Sheiko Says........

About 10 years ago I had the exceptionally rare opportunity to learn from a living legend in strength sports. Boris Sheiko has potentially created more elite level lifters than any other coach in history. So when he was going to travel the West Coast giving Seminars it was an opportunity of a lifetime for anyone who coaches any kind of strength training or strength sport. Here are some of the takeaways from that seminar.

Sheiko has a training system that is high volume composed mostly of daily doubles in terms of training either deadlifts/bench press or squats/bench press. So pretty much every training session you are doing some variation as well moderate volume of higher percentage work composed of 2/3 of the main power lifts. Sometimes you would even squat first, bench second and then squat again after bench press or vice versa. So there is a high emphasis on refining the patterns of the competition power lifts. This happens 2-4 days a week and then after that training there is of course assistance work to remove weaknesses from the main movements.

Here are some quotes.

"People who write programs like 90-95% sets of 4......sets of 5? I want to see the people who write these programs do these programs!"

"If you remember nothing else from this seminar remember that 65% is a 6, 70% is a 5, 75% is a 4, 80% is a 3, 85% is a 2, 90% and above is 1!"

"It takes the time it takes......"

"You do not step over bars. If you disrespect the bar at the most unfortunate time it will disrespect YOU!"

"Look at stars in sky not change on floor!"

"Americans have no hamstrings!"

As you can imagine this was not a socially relaxed environment ripe with personal anecdotes or humorous gym stories. This was a rare opportunity to learn from a master level coach and listen to someone who had been coaching longer than I had been alive at that point. So when he took the time to make a point and made an emphasis to hammer it home it was taken pretty seriously.

One of the other fundamental big take aways from the seminar was the very specific nature of the deadlift set up. He made it very clear that the shins should be vertical and in perpendicular alignment relative to the ground. So in easier to understand terms 90 degree angle shins or "L" position shins were the foundational piece of comprehension to absorb. He explained that they train everyone that way with shorter blocks against the gym wall for the younger athletes to lean their calves against and taller blocks to lean against for the older athletes.

This was of particular interest because usually what you see in gyms everywhere is that the shin position is a little bit or a lot bit more acute than 90 degrees. This mimics a more Olympic lifting style pull. Not only that but it emphasizes more quadriceps recruitment in the pattern. So when this became a critical component of the fundamental learning of the movement this became the non negotiable position to acquire. In a lot of cases for potentially a lot of people the deadlift may not be a great movement to learn if you don't learn this position early in your skill aquisition process.

Another one of the fundamental take aways was the head position and bar position on the squat. Sheiko was very clear that the low bar position was the powerlifting and that high bar was an Olympic lifting position. Not only that but there was a particular emphasis on looking up in the squat and not down. Olympic lifting shoes were also advocated for as the shoe of choice for squats. The other particular bit of technical wisdom came in the form of tempo on the squat. Sheiko was very clear that the descent and the ascent had different speeds.

On the way down.

"Ai yah, ai yah, ai yah

On the way up

Ai YOOP!

Now you can translate that however you want to but fundamentally what he was communicating was that the speed on the way down was supposed to be at least three times as slow as the way up. If you invert this dynamic and dive bomb the squat from the top it often goes poorly for you. Fast down and slow up is the inverted tempo that is unlikely to be successful. If you are "loading the springs" of your lower body then the more precisely you do this under heavier weights the better it is probably going to go.

Last but not least on the bench press he advocated for the largest arch possible. This not only minimizes the range of motion but it also leverages the humerus as far away from the bar as possible. This perfoms two functions. One of which is injury prevention for the shoulder and the other is facilitation of the triceps for extension of the bar. In order to accomplish this he recommended learning how to do 10 wall walk overs before learning the position. I don't know how many people that have ever bench pressed with a barbell have ever taken up that challenge!

When training individuals who are looking to get into better shape I often reference a lot of this knowledge and my other experiences with other coaches. Not every client is going to be interested in powerlifting and I understand that every persons goals are unique to them. However, having received some fine points from one of the best coaches of all time is definitely a strong influence in my decision making progress and programming thought process. If we don't stand on the shoulders of giants we can't see beyond the horizon. The reality of coaching individuals who can not do this for themselves is that they need a guide who has seen broadly beyond not only their particular horizon but also from the vantage points of those who have gone before us. In these instances it is highly beneficial to be able to rely on primary sources of information. It would be hard to rely on a more primary source than Boris Sheiko in this context.