Getting Stronger

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Lucky 1

Me too.....I was a competitive powerlifter in my late teens till about 26 years old....

Now I'm an old guy lifter who still does it because I love it!

Great. You must have some great tips for us newer lifters. What would be your main rule of thumb for training for strength?

[rainbow.sprinkles]

Originally Posted by Gem

Hi, Rainbow. How's training? Have you changed your program from the 5X5 or anything?

not yet. I've been a bit inconsistent with getting in the gym lately due to being really busy with the end of the semester but I might look into changing things up a bit once it's officially my summer break. I wanted to wait until I got my strength back up to lifting the same amount I was at before I took 5 months off following my old gym's fire, and all my lifts are now at or just past what I was lifting then so that's satisfying.

[Lucky 1]

Originally Posted by Gem

Great. You must have some great tips for us newer lifters. What would be your main rule of thumb for training for strength?

While,many powerlifters are big on the 5X5 program which is not bad at all....about 15 years ago I got introduced to "Dogcrapp training" and never looked back and in fact wish I would have known this when I was much younger.

First I gotta explain the name!

A man named Dante Trudel is one of the foremost trainers in the lifting world having trained a number of champions in both the bodybuilding and powerlifting worlds.

Dante's internet handle on a number of "lifting forums" was Dogcrapp...with two P's (don't ask me why..LOL!) and his training program got to be known in the industry as "Dogcrapp" training......

In short it is a lower volume, high intensity style of training that focus's on strength gains as a priority.

I could write a whole section on training this way but instead I'm going to post a link to a section of Dante's forum/website where he talks about his program.

http://www.intensemuscle.com/showthread.php?t=19724


I've been a lifter for 40 years and as I said...I wish i would have known about this several decades ago as I've never found anything that puts on muscle like this program does!.........But it's not easy!!!

Another link I'm going to post is to Clarence Bass
.
Clarence is one of the worlds foremost experts on competition diet...

These days, he's 80 years old and focus's heavily on longevity training and diet.....something that I've gotten into to a considerable degree the last few years since I've reached "old fart status"!

http://www.cbass.com/

Lifting, cardio and diet combined with longevity work have been a passion of mine for years so this will be an interesting thread for me!

[Lucky 1]

duplicate post....

[Gem]

Originally Posted by rainbow.sprinkles

not yet. I've been a bit inconsistent with getting in the gym lately due to being really busy with the end of the semester but I might look into changing things up a bit once it's officially my summer break. I wanted to wait until I got my strength back up to lifting the same amount I was at before I took 5 months off following my old gym's fire, and all my lifts are now at or just past what I was lifting then so that's satisfying.

That sounds like the good mixed with the bad, the gym on fire = bad, but the rest sounds good! Better get to get the study done than be a total meat head, so good work, and good luck with skoolin'.

I did the 5X5 for about 6 months, but the weights started getting heavy and I wasn't progressing weekly anymore, so I switched to something that mixes lighter weights at higher reps along with some max effort triples and also more accessory work - because I needed higher volume to stimulate a response. There have been issues like getting stronger in the left leg than in the right leg, and shifting the weight to the left, so I have to do days especially to correct technique using light weights, slow reps, pause reps and use a mirror to watch my technique. I still do max deadlifts though... but I've added a lot of volume - 5 sets of 8 twice a week, and also back extensions, which for me prevents back pain. I study as well, to qualify as a personal trainer - and will finish that in June this year. In the course we have to role play workouts at least every week if not twice a week, so there's the added workouts I do at school, which I usually hate because they are mostly silly jumpingjack/burpee nonsense.

[Gem]

I'm working out a new routine which is different to what I've done before.

I stepped back form heavy squats because some problems with form were emerging. I tend to shift weight to the left side and as a result, one of my left quads have become bigger and stronger than the right. To correct this I now work on light squats in front of a mirror and make sure I stay in the centre, which is hard work because the left lean has become my 'natural habit'. After that I do Bulgarian split squats 7 reps on the left and 10 reps on the right, or unilateral leg press in the same rep range, to make the right stronger and balanced with the left.

I have dropped the weight on the other lifts as well, and now work in the 8 to 10 rep range so I can build muscle size. After 3 months of higher rep work, I'll load on the weight and work in 3-5 rep range to fully strengthen the new muscle mass. After a couple of months at heavy/low reps, I'll go into a peaking period for a couple of weeks to recover from the accumulated fatigue, and then I'll test my 1 rep max on the four lifts (squat, dead, bench, strict overhead press).

I spent the last 3 weeks working out the new routine, which has just started to come together. I now have a 6-day-week training regimen and a 6 month long training program, and I expect this plan to result in significantly more kilos on the bar.

Starts on April fools day - how apt.

[OEN34]

Wow, 6 days a week?! I'd be seriously burnt out, yet there's some who can train so frequently and still continue to add weight to the bar.

In my 'peak' I only trained twice a week, so each muscle got trained once every 9 days. Goes against all gym beliefs, yet it worked very well and I was completely fresh making continual improvements.

Keep us updated :)

[Gem]

Originally Posted by OEN34

Wow, 6 days a week?! I'd be seriously burnt out, yet there's some who can train so frequently and still continue to add weight to the bar.

In my 'peak' I only trained twice a week, so each muscle got trained once every 9 days. Goes against all gym beliefs, yet it worked very well and I was completely fresh making continual improvements.

Keep us updated :)

I'm basically just dedicated to training and have few other obligations, so I don't have significant additional stress outside of training. This enables me to train quite hard, but managing fatigue is a big part of that. Eating right, getting enough z's, and training at appropriate intensities is vitally important.

The program is designed to 'overreach', so I will accumulate fatigue, but not so much that I get burnt out and/or injured. The peak period is also the recovery period, so the volume of training will be minimal in the sense that I don't lose any strength, but I train minimally and only specifically the 4 lifts, so twice a week would probably be about right, I'd say. I reason that at the end of the 2 week peak I'll be as strong as possible without any fatigue. Then I'll try my 1 rep maxes. After that I'll tweak my program, and based on what I learned, design an improved 6 month training cycle.

I plan to compete in a couple of year from now, and place, so I'm highly motivated in chasing down the numbers.

Cheers, OEN34 - it's great to talk to someone who understands this stuff.

[Gem]

So today I pull a 140 kilo deadlift (no belt, wraps or lifting straps)... yay, 3 plates.

[OEN34]

Originally Posted by Gem

So today I pull a 140 kilo deadlift (no belt, wraps or lifting straps)... yay, 3 plates.

Always a good milestone three plates :)