Bobcat makes an appearance
8 July 2005If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I never know what to expect when folks I havent met come to a Fitness Day Camp. On Wednesday of this week Bob and Vonda dropped by on their way from Lexington to Washington. I knew Robert only through his articulate and thoughtful website postings. In your minds eye you compose a mental picture of a person youve been conversing with for a protracted period and rarely does imagination match reality. Bob wanted to drop by on this leg of his vacation travel odyssey that started in Kentucky and would head east to DC before turning south to UVA (Bobcats alma mater; three degrees) in Charlottesville before meandering back to Lexington. Vonda is Bobs wife and she and he were lively, game participants in what turned out to be a killer training camp. I lay thirty miles off his travel route so he wanted to drop by and talk specifically about the subtler technical points of the three core progressive resistance lifts: squat, bench press and deadlift.
On the wrong side of fifty, the Bobcat had a power comeback thwarted when the Hells Angel Santa Claus promoting the competition cancelled the meet three weeks out. Bobcat had been honing his skills in preparation and now the rug had been jerked out from under him. All dressed up and ready to go when they cancelled the prom. Oh well. Since he had nothing on the competitive radar screen, I asked if he would be interested in trying to learn some brand new techniques I didnt have to ask twice. But first we thought it might be nice to stretch the legs and warm up the body in preparation for the weight training. My default cardio stomping grounds is a 155-acre farm that lies at the base of the Catoctin Mountains. The trails are a nice combination of open flat and smooth terrain, perfect for speed work, and a series of steep trails that rise almost 1000 feet in a gradual, consistently upward fashion. The heat was a factor: 90-degrees. Bob, Vonda and I hit it hard for 50-minutes and by the end everyone had worked up a damned good sweat. Wed worked a little faster than Id have preferred but the scenery was breathtaking and the air so pure and sweet and fragrant that enthusiasm got the better part of discretion and prudence.
By the time we started lifting Bobcat had already oxidized 900 calories. The garage thermometer registered 92 as we began squatting. Vonda wanted to join us so I demonstrated exaggerated range-of-motion super deep pause squats; possibly the most excruciating (and therefore effective) of all progressive resistance exercises. It was tough work done in sauna conditions but after a half dozens sets, each heavier and deeper than its predecessor, they both had the technique down cold. Benches were done with barbell and dumbbells and we decided to widen The Cats grip: structurally he is constructed to bench press. We took his grip out to 28-inches, forefinger to forefinger, and instituted a pause on all reps. I made some minor foot placement and arch adjustments and he was good to go. Vonda was shown proper pause dumbbell technique. In the deadlift two odd things happened: first, Bob exhibited near perfect form in both the sumo and conventional style. One out of every hundred fitness camp attendees I encounter possesses proper pull technique. Keep doing whatever it is youre doing. was my advice. Set and rep strategies would be decided depending upon nearness or farness of a power competition.
Once a date is determined, well reverse-engineer a training template designed to stair-step ever upward to a predetermined goal. The second surprising (amazing) thing that transpired was Vonda deadlifted 145 for 5 perfect reps. she wanted to do more reps or try more poundage but we were two hours into a 90-degree plus, high intensity cardio/weight training session and fatigue was becoming a real concern. Most weight training injuries occur when the athlete allows the poundage to stray outside the proscribed technical boundaries (bad technique with a heavy weight) or the athlete insists on lifting heavy weight when fatigued.
I have been pondering Vondas effortless feat and have come to conclude that with six months training should could become the national powerlifting champion in her age group and weight class. I think she could have pulled over 200 and her squats and benches were very strong. In retrospect I was paying such attention to Bobs weights that it occurred to me late in the session, wait a minute, this gal is handling very heavy poundage even using the extreme ROM and pristine technique I insist on. I hope they both enter a competition and I told Bob that if he ever entered a competition in my region Id be proud to coach him now I extend to offer to Vonda the Wonder Woman. We had an all-protein (Weber-grilled steak, hickory smoked BBQ chicken) on the deck afterwards. Off they went on the next leg of their vacation voyagelike I said, I never quite know what to expect when new Fitness Camp attendees knock on the door. Quite often Im pleasantly surprised.
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