Technique is Everything

Good lifting technique is the closest thing to a “magic pill” that we

have in strength training, and this is why we’re going to dedicate so
much time to this topic as part of this course.

For myself and my athletes, technique takes priority over everything

else, which means that technique is the highest priority out of
everything we will cover in this course. If you are following the
absolute worst program in the world, but your technique is excellent
and you’re following the basic principles of progressive overload,
then you will still get great results, but the same cannot be said in
reverse.

In the structural balance module, we discussed that there are three

broad categories that a lifters goal may fall into: Performance,
Aesthetics and Health. Just like training for structural balance, lifting
with good technique would benefit any goal, regardless of which
category you or your lifters fall into.

Good lifting technique will benefit performance for both strength

sports and other sports, because we are making your movement
more efficient. More efficient movement means that you’re going to
be able to lift more weight, which better translates to better
strength training results. It will also drastically reduce your risk of
getting injured (8), which in itself will improve performance. An
injured athlete won’t be able to perform at their best.

Good lifting technique will benefit aesthetic training goals because it

will allow you to target particular muscles (9) and correct movement
just tends to produce a more balanced physique. It also provides an
excellent benchmark so you can measure and track your progress
and ensure you’re improving each week. If you’re lifting with
consistent technique and the weights are increasing, you know, that
you’re properly overloading the targeted muscles (9). We will go into
more detail later on why progressive overload is so important for
hypertrophy.

Good lifting technique will benefit rehabilitation and health goals

because it ensures that you’re lifting in the safest way for your
body. If someone has an injury that was caused by a muscle
imbalance or movement breakdown, then relearning the correct
movement and strengthening that correct pattern under load, will
help prevent that same injury from reoccurring. Correctly performed
strength training exercises can be one of the best injury prevention
and treatment methods.

Now let’s take a moment to define what I actually mean when I

referred to good technique. Good technique is a bit of an arbitrary
term, but generally speaking, we can define this as the most
efficient way for our body to move in order for us to lift the weight
from point A to point B. The most efficient way will also be the safest
movement pattern and the technique that has the most potential for
strength (8). Because every body is different this will look slightly
different for everyone, but the rule still applies that the most
efficient and safest technique for you, is the best technique for you.
Since nobody has the exact same proportions and levers as the
person next to them, good technique will look different on
everybody. However, there are some fundamental rules that every
lifter can follow to move in the most efficient and safe way for their
body.

One absolute non-negotiable is that you shouldn’t be experiencing

pain while performing an exercise. But in terms of individual
movement patterns, this will vary slightly from lifter to lifter.

Within these guidelines, there are some common patterns that we

can see that lifters of certain proportions will generally follow, and
there are some adjustments that we can make to our programs to
accommodate for these. We’re going to go through all of this and
more in the next video, which is going to be the practical part of the
course.

I’m excited to welcome you guys into my gym to teach you the
Strength System Level 1 Technique Fundamentals.

Bench Press – Setup

In this lesson, I’m going to teach you the powerlifting style bench
press technique the way that I like to teach it. And we’ve got Kevin
who is one of the best bench pressers in Australia. He’s a
competitive lifter in the 100 to 110 kilogram class with a 240
kilogram bench press PB, so he’s very strong at the bench press.
Something that you’re also going to notice about Kevin is his
mobility is excellent. It’s a lot more mobile than me, and it’s
probably going to be a lot more mobile than a lot of you trying to
attempt the same position, but I find that when I teach this arch
back bench press technique the way that I like to teach it, with a
more mobile athlete, it illustrates all of the positions a lot better. So
check it out.

Kevin is going to start with an empty barbell, and we start from the
empty barbell with the exact same techniques as we’re going to be
using all the way up to our very top set. Kevin lays into position. The
first thing that he does is slides back so that his head is off the
bench. The reason why we’ve gone that far back so that he can
bring his feet back. You’re going to see that we need the feet nice
and far back, not everyone can go as far, but you’ll be able to
determine the right distance for yourself, but for Kevin, we bring it
back nice and far. He gets up on the balls of his feet. From this
position, he pushes his heels downwards and he maintains this
downwards pressure throughout the entire movement, from the
setup all the way through to the time he puts the bar back on the
rack. Pushing his heels down, he’s going to slide his body into
position, heels down the entire time. They’re not on the ground, but
they’re pushing downwards. Starting up, he’s got to have his eye
level behind the barbell, pushing his heels down he now focuses on
pulling his shoulder blades back and down towards his back pockets.
From here he takes a big breath, holding his breath. He’s holding his
breath through the entire set, just give me 5 reps Kev, lowering the
bar down to his chest. You can see it’s only 20 kilograms, so it’s very
light for him, but he’s still controlling the bar every single rep. And
now he exhales. Relax that position, stay here.

Did you see what just happened when he relaxed his feet? This is
the position where we get our feet to talk to our shoulders, and I’m
going to explain exactly how. The movement in his feet where he
pushes his heels downwards is actually a movement at the hip joint.
That’s called a hip joint extension. Now every movement in our body
has a corresponding movement further down the chain. So this is
how his feet are going to talk to his shoulders. Pushing his heels
down creates hip joint extension. Hip joint extension anteriorly
rotates his pelvis. Anterior rotation of his pelvis arches his back, or
another way of saying it is extends his spine. The extension of his
spine, it’s not about arching the lower back, it’s more about arching
the upper back or extending the thoracic spine, which is a position
that is crucial to be able to position his scapula, or his shoulder
blades, in the position that I want them in, throughout the entire
movement, which is retracted and depressed, and I want them there
through the entire movement.

Okay. And relax.

Now we’re going to add a little bit of weight.

Now, we’re at our first weight increment. For Kevin, as you know,
he’s a very strong bench presser, so we’re able to go straight to 60
kilograms after he’s bench pressed the empty bar, but everyone’s
going to be a little bit different. I have one rule with all of my
exercises, whether it’s a bench press, a squat, a deadlift, and that is
you need to earn the right to add weight to the bar.

Now some people, especially if you’re teaching someone for the

very first time, they might need to repeat that empty bar. But as we
know, Kevin is very competent with this movement, so he moved
that empty bar very well and were able to go to his the first
increment. If I had someone that was not as strong, perhaps my first
increment could be as low as 5 kilograms each side, but we know
that Kevin’s strong, so 60 kilograms, and this is going to be his first
set.

Now this might sound a little bit repetitive but that’s okay. That’s
the best way to learn these techniques. We’re going to go over and
over and over again. The very first part of this bench press is quite
important. Kevin starts by sitting at the edge of the bench, reason
being so that when he lays down to get into position, he’s not going
to bang his head on the bar. That’s quite important. You’d be
surprised how many people hit their head on the bar. Avoid that if
you can.

He grabs the barbell in his comfortable grip. Now he’s comfortable

grip, he’s a competitive powerlifter, is the maximum legal width grip
that you can perform in a powerlifting competition, which is index
finger on the outer ring of the powerlifting bar. This is a competition
style powerlifting bar, and this is a competition style powerlifting
bench. Now, even if you’re not a competitive powerlifter, I don’t
recommend going wider than that, because if you go wider than
that, you’re going to bang your hands on the uprights and they’re
going to bleed. Just don’t do that. However, this has taken Kevin
many years of practice and conditioning his shoulders to be able to
maximize his grip width and go that wide. But when you’re learning,
you might want to go a little bit narrower up until you develop the
conditioning and strength in shoulder to gradually, gradually go as
wide as possible. What’s the reason we can go as wide as possible in
the bench press? In a powerlifting competition, the goal is to lift the
heaviest weight possible and the wider the grip, the shorter the
range of motion, so it’s an advantage. Now, not everyone is a
competitive powerlifter. So for those of you whose goal is to build
muscle mass, it’s completely fine to utilize all of the different grip
variations, but for a powerlifting competition my recommendation is
if you are able to achieve this arch position and it is comfortable and
strong to utilize the widest legal grip, that’s going to be your best
advantage because it’s going to allow you to reduce the range of
motion and therefore lift heavier weight. At the end of the day in a
powerlifting competition, the goal is to win competitions and you
only do that by lifting heavy weights.

So Kevin starts, index finger on the outer ring of the powerlifting

bar. If he starts here and brings his feet back, bring your feet back.
Remember, his feet were probably around here, so he’s not able to
get his feet back as far as what we want them in the end position,
which is why we need to move his whole body back to maximize his
arch, sliding back so your head is off the end to the bench. Bring
your feet back and get up on the balls of the feet. From this position,
everything is relaxed. Now we’re going to create tension from his
whole body by pushing his heel downwards. Remember that
downwards action at the heels is hip joint extension. Hip joint
extension is going to fire his glutes up, so he’s going to have active,
lower body as well. Of course it’s an upper body pushing exercise,
but his whole body is going to be involved. Pushing his heels down,
they’re not going to touch the ground, but he’s maintaining that
downwards pressure from start all the way til he puts that bar back
on the rack. Pushing his heels down, he’s going to slide into position.
Sliding into position where eyeballs are behind the bar.
Relaxing a little bit.

The reason why I want his eyes behind the bar. A lot of people
consider that you should line up your eyes with the bar because
that’s a reasonable landmark, but you need to know exactly why
we’re doing this. And the reason why I say eyes behind the bar is
because all we need to do is bring the bar out enough so it’s not
going to bang up against this rack when we do out bench pressing.
The further down he is, come all the way down, further further
further, look at what happens with his arms now. He’s having to
reach too far back. This is where a lot of novice lifters might
recommend that you lie down a little bit further away from the
bench so you’re not banging into the bench, and that could be good
advice. A lot of novice lifters have a very erratic bar path when they
first start their bench press. I know I did when I had my first bench
press session ever. It was very hard for me to control a straight bar
path. But as you get more and more advanced, you want to be more
and more precise with all of the positions that you’re achieving. So
as we know, Kevin’s in advanced bench presser, and it’s the best
case scenario. Best case scenario is eyes behind the bar. It means
he doesn’t have to reach his arms back.

So two things that happen when he reaches his arms back. He’s
taking your shoulder blades out of position. The position that I want
from start to finish is where the shoulder are retracted and
depressed, and I want them there throughout the entire movement,
which I’m going to explain why in a moment. So reaching back
they’re protracted and elevated, so they’re out of position. The next
thing we know is because he’s so far down the bench, he’s going to
have to travel a lot further to get into the start position. 60
kilograms, that’s completely fine. What’s his max? 240 kilograms.
That’s gonna feel like an eternity when he reaches his top weight
and has to bring the bar out from the start position, he’s traveling
way too far. So we’re minimizing as much of the movement as
possible.

Okay. Sliding back.

So the head is off the bench. This is our start position. The reason I
have his head this far back is so that I can bring his feet far back
enough to get into the correct start position. Heels down sliding into
position, so his eyes are behind the barbell, squeezing his shoulder
blades back and down towards his back pocket. Another way of
saying that is retracted and depressed, and I want it there the whole
set.

Taking a big breath and holding his breath. Bring the bar out to his
start position, he lowers the bar down to his chest under control. He
doesn’t just drop it down and up. The way that he does that is he
thinks about pulling the bar apart throughout the entire movement,
which allows him to use his opposing muscle group, which is the
muscles of his back to stabilize that bar from start to finish.

Next set, we go up by another 20 kilograms.

Bench Press – Strength vs Human

Movement
Okay we’ve got 80 kilograms on the bar, but before Kevin presses
this, I’m going to talk to you a little bit about the shoulder blade
position that I’ve been discussing, which is retraction and
depression of the scapula, which is the position that I want you to be
in from start to finish. A lot of people look at this position and think,
that’s not how the body’s designed to move, and it’s not. With
correct human movement, we think of a push pattern in things like a
punch, throwing a ball, or a general push pattern. Now with this
movement of the arm, that corresponds with a scapula position
where at this fully extended position of the arm, we are protracting
and elevating our scapula. And I’ve asked Kevin to retract and
depress through the entire movement, and I’m going to tell you the
difference between a bench press and throwing a punch or throwing
a ball or pushing. In these movements I don’t have a board jamming
my scapula out of position. If Kevin tries to do the functional thing
with the bench press, put your arms out in front of you. Okay. It’s a
big error that I see a lot of people make and it can lead to injury
because human movement doesn’t involve having a board jamming
your scapula out of position. This is not human movement. This is
pushing a heavy object off your chest, laying in a supine position or
laying on your back with a board jamming your scapula out of
position. And the fact is when Kevin tries to lower the bar down to
his chest, if he starts in the protractor position, this board is going to
restrict his shoulder blades from going where they want to go. And
when Kevin lowers the bar to his chest, what he wants, think of a
rowing pattern. So this is the push on the throw pattern, where the
scapula wants to protract and elevate, and then the opposing
movement is a rowing or a pulling action where we want to finish
that movement where the scapula is retracted and depressed. So
when the arms back here, we want the scapula to be backing down
towards the back pocket. And that’s the cue that I’m telling Kevin to
be in from start to finish.

So protract, arm’s out in front. That’s the end of the push pattern.
When we’re thinking functional movement patterns. Bring the bar
down to your chest. Now, as he brings it down to his chest, we want
to retract and depress. There’s no board jamming his scapula out of
position, and he’s able to have that free range of motion. But if he
unracks with his scapula protracted, he’s got a board jamming his
scapula out of position with 240 kilograms in his hands. He’s not
able to, his scapula’s going to be jammed out a position from this
board and it’s going to lead, definitely to a shoulder injury if it’s at
his maximum weight, but I’m going to give you a little bit of a
demonstration just with 80 kilograms because as we know this is
quite light for Kevin, so let’s check it out.

Now, we’re going to show you what not to do. One of the most
common areas that I see when people are setting up in this bench
press, when he unracks the weight, don’t unrack it yet. Remember
when you throw a punch or a push with human movement, that
corresponding movement of the scapula is protraction elevation and
this is what a lot of people associate with the push pattern,
especially when they unrack that way. So this is what I don’t want
you to do. Kevin protracts and elevates his scapula, so he’s
completely out of position. His chest is caved in. Lowering the
weight down to his chest with a heavyweight in this position is
actually quite unsafe. This is where you see pec tears and shoulder
injuries. I don’t actually like the look of that. As you can see Kevin
was very apprehensive when he bought the bar down to his chest.
He didn’t want to touch the chest with his bar because his scapula is
not in the correct position. When that bar is on his chest, he wants
his scapula to be retracted and depressed, which is getting blocked
right now because he’s lying down on a board. Laying down on the
bench, which was restricting his natural scapula movement.
Now we’ve established that the bench press isn’t human movement.
It’s an excellent tool that we use to develop our pushing strength,
and it is a great tool to be able to do that. And it is also part of a
sport of powerlifting. You don’t have to be a powerlifter to benefit
from the bench press.

So now we’re going to go back to the correct way in exactly how you
should be bench pressing. So starting with this weight and doing it
the proper way. Sliding back so his head is off the bench. Bringing
his feet back so that he can get in the correct position, getting up
onto the balls of his feet, pushing his heels down, which is hip joint
extension. Remember anterior rotation of the pelvis is paired with
extension of the spine, which is that arch that you’re seeing. So
pushing his heels down allows us to arch his back. Now remember,
it’s not just the lower back that we want to arch, it’s the upper back.
It’s the thoracic spine and the reason we want thoracic extension? I
know that you at home are going to be looking at the camera and
thinking about this movement. I want you to do that, arch your back
and watch what happens. The question that I asked now is, where
did your shoulder blades go? They go back and down towards your
back pockets, even though I didn’t ask you to do that, it’s just where
they want to sit when you are extending your thoracic spine.

Let’s do it. Heels down. Slide into position. Eyes behind the bar.
Retract and depress the scapula. Taking a big breath. 4 reps. Lowers
is the weight down to his chest under control by pulling the bar
apart and powers that weight back up within intent. Look at the bar
path. It’s relatively straight, but not perfectly straight.

A common question that I hear a lot of is what’s the correct bar path
for a bench press. And a lot of people teach there should be a
diagonal pattern with this bar path. And in my experience, when I
see people trying to attempt a diagonal bar path, they exaggerate
that and movement far too much. So the way that I teach it is to
think about a straight bar path. That’s the most efficient way to get
from point A to point B in the shortest line possible. There will
naturally be a diagonal movement, but let’s not think about that.
Think of moving it as straight as possible. That’s going to be your
safest bet to move the heaviest weight possible as safely as
possible.
Now, he’s finished 80 kilograms, we’ll go to the next increment,
which is going to be 100 kilograms.

Bench Press – Common Cues

So we’ve got 100 kilograms on the bar for Kevin’s next set. But
before we press away with this, we’re going to talk about some
common cues that you may hear that you haven’t heard me talk
about yet, and one of them is tucking the elbows. So tucking the
elbows is kind of correct, but unfortunately it’s one of those cues
that gets misinterpreted way too much, and the reason why I
haven’t used it yet is because when the body moves correctly, it just
naturally happens. So laying down on the bench, we know that when
Kevin pushes his heels down, he’s extending his hip joint, extension
at the hip joint anteriorly rotates the pelvis, anterior rotation the
pelvis is paired with extension of the spine, extension of the spine,
can you ask for me Kev, will naturally allow for his scapula to sit
where they want to sit, which is retracted and depressed.

Now, retraction and depression of the scapula is also paired with

external rotation of the humerus, put your arms out in front of you
Kevin, so externally rotate that bone and watch where his elbows
point. His elbows are pointing down, which is enough tucking for the
movement the way that I want it.

Now, let’s talk a little bit about why we want the elbows to tuck in
the first place. So, right here we have the scapula and on the
scapula, sits all of our rotator cuff muscles. If you feel around for this
bony landmark here, that’s called the spine of the scapula. Above
the spine of the scapula sits the supraspinatus. The supraspinatus
comes under the acromion and attaches to the top of the humerus.
Now when the elbows are flared, which is a technique that you don’t
want to be doing with the bench press, we are shortening the space
between the humerus and the acromion, which will create
impingement of the supraspinatus tendon. So how much do we need
to tuck the elbows? That’s enough to create enough space for the
supraspinatus tendon to be able to move freely without being
rubbed on by the humerus and the acromion.

One of the most common errors that I see, or misinterpretations

from the cue when people use the cue to tuck the elbows, is a lot of
people pressing from this position here. This is unnecessary. This
turns the bench press into too much of a tricep exercise. In a
powerlifting competition or in a strength movement, my goal is to
use as much muscle as possible to be able to shift the heaviest
loads possible as safely as possible, and tucking in the elbows too
much is going to switch off a lot of our strong pushing muscles,
which is going to be our pecs. So in a bodybuilder’s technique, you
might see flared elbows in an attempt to utilize a lot of the pecs, but
unfortunately this is that flared elbow position that can create
impingement at the supraspinatus tendon. So tucking in the elbows,
is all about shoulder health and from this position is still going to
allow us to push as much weight as possible as safely as possible.

So is tucking the elbows a good cue or not? Well, if Kevin came to

me and was benching like this, I would use the cue, tuck the elbows.
On the flip side, I have some lifters come to me because they’ve
read somewhere in a book that they should be tucking their elbows
or they’ve been taught by another coach or read from some texts
that they should be tucking the elbows, and they bench from this
position. A cue that I might give this lifter is to flare the elbows. Do I
want him to be flared here? No! Okay. I want him to be in the
neutral position. Okay. But that’s a cue that I’m only going to give
when necessarily.

Now, let’s see how Kevin bench presses 100 kilograms. Same cues,
let’s do it all again. Starting the bench, sitting on the edge of the
bench, so when he lays down and he’s not going to bang his head
on the bar. Sliding back so his head is off the bench, so he can get
his feet back far enough, up on the balls of his feet, he’s going to
push his heels down, maintain that downward pressure throughout
the entire movement, grabbing the bar in his preferred grip. So
preferred grip, we will have other variations where he might do a
closed group bench press. That’s fine. All day today he’s got to be
doing his strongest grip, index finger on the outer ring of the
powerlifting bar. Heels down, slide into position, so his eyes are
behind the bar, taking a big breath, retract depress your scapula. 3
reps. Lowers the bar down to his chest under control, and straight
back up thinking about pushing in a straight bar path.

And relax. Nice and easy.

That was 100 kilograms. Now remember the recommendation that I
give is you need to earn the right to add the weight to the bar, and I
want you guys to start looking at, what I’m going to be looking at
that’s going to tell me that I should stop putting weight on the bar.
So as we know that’s 100 kilograms for Kevin. We know his history,
he can bench press 240 kilograms, so we’re way off that, we’re less
than half of his max now. So the way that it’s moving tells me as
well, he’s okay to go up to our next increment. 120 kilograms up
next.

Bench Press – The Arch

Before Kevin bench presses 120 kilograms, we’re going to talk about
a question that I receive a lot which is, “how much arch is too much
arch?” The answer is in a powerlifting competition you’re allowed to
arch as much as you want. The rule is that you must have your feet
on the ground, your butt on the bench, your back on the bench and
you can arch as little or as much as you like.

The advantage of the arch is quite obvious. Apart from a safety

perspective, it’s going to shorten the range of motion, which is going
to be a lever that allows you to shift a heavy load. Now, my goal is
to get you stronger and getting stronger isn’t just about
manipulating levers so you can lift heavier weights, but in a
powerlifting competition, I’m going to recommend that Kevin uses
this arch because he’s allowed, but in training, I still want to get
those shoulders nice and strong. So this might be our main work and
because it’s going to be a reduced range of motion due to the arch,
I’m going to make sure that in his supplementary work, we are
going to take his shoulder joints through the ranges of motion that
we’ve neglected in our main work.

My favorite exercise to achieve that is dumbbell pressing variations

on all angles, flat, incline, and upright, and we’re going to take you
through those next.

But before that, we’re going to keep benching, 120 kilograms on the
bar, let’s do it Kevin. Same things, laying into position, sliding back
to get his feet into position, up on the balls of his feet, pushing the
heels down, creating that nice arch. As we know, the arch of the
thoracic spine’s going to allow the perfect setup of his scapula,
which is retraction and depression through the entire movement.
Retraction depression is paired with external rotation. So that’s
enough tucking for Kevin. Taking a big breath. 2 reps, Kevin.
Controls it down to his chest and powers that bar back up to that
start position.

Nice and easy. You may have noticed I asked for 2 reps, the set
before was 3 reps, the set before was 4 reps. As we’re warming up,
the goal is to stimulate, not annihilate. I don’t want to fatigue Kevin
as we’re warming up to his main working sets. The goal is to warm
up his body and allow him to feel the weight so on the next set, we
will do 1 more set and we’re going to take it to 140 kilograms, and
we’re going to start doing 1 rep at a time now. It’s just about feeling
the weight, so he knows how to expect the heaviest weights to
come.

We’ve got 140 kilograms on the bar before Kevin gets started. I’m
going to give you guys a little bit of a homework drill that I give a lot
of my novice bench presses or people that are attempting this
technique for the first time, and that is to go home and dream about
it and practice this movement. It sounds like a joke, but it helps a
lot. So what I mean by that, Kevin, can you please demonstrate
sitting in this position, put your hands out in front of you. A very
natural thing to want to do with your arms reached out in front of
you is the human movement thing that I discussed, and that is to
protract and elevate the scapula. What I want you to do is practice
sitting there, extend your upper back or arch your upper back,
retract and depress the scapula, and I want you to maintain this
retract, this is not a human movement. I want you to practice
maintaining this retraction and depression of the scapula, and
imagine you’re doing a bench press from now. So bring the bar
down to your chest and maintain this position, which is easy on the
way down. Now press the bar off the chest and keep this position.
This is the hard thing. Kevin obviously knows how to do it because
he’s an advanced bench presser, but this is great practice for you
guys because the natural thing to want to do is protract the scapula.
So remember the homework. Retract and depress scapula, arms out
in front of you sitting in this upright position, and bench away. Bring
the back of your chest and press it up. Maintain this position. 2 more
reps. Seems like a silly drill, but it works.
Now we’re going to do that exact same movement with 140
kilograms. So for the purpose of today, this is going to be Kevin’s
top work set. We’re going to do 5 reps and a few things that you’re
going to notice now. Holding the breath through the entire set. A
few of you might’ve been scratching your head when you heard me
say that and yes, you did hear correctly. That is a cue that I liked to
teach. The reason why I like to teach that is the same reason why I
like to teach the chain of movements that start from the feet that go
to the hips, that go to the spine that go to the shoulder blades and
go to the arms. The next part of that puzzle is inhalation. So
inhalation creates this extension position of the upper back and
exhalation creates the opposing movement. So the moment you
exhale a little bit, I know there’s a lot of advanced bench presses
that are able to exhale and maintain this arch position. But in my
experience, teaching people at the highest level, holding the breath
through the entire set might help someone with the millimeter and a
millimeter at the highest level could mean the difference between
240 kilograms and maybe getting a PB or another Australian record
in his next competition.

So let’s do it again. Sitting at the edge of the bench so he doesn’t

bang his head on the bar when he lays down. Sliding back so his
head is off the bench, bringing his feet back up on the balls of his
feet, pushing his heels down. Downwards pressure through the
entire movement, sliding into position. He’s got his preferred grip,
index finger on the outer ring of the powerlifting bar, sliding into
position, heels down, retract and depress his scapula, taking a big
breath. Holding his breath the whole time. Lowers the bar down to
his chest. I want 5 reps Kevin. Controls it down, powers it up.
Controls it down, powers it up. Controls it down. Nice consistent reps
throughout the entire movement. 4 reps, 1 more and 5 reps. Nice
and easy.

So as we know my prescription for rep range for exercises with a

higher complexity is typically quite low. Bench press I do consider as
a compound movement with a high technical complexity. From time
to time we do to explore the higher rep ranges, but in most
instances I definitely prefer lower rep ranges for compound
movements.
Before we move on what we might do is address this arch position.
A lot of you might be looking at it thinking that is a really unnatural
position that we’re putting our back in and does that hurt? Well, the
correct answer to this is for a healthy spine it shouldn’t hurt, but
there are some people out there that this can cause some type of
aggravation. And my number one recommendation if that is you, is
to never train through pain. If this exercise hurts you, just stop. So
there’s a lot of ways that we can manipulate our body to not get into
that arch position and that is by not bringing the feet back and not
bringing the heels down and not intentionally, exaggerating that
arch position. Remember rule number 1, never trained through pain.
If something hurts, stop. But as we know with Kevin, as we’ve seen,
it doesn’t hurt him and he’s very good at the position, and most
people, it actually shouldn’t hurt. And if it does, my recommendation
is to seek advice from a professional, whether it’s a physiotherapist
or rehabilitation specialist with experience in teaching this exercise.

Now, some of you may be wondering how this technique may apply
to you if you have no intention of ever competing in a powerlifting
competition? My recommendation is that it’s the healthiest way for
your shoulders to bench press with a board jamming your scapula
out of position. So even my non-powerlifting athletes and clients, I
still teach this technique as I believe it is the safest way to perform
this movement. And for those of you who are wondering about the
reduced range of motion and how we’re going to strengthen the
shoulder joint? Remember we’ve got a whole list of other
supplementary exercises that I’m going to take you through to
ensure that there are no weak points and that starts with dumbbell
pressing, and we’re going to go and do that now.

Dumbbell Variations – The Push

Pattern
Now we’re going to demonstrate my favorite supplementary
movement to develop the push pattern. After performing a bench
press with the mobility that Kevin has, as we know that extra arch
has allowed him to reduce his range of motion to lift a heavier
weight, but we’re not taking his shoulder joint through the fullest
range of motion, but that’s okay because that’s why we love this
exercise so much.

Now we’re going to show you how Kevin’s going to strengthen his
horizontal push pattern through the fullest range of motion with the
techniques that I like to teach. Starting with dumbbells on Kevin’s
lap, in a flat position, laying down into position is not the same arch
as a flat bench press. His feet are going to be stable on the ground.
They are going to be active, they’re not just flopped onto the
ground. He uses a neutral position, which is his most comfortable
position, starting in a full stretch. He’s still going to focus on thoracic
extension, but just not to the same degree as the barbell bench
press. Pushing up to a full lockout and controlling it down to the full
stretch again. Let’s do 5 reps. There’s 1. Full stretch, full lockout.
Nice and deep, full stretch, 3 reps. Nice and ditch, deep, full stretch
to a full lockout. 4 reps, 1 more. And good and drop. So obviously we
can explore multiple different rep ranges and different set
variations, but for the purpose of this demonstration, we just chose
5 reps.

Now we’re going to use the same dumbbell pressing technique that I
like to use, but from the inclined position. I’ve set the bench up so
it’s roughly on a 45 degree angle, but all angles are going to be
suitable at different phases of your periodized plan. None of them
are better or worse, but for the purpose of this demonstration, we’re
going to stick to the 45 degree angle.

Kevin’s going to start the exercise with the dumbbells on his lap,
sitting into position, starting in the full stretch position with his
hands in the neutral, most comfortable position. Laying back, Kevin.
Start in a full stretch. Let’s go 5 reps again, full stretch, pushing
straight ahead to a full lockout, taking the joint through its full range
of motion, on an incline position. There’s 3 reps, let’s just do 10
more. Feet are nice and stable into the ground, so they’re active,
they’re not just flopped and relaxed. And 5 reps, and he’s got a nice
thoracic extended position so that he could position his scapula in
the safest healthiest position, which has retracted and depressed.
Ok that’s good.
So Kevin was kind enough to do a few extra reps for us, but with all
of our dumbbell pressing variations, we’re going to be exploring low
reps all the way to high reps.

Next we’re going to do the same dumbbell position from an upright

angle. We’ve explored the horizontal push pattern. We’ve shown
you the inclined position from a 45 degree angle. Now we’re going
to go completely upright to strengthen the vertical push pattern.
Once again, Kevin’s going to start with the dumbbells on his lap.
Passing the dumbbells to himself, he’s going to start with the
neutral position in a full stretch, pushing overhead. Let’s just do 5
reps, Kevin. Locking the elbows out, full range of motion, full stretch
to a full lockout. He still has a nice thoracic extension. So you might
hear chest up, which is actually not a chest movement, it’s a
movement in the thoracic spine, which has extension to be able to
position his scapula in the retracted, depressed, safe position for all
of our pressing angles.

Dumbbell Variations – The Pull

Pattern
Now we’re going to explore the horizontal pull pattern. There’s a
large list of different exercises that you can choose for this pull
pattern, such as a seated cable row, bent over barbell row, but right
now one of my favorite exercises is a one arm dumbbell row.

So Kevin’s going to set himself up on a bench with a nice wide

stable base of support. Thinking about a nice neutral spine so that
we can get the correct movement pattern in this shoulder blade.
Kevin starts with the dumbbell, with his arm in the full stretch
position. As he rose the dumbbell to his body, he’s going to focus on
retraction depression of the scapula, and then back down to the full
stretch position, which is protraction elevation. And up again,
retraction, depression with a very slight pause. So we’re making
sure that there’s no momentum, no chopping action here. And back
up again. Let’s just do 5 reps. That’s 3 and full stretch, protraction,
elevation, retraction, depression. Shoulder blade up, shoulder blade
backing down towards the back pocket. That’s great. Now we’re
going to swap sides.
Okay, starting with a nice wide base of support, neutral spine
throughout the entire movement. Starting in a full stretch position
with his scapula protracted and elevated, bringing the dumbbell to
his torso, thinking about retracting and depressing the scapula. 1
rep, give me 5 reps. Full stretch to a full contracted position, 3 reps,
2 to go. Nice neutral spine. 1 more. And no chopping motion to
make sure that there’s no momentum creating that movement. It’s
all muscle. And that is a 1 arm dumbbell row.

Dumbbell Variations – External

Rotations
This is the dumbbell external rotation. This is an exercise that I
learnt from Charles Poliquin and it is part of his structural balance
guidelines, which the numbers don’t quite add up, especially with
the techniques of the bench press that I prescribe. But it’s a great
way for me to illustrate to a lot of my lifters when there is a
structural imbalance present. A lot of my high level bench pressers
come to me with a plateau from a 200 kilogram bench press and
they’re stuck and they can’t bench press anymore. And that’s a
pretty crazy number and a lot of the time it’s not due to them
having a bad bench press or them not having strong pushing
muscles, they’ve been doing a lot of that. What they’ve neglected is
achieving structural balance. What they’ve neglected is
strengthening the opposing muscle groups and the stabilizes of the
shoulders, and this is my favorite way of being able to illustrate that
they have a weak point.

So right now, Kevin’s going to use a 5 kilogram dumbbell to

illustrate this point. I’m going to tell you, Charles Poliquin’s protocols
says that you should be able to achieve 10% of your 1 rep max on
the bench press for 8 reps here. We know Kevin’s bench press is
240 kilograms. I guarantee you, he’s not going to be able to do 24
kilograms for an external rotation. So as I said, my guidelines are a
lot different to Charles’s, mainly because we use a different
technique. He doesn’t teach the arch bench press technique, so
they don’t add up, but that’s okay. So what do I tell my lifters? They
should be able to do at least half of that. And in most instances,
even half of Charles Poliquin’s protocols are too heavy for my lifter,
but it is a great way to illustrate to them that there is an apparent
weak point that they need to develop, and whenever we do develop
these weak points, it results in stronger, healthier shoulders and
breaking through the original plateaus.

So check this out. This is the dumbbell external rotation, the way
that I like to teach it. Sitting up on the edge of the bench. Bum on
one end. Foot up on the other side. What we’re going to aim for here
is that knee needs to provide a stable base of support for his elbow
to sit on. There’s a tendency for our lifters to want to cheat by
lifting, pushing the knees to the side, so it shortens the range of
motion. We’ve got to make sure everything is nice and
perpendicular.

Let’s just do 8 reps, nice and controlled on the way down to a full
stretch position, not letting that knee poke out to the side. So we’ve
got one leg here. The other leg is at 90 degrees and is essentially
facing 45 degrees. Full range of motion under control on the way
down and squeeze it back up to the top. Make sure there’s no
chopping motion. How many reps is that Kevin? 5, 6, 2 more. Full
stretch. 8. Very good to swap sides. So it’s sitting on this edge.
Okay, posting his legs out at 90 degrees and he’s facing 45 degrees.
Controlling the dumbbell down to a full stretch position and
squeezing it back up to the top. No chopping, full control of the
dumbbell from start to finish. How many reps is that? 6. So this is 5
kilograms. Do you think you can do this with 24 kilograms? Is that 8?
Fantastic. That is a dumbbell external rotation. One of my favorite
ways to train the external rotators of the shoulder joint.

Dumbbell Variations – Serratus

Anterior Raise
This is the serratus anterior raise. It’s an exercise that I learnt with
one of the best rehabilitation specialists in the game, his name is
Andrew Lock, and he taught me this exercise as a great tool for
strengthening one of the stabilizers of the scapula. The main
stabilizers of the scapula is the middle back muscles, which are the
rhomboids, the middle and lower trapezius, but another one that
gets neglected with a lot of these exercises is the serratus anterior
and that’s why I like to include this as a great little accessory
exercise to build the serratus anterior safely.
Kevin’s going to grab a light dumbbell, so for this one it’s 5
kilograms. He probably wouldn’t go that much heavier than this, but
for the demonstration, we’ll keep it nice and light. This exercise was
introduced to me as a liberty raise. So the end position is like you’re
standing like the Statue of Liberty, but the way that I prescribe it, I
just call it the serratus anterior raise because that’s the exercise,
that’s the muscle group that we’re training.

Starting exactly where Kevin’s standing and finishing like he’s

holding the torch in the end position of where the Statue of Liberty
is holding the torch. Let’s go. Okay so this, the action of the serratus
anterior is protraction of the scapula, which is exactly what’s
happening. A lot of the time when we’re queuing this exercise, all
we need to do is tell them to push that dumbbell out to a 45 degree
angle overhead, and the body will naturally protract the scapula,
which will naturally recruit the muscles that we’re targeting, which is
the serratus anterior. Swap hands. Okay, starting in a start position
and reaching over head 45 degrees overhead. Stretch. Good. So I
don’t really need to cue this. It’s a really simple exercise. The less
queuing, the better. Pushing overhead in the 45 degree angle.
Remember the action we want from the serratus anterior, which is
protraction of the scapula. And that is serratus anterior raise.

The Pull Up
Now I’m going to show you my favorite way to strengthen the
vertical pulling pattern and without a doubt my favorite
strengthening exercise for that is a pull up or a chin up with all of
the different variations of hand positions, pronated, neutral, and
supinated. However, I’ve got to mention that this is probably one of
the hardest ways to strengthen the vertical pulling pattern because
it’s a body weight exercise, and not everyone has the strength to be
able to perform this exercise correctly.

So I’m going to give you an example of what I mean when I say

correct technique for the pull up, Kevin. As I said, we can utilize all
of the different hand positions, pronated, neutral, supinated, and we
will be utilizing all of them throughout the periodized plan, but for
the purpose of this demonstration, we’ll just use our most
comfortable position, which is the neutral grip.
Kevin, can you do 5 reps for me, please? Starting with a neutral grip,
we’re always going to start in a full stretch position. Scapula
protracted and elevated and pulling his body up to the bar,
retracting and depressing his scapula. A lot of people don’t have the
strength to be able to achieve this motion, they’re thinking about
getting the chin over the bar, which is incorrect. 2 more reps, full
stretch, so that’s protracted and elevated scapula, retracted and
depressed scapula.

If you’re not able to achieve that end position, which is where the
scapula is retracted and depressed, you’re not using all the right
muscles that we want to be strengthening. Part of the formula, push
pull ratio of 1:1, strengthen the external rotators of the shoulder
joint, and strengthen the stabilizers of the scapula. The main
stabilizers of the scapula are the ones that sit here in the middle,
which is the rhomboids and the middle and lower trapezius. And the
only way that we can be sure that we’re strengthening those
muscles is if we finish that movement with the retracted and
depressed position, that’s the action of those muscles. So if you’re
not achieving that you’re going to create an imbalance.

One of the most common postural deviations that we see is when

people focus on getting that chin over the bar, the shoulders end up
rounding. They’re developing their shoulder joint extensors, which is
the lats, they’re developing the elbow flexors, which is the biceps,
brachialis and brachioradialis, but they’re neglecting these very
important stabilizers of the scapula, which is in the middle trapezius
and the rhomboids.

So if you’re not strong enough to perform this chin up without

finishing in that final position, which is retraction and depression of
the scapula, we’ve got other tools that we can help assist with this
movement, which is bands, or even a safer bet would be to change
the vertical pull pattern altogether up until you have the strength to
be able to progress to a full pull up.

The Lat Pulldown

Now I’m going to show you another one of my favorite vertical
pulling variations and that is a lat pull down. So comparing this to a
chin up or a pull up, it is definitely a lot easier, but that could be a
good thing because a lot of people may not have the strength to be
able to perform a full pull up with the correct technique that I
expect, and this is the perfect regression to be able to develop
strength in that pattern, without having to perform a pull up.

Now, Kevin let’s demonstrate the correct technique for lat pull down.
Once again, we’re able to utilize all of the different grip variations.
He’s using a wider pronated grip. We can use a neutral or a
supinated grip. Starting from the same start point, protracted and
elevated, in a full stretch position. Pulling the handles down to his
chest, focusing on retracting and depressing his scapula. Once
again, the focus isn’t to get the chin over the bar. That’s incorrect
technique. The focus is on utilizing a certain group of muscles to
overcome the weight. What are those muscles? Of course, we’ve got
the lats, but we’ve also got the middle back muscles, which is the
rhomboids and middle and lower trapezius, and the only way we can
ensure that we are correctly utilizing our rhomboids and middle and
lower trapezius, is if we retract and depress our scapula.

Again, I’m going to show you the technique that I don’t want. So put
arms up in the air, pull the arms down without the bar. Pull the arms
down without retracting and depressing the scapula. Okay.
Rounding of the upper back is a common fault that we don’t want to
see. This is when these muscles aren’t active. This is when we are,
we are actively using our lats and our elbow flexors, in absence of
our middle back muscles. And this is where we create postural
deviations, which we don’t want. Whenever we’re performing these
exercises for strength and for function. That’s what we want to see,
we want to see protraction elevation of the scapula in the full
stretch position, pulling it down to the retracted and depressed
scapula position to ensure we’re using all the right upper back
muscles.

Now I’ve got to mention that for other applications such as

bodybuilding or hypertrophy, there may be other variations of this
exercise where bodybuilders may wish to isolate a certain muscle,
like a lat by itself or the rhomboids by itself, but that’s a completely
different exercise. But for general health, what we want to ensure is
that we’re getting all of the muscles of the upper back to work in
coordination with each other, to ensure that we have no imbalances
or weak points.
The Lock Big Three
This is my favorite way to warm up the shoulders before any heavy
pressing session. What we’re doing is activating the stabilizers of
the shoulder joint, which are mainly the rotator cuff muscles. And
the idea behind this is to activate, stimulate, not annihilate. So I
don’t want to take this movement to fail, I just want to switch these
muscles on, so they are ready to go for the heavy lifting to come in
the session.

So this is an activation that was taught to me through working with

one of the best rehabilitation specialists in the game, Andrew Lock,
and he calls it, The Lock Big 3, and it’s an exercise that is very
humbling, especially for some of the best bench pressers around. As
we know some of the bench pressers are great at pressing, but they
might not be so great at the fluffy exercises that are seemingly not
as important, but when strong bench pressers come to me with a
plateau, I’ve mentioned this before, it’s not usually because they
lack the pressing strength, it’s usually because they lack the
strength in the supporting muscles because they are very easily
neglected.

So I like to show my strong bench pressers this exercise to

demonstrate to them that not every muscle in their body is
incredibly strong and that there are weak points. And when we have
less weak points, we have less chance of injury and less chance of
plateauing in our strength progression.

So, I’ve given Kevin 1 kilogram dumbbells. That’s all you need. Big 3
suggests we’ve got 3 exercises that we’re going to be doing. Now
because it’s a lightweight, it’s also a very short range of motion, so
we’re going to do a higher rep range and we’re going to start with
sets of 25. Kevin’s laying down, face flat on the ground, not very
comfortable, but he’s going to be okay. He’s in a crucifix position
with his arms abducted at 90 degrees to his torso, and his job is to
lift them a couple of inches off the ground for 25 reps. As minimal
cueing as possible, he’s doing all the right things to lift the handles,
to lift the dumbbells. 25 reps, I’ll get you to keep count of that,
Kevin. Okay. All the right muscles of his upper back. That’s his
rhomboids, that’s his rear delts, they’re on right now, and these are
going to be great supporting muscles for the heavy bench pressing
session to come. So that’s the first part of the exercise.

The next part he’s going to bring the dumbbells by his side with his
palms down. Okay. So that’s externally rotated position with his
palms down. What he’s going to be doing is leading, so he’s going to
be simply extending his shoulder joint and lifting his arms off the
ground, leading with his thumbs. So that’s going to make sure that
he’s maintaining that externally rotated position. Once again, really
light dumbbell. You might not see the expression on his face, but I
guarantee you this isn’t that easy, even for someone as strong as
Kevin, because these are the muscles that he doesn’t usually train.
25 reps, you’re keeping count of this one Kevin? Okay, the action
here is shoulder joint extension, but it’s from an externally rotated
position. So the rotator cuff muscles are going to be active in this
position. They don’t have to necessarily externally rotate to ensure
that you’re training the external rotators. Okay. So this is an
external rotated position with the palms down. The next we’re going
to internally rotate with the palms up.

Same thing, light weight, 25 reps. Extend the shoulder joint, so lift
the handles off the ground, 25 reps. We can progress this movement
by reducing the reps like any exercise, but starting from 1 kilogram
in each hand, the next progression is 2 kilograms. That’s going to be
a while before he has the strength to be able to do that. We might
need to drop the reps to 20 or even 15 reps, but it’s not one of those
ego exercises that we need to really lift heavy weights for.

Remember, this is performed at the start of the session. It is a great

way to activate all the stabilizer muscles so that they are ready for
the heavy pressing to come. And that is the shoulder big 3 as taught
to me by Andrew Lock.

The McGill Big Three for Core

Activation
Whenever we load our spine or our hips with great exercises like a
squat or a deadlift, I like to perform activations as a great warmup
before I start even loading my body. And our favorite muscle group
to activate initially is the core.
This is something that I’ve learnt from professor Stuart McGill, who
is known as the best spine researcher in the world. He’s developed a
core activation drill called The McGill Big 3, and this is what I like to
prescribe for myself and all of my athletes before we do any of our
squat or deadlift sessions. Let’s check it out.

Diana’s going to start with a bird dog. Very easy exercise on all
fours, hands below her shoulders, knees below her hips, opposing
arm leg raise, up and hold. We’re going to do 5 on each side, so 10
total reps. And what we’re doing is putting transverse forces
through our spine very gently, which activates, I won’t say
strengthens because it’s, she’s a very strong girl and this is not
enough to actually strengthen her. There’s some people that are
absolutely novices, this could be a great strength building exercise,
but for the purpose of this for Diana, it’s just an activation and a
great way to warm up before this squat session. How many you up
to Diana? That’s 5 each side? Okay.

So from the bird dog, we now move on to the rolling plank. Starting
with the front plank. What we are looking for, 30 seconds. No
sagging of the hips, posteriorly rotating the pelvis to make sure that
she’s using her core muscles and she’s not just resting on the joints
of her spine. 30 seconds here, hands aren’t allowed to touch, the
feet aren’t allowed to touch.

From the front plank, after 30 seconds, we move on to the side.

What we’re looking for is a nice straight spine. Arm up, she likes to
do that, arm to the side. It doesn’t really matter whatever you’re
comfortable with, but we’re going 15 seconds on each side. Swap
sides. Feet together. Nice straight spine. This is now working her
internal, external obliques, her QL. Okay. 15 seconds on each side.
Now back to the front. So this is a rolling plank, so that’s 3 of them.
This is the second part of The McGill Big 3, and we repeat the rolling
plank twice. 30 seconds on the front. Remember hands aren’t
touching, feet aren’t touching. No sagging of the hips, posterior
rotation to make sure we’re working all the right muscles at the
front of the core, mainly rectus abdominis. Moving over to the side,
nice straight spine, 15 seconds on each side. This is a nice position.
Internal, external obliques, QL, swap sides. Another 15 seconds.
Nice straight spine. Nice and easy. Another 15 seconds. Great.
So that’s the second component of The McGill Big 3, now onto the
third, which is curl ups. Now, the way that we like to perform this.
One leg up close to the butt, one leg straight. The reason why we
do this is this changes the pelvic position. When we have both legs
straight, it naturally anteriorly rotates the pelvis. When we have
both knees bent and posteriorly rotates the pelvis. So we want a
nice neutral pelvis position. So we have one leg, one leg up, one leg
straight, and we’re going to swap that halfway through. Fingertips
on the rectus abdominis, that’s a six pack muscles at the front of the
core, so that we can feel the nice brace position. The first thing
she’s going to do is lift her elbows in the air, bring her chin to her
chest and bring her rib cage towards her pelvis. Hold and down. 5
reps on each side, 2, elbows up, chin to chest, 3, elbows up chin to
chest, elbows up chin to chest. That’s 5. Now we’re going to swap
the leg position. And keep going, 5 more. These are called curl ups.
You might see another variation where Stuart McGill has prescribed
having the hands underneath the lumbar spine to ensure that we’re
pressing the lumbar spine against the ground. They are both
effective ways. Neither are more correct than the next. Great. Now
the core is active.

Remember. Stimulate, activate, not annihilate. The idea of this isn’t

to fatigue her so that her core is completely tired before her squat
session. It’s just a nice stimulation and activation.

Glute Activation
Next, we’re going to show you our favorite glute activation routine
that was taught to us by Andrew Lock, one of the best rehabilitation
specialists in the game.

Diana’s going to start this by laying on the ground, and we’re going
to do a basic clam. The way that we like to perform a clam. Bottom
leg straight, top foot behind the bottom ankle, and we’re going to
point the pelvis towards the ground so we’re using gravity to make
sure we’re using the right muscles of the glutes. So the action here,
we’re going to do 25 reps. So essentially opening the hips. The
action here is abduction and external rotation, which are 2 actions
the glutes. 25 reps. Diana, you got to make sure you keep count of
that.
It’s a very small movement so that’s why we’re using high reps. So if
it’s a longer movement, like a dead lift, that’ll probably 1 rep will
probably take the same amount of time as 5 reps of the, of the
clams, which is why we make sure when it’s a small movement with
low intensity, we use high reps. 25 reps on this. Swap sides, bottom
legs, straight. Top foot behind the ankle at the bottom leg, pointing
the pelvis towards the ground so we make sure we’re utilizing
gravity helping us use the right muscles of our glutes, which is the
gluteus minimus and gluteus medius. The action here is abduction
external rotation, which of course is the actions of the glutes. So
that’s the clams 25 reps on each side.

Next we like to go to a single leg glute bridge. Now what we’re

looking for here with the glute bridge is the foot position. Sometimes
people bring the feet too close to the butt. When that happens it’s
too much of a quadricep exercise. When the foot’s too far away from
the butt, it’s too much hamstrings. What we want to do is hit the
sweet spot for the glutes and a rough angle that I’m looking for is
about 90 degrees at the knee joint. This top leg, some people like to
have their leg up in the air. For us it’s nice and comfortable to rest it
on the other leg. Pushing up and holding, we’re going to do 10 on
each side. So we want to push up and hold for 1 or 2 seconds. This is
an exercise were we’re focusing on mind muscle connection. So
really think about the glutes working to overcome this weight. Some
people might feel it a lot in the hamstrings, some people a lot in
their quadriceps, everyone’s a little bit different. But the goal is
definitely to feel it in the glues. Pushing up and hold. Make sure
they’re no rush reps. Everything is slow, focused and deliberate.

10 reps on each side and now the glutes are activated and ready to
load. Let’s go.

Introducing the Squat Pattern

In this lesson, we’re going to talk about the squat. Now there’s a
number of different squatting variations that we’re going to show
you with a barbell, a front squat, a high bar, and a low bar, but with
all of my weightlifting techniques, it doesn’t matter what exercise,
we follow the same principle and that is you need to earn the right
to add weight to the bar. Now, whenever I get any squatter come to
me, the first thing that I’m going to assess is their squat pattern
unloaded to ensure that they have the right movements before we
introduce an empty barbell.

Now, a few things that I’m going to show you that you’re going to
see straightaway with Diana is some of the things that she’s
wearing. And those things are starting with her footwear. She’s
wearing a weightlifting shoe. The weightlifting shoe has a slight heel
elevation that’s going to allow her to sit in the most comfortable
position for her. However, there are other variations of footwear.
The main other variation is the flat soled shoe, which some people
are a lot more comfortable in. There is no real right or wrong. My
recommendation is if you lack the mobility to achieve the bottom
position, a heel elevated weightlifting shoe is definitely going to be a
great option to help get that range of motion. But one thing that I do
recommend is that the surface of the shoe that you’re wearing is a
hard flat surface. Not like these sneakers with an air bubble or
anything with a soft cushiony sole that’s made for comfort or
fashion. Definitely not made for squatting. So she’s chosen a
weightlifting shoe.

The next thing you’re going to notice is the knee sleeves. The knee
sleeves that she’s wearing are mainly for comfort and training
longevity. You might see other lifters in competition wearing knee
wraps. That’s not for comfort or longevity. That’s definitely a piece
of equipment that’s going to allow you to lift a lot more kilograms.
But a knee sleeve isn’t for that. My recommendation is that if you
have access to a knee sleeve, that you use it. It’s gonna increase
the comfort, it’s going to reduce the risk of injury, and it’s going to
allow for more training longevity, which of course is the goal for all
of our training.

And the next piece of equipment that Diana will be wearing in the
later sets is a powerlifting belt. This is nice and small, she’s a very
small girl, but this is a 10 mm powerlifting belt with a lever, there’s
a lot of other variations, but this is definitely our favorite type.

Okay. Now, before we show you any of the barbell squat variations,
the first thing we want to be able to determine if she’s able to
perform the correct squat pattern unloaded. The first things that
we’re going to be looking for is her stance. Now, Diana is an
experienced squatter, and she’s done this for many years and she
knows what her most comfortable stance is, but everyone’s going to
be different. My stance is a little bit wider than hers and some
people’s stance might be a little bit narrower than hers, even though
there could be a little bit bigger than her. Everyone is unique and
there is no rule that’s set in stone, but she knows where her
comfortable stance is. Her toes are pointed very slightly outwards.
Her stance is slightly outside her hip width, and that’s a great place
to start. And my recommendation to determine your best stance is
trial and error. So in her comfortable stance before she even begins
any movement, the first thing that she’s going to move is this bone
here. She’s going to think about externally rotating that femur,
which switches on her glutes straightaway. Now with her glutes on,
before she even initiates the movement, she’s gonna think about,
she’s gonna imagine she’s standing on a piece of paper, she’s going
to imagine she’s tearing it apart, and that cue is to imagine you’re
spreading the floor. So initiating that movement by spreading the
floor, pushing the knees out and opening her hips. That’s 3 ways of
saying the same thing and what it’s going to do is to allow her to
switch her glutes right on. But it’s also going to allow her to position
her pelvis in a way that it can achieve the bottom position and
maintain that neutral pelvis angle and therefore neutral spine
position. So the recommendation is that she squats as deep as her
mobility allows, which is as deep as she can go while maintaining a
neutral spine, which is exactly what she did.

So now Diana has earned the right to add weight, and we’re going to
show you how these exact principles that we’ve used unloaded are
going to apply with all of our squat variations, which we’re going to
demonstrate with a front squat, a high bar back squat, and a low bar
back squat.

High Bar Back Squat

Diana’s going to perform a high bar squat. With a high bar squat,
Diana’s going to start the movement by grabbing that barbell as
close as her shoulder mobility allows. Diana is a very petite girl with
very mobile shoulders compared to someone like me who’s a little
bit bigger and much less mobile, I’ll be grabbing the bar quite wide,
but that’s still the same cue. That’s as close as my shoulder mobility
allows.
Coming under the barbell, placing the barbell on the muscles of her
upper trapezius for a high bar, making sure that it’s sitting on soft
tissue, not on bony landmarks. Pulling her elbows back and shoulder
blades down, making sure she’s activating all the right muscles of
her upper back, which increases the rigidity of her torso, stabilizing
her spine, but also gives a nice cushion for the barbell to rest on.

Unracking that weight. Taking 3 steps out, Diana’s going to stand in

her most comfortable stance. Looking straight ahead throughout the
entire movement, externally rotating that femur, initiating the
movement by spreading the floor, pushing her knees out in the
same direction as her toes and opening her hips. Three ways of
saying the same thing, squatting as deep as her mobility allows,
which just so happens to be an ass to grass squat. But if you can’t
go that that deep don’t force yourself to go deeper. And rack that.

Now we’re going to add a little bit of weight. So now let’s have a
look at our first increment increase. She earned the right to add
weight to the bar. I also know how strong Diana is. She’s quite
comfortably able to squat about a 100 kilograms at the moment in
this high bar position, which we won’t take her to today, but I know
that a 20 kilo jump is about right for our next warmup set. So we’re
jumping up to 40 kilograms.

Grabbing the bar, close as her shoulder mobility allows. Coming

under the bar, placing the barbell on the muscles the upper traps.
Pulling her elbows back and shoulder blades down, that’s retraction
depression of the scapula, activating all of the right muscles of her
upper back, which is very important for torso rigidity, which is
important for placing heavy objects on her spine.

Unracking that weight. Walking back, she takes 3 steps usually.

Standing in her comfortable stance, looking straight ahead,
externally rotating that femur to turn on those glutes, initiates the
movement by spreading the floor, pushing the knees out in the
same direction as the toes and opening her hips. Three ways of
saying the same thing. Squatting as deep as her mobility allows
while maintaining a neutral pelvis and therefore a neutral spine
throughout the entire movement. Once again, very comfortable for
Diana. She’s earned the right to add a little bit of weight to that.
Things that I’m looking for is the tempo of the lifts slowing down.
That didn’t really slow down as I didn’t really expect would happen.
So we’re comfortable to go a little bit heavier.

Next weight, 50 kilograms. Now we’re going to introduce a belt. To

be honest, Diana is a lot stronger and doesn’t actually need a belt
now, but she knows that for top set she will use the belt, so we like
to introduce it relatively early to get used to the technique of the
added equipment.

Now as the weights go heavier, we’re going to do less and less reps.
For a warmup the goal is to stimulate, not annihilate. We don’t want
to fatigue her for the heavier sets, we just want to get her ready for
the heavier sets. Same cues, grabbing the bar as close as the
shoulder mobility allows. Placing the barbell on her upper traps, not
on bony landmarks, elbows back shoulder blades down to activate
all the muscles of the upper back. Walking out to her comfortable
stance, looking straight ahead. Externally rotating that femur to turn
on those glues, spreading the floor, pushing the knees out in the
same direction as the toes, opening the hips. Three ways of saying
the same thing. Squatting as deep as her mobility allows, just 1
more rep. Nice and comfortable.

If you pay attention to the tempo of Diana’s lifts, it’s nice and
controlled on the way down. She’s not just dropping out of control,
she’s lowering that weight with the use of her muscles. Spreading
the floor is going to make sure that she’s using her muscles, such as
her glutes, to control the weight all the way down, and then she
drives that weight up with intent, but it’s under full control from
start to finish.

Once again, we earned the right to add weight to the bar. We’re
going to go up. <TAG> Now we have 60 kilograms on the bar.
Diana’s ready to go, but before she does this set, I’m going to talk to
you about a few of the cues that you may have heard me talk about.
One of my favorite cues is eye position, looking straight ahead.
There’s a few different variations that aren’t necessarily incorrect.
This is just a cue that was taught to me by some of the best
squatters in the world. My squat mentors, Ernie Lilliebridge Sr, and
his son, Eric Lilliebridge. If you know these names, you’ll know their
squat reputation, but if you don’t Eric Lilliebridge can squat 480
kilograms, the current world record holder in the 140 kilogram class.
Someone who I consider to have the best technique of all of the
heavyweight squatters in the world. The other variation of eye
position is to look down slightly below the horizon. The reason for
this is to maintain a neutral spine position, even in the neck. And
yeah, that might be acceptable for a lot of people and some people
might be comfortable with it, but the reason why I look straight
ahead is as I was getting stronger with my squats, the rules start to
change. Having a heavy bar on your back, wanting to push you
down that way, your job is to fight back and make sure you don’t
land flat on your face. So the reason why we like to look straight
ahead is because the body follows the eyes. And since I’ve started
taking on that cue, which was taught to me by the best squat
coaches in the world, my squat game has improved a lot, and I know
yours will too with this cue.

So, 60 kilograms on the bar, same cues. Grabs the bar as close as
her shoulder mobility allows, comes under the bar, placing the
barbell on her upper traps, elbows back, shoulder blades down to
engage the upper back. Walking out. Same thing every time. She’s
very familiar with every part of that squat pattern. Externally rotates
the femur, spreads the floor, pushing the knees out in the same
direction as her toes. Just 1 more rep. Squats as deep as her
mobility allows. Controls it down to that bottom position and drives
it back up to the start.

Very nice squat speed. Very nice squat technique. So once again,
earned the right to go heavier. You ready? Let’s go. We’ve just gone
up another 10 kilograms, so we’ve got 70 kilograms on the bar.
Before Diana comes in for this set, I’m going to talk to you about a
few of the things that I’m looking for as a coach when I’m
determining if she still has earned the right to add weight to the bar,
and one of the biggest telltales is bar speed.

What I’m looking for is the speed on the way up essentially, doesn’t
really change even though she’s going heavier and heavier. When
you pay attention to experienced lifters, something that you’ll notice
is that they have the same amount of respect for the light weights
as they do for the heavyweights. Every time you touch the bar is
your opportunity to practice perfect technique. A mistake that I see
with a lot of novices is when there’s a light weight on the bar, they
don’t respect the weight, or they don’t see it as an opportunity to
practice technique, so they rush the movement or they move a lot
faster than what they would be doing with their heavier loads.

If you’ve paid attention to the way the Diana’s moved from the
empty bar to each and every set, you’ll notice that the tempo,
especially on the way down, is controlled at the exact same speed
every set, and the speed on the way up has essentially been very
much the same, even though we’ve gone heavier. So that’s what I’m
looking for.

The next thing that I’m looking for is if there’s any deviations to the
form or any breakdowns in the technique, and still there’s been
none of that. Of course I know with Diana she’s capable of squatting
this and heavier, so being experienced and actually coaching Diana,
I know a lot more what to look for. But either way, I’m still paying
attention to any breakdowns in technique or any change of patterns
with the speed of the lift. Check it out. 70 kilograms. Let’s just go for
1 rep now because I plan on going a little bit heavier than this. So
the goal is to stimulate, not annihilate. I don’t need to fatigue her
with more reps. Just want to feel the weight.

Same cues. Grabbing the bar as close as her shoulder mobility

allows. Placing the barbell on her upper traps, elbows back, shoulder
blades down. Engages all the right muscles of her upper back. Three
steps out, standing in her comfortable stance, externally rotates
that femur to turn those glutes on, spreads the floor, push the knees
out in the same direction at the toes, opens her hips. Very good.
Very comfortable.

Now, it was very slightly slower than the set before, but nothing that
I would say that it looked bad. I can see that it’s approaching her top
end, but still I’m comfortable to add a little bit of weight on that. You
happy to go to 80? Let’s do it! Perfect. Let’s go 80 kilograms. Alright.

80 kilograms on the bar. We’ve decided that this is going to be the

last set. We’re going to go for 2 reps. I know that she’s stronger
than this, but it’s not always about maxing out every session. I want
something that’s going to be comfortable and challenging at the
same time, but not anything that’s going to break her technique. So
hopefully she’s strong enough to perform this with perfect
technique. I’m sure that she will. We’re going to use the same cues
every single time. Sorry that I keep repeating myself, but it’s
important and it’s probably the best way to learn it is if you hear it
over and over and over again.

Now something that I’ve been mentioning every set, is that she
takes 3 steps to walk the bar out. The reason why she takes 3 steps
is simply because the least amount of steps, the more efficient the
movement. So why 3 and why not 2? Well, I’ll tell you why. If you
take 2 steps, what we need to factor in is the width of the squat
rack. When people try and take 2 steps when we unrack the weight,
the only way you can possibly take 2 steps is if you go side side.
Now unfortunately, when you move to the side, these plates are
going to bang into the racks, which can be very off putting if you’ve
got the max weight on your back and you’re banging against the
sides of the rack. So the first step you must take when unracking a
squat rack is straight back so that you can clear the rack, which is
why 3 steps is a little bit easier to perform than 2 steps, but don’t
worry too much about it. If you perform 4 steps, that’s also fine, but
the most efficient way is 3 steps, and that is first step straight back
to clear the rack, then we go side side. So that’s the idea of 3 steps.

Now, 80 kilograms on the bar. Let’s go for 2 reps. She’s got the belt
on. Nothing different. Grabs the bar in her comfortable position,
places the bar on her upper traps for a high bar squat. Engages her
upper back muscles by retracting depressing her scapula. 3 steps.
Looking straight ahead, big breath, controls that weight down and
drives it back up with intent. 1 more rep. Big breath, hold the
breath. Spread the floor, push the knees out, same direction as the
toes, open the hips.

Nice work. Very good. It’s kind of as I expected that it would be quite
comfortable, once again we don’t need to max her out. That was a
good set. Well done Diana. And that is a high bar back squat.

Low Bar Back Squat

This is the low bar back squat. The difference between the low bar
back squat and the high bar back squat is that the barbell is sitting
about 2 inches lower on the back. It’s resting on the posterior
deltoids instead of the upper traps, and what that does is slightly
changes the center of gravity and forces the torso to lean forward,
to be able to balance that barbell on the rear deltoids. What this
does is forces the hips into a more flexed position at the bottom of
the squat, making it a more hip dominant movement compared to a
high bar squat, which is a little bit more upright when you’re
balancing the barbell on your upper trapezius.

Now how that’s going to present from each individual is gonna look
different. Diana is very gifted with her mobility, so she is mobile
enough to get really deep into her squat, regardless of the different
squat variation or the barbell position on the back, but I’m going to
show you the difference that it makes on Diana.

Same cues with the grip, grabbing the barbell as close as her
shoulder mobility allows. Coming under the bar, Diana’s going to
place, placing the barbell on the muscles of her rear deltoids. Now a
lot of girls complain that they say they don’t have rear deltoids
because they’re quite small, but trust me they’re there, and there is
definitely soft tissue for that barbell to sit on. Pulling the elbows
back and shoulder blades down, engaging all of the right muscles of
her upper back. Come out. Diana takes 3 steps, stands in her
comfortable stance. In a low bar squat it’s very slightly wider than a
high bar squat. Looking straight ahead, initiates the movement with
the same cues, externally rotates the femur, spreads the floor,
pushes the knees out in the same direction as their toes, open her
hips. 2 more. Same controlled tempo on the way down and drives it
up with intent. And walks it in.

With a lot of lifters, a low bar squat changes the torso angle a lot,
forcing the torso to lean a lot more forward, making it a much more
hip dominant movement and therefore less knee dominant
movement. But for Diana, as I said with her mobility, you can’t really
notice a whole lot of that, but that’s definitely something to take
note of. Next up, she’s earned the right to add weight to the bar.
We’re going to go up.

We’ve added a little bit of weight. We’ve got 60 kilograms on the

bar. Diana has added the belt. Before she goes in, I want you to pay
attention to a few of the little cues. I did mention that her stance
was a little bit wider in a low bar squat than it is in a high bar squat.
And the reason that that is quite a common thing amongst
everybody is that a low bar squat is slightly more hip dominant and
because it’s more hip dominant, to achieve the bottom position
correctly, you need to be able to allow your hips to have a little bit
more room to move and having a wider stance is going to achieve
that, but don’t exaggerate it and exactly how wide you’re going to
go with that, it’s going to be different from lifter to lifter. This is
something that you have to determine, and it’s about comfort. If
pain presents itself, you’re doing something wrong. So use that as a
gauge, but apart from that, in general, most people are slightly
wider with a low bar squat because it’s more hip dominant.

Check it out. Diana comes up to the bar, grabs the bar as close as
her shoulder mobility allows. Remember I’m about out here, but I’m
holding this close with my shoulder mobility allows. I wish I had that
mobility. Placing the bar on the shelf created by her rear delts,
elbows back shoulder blades down, unracking that weight. 3 steps
out. In her comfortable stance, looking straight ahead. Give me 3
reps Diana. Controls the weight to the bottom position and drives it
up within intent. Big breath, hold the breath. Externally rotates that
femur, spreads the floor, open the hips, push the knees out in the
same direction as her toes, squats as deep as her mobility allows.
Nice and strong. She’s earned the right to add a little bit more
weight.

We’ve got 70 kilograms on the bar, but before we squat this, I’m
going to address a little thing about squat depth. Now, if we have a
look at the cues that I’ve been giving, I’ve been telling Diana to go
as deep as her mobility allows. Now let’s have a look exactly how
deep her mobility allows. We know that Diana is very mobile in the
upper body, but also in the lower body. In a sporting competition,
such as powerlifting and even strongman, the requirement is that
the squatter must have the crease of their hip fall below the top of
their knee. Now, if we look at Diana she’s reaching well beyond that
requirement, which if she was in a powerlifting competition,
absolutely that would pass, but she doesn’t even need to go that
deep. But she’s not training for a powerlifting competition. She’s
training for strength, muscle development, and health. My
recommendation is always to squat as deep as your mobility allows.
Now, some people may not have the mobility to even go that deep
and they may not even, stand up so you’re not getting tired now,
and you may not even be able to achieve powerlifting depth. And if
you’re not a powerlifter, you don’t have to go as deep as Diana just
because you saw that on this course we’re teaching full depth
squats. If you’re going deeper than what your mobility allows and
what we’re looking for is the neutrality of your pelvis position and
also your spine. If your pelvis is tucking under and your lower back
is rounding, you’re going too deep. Don’t do that. Under load, you’re
increasing the risk of lumbar spine injury or disc injury, so don’t do
that. What we need to consider is if that type of person presents to
us and wants to eventually compete in a powerlifting competition or
a competition where they’re going to be judged on their depth, we
need to be able to increase their mobility so they can achieve that
requirement of their sport. But apart from that, you don’t need to go
ass to grass with your squats, just because it looks cool on the
internet.

So now we’re going to demonstrate that under load. 70 kilograms on

the bar. I know Diana is strong enough to hit this weight and go
even more, so what we’re going to do is just do 1 rep just to feel the
weight. Stimulate, not annihilate. Belt’s on. Grabbing the bar in her
comfortable position. Coming under the bar, placing it on her rear
delts, elbows back, shoulder blades down. That’s creating some
great tension in her upper back to support that heavy barbell on her
spine. Unracking that weight, stepping out with 3 steps. Initiate by
externally rotating that femur, switching those glutes on, spreading
the floor, knees out, open the hips, drives it back up to the start
position. Nice and strong. Great work. Nice and easy.

Remember what we’re looking for is bar speed, technique

breakdown, and so far there’s been no change at all from the
warmup weight up until this. So we’ve earned the right to go a little
bit heavier again. So next set, 80 kilograms. Let’s do it.

Okay. We’ve got 80 kilograms on the bar, we’ve decided this is

going to be the last set, so we’re going to go for a double. Let’s go
through some of the techniques that we’re discussing. The low bar
squat, as we know, is a more hip dominant variation for most
people, but for someone like Diana, she’s getting a lot out of her
hips and her knees because she’s taking both of the joints through a
very full range of motion. But some people might need to consider
that it’s an extremely hip dominant movement, so they might need
to consider some knee dominant exercises as supplementary lifts to
compliment this exercise, to make sure that there’s no imbalances.
But for Diana simply by performing a low bar squat by itself, she’s
getting a lot of structural balance in her hip extensors as well as her
knee extensors, just from this movement alone.

The next thing to have a look at is the speed of the movement.

Diana has been controlling the weight from the warmup sets all the
way through to the top sets. The reason is she understands the idea
behind treating the warmup weights exactly like your top weight.
It’s about technical practice. She’s practicing the exact way she’s
going to move on a top weight, even from her early sets with not
much weight on the bar at all.

Now Diana is going to come in and go for 2 reps. This is her last set.
Tightening her belt, grabbing the bar in her comfortable position.
Resting on her rear delts, which is about 2 inches lower than the
high bar squat position, which will in general force the torso to lean
slightly forward, making it a more hip dominant movement.
Standing in her comfortable stance. Looking straight ahead,
controlling that weight to the bottom position and driving it up with
intent, big breath, hold the breath, controls it down, staying tight
through the entire movement and driving it up to that start position.
No technical breakdown, no slowing down of technique, but it’s a
nice, challenging weight. We don’t need to break her down just to
test to see if she can do it. That was a great squat. Nice work Diana.

Front Squat
Now it’s time for some front squats. Before we start, I want to show
you how I qualify if a lifter is able to front squat or not. Diana
obviously demonstrated that she’s able to achieve the squat
position unloaded, but loading a barbell on the front of the body is a
little bit different for the upper body, than loading it on the back.
And one of the biggest differences, especially when I see someone
with postural deviations, such as a forward head posture, might be
forcing the barbell in a totally incorrect position for the upper body
to be able to handle and can create injury if a lifter is not suited to a
front squat. What I’m looking for is for the lifter to be able to place
the barbell behind the shelf created by the anterior deltoids. Come
under the Diana.
Placing it right up against her neck, which is very uncomfortable.
Lifting her elbows high, the barbell must sit behind the belly of the
front deltoid. Now, if your lifter has forward head posture and is
resting, come back a little bit, on the belly of the deltoid, don’t do
that. That’s incorrect. It must sit behind the shelf created by the
anterior deltoid.

When people have the postural deviation of upper crossed

syndrome, which involves a forward head posture, the cervical
spine, or the neck, can push the barbell too far forward so it’s
unable to rest behind the shelf of the anterior deltoid. And instead
you might hear some complaints of people that are bruising their
shoulders because it’s sitting right in the middle of the belly of their
deltoid. If that is the case with any of your clients or your lifters, you
don’t need to do a front squat. What’s going to happen is that
barbell is going to be pushed too far in front of the center of gravity,
that that lifter will never be able to squat anything significant
enough for the front squat to be deemed an effective exercise. And
it can also increase the risk of injury. One of the most common
complaints of pain for a front squat, in particular with these people
that are shifting the barbell too far forward, is pain in the upper
back. So you want to avoid that completely. If you see that a lifter
presents to you with a forward head posture or their neck position is
pushing that barbell so it can’t sit behind the belly of that muscle
and it’s sitting right in the center of the belly of the muscle, you
don’t need the front squat. But Diana has great mobility. Diana is
able to achieve this position, so we are going to show you how we
like to front squat.

So before we start with actually squatting with the barbell, we’ll

show you a few of the different variations of the grip. My favorite
position is the clean grip. Even though it’s my favorite, sadly, I can’t
actually achieve this position because I lack the mobility currently.
But Diana doesn’t and this is the grip that I’m going to recommend
for her. It’s the same position that she’s going to grab the bar if she
was a weightlifter to perform a clean. That’s why it’s called a clean
grip.

Grabbing the barbell, resting it right up next to her neck, behind the
shelf created by the anterior deltoids, lifting her elbows, keeping the
elbows high. This is aid of maintaining thoracic extension. Another
way of saying that is keeping the chest up. Don’t lift the elbows
high. That’s a very popular cue for good reason. It allows you to
maintain thoracic extension. It allows you to keep your chest up, but
I still see people lifting the elbows up in absence of upper back
extension. So make sure that that’s what’s happening. Elbows high
chest up or extended the thoracic spine.

Unracking that weight. Stepping out in her comfortable stance. 3

steps. She knows her comfortable stance. Toes pointed slightly
outwards. Initiates the movement by externally rotating the femur.
This is a much more upright squat position than all of the other
squat variations that we’ve done, which is the high bar squat and
the low bar squat, because of the position that we’re balancing it on
the front of the body forces us to be a little bit upright. What that
means, the more upright the torso, the more knee bend we are able
to achieve. So comparing this to a low bar squat, which is very hip
dominant, 1 more rep, full knee bend here, it’s a much more
quadriceps dominant or a knee dominant style of squat. And for
those of you who lack the mobility to achieve the clean grip like me,
you might have to use a crossover grip or the bodybuilder grip, that
Diana’s going to show you now.

Diana starts by getting under the bar, making sure the barbell sits in
the exact same position as the clean grip, which is right up against
her neck, very uncomfortable position, but that’s where it is. Make
sure it sits behind the shelf created by the anterior deltoid. Not on
the belly, sits behind the belly of that deltoid. That is the correct
position for a front squat, but instead of grabbing it in the clean grip,
she’s going to place the hands on top of the bar, making sure she’s
not simply resting her hands on the barbell, but she’s holding onto
the bar, pushing it back against her neck, making sure it doesn’t roll
forward throughout the entire movement. But we do know that
Diana has the mobility to achieve the clean grip and that’s what
we’re going to do today.

We’ve got 40 kilograms on the bar. The front squat is the least
efficient or the weakest position of all 3 of the squat variations. So
Diana has decided to put a belt on from a little bit earlier than she
would for her back squat variations. Coming under the barbell,
grabbing it in her comfortable grip, which as we know is the clean
grip. Placing it behind the shelf created by the anterior deltoids,
keeping her elbows high, which is in aid of keeping a nice upright
torso angle or keeping her chest up. Unracking that weight, 3 steps
out, standing in her comfortable stance, looking straight ahead,
initiate the move by externally rotating that femur. Spreading the
floor, pushing the knees out in the same direction as her toes,
opening her hips, same cues. Doesn’t matter what squat variation
we’re choosing. 1 more rep, taking a big breath, looking straight
ahead, squatting as deep as her mobility allows and drives it up to
the start position again. Nice and easy. Let’s go up.

50 kilograms on the bar for Diana, for the front squat. Same cues,
grabbing the bar with her clean grip, placing it behind the shelf
created by her anterior deltoids. Nice and close to her neck. Nice
and uncomfortable. Big breath for the unrack. Keeping her elbows
high, keeping her torso nice and upright. Her comfortable stance. 2
reps. Externally rotates her femur, spreads the floor, knees out,
opens her hips, controls the weight down, drives it up. Nice and
easy. 50 kilograms looked very comfortable because it was very
comfortable. We’re going to go to 60 kilograms.

Right now we’ve got 60 kilograms on the bar. The front squat is the
weakest of the 3 barbell squat variations, so this is going to be our
last set. We’re going to go for a double. Once again, I know how
strong Diana is, so this isn’t taking her to fail, but it’s still going to
be somewhat challenging for her and the reason why we are going
to this weight is so that you can see if there’s any changes in the
behavior or the speed in which she lifts. My goal isn’t to take her to
technical breakdown and my advice is never really to take anyone
to technical breakdown, but sometimes when we’re assessing a
lifter, it’s good to start recognizing early if technical breakdown is
going to start to occur. The biggest telltale is speed of the lift, so
you have to be very observant to be able to notice when the barbell
starts slowing down and take that as a sign that it is getting harder
for the lifter.

So now we’re going to do 60 kilograms and we’re going to do it for 2

reps, have a look at all of the cues which Diana’s been doing from
start to finish. Coming under the bar, grabbing it in the clean grip.
This is her preferred grip and it’s my preferred grip, even though I
don’t have the mobility to achieve it. Placing it behind the shelf
created by her anterior deltoids, sitting nice and uncomfortable right
up against her neck. Stepping out 3 steps standing in her
comfortable stance, maintaining a nice upright torso angle
throughout the entire movement. Controls that weight down, drives
that weight back up with intent. Nice and easy.

To be honest with you, I don’t even think that slowed down. That
was very comfortable. If we were to have a squat session, I’d say,
let’s do that for fives, but that was a great demonstration of how a
front squat should look. Great squatting Diana.

The Impact of Footwear

I’m going to show you how footwear can manipulate the body
position and also manipulate the way that you strengthen your body
in a squat. We’re going to start with bare feet. Another equivalent to
this could be a flat soled shoe because in most gyms or powerlifting
competitions, you’re not allowed to go bare feet, but in our gym we
are, and that’s how we’re going to demonstrate it.

So right now I’m going to show you what a flat soled shoe or bare
foot will present itself like in a squat. So what we’re noticing with a
flat soled shoe or bare feet, is that it’s going to turn this movement
into a little bit more of a hip dominant movement. As you can see
the hip involvement here, there’s a lot more hip bend and a lot less
knee bend. So what we’re looking for for a more knee dominant
squat is where the hamstring presses up against the calves, which is
not happening here.

Now let’s add some weightlifting shoes and check out the difference.
Now that we’ve added the weightlifting shoe, which is a very slight
heel elevation, we’re going to check out how that’s going to change
her body position and therefore change the recruitment of her lower
body muscles. Let’s just do 3 reps. Squatting as deep as her mobility
allows. What we’re going to notice is that her torso angle is a little
bit more upright because of that heel elevation. The more upright
torso means there’s going to be more knee bend. So now as I put
my finger on her calf, it’s going to be pressed against by her
hamstrings, which wasn’t happening with a flat soled shoe or with
the bare foot.
Now we’re going to do one more variation where we’re going to
exaggerate that a little bit more, and I’m going to include another
heel elevation, which is going to be weightlifting plates. We’re going
to keep the elevated heel and we’re going to add about a 1 inch
heel elevation with these 5 kilogram plates. The reason why I would
add these could be either if the lifter lacks the mobility to achieve
depth without it, or if we just want to include more knee dominant
squat variations, which is going to build more quadriceps. Diana’s
going to stand with just her heels on those 5 kilogram plates. Bring
it a little bit closer, something that you should pay attention to is if
you add more heel elevations, you want to bring the stance a little
bit closer. It’s going to be less hip dominant, so therefore she won’t
need as much room for her hips to sit in that bottom position. So she
can afford to bring her stance just a little bit closer. Now I’m going to
put my finger on her calf to see if her hamstrings can press against
it. And that happens very easily now. Look at her torso angle, it’s
even more upright. Look at her knee bend, there’s even more knee
bend and therefore becomes more of a quadriceps dominant and
less of a hip dominant movement. It doesn’t mean there’s no hip
involvement at all, it just means there is a little bit more quads on
this variation than in the other variations with a flat soled shoe.

Now you know 3 different ways that we can manipulate the heels to
change the muscle recruitment of the lower body on all of our squat
variations.

The Conventional Deadlift

This is a conventional deadlift. There are so many different
variations of the deadlift that I love to include in all of my
programming from time to time, but once you understand the
fundamentals of the conventional deadlift, all of the variations are
quite easy. So we’re going to go into depth, starting with the
conventional deadlift.

Diana’s going to walk up to the bar. I like to stand with the shins
about an inch away from the barbell, but objectively what we’re
looking for is the barbell going in line with the middle of her foot.
When I say the middle of the foot, don’t measure from the shin to
the front of the foot, measure from the side, from the back of the
heel to the front of the foot. Diana’s stance is going to be unique to
her.

The stance of the deadlift, the way that I like to teach it, is to
consider what your most powerful jump stance would be. So if you
look at a sport where they like to jump a lot, consider a sport like
basketball, if you look at how they like to stand when they’re
jumping for a slam dunk, they’re not standing with a really wide
stance, it’s actually quite close and that’s because it’s the stance
where you’re able to produce the most power from. Now that’s
going to change from lifter to lifter and it depends on a number of
things, such as hip structure, but also leg mass. The interesting
thing is we’ve got some of the best deadlifters in the world that are
quite big and they stand with a very wide stance, so a lot of people
like to emulate that technique and consider that a 501 kilogram
deadlift was performed by Hafthor Bjornsson and he stood with a
very wide stance so that could be a good idea for me to stand in
that stance, but actually that guy is 205 kilograms and 205
centimeters. So just because he’s standing with that stance doesn’t
mean it’s good for everyone. Diana’s about 50 kilograms and about
5 foot 2, so her stance is going to be significantly closer than that.

The next thing that we need to consider with the deadlift stance,
with the conventional deadlift stance, is that the stance must be on
the inside of our arms. Now what’s the most efficient position for the
arms to be? And that is the arms to be straight down, but let’s have
a look at the proportions of someone like Diana, who is a girl and
has very feminine proportions compared to someone like me, who’s
standing behind her for a reason. I’m a male and I’ve got more
masculine the proportions, and if you look at how broad my
shoulders are compared to hers, mine are a lot wider. But if you look
at her hips compared to mine, her hips aren’t really different to
mine. So factoring that in, for me it’s very comfortable for me to
have my arms straight down and my feet to form the inside of that.
But because Diana has more feminine proportions, it might be a
little bit strange for her to have her arms straight down and her legs
on the inside of that. Her hips are proportionately a little bit wider
than her grip, so what we need to consider is the hips must take
priority. Don’t go and stand with a stance that’s so close, just
because you heard Sebastian on Strength System Online
Certification telling you that arms straight down is the most efficient
position.

Now factoring all of this in, Diana’s going to grab the bar on the
outside of her legs, giving herself enough room to be able to push
her knees very gently outwards against the inside of her locked
elbows, activating her lats by pulling her armpit towards her pelvis,
sitting in the position to activate leg drive, reaching the crown of her
head towards the ceiling to take the slack out of the bar, elongated
spine, pushing the world away. Bum down, knees out, armpits to
pelvis, head to ceiling, push the world away. That is a conventional
deadlift. Now let’s add a little bit of weight that’s nice and easy for
Diana. Same principle applies to every exercise that we do. You
need to earn the right to add weight to the bar. 40 kilograms for
Diana was very easy. Let’s go to 60 kilograms.

Now we’ve got 60 kilograms on the bar. Once again Diana is

definitely strong enough to lift this without a belt, but we know we
like to include a belt on the later sets. We like to introduce the belt
early to get used to the way that her core is going to contract with
the belt. Okay. 60 kilograms on the bar, same cues. Diana walks up
to the bar so that her shins are about an inch away, standing in her
comfortable stance, which is relatively close, factoring in that we
want her arms to be as close to straight down as possible. Let’s
show you why grabbing the bar with the arms straight down is the
most efficient position, by using an exaggerated analogy of a snatch
grip with it, which is a very wide grip. The idea of a snatch grip
means she’s going to increase the range of motion, making it a lot
more difficult, which is a great variation of the deadlift, but for an
efficient conditional deadlift, it’s not very wise to use a wider grip
unnecessarily. Now Diana is going to grab the bar in her preferred
grip, which is as close to straight down as possible factoring in the
hips take priority. Because there’s 60 kilos on the bar, she’s using a
mixed grip, sitting into position, pushing her knees very slightly
outwards against the inside of her locked elbows, pulling her armpits
towards her pelvis to active her lats, reaching the crown of the head
to the ceiling and pushing the world away, knees locked out, hips
push through. Bum down, knees out, armpits to pelvis, crown of the
head to the ceiling, push the world away, 1 more rep. Bum down,
knees out, shoulder blades down, head to the ceiling, knees locked
out, push through. Once again that was very easy. She’s earned the
right to add some weight to the bar. Let’s go to 80 kilograms.

Okay, we’ve got 80 kilograms on the bar. This is still another

warmup rep, but we’re going to go through a few of the things that
we’re focusing on. The deadlift is a concentric focus exercise, unlike
an exercise like a squat or a bench press where we’re starting with
the eccentric portion, which gives us a lot of time to focus on where
that bar is going to be aligned before we focus on the concentric
portion, the deadlift starts from a standstill with the concentric
phase. So we don’t have an eccentric portion to get our bodies tight
and get our bar position in line for the perfect concentric. So it is a
common error for people to be a little bit loose from the start
position of the deadlift. So an important cue to teach people is to
take the slack out of the bar, and I’m going to show you how to do
that.

One of the first things that I like to teach people with the deadlift is
to listen to this sound. The first thing that I teach people to do to
take the slack out of the bar is to take that noise out of the bar, so
there’s no noise when they’re picking it up. When someone’s not
taking the slack out in the bar, you hear it, and that’s an indication
that they haven’t taken the slack out of the bar. But that’s not the
only way that’s going to tell you that you’ve taken the slack out of
the bar correctly, so I’m going to give you a few of the points that
we teach to ensure that you are taking the slack out of the bar.

So Diana is going to set up, I’m going to show you the procedure
that she goes through to ensure that she’s in the perfect start
position with the slack taken out of the bar, starting off of course,
with her perfect stance. Shins about an inch away from the bar or
the barbell over her midfoot, grabbing the barbell on the outside of
her legs, giving her knees enough room to very slightly push
outwards against the inside of her locked elbows. The way that we
like to take the slack out of the bar is by listening to the click sound,
she’s going to do this by reaching the crown of her head to the
ceiling and pulling her armpits towards her pelvis that’s creating a
full body tension through a body, but also tension through the bar,
which takes the slack out of the bar. Crown of the head to the
ceiling, armpits to the pelvis and push the world away. No noise
when that bar came off the ground. 1 more rep. Bum down, knees
out, shoulder blades down, head the ceiling, and that’s a perfect
deadlift. So that was quite strong. 80 kilograms for Diana. I know
that’s quite easy for her, so we are going to go up.

We’ve got 90 kilograms on the bar, but before Diana picks it up, I’m
going to talk to you a little bit about my favorite cue of pulling the
armpits towards the pelvis and why it’s my favorite cue. The muscle
that we’re activating by using that cue of pulling the armpits the
pelvis, is the lats, and let’s talk a little bit about where the lats
attach. As we know, the lats, an upper body muscle that we use for
things like chin-ups and lat pull downs, but let’s think about their
role in a deadlift. One of the main functions at the shoulder joint is a
thing called a shoulder joint extension and that’s something that I
haven’t spoken a lot about, but it is something that Diana up is
actively doing throughout the entire movement is pulling the barbell
towards her body. The reason why we can’t see it’s happening is
because the barbell is pressed against her thighs, and it is a very
important cue to keep the bar in contact with your body throughout
the entire movement. As soon as the bar drifts away from your
body, a few things happen. It’s now away from your center of
gravity, making that movement a lot harder than it has to be, and it
also increases the risk of injury for 2 reasons. 1, it’s heavier than it
should be and 2, the fact that it’s drifted away from your body tells
me that your lats aren’t on. Now why else do I want your lats on?
They are one of the best protectors of the spine because they cover
the longest area of the spine of all of your core muscles. Let’s have
a look now. The attachment point of the lats is at the front of the
humerus on the inner lip of the bicipital groove. Coming underneath
your arm your lat attaches down through a thing here called
thoracolumbar fascia, and then it attaches to the top of the pelvis.
So the lat essentially attaches the front of your shoulder to the top
of your pelvis. So it covers the longest distance of your spine of all
of the core muscles that you have. Now, the idea of pulling your
armpits to your pelvis, does a number of things. 1, it lengthens the
arms, which is an advantage for deadlifting. The longer the arms,
the less range of motion we need to travel, but also by activating
the lats in the movement it’s going to protect our spine because as
we know now, that muscle covers a very long distance of the spine,
which actually helps us in maintaining a neutral spine throughout
the entire movement. If you’ve noticed I haven’t once told Diana to
use a neutral spine. Of course I want her to use a neutral spine when
we do the movement, but it’s just one of those cues that I don’t
have to use when I tell her to pull her armpits towards her pelvis, it’s
just something that naturally happens.

Okay. Now, putting the belt on we’ll do 1 rep of 90 kilograms,

following all of those cues. Walking up to the bar in her comfortable
stance with her shins roughly an inch away from that barbell, or the
barbell’s over her midfoot. Grabbing the bar on the outside of her
legs, giving her knees enough room to gently push outwards against
the inside of her locked elbows, bum down, armpits to pelvis, crown
of the head to the ceiling, push the world away. Knees locked out,
hips push through.

Now we have 100 kilograms on the bar, this is going to be the last
set from Diana, and we’re going to do all of the same cues. Diana’s
going to walk up to the bar in her comfortable conventional stance,
grabbing the bar on the outside of her legs, sitting into position,
reaching the crown of her head to the ceiling, bum down, knees out,
armpits to pelvis, knees locked out, hips push through. Nice Diana.

Okay that was a little bit of aggression from Diana, which I like to
see from time to time. We saw a little bit of a change of attitude as
she approached the bar, but I didn’t know that was going to happen.
I think I asked for 2, and she gave us 3, not bad, not bad, and I
guess we could say that a deadlift is one of those aggression
exercises where mindset actually helps you quite a lot for an
exercise like this, but that was great deadlifting. The technique
slowed down very slightly on the 3 rep, but there was no breakdown
in form, 100 kilograms for 3 reps was not her max, but it was
definitely challenging and I’m very comfortable for Diana to be
working on a weight like that for a challenging session for her. So
that is a conventional deadlift. Well done.

The Sumo Deadlift

Now we’re going to show you a sumo deadlift. The difference
between the sumo and a conventional. A conventional is where the
hands are on the outside of the legs. A sumo is where the legs are
on the outside of the hands. How wide should a lifter stand? Again
like the squat and deadlift variations, it’s going to be unique to the
individual. And a lot of people might consider that that’s a small
person, so maybe her feet might be a little bit closer, but that’s
actually irrelevant to the stance width, and what is more relevant is
actually the hip mobility and the muscles surrounding the hips. As
you’ll see with Diana, her most comfortable position for a deadlift,
she’s got a very wide stance, but she’s got amazing mobility and it
is a very strong position for her. But just because Diana is very
strong in a very wide stance, it doesn’t mean everyone trying sumo
will be exactly the same.

So let’s see, have a look at the way that Diana sets up and then
we’ll break it down. The first thing that Diana does is walks up to the
bar with her shins on the bar, in her comfortable wide stance.
Comparing the sumo to the conventional deadlift, where she needs
to give herself an inch of space or a little bit of space for her shins to
progress slightly forward when she bends into the position for a
conventional deadlift, whereas with the sumo deadlift due to the
nature of her stance being quite wide, when she bends over to grab
the bar, the shins won’t be pushing forward, instead they’ll be
pushing outwards. So we like to keep the bar in all of our deadlift
variations, as close to the body as possible or on the center of
gravity. So now, as we know, because the knees are pushing
outwards, we are able to set up in the start position with the shins
on the bar.

So Diana, with her shins on the bar, in her comfortable stance, her
feet are angled roughly 45 degrees. If they’re 46 or 44 that’s okay.
But the idea is that the knees and the toes pointing outwards in the
same direction. Due to the nature of the lift and her legs being out
of the way, she’s able to now grab the barbell with her arms exactly
straight down. Bending over to grab the bar, she’s going to open her
hips, pushing her knees out. Same cues now. Activating her lats by
pulling her armpits towards her pelvis, reaching the crown of her
head towards the ceiling, pushing the world away. Knees locked out,
hips push through. 3 more reps. Bum down, opening her hips,
armpits to pelvis, keeping the bar close to her body, crown of the
head to the ceiling, focusing on pushing the world away. And that is
a sumo deadlift.

Now let’s talk about stance for people who haven’t done a sumo
deadlift before and want to try it out. If you have a look at the way
that Diana stands, it is definitely wider than say the way that I would
stand because she has great hip mobility, but a great start point or
a place to objectively measure is where, come and stand up to the
bar, grab the bar and sit into position. One of the best ways to
objectively measure where a great start point for your deadlift is,
bend over and grab the bar Diana. Something to have a look at is to
consider the knee being directly perpendicular to the foot so we can
transfer force straight down into the ground. So that’s exactly where
Diana is. Some people may not have the hip mobility to achieve this
position. It is completely fine to try and alter your stance so you
bring your feet in very slightly, but that’s up to the individual.

Now we’ve got a little bit more weight on the bar. We’ve got 80
kilograms on the bar. We’ll talk about a few of the errors that I see
with the sumo deadlift and one of the biggest errors is hand
position. A lot of people consider that it is a wide stance and
therefore it must be a close grip. And the biggest error that I see is
people bringing their grip in too close. That’s as inefficient, as
holding the bar too wide. Once again, the desired grip is where the
arms are straight down. Anywhere outside or inside of straight
down, you must be traveling further to pick that weight up, which is
inefficient. So don’t make that error. 80 kilograms on the bar. Same
cues.

There was no belt for 60 kilograms. This is actually a more efficient

position for Diana. Some people like myself, sumo deadlift is harder
than conventional, but for some people like Diana she’s a little bit
stronger on her sumo than her conventional. So 60 kilograms was
beltless. 80 kilograms, she’s introducing a belt.

Walking up to the bar in her comfortable stance, shins on the bar.

Setting up into position, grabbing the bar straight down, armpits to
pelvis, crown of the head to the ceiling, slack out of the bar, pushing
the world away. Knees locked out. Hips push through in the finished
position. 1 more rep. Bum down, open the hips, armpits to pelvis,
crown of the head to the ceiling.

Once again, I’ve not needed to tell her to use a neutral spine. But if
we have a look at the side view, you’ll see perfectly neutral spine,
and this is best achieved through the cue of pulling the armpits to
the pelvis. Remember pulling the armpits to the pelvis is our favorite
way of activating the lats.
Diane has got 100 kilograms on the bar and we’ve decided that this
is going to be her last set. And we’ve decided to do a set of 5. Once
again we’re not maxing Diana out, but we’re choosing a weight that
is going to be challenging and giving herself enough room to
progress for her next session. So Diana is going to walk up to the
bar with the same cues. She’s got her belt on using a mixed grip.
Standing in her comfortable stance with her shins on the bar,
grabbing the bar with her arms straight down. She’s also thinking
about keeping the bar in contact with her body throughout the
entire movement. Sitting into position, pulling her armpits towards
her pelvis, reaching the crown of her head to the ceiling throughout
the entire movement. Bum down, opening her hips, armpits to the
pelvis, reaching the crown of the head to the ceiling, knees locked
out, hips push through. Nice work, Diana. 5 reps on 100 kilograms,
quite comfortably as well, but the weight is still challenging enough
to make her body stronger. Nice deadlifting Diana.

The Romanian Deadlift

Now, we’re going to show you a Romanian deadlift. Before we show
you the movement, we’re going to explain the main difference
between a Romanian and a conventional deadlift. Starting off with
conventional deadlift has a bottom up focus, meaning it starts on
the ground and we pick up the weight, and we don’t really spend too
much time focusing on the lowering phase of the movement.
Whereas a Romanian deadlift, there is more focus on the eccentric
portion of the lift.

Another key difference is there is a lot less leg drive involved in a

Romanian deadlift. The idea is to focus purely on the hip hinge
portion of the movement, whereas in a conventional deadlift, the
idea is to use the most efficient position to deadlift the heaviest
weight possible as safely as possible. So therefore a Romanian
deadlift has more focus on the eccentric portion, less leg drive,
which means it is a little bit better of a hamstring developer than a
conventional deadlift.

Now Diana’s going to demonstrate with 60 kilograms. Walking up to

the bar, she’s going to pick up the bar like a conventional deadlift,
sitting into position, bum down, knees out, armpits to pelvis, crown
of the head of the ceiling, push the world away. That’s a
conventional deadlift.

Now the Romanian portion starts. Now it has a top down focus
where we are focusing on the lowering phase of the movement. If
you notice there is slight knee bend, I always recommend a little bit
of knee bend, but not as much as conventional deadlift, because
there is more focus on the posterior chain, not just the hamstrings,
the entire chain, hamstrings, glutes, and erector spinae. Lowering
the weight under control the entire time, there was a slight touch on
the ground, but make sure there’s no bouncing and no momentum,
but that is a Romanian deadlift.

Posture Cues for the Deadlift

Let’s talk a little bit about posture and one of my favorite cues for a
deadlift, and that is to reach the crown of the head to the ceiling.
This is a relatively new cue to me and it’s something that I learned
from a martial artist friend of mine who focuses a lot on good
posture. Something that I was brought up on in the fitness industry
when I was trying to teach people hold the correct posture, when
people had rounded shoulders, I was continually telling people to
pull the shoulders back so they could fix their posture. And I noticed
that I was never really helping anyone really. I’ve taken them from
one postural deviation to another.

The idea of reaching the crown of the head to the ceiling is to

elongate the spine and what this does for your posture is aligns your
spine in the most comfortable position possible. So whenever you’re
thinking posture from now on, instead of thinking back/ forward to
correct your posture, relax your shoulders and start thinking up/
down, reach the crown of the head to the ceiling.

Now when I use this cue for the deadlift, it’s another cue that allows
me to help teach people how to maintain a neutral spine throughout
the entire movement, but it’s also another great way of teaching
people how to take the slack out of the bar.

What You’ll Learn in This Module

Now that we’ve covered the fundamental principles of how to move
effectively under load, we need to start thinking about the structure
of the program itself and how we can create a successful training
plan.

The topic of periodization and programming is something that I

received so many questions about. A lot of people want to know
what the secret is to the best program, and which rep/set scheme
they should be following to maximize their results. I spoke earlier
about the temptation to overcomplicate strength training and the
fact that so many of us have at some point felt the pressure to
“invent” an elaborate training plan, and I’d probably see this happen
the most when people are discussing the topic of periodization.

Unfortunately there is no “get-strong quick” programming scheme

that we can use. There is no magic program. Trust me, if there was,
I would be doing it and I would be the strongest man in the world,
and very, very rich. The best way to achieve the greatest possible
short and long term training results is to master the basics. In order
to master the basics of strength periodization, we need to get a
general understanding of what periodization is, and what the
variables are that we are manipulating when we periodize a
program. Once we understand this and have mastered these
concepts, we can start to play with these variables to achieve the
results that we want.

In this module, we are not going to invent any elaborate training

plans. Instead we are going to discuss the programming principles of
load selection, progressive overload, sets and reps, exercise
selection, and timescale planning, so that you can start to get a
good understanding of these variables and how they might influence
your training outcomes.

History of Linear Periodization and

Intro to Key Principles
For those of you who haven’t heard of the term periodization before,
or who may have heard it, but aren’t confident on its definition, it’s
basically a way of planning your training over a period of time, so
you are able to focus on each of the different adaptations that
support your desired training outcome (10).

When we break down our goals for strength training, there’s

typically one or two main goals that we are trying to meet, but there
are always smaller objectives we need to hit along the way in order
to achieve our overriding goals. For example, if your goal is to
achieve a huge new 1RM squat PB, then it would be foolish to just
keep attempting that number for 1RM until you get it and not doing
any other squat training at all. This is where these smaller objectives
come into the picture.

The first step of achieving a new squat PB might be to improve your

technique, so you’re moving in a more efficient way, and so there
should be a time dedicated in your training to achieve this goal of
technical improvement. Your legs might be too small, and you might
need to build more muscle mass to achieve this number that you
want. In which case you need to dedicate time to achieving this
hypertrophy goal. You will probably need to increase your all round
strength in this movement with lower reps and higher intensity and
you might be someone who responds better to slightly higher
volume, in which case you’ll need to spend some amount of time
working on multiple low rep sets of squats at a challenging intensity.
You’ll also need to practice the skill of performing a single rep and in
particular, doing this with a lot of weight.

It’s becoming pretty clear now that there are a lot of things we need
to take into account and all of these different adaptations might
compete with each other or contradict each other if we were to try
to achieve them all at once.

Keep in mind that we haven’t even started thinking about your other
lifts or another goal you might have for body composition, rehab or
sports performance. This is where periodization is so important. You
can’t work on every adaptation at once, but that doesn’t mean that
any of these adaptations have to be neglected across your long
term plan.

In the book, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th

Edition 2016, periodization is defined as, “a theoretical and practical
construct that allows for the systematic, sequential and integrative
programming of training interventions into mutually dependent
periods of time in order to induce specific physiological adaptations
that underpin performance outcomes” (11). I’ll be completely
honest, that was actually a bit of a mouthful, but it’s an excellent
definition of this term taken from a gold standard strength and
conditioning text.

Another way to put this is that periodization is a process of setting

aside time to work on specific training adaptations that will
contribute to our main goal. These adaptations are not achieved all
at once and this is planned systematically over time. One of the
absolute key points that you can take from this definition is that all
of our results do not and should not happen all at once, and some
level of variation is required to achieve each one of these different
adaptations that will help us reach our end goal.

Periodization essentially is a way of logically ordering training

variation so that we can get the best results.

Now let’s take a closer look at the different ways we can vary our
training.

REFERENCES

10. Bompa TO, Haff GG. Periodization: theory and methodology of

training. 5th ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2009.

11. Haff GG. Periodization. In: Haff GG, Triplett NT, eds. Essentials of
Strength Training and Conditioning. 4th ed. Champaign, IL: Human
Kinetics; 2016:583-595.

Load Selection
In my opinion, load selection, which is the intensity at which we train
or how much weight we’re actually lifting, is one of the most
important variables we should control when creating a training plan.
In order to develop muscle size and strength, we need to provide an
adequate amount of stress for our body to adapt to (12), and if we
are working with an intensity that is too low too often, we won’t get
the results that we want.
On the other hand, if we train with intensities that are too high, this
is also not ideal as it puts us at a risk of some negative training
responses (12). These include injury, even one poorly attempted rep
at an intensity that is too high increases our risk of injury. We can
reinforce bad movement patterns by lifting weights that force our
bodies to resort to bad technique, or chronically training and
intensity that is too high can put unnecessary high amounts of
stress through our body, which can be hard for us to recover from.

This is where we see two common mistakes that people make with
load selection. Training with weights that are too light or training
with weights that are too heavy. While both of these things can limit
the results you’re getting from your training, in my experience
training too heavy too often is going to be a lot worse for you and
your results than consistently training with weights that are too
light. Let me explain.

In Module 3, we covered lifting technique and how important this is

for long term progression in strength training. In my opinion, this is
the most important variable that will influence the success of a lifter.
If someone is consistently training with loads that are too heavy,
there is no way that they are able to maintain proper technique
while pushing to failure or close to failure, regularly. Lifting weights
and getting stronger is not just about grunting out the heaviest
loads that we can lift. Strength is a skill, and every time we set up to
the bar we are practicing that skill. If we practice the skill incorrectly
with sub optimal technique, then what we’re doing is teaching our
body how to move poorly. If this sub optimal technique comes as a
result of lifting too heavy, then we are also putting ourselves at a
much higher risk of injury.

Now, another thing is that it’s so important to progress in our

training, and if we are constantly lifting at our absolute max
capacity, then there will not always be room to progress because
the fact is that strength gains aren’t always linear week to week.
Lifting the heaviest weight possible all the time, might seem like the
most hardcore way to approach training, but in reality, it’s a very
fast way to learn bad lifting technique, get an injury, or plateau. In
my opinion, having the discipline to hold ourselves accountable and
lift with the right intensity so that we can master our skills is a lot
more hardcore.
Now on the other side of this, we had the lesser issue of training
with weights that are too light. With certain populations or training
styles I think you could potentially see this quite a lot. However, with
the kind of people that I work with, I’m far more likely to see people
make the mistake of going too heavy, rather than going too light.
When we consistently train with weights that are too light, we risk
the fact that we might not be optimizing our gains as I mentioned
earlier, but it also can get in the way of us learning the skill of lifting
heavy weights.

When we work at different percentages of our max or different

intensities, there are slight differences with how our bodies
coordinate our muscles (13). So the exact pattern that our muscles
move with for an intensity that is say 50% of our max is a bit
different from the exact pattern that they will use for the same
exercise to lift an intensity that is 90% of our max. The only time I
see this really being an issue is for competitive strength athletes
who have not practiced performing competition movement under
heavy load that is close to their max.

Since most people compete in strength sports because they love

lifting heavy, it’s pretty rare that I’ll come across this, but the
solution for these athletes is typically to include a number of
practice singles at a high intensity at some point in their training.
But again, the kind of people that I work with love pushing the
weights up higher and higher each week, and that is especially the
case with my strength athletes.

Now finally, if we imagine a hypothetical situation where someone is

lifting with an intensity that is too light, but they are also following
the principle of progressive overload, which we’re going to discuss
next, then they will still be progressing over time, which is
essentially all we need. Taking this approach also means that they
have room to progress each and every week, even if they’re having
a bad week or haven’t gained strength since the previous session.
So if someone is able to progress their movements month after
month, year after year, while still lifting conservative weights, then
in my eyes, they’ve kind of won the game.

Now I don’t want to go any further into depth and discuss

percentages, RPE, velocity based training, or any other ways of
quantifying and prescribing intensity. These are things that we’re
going to cover in Level 2 and 3 of the Strength System Course as
they’re a little bit more advanced. The most important things that I
want you to take home from this discussion on load selection are
exactly what we have discussed so far.

Firstly strength is a skill and you need to be working at the right

intensity to develop that skill, which means that lifting max weights
all the time is not necessarily the most effective way to get
stronger. Secondly, you should not be sacrificing technique so that
you can lift heavier weights. Remember that first point, strength is a
skill. Technique takes priority. Thirdly, if in doubt, take a
conservative approach, but just make sure that over time you are
progressively overloading the movements. If over time you continue
to overload a movement while staying within a conservative range,
then you’ll make excellent progress and avoid training plateaus. And
finally, if you do find that your strength starts to plateau and you are
the kind of person that grinds out each rep in every session, but now
the weights aren’t progressing, then it’s probably a good idea to
take a step back. Lower the intensity and focus on practicing the
skill of good movement. Almost all of the time, this will work.

Now that we’ve covered everything that you need to know about
lifting intensities and load selection, let’s talk about progressive
overload.

REFERENCES

12. Zatsiorsky VM, Kraemer WJ. Science and Practice of Strength

Training. 2nd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2006

13. Beardsley C. Why are heavy weights best for increasing

maximum strength?. Strength and Conditioning Research.
[Link]
for-increasing-maximum-strength-8ce7eceae8e4. Published
September 10, 2017. Accessed June 1, 2020.

Progressive Overload
The second key programming principle that I want to talk to you
about is progressive overload. I’m going to start off with a short
story. Flashback to the 6th century BC, where Milo of Croton is
enjoying a leisurely stroll around the family home. This man became
one of the most highly decorated Olympic wrestlers and someone
who was celebrated for his incredible unhumanly feats of strength,
but how did he develop this incredible strength? Well, let’s go back
to him strolling around his farm. Milo is going for a walk when he
sees a calf, not a calf muscle, a new born bull. It’s hard to say
exactly what possessed him to do this, but Milo decided to pick the
bull up, sling it over his shoulders and carry it around his home. He
must’ve thought this was a pretty good idea because the next day
he returned and once again, picked up the new born bull, slung it
over his shoulders and carried it around his home. The days turned
into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years
and he kept up this daily habit while meanwhile, the calf was
growing day by day. It is actually said, that at one point, when he
was at the stadium at Olympia, he picked up a fully grown bull,
slung it over his shoulders and wowed the crowd as he walked
around the stadium with it on his back. What an impressive feat of
strength, but we know his secret. Day by day incremental increases
starting off with a calf and repeating that movement so that he
could eventually one day lift the bull. Milo of Croton is said to be the
first recorded case of progressive overload, and this simple story is
such an excellent example of how this training principle works (14).

When we put our bodies under stress by lifting weights, our bodies
are forced to adapt to that stimulus by increasing the strength and
or size of the muscle and surrounding tissue. If we increase that
stimulus little by little each week, then our bodies will continue to
adapt and we will see gradual improvement over time. However, if
we continue to give our body the exact same stimulus over and
over, and don’t ever increase the difficulty of what we’re doing, then
over time, it won’t be getting the same adaptations of increased
strength and or muscle size (12).

To take a quote from Zatsiorsky and Kraemer’s book Science and

Practice of Strength Training, “the concept of progressive overload
is based on the idea that a training adaptation takes place only if
the magnitude of the training load is above the habitual level”. This
means that in order for us to continue making improvements, we
need to continue to overload our body in some form or another and
this is what we call progressive overload (12).
Doing what Milo of Croton did and increasing the weight that we’re
lifting, is one way that we can execute progressive overload, but
there are other ways as well. Let’s run into these now.

Like I just mentioned increasing the weight on the bar is one way of
overloading. This is also known as load related cycle. I’m definitely
with Milo of Croton on this one as this is my favorite method of
overload. We’re all here to get stronger and adding weight is an
excellent sign that we’re achieving this. Lifting more weight is great
for training morale, but it’s also so important to keep in mind what
we discussed about load selection and staying within a conservative
range so that you can improve each week.

The second way we can overload is by increasing the reps. This is

also known as a rep related cycle. Increasing the reps each session
is also an excellent way to achieve overload your training. This is not
necessarily less effective than adding weight to the bar, but
honestly I just know how much people love adding weight to
movement and in strength sports that’s ultimately what they’re
being judged for. Adding reps is still an excellent method of overload
and a great way to get stronger.

Another option we have is to increase the amount of sets, which is

also known as the set related cycle. Now I don’t often find myself
reaching for this method, but I will sometimes use it, and it’s also a
great way to retrospectively gauge whether or not you’ve made
improvements. To be honest, I’m not really a big fan of adding more
and more volume. I like the idea of doing the most with the least, by
doing the least amount of work that we need to do in order to
improve, we reduce some of the risks associated with training like
injury, but more importantly, we’ll leave so much room for
progression. This doesn’t mean that you do minimal work, but it
does mean that you prioritize the most effective work and the most
effective interventions. But anyway, increasing sets and thus
increasing volume is another overload technique.

The last overload technique we’ll talk about is changing movements.

This can mean either improving the quality of the movement,
changing the exercise or increasing the movement difficulty. For
example, adding a deficit to a deadlift. I will regularly use more
difficult exercise variations in a program, but I don’t really think of
this as a measured overload technique simply because there are a
lot of training variables that make it so hard to measure. But
regardless, if I have someone deadlifting 300 kilograms with terrible
technique, and then after a month of working together, they are
lifting the same weight with excellent technique, then I know
they’ve improved.

Now, one of the most widely used overload approaches is a linear

progression program. In this style of training, the athlete will start
off with high reps and relatively lighter weight and gradually
increase the weight in a linear fashion and drop the amount of reps
and maybe even sets as they peak towards a strength test or heavy
session. Some coaches don’t like a pure linear approach because an
athlete’s strength does not always increase linearly week to week,
but the truth is practically everyone who trains for strength will use
this approach at some point in their lifting career. I’m not saying this
is the best approach, or the gold standard, but it is one of the most
widely used protocols and very simple to understand. If you are
using this programming technique, then the best thing that you can
do is, guess what, select conservative numbers at the start of the
program so that you have room to move each and every week,
regardless of the rate of your strength improvements.

Since we’ve already discussed training at the right intensity and the
need for progressive overload, it only makes sense that we now look
at how many reps and sets we should actually be doing.

REFERENCES

12. Zatsiorsky VM, Kraemer WJ. Science and Practice of Strength

Training. 2nd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2006

14. Stevenson T. Milo of Croton: heptaki[s]?. In: The 33rd Annual

Conference of the Australasian Society for Classical Studies.
Melbourne, Australia: The Australasian Society for Classical Studies;
2012:1-11. [Link]
Accessed June 1, 2020.

Training Volume
A very simple definition of training volume is, the total quantity of
work done in training. You might’ve heard people discussing high
volume versus low volume training (10), and a lot of coaches have
different views on which is better for the athlete. In my experience,
there are certainly some trends that we can see regarding certain
types of people responding to more or less volume, but at the end of
the day, it really varies from person to person.

As a general rule in all of my training and coaching, I prefer the

approach of quality over quantity, and doing more with less, and
this is certainly reflected in my approach to volume prescription. It is
not uncommon to see people throwing volume into the program just
for the sake of doing more work, but my approach always asks the
question “why”? More is not necessarily better. We always need to
be able to answer the question “why” when asked, “why are we
including certain things into our training plan?” I’m not saying that a
high volume program can’t work for anyone. I know some people
who have had enormous success with very high volume training.
What I’m saying is that we need to be smart in our approach and
understand why we are prescribing certain protocols to certain
people at certain times. The discussion on sets and reps forms the
basis of any conversation about volume, and it can go quite in
depth. I do want to keep it simple, but we are going to have to get a
bit technical in this section and some of the concepts we’re going to
discuss are quite advanced. Although I do want to keep the Strength
System Level 1 Course at a basic level so we can focus on becoming
experts at simple concepts, sets and reps is something I get asked
about a lot, and for any coaches watching this, it is something that
clients always want to know about. So I’ve decided to include it in
this level. Now let’s get started.

It’s a common belief in the lifting community that higher reps

exclusively build muscle, and lower reps exclusively build strength.
At this stage of the course, you should be starting to realize that
things are rarely black and white. The truth is that it is totally
possible for higher reps to contribute to strength gains and it is
possible to build muscle with lower reps, and as a result, I don’t tend
to look at the rep prescription through the lens of high reps for
hypertrophy and low reps for strength.
Let’s take a look at why it’s actually possible to get a range of
results with a variety of rep ranges (15). Before we start, we need to
understand how we actually get stronger, how we build muscle and
how these two adaptations interact. So what is strength? By
definition, strength is a measure of the maximum amount of
external force that our bodies can produce. The goal of basically any
lifter at some point will be to increase their strength. So how do we
go about increasing the amount of force that our bodies can
produce to move a heavier weight? There are a few ways (12).

First, and you should know by now that I can’t help but mention this,
we can increase our mechanical efficiency by practicing and
improving technique (16). This can go two ways, we can improve
our inter-muscular coordination so our body can produce more
force, but we can also leverage our bodies in a particular way
around the weight, so we don’t have to use as much force to move a
given load. Okay, we’ve gotten the technique part out of the way
now. I will say it until I’m blue in the face, but I hope none of you will
ever forget the importance of good technique.

So aside from technique, let’s talk about the factors that will
contribute to our ability to produce maximum force to lift heavier
weights. There are three levels at which strength can improve
through training. We have neural adaptations where we can
increase the amount of fibers we can voluntarily activate within our
muscles. We also have adaptations within the muscle itself, for
example, increased muscle surface area or changing the
arrangement of muscle fibers within the muscle, and adaptations to
increase tendon stiffness, so our muscles can more effectively
transfer force to move our bones and joints to produce movements.

To get the neural adaptations mentioned, we need to practice the

movement and practice the movement at appropriate intensities so
our bodies can get used to producing the large amounts of force
required. But at the same time, hypertrophy is also so important.
When all other factors are accounted for some people suggest that
muscle cross sectional area bears a direct relationship with the
potential for strength that the muscle has.

And now let’s talk about how we build muscle size. Hypertrophy
describes the increase in volume of a muscle in response to training
stimulus. We think this happens mostly because the size of the
muscle fiber increases in either diameter or length. When we talk
about the number of reps required to hypertrophy a muscle there’s
evidence to show that a similar amount of hypertrophy can be
demonstrated when a lifter performs a variety of rep ranges, and
this range goes from a 5RM set all the way through to a 30RM set
(17). Between 5 and 30 rep max sets, where the lifter goes to
failure, similar hypertrophy has been demonstrated. Rather than
saying a particular rep range is better or worse for hypertrophy,
some researchers prefer to talk about the number of stimulating
reps in a set, thereby taking the intensity that the lifter is working at
into account (18). After all, 12 reps per set is often said to be an
ideal rep prescription for hypertrophy, but 12 reps of a very light
weight that doesn’t challenge our bodies is unlikely to produce
significant muscle gains. If it did, all we’d have to do is wave our
hands above our heads and get a huge upper body, but sadly it just
doesn’t work like that. We do actually have to work hard.

So we want stimulating reps, but what is a stimulating rep? From

what we currently understand, in order to stimulate muscle growth,
it’s important for the right fibers to be stimulated, and it’s also
important that these fibers are contracting at a slow speed because
the slow speed allows the fibers to contract in a way that produces
adequate force add tension within the fiber. It’s believed that this
tension is required to stimulate growth (18).

So let’s look at the structure of the muscles. Each muscle is made

up of individual muscle fibers. These muscle fibers are grouped
together and each group of muscle fibers is governed by a motor
unit. These motor units can be categorized as being either high-
threshold or low-threshold. High-threshold motor units govern large
groups of fibers, and the individual fibers in these large groups
typically have characteristics that make these fibers excellent
candidates for hypertrophy. The low-threshold motor units on the
other hand will contain fewer fibers, and the fibers themselves
typically have a much lower potential for hypertrophy. As the name
suggests a higher-threshold of force in the muscle is required for the
high-threshold motor units to be recruited, and the way that our
muscles work is that the low-threshold motor units will always be
recruited first. We can think of the high-threshold motor units as the
backup power that our muscles call on when the low-threshold
motor units don’t have the capacity to produce the required force
for a given task (18). So, we know that the low-threshold motor units
are recruited preferentially, and we need a particular level of
stimulation to recruit the high-threshold motor units. But we also
know that the high-threshold motor units are the ones that we want
to recruit. So how do we stimulate the high-threshold motor units?

High-threshold motor units are recruited when our bodies lift

weights that are close to our maximum, or in other words, that are
close to failure. If we lift the moderate weight to failure, the first few
reps will be relatively easy, but as we get closer and closer to failure
and the low-threshold motor units start to fatigue, we will call on
more high-threshold motor units to overcome the weight on the bar.
We will keep calling on these high-threshold motor units until we
can’t lift the weight anymore (18). So in a set of 12 on a weight that
is the lifter’s 12RM, it might be the last 5 or 6 reps that are
stimulating reps.

On the other hand, if we get a trained individual to perform a set

with their 5RM or heavier, high-threshold motor units will be
recruited right from the very first rep as a lot of force is required to
overcome the weights at this percentage. It seems to be at
intensities of 5RM or higher where this is the case.

Now, contraction speed is also important to take into account since

we know that fast contraction speeds don’t produce as much force.
When someone is lifting a max rep their contraction speed will be
slow. Similarly, when someone is lifting a moderate weight to failure,
their contraction speed will get slower as the set goes on, so by the
time they are recruiting the high-threshold motor units, the
contraction velocity will be relatively slow. These slow velocity high-
threshold motor unit contractions are the stimulating reps that we
need to hypertrophy a muscle. Therefore we can actually grow our
muscles at a whole range of rep protocols, but we just need to make
sure that we are working at the right intensity (18).

So, how does this all tie in? What are the interactions between
muscle hypertrophy and strength? There are a few key points we
can take from this.
A variety of rep ranges can, and should, be used to stimulate
hypertrophy. Experts recommend a variety of rep ranges to
stimulate as many fibers as possible, as long as the lifter is working
at a certain proximity to failure (18).

It’s well established that increasing the muscle’s cross-sectional

area, or its size, will result in an increased potential for strength
production. Therefore, dedicating time to increase the size of a
muscle can be an excellent way to increase the force potential of a
muscle, and we can even hypothesize that using a variety of rep
ranges in this time will maximize hypertrophy and therefore might
contribute to improving our strength.

According to what we know about some of the neural adaptations

behind strength gains, we can improve strength by increasing the
size and therefore force capacity of each of the individual fibers, or
we can improve our body’s ability to recruit these fibers.

So to get stronger we can either train our fibers to grow with all of
the methods we have just discussed, or we can teach our bodies to
get better at recruiting a greater number of muscle fibers (16).

Going close to failure increases our risk of injury, but if we keep

some reps in reserve when working at intensities close to our max,
we may not achieve as many stimulating reps, but we will still
achieve some stimulating reps while dramatically reducing the risk
of injury. There is more than one correct approach for both strength
and hypertrophy.

Now, we understand the theory behind rep prescription. There are

some guidelines that I’ll work with when prescribing reps and sets
for someone, and these are some of the guidelines.

One of the most important points I want to make here is that within
this context of hitting the stimulating reps, when I take an athlete
close to, or to failure, it’s not what most people think of as failure.
For me, failure refers to the point when you can no longer maintain
good technique. I do not take complex movements to absolute
failure, unless they are a strength athlete who is required to push to
failure for their sport, and even then, if I see their technique
breaking down in training, I will stop them.
We’ve already talked about the importance of learning proper
technique, but what if someone comes to me and wants to learn
strength training as an absolute beginner, or has been training but
we want to teach them a new technique? A lot of people like the
approach of low weight, high reps, but I certainly don’t always agree
with this approach. When teaching someone a new technique, I’ll
keep the weight moderate, so they can feel some resistance to
develop the skill, but not so heavy or too challenging that their
technique suffers. I will also keep their reps low. If we’re doing a lot
of reps in a set, at some point the athlete is going to lose
concentration on their technique and that will start to teach
themselves bad movements. There is more to the equation of
strength than simply pushing close to failure. We also have to
develop the skill component. When learning any new movement,
keep the reps low.

The next point I’ll make is very similar to the first point, and that is,
for complex movements like big compound lifts, squats, bench press
deadlifts and their variations, I prefer to keep the reps low.
Remember, we can still build muscle with lower reps if we work at
the right intensities, and we don’t have to reach failure for these
sets to be stimulating reps. This means for the lower complexity
exercises, such as an isolation exercise like a bicep curl, that we can
push the reps up since the risk of technical breakdown and injury
are a lot lower.

For more experienced athletes I’ll use less volume. The stronger you
are, the less volume we use. We need enough volume to grow.
Performing singles all the time, even if we’re competitive
powerlifters, is not an effective way to get stronger. Since you’re
only performing one rep it doesn’t give you much opportunity to
practice the skill, you also don’t get much stimulation to grow the
muscle (18). And for that rep to be a stimulating rep and recruit
high-threshold motor units, you would have to be very close to
failure, which is not something I would recommend exposing
yourself to regularly.

And lastly, high intensity training gives us a chance to stimulate

these high-threshold motor units, but training at a high intensity all
year round is hard. They’ve tried to do research on the effects of
long term high intensity, but they find the people in the studies just
drop off (12). For training morale and compliance, variety is needed.
Increasing the volume and lowering the intensity at various points in
programs is an excellent way to achieve this.

That was some heavy content, but remember if you didn’t take
everything in the first time around, you can always go back and
rewatch it. Now that we’ve talked reps, sets, and volume, let’s
discuss exercise selection.

REFERENCES

2. French D. Adaptations to anaerobic training programs. In: Haff

GG, Triplett NT, eds. Essentials of Strength Training and
Conditioning. 4th ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2016:93-94.

10. Bompa TO, Haff GG. Periodization: theory and methodology of

training. 5th ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2009.

12. Zatsiorsky VM, Kraemer WJ. Science and Practice of Strength

Training. 2nd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2006

15. Shoenfeld B. Tip: vary rep range to grow. T-Nation.

[Link]
Published May 19, 2016. Accessed June 1, 2020.

16. Beardsley C. How does one repetition-maximum (1RM) increase

after training?. Strength and Conditioning Research.
[Link]
maximum-1rm-increase-after-training-2f85d7bb8c73. Published
February 26, 2018. Accessed June 1, 2020.

17. Schoenfeld BJ, Wilson JM, Lowery RP, Krieger JW. Muscular
adaptations in low- versus high-load resistance training: A meta-
analysis. Eur J Sport Sci. 2016;16(1):1-10.
doi:10.1080/17461391.2014.989922

18. Beardsley C. Hypertrophy: Muscle fiber growth caused by

mechanical tension. Strength and Conditioning Research Limited;
2019. [Link]
mechanical-tension-ebook/dp/B07MPCKPRF. Accessed June 1, 2020.
Exercise Selection
So far in this module, we’ve discussed load selection and training at
the right intensities. We’ve talked about the fact that you need to
progressively overload your body if you want to continue to achieve
results, and we’ve had a look at how reps, sets, and total volume
affect our training outcomes. At this point, you’ve got an excellent
knowledge base on how to program for basically any goal, but the
next thing we need to think about is which exercises you should be
doing in this program in accordance with that training goal. There is
a huge range of exercises out there that we can choose to put on
the program. There are also a lot of trends in the fitness industry,
where certain movements will come in and out of fashion. People
love to debate which movement is the absolute best exercise, or say
that another exercise is completely useless, but as usual I think that
the truth can be found with a more open minded approach.

To borrow a philosophy from Andrew Lock, one of the best strength

rehab specialists in Australia and arguably the world, “there’s no
such thing as a bad exercise, just the wrong exercise given to the
wrong person at the wrong time” (19). I’d also like to add that there
is no such thing as the perfect exercise, but there are exercises that
will be more or less helpful for a particular individual who has a
particular goal, at a particular point in time.

I would like to remind you of the two principles we have already

discussed as the defining features of a good coach, because they
100% apply here as well. There are some exercises that just give
you more bang for your buck, and mastering these basic
movements will get you so far as a coach. On the other hand,
having a broad knowledge of a huge range of exercises allows you
to take things to the next level when needed. This doesn’t mean
that you need to be constantly reinventing the exercise wheel or try
new things just for the sake of it. Remember that the more
important skill of these two is mastering the basics because the
absolute basic movements are what you should be using 99% of the
time. In this course, the focus is on mastering the basics, however, if
you do want to broaden your exercise toolkit for the “1% of the
time” applications, then I’d recommend getting your hands on some
old school bodybuilding texts and studying the different movements
that have stood the test of time, and others that have come in and
out of fashion over the years.

This brings us to the next topic that I want to talk about, which is
balancing specificity and variation in your training. This topic is
central to any discussion on periodization for sports performance,
and that’s something we are going to cover in Levels 2 and onwards
of this Strength System Course. When we talk about specificity and
variation in a sporting and performance context, we are looking at
how similar or different movements are to the desired performance
outcome (12). A rugby player playing rugby or a powerlifter doing a
1RM squat in competition, and there’s an infinite amount of other
examples. But in level 1, we are mastering the basics, and we’re not
even going to approach the different sporting goals because that is
a lot more advanced than what we need to cover here.

So in that case, if we want to talk about an exercise being a

specificity movement or a variation movement outside of the
context of sports performance, what should we use as a reference
point? Since the focus of this course is to master the basics, let’s use
that as our goal. As a strength coach or lifting enthusiast, the basics
are what we will be using 99% of the time, so it only makes sense
that we use this goal to drive our training choices. To make this
even simpler, let’s say that we are trying to master a conventional
deadlift, a low bar squat, a chin up, a row, a bench press, and an
overhead press. These movements performed well are excellent for
strength, development, hypertrophy, and health goals. As we go
through our lifting career, we are going to master a lot more
movements than this, but if we want to develop a high level of skill
at any one thing, then we need to avoid trying to become experts at
too many things at once. Let’s make mastering these basics our
focus as we discuss how to use the principles of specificity and
variation to help us reach our goal.

One of the key principles that underpin any training program, is the
fact that training adaptations are very specific (12). The training we
do to run a marathon, which involves lots and lots of running,
doesn’t really carry over to improving your 1RM squat. Even if the
goal is to improve a squat, we have to be specific with which squat
variation we want to improve, and the rep ranges we want to get
better at. If you become really, really good at performing 20 rep sets
of front squats, well the first thing I’d say is that you and I have very
different versions of what I’d consider “fun”. But let’s just say that
high rep front squats are a passion of yours. This might have some
carry over to your 1RM low bar squat, since by training your front
squat, you will increase your muscle mass and get some practice at
the squat pattern, but it’s not the most efficient way for you to
become good at performing heavy low reps of a low bar squat. An
excellent real world example of this specific skill development is
seen with the bodybuilder Tom Platz, who was known for his lower
body development and grueling leg sessions (20). As a bodybuilder,
his training favored a high rep range, and although there are a
number of powerlifters who could out-squat him for a single rep,
there aren’t many powerlifters who can rival his high bar squat
numbers at a higher rep range. Give it a go, see how many reps you
can get in one, go with 525 pounds or 238 kilograms. Platz got 23
reps.

Practicing what you want to be good at, makes you better at that
thing. So if we want to get better at a particular goal, we need to
practice for that goal. In this case, we want to get in lots of practice
with our basics so we can master those lifts. Now the solution seems
simple. To get good at maxing out our squats, we just need to get
lots of practice maxing out our squats, right? No, it’s not actually
that simple, because we also need to take into account the principle
of variation. The law of accommodation tells us that if we use the
same movements with the same training load over a long period of
time, our bodies might respond well at first, but over time, because
of the principle of diminishing returns, we will see decreasing
improvements in response to these exercises (12). This means that
in order to keep seeing results, we need to add some kind of
overload or variation to our training.

We’ve also talked about the fact that there are multiple different
attributes that will contribute to the desired training outcome. The
example I gave earlier when talking about the rationale for
periodization, was that in order to improve your max squat, you
might need to build muscle mass, or you might need to improve
your movement patterns. At some point, practicing a heavy squat
simply is not a targeted enough approach to improve these specific
attributes. Heavy squats are an excellent way to build muscle mass
in your lower body, but I bet there is not a single bodybuilder in the
world who only does squats for their leg development. That’s not an
optimal way to train for hypertrophy. Similarly the best bench
pressers in the world do not only bench press. They’re strong at
other upper body movements too.

Another argument for including exercise variety is that it’s simply

better for hypertrophy. When we work our muscles through different
angles and ranges, we stimulate the fibers for growth in different
ways. We simply cannot achieve by only ever working through the
one particular range or angle (20). Variation allows us to keep
improving. It gives us the ability to target specific attributes,
prevents athletes from getting bored, and I haven’t discussed this
yet, but it also really helps prevent injuries as it allows us to
strengthen and fortify our bodies through so many different angles
and ranges, reduces the chances of us developing muscle
imbalances, and prevents overuse from repeating the same
movement over and over.

We’ve built a really strong case for the fact that we need both
variation and specificity in a training program. If you’re feeling a bit
overwhelmed by this information, then please rest assured that
there are a lot of really good coaches out there who are still
debating how much specificity and variation we need in a program
at any given time.

So the question is now how do we include both? Let me run you

through my approach. The first thing we need to keep in mind is the
fact that this is not black and white, and exercises are not either
100% specific or 100% varied. Think of it more as a sliding scale,
things can be more specific or more varied. The second thing to
note is that in order for an exercise to be more varied, it doesn’t
have to be a totally different exercise. Altering the tempo, adding a
pause, changing the load, using different rep ranges, adjusting our
body position, making an adjustment to the technique, these are all
excellent examples of training variation.

Another key point is that variation is not the same as randomization.

We need progressive overload in our training, which means that we
need to be doing something consistently enough to actually see
improvements in it.
And lastly, our training needs to be periodized. If we have a time
goal, then our training needs to become more and more specific as
we get closer to our deadline. Further out, we can include more
variety. I would not recommend going so far down the “variety” end
of your training, that you’re training a totally different sport, and I
would never cut out variety altogether, as you near your goal.

So with all of this in mind, I will typically start a beginner off with just
the basics. Remember that we want to get the most out of the least,
and since all of these movements are so new to them, their bodies
will be responding. The same applies. If I’ve drastically overhauled
someone’s technique.

For more advanced lifters, we can start to add more planned and
logical variety to their training. Typically I’ll change my programs up
every four weeks. This is around the time that the athlete can start
getting a bit bored, but in terms of administration, it also makes
things easier on my end to keep track of when programs are due.
When I change their movements, I don’t change much. I won’t be
replacing a conventional deadlift with an overhead squat.
Remember that we will typically change the rep scheme with each
program adjustment, which is a form of variety in and of itself. So I
might add a deficit to a conventional deadlift and increase the reps.

Another principle I’d like to follow is to make movements harder,

further out from when the athlete peaks. Four months out I might
start them off with a high deficit deadlift, then in the next 4 week
block, reduce the deficit. In the next block, I might get them lifting
paused off the floor, before finally peaking their conventional
deadlift off the floor in the final 4 weeks. This is another technique
that guarantees we can continually add weight to the bar each
week. Not only are we reducing volume as we go, which allows us to
increase load, we are decreasing the degree of difficulty of the
movement, which continues to boost confidence and training morale
for the athlete.

And lastly, we always must keep structural balance in mind. I’m

going to include a template in this course content that you can use
to structure your sessions. The template is a basic outline for how
you can structure each session. There is a main movement, which is
our highest priority, so we put it first in the session. This will most
closely resemble our specific movement patterns that we are trying
to master. The secondary movement is typically a more varied
version of the main exercise, and we select this exercise based on
the different attributes we want to work on for that training cycle.
Then we have our anciliary exercises, these are used to ensure we
are achieving structural balance, and also to target any smaller
muscle groups that you might want to focus on.

So that wraps up exercise selection. The key things to take away

from this discussion are as follows: when selecting exercises for a
program no matter what stage you’re at in your training, structural
balance always needs to be factored in. Once you’ve selected your
goal, the exercises you choose for your program can be more
specific or more varied. To practice that goal, we need specificity,
but for long term training results, we also need to include variation.
Beginners need less variation because everything is a new stimulus
for them. There are many ways you can include variation in your
program. You don’t have to completely change the exercise, and I
would recommend that you only make small adjustments at a time
so there is some consistency in what you’re doing.

Now let’s move on to discussing the different training blocks that we

might include in a program.

REFERENCES

12. Zatsiorsky VM, Kraemer WJ. Science and Practice of Strength

Training. 2nd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2006

19. Personal Trainer Mentoring.

[Link]
interview/. Published September 20, 2018. Accessed June 1, 2020.

20. Contreras B, Shoenfeld B. 10 reasons bodybuilders are bigger

than powerlifters. T-Nation. [Link]
bodybuilders-are-more-jacked-than-powerlifters. Published May 24,
2011. Accessed June 1, 2020.

Macro- Meso- and Micro-Cycles

I want to talk to you briefly now about macro-, meso- and
microcycles. To be completely honest, these are terms I very, very
rarely use, so I’m going to keep this part very brief, but I did want to
include it because this is terminology that you will come across
when you’re doing your own research and learning about
programming. Another reason is that as we are defining this
terminology, there are some excellent concepts that we can take
away. Let’s start off with some definitions.

Macro-, meso-, and microcycle are words that are used to describe
the time-scale organization of a program (11). A macrocycle
represents one full competitive season. So if the competitive season
occurs once per year, then the macrocycle will be a full year, but if
there are say, two competitive seasons within a year, then there will
also be two macrocycles (11).

The big macrocycles are then divided into mesocycles. This is where
we start thinking about targeting different training attributes. Each
mesocycle will focus on different training outcomes that support our
main overriding goal (11). So for one mesocycle, the focus might be
hypertrophy, for another it might be skill acquisition. A mesocycle
can go for a few weeks or a few months.

Within the mesocycles we have our microcycles. Typically these are

about a week long, but can range from a few days to a few weeks
(11).

Now, like I said, I don’t use this exact terminology very much, but
that doesn’t mean that I’m not keeping long term outcomes, mid
term outcomes, and short term outcomes in mind when planning a
program. Whether you choose to use this terminology or not, one of
the key points you should take away from this particular discussion
is the time-scale framework that you need to have in mind when
structuring a successful program. It’s great to have a long term goal,
but if that goal is a few years away, then it can be really useful to
break it down into 6-monthly or 12-monthly blocks, or macrocycles.
Then to take that one step further, we can break these macrocycles
down into mesocycles, and this will give us the opportunity to focus
on each of the different training attributes that we want to develop.
Generally, if I’m getting someone ready for a particular goal, we will
start further out with more muscle building and variation, then with
each mesocycle we taper into more skillwork as we get closer to the
deadline. Microcycles are important to keep in mind as well, and
these are particularly useful when we are thinking about managing
total workload and balancing the amount of work that we are doing
with adequate recovery.

We can also look at this from another angle. If you’re only thinking
of your microcycles and you never plan further than a couple of
weeks ahead, then you’d probably really benefit from setting some
mid to long term goals, and planning your training according to
those.

This is a great place to end our discussion on periodization.

Remember, keep it simple, make a plan, prioritize structural
balance, train at an intensity that allows you to lift with good
technique and progress each week, follow the principle of
progressive overload, and include some variation in your program,
but don’t have so much variety that you neglect your main goal.

Now that we’ve covered all of the basics of what you need to know
about programming, in the next module we’re going to have a look
at the nutrition strategies that you can use to get the most out of
your training.

REFERENCES

11. Haff GG. Periodization. In: Haff GG, Triplett NT, eds. Essentials of
Strength Training and Conditioning. 4th ed. Champaign, IL: Human
Kinetics; 2016:583-595.

What You’ll Learn in This Module

There is absolutely no question that any result worth achieving
requires a lot of hard work. Earlier in this course, we looked at a
whole range of ways that we can work hard and maximize our
training to reach our goal as efficiently as possible. In Module 5, we
spoke about the ways that nutrition can support your goals.
Now, in our final module, we’re going to talk about rest and
recovery. Proper recovery is so important no matter what your goal
is. If someone is under recovering, then I can guarantee they will be
underperforming. For our final topic of this course, we’re going to
discuss some of the ways that you can improve your recovery in the
gym, and out of the gym, so that you can get the most out of your
hard work.

Training Stimulus and Recovery

In order for us to understand how to improve our recovery, it’s
helpful for us to understand what fatigue actually is and why we get
fatigued. The fatigue we experience from strength training is not the
same as just feeling tired, sore or demotivated (21). You might feel
these things at the same time as you’re experiencing fatigue, but
the actual fatigue itself is not just a feeling, it’s something we can
measure in the body (22). If someone was to measure fatigue then,
what would they be testing for? Simply put, they would be
measuring the decreased capacity of our body to produce maximum
force in a particular muscle compared to our rested state (22). This
inhibited performance is only temporary if it’s happening as a result
of fatigue from a workout (21).

There are a few ways fatigue can be produced, but the ones we look
at are central fatigue and muscle damage. If you’ve been in the
lifting world for a while, I can almost guarantee that at some point
you’ve heard someone say the words, “bro, my CNS is fried.”

CNS fatigue, or Central Nervous System fatigue, is the reduced

capacity for our body to voluntarily recruit muscle fibers and
produce force, meaning that our muscles are more than capable of
doing the work, but the message from our brain to our muscles is
inhibited to some degree (21).

Recall how our motor units are sorted into low or high threshold
motor units, with the low threshold motor units always being
recruited first (18). If our central nervous system can’t recruit as
many motor units within a muscle, but our muscle will still always
use the low threshold motor units first, then we’ll be missing out on
recruiting some of the high threshold motor units if we are
experiencing central nervous system fatigue.
What does this mean for our workout? It means that we aren’t
maximizing our hypertrophy, since the high threshold motor units
are the best for hypertrophy and not as many of them are being
stimulated (18), and also that we won’t be maximizing force
production, since a high threshold motor units are what our bodies
use to produce large amounts of force (21). This is why I say that if
you’re under recovering, then you’re underperforming. This CNS
fatigue can happen either during our session, where it accumulates
from set to set and exercise to exercise as the workout goes on, or
after our session, which we think is as a result of muscle damage
(21). The CNS fatigue that happens during our workout dissipates
quite quickly and helps explain why we should get enough rest
between sets, and also perform our highest priority movements at
the start of the session, and the CNS fatigue that happens after our
workout plays a large part in dictating the frequency in which we
can train (21).

Now that we know the mechanisms behind fatigue, let’s look at how
we can minimize fatigue in training.

REFERENCES

18. Beardsley C. Hypertrophy: Muscle fiber growth caused by

mechanical tension. Strength and Conditioning Research Limited;
2019. [Link]
mechanical-tension-ebook/dp/B07MPCKPRF. Accessed June 1, 2020.

21. Beardsley C. How do different types of fatigue affect

hypertrophy and recovery?. Strength and Conditioning Research.
[Link]
fatigue-affect-hypertrophy-and-recovery-4b5bd500bcb. Published
December 11, 2018. Accessed June 1, 2020.

22. Wan JJ, Qin Z, Wang PY, Sun Y, Liu X. Muscle fatigue: general
understanding and treatment. Exp Mol Med. 2017;49(10):e384.
Published 2017 Oct 6. doi:10.1038/emm.2017.194

Training Strategies to Maximize

Recovery
To minimize the amount the CNS fatigue affects us during our
workout, adequate rest between sets is so important (21). For
beginners and intermediate strength athletes, for their main
strength sets, I generally recommend 3 to 5 minutes, and advanced
lifters who are moving more weight can take up to 10 minutes rest
between sets. In some cases, elite powerlifters will take even longer.
Just be careful not to take it too far and get cold between sets or
drag your session out so that a few sets takes hours.

Since the CNS fatigue accumulates throughout our workout, it’s also
important to make sure we are performing our highest priority
movements earlier on in the session when less fatigue will have
accumulated (21). This type of CNS fatigue that occurs within our
session tends to build up more from cardiovascular training than
heavy strength training, which is potentially an argument against
performing cardiovascular training immediately prior to our strength
sessions (21).

When it comes to minimizing the fatigue we experience after a

session, according to current research, we should be aiming to
minimize unnecessary amounts of muscle damage, or when high
amounts of muscle damage are inevitable, we need to make sure
that we are giving ourselves adequate rest between sessions (21).

Here are some facts and techniques that can be really useful when
aiming to reduce unnecessary muscle damage and plan our training
to allow enough recovery between sessions.

Now the first thing I’ll say is that some people don’t get much
muscle damage after a workout and therefore don’t experience
much fatigue. Other people can get a lot. Sometimes this has to do
with the way someone trains, but sometimes people are just more
susceptible to muscle damage.

What are some factors that might make someone more likely to
experience high levels of muscle damage? High threshold motor
units produced more muscle damage than low threshold motor units
(23). Skilled strength athletes will be able to recruit more high
threshold motions for a given exercise than low skilled strength
athletes, and in doing so the skilled athletes expose themselves to a
greater potential for muscle damage, so we’ll probably need more
recovery. Fast twitch muscle fibers are more susceptible to muscle
damage than slow twitch fibers. So athletes with a higher ratio of
fast twitch fibers will probably take longer to recover from a workout
(23). Although higher volume and going to failure are likely to cause
more muscle damage than higher intensities, athletes who are
lifting much heavier loads and are probably more skilled at
recruiting high threshold motor units, are probably exposing
themselves to more muscle damage. So basically what this means is
that as your skill of lifting improves, you may find yourself getting
more fatigued after your sessions and should program accordingly.

Now let’s look at some training variables that may influence the
amount of muscle damage that you would experience in a workout.
There’s likely to be a greater amount of muscle damage if the
stimulus is unfamiliar. This is why I made a point of saying that
variation is not the same as randomization. If you’re constantly
changing exercises every session, then you might be exposing
yourself to unnecessary amounts of muscle damage. Greater
amounts of muscle damage occur with the eccentric and isometric
contractions than does with the concentric contractions. So type of
contraction matters (23). When we are highly motivated, “amped
up,” we are able to recruit more motor units, which helps us lift
more weight, but can also expose us to more muscle damage and
therefore more fatigue (23).

This is just more evidence for the fact that we should be monitoring
our intensities in each session. As long as you’re using a good
technique, it can be okay to go nuts every now and then, but if
you’re consistently going to failure for every set of every workout,
then you might not be getting the most out of your training. If you
come into a session experiencing a lot of fatigue that’s left over
from your workout, then you won’t be able to train as effectively in
that session. Being aware of the causes and effects of fatigue can be
really helpful when we are designing a program.

Now if fatigue is accumulating and you’re already eating well and

sleeping well, you might like to use a deload. I’m just going to briefly
go over what this is since we’ll go into more depth in later levels. For
those who aren’t familiar with the term ‘deload,’ this training
principle refers to a designated period of training where the lifter
temporarily reduces their training volume and/or training intensity
to give them a recovery boost and allow them to continue to train at
a given capacity. The idea is to give the body a chance to catch up
on recovery while not stopping training altogether and entering a
state of detraining. Typically athletes may use this at the end of a 4,
8 or 12 week training block, but it can be any other time, before
continuing onto their next training block. It’s similar to what a lot of
strength athletes do prior to competition or max testing, although
this same reduction in training volume or intensity immediately
before performance or competition, is often referred to as a ‘taper.’

There are some athletes who I won’t program a deload for, others
who I will deload occasionally, and in some cases I will prescribe
something that resembles a deload to an athlete on a weekly basis.
There is no point in deloading, if you haven’t loaded. You need to
earn the right to deload and if you’re new to training and you’re
going through a period where you’re not training particularly hard,
then you probably won’t need a deload. Some beginners I will not
give a deload to for their entire first year of training, or longer. Most
of my intermediate or advanced athletes, and I include myself in
this, will deload occasionally by reducing volume and maintaining,
or slightly increasing intensity in the final week of each 4 week
block.

Then there’s the last category, and this is not one that many people
will have to worry about. For my strongest and largest athletes,
some of whom are the best in the world at their chosen strength
sports, I will regularly program deloads in. For example, this might
involve deloading the squat and deadlift each on alternate weeks, so
they only go heavy on each movement, fortnightly.

If I’m prescribing a deload, there is one principle that I try to keep

constant with any of my athletes, and that is that I’ll often try to
avoid reducing the overall intensity of the athletes training, even
when deloading. This is something that I’ve always done intuitively
since I’ve found most people need to recover from volume rather
than intensity, and this gives a great boost in confidence and
training morale, as the reduction in volume will typically allow them
to lift a little more.

That’s about as much detail as I want to go in with deloading. I’ve

included an article in this course content that will go into a bit more
depth on this topic and it’s something that we’re going to explore
more in future levels. But for now, the next thing we are going to
talk about is the way that our lifestyle can affect our training.

REFERENCES

21. Beardsley C. How do different types of fatigue affect

hypertrophy and recovery?. Strength and Conditioning Research.
[Link]
fatigue-affect-hypertrophy-and-recovery-4b5bd500bcb. Published
December 11, 2018. Accessed June 1, 2020.

23. Beardsley C. How does muscle damage lead to central nervous

system fatigue?. Strength and Conditioning Research.
[Link]
lead-to-central-nervous-system-fatigue-93f36e1cbaa3. Published
January 24, 2019. Accessed June 1, 2020.

Lifestyle Strategies to Maximize

Recovery
Now that we have pretty much covered fatigue that happens as a
result of our training, and how that fatigue can impact our ability to
perform, I want to briefly touch on some of the things outside of the
gym that can impact our recovery. The obvious things to talk about
here are sleep, weight maintenance and good nutrition, and we’ve
already touched on some of that.

Something that is less obvious, but is still important, is the fact that
other stressors can get in the way of our training. Heavy study or
workload, emotional stress such as breakups, illness, financial
stress, and many others. Many people think of stress as a purely
mental thing, but all you have to do is pick up any medical
textbooks to see a list of diseases and conditions that can be made
worse or even caused by stress. This is a very important factor for
me to take into account as a coach because environmental stressors
will also have a surprisingly significant effect on training and
performance outcomes, and although training is an excellent stress
outlet for many people, intense training can have a similar effect on
the body to other types of stressors and contribute to an
undesirable physiological stress response. So if I want to help an
athlete to perform at their absolute best, minimizing environmental
stress and periodizing their training around unavoidable stressors is
absolutely essential.

It’s time for another story. In the 1920s endocrinologist Hans De

Solye, I hope I pronounced that right, observed that after exposing
rats to a range of harmful stimuli, the rats all exhibited both a
specific adaptation to the stimuli, for example, creating specific
antibodies to a toxin that was administered to them, or say,
repairing muscle tissue that had been damaged by the harmful
stimuli, and the general adaptation, and this general adaptation was
the same across the different trials and stimuli (24,25).

The general adaptation has 3 stages, an alarm stage where the

body elicits a stress response that includes the release of stress
hormones, a resistance phase where the body tries to adapt to the
stimulus and reverse all of the changes that have happened to them
in the alarm stage, and the final phase where the organism has
either adapted and returned to normal, or reach the state of
exhaustion because they have exhausted their ability to adapt to
the stressor.

This general adaptation that scientists have observed has been

called General Adaptation Syndrome and it’s used to explain the
predictable set of responses that our body exhibits in response to
stress in a range of settings (24,25). The theory of General
Adaptation Syndrome is often cited to explain why we periodize our
training (12), since we want to give enough of a stimulus that we
can adapt and improve, but not so much that we reached total
exhaustion. I think it can also be an excellent way of explaining how
and why stressors add up and why it’s in our best interest to
minimize environmental stress in order to optimize performance.

There are some really interesting points that we can take away from
the research on General Adaptation Syndrome. Firstly training can
be a stressor (25). Intense strength training that causes high levels
of muscle damage can act as a stressor and trigger this
physiological response. However, it’s important to note that not all
training releases those stress hormones in our body. So light
training or going for a leisurely walk, won’t necessarily elicit this
generalized response.

Lifestyle stress can also be a stressor. Emotional stress, financial

instability, a lot of these things that cause stress in our everyday life
can also cause this effect on our bodies (24,25).

The adaptation that someone has to a stressor depends on how

stressful their environment is (24,25). There seems to be a limited
amount of adaptation energy, meaning that if people are
overwhelmed with stressors, then they won’t be able to adapt as
well when other stressors arise at the same time. This means that if
the lifestyle factors are adding up, then our ability to recover from
hard sessions might be impacted. If we have a lot of other stressful
things happening in our life, then these can add up and it makes it
even harder to recover from hard training.

Now like everything in science, this is all just a theory, but this is a
very well researched theory and it’s a really nice contribution to any
discussion on stress and recovery. If I have an athlete who is going
through a lot in their personal life, then I will make adjustments to
their training. Similarly, if I have an athlete who has a big training
goal, then we need to make sure their lifestyle isn’t getting in the
way of them recovering and performing in their training.

Well, this wraps up our discussion on fatigue and recovery.

Remember, we do need to work hard in the gym to achieve all of our
goals, but this needs to be balanced out with adequate recovery. A
key point to take home from this is that more training is not always
better. We’ve all heard the saying “work smart, not hard,” and a key
component of that approach is actually understanding what works
and what doesn’t so that we can work smart.

I hope this has shed some more light on the different ways that
training can impact recovery and recovery can impact training.

REFERENCES

12. Zatsiorsky VM, Kraemer WJ. Science and Practice of Strength

Training. 2nd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2006
24. Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. AIPC Article
Library. [Link]
syndrome/. Published March 15, 2010. Accessed June 1, 2020.

25. Beardsley C. What can the general adaptation syndrome tell us

about periodization?. Strength and Conditioning Research.
[Link]
adaptation-syndrome-tell-us-about-periodization-bb59bdb2ef79.
Published April 9, 2018. Accessed June 1, 2020.

Nutrition Fundamentals
Nutrition is one of the most important factors to maximize
performance, body composition management, and recovery, and
must be considered when it comes to strength based training. For
any athlete, nutrition should always be focused around health as a
priority above anything else.

Working with the Clean Health Fitness Institute research team, we

have come up with common issues and need-to-know science-based
facts around nutrition, so you or your clients can achieve the best
results possible.

I’m not going to teach you how to get shredded for a bodybuilding
show or how to carb load for an endurance event. Everything I said
about mastering the basics in strength training also applies to
nutrition. You can never be too good at doing the basics. Advanced
techniques won’t work if you aren’t doing the basics well, and the
most elaborate schemes that ultimately market well often don’t
produce lasting, long term results. Let’s focus on what actually
matters.

One of the most important components of nutrition, if not the most

important for any strength athlete, is energy balance. Energy
balance is what will stipulate whether or not you or your athlete will
put your body in prime position to gain muscle and/or lose fat. So
what is energy balance? Energy balance is basically a calories in
versus calories out equation. When you or your athlete consume
more calories than you use, you are in a calorie surplus, and you’ll
likely put on body weight. If you consume less calories than your
body uses, you are in a deficit and you’ll typically lose body weight.
It’s that simple. To use energy balance as a tool to our advantage,
we need to manipulate macronutrient intake, thus adapting the
calories we are consuming, and whether we are eating in a surplus
or deficit. For example, it has been shown that a person can lose
muscle tissue, even in a positive energy balance, if sufficient protein
is not consumed (1). When trying to reduce body fat and eating in a
deficit, we want to ensure our protein intake remains high to reduce
the amount of lean mass we may lose during the dieting process.
Simply being in a deficit or surplus, calories in versus calories out, is
not the only determining factor for muscle gain or fat loss. Protein
intake is the key to manipulate body composition.

REFERENCES

1. Bray GA, Smith SR, de Jonge L, Xie H, Rood J, Martin CK, Most
M, Brock C, Mancuso S, Redman LM. Effect of Dietary Protein
Content on Weight Gain, Energy Expenditure, and Body
Composition During Overeating: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
JAMA. 2012;307(1):47-55.

Determining Macronutrient Needs

When setting macros, regardless of the desired outcome, we always
start with the most important macronutrient, protein. If we don’t eat
enough protein, our body will break down muscle tissue and use it
as an energy source for performing daily activities. But the flip side
is true as well. Consuming enough protein not only minimizes the
breakdown of muscle tissue, it actually promotes the body to build
more muscle. If your goal is to increase the ratio of muscle to fat
tissue, then you must pay special attention to protein and ensure
that you’re eating enough at each meal to match your goals.

For clients that are more prone to putting on body fat when in a
calorie surplus, you might want to opt towards the higher end of
protein intake, between 3 to 3.4 grams per kilogram, when in a
muscle building phase to reduce excess body fat gain. For clients
that struggle to gain weight and/ or have a poor appetite, you
should stick to the lower end of the range, 1.8 grams per kilogram of
body weight. While in a deficit, higher protein intake, more than 3
grams per kilogram per day, may also be favorable due to the
increased anti-catabolic effect, greater satiety and higher thermic
effect of feeding (8,9).

In terms of importance, the next macronutrient we need to calculate

is fat as carbohydrates are not essential to survival like protein and
fats are. Studies have shown that if you drop fat intake below 0.8 to
1 gram per kilogram of body weight, it will negatively impact
hormone levels (14). As this is the minimal amount of fat to ensure a
healthy diet, I would not go below this amount.

As far as carbohydrates, we want to make sure we’re consuming

enough to keep glycogen levels topped up. Low glycogen has been
shown to reduce strength and increased protein breakdown during
high-intensity resistance training (17,18). Provided you’re not doing
a ridiculous amount of volume or running a marathon, 3 grams of
carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight per day should be
sufficient (19).

Once you’ve met your minimum protein, fat and carbohydrate

requirements, how you spread the remaining calories doesn’t matter
that much. At the end of the day, the diet plan on which a client
feels best and finds easiest to follow will result in a higher level of
adherence and ultimately success.

Lastly, another important factor of nutrition is water intake. As a rule

of thumb daily water intake should be approximately 1ml per calorie
consumed, not including additional water losses through training
(22).

It has been shown that dehydration of even 1 to 2% can

compromise performance. Now I’m not a nutritionist and I won’t
pretend to be, so if this is a topic of interest to you and something
that you want further information on, you should definitely check
out the Performance Nutrition Coach Level 1 online course from
Clean Health.

REFERENCES

8. Houtham SD, Rowlands DS. A snapshot of nitrogen balance in

endurance trained women. Applied Physiology Nutrition and
Metabolism . 2014; 39(2):219-25.
9. Helms ER, et al. Evidence-based recommendations for natural
bodybuilding contest preparation: nutrition and supplementation.
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2014; 11: 20.

14. Wang C, et al. Low-Fat High-Fiber Diet Decreased Serum and

Urine Androgens in Men. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &
Metabolism. 2005; 90 (6): 3550-3559.

17. Leveritt M & Abernethy PJ. Effects of carbohydrate restriction on

strength performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning
Research. 1999;13, (1), 52-7.

18. Lemon PW, Mullin JP: Effect of initial muscle glycogen levels on
protein catabolism during exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology.
1980, 48 (4): 624-9.

19. Haff GG, et al. Carbohydrate supplementation attenuates muscle

glycogen loss during acute bouts of resistance exercise.
International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.
2000 Sep;10(3):326-39.

22. Popkin BM, D’Anci KE, Rosenberg IH. Water, Hydration and
Health. Nutrition Reviews. 2010;68(8):439-458.