TeamTPS Athlete Updates:
Let’s start off with Rostyslav Kharchenko:
Training is going as usual, intensity going up slowly.
Resume of this past month:
– Squats aren’t feeling as crisp as they should – switching some exercises around to provide more recovery for legs and back.
– Dealing with some IT band issues – will add some massage and rehab on that area
– Improving on deadlift technique – getting hips open more at the starting position and upper back more upright
– Did sets of 4 with 365 for bench press which is heaviest since the last meet.
So far so good.
Zach DiConstanzo is up next:
What Works
Growing up, I was a major Bruce Lee fan. Not just of his movies, but of his way of life, his mentality, his philosophy. There’s a quote of his that always stood out to me, and has had a significant amount of relevancy to my path as a lifter and a person in the past year or so.
In his posthumous book The Tao of Jeet Kune Do, in which he expressed the concepts behind his newly minted martial art, he said “Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.”
How this applies to me, and my lifting, is a pretty simple concept.
I’m the kind of person that constantly strives to learn new things and perfect old things, and is always looking for a different approach on how to improve. In the past year, I’ve experienced a little bit more freedom in my ability to move about and communicate with others than I have at any other point in my life.
I’ve learned a lot about pure powerlifting during my time at TPS; from training partners, from the staff, and from trial and error. I’ve worked with physical therapists who’ve given me a more scientific approach to movement in general, allowing me to conquer an array of nagging injuries I’d dealt with for way too long. I’ve traveled a bit, trained at other gyms, and met multitudes of strong athletes whose approach to training and competing was vastly different from my own. Instead of shunning their opinions and methods, I attempted to merge them with my own and adopted what I had success with into my everyday training. I toyed with multiple different programming and peaking structures until I found one that gave me the results I wanted. Lastly, at the core of everything, I’ve managed to cultivate a pretty large network of awesome, intelligent people who have had more of an influence on my success and progress as a lifter than they will probably ever know.
So, what does this mean in cold hard numbers?
Well, I competed at USAPL Raw Nationals for my first large-scale meet since March of 2016. I went 8/9, missing my third squat on a technicality despite completing the lift with ease, and left a good deal of weight in the tank on each event. And I walked away with a 20kg personal best on my total, a roughly 15 point increase in my Wilks coefficient, 10th place in the nation, and a spot at the Arnold in March of 2018.
Those are results I can be happy with on a conservative meet.
Still, I always want more.
Where I’m at now is never enough.
So, I’m going to continue as I have; using all roads and networks available to me to improve as a lifter until I’m the best I can possibly be. I encourage you all to do the same.
Don’t be stagnant, don’t force yourself into a bubble.
Explore everything there is, take what works for you, from wherever you can find it, and discard the rest.
Never stop the progress.
And me?
I’m going to roll right into the Arnold in March and put on a show.
Next up is the always awesome, Lodrina Cherne:
This month I sat in on the Reflexive Performance Reset (RPR) seminar that TPS hosted.
Coaches and athletes from all over Massachusetts and across the country spent a day learning how to perform RPR Wake Up Drills to enhance athletic performance.
I’ve been practicing the RPR system for most of a year on myself and 1-on-1 with great results.
Some improvements that have been made to the course since I first took it included a focus on using RPR as a team warmup.
Imagine being able to get dozens of athletes ready to train by stimulating various muscle groups at a neurological level in less than 5 minutes.
In the day long class there wasn’t time to get into the how, yet there were dozens of examples that the Wake Up Drills were creating positive change in the way attendees were able to engage different muscles.
If you want to know more, reach out to myself or another RPR practitioner or to experience it for yourself!
Note: TPS has 4 Level 1 RPR practitioners, as well as Lodrina, and her husband Jeff affiliated with us.
