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Monday, March 22, 2010

Bench, DB PP, Chin 3-22-10

Begin 2nd Cycle 5-3-1

Bench Press - 115/5, 130/5, Max 150/16 (PR + 6 reps and 5lbs on 2-10-10)
DB Push Press - 60/5, 70/5, 75/5
Weighted Chinup - 10lb x 5, 20lb x 5, 30lb x 5

5 comments:

ruth said...

I came across your Olympic Squat post from June of last year and I was wondering if you came to any conclusions? I've been low bar squatting (more for GPP) but now am looking to go to an Oly meet in April. I am ridiculously pos chain dominant unfortunately, so I'm looking to go back to the high bar... Any insight? I've gone to both Oly and Barbell (Rip's) certs and know of both camps and their really convincing arguments. Just wanted to get your experience with it.

JAK said...

Talking squat form is like talking religion or politics with many people. Can be a very polarizing subject. I personally think both forms of the squat are good.

I'd say it really depends on your goals. I still feel as though HBBS are better if you are an Olympic Lifter. And I may even be of the opinion that they are better no matter what, but I'm not sure. So I don't just mean national level Oly competitors. The regular joe shmoe who wants to dabble in Oly will benefit greatly from HBBS too. You can work up to lifting very heavy weights with HBBS and with the increased depth of a nice HBBS, I think its better for Oly.

If you are super posterior chain dominant, then I think FS should be a staple for you. But it also depends on where your overall strength levels are. If you are already an intermediate or advance lifter who is strong, then focusing primarily on FS would definitely be the way to go imo. But if you are weak (like I was, and still am) then you need to be doing BS of some form to bring your overall strength levels up. Working higher rep BS (ie: 3x5) and heavy single rep FS was working real well for me while I was training at California Strength. I don't know if you have a coach who is programming for you or what, but that would be my advice if you fall into the 'less strong' category like me and like most people do. I know of a number of Oly coaches who even think you can pretty much drop back squats out of your Oly programming and just do FS. I don't know that I agree with that, but I'd say focusing on FS would be important to get your quads up to par. Oly lifting relies so heavily on quads, you've just got to fix that. On the other hand I do know of some Olympic lifters who LBBS. But its just not the route I'd go with. The most impressive athletes I've ever seen are Olympic Lifters. So for me, I want to strive after those types of adaptations.

For what its worth it took me 5 months to get my HBBS from 230 to 285 where my LBBS was when I switched over to HBBS. So be prepared for a reset. In the end though, I think it'll be beneficial to you as an Olympic Lifter, and in the long run as a crossfiter as well because crossfit's 9 fundamental movements are based around the Olympic Lifts.

However maybe the best answer is do what you enjoy most. Have fun in the gym. Be consistent with whatever you do. I think HBBS are better for an Oly athlete (and maybe for most everyone) but as long as you are doing some form of BS and FS consistently, thats the most important thing!

JAK said...

Oh and my experiences are just a drop in the bucket. The vast, VAST majority of Olympic Lifters world wide, do HBBS. And they are doing that on the advice of some very knowledgeable coaches. So take their experiences and advice as more convincing then what I've experienced and HBBS! =)

Thanks for stopping by and asking for my thoughts. If you couldn't tell, I enjoy talking about this stuff.

ruth said...

I appreciate you taking the time to go into it. I have been on a linear program for a while and about to stall in my LBBS, so I'm almost welcoming a change. I've heard arguments made by Burg/Everett vs Rip/70sbig camps and wanted to get the opinion of someone who went through that transition. Thanks for taking the time. Trust me, I could go on and on too about this stuff.

I'll start adding HB into my programming and some more FS days here and there. Thanks again.

JAK said...

Cool. Be sure to check back in and let me know how things go down the line.