Ep.5-S3 "Peak Files and AR"

After a break due to prep and life, Episode 5 kicks back off with reviews of how peak has been, talks of AR and how to use it, and updates on 5 days out from APO in VA Beach.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

I feel like I haven't done that in a while. It has been a minute. Yeah. This is episode five of season three. 31? 31 or 32. We made it to episode five. Yeah, yeah. So me and Carl have been in and out of the podcast. We had talked about putting it on hold just until we got done with this prep because he's had a great prep. You got a little hairy. I've had a rough prep, and we're gonna we're gonna talk about prep files today. Uh because we are five five days out from APL. It's like four in the change. So we weigh in on Saturday morning and then we will compete on Sunday. 9 a.m. sharp. 9 a.m. sharp. In all the things that have torn me apart, nothing has made me more whole, covering the good, the bad, and the shit that keeps us going straight from the headrest table. I'm your host, Travis Papa Bear Rogers, and you are listening to a Force Through the Trees, a Cave podcast. I feel like that sip in the background really added some suspense. Oh, I could hear it. Yeah, it was like like right through the tagline. Here with the strongest sipper in the East, Carla Master. What's going on, man? Not much. I would say I know what's going on. I do you know what's going on. So uh I was reading through your notes today and then compiling these, and uh they were pretty funny. In the first one, it just said navigating difficult preps. So I was like I was like, yeah, so I decided to save the uh like the SSB stuff for a later episode because there was a lot of stuff. So I figured we can make that kind of variation stuff like a whole extra episode.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yeah. Alright. Uh we so what happened was we were we were gonna be recording every single week, but as soon as we got like into the meat and potatoes of this prep, it was like, alright.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Well, and Tuesday is our usual rest day.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Yeah, let's worry about one thing at a time and make sure the recovery's on point.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Like two in a row, I was like, Carl, I I I need to go the fuck home. Let's not have a day at the cave. And on top of that, um, school year's ending for me. For those of you who don't know, I'm a high school teacher, so I teach English 12 and art one, which is mixed bag of kids, because it's an elective course. But senior grades closed out was last week. Um, so boiling up to that, it has been a stressful year to say the least. So between all that and the worst shenanigans possible for me as far as meat preps go, um, I was like, hey man, I I need to just go home and disassociate and like eat food and go to sleep. Think about what you've done. Yeah, and I will I will see you Wednesday when we lift again. So um how do you want to even break into this? I don't know. Break it break in is a keyword and phrase here for that part. So let's just start with that. So uh I am currently in my sixth, fifth or sixth? Seven. No, it hadn't been seven.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

I think it's six. Oh, okay. I'm counting the the ones sitting every year. That's six. Yeah, it is six.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

That one that one's for after the meeting. That's a secret shirt. Um so uh I'm in my sixth bench shirt for this prep. Um almost a different one every single week. Yeah. So what happened was What had happened was uh Carl is wearing a new 52. We had both saved my old nice 54, which is his, but we keep it here for us in case we have a backup shirt. Or or need like, you know, a lighter touch one, because that's what smart equipped benchers do. Um it's what bad benchers do when they can't touch in their main shirt. I mean, I mean that is true. It goes both ways. It goes both ways. But uh am I a bad I'm a bad venture. I didn't mean to be a shot at you. I'm a bad venture now, Carl. I'm a bad venture. No, no, no, no. Um can we can we please put like a like an asterisk? An asterisk next to this as this is also my first poly meet in a poly shirt with one titty. Yes. This is this is my first one titty meet back. Um so what happened was uh I got a new shirt and I thought it was gonna go well. Um it had a little hole in it, and I got another one that also had another little hole in it. So I sent those off to be reinforced, had collar added over it, and to like patch my spots. Um both those shirts blew out in the same night. In the same night. Like 20 minutes apart. One blew out to a touch and the other one blew out. Dude, it was what, uh three or two? Yeah, it was it was early on. It didn't make it far. So um both of those blew out, and we were scared shitless, and both of those were SDPs, a red one and a maybe blue one? Not the red one, the red one and ketchup blew out. Um so both those shirts blew out, and of course, I have also, for personal health reasons, uh lost a lot of weight and decided to go back to uh my OG longest standing weight class at 198. Dropping two classes. Yeah, two classes from my previous meeting now. I didn't do that in just meet prep. I've been doing that since I've been losing weight since December. This has been months in the main. Yeah, so it's not like they were like, well, no shit, you're doing bad. You dropped 30 pounds in like five days. Like, no. This has been over time. So I'm currently down to 205, right where I need to be to water cut um into the 198s like I always used to, no big deal. Salt manipulation, that whole shebangabang. If you want to read about that, I still have articles I've published on Elite FTS about that. Carl has also brought me an energy drink today to sabotage me with artificial sweet to hold all my water and not make weight. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

I'm too kind and also evil. Yes. I'm just going, I'm gunning for best lifter from this monster I gave him.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

So our buddy Paul Stein uh hooked me up and sent me a shirt. It is a double ply super cat. And uh so far until this point, the gnarliest, most gangster shirt I've ever been in was my evil twin, which I which I ended up absolutely adoring. I love that fucking shirt. It's probably way too big for me now. It is, I remember I tried it on. And then I got an evil twin psycho in the laminated material, um, which I think my best bench in that was like 630 to a half board. Like we didn't get it to touch everyone.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

That was the only one that you couldn't get touching.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Yeah, we could not get that shirt to touch uh before before a meet, so I ended up swapping back to my evil twin. Um now this shirt, this shirt's fucking gangster, dude. Like, I have stretched it on a rack, I have blown up shit in the armpits, I've worked it for six weeks. Me and Carl has sprayed the ever living fuck out of it with water. I mean, we're talking about jumble gyms, log flume, slip and slide style. Like, we have super soaked that hook. We used more water on that shirt than it's just like a little bit of a dude. We have stretched and worked and wet and you name it on this shirt, and like we had eventually got it to a point because like I couldn't even get any. Um, so we had gotten to the point where I could get about 580 to 590 to a one board, relatively comfortable. We say comfortable.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

We took a half board on that shirt, didn't we? No, we took we took a one and a half and a one board, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

Yeah, we took a we took a one. Yeah. Um, so we were we were like, okay, like we we have worked our asses off to get it to this point. This is gonna be the shirt, dude. The heaviest bencher prep came, and we could not get that motherfucker to touch. It would lock at 622, which usually isn't a hard weight for me to do, but at 30 pounds less. Subtle flex. It's a lot. Well, I'm just saying, in a bench shirt, it's not a really difficult thing for me to bench. I'm just saying consistent. Over three times body weight. Like you don't have access to my open powerlifting and see the multiple 600-pound benches, okay? Usually it's in the cards for me, okay? Typically, yes. 30 pounds body weight down with a shirt that's taking most of your energy to get it down was not in the cards for me. So we could not even get it to touch with 622 after we were taking like 580 to a one. So I was super frustrated and upset. Uh the meat was the big mad, and I usually don't let preps get to me like that, but like at the same time, there was a bunch of shit going on with the gym. I was stressed at school, and it was just like spiraling out of control. And um, what what was the one thing you told me that really got to me? Not got to me, but like made me think more. You were like I was talking a whole lot of shit the past. You were talking mad shit.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

I was walking a very fine line between like I uh this is the I trained with this guy, I want him to do well, I want to give him some shit to like push him. But I also kind of want to be a dick because as a competitor, we're at the same meat.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Yeah, we are at the same meet. Well, and we were in the same weight class. Now we're not though.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I am much lighter than you now. I want the best for you, but I'm gonna give you some shit to get there.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

There is there'd been multiple times during this prep where I was like, I love you, but I want to physically harm you right now. Uh because I was very frustrated. And it and it sucks when you're fucking the bear, dude. And it sucks when you feel that way, and yet you're the one spotting me and keeping me the most safe. So I'm like Who's catching your benches when you trip left? Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, you've caught you all caught some crazy shit. Shout out to Eddie and Bo, who um our team is so solid. Yeah, everyone has caught some benches. Poor Bo. When he walked away from that one, his hands are shaking. He's like, fuck, bro.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Yeah, this is his first equip meeting and he's over here doing this. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

And he's gonna have a great meet. We're super proud of him. He's been killing it. Team's on his back. Team's on his back. I told him I'm gonna whisper that after I get my bench, I'm gonna be like, I've just been fucking with you the whole time. Teams on your back, bro. Go get him, Tiger. But um, so I gave up on that shirt, and I I just so happened to find a guy on Facebook Marketplace, and he was selling a 48 old school SDP because I did not want to order a new one. I had talked to Carl, I talked to Roman, I'd been in a couple of the newer shirts they've produced in the last year. They're super stretchy, they don't have a lot of like support to them, and with me having one titty and a redone elbow all on the same side of my body, like I cannot have a shirt that's like givy, givy, givey. Like, I gotta have something with a little more support to it, which is why I like the katana. We just couldn't get it get it to touch because that bitch has no give.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

Well, as a single ply lifter at heart, you know, you're just gonna Yeah, I am.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

I I would love to be back in single ply. Titan fanboy. It's your it's your baby.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

I am actually, yeah, and that is true because I prefer boss briefs. Most most single ply lifters go for Titan equipment anyway. So that makes sense. You wouldn't have to be able to do that. But I'm talking in multi.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Multi, I prefer boss briefs, period. I love the um I call it the crunchy loop at the bottom that like digs into you, and then like once the briefs are set, like they can't slide up or or down. They're not they're not moving anywhere. But um, so we got this shirt and um it gave me the bench I needed. What size bench shirt are we in now? Not the bench I wanted. Uh we are in a 48 double ply. Okay. 48 double ply all around in the old Navy front OG black sides. Right. So it's a cool looking shirt. I like the shirt a lot.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

So we've dropped three sizes on the SDP from the one you were wearing previously.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Yeah, I mean, but not counting December when I was still wearing the 54. Exactly. Yeah. So we've we've we are significantly smaller. Um, so because we were getting the katana on with trash bags, and it was it was still pretty bad.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Putting trash bags on the arms and then fishing the shirt up, like taking 15 minutes to do that on a good day. Yeah, it was bad. And then sliding the trash bags out. So you're not gonna be able to get it.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Also I'm still in my brack, my black boss briefs. Uh, I do want a pair of tighter briefs, but I don't have time to break them in. But shout out to my boy Ralph over at Deathwish. He had sent me his old pair of Iron Man burgundy colored uh boss briefs that I love. Um, the one leg's a little tight for me because I had that one surgery leg. God, I sound so fucking put together, dude. Every statement, it's like ending with a well with this. And it's true though. Like it's hard to find gear that fits me right because I got so much fucked up parts. Um, so I am gonna work the legs in those after this meet and get situated in a tighter pair of briefs uh so that way feel a little safer with that. But um Carl can lace the living fuck out of my F8, so it's been holding up once we once we get everything up on there. Tell me trains my cars. I just laces suit. Um But so we gotta we gotta at the last the last week we were allowed to be in a shirt. Uh we were only supposed to go to boards, and I told Carl, I said, look, I I need to be sure. If not, like I need to pull out of this meet, like there's no sense in me getting hurt. Like the OG idea was to qualify for APO or WPO, and then I kind of let that spiral out of control, and like, okay, now I want to put up this kind of total, now I want to reach for this number ranking spot, and it just kind of spiral out of control. And I really thought this is this should be an episode two about keeping your ego in check. Um not that my ego was wild, but I think my my realistic expectations of my age and how my body physically operates now versus where I was before some gnarly surgeries is completely different. Like I can do heavy weights with Carl, but I definitely don't have like the endurance like I used to. Like, I mean, there was tons of times where you could watch me knock out multiple sets of like triples and doubles at crazy fucking weight, but like I'm not only is it a mental barrier, like I'm I'm scared something's gonna be off and just like fuck something up, and I'd rather just take a single and make it as execute it as perfect as possible. Um but man, like I I just physically cannot do what I used to do, and like that's okay. And I I think a big turning point like two weeks ago, week and a half ago, I talked to Carl. I kinda had I didn't really I I felt sad for myself, but then like talking about it out loud with people and stuff like and verbalizing it and finally like coming to that understanding of like you're you're still very strong and you're still very competitive, but you're just like you're simply not in the same way you used to be, and you're not quite that guy anymore. And like that's a big pill for me to swallow. Um because I have been for a very long time, and it's just like I'm not upset at anyone about it, but I do think it does add fuel to my fire watching you, like it's like I'm on this, like, okay, I'm still competing, I'm still here, I'm okay, but it's still a slight backslide versus watching you just like fucking climb the mountain, and I'm like, fuck, you know, like we were here, and now we're here, and now we're here, and now I'm like, am I tipped on the other side of the mountain now? You know what I mean? So, like, and I'll and I'll never hold that against Carl. Like, that's what every coach, every friend, every training partner wants is like their person to replace him, or not replace is a terrible word. That sounds like I'm going away. Um, like, be better and do better and grow as a lifter and perfect that where you know you had your time, and like that's a huge goal of mine is to pass that on to him and watch him grow and me be healthy enough to fuck around and go and coach and at least do some meets with him while he's doing it.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

I just need you to be healthy enough so we can do a birthday meet every two years.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

That is true. Yeah, so last last year was my my magic Airbnb getaway with a bunch of card dorks and we had a bunch of friends, but this year we swap back. Swap back, we it's back to a meet because I did my first one at 35 for when I was submasters on the day. So we will we will be looking for one of those.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

If I could if I could give you my real honest opinion on how things are rolling out right now, I'm sure this is just a workaround meet for you. You know, it's you you get those. Carl's Carl's hoping I'm on the bounce back. It's not even so it's like uh a bounce back, it's just like this not every meet is like a I'm putting 130, 140, 200 pounds in my total. Right. I'm working around this one, these other two lifts are holding and maintaining or even growing, but you know, this one lift is dragging behind a little bit and then working around it for this instance. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

So I mean, as far as navigating like difficult preps, I would say this has been one of my hardest, not only because of like all the bench shenanigans and the weight loss, but also like the outside influences and like how emotionally it has challenged me and made me feel where versus I'm normally very confident in a prep. Yeah, and this is probably the least confident I've been in a prep. And I've vocalized that a lot to Carl where he'll be like, Just do it on meet day. Yeah, he's like, dude, I've seen you touch things when you're not supposed to touch things, and you can just like do it because you want to do it. And he's like, just go be that guy. And then like I've multiple times vocalized to you, like, Carl, I am I am not confident, I am not that guy right now, which is okay. Like, I mean, I feel like that's that's a humbling experience, and also like being able to step back and recognize that is also like a big pattern in growth. So I am cool with that. Um but squats have been going really well. I tied my all-time squat PR at 242 at 205. So I mean, I can't I can't argue that.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

We gotta chew on the fact that there's not a lot of people out there that can maintain a total dropping 30 pounds.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

No, and I mean I'm still good for uh 70 to 700 plus deadlift right now, which I've pulled in prep already. So I mean And it's totals, totals don't win the meats, it's the coefficient that win the meat. Yeah, but I mean Totals are fun, I know.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Totals are cool. No one walks up to you and goes, What's your what's your coefficient? Except other powerlifters. You're right, you're right. And that's only people that really watch it.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

But I want to walk in royal farms and be like, do you know my coefficient?

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Yeah, give me my free chicken sandwich. I have a total that's X amount of. They'll be like, How much do you bench?

SPEAKER_00 18:35

I'm like, coefficient, bro. Seven million pounds. Yeah, I say, don't ask me about bench right now.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

It's equipped or raw? They're like, what? What are you talking about? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Um that's my favorite, though. But I I've been fucking rambling on it well as me, man. Tell them about your prep. Well, hold on, we didn't even thought on your deadlift. What about my deadlift? I think you had a great deadlift prep. I did have a good deadlift prep. I'm also wearing, for the first time, briefs under a single ply suit. Which was my idea. It was Carl's idea. He's had multiple good ideas of this prep. They don't come often, but when they do my own horn right now. When they when they do, they're pretty solid ones. But um I think it's working great for you. It is. I I really like it. And um, it's nice too because like now that I'm wearing the briefs all the time again, like what we did the other day with the last warm-ups, I felt super comfortable because I've been in those all the time. That's right. So like those felt pretty good. And they're also a little bit looser on me. Uh, which I like, I prefer for deadlift anyway. Because I was always a good national deadlifterlifter. So like I I don't like something like crazy tight on me because it what ends up happening is we we found this out too when I was a little bit bigger. Uh, it would pull my shoulders into internal rotation and cause me to not be able to rotate my hands out to hold the bar efficiently. Yeah, you'd be dropping. So I would I would fucking rip it and blast it off the floor really quick, but like the last inch, because of where it was forcing my arms, it would make it roll out of my hands.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

Yeah, it'd be like a half second all the way up and then uh a three-second lockout.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Yeah. And me trying to struggle to hold it. We also did purchase a pair of power pants. Yeah. From Inzer.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Never heard about these, to be honest. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

And again, shout out to Ralph. Ralph, he's the man. Ralph is. Ralph has done multiple weight classes, so he was like, hey, I know the tricks for these. So the power pants are basically like literal boxer briefs that are thicker and tighter and hug your hips, and you can use them for like rehab or just to wear for like leg days if you have issues. Um, but we wanted them to have a little bit of fabric so we could put under my briefs to make the briefs that were had gotten loose on me slightly tighter and to keep my hips in a safer spot. So I've been wearing those, and I've told Carl, I've even been wearing them on bench. So I'll bench in like a t-shirt and those, and with your external and opening of your legs to boost and lock your tur torso point. Like it even feels good on that. I told him, I was like, dude, I'm gonna buy a pair in every color now.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

Dude, it it just clicked to me throughout like your years of powerlifting. It's been like, yo, why is that guy wearing knee sleeves while he benches? Oh, it makes him feel better, you know. He's better on his knees, even when benching. Why's he got power pants on when he's benching? Well, it's better for his hips now, and it's just gonna tremble.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

I know, dude. I get it. I'm I'm fucking broken down, man. I get it, Carl. I'm barely together, bro. But we made it. We were we were five days out, we made it. Yeah, barely. And so uh to cap that off, um, deadlift was great, bench is great, which is the other thing that made me so upset this prep, because like I had done my goals and held strength perfectly, like I wanted to for these, for my goals for this meet. And then because of like the complete and utter chaos in shirt debacle, it had just like it had felt like prep had gone to shit. Cause usually I'm very confident in a bench shirt and I can like touch whenever I feel like it. But this whole prep every week has just been like, fuck, dude, it's bench day. I've been so sad to bench because I just know how big of a struggle it is. But lo and behold, we weren't supposed to get in shirts another day. We're supposed to take our last warm-ups raw before we get in our shirts for a three by one. I convinced Coach Carl to allow his athlete to go off program and do touches one more time at my opener just to be certain like this shirt is gonna work. And they were the best and cleanest benches of all prep. They were great.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

You're just breaking every single rule that you have written in prep in you know equipment.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

What do they say? Sometimes you gotta know the rules to break them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

You gotta know them before you can bend them. It just pissed me off. It made me so worried. I was up the night before thinking, like, man, he's gonna get hurt. He's gonna get hurt. He's gonna get hurt right now. This goes against everything I've been taught. Like, what are we doing here?

SPEAKER_00 22:59

But I will say, um, since I am benching significantly less than what I was at a heavier body weight and with two full titties, um stability is more of an issue than strength. So, like, my weight I'm touching tires me out significantly less than what I used to. You know what I mean? Because like then I was handling 600 multiple times in a bench session. Yeah. And now it's like, you know, it's it's pretty chill.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

We're not tell we're not saying numbers right now.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Yeah, we're not saying numbers. Mostly yours is a surprise. Mine's just because I'm embarrassed. I'm not as good as I once was, Toby Keith. I'm not keeping shit secret. Like I've posted pretty much all of my. I know, I know. So have I. Um, and then I think the last bugaboo I had for this prep was uh we were starting to get super worried with the weight loss because I have a large F8 canvas laceup. And uh when Carl would lace me super tight like I wanted, we were starting to run out of suit to close in on me. So we were like, fuck, are we gonna have to go on Facebook Marketplace and try to find like an LUP medium? And we probably still will, honestly. I'm still gonna look around.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

Yeah, it'll it'd just be hard this close, you know. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

So I mean we we have made this work. I've taken all my heavier squats at this body weight I'm at now in that suit.

SPEAKER_01 24:21

So again and hoping after a refeed to be a little bit more plugged.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

Yeah, try to blow it up a little bit. Yeah, yeah. So um, but yeah, man. Talk about your prep. Talk about your prep. Where do we mean to start? Talk about talk about how shitty your 800 double is.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

Yeah. Let me go through the squat from the beginning, alright? Um, so we changed things up about 16 weeks out, where we started keeping the same two max out of the room. You're right, you're right, we did. Um, I had a problem handling free weight at the bottom. So we started doing a chained uh free squat on a duffalo for doubles, and we would do a single in full kit two weeks later. And I kept hammering the same numbers. I started slower, and uh uh I didn't take under set under 800, I was like in 801 or 805, whatever it is. With the with the AR accommodation, right? Uh no. Well the first one actually was like a 750 with a minibans. So it was around there. Okay. Um and then I I just like was swinging like until uh like you know, just slowly taking chops at it until you could really start hammering weights. And uh throughout like the every four weeks when I would take that free squat, um I just started stacking them together until it was like routine. And it got pretty, you know, routine for me by the by like the 12th weekend.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

And it was because you and me talked about like how many consecutive ME squat days have we squat some variation of either straight bar or with chains 800 plus.

SPEAKER_01 25:57

Yeah, I looked back on my post, it'd been since January. I haven't taken anything less than like what would be 800.

SPEAKER_00 26:02

Right. So we we had been, regardless of weight loss here, regardless of stability issues here, like we had consistently both hammered in, okay, like we will both be able to, regardless of where we are, him feel more confident at 8 because he wanted to open at 8, and me being like, hey, I'm gonna lose all this weight. I still want to be able to squat you. Exactly. You can't lose it if you never stop doing it. Yeah, I I don't know if there's exact signs behind that, but we we certainly believe it here at the cave. Yeah. So you heard it here first. You don't lose it if you just fucking keep doing it regardless.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Right. Can't forget it. You can't forget how to tie your shoes if you're waking up tying your shoes every day. Yeah, man. Just yeah, it's it's the same thing, just with 800 pounds. So it was going really well. Um eventually we moved down the chain doubles down to singles as well, and so we got closer. So it was singles every single time we got into a squat suit. Um and then uh I took a trip up to um Deathwish, and that was like the last time I took only 800. Um I stopped at like eight even that day. And I was like, alright, cool, this is this is we're here now. Like we're about to start hitting the gas. You have arrived, bro. Yeah, we're about to start hitting the gas, getting ready for this thing. So I started swinging at like some eight, what was it, eight twenty-two or eight?

SPEAKER_00 27:17

Because then after that, that's when we officially started prep, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Peaking. Yeah, it's like 817, 812.

SPEAKER_00 27:21

We've been prepping, I mean like peaking, actually.

SPEAKER_01 27:24

It's always strength training, you know?

SPEAKER_00 27:25

We're always just strength training for the power lifts. You don't have to get ready if you're always ready, bro. That's right. I mean, and we and like we do honestly, like I never I know that's like a played out phrase and a joke between us, but like given the emmy as we do and in rotational and how we do it, like I do feel ready most of the time.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Well, dude, the whole point is as you get closer to like whatever you're doing, you get more sports specific to like powerlifting. So the variations get more narrower down to like just straight bar straight weight.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

I also break all the rules with that too. You break the way possible.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:57

I'll be like, it takes me like one session to be like, oh yeah, this is how you squat in a really tight Velcro suit again. Yeah, it takes me like zero time to get used to a suit.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

And it pisses me off.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

Yeah, yeah, because I'll be like, I don't feel like squatting. I think I'm good. Because I did that last prep. Yeah. I squat twice and then went in the meat and hit a PR. I'll put straps up for the first time in a little bit and be like a flounder that's on the sand and I don't know what's going on. My my only issue with that this prep, because of the weight loss, was the picks feel terrible. Um, and that's because like as we crank my suit, and my suit's got more suit over top of me now because Carl has to crank the straps down more. The position and thickness of the straps against me and my back and where I've lost weight, the pick feels a little different on where it sits because there's a little bit less of me. And so, like, when I pick it, it's not necessarily like the weight feels heavier, it just feels more out of place. So that has been a little bit of a challenge to in adjusting to that. Usually I'll I'll have a really shitty one at like 720-ish, and then uh after that I I'm like, oh yeah, and then I'll get a little bit better.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

It is so fun to watch you take those ones where you're working your pick before you know what it feels like. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:12

It's like, is he gonna do it?

SPEAKER_01 29:13

Is he okay?

SPEAKER_00 29:14

Because I remember the one the one day, the one day it was awful, dude. They watched me try to pick 727 like three different times. Yep, and it was awful. And then that day I ended with a PR. Yeah. Yeah, you something. Like they didn't even think I was gonna make it to eight, regardless of squatting all-time PR. Put over a hundred pounds on it when you first couldn't get out of the house. I just couldn't figure out the pick in the suit with the the weight loss, man.

SPEAKER_01 29:36

So yeah. Um but like we as we got closer, started taking swings at like the the low eights and then the mid-eights. Now I have a several gym squats that are in the mid-eights, and I'm pretty confident taking something as like that as a second attempt.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

So now, as far as like prep and then into this peak and how I organized it with like what you were saying with the chain, and I really liked all that. Me too. I couldn't follow it the whole time because I was in and out of being fucked up, and also um the bencher deal. Sure, sure. And also trying to like, hey, will you mail me these briefs? Hey, will you like I was I was in the middle of trying to find gear while we're in the middle of it. Yeah. So I am very confident that I was like, okay, if I had my shit organized and I was already at my weight, like I was good to go. Um, again, uh do as I say, not as I do. You should be, you should have your gear and your body weight at the expected one well in advance. Um, so don't do what I just did. But hey, if that's why I said if this meat goes good and I pull this off, it it was a well-deserved and earned total, man. Because this was this hasn't been the motherfucker I've fought for. Yeah, for sure. This has been a rough one.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

I will say I think we had uh we had one week where I took something stupid heavy with chains. And this is a very telltale, like, hey, chain weight does not equal free weight when you put all of it on the bar. I took like a 730 with like 240 and chain. Yeah, yeah, it was a it was overnight. It was mid-nines on the pick, and I was just like, oh, I'm gonna squat nine, and it's like, it's gonna be a lot harder than I thought it was.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

So, and I mean I'm glad you said that out loud because there's so many, I especially in the geared community, that are like, oh well, this band tension and this chain tension and this blah blah blah, like um I'm guaranteed this, and like, dude, you're not. No one's guaranteed anything, you're super not. The other problem, too, is like, and that kind of moves us into our next subject, uh, talking about speed and AR and the purpose of bands and chains. Um, I really think like especially, like, don't get me wrong, I love bands for DE, but one of the things I think bands in a DE position is, it really guides your bar path, right? Because like the bands are pulling you wherever in relation to wherever they are turned and coming up from the hook, for sure. So, like, it is a path straight down and straight up in regards to tension.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

You'll see people that don't believe that, and then you'll see them also use forward bands and stuff. And it's like, why are you using forward bands? Because it's gonna pull it a certain way, yeah. Oh, no kidding.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Yeah, it pulls me forward, yeah, hence the forward bands. Wild, wild shit. Um, but so like I don't like using those for ME's, uh, me personally, just because like I do think it it helps you navigate that bar position. Um I prefer if we're gonna do an ME with AR, especially a squat, I prefer chains. Yeah, you you tend to like put we have our chain setups, you know.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

We we don't we don't we don't change our minds.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

I will say, um, I will straight up say this out loud. I have spoiled Carl and the rest of the boys with chain setups because they are they are laid out, efficient, weighed exactly. Like I have take bolt cutters and cut pieces to make them weigh the same. Like we know what positions they hang in. No one is allowed to unhook anything. Like they are they are prep chains and they are like good to go. People ask, like, how many chains are you using on this?

SPEAKER_01 33:11

It's like, well, it's this weight, you know. Yeah, we're gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

We weigh them out on a big hunting slash fish scale and hang them and weigh them as I make them. You can change the the the height for between 200, or you can raise it up and have 240, you can go over and have a 180. We can do it all. We can do it all. Um and also, like, our a lot of people have asked me this. I actually our recent client asked me that. He was watching you and me chain deadlift for DE Day, and he was like, Man, like, why are your chains like they're so smooth? Like, how do you do that? And I said, Um, trick of the trade is I actually went on Amazon and ordered a hammock strap, like the hammocks you would hang between two trees to like go take a siesta outside on a nice day. Um, and I took hammock straps that were rated for like 500 pounds, and I cut them because they come with like loops for where you can tie them off. So I cut them down to a piece probably like a foot and a half, and took a lighter, melted both ends, so because they're built with nylon as well, so that way it won't fray and it melted and hardened, and then I loop those around the bar with a carabiner. Yeah. And so that way it can move on the bar, but also stay in position pretty well as long as you wrap it like two to three times.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

Yeah, you just loop it around the bar a couple times, put the carabiner through the loop that is closest to you, and she'll stay right there.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

So if you're looking for how do I get my chains in the middle of my deadlift bar, uh that's a great solution because you can hike them up pretty high so that way you get the least amount of extra chains on the floor. Like we've got ours set up, so it's literally like one to two lengths still touching the floor when you're all the way locked out. Um, that is unless you're a sumo polar and then you have like half the chain bundle because you don't believe in range of motion. Um but uh not you for a period of time for a period of time. I might go back. Yeah, but I see a lot of people hanger chains on the outsides of their bar, and then like, of course, like the chain will tuck under, and like, you know, when they go down for a rep, it'll like hit the chain and it'll be off and roll and all that.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

Yeah, if you're if you're dropping your deadlift from like a couple inches up on a rep, you know, if you're doing like sets of like triples or something like that, as soon as you let that bar bounce, the chain might hop over like two lengths, and then you got more soap pulling this way as soon as you get up, you're turning because of that more chains on one side.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

Right. So, what would you say, like if you had to give us just a brief summary for those listening who don't train with bands and chains, like what would you give a brief summary of like what purpose do the chains serve? And you can obviously say uh differences on like the three lifts.

SPEAKER_01 35:47

Okay. Um well the basics of it is it it follows the strength curve. Um positional, like you're gonna be stronger at the uh top of the whatever movement, bench, squat, or deadlift, because you're recruiting more muscle. Um so like as you're at the bottom of a squat, the chains or bands will be deloaded. Um you're in a worse position for yourself, and as you're pushing through, once you get like midway to the top of the lift, you're recruiting more of like your quad or something like that, or uh more hamstring, and you can thus push more. You're gonna have more weight because now the bands are pulling back down, uh, or the chains are just heavier because there's more lengths up in the air.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

Right. So we're stretching the tension of the band till it's fuller capacity as well as raising more lengths of chain off the floor as you approach lockout. That's right. Right? And for a benefit of squat is also both of those things hold true at the very top of your pick. So it's gonna force you into position where like you are forced to pick a heavier weight at the top that you won't experience that heaviest part of that load at the bottom. So it can kind of prep you through multiple movements as far as that goes. So like it'll give you the ability to pick heavier, but not experience the whole duration of that load throughout the entirety of the lift. Right? So, like, again, like when me and Carl were talking earlier about like, hey, we want to make sure we're both more comfortable with this 800 for various reasons. Like, if we're constantly picking over 800 or around 800 with your AR, but not experiencing that load throughout the whole duration of lifts, we're allowed to recover better too.

SPEAKER_01 37:28

Yeah, you just also risk if you do it too much, you risk getting weaker at the bottom of your movement, whether it be bench squat or deadlift, because you're deloaded, and if you the more AR AR you use, the more deloaded you're gonna be. So if you're squatting with 400 pounds of chain for some reason, and you're only squatting in a meet like 700, you are not gonna be taking Yeah, because then you got like what, three plates on the bar plus the chains. Yeah, you're gonna have nothing at the bottom of your squat. So as soon as you take that in straight weight in a meat scenario, it's gonna crush you. And I had something like that happen at my one of my last meets where I took a heavier squat at the bottom, shifted out of position, cocked back on me, and I was like, oh well, that I lost that one, get it back. Um, and then uh we kind of hammered that throughout the all this press.

SPEAKER_00 38:13

We have, we have. Um, and also if we hold true with chain deadlift, um, one of the things I think a lot of people don't talk about chain deadlift, obviously, when you get to the top of your deadlift, the lockout's gonna be harder because you're picking more of the lengths of the chain off the floor, and you can experience pushing the weight off the floor easier, right? So it's an easier break from the floor that allows you to get under it and build more momentum and speed, but it slows down as you hit that those sticking points of the lockout because the load becomes increasingly heavy due to the chain coming off the floor. The other big thing they don't talk about is the roll of the bar with chains. So, like it constantly feels like the bar is trying to spin or roll out of position in your hands. So I always I that was always my big thing. I was always a very strong deadlift chain puller, but if I missed one, it usually wasn't because of the load. It was because like I physically couldn't hold on to it anymore because of the bar spin.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

Yeah, that's one thing you'll get with the heavy ARs, um, even with bands too, like it's gonna pull one way or the other.

SPEAKER_00 39:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:20

Uh especially if the bands are like slightly off balance in some sort of way, like uh you got them anchored a little bit heavier on one side.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

Like what you didn't check and one ones sitting on the actual sleeve versus one's on the shaft of the bar. Like, you know, you didn't check before like obviously it can change.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

Um, whoever, like, if you're running a crew and you're and you're doing a bunch of bands and chains, make sure everybody is on the same understanding of how they're set up before you start running them. Yeah. It makes things way easier.

SPEAKER_00 39:48

Also makes them not scary. Yeah, yeah. Because it can be pretty wild. But um, I would say bands too, like chains, yes, easier to break the floor, heavier at lockout. I would say band tension on floor, I you still get more out of the bottom end. Because, like, for me, like, for example, if we're using the blacks, right? Like the rogue blacks, no, the big road blacks, yeah, thick boys, right? Big bands. Like, you still have to be in a strong push position at the bottom to break that from the floor, versus the chains on that position and break, you don't really experience any of it, right? Yeah, like you don't experience any chain till like two, three inches up, right? Because you still have that slack in the carabiner and the attachment. Once you hit that upper shin, that's when the chain kicks, right?

SPEAKER_01 40:37

Right, but versus the bands, like it it's lighter, but it's there from the start. Okay, no, yeah, I like that. I get it, because um, I feel the same way on uh like squats and whatnot. Like I feel like any heavy bands around a squat bar, it's more of like a crushing feeling than like a uh I mean the the chains just kind of like you really you're really selling this well.

SPEAKER_00 40:58

Like, do you want to feel like you're getting crushed into a diamond? It's so fun, it's fun, guys. Trust me.

SPEAKER_01 41:04

No, I I in my opinion, between the two of them, the bands definitely have a more crushing feeling than the chains.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

For sure. And I think one of the things that you'll definitely benefit from of the bands is like I see a lot of really terrible band setups, and I'm glad you wrote that down on the program. Uh, because this is some something I hound my people about. I'll I'll have a lot of clients that start off with like raw conjugate or linear uh raw training, and then they're like, hey, like I really like the way you and Carl train. I watch a lot of your videos. Like, I want to start easing my way into more like AR-based training, whether that be linear or conjugate. And I said, Okay, well, the first thing we gotta talk about is proper setup and what is the right AR selection for you. So, one of the biggest problems, I think the biggest two I always see is chains on bench, is uh probably always one of the worst ones I see set up. Okay, and bands on squat. Those are like my two biggest ones I always see the biggest mistakes on. What's the biggest one you see on the bench? Uh, bench is the chain is picking up all the way. Okay. Like no links on the ground. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or instead of having a smaller feeder chain to split the bigger chain in half to dangle, like I call it the octopus. Sure. Right? They'll just do the one chain, the heavier chain, and let it droop all the way down.

unknown 42:25

Hmm.

SPEAKER_00 42:25

Right? So it's like just one single chain all the way down. Okay. With like two foot of chain already on the floor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? So, like, rather than you know, using that feeder chain and feeding it through the middle to double up and make that octopus slash spider effect where you have like R is like a bundle.

SPEAKER_01 42:42

Yeah, yeah. So what you're saying is it's like a smaller chain for the actual hook.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

A feeder chain, like, yeah, just so no one's confused, uh, because you can also buy like Elite FTS easy straps, like little ones, yeah. But like feeder chains are like you could go get a chain that's usually like how big would you say? It's like five eighths? No, that's big. No, what the the lengths itself? The the feeder chains, like the tiny ones.

SPEAKER_01 43:06

No, those are like an eighth.

SPEAKER_00 43:07

Yeah. So you can go get those from like any tractor supply or home depot, probably even lows. Uh, you measure out how long you want, and then the person comes up and they'll cut them for you, and then you take them home. But those, the idea of buying those isn't to add weight to the bar or your setup. The idea is to allow you to manipulate your heavy chain that you're actually using for the AR to most benefit you in the position and height and the way you're built. For example, like obviously, me and Carl are both short, five foot five ish, seven. Fuck you. Um, and have T Rex arms, right? So we're we're our bench racks are very similar. They're also very low versus like if we train with our buddy Eddie, he is much, much taller and longer limbed than we are, right? So our band setup is liable to be very close. Right. Meaning like our hang point when we pick it from the rack and drag it out, there will be probably, you know, three to four lengths touching in the pick versus when we're up and out, two touching on the ground now.

SPEAKER_02 44:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:16

Right. So that raising difference of pulling out of the rack. Right. Versus Eddie, if he picked from the same height and we use the same chain setup, he might push out of the rack and everything's off the ground. So now it's swaying all over the fucking plates and stuff. So the feeder chains will help you adjust that length between your bundle chain that you're working the AR against and the height of which it needs to be for limb length or your range of motion. Depending on if you're wide, narrow bench, or depending. Well said. Yeah, so it makes a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_01 44:47

If you're getting your chains off the ground completely and they're swinging one way or the other, it kind of defeats the purpose of what we're trying to do with the chains to begin with.

SPEAKER_00 44:54

Right, because then you're you have the whole load already. You're not, it's not deloading as much as the bottom, and you're picking experience the whole weight at the top. So remember, you're trying to negate some of that weight, or most of that weight, as you're going down and your bundle spreads against the floor.

SPEAKER_01 45:09

Right.

SPEAKER_00 45:10

The other big thing is it can be said true for bands, especially squat too. A lot of people will just loop them around bottom post or like have a heavier set of like 100-120-pound dumbbells to loop a band and then attach that to their bar, and then when they hit the hole, their entirety of the band loses slack. And then when they obviously you've decreased all the tension because the band's completely loose, and then they're like, oh shit, and then it's DE's, so they're gonna explode, but then it's like exploding into a wall, right? Because the band is completely slack, and then all of a sudden, as they take that back out, because there's no slack, it's really, really tight all of a sudden, and it makes them miscreude.

SPEAKER_01 45:48

There's a resistance curve to the bands, too, that the chains don't have. Right. But I've heard Anthony talk about like outrunning band tension.

SPEAKER_00 45:55

Oh, you mean move it to the part as quick as possible so you have less time for the band to the bands don't react. Right. It feels like that, yeah. If you can push through the band quick enough, you don't feel the band.

SPEAKER_01 46:07

Exactly. Which should be the goal. I don't think I've used a band on a squat since the 750 with the miniband.

SPEAKER_00 46:12

I sort of got I thought you were about to say with deadlift, you're like, I've never experienced that. Yeah, well, that's Carl's like on deadlift. I've never outran a band in my life. I'm a very slow, consistent bowler. Consistency is number one. Uh and I actually wrote that down in here. Look, it says, fast and wrong is not better than slightly slower and dialed in. That's right. Very good point. That is 100% like, and me and Carl talk, we have had numerous conversations about this when you look at DE benches. And for those listening, I I know we've talked about this before. M E maximal effort, uh, DE dynamic effort. So when you see DE, you typically think of like speed, right? But like someone like pounding out three reps of an 8x3 as fast as they can, like fucking everywhere, like and hitting the top, overextending shoulders, like all the principles you wouldn't apply technique-wise to an emmy bench, right, just for the purpose of speed, is not what you're going for, right? You should never be sacrificing technique to move the bar quicker.

SPEAKER_01 47:18

Yeah, there are like there is science behind like the the the what's the word for it? It's like in a bench you just real fast, down, right back up. Say you're not throwing your shoulders out of position, you're not throwing your lats out of position, you're just down, right back up. It's like the tendon rebound you get from that. Yeah, you do get a reflex. Yes, right. So there's something to train in that, but it's not not what you want to focus on if you're throwing yourself widely out of position when you do it.

SPEAKER_00 47:43

Right, right. And I'm just saying, like, at that point, like, okay, so yes, you move the band, the you moved the bar faster and you achieve that reflex you were looking for, but at the cost of reinforcing bad technique.

SPEAKER_01 47:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:00

So, like, what we would argue is like, yeah, you moved it fast for the purpose of DE, but where is that diminishing return? Right? Hey, I move this really, really fast. I can go up and wait, do the same thing, good for me, versus, hey, I just did eight sets of three wildly different than I would if I was actually trying to bench. You know what I mean? So that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 48:20

Yeah, and that same can be true for squat. And it definitely doesn't help even when you're training to be in a shirt later on, because then it's just gonna amplify any bit of misposition.

SPEAKER_00 48:28

Yeah, because you're not gonna bench like that in a shirt. Exactly, right? You're not gonna wildly try to throw it back. Um, and we're talking about a bench, not your ass. And squats, it doesn't help throwing it back either. Yeah, don't throw it back. Then they're done that. Don't throw it back. Um, but I think we talked about proper setup. We talked about that. Um, we do have uh we don't really do product placements and stuff, but I will say, uh, my boys over at Havoc Strength, Havoc uh, the hooks you see me and Carl using they literally look like upside-down question marks.

SPEAKER_01 49:01

They save our ass and set up changes.

SPEAKER_00 49:02

Yeah, so you it goes down, it has two holes for the barbell, comes down with a fish hook, and then this is like layered with uh like polyurethane. Yeah, right, so they can't get fucked up or cut your bands, right? And then they have three big holes at the bottom where you can literally click carabiners for chain, right? If you have a big crew, you're constantly switching stuff like that, looking for like different ways to set up chains, that's a big one, dude. Hands down, the best for uh squat, and I would often, if we didn't have the other straps, I would recommend them for bench as well.

SPEAKER_01 49:35

Yeah, not only can you change like you can customize chain heights through the person's height or whatever their build is, uh bands too. If you're going straight to the bar, and then say somebody's like four or five inches taller, then you take it off the bar, put it on the hook, now it's in the same spot when they get a pick. Exactly, right?

SPEAKER_00 49:50

So that that adjusts at what by fucking six inches probably. Yeah, so I mean, definitely a time saver, definitely a good group variant to have to help yourself out with the training. The only thing they're not really useful for is obviously deadlifts because they would go on the outside of the bar.

SPEAKER_01 50:04

Yeah, you're not gonna use them for deadlifts anyway. Because like AR setups on deadlifts is for bands, uh just to say, is like pretty straightforward. You can't fuck that up.

SPEAKER_00 50:14

I've seen people fuck it up. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 50:16

Maybe you can. It's really hard to, but people still do it.

SPEAKER_00 50:19

And with and with chains, like do yourself a favor, just buy the $15 hammock strap that's rated for like $250 to $500.

SPEAKER_01 50:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:25

You won't you won't regret it. And then you can just buy a big carabiner from tractor supply. So you can buy the whole outfit for like $20.

SPEAKER_01 50:31

And if your chains are laid out right in it, it's not gonna be in the way, even for conventional pullers, because me and you do it all the time, and it just like lays out in between us. You put your hands on the bottom.

SPEAKER_00 50:38

Yeah, and then they just once once you pull the first one, it just piles on top of your feet or like between your feet, and it's not really that big a deal. Yeah, it's alright. Just make sure you're not an idiot and standing on the bands before you try to DE explode through the floor, and then it catches you and you whip yourself back to the bottom.

SPEAKER_01 50:51

Yeah, like a Looney Tunes episode. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:54

Yeah, that would be terrible. Um, but Havoc Hooks, my boys over at Havoc, uh, they have sent me multiple products throughout the years. Uh, very, very kind people, very intricate and cool designs um for lifting tools. So definitely check those guys out. Um, and actually, I'll probably tag them on this. Uh just you know, if we cut a clip, yeah, for sure. Even if we're not talking about those cool guys, been really cool. They repost some of my videos just like advertising and stuff, but uh, we actually bought ours, so you should buy yours too. You should buy yours. We didn't get a birthday. Um, but I think one of the big things Carl and me were talking about earlier is when we're talking about those different ARs um and utilizing them, you know, in an approaching, you know, eight to twelve weeks coming in towards a peak. Uh, and we would call that circumax, right? A lot of people don't talk about circumax, which is where you're trying to approach your maxes and ideas utilizing AR. So you're again, you're recovering, you're building, but you're not experiencing the full load all the time like you would in a peak.

SPEAKER_01 52:00

Circumax is always gonna be a squat that's two blues, a green, and a purple. That's what it is. Wait, what? All the bands.

SPEAKER_00 52:09

Oh, that's fucking stupid. That's fucking stupid. Why? So then you can be like, I'm definitely squatting 1200 at this meet? 14. Oh, my bad. 14. 14. Um, so yeah, if you hear people talking about circumax, is the idea of accommodating resistance, uh, leading up to the months and blocks towards a meet where you're starting to prepare for those ideas without taking meet exact variables and conditions. Um circumax training is like fun though. I I really we circumax train most of the time. Your circumax is very my circumax is not a max. My is I would say Carl's Circumax, me, circa submax.

SPEAKER_01 52:51

Circa, whatever you feel like that.

SPEAKER_00 52:53

Yeah, yeah. I I usually don't push it hard because I am doing this cool new thing the last couple months since I turned down chest surgery, which is called uh, I want to be here for a while, and I really like doing this. So, like taking max maxes all the time, not my thing anymore.

SPEAKER_01 53:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:11

Uh enough to grow, but not enough to show. Enough to see. That's where I'm at.

SPEAKER_01 53:16

Enough to see another day. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:17

I'm a very live to fight another day right now.

SPEAKER_01 53:20

Yeah. Um, I would I so okay, you first started getting me to do reverse bands for uh the last list before meets.

SPEAKER_00 53:28

Are we talking well, actually both, right? Both squat hands. The only one we don't reverse band is bench. Which we're might change. We're fucking around with the idea.

SPEAKER_01 53:37

Um, I think it'd be a good pill to swap.

SPEAKER_00 53:38

You're gonna have to let me trial some error.

SPEAKER_01 53:40

We've trial and error some stuff in the rack. We're gonna set some things up for you, don't worry. Um me. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, I'm gonna use it too, but it's for you. Okay, okay. Um so a lot of the reverse band stuff, I'm pretty sure it I might be wrong. Somebody can correct me. Uh that it started back, it was like a big iron thing a long time ago. And they developed the reverse band technique for uh circumax training, and it was like uh taking super big weights uh with a heavy reverse band, not to depth like a bunch of weeks out, and then as you get closer, you just take the same thing another inch down or like another quarter inch down, take a slightly less band tension and a little bit lower.

SPEAKER_00 54:26

So you're building towards that those meat conditions. Right, right. Week by week, you're you're stripping it as far as like farther on the left side, you have circumax super far away from meat conditions, and on the right side you have almost meat conditions, meat day stuff, and you start to close those in on each other.

SPEAKER_01 54:44

Yeah, and so uh we we picked up on was just like uh straight weight uh free squats uh here and there sprinkled in until we get closer and we want to take the heaviest one. We take a third attempt, but we put a micro band on the on the back side of it so it's got a little bit tension d loaded off the bottom.

SPEAKER_00 54:58

Now, we didn't do that this prep, though. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 55:01

Only because I it was more so for me, that's what you said. Because I, you know, was fucking around at the bottom of my squat.

SPEAKER_00 55:08

Well, see, Carl's Carl's problem is I can't I can't, I'm gonna get nothing out of D loading the bottom of my squat right now. Yeah, he's not. He's a very strong squatter. He needs He needs stability and he needs to prove it throughout the entirety of the movement. So, like, him getting an and again, reverse bands from the top are also gonna guide that bar position. Right. Which I don't want him to have help on a bar position because he'll squat it in training, and I'll be like, fuck yeah, and then we'll get to the meet, and you'll be like, This happened last meet. And where like base all of your training off of what you did at the last meet. If you're doing this and screwed up, don't use don't use your previous meet day as a hey, this is what my new goals are for my next meet, numbers-wise. I mean, yes, but also use them as immediate feedback of weaknesses and what you need to work on. So many people neglect that. Like, and also, side side caveat because you know I've been going through it with clients right now. Oh, go ahead. If you have a meet coming up, please pick your numbers and talk with your coach and base them on meet peaks and training, right, leading up to the meet. Do not base them on your last meet. Like, that is not acceptable. Like, you do not base numbers off of wishes and wants. You base numbers off of real data and real feedback from prep and peak, right? So, like, you telling me, like, hey, this is the number one what I want to take for my third when I watched you almost die under the weight you're talking about for a second, like, that's not feasible.

SPEAKER_01 56:55

It's the epitome of it'll be there, I'll meet that.

SPEAKER_00 56:57

Yeah, like that that is not the mindset you should be having. You should be your ultimate goal is to have a successful day. And what that looks like is you have this plan that's reasonable, you have this one that if it feels good, you know, like D load and taper really helped you, right? And you have this plan if stuff still feels like shit. But it should never be, hey, this is what I want, regardless of how I feel, regardless of how prepped with, these are the numbers I have to beat, so this is what we're gunning for.

SPEAKER_01 57:30

This might ruffle your feathers. Sure. I think there's some intangibles in that, meaning like it depends on what kind of lifter you are.

SPEAKER_00 57:38

If you are a meat lifter, I was gonna wait for you to be like, well, um, I had my favorite meal the night before. My girlfriend showed up to the meet, so I'm gonna get extra five pounds out of that. Uh there might, they might play my favorite song. There's probably an extra ten pounds in that. I got my meat underwear on. Yeah, so like those those aren't real fucking things, dude.

SPEAKER_01 57:58

Like, get over yourself. But that I think the real thing is if you are a meat lifter, because sometimes people just perform better at a meet.

SPEAKER_00 58:04

That is very true. That is very true. But like, as a I'm speaking strictly as a coach. It is not fair for your coach to be like, hey, there's gonna be an extra 30 pounds on meat day because I'm a meat day performer. Oh, yeah, that's the same. When you perform like shit all prepped. That doesn't make any sense.

SPEAKER_01 58:19

That's not true. It's a very hard position to be in as a coach, and it's just putting you in a spot where you're like, So then so like let's say they are that lifter, right?

SPEAKER_00 58:25

Yeah, yeah. And then they go and do some really good numbers at the meet. Yeah. Your job as a coach should be like, okay, I need you to stop fucking around in training then. Because you just showed me what you're capable of and how much bullshit you provided me with during training.

SPEAKER_02 58:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:40

That wasn't the the math wasn't math in. Right, right, right, right. Right? If I saw an RPE 10 from you in prep multiple times, that was 40 pounds lower than what you're taking for a third, like that makes no sense.

SPEAKER_01 58:54

Especially, and we talked about this too, especially if you're a natty lifter. You're not taking some special whatever two like a week before or two days ago.

SPEAKER_00 59:02

But that just means you're allowing outside variables, you're not taking care of yourself, a plethora of other things that like may or may not be under your control, but need to be reasonable when communicating with your coach. Yeah, totally. So, like, it's just it's it's unrealistic, man. And it's also can get you really fucked up. Like, bro, I've seen some astronomical ideas here as of late. And I'll you could win it all.

SPEAKER_01 59:28

Bro. What? Or you walk away with the with the number one champion of powerlifting of all time.

SPEAKER_00 59:34

And also, like, your your goal, and and this one might ruffle some feathers, like your ultimate goal should always be total improvement. Oh, for sure. Total improvement. Like, if you want to. No one gives a fuck if you five-pound PR your squat and then you tanked everything else and your total went to shit. Because you had to ultimately push that squat. You're like, I'm gonna get a five-pound squat, but it took everything out of you, and now you got the rest of the day to fuck up because you are absolutely smoked out. You talking to me right now? I'm not talking to you right now, but if this fucking applies, if the shoe fucking fits, Cinderella, I'm just saying like no, I I dude, I have nothing to say to you. And I don't mean that in a negative or a shot at you, like nothing to say to you. No, like you've had a great prep. I'm very proud of you, and I'm very excited to watch you. I'm definitely more excited for you and Bo and Rachel than I am for me.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:24

Can I can I express something to you right now? On air. Is it love? It's not, no, no, this is not love. Alright. This is just like, how this might be a me thing. But even if I've taken these weights throughout prep, how am I still nervous going up to the bar at a meet when I'm taking numbers I know I've done a thousand times?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:44

Because of how much we practice? Yeah, because you and me like do this thing called practice how we play. Why am I still nervous? Because it's a meat. Sometimes you never get hold of it, you get rid of that. That shit sucks. I know why I'm nervous, and it's not because it's a meat. I'm nervous because I'm afraid I'm gonna get hurt again. That's why I'm scared. But like, other than that, I don't get nervous anymore. Oh man. Like, you saw me the last meet. Like, I'm I'm literally I'm literally fucking around. Like, I'm joking with everyone.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:10

The athlete in prep last meet to this one is a completely different guy. For me? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:16

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:17

Last prep, I had fun and attitude, like performance last year. Last prep, I didn't give a shit. I had the best time. But hey, I was also in unlimited and knew my titty didn't matter. Your cortisol levels were very low during the last prep. That is true. The outside factors for this meet have been weighing heavy on me. The cortisol maxing the spread. Yeah, dude. I I have been stress maxing this prep. Not just because of prep, just because of life, but like. It's okay. I got I got 10 days left of school. I heard it, I heard the exact number, dude. It's a combination of all the things. It is, it is, it is. Um, I I like this point before we end the uh thing. Uh when is AR too much? Uh I like that when you wrote that on there.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:56

AR is too much when it's not providing you the results that AR is designed to provide.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:03

Can you like that answer, but could you simplify that a little bit for people listening?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:08

Um in one aspect, it could be uh throwing you out of position wildly during in the movement, um, which negates any uh progress you're trying to make off of using.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:18

Because then even if you're pushing it, you're reinforcing bad techniques.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:21

Right, exactly. Um it could also be useless uh if you're what was it? You said push like too much AR is when it's is that the Yeah, like when when is AR like just like not a good idea?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:32

Or like I guess too much AR.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:34

Like so my No no no no uh raw lifters, I think raw lifters would very much get a lot more out of less AR than than more, and equip lifters get way more out of more AR than less.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:44

That is true, but I still think there is an appropriate amount for each.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:48

You shouldn't be uh okay, percent wise, you shouldn't have 50% AR. That should that should be okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:55

So that's a much better idea to explain to an audience listening. Yeah, like 50% of the weight total should not be in bands or chains. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's way too much. So I usually I usually generally our our move is between 15 and max is like 25%. Do we do we really count the percentage? I haven't. Have you? Yeah, I do because I write your programming and I know how much the chain weight weighs, Carl, because I weigh it out on the fucking fish off. Chains, but but how about bands? Because I feel like we gotta- some sometimes sometimes the bands get a little away from us, but that is always we always do strictly dictated by RPE. Yes. Because I use when we do DE, I use RPE, but I also use RPE in a technique-based breakdown. So for example, if I say you have an RPE 8, okay? When I say 8 on a DE, it means you have it's not based on fatigue. So it's it's not your simple as two more reps left in the tank, right? Okay. It's two more in the tank with consistent perfect form. If you did two more, would your form break? How about speed? That's what I mean. Okay. So like technique and speed, like if they break with two, you're you've gone too far. I agree. Too much AR. Yeah, yeah. Or some people too much more.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:08

Well, I I should I think we should add one point to our our our band discussion. All of the bands we use are double. We don't single, we don't single wrap a band. On squat. No, deadlift is just stretched over.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:27

I I think you're gonna confuse people with what would you consider two. Okay. So like no, I see what you're saying. Okay, so a common thing would be like, um, if you what you're saying is like if you would see a squat, like let's just say you watch an equiplifter squat, right? Sure. And they took a band and they had the peg and they put it up over there, and the bar is here, and the bands run it here. Yes, ours is both pieces of the band run it over like an A-frame or a TP. So it's two of them. And I I guess I wouldn't explain it as two of them. I would say like TP'd or doubled over. Okay, but you know what I mean? But no, I see what you're saying. I just think that's a hard thing to explain if they don't know what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:11

It is, but think like, you know, what we just said, like you have it anchored one way, then it loops like you have two band pegs, all right? You put it over here, it goes underneath and up over the bar, and then you know, it's in this L shape. Right. That's a single band. Because if at the top of that L shape, the bar L is going through it. There's one layer of band over top. Correct, correct. In the TP fashion, there's two layers of that band going over top.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:33

Yeah, okay, I understand that. That makes more sense when we say it out loud. I I know what you're talking about. I just want other people to know what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:40

So that's why that's why I'm asking like, are we actually counting our band tension?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:43

Are we just going off of like intuition? Like for I think you and me have got used to the part where we go for intuition, but um we move gauged bands based on not peaks on preps. So, like, if me and Carl go an entire month, maybe even six weeks. Training, usually it's been six weeks here lately. If you go six weeks of training, and let's just say we've deadlifted with the blues and the reds, yep, right? That's our typical setup. Blues and reds, right? If we go six weeks hitting reasonably the same weight, and now we're starting to top that out, right? As in, like, we have to put more actual bar weight on the bar to still achieve that same DE. Now we know it's time to take a little boat of bar weight off, and we're allowed to add a little more tension. So we will change a color of the band.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:31

Typically, we'd go blues off, more plates on for a max effort. Correct. And then we put the blue back on for our DE pulls whenever we're. Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:40

I'm speaking strictly DE, because now we're kind of you and me are kind of navigating away from the the two additional bands, one medium and one thing, and now we're on the thick black ones. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're on the that the rogue daddies. Snole the soul snatchers, bro.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:54

I still think for like 4th of July we should do like two blues, two reds, and two whites. That's a lot of band tension for no fucking reason. 1400 pound squats, dude.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:04

We're doing it. Yeah, but you wouldn't you would not talk that same shit if I said it was for deadlift. No. No way. We would have to do that and do the bar on the stand with no weight on it. Definitely call out sick that day. Can't make it in the gym, sorry. Oh man. Have fun with that though. Yeah, yeah. Alright, so our next episode will be this coming Tuesday when we are back from the meet, giving you a meet recap, and then probably a list of things we're gonna think about what we want to work on.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:31

Oh, we're definitely gonna talk about how it went, what went wrong, what went great. Yeah, weaknesses we want to address for both of us. And we're probably gonna talk about how we're gonna go see some cool lifting over at Nationals coming up.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:41

That is true, yes. We will be we will be over at Nationals over in Newark for RPS New Nationals. Yeah. So that's the plan. Which is at uh the training center. Training center, Newark. Newark, Delaware. Not Newark, New Jersey. Cool. Alright. Yeah, man. Anything else? No, I think that's all right. With love and grumpy paws, we out. Episode 31. 31, 32, 31.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:04

You just make up numbers of that.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:05

I don't fucking know.