EFS Learn to Train Seminar

This past weekend I made the trip to London, OH for EFS: Learn to train seminar. I learned some things, got some great advice, and had a bunch of fun. I wanted to write a little about what I learned specifically, rather than write a review. So for the review portion, EFS does a great job with seminars, if you can, go to one, it WILL help you in some way.

Now on to the help I recieved. Technique wise I picked up a couple of things.

Squat- I need to focus on flexing my upper back, and more importantly get my upp back stronger. I will address this in programming. My form is pretty solid, I just need to really focus on my upper body during the lift. My biggest issue is my abs. I do not breath well, as in fill my belly with air while lifting and holding it well. I will change how I do my ab work, both the movements and the technique. Technique wise, I will perform each rep while pushing my belly out full of air as best as I can. I predict a MAJOR improvement in my squat shortly. This will keep me upright in the hole, and shorten the distance I am moving the bar.

Bench- I am guilty of not giving a crap about the bench. My shoulders are crap, I am not really into having more shoulder operations in the near future, thus, I hate bench. But what was really valuable here was learning more about how to FIX my shoulders, rather than continue to train around them. As I DO care a great deal about my OH pressing, this relates. I won't write any more on this, but you'll soon see me talk more about it in my log.

Deadlift- Belly full of air forcing me to arch my back (sound familiar). A lot of the ab stuff with the squat carries over here. This will help my lockout tremendously. Very difficult to explain in writing, but you will see it more in some videos I will post. Also, I pretty much grip and rip, I need to pull the slack out of the bar and flex everything (ABS!!!!) before begining my pull.

Those are the major things as far as technique. As for the educational portion, I won't go into much detail, as 6 hours of talking, and all that I picked up/confirmed, I am not interested in retyping a novel. But there is one thing I want to talk about.

EQ for your training. Everyone should remember on older stereos there was an equalizer. You could adjust levels of bass/treble is specific inputs. So if you think about it, there were certain levels, for certain types of music that make it sounds better. The same is true for strength sports. If you break down aspects of physical performance, ex-strength/speed/mobility/coordination/flexibility/conditioning/etc. Each sport has their own levels.

So pick your sport, say its powerlifting, now pick the ideal levels for powerlifting. Usining the above examples- You might rate it- 10/3/5/4/6/1 for those levels. Now assess yourself vs. the ideal. Now base your training cycle off of the improvements needed. This offered a great perspective for me, and I will make some small changes to my training based on this.

Look for these changes to result in changes in my log, and more importantly in my results!

Training 1/25

DE Lower

Reverse Hypers


Box Squats +green bands
working sets at 332X8X2

Deads +short silver bands
working sets at 305 (lighter then the %'s were supposed to be, but was working on a form)

Reverse Hypers
4X10

Front Squats, fast paced, no lockouts
135X3X10

Abs

training 1/23

DE Upper

CG 1 board Bench +80 lbs chains off the ground completly at top of movement
working sets-
135X3
145X3
155X3
165X3
175X3
185X3
195X3
205X3
205X3

DB Laterals

Band Pull aparts

DB Upright rows

Training 1/21

ME Lower

Had a slight hamstring pull, so didn't do the planned lifting, but modified it and was able to still get a good workout.

Reverse Hypers
lots of sets, until back was really full of blood

Seated Good Mornings+ short orange bands
up to a triple at 305, with the band tension this was very tough.

Reverse Hypers/Pulldown abs
sets at 90 lbs, pulldowns done with 2 purples, supersetted for8 sets

Training 1/19

ME Upper
Log-Wanted to work on Viper technique (one motion from lap to OH)
worked up to 262 for a PR with this technique. It was a very easy lift, so jumped to 292, where I proceeded to miss three times due to poor technique. I can vipor this weight, and I will do so next time I try and lift it.

Blast Strap Push-ups
BwX10
Mini bandX10
PurpleX2X10
Legs raised up X3X10

DB Rows
110X3X10

Wet Arms

New Equipment at MVB!

MVB just unloaded a brand spanking new Pro Reverse Hyper Extension! I am incredibly excited to work this into the rotation for both posterior chain strength, as well as rehab for the lower back.

If anyone has been contemplating one, but isn't sure how to use it, I recomend checking out the latest issue of POWER magazine- www.supertraininggym .com (to check it out, or buy it at Barnes and Noble) Great article on the machine by Bryan Dermody.

From emailing with Louie Simmons, and various westside followers, I am really excited to see if I can get comparable results to what some have seen.

For those who have been thinking about checking out MVB as your new workout home and have maybe been on the fence about coming out, come check out our new machine!

Training 1/18

DE Lower

Box Squats (at parallel, will be lowering the box 1/4" every three weeks until 2 inches below parallel, wide stance)
working sets at 302 + green bandsX8X2

Deads
325+ silver short bandsX10X1

Band Leg curls
PurpleX25/25/25/25

Farmers Step ups
135X6X1

Abs

Training 1/16

DE Upper
CG Bench to 1-board (all sets +80 lbs of chain) <1 minute rest times
warm up to...
135X1X3
155X5X3
185X3X3

Fat Ez Bar Skull Crushers
95X4X20

DB Laterals

Band Pull-aparts/ss/Bent over DB Laterals

Abs

New Training Plan

My basic template is getting a facelift! As of this week we will be making the switch to a conjugate split. Out working days will be as follows;

Sun-DE Upper
Tues-DE Lower
Wed-ME Upper
Fri-ME Upper

I am very excited about the new split, I am ready for a change for sure. I would go into more detail on how each day will break down, but it will be very apparent from reading the log.

Also, I have restructered my own diet and cardio plan. I had gotten pretty sloppy with the diet over the holidays, and I am ready to get that cleaned up as well. In addition, the new split will allow me three days of good cardio time, without sacrificing time lifting.

Update

There were a few workouts not logged. I made a trip to help my grandparents out as my Grandfather recovers from his heart attack.

Two workouts in a commercial gym, just a basic upper/lower split. Not worth getting into detail, but nice to use some different equipment once in a while. They had a safety squat bar so I used that for squatting, just for some variety. Really hammered my upper back, something to look into for sure.

Also didn't log a workout after I returned. But some big changes this week so I will address them in a longer post.

training 1/4

Deads

Shrugs

Pullups

Hip THrusts

Chin Ups

CG Bench

Band Extensions

Abs

BB Complex

Jump Rope

1/2

Squat

Pause Squats

GHR

Front Squats

BB Complex (clean/front squat/pp/GM/squat/RDL/bent row/dead)

training 12/31

Deload week

OH

Cuban Press

Dumbell Laterals

Curls

Tabata Jump Rope