[Keith Wassung]

by Keith W. Wassung


Ever have one of those workouts that exceed all expectations. On just about every exercise, you break your personal record for weights and reps used. The feeling is absolutely exhilarating and you leave the gym completely invigorated. On the flip side, you have those workouts where nothing seems to go right. Instead of gaining you actually lose ground and you leave the gym, tired, sore and frustrated. If you do not have a long range game plan, that frustration can lead to a search for new program, a new supplement etc, and the cycle repeats itself over and over.

Workouts are a lot like the kick-off return team in football. You line up for each kick, stay in your lanes, and block your assignments and the kick returner runs as hard as he can. In most cases, you end up around the 20 yard line. Occasionally you reach midfield and once in a great while everything falls into place and the return man finds the seam and runs 100 yards for a touchdown. Sometimes, no matter what you do, you end up on the 8 yard line or even fumble and lose the ball.

I believe that progress is often a matter of working hard and smart on a consistent basis long enough for most of the workouts to be productive (20 yard returns) have a few really good ones (30-50 yard returns) the even rarer outstanding ones (touchdowns) and realizing that the bad workouts (8 yard returns and fumbles) are all part of the game. It is important to always keep in mind that progress is almost never linear and or constant except perhaps in the first year or so of training after which gains often come in isolated batches and often at unexpected times. This reminds me of when I was a boy and had to split logs into firewood. I would place the steel wedge into a seam in the log and then begin pounding it with a sledgehammer. After approximately 14 hard blows there was absolutely no visible evidence that the wedge had penetrated the log in any way. But the 15th blow would result in the wedge cleanly splitting the log into two or more pieces. The first 14 strikes did not appear to do much, but they were slowly breaking down the resistance of the wood.

I have done some reading on biorhythms and athletic performance and though I am not sure of the validity of everything I have read, it would difficult to deny that there is a certain cyclic element which can affect strength and athletic performance. This is one of the problems with many of the 12-16 week programs, where each workout is calculated based on a set percentage of your starting maximum weight -you end up being locked into lifting what the paper says, rather than in following the natural strength fluctuations of your body. You have to be patient and work for long term results, rather than in judging performance on a workout to workout basis.

As a general rule, an occasional bad workout is nothing to be concerned about. Bad workouts have a way of making the good ones seem even better by comparison. Anthony Ditillo, a noted strength author, once said that a bad workout is a sign that your body is in the process of rebuilding and repairing and there may be some truth to this. The worse thing about a bad workout is that is can cause you to question and doubt your program. You must have confidence and certainty in your program or you are destined for a lot of frustration and stalled progress. If you have a string of consecutive bad workouts, or have just hit a sticking point in your training, then there are several steps you can take to get back on the track to progress.

The first step is to analyze your workout recovery. Have you been getting enough quality rest, enough quality food and water? Adding some high quality protein and fresh vegetables, an extra hour of sleep each night or even performing some extra flexibility work will often be enough to get you back on the right track to progress. Remember that all recovery days are not equal, meaning that just because three days have passed since your last workout does not necessarily mean you have recovered. Those days might have been filled with extra physical and mental stress such as sick children which keep you up half the night, family matters, travel, eating on the run, final exams, all of which impede your recovery. Never be afraid to take some extra days of rest. Make the necessary adjustments as needed and when ready-attack the weights with renewed physical and mental energy.

The second step is to analyze and improve your exercise technique which I covered in my article entitled Developing Near Perfect Exercise Technique

The third step is to modify your training program-notice that I said modify, not change. If you have a decent program, based largely on the fundamentals, then chances are you just need to mix-up either your repetition scheme or the order of your basic movements. If you have been doing mostly low-medium reps, then perform higher reps for 4-5 sessions. If you have been doing nothing but high reps, then consider working in the lower rep range for a couple of weeks. Try rest pause training, the total tonnage system, power rack training, or timed sets for a couple of weeks to break the plateau, and then resume your normal routine. You may need to change the priority or order of your exercises. For example, if you have been stuck on the overhead press, and you always perform them after bench presses, try putting them first in your program for a month or two. All of us are somewhat greedy in that we want all of our lifts to be going up simultaneously. Many of the lifters of the past, such as Louis Abele would often spend 3 months at a time focusing on just one lift or one area of the body hammering it with reckless abandon, over and over again, making tremendous gains and them moving onto another area. I have done this on numerous occasions with great results and will share one example. When I was a competitive powerlifter, my deadlift was always the weakest of the three lifts. Having short arms, I was structurally at a dis-advantage for the deadlift (or so I was told and I believed it and used this as excuse to have a poor deadlift.) Since my deadlift was the poorest, it received the least attention in my program. I trained it, but never with the enthusiasm of the squat and bench. After growing tired of losing close competitions, I spent just over 5 months specializing and focusing on deadlift and back training. I really did not train it with any greater frequency then I had previously, but it became the top priority in my training. I broke down and analyzed my technique and worked hard at my weakest portions of the lift and they soon became my strong points! My number one assistance lift became the barbell row and I attacked this movement as if it were a lift itself. After five months of focused training, I gained a tremendous amount of back development and added 70lbs to my best deadlift single, which was more than I had gained in the previous three years combined. The strength and development also laid down a foundation for increases in my squat and bench press in the following year.

The fourth step is to intensify your leg and mid-section training. Lower body workouts, and more specifically, squats will do wonders for your overall strength and development and are an excellent way of breaking plateaus. If you can squat, then you should squat, hard and heavy with a variety of repetitions and a solid and precise technique. If you need do perform something other than squats, then do so with an all-out approach. All force generated by the musculoskeletal system in the upper and lower body originates, is stabilized by, or is transferred through the trunk and the lower torso. Given this fact, if you are going to develop your full strength potential, then this area must be worked. Intense abdominal training is a great way to break plateaus for the simple reason that it is very easy to neglect it in the first place. There a wide variety of exercises to choose from and virtually all are effective if performed correctly. I happen to think that the old school decline sit-up is as good a movement as there is for the midsection if it is done properly. "But sit-ups dont isolate the abs"-a cry we hear from the modern enlightened fitness crowd-last time I checked-the mid-section is composed of many different parts-none of them work in "isolation" of one another, but rather as a unit. Overhead squat are another phenomenal exercise for the torso-they may just be the best overall resistance movemement there is. Try it for 90 days and then tell me I am wrong.

The last area is your mental attitude and preparation towards your training. I believe that your attitude, enthusiasm and expectations towards your workouts pretty much dictate the results you achieve. Henry Ford summed it up when he said, "If you think you can, or if you think you can't, either way you will be right." This has pretty much been demonstrated and reinforced by just about every great human achievement in history. The good news is that you can control your attitude and expectations to a large degree. The mental preparation and expectation begins shortly after a workout is completed. Take a few minutes to evaluate the training session and then jot down some specific goals you wish to accomplish in the next session. I continue to be amazed by how few people will take the time to use written goals in their training program. Write the goals on an index card or a post-it note and stick it on your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator or some other place where you will frequently see it. The human mind cannot distinguish between what is real and what is imagined so it's important to spend some time mentally rehearsing your workout. When you enter the gym, you must expect and literally demand a good workout, rather than in just hoping and wishing for one. You have to develop and maintain the proper mental toughness and discipline which is necessary for you to reach your own potential. This toughness is largely the ability to deal with pain, fatigue and discomfort associated with hard and progressive training. There are tens of thousands of people who want better strength, development and conditioning and they are totally committed to spending two or more hours a day, six days a week in training, they are willing to buy supplements, equipment, they are willing to do just about anything……except to include and embrace pain, fatigue and discomfort as necessary in their training. In fact, everything they do, everything they buy, every excuse they make is to avoid pain, fatigue and discomfort at all costs. The closest thing that I know to a "lifting secret" is this: Once you are willing to be uncomfortable at times in your workout, it does not take long for you to get used to it, in fact you may look forward to it and thrive on it. This is when you will embark on the journey to achieving the potential that lies within you.

Keith Wassung

[thomas87]

Could you post the article "Developing Near Perfect Exercise Technique" on this board, than kyou!

[Keith Wassung]

Developing Near Perfect Exercise Technique

by Keith W. Wassung

Remember Grandpa Gustafson? He was the character that Burgess Meredith played in the movie Grumpy Old Men. He was 90 plus years old, and each day he smoked 2 packs of cigarettes, drank a 12 pack of beer, ate bacon for most of his meals and was never sick a day in his life. It seems that most everyone knows someone like this yet nobody in their right mind would want to emulate their lifestyle habits in hopes of achieving the same record of health and longevity. However, this is the exact same mentality that the majority of people use when following the workout habits of others and especially when copying exercise form and technique.

I don't believe that the average person fully appreciates the skill and discipline that it takes to correctly perform most weight training exercises, particularly compound movements and especially when those exercises are pushed to the very limit. Swinging a golf club, tennis racquet or a baseball bat requires coordinated motor skills which take time and practice to develop. An Olympic weight lifter and a shot-putter require intense coaching and many years of practice in order to perfect their movements. Weight training exercises are no different. Some are more difficult to master then others, but all require some degree of skill to perform and this takes practice, time, discipline and attention to detail. I say this because often people make a decision to add an exercise to their program. The trainee performs the lift and it feels uncomfortable or even painful and as a result they either discard the movement or they adopt a very sloppy technique when exercising. In either case, there are virtually no benefits and if the movement is included and performed incorrectly, it often leads to injury. In my early years of training I made this error repeatedly, but I eventually learned from my mistakes.

Several months ago, I decided to add the standing dumbbell press to my training program. The first workout, I decided to start with a pair of 75lbers. I cleaned the bells and performed a total of 8 repetitions, but they were 8 of the sloppiest reps you could imagine. I felt nothing in my shoulders and my lower back and forearms ached and in disgust, I threw the dumbbells down on the mat. The first thought that went through my head was "This is a stupid and worthless exercise and I will never do it again" After getting over my pity party, I re-evaluated my approach to this particular exercise. Though I had been pressing barbells overhead for many years, this was the first time I had tried it with dumbbells and I had to learn how to do it correctly. I read everything I could on proper performance. I sought the advice of those who were proficient in overhead dumbbell pressing, I broke the exercise down into various parts and worked at improving each of those parts, including foot position, hand position, breathing, and the concentric and eccentric phases. I spent hours at home with a pair of 15lbs dumbbells, doing correct overhead presses, over and over again. Two weeks after my first experience with the 75lb dumbbells, I returned to the gym and did the same 75lbs for 15 solid and easy reps. I quickly progressed to using 100+ pounds for my overhead dumbbell pressing. But I am still learning and still working at perfecting this and many other exercises. Often the exercises that seem to be the most difficult for us to perform are exactly the ones we need to master in order to realize our individual potential.


It is beyond the scope of this article to describe specific exercise technique. You can learn that from books, videos, this web site, personal coaching and strength and conditioning seminars. You might be thinking that exercise technique is an individual matter and that there is too much disagreement on what constitutes proper technique. Although there is some difference of opinion on certain exercises and topics such as cadence and range of motion, for the most part, there is a general consensus on correct technique. You may have to make minor modifications to suit your individual needs, but the general principles apply to just about everyone. Walk into any bookstore or library and select any ten weight training instruction books off the shelf and I would wager that 95% of the exercise techniques would be described in a very similar manner. The trouble is that very few people actually do the movements the way they are described. Visit most commercial gyms or health clubs and it's a safe bet that almost no one is lifting with correct form. You see partial movements, bouncing, severe body english, fast slamming movements, cheating movements and a total lack of concentration. It's no wonder that so many people are frustrated with their lack of progress. If you want to maximize your own strength and development, then it is important to develop near perfect technique in all of the exercises in your program.

I believe most people would be best served by selecting 6-7 core exercises and sticking with them for their entire lives. When you feel you need to change your program, simply vary the repetition scheme or even vary the style of the core exercise, but if you are constantly changing exercises, then it is difficult to get really good at performing them. Write down all of the exercises you use in your program and then create a list of "check-points" that are important for each lift. Develop a habit of mentally referring to those checkpoints on each and every repetition and eventually they will become second nature to you.
Larry Bird used to do this when shooting free throws. He had a mental list of things to do when shooting and he would go through them over and over in his mind until he could make long strings of consecutive shots. There is a story that when Larry was playing still an NBA pro, he was hired to appear in some commercials for McDonalds. The first commercial called for him to shoot and miss a free throw in practice. The first 22 takes were failures because he was unable to miss the free throw. This is a good example of proper mental conditioning and discipline.

If your progress on a particular lift has stalled or reached a plateau, or if an exercise is causing some non-growth related discomfort, then consider analyzing and working to improve your form. Break down the lift into smaller parts and analyze any weaknesses or trouble spots and then work to improve them. This can be done via adjunct exercises, power rack training or simply fine-tuning the technique involved. You may have to experiment with variations of each movement in order to find what works best for you.

Even when you have developed extremely good form, it is very easy to fall into minor habits that cause form deterioration. A little bounce here, a slight heave there, you don't notice them at first because they are subtle and because you are adding weight to the bar, but eventually it catches up with you either in the form on injuries or halted progress. The wise lifter is constantly checking and re-checking their form.

You can make a tremendous amount of progress by routinely having your workouts videotaped and then reviewing them later, either alone, or with someone that has the experience to critique your performance. You will always spot things on the tape that you just don't see in the mirror during the actual performance. We can all learn from anyone with wisdom and experience, but I have always learned the most about exercise technique from individuals with whom I share a similar structure with.

When you are working at improving your technique or are adding a new movement, it is always best to work with a weight that is far below what you are capable of lifting. Remember, the idea is to improve technical performance, so that you can eventually make strength and development gains. When you are lifting, think of each set as a series of single repetitions, so that instead of "1x8", you think of "8 sets of 1" this will help you to focus on performing each repetition with precision. The competitive powerlifter should always strive to perform each repetition as close to contest rules as possible. I have often watched guys who claimed to have deadlifted a certain number, say 500x5 in the gym, and then end up with only 505 or 510 in the contest. The five repetitions they performed in the gym were nowhere near being close to a contest repetition. I have not competed in powerlifting in over ten years and yet I still walk my squats out, set up, mentally hear the judges command to squat, perform the lift, mentally wait for the judges command to rack, and then walk the squat back in. I did this for so many years when I was competing, that I cannot get out of the habit of doing it.


Focusing on proper exercise technique gives you the best chance of avoiding injuries which allows you to train longer and without forced layoffs. This will enable you to move towards progression faster and more consistently. Proper technique also enables your body to develop a balanced muscular structure so that you can not only lift weights safely and consistently, but will eventually allows you to lift more weight. And lifting more weight, is what weight training is all about.

Keith Wassung

[jamiejamie6661]

who is this guy he is amazing, kieth for god/mod

[saaavage]

i love you

[FistInFace]

Originally Posted by saaavage

i love you

I think everybody on this board shares your mancrush. Thanks again Keith!

[Lusst]

Greatness - Thanks again K-dub.

[Mikeultra]

Woah... Thanks Keith! I needed that. MY routine was getting stale for a long long time

[FatAlToTheMax]

The only thing that inspires me anywhere near as much as your articles is the history of Israel but that's another story. Once again 2 great reads. No matter weather I'm interested in the specific topic of your articles or not I love the reads. Always a great read that all lifters should be exposed to, always written in a way that's easy to understand and makes me want to lift weather its an off day or not.

[jk3004]

Originally Posted by jamiejamie6661

who is this guy he is amazing, kieth for god/mod

He is Keith mo' fuggin' Wassung!!!


Thanks Keith, I enjoy all of your articles but I really enjoyed this one.