Monster Garage Gym/Maroscher Coaching Log: By MGG owner, 2-Time WPC World Powerlifting Champion, Eric Maroscher. (Log number XXIV).
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This installment of the MONSTER GARAGE GYM/Maroscher Coaching Log features WPC World Powerlifting Champion, Steve Brock and APF Senior Nationals Champion/Best Lift and Top 50 All Time American Bencher, Mike Strom.

The purpose of this log is to show you some a great illustration, via video, of a contest prep speed day, with a SSB, off a box, using EliteFTS black onyx bands and with no rest in between sets, except for the duration it takes to change the weight on the bar. There is a LOT going on in this video portion of the log to observe.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmUmc8ete3o]

So there are a number of things going on with regard to this log that are captured in this video. First: Speed squats. Although the weight on the bar is challenging, the object is to have the weight at a poundage where it is very challenging but at the same time, not so challenging as to prevent the lifter from moving the weight very fast, (for in this case, two reps). Second: The EliteFTS SSB. This is an ancient SSB and weighs 90LBS. The SSB bar does not allow for as much tightness as you can’t pull it into your body like you can with a squat bar, so there is substantial difference with regard to how this bar vs a squat bar feels, and the amount of tightness you can summons to explode off of the box against the weights and band tension. Third: EliteFTS black onyx bands. These bands add for Mike and Steve due to their height, 150LBS at the top. So, as the weight approaches the lock out where inertia should make the bar move faster, the bands, at that point begin to tighten, thus making the weight increasingly heavy at the point in the lift where it should not be getting increasingly heavy. Fourth: The pace. What both Mike and Steve learned at the 2014 WPC World’s is the pace goes FAST. So, in addition to their powerlifting, they have both been working on conditioning. Because of this, there is not a lot of down time during their training as a smaller flight in an international meet means less time in between attempts, and for the bigger, heavier or more heavily muscled powerlifter, that means far less recovery time. No powerlifter wants to lose and especially lose because they were gassed and left weight out on the platform. Although they both train with little rest time in between, n this particular session, Mike and Steve are working exceptionally fast, meaning no time in-between sets except for the amount of time it takes the bar’s weight to be changed. Although the video segments are shortened for the viewer’s sake, the final segment of this training session has no edits and you can see the breakneck pace of this training session. On top of the fast pace, the MGG does not have AC and it was hot, and humid on this day and trust me when I say, that makes a fast paces workout very, very demanding. If you are a newer lifter and are looking to see what “training with a purpose” looks like, it is captured in this training log. Mike and Steve are about 8 weeks out from the APF Senior Nationals, a world qualifier meet, and every rep in every set is absolutely crucial, and anyone saying otherwise, in my opinion, does not understand that; 8 weeks is not 8 weeks but actually 8 squat days, thus 8 actual hours of squat training and at about 10 seconds per rep, you can see how the time gets exponentially shorter and each reps is 110% critical.

In this training session, both lifters warm up RAW, then put on their brief, and increase the weight until they get to the training weight which they did for 8 total sets of two reps. Following the squat session Steve pulled for four sets of 85-90% max weight for doubles.

The footage in the accompanying video captures a good chunk of Steve and Mike’s squat training from the day. *The training footage in this video (filmed in HD, let load to 720 or 1080 for HD quality). Steve and Mike’s complete log from the day is written out below for your perusal.

We hope you find this video and log as a whole of use to you in your training. Please let us know by your comment(s) if these logs are useful to you and what we can do to make the better. If you like them, we would appreciate it if you would share them.

As always, thank you for following the Monster Garage Gym/Maroscher coaching log. We hope you found this log and our other prior logs of benefit to you. Ever Onward, Eric Maroscher.
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Steve’s Training Log:
SSB + 150LBS of band tension off a box for 2 reps of 8 sets
Warm-ups: 1 plate, 2 plates, 3 plates, 4, plates.
Working sets: 5 plates for working sets, so 690LBS at the top working weight for 8 sets of 2 reps of speed.
Deadlifts:
Warm-ups: 1 plate, 2 plates, 3 plates, 4, plates, 5 plates, 6 plates.
Working sets with 635x2x4
Mike’s Training Log:
SSB + 150LBS of band tension off a box for 2 reps of 8 sets
Warm-ups: 1 plate, 2 plates, 3 plates.
Working sets: 3.5 plates for working sets, so 560LBS at the top working weight for 8 sets of 2 reps of speed. One final set of 600LBS for 1 speed rep.
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Monster Garage Gym/Maroscher coaching log by:
Eric Maroscher, 2-Time WPC World Powerlifting Champion, Columnist, Elitefts, Team Elitefts Member, Owner, Monster Garage Gym.

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