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Introduction – Strength for the Masses

yoke + atlas stone, sumoman

Here on 12th May 2012 (a sunny Saturday) I hoist a 100 kg lump of concrete over a Yoke bar – note that all the pictures on this guide are clickable for your added education.

It occurs to me that in all my years of rambling on about lifting that I have yet to pass on to you, dear reader, the whole methodology of my heroic strength, i.e. to present the information in ‘text book’ format to you. So here goes…

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Dodo

505.4 kg straddle lift, sumoman

The above lift involves 1114.2 lbs per inch of movement

Some years ago I was performing a cycle of the above exercise. As the weights got heavier I decided that it would be sensible to incorporate static stretching of the hip extensors as an injury preventative measure.

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Strength and Conditioning Research

228kg sumo, 163kg deadlifts, sumoman

I sumo, therefore I deadlift.

For those of you not in the know I have important information. Chris Beardsley and Bret Contreras have launched Strength and Conditioning Research, which is a monthly publication covering scientific reasearch in strength and conditioning, biomechanics, physiology and physical therapy.

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Rate of Gain II

213 kg × 10 squat, sumoman 203 kg × 10 squat, sumoman

14th January 2012 to 25th February 2012 – 203 kg × 10 reps to 213 kg × 10 reps

As per my post on Rate of Gain my partial squat from 1025 mm for 10 reps has improved from 203 kg to 213 kg in 42 days which is 42.8%.y-1.

That may seem massive… but from 12th August 2007 my partial squat from 1025 mm for 10/11 reps has improved from 183 kg to 213 kg in 1658 days which is 3.6%.y-1, which is an improvement from the previous 2.5%.y-1 Rate of Gain.

Gains may bounce around in the short term but the long term average is the thing to look out for.

Rate of Gain

281 kg deadbar, sumoman 292 kg deadbar, sumoman

12th September 2010 to 14th January 2012 – 283 kg at a handle height 390 mm to 292 kg at a handle height of 385 mm (in preparation for the 300 kg Farmer’s Walk)

My Deadbar lift from 385/390 mm has improved from 283 kg to 292 kg in 489 days which is 2.4%.y-1.

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