Other folks getting stronger.........

Hey there

Just a quick note to let you know that I won the Open and Masters divisions of the USAPL American Open a week or so ago, 48kg, and set a new PR total and squat and DL PR.

Reason for the email is not to tell you how awesome I am (lol!) but to let you know that a lot of the progress I made in the first half of 2013 was essentially through realizing I had to do some base building to get properly strong, as the well of newbie gains was starting to run dry. I actually did one of the first "raw squat" programs you ever posted on your blog in Jan/Feb this year, it's still buried on your blog somewhere!

Anyway, I bought Base Building and am now going to be using that for the next 3 months or so, and then will do a 12 week peaking cycle for Raw Nationals in July 2014. I did BB1 for squat last night and had a blast. I love training, and actually love the off-season more than competition peaking because you can try stuff out and not feel beat up the whole time and just have fun doing the thing you love most.I think that for me, competition training can sometimes be detrimental to getting bigger and stronger all over, so I limit the number of meets I do and will only be doing the big ones next year.

According to PL watch I made the Top 10 all time total for 105 raw (actually raw, no wraps).

So, here's to bigger and better and stronger things for us all in 2014!

Best, Jo

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From a client I have worked with the last 12 weeks.........

I hired Paul initially with the goal of improving my squat, deadlift, and incline press. I felt like my training had stalled, and I had been unable to break out the rut on my own. Having never worked with a personal trainer of any sort I had no idea what was in store for the next three months. I also had no idea just how bad my form was on squat and deadlift. 

 Paul was very straightforward about the mechanics that I needed to fix, and patient while I worked my way through implementing them. When it was all said and done, I PR'd all three lifts, and finally reached my personal goal of pulling 500. Paul was an excellent teacher, and I hope I have an opportunity to work with him again in the future. -- Steven Todd

Steven sort of downplays his own accomplishments here.  He also hit a 20 pound PR on incline press at 225.

A couple of notes about Steven's training progression and PR's.

He hit a 245 pound incline press.  He spent the majority of the 3 months doing sets with anywhere from 155 to 185.  

He pulled 500.  He spent the majority of the three months pulling between 295 and 365.  Only the last few weeks did we bump his pulls, and they flew.  

Listen, if you have been stuck or frustrated about training progress for a while now, do yourself a favor and pick up Base Building.  Implement it for your offseason training, be patient, and reap the rewards that will come with it.