Back Contraction and Scapular Control for a Bigger Bench

One of the things I’ve been working on really hard the last few weeks is intensifying the contraction of my lats and the scapular musculature when performing Rows and Presses, in order to improve my back development and increase pressing power.

By doing so, my Barbell Bench Press has never felt better, and it’s almost completely pain free right now, for my shoulder.

I recently shot a video to help understand what I’ve been working on, and the feeling I’m going for when performing a lot of my Row movements.

There’s a million ways to do this, and one way is with Recline Rows, which we just happened to be doing recently.

Shoulder Blades Into Your Pickets

This video also talks about the idea of Shoulder Blades Into Your Pockets. This is exactly what I’m trying to do whenever I do a Seated Row, a Pull-down, and many other pulling/rowing movements.

I think if you try to implement this kind of contraction when you Row, you’ll gradually develop a better mental connection between your lats and scapular muscles, and this will lead a much more stable and stronger Bench Press.

If you have any questions on this, please leave a comment below, and make sure to subscribe to my youtube channel.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Want a Bigger, Thicker Back? Check out YOKETOBER

While most of what you see from me is Grip Training related, I actually do much more training than just Grip.

In fact, I do just as much, if not more training, for my full body.

Every so often, I even try a mainstream strength challenge to see where I’m at.

Even though I’ve only benched with a barbell a couple of times in the last 18 months, I wanted to see how many reps I could get in the 225lb Bench Press for Reps that you see done in the NFL Combine and other tests.

I’ve done this test a few times in the past, but honestly I have no idea how much I’ve gotten before. I *believe* this is the most reps I’ve ever gotten.

Throughout all of 2016, my main objective flat bench pressing was Dumbbell Bench Press, because it didn’t hurt my shoulders, as much as Barbell Bench.

Well, as it turns out, I had developed some bad habits with my Bench Press technique, and these habits are what was causing my issues, not the Barbell Bench itself.

I figured this out when I visited my friend Jerry Shreck, head strength coach from Bucknell University.

He corrected my form while we trained on the Bamboo & Tsunami bars at his gym, and ever since, my shoulders have started feeling better and better.

By using these bars, I was really able to lock in my form, and feel my lats working the way they’re supposed to during the Bench Press. By working on this form and training for endurance in my lats, I think my form is back closer to where it should be, at least as far as my upper body positioning is concerned.

Naturally, with proper form comes improved strength. As I said above, I think I got into some bad habits with my Bench Press set-up that over time caused some serious discomfort.

Once this form issue was identified, and as I worked to correct it, the pain subsided, and I gradually built back some of my strength.

I still have no clue what my Max Bench Press might be, and I don’t really care right now, as I’m much more interested in working back up to 150lb Dumbbell Bench Presses.

But we’ll see what happens!

I hope you got something out of this quick Bench Press post, and if you have any questions, please feel free to comment.

Thanks and all the best in your training.

Jedd

It’s Never Too Early to Start August of Arms

I have a few sayings I’m known for.

One of them is, “It’s not about how much you lift, It’s about how much you LOVE Lifting.”

What that means is, lifting is about being passionate about something and doing it with fire.

Lifting is about setting goals to always be improving.

Lifting is about feeling good, and feeling good about yourself.

So, a couple months ago, or so, when I really took a look at some of my training, I came to realize I wasn’t following my own advice.

The whole idea about that saying is that you should be pushing yourself because you love lifting.

It has nothing to do with pushing yourself so hard that you reach your goals at the expense of everything and everyone else.

But, there I was, trying to reach some goals related to the Barbell Bench Press, and instead of getting closer, I was coming further and further away each session because the exercise was tearing my shoulders up, and leaving me in pain.

It’s now been the better part of this year, that I have quit Benching with the Bar, and moved exclusively to Dumbbell Bench Press. And although my numbers were completely embarrassing at first, I now feel like I’m living more in tune with my beliefs.

And, after a couple months, or however long it’s been, I’m starting to see some good increases, feeling better in the shoulders, and I think even seeing a bit of growth.

I LOVE LIFTING, but I think I was coming severely close to having the majority of my training SHUT DOWN due to the pain I was feeling in my shoulders.

I encourage you to do the same as well – by all means train hard – don’t just go through the motions in the gym.

But, if there’s a movement that is tearing you up inside, don’t feel the need to push through pain and suffer because of it.

Remember…It ain’t about how much you lift. It’s about how much you LOVE lifting.

All the best in your training.

-Jedd-

P.S. Along these lines, I want to help you out as much as I can, to get you to your goals. And that means helping you learn to do your goal lifts properly and as safely as possible.

Check Out the the Special Offer I’ve Got Going On This Week:

Get Introduction to Strongman Training AND Stone Lifting Fundamentals TOGETHER and SAVE $20! CLICK HERE or click the images below …

Last Thursday, August 14, 2014, I took part in the Pro Care Fitness Challenge, a multi-contest competition at Pro Care Physical Therapy in Athens PA.

I competed in the Strength meet, which included the Bench Press, Weighted Pull-up, and Deadlift.

Here’s a run-down of the rules:

(1) The scoring was all bodyweight based, since there were no divisions. I am not sure of the actual formula used in all the cases.

(2) The Bench Press was the most loosely judged of the 3 events. They didn’t require a pause and your butt could come off the Bench. The Pull-up allowed for standing on a box and then stepping off to get an eccentric load, or you could go from a dead hang. The Deadlift did not require a set-down. You could drop it once you locked it out. You could also use straps if you wanted to.

(3) There were 3 attempts on each lift for each competitor, if they wanted them.

Here’s the thing about the rules. This was not some kind of a professional powerlifting meet. This was a charity competition done for fun. So I really couldn’t care less about the looseness of the rules, and I really hope I don’t have to hear a bunch of complaining about them in the comments section, either here or on YouTube…

More Important…

More important than the rules was the fact that this competition enabled people do get up there and see what they had. If this was their first competition, they could set their baseline numbers, and they would get to feel what it was like to have to lift the weight up under pressure.

Plus, it enabled everyone to see where they stood against others. New lifters got a chance to see where their numbers were at in comparison to more seasoned veterans, and they got to see what else was possible.

Speaking of what’s possible – I was super impressed with one of the staff members of Pro Care. blew away the rest of the competition with a successful Pull-up with 140-lbs attached to his body and he was benching and deadlifting right up near me, and I out-weighed him by 60lbs. It just goes to show what intensity, hard work and consistency can produce over time.

My personal highlight was the Weighted Pull-ups. It was my first time competing at those. In fact, I haven’t even heard of one in the United States for about the last 10 years, so I was PUMPED to give it a try.

Here are the videos from the Strength Competition.

Bench Press

I was still feeling a bit of pain from my Bench workout during the week, but I went after this anyway. I started with an easy 315 on my first attempt. I then jumped up to 365, which I have hit once or twice in the past year, although I rarely train Bench hard. I left my belt on and it was way too tight and when I went to press, it felt like it strained my abs on both sides of my stomach, so I was super distracted by the pain. I thought I hurt myself bad, but I did not. I finished up with 335, and it was also pretty easy for me. I probably could have gotten 345 or 350 on that day.

I am contemplated doing an actual Push/Pull meet sometime in the Fall, so I tried to stay pretty strict on my attempts to see where I am at, with the exception of the pause at the bottom of the movement. To be honest, I forgot all about that entirely.

Pull-up Plus Weight

This was an event I figured I would do very well in, as I do Pull-ups all the time, and roughly 50% of the time they are weighted in some fashion, usually with chains. I started out with a safe 48kg/105/lbs kettlebell, which I smashed. I then jumped to a 120lbs Dumbbell. That was also easy, but I was so focused on the repetition, my ears shut off and I didn’t hear the call, so I ended up hitting a “double.” For my third attempt, I went for 130, and that started to get tough. I probably could have hit 140 fresh.

Deadlift

The alternated grip was allowed on the Deadlift, but I have not pulled with the alternated grip with weight over 315 in months and months if not longer, so I did not even bother trying it with the weights I was pulling. Instead, for my first two attempts, I went Double Overhand (no hook grip), then for my last attempt I went Double Overhand with straps.

I hit 455 on my first attempt. That was easy, and I wished I did more. I then went for 500lbs, which topped Eli Thomas’s current leading lift of 495. Both of those attempts were Double Overhand, no hook grip. I was very happy with how easy 500lbs came up DO. For my third atempt, I decided to try and all-time PR weight for the Deadlift or 550lbs. I used straps due to my fear of alternating and tearing a bicep. This was a pretty pathetic miss. With the straps, it just didn’t feel right. I don’t know if I had the back strength to complete the lift anyway, but I was glad I reached for the PR. I do kind of wish I would have gone for 520 DO No Hook, though, because that would have been an all-time PR for me, using that grip.

The only event in which I placed in the Top 3 was the Pull-up. I got second there. It doesn’t surprise me that I finished further down in the other events, since I have not been specializing in the Bench or Deadlift, however, the lower finishes does make me want to push my numbers up in those events, plus, bringing up my numbers there will contribute to my overall goals of more full-body strength.

I am really glad that I went to this competition. It was a good wake-up call. It was also nice competing with Eli Thomas at something other than Grip. I think the last time we did a comp together was 2005, and I kicked his ass handily. The tables have turned now though, brother.

By the way, if you work with athletes, there is a new DVD Set coming out this week called the Elite Athletic Development Seminar, by Mike Robertson and Joe Kenn. It is being sold at a special price right now. I am not familiar with Joe Kenn, but I have seen a lot of Mike Robertson’s products in the past and that guy is a very good instructor.

Check this program out today: Elite Athletic Development Seminar

Thanks for watching my videos, and all the best with your training.

Jedd

It has become a tradition to do a run-down of the most popular videos I have uploaded each year.

For the next few days, I will be posting the Top Videos of the year, along with a little description of what is going on in each one.

One thing you are going to notice is that my Youtube Channel is pretty eclectic. It’s not just about one thing, like Grip Strength or Muscle Building, but rather about all kinds of different KILLER things you can do in the gym to not only get stronger but love the idea of training as well.

In short, I love training and love helping people with their training goals. So, without further ado, let’s look at videos 11 through 15 that were on the fringe of breaking into the top 10.

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11. Bench Press Tips – Activate Lats for a Bigger Bench Press – 1266 Views

One part of the Bench Press Technique that is often overlooked is the engagement of the lats. Most lifters only think of the Bench Press as a lift for the chest, delts, and triceps, but if you can figure out how to get your lats more involved, you will no doubt see bigger lifts. This video shows a quick demonstration of how to do this as taught to me by Todd Hamer.

Related Article: Bench Press Tip – Activate Lats for Bigger Bench Press

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12. Easy Way to Increase Pull-ups | How to Do More Pull-ups – 1139

Pull-ups are one of the best lifts for building strength and size in the upper back. The more you can do the better. Unfortunately, some people have trouble doing Pull-ups. This video will cover one way that you can train to perform more Pull-ups, and see better results for your back in your training.

If you like the Back Bull, here’s where to pick one up: Back Bull Equipment

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13. Easy Tubing Warm-up Drill for Javelin Throwers – 1087

I was surprised this video ended up so high on the countdown. Earlier this year, I released a DVD called, Grip Training for Track and Field Throwers, and put this video out as a little sample of some of the stuff javelin throwers can do as part of their specific warm-up prior to throwing. Hopefully, this has helped out a few throwers in preventing injury and improving their performance in competition.

Check out our DVD: Grip Training for Throwers

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14. How to Make Your Shoulders Feel Better with a Simple Stretch – 1034

This video shows an awesome stretch for the lats using bands. I have never felt a lat stretch that is as intense as this one. I love it.

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15. Strongman Wrench Bend – 1000

I got a wild hair to bend a wrench earlier this year and ordered in about 25. Unfortunately, 20 or 3 of them stopped me dead in my tracks and a couple others snapped. This is the first one that finally bent. I am not by any means the best bender or braced bend specialist in the world, but I was happy to finally pull this off.

Learn feats of strength like wrench bending, bar bending, and rolling up frying pans, check out our Braced Bending DVD.

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Stay tuned as I continue to update the list throughout the week.

Kick ass in your training,

Jedd

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Upper Body and Grip Training Workout 8/29/13

Lots of people love the idea of building a Big Bench Press, but have little idea how to go about doing it.

Often, the type of Bench Press training we learn about is what we learned in our High School Gyms, which are most likely recycled information that the coach learned when he was in High School and has never changed one single bit. It often ends of becoming a vicious cycle of bad, out-dated information.

My suggestion for people who want to bring up their Bench is to find someone who actually is a Powerlifter and is seeing some success in their training. When you train with someone who is successful in the Big Three Lifts (Bench Press, Squat, and Deadlift), Strength becomes Contagious. Just by lifting with them, you get stronger, and all awhile learn the proper way to train.

Last Friday, I had someone visit who has done just what I am suggesting. He went from having very little structure in his training a few years ago, to following one of the most popular Powerlifting Programs that is out there. As a result, he has seen impressive gains from the new-found structure and is enjoying the design of the program and the increased numbers, for sure.

This lifter is Josh McIntyre. I first met Josh through the Diesel Crew website in January of 2011 when I started the Weekly Grip Strength Challenges. Josh won many of these challenges during the year and has gone on to perform lots of Elite-Lever Grip Strength Feats since then, although these days his primary focus is Powerlifting with a little Strongman and Grip thrown in, a great mixture for developing incredible strength.

We hit an awesome workout this past Friday, about 2 hours and 15 minutes of Upper Body Training and then about an hour and a half of Grip Training, with a little break in between for a short interview.

Below is the video, which contains the entire session.

I asked Josh to send in a little write-up about himself so you could get to know him a bit better. I think you will also see that once you get some programming into your routine, you can expect to see some increased strength levels across the board. Here you go.

Josh McIntyre Interview

Jedd: Who the hell are you and how did you end up getting into Powerlifting?

Thanks Jedd for having me up to your place. My name is Josh McIntyre, I’m 32 and have been lifting off and on since I was 14, but with goals in mind since 2010 and most seriously since 2012. I’ve competed in both Powerlifting and Strongman. My best lifts to date are a 565 squat (raw w/ wraps,) a 390 raw bench and a 635 raw deadlift (no belt) but I’m seeing now that I’m capable of a lot more.

I never did anything more than a set of curls and some push up’s right after highschool. I thought I was strong back then. It’s amazing to look back at pictures and see a guy who thought he was the man. In 2007, I moved to NC from NJ and found myself with a spare room to fill. So I assembled my rusty old H.S. weight bench and got some cheap standard plates from craigslist ads and used sporting goods stores.

Around the same time I spent a lot of time on Youtube looking for workout routines. I found your channel and was floored by the feats I was witnessing. I had a “monkey see, monkey do” mentality like many others, and trained until I could replicate whatever it was that I was training for, like a 5 dimes pinch (have still to get 6 without a pipe through them,) pinching two 45’s, levering a 45# plate (still sloppy,) hubbing a 45# plate, closing an Ironmind #3 etc etc.

I also started to train the powerlifts. I use the term “train” loosely here because I had no idea what the hell I was doing and ended up with a lot of shoulder pain. For a while, since I had no squat rack and it hurt my shoulders to bench a lot, I focused primarily on the DEADLIFT. To this day, it’s still my best and favorite lift. (long arms)

Once I scored a power rack off of craigslist for $100, it was on from there. I read up a bunch on rehab and prehab for shoulders here on DieselCrew.com and Elitefts. I watched a lot of video’s and inched my DL up over 500 in 2009.

Jedd: Tell us About Your Early Competition Days

I competed in my first powerlifting meet in 2010 in the APA. I entered Deadlift only, weighed in around 235 and competed in the 242’s. I opened at 505, went 565 for my second and 585 for my third. Unfortunately they called me for hitching (rightfully so) and I was credited only for my opener. I learned a lot that day and I was hooked!

Since then I’ve competed in 6 powerlifting meets and 1 strongman contest. I’ve learned so much from each one. I really enjoyed the strongman contest but PL is where my passion is. I’ve also trained with a lot of brutally strong PL competitors I’ve met at meets and gained a lot of strength and knowledge from them.

Jedd: When I first learned of you, you were training mostly at your house and from time to time in a gym where they wouldn’t even let you bring in chalk. These days, I have seen you have been training at Raleigh Barbell.

Since March of this year, I began training with a PL team at Raleigh Barbell. I’ve seen my best gains ever just in the last 5 months since training there. We trained 2 cycles of Brandon Lilly’s Cube Method with some success. The guys are great, supportive, serious and very goal motivated. If I squat high, they let me know. If my back started to round a little there, or my ass rises off the bench slightly, they’re right there to correct it for me. Having an extra set of eyes is really helpful when you can’t see where you’re screwing up.

5-10’s Pinch for Grip Specific Warm-up – NO PROBLEM!

As far as the gym, Raleigh Barbell is an 864 square foot training facility located in the heart of downtown Raleigh which is owned and operated by Elite Strength and Wellness Coach Jackson Williams. He’s been a great coach and he’s strong as hell! I’ve seen him pull 650 raw like it was 315. Training with guys stronger than me has been exactly what I was missing. Coach Jackson and Teammates Mason, Hunter, Chris, Keven and Justus are great lifters and training partners, and I’m lucky to be training along side of them. For more info on Raleigh Barbell or to contact Jackson, check out Raleighbarbell.com or hit him up on the Raleigh Barbell facebook page, if you’re on the book of faces.

Recently we’ve started a 10 week training template written by our coach leading up to a PL meet in November in Richmond, VA followed by a Charity Push/Pull the following weekend that I’ve done for the past 3 years.

Jedd: Josh, I’ve gotten some questions asking why we chose the exercises we did during our workout and what exactly the bands are for. Could you explain these points please?

The bench workout you and I did was from our Raleigh Barbell week 2 speed bench. It focused on practicing the bench press movement over and over by doing 8 sets of 2 as fast as we could WITH GOOD FORM. We incorporated band tension to make the lockout more difficult. That forced us to generate momentum from the start to get us through the increasing resistance. We also added volume by going for max reps up to but NOT including failure. We don’t miss training lifts at Raleigh Barbell. We only took another rep if it was there. The rest of the bench day was higher volume accessory stuff, o/h press, shoulders, rows, hammer curls, tri’s, all for hypertrophy.

Jedd: Now that you are several years into serious training, maybe you could talk a bit about major lessons you have learned, pitfalls you have run into along the way, mistakes you’ve made, etc?

I’ve seen up’s and down’s in my training but the more experience I got the more I realized the anecdote “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” is dead on. Also, enjoying the journey has been key for me. I lift ’cause I love it, that makes it easy to commit to. I see lifters so focused on their goal that they suffer through and end up hating their training. It’s ok to like what you do, it makes you easier to be around too.

Some of the mistakes in my own training over the years have been:

1. Sticking with a routine even after I stall while using it. You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect to get a different result. My numbers were up and down, up and down for far too long

2. Not doing any kind of accessory work to bring up weak areas

3. Thinking one way was right and ALL other ways were wrong

4. Waiting until I thought I was “good enough” to enter a PL meet. I wish I had done it sooner. Your entire mentality toward training changes after a competition. And the friends I’ve made and the things I’ve learned have been valuable to me as a lifter and a competitor. Don’t wait, sign up today. It’s so much fun and you’ll walk away with more than you came with

5. Finding reliable training partners. More easily said than done. If you have an opportunity to join a PL gym, or a CF gym or a Strongman crew DO IT

6-10’s Pinch. Off the Ground 5 or 6 Times, but Not Quite Lockout

Jedd: Josh, great having you up here. Come back again when you make a trip up this way. I want to see you get the 6-10’s Pinch sometime soon.

Again, thank you Jedd for having me up to train. The grip feats I witnessed and failed at were humbling and motivating. I was smashed when I left your gym but mentally I was rejuvenated with the idea of grip training. I have an entirely new respect and appreciation for Grip sport and its competitors. I look forward to meeting up again soon!

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I got some feedback that the videos were hard to watch in the Playlist, and that you would like them separated out, so here you go…

Speed Bench Press Against Light Bands

Overhead Axle Training

Axle Rows for Back and Grip Strength

Tricep and Biceps Superset

Hammer Curls for Size and Strength

Josh McIntyre Interview

DIESELS – If you have any other questions about the training we did in the videos, leave a comment and I will do a follow up article to answer them.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

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The Missing Part of Your Strength Training – Extensor Work – A Must for Any Serious Lifter – Hand X Bands

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Building a Bigger Bench Press

It goes without saying that the Bench Press is one of the most popular lifts that are done in the gym.

And no wonder – it’s one of the best lifts for building upper body muscle, especially the chest, shoulders, and triceps. On top of the mass building potential of the Bench Press, it is also a great lift for building upper body strength.

In this post, I am going to cover a subtle adjustment you can make when you Bench Press to increase the weight you are able to press, the number of reps you can perform, and the safety of the Bench Press itself. When you can increase those three factors, your potential for size increases and strength gains is practically guaranteed.

The Power of the Lats in the Bench Press

Many trainees do not think about the lats when they Bench, because the lats are part of the back and are prime movers in rows and pull-ups, but the lats actually play a very important role.

Unfortunately, they do not realize that the lats are there to provide stability to the shoulder during the Bench Press. When the lats are activated properly, they provide a much better foundation for the shoulder, and this can be HUGE for your confidence under the barbell, when you are benching.

So, since the lats are so important, it makes sense to get them involved in the Bench Press as soon as possible, correct?

Well, many lifters miss the boat on that one as well. In fact their problems begin right from the moment they prepare to take the barbell out of the rack or hooks.

You can see exactly what I am talking about in the short video below.

Activating the Lats RIGHT AWAY for a Bigger Bench Press

I really want to thank Todd Hamer, strength coach from George Mason University, for showing me this technique modification. I met up with him at the Juniata Strength Clinic in June and asked him to take a look at my Benching Technique, and this has been a big help to me. It starts each new Bench Press set off with a completely different feel.

This way of un-racking the barbell may only be slightly different from what you are doing right now, but the way the bar feels in your grip and as you support it in the ready position is not. There is a night and day difference between these two techniques, and when you get this right, you can begin to see big improvements in your Bench Press.

And what’s great is, you can use this pulling lat activation method on your other Bench Press variations, such as Incline Bench and Decline Bench.

Let me know how you like this technique. Give it a try and leave a comment below.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Have you hit a plateau in your Bench Training?
Maybe it is time you switch it up and go for some VOLUME instead of just MAX WEIGHT. If so, click the banner below to learn the art of the
Bench Press for Reps.

The Brutal 5K

By Josh McIntyre
Check out Josh on his YouTube Channel

We were seated at a common table with a family we didn’t know. No problem, my wife is pretty social and I can fake interest in just about anything for 30 minutes. It was the German Bier Garten at Epcot, and $13 a beer wasn’t going to stop me from enjoying myself.

As I looked around the large auditorium like seating area, I noticed something troubling. At nearly every table sat a skinny, smug looking d-bag with either a livestrong bracelet or some kind of motivational running t-shirt. What was stranger, none of these “men” even had a beer in front of them.

One man with hair past his ears appeared even to be wearing a beret! As I turned to look at my wife in bewilderment, down sat a young guy in the vacant seat next to me. I watched on in horror as he opened his beardless face and a high, slightly pitchy and annoying voice screeched out. Thus spoke the Beta-male: “I can’t wait for tomorrows 5k!”

I won’t bore the masses with every feminine thing this little neophyte said, but here’s a run down:

• Running 5k’s are his life
• 3 days grace is great running music, And…
• “Eewww, who could drink an entire liter of beer? I can’t stand the way that stuff tastes”

That last one hit my ears as I lowered one of the liter beer mugs from my face only to raise another with my other hand, and it made chills of rage run down my spine.

I turned to look upon the baby deer like runner, my neck creaked as scar tissue broke under the immense weight of my beast fur. My beard twitched as it parted the way like great red drapes for my mouth, reminiscing of Moses when he made the Red Sea into a nature path. Surprise and terror washed over this wuss’s face as I set my cold dead eyes upon his virgin baby blues. With sheer malice, the churning hell pit of my stomach sent forth a metric ton of gas. The terrible cloud left my face at nearly mach 2 and blew the club-friendly-rock fan’s head clear from his shoulders. His own family cried as they thanked me for what I had done. I responded with an aftershock.

Once I cleared out the entire left half of the buffet and broke a third of the dishes due to just how rough I eat, I decided that super lunch (the meal between lunch and 1st dinner) was over. I payed in red whiskers and tipped the waitress with 3 farts, which she graciously accepted.

As we walked out in search of more beer for my face, I couldn’t help wondering:

What if there was a 5k for Alpha males?

It wasn’t until much later when I sat down to release a school of brown trout into Walt Disney’s magical sewer system that it hit me!

A “race” To 5k (5000#)!

I flushed the toilet and immediately contacted Jedd Johnson. This is what I told him:

The 5k challenge will be as follows:

• Total 5000lbs in ONE day using the FEWEST singles you can
• Only Squat, Bench and Deadlifts will count
• One of each must be performed, but may be repeated as needed to reach 5k
• Lifts must be reasonably close to a good competition style lift (squat depth, paused bench, no hitched dl’s)
• knee wraps up to 3.5 allowed for raw
• Film it at your house, in a gym, in a garage, in a parking lot, wherever
• Gear allowed, just specify in the vid description

(Example: if DL is your best lift then it may look like:
SQ, B, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL = 5000)

Glory is just 3 steps away:

• 1. Upload your video submissions to youtube
• 2. Add the title: “Brutal 5K (and the # of lifts it took you)”
• 3. Post the link to: http://www.facebook.com/groups/Brutalsteelpowerandstrength/

The Ladies’ Brutal 3K

This challenge is for the Alpha-females as well! I know not every lady is sitting around the house reading 50 shades of Gray. Some of you She-Ra’s are doing power cleans and front squats with twice the weight that our beta-male could curl in any standard power rack. So Ladies, get your war face on, tie your hair back with some barbed wire and embarrass some of these guys.

The Top 10 Performances (men and women), using as few attempts as possible, will be posted here at DieselCrew.com

This is a new spin on the 3 classic lifts. Who can do this in 15 lifts? 10? 9? Less!? Give it a try and see where you stack up!

The Brutal 5K

By Josh McIntyre
Check out Josh on his YouTube Channel

We were seated at a common table with a family we didn’t know. No problem, my wife is pretty social and I can fake interest in just about anything for 30 minutes. It was the German Bier Garten at Epcot, and $13 a beer wasn’t going to stop me from enjoying myself.
As I looked around the large auditorium like seating area, I noticed something troubling. At nearly every table sat a skinny, smug looking d-bag with either a livestrong bracelet or some kind of motivational running t-shirt. What was stranger, none of these “men” even had a beer in front of them.
One man with hair past his ears appeared even to be wearing a beret! As I turned to look at my wife in bewilderment, down sat a young guy in the vacant seat next to me. I watched on in horror as he opened his beardless face and a high, slightly pitchy and annoying voice screeched out. Thus spoke the Beta-male: “I can’t wait for tomorrows 5k!”

I won’t bore the masses with every feminine thing this little neophyte said, but here’s a run down:

• Running 5k’s are his life
• 3 days grace is great running music, And…
• “Eewww, who could drink an entire liter of beer? I can’t stand the way that stuff tastes”

That last one hit my ears as I lowered one of the liter beer mugs from my face only to raise another with my other hand, and it made chills of rage run down my spine.
I turned to look upon the baby deer like runner, my neck creaked as scar tissue broke under the immense weight of my beast fur. My beard twitched as it parted the way like great red drapes for my mouth, reminiscing of Moses when he made the Red Sea into a nature path. Surprise and terror washed over this wuss’s face as I set my cold dead eyes upon his virgin baby blues. With sheer malice, the churning hell pit of my stomach sent forth a metric ton of gas. The terrible cloud left my face at nearly mach 2 and blew the club-friendly-rock fan’s head clear from his shoulders. His own family cried as they thanked me for what I had done. I responded with an aftershock.
Once I cleared out the entire left half of the buffet and broke a third of the dishes due to just how rough I eat, I decided that super lunch (the meal between lunch and 1st dinner) was over. I payed in red whiskers and tipped the waitress with 3 farts, which she graciously accepted.
As we walked out in search of more beer for my face, I couldn’t help wondering:

What if there was a 5k for Alpha males?

It wasn’t until much later when I sat down to release a school of brown trout into Walt Disney’s magical sewer system that it hit me!
A “race” To 5k (5000#)!
I flushed the toilet and immediately contacted Jedd Johnson. This is what I told him:
The 5k challenge will be as follows:

• Total 5000lbs in ONE day using the FEWEST singles you can
• Only Squat, Bench and Deadlifts will count
• One of each must be performed, but may be repeated as needed to reach 5k
• Lifts must be reasonably close to a good competition style lift (squat depth, paused bench, no hitched dl’s)
• knee wraps up to 3.5 allowed for raw
• Film it at your house, in a gym, in a garage, in a parking lot, wherever
• Gear allowed, just specify in the vid description

(Example: if DL is your best lift then it may look like:
SQ, B, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL = 5000)
Glory is just 3 steps away:

• 1. Upload your video submissions to youtube
• 2. Add the title: “Brutal 5K (and the # of lifts it took you)”
• 3. Post the link to: http://www.facebook.com/groups/Brutalsteelpowerandstrength/

The Ladies’ Brutal 3K

This challenge is for the Alpha-females as well! I know not every lady is sitting around the house reading 50 shades of Gray. Some of you She-Ra’s are doing power cleans and front squats with twice the weight that our beta-male could curl in any standard power rack. So Ladies, get your war face on, tie your hair back with some barbed wire and embarrass some of these guys.
The Top 10 Performances (men and women), using as few attempts as possible, will be posted here at DieselCrew.com
This is a new spin on the 3 classic lifts. Who can do this in 15 lifts? 10? 9? Less!? Give it a try and see where you stack up!

I have a little saying that I coined about two years ago that goes like this:

Misses Are Just Warm-ups

This is a mental approach that you have to take when your overall training goal is STRENGTH.

You missed a new PR Lift? So What? Try it again.

You didn’t break your previous best mark on your first try? So what? Try it again.

If you set up your lifts right, you should always have at least three good attempts in you to set a new PR. And in some cases, even more.

It doesn’t matter what kind of strength you are going for: Grip Strength, Powerlifting, Olympic Lifting, Strongman Training – all of them require certain factors to be right.

If any of these factors are not right, then you might not complete your lift, even though in reality you are strong enough to complete it.

Here are just a few things that can be “off” when you go for a max and keep you from setting a new PR:
(more…)

Chuck Sipes

I got a review copy of an ebook package on Chuck Sipes called Chuck Sipes Power Storm this week and I must say the guy was impressive. Here are a few pictures I found of him showing some of the awesome stuff he did.

While a lot of the oldtime bodybuilders are cool and all, I haven’t found a great deal of evidence that they bent steel on top of hitting the iron relentlessly, but Chuck Sipes did. In fact, he doubled as a regularly performing strongman during the 1960’s while maintaining a world-class physique, reportedly all drug-free.

Text-book reverse bending technique, above. Check out the location of the nail in relation to his thumb .

Here he is crushing down what is most likely a 60D (60-penny) spike. It looks as if he just wrapped them in a small towel. Bending 60D’s with minimal wrapping like that involves a tremendous amount of pain tolerance. Chuck was obviously an intense dude.

Sipes didn’t just do the short non-braced bends, he also did the long braced feats. While I don’t know how far he went with the finish, whether he just put a U in the bar or if he “fished” them wrapped them into a scroll, above it shows he had some massive arm and shoulder strength to be bending bars in this way.

I can’t even imagine how many magazines must have featured Sipes back in the day.

My bouts of research on Chuck Sipes have been very impressive. My biggest take-away from it all was his work ethic. Maintaining his physique would have been much easier if he were not employed as a lumberjack, working long shifts, with less-than-optimal meal conditions, I’m sure, yet he managed to make it happen, keeping himself as hard as the mountain rock that he walked on. Keep that in mind next time you are feeling run-down after a day’s work.

For more inspiration, you can read more about Chuck Sipes,one damn intense dude, right here: Chuck Sipes Power Storm

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Hey there, I hope your week has been awesome.

Today I have a review for you on a new report called, Bench Press Explosion, by Mike Westerdal, which is only $7 until tonight at Midnight.

Bench Press Explosion, just $7 until midnight tonight – get your credit card out!

This is in ebook format, so in a matter of minutes you can be reading it and sampling from the routines of some of the strongest benchers that have ever lived.

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Review: Bench Press Explosion

This ebook is heavy loaded on two things: Technique and even moreso on Sample Routines.

Technique: It starts and ends with emphasis on the importance of proper technique in order to accomplish your maximum strength and muscle gains.

Routines: In many cases, the routines shows are the exact routines that the monsters of the bench would follow themselves.

Keep in mind something as you read through this sampling of routines from the ebook:

These programs are coming from the best in the world. It only makes sense to follow what the best in the world have done – why try to reinvent the wheel? And with so many different routines to choose from, you could be set for about the next full year for bench press routines. If you document and track your results the right way, you should easily be able to understand which ones work best for you. So go to the store, but a notebook for $1 and track your progress.

Now, let’s look at some of the routines featured in this ebook. Take note, this is by no means the exhaustive list of routines. These are just a few of the ones that struckme in particular when I reviewed the manual.

Pat Casey’s Routine

Pat Casey broke the 600-lb Bench Barrier with 617 and he used no ergogenic aids like equipment, substances or techniques. His routine focuses on weight, technique, and volume. In fact, in some cases, to spawn gains, he would go through periods of TREMENDOUS VOLUME. Wait until you read the kinds of volume numbers he would hit with his “Binge Workouts” on the Dip Stand. Other Worldly!

    

Ted Arcidi’s Blueprint for Benching

Ted Arcidi is someone I have been researching quite a bit lately, both due his success as a powerlifter, and because he spent some time competing in the Wrestling Ring during the 1980’s. If you haven’t heard of him, he was billed as the World’s Strongest Man, as he was the first man to bench 700 in a recognized competition. What is awesome is Bench Press Explosion outlines his exact routine he used, which he refers to as his Bench Press Blueprint for building chest strength and size.

    

Ken Lain’s Program Matrix
Ken Lain has benched 721 and 740 and Bench Press Explosion shows you exactly what he did to get to the 740 mark. What else is awesome is that this routine can be used for other multi-joint exercises, so if you want to transition into a period where you emphasize a different exercise, then you can use this program to build your other big movements, such as Squats, Deadlifts, Overhead Press and more.

Bench the Chuck Sipes Way

Chuck Sipes was just plain a bad-ass. In his hey day, not only was he stacked with rock solid muscle, but this crazy bastard used to bend nails and bars, often with the bar in his teeth, as shown to the right, so you know this guy was cool. In adddition to his steel bending prowess, this strongman trained up to a bench of 570 and even a set of 6 at 520 – AWESOME! This routine is specifically indicated for thos who are “stuck in a standstill” on the bench press.

John Carl Mese
This is another dude I am not familiar with, but what I liked about this section is that it gave some indications to look for as far as specific weaknesses you might have in your bench, depending on the spots you fail at, so you can work on your weaknesses, another big part of bench press success. Mese’s program also emphasizes balance between the upper, middle, and lower chest.

    

    

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DIESELS, this is only scratching the surface of what is included in this ebook. There are actually over 15 Bench Press programs included in this report.

One word to the wise, however – don’t be jumping back and forth between programs. If you are not seeing results after just two weeks on a given program, don’t abandon it and move on to another one. That is a recipe for sure failure. Instead, pick one program out of the many listed here and use it as your guide from beginning to end. Track your results, including the prescribed sets and reps, but also take note of how the sets felt. You may be surprised as you look back how a certain percentage of your Max early on may feel tough and then a few weeks later it is a breeze. It is nice to have indicators like that written down in your work logs.

Then, when the program is complete, assess the results. You may try going through it again, or switching completely. With this ultra-cheap $7 report, you are going to be able to enjoy a great deal of flexibility in your training for months and even years to come.

OK, guys. That’s it for my review.

Take note, this ebook is on sale for a maniacally low price of just $7, but you have to pick it up before tonight at Midnight or else the price will go up.

You can get your copy here = > Bench Press Explosion

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Many people have written me over the years about wrist pain when benching. After all, everyone loves a big bench press.

It’s one thing if you are stalled in the bench due to a technique issue or because you are having trouble deciding on a bench press program.

It’s something different altogether when your bench press is suffering because of pain in the wrist, so annoying and distracting.

So, what I have done is put together a video for you that is what I call a Diesel Work-around.

What is a Work-around, you might ask?

Well, in industrial settings, when a part of a process breaks or is faulty, but the work still needs to be done, alternative measures can be put into action in order to get the same finished product or desired result.

These alternative measures are called Work-arounds. For instance, if a conveyor belt is shut down, the items being moved can be placed into a cart and moved by hand to the next location, successfully “working around the problem” until it can be fixed.

In the case of the Bench Press, when there is pain in the wrist, we can perform a slight Work-around in order to still get the work done, in order to not miss a workout.

Now, before I get too deep into this, I have to stress this point: If you are injured, you need to address the injury with professional help.

So, if you strained your wrist in a bar fight or because you fell down a flight of stairs in a drunken stupor, you need to go to the doctor, get the problem professionally assessed and follow the doctor’s or therapist’s suggestions in order to completely address the injury.

However, wrist pain does not always mean that there is a break or soft tissue damage, such as that which can occur when you try to touch the stripper on stage and the Eric the Bouncer grabs you and tosses you out the back door into a dumpster.

Sometimes the root of the pain in the wrist is actually something simple such as the misalignment of the carpal bones in the wrist.

The bones of the hand and wrist are supposed to be arranged in a specific order. However, if we are training out of balance or if we have some light trauma to the wrist, these bones can be thrown out of whack, causing noticeable pain and loss of range of motion.

To see what I mean, check out the above picture. It may seem as though the bones seem to be randomly stacked on top of one another, but that is not the case – they are placed exactly how they need to be for optimal performance of the hands and lower arms, and if they get out of whack from trauma or imbalanced strength ratios as a result of your training, you can have some problems.

In cases such as these where the pain might just be a bone slightly misaligned, the following Diesel Work-arounds fit in nicely. They take pressure off of the wrist and allow you to perform work on the Bench without having to miss a bench workout.

Work-around #1 – Use a Thicker Bar

A thicker bar, such as an axle or fat pipe, can be used on the bench press instead of the normal Powerlifting bar. This will feel different to you, but you should notice that there is not quite as much pain when performing the pressing movement.

The force will be spread out over more of the hand and not so much directly on the point of pain within the wrist. If you do not have an axle or thick pipe that is set up for pressing movements, then you might also try a set of Fat Gripz placed on the bar to accomplish the same general objective.

Diesel Work-around #2 – Wrist Straps

Another suggestion to try is wrist straps. These can help cradle the wrist as you press can be very helpful for reducing pain.

A lot of people think I am completely against wrist wraps, but that isn’t really true. I think they are great for preventing injury and for helping to recover from injury, like if something is “out” in your wrist.

The most important thing to know here is exactly how to wrap the wrists in order to get the right support, which I show you in the video, below.

That wrapping technique is something that you can use on a lot of your lifts when you get into the big numbers. It will give you the support you need for confidence on lifts where the wrist is open for potential injury, such as overhead lifting.

I hope this has been helpful for you. If so, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks and all the best in your training!

Jedd

P.S. I just got interviewed by Andres Gonzalez of Strongermen.Blogspot.com. Andres seems like a very nice guy who has decided to improve his lifestyle and has been doing a lot to better his health and well-being. In addition to that, he has been interviewing people he has been following who have made strength training a part of their lives. He found my site and said it is something that has helped him out with his journey to become stronger and I really appreciate him seeking me out.

Also, last week, Andres put together this cool video of the Top Nail Benders in the World. Check it out:

Programming Your Movements for Muscle Gains

In Part I of this Build Muscle The Right Way Article Series, I spoke about the three most important keys I use for building muscle and gaining strength at the same time: Multi-joint Movements, Training for Power and Speed, and Working for Muscular Balance. You can read Part I here: Keys to Muscle Building.

Sample Upper Body Training Split

In Part I, I put a lot of emphasis on maintaining antagonistic balance so that you do not develop muscular imbalances that will cause you trouble later on down the road. Also as I stated Part I, if you perform your complementary Push and Pull movements on the same day, it can be easier to keep everything balanced. However, because I spend so much time training for Grip Strength, I run out of time in order to accomplish everything I like to do, so I split the two days up. Lately, my split has looked like this:

• Week 1 – Day 1: Push, Week 1 – Day 2: Pull, Week 1 – Day 3: Lower, Week 1 – Day 4: Grip Specific
• Week 2 – Day 1: Pull, Week 2 – Day 2: Push, Week 2 – Day 3: Lower, Week 2 – Day 4: Grip Specific

In other words, I go Push, Pull, Lower, Grip for the first week and then flip flop the Push and Pull so it goes Pull, Push, Lower, Grip the second week.

Sample Upper Body Push Workout

Here is a recent workout I did for Upper Body Push. This workout took place on a Monday. It was followed by an Upper Body Pull Day on Tuesday and then a Lower Body Day on Thursday. One week later, I followed the schedule and did my Upper Body Pull Day first and the Upper Body push day second, etc.

Optimally, the order of this day would go like this:

1. Overhead Power Movement: Requires the most skill and energy, so it should take place first

2. Bench / Incline Bench: Because the body is supported on the bench, even after doing a big movement like the Overhead Variations, I still feel strong on the bench going second.

3. Auxiliary Bench Movement: Examples could be Speed Bench Against Bands, Incline Bench, Dips – All these are awesome, especially if your shoulders are feeling good.

4. Isolation Movement: If isolation movements are your thing, you can include them here or you can do another auxiliary movement, work on the rotator cuffs, or bring up a weakness in your upper body (triceps, etc)

Bench Press

On this day, I started off with Bench Press, although often I will actually start off with Overhead Press, especially if I am using the Log. I was able to work up to an unassisted single of 365 on the Bench Press, for the first time in about a year. My all time best is 405 with a spotter.

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Speed Bench Against Bands

In order to perform this one correctly and get the most out of it, you should be moving the bar much quicker than this. I should have either used lighter bands or lightened the bar weight, but I did not.

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Military Press

My back was feeling a bit seized up after the heavy benching, because I was actually arching pretty hard for me. That is about all the angle I get. If I worked on my thoracic mobility more, I think I could get a better arch. Anyway, because my back was tight, I stuck with Military Press instead of a more powerful movement. Like I said, I like to do a Push Jerk, Push Press or a straight out Jerk movement first, but it didn’t work out that way this week.

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Gironda Lateral Raise Complex

This is a combination I never even knew about until I reviewed the book, Vince Gironda, Legend and Myth. In that book he has what he calls the 8 Sets of 8 Keep-You-Honest Workout and the finisher for Upper Body Day is Side Laterals followed immediately by what he calls the Dumbbell Swing, but I have affectionately called it the Pirate Ship. Regardless of what you call it, it mimics the movement of the Pirate Ship ride at the amusement park in the way the arms swing rhythmically back and forth.

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I don’t want to say that this movement pairing or even that just doing the Pirate Ship movement “fixed” whatever was aching in my shoulder the last few weeks, but after doing it every week for roughly 6 weeks straight as my finisher for my Upper Body push day, my shoulders have felt outstanding! I was able to perform dips pain free, getting my rib cage to touch the cross-bar on my dip station for the first time I can remember in years, and I was able to Bench 365 touch-and-go style for the first time in ages. I encourage you to try this out. At the very least the combination pumps your shoulders with a very nice burn.

This is how I set up the strength training muscle building workouts. Because I work a variety of percentages of 1RM, a variety of speeds, and train volume as well, I have been fairly successful at building muscle and strength at the same time as long as I am eating enough calories, staying injury free, and getting enough sleep.

I have had several months in a row now where I have been free of lower back injuries so I have not missed many workouts and recently my strength levels and size have increased.

Now that the latest Grip Contest, Gripmas Carol 2011, is out of the way, I plan on adding conditioning work back into my weekly routine separate of my workouts and cleaning up my diet as well in an effort to trim down a bit and get just plain ripped to shreds in 2012.

If you want to watch some of the stuff that I do for conditioning and fat loss, I can certainly film it, but only if you are interested. I don’t know if this is something you want to see or not on my site, so please leave me a comment an let me know.

Thanks and all the best in your training.

Jedd

For further information on building muscle, check out Smitty’s AMD Program by clicking the image below. This is one of the best Muscle Building Programs on the market, shares many of the same principles I am sharing here, and includes many other ways to keep you healthy and balanced in order to build muscle the right eway.

Hello DIESELS!

I hope you are kicking ass so hard in the gym that the PR’s are paying you to take it easy on them.

First off, I am sorry for starting the earthquake earlier this week. I was working Two Hands Pinch using some black-hat, ninja-style, Outlaw-Diesel methods of training and it accidentally slipped out of my grasp.

The weight was so tremendous that it set off a tectonic plate collision in the Richmond, Virginia area. Jay DeMayo tried to take the credit, but he is not the one to blame.

Sorry, Washington Monument

My bad about the damage to the Washington Monument. I’ve heard they’ve been looking for a reason to shut that thing down anyway, so I guess I did them a favor.

(In all seriousness, I hope everyone is safe and that damages can be taken care of soon.)

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Anyway, I wanted to share a video with you guys that I took last Saturday in Scranton PA at the USA Powerlifting Nationals.

I went down to watch my buddies, Paul Tompkins and Mike Turpin compete. Paul and Mike have submitted a lot of videos to my Weekly Grip Challenge, so i wanted to go down and give them some support!

Speaking of the weekly challenge – have you entered the Classic Strongman Feats Tournament? If not, get on it!

Back to the Powerlifting Meet…here is the video…

According to Paul, he lifted 451 in the Bench, 644 in the Squat and 655 in the Deadlift, totaling 1750.

Mike got 358 in the Bench, 391 in the Squat and 557 in the Deadlift, totaling 1306. Awesome job guys.

I also wanted to mention that Mike Turpin is developing some of the nastiest forearms I’ve ever seen. He showed me his freaky Brachioradialis and I had nightmares for two straight nights. According to Mike, he has done no direct forearm work from this. It has all come from Grip Training, like Gripper work, Pinching, and lifting Hex Head Dumbbells by the Head.

So there’s yet another reason to start Grip Training if you haven’t already done so. The time under tension packs serious muscles on your lower arms!

Also, Mike told me that several months ago, Paul attempted a near-600-lb Deadlift and could get it nowhere near lockout. Judging by the fact that I watched him pull 659 with EEEEEASE, the Grip Training must be paying off.

Mind you, these guys are doing a variety of stuff. They are trying the challenges I put out each week and they are doing some other stuff on their own. Hitting the hands from multiple angles like this has improved their General Grip Strength tremendously.

Mike says he used to not be able to close a #1 Gripper, and now he is mashing the #2 each workout. Also, between his lifts and Paul’s there was about a two-hour break in the action, so Turpin, another buddy of mine, Mike Puchalski, and I went out to my car and did some work with the Vulcan-2 that I had for Puchalski. If memory serves, Mike toyed with the Level 10 like he was reading a newspaper on the toilet, and that is with the new Silver Black-Dipped Spring. AWESOME. I can’t wait to see what he can do at World’s Strongest Hands on September 10th. If you are in the neighborhood, you should come by. It is going to be a good time.

Who Wants a Vulcan 2 Gripper?

Speaking of Vulcans, I am completely sold out right now, but I am looking to get another order around. If you are interested, please post in the comments section below. The Vulcan V-2’s cost $99.

I am also looking to bring in some extra Orange Springs that are quite a bit lighter than the standard Silver Black-Dipped Springs. Also, I want to get some Thumb Screws thrown in as well.

All I am looking for is for you to post below that you are interested and I will add you to the list. Please do so as soon as possible so I can get with David Horne. This time, I am keeping one of the sets of Thumb Screws.

OK, DIESELS, that’s it for now. My new Grip Training Freak, Eric Loyd is coming over soon and we are going to work on the Vulcan, Two Hands Pinch, and maybe even try bending a horseshoe.

All the best in your training,

Jedd