Maximising Minimalism

Morgan, thats a fantastic squat,. Anytime someone reps 3 plates he is doing well.

Bree, farmers walk for grip.

Betcats I dont even know who you are.

Issue # 76 will explain more. You guys can do whatever the f u c k you like in the gym, it only affects you, but my clients pay me dollars, they need to improve at a faster rate. Why pay me. Coz I can get it done quicker.

Hyjak on here, David, benched 80kg two weeks ago and missed 85kg, it was a PB. Tonight he benched 95kg. Thats why I get the big bucks. lol.

My little boy Max has already surpassed one of my PB's. My best powerclean is 107.5kg @ 90kg. Tonight he cleaned 108.5kg @ 68kg. One down, four to go.

I was 45 when I did it, he is 17.

Thats the kind of progress people can make in the gym. He squats 145kg down to a 29cm box, over double bodyweight.

I know, understand and can implement the best training styles for any individual.

Emma squated 90kg tonight, 3 months training, 65kg.

All exercise is good. If your paying a trainer/coach, you best be getting better results and the average lifter. If your in no hurry, who gives a f u c k what you do or how long it takes.

Max will squat 200kg and clean 150kg before he is 20. I have never met anyone who can do that. At any age or weight in my 30 years of lifting in gyms. I'm not sure anyone on here has.

I use Max as an example because he is the only lifter I have 100% control over training, eating and rest. From his first session until now.

My wife has 6 state powerlifting titles. I have been responsible for her training from day one.

The same training I give them I give to my clients, they train side by side. I hate it when I see someone wasting his time, I should just turn away, but if I help just one person, I can cop the flack of 50 others.

There was no one around to help me when I started, Max is the beneficiary of what I've learnt, its why he'll smash every lift I ever did......except the bench press lol, by the time he is 20.

PTC said:

Max will squat 200kg and clean 150kg before he is 20. I have never met anyone who can do that. At any age or weight in my 30 years of lifting in gyms. I'm not sure anyone on here has.

Click to expand...

My dad has at 83kg, 180kg clean and press and 220 squat at age 20. He was in competitive weightlifting in Poland though.

Was your wife into lifting when you met her or did she get into it through you?

Howzit, that is brilliant effort. I know that thousands of people have done it, I simply stated I had never seen anyone do it.

Nina started lifting when we met at age 23. She used to jog when we first met, was extremely healthy and weak lol

I want to answer your grip question Bree.

The use of wraps in an interesting problem.

One side says that by your grip giving out, you cant train the back hard enough.

The other says that you are only as strong as your weakest link.

Why deadlift with 100kg if you cant pick it up anyway.

Neither is wrong or right, both have good points.

I go the way of eliminating wraps and strengthening the grip. Wraps arent allowed in any comps, so if that was your goal, its no good anyway.

It also prevents your grip from getting stronger. Some try and strengthen grip through light weights etc, but the best strength comes from heavy deads etc, but if your using wraps on that its pointless.

Now, no one has ever failed a lift at PTC due to grip. We train with fat bars as well as rocks and kegs etc. The grip cops a pounding. I have Captain of Crush grippers which are the gold standard in world grip strength comps. I also have 2 Rolling Thunder handles.

As far as men go, a 260kg deadlift offers no problem with grip, woman lifting 130-135kg have no issues. One lifter performed a 150kg one arm deadlift, try that some time. Because wraps are not allowed at PTC comps, they are not allowed in training.

Farmers Walk with 35kg DB's till they fall from your hands are the simplest easiest thing you can do for now to strengthen your grip. And traps. And core. And lungs.

This post is tongue in cheek, do not get offended, but hopefully it will make you think.

I play footy in the street with my son. Am I a footballer?
I play cricket in the driveway with my son. Am I a cricketer?
I shoot hoops with my son(badly). Am I a basketballer?
I break out into dance when I hear Beyonce sing "Stick a finger in it". Am I a dancer?
I lift weights in the gym. Am I a bodybuilder?

The answer to all these of course is no. But why is it only the last category is the one that most people think is true.

Lets be clear on this, bodybuilding was my first love. I actually bet that I have more bodybuilding magazines than the combined forum. I have issues from the early 1960's. I have an immeasurable ammount, more boxes full than I can ever count.

I spent 3 weeks of my honeymoon training at Golds Gym in Venice beach. I met stacks of pro bodybuilders and had my picture taken with them at Golds. I loved the sport.

But I was never a bodybuilder, no matter how many split routines, isolation exercises etc I did.

Bodybuilders compete.
Powerlifters compete.
Weightlifters compete.
Strongman competitors compete.

We are all recreational lifters if we dont compete. Bodybuilders are the most dedicated athletes on the planet in my opinion. When preparing for a comp, they are on the job 24/7. Not one piece of unplanned food passes their lips.

That is what a bodybuilder does, he gets down to a frighteningly unhealthy body fat % in order to compete.

Your now going to say you "train" like a bodybuilder.

Well I kick like a footballer, I dance like a dancer, so what.

If you are a bodybuilder, compete.

I have never given training advice to a bodybuilder that hasnt asked for it, its 90% nutrition anyway. At PTC I have only ever had one bodybuilder train, he placed in a Mr Victoria comp...Nadir Shakoor, a very pleasant guy with okay strength.

This is Markos the Dancer signing off.

Lol @ "Markos the Dancer"

Markos, what do you think about physique/figure competitions? I have a few friends who are into competing. They look amazing on stage but they're certainly not as strong as your PTC girls. Just curious for your opinion?

I love all sorts of competition where the competitors lift weights to achieve their goal. I love the look weight trained females achieve, undoubtedly youve seen the pics of the girls in my newsletters.

Nina and I watch all of it, from figure to female strongman comps, sadly these are no longer around. Highland games, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, bodybuilding, I love it all, as does my son Max. I have an extensive video library that has old Mr Olympias, Miss Olympia, couples comps etc. I have judged drug free bodybuilding and powerlifting comps.

Most get the idea I am one dimensional, because most refuse to acknowledge that gyms are for strength, eating solves the rest.

Because eating requires 168 hours a week of effort, most are simply too lazy. Gym requires 3-5 hours a week, too easy.

If weights, power or strength are involved, I'm interested, female or male. I even like jelly wrestling......hey, its a sport lol....and its even better if women are involved

My dad, who was lifting those amazing weights at age 20, did not look as big as I do. He was physically stronger, but I look bigger now than he did at age 20 (I'm 18), bar the sick legs and lower back. He said he ate a shitload of meat, but he didn't get big. He went to the gym to get strong, I too go to the gym to get stronger, but focus more on size.

Issue # 76 is now up on the website if anyone is interested

Howzit, your dad sounds like my kind of lifter

In Poland they actually had real trainings. He tought me a lot. He started at age 15 with an empty bar for several months working up the technique for weightlifting. After a while, he got paid to train, they trained twice a day. I wish there was something like that here Too late for me now though.

ok so after this week i tried a few lifts out to get an idea of were my body is at..

Bench is no surprise, i can do 2 at 100kg no spot so 1 at 105 max should be easy, and doing 110, shouldnt be far away.

deads,... I tried to go as heavy as I have done but it was not to be, it felt ok at 60, 80, even 90kg, just for a few reps to see were i am at, i treid 100kg and instantly had a dont do that again feeling in my lower back upper hip area..my legs, and upper back could easily handle more..

Squats i managed to surprise myself

after a warmup i did
60 x 8
70 x 5, ..thats more than bodyweight.
80 x 4
90 x 1, thats feels damm heavy sitting on your shoulders.
and afterwards i had a funny feeling in my left knee like a painless limp?, anyways a bad sign..

Military press i managed to do a few at 45kg, after a heavy bench, i did do one at 50 but that was a tad much for my back aswell, i feel I tried to lean back a tad much, using more upper chest than purely shoulders.

So after that I will drop the weights down to about 80% of max, and aim more for doing sets and pushing the number of reps.

My legs are hell wobbly so it might take time to really push teh bigger weights..

but after that i feel my goal have moved up a tad
120 bench too close to not want it
140 squat, double body weight, should be obtainable
160 deads, that one could take a bit more to get to
60 or even Bw military press, that would be awsome

I assume my weight will be up from 66kg to closer to 70 by the time I acheive these...and loose a bit of fat, want to be down from 19%bf to 12%bf

Shouldn't all that be in your "days" thread?

it is, mostly,

but wanted to place it here aswell, as most of the discussion on topic was focusing on the basic lifts, and acheiving goals, i did these lifts to see were I was relating to the topic. It also shows were I Am up to so I can get feedback immediatly related to the topic. I know my lifts are a bit odd in relation to each other, and have never had a reall attempt at max deads and squats. But it shows they are closer to a bit normal than I thought and previously posted in here..

edit: moved this post to the "my journey" thread where it fits in a bit better