Milan Spingl - Czech SHW Powerlifting Superstar

.... and here we go again, volume and frequency, none of that once a week bullshit. A strong dude, fellow countryman, holder of many Czech powerlifting records. Check carefully how he basically hits the whole body with basic lifts three times a week. What a monster!

Check out his prep training:

weeks 1-6
DAY 1:
squat 4x2 (80-90%; 360-410k)
leg extensions 3x10
bench press 4x2 (75-85%; 170-210k)
2b press 2x3
3b press 2x3
cable flys 3x10
abs 3x20

DAY 2:
deadlift 4x2 (80-90%; 280-315k)
pullover 3x8
leg press 4x10
2b cgbp 6x5 (60-70%; 170-200k)
triceps pushdowns 5x10
DB curls 5x10
cable curls 4x10
abs 4x20

DAY 3:
squat 4x4 (70%; 310k)
block pulls 4x3 (80-90%; 280-315k)
leg curl 3x8
bench press 5x5 (65-70%; 150-170k)
lat pulldowns 6x10
side raises 5x10
rear raises 4x10
abs 3x20


week 7
DAY 1:
squat 3x1 (90-100%; 405-450k)
leg extensions 3x10
bench press 4x2 (70-80%; 160-180k)
cable flyes 4x10
abs 3x20

DAY 2:
deadlift 3x1 (90-100%; 315-350k)
block pulls 3x2 (90-110%; 340-360k)
lat pulldowns 6x10
2b cgbp (60-70%; 170-200k)
triceps pushdowns 5x10
DB curls 5x10
abs 4x20

DAY 3:
squat 4x3 (60%; 280k)
bench press 3x1 (90-105%; 280-310k)
lockouts 3x2 (90-105%; 280-325k)
side raises 5x10
rear raises 4x10
abs 3x20


week 8
DAY 1:
squat 3x1-3 (70-95%; 425k)
leg extensions 3x10
bench press 4x3 (70-75%; 160-170k)
cable flyes 4x10
triceps pushdowns 5x10
DB curls 5x10
abs 3x20

DAY 2:
deadlift 4x2 (70-75%; 245-265k)
lat pulldowns 6x10
bench press 4x3 (60%; 130k)
abs 4x20

DAY 3:
squat 4x3 (60%; 280k)
bench press 2x1 (95-105%; 290-310k)
side raises 5x10
rear raises 4x10
abs 3x20


week 9
DAY 1:
squat 4x3 (40-50%; 180-220k)
bench press 4x3 (55%; 125k)

DAY 2:
good morning 4x3 (140k)
lat pulldowns 6x10
bench press 4x3 (60%; 130k)
abs 4x20

DAY 3:
squat 4x3 (150k)
bench press 4x2 (100k)


MEET

Polish powerlifting

When I moved to Poland 10 years ago I started lifting in a public gym (powerlifting friendly, luckily).

I was doing a general basic strength training.

I was lucky enough that at those days, Tomek Sabadyn, a former European Powelifting silver medalist trained there. He looked at me several times a asked me if I was interested in more serious lifting. I immediately nodded. He sure knew his shit. That guy was massive. He was like 170cm (5'8) and easily 120k (260).

This is what he let me doing. I had wonderful results doing that and I my current training 10 years later is not much different.

Monday

heavy squat (week 1: 4x3, week 2: 4x2, week 3: 4x1, deload)
heavy bench (week 1: 4x3, week 2: 4x2, week 3: 4x1, deload)
leg press 4x6
cgbp 3x6


Wednesday

heavy deadlift (week 1: 4x3, week 2: 4x2, wee 3: 4x1, deload)
GM 4x6 heavy
hypers 3x8
biceps 3x8


Friday

light squat 4x6 with 75% of Monday's weight
light bench 4x6 with 75% of Monday's weight
press 4x6
leg curl 3x8



As basic as it grets but it was tough as hell. After Monday sessions I dragged feet. But my strength went through the roof. You've got two heavy sessions a week and one which is light. The light session should be fast and really focused on form. Don't rush the Monday session.

Give it a shot. You can increase wight only in you complete with good form all reps on all sets.

Good luck!

Basics, basics, basics ....

As we lift we often (at least some) tend to add funny exercises and lifts. You name it: DB extensions, Tate presses, cable whatever, to work on our "weaknesses". Human body does not work like that. It is a unit which responds to basic lifts with the best stregth and muscle growth.

We have a guy in our gym who is a former weightlifter. He is in his early fifties today, he's stocky 110k (240) and pretty lean.

He does not know anything about internet forums and stuff, all he remembers is what his old coach (in Poland) used to teach him.

Since he does not compete anymore and just trains to stay fit, he included some non-weightlifting lifts just for fun.

What amazes me is how he sticks to basics all the time, several times a week. He sees all other guys doing French presse, concentration curls, leg curls, yet he never tries that. He does not care. He does not give a shit. He is still one of the strongest dudes in the gym and is pretty lean 110k.

He usually does something like this three times a week:

Oly squat 6 sets of 6 with a certain weight (usually 180-200k)
bench press 8 sets of 5 with a certain weight (usually 140-160k)
seated press 5 sets of 8 with a certain weight (usually 80-120k)
snatch grip deadlift 6 sets of 4 with a certain weight (usually 180-220k)


sometimes he does 2 heavy sets of abs but most of the time he does not. Believe it or not, this all takes him around 90 mins because he "does not like to train too heavy" he says so he goes pretty fast between sets.

sometimes he goes lighter, sometimes he skips the bench (never the squat). if he feels beat-up, he adds 1-2 days off.

He tried a floor press once, said "Hm, interesting" and went back to his old training.

That's all that's needed. Really.

.... and more of Belayev - probably the best powerlifter of these days

Watch his textbook form on all lifts. He's a machine!

How to Build the Lifts .... and Why not to Westside!

There is a huge crush on Westside training in the Western World. I can understand that. The attitude and atmospehere in the WSBB must be awesome.

Yet, there are thousands of lifters worldwide who tried westside with pitiful results. I was one of them. I think people should understand two very important things before jumping on the westside training. (Luckily, guys like Dan Green, Jay Nera and others are bringing it back to normal).

One: most Louie's trainees were strong as fuck even before they joined westside

Two: the training heavily relies on equipment.

For raw lifters, general strength training and ninety percent of lifters out there, the traditional volume based Eastern style training should be used. It's not sexy, it's not fancy, there are no bands, chains, boxes and boards. But it delivers results like nothing else.

Some Westside myths and what to do:

Use your glutes, hams a hips for your squat. Quads are not important.
A: No. build your quads as your primary movers. Don't be afraid to do lots of Oly squats and front squats. Oh yeah, don't sit back. Sit back and down at the same time.

Train your triceps for a huge bench.
A: Yep, that's true. But at the same time your pecs and front delts must be up to par. You can have the biggest triceps in your gym, if you have weak pecs and front delts, your bench will suck balls. Do some high-volume ovehead pressing. Possibly, multiple times a week.

Deadlift is all about speed. Deadlift infrequently. Do lots of speed pulls.
A: Deadlift as frequently as your recovery allows. Do reps. In strongmen, most of the guys pull over 360k (800) any day of the week, some pull over 380k (850) and many of them close to 410k (900). They do reps as well. Do 6 triples with your 80%. That's stregth building!. Do 6 sets of 5 with 60% then repeat it two days later and watch your back, glutes and hams grow like weed. Many lifters in the Poland, Russia, Ukraine deadlift 2-3 times a week with excellent results. I myself might do conventional heavy sets at 80% and two days later sumo 4x4 at 70%. One feeds the other. Volume deadlifting also builds strong and big glutes, the biggest muscles in your body. Ahh, the glutes ....

intensity vs. volume

Many lifters don't know how to set-up their training cycle. I've read thousands of training logs of American lifters and I think they do not do enough volume. And they max out too much. Research and experience accross the ocean is years behind the studies and results of Eastern Europe. There are some like Mike Tchuscherer (spelling???), Eric Talmant, and some others who have figured it out. That's not me saying I have not respect for American lifters. I do. There are many great lifters there, I'd like to just get more training info accross the pond.

One of the most influential coaches and researches of training intensities and volumes is Boris Sheiko. He has produced hundreds of world class lifters. His latest prodigy child is Andrey Belyaev, the beast of Sheiko.

Belayev has his own training now but it's heavily based on Sheiko. There is not much testing of strength but rather building of strength. Sheiko boys rarely work above 85% of their maxes and most of the training is done in the 60% - 85% range. The lower the intensities, the higher the total volume, the higher the intensities, the lower the total volume.

Some Sheiko main points:
- powerlifts are trained multiple times a week
- daily trainings consist of "sandwiches" like squat-bench-squat-accessories or pull-bench-pull-accesories, etc.
- volumes and intensities are very carefully calculated, some typical intensity zones&volumes (6x5@60%, 5x5@65%, 5x4@70%, 4x4@75%, 6x3@80%, 5x2@85% and tons of other variations)
- very little assistance, 90+% of work are the powerlifts and variations

There are big advantages to this kind of training: powerlifts are drilled all the time until form becomes perfect. Look at Belyaev, his 300k pull looks exactly the same as his 60k warm-up. All the small supporting muscles and ligaments get stronger exactly as the powerlifts require. Basic lifting, no bullshit exercises and fluffy assistance. Lifts and muscles are trained, not tested all the time. True maxes are only at competitions, there are very little or no gym maxes.

Go and check the results over internet. Most of us lifters could benefit from more frequency, more volume, less intensity, less maxing out. Give it a shot and see your lifts skyrocket. You'll end up changing clothes for bigger as well :-)

The Polish Master of Masters - Jan Wegiera

Definitely one of the most famous Polish powerlifters. Jan Wegiera collected more trophies than is healthy and if I am not mistaken, now he is involved in training the young. Simple, brutal, yet very efficient training sessions. Looking at the benching frequency, he probably has shoulder joints made of steel. If you can recover from the insane training posted below, give it a run. After the 1st week when you are sore as hell from head to toe, don't say I didn't warn you :-)


Monday

squat x10/ x8/ x6/ x4/ x2/ x2/ x3/ x3
competition bench press x10/ x8/ x6/ x4/ x2/ x2/ x3/ x3
negative bench press x3/ x2/ x1/ (one month prior to competition x1/ x1/ x1)
DB flys 3x6


Tuesday

close-grip bench press x10/ x8/ x6/ x3/ x3/ x5/ x5/ x5
shoulder press 5x5
biceps 5x8


Wednesday

competition bench press x10/ x8/ x6/ x4/ x2/ x5/ x5/ x5
decline bench press x10/ x8/ x6/ x3/ x3/ x3
DB flyes 5x6
deadlift x10/ x8/ x6/ x4/ x2/ x2/ x3/ x3
good morning 5x5


Thursday

off


Friday

squat x10/ x8/ x6/ x4/ x2/ x2/ x2/ x1/ x1
heavy walkouts x3/ x2/ x1
1/3 squat x3/ x2/ x1
competition bench press x10/ x8/ x6/ x4/ x2/ x2/ x2/ x1/ x1
bench lockouts x3/ x2/ x1 (one month prior to competition x1/ x1/ x1)


Saturday

close-grip bench press x10/ x8/ x6/ x4/ x4/ x4
deadlift x10/ x8/ x6/ x4/ x4/ x4
block pulls x3/ x2/ x1


Sunday

off




Bang! There you have it. Squatting twice a week, pulling twice a week, benching 5 times a week! What a monster! No bullshit assistance like cable pressdowns or shit, just heavy shit like block pulls, good mornings, shoulder presses.

Try that template, if you dare ;-)

One of his recent records is 300,5k bench (661 lbs) at the EU benching championships at Pilsen, Czech Republic in 2011. I believe it's a world record in the 93k category.

.... and here the Master himself:

Eastern Bloc Lifting - Why?

.... because Eastern Bloc Lifting rules, that's why. Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Balkan countries, Baltic countries ....

Name like Belyaev, Yarymbash, Wegiera, Konstantinovs, Malanichev, .... high volume, high frequncy, basics, basics, basics and awesome results.