26 Weeks of Gains

About seven months ago, I’d committed myself to training for a regional Strongman event after being inspired by a good friend and Strongman competitor, Justin Burcham. Despite my numbers not being even remotely close to those one would want to see before training with actual implements, I made the decision that whatever I’d been doing for the past 9 years obviously wan’t cutting it and I was going to go back to the basics in building the kind of raw strength necessary to move big awkward objects.

I started questioning everything I’d been doing up to that point, and as part of that, immediately picked up a copy of Practical Programming for Strength Training (http://amzn.com/0982522754). What an eye-opener this book was! Mark Rippetoe, in the first four chapters, tore apart everything I’d come to believe as truth in training. This graph says it all.

To sum this up (and paraphrase Rippetoe), your status as a lifter (beginner to elite) isn’t determined by the amount of weight you can move, but rather the type of programming required further drive adaption. In other words, my weights and body mass weren’t moving up, even with a caloric surplus, because the weights I was using at a 3x weekly frequency were just high enough to not allow for recovery between sessions. I was constantly in a state of fatigue and under-recovery. My numbers according to EXRX strength_standards also just happened to be at the bottom of the range for an intermediate lifter. So now I knew the issue, it was time to address it.

In comes the Texas Method. This was among multiple intermediate programs that Mark covers in his book. It was also the one he covered in the most in depth and has been around a very long time. The idea is that, as an intermediate, progress can’t be made between each workout so it’s instead made on a weekly basis. Each week, there’s an intensity day (Monday) of 5 sets of 5 for the big lifts, a recovery day (Wed) of 2-3 set of 5 at a much lower percentage. This day keeps the neuromuscular system primed while still being light enough to allow for full recovery for the PR day. Then theres the PR day (Friday) with 1 set of 5 for the big lifts consisting of squat, deadlift, and press.

Assistance work is strongly discouraged with an emphasis on any weaknesses if any are to be done. This isn’t part of the program but I’ve found that it also helps to track rate of perceived exertion (RPE). I mark the perceived level of difficulty and use those numbers as a base for how much I can go up the following weeks. So, if I marked a set as hard (H), I might only add 2.5 lbs to the following week’s set. OR, if every set was marked as “H”, I might do the same weight until I no longer perceive it as hard. I’ve been doing the same workout, with very little change for 26 weeks straight. I took two deloads and have set a Friday PR for 23 of the 26 weeks. I’ve made more progress with proper intermediate training than I did in the previous ten years of bullshit magazine programming and forum bro-science combined.

I began the program having already gained about 10 lbs so I was 172 at the very beginning. I gained an additional 28 lbs during the first 20 weeks and have made a point to eat a maintenance diet and hover around 200 lbs since then. Here are the results:

Before 1RM:

• Strict Press: 115
• Bench: 215
• Squat: 245
• Deadlift: 315

After 1RM:

• Strict Press 160
• Bench: ~240 (maybe more, haven’t tested in a few months as bench isn’t part of my routine)
• Squat: 340
• Deadlift: 440

The results pretty much speak for themselves. Granted, I gained a bit too much weight. I probably could have put on about 10 lbs less and attained the same numbers but I don’t count calories and don’t ever plan to. I eat when hungry and always make sure to hit the minumum macros for fat and protein. The only thing that varies is carbs in that I eat the vast majority of carbs early in the week to correlate with the heavy volume. As I progress through the week and volume decreases, so does my carb intake. I hold fat and protein constant throughout.

As far as supplements go, I take casein protein, 2000IU vitamin D, and Magnesium Glycinate. I’d take Whey protein but my stomach doesn’t handle whey very well. I also tried creatine in a few different forms and that also gave me digestive issues – what can I say, my gut isn’t very agreeable! In general, I think most supplements (aside from creatine and various proteins) are a complete waste of money. I know supplements often seem like the answer, but the the true key is consistency in eating and training with the correct programming.

Ok, so this is my story, but I do want you to take something away from this and it will sound familiar. Your status as a lifter (beginner to elite) isn’t determined by the amount of weight you can move, but rather the type of programming required further drive adaption. If, like me, you’ve been lifting for a long time and stopped seeing results, maybe it’s time to move on to more appropriate programming.

 

 

Building a Thru-Axle Circus Dumbbell

I’m slowly building up my collection of strongman implements. I’ve already built an axle bar and that was pretty straight forward with plenty of articles on how to make your own. For the circus dumbbell, however, I noticed that there weren’t many articles out there but I did find one that inspired this entire project – credit to Connor Robinson for writing the howto and Kalle Beck for putting it up on his site http://startingstrongman.com/2014/12/01/how-to-build-a-budget-circus-dumbbell/

I’ve essentially taken the same idea and made it stronger by running the axle through both ends of each tank instead of face-welding them. This approach should make the DB extremely solid with the tank being likely split open way before any weld breaks.

NOTE: Do this at your own risk! Make SURE all the propane is gone before cutting or welding on the tanks!! You don’t want to get hurt or die and I don’t want you to get hurt or die! If this project is outside of your comfort zone, please, just take it to someone that can build it for you. 

Tools and Parts Required:

• Two empty propane tanks
• About 4′ of 2″ tubing (1.9″ to be exact)
• Two 5/8″ nuts, bolts, and lock washers
• 2″ bi-metal hole saw bit
• 5/8″ metal cutting bit
• High-speed drill
• Angle grinder with cutting and grinding blades
• Welder capable of welding 1/8″
• Play sand (or whatever you want to fill it with)
• Funnel that will fit a 5/8″ hole
• Weight scale

Step One.

Do this step outside and make sure to wear eye protection. Double check that the propane tank is entirely empty. If there’s an adjustment screw on the side of the valve, back it out as far as it will go and keep the valve open. Once you’re certain that the tank is empty, shut the valve. Use the angle grinder w/ the cutting attachment to cut the guard from around the valve. Make the cuts as high up and away from the tank body as possible (there’s still residual propane in there even if you think otherwise). Using a hefty hammer, begin hitting the side of the valve opening in a counter-clockwise direction. This was the only thing I found that would break the threads loose. It will eventually get to the point where you can unscrew it by hand. If, at any point, you hear propane rushing through the opening, get at a safe distance until it stops. Once the valve has been removed, fill the tank with water and drain it a couple times. Once you’ve done this for both tanks, go ahead and use the angle grinder to remove the excess metal from the tanks.

Step Two.

You need to cut 2″ hole right where the valve opening is. The bi-metal bit uses a pilot hole to keep the blade in alignment so you’ll need to add metal to the valve opening. Cut off a piece of the scrap metal from the previous step, grind any paint off, and tack weld it in place right over the opening. Once you’ve found dead center use the bi-metal bit to cut out the valve opening. For the bottom of the tank, just do your best to find center and cut another hole. Repeat this process for the other tank.

Step Three.

If you have a long piece of tubing, keep it that way! Prop up the tube with something and work off the end – it’ll make the whole process that much easier. Go ahead and put on the first tank and leave about 1/4″ – 3/8″ of tubing hanging out past the end.

The hole that you’ve sawed out will be a bit larger than the pipe so I used very small nails to even the gap around the pipe. Make sure you do something similar to get a more consistent weld. Once you have it centered, go ahead and tack it in place. Two to three tack welds on both sides of the tank will be plenty to hold it for a full weld.

Step Four.

Run a full weld around both sides of the tank leaving no gaps or holes. On the inner weld, grind the weld as smooth as possible. If you have a wire brush attachment for your drill or angle grinder, use that on the weld as well. The outside weld isn’t right up against your hands so the polish doesn’t matter so much.

Step Five.

Time to figure out the final length of the pipe. This is a bit of personal preference but I left 4 1/2″ between the tanks. Position the tank at the right spacing for you and mark off 1/4″ – 3/8″ past the tank on the outer end. Cut off the pipe at this mark. Reposition the tank with 1/4″ – 3/8″ of pipe hanging out of the end of the tank and repeat the process from step three. I put a push broom in my vice and slid the pipe onto it so I could start working off the floor from this point. (the bright shop light is so I can see through my fixed shade welding mask without needed to raise the hood)

Step Six.

Time to make the filler holes. Measure 2 1/2″ up from the pipe and drill a 5/8″ hole. Do the same for the other tank but put the hole on the opposite side of the pipe to distribute the weight perfectly. Thread the bolt half-way through the 5/8″ nut and tack weld it in the hole while maintaining pressure on the bolt to ensure a snug fit to the tank. If you get this right, you won’t even need to seal around the nut to keep the sand in. Three tacks should be more than enough, here.

Step Seven.

Grab a scale and get the started weight of the DB. Mine weighed 38lbs, empty – yours should be pretty close to that. Time to add the sand! This part is a bit tedious. I used play sand because it has silica which should prevent rust and reduce clumping. Weigh whatever material you get (it’s not what the bag says) and divide that by two. Put your funnel in the filler hole and add sand until you’ve added half the weight. Now, just put the lock washer on the bolt and screw them down tight. You’re done!

Optionally, you can sand the tanks real well and put a couple coats of paint on there. You could also get some flat steel use the bi-metal saw to cut out a couple end caps. Fill the entire bar with BBs or shot and weld the caps in place. I haven’t done this yet so I don’t know how much this will add to the base weight but I’m guessing it would be an additional 20-30 lbs.

This project probably seems like a lot of work, but if you love metal work and welding like I do, the time will fly by. On top of that, you’ve built a really tough and very adjustable Circus Dumbbell for about $75.

The Home Gym

More and more people are creating their own home gym these days and with good reason (see my Top 10 Reasons I Hate Commercial Gyms). Regardless of your particular fitness goal, whether it’s for better health, increased strength, better excelling at your sport, or simply looking good naked, they all share one thing in common: No matter your age or current level of fitness, you should be strength training. If you’re not currently weight training or are on the fence about it, I highly recommend reading Ten Reasons Everyone Should Strength Train.

So where to start? First off, you’ll need the space. At the bare minimum, you’ll get by with 8′ x 10′. Any olympic bar is going to be 7′ wide so you’ll need at least 1 1/2′ on each side to load and unload weights. You’ll also need to ensure that you have the ceiling height to accommodate the rack you choose. Once you’ve identified your the space, there is only a handful of equipment that you actually need to purchase.

1. The power rack. This is the most versatile piece of lifting equipment you could possibly own. The cage has safety pins in case of failure, will have a pullup bar, and depending on the model, will generally have multiple attachment options. You can squat, deadlift, bench, and press inside a rack; and these are the core compound movements that should form the base of any routine. Other options are a half-rack or squat rack, though neither will be as versatile or safe as the full power rack. garagegymbuilder.com has a decent guide.
2. Rubber matting. This is just as much about the protection of the bar and weights as it is about protecting the floor. Drops from heavy cleans or deadlifts (DLs) introduce a tremendous amount of force into the bar itself. Having a rubber barrier will help dampen the impact dramatically. The trick is to purchase “horse stall matting” from a store such as Tractor Supply to avoid the exorbitant markup seen with fitness mats. I purchased two 8′ sections of 4′ wide with a 1/4″ thickness at my local tractor supply for about $40. Two 4×8 sections placed side to side will provide enough room for your power rack and enough additional room in front to do DLs, cleans, or presses outside the cage if you choose.
3. An olympic bar. I can’t stress this enough – DO NOT skimp on the bar. A good bar will be rated well above 500lbs and will have excellent rolling ability on the sleeves even under the highest load. If your bar has allen screws in the end of it, it’s probably not a good bar. I personally purchased a CAP Barbell from Amazon and have put it through some extreme abuse with absolutely no signs of wear. This was after learning the hard way that cheap bars don’t hold up. I had a sleeve literally fall off the end of the bar on my last rep of dead lifts. Imagine something like that happening when the weight is overhead! Don’t mess around, invest in a quality bar.
4. Weights. Including bumper plates for the floor lifts. If there’s a place to skimp, quality-wise, this is it. There’s no way around it, weights are super expensive – about $1/lb depending on the brand. The thing with weights, though, is it’s generally not going to matter how “nice” they are. Jump on Craigslist and pick up a few hundred lbs on the cheap or find a good deal on Amazon. I also highly recommend bumper plates and (again) it’s about the bar. Bumper plates are going to produce much less stress on the bar when dropped from height as compared to regular plates. Bumper plates are also more likely to be official standard in height than are cast plates. These little things matter when you’re doing things like dead lifts. If you have shorter than standard iron plates (as I do), you might be pulling more than a full inch lower than if you were using bumper plates .(http://amzn.com/B00I18FGL6) 
5. A bench. You could actually get by without having a bench for some time but you’ll eventually want to be doing flat or incline presses to round out your strength and further develop your musculature to assist the press. CAP has a pretty solid bench for cheap on Amazon. There are many others and I don’t have a lot of experience with benches so I’ll just suggest to look for something that inclines and is built sturdy.

That’s it! That’s really all you need. The big compound lifts and body weight movements can all be done from the floor and a rack. Yes, there are a million pieces of equipment in the gym but you don’t actually need any of those. The simplicity of what strength training really requires is also the biggest asset to the home gym. It takes very little equipment to build the strength, stamina, and physique that anyone could be proud of (drive and dedication not included).

Top Ten Reasons I Hate Commercial Gyms

I despise commercial gyms. Wait, let me rephrase that; I hate commercial gyms with a burning passion. Why?! Oh, let’s just count to ten…

1. You have to have your gear/clothes packed up, drive/bike/walk there, find a parking spot, check in, and possibly change clothes just to get started. There goes 30+ minutes of your day.
2. If you do change clothes, the locker room will invariably greet you with a 70+ year old man presenting the rear side of his balls as he bends over to undress. The locker room will also smell of feet and taint in general. If you’re a woman, I’m not certain of your experience – I can only imagine it’s a bit more pleasant.
3. Sweet, you survived the locker room, time to hit the weights. Great – there’s some dip-shit doing curls in the squat rack. Ignore the urge to punch this guy – you’ll need that energy for your sets.
4. You’ve finally got the squat rack or bench. Now there’s a line of guys/gals kicking their feet and pretending to make the perfect playlist while you finish your sets. You need a few minutes to rest up for the next set, but the line of annoyed people has pressured you into an early next set. No big deal – you’ve GOT this! Oh no, you DON’T have this! Too bad your spotter was checkin out the girls in the cardio area. Now, you’re screaming under load! No worries, I’m sure someone in the waiting line will rush to your aid.
5. Where are all the dumbbells?! Oh, there they are (ALL OF THEM) surrounding the guy chatting with all his buddies as if the presence of all the surrounding dumbbells will bring on hypertrophy similar to osmosis. Again, avoid the urge to punch this guy.
6. The music will generally suck. Okay, every now and then it’ll be in line with your tastes but it won’t matter because you’re rockin earbuds having already known this. Fun fact: snagging an earbud on something and ripping it out of your ear mid-workout is 100% rage-enducing. All anyone in the gym will see is some guy completely lose his mind for no apparent reason.
7. Spring Break and New-Years will result in a massive influx of the type of people that will generally do his or her curls in the squat rack (see #3)
8. Did you just drop the weights?! Sir, don’t be a “Lunk“. You’re clearly only here to intimidate others.
9. First you drop the weights, now I see you’re using chalk?! This is your second warning. If I see this again, we’ll have to ask you to leave.
10. The alternative is likely Crossfit. Shit, am I too young for a reverse mortgage?

I admit there’s plenty of hyperbole here – trying to keep it fun. In all seriousness, the two biggest thing I can’t stand are waiting for equipment and not having enough time on the bench or rack for being courteous to those that are waiting on you.

I knocked Crossfit at the end, but my only complaint with Crossfit (aside from the price and those absurd kipping pull-ups) isn’t the gym itself, it’s the general lack of programming specialization. Also, there are plenty of exceptions to the gym stereotyped but I do think they are the exception. Regardless, if you’re hitting the gym or box or whatever, and you’re happy with it, keep it up! That’s more than most folks can say.

On the other hand, if you’re tired of your gym and have the room to spare, I’m a huge advocate for the home gym, and my next post will be on that exact subject. I’ll be talking about my home gym and the essentials you’d need to create your own. I’ll also show some equipment/accessories I made on the cheap with reference to material on making your own. Finally, I’ll be talking about how you can replicate at home the vast majority of free-weight exercises you could do in a commercial gym.

Do you squat? (Can you squat?)

Forget weights for a moment, I’m talking about a simple bodyweight squat. Can you put your feet in a natural, shoulder width position where your hamstrings are resting on your calves? If yes, does it feel like you’re on the brink of falling over backwards or are you quite comfortable? For me, this is one of the most fascinating questions regarding mobility and I’d venture to bet that at least half of you can’t do this. But we were BORN to squat. Look at any toddler playing with his or her toys. More often than not, they’ll do so in a perfect squatting position. It is with time and negligence of this trait that we’ve hindered our ability to accomplish such a simple task.

Although I do blame western culture for this issue, it’s not the desk jobs that should get the brunt of the blame. I actually think it was with the advent of the modern toilet that we finally lost our ability to drop into a squat. In times past, a toilet was nothing more than a hole in the ground. It was a given (still is in some cultures) that one would have to maintain a squat on the ground at least once a day to do their business. Our modern day lifestyle has us sitting comfortably any time we’re not standing and why should we ever really need to squat? Okay, okay, we’ve lost our flexibility – so what to do about it?

If you’re just getting into barbell style lifting or just want to better your mobility, let’s take a step back and establish a plan based on your current mobility. If you can perform the above test comfortably as though you could sit in a squat all day, quit reading, go do squats, and often (see the reference video, below)! If you can do the exercise but you feel as though you’re on the brink of falling over, I’d suggest bodyweight or light barbell squats until you can comfortably drop into a full-depth squat (crease of hip below top of knee cap). If you failed the test miserably, I’d recommend doing calve stretches at least once a day from anywhere between thirty seconds to two minutes. Next, do bodyweight squats or very light barbell squats to a depth where things become slightly uncomfortable. Push the boundaries each time and seek that full-depth squat as mentioned above. 3 sets of 8-10 should be sufficient to increase mobility.

Full depth

If you need instruction on squatting in general, I’d consider Alan Thrall’s video tutorial to be one of the best.

For all scenarios, I’d suggest a good pair of weightlifting shoes with at least a 1/2″ heel raise. Even if you’re incredibly flexible, a good weightlifting shoe will allow you to drop closer to ATG (ass to grass) while keeping the knee closer to the center of gravity. This decreases lever arms, allowing for more torque out of the bottom of the movement, and reduces “butt wink” – the inability to maintain a neutral lumbar spine at depth.

Once you’ve established a solid squat, static and dynamic stretching is no longer necessary. The very act of squatting under load will reinforce your new-found flexibility. Improvements made from this point have more to do with socket mobility. Kelly Starrett is an excellent resource on this. He has his own youtube channel MobilityWOD, as well as, an exhaustive book on the subject, Becoming a Supple Leopard

TL; DR – Go squat. If you can’t, work on it until you can

“Muscle Confusion” is not a real thing

This has evolved into my pet peeve as of late. You see someone hit a plateau, ask for advice, and naturally, the quickest responders are those offering “muscle confusion” as the answer! So what is this supposed muscle confusion? The idea is that your muscles have gotten used to the routine that you’re exposing them to and exposing them to a different stimuli will confuse them into further hypertrophy.

Here’s the problem – your muscles ARE NOT a toddler! Muscles are not capable of being tricked into doing your bidding! I think Mark Rippetoe states this best in Practical Programming for Strength Training but the basic idea is that there are three variables that can be changed to drive muscular adaption. Volume, Intensity (percentage of one rep max), and Frequency (how many times are you training said muscle group per week).

Proponents of “muscle confusion” will usually offer up some anecdotal evidence of how they switched to a different exercise variation and saw tremendous improvements. But what have these individuals really done? I’d argue that the majority of the time, he or she has switched to an exercise that more efficiently targets the desired muscle group. In most other cases, he or she has modified range of motion to have a higher relative intensity for a subset of the full range of motion. This type of training certainly has its place but let’s be honest – you haven’t “confused” anything.

Beginner and intermediate lifters can absolutely do the same routine week after week and continue making consistent gains given adequate nutrition to do so. If you are failing to make progress, you either have the wrong routine, inadequate nutrition, and/or are doing too much or too little (volume * intensity * frequency) throughout the week.