Octogen Strength Coach – Don Stevenson

Stuff I’m liking at the moment

DEXA – Body composition is one area that I personally haven’t had much of an interest in until lately, being more concerned with performance in strongman and powerlifting however in the interests of not being a fat bastard I’ve been on a quest to drop some lard this year and decided to go and get a DEXA scan. For anyone who is wondering DEXA stands for Dual Energy X-Ray Absorption and it’s a 5 minute procedure where you lie down on a bed and a low powered X-ray scans your body in 3D and reports back right down to the gram the amount of bone, muscle and fat in your body. DEXA is the most accurate way to measure this short of cutting up your cadaver and weighing each bit separately (obviously not a repeatable method!).

Critically because of it’s accuracy DEXA allows you to see if your program is adding muscle and losing fat even if your weight is staying relatively constant. The only downside is that due to the X-ray you can only have them every 13 weeks so in between you have to use more common methods to track progress.

My first scan showed that I was definitely carrying a few kilos of non functional mass (ie fat) and that I could probably recomposition my body for better performance by dropping 5kg of fat and adding 5kg of muscle. I’m due for my follow up scan in a couple of weeks and it will be interesting to see what the results are. For DEXA scans in your capital city google “DEXA scan” If you are in Sydney I recommend http://www.bodycomposition.com.au/

Nike Romaleos weightlifting shoes.

In 2005 when I started training and competing in Olympic weightlifting I bought a pair of Adidas Adistar weightlifting shoes. They cost a ridiculous amount of money and turned out to be one of the worst designed shoes I’ve ever owned. 5 of the 6 straps broke in the first year, most of them at the metal buckle. The uppers came away from the soles and needed sticking down 3 times. The current adistars are uglier than my old shoes and once again the straps break at the buckles. This brings me to my new weightlifting shoes.
I first saw the Nike Romaleos when they were released for the 2008 Olympics and instantly knew I had to have a pair. The problem was that Nike in their infinite wisdom never offered them in Australia and their stupid online store won’t ship to overseas addresses. By the time I had organised someone in the US to ship me a pair they had sold out and it wasn’t until 2010 that Nike relented and made a new batch.

So approximately 3 years after I first saw them I finally got my hands on a pair. I’ve been using them for about 6 weeks and these are my impressions so far.

1. They are rock solid and seem very well made. They are a big solid shoe and you feel like you are glued to the ground when you squat in them. On the downside EACH shoe weighs as much as a pair of normal running shoes! Rumour has it that the new Romaleos for 2012 will be lighter.
2. They look pimpin. Until now lifting shoes have had boring wedges of wood in the heel. They have tended to look like bowling shoes for short people. The Romaleos have a cool moulded plastic heel wedge and look more like a Running shoe.
3. They are very comfy. They come with two inner soles, a harder one for comps and a softer one for training. So far i’ve left the comp liner in and haven’t had any discomfort. The upper is well padded without being squishy and the tongue is padded too. The straps hold your foot in well. My only complaint would be that they are a fairly warm shoe. If you train in a shed in the middle of the Aussie summer your feet are going to get their own sauna.
4. Grip is very good, not too sticky, not too slick.
5. Walking around in them is a bit awkward due to the wide heel but this adds to the stability so it’s a compromise for performance and really not a big hassle because the furthest I walk in them is from one side of the gym to the other.

Books

Very quickly a couple of books that I’ve read recently that I was impressed with.
The first is “Anatomy Without a Scalpel” by Lon Kilgore.
This is a great book for anyone interested in strength training anatomy. Unlike a medical anatomy textbook there is no unnecessary material included and the author relates all the explanations of the joints and muscles back to the performance of sports and the basic barbell lifts.

There is also a good primer on describing anatomical features and locating various structures in the body which will make it an invaluable guide for trainers and coaches.

I could blather on about this book for ages but the short version is just go buy it!

The second book I found very useful is Pavel Tsatsoulines “Power to the People Professional”. This book is not as the title suggests an upgrade or sequel to his original PTTP but is instead a very detailed set of training plans from (mostly) Russian powerlifting coaches. Definitely not a book for beginners it is instead a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to squat, bench and deadlift more and who has outgrown basic linear progression.

I bought both books together a few months ago and was as happy as a pig in mud for weeks reading and rereading them!

Ok so lets just say that 2010 was a complete write off in terms of training for me.  After a couple of months of productive training and one Deadlift PR I got nailed with a a killer virus, work issues, moving house and then the arrival of junior.

This is not to say that I didn’t train but basically I didn’t make much progress!

2011 has started off a lot better and even though I’m still mega busy I’ve at least chiseled out time to train 3-4 days a week and am determined to use this year to build my highest levels of strength ever.

So far I’ve hit one all time PR of 137kg in the bench press (definitely my worst lift!) and have come within 8kg of my Squat PR by squatting 200kg and managed it without spotters, meaning that I reckon I’ve got even more in the tank.

I have learned that trying to mix high volume squat programs like Smolov with being a new parent is a no go as you tend to end up burnt out very quickly so my training is getting rejigged at the moment for maximum efficiency and this may lead to some new articles on how to achieve better results with less time in the gym.

Anyway Check out the video of my Bench PR and Squat (and before anyone moans I realise that it wouldn’t pass in a powerlifting meet and I need to learn to keep my butt on the bench).

Hope your training is off to killer start for 2011 too!

Bench Press 137kg Squat 200kg

Ok so anyone who lives in Australia will already know that over the past few weeks a huge part of Queensland and significant areas in NSW and Victoria have been hit with devastating floods but for the international subscribers who might no know whats going on let me just say that the situation in many parts of Australia is pretty dire now.

Thousands of people have been displaced from their homes and over 20 have died in the worst floods to hit Australia in a hundred years.

Some of the places that have been badly affected are places that I’ve been to compete in Strongman or run workshops at and thousands of police, military and fire personnel are involved in the rescue and clean up efforts.

In the spirit of doing whatever we can to help I’m going to donate 50% of all E-Book and DVD sales and 25% of all online programs purchased before the end of January to the QLD Premiers relief appeal. Plus, as a bonus with any purchase you’ll receive the full set of insider programs (over 100 pages of different programs). To qualify just purchase anything from my website products page or from www.beatthebeeptest.com and you’ll automatically receive the bonus and at the end of January we’ll tally up the total and donate it to the flood relief appeal.

To get your free copy of the first 5 programs from the Octogen Insider series simply click on the link below.

Octogen Insider Programs

Remember that you can get the other 19 programs simply by purchasing any product in our “Queensland Flood Sale”

Pulling 240kg in April 2009

Video of a recent PR attempt after a few weeks of deadlift specific training

In my opinion there are very few feats of strength more impressive than a big deadlift.  The deadlift uses virtually every muscle in the body and will make you a better athlete, no matter which sport you train for.  Training for an impressive pull is also hard work and signifies that the person lifting has got dedication to their training, a tolerance to discomfort and is therefore worthy of some respect!

Unfortunately when you walk into most commercial gyms all you will see is guys doing curls and bench.  On the odd occasion that someone attempts to deadlift it’s more often than not a set of horrid partial range stiff leg deadlifts while the trainee cranes his neck around to check out his own hammies in the mirror!

In this article I want to outline a few key points about deadlifting and offer up a couple of short deadlift training cycles that will push your deadlift numbers up, hopefully to the point that people in your gym stop and stare when you set up to pull.

What is Heavy?

At what point can you call yourself strong?  At what point does your deadlift progress from puny to powerful?  These are difficult questions to answer because you can’t just whack out a table of standards that applies to everyone.  A big weight for one person is another person’s warm up and comparisons across bodyweight suffer because as you get heavier you are physics bound to become a proportionally worse deadlifter even though to an outsider the weights lifted by bigger guys are way more impressive than those lifted by smaller guys.

So what should you be aiming for in your deadlift training?  The following are some very rough quick start guidelines, in reality the only one you ever need to follow is the last one.

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It’s official! On the 8th of April I’ll no longer be able to pretend that I’m in my 20′s and indestructible.

To mark the occasion I’ve decided to run some special offers on two of my most popular services.

Our personalised online programs are the ideal way to improve your fitness whatever your goals.  In the last 5 years numerous police and military personnel as well as athletes have used our online programming services to develop elite levels of fitness and achieve their goals of special forces selection and sport domination.

A 2 hour Kettlebell intro session is the perfect way to learn all the fundamentals of kettlebell lifting.  In this two hour one on one or small group session you’ll learn how to perform all of the fundamental kettlebell exercises safely and effectively with Australia’s most experienced Kettlebell instructor.  Sessions available in the Sydney Metro area at various times.

Sign up for an 8 week Elite personalised online program or book in a 2 hour Kettlebell intro session (Sydney only) before the 8th of April and you’ll get your choice of one of the following bonus gifts

1. A copy of the original “Kettlebell Power Secrets” DVD and E-Book (Valued at $39.95)

2. Octogen Strength and Conditioning 4 DVD set (Valued at $59.95)

3. “Kettlebell Power Secrets 2 – Advanced Training” DVD +  gymboss timer (Valued at $64.95)

To claim your bonus send me an email at fitness@octogen.com.au

All proceeds from this sale will most likely go toward me having a massive birthday party so give generously!

Since noticing a strong correlation between deadlift performance and Strongman results I’ve been working hard on pushing my deadlift up.  I’m going to do a longer article on my current 6 week training cycle after I finish up in a couple of weeks and can assess it’s effectiveness but in the mean time here is a sneak peak of one technique I’m using.

While a lot of your improvements in deadlift strength are going to come from deadlifting (well DUH!) there are a number of accessory exercises that can help attack weaknesses in the deadlift and as part of my current program I’ve been using few different things and thought I’d share them with you.

Kroc rows are a great exercise for strengthening your upper back to improve the deadlift lockout, they are also good for balancing out heavy bench pressing and for adding mass and explosive power to your back.  They are named after top powerlifter Matt Kroczaleski and are basically a one arm dumbell row performed with a heavy weight for as many reps as you can with fairly loose form.

For a complete demo here is Matt doing a set of 25 each side with just over 100kg.

Now I’m nowhere near Matt’s size or strength but I’ve worked up to sets of 25 with the heaviest Dumbells at the gym (50kg) and so to progress this movement I decided to get some custom dumbell handles made up.

I called up Mark Roskell from Toronto Barbell and in a couple of weeks he had made me these bad boys which I have christened “Kroc Bells”

With a loading capacity of over 100kg each hand they should keep me busy until I have reached Kroc like levels of strength!

Stay tuned for video in part 2!

Developing a professional attitude

For most people training is something they do to keep in shape and stay healthy.

While many people WISH they could perform at the level of the elite athletes they see on TV the reality is that only a handful will transition from “working out” to training seriously for a competitive sport.

In my mind if you want to work out for health or whatever that’s fine, just don’t come complaining to me if you don’t look or perform like an Olympic medallist or pro footballer.  These guys and girls are (mostly) as good as they are for one big reason.

The reason is pretty straight forward.  Whether or not employed full time to train these athletes are professionals and their training is structured in a professional manner.

Before I go any further one quick caveat.  The main thrust of this article is on developing the attitude of a professional athlete toward your training.  Now there are certainly examples of paid professional athletes that act far from professional, drinking, taking drugs and partying etc but mostly they are in the minority and only get away with that crap because they have put the hard work in years before and are genetic freaks.

So, let’s assume that you are currently a pretty hard core fitness enthusiast who trains at least 3-4 times a week and who pushes most of your workouts pretty hard. You may already compete in a sport or martial art or you may be thinking about competing in the near future.

To get the best results in a competitive sport you are going to need to adjust your current training program and attitude.  I suggest you take a page out of the training diaries of the true professionals and adopt some of the following strategies.

Strategy #1 – Decide what you want to be good at

A lot of gym goers want it all.  They want power lifter strength, marathon runner endurance and underwear model abs.  Bad news for anyone like this, you are deluding yourself.  To develop the attitude and training of a true professional athlete you need to decide upon a very narrow set of goals and then pursue them to the exclusion of all others.  As a simple example if you are going to focus on maximal strength training you can’t worry too much about how you look, on the other hand if you are training for a bodybuilding comp you can’t expect to have the strength of a powerlifter.  Pusuing too many fitness goals at the same time is a recipe for becoming averagely good at all of them and competitive at none.

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Over the last three years I’ve been all around Australia running our Kettlebell Instructors course and at every course there have been questions about the other major methods of strength training that I utilise when training athletes.

Originally I intended to create a 2 day Olympic lifting seminar but after talking to several trainers I’ve come up with a new seminar that covers not only Olympic lifting but also a heap of other advanced strength training methods drawn from powerlifting and strongman.

To see the full course contents check out the info pack here

To launch this new seminar I’ve got a special offer which I absolutely guarantee will NEVER be repeated. You see while I’m confident that this seminar is full of great info I want to do a “beta” test before I take the show on the road.

Therefore, I’m looking for 12 trainers to attend the first course at a massive 50% discount

The course is going to retail at $695.00 but if you get in on this offer you’ll only pay $345.00

During and after the course I’ll collect feedback and make the final touches to the course. As well as the discount on the course you’ll also get credit in the course material for helping us out and an opportunity to promote your business through the courses.

This beta course will be held at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre on
the 10th and 11th of April

So far 8  of the 12 spots are already filled and the rest will fill within a few days so if you want in then you will want to be quick.

Email fitness@octogen.com.au to book.

Strongman – No longer a sport just for fat bastards!

Right off the bat so that I don’t lose anyone I want to make it very clear that the sport of Strongman in Australia in 2010 is massively different to previous years.

Before you start thinking “I’m too small for Strongman” just hold on a second.

Certainly in previous years Strongman competitions were the exclusive domain of a bunch of 6’4”, 140kg + Vikings who spent all day lifting stones, dragging planes with their teeth and then retired to their long halls to eat entire cows and plan their next session of plane dragging, however these days it’s a bit different.

Essentially what has happened is that a new wave of competitors and promoters have teamed up with some of the old guns and created a rapidly growing sport with different levels to suit everyone from the first timer through to seasoned Pros who are competing against the worlds best overseas.

There are now lightweight divisions down to 75kg, women’s divisions, junior divisions and novice divisions for first timers!

So if you’ve ever watched “Worlds Strongest Man” on TV and though that it looked like fun now is the time to get out of the gym and enter a competition.

In order to help you I’ve put together this article which will give you a guide on how to transition from your regular gym training into your first comp.

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