We all know the famous quote by bodybuilding legend Ronnie Coleman: “Everybody wanna be a bodybuilder, but nobody wanna lift this heavy-ass weight.” But something similar could be said about the bench press: “Everybody wanna bench press a house, but nobody wanna take care of their broken-ass shoulders.” Lots of people have really lousy posture …
I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news. The good news is I won the 181-pound weight class in the open division last Saturday. The bad news is that’s the only good news. This meet was many things: humbling, frustrating and eye-opening to name a few. What it most certainly was NOT was a …
Powerlifting Meet Recap: APF NY State Spring Iron Frenzy Read More »
Long time, no blog. I’ve been away from the keyboard for awhile and spending more time reading, lifting and learning. Sounds pretty good, right? My life for the past few weeks has been consumed by work, midterms and training for the 2013 APF New York State Spring Iron Frenzy. It will be my fourth powerlifting …
My strength is steadily returning as my shoulder improves and my weight slowly climbs. I’ve got just over eight training weeks left til the APF Spring Iron Frenzy and I like the way things are going. I’ve hit some good indicator sets on squat and bench. I’m feeling surprisingly awesome considering I’m doing my own programming, …
It’s been way too long since I posted a training log update. Actually, I haven’t said a word about my training since my last powerlifting meet way back in November. But there’s a reason for that. After setting a handful of PRs at the meet, I started using a purchased program so I didn’t want …
Coaches and trainers are always seeking ways to add variety into training programs. It’s easy to stick with the same exercises and just change sets, reps and exercise order. But to really keep things interesting, you’ve gotta get creative. Too little variety can lead to staleness, plateaus and boredom. But too much variety can be …
What’s the hardest thing to do in the gym? Find an unoccupied bench press on Monday (or Tuesday or Wednesday…). Bench press is the most popular exercise in America because everyone wants a big, impressive chest. And somehow, the bench press got crowned as the best chest-building exercise of all time. But if the bench …
On Saturday I competed in my third powerlifting meet – the Old School Iron Wars, sanctioned by 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation – in Williston, Vt. At a body weight of 190.8 pounds, I squatted 501, benched 330 and deadlifted 540. I placed second overall in the Open 198 division with a 1371 total – a …
I set a personal record this week… for lifting weights five times without training in the same place once. Between traveling for the Cressey Performance Fall Seminar and running away from Hurricane Sandy, I got to see a bunch of friends and lift in some really cool environments. All the changes of scenery have helped …
A look inside someone’s gym bag can tell you a lot about a person. Whenever I see someone walk into a gym completely empty handed, I’m blown away. First, I’m amazed and impressed that they can take such a minimalist approach to training and still get results. And then I awake from fairy tale land, …
What’s In Your Gym Bag? 10 Training Tools Everyone Should Have – Part 1 Read More »
