Before I get my fair share of hate mail, I would like to clarify this is just my own experience, yours may be different. But as with all other things in this blog, if it helps you, then great!
Until recently I always had problems with my shoulders. They would hurt almost all the time, I guess the 15+ years of benching did not help ...
I read tons of articles on internet about shoulder health and how to get them back to normal so I started rowing more, as all the gurus said. I rowed several times a week for some really solid volume: barbell rows, DB rows, low cable rows, you name it. Guess what, it did not help. Shoulders were still bad and the clicking and popping was even worse.
So, I introduced another weapon, direct rotator cuff work. Nothing. Still no results.
I dug even deeper and then it hit me. If your shoulders are tight and in a bad position, no amount of row work will get them back, you still row with your shoulders in a bad position and reinforce the wrong movement patterns all over and over again. I also could not understand why all the Russian lifters who do little rowing or none at all, can bench up to 4 times a week and their shoulders seem to be just fine.
4 things helped me with tight and hurting shoulders:
Benching frequency
I noticed when I went from benching once a week to frequency 2-3 times a week, my shoulders started getting really solid. First few weeks were not easy but the body adapted and shoulders got more stable and grew.
Trading max weight for volume
When I stopped maxing out in training and started training in blocks, such as 6 sets of 5 @ 60% or 6 sets of 3 @ 80%, I built strength and mass and shoulders were not as beat up as before. I now NEVER max out in training. If I can do 5 sets 2 with 85% and the 85% is 10kg bigger than last cycle 85%, I am stronger. Blocks give you a great advantage, you still lift heavy, you do tons of volume and your technique is always perfect. Because you hone your technique several times a week over many sets, there is a pretty good chance your 1RM lift at the meet will be with the same form and technique.
Overhead pressing
I noticed on many vids that the scapulae move very little during benching and also very little during rows. But they move a lot when overhead pressing. Once I added overhead pressing 1-2 times a week 6 sets of 8 with moderate weight, my shoulders not only grew bigger but the pain all went away. It is crucial that you move your head forward at lockout, your scapulae lift up and rotate, you should feel a very strong contraction in delts and upper traps. Pause a second at lockout to fully engage the small scapular rotators, they will thank you later when benching. Aim for the position on the very right on every single rep:
Upper back and shoulder mobility
We have very unhealthy life styles. We sit at computers all day long, we do not use our arms and legs as our ancestors did, we move very little in general, we drive a lot. All this means reduced mobility and tight upper back. Search the internet for upper back mobility and shoulder girdle mobility drills. Yep, all those simple movements we all did in elementary school during physical education classes. Arm circles, upper back rotations, twists in all angles, all kinds of shoulder dislocates with a broomstick or a jumping rope. You should do upper back and shoulder mobility several times a week. The more directions and planes of movement the better. Are you a desk jockey and travel frequently like me? You can find 10 minutes in your hotel room, right? Just do it. It's not sexy or badass but it is damn helpful for your pain-free lifting.
Hmmm, no rows ..... when in doubt add some heavy rows to the points above and you are bulletproof and ready to bench big. With pain-free shoulders ;-)
Are you a long-legged lifter with deadlift 50k bigger than your squat?
Skinny legs?
Good, it can be changed.
Train three times a week.
You will do four squat sessions.
Eat a lot.
Form must be textbook perfect.
Leave your ego at home.
You MUST complete all sets and reps on squat, you may cut out the fluff stuff.
Don't be a pussy, your body will adapt.
8 week cycle. Quit making excuses, just finish it.
week 1: 6x5@60%
week 2: 5x5@65%
week 3: 5x4@70%
week 4: 4x4@75%
week 5: deload 2x2@60%
week 6: 6x3@80%
week 7: 5x2@85%
week 8: 4x1@90% or take 3 singles at 90%, 92%, 95%, respectively or go for a new MAX
template:
Monday (this is your most important day, eat and sleep well on Sunday)
POWER SQUAT: programming
bench press: 6x5@60% (same sets and reps and weight through the whole cycle)
POWER SQUAT: 5x4@70% (same sets and reps and weight through the whole cycle)
fluff stuff (abs, lats, hams, lower back): do 1 exercise 3 sets of 8-20 reps
Wednesday
HIGH-BAR SQUAT: programming (calculate your high-bar squat around 90% of your power squat)
floor press: 6x8@60% (same sets and reps and weight through the whole cycle) + downset of 20-30 reps (with 2 reps left in the tank)
Romanian DL: 5x5@60% (same sets and reps and weight through the whole cycle)
fluff stuff (abs, guns, delts): do 1 exercise 3 sets of 8-20 reps
Friday
bench press: programming
overhead press: 4x8
FRONT SQUAT: 4x4@70% (same sets and reps and weight through the whole cycle; use about 80% of your power squat for your calculation)
fluff stuff (rows, abs, guns): do 1 exercise 3 sets of 8-20 reps
Squatting is your main focus. Other things are just maintanance level. It's ok for 8 weeks, don't panic. Your bench will not drop 30k because you do lots of squatting now. Most likely, all three powerlifts will go up :-)
Raw Power Squat. The king of all strength exercises. No.1 Go to... exercise for powerlifters, strength athletes, bodybuilders, average gym rats, sprinters, blah, blah.
Raw power squat builds tremendous strength, mass and power in your whole lower body; hell, in your whole body.
Stance
Approach the bar which is in the squat stands at your chest level. Grip it tight with a thumbless grip. Where? As close to your shoulders as your flexibility allows. My grip is with pinkies on the power rings. This gives me a great contraction in my whole upper back and lats. Your wrists should be wrapped tightly and your grip on the bar very hard. It should feel very uncomfortable.
Duck under the bar and place the bar on your rear delts and just below your upper traps. There is a sweet spot there where it feels just perfect. Take a deep breath into your belly. Not in your chest because it will make the rib cage rise and worsen your leverage. Push your belly hard against your belt. Everywhere - in the front, your obliques as well. If you squat beltless, still your abs should be like a giant basket ball. With your upper back super tight, elbows pointing downwards, your belly full of air, bend the bar accross your upper back, it will tighten the lats even more and secure your torso even more.
With super tight upper body, do a quarter squat, squat the bar out of the squat stands and with two short backward streps, take a stance which is exactly your shoulder width, or a little wider or a little narrower. Everybody is different. Generally taller lifters or long legged lifters will naturally assume a little wider stance and shorter and stocky lifters probably a little narrower stance. You have to play with this. I suggest take 50% of your max and devote one full session to doing lots of triples and find a stance where the motion feels natural, smooth and powerful. Then you know where your stand is.
Toes should be flared out a little. Anything between a few degrees to 45 degrees. Everybody is different. Again, you have to play with this. You are standing there now with a supertight core and upper back, glutes flexed, weight on your mid-foot.
Descent
Your descent starts with breaking in your hips. Your butt travels backward and you sit back but not so much as the Westside guys because there is no suit to help you. A split second after you broke in your hips you break in your knees too and squat down. Actually, you squat down and back at the same time.
In the bottom position if your knees travel forward a bit it is ok. Watch some of the greatest squatters and their knees travel forward in the bottom position but not over their toes. Knees should be in linear position over the feet. They should not cave in, neither should they be pushed out too much as many not so good coaches will tell you. In the bottom position your knees are forward (but not over the toes), directly over your feet and your hips are below your knees.
You should feel now tremendous tension in your quads, hams, hips and glutes - the primer movers. Yes quads, please do not believe the Westside crap that you don't need quads for squatting. You do. Thick and strong quads.
Squat
A slight bounce off your hams and you are driving up with your heels and feet into the ground. Hams will take care of the rebound and the initial few inches, then it is all quads and glutes.
Your torso is still the same angle as in the beginning, you must not cave in. That is why you created the fixed torso and lats when preparing before descent. Strong abs are paramount. If you have weak abs, train them heavy 2-4 times a week. No excuses.
With a raw power squat, notice that you never get burried in the hole because the hams and the rebound can carry you through the first couple inches. Where raw squatters usually miss or grind is the 2-3" above parallel. That is why you need strong quads, to overcome the sticking point.
Frequency and Volume
Several times a week. Twice is minimum. Three times is better. Cycle intensity.
Bodybuilder? Twice a week. Once 6 sets of 5 and once 4 sets of 12.
Strentgh athlete? Twice a week. Once 5 sets of 5 and once 8 sets of 3 with light weight but great power output.
Powerlifter? Twice a week. Once 6 sets of 5 and once 6 sets of 2 heavy. Or the Sheiko "sandwiches" where you squat twice per session and three times per week. Or three times a week: once 6 sets of 5, once 6 sets of 2 heavy, once 4 sets of 8 with light weight for hypertrophy.
Or do Smolov and be miserable for 12 weeks ;-)
Watch Youtube vids of Malanichev, Belayev, Pozdeev for some stupid strong raw squatting with impecable form. Over the lake, guys with insane squatting power and superb form are Dan Green and Jeremy Hamilton.
With the Eastern Bloc training philosophy, when peaking for a meet you want to keep your strength you built during the off-season and transitional periods with multiple sets of low reps in the 60-85%, you want your tendons recover and be fresh for the meet, you want to supercompensate and maximize the accummulated strength and you want to keep your motor learning skills at high level.
What happens when the traditional peaking is used when you cut the main lifts 2 weeks out and only do light assistance before the meet? I think you lose a bit the motor learning skills/patterns and focus on assistance which is completely irrelevant at this point.
Assistance lifts are done in the prep phases to improve muscle balance and to help local hypertrophy. 2 weeks out before your meet you are pretty much done with both these objectives. I never understood the philosophy: "the last week or two before the meet I do not deadlift anymore, I just do some light reverse hypers and abs".
I believe you should do quite the contrary: cut out all assistance and keep doing your classical lifts in order to keep your form and motor learning skills as long as possible right through the meet. You should at the same time lower volume and intensity to let your body recover, supercompensate and be ready to kill some PR's. Frequency does not have to be lowered at all or very little if the volume and intensity numbers are managed well. Remember, increased frequency will keep your motor learning skills right up to the meet.
Ever wondered why Pozdeev can pull over 880 in every meet he enters and he is light 240 yet Western style lifters in order to pull such numbers are usually over 275-300 lbs? It is because they rely too much on muscles to muscle the weight up and less on motor learning skills. Because Pozdeev pulls so frequently and for so many sets he can rely on his extremely efficient skills and less on muscles to pull the damn weight. This is no way to criticise Western lifters, I am just showing alternative methods, you be the judge.
So, how do we peek for a meet?
Let's try this:
5 weeks out:
squat, bench and pull twice a week, squat and bench can be still 3 times a week
5 sets of 2-3 reps with 85%
still doing some assistance but mostly for rehab and keeping the joints full of blood
you feel here very tired and fatigued, maybe even weak; your joints ache
4 weeks out:
squat, bench and pull twice a week, squat and bench can be still 3 times a week
4 sets of 2 reps with 90%
cut assistance
you feel here overtrained but don't worry the strength is there
3 weeks out:
squat and bench twice a week, pull only once a week
3 sets of 1 with 90-95% (you can take 3 singles, maybe 90%, 92%, 94%)
cut all assistance
because the volume is down you suddenly feel the strength is peaking; you are tired as hell and achy but the strength is coming
2 weeks out:
squat and bench twice a week, pull once a week
3 sets of 3 with 70-75%
zero assistance
you are still achy but you start feeling the strength is peaking and you are no more sluggish on the lifts = the speed is coming back
MEET week:
squat once a week, bench once a week; no pulling
zero assistance
2 sets of 2 with 50-60%
focus on impecable form and speed
you are now super strong and supercompensated, recovered and ready to hit some PR's :-)
I am a middle level lifter. I am coming back from some nasty patella tendon partial tear a year ago. That means I have many months of off-season ahead.
Therefore volume and frequency are my friends. I strongly believe offseason intensities should be 60% - 85% (thank you Boris Sheiko for figuring this out decades ago so that I don't have to today :-)
If you are strong with 5x2 @ 85% and you are pushing the weight, then, as well, your 1RM is way up without killing your CNS with 1RM testing.
Today I did:
squat: 5x5 with 65%
bench press: 6x5 with 60%
Romanian DL: 6x5 with 60%
Try it, it's a pretty cool training. Lots of volume, great for muscle mass building as well and great for motor learning skills. Repeat two days later. Or modify. Or whatever.
Below is a picture perfect sumo setup by Malanichev. How he got so perfect? Hypers and glute ham raises? Nope. Tens of thousands of sumo reps. Yep, it's that simple.
Again and again, I am amazed when I read training logs with sentences like: "... I felt not alright today so only did some light assistance work for deadlift".
Or: "I had a terrible week, so I decided to skip squats and did some light leg press, ham curls and leg extensions to get the blood flowing".
I can understand the reasoning. We do not live in an ideal world where you have perfect nutrition, zero stress and sleep 8 hours every single day. There are days/weeks with lots of stress, lack of sleep, tons of family or work responsibilities, blah, blah. You get mad, tired, stressed.
I just had such a week. But instead of cutting out the powerlifts and doing the fluff stuff, what I usually do is I lower the planned % by 5-10% and do ONLY the main lifts cutting out the fluff stuff altogether.
I had a pretty shitty week and yesterdays training called for 5x5 sumo, 6x8 floor press, high-rep heavy KB swings and then high volume ab work. I got to the gym late and had only 50 mins to train, so I did the 5x5 sumo and 6x8 floor press and left. That's it. I still hit the powerlifts, entire body got worked (legs, hams, lower back, upper back, pecs, delts, triceps) and I practiced the powelifts.
Powerlifts improve your competition technique. Assistance exercises don't.
Powerlifts improve your motor learning skills. Assistance exercises don't.
Powerlifts work your body as one coordinated unit. Assistance exercises don't.
I think people really overrate the fluff stuff. Assistance exercises like ham curls, ab work, lat work, shoulder raises, face pulls, etc should: A/ work neglected body muscles for better balance, B/ help with rehab around big joints, C/ flush some blood. That's it.
Just finished heavy 5x5 on sumos? Don't know if afterwards you should do 4x12 leg curls or 3x20 KB swing or 5x10 hypers? Guess what, it does not matter because you just did your 90% work, the 5x5 on sumos. Got to the gym late and have only 35 mins? Good. Do 6x5 heavy front squat and go home. Are you a gym rat and got 3 full hours on Saturday afternoon? Good, do 5x5 back squat, 6x8 bench press, 4x4 back squat again and 4x5 Romanian deadlift. If you are not dead after this, finish with 3x20 ab work. No need for 6 assistance exercises.
Do the right stuff, not the fluff stuff ;-)
I have a friend who is around 45 and is a former competitive Oly lifter. He told me once: "There are days when I come to the gym and feel like not doing anything. So I squat and go home".
You are anywhere between 25-45 years old.
You work 50-60 hours a week. Possibly you have 2 jobs.
You study or take extra classes after work.
You have kids.
You have shitload of responsibilities and errands you have to do each week.
You love lifting and you love to be strong and huge.
Hmmm, but you cannot make it to the gym 4 times a week ... What to do now? How can you have a productive powerlifting program and fit everything in one week with so little time for training?
There is a good news. You can get ridiculously strong and big on training only twice a week. Yep, only twice a week. However, you must follow some rules:
1/ Frequency is still your friend. Yes, you still can hit each powerlift twice a week.
2/ Prioritize. Missing a squat session is bad. Missing face pulls is not. It does not matter.
3/ No TV. No bullshitting in the gym. No excuses. Seriously. In and out, tough session.
4/ Your training will be 90% powerlifts and their variations. No fluffy shit. Fuck you, if you find time to do 3 sets of 12 reps of concentration curls, then you can find time to lift 3-4 times a week.
5/ Compound exercises are your friend. leg press+leg extensions? No, front squats. pressdowns for triceps+cable flys for pecs? No, close-grip bench press.
You can go the Sheiko type "sandwich" sessions where you hit the powelift twice during one session. No, it's not too much because you lift only twice a week.
Your template (around mid-cycle) could look like this:
Monday:
- squat: 6 sets of 3 with 80%
- bench press: 6 sets of 3 with 80%
- squat: 4 sets of 4 with 70%
- assistance
Thursday:
- bench press: 6 sets of 3 with 80%
- deadlift: 6 sets of 3 with 80%
- bench press: 5 sets of 5 with 65%
- assistance
You just had 2 squat sessions, 3 bench press sessions, 1 deadlift session.
Or, if you like little more variations of the powerlifts, you could do:
Monday:
- squat: 6 sets of 3 with 80%
- bench press: 6 sets of 3 with 80%
- Romanian deadlift: 6 sets of 5 with 60%
- assistance
Thursday:
- deadlift: 6 sets of 3 with 80%
- bench press: 5 sets of 5 with 65%
- front squat: 4 sets of 4 with 70%
- assistance
Now you hit during your week: squat twice, bench press twice, pull twice.
For your assitance do 1-4 exercises but adjust the volume. Do not do too much otwerwise it might take away from the powerlifts. Remember, the powelifts sets is 90% of your work. The assitance is just for local muscle hypertrophy and rehab. 4 heavy sets of front squats give you bigger quads than million sets of leg extensions. If you do one exercise, do bigger volume, like 6 sets of 8 of 5 sets of 10. If you do 2-4 exercises, do only 1-2 sets per exercise. Do exercises which add the powelifts, such as: DB flat press, overhead press, barbell rows, DB rows, KB swing, heavy ab work, hypers, low cable rows, dips, chins, hammer curls. No, you can't do concentration curls and kickbacks.
Assistance work might look like this:
heavy barbell rows: 6 sets of 8
Or like this:
medium-heavy low cable rows: 2 sets of 15
KB swing: 2 sets of 20
seated DB press: 2 set of 8
hanging leg raises: 2 sets of 20
Twice a week is enough if you focus on frequency, proper programming and compound lifts.
To prove that I don't preach water and drink wine, here is my current routine. More or less, with some minor modifications, I've been running such program for past few years with very good results.
Here we go ...
Day 1 (usually Tuesday):
sumo deadlift: programming
floor press: 6 sets of 8
KB swing: 2 sets of 30
leg raises: 4 sets of 20
Day 2 (usually Thursday):
squat: programming
bench press: 6 sets of 5 with 60%
barbell rows: 6 sets of 8 OR dumbell rows: 2 sets of 20 OR Romanian deadlift: 6 sets of 5 with 60%
Day 3 (usually Saturday or Sunday):
bench press: programming
standing overhead press: 6 sets of 8
front squat: 4 sets of 4
shrugs: 5 sets of 5 heavy OR low cable rows: 2 sets of 20
... some notes to the structure and why I choose such lifts: You can notice that the whole program is built around the powerlifts and other heavy compound assistance lifts like overhead pressing, front squat, heavy rows and such. I really think you don't need lots of fluffy exercises for isolation. This way I squat twice a week, bench three times a week (floor press is very similar to flat bench) and pull once or twice a week. This gives me enough practice and form check. Frequency builds confidence, muscle mass and improves motor learning skills.
On the first day I start with heavy sumo. I work the same weight for multiple sets to get in some serious work volume. Typical cycle for all powerlifts looks like this: 6x5@60%, 5x5@65%, 5x4@70%, 4x4@75%, 6x3@80%, 5x2@85%. Then I repeat the cycle with increased maxes or I max out to test my strength and adjust. I might do a deload week after 3-4 weeks. But mostly I don't. After the sumo pulls, I do high volume floor pressing for front delts, pecs and triceps. I think medium grip floor press is one of the best lifts you can do for triceps mass and strength and I highly recommend it. Then some high volume high reps of KB swings with the 24k (53lbs) KB, the best assistance move for the hip hinge and glute and hams mass. Finally some ab work and I am done.
The second day starts with heavy squats. This day has only three lifts because I am pretty fucked up after squats. Personally, the worst week for me is the 6 sets of 3 with 80%. After squatting, I am on to some high volume benching with 60%. I strongly believe, at least for me, high volume benching with high frequency (3 times a week and maybe more) is the key to big bench and upper body mass. I focus on perfect form here and try to improve my groove all the time. I finish the session with some pretty heavy back work, either 6 sets of 8 of some heavy barbell rows or 2 sets of 20 with a heavy dumbbell. Typically, I use 50k-60k (110lbs-132lbs) dumbbell, depending on how I feel that day. Every other week or so I do 6 sets of 5 of Romanian deadlift which is one of the best assitance lifts you can do because it hits everything from upper back, lats to lower back, glutes and hams. Do them heavy and often and watch your regular pull skyrocket. Probably the No.1 exercise for the whole posterior chain.
The last training session of the week starts with heavy benching according to my programming so every week is different. I follow with some medium weight high volume overhead pressing. I focus on strong lockout and scapular movement. I believe strong shoulder pressing gives a strong bench. Period. At this point my upper body is pretty much destroyed and I move to front squats. Front squats should be obligatory in any gym. They hit the quads like nothing else, improve back squat form, improve knee traction and hit glutes, abs and upper back. Hardly you can find a better lower body assistance lift. Go low reps and go heavy. I typically do 4 sets of 4 with the same weight. I am usually fucked up at this point. Yet, I often do heavy shrugs 5 sets of 5 for some serious trap mass or I might do low cable rows with high reps for scapular retraction and shoulder balance.
On off days I might do some light shoulder raises and light biceps or I just rest. Frequently I do some mobility drills on off days.
Sometimes I replace some of the assitance exercise with something else but never the main lifts. I believe one can play with frequency, number of training days per week, sets, reps but the bread and butter lifts should stay the same: back squat, front squat, heavy pulls, Romanian deadlifts, benching, some floor pressing or inclines or heavy dumbbells, then some overhead pressing and lots of back work and abs. That's pretty much it. No need for anything else. Really.
I read the following post on one of the lifting forums and I think it's fucking awesome. As always Dan Green nails it:
Q: Champ, how
do u manage aches, pains and injuries?
Dan Green: The biggest
thing is proper technique to get results while minimizing the mileage you put
on your body. Proper mechanics require certain body parts to be very strong and
stable while others need to be very mobile. The body works such that every
other joint should be mobile and has a neighboring joint that should be stable,
but if one breaks that law then the neighbor joint can become badly abused.
Starting at the feet, your ankles should be mobile and your knees stable. If
your ankle is stiff your knees will overload when squatting. Your hips should
be mobile and your lumbar spine should be stabilized. If your tight hamstrings
restrict hip mobility then you overload your spine. Your upper spine should be
very mobile, and if it isn't then your scaps--which work in sync with your
upper spine and should also be highly mobile--will be restricted and cause your
shoulder sockets to be hypermobile where they need lots of stability. Your
elbows should be stable and wrists mobile... Any one of these being off will cause
massive limitations.
If you address these things your problems will be very manageable. Even when
you do hurt yourself, you'll still have the mechanics to lift properly so you
can train through most injuries... It is simple and complicated at the same time...
just like weight lifting!
Sumo deadlift is one of the best lifts you can do. In my book, for power and mass, it is very close after back squats and front squats. It is a great prower and mass movement covering lots of muscle groups.
Powerlifter? Well, you have to do it. Even if you pull conventional, sumo will benefit your pull. You can go heavy or medium-heavy with bigger volume.
Bodybuilders? You can hardly find a better mass builder for hams, upper quads, glutes, hips, lower and middle back. Go medium-heavy for 6 sets of 5 or medium-light for 4 sets of 12. Don't be afraid to load up some plates.
Athlete? Speed deadlifts sumo style will greatly improve your accelleration and strengthen all muscles around your hips. Go 6 sets of 3 with light-medium weight. Or 8 sets of 2. Or 12 sets of 1. Or whatever.
Office desk jockey? Sumo deadlift twice a week, once medium heavy 3 sets of 5 (leave good 4-5 reps in the tank) and once 2 sets of 15 with light weight. After a few weeks watch your hip pain, lower back pain and mid back pain disappear altogether.
A woman trying to get in shape?: Hardly you will find a better exercise for toning your butt and legs. Plus, women learn sumo quite easily because they usually have better hip mobility than men. Go light weight 4 sets of 12. Or whatever you like.
Now, how to sumo deadlift step by step powerlifting style:
The Setup
Approach the bar with your feet the same distance from plates on each side. Double check. Small issues kill big pulls. I like my feet 5cm or so (about 2") from the plates. That is pretty close to the plates; it is quite wide stance but it shortens the pull and allows me to pull bigger weights. Play with it. Don't forget to do a lot of hip mobility drills before your sumo pulling and some groin, hams, lower back and quads stretches. Your hips should be loose like a hooker's.
I like my feet about 45 degrees toes out. Play with it and find your most powerful stance. Bar should be against shins. Yes, heavy pulls will scratch your shins, don't be a pussy. Grip inside the legs, one finger on the smooth. Your grip should be the same as your shoulder width and your arms ashould be straight down. Grip tight, knees are forced out and your lower back is straight and DOES NOT BEND through the whole pull. You mid/upper back is a bit rounded WHICH IS OK. Do not believe the crap that your whole back should be flat. You won't pull a damn with a flat back. Your head is in line with your upper back or slightly lower and your whole body is tense like hell.
The Pull
With a belt, or beltless, pull a lot of air into your belly. Not your chest, because it legthens your torso and thus the pull; into your belly. With a belly full of air rock your butt down and to the bar (but not too low) and begin pulling the bar off the floor towards your body, not up. At the same time, push your knees out. Be patient, heavy sumos take time to get them off the floor. If your starting pull is correct, you should feel now a tremendous strain in your glutes, hams, hips and mid back. lower back is stiff but does not flex!!!. Be patient and let the correct muscles initiate the pull. If you are impatient, your butt shoots up and you will miss the lift or, worse, lift with your lower back. You are holding your breath the whole time. Pull back, not up. All the time, the bar greases the shins and knees. After a heavy sumo session, your lats should be sore as fuck because all the time they are responsible for keeping the bar very close to the body. Any drifting from the body means missing the pull and worsening the leverage.
The Lockout
The lockout is not the final 2 inches but it starts as soon as the bar clears your knees. Once the bar is slightly above knee caps you extend your knees FIRST. Yes, that's correct. Heavy sumo is NOT a knee extension and hip extension at the same time. You extend your knees first, THEN, you powerfully thrust your hips forward and extend the hips. Bam. Your are finished. Knees locked, hips locked, you just pulled the damn bar.
That's it. Easy, heh? Remember the key pulling muscles. After a heavy sumo session, your glutes, hams, hips and lats should be sore. Never the lower back. It can be tender (from the stabilizing work) but never sore because IT DID NOT FLEX AND EXTEND. All the rotation is in the hips, not lumbar spine.
If you still feel the above is too complicated, watch Pozdeev pull, his form is textbook-prefect.
Konstantin Pozdeev, probably the strongest puller these days and possibly of all times.
Below are some of the heaviest pulls you will ever have a chance to see. Enjoy the impecable form, smooth and confident pull and power beyond this world:
And here is a very detailed inteview with Pozdeev about training, life, career, competitions and so on:
Q: How tall are you? Do you keep your weight down or will you eventually move up weight classes?
KP: My height is 1.78m, and my weight has been quite variable. I've never gained a ton of weight very fast, rather, it came up slowly over time. Up until I hit 90kg the weight gain was pretty quick. After that it was actually quite slow... a couple of kilos here and there. 90kg, then 94kg, then 100kg, just a couple of kilos over the years. Now my weight sits between 104kg and 106kg.
Q: Did you change your strategy due to weighing in one day earlier for the "Battle of Champions"?
KP: Yeah, it helps if you can cut just a little bit of weight. I've had to cut before because I got a bit heavy, just 2,5kg of water.
Q: Is it enough for you to compete only one time per year?
KP: I am not bored, not at all. I like to compete "well", and not "just whatever". I like to have good competitions and the lower frequency is ok with me. I used to compete much more in the past, and you know, this also lead to more frequent injuries as well. Nowadays, I don't really feel like competing everywhere and at every competition... I just want to compete at the big ones, the interesting ones, the meaningful ones.
Q: What is your approach to training? How many times do you train per week? And what about volume and intensity?
KP: Now that I am training for the deadlift, almost all of the work in the gym is focused on that. Squatting and benching work is really just on the side now... you could say it's in a general preparation/maintenance phase... just for the general development, and not for a particular result. Now it's all focused on the deadlift. Even for this last Battle of Champions, it was all mostly deadlift focused. I had to change my training plans couple of times due to unforseen circumstances, mostly related to accummulated injuries (one of them actually happened right after the filming of our last video, haha). In the end, I had to make quite a bit of change to the training plan.
I train 3x per week. One training session is for squatting and benching... just general development and maintenance and 1-2 deadlift sessions per week. One heavier and one lighter. I pull both using the conventional and sumo technique when I train the deadlift. As for set numbers; I usually do 5 working sets, but if the weight is REALLY heavy, it might be as few as 3 sets... sometimes just one or two top sets for the heaviest weights, based on how I am feeling.
If I'm working up to 320kg, I'll go 70kg, 120kg, 170kg, 220kg, 270kg beforehand, which is 5 sets before the working sets with 320kg+ actually start. And no... I don't really count the warmup sets, it's a warmup. And yeah, it's only one set with each of those warmup weights, then I'll do multiple sets at that weight.
I pick my weekly weight increases based on how much time is left until the competition. I might go up by 10kg a week or by 20kg a week, depending on where I am at when I start the training cycle and how long I have until the meet. Usually, I'll add 10kg, sometimes 5kg, but it's difficult to answer that question exactly.
Oh yeah, every training session is heavier... it's a pyramid up. If everything is going ideally and I am recovering on time and my strength is holding, then yeah, it's straight up. If not, sometimes I'll take a step back and reduce the weights.
Q: Your bench press was comparatively weak util recently. What did you do to improve it?
KP: Pressing is just like any other exercise... works just like the deadlift. I like pressing and I like training the press. The problem is that pressing, especially if you really get to training it a lot and get carried away, can create problems for your pulling. Basically, your upper back works hard to keep you tight during benching, and this can fatigue it for the deadlift, which will interfere with your ability to stay tight in that lift. I don't think 230kg in the bench is a very big accomplishment in this category, no. People press a lot more than this... I mean, take Roman Eremashvilli, who weighs much less than me, but presses just about the same! No, I don't think my press is a standout.
Q: What do you expect to total at this year's GPA worlds?
KP: I can't really say exactly what I'm going to be lifting in Australia, coming up. You see, each competition prep is going to cost a certain sum of money. This, of course, has to be juggled with the family budget. Looking at this as an athlete I feel like I've gotta focus on making money from this process, and not really putting in my own money anymore.
I'd like to make some money from the sport... the time has passed when I was content investing my own money just for meet results... just to compete. Now I look at it from a slightly different point of view. This comes at a health tradeoff, injuries and such... and all for some crazy-exotic result which I have to fight to increase all the time.
So if someone would like to sponsor me, then I'd be more than willing to give it a full go. The desire is there but it can help with a bit more stumilus. If I do end up committing to the meet, the of course I'd like to improve my result from last time. That's always the goal. Exact predictions are impossible, of course because it's very tough to say. I'd like to do really well. You know, pull 420kg or 430kg. But for those kind of results, you need to commit yourself more fully. I have to work two jobs to support my family and also allow myself the luxury of training. This is much more difficult than professionally training, which is a different approach altogether.
Q: What are your favourite assistance exercises?
KP: I do hyperextensions. Great for posterior chain... glutes, back. Allows you to stay tight under heavy loads, which helps in all lifts. It's important to hold the right (arched) back position through this whole movement... that's the point of the lift. I never go very heavy on this exercise... usually 20-30kg, what's important is maintaining good technique at high workloads. I've gone as high as 50kg before but technique starts to break down then and the exercise becomes less useful. If my back isn't too messed up from heavy loading, I'll do hyperextensions in every session... usually 5 working sets of 10 reps.
Just for general upper body development, I usually only do abs, not more. Sometimes it's dependent on the situation... If I feel like I need more work I do it, like when I feel some muscles are underdeveloped. Otherwise, it's just the raw classics.
Q: How many times per week do you train each lift?
KP: In my training, I actually alternate a squat/bench session and a deadlift session. Because I train 3x a week, this way I sometimes train deadlifts once a week, and sometimes twice, depending on the order that week.
Q: How often do you peak?
KP: I only go for a max if I'm preparing for a competition... not in regular training. I pulled 390 with straps some time ago in preparation for one of the other "Battle of Champions" meets, and I couldn't actually hit this weight in competition... I couldn't hold my form for that long, and I actually got hurt, too. I guess you could say that the impossibility of regular maxing let itself be known through this poor outcome. This changed my approach... I think maxing should only be done in competition, not in regular training. You can be a hero in training but weak in competition.
Q: What does your diet look like?
KP: I like to eat good meats, good vegetables, good fruits. I pay attention to what I buy. I have an eye for meat quality... I can tell if the meat will come out well just by looking at it raw. I mean, it can be tough to find high quality meats in Moscow, that's for sure, so I just do my best.
Q: When do you start to deload before competition?
KP: I taper about 4-5 days before the competition. Volume goes down a lot on the first one, then on the second one it's a very LIGHT training session, and on the last session before the meet, it's really just a warm-up. My body allows me to recover and peak in this time... I mean, that's for ME.
Q: Do you do any prehab exercises?
KP: I've had hurt shoulders before, hurt knees. And the rehab is different for those... a lot of times it will be with bands. Evgeny Yarymbash showed me some good rotational exercises with bands... you use the stronger bands as you get stronger yourself. Attach a band down that wall to generate tension, then rotate your hand one way, then the other. I'll also do leg swings to accomplish a similar goal. Swings side to side, front to back, making circles (and this is without bands). With my knees, I actually had some doctors help me.
Q: How do you make 400kg move faster than any other deadlifter?
KP: Well, it's been a goal of mine for a long time. Since 2004, it's been a big goal of mine. I pulled 360kg at a college meet in 2004, and I though, ok, 400kg is just around the corner, haha... "just another year or two and I'll pull it". Took me, practically 10... well, 8 years to pull it! Why was it fast with no struggle? I don't know... it happens differently every time... I guess I was that much stronger!
Q: Could na American who comes to Russia train in your club?
KP: If this is a normal person and I am a friend beforehand with them, then why not?
Q: How did you get started in powerlifting?
KP: I started training in the year 2000, and within a month, I was already doing my competition. Yep, full meet: 110kg-70kg-140kg. I had a good trainer... trained people in heavy athletics... had prepared 10 "master of sports" title holders in our small town. He was, and is, a very talented trainer. A couple of my friends were going to him for private training lessons in his garage gym that he made, they told me about it, so I joined in as well.
I paid money and everything for every lesson... 3x a week. He built me a very good base within the first year, and that base set me up for great results much later down the line. I mean, why should a guy who spends his own time training people do this for free. I showed up to him as a nobody, why would he spend his free time on me just cause I wanna train. I actually think this is normal and an even better setup when people have some sort of payment going on. Now I myself only train for payment. If they are friends or former students and just need some tips here and there, I can always do that for free, but otherwise, it's work... why should it be done for free? It doesn't even matter if it's powerlifting... payment should happen.
Q: Any tips you can give to get better in the deadlift?
KP: If I haven't seen a guy's technique, I can't really give many tips. I'd have to see his training sessions. I'd need to see where he's making mistakes and what he is doing wrong. Maybe the technique is all good and it's the plan itself that's the problem, it doesn't fit him well. Everyone needs a customized plan to some extent just for THEM. And you need to watch a person's levers... where to put the hips, to lower them or not, to raise them or not, when to start pulling... sooner or later... this is all also very importnat. You can't describe this with words alone... if you've seen them train, then yeah... otherwise, it's not a good idea to just give advice.
Q: What you do, if anything, for hip mobility in deadlifting?
KP: Yeah, I stretch my inner thighs... doing butterfly stretches and things like that. I'll do this especially if I notice that during the lift, my knees are having troubles staying out. I'll have someone help me with the stretches during warm-ups. I'll sit down and stretch them down like that. I'll take my hips through circular motions to stretch them out... all based on how I'm feeling. If I'm tight, I'll stretch for 2 weeks at a time, sometimes a month. If you walk up to the barbell and you feel like you can't execute the technique, then it's time to do additional warm-ups and stretches. I'll stretch my back out (lower back) after training... I'll hold some heavy weight in the stretched position standing on blocks until my back is nice and loose (this is done with straps). This is to counter the compression involved in heavy lifting.
Q: What number is your ultimate goal in the deadlift?
KP: Haha, well I'm gonna try to pull a minimum of 406kg, haha, but of course I'd like to pull 420kg, maybe 430kg. We'll see but I think this will depend pretty highly on sponsorship. If I don't have the right support and can pull only 405kg at the meet, I'd consider that a pretty bad "minus" (disappointment). At this point, I have to look at things differently. Training for half a year and then not accomplishing a big PR... well, that doesn't really make much sense for me and my family at this point.
Q: How did you choose sumo style over conventional?
KP: When I started, I pulled only conventional, but when I saw some guys pulling sumo, I tried it and liked it right away. As a matter of fact, I added 20kg to my best pull right away with sumo! I had a lot of back pain and problems pulling conventional, cause it's quite a stressful movement on the back. Then I tried sumo and really liked it.
Q: Why do most Russians deadlift sumo style?
KP: Well, if a person is comfortable pulling that way, then why not? I mean, if I pull more sumo, why would I pull conventional if I'm not as strong there, if the result is worse? Some guys might struggle with sumo because they can't figure out the right technique adjustments for themselves. Typically, pulling conventional is technically more simple, so more guys can figure it out. If you use poor technique in sumo, it's just not going to give you the advantages that many experience. You won't pull a lot.
Q: What's inside of your head while you are lifting such big weights?
KP: Nowadays to be honest when I pull sumo, I don't really think about the starting position... it's trained to the level of automation for me at this point. You need to train for years and years to get your lifts to the point of automation... If you are consciously thinking about your setup, then that can only really interfere with your best performance. You'll be higher or lower of farther than what's your strongest position... no... you need to have this all automated to be the best.
Yeah, I do have a position which I get into before every pull. Each muscle is maximally stretched and tightened into the best position. If I'm too low on the start, my legs are too loose and must work harder to compensate. If I'm too high starting, my back must do too much of the work cause my legs can't contribute.
Q: Is there anything special about your deadlift setup?
KP: That's the goal of a good starting position... to get maximally stretched tendons and tight setup so that you can put as much acceleration into the bar as possible before it even leaves the ground. All of my people that I train and me included, our goal is to produce maximal force and acceleration before the bar even leaves the ground, which means you don't have to spend as much time actually picking it up. The less time you spend lifting the bar, the more you're gonna be able to lift.
Q: How is it possible to be so fit and pull such heavy weights? You look pretty small and aesthetic.
KP: I never really do a ton of reps in any set. I feel like more dense muscle, drier muscle is forged through lower rep training. I like my physique, and don't really see a point in getting bigger just for the sake of it.
Q: What are the best assistance exercises to bring the deadlift up (for you)?
KP: I wouldn't say there's some magical special exercise to improve the deadlift. To be able to pull, you have to pull. To be able to pull more, you have to pull more. If you wanna pull, you've gotta pull. You're not gonna come up with anything better than the deadlift. Yeah, I also do conventional pulls and block pulls, but if you're not going to just plain old deadlift, you won't be very good at it. Like a very good coach said back in the day "to be able to press, you gotta press. When I didn't press, I could not press... if you wanna press a lot, you've gotta learn to love it and get to pressing." Same with squatting, and you should not try to find some kind of magical trick where you do something special or eat something special to become a champion... that just doesn't exist.
Q: Do you incorporate different variations of the main lifts in training?
KP: Yeah, I've tried bands and chains for benching, some in the deadlift... just stuff to make the movements more acceleration-based. Right now I'm not doing that... my training is more classically based on straight weight. The weights are super heavy and you need to calculate everything exactly... bands don't allow you to do that. I think they might have a place in general preparation, but in special preparation straight weight must be done.
Q: Have you had any injuries and with what method (medical or not) did you treat them?
KP: Yeah, I'm dealing with injuries right now. Both knees have torn posterior menisci. The reason that I don't go heavy so often is that when I'm training lighter, the knees don't bother me... when I go heavier is when that starts to be a problem.
I've had some back issues lately too... some compression... but I went to my doctor in time and we caught it, I think. He gave me a shot and some regenerative work was done... basically what was mandatory at that moment if I was gonna keep training. I also did some physical therapy... a lot of it was to relax the muscles... there was excessive muscle tone (tightness) after the injury, so they were not letting the spine return to its normal position. We had to deal with that.
Q: Can you just comment on the last "Battle of Champions" this year?
KP: In reality I've talked about this with Konstantin Konstantinovs (KK)... as soon as you give a big interview and experience some exposure, you get hurt! Haha. 4 years ago when I competed at the second Battle of Champions, that was in 2011 I guess... I gave and interview and then I got hurt... same with KK. And I'm not saying there is a cause and effect here. I didn't feel too confident in that meet to be honest... my prep was ok, but compared to Belyaev, I couldn't really do much.
That year in general was hard. There was a lot of other stuff going on in my life... good things, bad things... and I had a lot on my mind, which prevented a level of focus. Plus, training is never the same and never perfect... you make some changes... my back got hurt... I had to delay my heavy weights for a while... by two weeks (I had to be very careful at the gym during this time so as not to get hurt worse). If I would have pulled 410kg, I would have been happy... I understood that asking for more than that was unrealistic at the time.
I had a very good run of progress for 4 years... people saw that I could have pulled 418kg and were looking for a miracle... but the prep... I mean I'm also a human... always getting better linearly at every meet is not realistic. When people are expecting big results from you and waiting on you, stuff gets more complicated, more difficult. If they don't expect anything from you... if you come out of nowhere and surprise people, it's a real "show", I mean people are really wowed. They just have no idea that such a feat is possible. You could say that this past time, "wowing" them didn't work out, hahaha.
The first attempt went well, the second went well although it was heavy and I wasn't 100% sure it would go. I took 410kg cause that's what it would take to do well (Belyaev is so damn far ahead), and the music I had on kind of gets very motivating after two minutes of the track, so basically, I waited too long... people were saying that some of the funny moments from the meet were when I stood around and waited for the track to get good and people thought "is he asleep?" hahaha. The track itself is not very interesting, but after 2 minutes it gets very good.
Afterwards I realized I should have just submitted the track cut to the right before the 2 minute mark, but that only became very apparent afterwards... I consider it beforehand but I figured they might be loading and cleaning the bar for a while, that would be like a minute... but they did it all very quickly this time. and boom... I'm up! By the 4th attempt I was too fatigued from the 3rd grinder to really do anything. Maybe in retrospect I should have passed on my 3rd. Maybe, I don't know. But my preparedness was not high enough anyway. If I was in the best shape I could have been, I would have pulled that 3rd anyway.
The conclusion is that I was not sufficiently ready... that I didn't do everything correctly in training... some food for thought. A lot more people competing, lots of new people. There was a sense of tension in the air, a heavy feel of competition. Everyone got stronger, but by about the same amount, so it was a really good fight. Yeah, some people are happy when you win, some not. This is normal, I guess, haha.
Source: video: Dmitry Spiridonov; translation: Mike Israetel
I see this over and over in lifting logs of many people. When they have troubles locking out their deadlifts, they do more and more block pulls or rack pulls and hammer their lower back with hypers or reverse hypers.
I think the problem solution lies somewhere else. If you watch some Eastern Bloc deadlift kings, where do they miss their pulls? During lockout? Nope, never. If you watch carefully, if the weight is too heavy, it is missed right off the floor or before the bar reaches the knees. Never during lockout. Why? Because lower back is not responsible for lockouts, it is the glutes. Yes, the most powerful muscles you have. Powerful hip thrust using your glutes is what lockouts your deadlift.
Watch below some of the best Russian pullers how powerfully they lockout their pulls.
Pozdeev: powerful hip extension at lockout
Malanichev: powerful hip extension at lockout
Belyaev: powerful hip extension at lockout (side view)
If you miss your pull at lockout, it is not your lower back but weak glutes. Remember, you lower back does not move thoughout the pull, it stays fucking rigid. Lower back can feel tender the next day after pulling but it never should be sore. If your lower back aches the next day, you are pulling wrong, period. The extension should be in hips, not lower back. The day after heavy deadlifting you should be sore in glutes, hams, hips and lats because they contract so hard keeping the bar close to the body.
How can you get strong and powerful glutes? In my book, it is using these three lifts:
1/ deep and heavy front squats. They hit you quads, glutes, hips, abs. All around an awesome lift. Go heavy. 5 sets of 5 or 6 sets of 3 should drive you to the ground. Go fucking heavy. Your front squat should be around 70-80% of your back squat. If you can back squat 250k for 5 reps, you 5 reps on front squats should be with 180k - 200k.
2/ medium heavy high-volume sumo pulls. After a few sets, your glutes, upper hams and hips should be on fire. Go for 5 sets of 5 or 6 sets of 3 or fucking whatever. If you are nuts go 6 sets of 3 with 70-80% and finish with 2 sets of 15 with lighter weights. Don't hate me the next day.
3/ Romanian deadlifts. Heavy sets of 5 or 2 sets of 20 with 50%. Try it, it is no picnic. The 2 sets of 20 should leave your hams and butt sore for days.
Now pull something heavy and hump the bar at lockout, your lower back will thank you ;-)
As I surfed internet the other night I found this vid below and I think it is damn amazing:
Koklayev is the tall massive guy pulling conventional in blue shoes, Belyaev is the short stocky guy pulling sumo (massive legs), Konstantinovs is the tall muscular guy with no T-shirt and Pozdeev is the sumo machine with headset on.
I think this vid is pretty unique as it shows for different pulling styles of pulling kings (all of them pull close or over to 400k (880lbs). We are talking here about the absolute top of the premium level.
They pull all differently, yet they have some things in common:
1/ they all are Eastern Bloc lifters (Koklayev, Pozdeev and Belyaev are Russian, Konstantinovs is Latvian)
2/ they all pull multiple times a week
3/ they rarely max out in training
4/ they do huge volume at lower intensities
See any take home notes? Yes, it's that simple. Forget the Western bullshit where you pull infrequently, you have shitty and inconsistent form and get injured frequently.
Let's get some more analysis of their pulling styles ...
Konstantin Pozdeev:
Actually, I do not have info how his training is set-up but I am pretty damn confident that his training will be very similar to Belayaev's: multiple pulling weekly, shitload of volume; Sheiko style sets and reps; lower to medium intensity. Look at his form. His lightest warm-up and his heaviest meet pull look exactly the same. This is due to tens of thousands reps and insane volume. I think he has the best sumo technique these days. Watch closely: he pulls strongly with the hips, wide stance, locks legs quite early, then powerful hip thrust and glutes extension. Pozdeev is a beast. I think he will shatter multiple world records in coming years.
Andrey Bealyaev:
Bealyaev is a monster. He is below 100k (220lbs) yet he would kick just about everybody's ass in Europe and America. His style is one smooth piston-like motion. Starting his sumo with powerful hip dominated-squat, he extends hips and lock knees at the same time. Again, Sheiko follower with insane volume at medium intensity, frequent pulling. Guys like Belyaev do weekly more volume that average Joe does monthly or bi-monthly.
Misha Koklayev:
Former Oly lifter turned powerlifter and strongman, Misha lifts somewhat differently than others. As a former Oly lifter he relies heavily on his powerful butt and legs and that is why he dips his hips quite deep when he begins to pull (starting in a somewhat clean position). Actually, his training, again, is high volume, high frequency.
Konstantin Konstantinovs:
This guy is a beast. He pulls with a rounded upper back (yet rock solid lower back which does not extend during the pull). Rounded upper back allows him to shorten the ROM and get the bar close to hips for more powerful pull. There is a shitload of vids on Youtube of this guy showing his multiple pulling sessions. Not only he pulls multiple times a week, sometimes he pulls twice during one session, for example he starts with low block pulls, then does some bench pressing and finishes the session with heavy-as-fuck trap bar pulls or deficit pulls followed with some assistance.
Why am I writing this? Each of us is different: someone is short, someone is tall, long legs, long arms, blah, blah. Pick your poison: you can pull with low hips as Koklayev does or high hips and rounded upper back as Konstantinovs. If you are a sumo puller, you can squat the weight more as Belayev does and make at a smooth combo of hip extension and knees locking or go like Pozdeev with early locked legs and powerful hip extension a split second later. Whatever style you choose, remember what they share and why they are the deadlift kings: multiple pulling a week, shitload of volume at low or medium intensities, huge volume on squatting as well; practice of tens of thousands reps.
Now, go pull something heavy ;-)
P.S. Yep, chicks should do some high-volume pulling as well ...
Front squats seem to be getting back some popularity. Rightly so. They used to be forgotten somewhat due to the Westside bandwagon where they said you did not need quads for squatting. Well, that maybe true for heavy-equipment lifting. Definitely not true when it comes to raw squatting.
Raw squatters use medium to narrow stance and they sit back AND down at the same time so quads are used big time. After the back squat, the king of powerlifts, the front squat takes a very close second place.
Front squats will give you many things: huge quads, steel core, strong upper back, confidence in the hole.
huge quads:
Because your torso is pretty much upright and you sit down more than you sit back, you have a pretty solid compound lift to hit your quads. Front squats will take some stress of your hips and lower back and overload your quads way more. This is very important for strong conventional pullers who tend to have stronger backs than legs. I strongly advise front squats as the No.1 assistance lift to deadlifts. Especially, if you are weak off the floor. Do some heavy ass to grass front squats and watch your deadlift rise.
You could do many protocols for front squats: 5 sets of 5, 4 sets of 8, 6 sets of 3 with heavier weight. Play with the frequency too: maybe once a week 5 heavy sets of 3 and then 4 medium heavy sets of 8. Yes, additionally to back squats. "But then I'd be squatting three times a week!!!" So what ?! Many huge squatters from the Eastern Bloc countries have been doing that for decades.
steel core:
Do some big volume heavy front squats, like 8 sets of 3 and let me know the next day. If you keep proper form, upright torso and no belt, your abs will be sore as fuck. For a good couple of days. Front squats will give you the best lifting belt you can imagine. Painful, though. Eventually, this should improve your form on back squats as well. As a bonus, deep heavy front squats build pretty strong glutes as well.
strong upper back:
What happens sometimes when lifters back squat is that they tend to round upper back slightly when in the hole. This can be cured with heavy front squats as well. Your upper back fights heavily to keep the bar in place and after several months of heavy front squats your upper back erectors should get pretty huge and strong.
confidence in the hole:
When front squatting you usually go pretty deep and sometimes you can practice a good re-bound. You can also pause in the hole briefly. All this builds tension and confidence in the hole which should translate to back squats as well. Because you sink all your front squats pretty deep, you will not be afraid to do the same with your back squats as well.
Hmmm, so many benefits ... then why so many people ditch front squats?
Front squats are painful and not easy. Large volume heavy front squats will give you pretty sore shoulders, troubles breathing, you will be shaky on some last reps and your whole lower body will hurt. But you get strong quads, abs and upper back as a reward. Front squats are not sexy, they require no machine and no fancy equipment, just old barbell, plates and squat stands.
What is strong? Sets of 5 with 100k (225 lb) are fine for some mass building, 140k (315 lb) is strong. Sets of 5 with 180k (405 lb) are pretty damn strong and should give you some massive wheels.
... and as Dan Green nails it summarizing his training: "I just do the powerlifts and for assistance I push the front squat, shoulder press and rows"
Probably the best Czech powerlifter of all times. Overall, a very strong guy, both raw and equipped.
If I am not mistaken he is a multiple Czech, European and World Champion accross several federations, incl. IPF. Raw benches above 550 (250k), equipped benches above 660 (300k). Martin is an amazing squatter and a sumo puller. Equipped squats over 900 (410k) are standard almost at every competition he enters. Raw sumo pulls in training over 700? No problem.
Martin trains usually 3 times a week following a standard periodization model when he begins the cycle with moderate-heavy 5's, then 3's, the doubles and then singles in gear. His training is quite simple but relies heavily on big exercises and increased frequency. Martin squats 2 times a week, heavy on Monday and light-moderate on Friday. Benching is done 3 times a week with Monday being the heavy bench day after squats, Wednesday close-grip work for triceps and Friday light-moderate bench after light squats. Pulling is done once a week on Wednesday with the pulling cycle usually starting with conventional deads then switching to sumo.
This would be an outline of Martin's routine which might vary a bit:
MONDAY:
squat - heavy
bench - heavy
incline DB press
biceps
abs
There seem to be two main approaches when it comes to deadlifting. Pulling infrequently and pulling very frequently.
I never understood the logic of pulling every other week or even every third week. In my opinion the pulling muscles get weak, there is not enough motor learning and the form practice is minimal.
If you check many deadlift injuries, you can easily see it's exactly this group of lifters - infrequent pullers.
You can, and should, pull more than once a week provided you can manage three things:
1/ impecable form
2/ intensity vs. volume correlation
3/ including several forms of pulling
Impecable form is crucial. Any deviation from YOUR perfect technique and the demands on your CNS and pulling muscles are much higher. And that is another reason for pulling more frequently. More sets and reps will dial in your technique. You can pull several times a week, provided some pulls are at lower intensities. Most of the pulling should be in the 60-80% range anyway. That way you can improve for weeks and you will not tax your CNS too much. Not all pulling has to be just one type of deadlift. Changing the pulling exercises will make you a more efficient puller because most of the pulls complement one another: conventional pull, sumo, deficit pulls, block pulls, Romanian deadlifts, etc.
Some examples of multiple pulling a week below:
Day 1: conventional 60-85% over several weeks
Day 2 (three days later in the same week): sumo 60-70% over several weeks
... actually, that is what I do and it delivers solid results.
Or you could do:
Day 1: medium-heavy deficit pulls
Day 2: heavy block pulls
Or you could pull on the same day but do the two mini sessions with some other lift in between.
Sheiko boys train like that: you start with a medium heavy deadlift up to knees, then continue with some benches or inclines and finish with some pretty heavy block pulls.
Or you might try what the pulling master Konstantin Konstantinovs does:
If you compare Western methods of lifting and Eastern methods of lifting you will find many differences. There are really many but I think the most striking is the frequency, loading and exercise selection. sheiko has been the bread and butter programming for Russian and Eastern Bloc lifters for decades and the results are unbelievable. Hundreds of national and world records have been shattered using sheiko programs or variations.
Take home thoughts:
1/ You squat 12x / month
2/ You bench 13x / month
3/ You pull 7x / month
4/ DB flys are done 11x / month for strengthening the pec/delt tie-in
sheiko #29 LOADING:
Notice the most working sets are in the 60-80% range. That's where strength is built. As well, within these ranges your technique does not break down. The intensity is high enough to build strength and mass, yet low enough for your technique to be spot on. Only several times you tap the 85-90% intensity, 80% of the work is still in the 60-80%.
Volume is huge. But because you traded some high intensities for high volumes, you will not overtrain. The 3rd week you might feel tired as hell but you will not be overtrained. What happens usually is that you will "miraculously" recover the 4th week because your body gets used to the workload. Huge volume at lower intensities allows you to practice your form and let all your ligaments and tendons accommodate to the stress.
sheiko #29 EXERCISE SELECTION:
This is what most people analyze all the time. "What are the assistance lifts?" Please keep in mind, 90% of your focus, work and energy is the main lifts. The assistance exercises are to complement the main system. Nothing more. Yet, the selection is quite different from what you normally see/read:
DB flys
GM
incline press/press
dips
push-ups
lunges
abs
Notice the focus on pec/delt tie-in (DB flys), triceps (dips, push-ups) and quite heavy GM (lower back, hams).
The Sheiko controversy ...
What? No back work? No rows? Shoulders will get wrecked! Injuries just about to happen!
I personally do some rows and shrugs (about 2-3 high-rep sets a week) beceause I like DB rows but Boris Sheiko is no dumbass so there must be a reason why he did not put any direct back work in the system. I used to have shitty shoulders before when I did lots of back work and I have no problems now where I do very little back work. Why? High frequency deadlifting will take care of your back muscles and high volume, low intensity benching will condition your shoulders. But mind you, impecable form is a must. People usually don't wreck their shoulders because they do not do enough back work but rather poor form and tissue overuse is the culprit.
If still not convinced, do some high-rep rear delts on off days.
Final advice: do not add to the program. It is perfect as it is and produced decades of world-class lifters.
recently I changed my pulling style and I am not looking back. I have long legs, short torso, strong lower back. My best pull is 260k (572lb). And I want more. I always liked pulling and the technique was quite easy for me because of my build. However, It never felt "perfect". I studies lots of vids and descriptions of the so called "proper form": flat back, look ahead, dip the hips, start with leg drive, etc. It never felt perfect.
Recently, I read Konstantin Konstantinovs stating in several interviews that his pulling form never hurt his back and is quite safe. I tried it a few weeks ago and it felt just perfect. Hips higher, less flexion in knees, bar close to body, flat lower back, steeper torso angle, hunched upper back and head down. It might looking "dangerous" but trust me, it's not.
deadlift KK style:
... and here is my retarded drawing of the pulling mechanics:
Notice the angles:
- your torso is more uprigt, so there is less force on your spine than with the traditional form
- your hips are closer to the bar and that improves leverages
- your knee angle is bigger which allows for faster and stronger knee extension (a quarter squat is always stronger than a half squat)
Things to keep in mind:
- your lower back and middle back need to be pretty damn strong
- your lower back is flat during the whole lift
- your upper back is rounded and somewhat relaxed with head down
First few sessions I pulled that way I noticed my pull is way easier, weights feel easier, I pull the bar closest to my body and the next day my mid back, rhomboids, hams and glutes are sore. The most importnat thing is my lower back is NEVER sore now.
The best of the best. If I am not mistaken Andrey just broke the raw WR squat with 1000+ squat at RUM 7.
Andrey is one of the Russian powerlifting superstars, together with Belyaev and Pozdeev.
Andrey's lifting is brutally simple and relies heavily on the big three. Andrey squats, benches and pulls once a week. His typical approach is a linear periodization over roughly 9-12 weeks, pyramiding the weight up. Apart from the powerlifts, Andrey does 4x12 light incline press during each session and a few sets of decline sit-ups with a dumbbell or kettlebell on his chest.
Typical weekly schedule looks like this:
squat: many sets working up with weight
incline press 4x12 light
abs a few sets
bench press: many sets working up with weight
incline press 4x12 light
abs a few sets
deadlift: many sets working up with weight
incline press 4x12 light
abs a few sets
Squatting is always a medium stance power squat, bench press is raw bench or with slingshot and pulls are typically sumo pulls, sometimes pulling from deficit.
Andrey feels proper form is crucial, especially on the heaviest sets.
Andrey does very light joging 1-2x a week to help his recovery.
Andrey eats lots of oatmeals, rice, porridge, meat, fish and protein powders.
Some vids from his training:
squat session:
... and some damn heavy sumos:
Below is Andrey's prep cycle for The 2008 Cup of Titans (all weights in kilos):
