Bill Starr - Elevating - How to Expand Your Workload

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fter    u  x    e   v   e my article    l   N   e   a “Lock and   c   h    i    M Load” appeared in    b  y   y    h the August ’04 IRON    a  p   r   g  MAN , I received a num  o   t  o    h    P ber of letters from readers.   r  /   r   a    t They all contained the same    l   S    l    i    B message—that I hadn’t elaborated    b  y enough on the subject of expanding the  workload. One man coached youngsters youngsters and wanted to know how to build a solid base from the very first workout. Another was an experienced Olympic weightlifter who was preparing for  the Masters Nationals. He was interested in learning how  to increase his workload and how he could improve his numbers on the two contested lifts, the snatch and clean and jerk. I wrote to them and told them it was all Uncle Buddy’s Buddy’s fault. He didn’t let me put in my two cents’ worth when he was giving his lecture on workload at the gym. Here’ Here’ss what I’d have said, if I’d had the chance, about widening the base and elevating the peak of your strength pyramid. I use the symbol of a pyramid to help explain the process of strength development—a pyramid in which the two sides and base are of equal length. Simply put, in order to raise the top of the pyramid, you must expand the base. You accomplish that by  increasing the total amount of work you do in a given week and month and also by doing quality work. So gaining strength takes time and lots of effort. There are no shortcuts, not in the long run. Sure, using steroids will bring faster f aster gains, but only for a limited time. Eventually, even those using the juice have to put in the extra work in order to move to a higher level of strength. I have a brief comment on quick fixes for those who plan to continue lifting into their 40s, 50s and be yond. While that bottle bottle of Winstrol will elevate the numbers numbers on all of your lifts, once you stop taking taking the drug, most likely because of the $140 price tag, those top-end numbers will start falling at an alarming rate. I  watched a young athlete athlete move his bench from 295 to 365 in in a matter of months. He made no secret of of the fact that he was on steroids. When he ran out, his bench slipped back to less than 300 in three weeks. To To say  that was devastating to his ego would be an understatement. It was so devastating, he quit coming to the gym. All he got out of the experience was a thinner wallet and most likely some sore joints.

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Only the Strong Shall Survive

One of the problems of using any  form of anabolic steroid to enhance strength is that the gains come too quickly. To someone wanting to get stronger that may sound contradictory, but it isn’t. Quick gains don’t give your joints sufficient time to adapt to the new stress. Some  joints, like the elbows and shoulders, are rather delicate and break  down under undue strain. In addition, any drug, even something as innocent as aspirin, affects your internal organs, particularly your liver and kidneys. Long-term anabolic use can cause damage that  will have traumatic health consequences somewhere down the line. If athletes would put forth the necessary effort in the gym and pay  strict attention to nutrition and rest, they could reach the same level of strength they get with drugs—with no risk to their health. It would take longer, but so what? Most athletes don’t believe that’s possible. I know it is because I’ve seen it happen (see “A Natural Alternative” on page 91). The procedure for getting stronger is really the same for everyone.  Whether you’re rehabbing from surgery or trying to qualify for a major weightlifting contest, it starts  with a routine that you can recover from, then slowly increases the  workload and improves your topend numbers. To be successful in the quest for greater strength, at any level, you must keep accurate records. Other wise, there’s no way for you to know  for certain that you’re doing more than you did previously. Most people aren’t able to recall what they  did at their workouts a week ago, so it’s impossible to remember the numbers from a month ago. I encourage all of my serious strength athletes to keep a workout book. Over the years I’ve noticed that those who took my advice and kept a detailed record of their workouts made greater improvements than those who didn’t. These records are valuable, not only for your immediate needs but also for future reference. Trust me, the workout logs you keep while  you’re just getting started can be most helpful when you climb to a higher strength stratum. You can 88

look back and recall the auxiliary  exercises you used when you achieved that 350 bench or the sequence of lifts that you were doing  during the time you made your greatest progress. Or what supplements you were taking. I urge you to write down everything that might have an influence on your training: the weather, the amount of rest you got the night before, your diet, supplements, bodyweight, biorhythms, plus any other factors such as injuries or unusual worries.  Anxiety has a direct bearing on athletic performance. Use a journal to keep track of  your workload.

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The act of writing down what you did in the gym each day is helpful in itself. It enables you to review how   you performed and then look for ward to the numbers you want to hit at the next session. That makes  you much better prepared. Whenever I start athletes on a strength program—or restart them after an extended layoff—I restrict the amount of work at the first session to three sets of three core lifts. Typically, I use the big three: the bench press, squat and power clean. I keep the reps at five to six on the power clean so the athletes’ form isn’t adversely affected, but I run the reps up to 10 on the other two lifts. If they’ve used a strength program in the past, they invariably  complain about the meager workout, though not for long. At the second session they’re grateful that I didn’t have them do more. They’d forgotten how sore they could get. Everyone starts out in that fash-

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ion. Even if you’ve handled some big weights in the past, you have to approach the situation as a rank  beginner. The body loses strength at a surprisingly fast rate. I’ve al ways thought it as totally unfair that  you can train diligently for six consecutive months, acquire an impressive degree of strength fitness and then lay off for a month and be forced to begin again from scratch.  Well, not completely from scratch: Experience counts. Seasoned lifters have mastered the technique on the selected exercises and have handled the numbers on the way up to their best lifts. They also have muscle memory, understand how their body responds to certain movements and have a confidence that gives them a huge advantage over someone who’s starting a strength program for the first time. In my fantasy world having  strength would be like having  money in the bank. Once you acquired it, it would be there whenever you needed it, regardless of   whether you trained. Sadly, life isn’t that simple. So it doesn’t matter if   you’re embarking on your first strength program or starting back  after an injury or layoff, you need to proceed with common sense sprinkled with a dose of caution. In addition to limiting the number of sets and reps at the initial session, I keep the weights light. For beginners that’s easy. I merely observe them and determine how  much is enough. Weight selection for seasoned strength athletes is a tad harder. A football player who tested out with a 400-pound squat at the end of the off-season program in the spring will use 135, 225 and 275. In the event that I see him struggling with 225, that’s as high as he goes. When in doubt, do less rather than more at that first workout. From there it’s just a matter of  moving forward in a systematic fashion, adding more work and running up the top-end weights on the final sets. At the second workout move to four sets, and at the third use five. During the second  week do all the lifts for five sets of  five, and by Friday you should be ready to add back-off sets on the squat and bench, not the power

Only the Strong Shall Survive

clean. I don’t recommend doing  back-off sets on any back exercise at any phase of the program. In the third week start including  auxiliary exercises for the smaller groups as well as for any bodypart that needs extra work. There’s plenty to choose from: Dumbbell presses, incline dumbbell presses, lat pulldowns, triceps pushdowns, straight-arm pullovers, dips, various curls, leg curls, leg extensions, leg adductor work and machine calf  raises. Do no more than two per  workout, and do them for high reps, 15s or 20s for two sets. As you become more advanced, you Follow a very heavy  can include week with a less more than two demanding one. exercises per session, but not in the early going. In the formative stages it’s often the extra effort spent on upper arms and chest that pushes lifters into overtraining, not the five sets of five on the core exercises.  At the end of the month  you’ll be ready  to begin building more variety into your program. Instead of doing  power cleans three times a  week, do them only on Mondays and introduce good mornings on Wednesdays and high pulls or shrugs on Fridays. For  your upper body, bench presses, incline presses, dips and overhead presses will fill the bill. Stay with squats for all three workouts. Vary  the sets and reps and use the heavy, light and medium system. Everyone progresses at his or her own rate; however, everyone eventually arrives at a plateau, where progress comes to a halt. That’s  when you need to make some changes to further increase your 90

 workload and at the same time keep punching your top-end numbers up. There are many ways to accomplish that. You could do extra  work sets or add a second exercise for a certain bodypart. For example, I’ve had several athletes who greatly  improved their workload and max  singles by doing inclines and  weighted dips at the same session. Follow up power cleans with high pulls and overhead presses with push presses or jerks.  At some point you might find that you’re staying at the gym too long. An hour and a half will be

crease your weekly workload. If you have weights at home, you can do a short session with dumbbells or light weights on a barbell on the days when you don’t go to the gym. Of course, if your situation permits it, doing a double session a couple of times a week really  bumps up the overall tonnage. We  were able to do that when I worked at York Barbell, since lifting was part of our jobs. We would do a 45minute session at noon, then come back at four for a longer workout. I realize that not everyone is in such an advantageous position. I should mention that while I build lots of variety into my athletes’ programs, it’s not absolutely  necessary. You can make gains  without doing that. A large number of lifters at the York Barbell Club only did the three Olympic lifts— the press, snatch and clean and  jerk—and squats. They never did any auxiliary movements whatsoever. Great athletes such as Bob Bednarski, Bill March, Homer Brannun and others followed that regimen  with much success. It was what they now call sport-specific training, and many powerlifters follow  that concept as well. Merely adding to the work you do in a week or a month is, in itself, not enough to help you set a personal record on a particular lift. Let’s say   you’ve been doing 225 for three sets of five on the bench. Over time you add three more sets of five, doubling your workload. The problem is, you haven’t pushed the peak of     k   o   o the pyramid any higher.    C   s    i   r In order to do that, you have to    h    C   :    l   e include lower reps with heavier    d   o    M  weights in your program. You need triples, doubles and singles because plenty. If you’re stretching that to they involve the attachments much two hours or more, you aren’t getmore than performing higher reps ting much productivity out of those does, and the tendons and ligafinal exercises, and the overwork  ments are the sources of strength.  will most likely have an adverse  An effective method of expanding  effect on your next session. The the workload systematically is to solution—add another day. It can change the reps each time you do be a very light day, where you’re in an exercise. The sequence I like for and out in a half hour to 40 minnearly every lift is; eight, five, three, utes. A short workout is the perfect two or one. That way you max out opportunity to get in those exercison a primary lift every month. For es that you can’t find time for in example, I use four core exercises  your regular workouts. Even though for upper body: bench presses, it’s short and you keep the weights inclines, overhead presses and relatively light, it will greatly in weighted dips. You rotate the sug-

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Only the Strong Shall Survive

gested reps sequence for the various lifts so that you do a max single or double on one of them each  week. That’s highly motivational, as it gives you a goal to shoot for every   week. Keep in mind that you must move your triple to within roughly  20 pounds of your target single and  your double to within 10 pounds before you have a good chance of  succeeding with it. In other words,  you need to double 290 or triple 280 if you want to make that magical 300 single. Some people can do better than that, but it’s a good rule of thumb. It’s not at all uncommon for athletes to double their workloads and increase the top-end numbers on their primary lifts by 50 percent in the first six weeks of training. Naturally, the rate of progress slows down, which brings me to the obvious question: What’s the most you can expand your weekly workload  without running the risk of becoming overtrained? Once you’ve reached a fairly high level, around 75,000 pounds a week, you should increase your workload by no more than 10 percent the following  month. I adopted that percentage from the way long-distance runners train. Distance is to the runner  what workload is to the lifter. Runners know that they must run X  miles a week in order to be competitive in a race. They also understand that if they try to add mileage faster than that, they’ll become overtrained. While 10 percent a month may not sound like much of  an increase, it definitely is. Take the above example, in which you’re handling 75,000 pounds a week. If   you increase your workload by the prescribed percentage for the next four months, you’ll find yourself   with a weekly workload of 110,000 pounds.  A method I’ve found useful for nudging the workload ever higher  without getting stale is to follow a very heavy week with a less demanding one. A simple way to achieve that is with exercise selection. During the really heavy week, do deadlifts instead of power cleans and high pulls, almost straightlegged deadlifts in place of good

 A Natural Alternative

 An athlete whom I got started in Olympic weightlifting became good enough to earn a spot on an international team. A surprise drug test caught him off guard, and he tested positive for anabolic steroids. He  was bumped from the team and given a two-year suspension. Should he be caught using again, the suspension would be for life. It so happened that I was living only an hour away from him when all this happened. He contacted me, wanting to know if I could help him get back to his former strength level without taking illegal substances. Knowing that he had the resources to purchase the supplements he’d need and had ample time in which to train, I told him that I believed he could do it, although it might take six months or longer. Not having a lot of options—all his lifts had fallen drastically after he quit using—he agreed to give my program a try. Part of the deal was that he had to keep accurate records of every   workout, calculate his daily and weekly workloads, note the supplements he took and the amounts and keep track of other factors such as rest and bodyweight. The supplements he used were the basics: B-complex vitamins, vitamins E, C, A and D, a multimineral tablet, a magnesium-andcalcium combo, amino acid tablets and protein powder for milkshakes. I stayed away from anything exotic, even avoiding creatine, in the event that it suddenly made the blacklist. He would be taking megadoses of  everything, and it would cost him a bundle, although not nearly as much as he’d been spending on several types of steroids. Once a week I drove over to where he trained and checked out his form. Then we’d go to his apartment, eat and look over his workout book. Together, we decided on any adjustments to increase workload, bring up a weak lift, add some new exercises or alter the quantity of some supplement. To make a long story short, seven months after he stopped using  steroids, he equaled his best snatch and bettered his clean and jerk by  five pounds. After he was reinstated, he remained in the top half dozen in his weight class for two years before a knee injury put him out of the sport. Keep in mind that he was already an advanced lifter when he embarked on this program, was able to afford the huge quantities of  supplements he ingested daily and had the luxury of time to train, sometimes twice a day. Yet it proves once again that the natural route can be successful—with the only side effect being a better state of health. —B.S. mornings, and push presses or jerks instead of overhead presses. That  will bump all the numbers up a notch. The following, less heavy   week, won’t be easier because you’ll still push to limit, but the lower total poundage will be less stressful, so you’ll be able to recover better. Some trainees find they do even better if they include only one really  heavy week in a month, and I’ve had a few advanced athletes who benefited from following a heavy, light, medium, medium sequence of weeks each month. I can’t emphasize too much the importance of getting the rest you need and supplying your body with all the necessary nutrients when  you’re attempting to expand your

 workload and increase your topend numbers. It’s absolutely critical for success. In many instances athletes becomes overtrained, not because of the amount of work  they’re doing in the weight room but, rather, because of a lack of rest and/or poor nutrition. Keep accurate, detailed records, gradually extend the base of your strength pyramid, and jack up the peak. In no time at all you’ll have the tallest pyramid in the gym— maybe the entire state. Editor’s note: Bill Starr was a strength and conditioning coach at Johns Hopkins University from 1989 to 2000. He’s the author of The  Strongest Shall Survive and Defying  Gravity . IM

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