There I was, deadlifting 201kg (a little under 450lbs for you Americanos) for six reps with less than 4 minutes of warm-up.
This is not typical.
This was not planned.
This just happened last week.
I wasn’t able to make my typical mid-day training session so when a rare spot in the evening opened up, Coach Eric looked at me and said, “I need somebody. You want to train?”
Never one to turn down an opportunity to deadlift I immediately said yes with one caveat.
“I’ve got to call someone at the same time as the start of the session. I’ll jump in as soon as I can.”
Of course the call went a little long - I can get overly expressive when talking to someone new about our gym - and that had me missing the general warm-up and, as mentioned above, left me with only four minutes to get to my heavy set of six.
So I did what any other meathead with poor conditioning would do. I minimized the number of sets and maximized the jumps between weights. I went 70kg for 6, rested 2 minutes, did 150kg for 6, rested 2 minutes and then hit my top set at 201.
Were these the prettiest, most technically sound deadlifts I have ever done? No. Did I make it happen? Yes. Would I recommend any clients do this? No.
But there is a very good reason that I could get away with this.
Experience.
Or, more specifically in this case, reps.
I have deadlifted 200 kilos or more so many times in the past 20 years that I knew exactly what I needed to do and exactly what it was going to feel like before I even warmed up my first set.
(BTW, this is in no way me bragging about my deadlift. While 200kg is a heavy deadlift for me, in the world of heavy deadlifters it’s not that impressive.)
This is a very under appreciated aspect of training. So many people are wrapped up in their PRs or their 8-weeks-to-whatever programs that they lose sight of the fact that training has the most impact (and the greatest benefit) when done for long periods of time.
“Well, Dan, I’ve only ever thought about getting results quickly. Tell me more about the benefits of long term training.”
What a wonderfully, well thought out question. I’m happy to answer.
The first is what I mentioned above. When you train for long enough periods of time, the training becomes rather predictable. You know exactly what a 2k row feels like or how much effort you need to put into a 100kg squat.
And when you understand that you can best manage effort, fatigue and best prepare for your training sessions. This leads to better performance and the ability, ultimately, to handle more volume over time as you aren’t putting exhaustive efforts into sub-maximal sessions.
It seems like a minor detail but over the long haul this can make a massive difference in your training.
Long-term training also affects you deeply on the cellular level. Perform enough strength training for long periods of time and you can effectively alter your DNA for the better. This is why it is easier to get back in shape than it is to get in shape initially. Your cells and your physiology adapt more quickly because the code is already embedded.
And, lastly, the ultimate goal is not to just be someone who gets in shape for a specific event but to just be someone who is in shape. Sure, there will be peaks and valleys, particularly if you are training for events like powerlifting meets or distance races. But the quicker you can go from jumping in and out of training to simply identifying as someone who trains, the deeper and more long lasting your results will be.
This can only come from long term training.
It’s the vision I see for all of you, even if you don’t yet see it for yourselves.
My wife and I went to see John Mayer over the weekend. On this tour he is doing solo performances in arenas. No one but him on the stage in front of 20,000+ people.
After we found our seats but before he took the stage I found myself looking at the sea of well-dressed women and their insecure boyfriends and thought, “How the hell does he get up in front of this many people and do this? It must be terrifying.”
But minutes later, he walked up on stage, sat down in a chair, picked up an acoustic guitar and started playing with the confidence and ease of someone playing to their cat in their living room.
At that moment it occurred to me that, beyond his immense talent, he had just done so many reps over so many years that none of this was a big deal to him.
Turns out the best way to prepare for something is to have done it thousands of times before.