Dave Hirst
29-01-2010, 01:06 PM
This is an excerpt from Angle's autobiography where he talks about the training he did to prepare for the Olympics, it's awesome stuff and worth a try to see where you compare to a world-class athlete. 225lbs is pretty much 100kg, and after 30 reps my legs are going to shit... 77 is just unbelievable.
"In the weight room I used to do crazy stuff too, stuff no-one else did, as a way to combine strength and endurance and intensity. I would squat 225 pounds as many times as I could. Once I did it 77 times. To an athlete who lifts weights, 225 pounds isn't a lot of weight to squat, but I guaran-damn-tee you that the stongest man in the world - someone who can squat 800 or 900 pounds - can't squat 225 pounds 77 times without stopping. You can't believe how heavy 225 pounds gets after 30 or 40 reps. My brother Eric can squat 720 pounds but he can't squat 225 pounds more than 40 times. I couldn't walk when I was done, but that's the idea. I'd burn my legs out, then I'd do my power-clean and dead lifts with very heavy weights.
It was all about fatigue training. I was always changing my routine, pushing myself to the max. I'd change the weight on those squats each week. The week after I did 225, I'd do 315 pounds - 41 times was the most repetitions I ever did without stopping. The following week I'd do 405 pounds - did 28 reps with that weight. Then one week I'd drop down to 135 pounds. I remember doing 136 reps once with that. And this was at the beginning of my workout. My legs would be completely gassed, and I still had a whole workout to do."
"In the weight room I used to do crazy stuff too, stuff no-one else did, as a way to combine strength and endurance and intensity. I would squat 225 pounds as many times as I could. Once I did it 77 times. To an athlete who lifts weights, 225 pounds isn't a lot of weight to squat, but I guaran-damn-tee you that the stongest man in the world - someone who can squat 800 or 900 pounds - can't squat 225 pounds 77 times without stopping. You can't believe how heavy 225 pounds gets after 30 or 40 reps. My brother Eric can squat 720 pounds but he can't squat 225 pounds more than 40 times. I couldn't walk when I was done, but that's the idea. I'd burn my legs out, then I'd do my power-clean and dead lifts with very heavy weights.
It was all about fatigue training. I was always changing my routine, pushing myself to the max. I'd change the weight on those squats each week. The week after I did 225, I'd do 315 pounds - 41 times was the most repetitions I ever did without stopping. The following week I'd do 405 pounds - did 28 reps with that weight. Then one week I'd drop down to 135 pounds. I remember doing 136 reps once with that. And this was at the beginning of my workout. My legs would be completely gassed, and I still had a whole workout to do."