BACK TO THE ROCK PILE

By Garrett Harper

Diablo Barbell

It is said that necessity is the mother of all invention. Once someone has a problem that needs to be solved he and many others set out on a quest to develop the best solution. This involves countless hours tinkering away, perfecting an idea. Sometimes it involves completely scrapping one idea and starting again on a totally different design. The whole process is trial and error until finally the best solution is discovered.

Trial and error is a big part of powerlifting as well. A good coach or trainer can teach you the basics of the sport as well as the fundamentals of a particular training system. After that though, you are pretty much on your own. It is up to you, the lifter, to seek out new knowledge, new ideas, old ideas long forgotten about and new ideas combined with old ideas to further your training and strength. Most, if not all of the elite lifters in this sport got to the top not because someone told them about a magic potion but because they tried hundreds of different exercises and training methods in order to discover what works for them. They did this through trial and error, which is really just another way of saying they worked their asses off and spent a lot of quality time in the gym testing and re-testing ideas. Louie Simmons has said something to the effect that, “If someone told you there was a million dollars under a huge field of rocks how many would you turn over to find it?” The obvious answer is ALL OF THEM!

Over the course of the past 5 years I have had several such trial and error experiences myself. The bench, being my weakest lift, was the first lift that I really had to experiment with to reach the next level. I remember the first time I got a denim shirt. I had just returned from a trip to Westside where John Stafford recommended that I get a denim. When I got home I ordered one up and I was excited when it finally arrived in the mail. I took it to the gym figuring that I would blast up 405 no problem because, well you know, it’s a denim! I wound up missing 365, which is the weight that I had already benched in a poly. I thought the shirt must not be working right so I ordered up a double. Got to the gym, tried 405 and missed it. I tried it again a few weeks later and missed it again. At this point I realized that I must be doing something wrong. Hundreds of lifters are using denims with great success so I knew it wasn’t the shirt. I began climbing through the rock pile. I knew that somewhere out there was the knowledge and training that I needed to learn how to utilize this shirt. After 6 months of turning over rocks and trying all sorts of new stuff I stumbled upon three things. The first was 5 board presses with bands and lockouts. As we all know lockout strength is tantamount to a big shirted bench. I hit banded 5 boards and high lockouts for a year straight. The second thing was lowering my speed weight. I had been using 205 and 80lbs of chain. That wasn’t working so I lowered it to 185 and 80lbs of chain. That wasn’t working either. I finally buried my ego and lowered it to 165 plus 80lbs of chain. The third thing I did, at the advice of Vincent Dizenzo was cut the neck out of my shirt. By doing these three things over the course of 18 months my bench went from 363 to 501. I had turned over enough rocks and found a few things buried underneath them that helped take my bench to the next level.

I have always been a decent squatter. In my first meet I squatted 584, in my 3^rd meet I squatted 628 and in my 4^th meet I squatted 700. These are not numbers to jump up and down about but I felt I was on my way to developing a big squat. Then the wheels fell off the wagon. Over the course of the next year I never hit more than 633 in a meet. I knew something was wrong so I found myself back at the rock pile. This time I uncovered only two things, a new suit and a new pair of briefs. After spending $250 on a custom Ginny Phillips canvas suit and another $150 on a pair of Metal Pro briefs I got my squat up to a whopping 744. Now don’t get me wrong, I will take the 44lbs but it certainly wasn’t from any changes in my training. I had been wearing crap gear when I squatted 700 and I expected a lot more then a 44lb increase from my new gear especially when I saw what other guys were getting (I was too naïve to believe that perhaps they were actually stronger than me and that the gear didn’t play as big a part in lifting big weights as I thought it did but that’s for another article). I was still training hard and getting stronger in the gym but I had not yet turned over enough rocks.

It was at that time that I decided if I was ever going to squat 800+ I had better re-evaluate my training. I went back to the rock pile and this time I uncovered three things. First, I had horrible torso position in the squat. I came up out of the hole with a big forward lean and this really decreased my power and explosion. In order to stay more upright and eliminate the lean I raised my box height on the DE day from 2” below parallel to an 1” below. This allowed me to stay more upright in training, which translated to a more upright position in the contest. The second thing I did was rotate in different bars and band/chain combos on the DE day. I had been using the green bands for every DE squat workout for 1.5 years and it was getting old. I used blue bands, chains, bands and chains, the Safety Squat bar, the cambered bar, basically anything to shock my system and get things moving again. The third thing I did was buy a new suit. I had been using some form of canvas for the past 2 years and it had gotten me nowhere fast. I was convinced that since all the big squatters were using canvas that that was the way to go. In hindsight I am just not built for a canvas suit. I finally bit the bullet and bought a Metal Pro Squatter. It is a much more comfortable suit and takes only minutes to get out of and not an hour like my canvas (thanks to all who helped during that dark time). It just suits my squatting style a lot better and lets me get into a better position. The fourth and final thing was that I got a huge misload at the 2004 Cal APF state meet. I had called for a 710 opener. They loaded 777. I remember unracking the bar and thinking that if 710 feels like this it is going to be a long day. I made the lift and was told afterwards that it was 67lbs more then I had requested. This totally opened the door for me and my confidence shot through the roof. Without hesitation I called for 804 on my next attempt. I came up with it but got called for depth but that misload broke down a lot of mental barriers and set me on the right path for a big squat.

As soon as I got back from the meet I knew I could be a legit 800+ squatter. I did one more thing, I began training like one. I increased my DE weight and band tension and, to my surprise, I could move it with great speed just like I was supposed to. A mental barrier had been holding me back but I turned over enough rocks and had one turned over for me by the loaders at that meet and my squat was finally on the right path. I have since changed my bar and hand position as well. I now hold the bar higher on my back with my hands nearly out to the collars. I also raised my DE box height to right at parallel. These three changes have further corrected my forward lean and lead to even more PR’s. My current best is 826 (done in the same gear I did 777) and an 848 that was turned down on depth. I now consider an 800lb squat a starting point and something from which I can build bigger and better things.

The deadlift is, in my opinion, the hardest lift to consistently improve. Gear doesn’t help much and in some ways it can be a hindrance. There is no eccentric phase and the lift comes at the end of the meet. There is nothing but truth to the saying, “the meet ain’t over till the bar hits the floor.” I have always been a moderately good deadlifter. I pulled 600 in my first contest and 650 a year later. I have no idea what I did to get that 50lb increase other than that I knew I could pull 650 and that was the number I had in my head. I stayed at 650 for another year until I went back to the rock pile. I had developed a nasty shake in the deadlift, which caused me to tremble violently as the bar passed my knees. I would wind up losing control of the bar and it would usually fly out of my hands toward the head judge. This maneuver has since been dubbed the, “Sacramento Toss” by Ted as the first time it happened was at the 2003 Cal APF state meet in, you guessed it, Sacramento. After that meet I hit the rock pile. I read a post on elitefts.com about another guy who had the same problem. Dave Tate replied that a lifter at Westside was having the same problem and that Chuck Vogelpohl suggested kneeling squats to fix it. The next day I started kneeling squats and did them consistently for the next 6 months. At the APF NorCal meet in October I hit a 705 pull on my second attempt. A 55lb increase in the pull in 6 months. I had definitely turned over the right rock.

As I write this my squat and bench continue to consistently improve but my deadlift has once again ceased to move. I am back in the rock pile right now, turning over rocks one by one because I know that I will find what I need to get my pull moving again.

There is a reason why there aren’t very many strong people in this world. It is because most don’t have the desire, passion, patience and intelligence that it takes to build massive strength. Very few people are willing to dig through the rock pile to find what works for them. Those that do are justly rewarded.