Things that have made the biggest difference in your training?

[Creatine]

What are some things that have made the biggest difference in your training? Like products, training approaches, etc.

Anything I should start doing early in my PL career?

Thanks

[Celorza]

Prehab , learning the movements...applying Conjugated Periodization. Remember you will need a massive amount of calories for strength to go up...Macros ain't that essential to keep nitty picky count on them, more like I said...sheer calories. That is if you only want strength gains and not being cut and gaining strength (I don't see a point there :/ aesthetics have no role in PL)

[drinkyboy]

I wish I would have really known the importance of midsection and lower back strength. After a few injuries I started hitting it hard and its the best choice I have made. If you don't already, I would consider making it a priority. Hope this helps.

[Creatine]

Prehab , learning the movements...applying Conjugated Periodization. Remember you will need a massive amount of calories for strength to go up...Macros ain't that essential to keep nitty picky count on them, more like I said...sheer calories. That is if you only want strength gains and not being cut and gaining strength (I don't see a point there :/ aesthetics have no role in PL)

That's what I do as of right now. I just use Myfitnesspal to track my total calories and try to keep protein and carbs high.

I would be lying if I said I didn't care at all about how I looked. I don't want to be morbidly obese but I am definitely willing to lose some definition to gain lots of strength.

I wish I would have really known the importance of midsection and lower back strength. After a few injuries I started hitting it hard and its the best choice I have made. If you don't already, I would consider making it a priority. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the tip. I heard Lou Ferrigno talking about all the corrective surgeries he had from lifting all these years. I should definitely make preventive maintenance a priority!

[Torobestia]

A lot of things matter that you don't pay attention to from the start, but I'll give you just one of mine for starters;

Posture: this is one thing I did not pay attention to when I started AT ALL, but now I am paying for it. Thankfully I only have over 2.5 years of training under my belt, so no grave damage yet, but in that short time I've injured my knee (no surgery required) from the running and training with a posture where my toes always pointed out. I suffered with long bouts of exertion headaches for more than half a year until I addressed my forward head posture. Now I am dealing with a shoulder impingement from all the pressing I've done in my training without having ever addressed my flared scapula.

These things will creep up on you. They will begin as annoyances, but they will develop into serious injuries. For instance, while my shoulder impingement just causes tendonitis problems and hampers my lifting, it could eventually lead to a labrum tear, rotator cuff tear, shoulder fracture, arthritis, etc etc. So now the mission is to address these postural issues while still training, but making sure the priority is correcting the problems even if sometimes it's at the expense of optimal training (though to be fair and honest with myself, I do train at the expense of optimal rehab since the best thing would be to not press at all).

So I urge you to bear that in mind.

[power205]

Find a good hardcore gym that has qualified people to work with you. Dont get with the drugged, multi gear lifters. You will shorten you span of being a lifter... learn the rules and how to do the lifts correctly... dont max in gym save for the meet you pick... keep your reps 3-5 range for you work sets... also do each rep as it was a meet lift... practice makes perfert.. you cut your squat high in gym youll cut in meet, you dont pause or bounce off chest on bench youll do in a meet, hitch and dont fully lock out deads in gym youll do in the meet also!!!

Stretch alot, especially your hips and lower back!! Dont let your ego get the best of you..gains come in time dont try to rush them!

As for supplements my team has been on NLA Performance and we love it.. They live up to the hype!!

Most important good nutrition and rest!! Dont try to workout every day... Body grow, gets stronger, and repairs with rest and proper fuel!!

The guys i coach do a 4 days a week.. Day 1 Squat/Deads Day 2 Rest Day 3 Bench Day 4 Assistance to Squats and Deads Day 5 Rest Day 6 Assistance to Bench



Good luck to you and hope to see you on the platform





Jon M

National and World Champion Powerlfiter

Team POWER & inTENsity



NLA PERFORMANCE
www.nlaperformance.com
Choice of Champions!!!

[mattrag]

Find a good hardcore gym that has qualified people to work with you. Dont get with the drugged, multi gear lifters. You will shorten you span of being a lifter... learn the rules and how to do the lifts correctly... dont max in gym save for the meet you pick... keep your reps 3-5 range for you work sets... also do each rep as it was a meet lift... practice makes perfert.. you cut your squat high in gym youll cut in meet, you dont pause or bounce off chest on bench youll do in a meet, hitch and dont fully lock out deads in gym youll do in the meet also!!!

Stretch alot, especially your hips and lower back!! Dont let your ego get the best of you..gains come in time dont try to rush them!

As for supplements my team has been on NLA Performance and we love it.. They live up to the hype!!

Most important good nutrition and rest!! Dont try to workout every day... Body grow, gets stronger, and repairs with rest and proper fuel!!

The guys i coach do a 4 days a week.. Day 1 Squat/Deads Day 2 Rest Day 3 Bench Day 4 Assistance to Squats and Deads Day 5 Rest Day 6 Assistance to Bench

Good luck to you and hope to see you on the platform

Jon M

National and World Champion Powerlfiter

Team POWER & inTENsity

NLA PERFORMANCE
www.nlaperformance.com
Choice of Champions!!!

Great advice.

Sounds cliche but making every rep count is best. Form should be kept up as well especially since you kinda care about aesthetics. Don't want that beer belly from that lower back curve, or the douche bag pose (over hanging front delts). Keep it balanced and keep the core strong and tight.

My addition would be to warm up, and warm up right. Get the blood in there without taxing the muscle much. Takes time but it's worth it if you are truly looking to take it the amateur/pro levels.

[murk01]

diet

[asooneyeonig]

consistency and knowing when to call it quits.

[napalm]

posterior chain work...

[WPChickDiesel]

Prehab , learning the movements...applying Conjugated Periodization. Remember you will need a massive amount of calories for strength to go up...Macros ain't that essential to keep nitty picky count on them, more like I said...sheer calories. That is if you only want strength gains and not being cut and gaining strength (I don't see a point there :/ aesthetics have no role in PL)

That is one reason that kinda intimidates me, because I love off season and love food! And if someone gave me an okay to eat for strength and forget about staying lean, I think i struggle with feeling comfortable being large.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[power205]

I agree with Mattrag about warm up.. I should have list that on my post.. We use the MBSC basic dynamic warm up which can be found on youtube, then foam roll before we even touch the bar!!



Jon M

National and World Champion Powerlfiter

Team POWER & inTENsity



NLA PERFORMANCE
www.nlaperformance.com
Choice of Champions!!!

[Rodja]

Gear, food, and reading. I have multiple binders full of ebooks that I'm always flipping through for ideas and/or experiences.

[napalm]

reading

This, not a week goes by w/o me going over stuff in "The Vault" for the umpteenth time

[Torobestia]

This, not a week goes by w/o me going over stuff in "The Vault" for the umpteenth time

Agreed

[Creatine]

Awesome responses so far

Do you guys have any specific materials you suggest reading or links to any ebooks?

[Rodja]

Westside Book of Methods
Max Effort Method by Jim Wendler
5/3/1 by Jim Wendler
The Juggernaut Method by Chad Wesley Smith
The Vault by Dave Tate

[NLAFounder]

What are some things that have made the biggest difference in your training? Like products, training approaches, etc.

Anything I should start doing early in my PL career?

Thanks

Your AM user name, aka creatine, makes a huge difference in gaining strength. Also what celorza said about taking down huge amounts of calories is correct. I was mentored by the world record bench press holder Scot Mendelson for awhile and a typical workout for the bench press would go as followed:
Total lift time 3 hours:
-Lift 1 5 reps
-Lift 2 5 reps
-Lift 3 5 reps
-Then we would do about 4 sets of 2 reps and then max out.

We would do this as well for deadlift and squat. Every 3 weeks we would do this routine and the other weeks we would work our way up to 3 rep maxes.

Mendelson focused a lot on getting proper rest between sets so you are primed and ready to focus on perfect form and put forth maximal effort each set.

[GeraldNY181]

listening to your body...realizing that some days your body will give you a 1RM that fits into your training progression and some days it just wont. What your body does always recognize whether you set a PR or not is effort. It doesnt matter if you hit 5 lbs less than you should have on a particular lift, just that you gave it everything you had. period.

[PaulBlack]

What are some things that have made the biggest difference in your training?

Not being intimidated by heavy workouts, and getting in there and pushing it.
I used to do a lot of higher rep squatting and deads, but multiple x5's x3's x2's and x1's have made the greatest dif in my goal search.
Prilipins table, maybe!?!?