Pick on JWood Thread

[BendtheBar]

Jeremy...many of the new guys don't know much about your journey into the weight game and powerlifting.

(I thought it would be interesting to pick on folks in general and learn more about their backgrounds).

Can you tell us about your lifting background and how you got into powerlifting.

[jwood]

Alright, I like this the spotlight is on me.

I got started into lifting in high school for athletic reasons. Growing up I was always a pudgy kid but still very athletic. Working out to me was a way to prove to myself that I would not be fat for the rest of my life. I trained at an athletic training facility my senior year of high school and this really opened my eyes. There I trained with a few Division 1 prospects and found that I was starting to catch up in the strength field.

When I got to college I decided to pretty much stop athletics and focus on lifting, where I made your typical mistakes of training too much and not eating right. In college I began to start searching the internet for guidance. I found some good programs that gave me guidance on getting stronger and bigger. I believe the first structured program I did was Layne Norton's Power Hypertrophy split. This got me a lot stronger. Then on the internet I started to get involved with some of the forums. On another forum I met Steve, Bendthebar and so it began. He planted the seed in my head to look into powerlifting.

I then started to deadlift haha, I feel in love with deads!! I worked on powerlifting from that point on the best I could. I was still learning and just was lifting heavier. That summer almost 3 years ago, I began to read about westside and their methods. I got a set of bands and began the westside template. This got me really strong and into powerlifting, I also started to mess around with Chaos and Pain which was fun. Then about one year ago, I competed in my first powerlifting competition. I broke 4 virginia state records for the IPA in the 220 Raw Junior Class and have been lifting hard since then.

I have also messed around with strong man stuff and I am also now on a Paleo diet where I have lost a lot of fat but am still getting stronger. I have made a lot of mistakes along the way, but they key was just to work hard and give 100% effort to my workouts and here I am still working hard to get stronger.

[LtL]

Awesome idea Steve.

J - If you could go back in time and speak to yourself when you started, what three pieces of advice would you give?

LtL

[BendtheBar]

What's the most fun (in a crazy intense type of way) workout you've ever had?

[jwood]

Originally Posted by LtL

Awesome idea Steve.

J - If you could go back in time and speak to yourself when you started, what three pieces of advice would you give?

LtL

1) Squat!! and then squat again

2)Start on a very structured program like starting strength that focuses on full body strength

3) Never do a bicep curl until 10 chinups could be performed

[jwood]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

What's the most fun (in a crazy intense type of way) workout you've ever had?

The most fun intense workouts I have ever had were probably last summer when I was training with a friend that was getting ready for a Junior Nationals Strongman training. Almost every saturday would be a strongman workout.

Once I got to a competitive level with him it was just crazy. We could push each other so much without getting out of hand. One workout I remember was doing farmers walks when it was like 100 degrees out. We both worked up to 300 pounds in each hand and he beat my distance by only a few feet. O the pain was amazing, I then went home and sat down in a cold shower. Thought I was gonna die.

[jwood]

One thing I would like to add that even though I mentioned I gave up athletics I played serious rugby in college. My junior year of college we won the Division 2 Virginia State Championships, and I was a full time starter. I do not think I sat out a single minute that season.

And this just proves to the younger guys that you can get bigger even while playing a sport seriously. And rugby probably involves more cardio than any other sport, 90 minute games and the clock only stops at half time for 10 minutes. You gotta eat!!

[BendtheBar]

What's the craziest piece of bad advice you've ever received, and possibly used?

[jwood]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

What's the craziest piece of bad advice you've ever received, and possibly used?

That is a very tough question, but I think it actually came from a very credible source. This came from the athletic training facility and I will never figure this out.

The main coach there, who played Division 1 baseball, was drafted and studied athletic training. Very knowledgeable guy told us to:

"never lift a weight off the floor"

This did not sound bad to me at the time being a full blown novice, but now that I think about it, it is just crazy talk. While there we never did deadlifts, only performed hang cleans no power cleans. And did Romanian deadlifts where the weight started on blocks. Although we did squat a lot and they taught me how to front squat there, so I did learn a lot.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by jwood

"never lift a weight off the floor"

This did not sound bad to me at the time being a full blown novice, but now that I think about it, it is just crazy talk. While there we never did deadlifts, only performed hang cleans no power cleans. And did Romanian deadlifts where the weight started on blocks. Although we did squat a lot and they taught me how to front squat there, so I did learn a lot.

Interesting. I have never heard of that belief before.