25 Aug Weak Points

By: Jonathan Byrd

After 18 years of training you would think I had this whole thing figured out? That’s the beauty of strength training, there is always something new to work on. One of the key points of 10/20/Life is the focus on the weak points. We focus on bringing those weak points up to improve our overall strength and efficiency in a lift. The fun part of training is that those points are forever changing. Often it is hard to find where those weak points are in training, and at times they don’t show up unless under near max loads. For me, the Arnold was a great experience. I totaled 2500lbs at 275 and finished in 4^th overall. All great accomplishments, but the kicker is, I went 6-9!

[wa-wps]

So why did I miss those lifts? Was it from bad attempts, just a bad day, or was it that I was too weak in certain areas? After the Arnold I took some time to reflect and find what I needed to work on in each of the big three lifts.

Squat:

Arnold Prep: I have always been a solid squatter, and heading into the Arnold I did not expect that to be any different. In past years my weak point has always been in the bottom of the squat. Rarely if ever did I miss a squat in the top of a lift. The Arnold prep was focused on that area, making sure that I would be explosive out of the bottom of my squat. Well on meet day I went 2-3, missing my second attempt at 1015. I did come back and get the 1015, but both stalled and were a fight at the top!

Now: My focus during the offseason and now during meet prep has been on two points. I spent a lot of time away from gear, and squatted in just sleeves. I focused a lot of my work on bringing up the physical size of my legs as well as stronger quads. This is not to say that I lost focus on my previous weak point. I balanced my training more with focus on pause squats as well as direct leg work  using the leg press and single leg good mornings.

Bench:

Arnold Prep: After destroying my pec in 2013 I had always assumed my weak point would be the bottom of my press. I have been lucky to have some great coaching from Brian Carroll and Paul Key, which has made me much better overall in the shirt than prior to the injury. My weakest point in the shirt is now just about the 3 board height. A lot of my focus was centered around that board, and developing enough speed to get through that area. At the Arnold I finished 2-3 missing my 3^rd attempt at 775lbs.

Now: Part of the miss I felt was misleading. I took a beating on those 3 squat attempts, and it took its toll on my ability to press. The reality is that I will always be in that situation because I will always need a good squat to keep pace with the best of the best. During my offseason I continued to work the 3 board area, but raw rather than in a shirt. For secondary work I did as much volume as I could with lighter dumbbells just to make sure my pec stayed healthy and full of blood. Only one week into the shirt and I felt like it was well worth the time. Both my tris and pec feel solid, and I am having good speed on the bar.

Deadlift:

Arnold Prep: The offseason I focused on block pulls, mostly conventional and from a 6 inch block. This was to work my upper back and lockout on my deadlift. I followed it up with rows, and lots of lat pull downs. When I got into meet prep, I worked my way down from 6 in blocks in gear down to some form pulls. I only pulled heavy off the floor two times during the entire meet prep. My best training pull was 755 from the floor, and that was following a 1055 reverse band squat that day. The result was a small PR deadlift at the Arnold, but it was what I needed to secure the 2500lb total.

Now: This cycle I worked on developing more hamstring and back strength. I have spent a large part of my offseason working conventional pulls from a deficit, and the continued rows and lat pulldowns. Now that prep has started I have focused again on conventional block pulls, and now am transitioning back to full gear sumo deads.

The key to working weak points is to give yourself enough time to improve the weak points. You have to spend time doing the movements to target those areas and let them improve. This isn’t a race, and as long as you are making progress you are on the right track!

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Jonathan Byrd

Jonathan Byrd is a competitive powerlifter, with over 16 years of training experience. Byrd has been ranked nationally for the past 6 years under multiple categories. His total has ranked as high as second nationally in the 275 class. He currently has a best total of 2500lbs. Best individual lifts include a 1040lb squat, a 750lb bench press, and 735lb deadlift. His 1040lb squat ranks him 26th all-time squats at the 308 class. Jonathan currently trains out of Team Samson Gym in Jacksonville, FL. Before powerlifting Jonathan was a college athlete at Methodist University as both an all-conference football player and track athlete. Following graduation he played four years of arena football in various leagues.

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