Train Stupid

TRAIN STUPID

THE TRAINING AND PHILOSOPHY OF NATHAN DAMRON

©2017 Mash Elite Performance All Rights Reserved

WHO IS THIS NATHAN DAMRON? .................................................................. 3 TRAIN STUPID PHILOSOPHY ........................................................................ 7 TRAIN STUPID PROGRAM .......................................................................... 10 COACHING NATHAN ................................................................................. 22 DEEPER WITH NATHAN .............................................................................. 25 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 39

If you’re thinking about using these programs, please be smart. Don’t participate in strenuous exercise unless cleared by a competent medical professional. Heavy weights can be dangerous, so only perform these exercises if you can do so safely. If you follow any of these programs or perform any of these exercises, you do so at your own risk.

WHO IS THIS NATHAN DAMRON? This is the tale of a young weightlifter who is quickly becoming a legend in the strength world. His name is Nathan Damron. He’s 20 years old, and he’s one of the original Mash Mafia Weightlifting team members. I coach Nathan every day, and I am still amazed weekly by some display of strength from this wild man. Several athletes in my gym perform jaw-dropping lifts regularly, but Nathan’s level of strength is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

COMPETING STUPID The most amazing feat I have seen from Nathan came during the Mash Barbell Picnic this past September. Most of my heavy hitters were scheduled to lift that weekend. The whole point of the weekend was to get to know some of the people who follow us and support us. As a treat, my athletes competed so the folks visiting and competing could see their athletic ability up close. On the first day, Nathan competed in the Olympic weightlifting portion of the weekend - and I have to say he didn’t disappoint. He started the weekend with a PR Snatch of 156k (or 343 pounds for all of you who are kilo illiterate). That was awesome to see, but there was something else amazing coming that day. Train Stupid

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On Nathan’s second clean and jerk attempt, he called for the unfathomable 200 kilos (440lb). Now we had already seen him make the lift in training, but we all know competition is a different demon. The entire crowd was on the edge of their seats in anticipation of this massive attempt. At that point in history only one other Junior lifter below the Super Heavyweights weight class had ever clean and jerked 200 kilos plus, and that was Ian Wilson. Nathan stormed the platform with complete determination covering his scowled face. He approached the bar with an intensity I had never seen before. Never had the Mash Mafia singlet looked so good. He wore it with an immense amount of pride as if flying our team’s flag. He did his typical set up - which seemed to take an eternity for all of us watching. Finally he ripped the bar from the platform as if he was a volcano erupting. The clean literally looked effortless like a child picking up a stick from the ground. Then came the pause as Nathan prepared to jerk the weight. His rhythm was perfect, and he launched the bar above his head like a rocket from Cape Canaveral. His recovery looked beautiful. BOOM! Nathan had just made history. Later that evening on the farm, we celebrated the entire team’s performance along with our friends, family, and guests. We were all very happy because the entire team performed well, and many of the competitors hit personal records. The celebration went on into the wee hours of the night. These celebrations are always fun as we reflect on how blessed we are to have so many people who Train Stupid

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follow us and love what we are doing. Getting a chance to hang out with them always ends up being a memorable time. The next day is when I realized I was coaching an athlete with strength so great that the world of the barbell would never be the same. The day after our weightlifting meet and celebration, we hosted the powerlifting portion of the weekend. Nathan showed up right as the event was about to start. He had just rolled out of bed. His hair was big, and his eyes were bloodshot red. He hadn’t eaten a thing that morning. That’s when he looked at me and asked if he could lift in the powerlifting competition. I laughed because I thought that he was kidding. When I didn’t see him laughing, I realized he was serious. I just shook my head and said, “Nathan, the competition is about to start - and you’re not even warmed up.” He looked at me calmly and said, “Don’t worry! I’ll warm up quickly.” Then he proceeded to put on his weightlifting shoes and singlet, and he headed to the warm up area. I watched him play with the bar - and then he immediately hit 500 pounds. After that he walked over to the platform to wait his turn. He opened with 600 pounds, and it was a joke. He ended the day with a massive 675lb. That’s 307 kilos, which was an unofficial world record in the IPF at the time. At that moment Nathan had shown his dominance in both of the barbell strength sports. That’s an accomplishment only a select few have ever done. He went on to deadlift a personal record of 600lb. I am not going to talk about his bench press, but his lower body and posterior chain are on a level all by themselves. Train Stupid

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This introduction is to give you an idea just how amazing this young athlete really is - but his ability on the platform is only part of who Nathan is. This man is also a thinker. Nathan’s training philosophy and overall knowledge of the sport have been a massive influence on all of the athletes at Mash Mafia Weightlifting, and I want this book to give you something you can apply to your own training. As his coach, I can honestly say I have learned a lot from my discussions with Nathan. Our international trips have been particularly enlightening with our eight-hour plane rides. Those trips showed me a side of Nathan I didn’t know existed. I knew he was a student of the sport, but I didn’t realize he had formulated so many of his own incredibly solid theories. This book is all about showing you a side of Nathan you didn’t know existed. His videos portray him as this caveman-like meathead, but this young man is so much more. He lives and breathes this sport. He has been weightlifting ten years, and he’s had the chance to meet amazing coaches and weightlifters from all over the world. Nathan has taken advantage of those moments by learning their philosophies on training and technique. Nathan has formed his own melting pot mixed with his own spin and some ideas that may change your outlook on the sport of Olympic weightlifting.

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TRAIN STUPID PHILOSOPHY Nathan’s first coach, Boris Urman, was a Russian immigrant straight from the motherland. He taught Nathan the importance of general strength. It’s something that Nathan embraced, and it still serves him well today. I am not just talking about snatch, clean and jerk, and squats. I am talking about overall full body strength. Basically Nathan was taught to get jacked and strong as a bull. After each and every major competition, Nathan takes some time off. This is a smart long-term move. It allows his body to recover, and more importantly it allows him to take a mental break from the day-in and day-out grind that is the sport of weightlifting. As soon as the short break is over, it’s back to the grind. The first two to eight weeks are nothing but general strength and hypertrophy work with very little of the competition lifts. The length of this phase is determined by the amount of time until the next competition, and the goal of this phase is very simple - to get stronger and add some quality muscle. There aren’t a lot of smiles on Nathan’s face during this phase. I call it a “hood up and head down” phase. The truth is he’s very hard to talk to during this part of his training. Basically he stays miserable and beat down, forcing his body to adapt to the workload. Train Stupid

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After this phase is completed, Nathan goes right into a more traditional snatch, clean and jerk, squat, and pull routine. Normally after about two weeks, the hypertrophy phase pays off with some massive PRs. He’s been with me for almost two years now, and so far the phenomenon has held true each and every time. This sport isn’t hard. We try to make it hard, but it’s really not. There have to be phases where we focus on strength and hypertrophy with squats, pulls, and presses. Then there have to be phases where we focus on the competition lifts. During this phase the goal is to transfer the new strength to the lifts. It’s that simple. This sport isn’t all about technique, and it isn’t all about getting strong. It’s about a balance between the two. There is no need to over-complicate things.

STRENGTH AND EFFICIENCY Some time ago somebody decided that weightlifters should snatch 65% of their one-repetition maximum in the back squat, and clean and jerk 75% of their one-repetition maximum back squat. A lower percentage meant that the lifter was inefficient with their strength, and the lifter should work on technique. These are good ratios to go by, but there is no way they are gospel. Guys like Nathan are never going to be “efficient” like that. Is it because he doesn’t have good technique? Absolutely not - he has been training for ten years. His technique is amazing. The reason Nathan’s ratios make him seem inefficient is because Nathan’s squat is so massive. Nathan has short femurs and a strong torso. He is designed to back squat. He’s always going to have excess in this department, and that’s fine. Train Stupid

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Here’s what we have found. All weightlifters will establish their own ratio. Some will be below the 65% and 75% markers, some will be right on, and some will best those percentages. But when a lifter has established their ratios, you can pretty much bet the ratio will be locked in from then on. How is this information important? You may be like my athlete, Tom Summa, who is at 73% and 83%. Or you might be like Nathan who is 55% and 65%. Either way, the goal should be to get stronger. If Nathan’s squat goes up, his snatch and clean and jerk follow suit. The same is true for Tom Summa. As long as your technique is proficient, getting stronger will always pay off. Nathan left the Junior ranks owning all the Junior American Records in the 94k class. I would say this philosophy works.

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TRAIN STUPID PROGRAM Now that you know the basic philosophy behind this mad man’s approach, it’s time to check out the program all of you wanted to see. This is a ten-week program that Nathan ran recently. In the notation, “5 x 2” would be five sets of two reps each. Instead of seeing sets and reps you may see something like “5RM.” That means to go as heavy as you can for five reps - in other words, your five-rep maximum. Nathan does a lot of ascending weights and waves. So you will often see something like this: Deficit Stiff Leg Deadlift (Clean)

9 x (10,8,6,4,2,4,6,8,10) with (75%,80%,85%,90%,95%, 90%,85%,80%,75%)

The exercise would obviously be a clean-style stiff legged deadlift. You’ll perform nine total sets. The first set is 10 reps with 75%. The next set is 8 reps with 80%. The next set is 6 reps with 85%. You would proceed this way until your ninth set of 10 reps with 75%. The percentages are based off of the one-repetition maximum of the lift being performed unless otherwise stated. Sometimes the percentage is based off of another exercise. Train Stupid

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It’s written simply, but this plan is a lot of work. You are going to get stronger. I love the way it changes almost entirely from week to week. This will keep things exciting, and it will also force adaptation. The body will be forced to continue to get stronger and more muscular. That’s the name of the game for strength.

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WEEK 1 MONDAY Back Squat

6 x (5,6,7,8,9,10) with 78% only dropping 2-3% if necessary

Deadlift (Clean)

5 x 2 with 110% of clean

Good Morning

5 x 5; Start with 25% of back squat and slowly increase

Strict Press

5 x 3; Start with 40% of jerk and increase

TUESDAY Power Clean

3 x 3 with 78% of full clean

Snatch High Pull (Below Knee)

3 x 5 with 86%, then 2 x 3 with 93%

Front Squat (Paused)

3 x 3 with 76%

Seated Strict Press (Back)

3 x 45 seconds (move up in weight when all 3 sets are unbroken)

WEDNESDAY Deficit Stiff Leg Deadlift (Clean)

9 x (10,8,6,4,2,4,6,8,10) with (75%,80%,85%,90%,95%, 90%,85%,80%,75%)

Incline Bench

6x3

THURSDAY Snatch (No Feet)

2RM, then 1RM

Back Squat

6 x (4,2,4,2,4,2) with (85%,89%,85%,89%,85%,89%)

Deadlift (Snatch)

6 x 2 with 110% of snatch

Push Press (Snatch Grip)

5 x 3 with 86%

FRIDAY Front Squat (4 Sec Descent)

5 x 2 with 75%

Snatch High Pull (At Knee)

5 x 8 with 73%

RDL Clean Grip

5 x 10

SATURDAY Snatch (No Contact)

1RM, then -15kg for 3 x 2

Deadlift (Clean with 6 Sec Descent)

5 x 3 with 95% of clean

Strict Press (Snatch Grip)

5x3

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WEEK 2 MONDAY Back Squat

5 x (10,5,3,2,1) with (77%,85%,89%,93%,96%)

Clean High Pull (Above Knee)

6 x (5,6,7,8,9,10) with 85%

Push Press

3 x 3, then 2 x 2

Weighted Back Extensions

5 x 10

TUESDAY Muscle Snatch

5x5

Snatch Grip RDL

3 x 5 with 70%, then 2 x 5 with 75%

Front Squat

6 x 2 with 85%

Strict Press (Alternating 3 reps in front and 3 in back)

4x6

WEDNESDAY Shrugs (Clean Grip)

5 x 8 (100% of clean)

Incline Bench

6x3

THURSDAY Back Squat

10 x 2 with 88%

Power Clean

5 x 2 with 80%

Snatch High Pull (Below Knee)

5 x 5 with 80%

FRIDAY Front Squat

10 x 1 with 85%

Clean High Pull

5 x (3 Below Knee and 3 Above Knee) with 80%

Push Press

1RM, then -20% for max reps

SATURDAY Power Snatch Complex

1 Power Snatch and 2 Hang Power Snatch: 4 sets at 70%

Deadlift

5 x 5 with 90% of clean

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WEEK 3 MONDAY Clean and Jerk

1RM

TUESDAY Snatch (No Feet)

1RM

Front Squat

5 x 3 with 78% (max reps on last set)

Posterior Superset

5 goodmornings superset with 10 back extensions: 5 supersets at medium difficulty

Strict Press

5RM

WEDNESDAY Back Squat (Paused)

5 x 2 with 75%

Deadlift

5 x (2,2,3,4,5) with 95% of clean

Shrugs

3 x 8 with 100% of clean

THURSDAY Front Squat

1RM, then -20% for 3 x 2 paused

Strict Press

Start with the bar for 5 reps, then add 10kg for five reps, add 10kg and repeat until failure

Back Extensions

5 x 10 with minimal weight

FRIDAY Snatch

1RM

Clean and Jerk

1RM

SATURDAY Back Squat

5 x 5 with 78%

Deadlift

5RM, then 3RM, then 2RM (Go conservative and don’t miss)

Upper Body

4 total supersets of 8 curls / 8 tricep extensions / 8 upright rows / 8 presses

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WEEK 4 MONDAY Back Squat

4 x 2 with 72%, then 3 x (2,2) with (74%, 76%), then 2 x (2,2,2) with (78%, 80%, 82%), then 1x (2,2,2,2) with (83.5%, 85%, 87%, 89%)

Thruster

1RM

TUESDAY Clean and Jerk

1RM

Front Squat

5 x 3 with 80%, max reps on last set

WEDNESDAY Snatch

2RM, then 1RM

Back Squat

8 x (5,1,5,1,5,1,5,1) with (78%,87%,78%,87%,78%,87%,7 8%,87%)

Snatch High Pull (Below Knee)

5 x 3 with 80%

Jerk

3 x 1 with 90%

THURSDAY Front Squat

5 x 2 with 87%

Clean and Jerk Complex

1 Clean and 2 Jerks: 3 sets with 78%

FRIDAY Snatch

1RM

Clean and Jerk

1RM

SATURDAY Snatch Complex

Snatch Pull and Snatch: 1RM

Clean and Jerk Complex

Power Clean and 3 Push Presses: 5 sets with 60%

Back Squat

5RM

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WEEK 5 MONDAY Snatch (No Feet)

2RM

Back Squat

1RM

Front Squat

1RM

TUESDAY Clean from Blocks

5 x 2 with 85%

Front Squat

3RM

Strict Press (Snatch Grip)

6x6

WEDNESDAY Hang Snatch

1RM

Back Squat (Paused)

5 x 3 with 70%

THURSDAY Snatch

3 x 2 with 70%

Clean and Jerk Complex

Clean and 2 Jerks: 3 sets at 70%

Snatch High Pull

5 x 1 with 100% of snatch

FRIDAY Snatch

5 x (2,1,2,1,2) with (75%,85%,80%,90%,85%), then 1RM

Clean and Jerk

1RM

SATURDAY Clean and Jerk Complex

2 Front Squats and 1 Jerk: 1RM

Front Squat

1RM

Shrugs

5 x 8 with 100% of clean

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WEEK 6 MONDAY Clean and Jerk

6 x (3,3,2,2,1,1) at (70%,70%,80%,80%,90%,90%)

Back Squat

2RM

Strict Press

3 x 10

TUESDAY Snatch

6 x (3,3,2,2,1,1) at (70%,70%,80%,80%,90%,90%)

Front Squat

1RM

WEDNESDAY Power Snatch

2RM

Clean and Jerk Complex

Clean and Front Squat and Jerk: 1RM

THURSDAY Snatch

3 x 2 with 70%

Clean and Jerk Complex

Clean and 2 Jerks: 3 sets at 70%

Back Squat

3 x 1 with 70%

FRIDAY Snatch

1RM

Clean and Jerk

1RM

SATURDAY Back Squat

Train Stupid

6 x (2,2,2,2,2,2) with (75%,75%,75%,78.5%,82%,86%)

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WEEK 7 MONDAY Snatch

6 x 1 with 90%

Clean and Jerk

6 x 1 with 90%

TUESDAY Snatch

4 x 2 with 80%

Clean and Jerk

4 x 2 with 80%

Back Squat

3 x 5 with 75%

WEDNESDAY Snatch

5 x 1 with 93%

Clean and Jerk

3 x 1 with 93%

THURSDAY Front Squat

5 x 1 with 95% of clean

Clean High Pull

6 x 2 with 90% of clean

FRIDAY Snatch

1RM

Clean and Jerk

1RM

Front Squat

2RM

SATURDAY Back Squat

10 x 2 with 85%

Deadlift (Snatch)

5 x 5 with 100% of snatch

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WEEK 8 MONDAY Snatch

1RM

Clean and Jerk

1RM

TUESDAY Rack Jerk

5 x 2 with 80%

Back Squat

1RM

WEDNESDAY Snatch

2RM

Clean and Jerk

3 x 1 with 90%

THURSDAY Front Squat

4 x 2 with 85%, then 2RM

FRIDAY Snatch

1RM

Clean and Jerk

1RM

SATURDAY Back Squat

1RM

Back Squat (Paused)

5 x 2 with 70%

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WEEK 9 MONDAY Snatch

6 x (1,1,1,1,1,1) with (90%,90%,90%,93%,93%,95%)

Clean and Jerk

4 x (1,1,1,1) with (85%,85%,85%,95%)

TUESDAY Front Squat

6 x 2 with 88%

Snatch High Pull

6 x (1,1,1,1,1,1) with (90%,90%,90%,100%,100%,100%)

Clean High Pull

6 x (1,1,1,1,1,1) with (90%,90%,90%,100%,100%,100%)

WEDNESDAY Snatch

3 x 1 with 96%

Clean and Jerk

2 x 1 with 93%

THURSDAY Back Squat

6 x 1 with 90%

FRIDAY Snatch

1RM

Clean and Jerk

1RM

SATURDAY Snatch (No Feet)

1RM

Rack Jerk

3 x 1 with 90%

Front Squat

6 x 2 with 85%

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WEEK 10: TAPER TUESDAY Snatch

1 x 1 with opener or 96%

Clean and Jerk

1 x 1 with opener or 96%

WEDNESDAY Back Squat

4 x 2 with 85%

THURSDAY Snatch

1 x 1 with last warmup or 93%

Clean and Jerk

1 x 1 with last warmup or 93%

Front Squat

1 x 1 with 100% of clean

FRIDAY Rest or Bar Work

SATURDAY Snatch

1RM

Clean and Jerk

1RM

SUNDAY Back Squat

1RM

Front Squat

1RM

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COACHING NATHAN Coaching Nathan Damron is unlike anyone else I have coached before. At this point of his career, he has ten years of experience under his belt. As a coach you can’t treat these athletes the same as someone with one to three years of experience. When you have trained for ten years, you come to know what works and what doesn’t. Nathan knows that he needs hypertrophy and general strength early in his macrocycle. He knows that the closer he gets to a meet, the more specific the workout needs to become. Nathan develops a basic plan that looks like the same programming he has been running for several years. However, he uses his instincts to make changes on a daily basis. If his pull feels weak, then he spends more time on the pull. If his overhead position is feeling off, then he spends more time on the overhead work. If he is feeling great, he pushes it. If he is feeling beat up, he will back off. Auto-regulation is the way to go at this point in a career. Some people would rather follow a more regimented plan, and that is also fine. However, if you have been training for ten years like Nathan, no plan on earth can work as well as auto-regulation. Great athletes are always very aware of the way their body responds to training. They make mental notes of these responses, giving them all the data necessary for good decisions in training. Does that mean we just say, “good luck” and turn Nathan loose? No way! Coach McCauley and I give him daily feedback on what Train Stupid

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we are noticing. If we see his jerk stability struggling, we are going to ask Nathan to work on some jerk recoveries. If we see his pull slowing down, we are going to ask him to perform some extra work to fix the pull. Nathan is still only 20 years old, so he still needs us old guys to keep his workout in check. Young guys will sometimes let their testosterone levels conduct the sessions if an older and wiser coach isn’t there to keep an eye on them. Nathan and any other athlete will always need technique feedback on a daily basis. The sport of Olympic weightlifting is so fast. Sometimes an athlete thinks one thing is going on, and all the while it’s really something else. Having extra eyes is invaluable for these high level athletes to get dialed in for bigger competitions. This is the area we help Nathan the most. Here’s the thing about coaching Nathan. I know that I am blessed to be coaching Nathan, and all the rest of the amazing athletes who we are coaching at Mash Elite Performance. Every day I get to see athletes like Nathan pushing weights that most mortals can’t even dream about. Just a while ago, I got to see him back squat 700 pounds like it was an empty bar. I saw him jerk 200 kilos without breaking a sweat. Nathan is fearless. Heavy weights drive him to keep pushing. He lives to hit those big weights. Nathan doesn’t just want to be a great weightlifter. He wants to be a strength legend. He wants to leave his mark on the barbell world, and I feel very blessed to be a small part of it as his coach. It’s not like I am living through his accomplishments. I had my own fair share of success in the strength world. It’s just exciting to be able to watch someone young continue the march. I never know when Nathan is going to come in and squat 320k, clean & jerk 210k, or snatch 165k. I just never know. As a coach, Train Stupid

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athletes like Nathan get me out of bed and excited to go to the gym. I don’t know why God decided to grant me such amazing athletes, but I am sure glad that He did. All of this is fine, but Nathan is so much more than just some legendary meathead. This young man is a student of the sport, and he loves to help others. It’s so refreshing to see a 20-year-old athlete who wants to invest in our younger and less experienced athletes. His strength is exciting to coach, but it is his heart that makes me love him. I pray all of you can someday have a gym full of Nathan Damrons.

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DEEPER WITH NATHAN As Nathan’s coach I have given you my thoughts on this amazing athlete. We have talked about some of his philosophies. We have also gone over his program, but I wanted to get a little deeper for you guys. Nathan doesn’t talk a lot unless you really get to know him. Most of his social media posts are short and to the point. Here’s a chance for you to find out more about this young man and his thoughts on the sport - he provides some very thoughtful answers to the questions below. So here’s more about training stupid straight from the mouth of Nathan himself. Before we pick your brain, tell us about your early days in weightlifting and what foundations you had early on. I got started with weightlifting because I was trying to get better at wrestling and football, and one of my friends growing up invited me to work out with my first coach (Boris Urman). It started out as a summer camp. Then I realized I could be really good, so I just stuck with it. Eventually I quit wrestling and football to pursue weightlifting. But those sports were still very beneficial to lifting. Wrestling helped me build mental toughness for the grind of everyday training, and it also conditioned my body to have a much better work capacity than I would have if I hadn’t wrestled. Football helped me out by putting me in the community of the biggest, strongest guys where I’m from. Train Stupid

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With Boris, I trained six days per week. His programming is very old school Soviet - lots of hangs/blocks and other assistance work. He was always trying to make us stronger but always put an emphasis on improving technique. My success in weightlifting isn’t because I’m a better weightlifter than everyone, I’m just a lot stronger. However, starting early did allow me to get pretty good movement patterns for my lifts, so I can train very hard without injuring myself. But at the end of the day, genetics are everything, especially in drug-free weightlifting.

Should a weightlifter focus on strength, technique, or both? If both, which is more important? A weightlifter should always be trying to get stronger. That’s how you get to be one of the top guys. The best technique in the world isn’t going to make up for a major strength deficit. But at the same time, you always need to be working on improving the skill/ technique part of weightlifting – otherwise, none of the strength is going to transfer. You need to improve both because strength is nothing without good technique and good technique is nothing without being strong.

Should a lifter focus on weaknesses or take advantage of strengths? Working on a lifter’s weaknesses is a good idea to try to make a lifter more well-rounded, but a weakness is usually very difficult to improve - which is why it’s still a weakness. There is usually a much Train Stupid

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faster improvement rate when working on something an athlete excels at. So in other words, you can get stronger more quickly. A lot of people say, “I don’t need to do (blank) because I’m already good at it.” That might be the reason they’re stagnating. Generally, if you improve your strength, your weakness will follow behind it.

Many people associate you with your phrase of #TrainStupid. Where did your concept of Train Stupid come from? It seems like everyone wants to “train smart” and figure out some perfect way to plan their training so they have guaranteed results in the end. But the same thing never really works twice - at least for me. So you don’t want to overthink your training and try to be too smart. You need to improvise and try new things. I don’t have a set-in-stone process like, “If I do this, then this is going to happen.” I treat each training cycle slightly differently and figure things out a lot as I go along. I have guidelines that I follow. Instead of directly planning everything out exactly, I’ll give myself a little wiggle room. And then based on a few general rules, I’ll choose my program from there.

So what are these guidelines? Based on how far out I am from a competition, I’ll push certain elements harder than others. I’ve noticed that certain parts of my body recover at different rates. So I won’t really wreck my back as much in the few weeks leading up to the competition. Train Stupid

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With several weeks out, I’ll put a lot more emphasis on pushing my back. At that point, it’s hard to be doing the lifts then, so there’s not too much of the main lifts on those weeks. I focus more on strength and conditioning to prepare the body to be able to deal with the explosive stuff later. Also, I think about what day of the week I’m on. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I put in more of the lifts. Then on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, I will be focusing more on strength movements. So at the beginning of the program cycle, I will have more strength work with Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays being hard days. Then as I bring in more of the main lifts as the program goes on, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays get easier - while Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays become tougher days.

Tell us more about balancing strength work and the main lifts as you progress in your program. For the first month of the program, I don’t care what I’m snatching and clean and jerking as far as numbers go. In the first two weeks, I don’t perform the lifts at all. In the second two weeks, I start messing around with them - but I don’t take them seriously. I think about how I’m moving rather than the weight, and then I’m pushing the strength movements - so I’ll be trying to squat and pull heavy during that time period. The next four weeks I’ll lay off on the strength stuff and start to dial in my lifts. I’ll start snatching and clean and jerking every Train Stupid

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Friday and improve those. Then the last two weeks are basically competition prep where I switch the focus from strength to moving well in the lifts.

How would you program if you had a different amount of time before a competition. Other than 10 weeks, what if you had 16 weeks or only 5 weeks? If I were to have a longer amount of time, I wouldn’t just have one linear progression like the 10-week program. If it were 16 weeks, I would peak myself in the first eight weeks. Then I’d back off the lifts again and perform a second strength cycle for the second eight weeks. Usually for the first eight weeks, I wouldn’t really taper at the end - I’d just train right through it. If I had five weeks, I’d probably do a one week strength and conditioning block. I’d have squatting and pulling with no lifts. Then, I’d have a week to do light lifts just to get myself moving again. Then I’d push myself for two weeks and end with a taper for the final week.

What’s your approach to tapering? Tapering is tricky to determine. A lot depends on the type of lifter. I used to do a lot of big lifts in the middle of hard training and then when I went on a big taper, I would lose the feeling of heavy weights. So I like to still drop the volume down, but now I keep the intensity fairly high for the last two weeks. Then maybe I’ll go light for two days before competing. I’ve found that way I still feel like I’ve been lifting heavy weights recently. Train Stupid

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What programming methods have you tried that didn’t work out well for you? A lot. In 2015, I left my coach, and I didn’t really know exactly what I was doing. I was training by myself in Lifetime Fitness. I would just walk in every day and start lifting. I would try stuff, screw up, and try something else. It was a lot of trial and error with no one to answer to but myself. I found out some things worked for me, and I found out some things didn’t work at all. I tried just about everything for a couple years - I’m still figuring stuff out now. I used to try to deadlift all the time. I’d go heavy at least once a week, and I realized my body just can’t deal with that. It’s a nobrainer when you think about it. Something else I figured out is to cut the lifts out at times. When a lot of people are doing strength blocks, they’ll try to still do the main lifts but just go lighter or do fewer reps. But I figured out doing the lifts during strength work just tends to lead to me hurting myself. Now I completely cut the lifts out for the first couple weeks - or I’ll try to do a different variation of the lifts. Cutting the lifts out for the first couple weeks is also a CNS reset because snatching and clean and jerking is tough on your mind and body. For me, I also found it didn’t work to snatch and clean and jerk on the same day too often. It works better if I split the lifts up - or if I do both on the same day, I’ll pick one to be the focus and go lighter on the other. What was the moment of discovery when you realized a strength block was so effective in your programming? Train Stupid

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After the 2015 American Open, my shoulders were beat down. Before that I was basically snatching and clean and jerking every day. That worked for a little while, but then my body just completely broke down. Then I had my first strength block where I didn’t put a bunch of emphasis on the lifts but just on pulling and pressing and squatting, and that made me feel fresher and stronger than I ever had when I came back to the main lifts. I realized that for an Olympic weightlifter you don’t really need to push your back and shoulders too hard. They’re fragile, and they can’t really handle it. If you just take some time to focus on squatting, then they’ll heal up and feel better just because they’re much fresher.

How does auto-regulation play a part in your training? Auto-regulation usually works best if you think about it in advance. Let’s say you set your week out, you look at the days, and you want to hit something big on Friday. So maybe on Monday, you work up to a 90 or 95% effort - because you still want to get your work in but you don’t want to kill yourself early in the week. Then Tuesday, I don’t really go very hard. Now for those days, you’re still working up to something - but you’ll try to not let yourself go too far. Basically, just be real with yourself. If you pick up the bar in the beginning - and as you load weights up it doesn’t feel very good - you think you can at least get some Train Stupid

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volume in. And you take smaller jumps and get your lifts feeling right. But then on days where you feel good, you just take big jumps and work up to whatever you plan on hitting that day. A really good indicator of a good or bad day is the overall feeling of pain. Not like the pain from an injury. But if you have some nagging shoulder or knee pain, and one day it’s just extra bad - that’s usually a sign my body is feeling a little beat down. If my back is hurting, then I may realize I’ve been pushing my back pretty hard recently - so I don’t need to be going for anything heavy. It’s the same with my shoulders. A lot of it is just figuring out the difference between feeling weak or moving poorly. If you feel slow, your body is probably just tired. Whether you feel strong or not, you’re not ready to go for a big snatch. It’ll feel light but you won’t be able to hit anything. On the other hand, if you feel fast but weak then you can push your lifts just to work on getting more efficient. A lot of the successful coaches I’ve seen will put percentages and weights on an exercise and say, “Work up to this.” But it’s more about the exercise you’re doing. So if you put the percentage on the bar for a set of five - and you hit the second rep and realize you can’t even do three reps then just back off a little. But do all the reps at a weight that seems appropriate for the session. But during the strength blocks, a lot of the exercises are slowmoving, so I like to put numbers that are going to push you. It’s almost like a challenge - like, “Just put this on the bar and try.” Train Stupid

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Because you’re not doing the lifts during the strength phase, you’re not going to come in the next day feeling bad, try to snatch, and snap your back. You’re going to come in and do more slowmoving strength work.

You use a lot of waving with reps and weights and a lot of sets with ascending weights. Why have you found that to be effective? At least with me and a lot of people I know, it’s a lot easier mentally to tackle a workout if you start off with the lighter sets. It doesn’t seem too threatening. And then once you do that, you’re mentally ready to go for something heavier. It also gets your body ready for the heavy weights. It’s like the frog in the frying pan. If you just slap on some super heavy weights and go for your first set of five, you’re going to think, “That was terrible. I don’t want to do five more sets.” But by starting out with a lighter set, you’re thinking, “Oh, that’s not too bad.” Then another small jump isn’t too bad. Pretty soon you’ve worked up to the same point or higher, but you don’t have the shock of the super heavy weight.

What are your thoughts on rest between sets? I tend to play it by ear. A mistake is usually waiting too long between sets, but it also depends on the exercise. With the Olympic lifts, you should definitely have your sets go more quickly to get yourself in a groove. Then with the strength work, you can take your time and go as you feel. Train Stupid

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What do you personally do for assistance work? I’m a strong believer that accessory work should always be done to continuously strengthen the parts of your body that don’t get too much attention during your normal workouts. I do jerk recoveries, tricep extensions, curls, forearm work, and occasionally I’ll do pushups. But that’s about as far as I’ll go for the upper body. For my back, I like doing pulls from the hang - usually the low hang. You get a pretty good workout but you don’t jar yourself from the floor. So there’s less risk of injury and it’s lower impact - but you can still get a good amount of volume. Generally with my shoulders and back, I don’t like to push them so hard that they’re not useful for a few days. It just takes so long to recover with them. If your shoulders and your back are feeling horrible, you will start to have bad habits in your lifts. You start trying to lift around your issues and figuring out ways to lift around pain and tiredness. You’re an experienced lifter that can go a few weeks without technique work while you’re in your strength block. But what about lifters that need the extra technique work? In my experience if you have a coach watching you and your technique isn’t that great, you can handle more volume than an experienced lifter - because you’re not dealing with as much heavy weight relative to your strength. As you go for heavy lifts your body starts moving in more efficient ways. Also a lot of it is autoregulation. So if you’re not feeling it, eventually you’re going to have to back off. Eventually your body won’t let you lift heavy. That will reset you, and then you’ll be able to start going again. Train Stupid

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Is this type of program suitable for various types of weightlifters? I don’t think this program would be good for a total beginner. But in my opinion, it would work well for plenty of lifters. It’s basically just getting your body prepared to handle heavy weights, and then you go for heavy weights often. There’s less risk for injury if you spend your time in the beginning preparing yourself, then you go heavy in the lifts so that you can get better at them. So I think it’s fairly generic. But I think a lot of people aren’t mentally capable of it. It’s a very high intensity program compared to a lot of other ones. That’s another reason why this is all about training stupid. Some people say, “Be smart. Back off.” And then there’s another person who isn’t going to back off. The one who kept training hard is going to be the one to win in the end. A lot of people aren’t really sure what their bodies are capable of. If you just push yourself, eventually you’ll adapt and will be able to do it. A lot of people tell me I’m the only one who can train this way. No, I’m just the only one who’s willing to train this way. It’s more of a mental thing. It’s not easy for me - I’m just willing to do it, and they’re not. So then they come up with an excuse. It might be genetic, but if someone asks me, “How do I get as good as you?” - all I can say is to train like me. If they say they can’t train like me, then I don’t know how they’re supposed to get as good. I’m not trying to be cocky, it’s just common sense. My whole life, I’ve had people asking for advice. I try to give the best advice I can, but then they’ll say, “Oh that’s too hard. That’s just for you.” And they never try it. Train Stupid

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What advice do you have for those wanting to be better weightlifters? The key to being a good weightlifter is a good combination of genetics, work ethic, and insanity. The best weightlifters are the ones who fully commit to the sport and make it their life. I would advise lifters to gather all the info you can from other people but constantly be thinking about the sport. If you’re in bed at night, be thinking about what you’re doing tomorrow, why you’re doing it, and how it’s going to affect you. Just always try to break it apart and figure out why everything works and how it works. That way you’ll have a better understanding and can start making more decisions for yourself or one day eventually become a coach. I feel like there are a lot of lifters who get told to do things a certain way or to follow a certain protocol. And they just follow along and never stop and think. They never ask why. They never try to figure out the reasoning.

What benefit do you receive from working with a coach - and what advice do you have for weightlifters as they work with coaches? With a coach you have to have communication. It can’t just be that he speaks and you do it. Now, you should always listen and definitely take the coach’s advice - especially for the newer lifters. I’m not saying the athlete should just do what they want to do and everything is going to work out fine. That’s not how it goes. But don’t be afraid to speak up. If they want you to go up but you feel beat down that day, just tell them you don’t feel great. Just be sure to have communication if they’re cutting you off. Train Stupid

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That’s where working with coaches helps me the most. In terms of auto-regulating, I always have a biased opinion. I’m always thinking I’m fine and can go up. But the coaches will tell me, “Eh, today doesn’t really look like your day.” A coach is also huge for seeing small technical things with your lighter warmups. I don’t really feel something happening because it’s lighter weight and you can get away with it. But some days you’ll be moving a little weird, and you need someone to tell you.

What are you thinking when you approach a PR snatch? Pull the bar as hard as I can and commit.

What are you thinking when you approach a PR clean and jerk? I’m going to try to stay as calm but aggressive as possible. You’ve got to put as much force into the bar as you can, but it’s too heavy to be making any mistakes.

What are you thinking when you approach a PR squat? I try to think of the darkest, angriest thing I can come up with. I just need to find a way to motivate myself to push as hard as I can without any restrictions.

Imagine you are on the platform for your final clean and jerk of the meet. If you make it, you are going to the Olympics. If not, you are Train Stupid

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staying at home. What’s going through your mind as you approach this monumental lift? I’m trying to not think of how important the lift is and attack it like a normal clean and jerk. What is your overall philosophy regarding weightlifting? Don’t take it too seriously. Just train hard and take all the advice you can get. A weightlifting career is one big science experiment, so always try new things. Just because it’s stupid doesn’t mean it won’t work.

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CONCLUSION I hope all of you walk away understanding that “Train Stupid” isn’t really stupid at all. People see the personal records posted on Instagram and think Nathan simply maxes-out day-in and day-out. Now you know the work that goes into these personal record streaks. Now you can try the workout for yourself, and you will see the hypertrophy/general strength phase is brutal. It’s that brutality which forces the adaptation required to spark the body to get stronger and more muscular. If you just snatch, clean & jerk, and squat, your body will quickly adapt to the stimulus. Once your body adapts to a stimulus, it’s now hard to get stronger and more muscular. We have to continue forcing hypertrophy with high repetitions, adding weight to the bar, and beating the muscles up. These three things keep the body responding with bigger and bigger muscles. (Check out my guide Mash Jacked for a deeper look into hypertrophy) Then it is up to us to lift heavy in the snatch, clean & jerk, and squats to get your absolute strength through the roof. Even when absolute strength is the main concern, you will still want to change up the sets, repetitions, and the intensity. You will want to apply the conjugate method to the lifts by using blocks, hangs, and pauses. Nathan’s Train Stupid workout is a solid 10-week plan that does it all for you. Now you too can hit some big weights on a regular basis, causing people to tell you that you’re training stupid. You can look right at them and say “thank you.” Train Stupid

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Now go and enjoy some heavy weights, big muscles, and all the new personal records.

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