Overrun with testimonials!

Pretty awesome to get this many testimonials in one day.

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Paul,

I thought I would give you some feedback on your Strong-15 template and the results I got from it. I picked up Strength-Life-Legacy a while back and really used the Strong-15 program and your section on attempt selection for meets. This was my first meet in over 3 years after losing ~60 lbs. and dealing with a long list of minor injuries. I was only able to do the last 7 weeks (not the full 9 weeks) of the Strong-15 template due to circumstances, but I did have a decent training base going into the program. I had a 9 for 9 day with nearly flawless execution on all my lifts. I set modest goals of a 400 SQ, 275 BP, and 450 DL going into my meet training cycle. Here is the breakdown of my training and 3rd attempts:

Squat:

Programmed for: 390

Heaviest training SQ: 365

Meet SQ: 402.5 (3 whites and had at least 25-30 lbs. more in me)



Bench press;

Programmed for: 275

Heaviest training BP: 255

Meet BP: 292.5 (3 whites and maybe had 5-10 lbs. more)



Deadlift:

Programmed for: 440

Heaviest training DL: 415

Meet DL: 485 (3 whites; should have taken at least 500 because it would have been there easily)



This goes to show that you don’t have to lift your absolute max in training to get good results. Each of my heaviest training lifts was done with very good technique and speed, so I knew I was in good shape to reach my goals.

I also realized how important it was to select your opener and 2nd attempts wisely. I did what you recommended and basically committed felony weight murder on all my openers and at least manslaughter on all my 2nd attempts. I think this accomplished three things. It made me very confident going into my third attempts. It also let me experience how it felt to hit a perfectly executed lift. This “muscle memory” of sorts was good because you can then just try to make the 3rd attempt feel the same as the first two. The final positive to this was that I had plenty of “juice” left to get really fired up for the 3rd attempts since I hadn’t struggled with my first or second.

These results were even more satisfying because of the journey I had taken to reach this meet. In May I sustained a pretty significant back injury squatting 135 in a warm-up set (still not exactly sure how it happened). Then 3 weeks later I strained my patella tendon doing very light front squats while I was trying to rehab my back. Finally, I had a rough week with a very sick child about 4 weeks out from the meet. Because the Strong-15 cycle has you using manageable weights, I was able to stay on course with the cycle despite high stress levels and little sleep that week. Given all those factors, I was very pleased with my meet results. If I had tried something much heavier or more aggressive, I’m not sure I would have made it to the meet healthy and able to lift.

Thanks again for all the information you put out there. I’m not sure I would have been able to compete at this meet without it.

Sean R. Schumm, PhD.

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Milan Vukovic dropped this video on me.  He ran the strong-15 short cycle for his meet.  

That's 700+ pound squats and pulls if you don't wanna convert kilos.

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Paul,

Just wanted to thank you for all the knowledge you put out. I just competed in the USPA Illinois Fall Classic. 1138 total at 165 pounds. I matched my PR squat from when I was a chubby 198 pounds, and I hit a 15lb overall PR on deadlift.

I used Strong-15 as my peaking program. It was simple and effective. I love the common sense approach and plan on using it as my go-to meet prep cycle.