Bill Marnich came to me sixteen weeks ago to talk about coaching. He introduced himself as a strength coach from Waynesburg University and we started talking shop over the course of a week or two. Eventually it got to the point where he felt like it was worth working together to go through his own strength training cycle. Mainly because he likes training - a former collegiate lineman- but he also recognizes the value in learning and growing as a coach. It's been a great experience for us both.
Bill filled out an intake form. We talked through goals and expectations. Then he hit me with a new one - Bill has a prosthetic left leg from the knee down. He's had it since birth, so "no big deal," according to him.
I was excited about the opportunity to work with a strength and conditioning coach. They get it. They live it. So it's all business when you're working together. But I wasn't sure what this process would look like- from his squat, to limitations, to progressions, and so on. I had it laid out in my head, and I communicated to him what it would look like, but there's never any guarantees in how these things pan out.
So here was Bill's squat week 1:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Db67W5xtY&feature=youtu.be]
Strong. But a bad shift and a lot of pitch in his upper body. Everything is driving from his right hip.
So the plan was as follows:
Weeks 1-4
Day 1: Front squat to a high box. The goal here was to build up his quads and abdominals with no risk for any shifting in the hole.
Day 2: SSB squats to a box just above the point where he would shift. Here would we work up to heavy doubles and let technique breakdown be the limiting factor.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2fEEglQic8&feature=youtu.be]
You can see this is a decent box squat. But he's not quite getting into his hips - we had to hammer the external rotation concept in conjunction with using both quads together. Which paid off over time.
Weeks 5-8
Day 1: We stayed with front squats but lowered the box as a progression, and worked on doubles.
Day 2: We kept SSB squats but removed the box, hitting anywhere from 3-6 reps with moderate intensity, with technique, again, being the primary limitation. If it got too ugly, we cut it or adjusted the next week.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffx5bwFPF4w&feature=youtu.be]
Bill did an excellent job of controlling that shift and balancing himself out as we progressed. I was worried that shift would be just as bad as week 1 coming off the low box but he crushed it here. So we were able to continue on with this progression.
Weeks 9-14
Day 1: Front squat to a low box working up to a heavy double or single. Then we added drop sets - three second eccentrics for 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps. Bill loved these because it made him focus not only on technique but musculature involved in getting his body to move the way we wanted.
Day 2: We kept the SSB free squats - working up to moderate 3's and 5's. But our secondary movement was an SSB box squat to a high box - just above the point where we were seeing a shift under heavier loads, and we did heavy doubles and triples there - about 6-10 reps total per session.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaA44Q5NdOs&feature=youtu.be]
You can see these aren't perfect, but definitely an improvement from earlier in the training cycle. But these were heavy, and I expected to see some breakdown here. Kudos to Bill for pushing through these.
Weeks 15-present
Day 1: We transitioned to a straight bar box squat. Bill had a slap tear in 2009 so he has some shoulder discomfort under a straight bar. We're working through that with mobility and a higher bar position for the time being. But these squats look good.
Day 2: SSB free squats with moderate intensity and volume to continue hammering home that pattern, and using his whole body to squat as one unit. Check these out because they look amazing...
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij5dFn66dMM&feature=youtu.be]
I'm proud of Bill for his work ethic and lack of excuses. He's not into the 'inspirational thing,' which I completely respect. But I decided, with his blessing, there was value in putting this together so others could see that in 16 weeks he was able to retool his squat and will continue to grow in the coming weeks as a result. No excuses. Never an "I can't." Just work, week in and week out.
I didn't include the entirety, nuts and bolts, of week to week training. But if you need more information or have any questions about coaching availability, email me at cwilliamsstrength@gmail.com
