This months blog is a little bare compared to the others, there's not been a lot of PBs in June.
On one hand that means I'm on a flyer and will finish earlier than my allotted time to write this. On the other, I don't look as good a coach as I could have. There is a reason for this though.
The majority of my weightlifters are just out of a competition that happened in the back end of may and a lot of my strongmen don't compete next until August at the earliest. This means they're all very unhappy with me because of the amount of volume they're all getting... And honestly, they can all remain unhappy or 'sad' until at least mid July when some of the volume comes down.
Anyway onto the PBs!
Joe ticked off a big goal this month by Squatting 300kg in wraps. Thats 32.5kg more than his sleeved 1RM. He also ticked off the big 272.5kg (600lb) Deadlift. Next on the list for Joe is to hit something big on log and move the needle on that and hopefully get him competing on the Natural Strongman scene!
The road is long and coaches need time
I've been privileged to work with Joe for just under two and a half years and in that time we've put 100kg on his back squat, around 40kg on his deadlift and 25kg on his push press. All of that in 2 and a half years isn't slow progress by any means, but it's also not over night. One of the skills of lifting is waiting the adaptations to happen, and there's no set timeline for that. Patience is certainly a virtue and coaches need time to do their thing.
Joe gives me that and gets rewarded because of it.
Taj had a nice month and made progress in the Front Squat hitting PBs at 83kg, 85kg, 88kg and topped off with 90kg to finish. For weightlifters like Taj, the Front Squat is a key lift and when that goes up, the potential of your Clean and your potential Jerk go up too. If you plan your training right, they usually follow shortly after.
Want to join our team of one to one clients? Click the link below to book a consultation.
It's slow progress for Jenesis, but she has hit a couple of great PBs this month taking 28kg in the Snatch for a 1kg PB and then 38kg in the Clean followed by 39kg a week later, both for new 1RMs. Jenesis' biggest hinderance to progress is her desk based job that reeks all kinds of havoc on her body, but she has been consistent in hitting non training based targets for a few months now and it's starting to pay off and thats reflected in her being selected as client of the month!
Sit Down, Stand Up
I'll not go into anything science based and i'll remain very anecdotal here, but a desk based job can reek havoc on your training and your body.
I see it in many of my clients, especially those who used to move more and then go to a job thats more sedentary. Stiff and painful joints, a spine that has no capacity to extend and no awareness of what their scapulas are doing are some of the things I see, but it doesn't have to be that way and can be negated by regular movement.
In an ideal world i'd work in 30 min blocks and have somebody get up and move for 5 minutes at the end of every 25 mins, this fits perfectly into the Pomordoro technique (there's some further reading if you want it).
However, we don't live in an ideal world, and for some people thats unrealistic and unattainable and in Mike James' words, 'it's no good giving someone the gold standard, if the gold standard is not achievable.'
Those aren't his exact words, but it was something along those lines.
Anyway, something is better than nothing and if 30 mins is unattainable try to move every hour, if every hour is unattainable then every 2 hours is ok. Can’t every 2? aim to get a 10min walk in on your dinner break. You get the idea.
Anyway, a 10 minute walk, 3 sets of 10 air squats, or something to mobilise your spine on your dinner break is better than nothing. The key is to move and if possible make it specifically useful to you. If you can do that, your sedentary job won't effect your training as much as it once did.
That was a ramble wasn't it.
Big Jo is someone who suffered with the transition of college student to full time work and the sedentary desk work that went with it. That was a while ago now, but using the same simple tactics we got on top of the stiffness he accumulated from the extra sitting. Anyway, Jo is currently training for Natural Junior Worlds and has hit PBs in the Husafell Carry for 80m of 115kg followed by 120kg and a 125kg x70m. There’s nothing fancy going on with Jos Husafell training and we’re just adding 5kg each week and looking to match the distance. If we don’t match the distance, we keep the same weight. Simple is often not the sexiest, but I suspect Jo will go over 100m on the day and do well in this event and it will be in part to the conditioning he's receiving from multiple sub maximal 80m runs. He also hit a nice 10m PB in the yoke of 300kg too, so that moving strength is coming along nicely too!
Olivia has had a nice month hitting PBs in some key lifts in Strongwoman. Shes taken the Log for 2 new 1RMs of 55kg and 57.5kg in consecutive weeks, and then taken two PBs in the Deadlift. The first for a set of 5 at 120kg (which was a new 3RM in itself) and the second for a double at 130kg which matches her 1RM. This is all very promising for Olivia and a great sign of progress in her Strongwoman journey.
Want to merge online programming with in person coaching and join our team of hybrid clients? Click the link below to book a consultation.
https://savagestrengthconsultation.as.me/OneToOneCoachingConsultation
In June Joanne finally hit the elusive 37kg Snatch she's been chasing!
Joanne is new to the team, but had been doing sporadic drop ins to the Weightlifting club for a while. Now she's a fully fledged online client and I'm excited to see what we can do together. Joanne is a savage at Judo and is currently going through the process of joining the fire service, so on top of her Olympic Weightlifting endeavours, her training needs to take that into account too... Sorry about the extra cardio!
Want to join our team of online clients? Click the link below to book a consultation.
https://savagestrengthconsultation.as.me/OnlineCoachingConsultation
In Savage Strength School we've been making great progress in our over arching endeavour to build our pull ups... We've also been getting sally up! if you know what that means you know the pain.
Our Kids sessions runs two nights per week out of Stag Fitness Strength Centre and it's focus is to introduce kids to lifting in a safe, supportive and educative environment.
Want to join Savage Strength School?
Click the link below to book a session.
https://savagestrengthconsultation.as.me/SavageStrengthSchool
Our Olympic Weightlifting Club is preparing for Altrincham on the 28th July and they all hate me... Sorry for the 5x5s in the Snatch & Clean...
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.
Want to join our Weightlifting Club?
Click the link below to book a session. https://savagestrengthconsultation.as.me/SavageStrengthWeightliftingClub
Cori has been chomping at the bit for some heavier weights in our Strongman Club, and while he's 16 and utterly huge, he's still not fully grown and does not have the body of an adult yet, and we have to treat him as such. We still let him off the leash now and again , but the focus is always on building that base ready for when the times right to cash in.
What does that look like for Cori? Well it means the majority of the work is between 60 & 85% and on the higher end of the rep spectrum for each intensity. New 1RMs are nice, but when somebody is growing they'll get them anyway, whats truly important at that age is to build a base, both for muscular endurance and in movement pattern competency.
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?
Click the link below to book a session.
https://savagestrengthconsultation.as.me/SavageStrengthStrongmanClub
In our Online Weightlifting Team Karen has been very upset at the volume I've given. She's also noted that she's noticed the cycle of high volume where she hates me and likes a little moan and then the PBs that follow the high volume. I'm happy to deal with the complaints if it means progress…It’s also nice that she’s mindful of her actions 😂
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.
Want to Join our Online Weightlifting Team?
Click the link below to book for a free trial.
https://www.savagestrengthcoaching.co.uk/weightlifting-online-team
In our Online Strongman Team Jonny competed at Bodyzone Ultimate Strongman in the Opens category as part of his warm up for Worlds Strongest Natural Man in the U105 coming up in august. I say it was a warm up but iin reality I think Jonny just wanted to try the car flip. Jonny came 3rd overall and got some good practice on some Power Stairs which is one of the events at Worlds.
Competing is a skill!
Warm up competitions can be a great idea as long as it doesn't eat into your training and while it's something more common in Olympic Weightlifting and used in lieu of a heavy session, it can be an effective part of the plan for strongmen too.
It's a great opportunity to practice timing you warmup within the time constraints of competition and where it's not on your own terms. It's also an opportunity to get onto some foreign kit and see where your problem solving skills are at when it comes to adjusting from the norm.
The change from training to competition is where alot of people fall short and if you can't transition your great gym lifts that happen on your own terms into a competition setting, then thats certainly a gap in your game and something to work on.
Remember, competing is a skill in itself and one thats separate to training.
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?
Click the link below to book for a free trial.
https://www.savagestrengthcoaching.co.uk/strongman-online-team
Lastly I'd like to announce that our Get Big Get Strong Team is up and running and currently has a 28 day free trial that will run all the way up to 7th July before it reverts to the usual 7 days. We already have our first intake on board and we'dlove to have you if this is a fit for your goals!
Our Get Big Get Strong Online Team was created for those who class themselves as the average gym goer. For those that want to get stronger in the big barbell movements, who want world class coaching with a world class program, but who have no aspirations to compete in a strength sport and want a life outside of the gym.
Want to Join our Get Big Get Strong Online Team?
Click the link below to book for a free trial.
https://www.savagestrengthcoaching.co.uk/get-big-get-strong-online-team
Right, thats it, told you it was a slow news month, but thats the ebb and flow of training.
Sometimes there's lots of progress and sometimes it's about putting in the work and being consistent. Right now there's a gap in competing so it's about putting in the work, being consistent and being patient and I'm very happy to show that in this blog.
Keep putting in the work.
Until next time
Adam