I get asked to wrap knees fairly often because I've garnered a reputation for being sadistic, which as everyone knows is what lifters look for in a good knee wrapper. It's perfectly okay to wrap your knees yourself, frankly I usually wrap my own unless I'm going heavy and need a little extra pain/support. Having a friend (or at least someone who doesn't smell) wrap your knees when you need them tight can save you a little energy for that big lift, and is well worth it. Because so many of the kids we coach feign incompetence when it comes to knee wraps, i've posted a quick clip of a good (but not the only) method of wrapping someone else's knees. As you can see in the video, the lifter (Molly) braces her foot against the thigh of the wrapper (Jesus), and flexes her quad which keeps her knee cap in place – getting a tight wrap over a floating knee cap sucks in the worst way. We start at the top of the knee, about one wrap width above the top of the knee cap, and the lifter holds the end of the wrap while the wrapper begins wrapping in middle increments around the knee to about one wrap width below, then comes back up. Middle increments means each revolution goes over the bottom 50% of the wrap above, and vice versa on the way up. At the top, we tie off with a simple bow, which will stay in place if done correctly due to the tension in the wrap – a good pull usually suffices. At the end of the lift, just tug on one end of the wrap and the wrap unravels itself. This method saves a lot of wasted time and energy fumbling with the end of the wrap both before and after the lift. Sometimes I fumble on purpose because I am, after all, somewhat sadistic, but if you like your training partners, this is a good way to go.
Tony is our head coach and my great friend. Tony has an 854lb squat at 165, and a 2022 total also at 165 - he was 48 when he hit those numbers. (If I can only get him in real bench shirt he'll go well over 2100). He's 51 now, and stronger than ever - A true inspiration and one of the all-time greats. He's competing again, and i'll update you as to his next meets.
This video was shot shortly after winning the first RUM. (Raw Unity Meet).
Been having shirt issues as usual - my super phenom from a year or so ago feels all stretched out - tried a super katana, an apex - wanted to go back to a super phenom - Just wanted to know:
What's the diff between a super phenom and a super duper phenom?
What modifications should I look for?
I'm in the high 600/low 700 range to the chest depending on the day and the shirt - took 765 to a 2 board in the katana - how many layers would you recommend?
At 242, the guys at the apf orlando meet said I should be in a 54 or even a 52 - what do you think?
When trying to explain to a fellow judge why a squat that looked good in person then looked high on video, it dawned on me that you were comparing a 3 dimensional appraisal with a 2 dimensional fixed angle flattening of that appraisal - it will never look the same. In person, a judge makes a decision in three dimensions whether the top of an elongated elliptical/egg shaped object (the thigh at the point it meets the hip joint)) passes through a plane described as parallel to the floor beginning at the other end of the elliptical (the knee). All of these points are constantly shifting in three dimensions, as is the viewing angle of the judge as he adjusts himself to the best view for each lifter - it is only in three dimensions that a judge can accurately see where those three objects (the point at the knee, the plane parallel to the floor as described by the knee, and the top of the thigh at the hip) converge, because the two points exist on spherical/curved surfaces. When flattened out by a photograph or video which reduces the event to 2 dimensions, it is impossible to accurately define this convergence. This is not to say that you can't tell if a squat is clearly deep or clearly high on video - i'm talking about the close call.
Also, when i'm trying to explain this in person I have the benefit of being a three dimensional object myself, so I can show people what I'm talking about - I know this description may not be terribly clear, but I hope you get the gist. Not that i'm expecting this illumination to end all the internet hating on squat depth, cause that's just way too much fun for the anonyminatti (I made that word up) to ever give it up. It's like the raw versus gear debate. As long as there are morons, it will never die.
On the heels of CT's rant, I must say I concur with him on many fronts, (although I still dig the President - holla) and at the risk of making all us old timey powerlifters sound like malcontents I'm gonna add a few peeves of my own:
Trainers who suck - why? why do you bother? If I see another gum chewing miscreant making some unwitting innocent old lady try to do lateral raises while standing on a bosu ball i'll bite him in the face. When I ask these clowns why they make people do this silliness they tell me because it helps their balance. Wrong. The human ankle is designed for solid ground - this replicates nothing the human body will ever encounter and there is a significant risk the ankle and it's attendant ligaments will snap - horribly and painfully. Then they tell me because it makes the exercise harder. This is true. It does make the exercise harder. Like if I hit you in the face with a hammer between every rep - that will make the exercise harder too - but it provides no additional benefit. This is the mistake - making something harder for the trainee/captive is not equivalent to making the exercise more productive. So just stop. This goes for squatting in the smith machine, ballistic jumps over a bench, and a host of other nonsense.
Please don't just stand and stare like I escaped from Animal Kingdom. I try my hardest not to make a spectacle of myself. Honest. I realize I just squatted 900 or benched 700 but I have feelings. Ok not really. But I am vaguely suspicious of people filming me with their cell phones while I train. This has happened and I felt proud and icky at the same time.
Don't ask to borrow chalk for machine curls. Not only is this ridiculous, but we'll get blamed for it.
If a girl you're not married to asks for a spot on the squat - try not to grab her by the chest, unless you have too. It makes me jealous.
If a girl you're not married to asks for help with her bench shirt - she doesn't really (probably)want you to mangle her boobs. Unless she asks me.
If you ask me to wrap your knees, don't cry and whine when I do. It's impossible to die from a knee wrap.
Naked guy. Please go away. The gym changing room is for changing, pooping and peeing. And putting on squat briefs. It's not for air drying your balls for 45 minutes. Take the towel from around your neck and put it over your crotch. Please. There's guys I don't recognize with their clothes on they spend so much time balls out in the locker room. And please don't ask me all kinds of questions when you're naked and i'm putting my briefs on - i'm helpless, and it's just not fair.
I didn't drop that 700 lb deadlift on purpose. It's heavy. (for me)
I don't know where you can buy the sauce - and If I did know I wouldn't tell you. Don't ask people if they're on the juice, because it's nobody's business, and you're asking people to admit a felony. If the person is on Hormone Replacement Therapy because they have a legitimate medical condition this is also none of your business. Also it's rude. Go ask that lady if her breasts are real, and you'll see what I mean. And breast implants aren't even illegal. Stop accusing the team members, especially the kids we train, of being on the sauce - they're not, and the reason they got so much bigger and stronger over the summer is because they trained, ate, and rested properly and didn't spend 2 hours each workout doing cable curls.
Stop being offended by the sight of fat topless men fighting with bench shirts in the corner of the gym. We're not bothering you - you've seen it all before, and we simply can't help it. I don't complain to the management that you're still wearing parachute pants and a bandana and that your old lady's butt looks like it's eating her leotard.
Just a couple of thoughts from tonight's workout -
Lifting weights isn't all that complicated - I get questions about micro/macro nutrient partitioning and ukrainian conjugate dynamic tri-linear periodization from people and they get discombobulated when I tell them that it's mostly nonsense. By and large, most people should 1. Focus on Compound movements, 2. Push harder, 3. Eat less garbage, and 4. Get more sleep. That's pretty much it.
One of the guys on the team took the night off because he was still hung over from his hunting trip. The funny part is that he's legally blind, which means that he was out there with a weapon, drunk, and he can't see squat. Luckily he was with his brother, who's also legally blind. Wow.
Girls who walk around the gym in short shorts want you to look at them, but they don't want you to laugh and point.
The next time someone interrupts one of your smaller training partners and asks if they can try whatever it is he/she is doing, because if someone his size, or a girl, can do it, then obviously they can do it, just let them. Watching some clown get cut in half by 1 plate and a doubled green band on the bench is HILARIOUS.
Everybody benched 400 pounds in college. Even if they dropped out in the 10th grade.
Everybody knows a guy. As in - "I know a guy who benches/squats/curls 1000 pounds".
Powerlifters fart so much more than normal people.
While I find that any powerlifting team has it's fair share of grown-ups that act like babies from time to time, I'm referring to the actual kids i've coached over the years. Recently four new 15 and 16 year olds joined my crew and i've had to remind some of our other lifters of some basics that apply to coaching kids (many of these apply to any new lifter).
Some thoughts:
1. We were all there once so be patient.
2. Heavy training, even max effort training, does not stunt growth or otherwise harm pre- or post- pubescent kids. To the contrary, once done with proper technique and safety precautions, it's very beneficial. Initial increases in strength, even dramatic increases, are the result of neurological adaptations as opposed to a physical change such as hypertrophy. You're teaching the body-mind connection to overcome increasing resistance, and allowing the trainee to access existing power which they previously couldn't. Over time, and once they reach their middle to late teens, the scale shifts to true physical changes, such as stronger bones, increased muscle mass, and more flexible and stronger ligaments and tendons. The scientific community has finally cottoned on, and I have some references if anyone wants them.
3. Make only 1 or 2 basic corrections at a time, focused on safety. Nothing annoys me more than the team know-it-all giving a brand new trainee 50 different tips for every movement. Just make sure he/she doesn't kill him or herself, and the people around them.
4. Learning to spot, load, wrap knees, clean up, adjust equipment and generally be a useful team member is just as important as learning to squat.
5. I was taught by real coaches and lifters, and everyone is entitled to that attention. Having 3 months in a gym doesn't make you an expert.
6. There's only a couple of right ways to do things, and a lot of wrong ways.
7. I've noticed that heavy weight training helps stabilize some of the mood swings associated with adolescents and teenagers, and actually increases their attention span. Not quite sure what the mechanism is, but it seems like the more intense demands you put on the cns the more focused the kids become. I have kids who have serious ADD/ADHD issues get much better after a few months of heavy weight training. Some of this is due to the fact that we insist on decent/improving grades, keeping a journal, and minding your manners if you want to train with us, but i'm sure there's a physiological component as well.
8. Nothing wrong with letting them try some light equipment after 6 months or so - a loose single ply blast shirt does wonders for a 15 year olds confidence and self esteem.
9. Yelling rarely works.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but you get the gist.
Hey Everyone - I'm Andrew Yerrakadu, and i've been lifting and coaching and otherwise involved in powerlifting for over 20 years in lots of different places with lots of different people. Over the years i've made some of my greatest enduring friendships through powerlifting, and learned a lot about lifting and a little about life. I hope to continue to share and learn with you all here at House of Pain as well.
Feel free to ask any questions, make any statements, and trash talk as much as you want, but bear in mind that if you can't lift it or knock it out, I probably don't know much about it.
