elitefts™ Sunday edition

Introducing the MBA Meathead

Introduction

I am a mediocre to fair lifter, having totaled elite in a couple weight classes. However, people tell me the elite designation doesn’t mean much these days, so I don’t pay much attention to it. It’s kind of like a guy who hit 500 HR in the big leagues, which used to be a lock for the Hall of Fame, but now is barely able to stay on the ballot. While I may not be donning magazine covers or the subject of message board discussions (thankfully), I’ve learned from some very good lifters and should have some decent tips to pass along.

At the end of the day, my lifting is secondary anyway. I am here to reinforce that powerlifters are much more than the stereotype presented by tootsie-rolling Planet Fatness marketers and their ilk. We’re everywhere from boardrooms to factories, representing all layers of education and experience. For my part, I dwell in the land of cubicles and hope to provide insight into the life of big-business from the perspective of a bloated, purple-faced, back-cramping, high-squatting, multi-ply meathead. Kind of like Dilbert for powerlifters.

Background

I lifted for over a decade in my 20′s and 30′s by myself either in gyms, or in my garage/basement. Training was not focused on powerlifting and included a lot of compound movements with a bodybuilder split. The programming was unvaried and steadfast. The same routine and same lifts were employed for the better part of that decade. For major lifts, nothing less than 25 pound plates were used on the bar. Each session contained a one to five rep max. When I felt I could jump that next quarter or plate on each side, I did. Accessory lifts were done with a goal of three sets of eight reps. Once I hit that workload for a given movement, I increased the weight to the next dumbbell in the rack or next plate on the stack and go until I could hit three sets of eight, then I’d increase the weight and repeat. Over a decade, using that same boring program and consuming countless protein shakes, I added 80 pounds of beefcake to my infrastructure. This is what I consider the dues-paying period that allowed me to get in a position to hit bigger lifts.

Then, I found powerlifting. I always enjoyed the training in and of itself. Progress was always the goal, but I never cared much for what the numbers were. It was more about the process. Powerlifting forced the focus on three specific results (squat, bench press and deadlift one-rep maxes), which gave training a new purpose. Once a higher powerlifting total was the stated goal, it did not take long to find elitefts.com™ and the wealth of knowledge contained therein. That led me to Dave Tate and others at the company, which eventually led to me writing this article series.

From a professional standpoint, my background includes an undergrad degree in business and an MBA in finance. I labored at multiple Fortune 500 companies on fairly high-level financial projects, with dollar figures climbing into the billions. I recently accepted a new position, resulting in relocation and training in a commercial gym for the first time in many years. This is very entertaining and will be the subject of at least a few paragraphs over time.

Training

I enjoy competing. Not so much to measure myself against others in the meet, but to measure myself against myself. What others do is not all that important. Knowing whether I’m performing above or below the standards set for myself is important. Competing provides that determination. My last meet was in October, so I’m still in a non-meet training period where the focus is more on improved conditioning and ensuring the body is rested and prepared for the 12-15 week cycle that will precede the next competition.

This means training is not overly structured at this stage. When the meet cycle starts, stay tuned. It will be based on prior programs written for me by Dave Tate and should give good insight into his methodology and philosophy. I’ll try to explain the why’s behind the program, which will be based on blocks with two dynamic effort and two max effort days per week.

Gym Pic of the Day – Commercial Edition

One thing Dave likes to do from time-to-time is post a ‘gym pic’ of the day. This is usually of the empty elitefts™ S4 warehouse gym from a cool angle to show how awesome it is to be at S4. My gym pic of the day is the opposite of that. As part of the recent relocation, I am living in an apartment for the near term and have placed all gym equipment and household goods into storage. Thus, I was required to find a public gym. Being in one of the largest planned communities in the country, also known as suburbia hell, there was no shortage of commercial establishments from which to pick for my training. After seeing much hair gel, smelling much body spray and never catching a single glimpse of chalk, I found a place that is as good as its gonna get.

They have a power rack with a deadlift platform attached in the corner that nobody uses and enough useful other equipment to get by. I say useful because every place has equipment, but not every place has useful equipment. The gym is more country club than training facility, so the entire free weight area is usually sparsely populated. And, every one of the 100+ pieces of cardio equipment has its own TV screen with a cable attached, which would be nice if I ever used cardio equipment.

This is a picture of the flat bench press. Its design is utterly baffling. I’d say that nobody who has ever lifted would have designed this piece, but that is not possible. It is so beautifully dysfunctional that only someone who has lifted and intentionally wanted to annoy people could have built such a contraption. It starts with the horizontal support beam. In addition to being placed exactly where your head travels when lying down to get into position; it has the added benefit of blocking any would-be spotters from standing close enough to actually help if the bar were to dump. Next, are the uprights and j-hooks. There are two sets of hooks. The lower hooks are near face level and only good for dumping the bar into on a missed lift. The top hooks are too high for anyone trying to take the bar out correctly, with shoulders back, and require a significant rounding and arching of the back to clear. Last, but not least, is the pad. It is completely stationary and bolted into place, but was brilliantly split into three sections. The bottom section being the coup de grace of the piece – a bicycle seat. If someone can explain what use could ever come from a bicycle seat on a stationary flat bench, I would love to hear it. I am at a total loss.

Looking Ahead

This is intended to be a once-a-month series. I hope to bring solid training insights along with professional observations and advice with some humor thrown in. If anyone has any business topics they would like to see covered, feel free to submit a comment below and I’ll take care of it. Thanks for reading.

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