Ridiculously awesome write up from Sam Byrd

This is from June of last year, however I wanted to post it up because of many of the things Sam points out here, and how much it speaks about the base building articles I have been working on.

The article comes from something he wrote on elitefts.  It's here, but I wanted to point out some of the real nuggets of wisdom from Sam that I've been driving home for a while........

• There are a few approaches I take just depending on how I feel at that point, but generally, I don't like to go very heavy very often so I try to avoid adding actual weight to the bar as long as possible. 
• I like to use rep maxes rather than heavy singles because its less taxing on me and because its less intimidating. Confidence is key in this sport, as with pretty much anything else in life. 
• I'm a lot more confident with a 5 rep max for a new PR than a 1 rep for a new PR. 
• I avoid they heavy stuff as long as possible.
• 100% effort on every single rep- all should be fast and explosive, no grinders. If you are grinding at all or slowing down then you tried to progress too fast.
• After all those weeks crushing weights confidence is pretty high. I've performed hundreds of explosive powerful reps and not one single miss or grinder any where.

So as I've been saying a while, stop training your ego, stop maxing in the gym.  I am constantly telling guys to program with their everyday max in order to easily hit new goals.  This is hard for a lot of guys to get their head around but the fact is, you DO NOT need to use max weights to get maximally strong.  

Do you think it's a coincidence that Sam reinforced the fact TWICE that he avoids getting too heavy for as long as possible?  

You'll also notice that Sam works on this "base building" for a LONG time.  No deloads built in.  No weeks where he has to take a down week.  

• At this point Ive got between 10 and 18 weeks of foundation training under my belt.

10-18 weeks of base training.  That's awesome.  No deloads or down weeks or any of that shit needed.  Why?  Because he trains smart, and saves his big shit for meets.  He builds strength in the gym, he doesn't show up acting like the cock of the walk and busts out 700-800 pound squats so he can impress people in the gym.  

If Sam Byrd can stay in the 405-500 range for 3-5 months to train his squat, and he's an 800 raw squatter, why are you doing max singles, or damn near it, week in and week out?  

More food for thought.