I’d like to welcome everyone to StrengthCycle.com, the goal of this site is to provide a place where people interested in acquiring general strength can come to find answers to their questions and helpful resources that will allow them to achieve their goals. This is my first official blog post and I’d like to begin with one major question that we should all ask ourselves, Am I full of Shit?

I’m going to assume that since you found this site that you already have an interest in getting strong and building muscle so that will not be a question we should ask ourselves, instead I challenge you, me and everyone else to ask this question of yourself. Knowing the answer will be the first step to achieving your/our goals, and not just in the realm of strength training, but in all of life in general.  Am I full of shit?

What prompted this question was a Sunday gym session. My current gym has just started doing a Sunday seminar/brain storm session on the topic of the three major lifts for powerlifting, the squat, bench and the deadlift. The plan is to have some experienced competitors troubleshoot the squat for everyone, have everyone lift and hit new pr’s and for everyone to share helpful tips and tricks they’ve learned over the years in relation to what helped them improve their lifts, technique or cope with injuries. This past Sunday was the squat seminar. Being that for my weight and experience my squat is my weakest lift and I am very self conscious about it, I jumped at the chance to attend.

What I saw at the gym was less then I expected, by a lot. I was expecting a lot of serious guys coming to lift and share their experience they had gained over the years and we all contribute something and learn from each other. Instead, with the exception of the experienced instructors, it was basically a shit show of meathead “bros” who have a huge ego and a very small, technically incorrect squat. Basically everyone was in a huge hurry to load 4 plates or more on the bar and attempt a huge new pr.  Lots of talk of 425 and 500 maxes and fake modesty. Everyone was talking about their knee wraps and their fancy training bullshit and their contest prep and yet in the end, with the exception of myself and the instructors there wasnt anyone there who could even squat double body weight to proper depth despite their fancy gear and advanced methods.

Now my squat is nothing special in the athletic world, and certainly nothing special in the real powerlifting world so I am the first to admit that I need work and advice and I welcome it. That brings me to the point of this article, Are you full of shit??

Are you lying to yourself and less importantly all the people you brag to about you real ability and skill level? Are you busy with all the bullshit advanced training articles and advice out there about building a big squat (or any other lift for that matter?) and not focusing on building some real baseline strength first?

I dont feel like a dick asking this question because I myself found myself in a very similar position not so long ago. due to my advanced “training age”, which is a subject for a different day, I thought of myself as an advanced lifter. I trained for a few local powerlifting contests at my local gym and I had actually done a 405 squat. Training for those contests as an advanced powerlifter set my progress back immensly. I was doing all sorts of advanced techniques like pin presses, heavy lock outs, chains, overload reps, 10 sets of 1, deadlift/bench everyday and all sorts of crap. I came to find out that my 405 squat was about 5 inches high despite looking parallel in the mirror and so on…I never told people I could lift numbers i had never lifted, I wasnt that full of shit but in regards to my level of advancement, I was certainly full of shit and my gains for the year ultimately suffered.

The minute I realized that I was a lot less advanced as far as training response is the moment that my numbers started going up. As soon as I picked a simple plan and started focusing on reps, and technique and not heavy singles my numbers quickly began to surpass my old B.S. numbers.

The point is this, being an advanced lifter has nothing to do with your knowledge of training, it has to do with your response to the training stimulus. As soon as you put you ego away and be honest with yourself your numbers will sky rocket.  At the small numbers it seems like bad technique helps you add weight to the bar but in reality bad technique hinders your true strength because first and foremost, bad technique is inefficient. Secondly since it is inefficient it can ultimately put the stress in the wrong place and cause injury.

Being an advanced lifter means you have gone up thru the weights to a point where linear progression is no longer working and new methods must be employed. This is specific topic is one for another day in  but a double bodyweight or less squat is noone’s genetic limit. If you’re full of shit and realize it, put your ego away and start over small, practice technique, progress smartly and before you know it your gains will have surpassed your b.s. totals and you’ll be in a whole new realm. You’re only lying to yourself. You’re only impressing people who dont lift. Stop trying to impress others and start trying to be honest with yourself and learning more and pretty soon it will be yourself that you have impressed the most.