Post by Sareen on Nov 17, 2007 21:43:17 GMT -5
Whenever I go on the road for a seminar, I have to find a place to train. Most of the time this isn't a problem because I have to secure a gym to run the second half of my seminar anyhow, and usually they have the basic training needs. I always try to fly out on a Friday afternoon, after my dynamic-squat workout, and then get back home Sunday night so I can get to the gym Monday morning for my max-effort squat and deadlift training session. This way, all I have to do while on the road is catch a dynamic-bench workout.
This session doesn't require very much so I usually don't have any problems.
But, there was one time I had to fly into a location on a Wednesday afternoon. This meant I'd have to find a place to squat on Friday morning. While this may not seem like a big deal to some, to me it would present a major change. When I got to my hotel I pulled out the yellow pages and turned to the health-club section.
I was looking for something like "Iron Pit" or some other hardcore name. It didn't take long to see I wasn't going to find such a place in the phonebook, so it was on to my second choice. I started looking for a Power House, World Gym or Gold's. I found one about ten minutes away and thought I was set.
During breakfast on Friday morning I was going over my workout in my head. I was planning on using 405 with the strong bands on the box squat. Then I'd move on to speed deadlifts, lower back, and abs. I already knew I was going to have to find some way to rig up the bands and probably find something to sit on instead of the box. After I finished my breakfast I gathered my bag and headed to the gym.
When I pulled into the parking lot I began to feel this was going to be a long day. From the outside the place looked too nice. Those of you who train in a hardcore gym know exactly what I mean. I entered the club (after being blinded by the neon) and spoke with the front desk girl. I signed my wavier, paid my dues, and headed for the one and only power rack.
This is when I saw something I couldn't believe. The bar was loaded with a dime on each end and some guy was doing barbell curls in the damn power rack! Not to be a dick, I waited until he finished what seemed to be ten sets and then made my way over to the rack.
I started by setting up a few dumbbells on each side of the rack to attach my bands to and then picked out the best bar I could find. They actually had an Okie Squat Bar. This made my day because it's very difficult for a big man to use a standard Olympic bar for the squat. I found a set of aerobic steps to use as a box and started my warm-ups.
The warm-ups felt pretty good, considering the environment I had to train in, but I did notice about a thousand eyes on me trying to figure out what the hell I was doing. A few people even came over to ask. As I began to explain, I realized they were cutting into my timed rest intervals so I pulled out the back-up plan. I put on my headphones, cranked the DMX and got to work. The squat session went very well. The speed was good, my form stayed in check, and all and all it was a good session. So I stripped the bar, took off the headphones and began to set up for my second movement.
I'd planned on speed-deadlifting 405 for five or six singles. This is mainly to work on deadlift technique, so I really didn't need any type of psyche-up. I just had to pull fast with good form. I learned from Louie a long time ago that to get a good deadlift you don't need to train the deadlift heavy all the time. At first I thought he was full of sh*t, but in time I put 40 pounds on my deadlift and became a believer. Now that Westside has a ton of lifters pulling in the 700s and six lifters in the 800s, I have very little doubt it works.
John Stafford deadlifting 800 pounds.
My first set felt like crap. The bar was too far in front of me and I didn't keep my shoulders behind the bar. This was no problem as I'd adjust on my next set. The second set felt great. I hit the groove and the bar felt about a hundred pounds lighter. I try to keep the rest periods on these sets to 45 seconds at the most and was about to pull my third set when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and saw some 20-something kid who was wearing a polo shirt and looked to be about 165 pounds dripping wet. I motioned him off like a annoying mosquito and pulled my fourth set.
After my set I asked the kid if I could help him. He asked a question I'll never forget. "What are you doing?" he said. I thought to myself, "What the hell does it look like I'm doing?!" Out loud, I replied very kindly that I was doing deadlifts. He then informed me that they didn't allow deadlifts in this gym. Now I was getting a little pissed. He told me that the weights hitting the floor are too loud and it bothers the other members. So I told him the sound of the treadmills and Stairmaster motors are too loud and that bothers me. Why doesn't he go over and tell the other patrons to get off the machines?
At this point I must've pissed him off because he said under his breath that I wasn't even doing the deadlifts right. I asked him what he saw wrong in my technique. (You never know, he could've seen something I was missing.) He told me that I needed to sit lower to the ground and pick the weight up with good form and not use my back. He also told me my shins had to stay close to the bar and I should be using a wider stance.
While not being a dick, I asked him where he'd learned this information. Then I saw it. I couldn't believe I'd missed it the first time, but there it was right in my face: a gold name badge with his name and "head trainer" right underneath it. At this point I asked him if I could finish my last set at which point I'd love to sit down and discuss his training concepts with him. He was cool with that so I pulled my last and by far best set. Maybe it was the added geek aggression that made the difference.
As I tore the bar down I started up a friendly dialog with Mr. Head Trainer. I let him know I was in town to work with a few ball players on their strength-training programs. He told me he'd been in the personal training field for three years, has been to several conferences, had done a few internships, and this was where he learned how to lift. Out of curiosity I asked him how much he could deadlift. He told me he could pull 315 for five reps. I spent the next hour going over with him what I felt were the ten biggest mistakes in the deadlift.
The first thing I told him was the old deadlift motto: The meet doesn't end until the bar hits the floor. To a powerlifter, the deadlift can be the end-all or the end-of-it-all when it comes to closing out a total or placing in the competition. In short, we have to know how to deadlift the most weight in the safest manner or we'll have a very short career.
I also told him that most people never read a whole lot about the deadlift because of one reason: it's very hard and demanding to train and perform the deadlift. To be frank, most in the strength training/fitness training/bodybuilding field would rather come in the gym and train their back with various pulley machines, talk to the girls, and go home with their carb drink in hand. They like to live on the light, easy side of the game while avoiding the dark side.
Well, get ready to enter the dark side as I share with you what I told my new personal-trainer buddy.
This session doesn't require very much so I usually don't have any problems.
But, there was one time I had to fly into a location on a Wednesday afternoon. This meant I'd have to find a place to squat on Friday morning. While this may not seem like a big deal to some, to me it would present a major change. When I got to my hotel I pulled out the yellow pages and turned to the health-club section.
I was looking for something like "Iron Pit" or some other hardcore name. It didn't take long to see I wasn't going to find such a place in the phonebook, so it was on to my second choice. I started looking for a Power House, World Gym or Gold's. I found one about ten minutes away and thought I was set.
During breakfast on Friday morning I was going over my workout in my head. I was planning on using 405 with the strong bands on the box squat. Then I'd move on to speed deadlifts, lower back, and abs. I already knew I was going to have to find some way to rig up the bands and probably find something to sit on instead of the box. After I finished my breakfast I gathered my bag and headed to the gym.
When I pulled into the parking lot I began to feel this was going to be a long day. From the outside the place looked too nice. Those of you who train in a hardcore gym know exactly what I mean. I entered the club (after being blinded by the neon) and spoke with the front desk girl. I signed my wavier, paid my dues, and headed for the one and only power rack.
This is when I saw something I couldn't believe. The bar was loaded with a dime on each end and some guy was doing barbell curls in the damn power rack! Not to be a dick, I waited until he finished what seemed to be ten sets and then made my way over to the rack.
I started by setting up a few dumbbells on each side of the rack to attach my bands to and then picked out the best bar I could find. They actually had an Okie Squat Bar. This made my day because it's very difficult for a big man to use a standard Olympic bar for the squat. I found a set of aerobic steps to use as a box and started my warm-ups.
The warm-ups felt pretty good, considering the environment I had to train in, but I did notice about a thousand eyes on me trying to figure out what the hell I was doing. A few people even came over to ask. As I began to explain, I realized they were cutting into my timed rest intervals so I pulled out the back-up plan. I put on my headphones, cranked the DMX and got to work. The squat session went very well. The speed was good, my form stayed in check, and all and all it was a good session. So I stripped the bar, took off the headphones and began to set up for my second movement.
I'd planned on speed-deadlifting 405 for five or six singles. This is mainly to work on deadlift technique, so I really didn't need any type of psyche-up. I just had to pull fast with good form. I learned from Louie a long time ago that to get a good deadlift you don't need to train the deadlift heavy all the time. At first I thought he was full of sh*t, but in time I put 40 pounds on my deadlift and became a believer. Now that Westside has a ton of lifters pulling in the 700s and six lifters in the 800s, I have very little doubt it works.
John Stafford deadlifting 800 pounds.
My first set felt like crap. The bar was too far in front of me and I didn't keep my shoulders behind the bar. This was no problem as I'd adjust on my next set. The second set felt great. I hit the groove and the bar felt about a hundred pounds lighter. I try to keep the rest periods on these sets to 45 seconds at the most and was about to pull my third set when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and saw some 20-something kid who was wearing a polo shirt and looked to be about 165 pounds dripping wet. I motioned him off like a annoying mosquito and pulled my fourth set.
After my set I asked the kid if I could help him. He asked a question I'll never forget. "What are you doing?" he said. I thought to myself, "What the hell does it look like I'm doing?!" Out loud, I replied very kindly that I was doing deadlifts. He then informed me that they didn't allow deadlifts in this gym. Now I was getting a little pissed. He told me that the weights hitting the floor are too loud and it bothers the other members. So I told him the sound of the treadmills and Stairmaster motors are too loud and that bothers me. Why doesn't he go over and tell the other patrons to get off the machines?
At this point I must've pissed him off because he said under his breath that I wasn't even doing the deadlifts right. I asked him what he saw wrong in my technique. (You never know, he could've seen something I was missing.) He told me that I needed to sit lower to the ground and pick the weight up with good form and not use my back. He also told me my shins had to stay close to the bar and I should be using a wider stance.
While not being a dick, I asked him where he'd learned this information. Then I saw it. I couldn't believe I'd missed it the first time, but there it was right in my face: a gold name badge with his name and "head trainer" right underneath it. At this point I asked him if I could finish my last set at which point I'd love to sit down and discuss his training concepts with him. He was cool with that so I pulled my last and by far best set. Maybe it was the added geek aggression that made the difference.
As I tore the bar down I started up a friendly dialog with Mr. Head Trainer. I let him know I was in town to work with a few ball players on their strength-training programs. He told me he'd been in the personal training field for three years, has been to several conferences, had done a few internships, and this was where he learned how to lift. Out of curiosity I asked him how much he could deadlift. He told me he could pull 315 for five reps. I spent the next hour going over with him what I felt were the ten biggest mistakes in the deadlift.
The first thing I told him was the old deadlift motto: The meet doesn't end until the bar hits the floor. To a powerlifter, the deadlift can be the end-all or the end-of-it-all when it comes to closing out a total or placing in the competition. In short, we have to know how to deadlift the most weight in the safest manner or we'll have a very short career.
I also told him that most people never read a whole lot about the deadlift because of one reason: it's very hard and demanding to train and perform the deadlift. To be frank, most in the strength training/fitness training/bodybuilding field would rather come in the gym and train their back with various pulley machines, talk to the girls, and go home with their carb drink in hand. They like to live on the light, easy side of the game while avoiding the dark side.
Well, get ready to enter the dark side as I share with you what I told my new personal-trainer buddy.