What do you think about this? The last time I put this up I got some people that were not happy with me at all. They stated that I was promoting unsafe lifting. Untrue. You should work within your limits, but you need to see what is possible!
Building Strength and Setting Personal Records with Gym Movement Biofeedback: An Interview with Chris Smith
Let’s get right to the point, you just recently did a powerlifting event and broke 2 state records, tell us about that. You were even on the USAPL Powerlifting Watch.
First off Mike I want to thank you for contacting me for the interview!
I recently competed in the Orange County Powerlifting Championships in Pine Bush, NY. It was a USAPL meet and was my first powerlifting event. Everyone there was great and extremely helpful and I want to take this chance to say thanks one more time to everyone who took time to help me out. I competed in the Men’s Raw 148lb division and set two NY State Records: the squat with 303lbs and one in the bench press with 198lbs. Those were done at a weight of 137.4lbs. It was an amazing experience and I highly suggest that anyone thinking about competing give it a try. There is something truly awesome about going for a max lift and hearing people who you’ve never met before that day yelling for you.
Here is Smith’s 303 pound NY State Record Squat at 148
Here is Smith’s 198 pound NY State Record Bench Press
Here is Smith’s 402 pound deadlift
Awesome! Are you doing another meet soon?
Yes and I can’t wait. I will almost certainly be doing another USAPL meet at the end of July, but nothing is 100% just yet. I’m training with that as a goal in mind.
What is your background and how did you get into powerlifting?
I’ve been working in health and fitness for about 5 years now, but I started working out and weight training when I was a freshman in high school. I was always the small kid and actually started training heavy right the start. I wanted to be as strong as possible and and that has always been my primary goal. Recently, I also started performing some feats of strength like nail bending and card and book tearing. I’m also a certified personal trainer with the American College of Sports Medicine and started Train Better Fitness in 2009.
With respect to powerlifting, I honestly just sort of landed on it. Like I said I have always trained heavy with strength and power as my primary objective, but never really with any competitive goal. It’s funny because I remember a while back a few people at my gym had suggested that I consider competing in powerlifting. At the time I didn’t even really consider it an option. Eventually it just ended up being something I decided I wanted to try.
I heard you were using some crazy biofeedback training as talked about in the Grip n Rip DVD, tell us about that.
I first heard about biofeedback training from Adam Glass when he posted his series of videos about it. I’ll be honest, I was really skeptical about it at first. But I trust Adam and believe that he would never promote something that didn’t work or that he didn’t firmly believe in. At first I just started playing around with testing ROM of different exercises, just to see if there really was a difference. I noticed other people I know say they were using the protocol and seeing some pretty good results so I figured I’d give it a try. I contacted a couple of people who I knew were following the protocol (such as yourself) for a little bit of help and started using it in different ways in my own training.
I’ve definitely noticed a correlation between exercises testing well with ROM and how well they feel while doing the movement. Recently I have been using my own intuition more and testing with ROM less. I remember hearing someone say that testing is a supplement to your intuition, not a replacement and I’ve found that to be true.
My favorite principles from the biofeedback protocol are the markers for terminating a movement. Stopping when you get excessive tension, posture shift, change in breathing pattern or when a rep becomes significantly more difficult than the one before it. I also watch for quality of movement and any speed changes. Those are great rules to follow, especially when looking to get stronger.
Nice! Have you used biofeedback trainig on your clients? What have been their results?
I have applied a lot of the biofeedback principles with my clients. When they first try the ROM testing most of them are really amazed at how different exercises can have such different results with respect to ROM. They’re even more amazed when I can tell them before they test whether the exercise will increase of decrease ROM. More than anything, just like with myself, I apply the markers for termination of a movement. They have been getting great results using it too. One of my female clients has recently gotten strong enough to do a few bodyweight pullups with no assistance at all. That’s something that a lot of guys in my gym even have a hard time with!
Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us today, how can the readers get ahold of you (shameless plug time, so plug away man).
No, thank you for having me here on the blog. If anyone wants to reach me they can check out my site at http://www.trainbetterfitness.com There is a contact form on the site that they can use to get in touch with me. While they’re there they can also sign up for my free newsletter. They can also follow me on Twitter@TrainBetterFit
Much appreciate your time Chris!
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Motivation Monday: Insane Raw Deadlift by Konstantin Konstantinovs!
Deadlift training 413kg (910lb) raw and not even a belt at a bodyweight of 132kg (291lb) by Konstantin Konstantinovs!
INSANE!
I will bet money that he will pass 1,000 lb deadlift as he is only 30 years old.
I love how he makes it look just stupid easy. Wow.
Only 2 people have pulled over 1,000 lbs in competition, with the current record holder being Andy Bolton.
True, that was done with a deadlift suit and it is debatable how much that will help a deadlifter. Most get around 50 lbs more (conventional deadlifters).
Time for me to go pull something heavy. Well, heavy for me.
Comments!
What do you think of this? Let me know as comments make me feel warm and fuzzy.
USPAL Meet Twin Ports Open for Mike T Nelson: Part 1-Results
Mike T Nelson, USAPL Raw Meet Deadlift 413 lbs
As you know I am a firm believer in testing yourself on occasion. If you want to get stronger in the bench, squat and deadlift, testing yourself in a local meet is a great way to do it.
Confession
I have a confession to make. I currently don’t get super excited to do meets. If I was left to myself, I would skip the whole process all together and save myself some time and money.
Why do I do it?
I work with athletes of all types and many of them compete. There is a whole mindset to competing. How am I ever going to understand that if I don’t compete myself?
If you want to learn how to run, at some point you must run.
You don’t have to be a World Record holder, but you have to TRY.
Advanced Notice
This time I planned out my meet more than the last time I did one where I signed up on a Tues night and did the meet that Sat.
I did learn something very interesting though at that meet. I was not nervous hardly at all where as the 2 previous ones (USAPL meets, not the Tactical Strength Challenge) I was about ready to crap my pants about 2 weeks out on a moment’s notice.
My last meet in Fall, was by far my best meet too. I did not taper much at all and basically broke about every “rule” you can break. Hmmm.
So I took the same approach to this meet. I will have all the full details in part 2 coming soon, but my mental outlook was completely different.
Duluth in May and Rollins
When I planned to do the meet in early Jan I figured it would be great for Jodie and I to spend a nice long wekeend in Duluth. Then it got moved to the College of St. Scholastica and since I did my undergrad there, I had to sign up.
The downside was that Henry Rollins was doing a spoken word tour and as luck would have it, he was playing in the Twin Cites the night before the meet!
Crap. Screw it. I am going to do both. So Jodie and I met up with my sister who was in town and some friends for the Rollins show on May 14 and it was awesome!
“Knowledge without mileage equals BS.”
— Henry Rollins
“I believe that when the body is strong, the mind thinks strong thoughts. Time spent away from the Iron makes my mind degenerate”
-Henry Rollins taken from Iron and the Soul
So at almost midnight, Jodie and I headed up 2+hours to Duluth, MN
I got all checked in and they inspected my shoes, socks, wrestling singlet, shirt and even my underwear to make sure I was all in spec. I left my Vibram Five Fingers at home since they are illegal by USAPL standards. Crazy I know!
I predicted I would weigh in at 212.0 and I weighed in at 211.2 so very close. I did not cut any weight per say, just a small meal late Friday evening, and then nothing to eat or drink until I weighed in on Sat AM. Before the weigh in at home I was around 215 lbs in the AM before breakfast. This is up 6 lbs from the last meet I did in Sept under the same conditions.
I was overall relatively happy with my squats considering I did not really train them much since this past Fall to be honest. I found that if I pick more than 1-2 goals at a time, I shoot myself in the foot. I can focus on deadlifts or squats, but trying to bring up both at the same time does not work.
I picked up a few pounds on my squat, but I literally did not squat for about 6 weeks before the meet; more on that in part 2.
My new goal is to bring my squat up and hit 275 x 1 by July 20 and 315 x 1 by the end of the year. Onward and upward.
Time for Bench Press!
For those new to meet standards, you have 3 commands
start
press
rack
Once you get the hand off, you have to hold the bar at lock out until you hear “start.”
You lower the bar to your chest where you pause until you hear the “press” command.
Then at lock out, you hold it there until you hear “rack.”
Violation of any one of these commands is a bad lift.
Been there, done that in the past.
Deadlift was my second highest priority.
At the Fall meet I did
365 x 1 opener
390 x 1
413 x 1 –double body weight deadlift (weighed in at 206.5 lbs)
This last meet I did
385 x 1 opener
413 x 1 good speed
437 x miss
I was pissed that I missed 437. I mis-gripped on my right hand as the bar was on my fingers instead of in my hand. I had recently changed my set up, so I did not practice the top start as much as I should have in hindsight.
I also noticed that my knees came in a bit too, and I think I was standing wider there than in practice; so I will need to keep a close eye on that. No pain or any knee issues at all with it though (although I do train my knees in a wide variety of angles–more on that in part 2).
A HUGE thanks to my wonderful wife Jodie for going with and being so supportive the entire time and during training. I try very hard not to have training rule my life, but there are no short cuts you have to put the time in lifting.
A HUGE shout out to everyone that I met there! All the competitors were awesome and extremely helpful and very very supportive.
Big thanks to Joe Warpeha, the College of St Scholastica, the spotters (Brett and others) and everyone that helped out with the meet. It went great. The facility was top notch and there was even enough room to warm up, which can be cramped and rushed at times. Everyone was very friendly and went out of there way to help. Heck, Joe even personalty got me some hot water for my oatmeal! Excellent work all!
You can find a great write up on the whole meet complete with results HERE.
Many think that their currents lifts are not good enough for a meet. I say BS to that!
How are you going to get better and learn more? Sign up and do one!
Everyone at every meet I have been to has been nothing more than extremely supportive. No matter what you are lifting, it takes some cajones to commit to lifting 9 lifts on a set day, at a set time, by someones rules on their schedule in front of a crowd. You will learn a ton.
Comments
Let me hear what you think.
I hope I inspired you a bit to do more than you thought you could before.
I personally don’t give two rat’s behinds where I place, as long as I got my personal records (PRs).
When are you going to compete? How are you going to be better? I want to hear about it in the comments!
Rock on
Mike T Nelson
PS
Here is the full report of what I learned at the meet this past Fall
Greetings! I have survived! It has been an absolute crazy past couple of weeks here.
I had the title of “Diary of a Mad Man” pop into my head when I was writing this up, so I thought I would include a live version of this Ozzy classic for your listening pleasure.
I remember seeing Ozzy on his “No More Tours Tour” in like 8th grade. It was awesome other than the treble was so high I think I had hearing damage for years after that. I’ve seen him many times since on Ozzfest also. So much for retirement!
As you know, I am getting married this coming Saturday (yes, like in a 2 days) and I am very excited.
PhD Update
I have also been working on my dissertation paper regarding HRV (heart rate variability - a way to measure biofeedback) and I handed in the latest revision to my advisor at about 2:30am today. I already have more work to do on it as I got the revisions back already, but getting closer to submitting if for peer review and publication.
Once that is taken care of, I will then work on finishing up my paper on the effects of Energy Drinks (Monster Energy Drink) regarding heart rate, HRV, exercise performance (like, do the darn things even work?) effects on fat burning (via RER- respiratory exchange ratio) among other things. I collected the data last year and have it analyzed already, so hopefully I won’t need to get any more subjects. All the studies were fasted, so nothing like getting up at 4:45am sometimes to be in the lab (or sleeping there overnight—shhhhhh, don’t tell anyone though). I still carry a pillow in my car to catch a quick cat nap for a few minutes wherever I can.
Once that is completed, I have my third paper to work on regarding Metabolic Flexibility as I am looking at a potential new way to measure metabolic flexibility without sticking someone with needles. I will combine those 3 studies plus a literature review and conclusion into my final dissertation. Lots and lots more work to go, but progress one step at a time is good.
I have only seen Jodie about 2 times in the past week, but we will get to spend a whole week in Mexico (top secret location) after the wedding, so we are super excited about the honeymoon! It will be sooooo nice to finally spend some time together and then I get to see her for the rest of my life every day—yeah!!
Jodie and I
Perhaps I will have an re-enactment of this photo from our La Ventana trip. Viva La Mexico
And lots of this! Although I do have a hard time sitting still for long.
A huge thanks to Jodie also for all the wedding planning and to our friend Dana and Nicole too for all their wedding planning help. I had no idea that planning a wedding was so much work, but it will be great! Neither one of us do much that is considered “normal” so we are even getting married in a cave!
Project 86
For those that missed the engagement story, see this link below.
We got engaged at a Project 86show in Arizona (huge thanks to the lead singer Andrew,the Rev, and the P86 Tour Manager). My wonderful colleges at work (I still work part time at a medical device company as an engineer for over 10 years now), bought me a Project 86 cake and had a nice celebration, wonderful card and gits too! Thanks everyone!!!
Myself, Jodie and Andrew from Project 86
The Project 86 cake
Lifting
Of course I am still lifting myself and it is going well, despite crazy levels of stress and enough caffeine at times to approach the LD 50 for small fury animals. Last night I came within 1 lb of breaking my all time bench personal record (PR) and pulled 8 singles at or over 365 lbs on deadlifts the day before. Yeah for biofeedback training. Keep your eyes open for the Grip n Rip DVD soon and it shows you the break down on how to custom your training to you!
I gave 435 a run, but no dice. I will get it though and will pull 450 lbs by the end of this year. My buddy Maximillian Barry (Nu_Fit on twitter) and a few others have a deadlift race.
Plus, once my schedule frees up a bit post PhD later this year (fingers crossed) I plan to hang out and lift more with those nuts Adam T Glass and Brad Nelson. Doing the Tactical Strength Challenge Elite style 10 days after coming back from my honeymoon is going to be brutal though! I will be traveling with trusty TRX suspension trainer though. Maybe the professor will show up in a future video from Mexico, who knows!
The Blog Marches On!
I am hoping to crank out some updates for you tomorrow AM yet, I will probably not have computer access in Mexico, so comment replies may be very slow.
Summary
That is the update on all the crazy updates from here. What is new in your life? Any good wedding stories that you wan to share? Post away in the comments
I have a ways to go for my deadlif goals, but setting a PR is always a step in the right direction. There is nothing that special about me and this was done later at night than usual, after 5 days of lifting and higher stress than usual (planning a wedding, PhD dissertation writing, teaching, training others, work, etc).
Everyone is busy and biofeedback lets you adjust to YOUR stress EVERY time.
The Future Is Here. Biofeedback training will be explained in full detail in the Gym Movements DVD very soon!
Here is a great tune from Earth Crisis to get you in the mood to go lift some heavy stuff.
Give Traditional Program Design the Finger and Destroy Your Old PRs!
So I was probably not supposed to deadlift tonight, but I like deadlifts and I wanted to try some B-Stance Deadlifts and Kettlebell Get Ups (formerly known as the Turkish Get Up, but I guess the Turks are not the only ones doing them).
I did a 2.5 hours bench-a-thon on Tuesday night with Dave “The Athlete Creator” and I hit an all time PR (personal record) on the bench at 240 lbs. Not my end goal by any means, but moving forward and hitting all time PRs is great. To be fair we also did some neutral ring rows and kettlebell presses and kettlebell swings too. I was starting to have flashbacks for awhile there to pretty much any commercial gym on a Monday, which as you know is national bench and bicep curl day.
Squats and More Fun!
Wed night I hit up a lighter session of bottom pause squats (to an 8 inch box) for about 4 doubles, wide grip rope pull ups for singles and feet up push ups, which all tested well via biofeedback (as featured on the upcoming Gym Movements DVD).
I had not done any trap bar work in about 2 weeks so I hit up a nasty routine I’ve been working on. In short it is 10 x 10 but work to decrease the time. So Wed night I hit 265 x 10 for 10 in 21 minutes and 30 seconds for a total volume of 26,500 lbs. If you want the full details, leave a comment below and more than 12 comments and I will have a whole post with all the details.
More Deadlifts!
I did not sleep very well last night, had to work during the day, and decided to hit up some B-Stance deadlifts tonight as mentioned.
While the temp is never warm in the winter at the Extreme Human Performance Center (tonight it was 34 F, but the windchill was zero), the music on the stereo system is always amazing. Tonight was no exception and was provided by those Swedish death-medlers Soilwork.
Here is a great song by them (watch out, there are few bad words so if you are offended put on some ear muffs)
B-Stance deadlifts tested fine for awhile and worked up to 315 x 3 for 2 sets and the switched to regular deadlifts for a few singles (pronated, both palms down, for grip work) at 315.
Movement tested well, so I added 70 lbs of chains, went great! Whoo ha. No problem at lockout either with all the chains off the floor.
Talking Weights
I had to head off to work, so I figured I would end on that high note and as I was cleaning up I saw a 25 lb plate that was just begging to be added to the bar (am I the only nut that thinks the weights talk to them?) I threw those on the end and after a long session on Tuesday, 2 sessions yesterday with a deadlift movement of 26,500 lbs and sore hams and glutes, 365 for a single was easy. Very easy actually.
Summary
In the past I would have not even thought of doing deadlifts again and heck I probably would have opted to skip that day due to DOMS (muscle soreness). Now I have a tool to check it and test would is best.
Quality movement + volume = bigger muscles
If you are recovered, your body HAS to respond by increased strength and muscle hypertrophy (bigger muscles).
If you missed many of the biofeedback videos, I have posted them below here. This is a series that Adam T Glass did, so a huge shout out to Adam.
I feel so good I will probably hit up some kettlebells snatches yet tonight. Whooo hahahahhaha.
If you are interested in the routine from hell details of GVT meets EDT, leave a comment below and if I get 12 comments by this Sat night I will post it for you! Spread the word. You can help by signing up to my RSS feeds below and hit the button —>
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Raising the Dead: Deadlift Training Biofeedback Style
Happy 2010!
Here comes a video of part of tonight’s training at the Extreme Human Performance Center and a secret deadlift training tip you will not see anywhere else. Seriously, I have looked and I have not seen it talked about anywhere.
It is freaking bitterly cold here in Minnesota, so the garage temp was around 30 F–really not that bad once you get warmed up. I will have all my goals for 2010 coming up soon, but on the list is a bigger deadlit, so time to start off 2010 with some deadlifts.
I tested reverse band deadlifts with just 135 on the bar and the bands deload it about 75 lbs at the bottom and about zero at the top. I like this set up to really overloads the lock out (where I need work).
I tested a forward bend first (biofeedback) and was at about the first joint on my index finger. I did 3 reps of the deadlift and then retested. This time I got to about the base of my index finger, so about 2 inches more. Reverse band deadlifts it is then. I’ve done it long enough to know if I can get to about the base of index finger I am good to go.
Biofeedback Testing Video
(with 475 lb reverse band deadlift)
A very cool stance to bring up your weaker leg in the deadlift is the B-Stance Deadlift. I need to thank Adam T Glass for recommending this. I’ve read a fair amount of old time strongman training and even there you don’t hear of it mentioned much. Interestingly I spend much of my time reading neuroscience and exercise physiology, but for training I am reading about stuff people were doing in the early 1900s or before on up to the 1960s. The amount of training knowledge from those areas is amazing. This was well before drugs entered the picture and the old time strongman looked great, were extremely strong and very athletic.
B-Stance Deadlift Setup
1) Set up like a normal deadlift, so shins about 4-6 inches from the bar
2) Slide one foot back so the ball of foot is about at the heal of the other foot
3) Perform a normal deadlift
How Do I Know Which Foot To Put In Front?
I would test both configurations and go with the one that tests better. It seems that the weaker leg will normally go in front. This is a great way to bring up your weaker leg in the deadlift and make it VERY specific.
of the Reaper”
Since I am going with a slight horror theme here I had to throw this one in.
Note: if you don’t like death metal and freaky images, you will want to pass on this one)
Action Time!
Your homework assignment, if you accept it, is to test a B-Stance Deadlift with your left foot in front and then with your right foot in front. Add them to your program for 4 weeks at about 1-2 times a week and report back here with your new PRs. Start very light when you start out and make sure your form is right on.
Drop your PRs and any questions here in the comments! I want to see atleast 8 people do this and report back some massive PRs.
Merry Christmas to everyone and time for feats of strength!
This is the Christmas edition and tons of great stuff. I trust that you are having some great times with family and loved ones, so take time to enjoy it.
The Great Kaz is probably the greatest strongman ever. If this video does not get you excited to go lift something heavy you need to check out your pulse!
Notice how easy he makes it LOOK. These feats are FAR from easy, but he is making them look easy. The squat is over 850 lbs I think and the deadlift is around 800 lbs (around the 2:30 mark).
Flipping cars–no problem! Pulling semis—bring it on! Wow.
Maybe it is the hair?
Festivus PRs
I am a huge Seinfeld fan, so I am sure you remember the Festivus episode. From the wikipedia entry on it says
“the holiday’s celebration, as shown on Seinfeld, includes an unadorned aluminum “Festivus pole”, practices such as the “Airing of Grievances” and “Feats of Strength”, and the labeling of easily explainable events as “Festivus miracles”.
One of my goals for 2009 was to deadlift 425 lbs (no belt) by the end of the year. I had planned to do that in a meet in July, but I ended up not doing a meet until September and pulled 413 lbs, then a few weeks later at the TSC pulled 420 lbs. I put my DL on hold after that and began to work on my squat since I felt it was holding my DL back (and was very weak). Fast forward to recently and I had planned to squat today, but noticed that I still have not made my DL goal.
I went into the Extreme Human Performance Center (my garage) and tested my DL using biofeedback. It tested great. Whoo ha. Warmup at 135, 225, 275, and 315 –all felt great and tested good. 365 came up fast and tested well. On
to 405 lbs. 405 in training most of the time is hit and miss, but it came up the fastest yet; so 425 was within reach and I made it.
Notice that I still need some hip work near the top as my hamstrings were shaky, but overall it felt pretty good (most PRs are never perfect).
I want to hear about YOUR Holiday “Feats of Strength” by placing a comment on what PRs (Personal Records) you have broken recently. Any PR counts, so post away! I want to see ATLEAST 10 comments here.
Happy Holidays
rock on Mike T Nelson
PS
If you don’t have any PRs to report, I have 1-2 spots open for online training. Email me HERE.
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“As cheezy as it sounds, it goes to show that when you write your goals down, work hard, and truly believe in yourself, it’s amazing what is possible.” –Layne Norton
Layne also hit a 567.5 lb squat, a 331 lb bench press in the 220 lb class. Awesome!!
Add to this that Layne runs his own training business and is finishing up his PhD also.
Goals 2010
What are you goals for 2010? I will be sharing my updates with you soon and my goals for 2010. Stay tuned and find out which ones I made and which ones I did not.
Are your goals WRITTEN DOWN? Are they public? Does anyone else know? Will they hold you accountable?
Everyone is busy, and time is NOT an excuse.
List your goals in the comments here and let me know how I can help you.
If you are in the Minnesota Twin Cities area and are interested in training, drop me a line at michaelTnelson AT yahoo.com or by clicking HERE. I have only a few spots open, so first come, first serve! Don’t let another day go by without taking action on your goals!
PPS
Just got word from TRX that this sale ends soon, so get it now in time for Christmas!
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Jodie and I
Viva La Mexico
Although I do have a hard time sitting still for long.
Myself, Jodie and Andrew from Project 86
The Project 86 cake
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