A Middle Aged Adolescent (who cannot possibly be the only one)

[Nunedog]

(from above)

It’s not that these big schools are not training hard. On YouTube, plenty of weight workouts for Penn State, Clemson, Alabama, Notre Dame - and so on - can be found, full of platitudes about paying the price, building character, and developing leadership skills.
(God, I just watched a Michigan State video in which a strength coach lectures a clinic full of visiting coaches that ankle flexibility is the determining factor in whether a kid should squat. He then showcases an exemplary lifter, who knocks out a bunch of front squats without going below parallel once.)
It occurs to me that these coaches are doing the big dogs an even greater disservice than simply being wrongheaded. They are insulating them from both truly difficult challenges and the possibility of failure.
Think about the context: there’s a ceiling on how hard the coaches can work these kids, since they don’t want to risk injuring or alienating these fantastic specimens. I’ve not seen a single deadlift in any of these videos, for example. Secondly, all the agility and aerobic work they’re doing would mean that nobody’s going to bench, squat, or deadlift anything epic anyway, even if they were training those lifts specifically.
The workouts change constantly, in terms of exercises and rep schemes. Barbell squats are just one option among a whole list of leg exercises. I’m not sure which comes first, the desire to vary the program constantly or the opportunity to do so with the multi-million dollar equipment packages in these gigantic facilities.
The upshot is that the athletes have never had to face a long term challenge, such as adding five pounds to the bar in a given lift day after day. They’ve never had to learn about the training changes necessary when one is no longer a novice and their changing rest interval alters the nature of their progression. If all they have to do is come in and hit the workout written on the whiteboard or bust ass as close to it as they can, everyday is a victory.
They’ve never had ownership of the process. They’ve never had to focus on what’s necessary to reach a long term goal. Being on a team with 75 other kids is hardly a lonely walk on the road of persistence.
The coaches would argue that they don’t have time and the kids don’t have the knowledge for embarking on personal journeys of excellence.
They’re not wrong, but I wonder, do those dogs develop real fight?

I once had a coach tell me that his job was to put himself out of business, to teach us everything he could so we could take care of ourselves. I think Rip and Dr. Pronk would agree.

(Pronk writes at: Two key lessons I learned from Special Air Service selection | NEWSREP
He’s flogging a book on his experience: AVERAGE 70KG DICKHEAD, available at Amazon.)

Heavy-Light-Medium
Week of: 2/11/19 3 sets of 5 reps week
MONDAY
1. Squat (3x5) Tom 385 JC : 177.5
2. Bench Press (3x5) Tom 270 JC: 107.5
3. 3 sets heavy pull ups

4. Romanian Deadlifts - off rack - 3 sets of 5 JC 170
Tom 2 sets 5 halting (deficit) deadlifts 330; 2 sets 5 rack pulls 417.5
5. 4 sets of weighted dips - with two bands 50kb 4, 5, 4, 4
6. barbell curls: 4 sets
7. 3 sets: standing kettlebell press, 53’s, 62’s
8. abs: banded pull downs

TUESDAY - Conditioning
sled pull 2 miles; 25 (and six 50-yard runs)

WEDNESDAY
1. JC: Squat (80% of Monday’s weight) x Monday Reps, 2 sets JC: 142.5
Tom: 3 sets PARTIAL SQUATS; DEAD STOP holes 9-13-17 - 322.5, 382.5, 437.5
2. 2 sets (80% of best 5’s weight) PRESS: 5 reps - Tom 132.5 JC 70
2a. 2 sets (80% of best 5’s weight) BENCH PRESS: 5 reps - 215 JC 92.5
3. Power Cleans 3x3 Tom: 230, to 270, 230 JC: 75 - 95
4. 4 sets of heavy shrugs 535
5. abs: hollow rockers

FRIDAY
1. Deadlift (1x5) 472.5 second session JC 232.5
2. Press: (3x5) Tom: 165 JC: 85
3. Squats: [90% of Monday’s weight] (3x5) Tom: 345 JC: 160

4. 4 rounds gymnastic rows with vest
5. 4 sets of 6 close grip bench presses T-bar (195+) 5, 6, 6, 6
6. 4 sets 5-6 barbell curls
7. 4 sets kettlebell flys, 62’s
8. 3 sets kettlebell sit ups

SATURDAY - Conditioning
row 6000 meters

[Nunedog]

After last week’s post, I found myself intrigued by two news stories with a bearing on the topics of coaching and solitary perseverance in athletics.
Training in Florida, Mississippi State defensive lineman and top draft prospect Jeffrey Simmons shredded the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in what was labeled a ‘routine drill.’ This raises a couple of questions, as in just how routine was this drill - and who screwed up here, the coaches at this ‘top tier’ training facility or the gang at Mississippi State, who failed in providing the kind of foundational strength Simmons needed.
The surgery and rehabilitation will set him back a year and significantly lower teams’ enthusiasm for risking contract money on his behalf. Simmons must be extremely upset; I can only wonder whether the folks from Nike or Under Armor, who (I guess) were picking up the tab for Simmons’ stay at the Boca Raton training center, are calling the coaches on the carpet or simply writing Simmons off.
The other story is that of pitcher Luke Hagerty, who at age 37 has reported to Spring Training for the Chicago Cubs - again, 17 years after he was first drafted. Hagerty washed out after a few years, a victim of the ‘yips,’ a much feared syndrome in which a pitcher mysteriously loses control and confidence.
Hagerty moved on and opened a training facility, but he blundered into the science of pitching mechanics, and in true lone wolf fashion - to make a very long story short - taught himself the art once more in his off hours. At the urging of his clients, some of whom had made it into the majors, he tried out for a panel of scouts who couldn’t believe the action on his fastball. It’s the stuff of a Hollywood comeback story, but stay tuned.

Closer to home, but following on the themes of competence and comeback stories, I had a coaching session with the father with one of the kids at the sports complex the other day. He’s had a terrible hamstring problem for years, and it might just be that a little barbell training could work where other remedies have failed.
The kids in the program are all doing well. Those who are back after last year are already past the numbers where they ended a year ago, at only halfway through the ten-week session. Most of the sophomore and junior boys, who are about 160 pounds, are stalling at 185 in the squat and 215 in the deadlift for their 5’s. This has resulted in a mad rush for whey protein - which I told them all about on Day One. They now see the light. How quickly and the extent to which the effects kick in will be interesting to see.

One day, one of the boys was telling me about his Dad, who had been a very good runner, even a marathoner, with wins to his credit. Unfortunately, he’s been out of action for two-plus years with a hamstring problem.
Tell him to come to practice, I said. I had a feeling that the physical therapists he was working with gave hamstrings about five percent of the attention we do.
The story, Dad told me, was that in the course of his running training he began feeling tightness his hams, lower back, and elsewhere, and he could barely bend over enough to get his hands past his knees. He went to a supposedly ’top drawer’ physical therapist to tackle this; in a session when Dad was on his back and the therapist was driving one of his legs up and over him, the muscles tore right off the bone of his pelvis.
For a year and a half, he tried every kind of therapy, to no avail. His final option was surgery. According to the surgeon, two of the three muscles that tie on to the ischial tuberosity had torn away. The surgeon braided the muscles back into the right configuration and screwed them to the bone. ‘They’re not coming off, ‘ Dad explained, ‘but the problem is that any time I try to run or do anything, I get massive inflammation that takes days to go away.’

He told me this as we watched 25 kids on five different racks and platforms work their way through squats, benches, and deads.
‘I have an alternate theory,’ I said. ‘What if that inflexibility two years ago was stiffness from various muscles - your hams, glutes, and lower back - only being partially used?’
We observed various sets of squats and deads up close. ‘These kids are taking their hamstrings through a full range of motion, which is to say that their central nervous systems are learning to recruit them and generate force - even in this very bottom position.’
In the squats, I explained, they send their rear ends backwards to maximize the hamstring involvement. In the deadlift, the hams are doing the work, along with the glutes and adductors. The problem with running, I pointed out, is that those muscles go through a very minor percentage of their full range of motion.
Being limber, I explained, or having muscles that can move beyond the normal motion of running, is fine, but that’s pretty passive. What if you were to train the brain to engage them all the way through what they were designed to do?

After the kids took off, Dad tried a few empty bar squats, deads with 95, and even a few Romanian style deads with an empty bar.
‘Here’s what we’re after,’ I said. ‘Muscles that move AND generate force though their full range of motion. I’m not exactly sure,* but I think a more thoroughly trained muscle will have improved circulation during and after the workout, but most importantly, you’re going to strengthen those hams from stem to stern, including where they tie in on the bone. The tissue will adapt and change - and then they might be able to handle a run.’

(* - The Starr protocol flashed through my mind, but I don’t know whether the circulation is any better in a given muscle trained through a full range of motion than it is when a lesser motion is trained.)

I e-mailed him the next day to see if he had blown up with the usual inflammation.
He had not. ‘I think lifting can really help me!’ he answered.
The running trail might just begin at the gates of a squat rack.

Heavy-Light-Medium
Week of: 2/18/19 3 sets of 2 reps week
MONDAY
1. Squat (3x2) Tom 425 JC : 190
2. Bench Press (3x2) Tom 285 JC: 127.5
3. 3 sets heavy pull ups

4. Romanian Deadlifts - off rack - 3 sets of 5 JC 170, 172.5, 170
Tom 1 set of 8 halting (deficit) deadlifts 332.5; 1 set of 8 rack pulls 420
5. 4 sets of 6 weighted dips - with two bands 50 - 4, 5, 5, 4
6. barbell curls: 4 sets
7. 3 sets: 5 standing kb presses 53 - 62
8. abs: banded pull downs

TUESDAY - Conditioning
sled pull 2 miles; 20, 0

WEDNESDAY
1. JC: Squat (80% of Monday’s weight) x Monday Reps, 2 sets JC: 152.5
Tom: 3 sets PARTIAL SQUATS; DEAD STOP holes 9-13-17 - 325, 382.5, 437.5
2. 2 sets (80% of best 5’s weight) PRESS: 5 reps - Tom 132.5 JC 65
2a. 2 sets (80% of best 5’s weight) BENCH PRESS: 5 reps - 215 JC 92.5
3. Power Cleans 3x3 Tom: 230, to 270, 240 JC: 75 - 95
4. 4 sets of heavy shrugs 535
5. abs: hollow rockers

FRIDAY
1. Deadlift: (1x2) Tom 517.5 JC 245
2. Press: (3x2) Tom: 182.5 JC: 92.5
3. Squats: [90% of Monday’s weight] (3x2) Tom: 382.5 JC: 170

4. 4 rounds gymnastic rows with vest
5. 4 sets of 6 close grip bench presses T-bar (195+ chains) 6’s
6. 4 sets 5-6 barbell curls
7. 4 sets kettlebell flys, 62’s
8. 3 sets kettlebell sit ups

SATURDAY - Conditioning
swim 1 mile

[Nunedog]

While congratulating myself on all the help I gave a fellow Dad last week on his hamstring, I realized that I should probably follow my own advice on strengthening and rehabilitating a few muscles of my own. Specifically, my lower back has not gotten over the strain from that 515 max a few weeks ago, and the pain has been cutting into my training sets.
I trash a body part every so often. A year and a half ago, it was an adductor (or a ham) who needed some love and attention. A year ago, it was a quadricep, though for a long time, my knee hurt so badly that I thought I had patellar tendinitis.
The Starr Protocol contains two main ideas: one, that an injured muscle cannot be simply allowed to rest, where it would become swollen, stiff, and helpless; it must be ‘reminded’ neurologically that it has to function in as normal a capacity as possible, called upon to exert force through its complete range of motion. The load will certainly be reduced; Starr’s second idea, a prescription of as many as 25 reps in a set with a light weight, is aimed at stimulating circulation and speeding the healing process.
My adductor injury responded to a fairly straightforward Starr Protocol, a week or two of high reps in the squat, the same motion where I had gotten in trouble somehow but then continued with heavier weights once the pain and swelling were resolved.
The quadricep I had to tackle differently. While a squat might have been a full range of motion, it did not isolate whoever this was on the top and front of my leg and allow me to put him through his paces directly enough. I opted for a leg extension of sorts, where I stood inside the squat rack with my ankle wrapped in a band that pulled my leg backward at a 45 degree angle. This was a small band with minor resistance; I then drew my leg forward, knee first, and extended it in front like I was punting a football. As with the other case, two weeks of a bunch of reps made me as good as new.

Now I have to fix my lower back, and the analogy in this case is going to be how I went after that quadricep. I have to use a motion and emphasis different from the deadlift that got me into trouble.
The muscle in question is an erector, or maybe someone one notch outside of directly along the spine. He seems to be somebody who helps hold the lumbar curve in place, fine during squats but not up for the more horizontal leverage in the deadlifts.
It occurs to me that like in the example of ‘Dad’ and his hamstring last week, the isometric, stabilizing role this erector has played through the years is a limited percentage of the muscle’s total potential. I have to find an exercise to ‘remind’ this guy how to produce force through his full range of motion - and this will hopefully stimulate the healing I’m after.
The erectors at the base of my back don’t just stabilize the lumbar arch. They also extend my back from being rounded into that extended position. The exercise that best replicates this motion and safely allows an athlete to add some resistance is the reverse hyperextension.

Reverse hyperextensions have become known in the strength world mainly through the Westside Barbell training program and the machines patented by founder Louie Simmons. As seen in the video, the athlete places their torso on a platform and swings their legs beneath them, in reverse fashion from the way in which extension are usually done.
Note how the arch in the lower back is stretched during these reps: (1:11) YouTube

Westside advocates consider ‘reverse hypers’ not just rehabilitative but critical to squat and deadlift strength (a view not necessarily shared across the strength community). Decades ago, Simmons was a powerlifter all but crippled by injury. He hit upon the idea of ‘back extensions in reverse’ and managed to alleviate his sciatic pain, traction his lower spine, and engage the muscles in his lower back once more. The machine he developed came 20 years after that first discovery; in the 20 more years since, it’s found its way into plenty of gyms and physical therapy and chiropractic offices.
I’ve opted for the ‘Home Depot option,’ building a platform with 2-by-8’s that spans the width of my Rogue R-3 rack. For weight, I lash a dumbbell between my legs with a judo belt. Truth be told, I’ve done these in years past - and they’ve always worked for rehabilitation, and pretty quickly, too, when I was deadlifting 400 for a max. I have to explore the potential for shoring things up all the more now that 500 is on the line.

Other exercises bend and extend the lower back. Simmons’ discovery all those years ago was that regular back extensions, for example, placed too direct and immediate a stress on his injuries. The backwards version, with his legs dangling, placed the leverage on his glutes and hams primarily, and then on his lower back to a far lesser extent. This affords the best of all possible worlds: no undue abuse to the lower back, a proper loading sequence, and an opportunity for force production all the way through the range of motion - provided I keep the amount weight and swing speed under control.
For the record, this is not the Starr Protocol, which is high reps meant for a more acute crisis. Sets of 8 or 10 do loosen things up and get the blood flowing, but this is more in the league of an assistance exercise.
In any event, it’s is the latest necessary repair job. Here’s hoping my erectors will no longer be a weak link.

Heavy-Light-Medium
Week of: 2/25/18 3 sets of 8 reps week
MONDAY
1. Squat (3x8) Tom 347.5 JC : 150
2. Bench Press (3x8) Tom 250 JC: 95
3. 3 sets heavy pull ups

4. Romanian Deadlifts - off rack - 3 sets of 5 JC 170, 172.5x2
Tom 2 sets 5 halting (deficit) deadlifts 327.5; 2 sets 5 rack pulls 417.5
5. 4 sets of 6 weighted dips - with two bands 50kb: 4, 5, 5, 5
6. barbell curls: 4 sets
7. 3 sets: 5 kb presses, 62’s
8. abs: banded pull downs

TUESDAY - Conditioning
sled pull 2 miles; 20, 0 (and six 50-yard runs)

WEDNESDAY
1. JC: Squat (80% of Monday’s weight) x Monday Reps, 2 sets JC: 120
Tom: 3 sets PARTIAL SQUATS; DEAD STOP holes 9-13-17 - 325, 350, 400
2. 2 sets (80% of best 5’s weight) PRESS: 5 reps - Tom 132.5 JC 67.5
2a. 2 sets (80% of best 5’s weight) BENCH PRESS: 5 reps - 215 JC 92.5
3. Power Cleans 3x3 Tom: 230, to 270, 230 JC: 75 - 95
4. 4 sets of heavy shrugs 535
5. abs: hollow rockers

FRIDAY
1. Deadlift (1x8) 427.5 second session JC 227.5
2. Press: (3x8) Tom: 152.5 JC: 85
3. Squats: [90% of Monday’s weight] (3x8) Tom: 312.5 JC: 135

4. 4 rounds gymnastic rows with vest
5. 4 sets of 6 close grip bench presses T-bar (195+) 5, 6, 5, 5
6. 4 sets 5-6 barbell curls
7. 4 sets kettlebell flys, 62’s
8. 3 sets kettlebell sit ups

SATURDAY - Conditioning
row 6000 meters

[Nunedog]

First, some good news: after just two weeks, the reverse hyperextensions are working their magic on my lower back. I’m getting my capacity for deadlift reps back, and I’m set to move on. Here’s the problem, though: when I get up toward 500 pounds, am I just going to pull a muscle once more? If venturing into that territory is so dangerous, how in the world am I going to improve?
Obviously, I have to be better prepared. I can’t have body parts giving way; I have to be stronger - in some sense - and better able to reap the benefits of maximum and near maximum loads.

The same is true in my bench press. Oh, man - I want that three-plater, a 315 max, and more. As was the case with my deadlift, my strength in my 8- and 5-rep training sets has been improving, but the top weights aren’t moving.
I have to focus more on handling top level weights. Clearly, that’s a skill in and of itself, marshaling the strength and focus necessary to hold my entire body together properly. I have to have a program that allows for that kind of focus.
In a moment of clarity, it struck me that especially in the deadlift, sets of 8 or 5 have nothing to do with top level efforts. 425 and 460 pounds simply do not demand the perfection necessary to pull 515. Consequently, some poor habit meant a muscle was weak or something was out of position when I hit that recent max.

I have shifted from a three day Heavy-Light-Medium routine to a Four Day Split. This will enable a better focus on each the lifts, both in terms of training reps in the limit range and increasing the volume in my supporting exercises.
This is a bench press focused routine; presses are entirely secondary (though someday I might switch and train them primarily.) My squats remain on the 8-5-2 rep rotation, since that’s been working well. The deadlift and bench ‘max’ work will be on a 3-2-1 rotation, to be followed immediately by back-off training sets. People might recognize this as inspired by Andy Baker’s articles, which is indeed the case, though any mistakes in allocation are mine, not his.

Here are a few additional thoughts:
-The power cleans did not happen on Monday, and I don’t know how often they will. I was pretty wiped out after 3 sets of 8 squats with 347.5. Bagging the cleans drove home the point that on a typical HLM Monday, benches would follow squats - and since I was that beaten up, my bench training would have been compromised. It probably has been for some time.
I had to put the cleans somewhere in the schedule. They could wind up being ignored.

-I did do the heavy shrugs, however. I owe a great deal to shrugs (Rip’s version; see his video) for all they’ve done to improve my posture and physique. If they’ve been a help to my deads and cleans, so much the better.

-The sled-pull weights for me and my wife have dropped from 45 and 25 to 20 and zero recently, because we replaced our little Westside sled with a friggin’ beast by comparison. The Westside sled, made by Rogue, was 5-plus years old, and the stem for the weights was starting to tear the sheet metal where its base attached. Rogue has apparently spotted this design flaw, and their newer model is a veritable tank.

-I mentioned that the 8-5-2 approach to squats is working. One reason could be the pin squats I’ve done as well, to train my motor unit recruitment. The pin squats used to have Wednesdays all to themselves, as far as heavy lower body work was concerned. Now, they’re crowded into busier Thursdays. I’ve lessened the weights; I’ll have to feel out how well they can contribute in this context.

-I’ve been mulling over this change for a while. Though I didn’t post it, this past week was actually my first round. It’s tough - a little Texas, a little Westside, but let’s see where this goes.

4-Day Split (8&3, 5&2, 2&1 rotation)
Week of: 3/4/19 5&2 week
MONDAY
1. Squat (3x5*) Tom 387.5
2. Romanian deadlifts: 3 sets of 8 reps Tom 337.5
3. Power Cleans (3x3) light
3. 4 sets of heavy shrugs 485 - 535
4. reverse hypers (3x10)
5. abs; banded pulldowns

TUESDAY
1. Bench press: Work up to a heavy set of 2* reps Tom 287.5
2. Bench press - back off sets [3-5 sets of 3-5 reps, 75-85%] 5x5 with 242.5
3. Dips: 4 sets of 8 with red bands
4. Hanging Rows: 5x5 vest, 15 lb db
5. Barbell curls: 4 sets of 5

Conditioning (second session)
sled pull 2 miles; 20, 0 (and six 50-yard runs)

THURSDAY
1. Deadlift: work up to a set of 2* reps Tom 450
2. Deadlift: back off sets - 90% of top set; 2 sets of same* reps Tom 405
3. Squats: (90% of Monday’s weight) 3x5* reps Tom 347.5
4. Pin squats [Holes 10 - 13 - 17] (3x3) 280, 330, 380
5. Reverse Hypers (3x10)
6. abs: hollow rockers

FRIDAY
1. Speed bench press [8-12 sets of 2-3 reps @ 40-60% with mini bands or chains;
with 90 seconds’ rest between sets] Tom 10x3 - 142.5
2. Barbell or kettlebell shoulder press (5x8) 127.5 barbell
3. Pull ups (5x10)
4. 4 sets 10 banded triceps extensions
5. Barbell curls: 4 sets of 5
6. 4 sets kettlebell flys, 62’s
7. 3 sets kettlebell sit ups

SATURDAY - Conditioning
swim 1 mile

[Nunedog]

A couple of seminars have kept me from tackling any ambitious subjects this week. These are a necessary evil - but weights related; they’re to re-certify as a coach: sportsmanship and ethics, and then, according to colleagues, the one that produces the greatest despair and disillusionment with the human condition, the anti-sex abuse training for those who work with kids from Catholic schools.

I’ve found myself in a pretty enviable coaching position, because I have the best of both worlds: motivated, good kids who are happy to follow directions as well as no particular expectations from parents or the administration. This is an off-season training program. I’m not worried about wins or losses.
Nine weeks into the program, the top boys have added an average of 120 pounds to their squats and deadlifts. The kids who have added less have come a long way as well; they’ve had to get their form down, but they’ve put on 50 or 70 pounds in many cases.
I’ll log all this more formally in the weeks ahead, but the girls have added about 70 pounds to their deads and around 50 to their squats. Upper body lifts for the boys have gone up 50, and 30 or so for the girls. (This is all in sets of 5.)

Even before these seminars, I’ve grasped that my role is to be a steady, reliable presence that these kids take completely for granted. The novice linear progression strikes them as common sense, and all the carrying on about safety and technique is what they’d expect. Their minds are on other things, mainly enjoying their time together. The other day, a guy and girl had sat down off to the side for a moment to themselves.
I headed over. ‘Have you guys hit your rows?’
He had; she had not.
I pointed at an empty rack. ‘By all means, keep socializing,’ I said.
They smiled at getting busted, and I vamoosed. She did her sets as the relationship progressed.

Not only am I not going to act like an insane college football coach, I don’t have to be the star of the show and win them over*.
(*Sometimes you do. I took a job teaching in a working class neighborhood with some kids who were pretty cowed and low functioning, and yeah, I had to be rowdier than they were, to draw them out and show them knowledge could be cool. I know more Cypress Hill lyrics than I should probably admit, but they were an important entree to literary analysis.)

Someone will always want to attach their phone to the stereo to show off a playlist. To my great surprise, a lot of them like to crank 80’s music - which I’ve assured them will make them stronger than anything else can. The other day I could walk along a line of platforms as kids took turns deadlifting and AC-DC was the soundtrack. Life is good.

4-Day Split (8&3, 5&2, 2&1 rotation)
Week of: 3/11/19 2&1 week
MONDAY
1. Squat (3x2*) Tom 427.5 JC 180
2. Romanian deadlifts: 3 sets of 8 reps Tom 340
3. Power Cleans (3x3) light
3. 4 sets of heavy shrugs 485 - 535
4. reverse hypers (3x10)
5. abs; banded pulldowns

TUESDAY
1. Bench press: Work up to a heavy set of 1* rep Tom 300 JC 135
2. Bench press - back off sets [3-5 sets of 3-5 reps, 75-85%] 5x5 with 245
3. Dips: 4 sets of 8 with red bands
4. Hanging Rows: 5x5 vest, 15 lb db
5. Barbell curls: 4 sets of 5

Conditioning (second session)
sled pull 2 miles; 20, 0 (and six 50-yard runs)

THURSDAY
1. Deadlift: work up to a set of 1* rep Tom 475 JC 270
2. Deadlift: back off sets - 90% of top set; 2 sets of same* reps Tom 427.5 JC 242.5
3. Squats: (90% of Monday’s weight) 3x5* reps Tom 385 JC 162.5
4. Pin squats [Holes 10 - 13 - 17] (3x3) 285, 335, 385
5. Reverse Hypers (3x10)
6. abs: hollow rockers

FRIDAY
1. Speed bench press [8-12 sets of 2-3 reps @ 40-60% with mini bands or chains;
with 90 seconds’ rest between sets] Tom 10x3 - 145 JC 65
2. Barbell or kettlebell shoulder press (5x8) kb’s: 62’s JC 26’s
3. Pull ups (5x10)
4. 4 sets 10 banded triceps extensions
5. Barbell curls: 4 sets of 5
6. 4 sets kettlebell flys, 62’s
7. 3 sets kettlebell sit ups

SATURDAY - Conditioning
row 6000 meters

[Nunedog]

This next round in the four-day split will be spread over two weeks. I have to dash out of town - parachute behind enemy lines, make contact with the partisans, and then smuggle myself back across the border in a hay wagon. I’m due for my quarterly break, anyway. Christmas was my last layoff, and the move back to Washington will disrupt everything at this same point in June.

Strength season for the high school kids has ended; we’re headed for practice in the great outdoors as the weather breaks just in the nick of time. Kids and grown-ups alike are ready for a change of scenery. I have to present the bosses with a report on these 10 weeks of training, and I’ve just run around to gather all the statistics I need.
I’ll have to explain a number of ideas like the novice linear progression, the incremental nature of training, and the stress-recovery-adaptation cycle, but numbers will tell much of the story:

The GIRLS increased (all in terms of sets of 5 reps)
-30-35 pounds in the press, moving from an empty or lightly loaded aluminum(?) 15-pound small Olympic styled bar to 50-55 on a full sized bar
-Their bench was about the same, moving from 15 to 55. I think I saw the occasional stab at 65.
-50 pounds in the squat, progressing from an empty Olympic bar to 25 pound plates on each side
-70 pounds in the deadlift, progressing from 65 pounds to 135. One girl increased by 90 pounds; another with a CrossFit background increased 70 pounds also, but from 115 to 185 for her sets.

The BOYS (also in terms of sets of 5) also made significant increases, though they are separated by tiers of age and size.
The top boys increased their
-press by 40-50 pounds, moving from an empty bar at 45 to 95 and 100
-bench press by 50 as well; two or three went from 85 to 135
-the squat and deadlift really are what set the top boys apart, with squats increasing by 100 or 120 pounds, from 95 to 215
and deadlifts moving from 135 to 235 and 245.

The second tier of boys were mostly juniors, typically tall and light 150 or 160 pounders.
-some of them did increase their presses or benches 40 or 50 pounds, moving from 65 to 105 or 115
-their squats increased by 80, from 95 to 175
-the deadlifts went up 90 or so as well; increasing from 115 to 205

The third tier of boys were freshmen and sophomores, complete beginners who in many cases had to develop consistency in their movements. One poor kid was given to collapsing like a rag doll, especially during squats; he had to start with box squats and learn for a few weeks with very light bars how to hold his backbone in one piece. One freshman, who’s presently all legs and a very short torso had to learn to get his trunk down in position as he squatted or deadlifted.
-They too progressed 40 pounds on the upper body lifts, though a bit down the scale, moving from 25 to 65 in the press and 25 to 65 in the bench. One wiry freshman moved from 25 to 85.
-The squat increases here were more modest as well, 50 pounds, ranging from an empty bar to 95.
-The deadlifts fared better slightly, increasing by 80 pounds

Two great exceptions to this third tier has been a pair of sophomores, including that soft bodied beginner who collapsed in every movement. His squats went from essentially zero weight, or a 15 pound aluminum bar, to 95. This was the single most remarkable transformation of the session.
His buddy, tall and slender, but quiet and determined, went from an empty bar to 135.
Their deadlifts have climbed from 95 to 205.
A third exception was that wiry 120 pound freshman. Not only did he boost his bench by 80 pounds, he pulled 225 for a double, which was at least a 130 pound increase in the weight he was handling.


I thought it was important above to include the starting and ending weights to show that these kids were indeed non-lifters. About half of the group of 30 lifted last year, but not a single one of them touched a weight since we ended the winter session a year ago. Those kids, simply by having grown, started with weights that were probably 30 pounds ahead of where they started last year. The brand new kids didn’t even know how to hold the bar, let alone do a lift. I had to start with a lot of position drills, like that praying-hands, elbows-inside-the-knees bottom of the squat, a ’Superman’ to flex the lumbar arch properly, and a lot of ‘bowing up,’ which was sticking our chests out, to be sure our thoracic vertebrae were stacked properly.
Of my 30, 20 were boys, 10 girls. Five kids vanished pretty quickly; I’d see 25 from time to time, but really I had a fairly steady group of about 20, five girls and 15 boys.
The increases in strength are much the same as those a year ago, though this year I had more examples of boys who made above average progress.

One top boy, whose deadlifts started with 135 10 weeks ago, pulled 335, with more in the tank. This would support Rip’s claim that a dedicated, older high schooler can reach 405 in six months’ time.

The gains made by the girls, who were juniors and seniors, and the freshmen and sophomore boys were largely the same. I presume this is due to the level of hormonal maturity of the boys.

Not very many of the boys opted to add whey protein to their lives, even when they started hitting plateaus in progress. Two of the top boys did, and their progress resumed after a rough two weeks of frustration. One kid had to convince his mother to buy it. The protein seems to have shown a measurable effect in about five days after it was started.

As I said, these kids were, and by and large ARE, not strength athletes, so while their gains were significant, they did start from pretty low thresholds. They had a jolly time all season long, but really, I wonder how many converts I created.
Once when a session was in full swing, I pulled a couple of the guys aside. ‘You know, there’s a whole rack of girls down at the other end,’ I pointed out. ‘If you guys want to do some curls - thinking ahead to T-shirt weather, I can show you what you need to know.’
‘Nope. No, thanks. We’re good,’ they all seemed to say. They’re far better adjusted at that age than I was.

4-Day Split (8&3, 5&2, 2&1 rotation)
Weeks of: 3/18/18 and 3/25/19 8&3 week
MONDAY
1. Squat (3x8*) Tom 350 JC : 152.5
2. Romanian deadlifts: 3 sets of 8 reps Tom 342.5 JC 140
3. Power Cleans (3x3) light
3. 4 sets of heavy shrugs 485 - 535
4. reverse hypers (3x10)
5. abs; banded pulldowns

TUESDAY
1. Bench press: Work up to a heavy set of 3* reps Tom 277.5 JC 120
2. Bench press - back off sets [3-5 sets of 3-5 reps, 75-85%] 5x3 with 255, JC 5x3 - 110
3. Dips: 4 sets of 8 with red bands (3.75)
4. Hanging Rows: 5x5 vest, 15 lb db
5. Barbell curls: 4 sets of 5

Conditioning (second session)
sled pull 2 miles; 20, 0 (and six 50-yard runs)

3/28/19 THURSDAY
1. Deadlift: work up to a set of 3* reps Tom 430
2. Deadlift: back off sets - 90% of top set; 2 sets of same* reps Tom 387.5
3. Squats: (90% of Monday’s weight) 3x8* reps Tom 315
4. Pin squats [Holes 10 - 13 - 17] (3x3) 290, 340, 390
5. Reverse Hypers (3x10)
6. abs: hollow rockers

FRIDAY
1. Speed bench press [8-12 sets of 2-3 reps @ 40-60% with mini bands or chains;
with 90 seconds’ rest between sets] Tom 10x3 - 147.5
2. Barbell or kettlebell shoulder press (5x8) barbell Tom 130 JC 60
3. Pull ups (5x10)
4. 4 sets 10 banded triceps extensions
5. Barbell curls: 4 sets of 5
6. 4 sets kettlebell flys, 62’s
7. 3 sets kettlebell sit ups

SATURDAY - Conditioning
swim 1 mile

[Nunedog]

I am back from a four day weekend down South, where I stayed in a small house with nine other folks. It was as crowded as that sounds. The event we attended was fine; I must admit, however, to having misgivings ahead of time about the sheer earthiness of being packed in so tightly with people I knew only so well.
We managed surprisingly well, considering eight of us were using one bathroom. Aside of a married couple who were in the master suite, it was seven women and then me, so I pulled my mattress into the living room and avoided all the snoring and closeness I was worried about.
Privacy is as much about head space and world view as it is physical proximity. In particular, I’m talking about health and nutrition, since these are the first things that become apparent when 10 people are stumbling into the same kitchen first thing in the morning.
Everybody’s dying. Everybody there - with the exception of yours truly - was emaciated or obese and suffering from one ailment or another. On the counter next to the coffee maker or people’s plates were their plastic pillboxes marked, ‘M-T-W-Th . . . ,’ and everyone knocked back prescription meds like handfuls of M&M’s. Blood thinners, blood pressure medicine, statins, and more were going down the hatch.
I brought a jug of whey protein. As I mixed some into a glass of milk, they stared at me as if I were mad.

‘High protein diets cause cancer,’ said the emaciated guy at one point. Until recently he was a runner, opting now for yoga because his flexibility and balance have been bad. At breakfast time every morning, he’d go outside to attempt handstands against a tree. He couldn’t keep his body in one piece for those, so he settled for a yoga styled headstand, clasping his head with his forearms along the ground to create a base of sorts. While standing normally, he showed me later, he could lift one foot and place it along the opposite knee in a yoga pose, but he couldn’t do it on the other side.
I had furrowed my eyebrows when he let fly that line about protein and cancer.
‘In those studies about red meat,’ he hasted to add.
‘Come on, now,’ I said. ‘Everybody knows those studies have trouble controlling for red meat as a single variable.’
He, like his wife, was surprised that I knew my way around reading scientific studies, which was a big hobby of theirs. She had informed me during an earlier whey-chugging that protein was bad for my kidneys.
Rubbish, I had responded, though not in so many words. I had already been through this with my doctor, to whom I provided a number of abstracts on studies debunking that same assertion.
‘Those must be newer studies,’ the emaciated wife said.
Well, yeah, I thought. You can’t go around relying on old, incorrect information, and since you’ve already told me you’re avoiding protein, staying low-carb, and most assuredly steering clear of fats, you’re starting to run out of options. She was physically quite weak and among the morning pill slammers.

I picked up the tab for a grocery run. We only needed a few odds and ends since we were going to a dinner one night and had already cooked a giant load of chicken and potatoes to last us as leftovers. I grabbed a milk. The ladies with me grabbed liters of soda and a pizza to throw in the oven.
OK, this is why you’re dying, I thought.
From their grocery run a day or two earlier, the pantry was already stocked with a lot of goldfish crackers, peanut butter stuffed pretzels, and alcohol - or a four day stay. I suppose I knew that obese people spent inordinate amounts of time stuffing crap into their bodies that didn’t belong there, but I hadn’t really observed the process up close before.

The amount of alcohol people took in was staggering. I’m a little funny on this subject. I completely see the logic of a cold brew, scotch, gin and tonic - or whatever your pleasure - for the immediate subtle effect. Unlike most people, however, I don’t see partying as directly related to alcohol consumption. I’m thinking back to college, but partying to me was trying to score with one girl or another, so after a few sips of liquid courage I’d want to be at the top of my game, not one-eyed and drooling - or any more so than I was everyday anyway. The same was true if I’d be bashing around to some good music, which was often happening at the same time. I also wrote and performed some Pythonesque comedy shows for our campus radio station, so I had to be coherent when I was acting ridiculous.
I was never a prude. I was up for sexual conquest, witty banter, or naughty behavior at any hour of the day. It just made no sense to anesthetize myself from the wicked pleasures they imparted.

Back to our story: aside of the couple bent on deprivation, people took in massive amounts of alcohol all weekend long. I had a brew Friday and Saturday, after long days in the sun, but people had 10 or 15 in a day, sometimes starting not long after breakfast. The leader of our group from Ohio drove down in a giant RV, and he held court every afternoon where he had set up camp, complete with corn hole boards and a cooler at his feet. He must have had close to a case of beer every night.
I’m not sure he ever got truly drunk. In fact, this is probably similar to why men used to smoke pipes, for the sense of a steady, minor pleasure. I’m sure that if we were all at a souk in Marrakech, he’d have a hookah pipe to his lips the entire time.

Another aside: my next door neighbor partied like that. He recently put a swimming pool in his backyard, with a fancy pool house that sports a grill, bar, bathroom, and big screen TV. This was his pride and joy - like my garage gym. He was generous and hosted parties every weekend. One time, as kids splashed around and the deck swarmed with guests, he said to me, beaming, ‘THIS is Summer. Ya know what I mean?’ He used to read the paper out at his pool bar every morning, and I always thought he fantasized that he was running a restaurant.
He had young kids, and his crowd was generally families from the school. He paid a price, though. He was ten years younger than me but looked ten years older. The beer and the cigarettes had withered his limbs to sticks, though he had a pot belly. His skin was seared to a crackly permanent tan, like an old beach bum’s, and his eyes were hazy and watery. Not long after last Summer ended, he suffered a brain aneurysm that did massive damage.

He’s in the hospital, still connected to life support. I keep an eye out as I turn through the obituaries in the paper.
If you friggin’ marinate yourself everyday, you’re going to get tender.

I got a note from one of the other folks saying how much they appreciated staying together and building team spirit. That’s true: we did function brilliantly, despite all the alarming private thoughts we had along the way.

4-Day Split (8&3, 5&2, 2&1 rotation)
Week of: 4/1/19 5&2 week
MONDAY
1. Squat (3x5*) Tom 390 JC 165
2. Romanian deadlifts: 3 sets of 8 reps Tom 342.5, 345. 342.5 JC 170
3. Power Cleans (3x3) light JC 75 - 95
3. 4 sets of heavy shrugs 485 - 535
4. reverse hypers (3x10)
5. abs; banded pulldowns

TUESDAY
1. Bench press: Work up to a heavy set of 2* reps Tom 290
2. Bench press - back off sets [3-5 sets of 3-5 reps, 75-85%] 5x5 with 247.5
3. Dips: 4 sets of 8 with red bands (5)
4. Hanging Rows: 5x5 vest, 15 lb db
5. Barbell curls: 4 sets of 5

Conditioning (second session)
sled pull 2 miles; 20, 0 (and six 50-yard runs)

THURSDAY
1. Deadlift: work up to a set of 2* reps Tom 455
2. Deadlift: back off sets - 90% of top set; 2 sets of same* reps Tom 410
3. Squats: (90% of Monday’s weight) 3x5* reps Tom 350
4. Pin squats [Holes 10 - 13 - 17] (3x3) 295, 345, 395
5. Reverse Hypers (3x10)
6. abs: hollow rockers

FRIDAY
1. Speed bench press [8-12 sets of 2-3 reps @ 40-60% with mini bands or chains;
with 90 seconds’ rest between sets] Tom 10x3 - 150
2. Barbell or kettlebell shoulder press (5x8) kb 62’s and 1 set 72’s
3. Pull ups (5x10)
4. 4 sets 10 banded triceps extensions
5. Barbell curls: 4 sets of 5
6. 4 sets kettlebell flys, 62’s (72)
7. 3 sets kettlebell sit ups

SATURDAY - Conditioning
row 6000 meters

[Nunedog]

I’ve been talking shop with my old high school coach once again. Trading e-mails, we started with my kids’ recent offseason results and then got into recalling our old routine, the pivot he would make every Spring into speed training, and the ultimate fate of the school’s strength program. The upshot has been discovering an interesting parallel between the strength worlds of decades past and today: some coaches knew what they were doing in his era, and some did not. That’s just as true nowadays, but the various certifications that designate ‘qualified professionals’ are not making the distinction any clearer.

For decades, Coach used a ‘rapid peak’ program he had devised by reading practically every single issue of STRENGTH AND HEALTH published in the 1960’s as well as studying the routines of champion throwers like Perry O’Brien, Dallas Long, Randy Matson, Brian Oldfield, and Gary Gubner.
In the bench press, for example, a ten-week program began with 5 sets of 5 reps, with five pound increases made at (almost) every workout. Soon, the increases would mean reps started falling away, and an athlete one day would find himself fighting through a set of 5 and then 4’s and a 3 - and so on. When he could no longer muster 12 reps over the course of 5 sets, it was time for about three weeks of 5-3-1-1 pyramids, to establish new maximums.
These 13 weeks were timed to blend right into track season, which would begin with converting throwers’ newfound strength into power that could be applied to the shot or discus. This was a process in and of itself. Strength does not translate automatically into the kind of speed that sends a 12-pound iron cannonball a great distance.

A shot putter starts on the far side of a throwing circle with his back to the direction he’ll be sending his throw. The shot is in one hand and tucked between the ear and shoulder, as if he or she were cradling a phone. The athlete places his weight on his throwing side leg, uses the other in a mule kick of sorts to establish momentum backward, and then bounds backward - on that one leg - across the throwing circle, turning his body and driving the shot upward and outward for all he’s worth.
He does not ‘throw’ it with any kind of rotation in his shoulder, as that would wreck the entire joint. It’s a rapid, straight push, a press, or a ‘put.’
Great skill is required to combine the bounding, turning, and putting forces into the greatest possible acceleration of the shot. It demands that the body’s capacity for pure force be converted into the ability to move explosively. Thus, an entirely new brand of training is required, with lighter weights and higher speed, for optimizing power - and even this can be manipulated with an eye toward peaking at a certain point, like the Championships, according to Coach.
He swore by jump squats, which I can recall doing some 40 years ago, and which more recent research has confirmed to be one of the most effective power exercises in existence, as the jump eliminates to usual deceleration at the end of each rep.
One of his upper body exercises was the ‘Neider Exercise,’ a rapid fire press somewhere between horizontal and vertical, done so fast that the bar didn’t have time to fall from out in front. He also incline bench pressed sets of 10 for speed, with the weights dropping and speed increasing as meets approached. Rapid, alternating dumbbell presses also played a role as his program for high schoolers evolved over the years.

He was explaining how he boiled down his research and experience into a formal regimen when something in my mind said, Hang on.
In the 1960’s, or even earlier, American strength athletes were able to grasp the elementary physics of power - relative to absolute strength - and that it required its own training protocol?
Yes, Coach confirmed, which is when he reeled off that list of star athletes above. These guys were Olympic Team members and international competitors, world record setters in some cases. They were winning Olympic medals, which is to say defeating the Russians and other Eastern Bloc countries at the time our weightlifters were being soundly thrashed.
In the States, I said, it’s pretty recent news in the strength world that there are differing gears in one’s neurological transmission, each with its own mode of strength training. That’s what all the bands and chains are about with Louie Simmons from Westside, but I had thought that the secret was spilled mainly in the 90’s, after the Berlin Wall fell and all the Eastern Bloc scientists came running over to the States to publish books and make money.
In the 60’s - and I’ve written about Bud Charniga Jr.’s history of Bob Hoffman’s stranglehold on American Weightlifting before - Hoffman and his gang simply could not grasp how the ‘fatty looking’ Russians were murdering the Americans on the platform. The Americans, Charniga said, by contrast had every appearance of being complete studs, competing both in the Olympic Games and the Mr, Universe contests.
Hoffman directed a doubling down on absolute strength training.
The Russians, who had mastered speed and power training - as something relative to absolute strength, agreed that the Americans were indeed impressive and very, very strong, but slow to the point of clumsiness.

Americans had the knowledge, I was fascinated to learn. I had always figured the Russians in their laboratories cooked up secrets we knew nothing about. Instead, it was just that Bob Hoffman and the people running America’s presumably preeminent strength sport completely missed the boat. ‘It’s strange, the boundaries that create different mindsets - or vice versa,’ I said.

Off the top of his head, Coach could name 10 or 12 state champions and record setters he coached through the decades. Among them were pole vaulters, long jumpers, and a hurdles, high jump, and decathlon champion, not just throwers. He also worked with a number of baseball pitchers in the off-season.
10 years ago, his position in the weight room was terminated so a ‘qualified professional could watch the kids.’ These were the remarkably petty or oblivious words of an administration that had to be convinced time and time again to invest in a sport with a lower profile than football, hockey, or baseball. Just a few years prior - and unknown at the time he had to surrender his key - his considerable efforts laid the groundwork for one of his throwers making the 2012 Olympic Team and going to the Games in London.

I can only hope their professional is a lot more qualified than the professional at the Jesuit Prep school here, he of the salary, the 750,000 dollar weight room, and the 7 sets of 7 front squats with the 7-second descents. I haven’t seen my young football playing friend much in the past three or four months, ever since I had to give it to him straight: ‘In three years of training, you’re not squatting 300 pounds? This guy’s wasting your time.’

It’s occurred to me that I might wind up in one of these operations when I move back to Washington, if I continue my good works for the Gods of Iron.
‘Give me the kids who aren’t going to play,’ I’ll suggest to the coach. ‘I just need a rack, a bench, two bars, and about 300 pounds of weight,’ I’ll say as we stand among a million dollars’ worth of machines.
‘In about 10 weeks, I’ll need another hundred.’

4-Day Split (8&3, 5&2, 2&1 rotation)
Week of: 4/8/19 2&1 week
MONDAY
1. Squat (3x2*) Tom 430 JC 180
2. Romanian deadlifts: 3 sets of 8 reps Tom 342.5, 345x2 JC 145
3. Power Cleans (3x3) light JC 75 - 95
3. 4 sets of heavy shrugs 485 - 535
4. reverse hypers (3x10)
5. abs; banded pulldowns

TUESDAY
1. Bench press: Work up to a heavy set of 1* rep Tom 310+ JC 135
2. Bench press - back off sets [3-5 sets of 3-5 reps, 75-85%] 5x3-4 with 257.5
3. Dips: 4 sets of 8 with red bands (6.25)
4. Hanging Rows: 5x5 vest, 15 lb db
5. Barbell curls: 4 sets of 5

Conditioning (second session)
sled pull 2 miles; 20, 0 (and six 50-yard runs)

THURSDAY
1. Deadlift: work up to a set of 1* rep Tom 480 JC 270
2. Deadlift: back off sets - 90% of top set; 2 sets of same* reps Tom 432.5 JC 242.5
3. Squats: (90% of Monday’s weight) 3x2* reps Tom 387.5 JC 162.5
4. Pin squats [Holes 10 - 13 - 17] (3x3) 300, 350, 400
5. Reverse Hypers (3x10)
6. abs: hollow rockers

FRIDAY
1. Speed bench press [8-12 sets of 2-3 reps @ 40-60% with mini bands or chains;
with 90 seconds’ rest between sets] Tom 10x3 - 152.5 JC 65
2. Barbell or kettlebell shoulder press (5x8) barbell 132.5 JC 62.5
3. Pull ups (5x10)
4. 4 sets 10 banded triceps extensions
5. Barbell curls: 4 sets of 5
6. 4 sets kettlebell flys, 62’s (72)
7. 3 sets kettlebell sit ups

SATURDAY - Conditioning
swim 1 mile

[Nunedog]

As a comparative old-timer who thinks he knows a bit about getting things done, I thoroughly enjoyed the NETFLIX true-crime drama THE HIGHWAYMEN, about the two former Texas Rangers who tracked down and killed the notorious criminals Bonnie and Clyde in 1934. Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson, normally ageless and affably cool as we know them, are disconcertingly old here - or if they’re not actually older than the men they’re playing, they’re certainly showing the mileage men wore in that day and age, Costner abrupt and driven, Harrelson watery eyed and weak-bladdered. In their travels, they look askance at a culture that seems to be leaving them behind, whether it is the FBI, with their two-way radios and telephone wiretaps, or the rest of society, seemingly caught up in a craze of celebrity worship, rooting for Bonnie and Clyde as if they were folk heroes. Still, Costner and Harrelson remain the toughest dogs in the hunt, in a manner that calls to mind classics like UNFORGIVEN and LONESOME DOVE.

I have theory on the psychology at play here, but I do find it interesting that those titles above, two of the greatest depictions of masculinity in cinema, feature men on the more senior end of the spectrum, the silverbacks of the species. More on this later, but it saves us all the usual theatrics that come with heroic depictions. THE HIGHWAYMEN reminds us that being a tough guy is a state of mind, knowing one’s business and remaining patient and deliberate.
The revelation here is Kevin Costner - yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but he kills it - whose intentions are none of our business as he plays Captain Frank Hamer. Upon taking the assignment, Hamer’s first stop is a gun store in which he buys out practically the entire inventory: rifles, pistols, shotguns, and, knowing that the Barrow Gang has a predilection for machine guns, a number of automatic rifles. Costner offers neither the store owner nor the camera any indication of his thoughts; it’s as if we’re eavesdropping as he listens to the action in a .30-06 and places it on the counter.
This takes tremendous confidence as an actor - to offer nothing - and even more confidence as a director not to feel as though they must nurse along an audience’s reaction to a film. The scenes in which Costner quietly goes about his business are the most reminiscent of UNFORGIVEN.
We’re left like the store owner, wondering what comes next.
‘I’ll take them,’ Hamer says.
‘Which ones?’
‘All of them.’

Bonnie and Clyde’s crime spree began two years before a particular prison breakout prompted the Texas Department of Corrections to contact Captain Hamer. In reality, Clyde Barrow’s gang included a number of other associates whose robberies of stores, gas stations, and the occasional bank usually turned violent; with murder charges pending for a number of them and various sensational pictures circulating in newspapers, the gang had to travel backroads and favor campgrounds over restaurants or motels.
When Hamer and his partner, Harrelson’s Maney Gault, strike out after them, they live in the same fashion, driving endlessly and sleeping in the car. Soon they are practically stalking the young couple, missing them by less and less at each stop. Hamer pores over a road map marked with long, circular routes depicting Clyde Barrow’s tendency to stay near state borders, so he can quickly escape into another jurisdiction should police ever give chase. Despite a massive federal dragnet, it is Hamer who becomes increasingly able to predict Bonnie and Clyde’s movements.

This is old-school Rangering, a long, slow, stark, and methodical hunt through the rural, Depression-era South. The movie captures the sense of it so well that it was panned as too slow by some critics - who clearly have forgotten the Charles Dickens they studied in high school, the lesson of which is that the manner of telling is as much a part of the story as the action it’s recounting.
Hamer and Gault make for quite the contrast with the young and handsome federal agents sent from the big cities. At one murder scene, they amble around and uncover a number of clues the feds have missed. The old bastards are actually pretty impressive, we have to admit, as does the senior agent who’s looking on.
Old school detective work means never taking one’s eyes off the trail. The young agents, with their slicked back hair and tailored suits, seem mainly impressed with themselves.
If anything astonishes Hamer and Gault, it is the phenomenon of celebrity worship, the idea that much of the public romanticizes Bonnie and Clyde as heroes. Women wear the style of beret that Bonnie sports in a photo. To them, the idea of a woman out on the road living a life fueled by liquor, sex, and danger is irresistibly glamorous.
When a gas station attendant is unwilling to answer questions, Hamer lays a beating on him and then drives a pistol up under his jaw. It’s a toss up, however, on what makes him talk, that or the revelation that Bonnie and Clyde are not just ‘stealing from the banks.’ Hamer describes for him the cold blooded execution of a police officer, which we see and where Hamer and Gault arrive soon after.

100 days after Frank Hamer takes the job, Bonnie and Clyde are dead. They’re killed in an ambush led by Hamer and Gault in Bienville Parish, Louisiana - (on a road that remains isolated and lonely to this day.) Considering the fact that the two eluded capture for years as they roamed through nearly a third of the United States, pinning them down is a feat of staggering genius.
Bonnie and Clyde’s fate is sealed the moment Frank Hamer purchases that arsenal in the gun store early in the story. He and Gault simply never consider the option of apprehending such prolific killers. They play a hunch at a critical moment and are careful to give themselves every tactical advantage necessary to create a slaughter: they round up a handful of other officers and set a trap along the road with a stalled truck belonging to a confederate of the Barrow Gang.
As Bonnie and Clyde slow to a stop, they are annihilated with automatic weapon fire.
That’s the nature of the business. These old Texas Rangers have no interest in heroics, which spares us the usual movie nonsense we see in final epic confrontations, where our heroes get in over their heads and on the verge of losing it all suddenly summon some last bit of strength or pluck to win the day.
Hamer and Gault are too smart. Bonnie and Clyde never stand a chance.

It’s my belief that this brand of justice is reassuring to audiences - especially when it is dispensed by older men. It plays to our inborn need for a father figure. No matter our age, we seek the comfort in knowing someone older, wiser, and stronger is looking out for us.
A thousand years ago, it’s one thing for Beowulf to rip Grendel’s arm off or leap into a bog after his vengeful mother as a young buck, but it’s quite another some 50 years later to face a dragon who scorches the earth and plunders the land’s riches. Epic stories reveal a great deal about the human psyche; here, it’s telling that Beowulf faces his greatest test only when he’s truly ready - as a greybeard rich in experience.
We can all remember being little and staring up at our Dad as we tried to figure out what made him so awesome. THE HIGHWAYMEN has the courage to let us wonder in the same fashion.

Bear in mind the need for father figures. Keep training.

4-Day Split (8&3, 5&2, 2&1 rotation)
Week of: 4/15/19 8&3 week
MONDAY
1. Squat (3x8*) Tom 352.5 green bands JC : 152.5
2. Romanian deadlifts: 3 sets of 8 reps Tom 345 chains JC 145, 147.5, 145
3. Power Cleans (3x3) 75 - 95 JC
3. 4 sets of heavy shrugs 485 - 535
4. reverse hypers (3x10)
5. abs; banded pulldowns

TUESDAY
1. Bench press: Work up to a heavy set of 3* reps Tom 280 JC 120
2. Bench press - back off sets [8 sets of 3 reps, 75-85%] Tom 250 chains JC 110
3. Dips: 4 sets of 8 with red bands (7.5)
4. Hanging Rows: 5x5 vest, 20 lb db
5. Barbell curls: 4 sets of 5

Conditioning (second session)
sled pull 2 miles; 20, 0 (and six 50-yard runs)

THURSDAY
1. Deadlift: work up to a set of 3* reps Tom 435
2. Deadlift: back off sets - 90% of top set; 2 sets of same* reps Tom 392.5
3. Squats: (90% of Monday’s weight) 3x8* reps Tom 317.5 green bands JC 137.5
4. Pin squats [Holes 10 - 13 - 17] (3x3) 300, 350, 400
5. Reverse Hypers (3x10)
6. abs: hollow rockers

FRIDAY
1. One 5-second sticking point isometric max effort
2. Speed bench press [8-12 sets of 2-3 reps @ 40-60% with mini bands or chains;
with 90 seconds’ rest between sets] Tom 155 JC 67.5
3. Barbell or kettlebell shoulder press (5x8) kettlebell 62’s 72’s JC 30 lb db’s
4. Pull ups (5x10)
5. 4 sets 10 banded triceps extensions
6. Barbell curls: 4 sets of 5
7. 4 sets kettlebell flys, 62’s, 72’s
8. 3 sets kettlebell sit ups

SATURDAY - Conditioning
row 6000 meters

[Nunedog]

I’ll approach this from a few different directions:

Five years ago, when I was in a Westside Barbell - CrossFit hybrid phase, leaving CrossFit but prior to my discovering Starting Strength, I used to do a Westside styled warm-up that included jumps from a kneeling position. The idea was that from kneeling, or sitting back with your rear end on your heels, you would jump fast enough and high enough to land on your feet. The point of contact with the ground is your knees, so only your hip extensors are launching you upward; your quadriceps are not involved.
On cold winter mornings we’d be out in the barn trying to get the blood flowing, sipping coffee and dressed in layers of sweats and fleece. Squats, calf raises, or loading the bar would warm things up to an extent - but these jumps were incandescent. We’d only do three of four in the course of a morning, but each split second burst would have us pulling off a hat or shedding a layer of fleece, despite the cold air.

I missed a 460-pound squat attempt the other day.
‘What was the problem?’ my college-era Olympic lifting coach used to ask at such moments.
‘It was too friggin’ heavy,’ I would say, which had become a running joke to avoid a great deal of analysis.
I had a shot at the 460, a milestone I’ve been after for some time. My workout called for 430, done for three sets of 2 reps. The first set was rough. My squat progression must be slowing, I thought, but what the Hell, 430 for a deuce ain’t bad. Who Dares Wins: 30 pounds more for a single is not out of the question.
It was too friggin’ heavy. 460 across my shoulders was intimidating. I was slow, probably scared, in the hole. I got out but not past the sticking point.

If you’ve paid any attention to this blog over time, you’d know that I’ve earned my share of failures along the way. I’ve stuck too long with the wrong assistance exercises, or not done enough of them. Most notably, I undertook a long linear styled progression assisted by isotonic-isometric rack work. That was a significant risk, to depart from sensible intermediate programming, especially since a 5-3-1 HLM had worked so well previously. That dual Old-School progression showed promise, and ultimately I think I mismanaged it, but the underlying point is that I keep trying. I’m willing to stand as close to the fire as I have to.

It’s time for another risk. Now, I’m not insane, and I’m not program hopping. In fact, I’m maximizing the principles at play in the Andy Baker routine I’m presently following. Furthermore, the science I’m capitalizing upon is more sound than the guess-timation I used in that dual progression 18 months ago.
It’s Andy Baker who recommends Josh Bryant’s book BENCH PRESS: THE SCIENCE. Bryant, who benched 600 at the tender age of 22, considers neuromuscular efficiency to be the name of the game. To make best use of one’s recruiting capacity, an athlete must make the best use of his training tools.
Getting a bench press book is like getting a new Judo book. The moment you tear it out of the Amazon package, you flip right to the middle for the most exciting revelations. True, Bryant has a number of skills and drills you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise, but they’re based on some scientific principles to which I, for one, have not given enough attention.

The force-velocity curve is a graphic representation of the principle stating that the faster an object is moving, the less force you can apply against it (in that same direction) whether you’re coming out of the hole with a weight or pushing a car stuck in the snow. At or near zero-speed, you can bring all you’ve got against either. If the bar or car is already moving, you can try your hardest, but you simply won’t be able to summon your full potential for force.
You can turn this logic around and use the curve to determine which percentages of your maximum are best for training strength, power, or speed. What you’re after depends on the sport you’re preparing to play. Two blog entries ago, when I spoke of American shot-putters and Russian weightlifters (but NOT American weightlifters) training with sub maximal weights, they were using their knowledge of this relationship.

Each lift has its own strength curve, which describes the areas in the range of motion which require the greatest or least amounts of strength. In the bench press and the squat, as you might imagine, the greatest amounts of strength are required at the sticking points, when arm bones and leg bones are parallel to the floor and creating their longest levers. Less and less demanding throughout the motion is above that. Arm bones and leg bones become increasingly vertical, so the rep ends pretty quickly as the athlete intuitively eases off.

So: a given rep, stimulating as it may be at the bottom, could be moving fast enough that an athlete cannot apply sufficient force near the top to derive a training benefit. Speed aside, according to the strength curve, an athlete’s leverage is so advantageous near the top of a rep that a once stimulating weight diminishes in effectiveness.
Physics is pointing out the shortcomings in lifting static loads.

True as all that is above, Bryant’s book really gets started with an extended discussion of the importance of Compensatory Acceleration Training, a concept established by Dr. Fred Hatfield, in which all sets and reps are done ‘accelerating the bar as quickly as possible with maximum force.’ It can be done - it should be done - with sub maximal weights, the better to train the central nervous system to move explosively with the heaviest maximum attempts.
The sticking point, as Bryant relates from one of the numerous studies he cites, is not just a function of position. Muscle activity has been shown to decrease .2 to .35 seconds after a lift commences, quite possibly because the effects of the stretch reflex end. This would be where the muscles involved must lift the weights ‘on their own.’ Regardless of how an athlete thinks of it, that they’re making the most of that split-second stretch reflex or merely trying to generate some momentum to drive through difficult leverage, the initial explosion is vital.
On and on goes Bryant, making his case for Compensatory Acceleration Training, exploring it from numerous perspectives and linking it to his other strategies. As technically and neurologically significant as it is, CAT training is entirely controlled by conscious effort, on each and every rep and as an overall approach to lifting.

Believe it or not, this set off a pang of misgiving for me. Words like ‘intention,’ ‘explosive,’ and ‘maximum effort’ called to mind ‘intensity’ from my CrossFit days - a great idea theoretically but not possible in practice, because in CrossFit you’re so gassed from what you’re doing.
I’m wary of critical factors that remain subjective. This is when I recalled Louie Simmons’ discussion of accommodating resistance, namely the bands and chains. When the resistance increases throughout the rep, an athlete has no choice but to explode madly at the bottom, generating speed to defeat the misery that awaits.
Lo and behold, Bryant points out that ‘the advanced lifter . . . can add bands’ to achieve the effect. If by ‘advanced lifter’ he means an old timer who’s just about topped out his potential and tried nearly everything under the sun, I’m in.
Bryant’s book has far, far more than this; I’m only scratching the surface. He discusses Post Activation Potentiation, which Baker’s routine (below) already has me doing, as well as a quick and dirty little plyometric trick that seemed to work as I hit a 3-rep bench max with 280 the other day.

This past Monday was a 40-degree morning as I warmed up my squats. Not only could I sense a newfound level of speed in my reps, I suddenly had a hot flash that made me pull off a hoodie after a set of 2 with 225. This is just like those kneeling jumps in Virginia, I realized. The spike in power produces heat.
The other day I strapped a set of green bands onto the squat bar. The added resistance was probably 100 or so additional pounds at the very top; the bands went slack at a point just above parallel, so my sets of 2 with 387.5 the other day were indeed 387.5 at the bottom of the lift. A few other things were going on, however: that was 487.5 or more as I took it off the hooks and got set, a strength I have to develop in order to do a better job with my 430’s soon - and 460 the next time it comes up. Secondly, those bands really want to slingshot me downward, so I have to control the descent, but still, you hit that hole pretty hard - and trust me, you come out like a jack-in-the-box, both from the enhanced stretch reflex and knowing that 50 and soon 100 pounds of extra fight are in store. The plan for 460 eventually is to let it jackhammer me into the hole a bit, and then blast out before I realize it’s too friggin’ heavy.

Am I blundering down another wrongheaded path? I still have much to explain, such as Bryant’s thoughts on rep schemes and the different resistances added to heavy versus lighter benches.
I’m still lifting my ‘regular’ weights; at the bottom of each lift they’re the same as ever. With the enhanced resistance, I just happen to be training the upper ranges of motion, the ones that the force-velocity and strength curves just told me I’ve been shortchanging.
The speed - and the temperature - are increasing. Bryant would say I’m on my way. Stand by for numbers.