls, could you be more specifical about your training (OF COURSE not mentioning poundages used or some shitheads will ask videoz LOL).
I mean

  • if you reach failure on each set or not
    -do you use ramping or just warming up with a set at 50% of poundage of your working load and then a 70% before the first working set?
    -how much rest between sets
    -do you do just compounds or also isolation works?

ah (off topic) which position did you play at american football?

thanx

Mike from Italy[/quote]

I don’t reach failure. I have in the past but it takes too much out of me when I do.

I have ramped up on occasion, but I generally want to get warmed up and hit my working sets, so I will do a couple warm up sets. And they are roughly 50% of what I am going to top out at.

I do compound lift first and then isolate, but my primary goal is to get the compound lifts done. If I miss an isolation lift, it is easier to squeeze that in the next day or in another session than it is to squeeze in a compound lift.

In HS, I started off as a kicker and ended up being a linebacker and a fullback. In college I played lacrosse. A few years after I got out of college I played semi-pro football and I played fullback and linebacker and eventually played defensive tackle near the end.[/quote]

You must have been one intimidating D-pole. I imagine you scared quite a few skinny white attackmen in your day lol. You play your HS ball in maryland? MIAA?

BTW your frame for BB is pretty ridiculous

110

Not to derail this thread, and this isn’t about lew’s numbers (haven’t seen where he made his claim), but the counter argument that “If X reps at Y% of max = 1 RM, then the same should be calculated from BW squats!” that’s not valid.

The “formula” holds when you’re at the upper limits if strength (i.e. 3RM), but you can’t necessarily scale it back down to simply mean more reps of Y weight.

It’s not linear like that, plus, endurance/strength use different energy systems (and hence have different capacities that aren’t necessarily convertible to one another). i.e. your capacity for one might be far greater than the other.

Summary: lick my balls with that math.

Lew,

You won’t consider a strongman competition or something? Would training/schedule be the bigger issue or injury risk or both?

111

[quote]LankyMofo wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
A few years after I got out of college I played semi-pro football and I played fullback and linebacker and eventually played defensive tackle near the end.[/quote]

…and they doubt your lifts?

Wow.[/quote]

Wow is right. I was actually planning on dropping the whole thing because the thread got back on track, but this gem was priceless.

Show me a pro football player that can incline 495 pounds for reps. If you can’t do that, than don’t tell me we shouldn’t be doubting his lifts because he played semi pro ball.

[/quote]

not saying that I believe or do not believe the 495 for reps but when I was a sophomore in college we had an O Lineman on our team who inclined 500lbs for 2 reps. I saw it with my own two eyes. Strongest person I’ve ever seen in real life (he was 350ish)

112

[quote]gregron wrote:

[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
A few years after I got out of college I played semi-pro football and I played fullback and linebacker and eventually played defensive tackle near the end.[/quote]

howd you like the semi pro lew?

I tried out for and made the semi pro team down here in San Diego but it was going to be too expensive. We had to provide our own helmets and shoulder pads which are crazy expensive. I couldnt justify buying the equipment and committing to the team when I’m hoping to get into the fire academy in a few months (basically removing me from the team)

Did you have fun playing? I wish I would have stuck with football in college and not got burnt out. its just so much fun[/quote]

I actually enjoyed myself. And I feel you on the equipment. We paid for our own equipment, too. Even paying for one of our game jerseys, one year. It just got to the point where it was demanding too much of my time and I had obligations on the personal side, so I made the decision like you to put off field life first.

113

Good gosh guys. This is just like the akuma thread. He’s a big strong guy that maybe exaggerated a little or left off some qualifications.

I think it’s pretty clear what the incline probably looked like. But even handling that much weight on an incline is impressive.

Why do we need to argue about it on a BBing forum?

114

[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:

[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
A few years after I got out of college I played semi-pro football and I played fullback and linebacker and eventually played defensive tackle near the end.[/quote]

howd you like the semi pro lew?

I tried out for and made the semi pro team down here in San Diego but it was going to be too expensive. We had to provide our own helmets and shoulder pads which are crazy expensive. I couldnt justify buying the equipment and committing to the team when I’m hoping to get into the fire academy in a few months (basically removing me from the team)

Did you have fun playing? I wish I would have stuck with football in college and not got burnt out. its just so much fun[/quote]

I actually enjoyed myself. And I feel you on the equipment. We paid for our own equipment, too. Even paying for one of our game jerseys, one year. It just got to the point where it was demanding too much of my time and I had obligations on the personal side, so I made the decision like you to put off field life first. [/quote]

that shit gets expensive. I’m not the type of person who buys cheap things, especially when it comes to protection for my body lol. nice shoulder pads and a helmet were EASILY over $350 a piece! (some were upwards of $500)

I just couldnt justify it with saving for a wedding and all… Maybe some day I’ll get the pads back on and go hit someone

115

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
Good gosh guys. This is just like the akuma thread. He’s a big strong guy that maybe exaggerated a little or left off some qualifications.

I think it’s pretty clear what the incline probably looked like. But even handling that much weight on an incline is impressive.

Why do we need to argue about it on a BBing forum?[/quote]

Dammit DD, stop being reasonable

116

[quote]TommyGunz32 wrote:

[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:

[quote]buzza wrote:
Hi Mr. Lew,

pls, could you be more specifical about your training (OF COURSE not mentioning poundages used or some shitheads will ask videoz LOL).
I mean

  • if you reach failure on each set or not
    -do you use ramping or just warming up with a set at 50% of poundage of your working load and then a 70% before the first working set?
    -how much rest between sets
    -do you do just compounds or also isolation works?

ah (off topic) which position did you play at american football?

thanx

Mike from Italy[/quote]

I don’t reach failure. I have in the past but it takes too much out of me when I do.

I have ramped up on occasion, but I generally want to get warmed up and hit my working sets, so I will do a couple warm up sets. And they are roughly 50% of what I am going to top out at.

I do compound lift first and then isolate, but my primary goal is to get the compound lifts done. If I miss an isolation lift, it is easier to squeeze that in the next day or in another session than it is to squeeze in a compound lift.

In HS, I started off as a kicker and ended up being a linebacker and a fullback. In college I played lacrosse. A few years after I got out of college I played semi-pro football and I played fullback and linebacker and eventually played defensive tackle near the end.[/quote]

You must have been one intimidating D-pole. I imagine you scared quite a few skinny white attackmen in your day lol. You play your HS ball in maryland? MIAA?

BTW your frame for BB is pretty ridiculous
[/quote]

LOL. What made our team more intimidating is that I played at an HBCU, so we had only one white guy on our team. Two if you added the white halves of the Mexican/Irish kid and the mulatto. :slight_smile:

I did play in MD, at Poly, but when I played the Baltimore City schools all competed in the MSA, so public schools and private schools competed together. We liked it because we could travel anywhere we wanted to play, while the other public schools in the state couldn’t travel beyond a certain distance to play. At the time we were the only public school in the A League and just having that uniform on pretty much guaranteed you a scholarship somewhere if you started and a lot of looks, even if you rode the bench.

117

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
Good gosh guys. This is just like the akuma thread. He’s a big strong guy that maybe exaggerated a little or left off some qualifications.

I think it’s pretty clear what the incline probably looked like. But even handling that much weight on an incline is impressive.

Why do we need to argue about it on a BBing forum?[/quote]

Dammit DD, stop being reasonable[/quote]

Hey Hillybilly could you get any farther away for that picture?

118

[quote]DJHT wrote:

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
Good gosh guys. This is just like the akuma thread. He’s a big strong guy that maybe exaggerated a little or left off some qualifications.

I think it’s pretty clear what the incline probably looked like. But even handling that much weight on an incline is impressive.

Why do we need to argue about it on a BBing forum?[/quote]

Dammit DD, stop being reasonable[/quote]

Hey Hillybilly could you get any farther away for that picture?[/quote]

hillbilly? lol

119

Hi Lew - as far as I remember from EDT, Staley liked to pick loads that were 10RM’s, and do 5 reps with it. Alternating two exercises over 10 mins, and as soon as total reps got to 25% more, increase load. So fatigue accumulated over the working sets rather than there just being a few warmups sets and one or two sets to failure.

Do you follow this? Or is it just the general philosophy of density training/pairing exercises?

120

[quote]PonceDeLeon wrote:
Not to derail this thread, and this isn’t about lew’s numbers (haven’t seen where he made his claim), but the counter argument that “If X reps at Y% of max = 1 RM, then the same should be calculated from BW squats!” that’s not valid.

The “formula” holds when you’re at the upper limits if strength (i.e. 3RM), but you can’t necessarily scale it back down to simply mean more reps of Y weight.

It’s not linear like that, plus, endurance/strength use different energy systems (and hence have different capacities that aren’t necessarily convertible to one another). i.e. your capacity for one might be far greater than the other.

Summary: lick my balls with that math.

Lew,

You won’t consider a strongman competition or something? Would training/schedule be the bigger issue or injury risk or both?[/quote]

Exactly, and usually those calculators are good for reps done under 10 rep maxes, and they usually get more and more inaccuarate as you increase the reps further from 2 or 3. Lew said 15, so those calculators would be off base on his particular claim as well.

but that’s as much as I’m gonna talk about rep calculators.

Schrodinger’s lift.