CEO powerlifting ....

You are a CEO.
You work like hell. 50+ working hours a week easily.
Tons of stress, phone calls, meetings.
Ups and downs of business.
Frequent biz trips.
AND you have a family.

You can possibly squeeze in a max 50-min powerlifting session 3 times a week tops. But you decide not to because how the hell would it be even remotely possible? Powerlifts, assistance, conditioning, mobility? So you decide to bag it.

.... and you are run down, stressed, irritated, overworked and your strength took a dive.

I've been there, trust me, but I can help you out.

Anything is possible if you put your mind into it and if you follow a few rules:

1/ Prioritize
You must do not what you like but what needs to be done. You know this rule from your biz life so you know it works wonders. Return on investment. Biggest bang-for-the-buck activities.
YES: squats, front squats, deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, heavy abs, heavy back work, bench presses, shoulder presses, dips, pull-ups. That's it.
NO: dumbbell curls, shoulder raises, DB flys, etc. Remember, you have 50 minutes.

2/ Focus
At work, at sports, at playing, whatever, we can focus for 25-35 mins tops. Pure biology. Get the work done and get out. The world will not fall apart if you turn off your phone for 50 minutes. No talking, no socializing, no facebook. Same as in business: come prepared, do the most important work fast and efficient, cut the crap out and move onto something else. Go heavy on the assistance and hypertrophy work, c'mon, you're there only for 50 mins, you can survive it.

3/ Delegate
Meal prep. Be nice to your wife or buy prepared meals, heavy in protein. Top quality steaks and fish are your friends. You are a CEO, you can afford it. Top quality supplements in the office; your secretary is in charge. Yes, when you come to the office she greets you with a huge glass of mineral water and multivitamins, minerals, aminos, creatine, whatever.

4/ Timing
Train in the morning or at lunch break. Don't lie to yourself, if you leave the session as the last thing of the day after 10 hours at work and 4 draining meetings, you are going to skip half of the sessions. Get up in the morning at 6 am, coffee, water, toilet and off you go. Train from 7 to 7:50. Whatever. Morning session will get you energized for the rest of the day and you have free evenings for kids, wife, friends, booze, whatever.

So easy, isn't it?



Alright, here we go:

Week 1

Day 1
bike 4 min
mobility 3 min (goblet squats, deep lunges, air squats, push-ups, etc.)
SQUAT: 5 sets of 2 @ 80%
BENCH PRESS: 4 sets of 6 @ 65-70%
bent over rows: 3 sets of 8


Day 2
bike 4 min
mobility 3 min
DEADLIFT: 4 sets of 3 @ 80%
overhead press: 4 sets of 6
ab wheel: 3 sets of 10


Day 3
bike 4 min
mobility 3 min
BENCH PRESS: 5 sets of 3 @ 80%
FRONT SQUAT: 3 sets of 5
prowler sprints: 5 min



Week 2

Day 1
bike 4 min
mobility 3 min
SQUAT: 5 sets of 3 @ 80%
BENCH PRESS: 4 sets of 5
dips: 3 sets of 6


Day 2
bike 4 min
mobility 3 min
DEADLIFT: 3 sets of 3 @ 85%
overhead press: 4 sets of 5
side plank: 3 sets of 10


Day 3
bike 4 min
mobility 3 min
BENCH PRESS: 6 sets of 3 @ 80%
front squat: 3 sets of 3
prowler sprints: 5 min



Week 3

Day 1
bike 4 min
mobility 3 min
SQUAT: 4 sets of 2 @ 85%
BENCH PRESS: 4 sets of 5
Romanian deadlift: 3 sets of 6


Day 2
bike 4 min
mobility 3 min
DEADLIFT: 3 sets of 2 @ 90%
overhead press: 5 sets of 3
farmer's walk: 3 trips


Day 3
bike 4 min
mobility 3 min
BENCH PRESS: 5 sets of 2 @ 85%
SQUAT: 4 sets of 3 @ 80%
rope: 1000 jumps



Week 4

Day 1:
bike 4 min
mobility 3 min
SQUAT: 2 sest of 2 @ 90%, then 3 sets of 1 @ 95% or test new max
BENCH PRESS: 3 sets of 8 light
DB rows: 3 sets of 8


Day 2:
bike 4 min
mobility 3 min
DEADLIFT: 2 sest of 2 @ 90%, then 2 sets of 1 @ 95% or test new max
seated DB press: 3 sets of 8
ab wheel: 3 sets of 10


Day 3:
bike 4 min
mobility 3 min
BENCH PRESS: 2 sest of 2 @ 90%, then 3 sets of 1 @ 95% or test new max
SQUAT: 3 sets of 6
bodyweight lunges: 600








Good luck!

There are great sumo pullers ... and then there is Yuri Belkin

From time to time we have the unique opportunity to watch a great lifter perfom. One out of millions. Ed Coan of powerlifting, Michael Jordan of basketball, Usain Bolt of sprinting.

I believe, today, Yuri Belkin is THE icon when it comes to sumo pulls.

He mastered the most efficient starting position AND execution. 400kg (880lbs) is now a working training weight for him and recently he pulled over 420kg (920+lbs) several times.

Why is he so damn strong? What does he have what the others do not? I believe it is mainly two things: excellent setup and impecable execution.

(of course, he is super strong but that is not the issue we debate here)


Le't break up his setup first.

Super wide stance with toes to plates in order to minimize ROM.
Feet turned out significantly so that he can pull his hips as close to the bar as possible.
Shins vertical both from the front view and side view for direct transfer of power (he creates zero unnecessary leverage).
Torso pretty vertical around 60 degrees to off-load back and load as much as possible to hips and legs.

Now let's check the execution.

Spine as vertical as possible, he loads maximum into hips and legs.
Brings hips to the bar and knees out.
When the bar leaves the ground only couple of inches he already tries to use quads to lock knees as soon as possible and THEN he does the poweful hip hinge with glutes (two-phase sumo pull).


Enjoy:

Amazing, right?