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Weak Link
Training
Matt R. Wenning
Ball State Graduate Student/powerlifter/strength coach
Sports Biomechanics
I first started to change my training ideas when I became stuck at a
mid 700 squat and a 479 bench press. No matter what I did, I could
not get these lifts to move one more pound. As many do I became
frustrated, and thoughts in my mind were somewhere to the tune of
“well, I guess this is my genetic limit”. But as I would take trips
to Westside once a month or so, I would notice that they were not
worried about the same muscles that I were to develop a strong squat
or bench. They were pushing the hip development, lower, and upper
back for superior squats. Not one to underestimate the numbers that
these expert lifters were putting out in the squat, I thought to
myself, "maybe I don’t know what I need." The same held true with
the bench. As many do, I always thought strong shoulders and pecs
were primary in order for the bench to move up the ladder, little
did I know I was about to go on an educational journey that began
almost 5 years ago. So what does all this have to do with weak link
training, well in short, everything.
At about 20 years of age, I pretty much left my ego at the door and
brought my pen and paper for a lesson every time I went to Westside.
Not only did I gruel through the workouts (as you must if you are to
not get your ass kicked out the door), but I paid very close
attention to the way things were being done, technique of the lifts,
order of exercises, and reps, sets so on and so forth. Not only did
I learn what Westside articles were talking about, I was living it.
This is where a big pet peeve of mine comes in. I talk to various
people and because they have read the articles they automatically
know everything about Westside methods, well to be frank, you only
know the easy part. What’s not on paper is that everyone is not
always doing the same thing accept for the core lifts, and exercises
change like people change their underwear, everyday. And the
intensity at this world famous gym is not for the faint of heart. So
why doesn’t everyone do the same thing? Well the answer is simple;
no one has the same degree of weaknesses.
When we first start out training to become powerlifters we all have
inherently weak muscle groups that are hampering our strength
(alright rookies get your pen and paper out). These muscles include
the lower back, abdominals, the hamstrings, the lat and rear delt
area, and the triceps. Notice that I did not say pecs, anterior
delts, quads, or other muscle groups that most powerlifters are
concerned with. These muscle groups should be trained year round to
catch up, keep up, and possibly even surpass the other muscles that
we train. Whether drug free or not, these muscles take lots of time
and effort to make strong. The lower back does not get a ton of
blood flow, the triceps are a fairly small muscle group, and the
abdominals are weak in everyone, and hamstrings as well. Also our
backs are not a muscle that grows easily, so these muscles hardly
ever start out strong. To develop these muscle groups in your
assistance work will mean bigger gains than you ever imagined.
I came across an article written by a famous coach some time ago,
and just remember the jist of it but this article was dealing with
the same issue of lagging muscle groups. He had noticed that an
athlete had come to him wanting to increase his bench from 385 to a
mid 4. After a brief assessment, This coach had found that his
external rotators in the shoulders were weak. After 6 weeks or so of
strengthening this small muscle group, his bench jumped to 425 with
no bench training what so ever. Interesting? Well its really quite
simple.
When the body has a lagging muscle group, it will defend the joint
or joints, by blocking activation of the larger muscle groups in
order to keep the body safe. A safety switch so to speak. As soon as
the lagging muscle group is stimulated sufficiently to increase in
strength and balance to the neighboring muscle groups, the bodies
defenses will shut off or not be stimulated quite as easily (this
equals more pressing strength, squatting strength, and DL strength).
So for example in the bench, the lats and rear delts play a large
role in stabilization of the shoulder joint. If these muscle groups
are not strong enough to support the shoulder under a given load
(lets say 405), then either you will never press it, or get hurt
when you attempt it. Ever notice the huge backs of the bench greats
of today and in the past.
In the squat, as I’ve always said, “I’ve never seen an athlete with
weak knee extensors (quads), but almost always weak hips and
posterior chains (glutes, hamstrings, back). So why do coaches still
advocate leg extensions or narrow stance squats to get their
competition squat strong is beyond me. Squat wider than competition
stance, and your squat will go up in all variations. Why, because
that’s where you’re weak. It holds true with most athletes. Train
them wide; get the weak muscles stronger, the athlete will be able
to display strength and power in more ways. All coaches must buy
accessory equipment based on all of their athletes weaknesses, this
would include, glute ham raises and reverse hypers (this would be a
huge step in the success of a program).
Another big issue I’ve seen with others and myself is the weak lower
and upper back. You think your back is strong? Yea I did too, until
I used Westside’s safety squat bar, and 315 and a purple band about
ripped my head off and ground my spine to a fine powder. After doing
a 3-week cycle and not changing anything else my deadlift moved from
a stuck 700 to 730 quite easily. I was also able to sit back in a
better position in the squat, since my technique was not hiding my
back weaknesses So obviously my lower back was hampering my
progress.
The key to thinking when choosing assistance work is to fix your
lifts, not to look better, and not to do what you like. Analyze your
technique it will tell you your weaknesses, also have people around
you (training partners, coaches etc) that can help. If you don’t
eventually think like this, your lifting progress will cease, or
injury may occur. I pride myself in getting stronger year in and
year out, with no injuries to my record.
Matt Wenning
2175 total
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