From Daven8r@bellatlantic.net Wed Jun 11 06:21:33 PDT 1997 > : >>HunterJT wrote: > : >> > : >>> I recently started lifting weights seriously for the wrestling team and > : >>> wanted to take the summer vacation to work out and focus on increasing > : >>> strength. I'm not interested in bodybuilding or gaining any weight, but > : >>> strictly for strength. To focus on strength gains and less on muscular hypertrophy, a basic guideline (Fleck & Kraemer, 1997) is to use heavy weights and low reps (i.e. 6 or less), with an overall lower volume of training than bodybuilders. The problem with this type of training is that it can greatly increase you chances of injury, especially if you don't warm up properly and/or you don't have a spotter. In addition, if you haven't been regularly lifting loads that are close to your 1-rep max, ease into this routine slowly in order to give your connective tissue time to adapt. Have a daily stretching routine and be sure to include some "prehabilitative" exercises for your rotator cuff musculature, and you should be well on your way. Good luck! -- David Sprouse, BS, HFI ACSM Health/Fitness Instructor Virginia Beach, VA From mmadsen@netcom.com Wed Jun 11 06:21:52 PDT 1997 In article <01bc7542$e5fa2ac0$123f44cf@default>, David Sprouse wrote: >To focus on strength gains and less on muscular hypertrophy, a basic >guideline (Fleck & Kraemer, 1997) is to use heavy weights and low reps >(i.e. 6 or less), with an overall lower volume of training than >bodybuilders. The problem is that those strength gains are largely neuromuscular and largely specific to the lift involved. It's not all-around strength; it's skill at squatting, or benching, or whatever. Some of it carries over, but not as much as extra muscle carries over into other activities. Matt Madsen From: "David Sprouse" Subject: Re: Increased strength = increased weight? Date: 10 Jun 1997 18:42:49 GMT > In article <01bc7542$e5fa2ac0$123f44cf@default>, > David Sprouse wrote: > >To focus on strength gains and less on muscular hypertrophy, a basic > >guideline (Fleck & Kraemer, 1997) is to use heavy weights and low reps > >(i.e. 6 or less), with an overall lower volume of training than > >bodybuilders. > > The problem is that those strength gains are largely neuromuscular > and largely specific to the lift involved. It's not all-around > strength; it's skill at squatting, or benching, or whatever. > > Some of it carries over, but not as much as extra muscle carries over > into other activities. > > Matt Madsen Strength gains are going to be activity-specific, to an extent, no matter what. I would argue that the average Olympic weightlifter is going to be stronger overall than the average professional bodybuilder, despite having considerably less muscle hypertrophy. Focusing on the development of higher-threshold type IIb muscle fibers via high weight, low-rep training will develop greater strength and power than focusing on the development of type IIa fibers through lower weight, higher-rep training. -- David Sprouse, BS, HFI ACSM Health/Fitness Instructor Virginia Beach, VA From fstanbach@aol.com Fri Sep 19 22:03:00 PDT 1997 >Subject: Going for pure powerlifting...... >From: clayton71@aol.com (Clayton71) >Date: 13 Sep 1997 04:11:51 GMT >Message-id: <19970913041101.AAA18172@ladder02.news.aol.com> > Allright here's the situation.I am 6'1" tall 255 lbs >and 25% BF.I have been heavy all my life.When I first got into the iron >game I had hopes of getting cut up and possibably competing in >bodybuilding.More and more now I am leaning towards >powerlifting,probably >because thats what most of the guys at my gym are into,and alot of them >compete,and also I have a hell of a time getting weight off without >cutting >my calories drastically,which doesn't help for packing on mass.But >anyways >what this post is about is ,I was wondering if any of you guys could give >me some good tips on powerlifting.From what I keep reading ,it seems as >though what I need to start doing is a periodization routine to really >start building good strength.Right now I am doing a 2 on 1 off 2 on 2 off >split.Day 1 chest and bi's Day 2 quads and hams Day 3 off Day 4 >Shoulders >and tri's and Day 5 back Day 6&7 off.Is this routine designed more >towards >the body builder and not the powerlifter?If so what would be a good >routine?I know it would be hard to get into specifics about a routine but >just a general idea or even some good reference points such as books or >web >pages geared toward powerlifting.I apologize for the length of the post >and >appreciate any help you could give me. > Thanks,James > EITHER GO HEAVY OR GO HOME!!!!!! To train for relative strength you have to train at high intensitys(which is 100%(take a guess) to 85%(about 5 reps) of your one rep max). Of course you still have to train at low intensitys too to prevent stagnation, but since you want power you should train at low intensity for only a very short time. Also keep your time under tension under 20 seconds (like a 3-1-1 tempo) when training at high intensitys and keep you sets at 5 and above(more sets are required at high intensitys like 7 sets of 3 reps which is about 90% or your one rep max). At high intensitys the time between sets should be very high like 5 minutes or greater as the intensity increases. Here is a sample four week program for bench press week reps sets tempo rest period frequency 1 4-5 5 311 5 min twice in one week 2 4-5 5 311 5 min once in the week 3 3-4 7 311 7 min once in the week 4 2-3 8 311 8 min once in the week between rest breaks you can do rows and bicep curls since they are the agonist to the bench. for example in week 4 do bench wait 2 min then do rows wait two minutes then do arm curls wait 4 minutes and do bench. working the agonist will help you prevent fatique. The top bench pressers in the world warm up with rows before they do benchs. After this 4 week workout swich to a low intensity high volume program for a two week period like this week reps sets tempo rest period frequency 1 8-10 3 301 3 min twice a week 2 same thing tempo is eccentric-isometric-concentric in seconds. Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 08:36:23 -0600 From: Darcy Semeniuk Subject: My contest cycle. ------------------------------------------- This is the cycle I'm currently following. I've tried other longer cycles, but found that I either got injured, or burnt out on them. I work out 4 days/week: Squat on Sunday, Bench on Tuesday, Dead on Thursday, and bench assistance on Friday. For the major exercise (squat, bench, dead) I'm doing the following (2 weeks of 2 sets of 8, 2 weeks of 2 sets of 5, 2 weeks of 3 sets of 3) Assistance exercises are done with 2 sets of 12, 2 sets of 8, and 2 sets of 5. I also drop assistance exercises as the cycle progresses (usually drop 1 exercise for the sets of 5 (although not this cycle) and another for the sets of 3). For my upcoming contest (10 more days!) I chained 2 cycles together, with a week off in between. Exercises I'm currently using are: Sunday: Squat, front squat, pause squat, calf raises (dropped for 3s), abs Tuesday: Bench, incline bench, millitary press, side laterals (dropped at 3s), french press, grip work, rotator cuff exercises Thursday: Deads, dumbell row, good morning, manual ham curls (dropped at 5s), abs, grip work Friday: Close grip bench, pause bench, front plate raise, DB hammer curls, pause french press, bar curls, rotator cuff, grip work. I change assistance exercises every cycle (some new exercises, different order, etc). For grip work I do different exercises on the days that I do them (one pinching, one supporting, one gripping). This has worked well for me, as over 3 cycles, I've put on ~ 25 lbs of mass (both fat and muscle) as well as exceeded my PBs in every lift. Can't wait for my contest to see what my new 1RMs are. Darcy Semeniuk NovAtel Inc. dsemeniuk@novatel.ca http://www.novatel.ca Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 09:55:41 +0100 From: Daron Burrows Subject: Re: introducing equipment Rob - I am far from being an expert on how and when to introduce equipment, but I can offer a few comments from experience. If you are going to use a squat suit, I would start using it (often starting with my looser deadlift suit) with straps down 5 or 6 weeks out - for me, this feels horrendous, and generally feels weaker than without anything, as the unexpected resistance at the hips tends to slow their descent, and I start leaning forward. I tend to put it on at about 315 lb, so I have a good few warm-ups to get over the shock. After a couple of sets with the suit and a belt on, where I am working for easyish triples (increasing the weight each week), I will continue with a few Olympic squats, with no equipment, working to failure, which seems to maintain my basic strength. Then each week I add more equipment - loose wraps and tighter suit with straps down the next week, then the week after tighter wraps, perhaps pulling the straps up on the suit, so that I am only using the whole lot for the last few weeks. For deadlifts (for me, conventional stance), I force myself to start using a belt 5 or 6 weeks out - I usually only put one on when I am going over about 450-500 lb, so I have to get used to it. As I am a self-confessed wuss, I wear shin-pads throughout. I will wear the suit with straps down for a couple of weeks, which makes little difference as long as I force my hips down from the start. Then about 3-4 weeks out I pull the straps up, and as the triples get heavier, I will start wearing thin shoes. I will do all my pulls from the floor, rather than standing on the platform, so I can't help you with what to do there - I only do elevated pulls in the off-season. As I have no bench shirt, I am afraid I have no advice to offer there either. DARON Daron Burrows, Trinity College, Oxford University. trin0125@sable.ox.ac.uk Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 10:01:14 -0600 From: Christopher DOYLE Subject: Rob & Sonia: First meet. I totally agree that training for strength is the way to go. You do not want to spend all of your time lifting in equipment. But , because it is your first meet I would recommend switching to contest suomos early or alternating a week of suomos with a week of blocks. Also you must get into your equipment and train in it if you expect to perform well in it. Remember this is your first meet. A more experienced lifter might be able to throw the gear on 2 weeks before the meet and be ready for the meet. But, for the novice I would advise you to get into your equipment earlier in the cycle. In the future you can hold off until the last couple of weeks, once you have gained some experienc. Good Luck Chris Doyle Strength Coach Univ of Wisconsin Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 23:20:39 -0700 From: Deepsquatter Subject: Re: STRENGTH Digest - 28 Sep 1997 to 29 Sep 1997 ------------------------------------------- > From: Robert and Sonia beare > Subject: Re: STRENGTH Digest - 25 Sep 1997 to 28 Sep 1997 ROBO WROTE: I would like some feedback as to when the best time would be > to drop the platforms and go with regular sumos. Rob, Id drop them around 8 weeks out. This should get you used to your sumo and let you find your groove. If you pull sumo get a marothon DL suit. > Also, I may purchase some equipment (i.e. bench shirt, squat suit, knee > wraps, etc) and was wondering if it would be okay if I limited my work in > these items to just the last few weeks, and just for singles and doubles, > to get practice with them. It seems that there is a definite Any feedback would be appreciated. There are a few different schools of thought on this. Most guys will say to train as much as possible without the gear and just to use it the last few (3-5) weeks before a meet. This is pretty much what I do. It works pretty well IF you are used to the equipment you are going to be wearing. The equipment does change you groove a bit but if you've worn the same gear for a few meets you acclimate faster. The other school of thought says to wear the gear for the whole precontest cycle. Chris Confessore recommends this and he almost doubles my bench. The proponents of this say that the gear allows you to train heavier and that will get your body used to the heavy weights and will lead to bigger totals on meet day on meet day. My opinion is this. The gear is too much of a pain to put on for a whole 10-14 week cycle. Wear it for the last 4-6 weeks and yoyu should be fine. The exception is the bench shirt. I'm only familiar with the Inzer shirts. The standard ($38) and heavy duty ($58) blast shirts don't seem to be as much of a problem. A couple weeks and I'm used to them. I've got a High Performance Heavy Duty ($77) and to be honest I like the cheaper Heavy Duty better. The HPHD feels funny and makes it hard to control the weights. If you get one of these you may need to use it longer to get the groove down. I'm not that patient. Jason --------- Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 09:03:49 -0600 From: Keith Hobman ------------------------------------------- R. Heidman wrote, >I am a male in my early 40's and have been lifting weights for a few years, >but the problem is that I have reached a point where my lifting has hit a >sticking point. I can't seem to improve in the deadlift, or bench. I have >only competed once before in the mid 80's and was wondering if it is too late >for me to consider doing it again? Can someone give a good lifting routine >to improve my lifts? I'm in a similiar situation - 39 and started lifting again about a year ago after a 10 year absense out of the weight room. Your post really doesn't tell me much about where you are at. What kind of routine are you following now? Where are you stuck at? For example if you weigh 200 there is a big difference being stuck at 500 lbs in the deadlift than being stuck at 700 lbs. (I wouldn't mind being stuck at, oh say, 850 lbs in the deadlift :^) Anyhow my suggestion is - do something different. There are two very good and very different routines on web pages developed by members of this group. Dr. Squats workout (linked at www.ipf.com I think) is a good periodized routine which focuses on the power lifts. It allows a lot of time for recovery. I have made great improvements using it in the last year. Deepsquatter uses a Louie Simmons routine which is radical and different, but also well thought out and works. This routine focuses on specific assistance exercises developed for the powerlifter by Simmons. Many people swear by the Simmons workout. It is also a periodized routine. Several lifters in this forum have used HIT routines and got good results from them. I tried HIT 12 years ago - while it did work to increase muscle size I didn't see strength increases. I may not have used it properly so I'm going to leave it alone, but suggest that you ask the HIT guys for advice if you are interested in this. HIT advocates brief workouts at maximum intensity and points out the importance of recovery in a WO plan. Good luck! If you are interested in the specifics of my modified Dr. Squat WO I'd be happy to post it. Just let me know. Keith Hobman Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 16:18:57 -0500 From: Bob Mann Subject: Re: STRENGTH Digest - 29 Sep 1997 to 30 Sep 1997 At 08:50 01/10/97 -0400, R Heidman wrote: > >I am a male in my early 40's and have been lifting weights for a few years, >but the problem is that I have reached a point where my lifting has hit a >sticking point. I can't seem to improve in the deadlift, or bench. I have >only competed once before in the mid 80's and was wondering if it is too late >for me to consider doing it again? Can someone give a good lifting routine >to improve my lifts? It's never too late. I competed for the first time in June at the age of 43. I am planning to go again in November. My deadlift and bench are a bit stuck but my squat is going up (it had nowhere else to go) and I expect to better all my lifts this time out. (Mainly because I will be trying equipment this time) Looking to hit that magic 500kg to qualify for Nationals but that lifting suit and shirt are going to have to do some work. ;) To get through a sticking point you will have to change something you are doing. Have someone experienced help you determine where you are weakest in each lift and work on that point. For the bench, really go to town on the triceps and shoulders and for the deadlift your hips, low back and hamstrings. Jason mentioned walking around dragging a dead weight behind you which a couple of guys at my gym have done with success. Also reverse hypers. For bench do weighted dips and close grip bench and also lockouts. Bob Mann From jburnell@jps.net Fri Jan 9 22:32:22 PST 1998 In article <68gf6p$4id@camel21.mindspring.com>, jeriwhoNOSPAM@pipeline.com wrote: > > I'm still fairly new to weight training--did it for a year and a half > a few years ago and then picked it up again last January, so it's been > a full year that I've been training with weights consistently. > > I didn't even know that there was a difference between power lifting > training and bodybuilding training, but I've recently been/am being > educated in it. I have just one question: It seems to me that all > the power lifters at my gym are heavy (ie, high bodyfat %) as well as > strong. > > The bodybuilding types vary in body size, but the power lifters, > _especially_ the competitors, are very muscular but very fat as well, > with hard, barrel-like stomachs. They definitely do not have the > washboard look. Do you have to be as heavy as possible to power lift? > It does seem like the power lifters actually move a lot more weight in > squats and deadlifts when they train. But I cannot figure out how > being heavier could make them stronger. > > I was keeping my mystification to myself, but yesterday a guy who is > also rather new to the gym asked me the same question I am posting > here. We have a poster up on the wall of some champion power lifter > or other hoisting what looks like about a million pounds over his > head, and he also is very heavy. Is the idea that the power lifter > wants to be heavy to provide a better base of support for the mass of > weight he is hoisting? > > --Jeri "Duh?" Massi > **** > > *Remove the NOSPAM from my e-mail return address to reply!* > > Visit Jeri's Dr. Who Fiction page! > Stories and images from the Third Doc's era: > http://www.pipeline.com/~jeriwho/index.html > What's the beef with beef? One beef eater's concerns: > http://www.pipeline.com/~jeriwho/beef.htm -------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====----------------------- http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet From martin@masmith.demon.co.uk Fri Jan 9 22:32:40 PST 1998 On Thu, 01 Jan 1998 16:11:53 GMT, jeriwhoNOSPAM@pipeline.com (Jeri Massi) wrote: >I was keeping my mystification to myself, but yesterday a guy who is >also rather new to the gym asked me the same question I am posting >here. We have a poster up on the wall of some champion power lifter >or other hoisting what looks like about a million pounds over his >head, and he also is very heavy. Is the idea that the power lifter >wants to be heavy to provide a better base of support for the mass of >weight he is hoisting? > You were probably looking at an olympic lifter, a power lifter wouldn't be lifting weight about his head (unless just in training). Lifters in the heavier weight categories tend to have high bodyfat, this is because the body is in the best position to gain strenght when then body has an excess of calories. This means that they gain fat, the tendancy is they tried to loose the fat would be for them to loose strenght, so they choose to live with the fat. -- If only I could think of something funny or clever to write in my sig. Martin Smith From cougar@elevator-bbs.com Fri Jan 9 22:33:37 PST 1998 jeriwhoNOSPAM@pipeline.com (Jeri Massi) wrote: >... >I was keeping my mystification to myself, but yesterday a guy who is >also rather new to the gym asked me the same question I am posting >here. We have a poster up on the wall of some champion power lifter >or other hoisting what looks like about a million pounds over his >head, and he also is very heavy. If the bar is over his head he must be an olympic lifter -- powerlifters only compete in three lifts: squat, bench press, and dead lift. That sounds like a picture of Alexeev breaking the world record in the clean & jerk when I was a small boy (but I'm still immature at heart....) He had a belly like a circus fat man, no doubt drug-related (I know they didn't have recombinant human growth hormone back then ... who knows what he was taking....) His belly didn't matter because he was in the unlimited weight class. Power-lifters and olympic lifters compete in classes according to body weight, so they have to be lean except the ones in the unlimited class. As you've noticed, though, they don't look like bodybuilders. They're lean, but they're not *that* lean, and their proportions are different, too. In fact no athletes in any sport look like bodybuilders. That suggests to me that the appearance the judges of bodybuilding competition reward is mistakenly chosen. There are many bodybuilders on this group whom I expect to flame my pants off, but before I go put on my asbestos underwear I'll just mention women compete in both powerlifting and olympic lifting -- who knows, you might find you like it. Olympic lifting resembles martial arts in some ways; it requires superb timing, flexibility, and balance as well as explosive strength. I love to do power snatch and I believe it helps my martial arts, developing my balance and timing as well as explosive strength and speed. Cougar Allen :{) cougar@elevator-bbs.com Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 14:04:04 -0600 From: Keith Hobman Subject: Re: Strength_List: New to Power Lifting Need Some Help Mark wrote, > I'm new to the sport of power lifting. I've been working out for >the past four years but nothing seriously. My last bench without a shirt >was 271 and I just now started working my legs again after a year layoff >of legs. Thursday I dead lifted for the first time and did 3 sets of 5 >with 226 and it was relatively easy. My question is...can anyone explain >to me what assistance exercises are and when I should do them. I turn 40 >next Friday and I have a friend that owns a gym in Oklahoma and he wants >to me to powerlift in the Master's division in August at a local meet. >So I really need to get with it. Thanks for any suggestions you might >have. Assistance exercises are exercises other than the big three. (Big three - squat/bench/deadlift). There are two main reasons for doing assistance exercises: 1. To overcome weak points in the big three and allow you to lift more 2. To work muscles not really worked hard in the big three to keep overall strength balance and prevent injury. The list of assistance exercises is huge - I'd hate to go into them all. Check out the sample routines at the STRENGTH site (url below) and GOHEAVY.com. They give you an idea what exercises lifters are using as assistance. The squat and deadlift use hams/glutes/lumbar as prime movers and abs as prime stabilizers. In addition the deadlift requires a lot of grip strength and trap/shoulder strength both for stabilization and to hold onto the bar. The bench press uses pecs/front delts and triceps as prime movers. Most of your assistance work should focus on the prime movers or stabilizers. But don't ignore those exercise such as chins which lead to overall body balance. You'll probably want to check out the Westside primer at GOHEAVY.com as well. http://www.goheavy.com/powerlifting/workouts/hawkins01a.html This particular article provides information on a Westside barbell club routine, which features a lot of different assistance exercises. It also has a ton of info. Now that you've seen a bunch of the weird assistance exercises Simmons advocates go here. http://deepsquatter.com/strength/archives/newdeep/louie2.htm Then go over here: http://weber.u.washington.edu/~griffin/weights.html For more routines and exercises. Do the reading - then come back and ask the questions! Good luck - good lifting. - - Keith Hobman Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1999 11:28:27 -0500 (CDT) From: Robert C Smith Subject: Strength_List: Bench Peaking Routine Scott, as I understand the WSB philosophy they don't peak in the manner I believe you are refering to. Louis Simmons talks about how they stay strong all the time and so on... . This might be part of the reason that you haven't gotten overwhelmed with responses. If I remember correctly you are shooting for about a 420 lb (or 190 kg = 418 lb) third attempt in the meet. Here's a very traditional peaking routine with that goal in mind (I'm listing only work sets here, for assistance stuff see below): Week 1: 290 lb for 3 sets of 8 reps Week 2: 300 lb for 3 sets of 8 reps Week 3: 310 lb for 3 sets of 8 reps Week 4: 320 lb for 3 sets of 5 reps Week 5: 330 lb for 3 sets of 5 reps Week 6: 340 lb for 3 sets of 5 reps Week 7: 370 lb for 2 sets of 3 reps (with bench shirt) Week 8: 380 lb for 2 sets of 3 reps (with bench shirt) Week 9: 390 lb for 2 sets of 3 reps (with bench shirt) Week of the meet: On Tuesday or Wednesday do the same warmups that you will do in the meet. Meet Day: 1st attempt 375 lb (or 172.5 kg = 374 lb), 2nd attempt 410 lb (or 185 kg = 407 lb), 3rd attempt 420 lb (or 190 kg = 418 lb). Don't view these attempts as carved in stone. For example if your second attempt is a slow grinder instead of a quick punch go with 415 lb (or 187.5 kg = 413 lb) for your third attempt. If your current max is 385 lb, then this plan will probably be too ambitious, you might to back off a little and shoot for a 3rd attempt of around 395-400 lb (or 180-182.5 kg = 396-402 lb) and adjust the poundages accordingly. As for assistance work, we all have different weak points and different set-ups in our gyms and so on. What I would do if following this plan would be to ditch shoulder work after week 3 and gradually slough off the remaining assistance work except for my favorite triceps exercise. I would probably even loose that near the end of the cycle. Other points to ponder include the number of sets and so on. If I had a sore shoulder or was just feeling a little drained from stuff going on at work, I might do 2 sets where the plan calls for 3 sets. Furthermore, when I do a progressive resistance scheme like this one, I always plan on a rep range; e.g., I'm really thinking 6-8 reps where the plan says 8 reps and so on. Finally, this plan flies in the face of a lot of modern training theories, especially WSB. It may well be that something else will be more productive, but if you are lifting in a meet on 6 Novmber then you probably want something simple that's been used with some success by many other lifters. Then after the meet you might want to investigate some of the more modern stuff. I hope that this helps and good lifting to you in your meet. - -Robert Robert Smith Starkville, MS Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 13:33:31 -0600 From: "Lawrence J. Contratti" Subject: Larry's triumph >Larry Contrattit of the list has been on a conditioning program for the >past 16 weeks. It ended today with a mock meet. Larry's old pr's >were:205-225-225, for a 655 total. Today's numbers:315-250-335, for a new >total of 900. Congratulations Larry. You did some fine lifting this >morning. Let's see what you have for new goals. Hurray for Larry. > WAde 1) I was a rank beginner to PL when I started this program. I had only been squatting/BB benching for 6 weeks. I had never deadlifted (but I had done SLDL's). Beginner's gains: gotta love 'em! 2) This was all done totally raw, no belt, nothing. I'm sure using gear will affect this a bit....I'm not sure how since I've never used any! 3) I didn't use creatine, ephedrine, or any other performance enhancers. I haphazardly used a protein powder, but I like tuna and turkey better. I was getting around 150-175g of protein a day. Again, if you use supplements, you'll probably do better. I'm too poor to consider it as an option. 4) I have an outstanding coach. Most beginners don't have the luxury of an experienced powerlifter to guide/encourage them. Wade is the best. He's never too busy and he always expects a detailed report after I lift. This is the program he gave me. I used a periodization program over the span of 16 weeks. It is divided over four 4-week mini-phases. The phases are: 3 sets/10 reps, 4 sets/8 reps, 5 sets/5 reps, 5 sets/3 reps. Each lift is performed twice per week-- one heavy day, one light day. You use a specific percentage for each set. For example, the %'s for the 10 rep phase (heavy day) are 60%, 65%, 70%; 8-rep phase: 65, 70, 75, 80. And so on. Each week, you add 5 lbs to the last weeks #'s. So, if I do 160-170-180 on the bench this week, then I do 165-175-185 next week. Repeat the week if you don't make the #'s. I gained lots of size on this program. I went from 205 to 225. Much of that was fat, though, a good 10 lbs......I found that beer is not a performance-enhancing substance! It was very easy to follow; I think it's perfect for beginners. I have the program in Microsoft Word format and will email it to whoever would like to take a look at it. If you need more details I'll post whatever you ask. Thanks for the kind words, all! Larry Contratti Nashville, TN Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 15:51:11 -0600 From: "Lawrence J. Contratti" Subject: Re: Strength_List: Larry's triumph > Larry - that is remarkable progress. But I don't understand the benching > comment. 250, even as a gym lift, is a good bench. Don't you weigh around > 160 or so? To me anytime you start talking a 2x bodyweight bench I'm > impressed! OH THE SHAME!!!!! ;) I weigh 225, around 21% BF. Actually the benching comment is b/c I made several rookie mistakes. First, considering the pace I was going at on squats, I started too heavy on the opening bench (225). I also waited too long off the rack to bring the weight down. And on the 3rd attempt (260), I brought my grip in closer- too close. I also didn't use my legs to get that beginning momentum. At least are all easily correctable mistakes. I also expected more out of myself. In the gym, I was able to do 240x3 touch-n-go after 5 sets of ascending triples. Now I finally know what it's like to pause bench >10 mins after doing 4 heavy squat singles. I'll factor that in next time! Did I mention my bench stroke is a mile long too? > So, by my standard you are relatively strong in the bench, with the > deadlift being your second best and the squat your (relatively) worst lift. > Based on an average phsyique and using gear your lifts should be about > 375-250-375 if you bench 250. I'm 6' tall with a 30" inseam. Short legs/long arms=deadlifter. Larry Contratti Nashville, TN