What’s been going on with you lately?

I’m two weeks out from a meet right now. I’ve been training for a local IPA meet here in Pennsylvania – Gene Rychlak’s PowerPalooza meet in Leesport on April 20th. I’ll be lifting full power there. There are a couple of reasons why I’d want to do a local meet.

First of all, I didn’t do as well as I wanted at my last Pro-Am. I don’t want to say I was “cocky,” because I don’t really get that way about my lifts. Suffice it to say I believed in my ability a little more than was useful to me in my last meet, and I wasn’t happy at all with how it turned out. I’m basically doing this meet so I can get a total in between now and my next Pro-Am on August 24^th. When I really think about it, I like competing a LOT better than I like training, so the timing of this meet is just about perfect, and it made sense to go ahead and lift in it.

My goal for this meet is to hit a PR in my deadlift, and I’ve really been focusing my training in that direction. If I can, I’d like to pull somewhere in the mid-700’s or better. In training for this meet, there are a few things I’ve been doing differently in order to hit this number.

First, I’ve been upping the intensity in my training sessions so I can be in better shape for this meet. One of the problems I’ve had in the past is the fact that I’ve been relatively out of shape. In past meets, by the time I’d been there, up on the platform, for four-hours-plus, I just wasn’t physically prepared to produce my best deadlift performance, and I’m thinking that if I’m in better shape and go at my training for this meet with a little more intensity, I’ll be ready to put up some really good numbers when it comes time to pull.

The other thing I’m trying is the old, “Deadlift to get stronger in the deadlift” philosophy. I’ve found that in order to get stronger in the deadlift, I have to deadlift continuously, and I’ve been going heavy every other week. I’ve been going back to basics, in other words, doing as many quality sets as I can in order to put me in a better position to succeed. This all ties in with the whole “believing in my ability more than was useful” problem I mentioned above. This time around, I think sticking with the basics like this will solve that problem for me once and for all.

Thus far in this cycle, I’ve pulled 725 of the ground, and 740 off the blocks. My problem with the deadlift has always been my ability to lock it out. If I can pull a weight off the blocks, I can pretty much get it off the floor, which tells me that my lockout is definitely the problem. Since I’ve hit 740 from the blocks, I’m very confident I can pull somewhere in the mid-700’s off the floor in this meet, and that’s what I’m looking to do.

For squatting, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do, and I’ve come to the realization that there’s a huge difference between a “strong” squatter and an actual “good” squatter. I think, since I’ve been doing full power meets, that I’ve been more of a strong squatter than a good squatter. To remedy this, I’ve been training more like a beginner than anything else. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, I’ve been sticking with the basics with my squat training, just like with the deadlift – staying away from special exercises and just squatting. I’ve been getting some good results in the gym with this philosophy, and I think the results are going to bear this out at the meet.

In the bench, the only words of advice I can give to anyone right now are to gain weight and get fat. If you gain weight and get fat, you’ll bench a lot. It’s that simple. I’ve proven this by the fact that my bench has actually gone DOWN since my recent weight loss. I really have no master techniques with benching. I wish I did, but I don’t. My philosophy for this meet, and for pretty much every meet, is simple: keep it basic and practice how you play. Stick with your fundamentals and do full reps.

As for the rest of my life, everything is going really well right now. My wife is three months out from our first child. It’s going to be a girl, or at least it had better be, because I’ve already painted the room pink. She’s due on July 2^nd. I’m really living a dream right now, and I’m very happy with everything. Life’s pretty good all around. I’ve tried to keep the same attitude in life that I take in the gym – keeping my head up and making sure things continue to go in the right direction.

My team is doing well, and we have a few guys who’ll be competing in the Zanesville Classic the week before my meet. They’re doing a really hard training cycle right now, and I’ll be helping them out. Some guys will be doing the full meet, and we also have a couple of bench-only guys. I think we’re going to do very well there, and I’m looking forward to seeing some serious PR’s.

Q&A:

I notice that with the way you set up your template, you usually stay on the bench for the whole workout on your ME days. After you bench, you do some kind of high board, then foam, etc...I also see that you don't train your lats except for your ASS day once a week.

For someone with an ME and DE bench day that does basically what you do on ME day as far as near maximal weight followed by 1 or 2 accessory lifts, how much lat work should be done on DE day? Is 3 exercises of 5 sets each too much?

Keep this in mind when trying to figure out how much work is enough.

+ Are you getting stronger?
+ Are you recuperating?
+ Are you in and out of the gym?

I like to go in waves for my assistance work. I’ve spent the last 4-6 weeks hitting my lats with one exercise 2 times a week. I’m now only hitting my lats one time a week for the next 3-4 weeks. I’m doing this because my meet is near and recuperation for the big three is my primary goal.

When choosing the amount of work to do, take into consideration what your goal is. I like to take the path of least resistance. Drop the third exercise and see how you progress. If you’re getting beat up in the bench bar-path-wise, or you cant stay tight while squatting or pulling, throw the third lift back in there.

That said, what’s your definition of adequate work for your lats?

The lats are very important, but there’s one thing to keep in mind: we are not bodybuilding. I, as well as others, have found success with hitting the lats with maybe one or two exercises twice per week.

I’m a fan of chins. I like to do 5 sets of chins 1-2 times a week.

I know most say rows are best, as they hit the same plain as the bench, but I do chins to give my low back a rest for the squatting and pulling. If your back’s cool, row it up. Throw in some DB rows and some rear delt work and you should be covered.

I’m thinking about wearing a loose shirt for off-season training and then keeping my tight shirt fresh and only using it come meet time. Do you think there is any negative aspect to doing this?

This sounds like a good idea. I played with this idea for the Pro-Am in January. Unfortunately I bombed and didn’t get a chance to bench, but I can say I felt a hell of a lot better going into the meet as compared to some prior meets I’ve done.

This will allow you to train your groove and get reps in without having to have a shitload of weight in your hands at all times.

If you do this be sure both shirts are the same. For example, I used a 58 Bash shirt for my competition shirt and a 60 Bash for training.

If you were a month out from a meet how would your bench training break down?

I’ll assume you’re doing a bench-only meet and answer from there.

If the meet was the fourth week, I would do this:
 
Week 1: 2 Doubles at or around 90%
Week 2: Double at or around 95%
Week 3: Opener
Week 4: Meet

The key is to not miss any weights during this last four weeks and to never attempt any efforts at 100% in the shirt.

I see you sometimes go heavy with seated military presses. Is there any method as to how you add them into your training?

I use them to test how my shoulder strength is – and not necessarily to get them stronger. I know if I can hit certain weights and numbers, I’m where I need to be. Doing a lot of heavy benches plays hell on my shoulders, so if I train them just enough to make gains in the bench I’m in good shape.

No need to run wild on the shoulder work. Again, we’re not bodybuilders.

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