Weakly Weights

Megan of Kinetic Advantage Consulting joins the boys to talk about masters athletes. We discuss how ageing impacts our potential as powerlifters, the physiological changes that occur with ageing, and the way that these practically affect us as coaches. Megan takes aim at Will's quadriceps strength. 

The boys discuss whether certain lifting or training styles are more universally desirable, and what the implications of having preferences for your lifting/training that don't necessarily suit your build and needs are. We also discuss gym romance, and how we can approach a gym crush without being creepy whilst maximising our chances of success

The boys go through the Audience Request Form (available via the Weakly Weights IG page) and answer some of the questions. We have long chats about tracking training metrics like E1RM, tonnage, set counts, and session RPE, supramaximal training and which overload techniques work best, sleep, as well as plenty of off-topic chit chat. 

The boys sit down to talk about their feelings. Alex struggles to express himself due to fragile masculinity. Will is emotionally unstable. Halo Top is disgusting.

Topics covered include what emotions training can generate in us, how to deal with negative feelings around training, how being aware of the space that training takes up in our lives can help us make better decisions, and what the factors underpinning a good relationship with training might be. 

The boys talk about the implications of coronavirus on powerlifting as a competitive sport. They talk about rescheduling and cancellation of high-level events, the competitive implications of split-venue competitions, the impacts of scheduling and planning disruptions on athletes and coaches, and some potential workarounds for the limitations that these issues impose on us. 

Mac joins the boys to talk about the benefits and drawbacks of tracking macronutrients, and some alternative strategies that we can use to modify energy intake. He speaks about using food choice, meal timing, and mindfulness as ways to aid or replace macro tracking, and the contexts in which they might be appropriate. We talk about the performance implications of low energy availability, nutritional checklists for powerlifting performance, and how coaches can improve their nutritional practices. Alex explains why MJ and not Lebron is the GOAT

The boys are joined by the very tall Kyle Dobbs of Rebel Performance. We talk about what movement quality is, and how different postures and skeletal orientations can influence our mobility and ability to express certain movements. We cover some of the typical postural characteristics of powerlifters, why they might arise, and the potential utility of exposing people to different positions. 

The boys discuss their 1wk hiatus, the importance of hobbies, and Will's history of being a lightweight. They then do a variation masterclass, taking a deep dive on paused deadlifts. Finally, they cover the 501kg deadlift performed by Hafthor Bjornsson and the "beef" with Eddie Hall. They go into the concept of psychological barriers, the 4-minute mile, what it means to have a record, and how badly either of them would be bopped by Tyson

As the IPF moves to ANOTHER scoring system, there have been repeated calls from athletes and a broad body of federations to adopt a reasonably new coefficient called DOTS. The boys chat to the creator of the DOTS formula, Tim, about the pitfalls in current scoring systems, the thinking underpinning his formula, and the political machinations that have made it difficult for his approach to be officially adopted despite its support. 

The boys debut a new segment called variation masterclass (this one wasn't plagiarised), going in depth on the merits and uses of close grip bench. They also answer your questions, covering training one lift per day, RPE training for beginners, the role of personality in prescribing programs, pet peeves at competition, and GPP.