How is your program different?
This is a beginner online barbell strength program to increase your base strength. You will get stronger by about 15 pounds per week in natural human movement patterns like the squat, deadlift, bench press and over head press.
You are already doing these movement patterns throughout the week. You are just going to get much stronger in them. If you bend down and pick up a child, you just mimicked the deadlift. If you lift a box over your head to put it in the attic then you just did an overhead press. If you grab a 50 pound bag of fertilizer out of your truck and squat it down on the ground then you just did the squat.
Anybody can do this program regardless of age or shape. The more you are complaining about aches and pains in your body then the more you need a program like this. A stronger body will always hurt less than a weaker body. A stronger back will always hurt less than a weaker back. A stronger body = a stronger mind.
Not just stronger muscles but your bones will become denser, and your tendons and ligaments will become stronger. My average client is over 40 and these are the the things that start to deteriorate and this program will reverse the process. If you have never trained for strength in a program like this then you will be stronger than you ever have been in your life. Whether you're 40, 50, 60 or 70. Out of all the levers you can pull for your health I believe strength training is the one that offers a true "fountain of youth". When you feel stronger than your 20 year old self, you will know what I mean.
You don't have to wonder whether this program is working or not because the numbers on the barbell don't lie. Each time you show up I'm going to add 5 pounds to your lift. You will be feeling great about yourself as you hit a new PR every time you workout. This process can last several months before we have to adjust the programming. All the data will be kept on your App.
Simple and time efficient - Only lift 3 x per week. That's only 3 hours per week! We only do three lifts per workout. We squat, then we either bench press or overhead press and we end with the deadlift. We only do 3 sets of 5 reps for all the lifts except for the deadlift which we only do 1 set of 5 reps. I know, complexity is all the rage these days on the internet on workout programs but getting strong is a very simple process.
You will not feel sore in this program! Maybe the first workout or two but after that it goes away and you feel like your muscles are tired and got a good workout but you will not feel sore. It's a very mellow or natural way of working out. This is NOT anything like Crossfit. This is not a cardio type workout. You are not going to be destroying your body and laying in a pool of sweat wondering how you survived. I'm not here to destroy you, I'm here to help you get stronger.
I will train you initially over a zoom call showing you the proper technique of how to do the lifts. If you live in the Austin area, we can do this at my garage or at your gym. I will program your week with the exact amount of weight you will be lifting. You will video the last set of each workout and upload it on a custom App. I will review your video and have feedback for you by the end of the day.
#liftheavyshit #barbellcoach #getstrong #strength #deadlift #squat #strengthcoach
I will never post a before/after pic of a guy without his shirt on or a girl in a bikini.
I don't care about your beach bod. I don't care about your abs.
I care about whether you are getting stronger or not.
I will post videos of my clients doing their lifts and the RESULTS of how strong they have gotten.
With that said, the secondary benefit of doing a strength program is you will look damn good.....especially with your clothes on. It's just not my focus as a coach to highlight that in a post.
#liftheavyshit #getstrong
Congrats to Devin for hitting a new PR of 450lbs on the deadlift. His bar speed looks really good and I think he's sandbagging. He could have pulled another 15 to 20lbs.
A year ago he was only deadlifting 175lbs before deciding to strength train. How did he go from 175lbs to 450lbs? We added 5lbs per workout. His deadlift was increasing by about 15lbs per week. He travels a lot so some weeks he missed a few sessions.
Devin just joined jiujitsu a couple of months ago and said his new base strength is a game changer when he rolls with opponents of equal skill. He pretty much dominates them with his strength and gives other higher ranked belts a tough time on the mats.
When two people are equal in skill and one person increases their base strength, they now have a competitive advantage.
#deadlift #liftheavyshit
Being sore from a workout does not make you stronger. It just makes you hurt.
I hear too many people complain how sore they are from their workouts yet they think it’s some badge of honor that they have to go through to prove that their program is working.
You don't have to do a workout program that makes you sore though. If you are training for strength with an intelligent linear progression model your body will adapt to the work out and you will only feel sore the first couple of workouts. After that, you will never feel sore. Your muscles will feel tired that day like they got a good workout but they wont feel sore. For example if you are attempting a new squat PR for say 275lbs for 5 reps of 3 sets, you won't feel sore.
Now you can train for strength and enjoy the time in between your workouts with other hobbies without complaining how sore you are.
Would you rather be out the next day playing golf or basketball feeling very sore or feeling refreshed?
Skinny guy: Bro, why would I do barbell strength training with low reps and heavy weight? All my social media influences say that I won’t get hypertrophy that way. And bro, I want massive hypertrophy. I think I’ll pass on your program.
Me: I see skinny guy 9 month later and skinny guy still looks skinny with some tiny bumps on his arms and chest.
There’s this ridiculous notion lately flying around the internet that hypertrophy equals high reps and low weight and that strength training with heavy weight and low reps does not work for hypertrophy.
Like many things on the internet these days, this is Fake News.
Let's look at the numbers of a typical novice who starts a barbell strength training program and compare it to where they could be in 9 months. The numbers below are very typical of the results we see.
Let's say skinny guy is 6 feet and weighs 170lbs. If eating enough calories and protein they could easily be 200+lbs in 9 months.
They could take their squat from 100lbs to 350lbs. What do you think their quads will look like being able to squat 350lbs? They will look a lot bigger than when they could only squat 100lbs.
They could take their deadlift from 140lbs to 405lbs. What do you think will happen to the size of their neck, traps, and forearms when they can deadlift over 400lbs? They will have gotten much bigger. They have to.
They could take their bench press from 135lbs to 225lbs. What do you think their chest will look like being able to bench 225lbs?
The truth is the skinny guy who went with a "hypertrophy" program probably didn't grow that much. (unless they are taking steroids).
If your goal is to get bigger (hypertrophy) and stronger, then there's no faster way then starting a Novice Linear Progression with barbell strength training.
#hypertrophy #barbellcoach #Strength #barbelltraining #liftheavy #getstrong
Balance is a derivative of strength.
If you want to improve your balance, then getting your base strength up is the fastest way.
As we age, we don't lose something called "balance". We lose our strength as our muscles start to deteriorate. The best thing an elderly person can do it keep from falling is to increase their base strength which will increase their balance.
For younger people, I often see videos of them trying to improve their balance by holding on to dumbbells and standing on one leg on an unstable surface. Not sure if this is effective as they think it is.
I think most people would be better served to focus on getting their base strength up in natural human movement patterns like the squat, deadlift, overhead press and the bench press and would find this to be the single best lever you can pull for balance.
1 week promo.
New Client: How strong is strong enough?
Me: You are asking a barbell strength coach how strong is enough? That’s like asking Michael Saylor how much Bitcoin is enough.
It’s actually a fair question to ask but sometimes difficult to answer. Most new clients have no idea how strong they can get in just a few months and if I tell them those numbers they sometimes get intimidated given they are struggling with the numbers they are currently lifting.
My typical response is let’s just focus on adding 5lbs each workout to your lift and let’s let that play out. When framed this way, it’s not so intimidating to know you just have to add 5 more pounds versus if I throw a number out saying you will be deadlifting 315 in a couple of months or 405 within a year.
I think at the bare minimum a client should go through Novice Linear Progression. Meaning we will add 5lbs to each workout until we can’t. At that point, you have built an incredible Base Strength that really is life changing.
If the client is hooked to this type of workout then they can continue getting stronger but the programming will change from 15lbs per week to more like 10lbs or 5lbs increases per week.
I know. I still haven’t given you actual numbers and that may be the wrong thing to do with bitcoiners. For now, let’s just focus on adding 5lbs to your next workout.
#getstrong #liftheavyshit #liftheavy
The pitch.
What can you expect if you start barbell strength training with a linear progression model?
1. Results - You will be hitting a new PR on all your lifts 3x per week for a few months. Numbers on the barbell don't lie. You will be getting stronger by 15lbs every week on the main lifts. (Squat, Deadlift, Press, Bench Press) This process is very addicting. Who doesn’t love hitting a new PR!
2. Feeling like a badass - Strength training with low reps and heavy weight makes you feel stronger all day. It's different than high reps/low weight and chasing a short pump at the gym. Being strong is a feeling that you feel every waking moment and it makes living life feel easier.
3. Simple and time efficient - We are only lifting 3x per week which comes out to about 3 hours per week. That's all you need to build strength. I see too many people on social media selling complexity for working out. Trust me, getting stronger is extremely simple. We are getting back to first principles.
4. Aesthetics - For guys, you will look bigger and stronger when you walk into a room. People take notice of a strong confident man. Most other programs have you looking skinny and the only time someone knows you are working out is when you take your shirt off at the pool. (seriously bro, I don't care about your abs) Getting stronger makes you look better with clothes on. For ladies, it’s a myth that you will look too big and bulky. My female clients usually go down a size in clothes but may gain a little weight. Muscle weighs more than fat is the reason.
5. Back and Shoulder pain gone - The number one feedback I hear is that peoples back pain and shoulder pain from sitting at a desk in front of a computer all day goes away within a couple of weeks. I'll write more about this in another post but remember that a stronger back will always hurt less than a weaker back.
If you are interested in my online coaching services, I'm running a holiday special where you can get 3 months of training for $585 instead of $675. That comes out to $195 per month or $16 per session. Yes, I accept bitcoin.
This is Derik. A very competitive basketball player who is looking to increase his base strength to get a competitive edge on the court. I have him pressing twice a week in addition to squats, deadlifts and bench press. He started out at 65lbs and is now up to 95lbs. Until now we have just been adding 5lbs per workout
The press is one of the first lifts you will hit the wall and then programming will have to change from adding 10lbs per week to adding 5lbs per week. I like to add volume as well as the press seems to respond well to volume.
It’s also one of the more technical lifts to learn and if you don’t have good technique its almost impossible to lift it over your head when the weight gets heavy. In this video, my client needs to have a closer grip and keep his elbows up in order to maximize efficiency.
The little hip thrust you see him doing is a technique we use to create a little bounce in the bar to help it get moving upwards.
#getstrong #basestrength #liftheavy