Hey guys, I just wanted to say great job to everyone for their efforts during our testing week last week! Monica and I saw tremendous efforts, loads of hard work paying off, and old PRs being shattered!
Now that we have a fair amount of data from the week, we plan on using those numbers to drive the program moving forward. Ultimately what we’re looking for is balance between our lifts and balance between our energy systems. We can use ratios between our lifts to provide insight into how balanced our training program is, where our weaknesses are and what we need to work on. We can look at our performance in both monostructural and mixed work pieces in both long and shorter time domains to see how balanced our ‘engines’ are.
When we start to examine structural balance and ratios between our lifts, we use the barbell back squat for the lower body and the close grip bench press for the upper body.
The benchmarks below are rules of thumb. They are not set in stone. In fact, in many cases, these percentages may change rather frequently and do not necessarily take into account technical efficiency, anthropometrics, training age, gender, exposure, etc. They do, however, provide a starting point. Achieving structural balance is key to preventing injuries, maintaining joint health and integrity, providing a reference point for when to start progressing to the ‘fast’ lifts, and exposing our weaknesses. In many cases improving our weak links will lead to improved performance, decrease risk of injury, and of course gainz..!
Reference lift: Barbell Back Squat
Front Squat 85% of Back Squat
Deadlift 125% of Back Squat
Power Clean 66% of Back Squat
Power Snatch 51% of Back Squat
Clean and Jerk 80% of Back Squat
Reference lift: Close Grip Bench Press
Close Grip Bench Press to Supinated Chin-up 90-95%
Seated DB External Rotation 10% of Close Grip Bench Press
Close Grip Bench Press = Power Clean
Other Reference Points:
Strict (Military) Press 65% of Chin Up
Strict (Military) Press 70-75% of Push Press
Strict (Military) Press 45% of Back Squat
Snatch 78-82% of Clean and Jerk
–Steve
