As some of you may or may not know, I have been fortunate enough to train with Chuck Vogelpohl since I made the move to Columbus. We normally train at Lexen Xtreme, in Grove city, Ohio. On Friday, we squatted and pulled at EFS, as Chuck was going out of town Saturday. I sucked. I don’t know if I need some time off, or the fact that it was a day earlier than we normally train, which hammered our recovery a bit, but it didn’t go well. I have some video of me deadlifting that I’m seriously too embarrassed about to even put in a team awful video. Coll thing is that I now have a chuck story that is on par with Daves about missing a weight, adding 50lbs to the bar, and killing it.

We were pulling. Chuck was super gear whored because hes old. he had a squat suit on top of I had a belt on. We worked up to something heavy, I don’t remember what the weight was. He missed it bad. Pulled it maybe 2 inches off of the floor. I missed it HORRIBLY. Twice. Not sure if I broke the floor at all. He takes 5 minutes, takes the squat suit OFF, and pulls the fucking thing like an empty bar. Dude is a fucking maniac and an awesome guy to train with. Absolutely amazing.

Photo by phillipmak

Barefoot Jump Rope
75 jumps

Lax Ball work
Focusing on QL injury site

Flat DB Presses
30×8
40×8
50x3x8

Cable crossover
40x3x12

Pullups
30 total reps

DD Handle pullups
30 total reps

DB Shrugs
45×20
100x2x12
115x3x8

Fat Gripz bodyweight hangs from Chinup bar
4×10 second holds

Sand bucket
2×10 reps each hand

Done. back is still feeling good and jacked up, but not in a bad way at all. I think I’m going to keep doing a bunch of chins and pullups until I get to the point i can do 100 in a workout, or get bored of them. Whichever is first. Shrugs will stay unti I get some traps. May be a while. hahaha I really had fun with todays workout though, and hope that the oher workouts, this week and next, are as effective. I can feel my back starting to get sore now, so hopefully that is a good sign!

Had a few guys in the gym today. Ball State is on Spring Break this week, so numbers will be down some. Decided to pull some today, as my deadlift is still in the dumpster. Was me, Joe, Sam, Big Swole, and Brandon. Alva showed up later, as he was working 700 light years away.

Jump-rope
100 Reps

Lax Ball

Static Stretches

Hip Mobility Stuff

Deadlifts off of 3″ mats, NO BELT
135×10
135×5
225×5
315×3
365×3
405×3
455×3
495×3
545×3
605×3 PR
The first and 3rd rep were good technique wise, but rep number 2 was a stiff leg. Also, deadlifting is HARD without a belt when done like this. My saving grace is that I beat Big Swole by 50lbs and 2 reps. He also wore a belt.

Bodybuilder Barbell Rows
135×10
315×10
365×4

My low back was fried after the deadlifts. Was all over the place. Probably could have done more, but was starting to get a fairly significant heave after 4 reps.

Safety Squat Bar Good Mornings
Barx10
95×10
135x2x10

Upper back exercise
95×10
135×10
185×10
Not sure what these are truly called. I’m going to get a video of the technique though, as this is a lift that HAMMERS your upper back. Im going to get some video for the Exercise Index here today or tomorrow and include it. I think you guys will enjoy it.

DB Shrug
45x2x20
70x2x10
EVERY rep was done with a 3 second pause at the top. Ass kickers for sure.

Pulldown Abs
Heavy for 3 sets of 12.

Fat Gripz DB holds
70lb DBs for 3 sets of 15 seconds

Then I stretched out some and had some clients come in. Good times, but my back is SMOKED up. Took a contrast shower and had my wife do some work on my back before bed, and I feel much better now, but will be pretty sore tomorrow.

Picture courtesy of EliteFTS

I know its Thursday…I know, I know. Here is what i did on Monday, my last “training’ workout prior to the meet. My Last realization workout went well. Worked up to the 85% range, and then pissed away a rep on some reverse bands that were awful. More about that later.

Lax Ball

Foam Roller

Squat with Mastadon
barx5
150×5
240×5
330×3
420×2
500×1
600×1 added belt for this
700×1 This is a PR I think. It was pretty easy. Ace Briefs on After
790×1 a but high and awful form…just done to get my briefs the rest of the way up
suit on after. Ace suit on after
870×1 Straps Up
960×1 Reverse purple bands. These bands were so beat I think that a mini would have worked better. Took off less than 60lbs at the bottom. Pretty easy rep though.

Standing Fall out Abs on TRX
4×10
Then I had personal training clients from 6-8. Busy busy!

I’m going to pull from the pins tomorrow, or Friday, depending on where you live. Something difficult, but not a max effort. Will work up to openers next week. Good times!

had another squat workout yesterday. Went infinitely better than Fridays deadlift workout did, that is for sure! Also hit a big milestone for me with my first 1000 pound squat. I know it is just a gym lift, and wont “count” until I get it done in a meet, but either way, its still pretty cool. how many guys do you know that can squat a grand? hahaha

Lacrosse Ball work

PVC Roller
quads, abductors, upper and lower back

Static stretching

Free Squat with Mastadon
barx2x10
150×5
240×5
330×2
420×1
510×1 (added briefs after)
600×1 (added suit after)
780×1
930×1
960×1 (setup was off on this one. came forward a bit but managed to drive through it.)
1000×1 PR

The 1000 went really well, better than I thought it would have. Came out well, was set up solid, no issues. Went up a lot easier than I thought it would. it honestly surprised me, and that is why I laugh like an idiot at the end. I haven’t been that surprised with a lift in the gym in a long time. Chek out the video, and you will see what I mean.

Lots of squatting today.Good times! Feeling ready for the meet…5 weeks!
Lax Ball

Foam Roller
Quaads Hams Back

Free Squat with Mastadon
barx10
150×5
240×5
330×3
420×1
510×1 (added 46 ACE briefs after)
600×1 (added belt after)
690×1 (added 56 ACE suit after)
790×1 (straps down)
920×1 (loose straps)
920×1 (loose straps)

TRX Rows
3×8

GHR
3×12

Athletes Squatting

One of the things I have done from day 1, even before I was a coach and we just had powerlifters coming into the gym, was use a progression based approach, starting small, and working them up to the point they could start using a barbell on their back full time. I will say that this does take some time, and some will take longer than others. The fastest we have had it happen is about two weeks, and some have been at it 6 weeks or so. you will just have to find some indicators with your athletes that says “I’m ready.”

Speaking of the progressions the one I use is actually a 4 step process. It starts with the initial assessment of the athlete. As part of the assessment, after figuring out any structural issues, range of motion tests, etc., we do a bodyweight squat test. It is simply a 10 rep bodyweight squat, and is simply pass/fail. I like it a lot, as it lets me see where they really are, versus them telling me, and gives an idea of how they control their bodies in space. All squats are done to the appropriate depth, and I will call them up at each rep. A pass is 10 reps, to depth, without a large amount of effort. A fail is less than 10 reps, inability to get to depth, or extraordinary difficulty getting all of the reps. I realize this is completely subjective, but if you cant tell when someone is putting in a ton of effort, you dont need to be coaching or training anyone. Passes start with the second step of the process, failures start at the first.

Before I get into the progressions, I want to include this addendum, if you will. Once they start with me in the gym, they have SOMETHING on their back, and we do technique work all of the time. For some, it may only be a 1″ piece of PVC pipe. Others may start with an empty bar. For some, it is simply working setup under the bar, And for others it may be unloaded or lightly loaded sets with an Olympic bar. Regardless, work the technique immediately. It doesn’t have to be involved time-wise, and really shouldn’t take more that 5 minutes or so. The best part of this is knowing you don’t have bad technique to try to teach over, as they’ve probably never done it! just make sure you are doing it first in the workout. I do it as part of an extended warmup. Remember, its SHORT, but effective.

After the technique work has been done, we have to remember there is still work to be done. You have to get them to the barbell eventually, right? Exactly. That leads to the first step in the progression. Bodyweight squats to a high box. This will take a bit of trial and effort on your part, as some will be able to squat deeper than others. Some may need a VERY high box, others will be closer to depth. Once they can get 10 solid reps to a parallel box, get rid of it. I firmly believe that while box squatting is good for powerlifters, it cheats athletes out of a lot of quad and glute development they will need on the field or court. This is especially true for younger athletes. Once they can hit two sets of 10 to the same standard, its time to move them to the second step.

The second step I use is front squats with kettlebells and dumbbells. I like the kettlebells moreso than the dumbbells, as they seem to be easier for the athletes to control, however, the progression between sizes is our gym is big, about 5 kilos per set. Sometimes you will have to use both. I like the kettlebells too, as it gets the weight out in front of them some, and will help improve their upper and lower back strength. The progressions here are close to the same as they were for the bodyweight squats, except that you DO NOT move the box height up! These are progressions, not regressions, remember? The loading is a bit different here as well. Although they still may not be ready to squat with a bar, they need to get strong! Depending on what phase of their training they are in, reps could be anywhere from 4-12. Get them strong, get them off of the box!

Once they become proficient at the front squats, move along to the dumbbells. You can really start to load these up, if you’re getting indications that the kids are ready. When they get to this point, coaching becomes paramount, as they will do whatever they can to get the reps. I actually coach these the exact same way as I do the back squat. Head and chest high, back arched, upper back tight, and shoulders back. the one exeption here versus the other two is that I will NOT use a box. When the athletes start to fatigue, it seems that they also tend to let their hamstrings go in the bottom, and make a sort of dive bomb out of the last 1″-6″. the box isn’t real conducive to safety with that regard. something else I try to make mind of is that the set needs to stop when the form breaks, regardless of if they have met the rep range or not. Remember that this will have direct carryover to their barbell squat, and you don’t want to reinforce bad technique here that could/would transfer to their squat.

Here are a couple of other things to remember. You don’t have to adhere hard and fast to the progressions. You can work between them, and i would actually recommend it. That being said, where you have them at is where the bulk of their squat work should happen. It takes some time to get all of the intermuscular and intramuscular coordination down, and you dont want to injure a kid doing something he isnt ready for. Remember that the end goal is to get them squatting, but the first goal is to keep them healthy. Something else you should make mind of is that you need to be coaching these kids ALL THE TIME. Not only on technique, but remind them what the end goal is, and why they’re doing these “stupid exercises.” ( I’ve actually heard that one from a kid!) make sure that you are offering the mental support that they will get to the point that they will be squatting with their buddies and team mates. If you have earned the trust of the athlete, you will find that these arguments fall off quick, and the kids will work like dogs to get better. Thats all that we really want anyway isn’t it?

What do you guys think? How do you progress your kids who aren’t ready to barbell squat yet? Let me know below in your comments!

I just realized I haven’t posted a thing this week in my log. Sorry guys.

Foam Roller

Lax Ball

Free Squat With Mastadon
barx10
150×10
240×5
330×5
420×2
510×2 added belt after
600×1 added briefs after
690×1 added suit after
800x2x2
830x2x2
860×2

Rack Pulls
Up to 675x3x6

Close Stance low box Squat raw
405x3x6

GHR Abs
3×10

2nd squat workout in this block. Went approximately 100000000000000 times better than last weeks. Ran into some issues with the squat, but it was the bar we were using. I have decided to officially rename our Texas Squat bar “The Whipmaster.” Anyway,moving on…

lax ball Work

Foam Roller Work

Free squat with the Whipmaster
145×5
235×5
325×3
415×1
505×1 (added belt and briefs after)
600×1 (added suit after)
730x2x3
760x2x3
775×1 The bar whip was so bad on the 775 I had to stop. I hate to admit it, but the bar was literally kicking my ass, no matter how hard I tried, I could NOT stay tight at the top. Oh well. I did get some good news with todays squat session though. If I man up and quit being a pussy, I can hit depth with 730 and the straps down on my suit. I got that done today.

High Rack Pulls
675x3x6
I like these as they really hammer my glutes and lower back. Anyone who has ever seen me deadlift can tell you that this is where i need to do the work to make my deadlift move up. If I miss, it is always right at lockout.

Cambered bar low box squat raw
365x3x6

GHR
3×10

GHR Abs
3×10

Fin

Deadlift Day. An ass kicker.

Lax ball Work

Foam Roller

Conventional deadlift raw
135×5
225×5
315×3
405×3 (added belt after)
510x2x4
525x2x4
545×4

High Box close stance SSB freehand squat raw
135×5
225×5
340x3x8

Stiffleg Deadlift
315x3x8

45 degree back raise
3×10

Pulldown abs
3×8 heavy