Training for Athletes under 190#

18pounds to the good.

Increase on all movements a total of 15 pounds since the start.

Practicing throwing is harder since it gets dark so fast.  It is too dark to throw after I get off work

Peace

its allways nice to see other LW getting bigger. i spend the winter getting bigger and stronger just to cut down agen.  when i started i was 180 or so and ive made it up to 214 just to make 190 agen. keep up the good work you have come a longe way. keep climming the more weight ive had on the better the 42 and 56 move for me. the 28 well thats a dif. story lol   my prs. are bs. 501 bp445 dl 573. im not much of an olimpic lifter but whatever works for you run with it. good luck.

State of the Union:

Body Weight 178#, total increase in working weight per move +25 (in nine weeks of work), and still throwing when weather permits (snow makes it hard to stay up throwing the 56 for distance).

I do not feel a plateau on the horizon for the Squats, Push Press, or Deadlifts but the Cleans may not be to far off.  I was think of perhaps swapping the Cleans for the Snatch for a number of weeks once the plateau hits.  Thoughts?

Eating 33-3500 calories a day thanks to my gallon of milk each day.

Peace.

After reading though all of these posts I have nothing to offer.  You have been given all the advice you need.  At this point in you highland games "career" things are simple.  Like Coach Mac said, you want to weigh as close to 190 as possible.  Everyone has been preaching the eat big, lift big.  As a 190 myself I know that we fight against the weight more than the big guys.  The percentage of the implament to our body weight will always be greater than the bigger guys.  Due to this you will typically see the greatest gains in distance and height in your throws by getting stronger.  Stronger often means bigger which has already been said makes for better "leverage" against the implements. 

Its kind of like a 100 meter sprint.  Right off the bat the easiest way to make a guy quicker, is to make him stronger.  He will over come his body weight better and therefore run faster.  Once he has reached an appreciable level of experinence and performance, improvements on technique will be paramount.

People will say speed and technique are king.  They are right but...you will be unable to apply either unless you are strong enough to do so.  If the 56WFD is too heavy, you can't move it fast and your form will go to sh!t.

Right now take the snow as a sign.  Make lifting and strength and size gain a priority for now.  You will find with your new found strength that the power positions the more veteran throwers try to teach you will be easier to get into and to deliver from.

If I were to add anything it would be for you to steer clear of Crossfit for the games.  It is more about making you tired and lean than big and strong.  Also the 400 meter runs are not doing you any favors either. Keep on keeping on.  Lift more than you think you can and eat more than you want to.  The rest will follow...

To know what you have been doing for your workout up to this point would be essential for any further guidance to be given.

All in the same workout?

After consultation I shifted the Power Cleans, which were giving me trouble at current weight, to top of the order this past Monday.  The result was a perfect 3x5.

Progress notes forth coming.

Merry Christmas to you all and a happy New Year.

Peace.

thats a bunch of extra weight, really fast. no surpirse your knees are sore....plus i'm thinking you're killing them in your workouts to gain all that weight.
dont be afraid to rest, overtraining is the enemy.

This just in...I got 455 deadlift!!!!!!!! (BW 183)

Following my normal bump in weight per move I should have done 370 for 5 reps.  I thought about it and did 400 for 5 (previous 1RM was 425 a month or so ago).

On paper 400x5 gives a 1R of 455 and I nailed it!!!!

500 by may??

Jason Cherry wrote: This just in...I got 455 deadlift!!!!!!!! (BW 183) Following my normal bump in weight per move I should have done 370 for 5 reps.  I thought about it and did 400 for 5 (previous 1RM was 425 a month or so ago). On paper 400x5 gives a 1R of 455 and I nailed it!!!! 500 by may??

impressive, excellent stuff.

Johnnie Stone...Master of Psychology!!!

Elbows can be a b***h to heal, so I'd give it the extra week.

You can't predict squats from DL (or vice versa), but if you could get 8 reps at 260 (just guessing) in your squat, you should be looking for a max of 345.

Tonight in the basement I did my squats (3x5 with 265) and moved on to my Deadlifts.  Warmed up with 205, 275, 345 then hit 415x5.  Feeling froggy I decided to hit the 1RM and nailed 475!  The last two inches to full extension felt like it took awhile.

181.5 BW as of this morning!  21 days after hitting 455 for 1.

I just want you all to know that you drive me like nothing else.  Keep up the good work!

Peace.

thats great!

To sum up my experience here on training specifically aimed at the light weight athlete:

1) You have to eat.  I drank a gallon of milk a day (2%) which netted 2080 calories and 128gm of Protein.  Add into that about 500 calories per meal (B/L/D) and you are up to 3580 easy.  Throw in a snack and you could hit 4000 in a day without much effort.

2) Lift heavy.  Now that means different poundages for sure; if you look at what some of these fellas lift you could get discouraged.  Slow and steady wins the race.  I took lifts that hit the whole body and work on explosive movements.  Power Clean, Push Press, Squat and the Deadlift.  Started with a weight I knew I could handle then increased 5lbs every two weeks (lifting M/W/F).  With this format I have made continuous progress.

3) Sleep.  I hit the rack at 10pm every night; that meant for me workout or no workout.  That grabbed 8-9 hours of shuteye time and I believe it made a difference from the 6 hour average I was getting.

4) Be motivated.  Seeing gains on the scale was cool to be sure.  Seeing my PR go up was also rockin!  The goal of throwing well in the games drives me more.  I declared 3rd place is the new 1st place for this year!

Thanks for the support, fellas.

Peace.

Follow along on the making of a Giant Killer with my training log.