The addition of Complete FX is really helping me to keep my nutrients in and together with Whey FX and Recover FX it has become a mainstay of my daily nutrition.

Over the coming weeks and months I will be posting my progress as I prepare for my guest spot. Be sure to watch this space.

John Heaton

In this article, I am going to talk about a training principle I have been trying out for the past 6 weeks called Decreasing Set Training. The aim of this kind of training is to push yourself much harder then you normally would in order to achieve your goal quicker.

To start pick two exercises for the muscle group you are training, for chest, for example, I chose Incline Dumbbell Press and Weighted Dips. The aim is then to pick a weight you can barely perform 20 (perfect form) reps with and stick with this weight throughout. The goal with this training is to reach 70 reps in as few sets as possible. To illustrate this I have listed my sets and reps for Incline Dumbbell Press:

Set 1 – 20 reps with 46kg

Set 2 – 13 reps with 46kg (33 reps so far)

Set 3 – 13 reps with 46kg (46 reps so far)

Set 4 – 11 reps with 46kg (57 reps so far)

Set 5 – 9 reps with 46kg (66 reps so far)

Set 6 – 4 reps with 46kg (70 rep target reached)

1 minute rest was given between sets

Therefore, as you can see it took me six attempts in total to reach 70 reps.  The idea with this is that as you don’t have a figure in your head of how many reps you are going to perform rather a goal you want to get to as quick as possible you will push yourself much harder.

Upon completion of this I would go onto perform weighted dips in the same manner. Once this was complete, you can then go onto train “normally” (3 or 4 sets of 8-10 reps) to finish off the workout. I would generally pick another two exercises for this. To stick with Chest for example I would do; Incline Dumbbell Press (70 reps), Weighted Dips (70 Reps), Hammer Strength Chest Press (4 sets of 8-10 reps), Cable Crossover (4 sets of 8-10 reps).

You should follow this training layout for each muscle group for 6 weeks in total. A couple of important points are;  keep a training diary / log of your reps / sets to refer back to, stick to the same weights for the entire 6 weeks and also to the same 2 exercises! The reasoning behind this is that by the 6^th week ideally you should find that you go from performing the 70 reps in 7 sets to performing them in 4 or 5 which can only mean you are getting bigger and stronger!

I tried this workout for 6 weeks and found my muscles were in agony after each workout from pushing myself beyond my usual limits!

I hope you found this interesting and hope you give it a try, I’d love to hear your experiences of this and will happily answer any questions you have on this or anything else if you contact me on Facebook.

Thanks for reading,

Gordie Adam

BNBF British Natural Heavyweight  Champion 2011

Fuelled by Smart-Tec Nutrition!

Current training split is lifting 4 days a week, cardio 3 days a week. I'll combine lifting and cardio twice a week on an AM/PM split and have a separate day for cardio and pre hab. This gives me 2 full days of no training or active recovery like stretching dependant on schedule. I feel it is important to spend that time wisely and let the body and mind recover.

I am on an adaptable strength program which allows the ability to structure the sessions to my specific weakness, it's Jim Wendlers 5/3/1 program, consists of 4 days of compound lifts, day 1 - Military press, day2 - Deadlifts, day3 - Bench Press, day4 - Squat. Nothing fancy with this program, I like to stick to the basics as they work the best. Around these lifts I'll do other things like straight leg dead lifts, lunges, other pressing movements and some minor accessory work for biceps, triceps and calfs.

Weighed in this morning at 85kg, at just under 16 weeks out to the BNBF Scottish Championships (which I'll be coming up from London to compete in for some home support), I know I'll be ready! It's a case of holding onto as much muscle as possible as I know I will be lean enough. With food targets, nothing too fancy and nothing too severe at the moment. I have daily targets of Carbs - 350 grams, Protein - 250 grams, Fat 60 grams - 6 days a week. 1 day a week I have a refeed day at Carbs - 500 grams, Protein 200 grams, Fats - 80 grams. I don't have a structured plan and specific foods I stick to, as long as I have at least 25 grams of fibre, get a portion of fruit and veg a day I'm not too bothered. Dieting shouldn't be complicated so I'm trying to enjoy my journey as much as as I can.

Any questions, ask on my Facebook fitness page fabio bonanno fitness or www.fabiobonanno.com

Lastly, I'd like to thank Smart-tec for their continued help, support and sponsorship throughout my journey!

Thanks

Fabio

I have not been blessed with superb genetics for Bodybuilding. I am quite tall, (6ft). I have

John Heaton 2010 UIBBN World Champion

long legs and small joints. What I have however is broad shoulders, a narrow waist and thanks to my years as a swimmer, good lat development. My shoulders and chest are full but my arms are long and lean as are my legs. For me to attempt to build a thick bodybuilder’s physique naturally would be foolish. What I have tried to create is an aesthetic athletic physique reminiscent of the Physical Culture stars of the pre-steroid era.

My training methods are also reminiscent of this era which seems to bewilder some more traditional bodybuilders. Here is my training philosophy (for me personally).
I combine exercises from Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Gymnastics, Boxing & MMA.

I do very little low intensity CV other than walking or bike rides with my children. My diet during contest preparation is exact eating whole foods such as oats, fruit, vegetables, wholegrain rice, chicken, turkey, fish, steak, cottage cheese and nuts. I supplement this diet with Udo’s oil and Smart-tec Whey FX, Diet FX, Recover FX, Glutamine & Creatine. Nothing is measured or weighed. I eat 6-7 times per day plus pre/post workout shakes.

A typical weeks training for me would look like this;

Monday AM - Wendler 5, 3, 1 – Press day + accessory lifts
PM – MMA Style Conditioning (30-45mins)
Tuesday AM – Olympic Lifting
PM – Pad Work (boxing)
Weds AM – Wendler 5, 3, 1 – Squat Day + Accessory lifts
Thursday AM – Wendler 5, 3, 1 – Bench Day + Accessory Lifts
PM – Olympic lifting & Crossfit Style Conditioning
Friday AM – Wendler 5, 3, 1 – Deadlift Day + Accessory Lifts
Saturday AM – Ian Duckett full body session
Sunday OFF.

This format is not set in stone. If I know we are deadlifting on Saturday I may change my days to give me ample rest. If I feel great, I may even train 3 times that day. If fatigued, an extra day off is in order.

I try to listen to my body and at the ripe old age of 39 quality of work rather than quantity is of utmost importance.

John Heaton FdSc
2010 UIBBN World Champion

OFF SEASON DIET

I have a good amount of muscle on my frame which requires constant fuel (food). I have a busy active lifestyle and burn a lot of calories without including my training. For me I probably consume around 2,500 calories per day, more when I have trained. I maintain a good off season weight with a healthy amount of body fat. When I feel hungry I eat, no matter what time of day it is. I never go too long without food, I simply couldn’t handle it, my body tells me when to eat and I listen. I love food, enjoy eating out and I have no restrictions when I do, I eat what I fancy. Some people will say to me oh its okay for you because you train, this is simply not true, I can put on body fat as easily as the next person. I am so in tune with my body that I can step on my scales and know what the weight will be before it appears. I know the weight which I’m happy and feel comfortable at, if I go over this weight I will re-evaluate my food intake and make a few minor changes and within a few days I’m back at my happy weight. On the whole I try to maintain a healthy food intake and don’t pay too much attention to the quantity, I do vary my foods so I get a good balance of vitamins and minerals, and rotate my protein source. I love all meats, fish and eggs and usually get my protein supply from these foods. I also include lots of carbs into my meals, I source my carbs from, potatoes, pasta, rice, seeded breads and fruit. At the weekend we usually eat out, I will treat myself and have a starter, main, oh yes and a pudding. When I have busy days at work and don’t have time to eat I will supplement with Smartec Diet FX, lovely tasting and ties me over till I get time to eat, by doing this I curb my hunger and keep a constant supply of amino acids (protein) in my system without this my body would source its own protein from muscle tissue having a negative effect on my training. I always start my day with a good breakfast, oats, Smartec Whey protein and blueberries.

CONTEST DIET

The diet for me is really very simple, easy to follow and I don’t have to think about it, I know what my meals are going to be in advance. The only way to be successful in dieting for a show is’ preparation’. I cannot stress this enough, without preparation you will fail. Every evening I would prepare my meals for the next day, all weighed, cooked and refrigerated ready to take with me.

Eating Out! A Typical Starter

Chilli for the Main!

Yes I Even Eat Cake!

To be honest, I don’t know where to start so I’ll go for the easy option, my name is Fabio Bonanno and I’m a Smart-tec sponsored athlete! I was fortunate enough to be sponsored by Smart-tec back in May 2011, which I’m so grateful for. To be sponsored by such a great company helps me out in so many ways, not just the supplements that come with it, but the support that I get as an athlete. Smart-tec’s ethics are great and everyone involved are there to help, I couldn’t ask for more!

As much as I would love to class myself as a full time bodybuilder/natural athlete, some of us have to work for a living. I’m currently a full time engineer in Ross Hall hospital. It’s a good place to work but has it’s ups and downs like any job, more downs at the moment but the work guys are great and thinking about the gym get’s me through the tough days (sad I know). I completed a part-time personal training course which I took my holiday allowance away from work to do. I’m now proud to say that I’m a fully qualified personal trainer. However, that’s just the beginning. Check out my website www.fabiobonanno.com for more info.

Every day I’m learning more and more about the industry and everything involved in getting the body we want. It’s not as simple as going into the gym and killing yourself for an hour a day (time in the gym is a big debate these days but I’ll leave that for another blog). My outlook is basically to put in the work in the gym (the easy part) and then it’s recovery time, (the hard part believe it or not) which is a combination of nutrition, supplementation, rest and sleep. You have to give the body optimal circumstances for recovery, I mean, why put all that work in the gym and go home and eat all the wrong things??

So, how do I train and what am I training for? Currently my goal is to compete in the BNBF Scottish championships next year, however, I’m aiming high and want to shoot for a top 3 finish in the British Finals and do Smart-tec proud, just like Peter Macdougall who recently got 3rd in his category, he looked great! (well done mate) Apart from that, just now I’m trying to be in the best shape I can be in and will take what modelling work comes my way.

My training split just now is 4 days of weights, alternating between 1 week hypertrophy and 1 week power, really enjoying it. I’m doing steady state cardio 4 times a week. Current training goal is to cut down so I have a “clean” frame to add some good lean muscle to.

Here’s a few photos of some of my foods that keep me sane while still eating clean. I believe in enjoying yourself while dieting unless you are extremely close to a competition then it’s “no cheating!” Saying this, as long as you hit your macronutrient targets you can eat what you want (within reason) depending on meal timings etc. Anyway have a look:

Chicken Pizza

Protein Pancakes with Blueberries

Average Day's Food

Calorie Free Treats

WheyFX Protein Mousse

Protein Porridge

Hope you’re not too hungry now, thanks for reading!

Fabio Bonanno
Smarttec Natural athlete
www.fabiobonanno.com

Pretty decent week in terms of training and eating. My goal at the moment is to come down from 95kg to 90kg over the next few months then decide if I want keep losing bodyfat, or maintain this weight while trying to make strength gains. I don't have any competitive plans for next year at the moment but I do want to keep my options open. I'm just back from a two week holiday so didn't lift anything particularly heavy in the gym this week, but happy to get a solid week under my belt.

Monday - bodyweight 95.5kg - measured first thing in the morning

Quads & Hams: -

Squat 150kg x 10, 10, 10
Bulgarian Split Squat 50kg x 12, 12, 10
Stiff-legged Deadlifts 120kg x 8, 8, 8
Leg Extension stack x 12, 12, 10 (not sure how much the stack weighs)
Hamstring Curl 21 plates x 8, 8, 6 (again, not sure what the weight actually is!)

Tuesday

Back Workout: -

Partial Deadlifts 160kg x 8, 8, 8
Barbell Row 100kg x 10, 10, 8
Neutral Close-Grip Pull-Up Bodyweight x 7, 6, 6
Close-Grip T-Bar Row 85kg x 9, 8, 8
Universal Machine Shrugs 18 Plates x 12, 12, 12

5 minutes on X-Trainer

Wednesday

Day off work today so played golf with my Dad at 7am, which is my usual Wednesday morning routine. Played ok considering I haven't picked up a club for 3 weeks.

At the gym in the afternoon for a Chest and Delts workout: -

Bench Press 100kg x 10, 8, 8
Incline Dumbbell Press 40kg x 12, 8, 7
Iso-leverage chest press 100kg x 10, 10, 9
Chest Dips 10kg x 10, 10, 10
Incline Dumbbell Flys 15kg x 12, 12, 12
Iso-leverage Shoulder Press 40kg x 10, 9, 8
Standing Side Lat D/B Raise 12.5kg x 12, 12, 12

5 mins on X-Trainer

Thursday

Biceps Workout: -

Standing D/B Curls with Rotation 15kg x 12, 12, 12
Single Arm D/B Preacher Curls 15kg x 12, 12, 12
EZ Bar Curl 25kg x 15, 13, 12
EZ Cable Preacher Curl 50kg x 12, 12, 12

10 minutes X-Trainer

Friday

Went to the gym but decided I wasn't up for it! It was only meant to be triceps & abs but decided to leave it until next day.

Saturday

Triceps & Abs Workout: -

Rope Pressdown 85kg x 12, 12, 10
Close-Grip Bench Press 90kg x 10, 8, 7
Single-Arm Overhead Dumbbell Extension 15kg x 12, 12, 12
Bench Dips x 15, 15, 13

V-Sits x 15, 15, 15
Leg Raises x 15, 15, 15

10 minutes X-Trainer

Sunday

Sunday morning golf competition at club, played ok considering the ridiculously bad weather and manageD to shoot 73.

Food

Typical days food at the moment looks something like this, bare in mind I'm dieting so carbs are pretty low: -

8.30am - 100-120g Oats, 2 x Scoops WheyFX Banana

Banana Smoothie Whey FX

11.30am - 100g Chicken, 80g Green Beans, 30ml of Udos Oil Blend
2.30pm - 100g Chicken, 250g Sweet Potato, 80g Broccoli
5.30pm - 2 Scoops WheyFX (30 mins Pre-Workout)
6.30pm - 2 Scoops RecoverFX (immediately Post-Workout)
7.30pm - Salmon Fillet, Olives & Avocado, Mixed Veg
10.30pm - 1 scoop WheyFX, 2 egg whites, 150g Cottage Cheese

We all have been there at some point.  Initially when we go to the gym, the results are coming hard and fast.  Weight on the scales dropping like crazy and the weights on the bar is going up like a rocket. At some point though, these gains will start to slow down and hitting the ‘wall’ will occur.  As frustrating as it might be, it will at some point affect us all.  What I want to do is give you some food for thought as to how to smash through your plateaus and hopefully help you continue to make gains.

Back in the days of the Olympics there were different methods used to train the

Smash Your Plateaus!

weightlifters.  Bulgarians used an approach that did not encompass much assistance work and only focused on the Classical lifts, snatch and clean and jerk.  They only used 5 exercises to build up their strength in the lifts.  The Soviets had a different approach to training, which is what I am going to be talking about here.  Their ethos was that they used a lot of special exercises to help bring up their classical lifts.  This method was first used for the Olympic weightlifting team in the Dynamo Club in the old USSR.  This method was tested on 70 Olympic lifters and it consisted of 25-40 special exercises.  At the end of the study only one lifter was satisfied with the number of exercises.  The rest wanted more.  This type of concept of training popularised what it is now known as the Conjugate method.

Ok so history lesson over.  What’s my point?  Well let’s say you are a 100 m sprinter.  There are only so many 100 m sprints you can do until you cannot get any faster and there could be many reasons for it.  You could have a slow start or a poor drive phase.  Maybe your technique is not great causing you to overstride.  My point is that in order to continue to progress you are going to have to train portions of the 100 m sprint in order to improve.  This could be technique or whatever.  If you have a slow start you are going to have to do exercises that improve you ability to come out of the blocks.  With me so far?

When we get stuck in the gym with say the bench, it doesn’t make sense to continue to bench or try and drop the weight and do more reps or whatever.  At the end of the day you will still be benching the same and if you have poor technique it could emphasise bad form.  You will have to find out what portion of that lift is making things bad and strengthen it up or why you are failing at that weight.  Also you will choose exercises that will help to improve upon your goal and eliminate the ones that don’t help.  This might take a while for you to find out but in the end you will find what works for you and what doesn’t and what you will be left with is a template of exercises.  By only using exercises that has a positive effect on your performance/exercise this will have a high carry over into you’re training and therefore busting through plateaus.  So by getting strong in the lifts that have a high carryover into your lift that your trying to improve should in theory work. The conjugate method used every exercise except for the main lift itself and the Russians dominated sport back in the day.  This to me makes perfect sense.  You can’t refine technique if you already have bad technique or habit to start with.

The best way to find out what worked and what never worked would be to keep a training diary.  By having a diary you can look back on things that worked and never worked and by using simple logic can help you reach your goals.

Another thing you would want to do is to improve upon speed.  Think about it this way if you and another guy can lift the same amount of weight and yet the other guy has much more speed than you in the lift, who do you think will beat their plateau first? If we can develop speed in our lifts (with perfect form) we can produce more force thus eventually should beat your previous best.  The famous Westside Barbell – a powerlifting club, which boasts some of the strongest men in the world uses a dynamic day.  This day was included into their training to basically improve upon acceleration in their lifts for that very reason.  More acceleration equals more force and more force equals bigger lifts.

Hopefully you can incorporate these philosophies into your programming.  The main take from this is that if you do get stuck and are stuck for a while; go back to the drawing board.  Don’t keep trying to do what you were doing before.  Take a step back and try to work out another way.

Statistically I went in 12 months from a 5"7' (64kg @ 10.7% BF) to a (69kg @ 4.72% BF), a huge reason for this was I was also living in Asia training in 40c heat two to three times every day. Training for me is highly aerobic and an-aerobic, I eat, I eat and I eat and I don't put weight on .. I lose it.

Explosive Power

Bombing down 3x MassFX Shakes a day, and a daily regime of GlutamineFX and CreatineFX coped with the workload .... and lots and lots and lots of chicken and rice at the food court... Hmmm I do miss Singapore.

2006 through 2007 was already a hectic travel battle, I was away from Scotland for 9 months, January through September but from April onwards I had Singapore as a central base and was competing predominantly in Asia running up to the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur, this kept the enormity of the air miles down.

Flying does your body, huge damage, time zone changes do your body, huge damage. Doing it every week turns you PATHOLOGICAL.

2007 through 2010, the air miles and flight plans became more ridiculous with as much as 60,000 air-miles in a month, I've gone 3 times round the world in 12 weeks and competed every weekend throughout, you lose a bit of control keeping things on the tracks. My nutrition certainly fell away, but in my defence living in airports and off your checked baggage allowance attaches impracticalities to carrying around multiple 2-3kg tubs of powder.

I have stuck well for the last 6 years with the Creatine and Glutamine intake. It was easy to. I found its contribution to my explosive speed on court and recovery instantly noticeable. But the rest broke down and as with most things in life, 20-20 hindsight would be an awesome thing.

In the last month I have started up again on a more complete daily regime of nutritional intake, Shakes et all. I'm already starting to notice positive results 2-3 weeks in.

So its LA at the moment, Venus by Bananarma is on the iPod and things are clearly off the tracks again. I'm training in the 40 degree San Gabriel Valley in between an upcoming schedule of events in Central and South America. I no longer have baggage excuses, airline sponsor Qantas afford me an absurd 96kg of checked in booty but I'm still not bringing you back any duty free.

Dietary habits ? At the moment the diet is simple, MassFX shake in the morning and again just before bed, if I'm getting enough carbs in during the day then substitute the MassFX out for a WheyFX. For every training session it's 3 Grams of Creatine and 5 Grams of Glutamine in 500ml of water. Every session then finishes with a RecoverFX shake within 20 minutes of the end. I'm building up the training at the moment and maintaining an eye on injury prevention in the short term, so I will report back when I have a more developed view.

Now has become the time for me to make defining changes to my life. I'm 30 and have at best 2 more years left to improve my level, in the last 6 months for a multitude of reasons, if you play badminton and your from the moon then you've probably beaten me.

We change when the pain of changing is less than the pain of remaining the same. I'm finding the biggest battle is the battle inside, the journey might be the destination, but bad habits die hard. They do die though, you just have to want it bad enough.

Footnotes ..

(i) Clean your Shaker after using it, your not saving the world by culturing new life in your bag for 3 days, unless it jumps out at you and its Megan Fox.

(i) Smart-Tec's new Shaker's are the best you'll find FULL STOP. With a screw lid and screw cap, major incidents involving your shirt or your computer keyboard are now a thing of the past.

(ii) Smart-Tec's pre-work out potion XcelR8+ has rave reviews and Im staying wide clear of it. Frankly I'm a danger to myself as it is without you taking a cattle prod to me. I'll take a 100mg Caffeine pill one hour before competitive matches and that has me wired to the moon. One dosage of XCellr8 is 300mg of Caffeine (plus the rest) If you do need a pump to get your sessions going there is no other product out there that will do for you what this stuff does but if you wake up in Cancun on Friday, don't say I didn't warn you.

(iii) The taste scale. Ok i'll be honest, I've stomached far nicer things in my life than a protein shake, you say Chocolate Shake and I say, In"n"Out Burger and in fact I'm already in a taxi.

I've had a few Fu&ck S%Ake moments as I fought to hold down a luke warm shake after training in 40c heat and have maybe built up a bit of unfair animosity. Certainly until Starbucks release a Caramel Machhiato WheyFX Shake I'm probably going to keep complaining.

But I will say this, Smart-Tec's range is far supreme to any other ranges out there, and I've tried them. I had some Vanilla EAS muck recently and thought I was choking down a dead dog.

What with the new range of Smart-Tec goodies ? Two words ....

BANANA SMOOOOOOOOOOOTHIE ............ !!!!!

Yes .. if you haven't had the new Banana Smoothie WheyFX shake you haven't lived, and if you have any of the Berry flavoured IsoSmart RTD's ..... holy crap, holy crap, holy crap @!@!@  Do you have any ???

Yes ? Ok I'm heading round to your house now with a balaclava and a bat. I did 7 in one day, that was an AWESOME day .. they are that good. Keep them away from me.

My rambling shall cease, I'll report when I return from Guatemala alive, it can't be any worse than Bogota, Colombia ... in the meantime .. be SMART, be STRONG.

Alistair out.

Follow Alistair's global adventures on Twitter!
Alistair's Noticeable Accomplishments

4x BWF World Championships (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011)
7x BWF Super Series Events (World Top 32)
5x BWF International Tour Titles (3x Singles 2x Doubles)

Varsity Member Tam Deadlifting 300 KGs

If you are a regular gym goer you should be quite acquainted with the deadlift.  It is a very popular exercise and many top coaches use it as a primary means in most programmes.  Its ability to develop strength, size, athleticism and even its inclusion as an injury preventative measure has been well documented.  It works wonders in putting on so much overall strength and is applicable for both male and females. For example, a large number of programmes are designed to improve an individual aesthetically and you can almost guarantee that the deadlift will help build ‘buns of steel’ when encompassed into a regime.  The stimulus carryover helps countless of people who are training for different reasons. Don’t believe me?  Just look at all sports, bodybuilders, people who are in great shape and everyone in between.  You will see a lot of things in common and in most instances deadlifting is part of their training.  Better still, stick the word deadlift into Google and it will literally show you 3.14 million results in 0.06 secs but hey, who’s counting?

Right, so is everyone on the same page as me then?  There is really nothing better than to rack a load of weight on the bar and rip it off the floor to make peoples jaw drop. The benefits of deadlifting are unquestionable however problems can and do arise whether it be due to lack of knowledge, ego or carelessness.  For example, most guys and girls that use this exercise do not have adequate technique and this may result in the exercise becoming less effective or dangerous.  Now we all understand that when you start to get stronger you must add additional weight that may lead to some ‘grindage’. However, most people take this concept too far. You should only really ‘grind’ the big weights with decent form.  A drop off of about 10% (of form) means the weights are too heavy and you need to drop the load (and ego).  So without further ado, here are some technique tips to help aid your current or potential deadlift problems.

Set up

Right most guys will probably pull conventional (shoulder width-ish stance).  I personally pull conventional but a number of factors like leverages and training goals will also make you change your stance.  If you have short arms and long legs relative to your torso you probably would benefit more by going into the wider stance AKA sumo stance.  Like I always say, everybody is and individual so it be best to get advice from a good trainer or coach.

During the set up there will be a few things you will need to do.

The bar should be over the ball of you foot.  This will allow your centre of gravity to be directly over the bar and let the hips work better.  If the bar is too far away from you then you will try to bend more from the spine since the centre of mass will have shifted upwards towards the spine as opposed to the hip.  Most guys will tend to either bend too much from the spine or squat down low to maintain good movement from the hip and this will not be ideal.  The shins have to be close, pretty much touching the bar.  You can tell when someone lifts weights.  Just have a look at their shins; pretty much all-good deadlifters will have a few scars there.  By keeping the bar close to the shins you will allow for your hips and posterior chain work better and you won’t need to squat down to compensate for the bar being too far away from you.  Ok, so as the shins are in the right position, what you want to do is reach down and grab the bar.  Now on a side profile, if you were to drop a plumbline down from the shoulders to the bar, the shoulders should be about same line maybe slightly over or slightly behind.  Where you don’t want to be is too far over the bar.  This will not let you use your hips as much as you can.  So the best way to do get down to the bar is to push your hips back.  Don’t squat down to reach the bar, hips HIPS BACK.  Make sure you keep your lower back arched as tight as you can and chest up.  Lengthen the arms out then squeeze your lats tight and don’t let go of this pressure.  This is extremely important since it will keep you from rounding your back when you are pulling.  Then what you want to do is to get the neck tight.  People tend to look up or look to far down which is not ideal.  There are some studies, which show a correlation between the lumbar curve and cervical curvature.  Therefore, you will lose optimal head position it can affect your lumbar curve you are trying to hold tight.   So don’t lose your head, hold it tight, the best position to be is to imagine you were a posh guy with your held high then push your head back and make a fat chin.

Before you pull what you want to do is to take the ‘slack’ out of the bar.  The reason being is people find it really hard to stay tight throughout the entire lift.  Just before you pull, especially when the bar is heavy, you have a tendency to try and heave the bar up.  This often leads you to jerking the bar and losing tightness.  What you want to do is tug slightly on the bar and that will take the ‘slack’ out of the bar.  Once that has happened and you in position, you will less likely try to jerk the bar and therefore keep tight throughout the lift.

Remember to create pressure around the spine to protect it.  Take a deep breath to activate the diaphragm, hold your breath and push tight. You should feel your core lock into place.  If you feel your chest puff up and not your belly you are breathing from your chest and not your diaphragm.

The Concentric Portion

Right now the set up is good you have taking a deep breath and held tight, the next thing to is to pull the thing up.  When you have taking the slack out the bar and ready to pull, what you want to do then is to shift the weight as quickly as you can to the heel of your foot.  This will keep you from falling forward and losing hip activation.  As you pull you want to lead the lift with the chest and not with the hips.  If the hips come up first then you will have longer to travel to lock the bar out.  This will also make encourage your body to take the weight through the spine and upper back and not allow for optimal hip activation.  Remember you set up with the bar as close to the shins as possible?  So now as you start to pull you want to keep the bar ‘riding’ up the legs so its as close as the bar can be.  So lead with the chest, drive the heels into the ground, keep the tightness in you upper lats and pull the bar up.  One good cue I learned was that in order to keep your hips engaged you should feel like as you are pushing you falling backwards.  In theory if you weigh 80 kgs and the bar weighs 70 kgs and you fell back the bar should come up.  As the bar is coming up, what you want to do is to accelerate the bar all the way through the lift to make sure you have maximum muscle contraction.  This will also help you to move more weight.  At the top of the lockout position you want to finish the lift with the hips.  A lot of lifters I see when they deadlift is they over pull the weight and hyperextend the back.  Not only this is dangerous but also why move further than you need to?  Once the knees and hips are locked and the chest is up your finished, no need to hyperextend.

Eccentric portion

This is the easy part.  How you came up will be how you put the bar down.  It is simply just a reversal of what you did.  I do however want to finish this with a point.  If you are deadlifting for reps make sure you take every lift from the floor as a dead start.  Don’t bounce it off the floor.  Too many people bounce it off the ground and they end up having horrible technique after the first rep.  Reset each lift, tighten back up and then pull.

So there you have it guys.  Go play around with this and see how it feels.  Here is a sample workout for you to try out.

Deadlift  1 x 3

Speed Deadlift  6 x 1@50% of 1RM 45 secs rest period

Good Mornings  5 x 8-10

Pull up  6 x 2 shy of failure

Ab Wheel rollouts  5 x 8-10