Off-season training

[Alan H]

Yes and you can see only half of it in the photo. I started out assembling the equipment in 1991. I spent a lot of time hunting through second hand sporting good stores and garage sales looking for things. A little bit of horse trading thrown in as well.

The Ivanko plates and the Oly barbell which is not shown were given to me back in 1999 by a power lifter who was getting out of the sport and didn't want them to go to waste. He wouldn't take any money either. Nice guy, huh? In response, I gave my old Oly barbell and plates to a lifter I knew who was lifting with home made plates and pipe barbells due to financial circumstances. Just trying to keep my karma clean.

I bought the official Olympic barbell (no center knurling to interfere with cleans and front squats) with Pleasanton prize money back in the early 2000's. Second place finish in the overall along with caber and WOB money. Yes, I'm officially a professional athlete as I was paid for throwing.

When I retired and decided to get serious about the MWC, I built the current version with lifting platform, snatch blocks, and bumper plates about 5 years ago.

At one point I had over 5000 lbs of plates, barbells, dumbbells, and throwing weights but have slowly been getting rid of the various bits and pieces I no longer need/want.

How did you make that platform?

Not that I have room for it in the garage, but I'd like to know, just in case, someday......riiiiight.

Hey, I made $125 last year at Pleasanton. That makes me a "Pro", too. Heh.

[o1d_dude]

How did you make that platform?

Not that I have room for it in the garage, but I'd like to know, just in case, someday......riiiiight.

Hey, I made $125 last year at Pleasanton. That makes me a "Pro", too. Heh.

Yes, it does. I tell folks I'm living the life of a professional athlete, well minus the mansion, the cars, the wimmen, etc.

The platform is nothing more than a couple of sheets of 3/4" plywood glued and screwed together and a rubber stall mat cut into pieces for the landing area. You can buy the stall mats at any feed store that caters to the ag community.

The leftover pieces of stall mat went on top of the blocks. The blocks are nothing more than lengths of 4x6 lumber bolted together.

True weightlifting shoes (about $35-65) will also make a big difference. I bought the black and white ones because they looked like the kind of bowling shoes Walter Sobchak would wear.

[Alan H]

Yes, it does. I tell folks I'm living the life of a professional athlete, well minus the mansion, the cars, the wimmen, etc.

The platform is nothing more than a couple of sheets of 3/4" plywood glued and screwed together and a rubber stall mat cut into pieces for the landing area. You can buy the stall mats at any feed store that caters to the ag community.

The leftover pieces of stall mat went on top of the blocks. The blocks are nothing more than lengths of 4x6 lumber bolted together.

True weightlifting shoes (about $35-65) will also make a big difference. I bought the black and white ones because they looked like the kind of bowling shoes Walter Sobchak would wear.

It really seems like having a decent home gym for basic stuff is not THAT hard to put together. "Nice" takes a lot of effort, but "basic" is pretty easy. I've been to Mike and Mindy's house and their setup is stupid simple...There's a used Craigslist-special bench for incline pressing. Ther's a box for Pylos. There's a rack with two Oly bars and probably about 300 pounds of weight. That's it. Oh, and a junker stereo system. It's an extra room at the back of their garage with bare concrete floors and no paint on the walls. Works fine.

[Alan H]

FAST deadlift day

Stretch Cage
Stationary bike warmup .... 4min
Light hang cleans ... turned into a "help me with my hang cleans" with Donna Pierson, who really wants me to loosen up my shoulders and get Rippetoes' book. both of these are good ideas.

FAST deadlifts ... 3 x 4 x 185 / 2 x 4 x 225 / 4 x 275 w-belt / 4 x 1 x 315 w- belt...NO STRAPS. I can barely hang on to 315.
1-leg Romanian DL ... 3 x 5 x 55 lbs each leg

landmines ... 3 x 10 x bar+65
Bulg split squats ... 2 x 6 x 70 each side


I wore a Valeo velcro belt for the dl's at 275 and 315, just to see what it felt like, since if I do this powerlifting meet, I'll probably wear it. Neyah....whuddevah. I also tried alternating grip at 315. It was fine, it did help a little bit.

[o1d_dude]

I'm assuming the Rippetoe book you're referring to is "Starting Strength", yes? It's a good book.

You might also want to look at Dan John's body of work as well. Firstly, he's a Highland Games thrower, secondly he's an Olympic weightlifter, thirdly he is a nationally ranked Masters Track & Field thrower as well. Finally, he's a coach who communicates exceptionally well and his passion for the sport comes through loud and clear.

Amazon carries Dan's "Never Let Go" and there are links to others such as "From The Ground Up" (a free E-Book with pictures of Mandy P and the "Pillars of Poverty" in my garage on page 25) at his website.

Dan John, Lifting and Throws Coach

[Alan H]

I'm assuming the Rippetoe book you're referring to is "Starting Strength", yes? It's a good book.

You might also want to look at Dan John's body of work as well. Firstly, he's a Highland Games thrower, secondly he's an Olympic weightlifter, thirdly he is a nationally ranked Masters Track & Field thrower as well. Finally, he's a coach who communicates exceptionally well and his passion for the sport comes through loud and clear.

Amazon carries Dan's "Never Let Go" and there are links to others such as "From The Ground Up" (a free E-Book with pictures of Mandy P and the "Pillars of Poverty" in my garage on page 25) at his website.

Dan John, Lifting and Throws Coach

Yes, that's it. I've been meaning to get "Never Let Go" as well. I did not know about "from the ground up"...gonna have to look that up.

I've had Ryans "Weight Training for Highland Games" video on my desk for 9 months and have not watched it yet. Sheeesh.

[eclarkhb]

Yes, that's it. I've been meaning to get "Never Let Go" as well. I did not know about "from the ground up"...gonna have to look that up.

I've had Ryans "Weight Training for Highland Games" video on my desk for 9 months and have not watched it yet. Sheeesh.

Ask & Ye Shall Receive....

Dan John's "From the Ground Up" - free ebook available here: http://danjohn.net/from-the-ground-up-free-ebook/

Also, "Never Let Go" is available for free from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Never-Let-Go-P...8049455&sr=8-2

The only catch is Never Let Go is only available in "kindle" format, but there is a free kindle reader for your PC if you don't have an actual kindle.