We’re barely half way through the month and I’m writing this way earlier than I usually do, but like a lot of other people, I have three kids and my intention over christmas is to fully unwind and decompress, so this is where we’re at. Still though, despite it being a short month interns of this blog, there are still plenty of PBs and plenty of learnings from other peoples journeys to be had. So, without too much more rambling, lets get started.
One to one athlete Joe has had a really nice mont making progress in all areas static strength and has hit rep PBs in the Deadlift of 240kg x5, 245kg x3 and 250kg x3, in the Front Squat of 175kg x4 and 180kg x3 and in the Axle Press of 130kg x1+4 & 135kf x1+3. Going forward this week we’ll be looking to hit 255kg x3 in the Deadlift, 185kg x3 in the Front Squat and 140kg x1+3 in Axle CTOH.
Not all PBs need to be measured in kilos and Paul’s been making some nice consistency gains in the Deadlift. Paul struggles with his positional awareness in the Deadlift, but we’ve been writing those issues with a lot of mindful practice and while he’s not perfect, he is becoming more consistent.
Mindful Practice
You should always practice your training mindfully and prioritise movement patterns first and foremost.
That also comes down to your understanding of the movement too. If you have employed a coach, while they can poke you, prod you and guide you into correct positions, you still have to be responsible for your own learning and retain the information as in one ear and out the other once the sessions finished will usually lead to slow or no progress when it comes to movement patterns. You need to understand what correct position feels like so you can identify it and impliment it without the coach being there.
This is something Paul has learned recently. A coach can tell you what to do in hopefully more than one way to find what resonates, but once you find that, YOU have to then endeavour to understand how that feels and how to find that feeling again.
Coaches can coach, but we can’t feel what you’re feeling and we can’t do it for you.
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Hybrid Athlete James has been making progress in his Weightlifting, which will improve his overhead game in Strongman down the line. He hit PBs in the Split Jerk of 90kg x3 & 100kg x3 as well as PBs in the Snatch of 58kg x3 and 60kg x2. James also hit a new 5RMs in the Deadlift of 210kg and 215kg in subsequent weeks. James has been working hard on his Deadlift to bring it up to standard ready for UKNS Qualifiers in January.
The Split Jerk & Strongman
While learning the Clean or a Power Snatch can benefit Strongman, the Split Jerk is what I would say is the most beneficial movement a Strongman can take from Weightlifting. There’s always an overhead event in competition and once you’ve mastered it with a barbell, it can be applied in many different ways for different implements. However, while it is beneficial, it will only be truly beneficial if you learn it correctly.
The reason I say that is, I often see Strongmen posting about ‘learning’ or ‘trying’ a Split Jerk with not a coach or learning progression in sight. These are the same strongmen that would agree that you have to progress the squat through the proper progression patterns and not just throw a newly straight in under a barbell.
I also had a coach ask me if I would be able to teach one of his clients to split jerk 6 weeks out from competition… I said ‘probably but it would be a detriment to every other thing he has to train as I’d need him twice a week in a session that focusses on that movement pattern.’ Needless to say, he didn’t go for the idea. I also said a better option would be to start some learning but without the expectation of being able to use it in the competition.
I think the problem with this mentality and the Split Jerk in strongman is that most strongmen are pretty adept at putting stuff over head and on the face of it, it looks easy. Drive the bar up then split the legs to get under it, but the Split Jerk in my opinion is the hardest movement in Weightlifting and for most people has the biggest learning curve…
So don’t rush your learning of it and learn it properly from a coach, not only will good technique get you a higher return in terms of kilos compared to your push press, it’ll also keep you away from injury as groin and knee problems are usually around the corner if you split frequently with bad technique.
Big Jo hit a new 4 RM Deadlift at 240kg… It was meant to be a 5RM and the 5th was there for his body, but he didn’t wear straps like told him to after he failed the same way for a set of 5 the week before at 230kg… He probably didn’t wear straps to try and prove some sort of point, but he probably should have listened to me.
Marie has Jerked 64 or 65kg so none of these PBs are a surprise and just more of a by product of me giving her higher rep ranges from the blocks for the first time as it’s all just percentage work based off her max, but she hit PBs in the Jerk of 48kg x5 and 52kg x3.
Xena would tell you she’s had a bad training cycle but with the PBs this week, she’s PB’d everything except the Clean and the Jerk this training cycle. She hit a Push Press 2RM of 44kg, Front Squat PB of 73kg and Back Squat PB of 94kg.
The Correct Technique
Xena did get wrong for taking that 2RM Push Press as it wasn’t in the plan and by her own admission, the second rep wasn’t all that great, which for someone who struggles on a technical level rather than with strength in the Jerk, isn’t what we’re after as it’s likely to increase the technical issues we’re trying to overcome. As such, I’ve taken away her autonomy privileges in terms of selecting load if it feels too easy.
When it comes to technical issues, more strength isn’t always the answer and while it’s nice to be able to take the PB if it’s there (even if it wasn’t planned) you have to ask yourself what the intent of the movement is and if the intent and implementation of that intent is still there if you take that PB.
Online client Liam had a big month, a first Powerlifting competition, lots of PBs leading up to it, but new 1RMs in he Squat at 180kg, Bench Press at 120kg and Deadlift at 232.5kg and a spot at the Powerlifting Games (I think thats what it’s called) in October 2024.
The Benefits of Competition
It’s no fluke that Liam has had his best training cycle to date. Previously we have just taken whats there with no time limit on training cycle length if there’s still progress to be had. However, after we set some tough but achievable goals, the competition put a time constraint on Liam for the first time which got him laser focussed on them, and intensity most people can’t replicate with a normal training cycle.
Olivia is mid Rugby season, so as I have said to her, the goal is to maintain as much strength as possible while having her 90 to 95% ready each week for every game. Still, when things fell good and the opportunity presents it'self at the right time we’ll take a PB. Olivias week shuffled from the usual which meant her training had to shuffle, then things felt good on the day and weren’t going to infringe on her game so we took it. 67kg for a new Push Press 1RM.
After a tough start to life being coached due to some awful night shifts, Scott is starting to make nice progress and surpass old numbers from before we started working together. Scott hit new rep maxes in the Deadlift of 155kg x4 and 165kg x3 with the 165kg x3 along with new 5RMs i the Push Press of 57.5kg and 60kg and in the Zombie Front Squat of 65kg. Scotts max Deadlift is 170kg and we’ll be looking to take that for a double soon. While we’re pushing harder on the Deadlift, the Zombie Front Squats and Push Press are a slowly, slowly catchy monkey situation as he had limited experience in either and we’re looking to just add a little load each week while going through the correct progressions and maintaining the good stuff and modifying the not so good stuff.
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I have around 2 spots left for online coaching and then that side of the business is at capacity.
An Interlude…
So, I did have all of this wrote, but for whatever reason it didn’t save properly and only saved to here. I’ve basically lost 90 minutes worth of work and some really good information, so if there’s a down turn in quality from this point you know why… Resuming.
The Weightlifting Club has just finished a very hard Back Squat cycle, but PBs were had!
Wor very own Superman, Jack finished the Squat cycle by taking his Max for a double, so there’s a new max there when we want it. He also hit a new 5RM in the Push Press of 90kg. I would have preferred Jack to of taken a new 1RM in the Squat father than matching his 1RM with a double, but he did that session alone so I wasn’t there to instruct him.
Jen had success in the Back Squat too adding 3kg to her max and taking it to 110kg. She also hit a new Front Squat PB of 85kg. This was unplanned and done in a crossfit class that she did on her own, but strength is strength and it obviously translates. Unfortunately for her this means that her numbers are now increased as we move into another Squat cycle thats this time Front Squat focussed
Extra Sessions
I don’t mind extra sessions, but if you’re going to do them you have to both, make sure they fit in with what your current goals are and make sure they don’t hinder your recovery capacity. It’s no good having an extra long distance running session to get some cardio in if the goal is to increase squatting strength and instead you’d probably be better served if the extra session was something closer to a short sharp hit session to get the cardio in. Activities that have an opposing goal to your main focus won’t work well if you’re just looking for an extra session. Hopefully that makes sense.
Our Weightlifting Club runs multiple nights per week out of Stag Fitness Strength Centre and it's focus is to introduce people to the sport of Olympic Weightlifting while giving them the opportunity to compete if they wish to do that.
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We’ve just finished our offseason training cycle and base phase in the Strongman Club and there we’re a few PBs in the movements we’d identified as issues from last season.
Cori hit a new 10m Yoke PB of 240kg with ‘no drops’, which is a 40kg increase on last time. Cori will now be setting his sights on preparing for his first competition in January.
George C also hit a Yoke PB of the same distance and stipulation at 300kg along with a new 5RMs in the Deadlift of 192.5kg & in the Push Press of 85kg.
Moving Events
When it comes to moving events I rarely program them without stipulation and will almost always program them with either a time stipulation or a no drops stipulation depending on what the goal of the movement is or what the competition requires. I also believe variety is key to prevent burying yourself weekly, which is easy to do with farmers walks or yoke.
One of my two go to options are an A/B split for sub maximal moving events where we rotate between two relevant distances (one being competition distance) with the relevant time constraints in place.
My other go to is for maximal moving events where it’s essentially the A/B split above but with a final week of a shorter distance with the stipulation of ‘no drops.’
All of the weights are dictated by the speed of the set and i’ll usually give the instruction of ‘ascend to a top weight within the stipulation.’
I feel these tactics give valuable structure in what can be quite a set of movements that are easy to dig yourself into a hole with.
George F hit a nice PB double overhand PB of 210kg x3. I’ve given george the green light to max this out on a day when it feels good on his way up to his working sets of Deadlifts.
Double Overhand Deadlifts
Grip is important as a Strongman and these are a great way to increase it with very little down side. Just pop them in as part of your Deadlift warm up starting 5x5 at 50% and increase weight each week. When they start hindering your main sets, switch to 3x5 at 50to60% followed by 2x3 at 60to70% and build from there again. After a few weeks of that, once your loads in your main deadlift sets are heavy enough (+85%), look to max out your double overhand deadlift on the way up to your working sets.
Our Strongman Club runs multiple nights a week out of Stag Fitness Strength Centre and has a history of taking people from the level of complete beginner to British Finalist.
Want to Join our Strongman Club?
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The Online Weightlifting Team has been following the same Squat program as our physical Weightlifting Club to great success.
Karen hit a PB Squat of 82.5kg and on the way took her max Back Squat of 76kg for a double. Thats 12.5kg added to Karens Squat since starting with our Online Team back in September. Up next for Karen and the Team is a transition to higher frequency Front Squats and hopefully being able to translate that Back Squat strength into Front Squat strength and a bigger Clean.
Our Online Weightlifting Team follows the British Weightlifting competition calendar with a focus on the bigger national competitions and the regional ones in the North East of England and is perfect for those competing in that area and for those looking for guidance and a periodised and focussed program.
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The Online Strongman Team, like our Strongman Club has ended an offseason phase and have hit a couple of new 5RMs which will set us up nicely for UKNS Qualifiers.
Current 3rd Worlds Strongest U105 natty Jonny, hit a new 5RM in the Push Press of 122.5kg as well as a PB 10m Yoke with no drops (I cannot for the life of me remember the weight). He also hit a new 4RM on the Deadlift 270kg in our last week of 5s. Jonnys already qualified for UKNS Worlds next year so we’re firmly in a phase of looking to make him stronger and build skills rather than looking to prep for comp.
And to finish, Mark hit a new 4RM in the Push Press of 105kg.
5RMs
Like many great coaches such as Andy Bolton, Mark Rippetoe and Glen Pendlay, I find building 5RMs valuable (especially for strongmen) on static movements like Squats, Push Press and Deadlift, usually with a full block or two dedicated to it. However, in the last week of a block I have no issue if the 5RM attempt at the end of the block ends up being a set of 4 and we fall short of the 5 reps we’re after.
This is what happened to Jonny on his 270kg Deadlift and Mark on the 105kg Push Press.
The reason I don’t mind a miss on the 5th rep is that it means we went hard, pushed and didn’t undershoot. The likelihood is that we’d be moving to 3RMs next anyway so we’d still be set up well to succeed in that block if it ends up being a 4RM or heavy 4.
Just make sure it’s a set of 4 or 5 and not a set of 3 because a set of 3 means you’ve been a dick.
The majority of your strength training should leave something in the tank, but there are times to push and possibly fail.
Our Online Strongman Team follows the UK Natural Competition Calendar with room to stop off and compete through a few other competitions too. It’s perfect for those competing on the circuit and for beginners who don’t plan to compete yet but want a coaches guidance and a periodised plan.
Want to Join our Online Strongman Team?
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https://www.savagestrengthcoaching.co.uk/strongman-online-team
Thats it, I’ve essentially wrote 1.5 blogs, so I’ve got no more to say except I’ve learned from the issue and adjusted my process’ to guard against it happening again…
Exactly what you should be doing in your training and in life when problems arise. Fool me once and all that.
Oh, and you may be wondering about the name of this months blog… It’s because at the start, before I lost half of what I’d originally written I noticed I’d talked alot about technique and it’s importance…
Yes, Technique, not fucking ‘Tekkers.’
Enjoy your Christmas & New Year and i’ll see you on the other side. Until next time
Adam
