The Metal Militia Training Style

By: Sebastian Burns

There have been many questions and some misinformation about our style of
training. I will set the record straight about the way we train and why. This
method has led many lifters to new PRs never thought possible. There have been
many times where lifters will set 30 to 50lb PRs in their first workout with us and
almost always these lifters will take some info home with them and continue to
set PRs week after week. We have invited and traveled to train with hundreds of
lifters over the years and 99% of them will hit a PR in their first workout with us.
Obviously I will not be able to provide hands on attention with this article but I
will lay out our workout plan.

We train the bench 2 days per week one day is for low-end raw strength and the
other is for top end and shirt practice. Our workouts fall on Tuesday and
Saturday.
Tuesday is for Raw and Saturday is assistance and shirt day.

Tuesday
Raw bench: Grip (Index Finger On Ring)
We work our way up to a 3 Rep Max (3RM). If we get all 3 reps we will go up
10lbs and try another 3 reps. If we don't get 3 we may stop there or go down for
a 5 RM Next week we will attempt the 3RM again and go up 10 lbs etc.Total sets
= 5 to 8.

Decline: Grip (Pinky Finger On Ring)

For decline we work up to a 5RM with all sets done for 5 reps.Total sets = 5
The more you arch on the bench press the more valuable the decline will be.

4,3,2,1 Boards: Grip (Pinky Finger On Ring)

We usually work up to a 3RM on the 4 board then we may go for 1RM on the next
boards depending on energy levels and soreness from the previous workout.Total
sets range from 8 to as many as 15.
Total sets on this day range from 15 to 30.

Other exercises that can be done on this day:

Incline: 4 Sets 5 to 1 Reps.
Rope Extensions: 2 Sets 20 to 40 Reps.
Pulldowns: 4 Sets 10 Reps.
Shrugs: 4 Sets 10 Reps.

Saturday
Close Grip Bench: Grip (Pinky Finger On Ring)
This exercise is used as a warm up and we use the same progression as raw
bench for the sets except we don't go back down for a 5RM.

Shirt Bench: Grip (Index Finger On Ring)

We will put our shirt on here if the meet is within 4 weeks or so. If the meet is
farther away we will do our shirt work at the end before Rack work. Everyone
usually starts off with their shirt where they left off with the close grip bench.
Starting with 3 to 5 reps in the first few sets to get into a grove of the shirt. Then
onto a few doubles then some singles. If the singles don't go well or if there is
problems touching or with your groove then we will go right back to the
beginning and work all the way back up again trying harder to get everything
right. Sets here could range from 5 to 10 to even 20 or more depending on how
everything goes. If you don't get it right you must work back through until you
get it right.

6,5,4, Boards: Grip (Pinky Finger On Ring)

We will usually try to max on all of these boards and sometimes work through the
same board twice if the groove does not feel right or we miss our goal weight on
a certain board. Again sets could be very high if things don't go right or if more
work is needed in a certain area. The 4 board is optional on this day depending if
you did it on Tuesday or not.

Rack Lockouts: Grip (Pinky Finger On Ring)

We work our way up to a 3RM using 3 reps for all sets. These are done at the end
of the workout when you are tired and want to go home but if you stay and do
them you will have great finishing power needed to lockout heavy weight. Total
sets range from 6 to 10.

Other exercises that can be done on this day:

Tricep Pushdowns: 3 Sets 10 Reps.
Rope Extensions: 2 Sets 20 to 40 reps.
Pulldowns: 4 Sets 10 Reps.
Shrugs: 4 Sets 10 Reps.

As you can see there is much more volume done on sat then on Tuesday and
nothing is set in stone. The workouts are dictated by the way we feel and where
we feel we need the most work to produce improvement.

Planning Out your Training Cycle

By: Sebastian Burns

Training for a big bench or a full power meet requires lots of planning and
frequent adjustments at specific times to your workload and exercises for
optimum results. Some lifters just train and do whatever they feel like on
whatever day. Others set a plan in stone and stick to it no matter what. While
both of these systems seem to have some advantages and disadvantages. I have
found that it is the lifter that is in tune with his body and the changes that take
place during the period of a training cycle. Lets take a look at a basic 10 week
bench training cycle. The cycle is laid out on a 2 day per week workout one day
to do full range raw bench work and the other a high volume/top end super heavy
day. When the cycle begins there will be weakness in all areas of the bench. I will
lay out the obvious along with some other things you may not have thought of.
First your ability to do large volume workouts: This will increase during the cycle
and will need to be adjusted as you get closer to the meet .

Stability and Balance: By this I mean not just core stability and stabilizer muscles
but your ability to put weight where you want it to go with a tight shirt on. This
should be addressed early on in small amounts at first but in very large amounts
later on.

Flexibility and arch/Position: By this I mean getting into the habit of setting up
better and better getting your body where you want it on the bench with and
without a shirt on. This should not be overlooked, as after only a few weeks of no
bench training your setup will start to deteriorate.

Learning how to get support out of looser gear: When you begin lifting your
bench shirt will be loose on you and you will need to get as much out of it as you
can by learning how to get support out of loose gear it will teach you how to get
huge support out of tighter gear. As you progress through the cycle you will get
larger and your shirt will get tighter. Lifting with a loose shirt will also make you
very strong and stable.

As you progress through your first few weeks you will need to bring up all these
previous points while you are still keeping a close eye out for special weaknesses
that may be developing. If you can find faults early on you will have a better
chance at improving them before the meet gets to close. When we start a
training cycle we do a good amount of raw benching and lower boards to set a
base at the bottom while we have time to spare. Later on there will be no time to
work the bottom, as all efforts will go toward shirt and upper work.

Five or so weeks into the cycle you should have enough time in to analyze where
things are going wrong or right. If you find that you are having trouble with
you’re shirt bench touching. Then you know you are going to need to get twice
the work in with your shirt over the next few weeks and this is no prob because
at this point you still have some time to do it. If you are touching and you are
failing at lockout then you know you are going to need to get your lockouts and
high boards up. If at this time you find that you are bringing the bar high on your
chest and ripping shirts then you will need to back off the raw benching and use
your shirt more.You may also want to start doing some top end work on your
other day as well at this time.

Seven weeks into the cycle you should be well into lots of shirt benching and
upper end as well as identifying where you need work. At this time you will
probably still need to perfect your shirt lifting while still improving your lockout.
Week 8 and 9 By this time you should be hitting lots of singles and preparing for
a 1 rep shirt max this may mean not only doing heavy singles but trying a 3 rep
shirt max and working on lots of shirt reps if needed. The top of the lift is all
important at this time because if you have done everything up till now your form
should be the best it can be and at the meet it is gonna come down to locking the
weight out because with a good bench shirt the weight will always come off your
chest.

Week 10 we do our last workout 7 days before the meet and we usually don’t
back off we will hit it hard and do lots of work and maybe go up to an opener or a
second attempt. Followed by lots of where we think we need that last bit of
work.

The last week before the meet is reserved for lots of eating and sleeping. Keep
stress levels low and be lazy. Your training is done at this point and now you
must focus on healing up for the meet. Try to get extra sleep this last week in the
form of naps or extra hours at night. Don’t stress about the meet if you have
done all things right and have confidence in yourself and the training you have
done you will succeed.

Hard Work
By: Sebastian Burns

Nothing is accomplished without work, and in terms of upping your lifts; it is

almost the most important factor. Most people believe that they are working hard
in the gym. I will tell you straight out that 99% of lifters are not working as hard
as they could be. Lets take a look at some common mistakes made by people
who are trying to get their lifts up.

First you must have a good attitude towards the work. You cannot go into the
gym thinking, “Man I have to do all this and I don't really feel like it”. Sure, there
are days that we don't feel like training. If you are going to take the time to go to
the gym, load all the weight, and get all your friends together to help spot, you
need to forget all other bullshit and put your mind into the work. When I go in to
train I know right from the start that the work is gonna be hard, and there is a
chance I will get hurt and I may feel like I got hit by a truck for days to come. One
thing that most people say to me is “Wow, how do you do so much work?”, well I
do because I make myself feel like I have to. I say to myself, “This is all I know
and this is all I have, and I will kill myself in this fucking gym if I have to.” I want
to get my lift and I want to be the best lifter I can. I want to always be the last
lifter in the gym. I will be the one there for hours after everyone leaves. I will
never quit until I know I have killed myself.

Here is some other shit I hear sometimes when I am working out with people.
“I worked all day or all week and I am tired”. This one really gets me going. I
don't give a fuck, we are here to do work and I don't care if your arm is half torn
off. I also worked all day or all week and my drive to do the work is high because
I will succeed, and while you are complaining about your hard work I will use your
complaining to piss me off to do even more work.

“My head is not in it tonight” Well your body is here so you might as well get your
fucking head in it. While you are in the gym there is nothing more important than
getting the work done regardless of what is on your mind. If it is woman problems
or financial problems you must learn to separate yourself from that bullshit. Do
you think some girl gives a shit about your workout? Well she doesn't and she is
probably talking to or hanging out with some other guy while you are there
working out. So forget about her and if it is money that is bothering you quit
lifting and go get a better job because there is no money in lifting.

“I'm spent man, I don't have anything left” If you say this than that means that
you do not have a drive to succeed. There has been many times where my body
has hurt so bad and I had not hardly eaten that day, but I want to better myself
and I want to get the work done. The easy thing to do here would be to just go
home and rest. I know for a fact that someone else out there is not going to just
leave. They will stay and do the work no matter what. How do I know, because I
am that lifter.

“My shoulder, pec, or elbow is bothering me” Well you need to realize that lifting
weights will beat your body all to hell. There will always be something that does
not feel quite right when you reach the upper level of weight training. I am not
saying train with injuries, but I have actually heard people say my shoulder is
bothering me a little so I am gonna stop. While I am standing there with a huge
swollen lump on my shoulder, a loud grinding going on, and can barely straighten
my arm out because of elbow pain. I want to scream fuck you! Now I am gonna
stay here and work even harder because you are a little Bitch.

There are many more things that piss me off, but I am sure some of you have
heard these excuses, and that is all they are; excuses for not wanting to do the
work. Or god forbid you have said some of these yourself. I will list a few things
that you can try if you want to work harder.

1. Go thru your whole workout. Then go thru it again.

2. Go thru an exercise then do it again.
3. Be the last person out of the gym.
4. Use your training partners slacking to piss you off to do more work.
5. Act like all you have is this workout and you are going to make the best of it.
6. Don't be afraid to kill yourself during a workout.
7. Know that your mind is much stronger than your body.
8. Yell loud at people who are not doing work.
9. Expect everything out of your training partners.
10. Move with urgency during your training and don't be afraid to be a dick if
people are not doing work…
Most of all just start loving the work. It is the only thing you have that will help
you get what you want.

Setting up for Competition Bench Pressing

By: Sebastian Burns

When most people set up for the bench they usually don't think that what they
are doing is the most important part of the lift. They are focused on the weight
and maybe the excitement of the meet or training session. What they don't know
is that the game is won or lost in the setup. I don't think that many local gym rats
even think about it at all. Judging by most of what I have seen working in the gym
business for 15 odd years most people just lay down and push the bar up in
whatever way possible. This is fine if you are a flat back benchin gym rat, but
when you are looking to do some damage to the state, national, or world record
books you will need to pay more attention to your setup. I have personally seen
lifters add 50 to 100lbs to their bench in one or two training sessions just by
improving their setup. That's right, 50 to 100lbs!! Most lifters would say only a
bench shirt could cause an increase like that. Well I will try to convey in writing
the proper way to set up your bench press so you to can enjoy an increase like
that.

Lets start with feet position your feet should be spread wide. A good rule of
thumb here is to always spread your feet a little wider than you think they should
be. If you keep that in your head over time you will be able to get them pretty
wide if you are not flexible enough to do so in the beginning .Now lets look at foot
placement. The way we will do this is to look at the foot in relation to the knee.
The feet should be tucked behind your knee more towards your head and the
angle of your leg from a side view should look like this (<). There is a few reasons
for this foot placement the first being the ability to drive hard from your legs
without your ass coming up off the bench. The second is stability. The wide
stance will provide the base needed to steer heavy weight with a bench shirt on.
The actual way you place your feet is also important. We have found that it is
best to put the full force of your push onto the balls of your feet but at the same
time pressing the heel to the floor. Pushing the heel to the floor can be used as a
fine adjustment knob for getting weight to touch your chest with your shirt on.
When you push your heel down this will cause your stomach to rise and will allow
the bar to touch.

Now lets move beyond the feet to the hip joint. It is here that we create the angle
of the upper leg (<) we are looking for to get the feet in the proper position. This
is accomplished by flexing your gluteus as much as possible and rotating your
crotch towards the bench (Balls to the bench if you will). If you follow all the steps
up till here we have solved the problems of getting max stability with max leg
drive without raising your ass off the bench. For most lifters this would seem
impossible but with some time and a lot of effort you will get the position right. If
your ass is still coming off the bench then your feet will have to go wider or
farther back or both.

Next is the lower back, obviously this will determine most of your arch and you
will need to really push yourself to get your arch up if you are not flexible enough
to do so already. I cannot say enough how important it is that you try really hard
to get better at arching it is almost the biggest piece of the shirt bench puzzle.
There is a few ways I have seen over the years to try to help you arch, everything
from placing various balls and boards under your back to crazy stretching
exercises. My opinion here is that if you think it works then try it. I personally
have never used anything except trying to arch higher and higher every single
set and I have been told that my arch is one of the best save for a few girls who
can just bend in half.

Now lets move to arching the upper back. Most people think that only the lower
back arches but this is not so and this is very important if you want to get the
most out of your shirt, this is accomplished by putting your upper trap on the
bench and pushing your chest out as far as possible. To see what I am saying sit
up straight in a chair and place your finger on the highest point on your trap you
will see that this is not behind you but rather on top. This is what you are trying
to get on the bench.

Now that we have made it this far lets talk about the final piece and perhaps the
most important. Shoulder blade retraction the best way to explain this is to stand
straight up and put your arms up like you are about to bench. Now have someone
put his or her finger in the middle of your upper back on your spine. Pull your
shoulders together and try to squeeze that persons finger notice your bench
stroke will shorten a few inches from doing this. This will also aid in touching
weight with a tight shirt on. The reason for it in the setup will be to hold your shirt
in place while you are arching.

Now that we have broken down each area of the proper setup lets put it all
together into one motion because it must become one fluid motion that does not
require lots of valuable energy needed for the lift.
Start by sitting on the end of the bench retracting your shoulder blades keeping
your shirt where you have placed it for the lift. Lying back on the bench and
grabbing the bar with an underhand grip, next move your head and upper body
thru the bench towards your handoff spotter while holding yourself up with your
underhand grip. Shoulders still retracted, pull your feet back farther than where
you would normally place them, almost where they are touching the cross
member of the bench. Keep them there and start moving your body back toward
the front of the bench without moving your feet. Once you feel a great stretch in
your hipflexors. Anchor your hips to the bench and start rotating your crotch
downward toward the bench. Your feet still remain in the extremely flexed
position at this time. Shoulders still together chest and stomach pushed up real
high, this is where you must focus on the upper back arch. You can also use your
head to hold your upper back off the bench while you are trying to get the upper
trap on the bench. When you feel you have enough of an arch to put your traps
down, slam them down hard and dig in. All the time be aware of your shirt and
arm position. Keep pushing your ass and your traps closer together using your
feet at one end and pushing into the arch with your hands on the bar with the
other. The whole time you are doing this you will need to be aware of your bench
shirt and the position of your arms, I cannot stress this enough. Now that you are
in position slide your feet forward (not too far) until you can get a solid base on
the balls of your feet now push your heels to the floor. If you can do so easily you
went too far. It should be hard to get them to touch the floor .Now without
moving your shirt turn your hands around push together a little more take a deep
breath and take the weight.

I hope you will incorporate some or all of these things into your bench setup.

Developing Upper End Strength in the Bench Press

By: Sebastian Burns

By now it has become obvious that raw bench strength is not as important as the
lockout and upper end strength in the world of Powerlifting/Bench Only. In this
article we will take a look at how to develop both upper end and lockout strength
in the bench press.

First let’s take a look at Upper end strength. This is the area where your shirt
begins to stop supporting the weight and you are preparing to lock the weight
out. Usually this is past the transition (Also refer to older articles for explanation
of transition on www.metalmilitia.net) when the help of the shirt lets go. This can
be 1 or 2 inches at the top or 4 to 6, depending on the lifter and his/her setup
and technique, shoulder-blade retraction, and so forth. I have gone into setup
and tech in earlier articles that can be found on www.metalmilitia.net. I will
certainly go into them more in future articles. In this article I will discuss how to
train the upper end of the bench press for competition bench pressing in a bench
shirt.

Let’s start with the warm-up. Most lifters just throw on some plates and pump out
half reps until they start getting to the more challenging sets. Many times I have
seen lifters not lockout warm-ups and these lifters always have trouble with
upper end strength. But they can never figure out why. If you want to get strong
at the top you need to use every rep of every set to practice holding weight and
locking out. When the weight is handed off to the lifter, the lifter should hold the
weight fully locked out and motionless for 2-4 seconds. Holding weight locked out
for slightly extended periods of time during training sessions, will greatly improve
stability, holding strength and control. Just incorporating this into your training
can cause dramatic increases in your ability to place the bar in the proper groove
with a bench shirt on.

I have also seen many lifters throw the bar back into the rack unable to control it,
at the completion of a lift. These lifters almost always blow the weight right of
their chest, making it look easy, but then are unable to hold the weight locked
out or motionless. This is often overlooked by lifters during their training, but can
be easily cured. By holding every rep of every set locked out and motionless for
extended periods during training.

BOARDS

Now let’s look at a few exercises to develop upper end strength. I will start with
boards: 5 and 6 boards. When first starting with boards, take the weight out and
hold for a few seconds. Bring the bar low toward your stomach, elbows in. Let the
weight sink and sit in to the board while you relax your arms and shoulders. Push
up into the board with your stomach, not letting the weight flatten you out. Then
throw the bar back to the starting position and hold for 2-4 seconds on every rep,
and repeat. 6 and 5 boards are used on upper end day, for most. The 4 boards
are getting into mid strength and we are not going to discuss that in this article.

Rack work

Rack work should be limited to 2 to 4 inches max depending on your body, arm
length etc… A good way to figure out if you are doing around the right height is
to use your shirted bench as a guide. If you are doing lockouts with a lot more
weight than you can do in a bench shirt, then chances are you are not at the
right level. Assuming you are even slightly experienced in shirted lifting. I often
here people say “I am locking out 700+ but can’t hit 500 in a shirt” Right away I
know they are not doing them at the right height. You should be locking out
somewhere in the neighborhood of your shirt bench. When you get real good you
should be at about 50lbs over your shirt best, give or take a few lbs.
Now let’s talk about the execution of the lockout. Arms should be sticking
straight out to the sides, elbows NOT tucked in and the bar should be at upper
chest shoulder level. Upper back should be slightly relaxed and the arch should
be about 50% of your best shirted arch position. When pushing against the bar,
don’t try to jerk the bar off the pins explosively. Gradually build power until the
bar breaks free from the pins. Continue building power to the lock-out and extend
arms fully. Once the arms are extended fully, we do what is called an
exaggerated extension. This is where the bar is pushed beyond your comfortable
lock-out, where most lifters would normally stop. You try to hyper extend your
elbow. This position is held for 3-5 seconds on every rep. We then release the
bar, with no negative resistance. In other words, we kind of let the bar drop. Rack
lock-outs are only a positive movement. There is no negative (movement).

I will now lay out a work-out including these exercises. This work-out is a typical
Metal Militia assistance work-out day:

Warm-up
Close grip bench press
6 sets working up to a 3RM

6 Board press
6-8 sets working up to a 3RM
5 Board press
6-8 sets working up to a 3RM

Shirt bench
6 -15 sets or as many as needed

Rack lock-outs
6-8 sets working up to a 3 RM

Note: It is very important to hold weight in the starting position and the lock-out
position, for extended periods of time (approx. 3-5 seconds), of every rep of
every set.

I guarantee doing this workout for only a few weeks, you will see drastic changes
in your shirted bench press and the ability to control heavy weight.
More in-depth information on Metal Militia training can be found
at www.metalmilitia.net. Most of the exercises are hard to convey into words,
without seeing it done yourself. I recommend checking out some of the videos
found on www.metalmilitia.net. In closing, I would like to thank Wesley Kampen
of Monster Muscle for inspiring me to write this article. If anyone would like to
contact me please feel free to e mail me at Metalmilitiabench@yahoo.

Technology

I just finished an article in MILO (Vol.9 #3) by Steve Jeck co-author of stones and
strength. In the article Jeck discusses the progress of the “Iron Game” and how
he believes we have gone too far. Jeck wines about how unreal an 800 lb bench
press is and how it’s impossible to have 27” ripped biceps. I have recently
encountered several people on and off the Internet with this same attitude. I
wonder what the world would be like if these people were in charge. Would we
still be eating dinner in the dark, would we be driving a horse and buggy? I don’t
know and personally I don’t wish to find out. I like technology, I like knowing if my
son falls down the stairs I can pick up a phone and call an ambulance; or if my
house catches on fire they will come with a big friggin truck loaded with water
and hoses, not buckets and horses. Granted some technology can be bad, I think
kids today spend way too much time watching TV and playing video games, but
whose fault is that? The parents, why are they not regulating the amount of time
their kids spend in cyber-space? Because they are too busy doing something
other than being parents, that’s why. My point is technology is a good thing, it
improves our way of life and as long as open-minded people continue to walk the
earth it will continue.

I get so tired of the guy who spouts off with, “Oh I could bench 700 lbs if I took
steroids and wore a denim bench shirt”, the funny thing is, none of them are
willing to prove it. It’s true steroids increase your strength and bench shirts will
allow you to bench more, no shit! But to sit back and discredit a lift because a
lifter took advantage of these tools is ludicrous. The shirt didn’t make the lift by
itself and the steroids don’t work unless you work out. Athletes of all kind use
progress and invention every year to enhance performance. Long distance
runners and sprinters have highly advanced footwear and aerodynamic clothing,
Olympic lifters wear special shoes and compression suits; pole valuators have
traded in their old wooden pole for fiberglass composite poles. Oh, and lets not
forget anabolic steroid use. The Olympic committee would have us believe that
it’s non-existent, yeah, ok, and Joe Weider is really interested in the health of the
country rather than his billions of dollars. Why is it these athletes are allowed to
take advantage of advanced equipment and drug use and are not criticized for it
and those of use who choose to bench in double denim bench shirts in
federations that allow it are considered phony and our lifts are considered bogus?

What’s worst of all is our biggest critics are our peers. Never have I competed in
a sport that was so cutthroat and political. The anti-drug anti- equipment guys
have got to be the worst, they remind me of the women who stand in front of the
abortion clinics screaming and freaking out at something they don’t understand,
and will never open their mind to. These small groups of close-minded ignorant
people speak the loudest among us, they are afraid to take themselves to a new
level. So rather than challenge themselves they take the easy road and sit back
and make excuses as to why their lifts suck. You will never hear great lifters
make excuses for missing a lift, they will simply walk off the platform accept what
happened, learn from it, improve and not let it happen again. Case in point, I
spoke with Glen Chabot after he tore his peck. I asked him how he was feeling
and how he thought this would affect his bench. Glen simply said, “I’ll be back
and I’ll be stronger”, keep in mind he was black and blue from his shoulder to his
stomach when he said this.

This is the kind of attitude that made this country great. Why would you powerlift
if run of the mill is what you aspire to. Lets be honest, most people don’t
powerlift to be healthy, that’s what the people who walk on the treadmills are
looking for. Most of us that powerlift do so because we want to lift more than we
did last week. Why? Because we want to feed our egos and we want to be great,
even if it means only being great in our own weight class, or being the strongest
guy in your gym. We as human beings have something no other animal in the
animal kingdom has, a huge brain, some smaller than others mind you. With this
brain we have the ability, no, the want to self improve, to be better than the guy
next to us. Why? Because if we don’t, we won’t survive, if you sit on your ass and
tread water you will never improve and you will never get better.

Using better equipment and performance enhancing drugs is also part of it. Look
at the millions of dollars spent each year on supplements; the only difference
between these and steroids are most supplements don’t work. The feeling of
benching 700Lbs is beyond compare. Equipment or no equipment, drugs or no
drugs, the best will always be the best no matter what, no matter where.

Mike Miller - MM

Metal Militia Squat Training

By: Sebastian Burns

So you think Metal Militia Training is all about the bench press. Well what most
people do not realize is that the principals for gaining strength while using
supportive power lifting gear is all pretty much the same. Also these principals
are pretty simple to understand. You will always have support in the bottom of
the lift when wearing a bench shirt or a squat suit. So it is more logical to train
the areas of the lifts that are not supported to gain max benefit from the use of
supportive gear. Unfortunately this logic is often lost on most lifters. While it is
important to train all areas and aspects of the lift, it is also most important to
recognize and train the areas that will produce the biggest and best results to
your powerlifting total and when you are talking about lifting in gear this means
getting stronger at the mid to top end of the movement and learning to use your
gear. We have discussed many times in my articles the importance of getting
stronger and increasing the volume and workload to the top end of the Bench
Press. Those who have heeded these words are enjoying a new level of benching
never thought possible. It only seems logical to apply the same technique to
training the squat.

After you think about it for awhile you will see that it becomes even more logical
to get strong at the top given the extra support you get from Briefs, Knee Wraps
and a Canvas or Denim squat suit. You now have twice as much support
squatting as in the bench press. With Knee wraps you now gain the extra spring
and help out of the bottom and through the middle and to the top of the
movement.

Lets Break down the aspects of training the lift first we have the top of the lift we
have already decided that this is a very important factor in our training routine.
This is by no means the only factor in the lift but rather just a vital piece to a
bigger puzzle. The other factor in this puzzle is learning to squat with a squat suit
on. Some people train hard and then try to add this in at the last minute .This
never works. What some people don’t understand is that this is the movement
you will actually be doing on the day of the contest. Logic dictates that this is
also an area that should be given the utmost attention. Far to many lifters are
using other exercises to improve their main lifts instead of the main lifts with full
ROMs . In this day and age of big support there is a whole new aspect to the lifts
themselves learning and improving Technique and the ability to control bone
breaking support has become the name of the game. This is what power lifting
has become today you either get onboard or get left behind. This is what has
always intrigued me about power lifting it is not only about how strong you are
but how smart you are and how efficiently you spend your training time and
learning gear and body angles.

It is important to recognize where you need your work. Just like in bench training
it is important to access what Skill level you are at in your full gear so you can
build a routine around that. If you have never squatted in a suit before or have
trouble with bending over to far or balance trouble in your suit stance or not
being able to get decent depth. You will need to direct your full attention to these
problems early on in your training cycle. There is no sense doing a bunch of
elaborate exercises if you do not have your form down to a tee first. So if you are
in that category Increase your volume of fully suited up squats. take the time to
learn new body angles to help you reach a competition depth. Instead of just
piling more weight on saying I just need more weight to get there. This is never a
good idea because you never practice in the full groove of the movement. While
it is easier to reach a depth with more weight it should be perfected at Sub
maximal weights to ensure you will be able to reach depth with your squat
opener. This is the most important lift of the meet and it sets the stage for the
rest of the meet. I like to feel confident that I can hit depth with any weight
during a meet .This will keep nervous energy to a minimum and put your mind at
ease when getting ready for a meet. One less thing to worry about come meet
day.

Lets move on to a few workouts I will list 2 workouts that focous on the top and
midrange of the squat along with suit lifting.

SQUAT WORKOUT #1

High Box (18” to 20” Depending on Body Shape)

8 to 10 Sets 3 Reps

Work up to a 3 RM
Mid Box(1 ½ to 2 inches lower than High Box)

6 to 8 Sets 3 Reps

Work Up to a 1 to 3 RM

Early in the cycle Do a lower box on this day also right at or slightly below
parallel

Squat Suit on

Start with a lighter weight and work up to a training max or a double. It is

important to learn balance with your suit on so do sets of 2 or 3 reps on the way
up. Be sure to have someone calling your depth and experiment with foot
placement and foot angle to get depth. You will need someone who will call you
true depth. So you can get a feel for your technique changes. Remember with
power lifting we are always trying to shorten the range of motion on all exercises.
So you are trying to move the bar in the shortest distance trying to get a depth
call so just like in benching it is important to keep your position through out the
entire lift. Even the smallest deviation in form could have devastating effects on
your lift. Some of the things that should always be worked on is staying as
straight as possible when squatting down. This should also be practiced on box
squats .Often I see people bending forward or letting their knees go forward. If
you watch someone squat from the side as soon as they start to bend at the
waist their hips stop going down. This means you are bringing the bar lower and
you are not getting any closer to hitting depth. You also must learn to push into
the support of the suit if you slack on this at all during the lift you will bend
forward or let your knees slip forward avoiding the support. this is also very
important to practice in your full gear with wraps so you learn how to manipulate
the support of wraps and tight suit and belt. I personally believe this to be the
most important aspect of training the squat and any other lift that involves
supportive equipment. A large percent of your training Time must be spent
learning how to use your supportive gear. Getting stronger at the upper end of
the movement is the key to using this support to the maximum degree. Therefore
the lift becomes a balance between these two factors.

This workout Can be done every other week

Workout #2

Low Box Squat With Bands

Start with one band the first week and work up to a max triple adding plates. The
next week add another set of bands and repeat the 3 rm if you do this every 2
weeks you should be strong enough to reach your previous bar weight.

Squat Suit

Work up to a heavy 2 or 3 RM

You will be extra tired from using the bands and it will not be possible to hit a
heavy single so here is a chance to get some work in while you are tired. This
kind of work can really build some strength that will be useful on meet day.

To add more volume on this day you could do some sort of good morning or stiff
leg deadlift for sets of 5 to 10 reps.

I am confident that if you apply some of these principals into your squat training
you will see great results in your meet squats. In closing I would like to touch on
the importance of getting as many full squat reps as possible in your Suit. Just as
in bench pressing the full movement in full gear is a movement in itself and
needs to be practiced. If you are always a little high or unable to get legal depth
you will always be disappointed at the meet when you must hit full depth.
Remember it is better and much less stressful knowing you can make depth on
your opener. It is always best to be relaxed and confident on meet day. Please
check out WWW.UNDERGROUNDSTRENGTH.COM for DVDs of our workouts. Also
VisitWWW.METALMILITIA.NET for more articles and Training Videos. I would like to
thank all those who have e mailed and called me with positive feedback. Feel
free to e mail me with any questions.Metalmilitiabench@yahoo.com

Using Bands With Metal Militia Training

By Sebastian Burns

Seems like everyone wants a faster way to get stronger and bands just add to
the temptation. In this article I will explain how we use bands in our routine
.When we first start our 10 to 20 week training cycle we are concerned with
getting back into training after our long layoff (layoff could be between 4 to 6
months) we pretty much start from scratch with not much strength and no
training endurance. During this time we are just trying to get everything stronger
and weak areas are not as clear. So we will run 4 week cycles of bands in the
early part of our cycle.

There is 2 ways we have used the bands in our training and I will list them both .I
will start with the most recent cycle we just did .There is nothing really set in
stone and some of our lifters use bands on Raw day and some use them on Shirt
day. I will list all possible ways we combine them.

To set up the bands for this exercise take 2 bands and tie them together then put
them under the bench and up to each end of the bar. This way the knot of the
bands is inline with your midback and the band runs inline with your shoulders.

Week 1
Band Press 1 Set Big Blue Band
Work up to a 3 rm over 5 to 6 sets

4 Boards
Work up to 1 to 3 RM

3Boards
Work up to 1 to 3 RM

Decline
5 sets 5 Reps up to 5 RM

Week 2
Band Press 2 Sets Big Blue Band
Work up to a 3 rm over 5 to 6 sets

4 Boards
Work up to 1 to 3 RM

3Boards
Work up to 1 to 3 RM

Decline
5 sets 5 Reps up to 5 RM

Week 3
3 to 5 sets of bands etc…. We will start adding more bands per week.
2 more sets of blue next week etc…when you start running single minis on top of
all these big blues the tension gets crazy.

We just keep adding more bands each week until we have 8 to 10 bands or so
much tension that 135 + Band weight is impossible or until no one can get 1
anymore.
I will advise anyone looking to go into this super band tension zone that you start
slow and light and let your body adapt to this type of stress. Things can get crazy
when you have a large amount of tension so be careful and have good spots.

Another way we have used bands in the past was to use them during our close
grips on shirt day. We would use one set of the blue bands wrapped around a
dumbbell held in place by some 25lb weights on each side of them. This is a
different feel than having the bands go under the bench and I liked these as well.
So the workout would look like this .

Close Grips with Bands

Work up to a 3 RM

Shirt
As many sets as it takes

6 Boards or 5 Board
Work up to a PR or 3 RM

Rack Lockout
Work up to PR

Each week adding weight to the bar instead of bands is very different than
adding bands every week and has great merit also.

Another exercise we do with bands is unique not in exercise but in the way we
set it up. When we first started training we would do hanging band presses but
we found them to unrealistic when the bands help all the way thru the
movement. So after some thought I decided to run a short ladder across the pins
in the power rack and hang the bands doubled over from the rungs of the
ladder .So there is lots of band help for the first few inches of the movement and
then they totally let go and the bar rises about 4 to 6 inches off the bands
completely depending on arm length. We work these up to a PR for a few weeks
and then lay off them for a week or so then come back to them for a Pr . This
movement seems to be more realistic when compared to the way a bench shirt
helps with the lift. We often use this exercise on raw bench day for extra work at
the top without overtaxing the bottom of the lift and the vulnerable pec muscles.
To much low end raw work can cause damage to tendons and will take energy
and time from upper end work that will pay off in a bench shirt. By doing these on
raw day we cut down on the damage to the muscle and still get great work at the
top.

One thing we do different is we drop most if not all of the band work as the
contest get closer in favor of developing technique and working on specific
weakness for each lifter. Also heavy Boards and rack work become more of a
factor as the meet draws near. One thing that should be noted is that Band
tension and weight are two very different things and if you just use bands and
never use real weight you will never get a realistic feel for the proper groove in a
bench shirt. Bands are a training aid and should be used as such. I have seen
some lifters ruin their forum by using only band tension and I have heard of many
lifters doing very well with loads of tension so experiment and see what works
well for you and your training partners. There are many other people out there
using bands in many different ways, Westside, Gene ,Mike Miller and a few others
that have some really cool things going on with them so be sure to check them
out for more Ideas.