Some More Deadlift Technique

Here is a quick video from Smitty over at http://www.dieselcrew.com This is a great video and will teach you a lot. Enjoy and don't forget to answer the questions in the post before at http://www.samsonstrengthconditioning.com/2009/11/questions.html

Questions

Just wanted to get some readers feedback. I always enjoy hearing what the people have to say about training subjects. Just anwser the questions in the comments section. Thanks for the help guys.

What exercises set/reps are the best to build explosive strength?
How many days a week do you train them?

P.S. Working on some killer post that will be up soon. Stay Strong.

Client Transformation

As you know from reading this blog I have a client who does triathlons and he just completed a 1/2 Ironman over the weekend. He has worked extremely hard and has never missed a workout. We design his running, swimming, biking and lifting program based on heart rate training. This has been an extremely effective way to train him because he used to just run, bike, and swim as hard as he could with no real plan in mind. This is a common occurrence, to want to train all out everyday because you think it is right. Now that he is training smarter and not harder he has knocked off 8 mins in his sprint tri's in just 3 months of training. Did I also mention he was dieting the whole time. I just wanted to say congrats to him and his brother for competing the 1/2 Ironman. Here is a picture of him before he started training and one he took this weekend. This is roughly a three month transformation.

Tony Montgomery

Here is my video, I learned a lot from my second show and will come out bigger and better for the next one.

Justin Poma

Here is Justin Poma in his first show.

Signature Fitness Strongman Contest

First off I would like to say congrats to all the winners at the show and to my training partner Justin Poma for placing fourth in the novice division. Now onto the show, I got there at 9:30 for weigh-ins and tip the scale at 215, which is about right. They went over the rules at 10:30, but that did not matter because they changed everything as the day went on. Initially it started out with 6 events but we only finished with five. I hope you can see where this is going. Before I get started with the breakdown of the show I want to say that the three guys that beat me would have done so regardless, so hats off to them and to Dave Beers who won the LW open division. Now to the events;

1. Log C&P for reps- One clean and then rep as many times as possible in 60 seconds. The weight was 220lbs with a Slaters true log. The clean was easy and smooth and then the presses felt good. In training I usually get 6-7 reps, here I managed to get 9 or 10 but only 8 were counted. This put me in 5th place, so not a good start for me.

2. Deadlift Medley- We had a trap bar with 515 for three reps, than a fat bar with 465 for three reps, and ended with a barbell with 565 for reps until time ran out, we had 75secs. First lift was good, felt a little heavy, but pushed them out. The fat bar went really easy so I decided to go into the barbell without resting a second and got it to my knees and than just ran out of gas. I gave it a few more tries and could not get it past my knees. 565 is my max deadlift so I was hoping to hit one or two, but I did not wait to catch my breath and regroup. I got 4th in this event.

This is where the problems arise the tire flip sled pull was a disaster. First they did not test the sled and when it came down to it no one could push it, so they changed it to a pull. The tire was supposed to be 600 but instead they did not feel like moving the tires so we got to flip and pull the same as the heavies. It ended up being a 750 tire flip for 75' not 50' and a sled pull fro 75'. This also took roughly three hours to finish.

3. 750 Tire Flip/ Sled Pull-It was about an hour and half after my deadlifts that this actually started, which is not good. Regardless of the situation this is not my best event by far and realized that after this attempt. I ended up flipping the tire one flip before the finish and my legs were fried. I need a lot of work at this event and I will practice it religiously from here on out. I placed 6th in this event.

4. Farmers Walk- An hour to two later and thirty lbs heavier we were off. This was initially supposed to be one straight shot because they deemed it too dangerous to go down the incline. When push came to shove they decided it would be easier to not have too continue to reset the farmers then to worry about safety. It was up an incline and then down. No clue how many feet because that changed about four times. I finished it in 30:35 secs; this was good enough for 5th.

5. Stone for Reps 250lbs stone for reps over some height on a yoke bar. The show started at 11:00 it was now 5:30. I got it 7 times and was ready to go home. This effort was good for 4th. I finished the show in fifth. Not the best showing but I learned a lot about what I need to work on and will perform better at the next show.

I was not making excuses for why I lost; I lost to guys who were just better than me on that day. I am just trying to show you how the show was a cluster and it really killed the energy from everyone. I will post a video of the competition for myself and for my training partner Justin. Thanks to BSN for supporting us and thanks to my family for all the help and support.

Here we go Again

I am about to head up to Orlando for the big show tomorrow. There will be two competitors competing from Samson S&C and we look forward to having a good show. We will Post videos and pictures of the day and will have a full meet write up for you. Also we have two more athletes competing in the Miami Man on Sunday. They will be doing their first 1/2 Ironman and we wish them all the best on Sunday. Since I will be gone all weekend I will leave you a video of my first contest to check out.

Top 7 Exercises to Increase your Bench

1. Bench Press- This may suprise some people but the best way to build a big bench is to actually do it. You will want to change up rep schemes and sets, but the more time you spend on the bench the better your technique will become because you are always tweaking it to find what is best for you.

2. Military Press- In order to increase your numbers you have to have strong and big shoulders. You want to do strict presses not "push" or "jerk". This exercise needs to be done in the 8-15 rep range and should be performed after your main lift.

3. Pull Ups- A big and strong back is essential for a big bench. Believe it or not you use your back in the bench press. Having strong lats will propel your bench because your lats are essentially what lowers the weight to your chest. Control it down with your lats and explode up with your triceps.

4. Triceps Death- This is a great way to increase your hypertrophy in your triceps. Here is a video of one of our athletes performing this exercise.


5. Speed Bench- Using submaximal weight on the bench with accomadated resistance and lifting it as fast as possible will get you past your sticking point off your chest. Here is a video of speed bench with mini bands.


6. Board Presses- By utilizing a board when bench you will be able to target those sticking points 3" to lockout. Your will be able to overload your triceps with more weight then normal because you will have decreased your range of motion. This will build immence lockout strength.

7. Cambered Bar Bench- To increase your bench you have to hit all ranges of motion. After doing limited range of motion with board presses you must incorporate extra range of motion. This will help you with overcoming your sticking point off your chest were so many people get stuck. With speed bench and now cambered bench you will have no problems breaking through your plateaus.