First Called Strength

Measuring “difficulty” in a session If strongman has taught me anything, it’s that training for strongman can be a major pain in the butt. Aka it’s a hassle or difficult. This difficulty comes from more than just load on the implement but logistical factors around set up, access of equipment, need for spotters, or even weather. To work around this, I loosely filter my decision making through the lens of the athlete and rank movements on a “Goldilocks” scale of 1 to 3. (And just like a pain score, it’s relative to the athlete). This plays in with programming to reduce unnecessary difficulty. So if I have an athlete who needs to wrap knees, get spotters, and hit a heavy top set (a 3 for most) that might not be the session to also drag out stones and get messy with tacky (also a 3). Or to start off with sandbag toss with ascending weights when they only have one bag when drills or sub-maximal drills/work could be done with one bag (a 2-3 reduced to 1-2). This filters down to accessory work. An accessory that needs more warm up sets and acclimation to movement pattern is going to rank higher than a bodyweight movement they can just go after (think pull ups vs barbell rows for simplicity). For everything that gets more complex, something else has to get more simple. French contrast at start of session? Straight hypertrophy sets at end. Multi-part strongman medley mid-session? Simple stability or machine biased accessories. Hassle or difficulty is a stressor just as much as loading, time under tension, or proximity to failure. And like stress, each athlete has a unique tolerance. Count the “difficulty” or hassle score session to session and see if some days you are just asking for too much. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

Clip from "Dynamic Effort for Strongman" from the @firstcalledstrength youtube channel Learning how to best adapt powerlifting bias dynamic effort principles into the greater strongman training plan. Full video: /watch?v=SPXtEKAbQMg

“Holding Overhead” If you are straining to hold something locked out overhead that is not a good sign. Ideally, the joints should be stacked and force directly downward so supporting the load is relatively easier than pressing it. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

🤦🏼‍♂️Never assume…(More below) Adding chains for accommodating resistance is somewhat common but often never instructed on how. For most applications, at the top of the movement a few links of the chains should still have contact with the ground. At the bottom, not all the chains should be on the ground if possible. Asking, “how many chains” usually refers to the number of lengths of chains attached to the bar per side, not individual links. Chains often come in 5-6ft sections doubled up and hung from a smaller chain to allow adjustment based on height. Chains can vary in weight by the size of the link. While programming and intent may vary, you likely only need chains that are up to ~20% of the max of the movement you are using them on. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

“But do I have to warm up” Unlike many, I do not necessarily see general warm ups as necessary…as you can train with minimal warm ups outside of adding more weight to the first movement. And by can, I mean you can if you feel your body is able to get into ranges, cue correct motor patterns and sequencing, nervous system feels “on”, have no on going rehab to fit in, etc. But let’s face it…few can honestly say they can perfectly check all of those every time. A warm up can better be seen as the high priority block. Most energy. Most motivation. For some, this can be leveraged to insure advanced rehab is done and not skipped. For others that primers are put in to maximize the main movements. However, for some, a long warm up is a waste of that valuable mental and physical energy, wavering their focus on the higher stimulating main movement. There is no “perfect warm up”. Do what you need to perform your best. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

Strongman Exercise Index: Rope Lat Pulldowns Common idea with rope style grips on pulling movement for grip. Careful to note: ▪️the dynamic nature with the “catch” on eccentric ▪️pulling to left side (I only train contest specific on right, dominant side) ▪️timed work to keep grip demand tracked ▪️clear body English so as I fatigue I still get grip stimulus 👉🏻 and don’t @ me for calling this “lat”. It doesn’t matter the muscle in strongman 😜 At the end of the day, this was a creative way for me to train a strong event for me, arm-over-arm. Helpful it was minimal set up and easier to recover from for harder events for that day. For some athletes’ ability, this similar timed principle can be used on pull up variations, inverted rows, and dumbbell rows. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

🤦🏼‍♂️ “Facepulls 3x15” I love facepulls, but I feel they get overused and poorly executed. Too often they are seen as just a rear delt movement when they can be so much more. I personally like them biased to external rotation to act as a loaded wallslide of sorts. Like most movements, chest support & stability, unilateral variations, and tempo can be leveraged. They can be pushed as hard as a barbell row even. But all that said, they are very convenient to do with a band, especially in contest warm ups. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

Just your reminder to move around the day before a contest. While rehydrating and replenishing is key post cut, there should always be a maintenance level of activity. At minimum I would recommend 40-50% of your daily steps and a light warm up similar to an event training day. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

💡CLIENT SPOTLIGHT Since getting back to the states, @stronger_stinett has been quick to enter two contests. Both with multiple PRs. In both, he was able to take some a deadlift PR. Some things we have been working hard on include: 👉🏻 accelerated exposure to moving and loading events he previously did not have access 👉🏻 manage fatigue during the week to yield the most effective & quality sessions 👉🏻 improving deadlift set up & start for better overall position 👉🏻 minimizing mental fatigue & potential overshooting/undershooting of intended intensity Jared, great work in prep and congrats on the PRs! The US missed you. 🇺🇸 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

“Pin Press” Pin Pressing is usually only seen as a way to get overload by cutting range of motion. But one use is developing perfect reps and body tension. An athlete gets to do multiple singles per set and manage eccentric loading. You find out quickly how being off center on your feet or the bar in front of you how difficult a press becomes. So yes, it’s usually a partial range of motion movement but if that’s all you get from it I truly am surprised. And no, you don’t have to be balding to pin press but it helps 😂 👇🏻Tell me how you use pin pressing in your training? 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

“Simple” Coaching, like art, is an evolving process. Honing the craft from experience and feedback. The longer I coach, the more I leverage simplicity. To some, simple screams lower value. But, like art, coaching is about extrinsic value. A client can get so much value from a simple program. They can preserve their precious finite resources of time, mental strain, and set up. And plug them into the process. Simple is not the same to everyone. Each piece tailored to the unique client. Simple is about putting the least amount of the canvas and it still undoubtedly showing a clear path to success. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

Stop muscle f*cking it Pull to the knees, leverage back, bag against body, more vertical, give the bag a quick and precise impulse up, descend and meet the bag. It’s a clean, just slower at times and less range of motion. And, like a clean, I do not think about nor feel my biceps, I sweep in with my lats, I feel the implement over mid-foot, balanced and grounded.* But maybe I am wrong. I mean I do not do the most on a sandbag to shoulder. I just do it the exact same every time with very little energy used fighting the bag. *only reason I moved was I wasn’t perfectly over mid-foot with vertical trunk 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength