Back workout of the week (BWOW) – Competition Training Kickoff
Posted: April 1, 2012 Filed under: 30 - Back Workout of the Week! | Tags: Back Strength, Back Training, ILS, Lats, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Strength Leave a comment »This week’s back workout captures the commencement of my training for the 2011 USA Powerlifting Masters National Championships. As I’ve stated in earlier editions a strong back is key to your big lifts, particularly those executed in a powerlifting competition – the squat, bench press, and deadlift. Because of this, week one will be a fairly intense workout, although it may not take you to the level of the last workout (smokededness).
BWOW – Week 4:
Goal: Medium Intensity and Volume/Horizontal Pulling
Barbell Row/Dumbbell Row Supersets
- Warm up to your working set with barbell rows
- 4 super sets/8 repetitions on barbell rows/rep to failure on dumbbell rows
- Superset barbell rows and dumbbell rows – perform a set of barbell rows, then supported dumbbell rows no rest period between them
- On each set, alternate which arm you start with for your dumbbell rows
- For your barbell rows, select a weight that you can perform 8 reps without cheating (ie swinging upper body to use momentum to complete the repletion); you should be within 2-3 reps of failure at the end of the set
- Select dumbbells that you can complete 8 reps with when performing dumbbell rows separately; perform your dumbbell rows to failure
- Use wrist wraps if necessary to hold the bar and dumbbells
- Rest 3-5 minutes between sets so that you are fully recovered
Cable Rows
- 3 sets/12 repetitions per set
- You should be within 1 rep of failure at the end of each set
- Minimize cheating, use little or upper body momentum to complete your reps
- Squeeze your lats hard and pause for a moment at the top of the movement
- Rest around 3 minutes between sets so that you are mostly recovered
Upright Rows
- 3 sets/10 repetitions per set
- You should be within 2-3 reps of failure at the end of each set
- If you train your shoulders in a separate workout, you may eliminate this exercise
- Rest around 3 minutes between sets so that you are mostly recovered
Pull-ups
- 3 sets/6 reps
- Perform each set to failure; use spotter assistance or an assisted pull-up machine if you cannot complete 6 reps
- If you can complete more than 8 reps, complete them with extra weight
Biceps are important to powerlifting as a stabilizer muscle. It helps you to control the weight at your chest during the bench press. For this reason, this week I have two bicep exercises.
Preacher Curls
- 3 sets/8reps per set
- Use of the preacher curl should isolate the bicep completely
- Select a weight that you are within one rep of failure at the end of each set
Standing Hammer Curls
- 3 sets/8 reps per set
- Select a weight that you are within 1 reps of failure at the end of each set
- Minimize movement of the upper body to cheat during the exercise
Coming Attraction: Next week we continue competition training for the USA Powerlifting Masters National Championships.
Free download of this workout:
Back Workout of the Week BWOW4 – Competition Training Week 1
If you want to start at the beginning, you can check out Back Workout of the Week #1 – BWOW1
Back workout of the week (BWOW) – Vertical Pulling Smokdedness
Posted: March 7, 2012 Filed under: 30 - Back Workout of the Week! | Tags: Back Strength, Back Training, Barbell Rows, ILS, Lats, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Rows, Strength 4 Comments »
I received this text from a friend last week: “Yo Ken, I was wondering if you could send me an insane back workout plan for today. I want to hit it hella hard on my back, and you’re the man to talk to about it”.
Of course I can, and did, send him an insane back workout plan. I thought that you would love to share his pain, and that it was perfect for this week’s back workout of the week. Also it is right in line with our training schedule. This week we are going to shift from a basic strength building workout that focuses on horizontal rowing, to a high intensity workout that emphasizes vertical pulling. That being said, you can blame Jordan for your smokdedness at the end of this one!
BWOW – Week 3:
Goal: High Intensity/Vertical Pulls
Pull-up / Lat Pulldown Supersets
- Warm up using lat pulldowns
- Superset Pull-ups and Lat Pulldowns – perform your pull-up set, then lat pulldowns with no break between them
- Perform at least 6 pull-ups – use spotter assistance, or an assisted pull-up machine if you cannot complete 6 unassisted pull-ups; if you can do more than 6 pullups, perform weighted pull-ups
- Select a weight that you can perform 12 reps of lat pulldowns without cheating (ie swinging backwards as you pull the weight down); be aware that these will be much more difficult after pull-ups; you should be within 1 rep of failure at the end of each set
- Rest 3-5 minutes between sets so that you are fully recovered
- 3 sets/8 repetitions per set
- You should be within 1 rep of failure at the end of each set
- Minimize cheating, use as little upper body momentum as possible; if you cannot complete the sets without cheating reduce your weight
- Use wrist straps if necessary to hold the bar
- Rest around 3 minutes between sets so that you are mostly recovered
Barbell Rows – Drop Set
- 1 drop set/3 rounds
- Select a weight you can complete about 6 reps without excessive cheating
- Complete your first round to failure, reduce the weight, and keep rowing with no rest, repeat for your third round
- Set up your bar so your drops are quick:
- If your first round is in the 185-300lb range, drop a 25lb plate from each side per round
- If your first round is under 185lbs, drop a 10lb plate from each side per round
- Use a spotter on each side to remove the plates quickly between rounds
- If you’re using wrist straps, don’t unwrap them between rounds
- Each set of dumbbell rows will be to failure, and weight should increase for each set; select the appropriate weights for the following sets:
- Set 1: 15 reps
- Set 2: 10 reps
- Set 3: 8 reps
- Minimize cheating, use of momentum to complete your reps
- Use wrist straps if necessary to hold dumbbells
- Rest around 3 minutes between sets so that you’re mostly recovered
- Note: if the dumbbells in your gym aren’t heavy enough, I have discovered that you can use chains with dumbbell rows!
Hammer Strength Rows
- 3 sets/12 reps per set
- Select a weight that you are within one rep of failure at the end of each set
- I like the way you can really squeeze the lats at the end of the rep on the hammer strength; squeeze them tightly and pause for a moment on each rep before lowering the weight
- Your lats and biceps should be burning at the end of each set
- Rest around 3 minutes per set so that you are mostly recovered
- If your gym has multiple rowing machines that function at different angles, use a different machine for each set
- If you don’t have hammer strength at your gym, you can substitute a different rowing machine
- Finally, if your back and biceps are not completely smoked at this point, perform a drop set for your last set of Hammer Strength rows – this is done just like the barbell row drop set you just did
- 3 sets/10 reps per set
- Select a weight that you are within 2-3 reps of failure at the end of each set – note that at this point in the workout, that weight should be embarrassingly small
- Minimize cheating – bicep curls are meant to isolate your biceps, don’t turn them into an entire upper body workout
- Don’t curl in the squat rack!!!
Seated Hammer Curls
- 3 sets/10 reps per set
- Select a weight that you are within 2-3 reps of failure at the end of each set
For a printable copy of this workout: Back Workout of the Week BWOW-3
Coming Attraction: Next week is my first week in training for the USA Powerlifting Masters National Championships. The next eight weeks of back training will be built around my training cycle for that competition.
Note: I do reserve the right to make up words, such as smokdedness as dictated by the situation.
If you want to start at the beginning, you can check out Back Workout of the Week #1 – BWOW1
Back Workout of the Week (BWOW): Week 1 – Building the Strength Base
Posted: February 10, 2012 Filed under: 00 - Lifting Tips, 30 - Back Workout of the Week!, 90 - Brute Force | Tags: Back Strength, Back Training, ILS, Lats, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Strength 3 Comments »
Why is strengthening my back important? To the less educated, a big upper body means large pecs and (unfortunately) large biceps. In fact, your back consists of a larger group of muscles than your chest, and quite frankly it is a massive back that lets you blot out the sun as you step through a doorway.
But that’s not why we emphasize the back at Brute Force. If you read What Is Brute Force, you recall that rule #2 is to follow a balanced training program. Your back (pulling exercises) needs to balance out your pecs (pushing exercises). More importantly a strong back results in bigger lifts.
Bench Press: Your lats are the foundation you press from. Build strong lats and you’ll feel like you’re pressing off a granite table.
Squat: A strong back will help prevent you from crumpling when you hit the hole with a massive load on your back. Although a leg exercise, where does the bar rest during the squat? On your back!
Deadlift: Your back anchors the weight and is the transition point between the weight hanging from your arms and your power base driving down through the floor.
Brute Force approach to back training:
As with other Brute Force workouts, working your back is meant to be simple and straightforward. Focus is on the horizontal/transverse plane, and emphasis is on your basic compound lifts (again, rule #2) – lots of rows. This workout is intended to maximize the carryover to your bench press.
BWOW – Week 1:
Goal: Building a Strength Base – move as much weight as you can with good form
- Warm up to your working sets
- 5 sets/4 repetitions per set
- Select a weight where you are using nearly maximum effort to complete your reps, additional reps would require cheating
- Minimize cheating – avoid using upper body momentum to complete your reps
- Use wrist straps if necessary to hold the bar
- Rest between sets should be sufficient to fully recover (3-5 minutes); emphasis is on building strength, not conditioning
- 3 sets/6 reps per set
- Select a weight where you are using maximum effort to complete the set, you should be unable to complete more than the specified reps
- Use wrist straps if necessary to hold the dumbbells
- Rest between sets should be sufficient to fully recover
Cable Rows:
- 3 sets/6 reps per set
- Select a weight where you are using maximum effort to complete the set
- Minimize cheating – rocking back using momentum to complete the reps
- Squeeze the weight tightly with your back at the top for a moment before lowering it between reps
- Rest between sets should be sufficient to fully recover
- 3 sets to failure; use spotter assistance or an assisted pull-up machine if you cannot complete 6 reps
- Pull-ups should be extremely challenging after smoking your back and biceps with 11 sets of rows at a high intensity
- If you can still complete more than 8 reps, either you are a hero, or you didn’t push yourself hard enough on your rows; in either case do your pull-ups with extra weight
Hammer Curls:
- 3 sets/10 reps per set
- As with pull-ups, you will have to drop the weight from your normal bicep workout, your biceps should be spent by now
- Hammer curls are meant to work your biceps – don’t use your whole body to complete the reps; if you can’t do the work with your biceps drop the weight
Brute Force Strength Training Review – The Deadlift
Posted: January 27, 2012 Filed under: 00 - Lifting Tips, 03 - Deadlift Tips, 95 - Brute Force Lifting Reviews | Tags: Deadlift Strength, Deadlift Technique, Deadlifts, Leg Strength, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Strength Leave a comment »A friend of mine mentioned he’d taken a video of his deadlift, and was wondering how tight his form was. Although on a scale from CRAPPY to GREAT, the lift was between NOT BAD and OK, I passed on a few pointers that I thought might bump him up to GOOD. Since even OK is better than 90% of the deadlifters you see in the gym, I asked if I could share these insights with all of you.
JO: Nah, go ahead. Since it’s not TOTALLY bad [I did mention it was almost OK didn’t I?], I don’t mind, send me a link to blog.
JO Deadlift Video
ME: Ok, it actually doesn’t look bad [NOT BAD], your starting position is really good, your back is flat, and your hips are down right where they should be to start. I do have a few comments:
On the setup for your first rep, you camp out at the bottom before lifting. This is bad for a couple reasons. First of all the deadlift can be downright intimidating. If you take enough time to think about it, it will talk you out of the lift, particularly as the bar gets heavier. Don’t mess around with your deadlift. Get setup and pull (grip and rip). Secondly, you don’t have an eccentric component to the (first rep) of a deadlift. Use your setup as an eccentric, tightening your glutes and hams as you drop into position. To keep from loosening up once your hips drop in, start the pull as soon as you hit the bottom.
It’s somewhat hard to tell from the angle of the video, but it looks like your feet are too wide for a conventional deadlift, yet too narrow for sumo. If you’re pulling conventional, your feet should be inside hip width, and your hands at shoulder width, so your hands will never drag across your thighs. If you’re lifting sumo, go as wide as you can with your feet. I usually have my shins right at the rings on the bar (assuming it is a standard power bar). Your hands are also at shoulder width, inside your legs, they only should drag across your legs at the hip. Notice that regardless of the style, your arms should hang straight down to the bar and minimize contact with your legs. In the video it looks like your hands slide up your legs all the way from the floor to lock out – the worst possible scenario.
JO: I had a couple powerlifters taking the video and they were saying I need to get back on my heels a bit and something about using my hams more as I get past my knees.
ME: I’ve never heard it put quite like that (using my hams more as I get past my knees), but I can sort of see what they are talking about. Once the bar crosses your knees, it appears like you’re using all lower back to finish off the lift. You are starting out the lift OK to GOOD (hips don’t come up ahead of the bar), so after the bar passes the knees, try to think ‘hip thrust’. Drive the hips forward instead of pulling back with the lower back. You’ll get a lot more drive out of your hamstrings, and even more out of your glutes to finish it off.
Good mornings might be a great supplemental exercise to help you with this. When I do good mornings, it’s not just bending down at the waist and pulling back up with my lower back. I start by moving my hips straight back, and the bar descends as I do. On the way back up, I start the lift by pulling with my hamstrings and finish it by driving my hips forward powerfully – it’s a great supplemental exercise for developing a bigger pull.
JO: My hands are wide and perhaps my stance is too. But I don’t THINK my hands touch my legs at all, due to the wide grip.
ME: From the video it looked like your hands were right at your shins, albeit maybe right outside. I don’t know if you saw it, but here’s a blog post that touches on hand position during the deadlift: http://bruteforcestrength.com/2011/12/from-the-refs-chair-the-deadlift/
As far as ‘back on the heels’, what I focus more on is ‘rocking back’ as I set up until my shoulders are at or behind the bar. In this lift you are in that position, but the bar is a bit too far forward before you start, and your knees end up in front of the bar once you are set up. Try bringing the bar back to where it’s over the center of your feet (probably an inch from your shins), then sit in/rock back until your shoulders are behind the bar – then you have no choice but to be over your heels.
I have one final comment. Notice how you squat down to the bar to set up and between each rep. This is the most common way of setting up for a deadlift, but I prefer a different approach. Instead of squatting to the bar, I bend at the waist to grab the bar. Once I have the bar, I tighten my upper back and pull the slack out between my body and the bar. I’m then completely tight and rock back, bringing my hips down and chest up, keeping tension on the bar. As my hips hit depth I PULL! This approach has a couple of advantages:
- When squatting down to the bar, most lifters I watch loosen their upper back and arms. When rocking backward into the setup you keep tension on the bar and don’t loosen up your upper back
- If you deadlift as shown in the video, I will guarantee that the second and subsequent reps are much easier than the first. This goes back to the fact that your first rep has no eccentric component. As a competitive powerlifter, I only have one rep in competition, so I try to treat every rep as the first one, creating an eccentric in the setup motion.
Hope this helps!
JO: Glad to know you didn’t laugh (or weep).
And I hope this review can help all of you move farther up the CRAPPY–GREAT scale. If you have a lift you’d like me to review as well, feel free to contact me at ken.gack@bruteforcestrength.com.
For more information on deadlift technique:
Leg Training – Brute Force Style
Posted: January 21, 2012 Filed under: 01 - Squat Tips, 90 - Brute Force | Tags: Leg Strength, Leg Training, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Strength Leave a comment »
I was at the gym a while back, and a guy there was asking me questions about bench pressing. I had questions of my own – so naturally the subject of leg workouts came up. ‘I don’t squat because of my knees and back’, he says. I’m obligated to ask… ‘What’s wrong with your knees and back?’ ‘Nothing,’ he replies, ‘my uncle, who’s a powerlifting bodybuilder said squats are bad for them’.
How do you argue with a powerlifting bodybuilder uncle? Now I’m not going to tell you why you need to work your legs, which, for the record consist of over 50% of the total muscle mass in your body. If you’re happy covering your sticks up in your sweats, while casually distracting onlookers with the biceps you shower with hours of bicep curl attention, then this article is not for you.
If, however, you’d like to wear a pair of shorts occasionally, then let’s do this right!
- Balance: Too many leg workouts are actually quad workouts thinly disguised with the token leg curl exercise thrown in at the end. An effective leg training plan balances your quad training with your posterior chain work.
- Emphasize Compound Exercises: Particularly for novices, the majority of your leg training (70-80%) should consist of compound lifts*.
*A compound lift is an exercise that uses multiple muscle groups to complete the work, as opposed to isolation lifts which isolate an individual muscle (example: the squat is a compound exercise that works the entire lower body strenuously, whereas leg curls isolate the hamstrings).
- Focus on Technique: Performing your exercise with proper technique minimizes your risk of injury, and maximizes the effectiveness of the exercise.
Putting it all Together
An effective leg training program doesn’t have to be complicated. Three ‘simple’ exercises will leave you hobbling out of the gym feeling completely wasted – that is the goal, right?
- Squat: Performed properly, squats anchor an effective leg workout. A proper set of squats hammers every muscle in your lower body, taxes your core, and strains your central nervous system. To do them right, you need to take them all the way into the hole. Above parallel, the squat over-emphasizes your quads. You need to drop your hips below parallel to get maximum activation of your glutes.
Squatting at the IPF World Championships
- Leg Press: Leg presses let you push some serious weight to isolate the lower body muscles you’ve already exhausted under the squat bar. When done right, your quads will be on fire at the end of each set. If they’re not on fire, keep on repping. As with the squats, leg presses need to be completed with the full range of motion – bring that platform down until your knees are pressing into your chest.
- Stiff-Leg Deadlift: Stiff-leg deadlifts, or romanian deadlifts are, in my humble but correct opinion, the best exercise there is for your posterior chain. They will help you build powerful glutes and hamstrings. To hit the hamstrings hard, keep your knees completely straight and slowly stretch down as far as possible before snapping it back up powerfully.
If you still feel the need to hit the machines to isolate your quads or hamstrings after the big three, it’s likely you’re doing something wrong…
Exercise Technique: Here are some simple pointers to make sure you’re performing these key lifts properly:
Adding Box Squats to your Strength Training
Posted: January 6, 2012 Filed under: 00 - Lifting Tips, 01 - Squat Tips | Tags: Box Squat Technique, Box Squats, Leg Strength, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Squat Technique, Squats, Strength Leave a comment »
I was at the gym yesterday and watched a kid doing box squats. For the box, although the gym has a full set of plyo boxes, he was using a flat bench and doing touch and goes. Now unless you’re about seven feet tall, a bench is likely too high for box squats. In this case, his squats ended about three inches above parallel when he hit the bench.
There are actually several reasons to add box squats to your strength training, and your technique will differ slightly for each. When considering whether to use box squats in your training routine, you need to understand the purpose, and select the right technique.
- Learning to squat: If you’ve never squatted before, performing box squats can help you get comfortable sitting into your squat. To squat properly, you need to learn to sit into it just like you would sit into a chair. Using a box can give you a sense of security as you learn to sit back into the squat. When using the box squat to learn squat technique you should use little or no weight, and concentrate on controlling your descent so you land on the box lightly. Come to a full rest on the box before standing back up. Once you’re comfortable sitting into your squat you can move on to normal squats and work on loading up the bar.
- Touch and Go: The touch and go is used to help ‘find depth’. This form of box squats helps you find proper squat depth (thigh is below parallel). You do not come to full rest on the box when performing touch and goes. Descend until you feel the box then immediately drive back up. Once your comfortable hitting depth remove the box perform normal squats.
- Full Box Squats: Full box squats are a tool that can help build explosive power out of the bottom. When performing full box squats, descend until you come to a full rest on the box then drive explosively up off the box. Avoid leaning forward to begin the ascent as this can reduce the emphasis on your glutes and hams. As opposed to touch and goes full box squats can be used at any time as an alternative to normal squats. They are a great training tool to create strength at the bottom of your squat and build explosiveness out of the hole.
General Tips for Box Squats:
- Use a box that is the right height for appropriate squat depth. Do you really need a box to tell you your squats are high? I’ll help with that: “your squats are high”. Now suck it up and drop your squats into the hole.
- Never anticipate the box. Don’t squat to sit onto the box. Keep descending with proper squat technique until you hit the box then drive back up. If you are slightly surprised by hitting the box then you’re doing it right.
- Land lightly on the box. Descend in a controlled manner and land lightly on the box. Plopping down hard on the box with a loaded bar on your back is a sure way to end your lifting career.
- Unless you’re doing full box squats, once your squatting issue is resolved, move on to regular squats.
If you’re using the box squat because it’s in the latest edition of the Spartacus Leg Mauling training program, step back and assess why you’re using the box. If it’s a fit with your training goals, select the appropriate method and a box that will drop you into the hole.
Deadlift Rack Pulls
Posted: September 18, 2011 Filed under: 03 - Deadlift Tips | Tags: beginner, Deadlift Technique, Deadlifts, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Rack Pull Technique, Rack Pulls, Strength 1 Comment »Deadlift rack pulls, also called deadlift lockouts, can help you build significant lower back strength, and drive power into your squats and deadlifts.
Exercise Purpose
- Deadlift rack pulls help you train the finishing movement for your deadlift.
- They allow you to pull a significantly higher weight to lockout than you would use for your full range of motion deadlifts. Rack pulls can build significant lower back strength.
- By lifting heavier weight, they train your body and central nervous system to recruit more muscle fibers for the lift.
- To a lesser degree, rack pulls also work your gluteus maximus (glutes) and hamstrings.
For the general strength trainers, lockouts are also a useful lower back compound exercise. By starting the lift just below the knees, rack pulls eliminate much of the leg drive from a full range of motion deadlift. This allows this exercise to focus the work directly on your lower back.
If you’d like to learn how to perform rack pulls correctly, check out this article on the exercise technique: Deadlift Rack Pulls