After training for so many years (decades) since 1989, there is one thing about me that will simply NEVER die.
I'm ALL about the iron.
It doesn't matter what shape or size the weights are, I don't discriminate, I just love to lift. I get better with age, and the reason being is because I ALWAYS Lift and I ALWAYS Learn.
I have found MANY people are simply close minded.
They don't want to learn. They always respond, But this is how I've / we've always done _________ (fill in the blank).
Being hard headed leads to complacency. Complacency becomes laziness. Before you know it, this person's lack of willingness to evolves leads to stopping training altogether.
Here's a few lessons that have stuck with me for a loooong time, you'll see who has influenced me and who I learned these lessons from as well.
I will expand on this article soon, so there is More to come in Part II.
1) Deep Squats: Ya gotta respect the photo above, DEEP squatting.
Reminds me of when I was training for bodybuilding at age 19. I used to squat with a super close stance but didn't go down all the way. I was at Diamond Gym and a trainer there named Tony called me out. He made me widen up my stance as shown in the photo above and wouldn't let me go heavier than 135 until I sank down, below parallel.
He told me this is how powerlifters and olympic lifters train, allowing them to pack on thick, dense muscle to their quads, hams and glutes. He was right.
I kept saying I can't go any lower, he kept replying, I don't care what you THINK Zach, you're not going heavier until you go below parallel.
After a few sets at 135 I started to get LOW and FINALLY, he let me add weight. I had to take 2 steps back but in a few backs I was squatting 405 below parallel and adding leg size!
2) Lift Heavy in the 1 - 5 Rep Range.
We hear so much confusion about how to pack on muscle and gets strong it gets confusing. Granted, there are MANY ways to get stronger, bigger, faster, leaner and meaner....
I look through my old books and magazines and all of the Bodybuilders from the 60s and 70s utilized heavy basics with low reps AND high reps.
It was the ORIGINAL style of Power-Building.
3) Heal Your Body: It's actually not as hard to become stronger and bigger as it is to heal yourself when injured. There is NOTHING fun about injuries. The best thing is to avoid them altogether through proper training.
My wrestling experiences coupled with incorrect training in my early days caught up with me. I still recall my knee and shoulder pains in high school by junior year.
Injuries affect you mentally AND physically. The older you get, the more you wish you did more warm up, prehab & rehab work for your common nagging areas: knees, shoulders, back.
I now do a lot of high rep work with our younger athletes for our warm ups. They do this rep work for 50-100 reps per exercise and it has been GREAT for adding muscle while strengthening the tendons and ligaments.
Below, you'll see a quick warm up and some heavy Kettlebell Snatches.
This is minimalist training at it's best. I attack 2 heavy lifts in a workout and anything after that is icing on the cake.
Weekends get some sprint action to keep the cardio going as well as quick bursts of calisthenics.
Check the videos....
Thanks to the power of video editing the top of my lifts got cut off, check the 88lb snatches below. Time to get 10 reps, 5 reps ain't gonna cut it. 5 reps = average.
Part II coming soon.
Question for You: How have you changed your workouts lately and what is the latest thing you've learned with regards to lifting.
Drop a comment below, looking forward!
Live The Code 365,
--Z--
The Underground Strength Academy - Est 2005
17 Responses
zach I could watch this stuff all day. actually i do watch this stuff all day…I need to get a real job.
anyway, I’ve changed my workouts lately by adding lots of sledge hammer work and getting away from pure powerlifting to add more conditioning to my program. I check the underground routinely to get more ideas.
kill it bro
Zach,
Great stuff as always.
I think a very important point you made in the video is always keep learning. That is so important. I been lifting around 39-40 years now(about to be 54 get’s a little harder to remember every year).
The first video DEEP Squats you talk real man strength that’s it right there. I learned from a guy many years ago squat deep or don’t bother.
And lately I have been doing more bodyweight stuff to go with the weights and bells. Gives my workouts a whole new feel.
Strength and Honor Joe (Just watched Gladiator the other night)
Z, I havent seen your gym from this angle before… its almost a ghetto as mine! haha!
Big change in my training is the addition of LONG distance running (oh shit! did Elliott Hulse just say dat?)
Yea, I’ve decided to go on 3 mile runs a few times a week and it has really helped my focus and concentration with other training sessions and even when working on biz stuff…. its like meditation.
Everyone talks shit about how long distance running is bad (including me)… but take anyone who has been lifting for a long time and put their ass on the street to run a few miles and some SERIOUS physiological shifts are going to take place.
See ya in a few days!
Dude, those snatches were beast
As always great stuff Z… meaning and purpose. Elliot, I have to tell you, If I were you (and I’ve been there- running distance, including 6 marathons) I would turn those 3 miles of distance running into a 3 mile “rabbit run”… basically, do it on the clock… sprint for 30 seconds, then walk for 30 seconds and do it for the whole 3 miles… eventually decrease the walking time. Even better… do it in the woods on the trails. Just like chasing a rabbit. Talk about physiological changes. Over time the distance running, or I’ll just call it jogging… will take it’s toll even if you feel good now. Just a thought.
I’ve learned over the past 15 years that everything has it’s place. Just like Elliot said he has found a place for distance running in his workouts. Science would say it’s counter productive for a strongman to run distance. I guess I’ve learned that science can only go so far, the MAN has to pick up the slack at some point and make some non-scientific decisions to get better. I’ve also become better at filtering out junk in programs that cause clutter. Simplicity and efficiency can go a lot farther in training than complexity.
Z,
With football taking up a lot of my time I’ve been hitting a lot of body weight stuff. I’ve come up with a circuit that I hit in my garage of the following: Sand Bag Rows – 15, Push Up’s – 20, KB Swings – 20, Sand Bag Zercher Sqauts – 15, Split Squat Jumps – 10 each, KB Curl and Press – descending reps from 10. I bang out as many sets as I can with a short break in between. I just started this so I’ll keep you updated on my progress with it. It’s definitely different from my usual and kicking my ass big time.
I really appreciate the note about healing. You gotta take care of your body otherwise it won’t take care of you! Stretch! Stretch! Stretch!
Just switched over to an all bodyweight exercise routine.
Standard pushups, situps, chinups, bw squats. A lot of volume
using the 100 pushup, 100 situp, 200 squat, 50 pull up template. Also getting back to conditioning with KB swings,Turkish Get Ups and Prowler sled pushes up inclined driveway that is about 55 yards long.
Spent the entire summer using barbell exercises: squats, bench, deadlift, press. Started to hit the wall and recovery was getting slow,just feel like I needed a break from the heavy iron. Learning to listen to the body even more at this old age.
Zach, good stuff as always!
Zach,
I follow Jon Hinds MBG workout of the day. What is your view on his style of training, which doesn’t really have heavy barbell lifts. Would you say throw some in if you wanted to, just to add that kind of strength? I love his workouts, but I feel like throwing in some bench pressing, squats, deadlifts, and military presses might be a good idea. Do you have any recommendations?
Zach,
Your videos ALWAYS get me pumped. I train at home and at the local track with minimal equipment available, so am always looking for new ideas. Keep it up! You are a driving force!
Nice KB lifting Zach. Keep up the good work!
! lift (Bench, High-bar Squat, Power Clean & Press, or Deads)
20 minutes
Singles, doubles and triples for the allotted time.
Great way to get stronger and pack a ton of volume into a short amount of time.
I have gained 10 pounds in a few months doing this kind of thing.
Throw in an accessory lift in at the end if you want and you’ve got yourself a program that covers a ton of bases.
It’s kind of a spin on EDT.
I love it and will continue to use it!
1 lift*
Hey big ZEE, well I’m on your 12 month beast program and loving it!
I’m also learning from other coaches as much as I can before it’s time to get to anabolic zzzzz… :p
I learned about better preparing your CNS for the upcoming work from a certain doctor 🙂
also even tho I learned that it’s better to start of with the pure strength exercise (3-5) for me it’s even better if I do a power exercise BEFORE the pure strength exercise, like box jumps before heavy squats.
It really prepares your cns AND your joints too. The power movement of jumping alerts your cns + the landing actually makes your joints stronger cos of the mild stretch you put on the joints as you land.
Then I do these 3 short stages before the first 3 sets of a strength exercise to tell my muscles “ok this is what we’re doing right here so brain, eyes on the prize”
I’m sure this all helped increase my squat by 22lb in freakin’ 3 weeks AND double the reps, so…me happy 🙂
more of the meathead cribs! a few of those books i saw on joe’s shelf are on my amazon list right now!! it’s also good to see that you both recommend the e-myth so much. it definitely helped me a lot.
Matt, I love what Jonny does w/MBG, for sure, if you see a workout that allows for room to begin with a powerlift then go for it
Jon is strong as hell, but, I am prob like you bro, I need a heavy barbell to throw around every here and again.
Definitely go for it, it’s a great blend of strength, power, conditioning and muscle building!