Golden Empire Training: Ultimate Athlete Strength

Sign up now for the next seminar May 3-5th, 2013. Friday the 3rd will be phase 2 (advanced), Saturday and Sunday the 4-5th will be phase 1 (Introduction).

Don't wait, classes will be limited!

We are going to be incorporating the Ultimate Athlete strength training methods, developed by Rick Scarpulla of Ultimate Advantage, into our strength programming. There will be 2 main types of workouts: dynamic effort (speed strength) and max effort (maximal strength). There will also be exercises and workouts designed to develop pure athletic skills. The better overall athlete you are, the better you will be at EVERYTHING.

Dynamic Effort: The "DE" days are meant to be performed at light weights (40-70% 1RM), low reps (1-3), high sets (6-12) and short rest periods (30-45s). These days are for working on your explosive speed on the lifts. You're trying to explode the weight up as fast as possible! That means decrease weight if you have to! SPEED IS WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT.

Repetition Method: Some days you'll be doing exercises at very high reps, going to near failure each set. Pick a weight you think you can get all the reps with, and adjust accordingly.

Max Effort: The "ME" days are basically maxing out on a lift. We will be going for a 1 rep max, changing the lifts each week. Rest periods are the usual 3-4 mins between sets because you're shooting for a PR (personal record). Get to where you're going ASAP. In other words, don't take 20 sets to get to a 400lb max squat. Do a few sets with light weight, then start hitting singles.

The Conjugate Method: Everything will be constantly varied. The lifts will vary from box squats, regular squats, wide stance box/regular squats, concentric squats (just the "up" portion-starting on a rack), high bar/low bar/front/overhead squats, regular DL, sumo DL, DL on blocks, presses/bench press with varying grips, rack presses, board presses... the list goes on. On top of that, we will begin incorporating bands and chains to vary the resistance at certain points during the lift.

Special Exercises: In addition to the main lifts (Squat/DL, Press/Bench) we will be doing several "special exercises" to strengthen your weaknesses. These could include: glute ham raises, back extensions, reverse hypers, straight leg dl, romanian dl, good mornings for the lower body, and a variety of exercises for the upper body. The most important muscles to hit are the tri's, lats, hams, glutes, hips and abs. This should be done quickly! Rotate through with a couple people and your rest is while they are working. NO TALKING, TEXTING, MESSING AROUND.

Sample Strength Days:
DE Box Squat, 50%, 12 x 2 + bands.
DE = dynamic effort = quick and explosive! You will be doing a squat with a very wide stance, trying to keep your shins vertical throughout, sit back and down completely on the box, then explode back up. 50% is based off your squat 1RM (1 rep max). 12 sets of 2 reps. Attach the appropriate bands to the bar and to something on the ground, then add weight up to your specified (50%) weight. Rest roughly 45s between sets (yes that means there's enough time to rotate through with a couple guys). If it's your first time doing these, you should probably start around 40% + bands.

ME Press: Regular Grip, shoot for a new 1 rep max, using chains.
ME = max effort! You're trying to lift as much weight on this day as possible. Put the chains on the bar, then start adding weight until you reach your max. You'll rest as much as needed between sets, normally 3-5 minutes between your heavy, near-max sets.

Some videos on the movements:

Concentric Box Squat:
Using a cambered bar, off chains. It can also be done off the safety bars in a squat rack. Notice all the work is being done in the concentric (up) phase of the lift.

Max Effort Deadlift:
Some examples of rack pulls/deadlifts (pulling with the weight raised off the floor) using the traditional and sumo (wide) stances.