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| Q: It's almost the off season and I can't wait to start hitting the weights hard again. Just need your wisdom on a few things. I don't fully understand the volume and intensity weeks. If I perform, for example, 4 sets of 4 for deadlifts on week 1, and the next week calls for 6 singles, how am I supposed to progress since the parameters have been changed so much? I hope that makes sense, thanks for your time EC.
A: Work up to a PR in good form for the day in week 2 - and then work backward from that.
Let's say you work up to 400 and it's the best you can do in good form - and on the way up, you took 365 as your last warm-up. 360 is 90% of 400, so you've got two singles over 90% at that point.
Then, take four more singles between 360 and 400, and you're done.
www.EricCressey.com |
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| Earlier this year, I wrote an article called “Are You Doing Stupid Stuff in the Gym?” Several people took issue with the following statement:
“I've said it before and I'll say it again: any healthy male under the age of 50 can deadlift 400 within two years of proper training — and most can do it even faster than that.”
In that article, I also mentioned how my old college roommate, Pete Dupuis (now my business partner at Cressey Performance), had taken up lifting and seen remarkable gains. When Pete first started out last November 15, he lacked the flexibility to even pull from the floor safely. In his first session, he used 40kg (88 pounds) with a sumo stance just so that he could get down to the bar with a neutral spine.
Today, 364 days later, Pete pulled 400. That 364 days includes a 3-month hiatus from lifting when he was wrapping up his MBA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQXmpEM3NPQ
The take-home lesson? Whether a big deadlift is a goal of yours or not, Pete’s deadlift tells us several things:
1. Cressey is always right.
2. Arguing on the internet will not make you stronger (Pete hasn’t spent a minute on a strength training forum in his life).
3. Work on technique, optimize range-of-motion, and create stability within that range of motion, and the strength is sure to follow.
4. Surround yourself with the right people, in the right environment, with the right programming, and you’ll do exceptional things.
5. If you want to be strong, train around people who are already strong.
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| Q: I was an online consulting client of yours for a few months this summer, and I was very happy with the results. It's definitely showing through where I wanted it to - playing basketball (I'm more explosive, no nagging pains, being able to play above the rim at 5'9"). I am familiar with your approach to training, and have utilized the outline layed out in your off-season manual, but now that my basketball league (it's an adult city league) has started I'm wondering what your approach to in-season training is.
In the off-season I was lifting 4x/week with an upper/lower split, and now during the season I lift total body 2x/week. Do you do heavy max effort work in-season, e.g. singles over 90%, or is it more submaximal work for strength maintenance? How do you consolidate lifting so that you're fresh enough to make progress in the gym. but without interfering with games? If it helps, my basic layout is as follows:
If it helps, my basic layout is as follows:
Sunday PM: basketball game
Monday PM: soft-tissue work (foam roller/lacrosse ball) and extended mobility work
Tuesday PM: Lifting (with soft-tissue work and mobility warm-up):
1. Heavy squat/deadlift (3-5RM)
2. Unilateral (usually reverse lunges or bulgarian split squats)
3a. Pushups with blast straps
3b. High-rep band face pulls
4a. Posterior chain exercise (GHR or kettlebell swings)
4b. Side bridge
Wednesday PM: basketball game
Thursday PM: Lifting (with soft-tissue work and mobility warm-up):
1. Heavy chin-ups (3-5RM)
2. Unilateral (single-leg deadlifts or bowler squats)
3. Inverted rows
4. DB push press
5a. Light posterior chain exercise (swiss ball hip extension + leg curl or band good mornings)
5b. Pallof press or cable woodchop
Friday AM: Basketball Practice (skill work, no scrimmaging)
Saturday AM: soft-tissue work (foam roller/lacrosse ball) and extended mobility work
Any input or direction you could give me on in-season lifting is most appreciated
A: In-season, it’s important to keep the intensity up, just doing enough to maintain or slightly increase strength. It does NOT take much volume. Still, you have to listen to athletes; if they're beaten up, scale back a bit.
As far as consolidation is concerned, it depends on the sport in question, to be honest. With pitchers, for example, I like heavy lower body sessions within 24 hours after a start. With basketball (practice, at least), I love doing the heavy work pre-on-court stuff and then coming back to assistance work after the on-court work. Great stuff.
Try doing that before your basketball games - seriously. You could also move Thursday's session to post-basketball on Friday. I would actually look to get in a third session, if possible - just some upper body stuff here or there. My experience has been that in-season training is about frequency more than duration; it makes a big difference in terms of quality of work and acute endocrine benefits.
Eric Cressey
Step-by-step what it takes to become a superior athlete. |
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