Workout of The Week 19
Max Effort Lower Body
Back to your regular scheduled programming with the two week template. Today’s session is lower volume but high intensity. The two week template can be applied for almost any goal but todays workout is better suited for a powerlifter or those looking to gain strength.
Max Effort Lower Body Training
‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ Choose your weights correctly. This means taking multiple warmup sets starting with just the bar. This helps you dial in your technique but also to get a pulse on what you can expect for the day. If 135 lb squats feel heavy, a 405 lb rep PR might not be a good idea today.
Apply maximal intent, force, power, and acceleration to the squats and deadlifts at all times (including warmups). If you don’t pull sumo, strap in bucko because today you do. Pause front squats will be a challenge and i’d encourage you to not use a belt unless you’re a relatively experienced lifter. I don’t want any crutches even if they’re just for mental peace of mind.
My rule for any pause work: Use a 2 to 3 count pause (unless otherwise noted) and don’t start counting until the bar comes to a COMPLETE stop. DO NOT bounce out of the bottom. The whole point of the movement is to learn how to hold tension and to create starting power out of the hole without using the stretch reflex. Paused front squats should really challenge your entire trunk and if you’re not use to them, expect the gut to be sore for a few days.
If you haven’t done the dimel deadlifts before you can watch a video here. They’re a close cousin to the romanian deadlift. Perform them with an explosive lockout (unlike how the video starts). Avoid leaning back and just think about extending the hips and contracting the glutes maximally. These suck when you do them right.
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