Starting today I will post a weekly list of a few articles/videos that I have found around the internet ,that in my opinion are worth the short time it takes to read them. There will probably be a variety of pieces each week on a range of topics covering everything from strength and conditioning, rugby, business and life. I’ll also try to revive some old classic posts that you may not have seen before.
As someone who enjoys a good quote, I can appreciate a list like this. Roger brings together 50+ quotes designed to lift your spirit, even if it is just a little bit.
Given that one of my most popular posts on the blog is the one containing my 230kg (506lb) squat video, I thought I’d create a post that covers the training that led up to that particular PR. I’m also planning a post on the longer term development of my squat and how a “block” approach can lead to superior physical qualities (eg strength) in mixed sport athletes.
This cycle was based on my modified version of the 90% method which others as well as myself have had great success on.
I squatted one day per week and included my heavy upper body work on that day as well. It was basically a “heavy day”.
There was no accessory work for the squat at all, don’t even believe I did any torso work.
All “top sets” had an RPE of 9.5-10.
Notice that in week 1 I could only manage 5 reps with 160kg (calculated max of 185kg) and by week 6 I hit 1x230kg.
Week 1
Unfortunately I did not record my warm up sets.
5 x 160kg (5RM)
5 x 145kg
5 x 145kg
5 x 145kg
Week 2
5 x 60kg
3 x 100kg
3 x 140kg
3 x 170kg (first set with belt on)
3 x 180kg (Top set, 3RM)
3 x 165kg
3 x 165kg
3 x 165kg
3 x 165kg
Week 3
5 x 60kg
5 x 60kg
5 x 100kg
5 x 140kg
5 x 170kg
5 x 180kg (Top set, 5RM)
5 x 165kg
5 x 165kg
5 x 165kg
Week 4
5 x 60kg
5 x 100kg
3 x 140kg
3 x 170kg
3 x 180kg
3 x 190kg
3 x 200kg (Top Set)
3 x 180kg
3 x 180kg
3 x 180kg
3 x 180kg
3 x 180kg
Week 5
5 x 60kg
5 x 100kg
3 x 130kg
3 x 150kg
5 x 180kg
5 x 190kg
5 x 200kg
5 x 180kg
5 x 180kg
5 x 180kg
The 5 x 200kg Set
Week 6
This was the final week of the cycle and I was feeling a little burnt out. The thought of performing 8 sets over 180kg after the top set was not appealing, so I “autoregulated” and worked up to a 1RM instead.
5 x 60kg
3 x100kg
3 x 100kg
3 x 140kg
3 x 170kg
3 x 190kg
3 x 200kg (Top Set)
1 x 215kg
1 x 230kg
4 x 180kg
The 230kg Lift
So that was the cycle. Honestly, it was a fairly easy cycle with fast progress. Most of my squat improvements come in 6 week cycles like this that I was discuss further in a future post.
While this post doesn’t give you the exact programming I used, you pretty much can figure it out through reverse engineering and reading my older posts.
If you do have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments below.
NB: I found this piece in my Evernote account while doing some cleaning up. Some of the ideas here I have developed further into bigger projects, but I thought I’d throw it up on here as well.
As coaches we often overcomplicate things for the sake of appearances. Whether it be a game plan or drill in training, it is important to keep things in perspective.
At the moment my defensive sessions are identical. The same three drills in the same sequence every Tuesday for the entire season. Why? Because these three drills tick all the boxes and we are constantly improving in defence (with the statistics to prove it). Why would I want to complicate it?
Sure I could see some fancy new drill, spend a week implementing it and another week until the players are fully comfortable with it, but I don’t have the luxury of time. Players know the drills and they know what they need to work on with minimal prompting. Not only is it simple, but it maximises the time spent working in a time poor environment.
The Law of Diminishing Returns applies to rugby development as it does almost all endeavors. Once you get to the point where your players never miss a tackle or never drop a pass, they can’t not miss or not drop anymore. If they haven’t mastered skills in the most basic environments laying out dozens of cones simply means someone has to pick them up at the end of the session.
A major misconception is the idea of ensuring your players don’t get bored. Boredom is a product of session management, not simplicity or drill selection. If you are in a professional environment and have field sessions five days per week then perhaps you need a wider selection of training activities, but given the average amateur team trains 3-4 hours per week and during that time you need to cover skill work, unit work, team work etc., keeping things fresh should not be an issue.
After being on my to-do list for quite some time, I finally got around to updating the look of CallumMahoney.com. While it isn’t 100% finished and there may be a bug or two in the design I’m yet to iron out, the result is a faster and more robust design and backend, which will hopefully produce a better result for you, the reader.
In terms of having a new focus, I will continue to publish rugby-specific information (hopefully of greater quality and frequency) but I will also pursue a more holistic approach to content covering many aspects of life that interest me and hopefully you as well.
I am also planning overhaul in posting frequency and regularity, but time tells how that will play out.
Finally, I am establishing an email newsletter service to keep up to date and also receive exclusive content in the newsletters. If you would like to sign up, simply click here to do so.
Game based conditioning is a very popular and effective method for conditioning work in the team environment. It is however, far from perfect. Continue Reading…
