Starting Strength

Reflections In Iron: Mike Webster’s Training Methods

by Colin Webster

“He remained able to literally uproot small trees, and one time I was doing deadlifts with 450 lbs., and he wandered in. I asked him a question about squats, and he proceeded to heave the weight up onto his deltoids and carry it over to that same crappy squat rack I wrote about earlier and set it down on the rack, so he could get under it and show me. I usually say he power-cleaned the weight, but really it was more of a sheer heave, since he had trouble with regular movements at that point, having several herniated discs in his back, a torn right rotator cuff, calcified feet and a heel that was literally in two pieces from having been broken and never allowed to heal properly. He played most of his career like that.”

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