That first D1 school the coaches Name was Tom Minkel
go google it - he was legit.
So I went from never lifting to having access to bumper plates.
shitty bars shitty racks and places to do pullups. I didnāt see allot machines.
with out going thru the entire chronology- of where I went or any of that .
I wen to russia - this is like 1990 - for three weeks.
I realized what I thought of āhard conditioningā I was mistaken.
I later went to Cuba too In my mid 20ās- and saw more amazing things.
I went to Tibilisi in Georgia Russia he very edge of Europe and Asia and kind of the strong hold of Greco Roman- which I turned to at my first college- that coach had an incredible greco background and that and judo is what I liked best.
I saw their wrestling room was barren - a mat . a pile of plates in a corner
a bunch of kettle bells and the goat bags- bags you see russians training with . like a car or truck inner tube filled with sand or BBās and you could squat do swings lunges etc
they ran allot maybe 3-4 times a day 5-8 miles and maybe a faster shorter run.
they did allot of gymnastics and tumbling- shit I did in judo but not in folk
( american) wrestling
cartwheels neck bridge flips- lots and lots of good shit.
I could see our 'weight training 'was a watered down similar system
they had primitave primative shit.
but effective.
they also took it further-
the jumps form kneeling-
they loaded.
either a med ball or goat bag or a full barbell
they would jump from kneeling-
to a full clean or full snatch from kneeling for 3 to 5 reps.
amazing power.
they liked both reps in the 3-5 range ( cleans snatch pushp ress squat )
and for time - smaller stuff.
they used stahl bars the gymnast bars mounted to an entire wall-
at many heights and had entire calisthenic systems built on them.
pullups - pushups - all manner of feet supported rows- pullups twists sit ups etc. and rings - ring and rope work
I saw Hanging leg Raises there for the first time and they have become a staple for over 20 plus years.
from the pull up position - feet to bar or feet to face . best ab and low back work. It helps with grip and traction for the back.
essential.
probably the best thing I took away from the entire trip
as far as S&C stuff
they banged out the strength work and concentrated on the work on the mat.
later I went to the olympic training center.
we had an eastern block coach with square balls- Ive mentioned him before
and he tortured us.
RDLs for time
Zpress for time
squats for 3-6 reps heavy or for time
jumps jumps jumps
and arguably the best thing he did was complexes.
Barbell complexes.
just like team quest back in time ( they where there too)
these will crush everything.
grip to calves
arms shoulders low back upper back hips glutes legs calves.
little guys like me used 95 or 75 lbs
and did something like
RDL
upright row
BO row
clean and press
front squat
OH squat good morning
squat
lunge
for 4- 5 sets foe either time of for 8-10 reps.
the bigger guys did bigger weights- and did smaller complexes
3 dead lifts 3 rows 3 power snatch
and maybe do that for 5 rounds.
this prick was a Javorek devotee and we used the shit out of complexes.
truth be told the greatest gift of the S& C world to me.
the worst thing this prick did - I read about later here and wrote about my own experience with it.
we often dragged weights outside and would
squat - then broad jump
or
squat then jump over hurdles
or cleans then jump over hurdles.
the worst- and best
we dragged out a bunch of bumpers and bars
to the track
cleaned that shit from the floor did 8 front squats and ran 400 meters
to get back in line and do it again.
I want to say we did 3-5 times
under 150 lbers did it with 100kg or 225 lbs pretty sure the bigger guys where using 275(125kg) and 315lbs (140kg)
these sucked - to say the least.
we used to do pullups - then hold pullup for time.
then they had an exercise bike propped up
with the brake on and we pedaled the shit out of it with our arms then went back to pull ups and holds.
I know nothing about hypertrophy
the take ways for what worked for me
Hanging leg raises feet to bar
power cleans
barbel complexes - kill conditioning and strength.
the jumps from kneeling or continuous broad jumps
somewhere did allot for grip
holds of dbās or bars from a deadlift.
I used tennis balls on pull-ups- I dont remember where I stole this but its
SOLID GOLD
put the balls in your hands on top of the pull up bar and squeeze the fuck out of them.
and wrist roller- I did this allot.
(reverse curls and wrist curls are garbage)
I did allot of neck work- mucho
bridges - even benched in the bridge position
and drills with people pulling on your neck .( duh)
was this healthy.
no.
was running 60 plus miles a week healthy
no
I cant do it again. or change it.
what I did more of as I got older
was rowing machine
tabata anything
complexes barbel or db
HLR
stairs weighted vest
jump rope
versa climber
cleans
OH squats for balance
shit ton of mobility work
single leg work
air hump aka glut raise
focus on flexibilty
tumbling
Im 47 now and old and broken
what works now is different.
wishes ?
that I won it all ?
now that I did less damage to me.
more swimming more bike less road work.
more correctives