Question

2.87K viewsJune 13, 2017

Eric Bowman (anonymous) May 20, 2017 0 Comments

Hello again PRS friends

In my almost 2 years of using 10/20/Life my lifts have increased by quite a bit. Thank you Brian!!!

However when I get sick or get rundown and can’t train as hard as I normally do I feel like my bench & deadlift strength stay fairly stable (within 80-90% of my best) but I feel like my squat seems to take a huge nosedive.

I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions for how to help with that as I don’t want to have to “dig myself out of a hole” on a regular basis.

If it helps my usual training for it is set up in this fashion…

Tues – Squat/DL: Squats, Deadlifts (sumo or conventional stance block pulls), Leg Press, DB (or Chest Supported) Row

Fri – Squat/DL Assistance: McGill Chins, Piston Squats (or Bodybuilder style Front Squats), BB Row, BB (or DB) Shrug, Bulgarians, Single Leg RDLs, GHRs (or Back Raises w/ neutral spine)

My hamstrings are a lot stronger than my quads and I find mid range-lockout gives me the hardest time when squatting. Due to some long-standing patellofemoral issues (which are good now) that I got some initial bad advice on treating my quads are somewhat deconditioned still. As much as I want to push them harder I know I can only do so much quad work before the knees get cranky. Technique is stable and hasn’t really changed.

I hope that helps give some insight. If you have any suggestions that would be mucho appreciato.

Thanks

Eric Bowman

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3 Answers

Answer 1 · 2017-05-22T19:47:46+00:00

You’ve got to remember that strength doesn’t deteriorate as quick as it might seem when you get sick. Sure, it might take a nose dive but it should make a fairly quick rebound. It all depends on how quickly you can get over being sick or whatever. Being that it can take a considerable amount of time of complete inactivity to see true muscle loss, a couple days down won’t have a significant impact on permanent strength.

Don’t feel compelled to try to push it. Squats might just take a larger toll your system. You’re a tall dude. Those leverages might make it so that the squat will always be slightly more difficult for you than deadlifting. Hence, the squat will require more “work”. I can notice that squatting takes a week post deload before it snaps like it did pre-deload. Bench and deads feeling amazing post-deload. One thing to try is post sickness (or whatever) focus on deadlifting first on the combo day and then squat/squat accessory. Give it another week or 2 before really pushing it. If you’re far enough into the offseason think about running 3 weeks up, one week deload. Make that first week back post deload more deadlift oriented then move back to squatting first for the next 2 weeks before deloading again.

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Low Country Strength

Will Kuenzel is the owner of Lowcountry Strength (www.LowcountryStrength.com) in Charleston, SC. Will started his athletic endeavors as a pole vault; finishing up his collegiate career with a best vault of 16’9” at a whopping 160lbs. He the track and field world to pursue bodybuilding, his first show in 2005, he won 1st place in Men’s Novice as a middle weight. One year later he took 2nd as a Men’s Junior heavy weight. Since 2007 he has been a competitive powerlifter and totaling elite as a 220lber. His best lifts in multiply equipment are a 710lbs squat, a 605lbs bench press, a 615lbs deadlift and a 1930 total. In 2008 Will started Lowcountry Strength out of his garage. Since then it has moved into a 16,000 sq/ft facility and shares space with a mixed martial arts studio. With all disciplines of powerlifting, strongman, MMA, jiu jitsu and other sports in the Charleston area getting trained under one roof, Will heads up the strength and conditioning for a wide variety of athletes and clients.

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Answer 2 · 2017-05-24T18:05:50+00:00

Eric,

Detraining takes time. From a physiological standpoint, you’re going to be dehydrated and depleted when you’re sick. This will affect fitness, not only from a substrate standpoint, but from a neurological standpoint. You need electrolytes to contract muscle tissue AND send neural impulse. This is all said to convey that RPE will be significantly high for the same absolute load.

As we know, RPE correlates better to long term gains than absolute training loads, as it provides the desired stimulus without compromising recovery. I advise you to be honest with your RPE’s when fatigued/ sick/ run down and to reduce volume in the accessory work. Get the important work done and then don’t tax the body’s reduced recovery potential during those times.

From a reconditioning standpoint, you need to start slow and ramp up over time. If you do it right, the decreased workload for a a short period should lend itself to a nice rebound in strength when you get back to your typical schedule, energy levels and training loads.

When you’re fatigued/ sick/ run down, keep up on your hydration, salt your food, and try to eat normally. This will help attenuated the negative impact of your lifestyle.

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Paul Oneid

Paul is an elite level raw Powerlifter with personal bests of an 805lbs squat, 440lbs bench, 725lbs deadlift and a 1960lbs total in the 242lbs class, as well as an 800lbs squat, 430lbs bench, 700lbs deadlift and 1930lbs total in the 220lbs class. Paul brings a deep educational background to the team as he has earned Master’s degrees in both Sports Management and Exercise Science. He is a former D1 Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coach, who now works as a Functional Rehabilitation Specialist in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Paul provides coaching services in the areas of training and nutrition through his company Master Athletic Performance and is also the co-founder of a technology company, 1-Life Inc. Stay tuned for more information on that in the future!

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Answer 3 · 2017-06-13T15:32:22+00:00

I’ve been right where you’ve been before getting sick often and starting from scratch. I was sick with mono off and on for 9 months, and only really healthy for 3 of them. The biggest thing I learned from that is that you don’t have to make PR’s to get better. Everyone has a lift of body part that loses it quicker than the others. For me it’s my chest and arms, they deflate well before my back and legs do, and my bench suffers before any other lift.

even though I’m still not as strong as I was a year ago, I’ve made really good progress in other ways. Because I wasnt focused on weight, I’ve dialed in my form much better on all of my lifts. No ego attached to the session meant all I did was feel the muscles and notice every little thing I was doing wrong. Along with that, because I knew I didn’t want to over stress my body with hard Big 3 work, I took a lot of time to do machine and DB work with the hypertrophy movements and focus on developing the muscle. If your quads are weak, and your CNS is tired from being sick (and you’re healthy again now), take some time to do leg extensions and light leg press and stuff like that. Feel all 4 muscles of the quad and don’t stop until you do. This is going to be way less taxing on the body, and it’ll be fun and engaging, and whatever you learn from those sessions will carry over to the heavy sessions… I bet after working on those quads a couple times in a row you’ll feel them contract way better when you squat, and you’ll be able to push more weight and recover back to what you were at on the squat faster.

Neural connectivity in a muscle group isn’t just luck of the draw, you can influence it yourself too by focusing and choosing to work that muscle instead of leaving it up to nature to give you a lift that suffers when you get sick.

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Tucker Loken is a Bodybuilder turned Powerlifter turned Powerbuilder from Eugene, Oregon. He did his first bodybuilding show when he was still in high school, and has been training male and female competitors for shows since 2011. Several years ago he decided to take a step away from his normal routine and learn how to get strong. He worked with Brian for 9 months, added 200 pounds to his raw total and qualified as an Elite lifter in the 220 pound weight class. He returned back to bodybuilding much stronger and now incorporates the 10/20/Life philosophy into his training to keep himself healthy and making continual progress in the Big 3 as well as adding size and shaping his physique. Now part of Team PRS, he brings his unique expertise of nutritional knowledge and how to balance Bodybuilding with Powerlifting to help athletes achieve their best potential.

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