Desperate times call for desperate measures. I was tired of floor presses off unstable pickle buckets and the inability to squat, so here’s my attempt at building a home gym.
I have been a fat boy all of my life and have struggled mightily to be less fat. Here’s where I’m currently at in the sea of macros and micros.
I was alive when Pearl Harbor was attacked and the U.S. entered into World War II. In the 1940s, I remember polio. How does all of this relate to COVID-19 pandemic? I have an idea…
We all now know that we begin to lose muscle in our third decade. It happens so insidiously slow that we don’t realize it. Stop the cycle! Don’t succumb to fragility!
The IPA, one of my favorite federations, held the Tennessee State Championships in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, on March 14th. I went.
How do you prepare for your next week? When do you start preparing? Jeff Guller likes to get started with conjugate powerlifting nine weeks before meet time.
Powerlifting benefits all ages, from young to mature. No matter your age, results won’t come without motivation and motivation won’t come without discipline. What are your 2020 goals and how will you achieve them?
Even though I didn’t make all of the goals I set for this year, I did have some good results. And if results are the measure of a year, then it was a good year.
This little old man’s secret to recovery lies in one word: bands.
I was very fortunate at this meet to have had excellent help at this meet. Dear friends helped manage the meet, wrapped my knees, called my depth, and gave me coaching advice and lifting cues.
I think that sometimes-spontaneous people, those that fly by the seat of their pants, are better off than those who plan everything. It is my considered opinion that those who can alter or adopt a new one in the face of adversity or changed circumstances are the ones who succeed in anything.
I recently turned 78, and that certainly hasn’t stopped me from training. After the responses from last month’s article, I decided to delve a bit deeper into my little old man conjugate training program. Enjoy!
People have asked me to write about how I train. I haven’t done it because I figured you guys thought it’d be boring… until now. Here’s a look at my training and the process behind it.
My training was more organized than it was for the IPA meet. But I decided to experiment before this meet: I trained using my squat suit without the briefs. It actually improved my speed, depth, and how much weight I could handle.
All questions and no answers here. That’s good, though — it’ll make you aware of issues that may need to be addressed in your gym business and figure out how to fix these issues before they become an issue.
Murphy’s Law: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. That’s pretty much a solid description for how the Tennessee State Championships went for me. But hey, good job to the victors. Now it’s time to prepare for my next meet…
This was the first meet that I attended neither as participant, lifter, nor spectator; instead, I was a coach, cheerleader, and go-fer. At this meet, Flex Gym proved it is as much a family as any group I have ever seen. Everyone is there for everyone else.
I asked my elitefts colleagues to do a study or if a study exists on whether or not we can build muscle and get stronger as seniors. Rather than wait for their responses, I decided to take matters into my own hands to address the topic myself, based on the individuals I’ve trained and observed.
People keep asking me how long I intend to train at a high level and compete? My answer: As long as I can continue to improve and get my old ass to the platform, that is where I intend TO BE.
2018, you were a great new chapter. You’ve put me in a good place with my training, my clients’ training, and the team’s training. 2019, see you soon.
When I entered these very senior divisions, there was no bar, no standard, no records. Now there is.
Heavily inspired by the LTTX, I took what I taught and learned there and shared it with my gym members. Although basic (think powerlifting 101), these new lifters needed to hear my message. Watch the entire presentation here.
From the presentations and coaching, I derived more knowledge than I shared. Everyone who has a serious interest in powerlifting should see the S5 Compound, and one of the best ways to do that is at a learn-to-train seminar.
When I practiced law, it was a standing joke at our bar that an expert was some son of a bitch from Charlotte who had read a book. Well, I read a book.
Here I am at my age, in a new town, in a new gym, with new people, starting all over from scratch.
Two meets in less than a month? I know I’m 76—not 26— but when Joey Smith told me to get in the meet, I got in the meet.
I am, as I am after every meet, hurting in places I didn’t even know I had — this time in my head as well as my body, as I shall explain.
My recent trip to Ohio included attending the 2018 elitefts Sports Performance Summit and visiting the brand new elitefts office, warehouse, and gym. Along the way, I learned a lot about training.
I have been younger and I have made more money but I have never been more content.
I had help getting into my single-ply suit and didn’t have to wrap my own knees, but there was still the hand to deal with. There’s a long way to go and I’m taking it one post-surgery PR at a time.
Raw classic or single-ply? 181 or 198? And what about my hand? There are still a lot of questions to be answered.
I have trained with three classes of people in the last few months, including young college men, 50-year-old women, and two very strong powerlifters. Each group has encouraged me in its own way.
This was my first experience with 365 STRONG, and my goals were to squat more on the platform than I previously had while continuing to rehab my hand.
I greatly enjoy training and competing in powerlifting. I plan to compete, train, and train others for as long as I am able — not, however, without having a life.
I’ve used these items before training as a way to warm up and loosen muscle fiber, and I’ve used them after training as a form of relaxation and recovery. In every case, they’re improving the way I feel and lift.
It was a team atmosphere that made me fall in love with sports, and it is a team atmosphere that has been restored to my athletic participation through powerlifting.
What can we do to get our seniors off their collective ass and into the gym for resistance training?
Muscle loss? Reduced bone density? They may come naturally with age — but there’s a way to fight back.
This article was meant to have been about the results of my meet in December and the setting of PRs and possible world records. All of those aspirations ended on October 7, 2016.
We experience breaks, tears, sprains, joint replacements, and other sundry surgeries. We could stop, but we don’t. We overcome, persevere, and come back stronger.
How long will getting stronger continue? At what point, or age, or condition does deterioration begin? Am I racing a clock? Is my time on the platform limited?
Being stalked by the orthopedic reaper (not to mention the internal reaper) has been a challenge for Jack and I, but we have found ways to overcome every obstacle.
Please don’t believe the clichés that age is only a number or you’re only as old as you feel. If it were only a state of mind, we all could stay 21 forever.
I’m sharing my difficult story not to elicit sympathy, but to point out facts of life. We all experience challenges, we all have our stories. It is how we deal with them that determines who we are.
Maximize teaching strategies and improve learning reception by familiarizing yourself with the processes of creating and enforcing new behavioral strategies.
There’s a lot of hatred thrown around when a lifter hits a federation record. Should we be celebrating the PR with them?
There's always someone that has had the same dilemma as you and made it out successfully.
A year of challenges makes you focus on the things that matter.
Most are willing to share their knowledge, but there are exceptions.
What the hell could this old man have discovered that is not already known?
We all strive to be the very best we can be to achieve our genetic potential.
He’s back…and he’s getting ready to take the platform!
I’ve been told that to have obtained world records at age 71 requires extraordinary resolve. I don’t see it that way.
Please excuse this dialogue that I’ve had with myself. It is done in an effort to show that I will try to be responsible as I start training.