Fashion Show

"Pants up-shirt down Part 2"


Shawn, our favorite SHW runway model made an appearance today. He said he had to work out some frustration after a bad Mapquest experience caused him to miss an appointment (I think it was some kind of modelling shoot). He said something about mapquesting directions to the guy-who-invented-mapquest's-house to give him a piece of his mind but Matt and I pretended we didn't hear him (not wanting to be witnesses and all).


Wearing an Izod shirt with the alligator cut off and green fatigue shorts, which he called his deadlift suit, he looked like Santa's helper and put on a nice display of pulling power. His deadlifts looked like this:
225x1, 405x1, 500x1, 600x1, 635x1


Then he went to the power rack and pulled from pins just below his knees. His first set was 700x1, then 735x1. He lowered the pins one position and pulled 700x1. He lowered the pins another position and pulled another single. Finally when the pins couldn't go any lower he put two mats that elevated him one inch higher on the floor and pulled a final time. I think he ended up pulling 675 or something like it with the plates approximately 2" off the floor. He made all rack pulls overhand with straps and wore no belt all day. Shawn said he is getting some "pop" out of the bottom with his new deadlift get-up. But he was unable to assign a carryover number to it. He did some GPP work and left.


The interesting thing about Shawn's training is not so much the infrequency of it as the volume and intensity of the workouts. If you take the last 3 sets of his deadlift (500, 600 and 635) they represent 3 lifts at 90+ percent (assuming a 1RM of 635), totalling 1735 pounds. For comparison, on one of my ME lower days from earlier this year, I worked up to 3 singles over 90% totalling 1365 pounds. Compare the volume; 1735 to 1365. This is representitive of the amount of work we are capable of doing. The difference of 370 pounds is his larger work capacity. (That is why extra workouts are valuable because, depending on if you are doing them for recovery or to build weaknesses, you are increasing the volume of work.)

At his advanced level (with higher work capacity), he is able to become stronger with what looks like minimal training. His recovery time is increased because of the volume of work he does. (For example, his seven work sets of deadlifts and rack pulls total 4545 pounds.) He puts an immense strain on his central nervous system. Because of his work schedule, he often trains benchpress and squat/ deadlift on consecutive days. And the volume of work he does on upper body days is similiar. Whereas one may rest 24-48 hours between CNS-intensive trainings, he often gets by on less rest making for less than optimal recovery. Extra workouts could help speed recovery, time permitting, in his case.

Once one looks at his training in light of these facts, one can see how he has gotten to the level he is at. In fact, when one considers that he competed in strongman events for several years after totalling Elite in powerlifting, and has come back stronger in some of his lifts, especially the benchpress, one can see an example of how conjugate training can work.

Anecdotely speaking, I watched Shawn do seated overhead DB presses with 150-pound DBs (in each hand) for reps. This was when he was training specifically for strongman events. Then in the subsequent year, I watched him smash his old benchpress pr and set a huge new one (after not benching for a few years!) At one point, when training for one of the summer meets, we discussed him doing a raw meet (to set a raw PR). He was close to pressing 500 pounds raw then.

Training for strength is a fascinating and all-consuming pursuit. At the highest levels it constantly evolves. And there is much to learn, good and bad, by opening one's eyes to what is around you. Don't ever stop learning! And...have fun!!!

Get strong(er),
Ed T.