Tags: Announcements // 1 Comment »

It seems that King Ass Clown Wadler and his Duschbag Gang of Paranoid Drug Elves are at it again. They are trying to find a link between world famous Orthopedic Surgeons Dr. Richard Steadman/ Dr. Marc Philippon and Dr. Anthony Galea, a rehabilitation specialist in Canada.
.
When are the most powerful people in sports; commissioners of the major sports, heads of the television networks, owners of the teams, heads of the international sport federations, going to get together behind closed doors and “ask” these drug nazis to stop f$#%ing with their livelihood. Trust me, it will happen.

Throughout my years as an athlete and coach, I have had the opportunity to meet and speak with television executives, team owners, and heads of international sport federations. Most of the ones I have spoken with are concerned about drugs in sport. Not from a performance standpoint but how all this negative attention will effect their bottom line.

If and when Wadler’s Wackadoos start effecting the bottom line, he and the rest of his henchmen will wake up one day with a horse head in their bed and that will be the end of the drug problem in sports.

Fight until your very last breath!

-Wax-

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First, I would like to thank you for all the support you have shown regarding the Pure Strength Blog. The emails I have been receiving are inspiring. I want to apologize for not updating as often as I was. I have been feverishly working on finishing the gym and the new website.

The Gym Update:
I have been at my current location for approximately one and a half years. When I first moved in I took on a Crossfit affiliate as a tenant. The idea was to share the space. They would have their Crossfit classes and I would work with my athletes and everybody would be happy. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way for me. The space is not huge (1500 ft total with about 1000 ft of usable space) but big enough to train a small group of athletes. As my tenants business grew it affected my ability to coach my athletes. There was no space for both of us to operate at the same time.

At that point I had to make a decision, do I ask them to leave, or do I adapt? Because I asked the affiliate to join me, I felt the honorable thing to do was to adapt my business to accommodate their needs. I essentially got out of the coaching business, stared an equipment company, and became a landlord. This allowed the Crossfit affiliate to have free run of the gym space and I used the office to run the equipment company. It wasn’t a perfect situation by any means. I wasn’t able to use my gym for coaching athletes and the Crossfit affiliate no longer had an office to work out of.

As time went on I began to realize that I didn’t like the equipment business and I really missed coaching athletes full time. But specifically what I missed was having a gym full of big, strong and powerful athletes. At 40 years old I shouldn’t be the strongest person in the gym. I began to feel like a child with his face pressed up against the toy store window, wishing he could have what was on the other side, but Christmas was months away.

Well, Christmas came in late November for me. The Crossfit affiliate moved out and I got my gym back! Its taken some time but I am just about ready to roll.

Its a private gym and I am going to be selective about membership. Up to this point in my coaching career, I’ve worked with whomever could afford to pay me. I’M DONE WITH THAT! In fact I would rather stick a red hot poker in my ass then coach another unmotivated athlete. If your prepared to bleed for every extra kilo, second, inch, yard or whatever you need to get better, then I help you. If need to be stroked in order to get results, hire a f$%#ing hooker! . I will NEVER coach a pussy or have a shit show in my gym EVER AGAIN! I will create an environment like my coach, Bob Takano of Takanoathletics.com did when he was coaching at Van Nuys. Everybody had a single focus; push yourself until you fall down. Then get, keep pushing and go win medals! It took a different type of person to want to go through that experience on a daily basis. Those of us that endured over the long haul, became better for it. Not only as athletes but coaches and human beings as well. Now I want to pass that experience on to other serious athletes.

Here is the Waxman’s Pure Strength Gym Credo:

Desire to be the absolute best you can be
Dedication to achieve your goals, no matter what obstacles might arise
Determination to push through the difficult times and finish what you’ve started

If you possess these three traits, then you have the raw materials for success. It doesn’t matter if you are battling in sport or in life; the tools needed for success are the same.

These are the type of people I enjoy coaching. These are the type of people you will see at my gym. There are plenty of places in the South Bay and the rest of Southern California to go and get sunshine blown up your ass; this is not one of those places.

The Gym Has:

- Daily group and individual Olympic Weightlifting training for people interested in competing in the sport as well as learning how to do and/or coach the lifts.

- Daily group and individual Strength and Conditioning training for athletes, military, law enforcement or people interested in training like athletes.

- Morning Boot Camp style conditioning/work capacity classes using Strongman/odd object lifting.

- Monthly seminars and workshops geared towards the Crossfit/Strength and Conditioning/Weightlifting communities.

The new website will have all the details. It should be up in a few weeks. In the meantime if you want any info email me at Sean@purestrength.com.

The gym is located 10 minutes from LAX Airport at 15711 Condon Av. #A3. Lawndale, CA. 90260. Map

Stop by if your around. There is no other place like it in Southern California!

Fight until your very last breath!
-Wax-

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1. DO NOT buy any books or manuals that tell you how to lose fat, you don’t need them. If you already have, then you will be better served eating them for their fiber content than actually following them.

2. DO follow a training program that uses compound movements (squatting, deadlifting, presses, Olympic lifts) with progressively heavier weights. You must train hard in order to stimulate the anabolic hormones in your body. When you train this way muscle magically appears and the body uses a tremendous amount of calories; two very important factors involved with losing fat. (Try Bill Star’s 5×5 workout.)

3. DO eat 6-8 times a day.

4. DO include a protein with each meal that either walks, flys, or swims. (no F$%@ing vegetable products unless you have the metabolism of a beef cattle.) Protein meals elevate metabolic rate.

5. Do include a low glycemic carb with every meal (less than 70 GI), This keeps insulin levels in check.

6. DO include a good fat with every meal (olive, high oleic safflower, CLA, flaxseed oil, ect.) This will further reduce your insulin response.

7. DO include a soluble fiber with every meal. This will lower the GI.

So to sum it up train hard and eat like an athlete, not a yoga instructor!

–
Fight to your very last breath!

-sw-

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I cant tell you how many times I have heard certain coaches rationalize not using particular barbell exercises such as the squat or power clean because the were dangerous. I will say this, judging from some of the videos I have seen of their athletes lifting, there 100% correct. What they had them doing was absolutely dangerous however none of it resembled a squat or power clean.
Program design is the easy part of coaching beginning, intermediate, or untrained athletes. Anybody who passed the CSCS or reads a book on periodization could write a program. However that program will not work if the exercises are not performed with efficient technique. If you could teach an athlete just to squat correctly, they would be better off then implementing some elaborate program with dozens of exercises performed incorrectly.

With any trade there are particular skill sets that are required in order to do the job properly. Just because somebody doesn’t know how to do what’s needed, doesn’t care to do what’s needed, works for a company that doesn’t support what’s needed, or cant figure out how to make money doing what’s needed, doesn’t mean they should do things poorly. Where is the fucking integrity?

This seems to be really prevalent in strength and conditioning. You would never see a doctor who is scheduled to perform a double bypass decide to do a teeth whitening instead because he didn’t feel like going to school the day they were teaching heart surgery. Then, have the balls to tell the patient that teeth whitening is the future of bypass surgery! So why are so called Strength Coaches allowed to do this to their athletes? It’s our responsibility as coaches to know how to do and to teach the exercises that our athletes need. Don’t make the excuse that you are 20 years ahead of the science of training to justify some bullshit training methodology just because you figured out how to make money doing it.

When somebody pays money to a coach, they trust that you are doing everything you can do to help them meet their performance goals. They trust that you are a professional who took the time to hone their craft. Not some snake oil salesman only interested in forwarding their agenda. How would you feel if you spent your hard earned money on a diamond and it turned out to be a petrified piece of shit? Probably the same way you would feel if you hired a strength coach and got a glorified personal trainer with a fear of science, a big mouth, and a bad attitude.

Fight to your very last breath!

-wax-

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In athletes other than Weightlifters, I use both the Olympic and Power Squat. Because of the mechanics of the Power Squat, I like to use it for supplemental posterior chain work, with athletes suffering with knee tendonitis and/or an injury the medial structures of the knee. However, the majority of the Back Squatting volume in my training comes from the Olympic Squat. It is true the Power Squat will allow you to squat more weight however, more is not always better. Is a 700lb Back Squat going to help you more than a 500lb Back Squat? In the sport of Powerlifting it most certainly will, but that doesn’t necessarily equate to improved performance in other sports. Sport is not about maximal force development. It is about maximal rate of force development. Once my athletes reach a particular squat weight (between 2-3 times bodyweight calculated as a function of body weight and the physical demands of the particular sport), I maintain their strength levels while switching the training focus to generating force quickly. I use the Olympic lifts to accomplish this because they do it better than any other exercise. It would seem foolish to spend valuable training time continually getting an athlete stronger if the strength gained cannot be utilized on the field of play. A 700lb squat doesn’t mean shit if you’re a statue!

BETTER!

The Olympic Squat provides many benefits for athletes that the Power Squat does not. Here is my top three:
• The Olympic Squat adheres to the normal anatomical function of the joints.
• The Olympic Squat distributes the load evenly between the knee and hip joints.
• The Olympic Squat promotes flexibility in the ankle and hip joints.

In reality, because of the “functional training” plague that has swept through the Strength and Conditioning world, if a coach has an athlete squatting with a barbell at all regardless of style, it is better than the circus acts the pariahs masquerading as Strength Coaches are pawning off to their athletes as strength development. For those of you that understand the value of the squat and use it as an integral part of strength development, I salute you. If you are a “functional” clown please continue using your revolutionary, 20 years ahead of the science exercises with your athletes. The rest of us enjoy watching our athletes continually help yours off the ground, brushing the dirt off of their backs and sending them on their merry way.

I had a bad training day today. I needed to vent!

Fight to your very last breath!

-sw-

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Keep A Training Log

What the hell does writing stuff down have to do with getting stronger unless of course you are writing it on big stone tablets?

Most things we write down are reminders of what we did in the past so we can figure out what to do or not to do in the future. The beauty of training for a sport like Weightlifting, is we have a general idea how things will turn out. If you start at the right age, show good physical attributes, have a good coach, and don’t beat up five security guards, get your ribs broken by the cops, get locked up for three days, lift with broken ribs until you piss blood and have to take a month off, you will likely be able to at least reach the qualifying totals for Nationals in a predictable time period. The qualifying totals are well known so the planning of training has a definitive end point. A coach can work backwards from that point and based on the athletes’ ability, can determine roughly what and how long it will take to meet the desired goal.

Now I know this is a very simplistic overview of periodization however, this exactly how it works. In between your first day in the gym and the day you actually qualify for what ever it is you are training for (macrocycle), there will be a series of sequential plans (mesocycles). The planning of these mesocycles will be determined by the results of subsequent mesocycles. All the alterations made will be done so with one eye on the desired end result and the other on the past results. In other words if you don’t know what worked or didn’t work to get you to where you are, then how are you going to know what to do or not to do to get you to where you want to be?

Is thirty days of keeping a training log enough information to make you stronger in thirty days, perhaps not however, you have to start somewhere. And eventually those first 30 days turn into 330 days and now you have what to work with.

Some sample training logs:

Next up…Eat More!

Fight until your very last breath!

-sw-

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Andy is the head coach at the Olympic Training Center in Northern Michigan. We were training partners for a few years in the 90’s. He was a great training partner. We had a great team at that time; Andy, Mark Cannella, Francisco Coello, JP Nicoletta, John Garhammer, Timmy Chin, Diana Fuhrman, Leslie Musser, Thienan Nguyen, Joe Carbone, and Emmy Vargus. And the warden of that insane asylum was Bob Takano

Our entire lives, for many years revolved around only one thing, finding ways to Snatch and Clean and Jerk more weight. When we weren’t training we were talking about training or watching training videos. We were always together.

It was an amazing (or some would say crazy) time in my life and I’m a better man because I had the opportunity to share that experience with Andy and the rest of the freak show.

Thank you for the memories!

News Clip Of How Andy Tysz Is Making America Strong!

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I was fortunate to have my own column in Muscle and Fitness called “Power and Strength” for almost two years. They let me write about whatever I wanted to (most of the time.) They also allowed me to act as the technical adviser on the photo shoots so the exercises looked correct.

In this article the model never performed an Olympic lift. I had to put him into the correct positions. Unfortunately, the editorial staff didn’t use the pictures I would of liked. In the first picture I would of liked to have seen a picture used that had his knees back a bit more and his shoulders ahead of the bar. But otherwise I think it was a fairly good representation of the lift.
I hope you enjoy it.

The Hang Power Clean

-sw-

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We live in a world of instant gratification. Where patience and progressive development are thought of as archaic concepts. We want it, and we want it now. The world of sports is not immune to this ugly reality. Coaches are constantly being fired for not producing championships right away. Teams mortgage their future and trade away their prospects for more seasoned players so they can win right now. There is one thing we can learn from the results of this attitude towards development; it doesn’t work. There are no short cuts to sustained success.

“A Journey of a thousand miles starts with one step”
Lao-tzu, the first philosopher of Chinese Taoism

The worlds of Strength & Conditioning and Weightlifting have had this instant gratification attitude creep into the depths of its psyche. Strength and Weightlifting Coaches have become fixed on the outcome and have forgotten about the process.
A coach is a teacher. We are not teaching our athletes how to find the coefficient of restitution for balls dropped from a height of 72 inches however, much like the aforementioned biomechanics problem, we are teaching them how to properly and effectively reach the correct solutions for their physical problems. The most effective method for solving any complex problem, is to identify the desired end result, then determine what steps are needed in order to reach said result. This goes for any problem, whether you are trying to figure out how high a ball is going to bounce after you drop it or how to get an athlete stronger and more powerful.
Putting a bar in an athlete’s hand and telling them to lift it with out proper instruction is not teaching; it’s butchery.

Proper athletic development is a process that not only takes time to occur but also takes a skilled coach to implement. The questions then become, what is the correct process and what is a skilled coach.

The Correct Process

Some definitions first:
Process- A series of actions or steps taken to achieve a particular end.
Series- A number of events of a similar kind or related nature
coming one after another.
If we combine these two terms we get: A process is a number of events of a similar kind or related nature coming one after another to achieve a particular end.
This is in essence what the process of proper athletic development should be. An athlete comes to you with a particular goal or “end.” It is then up to you to guide them thru the proper steps so that they achieve the desired goal.
Volumes have been written on the different types of systems that can be used for developing athletes. Unfortunately, this information has gone largely unread or ignored by many coaches involved in Olympic Weightlifting and Strength and Conditioning even at the highest levels. However, the scope of this discussion is not what system works best, but what part of the system is often overlooked.

Development in Olympic Weightlifting

I have been involved in Olympic Weightlifting as an athlete and coach for over seventeen years. I can say unequivocally that the VAST MAJORITY of the athletes I have seen have correctable technical flaws in their lifting technique that go uncorrected. More disturbing, many of these athletes have been taught incorrectly by so called qualified coaches. It doesn’t matter if you have comprised your training program using the NASA supercomputer, or had you’re equipment forged by the same craftsman that made Thor’s Hammer, if your athletes are not efficient with their lifting movements, you are depriving them of the full benefit weight training provides as well as increasing their chances of injury.

JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN, DOESN’T MEAN YOU SHOULD

The ultimate goals of a Strength Coach and a Weightlifting Coach are the same, to elicit the best possible performance from their athletes. In Weightlifting it is seemingly easier to determine what a coach is doing is working. If your athlete lifts more than the next guy/gal, what ever you are doing is working. Lets examine this rational. According to this approach, whoever is on the medal stand at the National Championship or qualifies for an international team must have the best coach. This is not necessarily so if you take into consideration the genetic potential of the athlete. I will make the assumption that the genetics of the population of this continent are not dramatically different than those of other continents. Therefore the genetic potential of the US population is at least as great as other populations. However, as a country we do not perform anywhere near the level of other countries, and haven’t for quite some time. Than why is it our best athletes, who possess the same genetic potential as their international cohorts, cant compete at the international level? The first thing people look to is drugs. There is no doubt that drugs play a role in the landscape of Weightlifting. Would a systemized drug program propel us to the top of the Weightlifting world? The answer is absolutely no! Drugs will not solve the three most important and overlooked variables as it relates to Weightlifting success
1. The program design used to develop juniors
2. The loading parameters used on juniors.
3. Technical efficiency of the lifters.
These variables are being missed used due to lack of understanding of the process of proper athletic development. Many coaches in this country lack the physical science background that is required to understand the physiological effects training stress has on the biological and mechanical systems of the body. Couple that with inability to discern between proper and improper technique, and it is no surprise we perform as we do.

Program design and loading parameters
It first takes years of training with progressively higher volumes with sub maximal loads, using not only the classical Olympic lifts but basic weight training movements as well, to effect the necessary changes in the connective/muscle tissue and endocrine system needed to withstand the training loads required to excel at the highest levels of sport. It can take four or more years to elicit the changes needed in order to move on to more specialized training. This crucial phase of development is called the Process of Achieving Sports Mastery or PASM..It is in this phase, the athlete “trains to get into shape to be able to train.” A wide variety of exercises should be implemented at low to moderate intensities. During this time the classical lifts and their variations are taught and perfected as well. The exercise distribution over the PASM period should start with a predominance of strength exercises (roughly 75%) such as squatting variations, pressing variations, pulling/posterior chain variations, as well as specific wrist, elbow, rotator cuff, and ankle exercises. During this time the athlete should be taught how to perform the Olympic lifts. The distribution of Olympic lifts in the beginning of the PASM period should be roughly 25% of the overall volume. This 75%-25% ratio should gradually begin to flip flop thru out the four year PASM period culminating with an athlete that is prepared to handle much a much higher training load (intensity x volume).
Two things should occur during this PASM period if the training is implemented properly. First, as mentioned earlier, the athletes physiology will change. Their muscles will be strong and balanced. Their bones will have thickened. Their actual connective tissue will have strengthened along with where it attaches on the bone. Their work capacity would have improved to the point where they would to be able to handle and recover from more intense training load.

Technical efficiency of the lifter

Second, the athlete will have created a “habit” According to motor control research; it takes approximately ten thousand repetitions of a movement to create a consistent, unconscious movement pattern. Over the four years the athlete will have completed approximately ten-thousand reps in the Olympic lifts and three or more times that in the strength movements. Their technique in all movements should be biomechanical efficient and consistent. At this point there should be little or no technical deviation on lifts in the upper intensity ranges.
However, if you examine the developmental method used by many Weightlifting coaches, it expresses none of the characteristics of PASM. Instead coaches rush their unprepared, under trained athletes to the competition platform. These athletes are often weak, unbalanced, underweight, and technically inefficient. Because of this poor implementation of PASM, athletes are not developing past their first 4-6 years of training. This is often due to the accumulation of chronic injuries, or they become limited by the biomechanical flaws in their lifting technique.

Next up: Athletic development in Strength and Conditioning… Where we are getting it wrong

-sw-

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I wanted to do my part to help Strength Coaches who prescribe to the “Functional Training” dogma get out of the darkness and step into the light… To drop their balls and pick up a bar… To stop balancing and start squatting (and that doesn’t mean Split Squatting Mr. Boyle.)

I will lead them down a 9 step re-enlightment process. Not unlike the experience Castaneda had with Don Juan. I want to help free them from their ordinary reality which has been pounded into their awareness ever since they purchased their first Bozu ball. I will attempt to open their doors of perception and lead them towards the non-ordinary reality which will indeed be radically different from their ordinary reality they have experienced as part of their unfortunate social conditioning.
Without anymore hesitation, lets begin!

1st step towards re-enlightenment: Physical Therapy protocol provides a training stimulus, which restores normal movement and function, which has been threatened by injury.

2nd step towards re-enlightenment: Strength and Conditioning protocols are designed to enhance normal movement and function in order to improve athletic attributes such as power, and strength.

3rd step towards re-enlightenment: You cannot train a health athlete using Physical Therapy protocol and expect to maximize athletic attributes.

4th step towards re-enlightenment: High repetition, low intensity training is not optimal for developing strength and power.

5th step towards re-enlightenment: The optimal rep range for developing strength and power is between 3-5 reps.

6th step towards re-enlightenment: The body is one unit that is comprised a linked system of interactive muscle groups.

7th step towards re-enlightenment: The most effective exercises to develop strength and power are Squatting, Pulling, and the Olympic lifts!
(I know this is where I am going to loose some of you however, this is not my opinion. This statement has been proven to be true and the results are reproducible using real scientific method, not bullshit psudo-science.)

8th step towards re-enlightenment: Squatting, Pulling, and the Olympic Lifts require the entire body to act as one complete unit.

This concludes the eighth step of the journey. One more to go! It will all be clear in the end.

Until next time!

-sw-

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What is this functional for…Doggie Style

Paraphrasing Dr Mel Siff from Facts and Fallacies Fitness, the term Functional Training came out of the scientific and therapy worlds from the terms “structure” or form referring to the “phenomenon of growth of the substance forming the organism, and function referring to the way in which the organism operated. “
If we apply these definitions to training for sport, structural training would be directed towards “enhancing, maintenance and growth of the various systems of the body, whereas functional training would refers to the way these systems operate and produce motor output.”
Out of this work the principle of form follows function emerged which we find today in many forms of Physical Therapy
So now these so called “Functional Training” experts are confusing training for healthy athletes with “functional training” Just because they are not using machines, balancing on a ball and training in multi-dimensional space does not necessarily make it functional. This is not how the functional process was ever defined and it is not an accurate description of the training processes that are intended to enhance athletic or sport performance.
What is more alarming is that these same Functional freaks have gone ahead and labeled some training functional while saying other training is nonfunctional.
Doesn’t function really come down to the requirements of the activity? If you need to rehab a torn labarum gotten while performing stupid human tricks on a swiss ball, than perhaps jerking from behind the neck would not be an appropriate choice of exercise. But does that make it a non-functional exercise? It makes it the wrong exercise for the job at hand.
That being said, it is a fact that the Olympic Lifts produce the highest power output in the human body. I would say that power is a coveted trait in sports, then why is it not included in the “functional training” arsenal. There are companies dedicated to “functional” training for athletes, yet if you take a look at the information they are producing, you will not find anything on using the Olympic lifts for power development. Are they really helping athletes become more functional?
All training is functional if it is applied correctly. As far as it applies to training athletes, if the conversation includes wobble boards, wrapping yourself in theraband, or any other physical therapy toys, then you are talking about rehab. If that is the case then get the hell out of my weight room, and go to the training room!

-sw-

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Bill Starr’s 5×5

For anybody out there making his or her living training athletes, you owe a huge debt of gratitude to Bill Starr. He was one of the pioneers in Strength and Conditioning and his 1976 book “The Strongest Shall Survive” remains as relevant today as it did 34 years ago. From that book emerged the Bill Starr 5×5 workout.

The “5×5” program is one of the most effective training programs ever created. And you don’t have to know a thing about program design. It is designed around “The Big Three” exercises, which are the Squat, Bench Press & Power Clean. Bill Starr chooses these exercises because they are three of the most effective exercises for building strength. Nearly every muscle in your body will have to work on every rep.

The 5×5 rep and set scheme has been found to elicit extremely effective changes in strength and hypertrophy. Generally speaking a maximum set of 5 reps will be between 80-85% of a one rep maximum. That intensity performed with multiple sets of 5 repetitions will create maximal muscle fiber recruitment and incredible metabolic demand. This combination will give you the strength gains you are looking for.

The only change I would make is substituting the Standing Press for the Bench Press. Lifting a bar overhead will provide complete shoulder development as opposed to the anterior bias of the bench press. Overhead lifting is also a fantastic way to strengthen the torso. If you’re training with a barbell you need to be standing on your feet. You can lie down when you’re about to pass out after your last set of squats!

Please buy “The Strongest Shall Survive”. Don’t steal it or borrow it from a friend. This book should be in your Strength and Conditioning library. I do not sell it and I make no money from the sale of it. I think it is our duty to support people that provide us with quality training information. And for $20.00 you will never get a better value.

Click here to buy “The Strongest Shall Survive”

Next up…Keep a Training Log

-sw-

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Squat!

Originally this post was supposed to be ‘Squat More”. However, I realize there are still people out there that believe they don’t have to squat in order to get strong. So to put the squat in the proper light, I thought it would be apropos for you to read what other people have said about the squat before I open my big mouth!

“For an athlete anything less then a Parallel Squat is useless.” – John Gamble, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, University of Virginia and World Champion Power Lifter – training personal best in the Parallel Squat, 5 x 825 pounds.

“The Squat provides not only strength, but speed, explosive power and muscular endurance. In my opinion, it is the most important strength exercise for
athletes.” – Bill Kroll, Strength and Conditioning Coach, University of Illinois.

“….I must reemphasize the fact that deep Squats work more muscles than any form of partial Squats since they involve a full-range of motion. Since the full Squats work more muscles, they enable the trainee to become stronger faster than through partial movements. Research has shown that full Squats
actually helps to stabilize and secure the knee joint.” - Bill Starr, author of the Strongest
Shall Survive – Strength Training for Football.

“In a full Squat, the soft muscles of the legs slow the speed of the bar down, and help the joints recover. In the half Squat (partial) you have to stop for a very short time when the bar is going down – and at the same time, shift the bar in the upward direction. That moment is very sharp stop, it’s like a knife, especially over the knee joints. So the danger of injury during the half Squat is much greater than during the full Squat. – Angel Spassov, world renowned Bulgarian Weightlifting Authority.

“To improve athletic power, one option is to increase the force muscles can generate around the joints. In this respect, the Squat must be the athletes first choice for a full body strength lift. – Pat O’Shea, professor of physical education, Oregon State University.

“For almost every young athlete, the intrinsic value derived from long term squatting is that it stimulates optimal growth and development.” – Pat O’Shea,
professor of physical education, Oregon State University.

“In my experience athletes who are incapable of Squatting don’t make good athletes, from either the injury or performance standpoint.” – Dan Wathen, Head Athletic Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach, Youngtown State University.

“Squatting is never impossible; the athletes ( and any coaches who listen to them) who always complain about Squats, and blame tight backs, etc. on them (squats), simply don’t have the heart to push through the pain barriers and receive the super benefits derived by those with what I call heart to train.” – Bill Dunn, former Head Strength Coach at The University of Virginia, 1983 NSCA Strength Coach of the Year.

I don’t really need add to this, do I? Nuff said!

Next up…Do Bill Starr’s 5×5

-sw-

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I wanted to do my part to help Strength Coaches who prescribe to the “Functional Training” dogma get out of the darkness and step into the light… To drop their balls and pick up a bar… To stop balancing and start squatting (and that doesn’t mean Split Squatting Mr. Boyle.)

I will lead them down a 9 step re-enlightment process. Not unlike the experience Castaneda had with Don Juan. I want to help free them from their ordinary reality which has been pounded into their awareness ever since they purchased their first Bozu ball. I will attempt to open their doors of perception and lead them towards the non-ordinary reality which will indeed be radically different from their ordinary reality they have experienced as part of their unfortunate social conditioning.
Without anymore hesitation, lets begin!

1st step towards re-enlightenment: Physical Therapy protocol provides a training stimulus, which restores normal movement and function, which has been threatened by injury.

2nd step towards re-enlightenment: Strength and Conditioning protocols are designed to enhance normal movement and function in order to improve athletic attributes such as power, and strength.

3rd step towards re-enlightenment: You cannot train a health athlete using Physical Therapy protocol and expect to maximize athletic attributes.

4th step towards re-enlightenment: High repetition, low intensity training is not optimal for developing strength and power.

5th step towards re-enlightenment: The optimal rep range for developing strength and power is between 3-5 reps.

6th step towards re-enlightenment: The body is one unit that is comprised a linked system of interactive muscle groups.

7th step towards re-enlightenment: The most effective exercises to develop strength and power are Squatting, Pulling, and the Olympic lifts!
(I know this is where I am going to loose some of you however, this is not my opinion. This statement has been proven to be true and the results are reproducible using real scientific method, not bullshit psudo-science.)

This concludes the seventh step of the journey. Two more to go! It will all be clear in the end.

Remember… If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else!
Until next time!

-sw-

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