Recovery and Training Throughput
by Mike Tuchscherer, 27 December 2017
Doing a lot of training volume doesn’t matter much if you can’t recover from it. It’s not about workload, but rather the workload that you can recover from. Now from there, we can spout generalities usually in one of two varieties. We can say, “Most people aren’t working hard enough, so most likely you shouldn’t worry about it and just work harder.” Or we can say, “Recovery is the critical factor. Better to under-train than over-train. So keep training on the conservative side.”
Deloading Effectively
by Mike Tuchscherer, 20 December 2017
Deloading is taking an easy week every third or fourth week, right? Well… That’s a caricature of what effective deloading looks like. In most standard cases, deload training is intended to reduce accumulated fatigue and facilitate adaptation to future training cycles.
Log Your Training!
by Mike Tuchscherer, 14 December 2017
Back in 2008, we had a training log app on the RTS website. For many reasons we had to shut it down and rebuild it. We relaunched it in 2016 and have been packing it with features ever since. What’s more, it’s free for anyone to use with any style of training you want.
How to Use RPE in Your Training *Correctly*
By Mike Tuchscherer, 5 December 2017
You may see people using the term “RPE” regarding their training, but not be sure what it’s all about. Or, more likely, you are one of the people who *thinks* you know what it’s about, but still make fundamental errors with it. No matter which one you are, or even if you do for sure get RPE training correct, hopefully you can learn something from this post.
What is “Squishing” in Powerlifting?
By Mike Tuchscherer, 14 November 2017
One of the general movement deficiencies I identify in the powerlifts is “squishing”, but a lot of people don’t know what I mean by this term. In powerlifting, you need to be solid and stable to effectively transmit force into the barbell without any leakage with maximum safety. “Squishing” is basically a failure to do that. It can look different in each lift, so let me explain in a bit more detail.
Correcting Max-Effort Technical Deviations
Correcting Max-Effort Technical Deviations
By Mike Tuchscherer, 10 September 2017
I’ve written before about why I think including assistance work is a good idea. And I do mean *assistance* work, not just supplemental work. And the more I think about it, the more convinced I become that this is the best way to develop strength over the long term.
Quick aside on exercise classification before we get started…
Competition Exercise: The exercise as it’s performed in competition. If you squat low-bar in competition, then high bar squats are not a competition exercise. If you wear a belt in competition, beltless work is not a competition exercise.
Assistance Exercise: Exercises that are very closely related to the competition exercise, but contain 1-2 small changes to give the lift a certain emphasis. Things like pause squats, deadlifts with chains, or board presses all fall into this category.
Supplemental Exercise: Exercises that train the same muscles, but not the same movements. Usually trained for higher reps as well. Exercises like lunges, military press, and good mornings fit into this category.
High Stress Training Weeks
High Stress Training Weeks
By Mike Tuchscherer, 3 October 2017
From the inbox:
“Why vary weekly fatigue percents at all? Why not move from high reps to low reps at [medium stress] each week? The high reps provide the stimulus and the low reps allowing fatigue to dissipate? A week of 3’s at [high stress] vs week of 8’s at [medium stress]. The latter has a lower fatigue percent but higher volume- so what’s the difference in effect between the two?”
5 Things I Learned at Westside
5 Things I Learned at Westside
By Blaine Sumner, 26 September 2017
[Note from Mike: Blaine will be teaching a class for RTS Classroom starting October 5. The class will cover how Blaine sets up training for himself and his athletes as well as keys for great execution — which is probably the most important part. For a full lesson list and registration information, click here]
I am Blaine Sumner, IPF World Champion, World Record holder in the Squat, Bench, and Total…….. and I…….. went to Westside.
Over the past few years, I have been pleased with my progress on some lifts, and not on others. I would try to change things from cycle to cycle, but always found myself working my way back into the same rut and same routine that I have for a few years. I would try to program in some different traits, and somehow always worked my way back to what I knew. These patterns are important and I go through them every few years. In 2012 I began working with Mike Tuchscherer on high frequency training and it opened my eyes to a new style of training and the knowledge I gained from communicating with Mike set me years ahead of where I would have been otherwise. So it was time for a new quantum leap in my training and I traveled to Columbus, Ohio to visit the godfather of powerlifting, Louie Simmons, in his mecca, Westside Barbell. Read more…
Using Block Reviews
Using Block Reviews
By Mike Tuchscherer, 12 September 2017
In my estimation, there is only one good reason to keep a training log – to help you make better training decisions. That’s it. Lots of people keep a log just to write down what they did, but never make use of the information. What’s the point?
Our training log is a free application that ANYONE can use. And we’re building new tools all the time to help you make better training choices. One feature that I really love is called the Block Review.
Purpose of the Block Review
We all know that people respond differently to training. It’s training law – the law of individual differences. It’s trivially obvious to observe. So once you’re past the beginning stages the question becomes how can you optimize your training so that it’s producing the best progress it can – FOR YOU. Unfortunately no one can tell you what it is. There is no test you can take. There’s no system that will find it for you. You need to find it for yourself. And figuring this out is where the block review proves highly valuable. Read more…
Personality Types and Training: Help us Figure it Out
Personality types and Training: Help us Figure it Out
By Mike Tuchscherer, 12 September 2017
Attention Powerlifters: Help me start to answer how personality affects training. There is a survey linked below. It will take about 20min to complete. In it you’ll find out about your personality as well as help us gain some knowledge about the training you find most effective. Read more…