Archives for general (page 10)

The other day I got an e-mail from a reader desperate to find JM Blakley’s XTM bench video. He had even tried reaching JM on the phone to no avail. The thing is, this video is really hard to find. JM’s own site has been down for months now and can only be enjoyed via the Wayback machine. The only place I know of that still stocks the tape is Voimaharjoittelu.net, an online web store owned by Finnish Westside enthusiast Sakari Selkäinaho. It turned out they still had a few copies left in stock, but were now selling them off at a discount of 49 euros. After contacting Sakari, the reader did manage to secure a copy.

According to the discount page, there are still 8 tapes in stock. For some unfathomable reason, the tape only appears on the Finnish version of the discount page. I have no vested interested in this, but thought I’d pass this info on in case somebody wants a copy of this very informative tape from where my current bench program has been ripped (also has great footage of the JM press). In a worst case scenario, this might be the last chance you’ll ever get. And no, I’m not selling my copy.

Another gem from the trenches: Weightlifting - The Forgotten Lifts. This site is all about the correct performance of the weightlifting movements performed by old-time strongmen (aka odd-ball strongmen). I’m not about to incorporate teeth lifting into my routine just yet, but could in all seriousness consider stuff like the 2 Barbell deadlift and the Steinborn lift. In fact, I would also love to learn the Olympic lifts eventually, preferably under the supervision of somebody who knows his snatch. A project for the future no doubt; in the meantime, Tom Gorman’s Olympic lifting section is also well worth a visit. Hopefully diamonds are indeed forever.

There is even an organization that hosts competitions in the odld-balltime spirit, namely USAWA (United States All-Round Weightlifting Association).

Yellow leaves against a clear blue sky. It was a good weekend to prepare our summer cottage for yet another winter. Besides the usual boat and furniture business, it was also time to hibernate Toffe’s Gym. Sprayed some anti-corrosive agent on some of the plates and wrapped everything tight. The gym is not quite in the state I had hoped it would be in at this point since the welder has so far been unable to fit an excursion out to the island into his schedule. My best guess is that the power rack and the bench will be welded sometime in October, when the guy should show up to renovate the windows in our main cottage. If it is then too cold to paint it and concrete it into place remains to be seen. Who knows, maybe I will still give the old barbell a spin in the woods this side of Christmas.

Now that the beginning of the school year feels like old news, the academic year is about to kick into full gear and I’m back lecturing at the University of Helsinki. I’ve taught this particular course, Contemporary Chinese History, two years ago, but somehow the usual work in combination with lecture polishing drove me to skip Wednesday rehab and going light on sleep. The scheme now is to heat up the sauna to a nice 90°C/194°F or so and lay back with a nicely chilled bottle of Finnish Bear beer. Then some stretching and self-administered trigger point massage before tucking in for a nice long sleep in preparation for tomorrow’s floor pressing. Now, do I prepare the exam I’m giving tomorrow before or after this?

A number of new articles have again been posted at EliteFTS.com. I found Jim Wendler’s Teaching the Squat to be an especially valuable article, squat challenged as I am. He breaks the squat down step-by-step in a clear and unambiguous way; a must read. I’ve talked about learning how to correctly spread the legs before and this quest is much aided by this article.

When you are about half way down, begin pushing your knees out and opening up your groin. [..] Now the weight will be shifted to your heels and the sides of your feet. [..] For many people, once they sit back into the squat and open the hips, at this point they can simply squat down. Once your body is in perfect position, opening the hips will allow them to hit parallel without pushing back.

A couple of weeks ago Dave Tate published an article named Under the Bar that talked about how some of the values learned in the gym, such as integrity and a willingness to help others, can carry through to everyday life. This month it is about attitude. It is going to be interesting to see whether these articles will overtake the number one slot in Google from this humble blog. Here’s some google juice to get them started.

I’m both flattered and happy to see Marie’s decision to create a new blog especially dedicated to her powerlifting adventures. Barz-a-Bending is sure to become part of my daily reading fodder. Exciting it is!

Just found Marie Rochat’s blog Forever chasing. This one reads like good fiction, only it isn’t. On May 11, while going through a heavy bodybuilding workout, she is converted to powerlifting by a couple who notices her good build for deadlifts. She learns the intricacies of the lift and begins to train for the WABDL Bench Press and Dead Lift Championships on August 11-12. Incredibly enough, Marie ends up breaking the Oregon state record in the Teen women 16-19 148 lbs/67 kg class with a hefty 319.5 lbs/145 kg deadlift thus qualifying for the WABDL World Championships in November. Forever chasing is not just about training, but I consider that a bonus. A refreshing read indeed and apparently there is more to come.

As announced on the their home page, Westside Barbell Club has started its own blog, Westside Barbell Journal, with the Blogger service. The blog’s first entry, posted today, sounds promising:

Coming soon, Westside Barbell, individual club members will be sharing their training journals.

We await the new dawn… hopefully it comes with a feed.

We have gotten away from doing a lot of ME GM’s [maximum effort good mornings] and are now using them as heavy supplemental work. While GM’s are a great exercise, if you perform them incorrectly then you may get injured and your training will take a giant leap backwards.
Jim Wendler responding to a question over at elitefts.com

There is a bunch of new articles up at EliteFTS.com. I found Aaron DiPrima’s article Floor Press and its Applications particularly interesting. He talks about how he began using the floor press after a pec tear to de-emphasize the reversal at the bottom of the lift (cf. suspended good mornings) and goes on to suggest that anyone could benefit from cutting back on dynamic benching.

I feel the plyometric like speed work in the touch and go style can beat up some lifters, especially those with larger pecs and longer arms. That hard ballistic bench is not a requirement for a big bench press. If you look at some of today’s top Squatters many of them do mainly box squats, which, like the floor press is a dynamic overcoming static state. If Chuck V. and Mike Ruggeria can squat over a grand not doing any ballistic squatting then why is it necessary for us to do this hard reversal on the bench press when the shoulder girdle is not nearly as stable as the hips? [..] I believe someone could develop a good bench press doing minimal bench presses as long as they do some heavy full range rep stuff after their dynamic effort and once a month on max effort.

The interview with Chuck Vogelpohl was also a great read. His thoughts on who should be using bands gave me new zeal in resisting looping my bands around a barbell sleeve.

At least be at master level of the sport and your technique needs to be dead on. Get the most out of just using bar weight and milk it; you should be able to hit some big numbers with them and chains. The bands won’t make you squat big; check between your legs before you change anything. It takes more than a band to make you squat.

A great place to be if you want to get notified about new articles is the EliteFTS.com mailing list. Of course, there will also be frequent e-mails about specials and new products, which might be annoying if you’re not a frequent customer like some of us.