by Dustin Smith

           I arrived at the seminar and I got to meet a few people on the RTS team.  It was great to finally meet Mike Tuchscherer, who has been writing my training and helping me out a lot for a year now.  I also got to see my good friend Jeremy Hartman, who I trained with my first year in college.  After talking for a little while, the seminar was ready to go.

            I only went to the Sunday session, which was the 2^nd day of the seminar.  We went through all the Big 3 lifts and were critiqued on our form, given cues to improve our performance, given suggestions on changes to accommodate for body type, and other helpful tips.  Here is a few examples…

First up was the squat.  Now the way I am built I have big quads and a big ass.  I would say my stance is a medium-wide for walking it out.

Squat weaknesses:  I tend to round my back on the ascent of the squat.  Sometimes it looks more like a good morning coming out of the hole.  Other problems are my knees sometimes come in and sometimes I feel unstable in trying to get a good set up.

Solution: Jeremy and Mike both recommended moving my stance in a touch to about a medium stance and making sure my toes are pointed in the same direction as my knees and hips.  This is a mechanically sound stance and moving my stance in makes my toes move in slightly because my knees and hips were more medial than lateral now and this felt like it gave me more stability.  Moving my stance in a bit let me take more advantage of my big quads too.

Bench is actually my least favorite of the 3 lifts and since I focus on strongman a lot more now it wasn’t a big concern for me, but I will tell you that I learned the most at this station.  Maybe my lack of knowledge about the bench is one of reasons why is the worst of my 3 lifts.  I learned many things that I can’t wait to try in my training.

Bench weakness- Lots

Solution:  I know my weaknesses vague, but it will be easier just telling you how much I learned from John Bogart.  In a nutshell, I thought I was tight, but I wasn’t really tight at all.  After working with John I was using every muscle in the body to stay tight.  I will start with the set up.  I got everything tight before I even got under the bar.  When I layed on the bench I was already so tight it was like grabbing the bar with a bench shirt on.  My traps were flexed, I learned how to use my lats more,  you couldn’t budge my legs because of the position I had for leg drive, I learned how to breathe correctly,  my ass was on the bench, chest up.  It was almost a workout in itself getting tight for the set up.  After getting the lift-off I really focused on pulling the bar apart to engage more triceps.  I knew this already, but it’s one of those things that you need to be reminded about sometimes.  I also liked how he instructed us to push ourselves away from the bar.  This is a good visual cue that I will use next time I bench.  I could go into detail and write a couple pages on all the new things I learned on bench.  If you like to bench I would highly recommend getting his bench DVD when it comes out.  I think you will be surprised how much you can learn.

This is the whole reason I came to the seminar.  Increasing my conventional deadlift will be a big carryover to strongman.  I was thinking squat and bench, that’s cool, but I want to be a great deadlifter!  I already was satisfied with the information I got for the squat and got my money’s worth with all the bench information alone, so I couldn’t wait to see what they could do for my deadlift.

Deadlift weakness:  Get stuck at the very top of the deadlift, shoulders get hunched over and its hard to lock them back in the bad position I am in.  I blow the weight off the floor past my knees and right when it gets within a couple inches of lockout its like a hit a wall and the grind starts.  It is very frustrating sometimes and I know I can pull a lot more if I can just keep my back from rounding so much.

Solution:   Mike said the deadlift is all about your position.  My round back starting position gets is fast off the floor, but puts me in a bad position at the top.  So what if I could keep my shoulder blades locked from the start and then the lockout would be easy?  The start my be a bit harder, but I am sure the lockout would be a lot easier.  Jeremy explained the importance of pushing against the belt and using your abs and that pressure to help boost the weight off the ground.  He could actually push his abs out so far he looked like he had a baby in there (He’s not a fat guy either, looks more like a bodybuilder).  It didn’t look human, but it’s something he practiced.  He said he has belt marks on his stomach after some deadlift workout from pushing against the belt so hard.  So the main things I learned was pushing against the belt, staying tight, taking my time, and keeping my back locked in.

I had a great time at the seminar and learned a bunch of things to incorporate into my training.  Everyone was very down to earth and answered any questions you had.  Mike and Jeremy actually helped me out more with my deadlift well after the seminar had ended (I think a couple of hours actually) and I appreciated that.  It goes to show you what kind of people they are.  If you missed the seminar, you missed a lot of great information.  I can’t wait to see on DVD the new information I missed on Day 1.  Over the past year I have had more understanding on training than ever and I think this comes from great coaches and teammates helping you along the way.

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