 The latest blog post is written by Coach Beá, and it's about a very important topic - Cutting for Competition. If you've been coached by me you will know that I feel quite strongly about cutting, or rather not cutting, for competition - particularly in your early competitions. I'll let Beá explain the rest. The ultimate debate of powerlifting To cut or not to cut? Most powerlifting coaches would tell you, likely as a straight answer, don’t. But then whenever we hear the success stories from the elites & champions, there’s always a mention of some sort of ‘making weight’, ‘water cut’, ‘fasting’ and other stuff. So why are we, coaches, so against the idea of cutting body weight when it always seems to be part of the winning tool kit. The explanation is that famous phrase ‘it depends.’ But rest assured, in this post I will answer this question.  Firstly, what do we mean by cutting/making weight? In powerlifting, in order to make sure the competition is fair for everyone, contestants are divided into age and bodyweight categories. We use Wilks, GL Points or Dots to calculate the score for each lifter based on their bodyweight, total and other factors, the highest score wins. The common understanding, unfortunately, is misleading as the majority of beginners still believe they have to aim for squeezing themselves into the lower body weight category and try to max out the highest total they can possibly hit there. Now...does this in any way, shape or form, resemble a ‘growth mindset’? For instance, a male lifter who weighs 87kg, which is in the middle between the two body weight categories, 83kg & 93kg. This athlete can make the decisions to lose 5kg and cut their strength alongside their size, increase stress levels or sit still and comfortable and take advantage of extra fuel and enhanced recovery rate and maybe even put on a kilo or two knowing it still will be absolutely fine for the comp. When people cut calories and body size that also means cutting potential gains: - gains for heavier lifts, recovery and overall, a heavier total on meet day. Novice lifters, who are still progressing very fast in technique and/or strength, should never worry about cutting weight for this reason. You might win the upcoming competition and take a gold medal home. But you also hindered your potential development by limiting the calorie intake and accumulating higher levels of fatigue (pushing your maxes with decreasing body weight). This means that whilst you got a gold at a smaller comp the one you qualified for will be harder now due to the aforementioned factors. Whilst you’re struggling, your competition is already back in training enjoying calorie surplus and just being an absolute unit. ‘If I wanna become like the elites, I must do what they do..’ Ask anyone of the current world champs, if they’ve done any of the ‘fancy stuff’ when they competed at their first comp? -No, they did not. Elite Powerlifters, the ones who've been in the sport for over 5 years, are not making progress as quickly anymore. They are pushing their biological limitations, and their recovery rate has slowed down over the years. They have to really push their limits and are likely to make a fraction of an increase in total compared to that of a beginner. They have to use every little trick left in the magic hat if they want to get a higher/better score and they’re provided with all the professional aid in order to get the required result.  Most recent example, Evie Corrigan (52kg- ), winner of Sheffield, the biggest IPF event of the history,. When Evie started the comp prep she was a 57kg- lifter but was comfortably sitting at 54kg, for her losing 2kg made little to no alteration to strength levels and it also meant a higher chance to get close to hit the highest % over the current world records. For her cut she has assistance from nutritional coach as well and her powerlifting coach. They went through every scenario and drew up every possibility for both 52kg & 57kg category just to make sure it’s indeed a worthy call to make with everything’s at stake. Social Media Social media plays a huge part in overwhelming and distracting rookie lifters from what priority to focus on when prepping for meet day. To clarify for the first 3-5 competitions the biggest goal for any lifter should be to make every attempt, get 9/9 and gain competition experience. What do we mean by ‘experience’ isn’t just being there, it means answering the following;
One dangerous aspect of cutting weight for competition is the impact of dehydration. Which will result in a lack of minerals as well as a lack of energy. This is due to the absence of sugars which the body would naturally need for survival. This puts the athlete in a really unsustainable condition if not monitored, or controlled adequately. The least people would experience who are dehydrated during comp is occasional cramping up but this can quickly turn into total passing out and other, even more severe long lasting damage to the metabolism and to the musculature. It’s crucial that whoever decides to undergo this kind of drastic act, create a sustainable - realistic plan and follow it through. There are different weigh in times for different body categories throughout the day, so not eating all morning for your 2pm weigh in would be a shot-in-the-foot move. This is a whole other science just like powerlifting itself and so it shouldn’t be taken lightly. There’s many useful resources for game day planning, which would also talk about the different approaches on how people can execute weight cuts and still enhance their comp performance. And most importantly, athletes, immediately after they successfully weighed in, are to hurry re-hydrating and re-fuelling within the allocated 2 hours prior to the lift off. Without a well laid out plan, you not only make your competition day harder than necessary, but you also risk potentially bombing out due to poor performance. So to answer this longing question: Cut or not to cut? It depends, are you… A, a beginner lifter who is still developing in physique and gaining experience in competing. B, a veteran lifter, who’s been competing for years and likely to be at their biological threshold for strength levels and would need a more dramatic approach to increase total? If you admit to being A, it’s great because the longer you stay in a rookie mindset, then the more potential you will still have to become a freaking beast. If you’re B, with your experience you are likely to have professional powerlifters in your social circle who are experienced enough, and can guide you on this topic on a qualified level. You'll see Beáta next competing in Olympic Weightlifting in July, but if you'd like to be coached by her then get in touch via the website or find her on instagram @prhousecoaching.
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 16th April saw our first Club Competition here at the Barbell Club. It was a resounding success, and I genuinely couldn’t be happier with how it went. The quality of the lifting, the running of the day and even the overload of spectators made it all a brilliant day. The Club Competitions are largely a grassroots affair, allowing for beginner and novice powerlifters to get into the sport in an easy, low pressure environment where they don’t need things like a singlet, approved belt or approved wraps etc. With that in mind, the majority of lifters were first timers and we didn’t see many failed lifts, and there were zero bombs too. The majority of volunteers were also doing their roles for the first time too, and they learned very quickly. This was mainly down to how helpful people like Mark Henkelis, the North West’s tech extraordinaire, and Sheina, our very own Referee, were with the lifters and volunteers alike. Mark brought a whole bunch of equipment in order for us to run this competition as much like a sanctioned one as possible, and then spent the day managing the platform for us all - where, again, he was a massive help with our first time spotters and loaders. Sheina has reffed at many competitions now but she balanced being fair with being helpful and approachable to new lifters. So any red lights were accompanied by a thorough explanation of what was wrong and what needs to be worked on. All of this means that the spotters, loaders and lifters are now in a better place to go forward and compete at future competitions too. Our supporters, Red Bull, also supplied us with many, many cans of Red Bull across a variety of flavours. Meaning that everyone involved in the event from lifters, to volunteers to spectators were able to get a free drink of Red Bull. If you’re wanting to buy photos from the day, then please check out this link on James's website.  So, what’s next? Firstly, we have the Supertotal Push/Pull on it’s way. This is on the 7th May, which isn’t far away now, and it will include the events of the Clean and the Bench Press. The winner, for male and female, will be decided by a combination of Sinclair points on the Clean and Wilks points on the Bench Press. This competition will be the first time we’ve included Olympic Lifting in an event at this gym too, so we’re really excited to see how that works. We are accepting entrants to this until this Friday, 28th April, so if you do want to give it a go - use this link.  After that, we enquired about hosting another Club Competition in the Summer but it was suggested that we just do a Sanctioned one instead. So, we are hosting the August Barbell Fest on 27th August this year. This will be an IPF sanctioned event, meaning that you can qualify for next year’s British and English events (including the Juniors, Open and University options). We are looking at getting sponsors for this event too so that we can include things like (hopefully) cash prizes and such. You can find out more information on the event here. If you’re interested in sponsoring the event you can check out this form too.  We are also planning to re-launch our Beginner Classes in both Powerlifting and Olympic Weightlifting throughout May. If you, or anyone you know, are interested then please get in touch and we will give you more information!
You can email us here - [email protected]  The latest article from James Kennedy for you here. It's all about Fat Burning supplements - should you buy them and are they worth it? Fat burners and weight loss pills are nutritional supplements which *claim* to increase fat metabolism and energy expenditure, speeding up fat loss and allowing people to lose weight quicker. They are popular supplements, with over $2 billion spent annually in the US alone on fat burners and weight loss supplements (1). In strength (powerlifting and weightlifting) and physique (bodybuilding) sports, fat burners are commonly used to help athletes manage weight loss and reach lower weight classes whilst maintaining as much lean body mass and muscle as possible. Sounds great right? Well, let’s go back to 2011. The Manchester City football player, Kolo Toure, was suspended for six months after failing a drug test which he blamed on taking his wife’s weight loss pills which contained a banned substance unbeknownst to him or his wife (2). Does this still occur? What’s actually in a fat burner? Do they work or are they just a way of supplement companies getting even more of your money? To find out, I decided to break down every listed ingredient in the fat burner which appeared at the top of the Google search results. I then searched the internet and the scientific literature for the supplement’s ingredients, finding what the ingredient is claimed to do, what the evidence supports and whether the ingredient would be effective in the supplement.  The ingredients of the first fat burner that popped up on Google. These are the listed ingredients for the fat burner that turned up on Google - the ingredient list is pretty typical for a pre-workout. The website advises you to take three tablets spaced evenly throughout the day, which will provide you with ‘an impressive array of 9 potently dosed ingredients’ which will wake you up, keep you alert and keep blood sugar levels normal all whilst boosting metabolism, burning fat and reducing appetite. Let’s evaluate these claims… Citrus Aurantium The first listed ingredient is Citrus Aurantium, which is more commonly known as bitter orange. Bitter orange contains p-synephrine, a molecule similar to the banned stimulant ephedrine, which has been researched and marketed as a product which can increase your metabolic rate and alertness, whilst reducing appetite, anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate (3,4). However, the scientific literature has found no to negligible impact of supplementing bitter orange on these outcomes - though it may have a small positive impact on digestion and blood circulation (4). Overall, bitter orange has not been shown to be an effective stimulant, with its popularity in supplements primarily due to the similarity between p-synephrine and the banned, highly effective stimulant, ephedrine. Whilst p-synephrine is legal in World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA ) sanctioned competitions, it was added to their watch list in 2019 to monitor its misuse in sports as a fat-loss supplement (5). Overall, Bitter Orange isn’t an effective fat burner or stimulant Green Tea Extract The second listed ingredient in this product is Green Tea Extract. Green tea extract should contain green tea catechins, a group of four molecules with a range of health benefits (6), with the most potent being EGCG (7). Green tea or green tea extract does have benefits as a ‘fat-burner’; it is effective in reducing body fat (8) and increasing fat oxidation - the percentage of calories from burning fatty acids (9). However, these effects are small and unreliable, with caffeine sensitivity being key to getting these benefits. Importantly, these benefits can all be achieved by just drinking green tea.  Just 0.02p per serving in Aldi! You may assume that the green tea extract would be more concentrated, with a higher proportion of catechins, especially EGCG, which would increase the efficacy of the supplement. You would be wrong. A typical green tea extract is about 50% EGCG, corresponding to 50mg of EGCG per tablet in this supplement. Depending on the species of tea and brew time, a single cup of green tea can contain 100-200mg of catechins and 50-100mg of EGCG (10). Furthermore, the fat-burning properties of green tea extracts are dose-dependent, with significant effects only shown at doses of 400mg+ of EGCG per day. The fat burner we are investigating today most likely provides you with 150mg of EGCG per day, or about the equivalent of 2-4 cups of green tea, and significantly below the dosage required to have significant effects on fat loss or fat oxidation. Caffeine Caffeine is an effective stimulant, found naturally in tea and coffee. Whilst caffeine is a stimulant and nootropic, it has also been found to improve physical strength (11) and endurance (12). Furthermore, habitual caffeine use is linked to a reduction in the risk of a range of diseases - including Alzheimer's and cirrhosis. At high total daily doses, however, caffeine can interfere with sleep patterns - often leading to the caffeine spiral, whereby you have too much caffeine, can’t sleep, then use more caffeine the next day to increase alertness and so on. Habitual (i.e. daily) caffeine consumption leads to a ‘hard tolerance’, where more caffeine won’t overcome the tolerance, however, the sleep interference side-effect/benefit appears to be independent of an individual's caffeine tolerance. Within this fat burner supplement, caffeine is appropriately dosed. A 100mg per tablet of caffeine is broadly equivalent to the caffeine content of a cup of filter coffee or two cups of tea. Overall, the caffeine in this fat burner is probably effective - it’s a proven stimulant and performance enhancer and it’s dosed effectively. However, if you’re drinking 2-3 cups of coffee and/or tea a day, the additional benefit of the caffeine within this supplement is probably negligible. The Aminos The next two ingredients in the fat burner are L-Tyrosine and L-Theanine, both amino acids. L-Tyrosine is an amino acid used as a precursor for dopamine and norepinephrine, two catecholamines depleted in stressful situations. Supplementing with L-Tyrosine can help restore catecholamines levels in the brain, reducing stress-induced reductions in mental performance (13,14). Typically, people take 500mg - 2000mg of L-Tyrosine before an acute stress event (a workout or game), to improve mental performance during exercise. When studied, doses to achieve anti-stress effects found a range of 100-150mg/kg taken around an hour before exercise (13). Our fat burner supplement offers a relatively paltry 200mg spread across three doses taken throughout the day - severely limiting the improved cognition effects of taking L-Tyrosine. L-Theanine is a non-protein amino acid, found in tea. L-Theanine makes you feel relaxed without making you drowsy. When taken with caffeine, it may help enhance the cognitive effects of caffeine by offsetting the anxiety associated with caffeine consumption (15). It is present in tea, with 50mg per cup on average, and is typically dosed at around 100-200mg as a supplement. The fat burner supplement contains 150mg, spread into three doses, or about the equivalent of three cups of tea per day. Kola Nut Extract We now move on to the Kola Nut Extract. This supplement is relatively understudied, however, is commonly used in West Africa where it originates as a stimulant. Broadly, the reported health benefits of consuming the Kola nut or Kola nut extract align with caffeine consumption (16, 17). Whilst it is a popular ingredient of fat-burning supplements it has not been studied in this role and its efficacy is unknown. Chromium Chromium is an essential mineral consumed in the diet, typically found in grain and plays a role in insulin regulation. Chromium supplementation however had no reliable impact on insulin for people with normal or elevated chromium levels (18). Interestingly, there is some evidence that Chromium can help with managing food cravings whilst in a calorie deficit. Specifically, a single study found that supplementing with 1000mcg of Chromium led to a greater reduction in food intake vs a placebo group (19). This result was significant but needs further study to understand if this effect is replicable and why Chromium supplementation has this effect. The Spices The final ingredients within the fat burner are the spices - Cayenne Pepper and BioPerine. BioPerine is a black pepper extract and cayenne pepper is a type of chilli pepper, which will be in this supplement for its capsaicin content. Capsaicin is the molecule which makes foods spicy and causes the associated side effects. Why is this in a fat burner? Well, capsaicin is trumpeted as a substance which helps with weight or fat loss by boosting your metabolism, helping burn body fat and improve metabolic health. However, when studied, Capsaicin has been found to have ‘minimal potency’ in impacting fat loss or improving metabolic health (20). The presence of BioPerine - black pepper extract - will be due to its ability to increase the bio-availability of other substances, particularly spices, by inhibiting enzymes which attack other molecules. Bio-availability is basically how well a substance can be absorbed by the body; piperine is highly effective in increasing the bio-availability of other compounds consumed within a supplement (21,22). Conclusions So what’s in a fat burner? Mainly substances you can get in tea and coffee, which have a minimal impact on fat loss and metabolic health and are underdosed. If you want to lose weight and improve body composition, find a good coach (link) and eat in a sustained calorie deficit whilst following a well-structured training plan (link). Don’t waste your money on magic pills and shortcuts: supplement companies are just trying to scam you out of your hard-earned money and waste your time. Don’t let them. Don't forget, if you want to get these Blog Posts earlier and directly to your inbox, you can join the mailing list.  We also have our 1 Week Trial on offer for free throughout all of April.
Why You Should Consider Online Coaching -Online Coaching allows lifters from all over the world work with us, as well as lifters who may be local to our gym and even want to join. The main thing that links them is that they want a successful programme, excellent communication and consistent accountability - which you will get with all of our Online Coaching options. Whether you're in Liverpool, Los Angeles or Laos we can help you achieve your goals. We've had online lifters in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada, America, as well as a number who literally train within feet of us in our gym.  The Options.We have a number of Online Coaching options here at the Barbell Club. While these options are mainly aimed at people wanting to train towards, or who are actively, competing in Powerlifting or Olympic Weightlifting, they can be adapted to your own goals. Our options differ in price but also differ in how much help you would like. If you're just starting out and want something that will get you going to test the waters, we have you covered. If you want a plan to follow with weekly accountability, we have that too. If you want something more hands-on then we can help you with that too. The Full Package.This one is mainly aimed at the competitive athletes. With this option you will get -
As you can see, practically everything is covered here. Whether that be programming, nutrition, support, accountability or specific Skype/Zoom session to plan out goals - it's all here. This option also comes with free competition day handling. You can also choose for just training and no nutrition in this option for a cheaper rate. This one is definitely the most hands-on for the lifter. If you want to leave no stone unturned on your way to the top of competitions, or even to just get stronger and feel better about yourself, then this is the one you should consider.  Assisted Programming.This is the most popular option of the Online Coaching currently. With this one you receive -
This one is a little less hands on, and relies mainly upon the training app, checking in and emails. A number of our successful powerlifters have benefited greatly from this option in the past, and still do today. While this one is a little less hands-on than the full package, you can still achieve your goals comfortably with this one.  Guided Programming.This one was built upon years of experimentation with powerlifting programmes, and it has gone on to provide to foundation for the University of Liverpool team programmes that James Kennedy and I have put in place for their Varsity winning powerlifting team this academic year. With this you get a 4 week plan, which initially will be a little bit general*, but as you go on and we get to know you better it will develop over time. *The numbers and programming are still unique to you, however. For this option you will receive -
 The Terminology.You might be wondering what some of the phrases used above actually mean. Here, we'll delve into it a little bit more. Programming.This refers to the creation, progression and maintenance of your training plan. While there is often a long term plan when you're given your training programme, real life can get in the way and cause it to pause, rewind or even fast forward. Weekly, or monthly, updates allow for you to progress at the best possible rate for you and your goals. Checking in.An absolutely crucial aspect to Online Coaching. Depending on the Online option you choose you will either do a formal check in once a week or once a month. This allows for your coach to assess the current programme and whether to progress, maintain or regress certain movements etc. Your coach needs to know how your week has gone - they are not a mind reader. And they certainly need to know when things have gone badly, or just not gone at all - it is in those cases where their expertise can be invaluable. So do not feel as though there's no point to checking in - there always is. Online Community.The online community we have created within the Barbell Club and within the individual coaches's groups is second to none. Our groups are all excellent eggs, meaning you'll have a lovely time meeting and sharing this journey with them. There are also a number of them with a lot of invaluable experience who can help you out in terms of accountability or support. These communities can be found in person, via the WhatsApp chats and the Facebook group. Updates.When you've communicated and checked in with your coach they will be in a far better position to move your training plan on to the next phase. Whether it be weekly or monthly you will have consistent updates so that you're not left to spin your wheels. Skype/Zoom Calls.These are a recent addition to our Online Coaching, and due to the added time they are restricted to the more robust coaching packages. These can be seen as a more in depth check in with your coach, where you can discuss your week's training, your progress, your goals and bring up any concerns you may have. Technique Analysis.The weekly Skype/Zoom calls also allow for a more in-depth technique analysis of any videos you may have gotten throughout your week of training. If you are on a different coaching option, one without the calls, you are still welcome to send the videos over for your coach to assess. Goal Setting.While goal setting as an avenue to explore in every coaching option, you can take advantage of the weekly Skype/Zoom calls in order to use these sessions specifically for goal settings. It always works out best for both coach and lifter to be on the same page regarding goals and future plans. Nutrition.Nutrition is an optional addition to our Online Coaching options. A focus on the fuel you use for training, as well as your relationship with it, can take your training and competitive goals to the next level. The nutrition operates on a similar level to the coaching, in that you will work out a plan with your coach - whether that be macros, habit based or a mixture of the two - and then send the coach a weekly check in. The coach will then use this information to guide you towards your goals. 
We're back with another excellent blog post from James Kennedy.
Powerlifters typically spend 60-80% of their training volume performing the three power lifts - squat, bench, and deadlift, or their close variants. Training with a focus on the big 3 allows lifters to develop the necessary skill and hypertrophy to maximise performance in the sport of powerlifting. Taking a highly focused approach to training increases the risk of wear and tear injuries and muscular imbalances as the same movements are performed repetitively under load. Accessory work is essential in any good training plan, to help address muscular imbalances and provide additional volume for the key muscles used in the power lifts, whilst minimising the wear and tear on the body. This article outlines the 5 most important accessory exercises powerlifters should be doing to remain injury-free and build a balanced physique.
1. Single-Arm Dumbell Row For the single-arm dumbbell row, start by placing one hand and one knee on a bench. Grab a dumbbell in one hand and brace yourself against the bench with the other hand. Slowly bring the dumbbell up to your chest, pausing at the top. Lower the weight under control until your arm is straight. 2. Face Pulls Face pulls can be done using either a cable machine with a rope attachment or a resistance band around an upright. Set the cable machine or resistance band to just above your eye level. Begin by standing square to the machine, with your feet around shoulder-width apart, holding the rope or band with an overhand grip. Pull the cables towards your face, leading with your thumbs. At the end of the movement, your traps should be fully contracted and your elbows should be bent at 90 degrees. Slowly return to the start position. 3. Pull-ups: All variations Pull-ups are the final upper back exercise that all powerlifters should be doing - even the super heavyweights! If you think you’re too heavy to do pull-ups, here’s a video of world champion strongman Martins Licis doing pull-ups at 340lbs body weight (154kg!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWEAPsELAYU To start, grab a pull-up bar with a pronated grip, with your hands just wider than shoulder-width apart. Brace your core and set your back by retracting your scapula to open up the chest. Pull yourself up to the bar until your chin is above the bar. If you can’t perform multiple reps, use a resistance band to allow you to perform a movement, strengthening your lats, traps, and grip. Slowly reduce the band resistance until you’re able to do reps at bodyweight. If you find pull-ups easy, add extra weight using a weight belt to keep progressing and driving upper back hypertrophy. 4. Dumbell Hammer Curls Powerlifters often complain of elbow pain during squats and benchpress. Whilst there is a multitude of reasons this occurs, often relatively weak forearms and biceps are the cause. These muscles help stabilize the elbow joint and are not the primary movements in any of the big 3 power lifts. Dumbbell hammer curls are a great exercise to address these weaknesses. Start by holding a pair of dumbbells with your palms facing in, resting the end of the dumbbells on the front of your legs. This prevents you from using your hips to initiate the movement and keeps the form strict. Whilst keeping your elbow still, curl the weight up before slowly lowering the weight to maintain tension in the biceps and forearms. 5. Bulgarian Split Squats Unilateral leg work is incredibly beneficial for powerlifters. It helps improve joint stability, balance, and mobility as well as attacking muscle imbalances. The Bulgarian split squat is the king of unilateral leg work. The Bulgarian split squat targets the quads and glutes; key muscles that are used in the squat, but can be performed without loading the spine. It also requires a higher degree of balance and knee and ankle stability than the squat. Finally, at the bottom position of the Bulgarian split squat the hip flexor is stretched. To perform the Bulgarian split squat, place your rear foot on a bench and step forward with the other foot. You should step forward far enough so that you can hit depth (i.e. below parallel) without the front foot coming off the floor. Brace your core and slowly lower yourself into the hole whilst bending the front knee. The hips should not move - the torso should remain neutral with the front foot flat on the ground. Drive yourself back up out of the hole and stand back up. This exercise can be done just with bodyweight and then progressed to include dumbbells, weighted vests, or even barbells. Summary Accessory work for powerlifting should focus on developing muscles that the big 3 power lifts fail to develop; primarily the muscles which stabilize the hips, knees, shoulders, and elbows. These 5 exercises target these typically underdeveloped muscles and will help develop a balanced physique whilst keeping your joints healthy. Incorporate these 5 exercises as the basis of your accessory work and your powerlifting training will benefit massively! The Mailing List.
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Check that out here. Welcome back to the blog, this week we're focusing on the how and the why behind us getting stronger. And, as usual it's a piece by James Kennedy, fresh off the back of the University of Liverpool's win at Liverpool Varsity this year.  For competitive strength sports athletes, the aim of the game is to get as strong as possible. A key question then is, how and why do we get stronger? This question is essential to understand; without understanding this it is difficult to understand what we need to do in training and why it will work. There are a large number of factors which influence strength output for a given muscle group, from innate physical characteristics (such as limb length or muscle insertion sites) to adaptive characteristics (neural adaptations to force output and skill with lifting). These factors can change over time as well. New lifters tend to make rapid strength gains due to a combination of neural adaptations and skill development; the so-called noob gains. However, once you have passed through this phase (although this can last for a long time in some lucky people) there is a very strong relationship between muscular hypertrophy (muscle growth) and strength gains. To understand why this occurs, let's first delve into what’s happening in the muscle during a contraction to produce force. Muscles can be broken down into a hierarchy of structures. The base of the hierarchy is two proteins - actin and myosin - which interact during muscle contractions. The myosin converts chemical energy released from amino triphosphate (ATP) into mechanical energy which pulls the actin filaments along the myosin filaments, causing muscle contractions. Thousands of actin and myosin proteins are found within a single sarcomere; a collection of sarcomeres forms a muscle fibre and a muscle is formed of thousands of muscle fibres. The microscopic level contraction - relaxation cycles of actin and myosin leads to the macroscopic level muscular contractions. The muscles are attached to the skeleton by tendons, and as they contract the skeleton moves. Muscles generally attach to the skeleton at two points - the origin and insertion. The origin of a muscle is the attachment site which doesn’t move during contraction. The insertion of a muscle is the attachment site which does move during contraction. Taking a bicep as an example; when you perform a bicep curl, the bicep contracts. This results in the forearm moving around the elbow joint, where the bicep muscle inserts. The shoulder remains still, which is where the bicep muscle originates. Depending on the muscle group and type of joint they insert into - muscle fibres run at different angles. This angle, known as the pennation angle, controls the number of sarcomeres which can contribute to a given contraction. As pennation angle increases a greater number of sarcomeres can contribute to a given contraction - therefore a muscle with a larger pennation angle will be stronger than a muscle with a smaller pennation angle. Taking a line perpendicular to the pennation angle across the largest part of a muscle allows us to calculate the muscle's physiological cross-sectional area. Muscle cross-sectional area is directly proportional to the amount of force which can be produced by a muscle. Why does this matter for lifters? You can’t change the pennation angle - the angle at which muscle fibres insert into joints. However, you can increase the number of muscle fibres you have. The more muscle fibres you have, the larger your muscle cross-sectional area is and the greater force you can produce with that muscle. So how do we increase the number of muscle fibres? Resistance training! So, if you want to get stronger consistently over an extended period, you will need to increase the amount of muscle mass you have. As a strength athlete, you will also want to increase the amount of force your muscle can produce - so you have a larger muscle with more muscle fibres and each muscle fibre can produce more force. Training style can influence this; it is possible to have muscular hypertrophy and have fewer strength gains due to the muscle producing less force relative to the muscle size. Muscle force production is measured using Normalised Muscle Force (NMF); studies have mostly shown that it increases due to strength training. However, it does not increase the same for all groups. Comparisons between the amount of NMF produced by weightlifters' triceps, who train them primarily with a low rep, high weight movements like the jerk and overhead press, and bodybuilders, who trained triceps primarily with a higher rep, low weight movements, found that the weightlifters produced more force per unit area of muscle than the bodybuilders. Translating that into plain English; per unit of tricep muscle mass, weightlifters were able to generate more force than bodybuilders. This is likely due to the nature of the training differences between the groups. Note, that NMF is independent of muscle size - it is just related to the strength of the muscle. Ideally, we would like to be able to get a bigger muscle which could produce the same amount of force per unit area - growing both NMF and the number of muscle fibres. To increase the number of muscular fibres and overall muscle size, there are two broad strategies - focussing on high reps with lower intensities or training with higher loads and slightly lower rep ranges. As strength athletes, we want to increase both the number of muscle fibres we have and the amount of force we can produce per unit area of the muscle, the NMF. Consequently, hypertrophy-based training for strength athletes should be focused in the range of 70-85% of one-rep max, aiming to get 20-35 reps per exercise. This would lead to some classical ‘power building’ rep ranges such as 3x10, 4x8 or 5x5. The weights used should also increase over time; progressive overload is essential for driving hypertrophy. The simplest way to achieve progressive overload is to just add a small amount of weight to each workout. Alternatively, you can keep the weight the same, but just increase the number of reps per set. Combined with eating a diet high in protein this will lead to muscular hypertrophy. As larger muscles have the potential to be stronger muscles, over time progressively overloading and growing muscles will make you stronger. Further, training in a higher intensity style will help you increase the amount of force your muscles are capable of producing per unit area, increasing the carryover from muscular hypertrophy to strength sports. Summary Whilst multiple factors influence strength beyond muscle size and force production, there aren’t a huge amount of things you can do about them. The innate physical characteristics, such as muscle insertion sites, limb length, and the angle of insertion of the muscle, are fundamentally unchangeable. New lifters typically make very quick gains in strength without experiencing a large amount of muscular hypertrophy due to neural adaptations and rapid skill acquisition and development. However, once this phase is over and lifters move from beginners to intermediate-advanced trainees, muscular hypertrophy is much more important to strength gains. Fundamentally, strength athletes should be attempting to grow as much muscle as possible to produce the most muscular force possible and lift the most possible weight. The training style is also important - training in lower rep ranges with higher intensities is essential to maximising the amount of force muscle can produce. Subsequently, strength athletes should be training in the 70-85% of one-rep max, with 20-35 reps per workout. Chasing muscular hypertrophy whilst lifting heavy weights will help you keep progressing in your strength sports career. A bigger muscle has more muscle fibres, which can be trained to contract harder, allowing you to lift more weight and break more PBs. Fundamentally, the more muscle you have the more weight you should be able to lift and the stronger you will be!  Have you checked out the latest YouTube video - it's getting a lot of views at the moment. You can see it here.  Also, an update here too. The page will be updated to reflect the changes!
Continuing on with our training focused blogs recently, we have this one on periodisation. If you're not sure what it is, or ever wondered what your coach means when they talk about different blocks then this will surely clear that up for you a bit. As is most often the case, this one is written by James Kennedy.  Periodisation: What is it and how does it work? When you begin working with a powerlifting, strongman or weightlifting coach, you will probably hear them talk about the training plan or training blocks. Hopefully, your plan will be different to other people's plans, specific to your needs and goals. Why? And what does it all mean? The variations in training plans between athletes will depend on numerous factors: their training goals, their training history, their experience and their distance from competition. Relying on all these factors, a coach will select a periodisation strategy. In this article, we will outline three common periodisation strategies used in strength sports - linear periodisation, block periodisation and undulating periodisation. First though, some definitions. When we talk about periodisation, we are simply referring to how training is organised. Within the periodisation framework, training is broken down into the macrocycle, mesocycle and microcycle. The macrocycle refers to big picture training cycles - for example, if you were planning to compete in 6 months, your big picture training macrocycle would be the training you do between now and the competition. Within that 6-month macrocycle, your training will probably be broken down into smaller chunks of 4-6 weeks. This is the mesocycle. Finally, the mesocycle itself would be broken down into shorter periods - usually a week of training, known as a microcycle. Obviously, within this structure there is a considerable amount of variation and different approaches, and, in reality, good programming usually uses some aspects from a variety of periodisation approaches. Within this article, we will outline three common types of periodisation - linear, undulating and conjugate - and how they may be combined to build a complete training programme through a series of macro-cycles. Overview of different types of periodisation - Linear, Undulating, Conjugate Firstly, Linear Periodisation. Linear periodisation is the simplest form of periodisation - as the name applies it involves a linear approach to changing training variables from session to session. This approach is commonly used with beginners - for example, the Starting Strength programme popularised by Mark Rippetoe. This approach utilises no changes in exercise from session to session, with the exercises progressively overloaded each session. This can be done by either increasing the weight on the bar - for example, adding 2.5kg to the bar - or by adding more reps - for example doing 5 reps in session 1, 6 in week session 2 and so on. This contrasts with an undulating periodisation approach. Within undulating periodisation, exercises are kept the same, however volume (sets and reps) and intensity (percentage on the bar). So, an undulating approach might have you squatting three days a week, working in a variety of rep ranges: * Day 1 - 5 x 5 x 75% * Day 2 - 4 x 3 x 80% * Day 3 - 4 x 2 x 88% The final type of periodisation is conjugate periodisation. Conjugate periodisation revolves around changing exercise selection every microcycle but hitting the same sets and reps at each exercise. Within a conjugate approach, intensity is kept the same - but the actual weight will change depending on the exercise used. A conjugate approach might look something like this: * microcycle 1 - front squats * microcycle 2 - high bar squats * microcycle 3 - low bar squats Now, often people talk about these approaches as if they are mutually exclusive. However, most training programmes utilise all three approaches over varying time scales. A typical microcycle may have you squatting two to three times a week. However, if you are doing *different* squat variations each workout an undulating periodisation approach is being used from session to session. If you then increase the weight used from micro-cycle to micro-cycle then linear periodisation is being used on a micro-cycle scale. If every mesocycle you rotate exercises to address specific weak points and satisfy the principle of variation, then conjugate periodisation is being used on a mesocycle level. This type of approach - undulating periodisation from session to session, linear progression between weeks (to satisfy the principle of progressive overload (article link here)) and conjugate periodisation between macro-cycles - is inherent to structuring a good training programme. This overview of periodisation strategies has focused so far on different ways to organise training on the micro to macro-cycle scale. These macro-cycles are then organised and planned out with regard to training goals and the yearly training plan. Take an A/BPU powerlifter as an example. In January, they may sit down with their coach and plan out how to win world championships in September, in the -100kg weight class. To do this, they would need to qualify for the British Championship, then place in the top 2 at the British Championships in June to qualify for world championships in September. When planning out the year, the lifter needs to hit the qualifying total for British Championships and select a competition in March - three months away. For this athlete, we can plan out three distinct macro-cycles within the year - January to competition 1, competition 1 to competition 2, and finally competition 2 to competition 3. Within these macro-cycles, three mesocycles could be planned to enable the lifter to hit their goals on the platform. Across these mesocycles, multiple periodisation techniques will be utilised on the session to session and microcycle to microcycle time frame. However, what would we do in each mesocycle? Broadly, the mesocycles would fit into one of three phases, accumulation, transmutation and realisation. In mesocycle one, the aim would be to increase the ability of the athlete to train by improving their specific conditioning for the sport of powerlifting. This phase would focus on higher volume and lower intensity - for example, 4 to 6 sets of 5-8 reps at 60-75% of your one rep max. The second mesocycle - the transmutation phase - is where we utilise the increased work capacity and new muscle to build increased strength. Within this mesocycle, the intensity will increase and volume will decrease, with typical volumes of 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 6 reps of 75-85% RM. The final phase would be the realisation phase, where the lifter exposes their body to heavier weights to maximally express the new strength within the completion. This mesocycle would typically be shorter than the proceeding mesocycles and involve much higher intensities but lower volumes, with 1-3 sets of 1-3 reps at 85-95% RM. This basic three mesocycle plan is typically how powerlifters move through a competition macro-cycle: beginning with higher volume and lower intensity mesocycles and slowly decreasing volume as intensity increases to peak and win on the platform. Within the competition macro-cycle, the mesocycles will display elements of undulating, conjugate and linear periodisation to make sure the athlete is progressively overloaded and prepared for competition. Within this article, we have outlined the basics of periodisation (I’m not exaggerating when I say there are hundreds of books on this subject). How specifically periodisation is used will depend on the athlete and their short, medium and long-term goals. Hopefully, this article will have given you enough information to understand what’s in your programme and more importantly, why! For more on training go ahead and check out the rest of our blog. Or even get in touch with one of our many highly qualified coaches.
We also still have a deal on for the rest of February. Sign up for Grace's Tuesday session, or the evening Olympic Weightlifting Sessions and get your first month's membership free. You just need to sign up by the 28th. More information on February deals here.  The blog posts are back. We've had a lot going on in the last few months and the upkeep of the blog has, unfortunately, fell by the wayside. Here, we have a post about what you should expect when you start training, and as always it's written by James Kennedy. Exercising more, losing weight, and learning a new skill or hobby are some of the most common New Year’s resolutions people commit to at the start of the year. Consequently, January is the month with the newest gym membership sales - around 11% of all new memberships start in January. Sadly, half of the new gym members quit within 6 months. Why? The reasons people give for quitting the gyms are usually similar. People feel as though they aren’t making progress and aren’t seeing the results they deserve, are worried about getting injured or have gotten injured, or don’t enjoy going to the gym because they feel judged, uncomfortable or anxious. This article explores how to get started at the gym, what to expect and how to set yourself up for long-term success! Deciding to join the gym and start training is exciting and scary. The best thing you can do on day one is to find a good coach who can help simplify the process for you. For me, getting a coach was the best decision I’ve ever made. I’d been training seriously for around 2 years, and by chance rather than design, had made some solid progress and wanted to give powerlifting a go. I found a powerlifting coach and joined a powerlifting gym. I made more progress in the following 6 months than I had made since I had since I started training. The coach, the group training environment, and the entire culture of the gym made training fun and helped me achieve new personal bests. Whilst it may seem expensive to get a coach, for me, it was effectively outsourcing a lot of my anxiety. Even after 2 years of training and compulsively reading everything I could find about lifting weights, I would second guess every exercise in a plan I wrote, changing plans and targets every few months because I was convinced I was doing something wrong. Once I started paying for a coach, I don't have to think about what exercises, what reps, or what weights to use. My coach did that for me. It was only after getting a coach I realized how much mental energy I was wasting by trying to coach myself. Once you have found a coach a lot of the concerns about joining a gym are handled. You’ll make better progress, be taught how to perform the lifts properly, and know exactly what you need to do every time you go to the gym. Having a coach will also help create a positive feedback loop. The most important part of your first day at the gym is that you enjoy it and you want to come back for a second workout. Working out is inherently rewarding - working out releases endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin - which are hormones that are associated with happiness. Exercise is hard but it does feel good. When you go to the gym for the first time, don’t go mad and try to do every exercise and lift every weight in the gym. Have a plan, stick to weights you can safely perform and you’ll feel great when you leave the gym on day 1 and eager to come back for day 2!! What if you feel judged? When you’re working out in a new gym, it’s common to feel as if you are being judged. In reality, you probably aren’t. Every single person who is in the gym was once a noob too - even the super jacked powerlifter with the beard, 150kg bench, and punisher tattoos (he’s called Dennis and is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet). They all had to walk into a gym for the first time and start at the beginning - the same place you are. Most of the time, people at the gym want to get in, get the work done and get out of there. They don’t care what you’re doing and if they are looking at you it’s more likely that they’re thinking ‘way to go’ - the gym is one of the most supportive places I’ve ever been, and generally, the stronger someone is the more supportive they tend to be. Gym Etiquette Whilst gyms are supportive and friendly places, there is a definite list of rules and etiquette that you should follow to make sure you are safe, considerate, and not annoying the hell out of other gym members. 1. No curling in the squat rack! Whilst this may seem like a bit of a gym-bro joke - it’s important to not use equipment incorrectly, and the squat rack is not the place for curls. 2. Share the equipment This rule may be more relevant post-pandemic, but don’t hog equipment and stop other people from doing their workout. Let them work in and help with unloading and reloading the bar. It helps make the gym a friendlier, more pleasant place to train for everyone. 3. Tidy up your weights Once you’re done using the equipment, clean it up. Strip the bar, put the plates back away, and put any dumbbells you have been using away. This is important for several reasons. Firstly, if you don’t tidy your kit away other people won’t know that you've done using it. Secondly, it’s just rude to expect other people to tidy up after you. 4. Don’t be that guy Don’t be a creep. Don’t go over to a woman you don’t know mid-workout and disturb her, especially if she’s wearing headphones. Don’t mansplain and don’t try to disturb her mid-workout, especially if she’s wearing headphones. People are at the gym to work out - don’t make it awkward or uncomfortable for anyone else to do that. No stupid questions 1. What are sets and reps? A rep is performing an exercise once, for example, a push-up. A set is a collection of repetitions. For example, a workout plan might call for 3 sets of 10 repetitions (usually written as 3x10). This means you do ten reps of the exercise, three times. If you are ever confused about what you’re meant to do - ask your coach! There are no stupid questions! 2. How long should I rest? Rest periods are debated. Some people argue for very long periods - over 3 minutes, whilst others argue for closer to 45 seconds. To some extent, this varies based on what your aims are, but for most people, most of the time around the 90s is ideal. 3. What weight should I start with? A weight that is light enough for you to perform the exercise correctly, without injuring yourself. The exact number will vary depending on your previous exercise history and size. Using a coach will help take the guesswork out of this process - but start light! Learn the technique, get used to training, and add weight slowly as you get stronger. Hopefully, you’ll find this article helpful and it will help you commit to training and develop it into a habit that will change your life!  We have a Big Discount available to you Olympic Weightlifters in February. If you join up between now and the 28th you will get free membership.*
*You will still need to pay coaching fees to cover the coaches's time etc. You can sign up below. It's been a massively busy year in terms of competitions. These competitions have ranged from Club Competitions, Regional, National and International competitions - it's been a really big year for my team, and I couldn't be more proud! I even got back into competing myself.  Some of the team who competed at Battle of the Bar 2022 This year we've had Bettina compete at her first competition and absolutely smash it - winning both Open and Juniors with a number of NW Records. This performance then led to a bench only win in the All England's, as well as being picked to represent the North West in the Inter Regional Competition. The year will be rounded out pretty nicely with a Bench Only performance at the Commonwealth in New Zealand this December.  We had a team go out to compete at Raw Strength in March, including Joe, Victor, Dennis and Christina. Which led to a Gold medal for Joe, Dennis and a British qualification for Christina!  March saw Dennis and Christina compete at Raw Strength which then led to British Single Lifts in the ABPU with Dennis winning his weight class and Christina finishing third. Both of them went on to compete at Bench Worlds in September and both winning Gold Medals.  While on the topic of bench only, we also had Sheina Kaye compete in British, Worlds and Euros bench. Sheina did amazingly well to even turn up at Worlds Bench after being in hospital for a week just before it.  The early summer saw an introduction to compete for Sophie and Joe in a Club Competition held in Raw Strength. Both have gone on to make massive Personal Bests since and it was a great competition.  ABPU British was next - which saw Katie McGurk, Christina, Dennis, Hodgy and Piotr all competing. They all did incredibly well and hit competition PBs along the way.   Later in the Summer we had a big turn out at Battle of the Bar, which included my first return to the platform in 2.5 years. I'm pretty happy with my own performance there, to be honest. The picture at the top is from Battle of the Bar. We then had a small team go out to compete at Raw Strength in September, Sophie, myself and I also handled coach Beata. Sophie got a nice 2nd place finish in the 57s, Beata got 1st place and 2 Northwest records and I got a 1st place and a few PBs.  The next big one is Northwest Championships for myself, Sophie and Beata followed by Bettina's bench only in the Commonwealth in early December and then a big ABPU qualifier the weekend after. A lot of competitions and a lot more left to do this year!  Another big announcement is that myself and James Kennedy have been appointed as the University of Liverpool's Powerlifting Team Coaches. We're aiming for a strong turn out at British University Championships in 2023, as well as a big turnout in terms of new lifters getting into powerlifting via the Uni team. It's been a busy year! But as always feel free to get in touch regarding coaching, powerlifting or the University team.
The latest blog post comes from our very own James Kennedy. Here he takes you through the main tenets of a good training plan - it's more than just progressive overload and feeling tired afterwards!  A good powerlifting program should be unique to an athlete, targeting their specific weaknesses, allowing them to build muscle and add strength consistently. This can be achieved using any number of different strategies - linear periodisation, daily undulating periodisation, block periodisation or rate of perceived exertion-based programs all have helped thousands of people become stronger over the years. On paper, these plans can often look vastly different but all good programmes share common characteristics which form the basis of effective training programmes. The first is the principle of specificity. The Specificity Principle states that training should be relevant and appropriate to the sport for which the individual is competing (1). In powerlifting, that means you should be doing exercises that make you better at the squat, bench press and deadlift. It’s a simple concept, but this forms the basis for all subsequent decisions made in designing a program. For powerlifters, specific training must develop the necessary skills and physical features required for powerlifting - technical prowess in the competition lift, improved strength and force production, and increased size of the muscles involved. What does that mean in practice? Well, a training plan which has equal focus on front squats, standing military press, and bent over rows as it does on back squats, bench presses and deadlifts, is less specific than one which focuses mostly on back squats, the bench press and deadlifts. As such, for a powerlifter, the second plan would be more appropriate. The second principle of good training programmes is overload. The principle of overload states that to keep making progress on an exercise you must find some way to make it more difficult (2). Basically, to continue to get stronger you need to lift more weight. This can be done by keeping the weight the same and adding reps - if you can turn an old 3 rep max into a 5 rep max, you’ve gotten stronger - but it’s typically done by adding weight to the bar. You may start by doing 3x5x100kg in week 1, followed by 3x5x102.5kg in week 2, 3x5x105kg in week 3, and so on, to progressively overload the movement and keep progressing. The third characteristic of well-planned training is recovery. This idea is best summed up by old-school bodybuilding slogans such as ‘muscles grow outside the gym’. When you train you are putting your body and muscles under stress - it’s recovering from these stressors which allows you to gain strength and grow muscles. A good training plan should involve a microcycle split (a fancy way of saying the smallest unit of training within a broader plan - usually a week) which allows you to recover from your workouts before the next workout. Train, recover, repeat. The fourth part of planning good training is having a strategy for fatigue management. As you train, your body accumulates stress and becomes fatigued - you’ll feel run down and sore, training will require a lot more mental effort and the weights will feel heavier. Personally, when I become fatigued I physically feel heavy - like every movement takes more effort. A scheduled, or planned, reduction in volume or intensity (or both!) when needed allows the fatigue you’ve accumulated to dissipate, meaning you can return to training and continue to make gains. Commonly, this type of training phase is known as a deload or pivot block and is usually around 1/3rd of the length of the preceding training block. Importantly, this is not the same as time out of the gym! During a planned reduction in training volume or intensity, you should still be training - and a good plan or coach will make sure you are! The fifth aspect of a well-designed training plan is strategic variation. By strategically and systematically changing exercises, weights, and rep ranges, good training plans help lifters avoid injury, stay engaged in lifting and maximise long-term success. This can take a considerable number of forms and can be used in conjunction with the principle of fatigue management. For example, during a deload or pivot block, you may find yourself doing sets of 10 on a different squat variation (see below) or tempo work. This kind of variation makes training fun - you get to do different exercises, in different rep ranges for a week or two before returning to your normal training. For an example of a bit of a change up in training, click here. Finally, a good, well-designed, and well-planned training programme will utilise phase potentiation. This is a complex subject, with a fair amount of debate around it in the academic world, but it does matter to powerlifters and we’ll explore how in more detail in an article later this month. Broadly, the idea behind this is that the order of training blocks matters for the medium to long-term success of the lifter. A good training plan may start with a training block focused on building muscle, followed by a block focused on strength where you take the muscle you build in phase 1 and make it stronger. This would then be followed by a peak block, where you practice doing heavy singles to improve your ability to use that new strength. There are a lot of ways to organise training in this way, but the key to look out for is that a training plan shows a progression - from week to week and from training block to training block. A sample plan may begin in block one by working in the 6-10 rep range, followed by the 3-6 rep range in block two and the 1-3 rep range in block three. This would take you from a focus on hypertrophy to strength to maximal strength and would allow you to build on each previous block to a peak - hopefully on the platform! These 6 ideas are the core of a good strength training programme: it should be specific to what you’re trying to achieve, progressively overloading the exercises to ensure progress, with a volume that allows you to recover from each session and a plan to deal with fatigue accumulation such as pivot weeks or deloads. A good training plan should also sensibly and strategically vary the exercises, rep ranges, and tempo of the movements that you are performing; this reduces your injury risk, targets weak muscle groups, and keeps training fun. The final step of a good training programme is to take advantage of phasic training; this approach allows you to build technique and muscle, improve your strength, and peak at the appropriate moment - on the platform. References and links:
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