HOME OF THE 200KG
265kg DEADLIFT
PERFORMANCE TRAINING CENTRE NEWSLETTER
ISSUE # 58
TRAIN LIKE A MAN
First things first. PTC has no personal trainers. The 3 of us here think of ourselves as strength and conditioning coaches. We don’t count your reps, no touchy feely assistance during reps, we don’t set your cardio equipment, AND WE DONT LOAD YOUR BARS. I have lifted for 30 years and have never had anyone other than my training partners help me load a bar. Max is the same. Now, if you are new to lifting, of course were going to do that for you, its common sense and common courtesy. I’ve been doing that for over a year for new clients. Slowly, I have stopped, encouraging lifters to load their own bars. That’s what happens with athletes, footballers, powerlifters, Olympic lifters. They load their own bars. Fat lazy bastards pay personal trainers to do it for them. Some have loaded their own bars from the start, like Mick for example. Others sit on their ass and pay me $50 an hour to do it for them. I recently read a weight loss tip that said if you walked rather than sat while you spoke on your mobile phone you could burn extra calories. I’m not joking, that’s how lazy we have become, talking on your mobile phone and shuffling around will soon be considered exercise. Here’s a better way to shed calories, load your own bars rather than sit around watching me do it.
Pretty
sure this guy loads his own bars.
I had a lot of girls tell me how impressed they were by the video of Nicole that I gave you guy’s the link for a few issues ago. If you haven’t seen the video, I suggest you go back a couple of issues and find it.
Here is
a pic of Nicole, she is the girl from the video, where she is doing 15 reps
with 68kg in overhead squats. Hard heavy training has left her with an
incredible physique, and yes, she weighs 68kg, throw away the scales girls.
In the past I have resisted the temptation to talk too much about training, as this newsletter was predominantly for my clients that lifted at PTC. I was in control of what they lifted, so diet has been far more important to them. With the website up and running, there are many people who can’t train at PTC but still need direction in their lifting.
Here is your first clue. Train like a man. If you are a boy, girl or anything else, train like a man, but especially if you are a man. I love weight training, whether it’s for bodybuilding, sport, Olympic lifting, powerlifting, track and field, whatever, if you lift weights, I am interested. Most elite athletes have proper coaches, so they are in good hands and lifting correctly. That takes care of 1% of the weight training population. What about the other 99%, the ones who waste their time, thinking that merely going to the gym and knocking out a set of curls is enough. Don’t laugh, there are more people doing that than lifting correctly.
Where to begin? Let’s start with the most important area, the posterior chain. I have spoken about the PC before, but for those that don’t know what muscles it consists of, I’ll go through it again. It starts at your traps, the muscles on the side and rear of your neck, it covers the rear delts, rhomboids, lats, spinal erectors, glutes and hamstrings. All the muscles you can’t see in a mirror. This is an extremely powerful muscle group, and is best trained as a whole, preferably with one movement rather than isolating each area.
So why do people isolate each area. Because they are little bitches. Lat pull downs, leg curls and other such crappy movements are easy and don’t take a large toll on your energy reserves. Deadlifts, powercleans, high pulls, rack pulls, snatch grip deadlifts, cannonballs and other type movements, will drain you of energy, as you are using your entire posterior chain in each exercise, the same way you do in life. Most lifters that have weak or injured backs avoid these exercises, they simply don’t realise they have a weak PC because they avoid these exercises. Man up bitches. Last night, Alen, an 83kg lifter, deadlifted 200kg for 4 reps, no belt, no gloves, no worries. Does anyone honestly believe Alen is capable of hurting his back out in the real world? It’s not just for men, Amanda, Brittany and Nina have all deadlifted over 125kg as well, in fact, I have 12 girls capable of deadlifting over 100kg lifting at PTC.
Brittany
deadlifting 135kg
So if you plan on lifting like a man, throw away your useless exercises like lat pull downs and leg curls, seated rowing and other such girly lifts. Pick up something heavy and toss it around, that’s what men do. Last night Max, Nick and Alen did UDL’s with 100kg for 20 reps, after doing powercleans, high pulls, deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts and bent rows, all in the same session. To say they were spent is an understatement, at least they felt like men afterwards. Most of my clients train like this, for I have no lat pull down or leg curl machine.
Alen
deadlifting 200kg x 4
You guys may have noticed what a fan I am of picking up heavy weights off the floor. Most of the population suffers from back conditions as they age. I’m going to fix the problem, one person at a time.
Train the posterior chain like that, and you are well on your way to a better, stronger, leaner physique. So what’s next? Has to be the legs. In all my years in talking to lifters, instructing in gyms or merely observing, one thing has become apparent. When it comes to legs, boys are sissies. I have yet to meet a guy that can’t bench press, but the mere mention of squatting has them reaching for the “How not to look like a pussy in front of men” excuses manual, usually kept besides the “Sleep with a light on” handbook. The greatest lifters in history had to fabricate racks or invent ways to get a bar on their shoulders, for there were no squat racks, that’s what men do. Girly boys now use those exact same racks to rest their 20kg barbell that they use for curls, just so they don’t have to bend over and pick it up. I kid you not, this happens in every gym around the world. It really is a good thing that Spiros and I don’t train at commercial gyms these days. I know Cinderella is going to say she pays her membership and will use the equipment any way she likes, but she wouldn’t have completed her sentence back in the day. I detest guys that do this or have that attitude. If you are one of those people, and you are reading this newsletter, don’t let the door slam your vagina as you storm out of the room princess. Try a cup of harden the fuck up.
Squat racks are for squatting, not curling. Now, if you think you have an excuse that I haven’t heard of, you haven’t. Enough on that. Now squats are unique in that they pretty much train the whole body. To gain an inch on your arms, you need to gain around 7kgs of bodyweight. To gain that weight by curling, well, it isn’t actually possible. But you can gain 7kgs in a month easily by squatting hard and heavy twice a week. When people ask me how to get their arms bigger, I tell them to squat. They walk away shaking their heads. Good, I have no time for morons.
Forsake the squat at your own peril. The leg press and other sissy boy leg exercises have no place in a serious lifters training, well, not if you’re a man anyway. To all those sooky boys out there asking who the hell I think I am calling them girly boys, instead of bitching, come to PTC and show me how to train like a man. To those of you squatting and pulling, congratulations, you’re actually lifting to become a man, not attract a man.
Pisarenko.....man
I suppose after you’ve squatted and pulled, you best be shoving something overhead. Bench press is fine, but a real press is done standing. It uses far more muscles than lying on a bench, and is a far more functional movement. No question it’s tougher, and I’m sure you’ll be able to find many excuses, but reality is, you simply need to harden the fuck up. Every single female client I have presses overhead while standing. No complaints, no issues, they just do it, as does every single guy. No belts, no seats, no back rests, just a strong will and an equally strong core. The most weight pressed overhead whilst standing at PTC is 133kg by Spiros. That’s not a typo. Max is now approaching 1 � times bodyweight, quite a few have done 100kg +. Pressing a heavy weight overhead is the most rewarding thing you can do in my opinion. It is the upper body squat, it packs your upper back, shoulders, traps and triceps with muscle.
Whether you chose to strict military press it, push press it or jerk it, just get it up. We practice all three lifts overhead. We also use kettlebells, dumbbells and rocks, kegs, we use fat bars, we do one arm, two arms, every variation you can think of, just pick something up and press it overhead.
This is a pic of Max getting 87.5kg overhead while weighing 67kg in January. He has since done 95kg. He’s confident he can do 100kg now. When he does, I’ll be sure to put up a pic. Max presses more weight overhead than he bench presses, I have 2-3 lifters at PTC who can do that. See if you can find a lifter in a commercial gym that can do that.
The other pic is Chris pressing a keg filled with water overhead. The keg weighs 56kg, he later pressed the 60kg keg. As you attempt to press it, the water swishes around, making it a very unstable object to press. No belt, no seat, no worries.
The greatest pleasure I get in the gym is when a lifter starts up who has been training in commercial gyms for years. They don’t buy in to my training ideals immediately, bodybuilders keep preaching this and that, I go the other way, forsake the machines and cables, throw your supplements away, train the whole body with basic functional multi joint exercises.
Pick up heavy shit, press it overhead, do a deep knee bend, put some effort into it, it’s all you really need in the gym. Lots of variations for picking stuff up as we’ve mentioned, just as many different ways to push things overhead, likewise a deep knee bend. If you’re still unsure, buy my instructional DVD “How we roll”, it explains it all with nice videos.
We also do other movements like bench press, bent rows, chins, dips, farmers walk and a heap of kettlebell movements, but only after the basics have been done
The last part is cardio. What’s the point of being able to press 100kg overhead if you can’t walk up a flight of stairs? I have spoken about my cardio sessions plenty of times, stop bitching up and come join us, who knows, you may just get leaner and fitter. Because I include lots of bounds and jumps, coupled with squats and pulls, you may soon be able to fly, just like these Olympic lifters.
On the left is Marc Huster, and on the right is Pyrros Dymas.......got hops?
So who’s been doing what in the gym? First, the boys, Alen’s killing it at the moment, 102.5kg powerclean, 200kg x 4 deadlift, 120kg bench press. Mick deadlifted 180kg x 4, squatted 141kg, powercleaned 90kg x 4. Dim and Nicky hit squat, powerclean and deadlift PB’s every week. Ryan just benched 100kg x 5 x 5 sets. Hamish, Kaspar, Travis, Mick are training extremely hard every session, not slip ups at all.
With the girls, little Elissa, Bec and Brittany all hit PB’s and really moved up the leader board. Those 3 have all done over 300kg totals now. Emma squatted 40kg x 5. She struggled with an empty bar a few weeks ago. Annie hit PB’s in the powerclean as well.
Jordy, Bec and Annie do the most cardio sessions, 4-6 a week each, fantastic dedication. Glen is another who simply did cardio. He had his first weight session on Thursday, remarkable effort. His strength and explosiveness is of a high standard, no dramas doing bodyweight powercleans first time he attempted the move, strong boy. Jason hit squat and deadlift PB’s as well.
After months of hard training, I let the clients off the leash and we attempt PB’s for a week or two. I’m proud to say the training has been effective, the sheer number of PB’s is overwhelming, far too many to print here, check the record boards.
I have to say the new website has been a hit. I’ve picked up some new clients through it already. If you normally send this newsletter to a friend, now that you are reading it on the website, simply send them the link, they can then read every newsletter if they like.
The Hoodies are all in and have been handed out. I’ve mailed the interstate ones also. If you missed out and would like one, as quite a few have indicated, let me know as I will be starting another order.
Max is on a diet for the first time in his life. He has 6-7 meals a day, all prepared by his mum. He is looking to push his bodyweight and lifts up a bit. He has thickened up quite a bit and is throwing weight around easier. After a 3 week layoff due to a knee injury incurred playing soccer, he squatted 125kg x 5 x 3 sets on Monday then 140kg x 1 on Wednesday.
Jesse just completed a week of work experience in the gym. He was a tremendous help in the gym, and may have been bitten by the iron bug. He had his first cardio session tonight. It was a tough one and he will pay dearly for it. For those that don’t know, Jesse’s athleticism is the equal to Max’s, without him ever lifting a weight. Max is far stronger due to his training, but Jesse matches him in speed and probably shades him in vertical leap. Max has him covered in broad jump. This should get them fired up.
I had Monique and Sean return after lengthy layoffs, good to have them back. They should be refreshed and raring to go. Big James is due back tomorrow, he hasn’t lifted at PTC in 2009. I’m just waiting for Louie to come back next, he has indicated it won’t be long. It never was.
Far fewer missed sessions this week, but quite a few rescheduled ones. People are getting the idea. I get it that life sometimes throws up curveballs, a simple phone call can secure you a more appropriate session time. Well done to everyone that made the effort to reschedule a session.
Spiros is lifting big and eating big since the last newsletter. He is simply training around injuries and eating enough calories to build muscle and reset his metabolic thermometer.
While you’re on the new website, take a few minutes to look around if you haven’t yet. There are still more features to be added, such as recipes etc. Keep checking back because new features and pics will be going up daily.
If you don’t know, the pic under the heading of TRAIN LIKE A MAN is one of Tony a.k.a MEGAMAN, he won the Australia day 5 lift comp and Strongman comp. He is deadlifting 265kg @ 99kg bodyweight in that pic. Tony is from Queensland, safe to assume he trains like a man.
Hope you guys enjoy the new format, you can still email me your thoughts.
SUPPORTERS OF PTC, PLEASE SUPPORT THEM
BLUEGUM Bluegum has been supplying clothing to PTC since 2007, before PTC even opened. The T Shirts you see at comps plus all the Hoodies have been supplied by Bluegum. Please check their website for details of what they can do, mention PTC and receive a discount.
AUSTRALIAN KETTLEBELL COMPANY All of you that train at PTC will be familiar with Australian Kettlebell Company. I have a range of their products at PTC, from kettlebells, bands, to grippers and roman rings. Check out their website for a massive range of products.
INTERCEPT PANELS Dave has run Intercept panels for over 25 years. Most of you know of my passion for cars. Dave is the only person who touches my cars. Please contact Dave for all your panel beating needs.
Intercept Panels – Bennetts Rd Mornington – 59756785 ask for Dave
TOP CLASS WINDSCREENS Alan has been replacing windscreens on the Peninsula for over 20 years. Anyone who can stay in business that long must be doing something right. Mention PTC and receive a discount next time you need your windscreen replaced.
Top Class Windscreens – 0418388898 - ask for Alan
PRINT FACTORY All the printing you see on PTC clothing has been done by one man, Benny. Please contact Benny for all your printing needs.
Print Factory – 97857077 - ask for Benny
ELIZA MOWING No job is too big or too small for James. His services include mowing, machine edging, pruning, tree loping, landscaping, weed spraying, rubbish removal, new lawns installed. James is already looking after some properties of PTC clients. Give James a call and mention PTC - 0411 306 096
All the businesses you see above are recipients of this newsletter, they all train and lift weights like you guys. They have all been a tremendous help in me setting up PTC. Please support them whenever possible.
If you want your business advertised on this page, simply contact me.
Markos
Mobile................. 0404 453 542
Website.................www.ptcfrankston.com
Email......................ptcfrankston@three.com.au