Eric Cressey - Maximum Strength

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by Eric Cressey

Absolutely. It's a 4x/week program. At first, it might take a bit longer as you learn the exercises, but once you've got them down, it's in and out in 60 minutes.

You might just want to do your foam rolling at home on the side so that you can get there and go right to the warm-ups.

Thanks!!

[Biskit]

Originally Posted by Eric Cressey

I don't know about the book, but the guy in the cover is pretty darn good-looking!

Deb not only attended opening day at CP; she also hooked us up with a sweet fruit bouquet - pretty much the only non-supplement food I ate in a matter of 72 hours during the move! Thanks, Deb!

Name dropper!

Deb

[Deserve]

Originally Posted by Eric Cressey

I emailed all the "guinea pigs" to get their addresses, but never heard back from you. Just drop me an email at ec@ericcressey.com and I'll send one out for you right away.

Thanks!

Message sent.

[Simon C]

Originally Posted by Eric Cressey

Absolutely. It's a 4x/week program. At first, it might take a bit longer as you learn the exercises, but once you've got them down, it's in and out in 60 minutes.

You might just want to do your foam rolling at home on the side so that you can get there and go right to the warm-ups.

Okay off topic here... but anyway...

Hey Eric, how's the powerlifting going? Is there anywhere I can find out about your lifting?

I couldn't even find out what federation you compete in hah!

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by Simon C

Looks to be a good read, not sure if I'll pick this one up though.

That reminds me, I should get me a copy of Magnificent Mobility, and possibly Inside Out.

Originally Posted by Hunter

So what are the workouts like? Are they suited for a nomal guy with barely enough time to workout given work and family? In other words, can I do it in 45-60 minutes 3 or 4x/week?

My copy of Maximum Strength came in the mail today. I've skimmed through the book, and I'm looking forward to reading it more fully. I love the Eric is the model for every picture. You get to see exactly what he intended. I think everyone will appreciate that every movement he asks you to perform comes with an exercise description and picture--the foam rolling, stretches, mobility warm-ups, and lifts. It's a four-phase progressive program that begins with specific testing that you will repeat at the end of the program. Even the warm-ups are prescribed, which is an area that most programs leave out or only give a slight mention.

Simon, if you don't already own MM and I/O, then this book might be a great buy for you. In addition to the program, he's warming up with a selection of mobility drills I recognize from those two DVDs. It's more specific to you as a strength athlete, and these are his most updated choices for mobility drills. It might be all you'd need, and for much less cost.

Hunter, having followed your lifting a little bit for the last couple of years, I think this program is right up your alley. I think you'll like the exercise choices and the progression of the program.

Mahler, I think you'd like it, too. You did so well on the strength portions of NROL. This could be your next step.

I've always had a lot of respect for Eric Cressey, and I'm really impressed with this book. It's a whole lot of content for only $12.70 (the price at Amazon today)!

[RedWifey]

So Lisa would you recommend it to girls?

[missjane]

Originally Posted by RedWifey

So Lisa would you recommend it to girls?

I hope so! I just ordered it!

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by RedWifey

So Lisa would you recommend it to girls?

Depends on the girl. I'd do it. It's not for a beginner for sure. I think there's an assumption that you know the big basic lifts, then he's going to prescribe movements based on them. You've got to be willing to do pull-through, speed deads, box squats--and those are all in the foundational phase! If you're new to lifting, it's also going to look too complicated, with lots of warm-ups, rep schemes specific to the lift (rather than to the phase of the program), and big changes from one phase to the next. It looks more like a program a trainer would give you when they see you every time you lift. I'm not saying that everything isn't fully explained in the book; it is, but someone fairly new to lifting is going to find this level of detail confusing. It's also what I like about the book!

For the women who want to get stronger and are willing to eat, this is going to be a great program. It would be ineffective to do it while dieting. Women who most enjoy high rep protocols (I mean 10-15 rep sets) will probably not enjoy this program as much. It's a strength program, so every phase has some lifts for lower reps--sets of 4, 3, or 2--as well as assistance exercises at higher reps--like pullthroughs for sets of 10, ER and prone trap raises for sets of 12.

What I like about it the most is something Eric always does with his programs, he includes the warm-ups and assistance moves that keep you healthy in addition to the strength moves for low reps. He doesn't break your body down with the program. He has a general nutrition chapter with information based on Berardi's principles. He tells why he does what he does, and has another chapter of general Cressey-type advice about staring strong for life.

I think more women should be willing to train for strength. I think they'd like themselves and their bodies a whole lot more if they did. But there are a whole lot of women who would never take on this type of program. I do realize that. The ones who do have "caught the vision."

[missjane]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

I think more women should be willing to train for strength. I think they'd like themselves and their bodies a whole lot more if they did. But there are a whole lot of women who would never take on this type of program. I do realize that. The ones who do have "caught the vision."

Lisa, I'm going to be one of those girls!!

By the way, I also ordered this book:

Amazon.com: Men's Health Power Training: Build Bigger, Stronger Muscles with through Performance-based Conditioning: Robert dos Remedios, Michael Boyle: Books

[Lisa~]

I've taken a look at Coach Dos' book (I don't own it) and thought it looked pretty good. I like his menu style templates. You can go a long time with that kind of programming. Power Training begins each lifting session with an Olympic lift variation. I just didn't want to do that. I like using a couple of those types of moves, and have used them in complexes or as part of metabolic-type training. I like one-arm DB snatches and I've used jump shrugs, but I'm not proficient at all the Olympic lifts. Coach Dos' book is aimed at athletes who'd be using O-lifts for athletic performance. It will still work for a regular guy if you're pretty good with those lifts, or at least enough of their variations to keep the program's exercise menu changing.

Eric's book is a specific program and is based on static strength principles. I like this kind of lifting more than any other. Eric also addresses warm-ups and assistance work more thoroughly. (Keep in mind that while I've looked through Power Training, I don't own it and haven't read it all the way through!)

You'll need to chose which one you're going to follow first! I hope you'll pick one and follow through before you change to the other. They are both good programs.

[missjane]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

I've taken a look at Coach Dos' book (I don't own it) and thought it looked pretty good. I like his menu style templates. You can go a long time with that kind of programming. Power Training begins each lifting session with an Olympic lift variation. I just didn't want to do that. I like using a couple of those types of moves, and have used them in complexes or as part of metabolic-type training. I like one-arm DB snatches and I've used jump shrugs, but I'm not proficient at all the Olympic lifts. Coach Dos' book is aimed at athletes who'd be using O-lifts for athletic performance. It will still work for a regular guy if you're pretty good with those lifts, or at least enough of their variations to keep the program's exercise menu changing.

Eric's book is a specific program and is based on static strength principles. I like this kind of lifting more than any other. Eric also addresses warm-ups and assistance work more thoroughly. (Keep in mind that while I've looked through Power Training, I don't own it and haven't read it all the way through!)

You'll need to chose which one you're going to follow first! I hope you'll pick one and follow through before you change to the other. They are both good programs.

Lisa, I definitely will stick to one. I got both because I wanted free shipping at Amazon, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to beef up the fitness library with the Coach Dos book. I think after NROL4W, I'm going to jump back into NROL and get into the Hypertrophy programs and see where that leads and then I will go from there.

I'll have to think about the O-lifting. They'd freak at my gym if I started trying any of those lifts, as much as I'd like to do so. I also think I'd be afraid to try without some supervision and coaching. But, I love those DB snatches and I think it gave me the thoughts of doing more!

[RedLefty]

I think RW would do very well on a Strength program while keeping calories at current levels (maintenance or just below). I did the same over the past six weeks and lost a few pounds while doing some very intense static strength-focused training and upping my maxes.

She's early enough in her training life, and educated enough about nutrition timing to do this without having to add calories to prevent a bonk, IMO.

Not to mention it'd be cool for her to show up the guys at the YMCA even more than she already does today.

[Lisa~]

RL, I totally agree. I think she'd do well. I wouldn't go below maintenance on calories though. Gaining strength will change her appearance without changing her bodyweight.

Since we're talking about who this book is for, here's a quote from Eric (from an interview in Mike Robertson's newsletter):

I would say that this book targets the typical lifter who goes to the internet to find information to take his/her training to the next level. There are a lot of people in the T-Nation, etc. crowd who have done a good job to get from untrained, to beginner, to intermediate – but don’t necessarily have the tools to take it to the advanced level. Maximum Strength provides that opportunity – and addresses mobility/activation, nutrition, motivation, programming strategies – basically a lot of the things you need to know to be successful not just for the 16-week program I outline, but also the years of lifting that follow it.

[RedWifey]

One thing that keeps to be a recurring theme in my training is knee pain. I believe it comes from glutes that aren't firing. I think I have discovered in my NROL4W time that I have a hard time recovering from 3 wo per week for 3 weeks. The past two stages I have ended with knee pain. I am wondering if the specific mobility/activation strategies wouldn't help a bunch.

Hmmm, not sure why I opened this thread today, but I am glad I did...this wasn't even on my radar screen!

[maxattack]

I just wanted to say that I have read maximum strength completely and I have really enjoyed it. Like somebody mentioned, I really did get a lot out of the mobility and warmup stretches...I didn't have anything like that in my library of fitness books.

Another aspect I liked about it is the fact that the lifts for each phase are described in each chapter seperately. Like Lisa said, I also like the fact that Cressey is the model for all the descriptions, so you can see exactly how he thinks the lift/movement should be performed.

I finish up Coach Dos' Powertraining this week for the second time (two 12 week phases) and then I'm unloading for at least 4-5 days. After that, I'm starting Maximum strength and I can't wait.

[MAXX]

Max, how did Power Training go? I'm planning on starting it in 3 weeks.