Video Quickie

“I never used ammonia, it always pissed me off”

I’m a bit late posting because we got in late last night from doing a barbell seminar in Denver — a guy needs sleep, ok?

It’s a lot of fun having friends who are strong, and my good friend AC is one of those people who is pain-in-the-ass strong. He’s on the brink of plateauing in his linear progression. Yesterday he squatted 450 for three sets of five, pressed 212 for three sets of five, and a few weeks ago deadlifted 500 for five…all at a bodyweight of 205. Oh, and he’s 20 years old.

Since he has pretty much linearly progressed his deadlift, I gave him the green light to work up to a 1RM yesterday. Keep in mind that he squatted and pressed the previously mentioned numbers before pulling this.

A.C. Max Out from A.C. on Vimeo.

He missed 575 at the knees after that last attempt. AC will start competing in powerlifting and eventually weightlifting. He’s also a pretty good coach, so if you’re in the Atlanta area and want some coaching, e-mail him. You can also find him in south Georgia when he’s at school.

AC is also the one who edits the Rippetoe interview videos, and here is part 7 of the 70’s Big Interview with Rip:

70’s Big Presents: Mark Rippetoe Interview Pt. 7 from 70s Big on Vimeo.

35 thoughts on “Video Quickie

  1. AC”s videos are awesome. I first came across them looking for shoulder stretches, and it has lead me to all of this other stuff now.

    Where will he go from here now that a plateau is in sight for his linear progression?

  2. Great videos. I feel like most people give up linear progression way too soon. I”d be curious to know how long he squeezed the linear progression, what kind of weight he gained while he did it, and how many times (if any) he had to reset.

    Time to move on to Texas Method maybe?

  3. Texas Method is usually the program that someone would move to, but the program is defined based on their goals. At this level, competition goals are relevant. AC’s goals are specific to competing in the barbell sports (like mine). Gant’s are specific to judo. Chris’ are specific to powerlifting and strongman competitions.

    I milk as much as I can out of someone’s linear progression, because it’s the smart thing to do. I did it, AC is doing it, and Chris did it. Given a certain height and body frame, there is probably a bodyweight that someone should get to before they plateau, so eating is a big part of it.

  4. I”ve been on the linear progression for about 5 months maybe more. A few hiccups with the programming tossed in there too. (Pulling too much)

    I started at about 183 pounds and I currently weigh 205 and gaining.

    I have had to reset a total of 3 times 2 of them being with Squats. I got some sweet tendinitis in my hip flexor because my knees were coming forward at the bottom. I restarted with 225. Then I failed at 425 on my 3rd set, again on Squats. I only got 2 reps.

    The other reset was because I got an AC joint injury (Arin Canecchio Joint). I fell off a longboard going about 25 and busted my ass. Bench was out of the question for about a month, and I restarted my press with the bar :(

    Now my bench is 325x5x3 (going for 327 tom) and Press is 212 (215 next time)

    . . . And yes squeezing the progression out now is very tough, but I took a good look at my handsome self in the mirror and realized I had testicles and decided to rough it out.

  5. Watching AC lift in person is quite the spectacle. Not necessarily because of the heavy ass weight he”s lifting, but because 3/4 the gym stares in amazement while he does it. I”m very fortunate to have received coaching from him.

  6. Yea – But the way AC gets so psyched after the lifts are what make it so cool. Its the not giving a fuck about the dudes making fun of him that makes it that much sweeter

  7. Who sings that version of Last Caress? Obviously Danzig”s Misfits were the originals and have the best version but that cover is not bad in AC”s vid…

  8. AC, how were your last few weeks programmed? I”m going for 400x5x3 on my squats Saturday and I”m not convinced that I”m out of linear gains, but I”m having a tough time recovering. Those are some righteous lifts for a dude at 205.

  9. A.C. and Chris are both beasts. Those vids motivate me, and remind me I need to go lift right now.
    Brandon, I am right around the same weight you are, and I know what you mean. I am completely spent after every workout. Looks like I have to eat even more if I want to maintain linear gains.

  10. CaseyDonovan–

    Last Caress-Metallica/Garage Inc CD 2

    Brandon–

    My last few weeks have been tough man. I feel slightly under-recovered as well (Not eating enough, getting burnt out on eating the same shit), But each day I go in there and squat. It only gets tougher.

  11. Damn dude, I”ve put alot of people through the linear progression and I”ve never had anybody hit those kind of numbers. Nice lifting A.C. and nice coachin” Justin!

  12. I’ve had to coach him from afar lately, but he’s visited here multiple times.

    Chris, AC, and I all did pretty well on the linear progression. I”ve got some other people that have some potential too.

    Wish I could deadlift like the two of them though.

  13. Hey guys, great stuff! I”ve been waiting for 70s big for a while from Rips forum, and this is the first time I”ve reared my head here. Very motivating!

    I have done SS linear stuff on and off for the last few 2 years, interspersed with crossfit. Needless to say, I did make huge fitness improvements, but it was so frustrating that strength progress was so slow, and that I lost a lot of it after going back to crossfit stuff!

    Anyway, I”m back on a linear progression now, a modified 4-day a week SS. Squats are getting harder and harder, and I”m only doing 120kg (@92kg BW, 5”11) I”m taking 2.5kg jumps, and I think I”ll have to slow down soon. How small were the jumps you guys were doing on your squats in the latter stages of the progression?

    Great stuff getting this site going Jason. Awesome vids too :-)

  14. AC – nice pulls! I think you have by far the most progression I”ve heard of on a linear program especially @205 (and I”m sure you busted your ass for it). Props.

  15. Should”ve put this in the last post, AC I noticed when you press you breath at the top versus in the rack position, I assume this is to take advantage of a stretch reflex at the bottom. Do you find pressing this way helps? I”ve always breathed at the bottom, but I”ll give this a shot as I keep getting stuck around the same 5×3.

  16. Tescott— Im still u sing five pound jumps on squats. Its a different story for my other lifts though.

    Grambo— You are exactly right, that is the way Rippetoe teaches it.

  17. Nice work AC, thats around where I want to be in terms of strength and bodyweight.

    Is there a special form of Linear Programming you guys are doing or pretty much what is outlined in Starting Strength? I”m not real familiar with all of this stuff, but I like what I”m seeing. I think something like this would be very effective for me.

  18. Grambo, take it from someone with a POOR press, the breathing method that AC uses and that I learned at Rip”s cert is a god send. It is literally the difference between taking a weight that you used to be able to do for 2 reps and now doing it for 5.

    That is a huge amount of progression especially with only 18lbs of weight. I gained 25lbs in less than a month when I started drinking milk, but I have a feeling I started a little skinnier and that I am taller and have more room to grow. I have made every jump for the last month (other than one screw up on my press) and it is getting HARD. I wanted to get to 365 before a reset … we”ll see how that goes.

  19. WannaBBurly– I followed Starting Strength. I had to change my deadlift to every other friday though, because it was ruining my other lifts. I needed the two days rest before I squatted again.

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