I did a search and their logs only go back about a year, so I went to the first month of posts on the website, they have a calendar thing that allows you to navigate it like that. A few pages in and you get the first mention of numbers: This AC guy apparently finished his 5 months of "linear progression" with a near miss deadlift of 575lbs. I mean... come on? That's as strong a bit of circumstantial evidence as I can think of? Although of course this is just my opinion, yours could differ and I could be wrong, but personally I find this incredibly hard to believe at face value.
http://www.70sbig.com/blog/2009/10/video-quickie/It’s a lot of fun having friends who are strong, and my good friend AC is one of those people who is pain-in-the-ass strong. He’s on the brink of plateauing in his linear progression. Yesterday he squatted 450 for three sets of five, pressed 212 for three sets of five, and a few weeks ago deadlifted 500 for five…all at a bodyweight of 205. Oh, and he’s 20 years old.
Last edited by Jefferson; 02-18-2012 at 07:38 PM.
Research more.
AC was a Crossfitter before he ran linear progression, and took his run at linear progression starting at a body weight of 185, with a 500+ pound deadlift and a 385 squat.
Prior to that, he'd been lifting since his early teens.
Same with Justin Lascek - prior to linear progression, Justin had been squatting for years and was already a 400+ pound squatter, albeit high-bar.
Justin liked to write to give credit to himself and his friends for their accomplishments in linear progression (blame ego), but knowing the full story requires a little more reading than a 10-minute use of the search function.
This reasoning is at odds with the the whole model of adaptation in PP and underlying the whole concept of novice/intermediate/advanced. The model says basically that a given person will be able to use LP to some level of strength and will have to use a different program above that level. It doesn't matter where they started.
It's certainly possible that the 70s big people are prime specimens of manhood who can ride LP into the 500s... but it certainly invites the question of how they are able to achieve so much more than the rest of us on this very similar program. Before this, i believe the highest i heard from LP was from Marotta who got his squat in the 400s on LP i believe and he was already an outlier.
Last edited by veryhrm; 02-18-2012 at 09:47 PM. Reason: ambiguous pronoun
I think Justin can be considered at least reasonably gifted. He can push press 300 something with a fairly light BW, you don't see that very often.
I still think 70's Big is a good resource but definitely miss the eating PR's and the tributes to getting big. I think it is pretty well established that if you want to get strong and you're not taking roids you are going to have to eat yourself into the part. It is sort of like dirt bike racing, sure it's stupid and you might break your neck but it is fun to do.
Edit: http://www.70sbig.com/blog/2012/02/garbage-in-garbage-out/
Haven't followed the site in awhile, just read this, this is actually how I'm trying to eat now, so um, never mind.
Last edited by gummi_hulk; 02-18-2012 at 10:14 PM.