Moving Time

Packing up boxes and setting up shop at our new location:


www.patrickperformancetraining.com

After months of trying to figure out this computer mumbo jumbo BS I finally got it set up on my homepage.

Keep up with us, it's only getting better and better

Geek Speak, Heavy weights, and the french toast open

The zerch off was a big success in every aspect of the manner. I mean after all, I won and was treated to a few plates of stuffed french toast at iHOP (I can break the rules, I won damnit!).

I wish I had the video of it, and I'll be called a liar forever if I don't come up with it, but it was a 75lb safety bar and 6 plates on each side--go ahead, do the math ;)

My arms are tore to shit, and that I do have a picture of!

I probably only did about 5-7 heavy lifts total and my back was fried. Which brings me to my next point-lift heavy. IF you aren't, you will not get big. I don't care how much volume squared or sets cubed you do, 15lb weights aren't changing your body.

Now the geek speak...I'll keep it short & sweet.


There's the argument of lifting for speed, but if you look at the force velocity curve you still need substantial loading to get some power! If you use bodyweight only the velocity is too fast to generate enough force and consequently any power. (see that wasn't bad)

It's great for cutting and getting your heart rate up, but in most cases (drugs aside) the biggest people CAN lift much more.

--
Ryan
e: info@patrickperformancetraining.

Send in your ?'s, I've gotten a few and looking for more about any and everything

P.S.
I got my first massage, and a word to the wise: If a large woman tells you about some special "vibration" technique and ends up just smacking your ass over and over for a good 30 seconds it's probably not anything real. Funny thing is only my butt got this "special technique"...hmmmm....

The French Toast Open

That's right, Zerch for French Toast.

Basically we're using a cambered bar seen above, set on pins, to pull a max effort zerch deadlift.

It's not a full deadlift, but it doesn't matter. You don't know what it's like to strain until you try to pull a heavy zercher. I promise that.

Pics and videos will come this weekend so stay tuned and we'll have plenty of contact before then! Prepare to see some freaky feats of strength

Oh, wait, the French Toast. Losers buy the person who placed above them an order of french toast from IHOP. First place is free and the last place dork buys twice.
--
Ryan
e: info@patrickperformancetraining.com

The Safety Squat Bar

This bar is pretty bad-ass and can quickly improve your traditional squat.

The large yolk and orientation of the pad do more than make a squat more comfy.

It allows the weight to be shifted forward somewhat so your quads will get a significant amount of overload.



In the pic, you can see the ends of the bar bend and the weights aren't on the same level as your shoulders like a traditional squat bar. This makes the lever shorter and brings it closer to the center of gravity of your body. You can manipulate the mechanics of this and also give your glutes and hamstrings a workout like never before.

When you box squat with this, you really want to sit back and down. Coming up, it teaches your how to pull your traps and upper back into the bar. This will help tremendously bring up your upper back (see yesterday's post) because your have to learn to bring your chest up first.

You can also load this bar and do shrugs with it. It's not the most comfortable thing despite the pad, but you sure as hell load it up and not worry about your grip giving out.

Give it a shot

--
Ryan
e: info@patrickperformancetraining.com

Do you workout?

How many people do you know that workout that just really don't look like they've seen the inside of a gym? Too many.

And it's sad. The hallmark of knowing if someone works out or not is the traps and shoulders, then people know you're jacked, even from behind. Big arms great, but I think more frat guys like arms than girls do. So watch out who you impress.

3 Bona fide ways to make your upper back and traps thicker than ever.

1. Cheat One Arm Rows-Go heavy as hell on these! While keep you back straight, use a little bit of legs and to help jerk the weight up. when I say heavy, I mean grab a weight you can do 10-15 with, chalk up, and row to 30. Cry form all you want, but I've seen pretty serious changes with this, not to mention a skull crushing grip and arm pump.

2. Front Plate Raises--simple, but so easy. Grab a 45 and crush as many reps as you can between other sets of exercises between your workout. Who gives a shit about the derivative of your set and rep volume times yoru rest squared. Stop majoring in the minor and lift. Get a 100 pound plate too and use a little hip extension.

3. Snatch Grip Deadlifts--this will make a man out of you very quickly. Hike your skirt up, because starting out you will lift with your purse. Get your grip strong (I think I mentioned that somewhere in here) and you'll build a thick back.

So stop with the 15-20 lb lateral raises, grab some weight and add some size. You shouldn't fit into A&F shirts anymore.

--
Ryan
e: info@patrickperformancetraining.com

Now vs Then

I always hear people say, "If I knew what I know now back then...."

The wisdom I have now would surely have been beneficial to me 5 years ago. And I would have loved to of known it then!

However, there was something about me then that I sometimes gets lost in translation.

I know so much more about program design, muscle physiology, and nutrition than I knew "back in the day".

Back then I didn't know shit compared to now, but I trained like a mad-man. My leg day had way too much volume--my lower back used to kill from the amount of squats, deadlifts, leg presses and RDL's that I did.

But it didn't matter.

I trained like there was no tomorrow and didn't pass on a single concern to the actual program design aspect of it. I just wanted to train, and train hard.

And I blew up.

In spite of everything I did "wrong", the intensity of my workouts seemed to trump everything else.

I had better than average form, and my sets were tainted by the wailing guitars of Pantera, Rob Zombie, and Disturbed. I used to workout in sweats year round because I would love to sweat and push myself to the limit.

I've puked, nearly passed out, and have been a pile of dead mass on the floor more times than I can remember.

So today, I stand ashamed and take lessons from a 17 year-old version of myself who made every workout a self-revealing opportunity.

--
Ryan
e: info@patrickperformancetraining.com

Strength is a mother...

People debate back and forth about what it takes to get big--high volume, low volume, etc etc.

So, do you need strength to get big? Some would argue no, it's not strength because strength and size are poorly correlated.

Find me a huge a** guy in the gym who is using some 20 lb dumbbells for sets of 10. I guarantee you won't see it (there are some genetic anomalies)

Strength itself might not lend much to hypertrophy, but you can't lift heavy enough weights without strength. The biggest guys have huge, and I hesitate to say it but, "structural" lift numbers. That is, their squat, deadlift, bench, overhead press are all huge.

Strength waterfalls down onto other aspects of fitness, you can use more weight for hypertrophy, speed work and so on. Overload, the principle of overload. You can't always be 1-dimensional in your training, you have to bust out and do something different. Train for strength, speed, work capacity and see these carry over into your hypertrophy gains.

--
Ryan
e: info@patrickperformancetraining.com