Monday, September 21, 2015

4 Weeks out .. Squats and Pulls

Typically 4 weeks out we are taking our 1st and 2nd attempts, and a 3rd to a reverse band. (Geared lifters).. also, we like to Squat and Pull the same day to get used to the meet workload.. that allows us to use Thursday (when we normally deadlift) as an additional Back Accessory day.

For the raw lifters, we stuck to the plan with Brian going 505-530-550 raw  in the squat, then some form pulls to 500 for two singles.

For the gear lifters, we look at today with a little flexibility - if the depth is there on the opener, then we will continue to go up to 2nd and 3rd attempts (RB).. if the depth is questionable, we will just use the day to retake the opener several times  .. (As many times as needed...) until depth is there/better..

After the squats we did some form deadlift pulls up to500lbs, pulling for 2 singles each and focusing on moving the weight fast..

Wrapped up with some light accessories of Reverse Sled drags and GHRs..

Video below:


Sunday, September 20, 2015

Greg Panora and Cory "Swede" Burns Seminar

On Saturday 9/12/15, we were fortunate enough to have two top-level lifters/coaches come down to Lakeville Powerlifting to hold a hands-on workshop/seminar with our team. We capped the attendance at 10 members so that each person would have a personalized experience.

Currently Greg Panora works as a powerlifting coach at Casco Crossfit, in Portland, Maine while Swede operates "Keyhole Barbell" in Apollo, PA. Panora is the current world record holder in the Equipped 242 division with a 2630 Total, and recently also totaled 2105 at 275 in the Raw class. Swede is an EliteFTS sponsored lifter and columnist, and has developed the "5th Set" training program which has been used by many lifters with great success.

Check out Swede's awesome E-book "5th Set" here:  (I bought a copy, and its an excellent refreshing way to train... myself and the whole team look forward to running this program in the coming off-season.)

 http://www.elitefts.com/5thset-for-powerlifting-methodology-for-training-and-competition.html



The first hour or so of the day was dedicated to a classroom-type seminar talking about Powerlifting, programming, and general methods and what it takes to succeed.

After that, we broke off into two squat groups, and worked up to about 80% on our lifts while Swede and Greg critiqued and coached us. We continued onto the bench, and Swede demonstrated his method of setting up on the bench for maximum arch and leg drive.. in summary, over the past week or so - this has lead to some strong bench PRs by our lifters, as well as taking a full 1.25" off my bench stroke. At the end of the day we moved onto deadlifting.. with some great hands on coaching by the team, we had two members actually hit 25lb PRs on the deadlift that day! The rest of us worked up to about 80% again, and just focused on improving form. Greg also decided to work in with us on deadlifts, and worked up to a strong 755lb deadlift gym PR! Strong!

A couple of the biggest things I was able to take away from this seminar was:
  • Benching with a better arch/tuck to take 1.25" off my stroke
  • Bringing my hands in slightly on the squat to increase my back tightness
  • Using the cue of "jumping" to begin the deadlift to maximize speed off the floor
Below is a 9 minute video grabbing some highlights from our 8 hour seminar. These guys are truly experts at their game and well worth your time and money if you get the chance to work with them in person at any time.. I would highly recommend their seminar to anyone looking to improve at the powerlifting game.. but my biggest advice would be make sure you  attend with an open mind to something new and different. It just might be the key to a bigger total.. rather it WILL be the key to a bigger total!