Adjusting Training To Suit Lifestyle Changes

Payton with a 455lb. squat at the fastest that weight has moved, and Adam with a PR deadlift of 661lbs. (CLICK HERE). I highlight these 2 athletes because both of these lifters are progressing within their training at a great rate right now, but with two totally different approaches. Payton recently started college, got a job, has a girlfriend, and has found that training isn’t quite as easy to get in as it used to be. Adam has recently made some great improvements in his life, has reduced stress, become better with time management, improved nutrition, and found increased motivation within training. And due to this, both of their programs have changed pretty drastically within the last 2-3 months.

We have cut Payton down from 5 training days a week to 3, with less total sets and less focus on “fluff” accessories. While I know he misses those extra training days at times, he’s also making the best progress he has in months because the program is now more suitable for his current situation. He is able to be consistent within training, he is able to recover between training sessions, and training is no longer a burden that then complicates the rest of his life. In summary, we are seeing increased progress while training less days and with less total workload.

Adam used to have a very low threshold for workload. Many variables played into this, but we pretty much knew at certain weekly set counts or intensities he would have injury flare ups. Recently we’ve seen the ability to greatly increase total volume and intensity to levels he was never able to sustain before. The thing is he still made progress before, but now it’s at a faster, more consistent, and definitely more predictable rate. If I had kept him on his prior levels of workload and intensity, we probably would not see the same results, as his major lifestyle factors adjustments changed his response to training.

If you ask these lifters, I think Adam would describe this change as a “reward”, and Payton might somewhat look at the changes as “punishment”. But Adam is not getting rewarded and Payton isn’t getting punished. We are simply adapting based on lifestyle factors that translate to their individual training responses. Their “reward” is the progress, the changes in training are just what is needed to get that reward.

Per usual I write an essay, but I could simply sum this up in that we need to understand more is not always better. More can be better, just like less can be better, it all “just depends”. Consistency, predictability, and results trump any thoughts of what we think we want. And for both of these lifters these changes have improved their consistency, improved the predictability of their training, and yielded the results they are striving for. When significant lifestyle factors occur, adjust based on current demands, not what you used to do or what you think you need to do.

Understanding Hip Shift In The Squat – CLICK HERE

We see content all the time regarding hip shifts in the squat, but do we really understand why? A hip shift in my opinion is arguably the most complicated aspect of form breakdown in any of the 3 lifts. Typically it is a multi-factorial approach due to so many compensation patterns up and down the chain from just 1 minor breakdown. But where does that breakdown come from? In my latest YouTube video I detail how the shoulders, obliques, hips, and feet all interconnect in regards to hip shift. Shoulder external rotation, oblique control, hip internal rotation, and foot pressure all form this chain of stability and mobility to create a symmetrical squat pattern. Yet the issue is that we are rarely symmetrical as human beings. One minor asymmetry can create multiple compensation patterns up and down the chain and create a very complex situation. From my viewpoint, understanding where this breakdown occurs, what to look for, and the effects one minor deviation has on the rest of the body is the key to understanding a hip shift. I talk about the 4 variations of hip shift I see across the powerlifting spectrum, tests to gauge where the initial route issue is stemming from, possible fixes in regards to these problems, and lastly some real world examples and analysis of some lifters displaying hip shifts. The point of this video is less to teach you how to fix your hip shift though, and more to understand why the hip shift occurs. There are many videos giving hip shift fixes, but what they miss is the why behind it, as I will confidently say there is no one size fits all fix for a hip shift. If we can first understand what is happening, then the fix becomes a lot easier. Click the link above to view!

Using Specificity As A Tool To Improve Technique

I post a lot of content in regards to technique, cues, and variations, but a major tool in regards to improving movement is specificity. There are not too many things that will help improve your competition squat, competition bench press, or competition deadlift form more than just doing those movements over and over again. I think this is especially the case with lifters who may have a tendency to overthink, and the slightest cueing can completely throw them off. Some lifters tend to not process internal or external cues as well as others. And that’s not necessarily a negative, as everyone learns and processes things different. These lifters tend to do better with higher specificity as it gives them more time to learn and process the movement through the increased practice.

As a coach, it’s my job to figure out how to communicate effectively with an athlete. With many, cueing or variations may be the answer. With others, it may be through increasing specificity to allow them to have more time to practice, learn, and develop position awareness through repetition. The downfall of specificity can be the wear and tear of consistently heavier loads, or the general monotony of the same lift over and over, leading to decreased focus/motivation. Variations act to self limit and reduce average intensity. Some lifters can easily transition from a Safety Bar Pause Squat to a Competition Low Bar Squat seamlessly. But for others, it can create a regression in their competition squat form due to the decreased skill practice.

There are coaches that are known for high specificity, and typically part of the “why” behind that is the technique elements of the movements tend to start to take care of itself. At one point years ago I competition squatted 3 days a week. It ended up not being sustainable for me, but during that time I can say I never felt more in a “groove” with squatting. In hindsight my technique wasn’t great, but within the form I used I rarely ever misgrooved a rep or felt unpracticed within a session. I felt extremely comfortable and confident squatting. And this is the benefit of specificity when it comes to improving technique. It starts to self regulate technique improvement, it promotes consistency within movement, and it improves confidence through increased practice.

We just need to find the right balance of specificity and variation to promote long term progress, development, and health. For each lifter that is different, but just don’t underestimate the power of specificity to self-regulate technique when cueing or variations don’t do the trick. I have multiple lifters who respond better to specificity than any other tool in regards to improving technique. The general model of periodization says to increase specificity as we approach competition, but in my point I am trying to make, specificity may be what you even use far away from competition during times of technique improvement. Find how a lifter is able to learn, process, and progress based off of their learning style, and use that to formulate the correct ratio of cueing, variation, and specificity.

Developing A Weekly Training Split – CLICK HERE

In powerlifting we constantly talk about manipulating volume and intensity, the frequency of our lifts, and sets and rep ranges. But we rarely discuss how to optimize your weekly training split. There was a trend for a while that as long as the work got done, it didn’t matter when. I will be on the opposing side and disagree with that. How we structure our week greatly impacts fatigue management and the recovery between sessions. If we squat 3 days a week, how we systematically place those days within the weekly structure can have profound effects on how we recover between sessions and the performance standards we can predict day to day. In my latest YouTube video, I break down how to program your weekly training to structure your squat, bench, and deadlift sessions to optimize recovery and manage fatigue within a micro and mesocycle. I show the theoretical principles of how we induce fatigue and how we recover, and how switching around training days creates higher fatigue debt that compounds week to week. I show the optimal ways to structure training based on 2, 3, or 4 day lift frequency. And I discuss how lifts not only relate to each other within the weekly structure, but the possible crossover interference that lifts such as squat and deadlift have on each other. If you are looking to find consistency and predictability within your training, this is a must watch topic to create a system of training for you that can produce superior results. Click the link above to watch!

Pause Squats and Deadlifts For Deceleration

Pause squats and pause deadlifts, two of my favorite variations. An issue though you see discussed around Instagram is about how often people really aren’t pausing. A 1 second pause turns into .5 seconds or maybe not even a pause at all. I am here to say something probably a bit surprising, but based on the intention of why the pause was programmed, to me that’s not as big of an issue as you’d think. Above we have examples, with Brandon hitting a very good 1 second pause versus Shane’s probably looking more like a tempo squat than a pause squat (CLICK HERE). And in the 2nd video we have Joey with a rushed pause deadlift, followed by a long pause where he gave a little call out to Abbee to show he could pause a deadlift! For both Shane and Joey I instructed them to pause longer, but that was to fulfill the desire to self limit rather than to induce the training effect I was looking for from a pause squat or deadlift. The training effect I was looking for was accomplished, even with the rushed pauses.

The more I program pause squats and pause deadlifts the more I realize the true intention behind their benefit to my system of programming is their ability to create patience and deceleration in parts of the movement where many lifters rush. While the length of the pause can create added needs for stability, reduced stretch reflex effect, and self limiting capabilities, I find the major benefit is how it affects the descent of the squat and the setup of the deadlift.

For squats, without cueing, lifters will naturally control their deceleration better when they know they are pausing, regardless of pause length. A fault of many lifters is trying to accelerate into the bottom position to get a greater rebound effect, and many times this just results in a breakdown of bracing, control, and position. Whereas when we know we are pausing, we decelerate with more control knowing that for a split second, there is nowhere to go. There is no rush to come back up because we first must come to a stop. Which is exactly the training effect I want. I want lifters to command control throughout the entirety of the movement, wherein often times that is lost at the bottom. For Shane, this particular rep turned into a tempo squat. And not because it was a tempo squat, but instead because he inadvertently controlled the descent more with the knowledge that he would need to decelerate at the bottom. On other reps he paused longer, but that didn’t mean this rep was a lost cause. I cued him to make sure to pause longer as the other intention I had of pause squats being programmed was to self limit. But the primary intention of the movement was still accomplished with the goal of controlled deceleration.

For pause deadlifts, it’s fairly common to find lifters who can almost pause deadlift their regular max, and consistently will say how if they don’t have pause deadlifts programmed their form starts to regress. This all comes back to what a knowledge of an incoming pause subconsciously does to the intention of your setup. If you know that as soon as that bar breaks the floor that you have to stop, you naturally will be in less of a rush to set up. Like clockwork, I see noticeable set up improvements when lifters perform pause deadlifts over their regular deadlift, especially with sumo pullers. On conventional deadlift you can get away with a rock and roll style jerk and explode deadlift, but with sumo you have to be very intentional. With Joey, he can basically pause deadlift his competition PR, and whenever we take out pause deadlifts we tend to see a regression in form. He starts to rush his setup, he isn’t as intentional about foot pressure, and he will lack the same tensioning with the bar. Notice none of that has anything to do with how long he pauses, just the fact that the knowledge of a pause creates a sense of patience. Unlike pause squats, I don’t typically program pause deadlifts to self limit, but rather as an accountability measure to force this patience during the setup. A common thing talked about with pause deadlifts is it helps with strength off the floor. And with what I covered we can understand why. It’s not that it truly increases strength, it’s that it improves our setup through this patience to allow for a stronger position to break the bar off the floor. For many of my lifters, I cue them to “pause deadlift their regular deadlift, but then just don’t pause”. I want them to have the same intention in thought that they don’t need to rush. While we need to get that bar moving, we don’t want to sacrifice position to do so, so the intention of pause creates the subconscious reaction not to rush.

In conclusion, I am not saying everyone should go start rushing their pauses, but I do think we should understand what the intended training effect truly is of these movements before rushing to judgement (this does not apply to bench, bench needs to be paused to a competition standard). In regards to creating more control through deceleration on the squat and patience on your deadlift set up, a shorter pause still accomplishes this training effect. Just don’t go bragging about your pause squat PR that wasn’t paused, that should be instead compared to your regular PR.