Team Stone - Training Style
- Eric Stone
- 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
Training Plans/Methods:
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.
As team coach, I do not dictate what members of the team should do during their workouts, as is the case with some other teams, although I am more than willing to assist if desired. Some of the team uses organized training cycle that "peak" their strength for a specified compeition. While members are encouraged to manage their own training, I (Eric) am more than willing to work with on on developing a training cycle. Just email me and we can chat about where you are, your goals, etc. I personally believe this is the most efficient and safe way to improve your strength. It also fits my personality in that I am planned and organized person. In gereral, I have more of a focus on form, style and technique than a "magic" routine. For more information on training cycle, check out these two articles:
Others on the team treat the weekend workouts as their "max effort" bench and squat workouts ala a Westside Barbell-type training style. Just note that on a bench day, we will be benching or close bench variations (i.e. board presses), and on a squat day we will be squatting or close variations (squats with bands/chains, reverse band squats). Although we do have a few speciality bars, we always use a standard bar for our team workouts. Assistance work after our main work could use specialized bars or equipment.
What I find most important is that all team members have some type of plan going into each workout. Whether that is part of a grand scheme of a training cycle leading to a meet, or plan to go up to a heavy single in full gear, it is expected all members can get through a workout themselves. Again, I (or many of the other members) are more than willing to assist in developing some type of plan for any other member, but that conversation should take place before it is your turn to lift during an actual practice.
Practice Structure:
Training as part of a team is much different than training by yourself. First, although the workout starts at 3 p.m. or 9 a.m. or whenever, that is not our members start arriving. Especially on our Sunday squat/deadlift workout, that 9 a.m. time is when we want the first load the bar with weight. Members are expected to show up 15-30 minutes before the start time. 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 before the bar is first loaded, a lifting order will be figured out for the day based on who is at the session, and will be written on a large marker board. Because of the size of our team, we often will split into two benches on our bench day. In that case, who is on each bench will be indicated along with the order. 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 15 minutes before the workout, team members generally use that marker board to write down all their warm-up and working sets for the day.
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.
Spotting and loading 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. 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.