October 11 2014, I participated in another USPA meet called "The Ross Shreves Classic," which was in the Dallas, TX area. I totaled 1441 with a 501 Squat, 324 Bench and 616 Deadlift at 220lbs. This actually gave me a Class 1 total which qualified me for the Saturday meet at Boss of Bosses 2 (You had to be invited or qualify with a Class 1 total, otherwise you had to lift on Sunday).
My buddy signed us both up as soon as registration was available. We planned it out. I would lift on Saturday and he on Sunday, that way we could help each other out, give cues, get timing right with warmups and attempts. It was all set. I sat down on my laptop and sifted through training logs, reviewed lifting videos and looked at several spreadsheets.
I wanted to be really successful and put up some big numbers, but I didn't really want to have to worry about my programming. I had a few prospects of who I might look into to hire for my programming, but one day I was looking through the Jailhouse Strong Instagram page and I decided I didn't need to look any further. Josh Bryant has countless dudes putting up huge numbers. Bench, Squat, Deadlift, Farmers Walks, Dips. It didn't matter. All his clients were/are crushing it. So, obviously I went to his website. (I was already really familiar with Josh, having followed him on Elitefts as well as purchasing his book "Built to the Hilt".)
http://www.joshstrength.com/
It didn't take me long to find his contact page (its at the top of the homepage, under Contact Us...simple enough) And I emailed him right away. It didn't take him long to respond. I stated that I wanted help to peak for the meet. Instead of saying "Of course! We'll get you started!" Josh sent me a disclaimer.
Let me tell you about the program and you can decide if you are a good fit. The online training is for serious inquiries only. The program is designed for people who are committed to their goals and following the program exactly. If you are someone who just does this sporadically, it's not for you. If you are willing to work hard and need guidance to go to the next level, you are a perfect fit.
This dude is serious. 100% respect immediately and I hadn't even exchanged more than one email with the guy. On top of that, he set up a phone consultation. From the sound of it, he wanted to get a feel/gauge me and see if I was serious. I was.
After the phone consult, he set me up with a 12 week program. However, it is not a cookie cutter program or a template that he just gives you and says good luck. No, Josh dishes out the program one week at a time and wants your feedback on it.
Since I won't be revealing any of the nitty gritty of the program, I'll just point out a few unique features that Josh implemented for me specifically. (I'm sure it is subject to change)
- 4 day split. 2 Upper, 2 Lower. Heavy Bench Day, Heavy Squat/Deadlift Day and then "lighter" (I use that term loosely) Upper body/Bench Day and a "lighter" Squat/Deadlift Day.
- Heavy Bench Day has a crap ton of work/volume. I haven't worked that hard on a Bench day, ever.
- Heavy Squats and Heavy Deadlifts on the same day. I know some people do this, so it's not like a big secret. But, I had never done it. I always had the two separate.
- Speed work for all the main lifts, but, not like the typical Westside style of having a specific day just for them. More or less it was simply reduce the load from the main sets by 20-30%. Using the same weight for 3 weeks, bust it out for a couple sets of triples or doubles.
- Deloads every 4th week.
As we set off, I was feeling pretty good about the programming and definitely seeing some strength gains. His program is tough, definitely not for the sunday-driver-worker-outers. About 6 or 7 weeks in I felt a little twinge in my glute/hamstring area during heavy squats. After the main work, I did my speed sets and the top 1/4 of the squat after hitting the hole started to become painful. Standing up completely was difficult. I slightly tore my hamstring up high in the proximal area. Now, before anyone starts making assumptions about Josh and his programming, this was all my fault. I drive a lot for work. I average about 800-1000 miles a week. That takes it toll on your body, especially the lower extremities. When you don't take proper care, rehab, pre-hab, things start to degrade really quickly. I neglected my flexibility a little bit and that's what caused this issue.
Despite several therapy modalities, the only real answer was to lay off it. Unfortunately, I had already purchased a plane ticket and paid for the entry fee for Boss of Bosses 2, so this wasn't an option. Instead I toughed it up, wrapped up my leg with Voodoo Floss Bands for squats and deads (which sort of work like little miracle bands), and endured the pain for just a little while longer. Josh did a great job modifying the training to work around it. I couldn't low bar squat without severe pain, so instead we decided on using the Safety Squat Bar Because you have to stay considerably more upright to squat with it, less forward lean means less tension on the hamstring. Deadlift still sucked, but I had to do them. Despite still having hamstring issues up to the meet, I was feeling pretty confident I could put up some descent numbers without feeling embarrassed. Josh and I discussed openers and what was realistic for my third attempts. (Little fun fact: The heaviest squat I achieved in training with the SSB was 470lbs two weeks before the meet)
I set my goals for a 540 squat, 391 bench, and 644 deadlift. He didn't call me crazy.
Boss of Bosses 2
At weigh-ins friday morning, August 28th (24 hour weigh-ins), I felt like the skinny dude I remember myself as in high-school. There were absolute monsters in line to be weighed and gear checked. Doubt began to creep into my mind and all I could think "Am I in over my head?" "Do I deserve to be here?" But, that soon was overturned because everyone was really friendly and helpful. I weighed in at 234.5lbs. Oops. A little slim for a 242-er.
Saturday (29th) seems like a blur now. We showed up, warmed up and were on the livestream in no time. I hit my 540 squat without much pain and relatively easy. However, I squatted slow just to be sure I didn't make my hamstring worse. I still had to survive for Deadlift. I hit a 385 bench quite slowly. I adjusted my 3rd attempt from 391 because I didn't move my second attempt as fast as I had hoped. Deadlift was a rollercoaster. In the warm up room, my hamstring was hurting pretty bad. Locking out was very painful. My first attempt on the platform blew up without pain (until I walked around for a few minutes and it started hurting again). 2nd attempt I hit 628 and it was slow. My third I called for 644. I put tension on the bar and began the pull. I stopped. Said "No thanks" and walked away. No regrets. My hamstring was not going to take it.
1552 and some change. I was/am happy with my performance. Here's the video.
Now, I am going to rest up because I have another meet (The Ross Shreves Classic) Oct 10th, in Dallas.
Then, I am planning on continuing my journey with Josh as my guide. I'm hiring him to do some off season work and who knows where it'll go from there. The dude is a maniacal genius. He even stated that he thinks he can get my squat to 600 and deadlift to 700 really quick. I'm stoked.
As always, questions or comments...Let me know!
How much was the program
ReplyDeleteI think his prices have changed, but it was $50 a week with 12 week signup minimum.
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