Over the last 6 years I’ve written hundreds of programs for clients from a wide variety of backgrounds from office workers training 3 days a week to drop a few kilos and improve their health through to military personnel and police training up to 3 sessions a day to achieve special forces selection.

In this article I want to outline the considerations and basic steps that I go through in putting together any program so that next time you need a program you can have a go at putting together a personalized program that takes into account your current fitness level, goals and available time and resources.

Programming Considerations

Goals

Before you begin to put together a training program it’s important to determine the desired outcome of the plan.  I won’t spend too much time on goal setting as it’s an area that most people are familiar with but one point I do want to stress is that in order for your plan to be successful your goals need to be fairly simple and they need to be achievable in the time frame you’ve set.  Many people I talk to are making the mistake of chasing too many goals at once and end up achieving nothing.  If you want to get good at several things that’s fine, just break your program up into smaller cycles and emphasise one or two goals at a time and put your other goals in a holding pattern.  If you are working hard on one aspect of fitness you won’t lose much ground on another aspect of fitness!

Time and Resources

This is a critical consideration.  If you want to join the SAS but you work 80 hours a week then chances are your available time is insufficient to achieve your goals.  Decide early on how many days a week you can REALISTICALLY devote to training.  You will save yourself a lot of frustration by planning and executing a solid 3 day week program compared to planning on 6 days a week and missing 3 workouts due to other commitments.

I would recommend a minimum of 3 days a week and a maximum of 6 days a week with a maximum of 15 training sessions for very serious athletes.

As with time, make sure you’ve got access to the right equipment before planning your training.  If you want to get strong you’ll need weights of some description, if you want to become the worlds greatest crossfitter then you are going to need a gym full of rings, rowers and all the other toys needed for the workouts.

Current fitness level, diet and supplementation, age and training age

I’ve lumped these together because they are all major factors in your ability to adapt and recover from training sessions.  Many people get frustrated because they set out to do a program only to burn out .  The problem is that unbeknownst to the athlete the program was originally written for a genetically gifted 25 year old professional athlete on a steady diet of food sleep and steroids!

At this stage of planning it’s important to conduct an honest assessment of how well you are going to recover from your training and take that into account when planning overall volume and intensity.

Putting the plan together

So once you’ve written down the main considerations above it’s time to put together a plan.   Here are the steps I go through when putting together a program.  Note that when planning initially I don’t try to put the program into a weekly schedule, I simply collect all the elements together and arrange them later, often shuffling things around a few times to get the best fit.

Match your goals with primary exercises/workouts

This stage is pretty simple.  If you’ve got a specific goal simply match up that goal with a short list of core exercises.  For example if your goal is to improve your powerlifting performance you would choose squat, bench press and deadlift and if your goal was to improve your aerobic fitness you might choose 3-4 variations of aerobic exercise like long distance runs, intervals, rowing and cycling.

Within your workouts these exercises should be “front loaded”, that is they should appear preferably as the first exercises in a session so that if the session gets cut short you’ve got your important stuff out of the way early.  I like to call these your “A” exercises and in a good program they will account for about 70% of your time and will give you about 80- 90% of your total results.  If you are on very limited time they may be the only exercises you do.

Choose supplementary exercises

Once you’ve got your big basics written down you can add a sprinkle of exercises that complement your core exercises.  This can be stuff like ab work, mobility work or strength exercises to balance out areas that need work to support the primary areas of interest in your program.  For a powerlifter this might be things like seated rows to balance out the shoulder or some conditioning work to keep bodyweight down.  For an endurance athlete this could mean strength work, soft tissue work or stretching.

These “B” exercises are still very important but because of their secondary role you can get away with dropping them occasionally (but you shouldn’t make a habit of it)

Sometimes I even go a step further and add some “C” exercises and workouts that are nice to have but not essential.

So for example a sample exercise grouping for a strongman in the early off season might look like this.

Main goal – Improve deadlift and overhead strength.

“A” exercises

Deadlift

Rack pulls

Military press

Push press

“B” exercises

Squats

Planks

Kroc Rows

Pullups

Bench press

Glute Ham Raise

“C” exercises

Kettlebell Swings

Strongman implement work

Conditioning work

Choose set, rep and loading schemes for your primary exercises

Once you’ve got your exercises sorted it’s time to choose your sets, reps and loads for your primary exercises.  This is where the art and science of programming can get a bit tricky as there are a number of effective (and some not so effective) loading patterns you can use.

Initially I suggest using a simple program like 5 sets of 5 with a steady linear progression in weights over 4 – 6 weeks.  You could also adopt a 5-3-1 loading pattern or alternate between sets of 5 and sets of 3.

For endurance programs a simple cycle of long distance, short interval, medium intervals with a linear progression in volume works well.

Conclusion

In part two of this article I’ll outline the final steps in putting together a program and provide some worked examples of programs for different goals.

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.

First milestone

Women – Bodyweight deadlift for a triple

Men – 1.5 x Bodyweight for a triple

Second milestone

Women – 1.5 x Bodyweight for a single

Men – 2 x Bodyweight for a single

Third milestone

10kg more than you can currently lift.

Repeat until you die with a 500kg deadlift

As you can see the final point is the most important.  I don’t think I’ve ever met a strength athlete who was completely satisfied with their deadlift.  I know for certain that every time I’ve reached a goal that I’ve set for myself I’ve been satisfied with it for about 15 minutes before plotting my assault on the next milestone!  This strategy has seen me add 53kg to my deadlift in 15 months and I don’t have any plans to stop now.

Deadlifting Basics

Ok I don’t want to flog this subject to death because to be honest there has been a bunch of great stuff written on the execution of the deadlift but a few key points bear repeating.

Before embarking on a deadlift training cycle make sure your form is good.  Get someone who knows what they are doing (most likely NOT the 6 foot tall, 60kg trainer from your gym) to check your form on a series of progressively heavier deadlifts.  If all else fails video your deadlifts and get someone knowledgeable to check them out.  Inevitably when you are really maxing out on your deadlifts your form will start to deteriorate slightly but for your training you want to base your lifts on the heaviest weight you can handle with good form, otherwise you are asking for injuries.

Tips for good deadlift form

• Feet should be hip width apart under the bar
• Bar should be close to the shins and should remain close to the body throughout the lift.
• Use chalk to improve your grip, I try to do as much deadlifting as possible with a double overhand hook grip, saving mixed grip for my heaviest attempts.
• Keep the chest up and the abs and lower back tight when you lift, if your arse shoots up and you round your back you are going to get into big trouble.
• Treat each rep as a single.  This means even if you are doing a set of 3 or 5 each rep should be reset at the bottom and not bounced off the floor.

Belts and straps

There is a lot of argument in the fitness industry about whether or not you should use a belt and straps for deadlift training.  Without going into all the arguments for and against here is my opinion (open to change if someone can present me good enough eveidence!)

Belts – A lifting belt allows heavier weights to be lifted and the heavier the weight you lift the stronger you get.  This applies even after you take the belt off.  In the time I improved my belted deadlift from 215 to 263 training WITH a belt for anything over about 80% I improved my beltless deadlift from 190 to 245 even though until I tested it I never maxed out beltless.

Anyone who tells you not to wear a belt is probably a skinny loser, ignore them and then go outlift them.

I normally warm up beltless and then use a belt from about 80% of the days max onward.

Straps – I prefer to do as much lifting as possible without straps however when you start doing higher volume deadlifts you may find that you need to use straps as your grip becomes the limiting factor in doing reps.  If this is the case use straps but make sure you are also doing strapless work and some extra work to improve your grip.

Deadlift Programming

Another contentious issue in the world of fitness is the frequency and type of deadlift workouts you should do to improve your deadlift.  Some guys deadlift once a week, some twice and some only deadlift every 2-3 weeks but do a lot of squats and other assistance work.

I’ve had success with deadlifting between 1-3 times a week and I normally program beginner and intermediates with 2 sessions a week of deadlifts.  Deadlifts can be quite stressful on the body so it is important that if you are deadlifting more frequently than once a week that you vary your intensity to avoid overtraining.

Here is a simple program that you can use to improve your deadlift.

Program  – Simple progression program

This program is best for beginner to intermediate athletes who know their 1 Rep Max for deadlift and who are training 3 – 4 days a week.

The program is pretty simple, you are going to do two deadlift sessions a week and 1 – 2 other sessions a week.  Your focus should be on the deadlift sessions so don’t bust your ass on the other days.  It’s ok to make a bit of progress on your upper body lifts but don’t flog yourself so that you are fatigued for the next deadlift session.

The assistance exercises have been chosen to work on your core stability and also the strength required to lockout the top portion of a heavy deadlift.

If you want to do some conditioning work do it on alternate days and again avoid flogging yourself too hard!

Monday

Deadlift                                  3 sets of 5 @ 75-80% of 1RM

Kettlebell Swings                 3 sets of 10 – 15 as heavy as you can handle

Prone Plank                          3 sets of 45- 60 seconds with max weight

Wednesday

Squat                                     Sets and reps for these exercises are up to you

Bench Press

Military Press

Pullups

Friday

Deadlift                                  3 sets of 3 @ 80-85% of 1RM

Kroc Rows                             3 x 15 – 20 as heavy as possible

Back extension / GHR        3 x 8-12 with added weight if possible

Each week aim to increase the weight used on the deadlifts by 5kg (2.5kg if your deadlift is under 140kg)  and continue with the program for 3-5 weeks or until you stall out and can no longer complete all the sets and reps of deadlift at a given weight. After you finish the program take a few days off all training and retest your max.

The new book has 6 complete programs suitable for everyone from absolute beginners through to elite athletes as well as pre-hab, warmup, stretching and strength routines to take the guess work out of your beep test preparation.

In fact there was so much stuff that came up while I was writing that I’ve set up a completely new website just to handle beep test content.

“Beat the Beep Test” is on sale for a short time at $29 which includes unlimited email support for your first 30 days.

Check out the new website at www.beatthebeeptest.com

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

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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!

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!

The reality is that most people don’t train hard enough to justify the supplements they are on but they can be very useful.

Before taking any supplements you need to understand which level of training you are at and then get the appropriate stuff. You also need to make sure your basics are squared away. If your diet is crap, you don’t get enough sleep or your training program is rubbish no amount of expensive powders will make you big and strong.

So here is a guide for three basic levels of training, keep in mind that these are cumulative which means that people at the advanced/competitive level need to take everything from the levels below as well.

Before you think about supplementation check the following

1. Are you eating 3 solid meals a day + 2 – 3 snacks each containing some protein, carbs and good fats

2. Are you training at least 4 days a week with a focus on the big basics like deadlifts, squats, bench press, chinups and military press.

3. Are you getting 7- 9 hours of sleep a night.

If the answer to any of these is a no then spending big bucks on supplements is going to be a waste of time.

Level 1 – Beginners

During the first 6 months to 1 year of serious training it’s unlikely that you’ll need much more than lots of food and some hard training to make gains.

Supplements at this level are restricted to stuff that’s cheap and highly effective.

Multivitamin – Train hard and chances are that you’ll be working your bodies vitamin and mineral stores a bit harder than the average couch potato. While you may be getting enough from your diet a multivitamin is good insurance and costs bugger all.

Protein – Plain Whey Protein Concentrate mixed with whole milk 2-3 times a day. No need for fancy pants stuff that’s been bioengineered to death.

Fish oil – 3 – 6 caps a day for general heart, brain and joint health. Start now and never stop taking it.

Sports drinks – Gatorade or similar during hard training to replace electrolytes and provide energy. Avoid if your goal is fat loss.

Level 2 – Intermediate

If you have been training for at least 6 months and you are now using more advanced training methods because beginner programs stopped working then you are probably ready for some level 2 supplements.

This stuff is more expensive than the level 2 stuff and the performance gain is not generally as big you get from the basics.

Creatine – 5g a day with your recovery shake. Creatine improves performance in repeated bouts of near maximal exercise. This allows you to train harder and allows you to stress the body more for continued gains in strength. Good for strength and power programs, not so good for distance runners because you do tend to gain some fluid weight which makes you slower.

Minerals – Zinc, Magnesium etc can help you recover. I quite like “Endura” sports drink at the moment but you can also use a supplement like ZMA that may boost testosterone production.

Glutamine – The most abundant free amino acid in muscle. 3-5g once a day after workouts may speed recovery.

Level 3 – Advanced / competitive athlete

If you are 2+ years into serious training and you compete then you’ll be looking for anything that gives you the edge.

At this level it’s worth experimenting with different products and combinations as some things appear to work for one person but not another.

Some stuff to try

BCAA – Branch chain amino acids may help recovery

Vitamin D – 5000IU a day, this may turn out to be like fish oil in that it’s long term health benefits are becoming compelling but for sports performance at the moment it may help or it may not.

ZMA or GABA – Worth trying for improved sleep and growth hormone secretion but not cheap.

Anything else that takes your fancy, antioxidants, weird plant extracts, Nitric oxide supps, caffeine in high doses (be careful with this one). At this level you might get 1 or 2% from trying something new or you might get nothing but the proverbial “expensive urine” however as a competitive athlete sometimes that 1% is the difference between first place and fourth, and no one EVER remembers the guy who came fourth.

Want Supplements?

I get all my supplements from  The Edge Sports Nutrition

I’ve known the guys at The Edge since I first started training back in 1997, they’ll be able to give you advice on exactly what stuff you need.

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.

Strategy #2 – Prioritise training, nutrition and recovery

If training is something you fit in around everything else you do and recovery is something that you get around to sometimes then you’ll never achieve your major goals.

Naturally you are going to have to balance training with family, work and other commitments but if you assign a high priority to these things and make it clear to everyone around you why it’s important you are already well ahead of the game.

Notice that I didn’t just say to prioritise training.  A lot of people get their workouts in but then don’t follow up with good nutrition and recovery practices.  Professional sports programs place a huge emphasis on nutrition and recovery because they understand that training is only half the battle.

Some simple steps you can take to improve your nutrition and recovery include.

• Setting up and following a program of sports supplements
• Taking your post workout nutrition with you to the gym so that you can take it as soon as you finish training
• Get a sports massage every 2-3 weeks (more often if you can afford it)
• Do a couple of stand-alone stretching and active recovery sessions a week
• Get enough sleep – try something like ZMA or GABA to improve sleep quality.

Strategy #3 – Join a team

Even if you want to compete in an individual sport, training with a team of like minded people will vastly increase your motivation and improve your results.  Find a training squad in your area and become a member, then aim to become a leader.

Strategy #4 – Get a coach

The best athletes in the world have the best coaches they can find, so why does every weekend warrior think they can achieve world class results on their own?  Even experienced trainers should find a coach because often it’s hard to step back and approach your training objectively.

Once you find a coach make sure you follow their coach and don’t run around trying to modify their programs thinking you know best.  This is a very unprofessional thing to do and a fast way to piss your coach off.

Strategy #5 – Practice visualisation and concentration techniques

It might seem a bit strange at first but if you can read a book or two on NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) or self hypnosis for sport you can achieve some significant improvements in your focus and performance.

When I’m lining myself for a max deadlift or squat I often visualise the whole gym turning dark so that the bar is the only thing there and then I imagine a little demon taunting me about how weak I am. This makes me angry and consequently much more aggressive toward the weight.  I probably look like I’m possessed when I step up to the bar and let out a huge snarl or grunt but it’s a very effective technique to help me block out the annoying little twats doing concentration curls in front of the mirror!

Strategy #6 – Compete hard but fair

Turn up to your competitions with the aim to go out and achieve personal bests.  If you compete in a sport with relatively few competitors don’t run away from the competition by hiding in a different weight class or division, seek out your competition even if it means stepping up a category.  Winning by default is not really winning.

When you compete don’t argue with the judges (unless they really fuck things up, in which case your coach should argue for you) and treat your competitors with respect.  Accept that sometimes you will win and sometimes you’ll come off second best.

Strategy #7 – Develop a substance abuse problem, sleep with a bunch of waitresses and adult film stars and then make a heartfelt apology to everyone you’ve hurt in a scripted TV press conference.  Claim your secret personality or screwed up childhood “made” you do it.

Just kidding of course, but honestly who do these idiots think they are fooling? Tiger might be the greatest golfer of all time but he also appears to be an A grade dickhead!

That’s all til next time.  I can’t help you with all of these strategies but I can certainly help out with your training, recovery and supplementation programs so if you are looking to step up, make sure you shoot me an email and find out how I can help.

fitness@octogen.com.au

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.

Basic Training

While there are now divisions of strongman that involve much lighter weights than the pros the events are still fairly demanding and it would be foolish to jump into a strongman competition without some basic strength training.

If you are just starting out on a fitness program you’ll need to put in a few months of training before entering a comp but if you are already training regularly a few weeks of focusing on the following exercises will get you to the start line in reasonable shape.

Important strongman exercises

Deadlift – Strongman requires a strong back and legs and good grip strength.  The more work you can do on your deadlift the better you will be at strongman.

Squats – Not quite as critical as deadlifts but good leg strength and power are very important and having a big squat never hurt anyone!

Overhead press – probably the most important upper body exercise for Strongman and there tends to be lots of overhead lifting in comps.  Strongman press is a mix of military press and push press so practice both.

Bench Press – Secondary to overhead work but still important.

Pullups and bent over rows – Supplemental to the upper body pushing work and also critical for holding your posture during many events.

Heavy plank holds and back extensions – Strongman events are VERY demanding on the lower back and abdominals.  You need to have a strong core to avoid injuries and to get the best from your legs and upper body.

Conditioning – Short hard intervals are the name of the game here.  Hill sprinting, kettlebell snatches or rowing will get you started.

Sample novice program

Workout A

Deadlift 5×5

Bench Press 5×5

Pullups 5×10

Planks 4 x 60seconds + weight

Hill sprints – 6 x 100m with 2:00 rests

Workout B

Squat 5×5

Overhead press 5×5

Dumbell row 5 x 12

Back extension 4 x15

Kettlebell snatches – 4 x 2:00 intervals, max reps

Complete 3 workouts a week alternating between the two workouts (first week ABA, second week BAB)

For intermediates do the same program but on the last session of each week drop the reps from 5 to 3 for the major exercises and push the weight up.

Once you’ve done a couple of comps you’ll figure out what you need to work on and you can then tailor a program that addresses your weaknesses and builds on your strengths.

Events and Event Training

While you can do a lot of your training in the gym there really is only one way to get a true feel for Strongman and that is to hook up with your local Strongman crew and have a go at the events.  Here are some of the most common events contested at strongman shows.

Farmers walk – Two heavy suitcase like objects are picked up and carried over a measured course for time.  Farmers requires good grip endurance and good conditioning.

Yoke – A large metal frame is picked up across the shoulders and carried over a measured course for time.

Overhead lifting for max weight or reps – A large log, axle, dumbbell or keg is lifted from the ground to overhead for maximum reps or for increasingly heavy singles.  The awkward nature of the objects makes things far harder than the equivalent weight on a barbell.

Drags and pushes – Cars, trucks, sleds, planes etc – These require good leg strength, grip strength and a lot of aggression!

Stones – probably the defining strongman event.  Round stones of increasing weight are loaded onto barrels (or over a bar).  Stone loading requires a certain amount of skill, good lower body strength, good upper body strength and a bit of toughness as it’s an event that can tear your arms up a little.

Other events – There are a stack of different events that can be thrown into a comp and in each competition the exact nature of the implements tends to vary depending on who has put together the competition.  Basically you have to be prepared for anything and expect that the implements that you are going to use are going to be less friendly than whatever you practice on.

Training for events is often a weekend activity and there are groups in most major cities that meet up to train together for comps.  A quick search on facebook will reveal a few places and there is a list of training groups over at the www.aussiestrength.com forum.

Your First Competition

Ok so you’ve done a bit of basic training and maybe had a go at the events at a training session and now you want to compete.

To get started you’ll obviously need to enter a novice comp.  Once again the forum at Aussie Strength lists upcoming comps along with the categories that are being contested.

Once you’ve entered a competition all that’s left is to prepare your equipment, show up and give it your best shot.

Here is a list of stuff that you should take to your first comp.

Clothing – Loose fitting shorts with bike pants or compression shorts underneath.  A T-Shirt plus a singlet (for stones) Don’t take anything you aren’t willing to have destroyed!

Shoes – A pair of sturdy boots is a good all round choice however depending on the events you may also want specific shoes such as footy cleats (grass push/pull events) weightlifting boots (overhead or squat events) thins soled shoes (deadlift events) andeven rock climbing shoes (tarmac drag events

Belt- Useful for carrying events and overhead work as well as max weight events.  I carry a very stiff lever belt for heavy stuff and a thinner belt for rep events.

Knee sleeves/ elbow sleeves – keeps joints warm during the long breaks.

Straps – Some deadlift events allow straps so have a pair.

Tacky – A gooey sticky combo of pine resin and solvents, tacky is a pain in the ass cause it sticks to everything but it’s a huge advantage for stone lifting

Kerosene or turps + rags – for removing tacky

Chalk – For all other events

Food and drink – lots of water and sports drinks, I also take chocolate to snack on.  Strongman events can last all day so come well prepared

Chair and shade – for you and your support team

Basic first aid kit including scissors, tape, antiseptic, deep heat rub etc

Towel, soap and spare clothes.  You’ll be hot and dirty at the end of the day!

Make sure you arrive early at the comp to sign in and weigh in if necessary. Stakeout a spot in the shade and make sure you know where all your gear is.

Once the comp starts all you can do is make sure you are ready to go when the events start and put a maximum effort in. If possible warm up before each event but be aware that at many comps you can’t do lots of warm up runs and you may need to improvise (I sometimes take a kettlebell with me and use it for a general warm up if it looks like the implements are going to be tied up)

Once your novice event is over the chances are that there will be higher level divisions running, make sure to stick around and watch how the more experienced competitors attack each event.  Strongman is a pretty social sport and you’ll find that everyone is happy to talk about training and give novices tips so take advantage of it.

Finally

If you are thinking about competing at all just get off your butt and have a go!  Grab a few guys from your gym and commit to entering a comp together, challenge your mates and get stuck into it.

Strongman is awesome fun and will challenge your fitness in ways that you will never experience stuck in a gym and now is a great time to get started as there are heaps of comps coming up.

For more info on training groups, competitions or training programs contact me at fitness@octogen.com.au

See you at a comp soon!

Basically my first holiday in 5 years gave me a chance to think about all the stuff I’ve read, taught and done in my own training over the last few years. It was an excellent opportunity to spring clean a few ideas and consolidate my own philosophy of training.

So without further ado I present Part 1 of “Random Holiday Musings”, a collection of completely unrelated thoughts on diet, training, coaching, other coaches, competing and other stuff all in no particular order for your enjoyment!

Look out for additional parts over the next week or so.

Section 1 – Principles of Training

The following is a collection of the basic principles that I use to develop programs for my clients and in my own training. You’ll notice that some of these principles are contradictory and some people will find some of them offensive. I won’t apologise for that, if you want a trainer to stroke your ego and make you feel good about doing 2kg curls then I’m not your guy. I can refer you to some trainers I know but they aren’t very good.

Principle #1 – Every program, session and exercise should have a clearly defined objective.

If you rock up to the gym to “workout” without a plan and without a reason for each exercise that you do then you are just taking up valuable space.

When putting a program together I always have specific goals in mind, whether it is to add 10kg to my deadlift or get a client to run a sub 9:00 2.4km for a military fitness test.

When designing a training session I have a specific goal in mind, it might be a session designed to work on a particular skill or to overload a major movement pattern, it might be a specific recovery session to compensate for a heavier session the day before.

When I choose an exercise, load, set and rep scheme each element has a purpose. This morning before I started writing this article I was in the gym doing accessory exercises using some rep schemes that wouldn’t look out of place in a bodybuilding program but I’ve got a reason for doing them and that’s what counts, I didn’t just decide to do those reps because I read about Jay Cutler doing them in the latest issue of muscle and fiction.

Take home lesson – make sure you have a good reason for doing everything in your program and NEVER walk into the gym without knowing why you are there and what the plan for the day is.

Principle #2 – Sometimes training is going to suck

Sucky training sessions generally fall into two categories.

The first category are workouts that suck because you just don’t want to be there for whatever reason, it’s cold outside, you’re tired or you just can’t be bothered. These workouts are important for building mental toughness and discipline. You may not achieve the best results when you are tired or pissed off but in the end every little bit helps and blowing off a workout will take you further from your goal. When faced with this situation acknowledge what’s happening and just make the effort to start. Often once you get going you often forget about the negatives and end up having a great workout.

The second category is workouts that suck because they are just damn hard. These sessions can be rewarding in the end but at the time they suck because you are putting in maximal effort and every rational fibre in your body is screaming for you to stop. These workouts are also critically important because the stress of being up to your eyeballs in suck is what stimulates growth and forces the body to progress to new levels of strength and endurance.

Now within a session this doesn’t mean that the whole hour or more must be like that, just that for brief periods of time within that workout you’ve got to hit that zone that makes you want to stop. For example if you are doing 5×5 or 5/3/1 then you might not get to that point until the last set but that’s the one that counts and you’ve got to be prepared to give it everything you’ve got.

Trying to maintain a maximal level of focus and aggression for an hour or more is pretty much impossible and leads to a lot of mediocre training and unproductive exhaustion so pick your focus for the workout and push til it sucks!

If I were forced to name the biggest mistake that I see with general population trainees it would have to be that most of them don’t push themselves to the point of discomfort on a regular basis.

Principle #3 – But you can’t train hard all the time

Anyone under the age of 25 will probably have stopped reading at the last paragraph and will already be at the gym trying to smash themselves 6 days a week. The problem with this approach of course is that you can’t train hard all the time and anyone who says otherwise is an idiot.

Within any serious training program there needs to be variation in volume and intensity to allow for recovery.

In a training program with 3-4 sessions a week this variation should mostly occur week to week, for example 3 weeks of increasing volume or intensity followed by a week of reduced volume and intensity.

In any training program with 5-6 sessions a week variation occurs both week to week and day to day. This means that not all sessions in a week are equally intense or taxing and that from week to week the total volume and intensity is manipulated.

For serious athletes whose programs may include 2 or more training sessions a day variation in intensity and volume happens week to week, day to day and session to session.

However you manage it remember that improvements in physical attributes occur not during the workout but in the recovery periods between them.

If not pushing hard enough is the biggest mistake general population trainees make then not backing off to recover is the primary sin of the hardcore fitness enthusiast and amateur athlete!

Don’t be afraid to take weeks or even a month off training all together, you might lose a little muscle mass, strength or fitness but the break allows niggling injuries to heal and when you return to training you will quickly return to your previous level and then advance even further.

For the record over the last few years I can think of at least 4 occasions where I have been forced to take month long breaks from training and on each occasion it’s taken less than 3 weeks to return to previous levels of performance and shortly after I’ve set personal bests in core lifts like the squat or deadlift.

Principle #4 – I don’t care what it is but compete in SOMETHING.

What are you training for?

If you don’t have a really good motivator to train then how are you going to keep your training afloat when you are drowning in suck?

The reason that the vast majority of gym goers are on the new years resolution revolving door at your local Globo gym is that their reason for being there isn’t powerful enough to overcome the minor obstacles that life throws at you every day.

The easiest way to stay motivated is to compete in something. My preference is for Strongman comps but I don’t care if you want to run a marathon or just kick the ass of your business rivals at the next corporate touch football comp as long as you compete in SOMETHING.

In 2008 I stopped competing in Olympic weightlifting because I was doing too much coaching and that year marked the worst year of training I’ve ever had. Bugger all personal bests, missed training sessions, stupid injuries you name it!

In 2009 I made sure I was locked into competing in a strongman comp in June and then went balls out all year leading to my most consistent year of training and PRs ever.

In 2010 I want more, I want to go from competing to challenging for places and this means I’m doing 8-9 sessions a week even if I’ve had 3 hours sleep the night before a day with double sessions.

Come the end of this year I’m planning on opening up my own strength and conditioning facility and it’s going to be a pre-requisite that anyone who wants to train there has to commit to competing in at least 4 approved competitions a year!

Exception – I’m willing to make one exception to this principle and that is for anyone who has got another sufficiently good reason to be training. Examples include my police, fire and military clients. It would be trite of me to suggest that they need to compete in something to stay motivated, these guys train to stay alive and to protect the rest of us from dangerous situations and dangerous idiots and for that they can get a pass on the competition thing.

For everyone else get your ass into gear, enter a sporting comp of some kind and then get to work training for it.