TEAM STONE - Training Style
- Eric Stone
I should start with
stating that the ideas presented in article are those of Eric Stone,
and are not necessarily the exact same as all members on the
team. Whenever you get a group of people together, you are going
to have a multitude of opinions--which is not a bad thing
necessarily. There are only a few tennats that are "absolutes"
when it comes to training with Team Stone. The rest is left up to
the individual. I see the team as a place for like-minded lifters
to get together and support one another lifting big weights in the
squat, bench and deadlift
Team Stone uses a traditional training style, with the cornerstone of our training being heavy lifts in the squat, bench and deadlift. We "practice how we play" in that we utilize full competition gear for heavy singles quite often. Otherwise, our training utilizes low reps (5 or less) on the big three as its primary training. We are not opposed or against to differing training techniques, however. We do have a set of chains and will use them as accomodating resistance at times. Bands and reverse bands as well are utilized at times. On the bench press, alot of board press work is used. Other heavy partials are used at times on the squat and deadlift as well. But, the main focus is always on the main lift itself, not on an assitance lift, at least in the organized team training sessions.
If you have never trained in a team environment, I will go over the basics of how it works. First, although the workout starts at 3 p.m. or 9 a.m. or whenever, that is not when we start lifting. Although I would much prefer that we start sooner rather than later, do not expect us to start loading weight on the bar until 15 minutes after the start time of the training session. That 15 minutes is not a waste of time, however. That time should be used to warm-up and get ready for the session. You should do any general warm-ups/stretches during that time, as well as taking the empty bar for 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps. Mobility and flexibility are not qualities normally associated with powerlifting. Lifters would be wise, however, to may more attention to that area. Shoulder mobility will aid in getting a better position under the squat bar, and help avoid the shoulder injuries that often acmpany lots of heavy benching. Hip mobility will aid in a better squat and deadlift stance, and will help in getting proper depth on the squat.
Also during that time, a lifting order will be figured out for the day based on who is at the session. The actual lifting will run very smilar to a powerlifting meet. We start at the beginning of the order, have everyone take their first set following that lifting order, and then go back to the beginning of the order when competed. That pattern will be followed until everyone has completed all of their sets. Also, we utilize a marker board to write down our sets for the day's session. Again, during the first 15 minutes of the workout, team members generally use that mark board to write down all their warm-up and working sets for the day. The will be developed based on the top working sets of each lifter for the day, their rack height on squats, and to some degree who they may need to be helping (i.e. lifters who need to wrap each other likely should not follow each other).
Warm-up sets will vary from lifter to lifter. However, we do generally use more warm-up sets than the average lifter. In addition, we try to use more "straight plates" for our warm-up sets to keep things simple and running smoothly. By "straight plates," it means we go from 1 plate, to 2 plates, to 3 plates, etc. on each side of the bar for our warm-ups. For instance, an average squat day warm-up for me would be 155 x 8, 155 x 5, 245 x 5, 335 x 3, 425 x 2, 515 x 2, and then go to my working sets for the day. Note that we use a 55 lb bar with 5 lb collars, so the straight plate bar weight will be 20 pounds heavier than usual (for squats only however). Obviously the members lifting less weight than me would follow a different warm-up. Some of the females, for instance, might use a warm-up like 115 x 5, 155 x 3, 185 x 3, 205 x 3. The lifting order for the day would try to put the lifters with similar sets following each other to keep the work out flowing smoothly.
As the training session progresses the lifting order becomes more and more important. Because most of our members compete in powerlifting, most of them use powerlifting equipment--i.e. belt, wraps, suits, shirts. And, they will be putting on progressly more gear as the workout goes on. Going back up to my sample squat warm-up up to 5 plates (or 515). I would likely put on my squat briefs at 3 plates, add wraps at 4 plates, and add my suit at 5 plates. All of these items take a decent amout of time to put on, especially knee wraps on the squat. Lifters look forward in the order, and start wrapping when they are "on deck" in the lifting order, just like they might in an actual competition. The exception to this would be if that day's particular workout does not have enough people to do that. If we only have 7 people, for instance, on a heavy squat day. If we have someone going up about 700, we'd likely need 5 people to spot (2 on each side, 1 in the back), one person to run the monolift arm, and obviously the lifter him/herself. In a case like that, it might be impractical to wrap when you are up next.
Speaking of spotting and loading, that is a big part of a team workout. Everyone is expected to load, spot, and help their teammates. That is considered part of the workout. Obviously when you are lifting, just got done lifting, or are getting ready to lift, you likely cannot help there. Otherwise, that is where everyone should be. But, that is one of the positive aspects of training with a team--you should never have to load your own bar, you can simply fwcus on your own lifting. In general, helping each other is a big part of the training involved with Team Stone. We aim to be about helping the team as a whole, not just about helping/focusing on ourselves.
Our workouts are quite long by normal workout standards. But, I perfer to call them "training sessions" as opposed to just a "workout." A "workout" for the average person might be walking 20 minutes on a treadmill. Not to denegrate that, as any exercise is positive, but what we do is much more involved. Squat/deadlift workouts can last 3-4 hours. Bench workouts can last 2-3 hours. Sometimes, when quite a few of us are training for a meet, and are going heavy, it could be longer. We certainly would like for the training to be on the shorter rather than the longer end of those ranges. We utilize a lifting order and use two benches on bench days to try to get things going as quickly as possible. But, when you have 10-12 people squatting, it simply is going to take a good amount of time. I realize that not everyone can committ that amount of time to powerlifting. If that is the case, training with Team Stone is likely not for you.
Speaking of the bench, we generally do use two benches on bench press training days. Because we have had 12-14 people show up on Sundays, it simply became impractical to bench everyone on the same bench. And, because have two good benches, it was plausable to split into two groups. We do try to switch up the groups from week to week so that everyone gets to training with everyone else. We want to remain a cohesive team, and not split into two separate sub-groups that are always together. It is possible that we may do the same on squat days in the future.
Now, onto the actual training. I do not, nor does anyone on the team dictate what anyone else should be doing. Individual lifters are in charge of setting up their own training. I myself or some of the other experienced members are certainly willing to help or give advice on how to set up your training.
to be continued....last updated 4/13/08.
Team Stone uses a traditional training style, with the cornerstone of our training being heavy lifts in the squat, bench and deadlift. We "practice how we play" in that we utilize full competition gear for heavy singles quite often. Otherwise, our training utilizes low reps (5 or less) on the big three as its primary training. We are not opposed or against to differing training techniques, however. We do have a set of chains and will use them as accomodating resistance at times. Bands and reverse bands as well are utilized at times. On the bench press, alot of board press work is used. Other heavy partials are used at times on the squat and deadlift as well. But, the main focus is always on the main lift itself, not on an assitance lift, at least in the organized team training sessions.
If you have never trained in a team environment, I will go over the basics of how it works. First, although the workout starts at 3 p.m. or 9 a.m. or whenever, that is not when we start lifting. Although I would much prefer that we start sooner rather than later, do not expect us to start loading weight on the bar until 15 minutes after the start time of the training session. That 15 minutes is not a waste of time, however. That time should be used to warm-up and get ready for the session. You should do any general warm-ups/stretches during that time, as well as taking the empty bar for 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps. Mobility and flexibility are not qualities normally associated with powerlifting. Lifters would be wise, however, to may more attention to that area. Shoulder mobility will aid in getting a better position under the squat bar, and help avoid the shoulder injuries that often acmpany lots of heavy benching. Hip mobility will aid in a better squat and deadlift stance, and will help in getting proper depth on the squat.
Also during that time, a lifting order will be figured out for the day based on who is at the session. The actual lifting will run very smilar to a powerlifting meet. We start at the beginning of the order, have everyone take their first set following that lifting order, and then go back to the beginning of the order when competed. That pattern will be followed until everyone has completed all of their sets. Also, we utilize a marker board to write down our sets for the day's session. Again, during the first 15 minutes of the workout, team members generally use that mark board to write down all their warm-up and working sets for the day. The will be developed based on the top working sets of each lifter for the day, their rack height on squats, and to some degree who they may need to be helping (i.e. lifters who need to wrap each other likely should not follow each other).
Warm-up sets will vary from lifter to lifter. However, we do generally use more warm-up sets than the average lifter. In addition, we try to use more "straight plates" for our warm-up sets to keep things simple and running smoothly. By "straight plates," it means we go from 1 plate, to 2 plates, to 3 plates, etc. on each side of the bar for our warm-ups. For instance, an average squat day warm-up for me would be 155 x 8, 155 x 5, 245 x 5, 335 x 3, 425 x 2, 515 x 2, and then go to my working sets for the day. Note that we use a 55 lb bar with 5 lb collars, so the straight plate bar weight will be 20 pounds heavier than usual (for squats only however). Obviously the members lifting less weight than me would follow a different warm-up. Some of the females, for instance, might use a warm-up like 115 x 5, 155 x 3, 185 x 3, 205 x 3. The lifting order for the day would try to put the lifters with similar sets following each other to keep the work out flowing smoothly.
As the training session progresses the lifting order becomes more and more important. Because most of our members compete in powerlifting, most of them use powerlifting equipment--i.e. belt, wraps, suits, shirts. And, they will be putting on progressly more gear as the workout goes on. Going back up to my sample squat warm-up up to 5 plates (or 515). I would likely put on my squat briefs at 3 plates, add wraps at 4 plates, and add my suit at 5 plates. All of these items take a decent amout of time to put on, especially knee wraps on the squat. Lifters look forward in the order, and start wrapping when they are "on deck" in the lifting order, just like they might in an actual competition. The exception to this would be if that day's particular workout does not have enough people to do that. If we only have 7 people, for instance, on a heavy squat day. If we have someone going up about 700, we'd likely need 5 people to spot (2 on each side, 1 in the back), one person to run the monolift arm, and obviously the lifter him/herself. In a case like that, it might be impractical to wrap when you are up next.
Speaking of spotting and loading, that is a big part of a team workout. Everyone is expected to load, spot, and help their teammates. That is considered part of the workout. Obviously when you are lifting, just got done lifting, or are getting ready to lift, you likely cannot help there. Otherwise, that is where everyone should be. But, that is one of the positive aspects of training with a team--you should never have to load your own bar, you can simply fwcus on your own lifting. In general, helping each other is a big part of the training involved with Team Stone. We aim to be about helping the team as a whole, not just about helping/focusing on ourselves.
Our workouts are quite long by normal workout standards. But, I perfer to call them "training sessions" as opposed to just a "workout." A "workout" for the average person might be walking 20 minutes on a treadmill. Not to denegrate that, as any exercise is positive, but what we do is much more involved. Squat/deadlift workouts can last 3-4 hours. Bench workouts can last 2-3 hours. Sometimes, when quite a few of us are training for a meet, and are going heavy, it could be longer. We certainly would like for the training to be on the shorter rather than the longer end of those ranges. We utilize a lifting order and use two benches on bench days to try to get things going as quickly as possible. But, when you have 10-12 people squatting, it simply is going to take a good amount of time. I realize that not everyone can committ that amount of time to powerlifting. If that is the case, training with Team Stone is likely not for you.
Speaking of the bench, we generally do use two benches on bench press training days. Because we have had 12-14 people show up on Sundays, it simply became impractical to bench everyone on the same bench. And, because have two good benches, it was plausable to split into two groups. We do try to switch up the groups from week to week so that everyone gets to training with everyone else. We want to remain a cohesive team, and not split into two separate sub-groups that are always together. It is possible that we may do the same on squat days in the future.
Now, onto the actual training. I do not, nor does anyone on the team dictate what anyone else should be doing. Individual lifters are in charge of setting up their own training. I myself or some of the other experienced members are certainly willing to help or give advice on how to set up your training.
to be continued....last updated 4/13/08.