a. School Development Program - Programa de Desarrollo Escolar

(Featured in Brian Schwab’s 12 Weeks to a Bigger Bench E-Book) By BRIAN SChWAB

Finally, I decided that my deadlift was being neglected, but I also needed to keep working on my squat depth, so I made the change to my most recent routine:

Monday: Alternating Max Effort Deadlifts (block pulls) with low box speed squats with upper back Tuesday: Raw, Repetition, or Speed Bench

Wednesday: Accessory Day (GHRs, abs, hips, biceps and grip) Thursday: Off

Friday: Equipped or Max Effort Squat Saturday: Equipped or Max Effort Bench Sunday: Off

With this program you will begin with week twelve and countdown to week 0 of the meet. You’ll notice that each range of reps is based off of only two working sets. After strength training for 24 years and competitively Powerlifting for the last 17, I’ve found that performing two sets to failure is optimal to stimulate increases in strength while still preventing overtraining, minimizing time spent in the gym, and optimizing work capacity and performance.

I recommend performing an exercise for the mid-range, lockout, and lower portion of the bench during every max workout. I opt for board presses as the primary, followed by lockouts/pin-presses, and then followed by either decline or floor presses. I alternate between dumbbells and the bar on floor press to maintain balance between each side.

Week 6: 4,3 Week 5: 3,2

Week 4: 4,3 or speed with 55% for 6 sets of 3 reps Week 3: 3,2

Week 2: 2,1 Week 1: Deload- 5,4 Week 0: Meet

Repeat with new projected max

This would be followed by two triceps and two shoulder exercises of your choice for one warm up set of five and two working sets using the following rep scheme:

Week 12: 8,7 Week 11: 8,7 Week 10: 7,6 Week 9: 7,6 Week 8: 6,5 Week 7: 6,5 Week 6: 8,7 Week 5: 8,7 Week 4: 7,6 Week 3: 7,6 Week 2: 6,5 Week 1: Deload- 6,5 Week 0: Meet, if applicable

Now you have a definitive 12-week plan that will ideally be used immediately prior to a meet to add a significant amount to your bench.

The thrill of the silence in the air. The eyes of the crowd on you, and only you. The quickness of the

movements. The hours practiced for those short moments of desired excellence… I’m talking about the things I miss most about weightlifting competition. There are not many things in this world like it. If you take the time to study the training weightlifters go through, many of you would appreciate the sport on a whole new level.

At best, I was a very good, local-level weightlifter. My ultimate goal is to qualify and compete at the American Open, which is the second biggest national meet behind the Nationals. (In an Olympic year, it would be the third biggest because the Olympic Trials knock it down one). Anyway, due to injury and the very possible fact that I have the genes of a competitive endurance athlete (in graduate school I had a VO₂ Max of 54 ml/kg/

min, which was highest in the class—after not conditioning for years), I have not made that goal a reality.

However, this is not going to keep me from continuing to pursue that goal. I’ve been out for nearly a year and a half, but I’m back and ready to work. This article will take you through my training plan, and how I hope to make a comeback in weightlifting. Use this as a guided case study for any future athletes you may need to help make a comeback in their sport.

Where I’m Starting: The Scenario

Every coach needs details when planning out a program for any athlete. You cannot get to “point B” without a

“point A.” Here is where I’m coming from, and where I plan to go.

 I’ve just finished a complete 16-week program, where I reached my deadlift goal. My intention, while going through the program, was that starting off in the 10s phase would allow me to start squatting again. This would start very light and allow my knee (I have calcium deposits below both patellae and tendonosis in the left) to get better, while also strengthening my tendons and ligaments around my joints. This was all in preparation for the ultimate goal of being able to compete in weightlifting again.

On a side note, when I first started competing in 2007, I jumped right in. I never did any variations of the movements. There was no preparation for my joints. It was all-in, right to the full-squat Snatch and Clean. In hindsight, this was a stupid idea from a physiological and anatomical standpoint. My body was not ready for the load and force absorption requirements for those movements. There were three separate occasions where one, or both, of my knees held me back from training.

Presently, I’m back to squatting relatively pain-free. I believe going through a couple of higher-volume, lower-intensity blocks allowed my knee the time to heal. Also, it does not hurt that I’m able to see a physical therapist once a week. The last two weeks prior to writing this article, I’ve done electrical stimulation on my quads and ultrasound on my knee, which seem to have helped alleviate the pain. My first week in the new program was pain-free. I’ve been keeping up with rolling out and stretching a little more than normal as well.

Questions Answered: Developing the Program

How did I come up with the template idea, the exercises involved, and the progressions needed?

I first looked at what I was trying to accomplish: what are my goals?

From there, I determined where I needed improvements: what areas of my body needed more strength, mobility, and stability? What exercises would ultimately help me “fix” these areas?

Next, I focused on the volume and intensity: what mix is required to produce the desired physical adaptations?