Training For the Military (Vol. 1) + The GOGGINS Program

So this is a pretty important post I've meaning to create for a long time. How should you train to enter the military in a combat/special forces role in the army or navy? Here's how.

1. Strength Training

This is a no brainer. Training with weights is going to make you better at everything else on this list. Also, who doesn't want to just look jacked? Being able to move heavy things will definitely help you move things in the military.

2. Running and Rucking

Also a no brainer. Being a soldiers involved running long distances, as well as sprints to duck from enemy fire or chase down the enemy. Also, you will be running with weight on your back, so rucking/hiking is beneficial. I recommend rucking on a track since hiking has a lack of standardization. Unless your willing to hike on a completely flat hill, rucking on a track will be better since you can track how far you have rucked and you can aim to get better every week. Also, tracks are more accessible to most city-dwelling folk compared to a huge fucking mountain. I recommend spending 2 days sprinting, 1 day running endurance, and 1 day rucking (low running and rucking frequency since these are high volume and do beat up the leg joints quite a bit). 

3. Swimming

If your on a navy ship and that bitch gets hit by a torpedo, you better know how to swim, otherwise your doomed for Davy Jones's locker. Again, I recommend a mix of sprint swimming (short distance), and long distance swimming. I would focus on freestyle and survival breaststroke only, since backstroke restricts your vision and butterfly is fucking useless. If you have the facilities, you can even try scuba diving (if you are preparing for a naval force, like the Navy SEALS). 

4. Martial Arts

In my opinion, the best martial arts to train for military folk are (in order from best to worst):

1. MMA: In an ideal world, you will be good at every martial art, so you can bitch slap any opponent who crosses your path. But MMA does require a higher training frequency since its made up of so many disciplines that must be trained uniquely. 

2. Boxing: Most practical for soldiers who are probably carrying gear and firearms. Punching is easy to do compared to kicking when you have so much heavy gear on. 

3. Muay Thai: Same as boxing, good since it can help keep space between you an the enemy, who could be using a knife.

4. Wrestling/Judo: Ideally, you don't get to close to your enemy since if they have a knife, your fucked. But this is useful in getting them to the ground and pinning them for arrest.

5. BJJ/Taekwondo: Sorry, but both of these are highly unlikely to be useful for soldiers. BJJ will require you to get really close to your enemy, and then wrestle with him on the ground whilst presumably carrying a firearm and gear, including grenades and pistols! Taekwondo will be hard if you are carrying a huge ruck or carrying stuff in your leg pockets.

Honorable mention: Knife training

You should probably get some training in using knives, but that isn't really part of 'physical' training, so I have left it out.

5. Climbing/Gymnastics

These both are basically interchangeable. They both help you pull yourself over a surface, whether that be a wall, fence, or rock. I guess gymnastics would be better for an airman since it involves G forces. I prefer climbing because the carryover is more clear. For climbing, I think any type of climbing works other than speed climbing.

6. Team Sport Of Choice

Here you can play any team sport that requires communication: rugby, football, basketball, or volleyball. Playing any team sport that uses a high level of communication between players will teach you how to talk and perform under pressure. People often talk about the importance of leadership. Well, real leadership is not explaining to your office coworkers or classmates why coffee is an essential part of human performance. No, real leadership comes when your down 51-52 and there's 1 minute on the clock, and your whole home crowd is watching you play. That's when real leadership shows. Team sports will build military-like leadership. 

Addressing other factors in relation to physical training for soldiers:

There are some types of training that I just don't think are worth training. Firstly, obstacle courses. Yes, you will be put through obstacle courses during selection. However, if you are good at lifting weights and climbing and running, a measly obstacle course will be a walk in the park! Overspecializing your training specifically for obstacle courses won't make any real impact on your body or your physical qualities like speed or strength. An obstacle course is simply a way of TESTING your physical qualities, not DEVELOPING them. I also think gymnastics is a waste of time for military training. Real gymnastics is a short of showmanship rather than of actually developing strength. Although gymnasts do have incredible physiques and strength, they acheive this strength by doing pullups, dips and other conventional movements you could do in any old commercial gym. Most gymnastic-special skills like those on rings, a straight bar or on trampolines have NO carryover to military life. So don't waste your time doing gymnastics and just incorporate useful gymnastics movements (like ring dips, for example) into you typical strength training. 

PSA: Embrace The Basics

The basic are the things that work. They have been proven to work. Too often I see modern day sports performance coaches and athletes alike try to reinvent their own exercises or programming methods in order to boost (or even shortcut!) their progress.

The reality is that the basics are the best. If someone came to me with the goal of getting big legs, I would tell them to get strong at the back squat. The squat is the most basic and foundational movement for the legs, and if you can squat 2.5x your bodyweight, you're guaranteed to have tree trunk legs! People need to stop overthinking with sport training; just stick to what has been time tested!

Instead of trying to do some fancy/showy exercise, just stick to the basics. Do squats, deadlifts, bench presses, pullups, and rows. Instead of performing a laundry list of exercises in the gym, just do 4-6 hard and heavy exercises and leave! Instead of trying to create new periodisation models, stick to basic linear block periodisation, which has worked for decades! Instead of trying to cook a new 'anabolic' meal, just stick to eating basic whole foods like meat, diary, eggs and vegetables! Instead of spending hours researching recovery tools and methods, get in your bed and get a good 8hrs+ of sleep. 

The basics are the basics because they work. Don't make the mistake of overcomplicating physical training. Work hard and get after it.

Training Methodologies: The Chinese System

The Chinese have come to weightlifting dominance in the post-2010 era of international olympic weightlifting. They have also performed well in gymnastics, swimming and track and field. 

The general Chinese training system is not too different from the American system. The Chinese train around 1-2x a day. They emphasis full ranges of motion and clean technique. They also use a variety of assistance exercises and drills in order to supplement their training.

Specific to weightlifting, the Chinese emphasise leg and back strength. They autoregulate their work for squats and pulls, and they end their workouts with some hypertrophy/bodybuilding work (like the Lu raise!).

Chinese weightlifter Li Dayin doing side bends (Credit: Weightlifting House)

This emphasis on squat and pull strength is why the Chinese prefer to squat jerk than split jerk. Aside from this, there is nothing really unique about the Chinese system of training. What really allowed China to dominate in weightlifting (and I'm sure some other sports) is their youth programs and their lack of anti doping. The Chinese have a huge sample size of young athletes, as they choose thousands of children from the whole country to be in their youth programs. Therefore, they can find the kids with the best genetics and train them from a very young age (like 6 years old!). Also, the Chinese do not enforce drug testing like the Americans or Australians, and so their athletes can stay on performance enhancing drugs for longer.

MOST Sports DO NOT Require Periodisation!

You hear me talk a lot about periodisation and programming on this blog, since that is the primary service I provide. However, the reality is that most athletes DO NOT require periodised program specific to their sport.

Periodisation is essentially breaking up training by starting with a period of low intensity/high volume, and gradually progressing to a period of high intensity/low volume as competition draws closer. However, this only works for certian types of athletes in certain sports. Namely, periodisation does not work for:

1) Non-meet athletes: A 'meet' is a single day of competition. For example, there are track and field meets, weightlifting meets, swimming meets, and gymnastics meets. However, if you play a sport that requires you to play numerous games throughout a season (basically every team sport, football, basketball, cricket etc.), then periodisation will not work for you, since periodisation is meant to increase performance for a single event. As a result, if you are a non-meet athlete, you are better off just training at a consistent level throughout the year.

2) Sports that lack physical metrics: Say you are a meet athlete. For your sport to require periodisation, there must also exist some sort of physical-related metric to quantify your development as an athlete. For example, in weightlifting, a common metric used to determine physical ability is the weight on the bar (eg. 100kgs). In sprinting, a common metric is time (eg. 10.11 secs). In climbing, a common metric is boulder grade (eg. V4), which identifies the physical capabilities of a climber. However, if you play in a sport that lacks these metrics, like golf and table tennis (as well as shooting, HOW TF is SHOOTING a sport???), then there is no way your training can be periodised. This is because the fundamental premise of periodisation is that the human body cannot perform 100% year round, but if you sport doesn't measure the performance of the human body, then periodisation cannot be applied correctly.

It is important to make a distinction about sport specific training and S&C training. If you compete in a sport that doesn't itself require periodisation (ie. it doesn't fit the criteria above), then I can only provide you an S&C (strength and conditioning) program. As a result, those fo you who play in sports like football, basketball, cricket, soccer, volleyball etc, should have a coach for your sport specific training. For example, a cricket player would play cricket on a field with their team as sport specific training, and I would provide them a strength and conditioning program to help them on the field. However, if your sport does require periodisation (ie. track and field, triathlon, climbing, MMA), then I can provide you a sport specific program as well as and S&C program. You can check out the sprint program on this blog, and I will post some climbing and MMA programs in the future!

Quick Tip: Best Training Frequency For Sports

I made a post a while back about the best training frequency for strength athletes (you can find that post here). However, I realise that this blog was created not just for strength athletes, but athletes in general. So after consolidating my years of experience, here are the best training frequencies depending on sport for optimal performance:

1. Team Sports (Football, Basketball, Hockey, Baseball, Rugby, Volleyball, Cricket etc.)

Most team sports can be trained with a generally higher frequency. For non-contact sports (anything other than football and rugby basically), you can train up to 5x a week. These 5 sessions can include hard drills, practice games, or local matches against other local teams. You could maybe add a 6th day for some light drills.

For contact sports, I would spend 3 days a week training drills (tackling drills, kicking, offensive and defensive drills). I would only spend 2 days a week doing actual games/playing with rough physical contact, since this type of hard contact tends to beat up the body.

2. Martial Arts (MMA, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Boxing, BJJ, Judo, Wrestling etc.)

I found a funny post on the Sherdog forums about martial arts training frequency:

I have to say, I do agree with this post! In general, I don't think martial artists should train more than 5 days a week. 5 days of training allows for plenty of time to train a variety of disciplines, but it also ensures that the body does not get too beat up. An easy to way to set up a 5 day schedule for MMA would be:

Day 1 - Muay Thai focus work

Day 2 - Wrestling/Judo training w/ partner

Day 3 - MMA sparring

Day 4 - Taekwondo focus work

Day 5 - BJJ training w/ partner

The minimum training frequency for martial arts would be 3 days a week. This could be structured as:

Day 1 - Muay Thai focus work

Day 2 - Sparring

Day 3 - BJJ focus work

3. Individual Sports (Badminton, Tennis, Golf, Table Tennis etc.)

These individual sports are generally much less athletically demanding than team sports. Therefore, these can be trained up to 6 days a week given that volumes are adjusted well. 

4. Track & Field (Sprinting, Throwing, Jumping)

Track and field should be trained 3-4 days a week. Despite not having any physical contact, track and field events actually tire out the body quite a bit (think top speed sprinting, for example). Therefore, these events cannot be trained for more than 4 days a week. If you only compete in one event, then I think you should train only 3x a week. For example, a split for a 100m sprinter would look like:

Day 1: Top speed work

Day 2: Top speed work

Day 3: Acceleration work + resisted sprints

(check out my sprinting program here)

Similarly, most shot putters and throwers only train 3x a week. However, if you train for multiple events (ie. Shot put AND 100m, decathlon), then you can train up to 4x a week to accommodate for your multiple goals).

5. Swimming

Admittedly, I do not have much experience with the sport of swimming as the other sports on this list. But from what I have observed in training plans and athletes, the best training frequency for swimming (no matter which race or stroke) is 3x a week.

6. Climbing

Rock climbers should train 3-4x a week. Those who only boulder/speed climb could get away with 3x a week, but those who performance climb should add in one more session where they actually test their performance climbing. Climbing can be training with a slightly higher frequency since it mainly uses the upper body musculature, which tend to recover faster than the lower body. I personally climb 4x a week.

7. Endurance Events (5km run, 10km run, Marathon, Triathlon, Pentathlon etc.)

Endurance athletes should train around 3-5x a week. If you are a fartlek runner, for example, you can split the week into:

Day 1 - 4 mile run

Day 2 - 8 mile run

Day 3 - 4 mile run

Day 4 - 8 mile run

Day 5 - 1 hr Fartlek

If you train for something less intense, like the 1500m run in track and field, then you can train 3x a week. For triathlon athletes, you can run 3x a week, swim 3-5x a week, and bike 4x a week:

Day 1 - Run, Swim

Day 2 - Bike, Swim

Day 3 - Run, Bike, Swim

Day 4 - Bike Swim

Day 5 - Run, Bike

Why should endurance athletes train with such high frequencies? Endurance events are high volume, and as such the training for endurance events must also be high volume. If such training was only done, say, 2x a week, then the athlete would NOT be adequately prepared to fully complete their endurance event. As a result, more volumes of training are required for these athletes compared to weightlifters (for example), who would train with lesser volumes but higher intensities.

As a general rule of thumb, training 3x a week is a minimum. If you train any less, your athleticism will only be maintained. Also, do not train more than 5, maybe 6, times a week. Training more will lead to under recovery and long term issues with injuries. 

Training Methodologies: The Bulgarian System

Here we go. The Bulgarian system of training is probably the most infamous training model in all of sports history. But it is also one that is commonly misrepresented by normies, so I am here to present the true Bulgarian system.

The Bulgarian system of training was first pioneered by weightlifting coach Ivan Abadzhiev (rest in peace). Essentially, Bulgarian training was defined by training 3 times a day, with workouts VERY low in volume and VERY high in intensities (>90% consistently). These 3 training sessions are for the SAME sport, not separate sports!! For weightlifting, each workout started with maxing out the snatch, then maxing out the clean and jerk, then maxing out the front squat. Then athletes would eat, take a nap, and come back for the next session. This would be 8-10 hours of training per day. 

This system doesn't really have a periodisation system. Athletes would do a mock meet once a week, where they would max out like they are in competition They is no building up to heavy weights over weeks, there is just max weight all the time!

Please do not train Bulgarian. With all respect to Abadzhiev, part of the reason the Bulgarian system worked in the long term was because his athletes were on certain "supplements" (PEDs). I don't think I've ever seen a top level lifter in any sport outside of olympic weightlifting train Bulgarian. The reason the system worked very well specifically to weightlifting is because weightlifting is a very technical sport. And when you train 3x a day every day, your technical proficiency goes through the roof! If you do decide to train this way, you shoudl limit yourself to training 1x a day, and only train like this for a couple of weeks MAX. If you train like this for a longer period of time, you'll probably die. 

Training Methodologies: The Western System

I am beginning a short series of blogs explaining different sport periodization models for different countries. Today, I thought I'd begin with the model that I currently use and the one I think is the best: traditional Western block periodization.

I guess I should start off with a definition for periodization. The official definition of periodization is the "planned manipulation of training variables (load, sets, and repetitions) in order to maximize training adaptations and to prevent the onset of overtraining syndrome" (according to the NIH). Basically, athletes cannot train heavy all year round, so their training must be broken up into weeks of less intense training, and weeks of more intense training, so that these athletes can make progress. 

So, what is Western periodisation? Essentially, western periodisation is linear block periodisation. The initial blocks (each of which last about 3-4 weeks, since this is the minimum amount of time required for adaptation) focus on higher volumes of work with lower intensities. As the weeks progress, the later blocks focus on less volumes of work with higher intensities, until the athlete eventually reaches a peak week. This progression over weeks is also accompanied by rising specificity as the peak gets closer. This is the system I have observed mainly in the United States and Australia, but also applies to Canada and the United Kingdom. 

Why is this system my favourite? Firstly, its simple and easy to program. Second, it has been observed to work well in both scientific literature and in practice. Thirdly, it is sustainable and is designed to minimise injury (unlike some other models...). As a result, I use this system for all of my training and for all of my clients.

Re: Training Multiple Times a Day

I just wanted to share some new thoughts I had on this post I made.

In the post, I basically say that if you are training for multiple sports, they max you should train is twice a day, given that in each training session your are training pretty hard.

I tend to disagree with that post slightly. I do believe you can train productively up to 3x a day, but this depends on what you are training! Sports which are generally less impactful on the body/require less total time and mental capacity to train can be trained more often. A prime example of a sport like this is swimming, which is a sport that is restorative rather than punishing. As a result, I myself include swimming sometimes as the 3rd workout of the day! However, I wouldn't play basketball, for example, as my second/third training session of the day. Training basketball intensely tends to beat up the knees quite a bit, and this can and will affect recovery. Basically, one should take into account the requirements for each sport when they plan training sessions throughout the week. But I still disagree with my old post and believe that certain people, given that they program and recover correctly, can train UP TO 3x a day. I don't think I've ever met an athlete/person who trains more than 3x a day...

Now, some of you are certainly wondering; how do you even have the time to train 3x a day? The simple answer to this is: quality training should not AND does not take up much time! For example, on one of my days I do 1 weight session in the morning, 1 climbing session at night, and 1 boxing session in the evening. My weight training takes 2 hrs, my climbing takes 1 hr, and my boxing takes 1hr. That's only 4 hours in a day, which you can split into 2 hrs in the morning and 2 in the evening. Training for other sports (namely sprinting and swimming) only takes 45 minutes per session! The reality is that when you train hard and intelligently, you will realise it takes a LOT less time to put in productive training, and you WILL get tired and fatigued quickly if you truly apply yourself.

Training Multiple Times a Day (SPOILER: Not a good idea)

I recently stumbled on a post on Youtube claiming that a certain collegiate American football player trained 3 times a day: 1 strength session, 1 track session and 1 session of reciever training. My immediate thought was; damn, this guy must have some elite genetics to still be walking on two feet. 

Here's what I mean. I know many people who read my blogs play some sport, and many people want to play their sport as well as get stronger and bigger in the gym. So, it is somewhat necessary for these kind of people to train more than once a day. 

I think training more than once a day should be AVOIDED at all costs. The reality is, when it comes to almost any physical endeavor, more is NOT ALWAYS better!! You would be MUCH better off limiting yourself to training a maximum of once a day. If you are training hard, and training smart, your body NEEDS time to recover! Although I am an advocate of active recovery (eg. light walks every now and then), this is separate to actual hard training. If you actually train hard, you will be looking forward to those resr days when you can finally relax!! 

Also, most of you reading this have no real need to train more than once a day! If you guys just go the gym as hobbyists, having 3-5 sessions a week is PLENTY, and many top powerlifters only train 4x a week! If you train for a sport but would also like to go the gym to get bigger and stronger, play your sport 4x a week and go the gym on the 3 remaining days! If you do have multiple goals in mind, you will need to cut corners in order to make ends meet.

On a final note, if you insist on training more than once a day (I guess if you really train for numerous endeavors, or if your schedule is too restrictive), then you can get away with training 2x a day. I personally do this, and given that you eat enough, drink enough and sleep enough, it should be possible for some people (ie. people with less stress in their lives). But 2x a day is the max! Please do not train seriously more than twice a day. If you do, you WILL overtrain and could potentially get some serious injuries/diseases that will affect your long term progress. This 2x a day training can work for most people: one session in the morning and one session in the evening after work/school.

Also, if you even have the time to train more than twice a day, you're probably just unemployed. So, I don't know, maybe get a job lolz.

In Defense Of Bodybuilding

I hear many people shit on bodybuilding. They claim the "sport" is really just a "beauty" pageant. Well, I'm not here to debate that point. But I am here to REMIND you of how important bodybuilding is for EVERYONE.

Strength is determined by 2 things: Neurological efficiency and cross-sectional area of muscle fibre. Basically, this means strength relies on how efficient your muscle memory is, and how big your muscles are. Well, what helps us get big muscles? Bodybuilding!!!! 

Bodybuilders have spend decades perfecting the art of growing big muscles. I myself take many bodybuilding tactics and implement them in my own programs, even though I train for strength! If you are a powerlifter, the best way to increase your bench press is to get a massive chest and massive triceps (this applies to most trainees, some advanced lifters may just need more specificity). If you are a sprinter, a good way to get faster at sprinting is to get some bigger glutes and some bigger hamstrings. How should you grow these muscles? I don't know, maybe by doing some bodybuilding training!!!!

Point is, if you want to get good at anything physical, you have to focus on growing the relevant muscles. And the best way to do this is by using the methods that bodybuilders have perfected. So stop shitting on bodybuilding.

An Introduction To Calisthenics

I was recently asked about how one would go about starting their fitness journey. My immediate thought was calisthenics. It's relatively low skill, cheap, and easy to access. So here's how I would recommend most people start their journey.

Let me be clear upfront. When I say calisthenics, I mean bodyweight training. I don't mean those fancy tricks and skills you see people do at the park (like human flagpoles, for example). Although these tricks are a good display of bodyweight strength, they are NOT a good way to develop bodyweight strength. So let's get to the basics of bodyweight training.

Basic Theory: So how does exercising build muscles? Well, it damages muscle fibres, and when you eat a balanced diet with protein, these fibres are repaired to be stronger, and thus bigger. But your muscles also require more calories to maintain, so as you gain more muscle, the amount of energy your body spends to keep that muscle increases, so your body fat decreases. Also, when you actually move your body, you feel less like a useless sack of shit and feel more like a young, healthy, capable and sane human being. So let's begin. 

1. The Pushup

The pushup is the most fundamental movement in all of calisthenics. It's used by the military, powerlifters and athletes of all types to develop pressing strength in the chest and triceps.

A pushup should be done with full range of motion. Start with the arms extended, and reverse ONLY when your chest touches the floor. Keep your arms tucked, do not flare them. As far as programming, pushups can be done for a ton of volume. I'd say 5 sets until failure done 3x a week is plenty. If you can't do a full pushup yet, just do pushups on your knees. You'll eventually build to full pushups. Rest about 2-3 mins between sets.

People often regard the pushup as a beginner exercise, but I do genuinely think it can be progressed to add difficulty. Of course, you can add weight via a weighted bag of backpack. You can emphasize the upper chest more by elevating your feet. Of course, you could also progress to the 1-arm version. There are infinite possibilities.

2. The Pullup

Along with the pushup, the pullup is a foundational movement of all bodyweight training. It develops your lats, biceps and grip. You grab on a bar or a wall, and pull your chin over the bar, and then return to a dead hang with your elbows extended. This is one, full range of motion rep. The pullup is certainly much harder to master than the pushup. Heck, I haven't even mastered the pullup! So don't be discouraged if progress is slow. 

Pullups should be done for 3-5 sets 3x a week, with 2-3 mins of rest between sets. Keep in mind pullups can be done with a variety of grips. Pronated (palms over the bar), neutral grip (if you have access to a neutral grip bar), or supinated (palms under grip, also called a chinup). To progress, consider adding weight via a dip belt or backpack, or slow down your reps. If you don't have a pullup bar at home, don't be embarrassed to find one at a park; there are always bars at parks. 

3. The Squat

The squat is the most athletic movement you can do. It's pretty simple, you stand up, you squat down as far as you can go (your butt should be pretty close to the floor!!) and then stand back up. The bodyweight squat is the easiest to get good at on this list, and you could probably do at least 20 reps on your first day! As a result, you should aim to do more difficult squat variations. My 2 favourites are the lunge and the pistol squat.

The lunge can be done in many ways, but my favourite is the walking lunge done outdoors (that's right, you will have to leave your stinky room). The pistol squat is considerably harder than the lunge, so try building up to it. For the lunge, I recommend just doing walking lunges back and forth until you can no more (yes, it will hurt). If this takes you too long, try adding resistance via dumbbells/backpack, and this will make the exercise harder such that you achieve muscular failure quicker.

Note: I HIGHLY recommend that you add wight to ANY leg exercise you do. Your legs are made up of the strongest muscles in your body, and they are already adapted to carrying around your own bodyweight every day! This is why you should be adding weight to your leg exercises; to actually provide enough stimulus to those strong muscles in order to encourage them to grow.

4. The Leg Raise

The leg raise is a tried and true method of develop the core/ab musculature. Either lay on the floor and lift your legs up whilst keeping them straight, on hang onto a bar and raise your legs as far as you can whilst keeping them straight (although I do prefer the hanging version). Think about rounding your spine when you do these; this will ensure your abs (which are on the other side of the torso to your spine) are fully contracted. If you don't want to do leg raises, just do situps. 3 sets until failure done 2x a week should suffice. 

5. The Parallel Bar Dip

This is a great substitute for the pushup if you feel the pushup it too easy. The dip will bias more of the triceps and the lower sternal head of the chest. Just grab onto 2 parallel bars you can find in a park, dip, and get back up. Try leaning forward for more chest emphasis, and staying upright for more triceps emphasis. 3-4 sets done to failure 2x a week will suffice. 

Advanced Exercises:

The following exercises WILL take you time to build up to, so please do not try to go all-out on these instantly (even I haven't mastered some of these!):

6. The Muscle Up

A classic show of testosterone and calisthenics mastery! The muscle up is just a harder pullup, where instead of pullup just up to the bar, you bring your body even higher until your hands are extended over the bar. That best way to build up to a muscle up is to ensure you can do at least 15 pullups regular, and then practice using body swing to pull yourself up. Same sets/reps as the pullup

7. The Nordic Curl

This is a phenomenal exercise for the hamstrings, but it is SERIOUSLY hard. You must find a wedge to put your feet under, and slowly lower yourself to the ground whilst keeping your knees bent. PLEASE make sure you have a pillow or are ready to catch yourself, because if you fall (and you will on your first try!), then you don't want your teeth getting knocked out. 3 sets till failure done 2x a week is plenty. You should build up to these by slowly increasing the range of motion.

8. The Handstand Pushup

Just a pushup, but done whilst in a handstand. I recommend using a wall as support here, and even elevating your arms onto books or an elevated surface to really get a full stretch on those shoulders. Same sets/reps as the pushup. 

Final Note: Diet + Sleep

I will keep this short and sweet. If you want to lose weight, eat less calories than you burn. Search up a calorie calculator online, and find you maintenance level of calories. Then download an app called MyFitnessPal (or Cronometer), and track the calories you consume every day. 

eg. If my maintenance level of calories was 2500 cal/day and I wanted to lose weight, I should eat around 2300-2000 cal/day (200-500 calories less). 

My top tips for losing weight for most people are: do more walking, it burns more calories than you think! Drink more water, and eat more protein, since protein will keep you satiated and less hungry.

The opposite applies if you want to bulk up and gain weight: eat more calories than you expend.

Finally, eat your damn protein. My general recommendation is 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight. The food tracking apps mentioned above can also track protein, so make sure you hit your daily amount (proteins are the building blocks of solid muscle!). I don't really care how you get it: tofu, beans, eggs, milk, steak, chicken or salmon, just eat the damn protein. 

And get enough sleep! You should sleep at least 8 hrs a day, no matter your age! So stop reading this damn blog and go to sleep.

- Prem

Quick Tip: Warming up with hypertrophy movements

Before someone begins a training session some type of warmup should always be included. However, many athletes make the common mistake of underestimating the value of warmups, and they typically skip them and head straight into the workout. By not properly warming up, increasing core body temperature, and loosening the joints, the athlete puts themselves at a significantly higher risk on injury.

The way I like to work around this is by putting 1-2 isolation hypertrophy movements first in the session BEFORE the heavy/hard training begins. Usually, this will be an antagonist exercise to the main motion of the day. For example, if the first main exercise of the day was the bench press, we can warmup with an antagonist movement (in this case, some sort of rear delt row). By doing 3-4 hard working sets (to failure, if necessary) of rear delts before bench press, we can warmup our body without actually impacting performance on the main lift. This is also helpful if you tend to skip your hypertrophy work: if we move it the the start of the session, you can't skip it!

For the squat, I like warming up with 3 working sets of calf raises. This warms up the ankles and increases mobility temporarily so that we can achieve a better bottom position in the squat. Doing the calf raises seated is better for this since the bent knee angle will have slightly more carryover to the bottom position of a squat compared to standing raises. For deadlifts, since they are a hip hinge, you can warm up with a reverse hip hinge! This is basically any core exercise where we bend the spine dynamically. Think weighted situps, hanging leg raises, and reverse squats!

No matter what movement you choose, these hypertrophy exercises act as warmups as well! They will help us break a sweat and get the relevant joints moving through a large range of motion. This makes them a great warmup tool and will go a long way in preventing injuries.

So a typical lower body day with these warmups would look like:

1. Seated Calf Raises - 3 x 15-20

2. Hanging leg raises - 3 x AMRAP

3. Squats

4. Deadlifts

5. Accessories

For the olympic lifts, you can also warmup with reverse hip hinges and calf work, since the olympic lifts are basically a pull and a squat all in one!

This is a method that prevents athletes from skipping hypertrophy work and also ensures that you are warmed up before training even if you don't have enough time to get a proper general warmup in!

Why I do not coach team sports

You may have noticed that the sports I specialize in coaching (namely weightlifting, powerlifting, climbing, track and field, and martial arts) are all individual sports. Why don't I coach team sports? 

2 reasons:

Reason 1: I don't really coach sports in general! Instead, I prefer to coach physical qualities. 

Sports are part of the entertainment industry. They were created by humans as a form of entertainment, and the sport industry profits mainly through selling tickets to audiences. Therefore, sports are in a way artificial. They don't actually help us in day to day life, other than providing some small and indirect stimulus. Here, I'm talking about mainly mainstream team sports. Think soccer, American football, basketball, baseball, hockey, cricket and tennis. These sports are played purely for the entertainment of others. They don't really help us move better or become much fitter. Instead, these mainstream sports require hyper-specialization. In this sense, I consider training for mainstream sports a somewhat shallow pursuit. Also, most mainstream sports do not have any smart programming methods or periodization associated with them, which makes coaching these sports pretty difficult. 

The same CANNOT be said for some of the sports I coach. Sports like weightlifting and track & field have HUGE carryover to basically every sport. If a football player can increase their Olympic lifts and 40 yard dash, they can GREATLY improve their performance on the field! Even an average person can benefit from a weightlifting program: like when they have to help a buddy move to a new house or to help their mom with the shopping. Sports I coach like boxing, weightlifting and climbing develop PHYSICAL QUALITIES (like the ability to punch, to kick, to life off the floor, to climb) which playing sports do NOT develop adequately! Playing a hyper-specialized team sport like basketball only makes you better at basketball. But getting better at a sport like weightlifting and boxing helps so much more in life, whilst also carrying over to other sports. 

Reason 2: It's easy to blame other people.

In an individual sport like boxing, you have no one to blame but yourself. In team sports, it's way too easy to blame a defeat on a teammate not pulling their weight. In an individual sport, we are able to pinpoint exactly what went wrong and why it went wrong. In this sense, coaching individual sports is much easier and impactful than coaching a team sport.

 

So that is why I do not coach team sports! However, I can still help you get better at your sport. If your sport is heavily based on strength and speed, you can check out my sprinting and lifting programs. If your sport is dependent more on jumping, you can check out my athlete and vertical jump programs. These programs develop the necessary skills in the athlete, which will carry over to almost any endeavor! 

Quick Tip: How to program a DELOAD Week

Deloads are a necessary part of training. The truth is that fatigue masks fitness, and you will eventually need to deload in order for fatigue accumulated through a training cycle to dissipate. 

What exactly is a deload? Well, as the name suggests, a deload is a period in the training cycle in which an athlete either reduces their volume and/or intensity of training in order for their body to dissipate fatigue. Typically, you should deload after a peaking block or every 9-12 weeks as a beginner to intermediate lifter. The guidelines I provide here are not really suitable for advanced lifters as deloading type and frequency would vary on a case-by-case basis.

How should you deload? Well, I don't think your deload should last 1 week. Many people, especially on Youtube, say that your deload should be a full week. For almost all beginnner to intermediate lifters, this will be overkill. Your body does not need a full 7 days to recover (it only really need 2-3 days), and taking one week off every 9-12 weeks can actually take away from total training time, which could lead to slower long-term progress. 

I think you should train during your deload week with the same frequency that you train in a normal cycle. However, I think that during this week you should reduce the INTENSITY of work. So instead of doing lifts in the 80-90% range, I would usually recommend doing lifts in the 50-70% range. Also, your sets should not be pushed very hard (ideally 5 RIR [reps in reserve] on all compound lift sets). However, you should keep your volume of work roughly the same in the deload week as during a normal training week. I like this since it allows us to get in some low intensity work capacity development which can prepare to hit the ground running for our next training cycle. 

What does this look like? So a lifter training for powerlifting would do a deload after a peaking cycle. They would spend 1 week training with the same frequency as usual, but would train their squat, bench and deadlift in the 50-70% range for some higher rep sets at lower RIRs. If they do 20 sets per session during a normal workout, they would still do 20 sets per session during the deload, but they may choose to use lighter weight or not go to complete failure. Once they begin their next proper training cycle, they can be prepared and mentally ready to train hard again.

If you really don't want to be in the gym during your deload, you can spend 2-4 days doing some hiking, swimming or other active hobby to let your body recover. Just don't sit at home for a whole week. Remember, movement is medicine!

Machines VS Free Weights - THE FINAL ANSWER

I was recently asked by some friends to write a post on whether or not I think machines or free weights are more efficient to use when training for maximum athleticism.

Well, the answer is obviously free weights.

When's the last time you saw an olympic weightlifting using machines as a primary form of training. When's the last time you saw a boxer or football player using a machine as a primary form of muscle growth or power production. When's the last time you've seen a track and field athlete use machines to improve there numbers on the field? Your answer to these 3 questions is definitely a long time ago.

Athletes favour free weights as they build skill, coordination, strength, power and muscle like no machine. Free weight lifts are the basis of every strength sport (powerlifting, strongman AND weightlifting), and high level athletes in football, basketball or any other sport prefer free weight, compound lifts like power cleans to boost their athleticism. Machines have a place in training, but only after the hard and heavy free weight stuff has been completed. I think machines have value in providing a high stimulus to fatigue ratio. I personally do tons of machine rows and triceps work with cables, but this is done AFTER I have already completed my primary work on free weights.

Sorry for the short post, but I had the end this debate.

Quick Tip: Optimal Training Frequency For Strength-Related Goals

I'm currently writing a HUGE post about training for the supertotal! So I thought I would write a quick little article here about optimal training frequency based on the goal.

Before I get into this, I must make this very clear:

THESE ARE GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS!

The training frequency that YOU can best handle and that is most productive for YOU will differ based on who YOU are. Women can generally train more often than men. Younger people can train more often then older people. Weaker people can train more often than stronger people. People with less than 6hrs of sleep or who are not on a proper diet cannot train as often as someone on a bulk and sleeping 10hrs. You get the point. If you really wanted to know your ideal training frequency, you should invest in coaching from myself or anyone else who is knowledgeable on the goal you are trying to pursue. However, some people cant afford a coach, and some people (like novices) don't even need a coach! So here are my GENERAL recommendations on training frequency based on goal:

1. Powerlifting

I recommend bench pressing 3x a week, squatting 2x a week and deadlift 2x a week. I recommend 2 heavy bench press sessions, 1 heavy squat session, and 1 heavy deadlift session. The secondary squat session should be more volume orientated, and the secondary deadlift session should include a self-limiting variation that requires you to use less weight (pause deadlifts, RDLs etc.). 

In the microcycle, I recommend you train 3-5 days a week. However, I think that you should MAXIMISE the number of days you train. So if your schedule allows you to train a full 5 days/week, then you should! Do 3 bench press sessions and 2 squat/deadlift sessions. If you only train 3x a week, make each session a full body session. Why do I choose these numbers specifically? Well, 2x a week literally doesn't allow you to bench 3x a week...and 6-7x a week is just stupid. I have never met any powerlifter who is moderately intelligent who trains 6x a week or more. 1 rest day IS NOT ENOUGH to maximise recovery, ESPECIALLY when you enter the late novice and advanced stages and you body is lifting very heavy absolute loads. 

I know what you're thinking:

"But Prem, my favourite youtube powerlifter (Matt Vena, Justin Lee etc.) lifts 6x a week, and they're strong as hell!!". 

Well, these powerlifters on Youtube are frankly stupid. Just because Matt Vena said to deadlift 3x a week, doesn't mean that deadlifting 3x a week is optimal at all. And also, you are not Matt Vena. You don't have his genetics. He was successful in powerlifting despite his terrible training, not because of it.

Of course, I shouldn't speak in absolutes here. You could probably get away with training at a very high frequency in the short term (for a couple of weeks, to be precise). Programs like Squat Everyday and Bulgarian training do have some merit, but these programs WILL lead to overreaching and injury if done for longer than a couple of weeks. 

2. Olympic Weightlifting

Best frequency for olympic weightlifting is 4 hard and heavy sessions a week. Maybe one more session of accessories, so 5 days a week maximum. Think this is too little? Watch this vid by Sika Strength (unlike Matt Vena, these guys actually know what they're talking about). I would also recommend you do the full competition lifts at least once a week, and back squat at least 2x a week. Since the squat is only an accessory lift in olympic weightlifting, it can be trained with lower intensity and higher frequency, so you could squat up to 4 days a week!

3. Strongman

The strongman lifts can be done up to 5 days a week if volume and intensity in each session is regulated well. Since there are no standard lifts in strongman, it's hard to say what you should be doing on each day. But I would say you should definitely push press/log lift 1-2x a week, do some sort of load (keg, stone) once a weak, and do one loaded carry (farmer's walk, yoke carry) once a week. Everything else for strongman is the same for powerlifting (squat, bench and deadlift frequency). You should also overhead press 1-3x a week.

Do you notice a trend. No matter the endeavor, 5 days a week is the maximum training frequency of training per week!!! Not 6 days, not 7 days, but only 5. I know what you're thinking:

But Prem, 5 days is not enough training, right? Surely training more is better?

Wrong.

Training 6 days a week doesn't allow for recovery. When hard and heavy sessions are done back-to-back, you WILL become very tired in 2-3 days. So doing 6 days in a row is certainly overkill. Most top strength athletes I know train 4-5 days a week. If you can handle 6 day a week training, you are not strong. Once you begin lifting genuinely heavy weights, the physical pressure these weights put on your bones, ligaments and tissue WILL slowly begin to tear away at you recovery. So as you become more strong, you should decrease your frequency!

Now, I did make a post in the past saying you should train every day (this article). But, like I said in that post, you should not train HEAVY every single day. Train heavy 4-5 days a week, then spend the other days doing light cardio and/or playing a sport or doing your hobby or being productive. Training hard more than 5 days a week is a waste of time!

The Medicine Ball Is A Largely Useless Training Tool

I said it. I do not think the medicine ball is a very useful training implement for really any goal. Let's think about why medicine balls (referred to as med bell from hereon) may be used by trainees:

The famed medicine ball, used by many sports performance coaches as an inefficient means of developing power in athletes

1. Power Production

What is power production. Power is the ability to generate force quickly. Are we producing force quickly during a med ball slam or toss? Yes, we are. But we are not producing LARGE force quickly. Using a medicine ball will probably provide you with 10kgs of max resistance. How are you going to load more weight? How many reps are you going to add? Practically, med ball work doesn't seem conducive to long term gains in power production.

But also, what unique benefits are we getting from med ball work that is conducive to performance in any sport? For example, the olympic lifts, which are a tested way of developing power, train many qualities powerfully. They train triple extension, absolute strength etc. What qualities are we training with med ball work? Some claim that med balls allow us to develop "upper body explosiveness". But do they? Explosive work is ALWAYS dependent on ground reaction forces (think punching, kicking, jumping, olympic lifts). So when we do some explosive work for the "upper body" using a med ball, we aren't really building upper body explosiveness. Also, the upper body is NOT built to be explosive! The BODY is built to be explosive. Every explosive activity is some mix of both upper body and lower body strength and coordination (even jumping!), but the large majority of this power is from the lower body due to it being a much stronger part of the body. In saying this, you can do explosive work that targets BOTH the upper body and lower body! You could do a push press, a snatch grip high pull, or a variety of olympic throws (shotput, discus). 

Olympic weightlifter Dmitry Klokov mogging a 225kg (495lbs) push press. Push pressing this amount of relative weight is a clear indication of both upper and lower body strength.

Therefore, the med ball is not a useful tool in developing power, and you would be better of incorporating olympic lifts if your goal is to target the upper body. 

2. Sports Performance

Many throwing coaches believe that med ball work could help their shotputters get more distance out on the field. Many boxing coaches thing doing med ball side tosses will increase punching power. These statements are false. 

Why would med ball work help our shotput throws? Med balls do not provide enough resistance to grow the muscles required for the shotput. They don't hypertrophy he triceps or the shoulders; if we did want to grow those muscles, we would do basic conventional exercises like dips and overhead presses. If we wanted to get better at throwing a shotput, then we would throw a shotput! There is no reason why low specificity med ball work is useful when we can simply allocate that time to actually throwing the implement. 

And how is the med ball going to help us develop "rotational power" for punching? If we wanted stronger punches, we could hypertrophy the relevant muscles through standard weight room exercises for the obliques, core, shoulders etc. And if we wanted to get better at the skill of punching, we would just do more punching and more specific work! If we wanted to develop power in the body, then we would do the olympic lifts, which just like punching, rely on the ability of the lower body to produce force quickly!!

Discus throwers should spend more time throwing a discus rather than a non-specific med ball. A med ball weights differently, is shaped differently, and provides no unique benefit. Same applies for hammer throwers and shotputters.

The point I am making is that substituting our sport specific movements will med ball movements in unnecessary. If we want to get better at our sport, we should play our sport more! If we wanted to develop strength and power to benefit our sport, then we would do traditional weight room exercises and olympic lifts! Med balls provide no unique benefit here.

Now there is a caveat here. If you are actually training for an event that requires you to use med balls, then you should definitely train with those same med balls. This obviously applies to crossfit, and I know that the US army tests the med ball power throw as well. But the amount of technical prowess required for these events are VERY minimal, so you would probably be better of just building up your traditional lifts. If you increase your back squat and power clean, then you med ball power throw WILL increase.

I have used med balls for some time and only recently realized that they are largely useless. Maybe they have a one-off training effect by potentiating the nervous system or as a warmup, but these is rarely what people use them for. Med ball work should NOT be a staple in your program, and you should NOT rely on them to make any gains in power, strength or hypertrophy. 

The VERTICAL JUMP Program

Building a monstrous vertical jump can be reduced down to 4 main exercise categories:

1. A squat variation - Back Squat, Front Squat, SSB Squat etc.
2. An olympic lift variation - Power Clean, Power Snatch etc.
3. A loaded jump - Jump Squats, Weighted Box Jumps etc.
4. An unloaded jump - Depth Jumps, Box Jumps etc.

Now, why these 4 specific exercise categories? Well, each of these exercises correspond to a specific point on the strength speed continuum:

In order for us to increase our vertical jump, we must target all areas on this continuum if we want to make appreciable long-term progress (more about this in this blog post). If, for example, I just tried to increase my power by using power-based exercises, I would eventually stall because I haven't increased other parts of the continuum (like max strength). This is why these specific exercise categories have been chosen. A heavy squat variation will target max strength, an olympic lift will target strength-speed, a loaded jump is producing power, and an unloaded jump is building speed-strength. Now, you may notice that there is no exercise for the pure "speed" part of the continuum. That is because pure speed exercises don't really exist since an exercise can only be pure speed if there is no resistance applied. An unloaded jump is NOT a pure speed exercise since you have to overcome your own bodyweight to get off the floor, so it is more speed-strength.

Now, let's get into specifics. The squat variation should be done heavy. I would recommend beginners start with a high bar back squat since strength in the quads is more of what we are going for when it come to vertical jumping. After some time, you can rotate to low bar squats, front squats or even pin squats from varying heights. Heavy squats should be done 2x a week for the majoirty of people. If you really do not progress with 2x a week squatting, you could maybe do 3x a week. But your recovery, nutrition and sleep better be on point!

The olympic lifts can be done at a higher frequency than the squatting. The reason for this is because the olympic lifts (for the purpose of increasing the vertical jump) should only be loaded with 70-85% of your 1 rep max. So they can be done anywhere from 2-4x a week. I generally favour the power clean and the power snatch since they don't require much technical skill, but you could also do the hang power version, rack jerks or high pull variations. Basically, just do any olympic lift that you can execute with good form explosively.

Loaded jumps should be done around 2x a week. The best exercise here would be the jump squat. People often make the mistake of going to heavy with these to see any real carryover to their vertical jump. A recommendation I learnt from Alex Enkiri is that you should now use more than 10% of your back squat 1 rep max for jump squats. So if your squat max was 200kg, you would only use 2 10kg dumbbells for jump squats. You can use heavier loads with weighted box jumps, but I think majority of your power work should be done with jump squats.

Unloaded jumps can really be anything. I put box jumps here because I like them, but you could also do some standing jumps were you just stand on ground and jump as high as you can rhythmically. As far as box jumps go, your technique will be based on what type of vertical jump you are training for. If you are training for a vertical jumps with a running start, then you should do your box jumps with a running start as well. This will allow you to practice technique whilst developing explosiveness. If you are training more for a standing vertical jump (like in the NFL combine), then do your box jumps from a stationary standing position. These unloaded jumps can be done 2-4x per week since they induce very low fatigue. 

Here is the entire program put together:

Additional Notes:

• You may notice that the jump squats have a peaking protocol as well. This can be run optionally if you plan on peaking your vertical jump for a competition, test etc. In the first 2 weeks, use 10% of your back squat 1 rep max, then 15% for the next 2 weeks, then 20% for the final 2 weeks, then reset and repeat.
• The volume in these workouts is at the higher end. If you can't handle this volume, remove the 2 olympic lifts on sessions 2 and 4. You can also cut down on the accessory work.
• Olympic lifts should be executed quickly. Do not try to load too heavy, and just focus on moving the bar as fast as possible. This will have maximum carryover to the vertical jump.
• I also recommend doing some sort of max effort jumping every single day (ie. trying to dunk etc.). This will build jumping technique and will accustom you to max effort jumping. This should be done in a separate session from these workouts.
• The light/moderate intensity plyometrics should be done rhythmically. You could do ankle hops off a 6 inch box, do broad jumps rhythmically (for 3-5 reps), or just jump on the spot for high reps. If you have the chance, try to do horizontal jumps in this slot. Horizontal jumping power is important for running vertical jumps (like dunking in basketball), since they allow you to get more horizontal distance.
• I have included calf work here. I personally believe calf work is useless. I have only included it here for the purposes on ankle health. Your Achilles tendon MUST be strong if you are constantly jumping high and landing on a hard surface, so strengthening the calves will largely prevent injuries.
• You can rotate the main and assistance exercises in this program every 6 weeks. Exercise rotations have been provided.
• If you do not know how to perform the olympic lifts, I would start with easier variations and progress to harder ones. Start with the hang power versions, then the power versions, then the full versions. I have programmed the olympic lifts at a high frequency, which can accelerate the learning phase.
• This program can work for any type of trainee! The high volume in each workout can develop work capacity, but we still have 3 rest days for plenty recovery. If you are more intermediate, you could split the 2 upper body sessions into 3 shorter upper boy sessions.
• A rest day should be taken after session 2, session 3 and session 4.

A Note On Depth Jumps

This is a 6 week program. After running this program for the first 6 weeks, you should swap out the unloaded jump from a box jump to a depth jump. Depth jumps are notorious for increasing jumping ability drastically, but also being highly taxing on the joints. After doing them for 3-4 weeks, you will probably feel bouncy as ever! They are a truly effective exercise, but care must be taken when performing them. Use a box height that allows you to jump as high as possible, and don' try to increase the drop height too quickly. I recommend you start with a 24" drop height. Stop the workout when you feel that your jumping height is decreasing. Only add box height if jumping performance is consistent over many sets on the short box heights. Depth jumps should only be kept in the program for a maximum of 6 weeks. After the 6 weeks, rotate back to the box jumps. 

So that's the program! As always, make sure you are in a caloric surplus, getting plenty of sleeping, and taking your recovery seriously. Keep in mind that this program could change in the future if I learn more about training for the vertical jump, so keep your eye out for any edits to this article!

- Neil 

Pre-Workout Core Training

Train you core before you start your workouts! Why? Because these core exercise also double as drills which can improve your ability to brace, which is a highly underrated skill requirement to be successful in any strength sport. These exercises won't necessary get you a six pack or grow your core musculature, but they will increase proprioception and your ability to "feel" your core and brace better in compound lifts.

So what do I recommend you do. I think you should start each workout with at least 1 exercise for the anti-extension function of the core, and at least 1 exercise for the anti-rotational/anti-lateral flexion functions of the core. I would recommend to start off with front planks and side planks respectively. But you could also do birds dogs, curl ups (part of the McGill Big 3 Back Rehab Protocol) and dead bugs. Do these movements for no longer than 3 minutes total before you start every workout, and even on rest days! These number of sets and reps you do doesn't really matter on these types of exercises; just do the movements. Also, adding weight is an option here, but I don't really think it is necessary to practice bracing. For example, instead of adding weight to planks, just do harder variations. Do planks with only one hand on the ground, with only one leg on the ground, bird dog version or the superman version. Hollow holds are also really good.

The main point with this is just don't do them sporadically. The benefits with these only come when you do them at a high frequency, so try to do them every single day. Core bracing is a forgotten art in this era of lifting, and it ought to have more attention!

- Hawtsauce

PLS STOP SKIPPING REAR DELTS, BRAH!! (PSA for Gym Rats...)

Do 1 rear delt exercise for every vertical press that you do. Also, do 1 rear delt exercise for every lateral raise/lateral delt exercise you do. 

This is an idea I learnt from Sam Shethar (Shethar Training on YT). Training the rear delts is such as important aspect of maintaining shoulder health, stability and aesthetics that neglecting them is an easily avoidable mistake. Training those rear delts will make your overhead press AND your bench presses feel much better and stable, especially in the bottom positions. Also, having strong rear delts also prevents injuries in these deep end ranges, and this could be very helpful for those with rotator cuff pain/injury. 

Also, building the rear delts can make your more 💫AESTHETIC💫. The rear delt adds the missing 3D look to your shoulder whilst also pushing the lateral delt forward, masking it look bigger. Skipping rear delts is what causes a half-developed shoulder muscle and terrible posture.

The rear delts grow best when they are punished over and over again. So do high frequency. Following the recommendation that I have given at the start is perfect for balancing the front, side and rear head of the delts. Here are my favourite exercises for the rear delts:

1. Incline IYT Raise
2. Facepull
3. Powell Raise
4. Upper Back Inverted Row
5. Rear Delt Flye (Machine Or Cable)

I think you should do rear delt work at least 3x a week. Like I said, these types of exercises respond very well to high frequency and high volume, so really just go ham with these. You may also notice that these rear delt exercises also double as upper back exercises. This is good! This means your upper back also becomes stronger, which helps in basically every lift! Do these exercises for 3-4 sets of 15-20 reps at the end of upper body and/or lower body sessions. You can use rest-pause methods with these exercises or superset them with overhead presses or bench presses.

- Hawtsauce

Don't Be A Volume Goober

I used to be a volume goober. I thought that if I just did more exercises in the gym, I would get more jacked and strong. I remember vividly that my workouts would just be from going on one machine to the next until I had gone through every machine in the gym (no joke, I actually thought this was proper training).

Adding endless volume to your training is not how you get stronger (in most cases). My general rule of thumb is that if you are training for either powerlifting/bodybuilding/strongman, then doing more than 8 exercises in the gym is useless.

I have found through experimentation and conversations with advanced lifters that ~8 exercises are as many you need per session to make all the gains you need for progress in strength and size. A lot of trainees (especially beginners) fall into the trap of thinking that more is always better. This is almost always NOT true when it comes to strength training. You are MUCH better off putting more intensity and effort into your exercises rather than just doing more exercising with no intent. The truth is that if you are training legitimately hard, you WILL be fried after 8 exercises. 

Note: This recommendation doesn't really apply to performance or olympic weightlifting training. Both of these will generally be even more technical and challenging on the body and nervous system, so you should probably do even less volume. Most olympic lifters I know do 3-4 exercises in a workout and then they're done.

Also, please don't take this message the wrong way. Just because I hate doing endless exercises doesn't mean that you should only do 1 exercise in the gym and leave. I believe that through trial and error you should find the best amount of volume that works for your individual capabilities. Most guys are going t be fine with 6-7 exercises per session maximum. Some guys with stressful work and poor sleep could only do 4 exercises. Younger guys with optimised recovery (such as myself) can push it to 8 exercises in a single session. Above 8 exercises per workout, you're just being a goober. 

Practical Tips To Help You Determine Volume

Start with the lower end of volume. If you can go through workouts whilst training hard and you still aren't fried at the end, then you can add in more volume. But there will be a certain point were your body tells you to stop, and that is where you should cap volume. If you are someone who has terrible recovery, just start with 4-5 exercises. If you have better recovery, start with 6 exercises. Also, keep in mind you can just add sets to your existing exercises rather than adding in more exercises. This will be enough to drive progression without majorly impacting recovery. Refer to the table below:

Just keep in mind that volume requirements are highly individual. All that I have described in this post is the MAXIMUM amount of volume you should do. Many of the people I coach only do 5 exercises per session and they make excellent progress whilst only spending 1-1.5hrs in the gym. More is not always better!

If you have any questions, put them in the comments below!

- Hawtsauce

Do Static Holds!!

Static holds are heavy holds done whilst stationary. The reason I love them is because they train the core in a 'functional' way. Holding on to a heavy weight is a great way to strengthen your bracing, as well as adapt you core to not bend under pressure. This is the best way to train the core for something like a back squat...or an olympic lift...or any strongman event. 

Static holds include suitcase holds, front rack holds, zercher holds, pallof holds etc. All of these target the core and the obliques in a different way, but they still provide the heavy core strengthening which is absent in typical core exercises. Are these similar to loaded carries? Somewhat. Loaded carries also target the core. However, since we are standing still in static holds, we can use slightly more weight as we don't have to worry about actually moving our legs, and thus the core will be targeted more efficiently. 

Static holds probably won't be very conducive to hypertrophy given that there is no eccentric. However, what they will do is teach trainees how to brace the core properly, which is an INVALUABLE skill for any trainee looking to increase their strength on the compound lifts. This 'teaching tool' aspect is why I even recommend these static holds for beginners. Just keep in mind that these exercise will only provide optimal results if you focus on posture and muscle activation. Loading up a ton of weight here will only lead to injury rather than solid gains.

I categorize these static holds into 4 categories:

• A heavy anterior hold: This includes holding weight in front of you or on you ie. front rack holds, zercher holds, barbell holds. These will target the entire rectus abdominis musculature, as well as provide some potentiation effect to squat variation. Just focus on bracing the core and breathing rhythmically/normally so you don't die. 

Chinese weightlifter Tian Tao performing heavy front rack holds to improve his front squat and nervous system potentiation. 

• A unilateral hold: This involves holds with only one hand. The best unilateral hold is the suitcase hold. With this exercise, focus on keeping the torso upright and neutral. The back muscles and obliques will have to work really hard to prevent yourself from collapsing. 
• An overhead hold: This is when you hold a heavy implement over your head. This will challenge the hip and core stability and strength as well as shoulder mobility. You could also do overhead holds unilaterally! I recommend you set up in a squat rack so there is no danger of dropping the bar. Waiter holds are also a great overhead hold variation. 
• Planking variations: There are many planking variations, which include side planks, superman planks, bird dog planks and regular front planks. There will target aspects of anti extension mainly, but also some anti-lateral flexion is well with side planks The point here is to go heavy; using your own bodyweight will eventually become easy, so add weight via a backpack or weight vest.

With all of these static holds, I recommend 3-4 sets of 30-60 sec holds (per side if applicable). With the planks, you could go up to 60-90 secs at a time. 

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment below!

- Hawtsauce 

Sprinting Program

I understand that many of the people reading these posts are not just training for maximal strength. Many of the people I coach and other readers have mentioned that they train for sports performance and track events. So I've created this simple yet effective sprint program for these individuals!

The main focus of this program is the lower body work. We begin each of our lower body sessions with some sort of sprint variation. These are:

1. Flying Sprints

A 'flying sprint' is a sprint in which you build up to max velocity over a distance of about 40-60m, and then you sprint at max velocity for 10-20m. This 10-20m zone is called the 'flying zone' and you should time the flying zone by recording a video or using a timing device/system. These flying sprints are going to be the bread and butter of any sprinting program. The reason we only sprint with max velocity for 10-20m is because sprinting at TRUE maximum velocity is HIGHLY fatiguing on the body! Usually, I would only keep the flying zone 10m as this type of maximum intent sprinting will beat the crap out of you! During the approach of 40-60m, you should GRADUALLY build up to the max velocity flying zone. Do not try to accelerate too quickly as you may start sprinting too fast before the flying zone even begins.

2. Short Sprints

Short sprints provide you with the opportunity to train your start and your acceleration. Short sprints can be anywhere from 10-60m, but I would usually recommend 20-40m for most people. At the start of a short sprint, you have the chance to practice your sprint start. So if you are training for track, you can practice pushing off the blocks, driving through the balls of your feet etc. With these, you just want to focus on sprinting as fast as you can. You won't reach max velocity due to the short distances, meaning you can do more reps of these shorter sprints without feeling burnt out.

3. Resisted Sprints

Of course, we need some form of resistance in order to increase our ability to produce force. For resisted sprints, I would recommend you attach a weight sled to you waist via a belt and then load the sled with regular weight plates. If this is too hard, you could use a prowler if you have access to one. If this is not an option, then I guess you can use the parachute things that provide air resistance, but this is impossible to progress on. If you don't have access to a parachute, then just do short sprints on grass or hill sprints. Doing sprints on grass will provide some friction resistance compared to running on a track, and running up a hill decreases stride length, which provides a similar stimulus to resisted sprints. No matter which method you use, keep these resisted sprints shorts (usually no more than 15m). Adding weight to these means that you're legs will get very tired if you sprint for long distances.

When we combine these 3 sprint variations, we get a damn good sprint program:

Additional Notes:

• If you can, try running on a track with spikes on. This will minimize the friction resistance and will be more forgiving on your joints
• You can do the sprint work earlier in the day and the weight room work separately later in the day. You could also do the sprint work the day before the weight room lower body sessions.
• Have a rest day after Upper body 2 and Lower body 3
• The olympic lifts should be light. Focus on moving the bar with maximum speed
• Do not do nordic curls or glute ham raises if you can't regress them so that the eccentric is VERY slow. If you don't have access to this equipment, do a 2/1 leg curl where you use 2 legs to bring the weight down and only 1 leg for the eccentric. I also like banded hamstring curls, but do these for higher reps and rhythmically
• For calf raises you can do a mix of calf and tibialis work. The 2/1 method also works well here. Honestly, you probably don't need to do calf work 3x a week; 1 x a week should be plenty enough. I included calves 3x a week for pure hypertrophy sake (but some people with bad genetics may not see any calf growth)
• Time each of your runs if possible. Have a friend time the runs, record the runs on a video tape or use a timing system/watch
• You will notice that the resisted sprints and the short sprints are programmed in 3 week waves. For 3 weeks, you work with a certain set/rep scheme, and then you change in in the next 3 weeks
• You can fit the ramp ups for the heavy lifts with the 3-week wave system. So for weeks 1-3, you would ramp to a heavy set of 5 reps. Then for weeks 4-6, you ramp up to a heavy set of 4 reps. And for weeks 7-9, you ramp up to a heavy set of 3 reps. Deload and then repeat!
• For the plyometrics, just do any jump that is of a moderate intensity (not to easy, but definitely not too hard). This could be a rhythmic box jump, hopping on the ground or doing lateral jumps. Use the same variation for 3-4 weeks and then switch it up.
• For the flying sprints, really take the full rest periods. Sprinting at true max velocity is truly taxing on the body, and you need those rest periods to fully recover
• Finally, I should mention this is a linear speed program. If you were interested in more sport-like speed (ie. for American football, rugby, soccer), then I would recommend doing agility work as well on rest days.

Note the exercises rotations in the spreadsheet. If you are a beginner, don't bother rotating exercises until you've run the program for a couple months. You can then begin rotating exercises every 3-4 weeks as you become more advanced. Some will say this program is too much for a beginner. I think that if you manage volume and intensity and recovery well, a beginner can easily make gains off of this program. The 3 lower body sessions are each a mix of heavy and explosive work, so the legs won't feel very tired out in the long run. 

So there it is! Sleep and eat well whilst running this program and you are guaranteed to increase your linear sprint speed. Any questions can be put in the comments below or emailed to me at cavernofcreaturesgym@gmail.com.

Enjoy!

People With Good Genetics Can Afford To Train Sub-Par

As unfair as it sounds, this is the reality. I'm sure you've seen clips of world-class athletes doing some of the whackiest and inefficient training known to man. The harsh truth of any physical pursuit, however, is that genetics plays a MUCH greater role than most people think. When we talk about 'genetics' in sports and lifting, we generally think of muscle mass, fast twitch fibers etc. But we often gloss over other significant attributes which are used highly during sports. For example, things like reaction time, ability to recover and sleep quality are all dependent largely on genetics.

You probably don't have good genetics. If you did have good genetics, you would already be competing at the state level in your sport (the state level is a BARE MINIMUM to be classified as having 'good' genetics). Tom Brady, during his first year at the NFL, ran a 5.28 40-yard dash and had a 24.5 inch vertical jump. Basically, he was extremely unathletic. But guess what, he STILL has better genetics than YOU!

People with good genetics can afford to not train optimally. Many top athletes hire the dumbest coaches known to mankind, and they STILL get more athletic! That's the power of genetics and the human body! However, someone like me or you cannot simply imitate the stupid training of these athletes and expect to get the same results. People like you and I actually need to invest time into learning about proper training.

People tend to disregard the 'optimal' movement in fitness and sport culture. Although some people can take the idea of 'optimal' training a bit too far, this doesn't deny the fact that optimising your training is a worthy goal. Why shouldn't we try to optimise our performance? In fact, for people who weren't winners of the genetic lottery, pursuing optimal training is probably necessary in order to see real progress. 

So next time you see some kid squatting 600lbs, please keep in mind that you are not that kid. You need to train properly. He doesn't. Of course, the kid could also benefit hugely from training properly. Maybe he should purchase a training program from the Cavern Of Creatures Gym!

- Hawtsauce

Quick Tip: Upper Back Pain During The Squat

I recently had client ask me about shoulder and upper back pain during the back squat. This reminded me of a devastating time in my training career. When I was first starting out, I could not place a barbell onto my back in a high bar position without excruciating pain. This left me squatting low bar for an entire year until I could high bar squat heavy. 

During the squat, you should actively think about squeezing the back together to create a muscular "shelf" for the bar to rest on. 

The Chinese lifter Lu Xiaojun performing a high bar back squat. Notice how the upper back is squeezed and this created a shelf on the traps (trapezius muscle)

As shown above, the barbell should rest on the upper traps during a high bar back squat. One of the best cues I like is to bring your elbows UNDER the barbell (think about doing a behind-the-neck press). This will bring out more of the trapezius muscle which can provide a larger shelf for the barbell to rest on. A common mistake is for the bar to be TOO high up, which causes neck pain. Now, this high bar position does require you to have some muscle on the upper back to begin with. If you don't already have this muscle, the weight on the bar may still create pain. 

So the solution to this is to just switch to the low bar squat. The low bar squat can be performed by basically everyone as it requires the bar to be places on the rear delts, which are well developed in most trainees. 

Proper bar positioning during the low bar back squat. The upper back is still tight, but the bar is now on the muscular rear delts (rear shoulders) rather than the traps (hence the name "low" bar)

Using the low bar position will require you to widen your grip, but it will provide a pain free solution for most. Before you squat, make sure to warm-up shoulders with some light face pulls or shoulder external rotations. If this still doesn't work for you and you still experience pain in the low bar squat as well, consider switching to the front squat or the SSB squat temporarily (or any other squat variation that doesn't induce pain). 

So, how should you gain the upper back muscle to squat pain free? Well, I recommend doing upper back work at least 2 times per week at the end of your upper body sessions. The best exercises to use here include facepulls, rear delt flyes and upper back inverted rows. The loading with these exercises isn't as important as the volume, so I recommend you do 100 total reps in each of these sessions. Also, you can do loaded carries like farmer's walks to directly build the upper traps.

One of the best exercises for the upper traps is the snatch grip high pull. Whenever I do this exercise for higher reps, my traps feel like they've been hit by a truck the next day. Try these out for 4-6 sets of 5-10 reps.

Basically, if you want to squat with a barbell pain-free, choose a variation that doesn't induce pain temporarily whilst building your upper back musculature. After about 1-3 months of this, you should be good to go!

- Hawtsauce