Archives For Eric Cressey

This week my lower back was bothering me more than normal so I decided to replace low bar squats with high bar squats.

They have allowed me to squat despite low back pain in the past, and I can still say it's still effective.

I even hit a 5 rep max at 427.5 lb!

Bench press (reverse grip) is continuing to progress, as I hit the prescribed sets and reps at 317.5 lb (3x3). Recorded it at different angles to see what it looked like:

Also played around with the "Modified Bradford Press", which is essentially an overhead press followed by a behind the neck press. Not bad.

Anyway, check these out:

  1. Strength: An Endangered Species by Joe Amberlock (Orlandi)
  2. 15 Static Stretching Mistakes by Eric Cressey
  3. A Logical Argument Against the Tracy Anderson Method by Dean Somerset

Well, I only got a 4 rep max on the bench press this week while aiming for a 5RM:

Out of all the 4 major barbell lifts that I do, the bench press benefits most from a little bit of psyching up and aggression. At least for me. I'll inject more of this next week when I attempt 5 reps again.

Other than that, my lower back seems to be aching more than normal, so I might "de-load" this week. We'll see.

Anyway, try this out:

And listen to and watch these:

  1. Interview with Captain Kirk by Paul Carter
  2. Deadlift Technique: How to Take the Tension Out of the Bar by Eric Cressey

 

Got a 210lbs x 5 OHP PR this week, and hit a paused bench PR of 340lbs as well.

I am sensing a 225lbs x 3 OHP and bench press of 345lbs very soon...!!

Anyways, check out a couple of articles I came across his past week, and a really insightful interview with Marty Gallagher:

  1. No Squats and Barbell Rowing? By Ben Bruno
  2. 3 Coaching Cues For The Deadlift by Eric Cressey
  3. Marty Gallagher Interview on Iron Radio

Over the course of the past few weeks, I've made some changes to Texas Method protocol I’m following. Here they are:

  1. Warm up - I’m testing out Charles Poliquin’s advice to warm up with a weight that’s higher than the work set (ex. 315lbs x 1 rep, followed by 300lbs x 5 x 5). This supposedly will “jazz up” your nervous system and by using a heavier weight during the warm up, the folowwing work sets will feel much lighter.
  2. Dips on recovery days instead of bench presses. I’ve been having issues with shoulder inflammation, so doing dips should feel less stressful. I’ve read it also helps with getting stronger on the overhead press. Also, nothing else gives my chest and triceps a huge pump like dips.
  3. Push press on recovery days instead of over head press. This should allow me to handle a very heavy weight (relative to regular over head press). Also, the low volume I’m doing shouldn’t affect my recovery.
  4. 3 sets of squats on volume days when I’m doing over head presses. I power clean the weight for overhead presses, and I find that after 5 sets of squats, my lower back is too sore. And I feel pretty damn exhausted after 5 x 5 squats.
  5. Removed power cleans and added pull ups to recovery days again.

Stuff You Should Read

  1. Dr. John Berardi documents his experience with intermittent fasting
  2. Chad Waterbury explains why you (and everyone else!) needs more strength, and "the only type of sport specific training worth doing is the sport itself". I couldn't agree more.
  3. Eric Cressey explains how change is imminent in your strength training program
  4. Jason Ferruggia shows you 23 random muscle building tips
  5. Charles Poliquin helps you identify 10 ways to spot a useless personal trainer
  6. The Iron Samurai Nick Horton writes an insightful article about Steve Job's quotes applied to weight lifting