For me, training purely for raw strength is the most enjoyable pursuit in the world. The beauty of this endeavor lies in its simplicity. There is no secret ingredient or special sauce in the recipe.
Tasty but not effective for strength gains...
It all comes back to one common denominator: Your time spent under the bar.
Some are more genetically gifted than others, but what Pavel says is true: “Strength is a skill”
You have to learn to be strong and get good at lifting. Treat it like a sport and practice. You don’t always have to go hard but you’ve got to get in the gym and practice your skill. Practice pressing, practice squatting, practice dead lifting and practice whatever else you want to be strong at. The best lifters have practiced.
Don’t get fancy. Be “brilliant at the basics.” Learn Dan John’s essential movements: Squat, Hinge, Press, Row and Carry. Call me bias to Boyle, but I think you should get proficient at a single leg movement as well. All together that gives you 6 things to work on. 6 things. That’s not a lot to ask for. Practice the patterns DAILY and load them a few times a week. Do this for years and progress the pattern variation and intensity accordingly.
Slow, consistent progress is key. Don’t worry so much about Russian Periodization Models or the new Delt/Arm routine that Jimmy Gunz has in this months Muscle and Fitness.
Bill Starr’s 5×5, Jim Wendlers 5/3/1 or Dan John’s Mass Made Simple are all that 90% of people in this world need to reach their strength training goals.
I’ve been using Wendler’s 5/3/1 for my main lifts for years now and it hasn’t failed me yet. It goes like this. Find your max. Base your training numbers off 90% of that.
Week 1: 60% x 5/70% x 5/80% x 5+ (last set as many as possible, 5-9 rep range)
Week 2: 65% x 3/75% x 3/85% x 3+ (last set as many as possible, 3-7 rep range)
Week 3: 70% x 5/80% x 3/90% x 1+ (last set as many as possible, 1-5 rep range)
Week 4: Deload
Don’t miss reps. Learn to accept starting with lighter weights on the bar. Getting pinned because you wanted to impress the yoga pants on the elliptical is stupid and only impedes progress. Lift sub-maximally and set rep records weekly. If you did weight X for two more reps than you did last phase then you got stronger. At the end of each phase, if you are hitting your numbers then bump your max up 2.5 or 5 lbs. If you missed stay where you are. Adapt your numbers and repeat. Do this for years, consistently. I’m not kidding.
You need to stop over thinking accessory work. Ask yourself this: “What do I suck at?” Answer honestly and then go train that quality. Realize that Pareto’s Law applies here. You’ll get 80 percent of your results from 20% of what you do (i.e. your main lifts). The accessory work is exactly that, accessory. It’s there to supplement what you are already doing. Pick what needs work and train it. Wendler likes to prescribe 5 sets of 10 on assistance work. I do this and think it works great, but choose what works for you.
Here are my favorites…
Pulling: Chin-Up/Pull-Up Varitions, DB Row, TRX Row, Batwings, Sled Rope Pulling
Pressing: Close-Grip Bench, Floor Press, Board Press, OH KB Pressing, Push-Up Variations, Single Arm Pressing
Knee Dominant: Lunge Variations, Front Squat, Single Leg Squats, Heavy Sled Pushing/Dragging
Hip Dominant: SLDL, GHR, Hip Thrusts, RDL
Core: Anti-Rotations Press outs, Carrying Variations, Rollouts, Landmine, Cable Chops and Lifts.
A good choice for assistance work..
Your soft-tissue quality will certainly take a beating if you’re training hard, so take care of it. Think about a race car that never take a pit stop. Your body is no different. You can’t get stronger if your knees and shoulders go to shit.
Know where your mobility and stability weaknesses are and have a consistent soft-tissue maintenance routine. Use the roller and lacrosse ball daily. Stretch everything, do your mobility drills and movement prep work. Go get massage treatments periodically. This stuff is easy to do and not very strenuous so if you skip it you’re just being stubborn and lazy.
Eat to support what you’re trying to achieve. You won’t get bigger and stronger if you’re eating like a little girl. Consistent protein, starchy carbs, a variety of fruits and vegetable and post-workout shakes everyday is the key. Don’t waste your money on the XXX Super Sizer Mass Gainer at GNC instead, learn to cook quality meats and vegetables and don’t be afraid of having seconds.
Finally, learn that there will be ups and downs. Realize, that strength gains won’t be linear.
Think about it like this:
Lifting is like baseball, you won’t hit home runs on every swing. Sometimes you’ll hit singles, sometimes you’ll walk and even strike out. Month to month, you will have a lot of workouts that are “pretty good”, some that were “awesome” and a few that “flat out sucked.” Realize it’s not about the grand slams, it’s about your on base percentage. Keep in mind, the best lifters, just like the best hitters don’t miss often. Great hitters consistently get on base, similarly the best lifters consistently put in their reps year round. This assures long-term progress and a pretty good batting lifting average.
Thanks for reading,
Kevin
.jpg)
So simple but so true. It takes some practice to be good, at anything. Too bad people forget that when it comes to lifting…really good post
Thanks Roy! It’s true. It takes 1,000′s of reps.
Nice article. I have to admit that I was kind of surprised to hear an MBSC coach talk about doing Wendler. I guess training yourself and training athlete requires different programming.
Do you still the standard deadlift and back squat or do you implement single leg stuff instead?
Haha. Understandable Kev. We use his 5/3/1 model for our athletes trap bar deadlift and bench progressions. His idea is great and I think it works for almost any populations with main lifts.
With that said the way I train pure strength and train athleticism are different. Much more is considered when building an athlete. A lot more qualities to train.
We use trapbar deadlift as our only lower body bi-lateral lift. The rest is single leg. This is referring to our athletes.
Personally, I do a little of both.
Thanks for the clarification. I’ve been following your SLDL progressions as a warm up and still doing sumo dead lifts for my work sets. I’ve also been trying to learn single leg squats.
I completely agree with different programming for athletes and general population.
Do you personally go to technical failure as Coach Boyle advises or do you follow Wendler’s attitude of muscular failure?
I hope to be learning first hand this summer after i finish my bachelor’s as I just submitted internship application to MBSC.
Kevin
Great post Kevin, I completely agree. With the media and fitness companies introducing “new” fitness equipment all the time – people tend to forget about the basics. You don’t need to get fancy with your programming or exercise selection to build true strength and your post sums it up nicely. 5×5, The Texas Method or 5,3,1 are programs that are simple and very effective at building strength. Keep up the great work.
Jon
This is by far the best article I’ve read in my entire life! Great! Thank you!
Ines
Thanks Ines!! What a great compliment!!
Thoughts on Rippetoe/Starting Strength?
One of my first real reads on strength training. Everyone should start by reading that book.
Thanks Kevin.
Would you recommend the program? I noticed 5/3/1 & 5×5 etc, but no endorsement for SS. I’m debating on which one to start with, which is why I ask. I was thinking of 5/3/1, but SS seemed much more simple to follow, especially for a rookie. Just wanted to get your thoughts.
That is a very good article.