If you are a proponent of the big compound lifts; power cleans, deadlifts, bench press, and squats you probably know of Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore and their well-known book, Starting Strength, Basic Barbell Training. I can’t think of a better how-to book to learn these lifts.
Have you ever used Wikipedia, the user-editable online encyclopedia? Then you have an idea about the Starting Strength Wiki. There is some great information here in this wiki so I invite you to take a look.
Here are a couple of classic Mark Rippetoe quotes you’ll enjoy.
“There are few things graven in stone, except that you have to squat or you’re a pussy.”
“Pierre, if you are eating 5500 calories a day, then I am a female kangaroo with a Sonic Drive-In franchise and a heroin habit.” (I have no idea what that means).
On steroids:
“There are no shortcuts. The fact that a shortcut is important to you means that you are a pussy.”
“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general.”
Last night Jon Curry and I trained with power cleans and squat cleans. I went more with the former. Many lifters and strength coaches consider the power clean one of the top three most beneficial compound lifts with the deadlift and the squat. For that reason, athletes at all levels train with this classic lift. A lot of power goes into this movement, (hence the name). I like power clean after the deadlift and before the squat.
Take a look at this video and notice the good technique. I need to get more of the shrug into the lift if I want to increase my poundages as well as exploding the lift.
A couple of good “add-ons” to the power clean are the front squat and the push press. I added in some of the push presses yesterday when I got as heavy as I was going to go.
Taking a heavy barbell and picking it up off the floor and lifting it over your head is a great feeling, (as is dropping it to the floor after a successful lift and knowing you won’t get kicked out of the gym for doing it!)
Ah, yes, another lift I wish I would have been introduced to 30 years ago! I do get a kick out of the fact that I am probably the oldest guy in my gym doing the cleans, squats, snatches, deadlifts and definitely the kettlebell stuff and the guys I train with are 15-20 years my junior. The rest of the folks just don’t know what they are missing!
The familiar tickle in the throat, low level headache and drop in energy tells me it is time for another bout with allergies. This one didn’t stop the workout or even slow it down much, but I still decided to keep it fairly short.
As usual, I did a variety of warm-ups to get into the swing of things, (I did some swings). These included 3×30 abmat sit-ups, 3×15 dislocates and overhead squats and some light back squats at 45×10/65×10/135×5/185×2/225.
The “termite guys” brought in their 70# kettlebell and we did some swings with it.
30/15/20 h2h/30 1H/20.
Next, I did some Rest-Pause Squats, 10×255# with a minute rest between each single, timed with the Gymboss.
As I said, it was short, but still a solid session.
Tonight’s workout was difficult, as expected as I did exercises I
haven’t done with any consistency in some time, especially the
pull-ups, which had been hampered by my “tennis elbow”.
What wasn’t expected, was how crappy I felt afterwards. I initially
thought it was just because I had been neglecting these that I was so
discombobulated but then I realized I hadn’t eaten all day and I was
under-hydrated. Just plain dumb.
Anyway, the workout was all bodyweight stuff.
200 reps of push-ups, pull-ups (assisted) and squats in the fewest amount of sets needed to hit 200.
Push-ups: 40/30/30/21/25/20/16/20 = 202. 8 sets, for just over an average of 25 reps. Pull-ups: 20/20/20/25/25/25/25/20/21 =201. 9 sets, for a 22.3 rep average. Squats: 50/50/30/50/20 =200. 5 sets, for a 40 rep average.
I’m glad this one is done. I gotta go eat something!
As if getting older isn’t bad enough, Eric Cressey maintains that due to compressive action on the spine from squats and Olympic lifting, I could be getting shorter! Seriously, in his #91 newsletter, Cressey has some excellent advice for back health, especially if you are lifting heavy. Since I am already having a back issue or two at any given time it seems, I have the need to heed! Of note: I used to train early in the morning and Cressey explains why this is not a good idea. Continue reading “Back Basics”
One of the Crossfit “Girls”, Angie stopped by for a 22 minute visit. (It seemed so much longer)!
This is one of the benchmark WODS that focuses on cardiovascular bodyweight exercises and is relatively steady-state, with a pick up in activity at the start of the next exercise. That little burst doesn’t last long however.
Angie is done for time and is:
100 pull-ups, in my case, were band-assisted. These were the hardest.
100 push-ups, the easiest for me,
100 sit-ups, with an Ab-mat, and finally,
100 squats, which took the least amount of time.
Val did a scaled version and seemed to enjoy herself and did well. A nice way to end a cycle. Tomorrow should be a rest day. We’ll see.
While Valerie and her running buddies trained at the track doing 10×500 meter runs, I was in the grassy infield warming up for my metcon session. It was a beautiful late afternoon; warm, but with some cloud cover and cool breezes. Just right. It was a great idea to stay out of the gym for a change.
I warmed up with an 800 meter run, some push-ups, sit-ups, squats and KB cleans and presses.
Once I started the stopwatch, here is what I did:
3 rounds, for time:
Run 400 meters
30 KB swings; 20 kg. 10 each arm and 10 with both arms
20 push-ups
15 squats
10 sit-ups
The time was a rather slow 19:35. Still, it was good to be outside. Val liked me being there because she did not have to wait for her post-workout dinner. Apparently, I often times hold her up and keep her waiting.
