"Do you suppose they will choose to make war against lean, solid dogs rather than against fat and tender sheep?"
Rogozhnikov emphasizes that you are allowed to tinker with his plan. He emphasizes that he isn’t teaching a “routine” at all but an approach, and he tolerates much more customizing and fiddling from you, the athlete, than most Eastern European coaches would. And if you are reading this blog, you will probably need to tailor... Continue Reading →
We’ve seen that Rogozhnikov divides his training into light, medium, and heavy days, and he alternates bench press workouts with squat/deadlift workouts. He did not invent either of these practices, and we find American lifters using comparable building blocks in the popular Westside method. But Rogozhnikov is an artiste in how he stacks up the... Continue Reading →
I once heard Mark Bell say that advanced lifters have figured out the handful of exercises that work best for them, but intermediate lifters have to try everything under the sun so they can figure out what works for them. But Rogozhnikov does not permit that much variety. Except for assistance work (of which he... Continue Reading →
Part 6 of our series on Konstantin Rogozhnikov. On heavy bench day, Rogozhnikov has you choose an exercise that is very competition-specific. You could pick a straightforward competition-style bench press, but you also have a few other options. You could try floor presses or a slight incline press, and if you have experience with chains,... Continue Reading →
Part 5 in our series on the methods of Russian powerlifting coach Konstantin Rogozhnikov. Rogozhnikov designs his medium days as "bodybuilding" days. You “pump the muscles up with blood” with 3 sets of 8 using “a weight that you couldn’t just easily cruise through 8 reps with.” Timur Andreev, a former champion from Rogozhnikov’s stables,... Continue Reading →
Part 4 in our series on the training methods of Russian powerlifting coach Konstantin Rogozhnikov. Rogozhnikov prescribes a standard regimen of “assistance” work every day for his athletes. But is it right for you? Probably not. Powerlifters label “assistance work” any lifting outside of the three “main lifts”: the squat, bench, and deadlift. That includes... Continue Reading →
Part 4 in our series on the system of Russian powerlifting coach Konstantin Rogozhnikov. Imagine that you had a high-tech superhero suit that boosted your strength, a little like Iron Man. Where you are weaker, it would do some of the lifting for you. You would be a sort of cyborg athlete. Powerlifters evolved stuff... Continue Reading →
The third installment in our series on Russian coach Konstantin Rogozhnikov. “Bodybuilding.” Use that word carefully around ironheads, who can get every bit as prideful and pedantic about nomenclature as any hipster subculture. In particular, if you should chance to call a powerlifter a “bodybuilder,” you commit a faux pas like speaking Japanese to a... Continue Reading →
Why do I like Russian coach Konstantin Rogozhnikov so much? One reason is that his name looks cool in Russian italics: “Константин Витальевич Рогожников.” But more importantly, I like him because I am lazy. If you visit us regularly here at Lean, Solid Dogs, then (1) I weep for you, and (2) you know that I... Continue Reading →
Part 1: Rogozhnikov - Post-Soviet Hero of Anti-Labor Part 2: Lift Less to Lift More: The Joyful Magic of Light Workouts Part 3: “Like a Massage” - Rogozhnikov’s Light Days Part 4: The Raw and the Geared Part 5: Assistance Part 6: Medium Days - Get Your Bodybuilder On Part 7: (Not Too) Heavy Days Part 8: Of Boxes... Continue Reading →