"Do you suppose they will choose to make war against lean, solid dogs rather than against fat and tender sheep?"
This morning's game was called "Loopsided": three mismatched weights all carried off-center, starring the Leaden Loop. People don't like one-arm or one-legged lifts very much, including me, because they take more time and tire the core muscles. But you need to work in the transverse (side-to-side) somehow, and you can check that box with weighted... Continue Reading →
Part 6 in our series "20 Years of Pavel Tsatsouline." Complete table of contents here. Before Pavel came along, we did not deadlift. By “we” I mean young ironheads who wanted big muscles and got our (mis)information from dime store bodybuilding magazines. "[T]he deadlift is THE exercise of choice for anyone." In 1999 Pavel sounded... 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 →
Back in the 80s, most of us were taught that you had to lift all out, every time. Boy, was that stupid. Not only were we courting injury, we were making exercise, which should be joyful, into a grim discipline. It's a wonder that any of us still likes to train. Everybody has to "cycle"... 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 →
At last, we've brought back our Alexey Faleev material as a downloadable PDF book! It's available here, for a suggested donation of $5 (or none at all). I am donating proceeds to charitable organizations doing works of lean, solid goodness around the world, so please be generous!
We've edited our Faleev "80/20" power bodybuilding series into a 100-page, for-charity, donation-based e-book now available here. Enjoy!