Double Body Weight Deadlift for 3 at 13 Years Old

August 18, 2019

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Nathan Waters - Total Health Performance

It was another good week at Total Health Performance with many people achieving great results. We had people hitting PB's and others reaching goals of 30kg of body weight lost. One thing that stuck out for me though was Darcy deadlifting 115kg for 3 reps. She is still only 13 years old and weighs 57kg. So she has now pulled double her body weight for reps.

This was her first deadlift from the floor for this cycle as last cycle I had her performing them from a podium. The carry over seems to have worked well. In saying this, next week we will not be going for a heavier load. We will be going back down to 105 or 107.5kg. It is important for her not to lift maximally at a young age and this was getting very close to that point. 

I have spoken about Darcy and her athletic abilities many times in the past. She is going from strength to strength because she is focused and loves what she is doing. Its great seeing her progress along with the rest of the gym. 

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Deadlift

Darcy Eade

Andrew First Ever Deadlift Session

August 1, 2019

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Nathan Waters - Total Health Performance

Andrew Thornton's first deadlift session with a straight bar.

We have been progressing Andrew along by doing a lot of general preparation work for the VMO, hamstrings, and lower back over the past few months. Due to this his knee pain that was quite severe has subsided and his osteopath told him that he has delayed his need for a knee replacement by about 20 years.

This has come about due to his training but also his nutrition. He has reduced a lot of inflammation in his body and he has dropped 34kg in the process which has definitely helped with his knee pain.

In his previous cycle Andrew performed some deadlifts with the high handles on a Trap bar and we were progressing to the low handles this phase before moving on to the straight bar. His son was on the Trap bar, so we just had a crack at deadlifting to see where he was at and he done quite well with it getting 80kg for 5 reps.

For someone who could even bend over to the reach the bar, Andrew has done great. I look forward to seeing his continual progress.

Tags:

Andrew Thornton

Deadlift

weight loss

Knee pain

strength training

program design

Nutrition

Progressing with the 5,4,3,2,1 Method

July 14, 2019

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Nathan Waters - Total Health Performance

In this phase of training I have been using the 5,4,3,2,1 method with Toby and he is responding very well to it. It is a method that teaches your body how to perform lower reps more efficiently. Toby is good at repeating efforts but would struggle to recruit the higher threshold muscles once the reps got lower. So, over the past few cycles I have gradually reduced his average rep range to get his cns used to performing some lower rep work and thought the 5,4,3,2,1 method would be a good way to finish off his cycle before he leaves for his holiday this coming Tuesday.

Another good thing about the 5,4,3,2,1 method is that the descending reps make the workout feel a lot easier psychologically and you feel as though you are getting much stronger each set, which is very motivating. 

It is also a very simple method to implement. You perform a 5RM and then add weight each set whilst dropping the reps by one. It is recommended you add 2-3% on each set, whilst dropping that rep, but what you will find early on is that you can probably add a bit more until you really start to get to true max lifts for the given reps. Toby jumped 5% on a lot of his lifts but he has only done 2 workouts of each so far. I would expect these jumps to now begin to fall into that 2-3% range. 

An example workout for Toby is as follows:

A1. Back Squat Heels Elevated, 5,4,3,2,1, 4010, 120 seconds rest

A2. Standing Leg Curl Toes In, 5 x 3-5, 4010, 120 seconds rest

B1. Deadlift, 5,4,3,2,1, 4110, 120 seconds rest

B2. DB Lunges, 5 x 3-5, 20X0, 120 seconds rest

Here is a video of Toby hitting a 180kg deadlift for a single, which happens to be a current PB for him. It is a good effort considering it is after performing back squats and leg curls prior to it in his workout.

Tags:

Toby Huxley

Deadlift

grip strength

Strength

strength training

program design

CNS