Heavy Lessons

Those who know me from my seminars or my writings know that I'm a huge proponent of the Olympic lifts.

Sure, I've written about the power lifts, and have coached several powerlifters, but I've never competed in the discipline – until this past April 1st, that is. This article is a summary of my experience, and what I learned from it.

Just to set the stage, back in August of last year, I re-injured my left elbow trying to improve my jerk technique. I had (for unknown reasons) developed some calcification in that elbow, which had gradually reduced both my full flexion and extension in that joint.

So I found myself at a crossroads – I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to clean and jerk again, and at the same time had grown disappointed by my limited progress in the "O lifts" in recent months.

I needed a change, a new challenge.

In September, my friend and client Gene Lawrence (a world champion powerlifter in the master's division) told me about an upcoming raw powerlifting meet: the 100% Raw! Federation's Southwest Regional Championships in Prescott Arizona, which would be held on April 1st, 2012.

I had about six months to prepare, and the competition was only a few hours away from my home, so after some deliberation I decided to enter.

Before I share some of the important lessons I learned from training for and competing in my first powerlifting meet, I'd first like to tell you why it took me so long to finally "pull the trigger" on this adventure.

• I had (and still have) an enormous amount of passion for the sport of weightlifting. I worried that dividing my attentions would hamper my efforts in that sport. Nothing could be further from the truth, as I'll share with you shortly.
• I felt I wasn't strong enough to avoid complete embarrassment in the powerlifting world. Although I'd deadlifted 500 pounds a few years earlier, my lifetime best squat was about 365 pounds. Furthermore, while I had done a sloppy "touch and go" 300-pound bench press in my mid-thirties, at age 52, I hadn't done any form of bench press in years due to shoulder issues. In fact, on the day I sent in my entry form, I probably wasn't capable of a legal (paused) 200-pound bench.
• I wasn't sure I was capable of performing "legal lifts" in powerlifting. First, after several serious knee surgeries, I have very limited flexion in my right knee. I knew I could squat "close" to parallel, but different federations have different depth requirements, and I wasn't certain that I could train at or compete with proper depth in the squat.

Second, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to bench press intensely and consistently enough to prepare for competition due to the aforementioned shoulder problems. In the past, any time I got more than 5-6 workouts into a bench press program, my shoulder would flare up and eventually stop me in my tracks.

Initial Training Approach: Linear Progression

After a short layoff from my usual training in weightlifting, I started my preparation on Wednesday, September 28, 2011 – almost 6 months to the day from the competition. (I started documenting my training right here at T Nation on October 31st, for those of you who might like to reference my training journal).

My initial training approach involved bench pressing and squatting on Mondays and Fridays, and deadlifts every other Wednesday, using a simple "linear progression" approach popularized by Mark Rippetoe here for the bench and squat. I'd work up to a challenging set of 5 on day one, and then 3x5 (with slightly less weight) on the second weekly workout, starting off with very light loads.

On deadlifts, I worked up to a single work set of 5 reps per session (again starting very light). I planned a progression of 5 pounds/session for the bench and squat, and 10 pounds/session on pulls.

Here's what my initial training week looked like:

Monday

• Power Clean
• Squat 1x5
• Bench Press 3x5

Wednesday

• Snatch variant
• Deadlifts
• Chin-Ups

Friday

• Power Clean
• Squat 3x5
• Bench Press 1x5
• Dumbbell Curl

Notes

• For squat and bench, I paired a 1x5 lift with a 3x5 lift, rather than doing 3x5 for both lifts on the same day. This was for the purpose of evenly distributing workloads.
• I haven't listed loading parameters for the Olympic lifts, chins, and curls. That's because I purposely made these decisions intuitively, based on what felt good at the moment. If I felt great on a particular day, I'd try for something big. If not, I didn't stress about it.
• I allowed for occasional variety when it came to the non-competition lifts. The Big 3 lifts, however, were set in stone. I think that training programs should have a "compulsory" as well as an "optional" category, meaning that you should be able to discern between tasks that are central to your goal versus drills that are less critical to your core mission. Therefore, you'll see that I eventually dropped curls, skipped chins, and so on. Great programs are characterized by a "flexible structure."
• While it may seem excessive to squat twice a week while deadlifting during the same week, keep in mind that volume on Mondays and Wednesdays was fairly low (1x5 for each).
• Some readers may notice the complete lack of a general/dynamic warm-up, foam rolling, stretching, and so forth. Personally, I've never experienced much benefit in any of these activities, and decided to finally listen to my inner voice on these issues. That said, if you feel you benefit from any of them, certainly use them.

My plan was to run this progression until I hit a wall (which I knew was inevitable), and then devise a new strategy when that happened.

For quick reference, my first 1x5 workouts featured the following loads:

• Bench press: 170 x 5
• Squat: 225 x 5
• Deadlift: 340 x 5

That should give a sense of how light I started off, although these opening workouts weren't especially easy. I was both embarrassed and nervous on the bench press in particular, given my shoulder history.

That said, I had no pain on those initial workouts, nor did I experience any significant pain or injury during this six-month training period. The only injury I suffered was a moderately-tweaked low back on a 185-pound squat early in the cycle, and a period of 3-4 weeks where I was experiencing moderate left pec discomfort on bench presses. That's it.

Never before have I experienced a pain/injury-free six months of training, and I sure wasn't expecting it to occur at age 52.

Reaching A Plateau On Linear Progression

Right around mid-February, I could sense that my linear progression honeymoon period was coming to an end. It was taking all I had to continue making my 5-10 pound jumps, and an additional concern was that April 1st was coming up fast, and 5's seemed a bit non-specific for hitting big singles in competition.

I had benched 225 x 4 (missed the planned 5th rep) squatted 300 x 5, and pulled 363 x 5, but by this time my discipline had already eroded. I was already "experimenting" (or "pussing out" to be more forthright) by either taking heavy singles, or sometimes going more than 5 reps. Basically I was just sick of 5's. I needed a new approach before I started losing my discipline altogether.

Enter Chad Waterbury

I've known and respected Chad Waterbury for years and asked him if he'd help my with "last minute" peaking strategies. Chad looked at my training journal and told me that in his discussions with people like Franco Columbo and Pavel Tsatsouline, he'd developed a strong affection for a "Medium – Heavy – Medium – Maximum" type of progression.

Medium days were 3 x 3, heavy days were 3 x 2, and maximum days were mock competitions essentially, a chance to evaluate your progress. In terms of progression, each type of workout, when repeated, should be done with slightly more weight.

I immediately implemented Chad's suggestions, and after about 10 days could feel a renewal, physically and psychologically. My numbers started moving dramatically – before I knew it I was hitting 380 on the squat, 465 on the deadlift, and 255 on the bench, and I felt less drained at the same time. I was peaking. Things were coming together.

In my last month of training, I managed to chalk up a 403 squat, a 255 bench, and a 475 deadlift (see the videos below). I simply wanted to hit these numbers (or slightly more if possible) during official competition, when the pressure was on, without getting hurt. I felt ready go, but I had a lot of unknowns ahead of me...

So How'd I Do?

In terms of expectations, I only had a few:

I really wanted a 400 squat and a 500 deadlift, and I didn't want to get hurt in the process. I had no idea what to expect on the bench. But I felt I had to be ready for anything, given that this was my first experience in the sport, and also considering that the warm-up room was scantily equipped and crowded.

I had to be prepared for a rushed and/or incomplete warm-up. I had to be ready for the possibility that my squats might not be deep enough, or that I might not be prepared for the various technical rules I'd face on the bench, including the pause, keeping the feet motionless, and so on. I'd trained for all of this, but you never know exactly what you're up against until it actually happens.

Here's an event-by event breakdown of my meet:

Squat

My last warm-up was with 315, which I had to take from a very low position due to the much shorter guys who were sharing the rack with me. Nonetheless, it felt fine and I was confident overall.

I opened with 340, which felt about as heavy as I expected, and much to my relief I got three white lights – my depth was legal.

My second attempt was with 369, and now that I knew my depth would pass muster, I felt energized and confident. I probably could've hit it for a triple if I'd needed to. Three whites.

I went to the administrators' table and asked for 402, one pound less than my PR in training, but I didn't want to get greedy. I would've been super happy to hit 400, but had I tried, say, 415 and missed, I'd be in a bad mood for the rest of the meet.

402 was heavy and slow. I struggled out of the hole, and waited for what felt like an eternity for the head judge to signal me back to the rack. I think my spotters and I got the bar back on the stands about a second before I nearly passed out from pressurizing against that load. Three whites! I was off to a great start – 3 for 3, no red lights.

You can see my 402 attempt below:

Bench Press

My last warm-up backstage was with 205, and it felt uneventful. My first attempt was 225 pounds – a weight I'd hit for 4 reps in training. I smoked it easily for three whites.

Second attempt: 245. This went up okay, but not as well as I'd expected. Somehow my placement on the bench was off – I reasoned that

I needed to be closer to the uprights for my final attempt. Due to the difficulty of this attempt, and also because I was 5 for 5 at this point, I asked for 253 for my final attempt – 2 pounds less than my training PR.

As I positioned myself on the bench, I remembered the positioning error I wanted to correct, and moved a bit closer to the uprights. Two fifty three went up with ease – the adjustment paid off better than I'd anticipated. On the bench, I again went 3 for 3, and no red lights. My only small regret is that I was probably good for 260, which would've been a new PR. That's what the next meet is for I guess.

You can see my 253 attempt below:

Deadlift

By this point in the day I was pretty wiped out, and my low back and hamstrings were toasted from the heavy squats. One of the unknowns I knew I'd be facing today was that I'd never maxed out my squat and deadlift on the same day.

There was a war going on in my head: a struggle between wanting to play it safe and hit 500, and the desire to get a new PR, say 510 or so. At this point I'd gone 6 for 6 with no red lights, so I decided to commit to a "perfect meet" – going 9 for 9, no red lights, and at least meeting (if not exceeding) training PR's.

My last warm-up in back was with 405. It was clear that I could've hit at least 5 reps with that, so I felt ready for my 440 opener. After I set that down, I was warned by the head judge to lower the bar with more control, which took me by surprise, but nonetheless, I earned three whites for my effort, and asked for 469 for my second attempt, which I handled successfully. The trick of course, is to optimally bridge the gap between my second attempt and my goal for my final lift, which was 501.

Walking out to that 501-pound barbell, I had confidence that I'd already hit that weight before in the past, but also felt pressure that until this point I'd been running a perfect meet. To say that I was determined to make this lift would be a gross understatement.

Internally, I'd worked myself into such a frenzy of effort that I honestly don't remember feeling the bar in my hands. As I began pulling, I felt relief that I at least got the weight moving upward, but it felt significantly heavier than I expected. I kept pulling, however, knowing that my deadlifts usually move faster than what it feels like.

As the bar passed my knees, I thought, "Okay, I'm home free now," but my improved leverage was offset by the mounting fatigue. The pull was a grind from start to finish. Finally, I locked it out, and remembering my earlier admonition from the head judge, did my best to lower the bar under maximum control. Hands on knees, I looked back at the scoreboard – three whites! A perfect meet!

In summary, the only change I would've made would've been to take a heavier final bench attempt, but as the old saying goes, hindsight is 20-20. I felt I'd performed a perfect meet, but what I learned from the experience was far more valuable than winning my first powerlfting meet (oh, did I forget to mention that detail?).

Lessons Learned

Injury Avoidance

I had virtually no pain during this 6-month training cycle, despite performing nearly every "challenging" lift in the book (squats, deadlifts, bench presses, two Olympic lifts, rows, and chins) hard and often. There are three plausible explanations for my injury-free experience.

First, I started well below my abilities. Second, I progressed very gradually – only 5-10 pounds per session. Third, I didn't do any "junk" work, which limited my overall wear and tear.

I didn't do accessory single-joint lifts, nor did I perform "advanced" techniques like eccentrics, plyometrics, chains/bands, partials, or forced reps. I simply did super-basic exercises using tried-and true programming principles, and I did it consistently and progressively.

I never took a single ibuprofen, never iced anything, and I never missed a single workout or failed to hit my numbers because of pain or injury. In short, my training was remarkably low-tech and the only thing exciting about it was that I got bigger, stronger, faster, and leaner; and I did it without injuring myself in the process.

A note about bench pressing

I noted that my traditional experiences with all forms of bench pressing were characterized by shoulder pain and injury. I can attribute my sudden good fortune to only one thing: since September 28th, all of my benches have been done with a pause, as is required in competition.

I believe this pause helps mitigate the high tensions that occur when the shoulder is at its weakest position (when the bar touches the chest). If you're having issues with your shoulders when you press, put your ego aside and implement the pause – it took me until age 52 to figure that out, so consider this a head start!

Body Composition

Body comp has never been my strong suit. When my focus was primarily on the Olympic lifts, things like squats, presses, and pulls received only cursory attention – by the time I got to squats, I often had nothing left in the tank.

But by putting my primary focus on "big" multi-joint movements done for higher volumes and longer time-under-tensions than what I was used to, lo and behold, I actually started developing a physique. And while I've never particularly cared much about aesthetics, I have to admit it's fun to at least look like I spend time in the gym.

Improved Olympic Lifts

Perhaps the most pleasant outcome occurred as I gradually started reintroducing power snatches and clean and jerks into my prep. Not only did I discover that I could still perform a workable clean and jerk despite my elbow issues, but in late April – after just five sessions and not having performed a single C&J for more than 6 months – I reached 95% of my best C&J ever, despite weighing significantly less and having not practiced that lift in months. I also reached 98% of my best snatch, after only a handful of sessions on that lift as well.

An even more remarkable surprise was that, for years, both snatches and jerks have been problematic on my shoulders, particularly my left shoulder. Remarkably, I found that suddenly, I'm performing very heavy snatches and jerks completely pain free.

This was one of the most gratifying things I've experienced in my entire training career. I attribute this to the 6-month break away from these lifts that allowed my old shoulder injuries to heal, but I also believe that bench pressing contributed to my overall shoulder integrity. Furthermore, I became much stronger as a whole, which certainly contributed to my shoulder health and integrity.

Prologue: What I'm Up To Now...

My current goal is to be ready to do either a powerlifting meet or a weightlifting meet at short notice, any time of the year, while continuing to improve my body comp and staying injury-free at the same time. In other words, I want to be a bit more well-rounded as I get older, and I'm having a lot of fun getting stronger in my 50's without nursing injuries in the process.

The take-home lesson is, there's lots for all of us to learn, even if we're well-known experts who've been training for decades. I humbly hope that this story has inspired you to reach out and seek new challenges for yourself – no matter how good you are, no matter how much you may know, no matter how old you are, there are new heights for all of us to reach.