every week. The only PRs that matter to me are on the
platform or in your arena of athletics. Last I checked,
official records aren’t kept on what you do in practice.
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This week is what it’s all about. I do not recommend
cutting weight unless you are attempting to set an
all-time world record. This is just my opinion, but
cutting weight does two things: it causes stress
-something that beginners don’t need any more
of- and it can crush performance if you don’t
replenish yourself correctly. Leave cutting weight
for the experienced lifters or those chasing records.
Monday
I squat, bench, and deadlift up to 30%. I do 3 sets of
8 for each. Then I stretch and do some mobility work.
This is important.
Wednesday
I bench up to 75% x 3 paused singles on my chest. I
then stretch and do mobility work.
Thursday
I do an exact repeat of Monday.
After Weigh-Ins
I go to a gym (usually in the hotel where the meet is
held) and I do a brief full-body workout. 10-15 minutes
maximum. It makes me sweat and also makes my body
want to absorb food and fluids. I then eat and drink
all day long, making sure to never drink to quickly or
overeat. Don’t stuff yourself and feel like shit on meet
day. This is your chance to showcase your talents.
Meet Day
I always have a big breakfast (I shoot for four hours
before I begin lifting). I eat sandwiches and drink
water the entire day of the meet. Bananas, peanut
butter, and other healthy treats are great as well. Too
much Gatorade can make you sick, so be careful.
I pick my attempts like this: my opener is a lift I can
easily double and possibly triple. My second is usually
just under a PR. My third is an attempt at a new PR.
People can argue and say whatever they like about
how I plan attempts, but that is it, plain and simple.
WEEK 10 (MEET WEEK)
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17
When looking for a practical way to apply this method
to various sports, I asked myself, “What is the one
factor that can have the most impact for an individual
athlete?” It’s strength. There are kids who are born tall,
long limbed, fast, who can jump, etc., but one area
that can improve multiple facets of an athlete’s ability is
strength. So, the adaptation of the method is not that
radical. We just make a few adjustments, lighten the
weight, up the volume slightly, add in jumps and sprints,
and what we wind up with is a program that is universal
and can be applied even during the “in-season” due to
the recovery-based nature of the program.
As a former college track and field athlete (shot put and
hammer), we employed jumping and some sprinting into
our base of strength work. We also did some throwing,
ADAPTATION FOR
ATHLETES
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but not in the typical strength and conditioning sense. A
lot of coaches, even my good friend and business partner
Chad Smith, include throws in their programs. Maybe it
was because I was throwing so much with the hammer and
shot, but I never saw the benefit from doing more throws
in training. If you want to incorporate medicine ball throws,
weight throws, or other types of throws, I encourage
