Ben2285's never ending quest of self-improvement

[WorkoutMchne]

[quote=Venom;910455]That is brutal man! You can't practice one way for months on something like squats, and then change your form at the last second.

I have never heard judges complain about low bar squats. In fact, most competitors advised layne that he needs to put the bar way lower on his back and that would improve his power.
QUOTE]

First, no reason to be disappointed Ben, a 1300 total is very very solid. The answer to the "low bar" squat is that this meet was in the USAPL. I encourage everyone to lift in the USAPL as it is a member of the IPF and has the strictest rules among all powerlifting federations in this country.

USAPL Makes You:
1. Squat Deep
2. No Knee Wraps (In Raw division)
3. Weigh in the morning of the event (as opposed to the day before)
4. Usually no music during lifting
5. Warm-up for the next lift almost immediately after the previous one
6. It is drug-tested
7. Has a start command for the bench
8. Has a long pause for the bench
9. No touching of the lifter during spotting on squats
10. They use a shorter IPF bar and not a "deadlift bar" like other feds for deadlifting

These are just a few reasons (probably more that I can't think of right now) why the USAPL is the most legitimate and toughest federation to lift in. The biggest differences are in squat depth and the elimination of knee wraps. This makes Ben's total even more impressive and equal to a total of about 50-100 pounds more in another federation. This fed doesn't just give away lifts they actually enforce the rules. Anyway, this is just to shed light on the strict judging discussed in the previous post.

Bottomline: Great work man.

[Ben2285]

Originally Posted by Venom

That is brutal man! You can't practice one way for months on something like squats, and then change your form at the last second.

I have never heard judges complain about low bar squats. In fact, most competitors advised layne that he needs to put the bar way lower on his back and that would improve his power.

My opinion on deads has always been that you either lift it, or you don't. I've always found the whole hitch thing kind of lame.

Anyway, your strength is ridiculous. Looks like if you compete in the future, just need to work more on the technical stuff.

Thanks Gabe... I actually checked with a judge before the meet to see if my bar placement was legal and he okay'd it but unfortunately the head judge felt differently. Yes, more upset that I had been training that way leading up to the meet. Not as much at the judge. Yep, just like you said...gonna have to make some adjustments in training.

[quote=WorkoutMchne;910541]

Originally Posted by Venom

That is brutal man! You can't practice one way for months on something like squats, and then change your form at the last second.

I have never heard judges complain about low bar squats. In fact, most competitors advised layne that he needs to put the bar way lower on his back and that would improve his power.
QUOTE]

First, no reason to be disappointed Ben, a 1300 total is very very solid. The answer to the "low bar" squat is that this meet was in the USAPL. I encourage everyone to lift in the USAPL as it is a member of the IPF and has the strictest rules among all powerlifting federations in this country.

USAPL Makes You:
1. Squat Deep
2. No Knee Wraps (In Raw division)
3. Weigh in the morning of the event (as opposed to the day before)
4. Usually no music during lifting
5. Warm-up for the next lift almost immediately after the previous one
6. It is drug-tested
7. Has a start command for the bench
8. Has a long pause for the bench
9. No touching of the lifter during spotting on squats
10. They use a shorter IPF bar and not a "deadlift bar" like other feds for deadlifting

These are just a few reasons (probably more that I can't think of right now) why the USAPL is the most legitimate and toughest federation to lift in. The biggest differences are in squat depth and the elimination of knee wraps. This makes Ben's total even more impressive and equal to a total of about 50-100 pounds more in another federation. This fed doesn't just give away lifts they actually enforce the rules. Anyway, this is just to shed light on the strict judging discussed in the previous post.

Bottomline: Great work man.

Thank you very much Mike. And you are very right... Everything about USAPL is extremely strict from lifting form to banned substances and this is one of the major appeals of the org. You def. have to earn your total with them. Thanks again for the support Mike

[Ben2285]

So ... The past week has just been the start of a transition mesocycle. My major focus will be hypertrophy, power, and recovery from minor injuries sustained during previous training and the meet (IT band, and low back). I will post up the template of my program for anyone interested... just a warning.. it is quite high volume and frequency in my typical fashion hah. I have solely been doing occlusion for legs as my back has not allowed me to squat yet and I want to try to let the scar tissue in my IT dissipate before I get back into heavy work.

In other news I just got back from visiting Dr. Jeff Volek at UConn. I am interested in doing my PhD with him as he does a lot of interesting research related to carbohydrate restriction and dietary supplements. Doesn't hurt that Kraemer is there either hah. It was a very interesting visit for me that left me with a crazy mix of emotions such as intimidated, excited, intrigued, anxious and so on hah. Uconn is also the most interesting college campus I have ever been to. The surrounding area is literally barren and then you just come up on this huge campus. Lots of very bright minds there and people who think outside the box.. All in all a very interesting experience for me that really initiated a lot of deep thought and reflection. Though I still have over a year left to finish my masters, I have a lot of major decisions to ponder.

[Commander]

Cool, I read an article in ProSource by Dr. Volek about low carb diets and nutrient partitioning. It was very interesting and he was nice enough to respond to an e-mail I sent to him regarding the article.

[Venom]

If you could go to UCon and work with volek and kraemer, that would be amazing. I'd definitely encourage that, man.

[will-work4andro]

Originally Posted by Venom

If you could go to UCon and work with volek , that would be amazing. I'd definitely encourage that, man.

hell yeah, it would be awesome to work with Volek

[Ben2285]

Originally Posted by Venom

If you could go to UCon and work with volek and kraemer, that would be amazing. I'd definitely encourage that, man.

Originally Posted by will-work4andro

hell yeah, it would be awesome to work with Volek

Yes it absolutely would be an amazing opportunity, there is no denying that. Lots of things would have to go very right for that to happen.. So all I can do in the meantime is make myself as marketable as possible.

Things have been going well with training... IT band issue seems to have dissipated and my low back is good enough to squat again.. So that is exactly what I did tonight. Before going into that though I would like to share some insights..

As I am approaching the design of a periodization plan leading up to my next meets (the big one being nationals next august) I have been reading Kraemer and Zatsiorsky's Science and Practice of Strength Training. It is an excellent book and I have taken a lot that I will be implementing. It is very obvious that Louie Simmons is a big fan of Zatsiorsky's because many of the "westside methods" are heavily based off of strength principles written in his (Zat.'s) chapters. Program design is such an intriguing art because there are so many ways to go about it and you can always learn something new or spur the creative thinking of novel ideas. I have always loved conjuring up new plans as crazy as they may seem hah.

Tonight I did-

Very low box squats (15-20" box)- 225 x 8, 4 sets
Low box squat (15-20" box w/ 100 lb plate on it)- 225 x 8, 4 sets

Hyperext./Glute Ham Raise Hybrid- Bw x 10, 10 sets ... This is basically just something I made up because my gym doesn't have a GHR bench. The first half of the movement is a hyperextension and then half way up you pull your *** back with your hamstrings. It looks like a back extension ending with a razor curl. I couldn't walk for a week after the first time I did them.

Speed Cable Pullthroughs- 130x 15, 4 sets

Swiss ball sit ups- bw x 20 x 4 sets..

I promised to put up my workout template which I will do either tonight or tomorrow

[Ben2285]

Wow... again there is a major gap in my updates.. I'm sorry guys things have been nuts for me as I'm sure they have been for everyone else.

I'll try to fill you in on some of my recent happenings (in no particular order)...

1. I am prepping for another USAPL meet in December located in King of Prussia, as well as USAPL Raw Nationals in August of next yr. Which is located in none other than SCRANTON PA hah... Thanks to our fellow board member Peter (chuckles_345) and my recent reading of Science and Practice of Strength Training, my interest in Westside Training has been reinvigorated and I have been training Westside for about the past month. The coauthor of Science and Prac. of Strength Training (Zatsiorsky) has some excellent work in the field of strength training and through reading the book I was able to make the connection of how much of an influence he had/has in development of the Westside methods

2. I have purchased quite a bit of gym equipment and now train exclusively at home. Basically all of my free time in the recent weeks/months has been spent researching/purchasing/or building strength training equipment. I have amassed quite a little collection and now have no need to leave my house to train! Off the top of my head, I have:
-A Texas Squat Bar
- Texas Power Bar
- Glute Ham Raise
- 2 Power Racks, 1 with plate loaded cable stack
- Varying boxes for box squats and belt squats
- Every tension band available
- over 200lbs of chains
- Power hooks for dumbells
- Manta and stingrays for front and high bar squats
- A cambered bench bar
- over 1,600 lbs of plates
- A safety squat bar
- A prowler
- weight sled w/ dragging harness
- nylon handle for suspended work (suspended push ups and such)
- sprinting parachute
- Weight releasers
- 1,2,3,4,and 5 board presses
- and numerous other items that I can't recall at this time

(pics to come)

3. I am trying to finish my testosterone booster called T Plus which will be the best T booster on the market and have scientifically supported ingredients in appropriate doses. And it ACTUALLY WORKS (no pixie dusting or marketing bs here )

4. Have been pretty busy with private nutrition counseling/training as well as work and grad school.. This has really taken up any "free" time I have had

5. Hoping to write up and finish another article for JHR on using EMS for strength enhancement... In the meantime though I encourage everyone to check out my recent article on Alpha Lipoic Acid! - http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/ALAJHR.pdf

Well now that you are up to speed... I hope to start logging more frequently again and I plan on posting my new routine as well as some other ones I have been brainstorming and coming up with.

[Commander]

Exciting stuff! Looking forward to the pictures, I myself train at home and have built several things to make my gym better, but I don't have quite the gym you have.....can I come and train, lol!

I didn't realize that a new article was out, congrats, I plan on reading ASAP.

[Ben2285]

Absolutely man! Anyone close is welcome to come and train