t-nation.com https://www.t-nation.com/training/passing-the-lifting-torch

by Jim Wendler|

Passing the Lifting Torch

Here's what you need to know...

1. Teaching kids training principles is what really matters. This is what carries overto training and ultimately to life.

2. Building a stronger mind involves getting someone used to uncomfortablesituations.

3. Building a stronger body stresses speed, mobility, strength, hard conditioning,and relative strength.

4. Jim's kids have three training days. Two days consist of 5/3/1 training and theViking Day consists of the Prowler, sled, and the thick rope.

5. You have to first learn to be slow and controlled in order to be fast. You have tofirst learn to fail before you can succeed.

6. You can get coached and read all you want, but nothing will ever take the placeof experience.

As I've gotten a little older and minimallywiser, I've wanted to give back the sameway my mentor Darren Llewellyn did withme when I was a kid. So, a few years ago,I opened up my garage weight room to local high school kids.

Related:  Mentoring Wendler

Living in a small town in Ohio has its advantages as an adult, but as a youth you cansee the limitations and lack of opportunities.

While sports are important here, they're not a huge priority. And consequently, training iseven less of a priority.

While I don't have any grand illusions of the importance of what I do, training and sportsare my language and this is how I'm able to communicate the lessons that were taughtto me. Here's the story.

Three Goals

It may surprise people that my main goal isn't to make them amazing athletes or helppave the road for another great lifter.

If that's the road they take, so be it. It's not my place to show them where to go.However, I do believe they'll be better at whatever they do if they're stronger people.

I have three goals when training kids:

1.  Teach Lifetime Habits

A good training program addresses three main areas: strength, conditioning, andmobility/flexibility.

Now, many people need more, namely competitive athletes, but no matter what you do,whether you're a professional athlete or an accountant, you must be physically fit andstrong.

Having a strong body, at least how we define it here, isn't about deadlifting 800 pounds,but by being physically better today than you were yesterday.

In addition, I hound the kids that consistency is the key. Quick fixes have no place intraining.

I take countless training questions from kids, sometimes offering direct solutions like,"Yeah, don't do that" to sometimes trying to make them use their head: "Why do youthink that would be a good idea?"

One thing I learned from my mentor is that you have to give people the principles andtools to make good decisions regarding training. This comes from three things:experience, common sense/critical thinking, and having a role model.

While I can simply tell kids what to do, teaching them training principles is what reallymatters. This is what carries over to training and ultimately to life.

2.  Develop Stronger Minds

I have a three year old. To anyone that has kids, you know that things such as patienceand empathy can and should be taught. Being mentally stronger or tough is no different.

Now when I say "tough" I don't mean wearing a leather jacket and picking bar fights. It'sabout being comfortable while uncomfortable.

We naturally seek comfortable situations. However, when presented with a situationthat's uncomfortable or challenging, that's when you show your true colors.

3.  Build Stronger Bodies

Whether or not the lifter is a competitive athlete or not, I stress the importance of a totaltraining program, one that stresses speed (box jumps/throws), mobility, strength (mainlifts), hard conditioning (Prowler/sled), and relative strength (assistance work).

While this is hardly all encompassing, I've found that developing these attributes makesalmost everything else easier.

The Training

We have three training days. Two of them are spent in the weight room and one, theViking Day, is spent out of the weight room. We lift on Mondays and Wednesdays andwe plunder and pillage on Thursday.

Here's a basic overview of the lifting:

Monday

Agile 8

Box Jumps or Med Ball Throws

Squats

Presses

Assistance Lifts

Related:  How to do the Agile 8

Wednesday

Agile 8

Box Jumps or Med Ball Throws

Deadlifts

Presses

Assistance Lifts

The main lifts are cycled in 3-6 week cycles, all using a 5/3/1 program. We use fourbasic set and rep variations for the main lift.

Related:  5/3/1: How to Build Pure Strength

Cycle One

Week One:  5 sets of 5 reps @ 90% TMWeek Two:  5 sets of 5 reps @ 85% TMWeek Three:  5 sets of 5 reps @ 95% TM

Note: I use a training max (TM) for each athlete and it's not based on a percentage ofthe one-rep max but rather on how I perceive their bar speed.

Cycle Two

Week One:  5's progression and 5 sets of 5 reps @ 70% TMWeek Two:  5's progression and 5 sets of 5 reps @ 65% TMWeek Three:  5's progression and 5 sets of 5 reps @ 75% TM

Note: 5's progression is explained in Beyond 5/3/1. It's simply the usual 5/3/1 reppercentages, but you just do 5 of everything instead of 5 reps, 3 reps, 1 rep.

In the examples above, you end up doing 50 total reps of each lift, but rep records areattempted on week three.

Cycle Three

Week One:  5's Progression, 5 sets of 5 reps @ 70% TM for squat/deadlift and 50 totalreps at 70% TM for bench and pressWeek Two:  5's Progression, 5 sets of 5 reps @ 65% TM for squat/deadlift and 50 totalreps at 65% TM for bench and pressWeek Three:  5's Progression, 5 sets of 5 reps @ 75% TM for squat/deadlift and 50total reps at 75% TM for bench and press

Cycle Four

All lifts are done with standard 5/3/1 program with 5's Progression. We attempt to set apersonal record (PR) or to hit goal reps on the final set. We then drop down to thepoundage used on the first set and do the same thing.

Week One:  70x5, 80x5, 90xPR or goal set. 70%xPR or goal set.Week Two:  65x5, 75X5, 85xPR or goal set. 65%xPR or goal set.Week Three:  75x5, 85x5, 95XPR or goal set. 75%xPR or goal set.

Owning the Reps

Before every set, I make sure everyone is fully aware of pushing each rep hard and asfast as possible, but under total control and mastery of the lift.

Two things that Darren taught me in training and in the discus were to be methodicaland "slow is fast." The lifts have to be done violently but under total emotional andphysical control.

The lifter must also own the weight, not the other way around. "Control is strength!" issomething I say over and over again. By being under total control, the lifter invariablymoves the weight faster without really trying.

This energy is always more powerful than if the lifter screams and spazzes out duringeach rep. I firmly believe in quality over quantity, and this all starts with being mentallyready and focused for each and every rep.

The teaching of these mental techniques doesn't really come into play until we try forpersonal records or shoot for a rep goal. That's when a lifter is uncomfortable and hisbody will want to shut down.

By being relaxed and under control, he'll learn to fight through this without throwing apunch. This is what I strive to teach: Control under pressure or while beinguncomfortable.

No exercise teaches this more than squatting. Presses and deadlifts are easy whencompared to squatting.

Squatting with a bar across your back gets very uncomfortable. Your lungs, legs, back,abs, chest, and arms all get fatigued. So while we push all movements, nothing showsthe soul and guts of a lifter more than a PR set of squats.

Jumps and Medicine Ball Throws

We aim for 10-15 total jumps or throws per workout. The jumps are almost always boxjumps and we use a variety of medicine ball throws, including overhead, backwards,and chest throws.

Occasionally we'll do the Prowler on training days. This is done with light weight for 8-10, 40-yard sprints with 60-90 seconds rest between sprints.

Assistance Work

All assistance work is done with bodyweight or no added weight: dips, push-ups, chins,pull-ups, fat man rows, and leg raises. We use a total rep count that's based entirely onthe athlete's strength.

Viking Day

I chose this name because everyone thinks Vikings are cool. At least most males do.Who the hell doesn't want to have a beard and wear a killer helmet and animal pelts?

The Viking Day consists of three things: Prowler, sled, and the thick rope. There'snothing fancy about how this is set up. We just sit outside and have fun. I set up somechairs in the driveway, make some water available (beer for me), and we all have a go.

Rope Pulls

We attach a 110' rope to the sled. We all do two sets of a very light weight and two setsof the heaviest weight we can move. These sets aren't easy and more often than notrequire the athlete to stop during the set.

Rope pulls are a great way to strengthen the arms and back, but if the rope is thickenough, your grip is also stressed.

Sled Pulls

I've found doing sled pulls with a strap attached to a belt to be pretty much useless.Instead, I purchased a strongman pulling harness and use that for all the forward pulls.The heavy weight forces the athlete into an almost bear crawl position.

After one light set of pulling forward, we again use the heaviest weight possible and pullthe sled about 50 yards. We then attach a strap to the sled and walk backwards whileholding the strap.

This is also done for about 50 yards and done with the heaviest weight possible. Likethe rope, many have to stop during the set, but they quickly learn that losing momentumisn't a good thing. I keep telling them, "An inch is progress – keep moving forward!"

Prowler

The last part of Viking Day is the Prowler. We do no warm-up for this and everyone hasto do two 50-yards pushes with the heaviest weight they can handle.

This is always the last straw for many of them, including myself. The Prowler has astrange way of making everyone want to quit.

The Viking Day is no doubt a great way of strengthening the legs, hips, back, and arms,but more important is the mental strength you need to get through these sets. Whilesquatting is the best way in the weight room to build mental strength, sleds andProwlers and hills are the best way to build mental strength outside the weight room.

Conditioning Phases

There are usually three phases one goes through when pushing their conditioning:

1.  The Aggressor

This is typical in first timers. They waste their mental and physical energy by yelling,screaming, and being incredibly tense. They tend to hold their breath way too muchbecause they don't know how to breathe.

I love training with these people as they make me feel like I'm in terrific shape. I couldout-condition all of these people even if I had a pack-a-day habit.

2.  Going to the Darkness

This is where people use mental techniques such as, "If I don't get this, my mom isgoing to die," or they draw upon some criticism that was directed at them.

This helps them push through and is a huge improvement from the Aggressor as they'remuch more relaxed.

But while this may seem like a good thing, they're still relying on emotion to get throughthe set. This is not ideal – emotion will drain you.

3.  In the Moment

This is what I consider the apex of the conditioning mind and one that takes a lot of timeto get to. Like weight training, it's about relaxing and understanding that pushing "easy"is how you push hard.

Your mind should sound like a Portal song. This is similar to what Bruce Lee said in themovie Enter the Dragon: "I do not hit. It hits all by itself."

Relax You Must

While learning to relax while training may seem a little odd to most and probably farfrom the "If the bar ain't bendin', you're just pretendin'" crowd, this lesson of relaxationhas served me well since I first learned it in high school. It took me years to understandit.

When I was a junior in high school, I learned a simple relaxation technique that tookabout a year to master. I'd hold my finger and thumb together, similar to the "OK" handsymbol.

You hold your fingers like this and practice relaxing your breathing and letting yourentire mind and body relax. Just go numb and black.

After about a year of daily practice, all you have to do is hold your finger and thumbtogether and your body automatically relaxes.

Fast forward 20-plus years, and all I have to do is think about my fingers touching and Icompletely relax. This is how you want your mind and body to be when you doconditioning work. Obviously your body is moving and your muscles are tense, butthere's a fluidity to your movements.

While this is important to your training, the carryover is huge. Knowing how to relax andbe in the moment is so important in taking tests, public speaking, dealing with your kids,job interviews, or any situation that can be stressful.

Pay It Forward

We condition hard for the body, but we also condition hard to teach the kids how torelax under pressure when their breathing is compromised.

It's also important, however, to let them go through the phases themselves and learnfrom experience. You can get coached and read all the articles and books you want, butnothing will ever take the place of experience.

Just like you have to first learn to be slow and controlled in order to be fast, you have tofirst learn to fail before you can succeed.

It's easy for me to say that everyone I've mentored has gotten stronger. After all, they'rehigh school kids and getting them stronger isn't hard. However, the best evidence oftheir progress is the reaction from teachers and parents.

The kids all walk differently. They carry themselves with pride and all of them arestronger people.

Whether or not they'll one day pass the torch I received from Darren, I don't know.That's their path to choose. At the very least, I've planted the seed of strength and hopethey continue that journey no matter what road they choose.