Bottom-Position Training for New Gains in Size, Strength, and Power Once you reach a certain level of strength, you need to do at least some bottom-position training to ensure continued progress. For many lifters, the only bottom-position training they do is on lifts that naturally start from the bottom position, such as any “pull” lift—deadlifts and the quick lifts, for example. The deadlift is called that for a reason—you start the movement from a “dead” stop. But you’ll mightily increase your strength on bench pressing and squatting movements if you also start those lifts from a dead stop; i.e. the bottom-position. Some lifters decide to give bottom-position training a try, only to stop because of how weak they are on them. You might be able to squat 315 pounds, only to find that you can’t do more than 250 from the bottom-position. Same thing with the bench press, a lift many gym-goers pride th...
Some Thoughts on High-Volume, High-Frequency Training, Bodyweight Workouts, Program Design, and Progressive Resistance Bill Starr is primarily known for his 5x5 training and his heavy-light-medium system of strength training. Most of the articles that I write here on Starr revolve around those methods, as well, including an entire book I wrote on his methodology, The Strongest Shall Always Survive: Lifting Lessons from an Iron Legend . Starr was a one-time world-class Olympic weightlifter and a world-renowned strength coach. When it came to the athletes that he trained, it was all about increasing their strength and performance. But he also wrote a lot of articles for the major bodybuilding rags that ruled the magazine rack during his lifetime. When I was young, for instance, I knew of him only because of his many articles in Ironman magazine and MuscleMag International . Starr was well aware that most of those readers ...